(via Iowa News Service) – New research released by AARP Iowa shows how important Social Security benefits are to people who receive them – and the numbers reveal women are far more likely to list those benefits as critical. About 700,000 Iowans receive Social Security benefits, and 55% are women. AARP Iowa State Director Brad Anderson said he dug into the data, to find out why women see this as an important issue in their lives – in far greater numbers than men.  He said it’s because women tend to have far smaller Social Security checks – due to factors like receiving lower wages than men, and taking on unpaid family care-giving responsibilities during their lives.

“In addition to that, women have fewer resources of retirement income than men,” said Anderson. “And so, what that means is, men can rely more on stocks and bonds and pensions – whereas women really rely more heavily on Social Security.” Anderson and other advocates are calling on Congress to address the dwindling Social Security Trust Fund, which could be forced to cut benefits by 2035 unless Congress acts to address the funding shortfall.

In addition to earning less and qualifying for fewer benefits, women also typically live longer than men – which, Anderson says, means they have to stretch their Social Security income even further. “When you put it all together,” said Anderson, “it makes a lot of sense that women find Social Security and the strength of Social Security an extremely important issue, when it comes to the polls that we’ve seen.”

AARP Iowa released its findings on the heels of a national report on the financial health of Medicare and Social Security.

CLIVE, Iowa (KCAU) — A Sac City man has won half a million dollars from a scratch game. According to the Iowa Lottery, Michael Johnson of Sac City has won $500,000 from the “$500,000 Ca$H” scratch game. The prize was the 9th top prize of this game.

The ticket was purchased at the Food Pride on 16th Street in Sac City. On Tuesday, he claimed his ticket in Clive, Iowa.

SPENCER, Iowa (KCAU) — Two boys were rescued Thursday after they got in the Little Sioux River in Spencer, authorities said. ​According to a release from the Spencer Police Department, officers and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office responded to a disturbance in the 600 block of 4th Street SE in Spencer Thursday around 5 p.m.

Authorities arrived to the scene to find two 12-year-old boys calling for help while clinging to a utility pole in the Little Sioux River. Spencer High School tennis coach and social studies teacher Evan Scheck heard the cries for help, entered the river and swam out to the children. Scheck was able to get one of the children to the shore without assistance. Authorities threw a rope with a floatation rescue disk to Scheck who then was able to get it to the second child. The child and Scheck were then pulled to shore by authorities.

A ​Spencer ambulance was called to the scene for precautionary measures but both boys escaped without injury, the release said. The police said the two boys on bicycles tried to cross a flooded walking trail near the footbridge when the river current swept them downstream.

BUENA VISTA COUNTY, IA (KTIV) – The  small plane crashed onto a homeowner’s land near Linn Grove, Iowa on Saturday afternoon (May 11th). The National Transportation Safety Board says it is investigating the crash of a Van’s RV-9 airplane.

The Board says preliminary information indicates the small plane was returning from a local personal flight and made contact with a nearby grass area while attempting to land at a private airport. The aircraft came to a rest inverted in a nearby field. The pilot was transported to a local hospital. Their condition was not immediately known.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Special Olympic Summer Games will get underway in Ames this week. Special Olympics spokesperson, Megan Filipi says the state summer games is their largest state competition of the whole year.

She says the event gets started with the torch run.

The Special Olympic Games is an event for those with intellectual disabilities.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report one person suffered suspected minor (Non-incapacitating) injuries, following a collision that occurred at around 7:10-p.m. Sunday, at Prairie and Oak Streets, in Creston. Authorities say a 2014 Dodge Dart driven by 48-year-old Phillip Ronald Williams, of Creston, stopped at the posted stop sign for the intersection and proceeded south from the intersection. A 2016 Nissan Altima driven by 59-year-old Lisa Marie Monger, of Creston, was traveling east on Prairie Street without a stop sign, and had the right-of-way.

Her car struck the Dodge, causing an estimated $14,000 damage altogether. The airbags on both vehicles deployed upon impact. Monger suffered unknown/possible injuries, but was not transported to the hospital. Both drivers were wearing seat belts.

Police say Williams claimed not to see the Nissan before proceeding into the intersection, failing to yield the right-of-way. No citations were issued.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak report the arrest on Sunday afternoon, of 48-year-old Markus Eugene Johnson, from Red Oak. Johnson was arrested in the 300 block of 4th Avenue, and charged with Harassment in the 2nd Degree (Threatening bodily injury), a Serious Misdemeanor. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.