Iowa

Challenger bashes Iowa Congressman’s Social Security plan, but offers no alternatives

Published

6 months ago

June 27, 2024

Challenger bashes Iowa Congressman’s Social Security plan, but offers no alternatives

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Television Iowa Capitol Bureau) – An Iowa candidate for Congress is alleging the incumbent congressman will do things to hurt the Social Security system, but he’s not offering any of his own solutions.

Social Security reserves will run out in 11 years if Congress doesn’t act. That means recipients would only get 83% of their full benefits. 50% of seniors get half of their monthly income from Social Security. One in four seniors rely on Social Security for 90% of their monthly income.

Democratic congressional candidate Lanon Baccam, who is running against incumbent republican Zach Nunn in Iowa’s 3rd congressional district, held a press call Wednesday with the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and the Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans. Baccam told reporters Nunn would raise the retirement age and cut benefits.

Baccam was asked repeatedly what his solution is.

“I’m not going to cut benefits here. Where Zach Nunn is, he is trying to shutter these offices. That’s going to limit the program delivery. He’s trying to raise the retirement age. That’s going to hurt folks who work for a living. These are clear distinctions here for what he’s trying to do with his position on Social Security versus mine. There’s no question I’m focusing in on and paying attention to Americans and Iowans who work for a living on this campaign and we need a champion for them in Congress and I will be that person,” Baccam said.

My colleague Dave Price and I both followed up and Baccam was unable to provide specific solutions.

“Hi, it’s Dave Price. So, are you keeping the status quo then? Are you not suggesting any changes?”

“There’s no question. We cannot cut this program. I will oppose any cuts to this program especially for our seniors who have paid into these programs for many years. They’re entitled to these benefits. They should be able to retire with dignity. I will not cut any of these programs that have been proposed by Zach Nunn and his groups,” Baccam said.

“This is Conner Hendricks. Do you actually have any proposed solutions though to this? You know, you say you’re not going to cut and you say that Nunn’s a threat but do you have specific solutions for this?”

“The first thing here is we need to protect it. Zach Nunn currently is prepared to cut Social Security, to raise the retirement age, to reduce the amount of offices or hours of operation like limiting the ability for Social Security to be able to deliver on their program. We at the very minimum have to make sure that we protect this program and Zach Nunn is threatening even that and so I think that’s critically important here for folks to understand and appreciate that Zach Nunn is not going to maintain even the status quo here. He is trying to cut this program. He will do it if given the chance.”

Congressman Nunn’s office tells us that no, he does not favor raising the retirement age. He also says he’s never voted to close or reduce hours Social Security offices.

“When the government created Social Security and Medicare, it made a promise to retirees. I am 100% committed to protecting that promise and strongly oppose any cuts to these programs. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply false. I am actively leading bipartisan solutions to protect these critical programs from out-of-touch politicians in D.C.,” Nunn said.

We also asked Nunn what solutions for Social Security he’d support. His office says he’d support reforms that root out waste, fraud, and abuse by bureaucrats.

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Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Television-owned stations in Iowa. Email him at conner.hendricks@gray.tv; and follow him on Facebook at Conner Hendricks TV or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.

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Iowa

Iowa 104-57 New Orleans (Dec 15, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

Published

4 hours ago

December 16, 2024

Press Room

Iowa 104-57 New Orleans (Dec 15, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

IOWA CITY, Iowa — — Owen Freeman matched his career-best with 22 points and Iowa cruised to a 104-57 win over New Orleans on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes rebounded from their first home-court loss, falling 89-80 to No. 3 Iowa State on Thursday in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.

Brock Harding opened the game with a 3-pointer, but the Privateers answered with back-to-back layups from MJ Thomas and James White to take their only lead of the game, 4-3. Freeman answered with a layup and Payton Sandfort and Drew Thelwell each hit from deep to put Iowa in front for good and a 10-0 run made it 29-11 midway through the half.

Iowa (8-3) shot 62.7% from the field for the game (42 of 67), including 14 of 29 from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes amassed 28 assists on 42 made baskets. Sandfort hit 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and finished with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Josh Dix and Brock Harding each added 13 points, with Harding collecting six assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Pryce Sandfort added 10 points off the bench.

