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.
Former Dallas County Sheriff Brian Gilbert had to resign and faced corruption charges about two years ago, but he is back in the news after allegedly making death threats against two Iowans.
According to KCCI:
Former Dallas County Sheriff Brian Gilbert turned himself in at the Dallas County Jail on Sunday.
There was a warrant for Gilbert’s arrest on a charge of first-degree harassment and third-degree harassment issued on June 11.
Court documents show that Gilbert called Janice Gruver “stating that he would come to Iowa and put a bullet in Kris’s head (referring to Kris Johnson a friend of Tina Gilbert) and Tina Gilbert’s head (defendant’s ex-wife and daughter of Janice) and be gone without anyone knowing it.”
In 2006, a jury found Gilbert guilty of stealing a bundle of cash amounting to $120,000 after a highway traffic stop resulted in a drug bust, but the former sheriff did not serve any jail time.
A subsequent report by the State Auditor found additional irregularities in handling and storing evidence, and there have also been allegations of misconduct surrounding the Dallas County jail during Gilbert’s tenure as sheriff.
(In the interests of full disclosure, after Gilbert left office, there was a special election in January 2007 to replace him. I did some campaign work for Dan Brickner, the Democratic candidate who ultimately lost that special election to current sheriff Chad Leonard.)
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