Iowa
Iowa, Illinois lawmakers go in different directions
DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa legislature has handed lots of the prime Republican priorities of 2023.
A supermajority within the Republican Senate and a majority within the Home has helped Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds cross a lot of her agenda.
“Our state is on a brand new path,” the Governor stated in an announcement because the Legislature ended the 2023 session.
Throughout the Mississippi River, in Illinois, the Democrats have a supermajority within the Senate and the Home. They’ve superior many elements of the Democratic governor’s agenda with little assist from members of the minority social gathering, the Republicans.
Two totally different states, two totally different agendas, two totally different instructions.
And the distinction can simply be seen in Dubuque, Iowa and, throughout the Mississippi River, East Dubuque, Illinois.
Invoice Hollenbeck owns Three Nails Gunsmithing in East Dubuque and feels the Illinois legislature is towards him.
“It’s robust being a gunowner and/or proudly owning a gun store.”
Indigo Perry is energetic in LGBTQ rights in Dubuque and feels the identical in regards to the Iowa legislature.
“Lots of de-humanizing individuals, to be sincere,” Perry stated.
In Iowa, lawmakers handed payments with out assist from Democrats.
Restrictions are eased on kids within the workforce, caps at the moment are imposed on medical malpractice awards, and among the many first main payments accredited presents vouchers that change college funding.
Perry says it appears Republicans within the legislature aren’t listening to what considerations the minority.
A few of these lawmakers who’re within the minority agree.
“It’s extremely irritating to should push up towards that,” stated Democratic State Rep. Lindsay James, the Dubuque lawmaker who’s the Democratic Whip within the Iowa Home.
“This legislative session began out deeply polarizing and political with vouchers,” stated Rep. James, referring to the Republican college funding invoice signed into regulation by Gov. Kim Reynolds.
“After which we moved on to 32 totally different assaults on the LGBTQ group from banning well being look after transgender youngsters, from Iowa’s model of ‘Don’t Say Homosexual” invoice.”
Throughout the river from Dubuque, the sentiments sound the identical however from a totally totally different perspective.
“We’re related, we do have a voice and we shouldn’t be ignored,” stated Illinois Home Minority Chief Tony McCombie, the Republican from Savanna, Illinois who represents East Dubuque.
“It’s to the Far Left or to the far Proper and disregarding the vast majority of the individuals within the center and that’s an enormous downside.”
In Illinois, the Democratic Get together is answerable for the state legislature and the Governor’s Workplace. This session, it has taken up payments that frustrate Conservatives.
There’s a invoice that creates racism-free colleges, one other that cuts funding to libraries that ban books, and a brand new regulation mandating companies give staff 5 days paid depart for any cause.
However essentially the most controversial: a ban on sure firearms and high-capacity magazines.
And that has Invoice Hollenbeck deeply involved.
“I feel the Democratic facet positively acquired their agenda and so they don’t wish to cross that social gathering line.”
He says it’s one-party rule that’s gone too far.
The criticism is heard in Illinois and Iowa.
“It appears it doesn’t matter what we do, it’s like we get disregarded and swept away and it’s irritating,” stated Perry.
It’s greater than politicians complaining about different politicians.
Whereas lawmakers within the minority say the opposite facet is unfair and is performing unilaterally, it’s individuals like Indigo Perry and Invoice Hollenbeck who fear that the politicians aren’t representing everybody of their state.
“Should you go fully left, it might be horrible, should you go fully proper, it’ll be horrible,” stated Hollenbeck.
“It’s a must to have each. However they should be, they should by some means work collectively.”
And till that occurs, some individuals like Indigo Perry who stay in border communities will surprise if life is likely to be higher on the opposite facet of the Mississippi River.
“Actually I can drive 5 minutes throughout the bridge and have extra recognition of my rights and have extra security and have extra safety.”
Copyright 2023 KCRG. All rights reserved.
Iowa
Titans Linked to Sleeper Iowa State WR
Heading into the NFL offseason, the top question surrounding the Tennessee Titans will be about what they’re going to do at the quarterback position.
Will Levis and Mason Rudolph are clearly not clear-cut options long-term.
Outside of that question, the Titans will also need to figure out how to add more weapons for whoever their starting quarterback ends up being. Pursuing another quality wide reciever should be something that they try to do.
In the 2025 NFL Draft, there are ways for Tennessee to address both of those issues. Taking a look at wide receivers in the third or fourth round would make a lot of sense.
With that in mind, Justin Melo of Titan Sized has suggested a sleeper wide receiver out of Iowa State. In his recent five-round mock draft, Melo had the Titans taking Jayden Higgins in the fourth round.
“Are the Titans going to reunite Tee Higgins with Brian Callahan? Callahan’s offense will need an offseason addition to play “X” receiver next season. If Higgins proves to be too expensive, drafting a big-bodied weapon like Jayden Higgins offers an alternative route. Higgins does an outstanding job high-pointing the football at the catch point,” Melo wrote.
