IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – In a short-notice back-to-school news conference Monday, University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson said the upcoming academic year’s COVID-19 guidance “isn’t a political issue, it’s a health issue,” while maintaining that masks and vaccines will be strongly encouraged. The regents could legally require masks at the three universities, and UI is the only school in the Big 10 without a mask requirement. State law prohibits the regents from requiring people on campus to show proof of vaccines.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A boy who went missing in a central Iowa state park lake has died. Steven Street, 9, of Melbourne, died in a Des Moines hospital after he was rescued from a lake in Rock Creek State Park in Jasper County on Saturday.

CRESCO, IA (IRN) – A man accused of attacking a woman in her vehicle is pleading not guilty.
Tyler Kenneth Johnson, 40 of Cresco, was arrested in July and charged with assault, second-degree harassment, and control of a firearm by a felon. A little before midnight on July 15 in Cresco, Johnson allegedly used his vehicle to ram a woman’s vehicle and then struck her driver’s side window multiple times with his cell phone. There was a no-contact order between the two at the time

DYERSVILLE, IA (IRN) – The Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds will headline the 2022 Field of Dreams baseball game. The White Sox and Yankees played the first-ever MLB in Iowa last week. It was the most-watched regular-season game in 16 years. The Cubs will take on the Reds on Aug. 11, 2022.

AMES, IA (IRN) – Season ticket sales for this year’s Iowa State football season broke records.
Sales surpassed 48,000 for the first time ever and could surpass 49,000 before the season-opener in September. The Cyclones are ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll. Single-game ticket sales begin Wednesday.