(Radio Iowa) – The Grandview Park bandshell is the latest Sioux City landmark defaced by vandals and a suspect was arrested on the scene. The damage was discovered early Thursday morning. Graffiti was spray-painted in the bandshell and along the front and sides of it. Kelly Bach (BOCK), of the city parks department, says repairs won’t be cheap. “Bandshell paint is a special paint that’s like a two-part epoxy,” Bach says. “Because of the nature of the construction, it’s over concrete so you can’t just use regular latex paint. Also, the removal is a little more difficult because of that paint.” 

Bach says it won’t be a quick fix, either, as another nearby area of Grandview Park was also damaged. “It may be a little longer process than normal but we will get that removed as quickly as we can,” he says. “We also have some spots on the concrete within the Rose Garden and that will have to be high-pressure washed with some heat to it to get that removed.”

Bach’s reaction to the damage was like most people’s would be as he surveyed what the vandals had done. “It’s disappointing but we’ll move on,” he says. “We’ll take care of what we need to do.” He says it’s too early for a total estimate on what the repairs will cost. Police report officers found a man hiding in the park who matched the description of a witness as one of the vandals. Officers arrested 23-year-old Esteven A. Avila of Sioux City, for criminal mischief and possession of a controlled substance.

Earlier this week, vandals painted racist graffiti on a building leading to the War Eagle Monument, an area that’s considered sacred in the Native American community as War Eagle and several members of his family are buried there.

A traffic stop in Red Oak, Thursday evening, resulted in the arrest of 35-year old Samantha Jolene Zimbelman, from Red Oak. She was taken into custody for Driving While License Suspended, a simple misdemeanor. Zimbelman was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $566 bond.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a man arrested in connection with an incident that occurred in August 2019, now faces additional charges. 49-year old Nobel Conn, of Villisca, was arrested Tuesday on charges that include four Felony counts of Forgery. Conn was being held in the Montgomery County Jail

(Radio Iowa) — A massive thunderstorm in Africa’s Sahara Desert created an enormous dust cloud thousands of feet high and the plume that’s made a six-thousand mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean may impact Iowa this weekend. State climatologist Justin Glisan says it’s an exceptionally rare event.

This satellite photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, shows a could of dust coming from the Sahara desert arriving to the Caribbean Monday, June 22, 2020. The massive cloud of dust is blanketing the Caribbean as it heads to the U.S. with a size and concentration level that meteorologists say hasn’t been seen in roughly half a century. (NOAA via AP)

“They’re calling it the Godzilla plume because we haven’t seen a dust plume from West Africa stay together in the spatial scale that it is in over 50-to-60 years,” Glisan says. “It’s a unique phenomena that we’re seeing.” People who have compromised immune systems, especially those who may have COVID-19, are warned to stay indoors as much as possible for the next several days.

“We should see some affect of the plume in basically air quality, more particulate in the air,” Glisan says. “People with breathing problems will see increased aerosols near the surface and that will produce breathing problems.” Depending on how the jet stream moves the dust across the country and into the Midwest, photographers in Iowa may have a golden opportunity to shoot some gorgeous pictures thanks to the plume, especially at dawn and dusk.

“Because you have that particulate in the air, it acts to scatter sunlight towards the prettier colors of the spectrum, red, pink, purple,” he says, “so we should see very lovely sunrises and sunsets.” Car washes in Iowa could be busier next week, as Glisan says we may see a thicker coating of dust on our vehicles than usual, especially if they’re not in a garage. Outdoor plants, too, will get dusty, although farmers likely won’t need to be worried about their crops.

“We won’t see major affects on agriculture, but, if you think about how you have dust in the atmosphere, that limits the amount of sunlight that gets to the surface and to the leaf area of corn and soybeans,” Glisan says. “It might limit photosynthesis but being a short-lived event, I don’t think it will have a major impact on things.”

