Iowa

Wait, Xi Jinping has an 85-year-old pen pal in Iowa?

Published

2 years ago

January 10, 2024

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Wait, Xi Jinping has an 85-year-old pen pal in Iowa?

Despite US-China relations being at some of their worst, Xi Jinping apparently has a pen pal in Iowa.
Sarah Lande, 85, met Xi when she hosted him during his first visit to the US nearly 40 years ago.
State media revealed that Xi was still getting letters from Lande in a report on Wednesday.

China’s most powerful man still gets letters from an elderly pen pal in the US Midwest.

The interaction was documented in a Wednesday state media report highlighting Xi Jinping’s thoughts on US-China diplomacy. The focus was on Xi’s words, where he highlighted how both countries have achieved diplomatic victories through the “collective efforts” of their peoples, he said.

But the report also mentions that Xi was responding to a letter sent last week from Sarah Lande. She’s an Iowa resident, 85, who state media described as a “friend of his.”

Lande isn’t just some random American. She and her husband, Roger Lande, are from Muscatine, a small city of 24,000 that Xi visited in 1985.

Three decades before he rose to become China’s top leader, a then-31-year-old Xi visited the state to study agriculture as part of a five-person delegation from Hebei province.

A family in Muscatine hosted Xi in their son’s bedroom, and he befriended the Landes during his trip. Sarah Lande, who, per Chinese state media agency Xinhua, helped coordinate Xi’s visit, appeared to remember him fondly.

“He had a smile that would not stop. He was curious about everything and asked questions about everything,” she said of Xi, according to a Xinhua interview published last year.

Xi visited Iowa once more in 2012, this time during a state visit as China’s vice president. There, he reunited with the Landes at their Victorian home in Muscatine. A year later, he was appointed to China’s top role.

“You were the first group of Americans I came into contact with,” Xi told residents of Muscatine, per state media. “To me, you are America.”

A giant red sign welcoming Xi was on display outside the Landes’ home in 2012.

SHAUN TANDON/AFP via Getty Images

Then, in 2023, Xi arrived in San Francisco in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. He invited the Landes and several other “old friends” from Iowa to dinner.

“This has been a heck of a journey — we can’t figure it out. We don’t even know why he likes us!” Lande said when she received the invitation.

“But we’re eager to meet with him, too. We’re regular, everyday people,” she said.

Xi and Biden walk together during the APEC Summit in San Francisco.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

The pair have exchanged letters before. Xi wrote to Lande in 2022, also talking about ties between their nations and praising Iowa.

“The Chinese and American people are both great people, and our friendship is not only a valuable asset but also an important foundation for the development of bilateral relations,” Xi wrote.

The Chinese leader has recently been trying to bank on the nostalgia of his friendly trip to the US all those years ago.

While speaking to President Joe Biden at the APEC summit, Xi was presented with a photo of his younger self posing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge — which he visited in 1985.

“Do you know this young man?” Biden said, according to a China Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s retelling.

“Oh yes, this was 38 years ago,” Xi said.

Beijing’s foreign delegates promoted the snippet, which went viral on Chinese social media.

Pointing to a photo in his phone with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, President Biden asked President Xi, “Do you know this young man?” “Oh yes,” said President Xi, “this was 38 years ago.”🌞 pic.twitter.com/r65Em6Z7oS
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) November 16, 2023

The US-China relationship, however, hasn’t been as rosy as Xi and Lande’s. The past year has seen both countries enmeshed in several tense military encounters that have soured relations to some of their worst levels in history.

In February, the US shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon after it flew over US territory. Then, in May, there was a close encounter between a US spy plane and a Chinese jet over the South China Sea.

The US has also sought to curb China’s technological developments when it imposed export controls for the semiconductor industry in October.

Representatives for China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

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Iowa

MercyOne announces more layoffs in Mason City

Published

4 hours ago

February 2, 2026

Press Room

MercyOne announces more layoffs in Mason City

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – MercyOne has issued more layoffs in Iowa.

