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.
An African-American man is nearly 12 times more likely than a white man to be sent to prison on drug charges. A black woman is nearly five times more likely than a white woman to be imprisoned on drug charges. The American criminal justice system is rife with racial disparities such a these, according to [...]
The 10th annual HIV/AIDS Conference next week in Des Moines will emphasize care, prevention and public awareness. “Sometimes people think it’s not going to happen to me because I live in Iowa,” said Patricia Young, HIV/AIDS/Hepatitis program coordinator with the Iowa Department of Public Health. “Sometimes until you know somebody who is living with HIV, [...]
Members of The White House Project will visit Iowa on Thursday to help buoy efforts to create a five-year plan to elect more Iowa women into political office. The meeting will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. May 22 in Building 7, Oak and Maple rooms, Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny. [...]
The Iowa Legislature approved extending the deadline for Iowans to file discrimination complaints from 180 to 300 days. The law goes into effect on July 1. “Folks don’t always know or realize within six months of an incidence of discriminatory behavior that they may have been discriminated against,” said Alicia Claypool, chairwoman of the Iowa [...]
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver will sign legislation on Monday requiring anger management and other training for bar bouncers in Polk County.
A disproportionate number of African-American drug offenders are arrested and imprisoned, according to new reports released Monday from the Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch. In Targeting Blacks: Drug Law Enforcement and Race in the United States, the Human Rights Watch found:
Some states have used the standardized test scores of fourth-graders to predict future prison population. Worries abound in Des Moines with just 42 percent of African-American fourth-graders this year reading at grade level — and the results are getting worse as students advance through the Des Moines School District.
A University of Iowa study reports that more than 93 percent of new Iowa prisoners suffer from mental illness, with a third classified as suicidal. Researchers interviewed male and female non-violent offenders who were newly incarcerated mostly for drug offenses. The majority of the offenders also suffered from substance abuse problems and other disorders. About [...]
A smattering of Iowa school districts has failed to add sexual orientation and gender identity to district policies as required by the state’s anti-bullying laws, according to a private foundation tracking the issue. “If they’re not able to update their policies, then how on earth are they protecting the students?” said Rich Eychaner of the [...]
Before students at Johnston High School organized a Gay-Straight Alliance last year, one of 17-year-old Adam Helgeson’s friends didn’t feel safe going to class in the suburban school district located northwest of Des Moines. “He felt like it was socially unacceptable to be who he was…He would skip class so people wouldn’t see how he [...]
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