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.
The U.S. Department of Justice has just announced that the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls will receive a grant of $999,909. The funds are earmarked for reduction of violent crimes against women under a flagship project.
UNI will serve as the lead institution for this new project that involves creation of a Regents Campus Gender Violence Prevention Task Force. Participation will also include Iowa State University in Ames and the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
“Iowa’s universities are taking much-needed action to educate our students and communities about reducing campus violence against women,” said Sen. Tom Harkin, who supported this grant as part of his continual efforts to end violence against women. “They are doing the right thing in implementing vital programs that increase safety. Violence against women remains a major problem, but with these funds we can help women get the support they need to overcome these terrible acts.”
The UNI flagship project will use funding to support creation of the task force to coordinate a wide variety of initiatives. Those include implementing a mandatory new student education program, enhancing campus police training, developing courses and curricula to better include information on victim services and gender violence prevention and creating a statewide Men’s Gender Violence Prevention Institute.
“As a dad of a female college student, I truly recognize the importance of providing institutions with the proper resources to reduce violent crimes against women,” said Rep. Bruce Braley, who represents Iowa’s 1st District, which includes Cedar Falls and the UNI campus. “By creating a task force that examines the pattern of violence on Iowa campuses, police and school administrators will be able to work towards reducing these crimes and can better provide students with the information they need to be better educated and aware of the issue.”
UNI will also partner with the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Seeds of Hope, the Cedar Falls Police Department and the attorney general’s Victim Assistance Division.
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