According to Iowa WARN, 34 people were notified on January 26 that they losing their jobs at Mercy One North Iowa Medical Center in Mason City.

Those layoffs will be effective March 17.

This is the third round of MercyOne layoffs in Iowa in the past few weeks.

In mid-January, the company announced that 40 people will be laid off when their Ottumwa clinic closes on February 27.

Then just last week, a listing on Iowa WARN showed that Mercy One Medical Center in Des Moines will lay off 67 workers.

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Likes and dislikes from Iowa basketball’s win over Oregon

Published

16 hours ago

February 1, 2026

Press Room

Likes and dislikes from Iowa basketball’s win over Oregon

EUGENE, Ore. — Iowa men’s basketball beat Oregon thoroughly 84-66 on Feb. 1.

With the win, the Hawkeyes improved to 16-5 overall and 6-4 in Big Ten play.

Ben McCollum’s Hawkeyes now get two days off before completing the second leg of their Pacific Northwest road trip. Iowa plays at Washington on Feb. 4.

Likes

Ridiculous performance by Bennett Stirtz: An almost unfathomable display of offensive efficiency by a perimeter player. Stirtz finished with 32 points on 12-of-15 from the field and 4-of-6 from deep. He also had seven assists. Stirtz continues to play at an All-Big Ten level.
Alvaro Folgueiras: Two games in a row that Folgueiras was in double-figures scoring. After dropping 14 against USC, Folgueiras had 15 off the bench against Oregon. He also added eight rebounds and three assists. Folgueiras has looked much closer to the player Iowa needs him to be these last two games. He raises Iowa’s ceiling when he’s playing at his best.
1st-half run: Iowa gained some separation in the back end of the first half. The Hawkeyes once trailed 15-13 but turned that into a 32-21 lead. Folgueiras and Stirtz had their fingerprints all over that run. Iowa led for the remainder of the game.
Also, a Stirtz milestone: Stirtz eclipsed the 2,000 career points mark. That has come across three stops — Northwest Missouri State, Drake and Iowa.
Ball security: The Hawkeyes turned the ball over just five times against Oregon. An impressive display of discipline on the offensive end.
Brendan Hausen: This is not the starting role that some might have envisioned for Hausen when he committed to Iowa from Kansas State. But he has been giving some positive minutes off the bench recently in a limited quantity. He delivered an impactful sequence toward the end of the first half, drilling a corner 3-pointer and then forcing Oregon to call a timeout on the inbounds with his defensive pressure. That helped Iowa take a nine-point lead into halftime.
Bench points: Decisively in favor of Iowa 34-18.
Cooper Koch: 10 points for the sophomore. Just his second time in double figures over the last 12 games.
Road win: Road wins are not easy to come by in the Big Ten. Iowa has not gotten two in a row after beating Indiana in January.
No extra drama: Iowa didn’t let Oregon climb back into the game like it did USC. The Hawkeyes slammed the door and won without unnecessary stress.
Four-game winning streak: After losing three in a row, the Hawkeyes have now won four in a row.

Dislikes

Second-chance points: Oregon had six more offensive rebounds than Iowa and was more opportunistic with those chances. The Ducks cashed in for 16 second-chance points to Iowa’s four.
Free-throw discrepancy: Iowa attempted 10 free throws. Oregon shot 16. It wasn’t as if the Hawkeyes weren’t attacking the rim. Iowa scored 44 points in the paint in comparison to Oregon’s 26 (which was another positive for the Hawkeyes).
Rebounding: There wasn’t much to dislike about Iowa’s win over Oregon, so this is a little nitpicky. But Oregon held a 31-26 advantage on the glass over Iowa.

Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com

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Where to watch Iowa women’s basketball vs. UCLA today

Published

1 day ago

February 1, 2026

Press Room

Where to watch Iowa women’s basketball vs. UCLA today

As No. 8 Iowa women’s basketball (18-3, 9-1 Big Ten) looks to bounce back from a disappointing 81-69 loss at USC, the road remains incredibly difficult. The Hawkeyes visit Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on Sunday to take on No. 2 UCLA (20-1, 10-0 Big Ten).