The skies may not appear as blue for the next several days either, he says, as the dust makes the air far above us whiter, much like when there’s a big forest fire in Canada and the smoke is carried here on the wind.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

GRIMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa school officials have released guidelines that allow schools to reopen to normal activities as of July 1 without health checks before entering the building, no required face coverings and no required social distancing. A spokeswoman for the Iowa State Education Association, the state’s teacher’s union, says the plan doesn’t comply with CDC guidelines for public places and is an “obscene” gamble on the health of students, teachers and other school employees. An education department spokeswoman says the guidance was created with the Iowa Department of Public Health and schools may require their own stricter measures after consulting with a lawyer and local public health officials.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The families of three workers who died after contracting coronavirus in an Iowa meat plant outbreak are suing Tyson Foods and its top executives, saying the company knowingly put employees at risk and lied to keep them on the job.The lawsuit alleges that Tyson officials were aware the virus was spreading at the Waterloo pork processing plant by late March or early April but kept that information from employees and the public.As the outbreak grew, the lawsuit alleges the company failed to implement safety measures, allowed some sick employees to remain on the production line, and falsely assured workers and the public that the plant was safe.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two lawmakers said Thursday that Iowa’s coronavirus testing program mishandled their samples when they tried to get tested after the recent legislative session concluded.Sen. Zach Wahls and Rep. Dave Jacoby, both Coralville Democrats, said that they traveled separately to Cedar Rapids to get tested through TestIowa, the $26 million program touted by Gov. Kim Reynolds.Both wanted to make sure they were virus-free after interacting with colleagues and the public during the session.Both lawmakers’ samples were taken on different days last week. Each said they were informed several days later that their samples were “damaged” or “unusable” and therefore they had to be retested.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two high school baseball games scheduled for Thursday at Principal Park in Des Moines were not held after officials said a ballpark staff member tested positive for coronavirus. Officials with the park, which is home to the Triple-A minor league Iowa Cubs, say all staff at the ballpark will now undergo testing for COVID-19. Ankeny Christian and Orient Macksburg, as well as Indianola and Gilbert, had been scheduled to play at the park. When it resumed high school baseball games earlier this month, Iowa became the first state in the nation to bring back high school athletics in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Fifty-eight cats were rescued from an Iowa home, but rescuers was unable to save one other dehydrated cat who died shortly after they arrived. The Des Moines Register reports the animals rescued by the Animal Rescue League of Iowa from a home in Mitchell County ranged in age from kittens to adult cats.

The group says they found urine and feces all over the home. All the cats in the home had fleas and mites, and some had respiratory infections and ringworm.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two lawmakers said Thursday that Iowa’s coronavirus testing program mishandled their samples when they tried to get tested after the recent legislative session concluded.Sen. Zach Wahls and Rep. Dave Jacoby, both Coralville Democrats, said that they traveled separately to Cedar Rapids to get tested through TestIowa, the $26 million program touted by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Both wanted to make sure they were virus-free after interacting with colleagues and the public during the session.Both lawmakers’ samples were taken on different days last week. Each said they were informed several days later that their samples were “damaged” or “unusable” and therefore they had to be retested.

GRIMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa school officials have released guidelines that allow schools to reopen to normal activities as of July 1 without health checks before entering the building, no required face coverings and no required social distancing. A spokeswoman for the Iowa State Education Association, the state’s teacher’s union, says the plan doesn’t comply with CDC guidelines for public places and is an “obscene” gamble on the health of students, teachers and other school employees.

An education department spokeswoman says the guidance was created with the Iowa Department of Public Health and schools may require their own stricter measures after consulting with a lawyer and local public health officials.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The families of three workers who died after contracting coronavirus in an Iowa meat plant outbreak are suing Tyson Foods and its top executives, saying the company knowingly put employees at risk and lied to keep them on the job.The lawsuit alleges that Tyson officials were aware the virus was spreading at the Waterloo pork processing plant by late March or early April but kept that information from employees and the public.

As the outbreak grew, the lawsuit alleges the company failed to implement safety measures, allowed some sick employees to remain on the production line, and falsely assured workers and the public that the plant was safe.

A woman from Adams County escaped injury when the car she was driving went out of control and rolled into a Union County ditch, Thursday (today). The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports 27-year old Mariah Kay Bernita Swanson, of Corning, was driving a 2008 Dodge Avenger eastbound on 170th Street at around 2:15-p.m., when the accident occurred. Her car rolled into the south ditch and landed on its top.

The vehicle sustained $5,000 damage and was declared a total loss. No charges or citations were issued.