Swimming banned at Beed’s Lake

The state is banning swimming at Beed’s Lake State Park Beach in Hampton due to high bacteria levels. It’s the second lake in northeast Iowa to have warning signs posted this month for that reason. Swimming is also prohibited at Backbone State Park Beach in Delaware County.Steve Pennington is interim administrator of the Iowa D-N-R’s Parks, Recreation and Preserves division. He says no illnesses are reported due to the high bacteria levels and fishing is still permitted at Beed’s Lake. Pennington says the state is only taking these steps as a precaution.The D-N-R is now testing all state park beaches for bacteria levels every week. The results are posted on the department’s Internet website at “www.state.ia.us/dnr/beach2000.htm”.