In its loss to the Trojans, the Hawkeyes were doomed by early turnovers and poor transition defense. However, freshman guard Journey Houston posted a career-high and team-high 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, adding eight rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 26 minutes off the bench.

The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Hawkeyes.

Watch Iowa vs. UCLA

Meanwhile, UCLA enters on a 14-game winning streak. In the Bruins’ 80-67 victory at Illinois earlier this week, senior center Lauren Betts powered the Bruins to victory behind 23 points on 8-of-20 shooting. On the season, Betts leads the team in scoring with 16.5 points per game on 56.2% shooting, with senior guard Kiki Rice closely following with 15.0 points per game on 49.1% shooting.

As tipoff nears, here’s where and when Hawkeyes fans can watch Iowa women’s basketball take on UCLA:

How to watch Iowa women’s basketball vs. UCLA

Streaming: Fox

Tipoff Time: 3 p.m. CT

Iowa women’s basketball battles UCLA from Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, in a game that will be broadcast on Fox. Play-by-play voice Connor Onion and color analyst Elis Woodward will call the action from courtside.

How to stream Iowa women’s basketball vs. UCLA

Streaming: Fubo

Hawkeye fans can stream Iowa basketball against UCLA via Fubo, which offers a free trial to first-time subscribers.

Hawkeye Radio Network

Iowa fans can also tune in to play-by-play voice Rob Brooks and color analyst Kathryn Reynolds on the Hawkeye Radio Network.

Series history

UCLA leads the all-time series, 2-1, with the Bruins winning the last matchup against the Hawkeyes by a score of 67-65 from Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Feb. 23, 2025.

Iowa women’s basketball schedule

All times CT

Nov. 3 vs. Southern: Iowa 86, Southern 51
Nov. 9 vs. Evansville: Iowa 119, Evansville 43
Nov. 13 vs. Drake: Iowa 100, Drake 58
Nov. 16 at Northern Iowa: Iowa 74, UNI 41
Nov. 20 vs. Baylor (WBCA Showcase in Orlando): Iowa 57, Baylor 52
Nov. 22 vs. Miami (WBCA Showcase in Orlando): Iowa 64, Miami 61
Nov. 26 vs. Western Illinois: Iowa 86, Western Illinois 69
Nov. 30 vs. Fairfield: Iowa 86, Fairfield 72
Dec. 6 at Rutgers: Iowa 79, Rutgers 36
Dec. 10 at Iowa State: Iowa State 74, Iowa 69
Dec. 13 vs. Lindenwood: Iowa 102, Lindenwood 68
Dec. 20 vs. UConn (Champions Classic): UConn 90, Iowa 64
Dec. 28 vs. Penn State: Iowa 99, Penn State 76
Jan. 1 vs. Nebraska: Iowa 86, Nebraska 76
Jan. 5 at Northwestern: Iowa 67, Northwestern 58
Jan. 11 at Indiana: Iowa 56, Indiana 53
Jan. 15 vs. Oregon: Iowa 74, Oregon 66
Jan. 18 vs. Michigan State: Iowa 75, Michigan State 68
Jan. 22 at Maryland: Iowa 85, Maryland 78 (OT)
Jan. 25 vs. Ohio State: Iowa 91, Ohio State 70
Jan. 29 at USC: USC 81, Iowa 69
Feb. 1 at UCLA: Fox, 3 p.m.
Feb. 5 vs. Minnesota: Big Ten Network, 6 p.m.
Feb. 11 vs. Washington: BTN+, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 16 at Nebraska: Fox, 11 a.m.
Feb. 19 at Purdue: BTN+, 6 p.m.
Feb. 22 vs. Michigan: Fox or FS1, 11 a.m. or 1 p.m.
Feb. 26 vs. Illinois: Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.
March 1 at Wisconsin: BTN+, 2 p.m.
March 4-8 Big Ten Tournament

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Scout on X: @SpringgateNews

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