Gazette Daily News Briefing, May 23
This Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, May 23.
It'll be another warm, sunny day on Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny, with a high near 84 degrees. On Tuesday night it will be clear, with a low of around 59 degrees.
A Cedar Rapids man drowned Saturday in West Okoboji Lake despite attempts to rescue him from the chilly waters, according to police and family.
Alexander Glover, 21, was visiting the Spirit Lake area with his girlfriend’s family, his mother, Sondra Williams, told the Gazette. While boating on the lake, he had jumped out of the boat to swim for a while. The boat drifted away and he attempted to swim back, but he got tired and slipped under the water, according to a news release from the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office.
The temperature in the lake at the time was 57 degrees, which the National Center for Cold Water Safety classifies as “very dangerous/immediately life-threatening“ for swimmers. The water was about 13 feet deep where Glover went under.
The family tried to throw Glover a rope, but he wasn’t able to reach it. Someone called 911 at 1:26 p.m. to report that Glover was drowning. A kayaker, Charles Anderegg, dove from his kayak and brought Glover to the surface, where members of the family Glover was with started giving him CPR until the Arnolds Park/Okoboji Fire and Rescue Team arrived by boat.
The team transported Glover to shore. He was taken to the Lakes Regional Healthcare Emergency Room, where he died.
Glover had a 1-year-old daughter, and his girlfriend is pregnant with Glover’s second child. He was also a devoted uncle to his niece.
The family started a GoFundMe hoping to raise $15,000 to help transport Glover home and to pay for a funeral service. As of Monday afternoon, that goal had been met and exceeded by almost $500.
Swimming is off limits — at least for now --- at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area in Iowa City because of high bacteria levels in the lake.
Iowa City’s regular water tests of Sand Lake, the centerpiece of Trueblood Park, showed E. coli levels above the safe standard for swimming, according to a news release Monday.
It’s the second year in a row bacteria has closed the lake for swimming. In 2022, the no-swim advisory lasted for weeks starting in mid-June. Staff at that time said they did not remember another summer in which the lake’s bacteria count triggered a warning.
Sand Lake is a popular spot for kayak and paddleboard rental, which may continue at the user’s discretion.
