On this week’s version of the On Iowa Politics Podcast: sine die for the legislature, extra gubernatorial endorsements, and one other day, one other college taking pictures
On Iowa Politics is a weekly information and evaluation podcast that goals to re-create the sorts of conversations that occur once you get political reporters from throughout Iowa collectively after the day’s deadlines have been met.
This week’s present is hosted by The Gazette’s James Lynch and options The Gazette’s Statehouse Bureau Chief Erin Murphy, Jared McNett of the Sioux Metropolis Journal, Sarah Watson of the Quad Metropolis Instances, and Gazette Opinion Editor Todd Dorman.
The present was produced by Stephen M. Colbert, and the music heard on the podcast is courtesy of Iowa bands Copperhead and The Olympics.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (KCRG) – Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 millions of people have fled the country, as fighting continues many of them have been unable to return home.
It’s been more than three years since Ukrainian student Iryna Hodun last saw her family in person. She was 16 years old when she originally came to the United States as part of an exchange program, just months later Russia’s invasion began.
Today she’s a a student at the University of Northern Iowa and studies interior design. She keeps up with her family and speaks with her mother every day on the phone, but she misses her home.
”It’s challenging, the reality has changed a lot,” Hodun said. “Whenever you grow up living a peaceful life, a lot of people take it for granted.”
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None of her family has been harmed. They live in the western part of Ukraine, away from most of the fighting; however, they have still had to take shelter multiple times for bombings. She’s found a great community of friends in Cedar Falls but she’s excited to one day being able to return to Ukraine.
“Specifically in Cedar Falls, people are very nice and very welcoming,” Hodun said. “I would be very excited to see my mom, my dad and my grandparents and I would just love to go back to my city.”
The last two months have brought developments with major talks around ending the war but with the U.S. and Russia excluding Ukraine from the bargaining table.
“If it’s the peace that we are going to agree to terms of the aggressor and imperialist who supports war crimes, land taking, it’s not peacemaking, that’s surrender,” Hodun said.
Ultimately she is staying optimistic about the days ahead.
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“I’m always hopeful that we will get what we deserve,” Hodun said. “The people who lost their families, who lost friends and, lost things from the war, they will get the justice they deserve because those people need it the most.”
The Iowa Hawkeyes have a few key players heading off into the 2025 NFL Draft. Headlined by running back Kaleb Johnson, fans will have more players to continue rooting on at the professional level.
Johnson saw his draft stock skyrocket throughout the 2024 season. He is now in a position where he should end up being a second round lock, if not ending up being selected late in the first round.
Plenty of teams around the league need help at running back. Fans are now anxious to see where he ends up going.
An intriguing name has been brought up as a potential suitor. That team is the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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Adam Hulse of SportsKeeda has named the Steelers as one of the top landing spots for Johnson in the draft.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently considering what to do with both of their running backs, Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, pending free agents,” Hulse wrote. “It’s unclear if they will bring either of them back, but it’s unlikely that they will re-sign both. They could pivot to the 2025 NFL draft to address the position, so Johnson makes a ton of sense for them.”
During the 2024 college football season, Johnson was the main driving force of the Hawkeyes’ offense. He carried the football 240 times for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns. Those numbers average out to an elite 6.4 yards per carry. He also chipped in 22 catches for 188 yards and two more scores.
Those numbers would look awfully good in the Pittsburgh backfield. Johnson could end up becoming a long-term workhorse for whoever ends up landing him.
No one knows who the Steelers’ quarterback will be in 2025. Justin Fields and Russell Wilson are two options, with Aaron Rodgers being a name that has been connected quite a bit to Pittsburgh as well.
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Whoever ends up being the quarterback, the presence of Johnson could help take a lot of pressure off of the passing game.
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HOUSTON — L.J. Cryer scored 28 points, Milos Uzan added 19 points and No. 5 Houston held on to beat No. 8 Iowa State 68-59 on Saturday.
Cryer and Uzan combined to shoot 18 of 27, including 8 of 12 on 3-pointers. Emanuel Sharp added 11 points for Houston (23-4, 15-1 Big 12), which won its sixth straight.
Milan Momcilovic scored all 16 of his points in the second half to lead a furious rally for the Cyclones (21-6, 11-5). Nate Heise added 12 points, and Tamin Lipsey scored 11.
Trailing by 16 midway through the second half, the Cyclones used an 18-3 run to cut the lead to 48-47 on a 3-pointer by Heise with eight minutes remaining. Houston responded with four straight points to push the lead back to five.
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The Cyclones struggled offensively at times without their two leading scorers — Keshon Gilbert was out with a muscle strain and Curtis Jones missed the game due to illness — but they did well defensively forcing Houston into a season-high 17 turnovers.
Houston shot 53% and went 10 of 17 from distance, while Iowa State shot 39%, including 8 of 20 behind the arc.
With the win, the Cougars inched closer to a second straight Big 12 regular-season title. They currently lead second-place Arizona by 2 ½ games with four games left. Houston is 30-4 in the Big 12 in its two seasons in the league.
Houston travels to No. 9 Texas Tech on Monday while Iowa State takes on Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Tuesday.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.