IOWA (IRN) – Quarantine recommendations in Iowa are being changed and are veering away from CDC guidelines. Governor Kim Reynolds announced the changes are for non-healthcare and non-residential settings only. So the changes for schools, child care, and business settings are that close contacts of a person who tests positive for COVID-19 will no longer need to quarantine for 14 days “if a face covering was worn consistently and correctly by the positive case and close contacts.” The person who tested positive will still need to isolate. These changes only apply if masks were worn properly by both the person who tests positive and the people in close contact.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – An explosion caused by a gas leak in Dubuque was the source of a large fire near Loras College in Dubuque. A house was destroyed in the explosion, but nobody who lived there was injured. One firefighter was hurt, though the extent of their injury was not released. The explosion shook nearby structures.

MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – A Mason City woman is facing felony drug charges after a traffic stop resulted in a deputy finding a drug pipe sticking out of a baby’s sock. Jami Garcia was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped after the driver was visiting someone at the Cerro Gordo County jail.

DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Board of Education has voted to temporarily appoint a new superintendent and chief financial officer in the Davenport Community School District. The state and the district have been working together for the last three years to address several issues including how minority students are disciplined, special education services and school safety concerns. The agency says not enough progress was being made.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s eighth-largest city is asking its citizens to skip an annual Halloween tradition due to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. The city of Waterloo, citing guidance issued by CDC, announced Monday that its residents should not participate in door-to-door trick-or-treating in 2020. The federal agency considers that activity, along with parking lot-based “trunk-or-treat” gatherings, indoor costume parties, haunted houses, and hayrides, as high risk for spreading COVID-19.