New Orleans, playing its first game in more than a week, was 25 of 67 from the field (37.3%) and was just 4 of 24 from long range. White paced the Privateers (2-7) with 24 points, six rebounds and two assists. Thomas added 14 points.

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Iowa

Iowa women’s wrestling crowns three champions at North Central College Open

Published

11 hours ago

December 15, 2024

Press Room

Iowa women’s wrestling crowns three champions at North Central College Open

Iowa women’s wrestling took a good portion of its squad to the North Central Open on Sunday, securing three individual titles from Nanea Estrella, Macey Kilty and Kylie Welker.

Bringing 13 wrestlers to the top division of the tournament, with Danni Swihart competing in the B-Division, 11 Hawkeyes finished on the podium in the top division. Even without several starters, the Hawkeyes took second behind only North Central’s mostly full squad.

Iowa’s stars who made the trip to Naperville, Illinois shined, as Estrella, Kilty and Welker combined to go 14-0. They outscored their opponents 131-1 combined.

Alivia White was a surprise, racing to take second at 203 pounds. She defeated teammate Katja Osteen by fall on her way to the finals. Even without Jaycee Foeller, the Hawkeyes had White, Osteen and Samantha Calkins all place at the tournament at 203 pounds.

Accounting for only the results from the A-Division, which housed top wrestlers from each team, North Central had 166.5 team points to Iowa’s 136.5.

It’s hard to compare Iowa and North Central, given the Hawkeyes and CArdinals had limited lineups. The Hawkeyes were without Sterling Dias, Brianna and Emilie Gonzalez, Skye Realin, Reese Larramendy, Kennedy Blades and Foeller to name a few. North Central did not have former Hawkeye Bella Mir or 203-pound No. 2 Traeh Haynes for example as well.

Regardless, having two champions and five finalists suggests the Cardinals will be a challenger once again come the postseason to the Hawkeyes.

Here are the individual results for each wrestler for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa women’s wrestling results from North Central Open

Rianne Murphy – 2nd at 103 pounds (3-1)
Val Solorio – 3rd at 110 pounds (5-1)
Cali Leng – 6th at 124 pounds (3-3)
Ava Rose – DNP at 124 pounds (1-2)
Allie Baudhuin – DNP at 131 pounds (1-2)
Emmily Patneaud – 6th at 131 pounds (2-3)
Nanea Estrella – 1st at 138 pounds (4-0)
Cadence Diduch – 3rd at 138 pounds (5-1)
Danni Swihart (B-Division) – 5th at 138 pounds (3-2)
Macey Kilty – 1st at 145 pounds (4-0)
Kylie Welker – 1st at 180 pounds (6-0)
Samantha Calkins – 4th at 207 pounds (4-2)
Alivia White – 2nd at 207 pounds (3-1)
Katja Osteen – 5th at 207 pounds (3-2, 3-1 vs. non-Hawkeyes)

Match-by-match results can be found on trackwrestling.com

This story was updated to add new information.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

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Iowa State football lands two wide receivers from transfer portal

Published

19 hours ago

December 15, 2024

Press Room

Iowa State football lands two wide receivers from transfer portal

Iowa State football brought in some talent on Saturday.

The Cyclones landed two wide receivers from the NCAA transfer portal in Chase Sowell (East Carolina) and Xavier Townsend (UCF).

They both have two years of eligibility remaining.

Here’s some information on the two newcomers:

Chase Sowell stats

2024 (9 games): 34 catches, 678 yards, 3 TDs
2023 (11 games): 47 catches, 622 yards, 1 TD
2022 (1 game): 2 catches, 23 yards

The 6-4, 195-pound wideout enjoyed his best career season in 2024 despite missing three games due to injury, according to 247Sports.

Most impressively, he increased his average yards per reception by 6.7 to 19.9, indicating he can be a big-play threat for the Cyclones.

His best stretch in 2024 came in the middle of the season in back-to-back games against Temple and Army, in which Sowell combined for 11 catches and 255 yards with two scores.