Higgins has put together an impressive 2024 season with the Cyclones. He has caught 87 passes for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns.
Standing in at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Higgins would bring great size to the Tennessee wide receiver room. His size would make him a lethal threat, especially in red zone situations.
Throughout his entire college career, Higgins has racked up 227 receptions for 3,317 yards and 28 touchdowns. He has proven himself to be a more than capable playmaker.
Taking a flier on him in the fourth round would be a very wise investment. He may not pan out, but if he reaches his full potential he could end up developing into a starter.
He may be a sleeper and wouldn’t be a “flashy” addition, but Higgins has all of the makings of being a draft steal for a team like the Titans who could use a little more help at the position.
Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!
Iowa
Runnin’ Utes give up 2nd half lead as Iowa pulls away for 95-88 win
SOUIX FALLS, S.D. — Iowa’s defense was smothering, and Utah did little to help itself on offense by starting the game shooting just 12.5% from the floor.
It was another first-half slow start against a Quad 1 opponent this season.
But unlike in previous Quad 1 games, where Utah allowed the opposing team run away with an early double-digit lead, the Runnin’ Utes fought back. And it was Mason Madsen, who earned his first start of the season, who provided the game-changing spark.
Madsen got a defensive rebound, and then hit a 3-pointer on the other end to open up three straight 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give Utah its first lead of the game.
From there, Utah found its offense to control a 4-point lead at the halftime break before building up the lead to 10 in the second half.
Iowa didn’t back down, though, and slowly chipped away at the lead before eventually pulling away for a 95-88 win at the Sanford Pentagon in the Utah’s final nonconference game of the season.
Madsen finished with 24 points, including going 6-of-11 from 3-point range, six rebounds and four assists, but it wasn’t enough to contend with Iowa’s offensive attack late. Lawson Lovering added 25 points, four rebounds and two assists in the loss.
Iowa forward Payton Sandfort led the charge in the second half and contributed a team-high 24 points and seven rebounds, while four other Iowa players finished in double-digit scoring.
Utah opened up the game shooting just 1-of-8 from the field as Iowa took an early 9-2 lead that was also helped by a defense that forced the Utes into late-shot situations and poor looks. Little by little, Utah found a way to get back into the game, largely by Madsen’s hot shooting and Lovering’s strong post play.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Ezra Ausar hit two free throws to give the Utes a team-high 11-point lead. Over the next five minutes, Iowa slowly chipped away at Utah’s lead and made it a 4-point game with 14:13 left to play.
Utah made only 2 points over the next three minutes as Iowa cut the lead to a single possession before Drew Thelwell hit a 3-pointer with 10:47 left for the go-ahead score. Once Iowa reclaimed the lead, there was little Utah could do over the final 10 minutes of game time to stop the Hawkeyes’ lead from growing.
Owen Freeman, the team’s leading scorer who averages 17.2 points per game, got into foul trouble and was forced to sit for much of the game — including picking up a fourth foul with just under 11 minutes to play — but finished with 16 points, six rebounds and two assists, while adding three blocks in just 19 minutes of play.
Thelwell and Josh Nix added 15 points apiece, and Brock Harding contributed 12 points to round out Iowa’s top scoring.
Utah closes out nonconference play with an 8-3 record, with all three losses coming against Quad 1 opponents. The Utes resume action on Dec. 31 in Waco, Texas, to start Big 12 play against Baylor.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Iowa
Extra Point: What Awaits Miami in the Pop-Tart Bowl vs. Iowa State?
When the Miami Hurricanes and Cam Ward take the field against the Iowa State Cyclones on Dec. 28, the Hurricanes will see an offense much like some they faced this season in ACC play.
The Cyclones are no pushover, and have the numbers to back that up. Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht tossed for over 3,200 yards this season and 22 touchdowns, most of which came at the hands of leading receiver Jayden Higgins, who caught for almost 1,200 yards on his own. Higgins has also pulled down a team-leading nine touchdowns thus far in the season, and will be looking to add to that total in the bowl game against the Hurricanes.
Those are just the surface level stats, though. Iowa State has some other weapons that could give the Miami defense some issues as well. For instance, their two headed backfield of Carson Hansen and Abu Sama III, which combined for over 1,200 yards on the ground this year. Samha is touted as one of the most talented underclassmen in the country, and is predicted by many to secure the starting role in the backfield next season.
Senior wideout Jaylin Noel serves as the team’s second leading receiver, and accounted for another 1,077 yards through the air this year for the cyclones. To put it bluntly, Iowa State has four to five guys on the field that can hurt a defense at all times, and that’s before discussing the defense.
The Cyclone defensive backfield has picked off 14 passes this year, good enough for a top-30 ranking in that category per game. The pass rush may not be what it was for ISU in 2023, but with Cam Ward under center anyway, this game looks to be one decided through the air.
Unless Miami running back Damien Martinez gets going, it looks to be a pair of high-flying offenses duking it out in the Pop Tarts Bowl this year.
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