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.
Gov. Chet Culver announced his energy plan today in a phone call from Washington, D.C., where he is attending the National Governor’s Association Conference. The three-pronged proposal leans heavily on improving energy efficiency standards. One part of his approach calls for the establishment of a new commission within the Department of Public Safety that would [...]
Traditional music, arts, dance and food from around the world was the order of the day during the Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival at the University of Iowa in Iowa City on Sunday. Several thousand visitors sampled traditional foods from an array of cultures, tried new dance steps and listened to musical performances. Families were in [...]
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has joined a group investigating the methods and effects of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at workplaces across the country. The investigatory group is led by Joseph Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). The group, which will hold hearings to investigate ICE operations [...]
COMMENTARY: This week, as widely reported, the U.S. Navy blew up the dysfunctional Lockheed-Martin satellite known as “USA 193.” According to the Pentagon, we’ve blown it up real good. The Department of Defense, rather than risk 1,000 pounds of the toxic fuel hydrazine being released into the atmosphere, decided to destroy the space vehicle. Launched [...]
Eleanor Clift, the Newsweek contributing editor and McLaughlin Group gadfly, is in Davenport this week. She will no doubt be taking in the grandeur of eastern Iowa’s snowbanks when she’s not taking part in classroom discussions as St. Ambrose University’s Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow. An interview with the political pundit is below the fold.
A Republican immigration task force recently made some suggestions in response to a state House bill (H.F. 2026) sponsored by Democratic representatives that would penalize corporate officers of companies that employ undocumented workers. The group, which included Senators Jeff Angelo of Creston, Paul McKinley of Chariton and Steve Kettering of Lake View, wants to add [...]
A van rolls into the Quad Cities on the way to a gig in Omaha, Minneapolis or Chicago. After parking in downtown Rock Island, a few musicians get out, stretch their legs and amble up to a third-floor recording studio. In the performance space, a drum kit is already in place. The band browses a [...]
Almost 50 people gathered at the University of Iowa on Friday to discuss the two things you’re not supposed to talk about in polite company: religion and politics. Political science professor Cary Covington’s presentation on “God Talk on the Campaign Trail” outlined how he sees the pendulum of religious favor swinging back to Democratic presidential [...]
Pending script approval, an Iowa expat’s 1998 book, “A Walk in the Woods,” is close to starting production with film legend Robert Redford. The film, based on Bill Bryson’s travelogue, is on hold until an agreement is reached in the writers’ strike, but The Hollywood Reporter says Redford will star in and produce the movie. [...]
The Iowa Conservation Education Coalition welcomed former ICEC chair Richard Leopold to Camp Io-Dis-E-Ca near Solon, Iowa, for the ICEC winter conference this weekend. Leopold is the director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Before his keynote address at the conference on Friday night, he talked with the Iowa Independent about some state environmental [...]
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