Gazette Daily News Podcast, September 7

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More than 90 percent of the 137 COVID-19 patients in Iowa’s intensive care units are not vaccinated against the virus, according to the latest numbers from the Iowa Department of Public Health. The numbers as of Sunday, according to Iowa’s COVID-19 website and published there on Monday, showed 539 total COVID patients in hospitals, with more than 82 percent of those unvaccinated. Statewide, nearly 67% of Iowans 12 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine. The state is expected to provide updated COVID data on Wednesday.

A hot, dry summer — particularly in northern Iowa — has created favorable conditions for more harmful algae blooms in Iowa lakes. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reported 24 swim advisories at state park beaches this summer because of toxins generated by harmful algae called microcystins. That is double the 12 microcystin advisories in 2020. If ingested, they can cause gastroenteritis, allergic responses and potentially-fatal liver damage.

Overall, the Iowa DNR reported 106 swim advisories at 39 state park beaches after conducting weekly tests from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. That’s down from 118 advisories in the summer of 2020. The bulk — 88 — of this year’s warnings were for E. coli, bacteria that indicates the presence of feces in the water. A handful of beaches had weeks with advisories for both E. coli and microcystin.

Cedar Rapids Willie Ray Fairley is taking Willie Ray’s Q Shack and a crew of volunteers to Louisiana to help victims of Hurricane Ida. The group left Monday morning, to venture to southern Louisiana, where Hurricane Ida made landfall Aug. 29 and left hundreds of thousands of residents without power in its wake.

Cedar Rapids residents know Fairley for jumping to action to feed the community after the August 2020 derecho knocked down thousands of trees and caused widespread power outages. He also traveled to Texas earlier this year to help those hit by winter storms that plunged much of the state into below-freezing temperatures and overwhelmed its energy infrastructure.

Fairley said he and the crew plan to stay in Louisiana through Sept. 12 and return to Cedar Rapids early next week.

ESPN’s College GameDay will be in Ames on Saturday when No. 7 Iowa State and No. 17 Iowa face off. The CyHawk matchup kicks off at 3:30 p.m. on ABC. It’s the first time the Cyclones and Hawkeyes will meet as ranked opponents.

Tuesday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 84. It will be breezy, with winds 10 to 20 mph. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Tuesday night will be clear and still breezy, with a low around 52.