Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
War opponents plan to expand civil disobedience efforts to the presidential campaign trail, according to a keynote speaker at Iowa City’s Peace Fest Sunday.
Jeff Leys of Voices for Creative Nonviolence said the Occupation Project, which has targeted congressional offices demanding an immediate end to all funding for the Iraq war except for funds needed for troop withdrawal, announced the group’s new project, “Seasons of Discontent: A Presidential Occupation Project,” creating the catchy acronym SODaPOP.
The project plans to begin with actions at campaign offices in November and December with activity increasing toward caucus night in January. SODaPop will ask all candidates to support:
SODaPOP is also targeting presidential candidates currently in Congress, asking that they vote for an immediate cutoff of war funds.
There was little traffic at a cluster of tables at the edge of Sunday’s Peace Fest event, where four presidential campaigns (Dodd, Edwards, Obama and Richardson) had tables. Edwards and Obama staffers were playing beanbag toss in a friendly rivalry. “This is for the nomination, right?” said one. At the Johnson County Democrats table, Dawn Suter was frustrated by some of the speakers. “They were saying there’s no difference between the Democrats and Republicans on the war,” he said. The Greens also had a presence, passing party status petitions.
Traffic seemed steadier in the middle of the park at the table for libertarian Republican Ron Paul, where volunteers eagerly displayed a banner for all passers-by.
Artist John-Paul Hornbeck displayed his latest sculpture, “The Veteran,” at a pavilion. The piece illustrates the problems of returning veterans such as addiction, said Hornbeck, whose father is a disabled veteran. It is dominated by alcohol and drug-related items including a flag made of pills and a ribcage of pill bottles.
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