*Music icon Bob Dylan will have a concert in Sioux City on April 2, as he expands the tour he is carrying out in the Upper Midwest.
The concert in Sioux City will be held at the Orpheum Theatre, which holds about 2,600 people, and most of the newly added concerts will be in similar-sized venues.
Dylan was an early inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has been much discussed lately after the release of the biopic film “A Complete Unknown, which chronicles his music career launch from 1961 onward.
In addition to playing at Mankato, Minnesota, the extra concerts will be in Sioux City, Omaha on April 1, and Davenport on April 8. Tickets go on sale on February 7.
*Additionally, a special investigation by a state oversight agency has found an Iowa Workforce Development official embezzled more than $430,000 over several years.
Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand announced his review of the actions by a job training program leader, Jodi Spargur-Tate, saying the money was embezzled over seven years.
Sand said most of the embezzled money went to Spargur-Tate, and was used by her family members for such things as rent, utilities, and cell phone service.
A release from Iowa Workforce Development said that office was first notified of the potentially fraudulent activity in June 2022. IWD leaders also
Sought to cooperate with the auditor’s office to fully discover the extent and nature of the fraudulent activity, and also reported the case to a federal agency.
That Iowa Workforce Development release also said, “it is simply inaccurate to say that IWD took no action to improve its monitoring and oversight responsibilities,” as Sand had said in a press conference last week.
*In other news, a large municipal project is being pursued in Arnolds Park in Dickinson County, Iowa, as a new building to house city offices, the library, and police and fire personnel is being planned.
In a meeting last week, the Arnolds Park City Council passed a measure to borrow up to $15 million via bonding to proceed with the project, as first reported by Explore Okoboji News.
Council members say the current building adjacent to Highway 71 is too small, and remodeling that building isn’t a good option.
Arnolds Park City Clerk Linda Nase on Monday told Siouxland Public Media the work could begin by late summer 2025, and be done within 2027. The work will be phased, with the fire and police buildings to the east of current city hall, which will eventually be demolished and a new one placed on the same site.
The council intends to use hotel/motel tax revenues and the growth in property taxes that comes from rising values rather than increasing the tax levy.
*Additionally, Caitlin Clark returned to the University of Iowa Sunday for her jersey retirement ceremony. No Hawkeyes basketball player will wear the number 22 again.
Last year after finishing her Iowa career, Clark was named TIME Magazine’s 2024 Athlete of the Year and starred in the WNBA.
Following an Iowa victory against the USC Trojans, the ceremony looked back on Clark’s college basketball career. It highlighted her achievements as a back-to-back National Player of the Year and her role in helping the team reach two national championship games.
Clark thanked her teammates, coaches and family for her success.
“It's just fun for me to come back and like, say thank you to everybody that poured so much into me and allowed me to be great, whether that’s, you know, the social media people, whether that’s the marketing team, whoever it is that made me look really good at times,” Clark said.
Clark will return to Iowa City on May 4, when the Indiana Fever will play a preseason game against the Brazilian National Team.
