Iowa

Iowa City School Board President discusses retirement of Hills Elementary

Published

2 years ago

March 1, 2024

Iowa City School Board President discusses retirement of Hills Elementary

HILLS, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa City’s School Board President told TV9 that closing its elementary school in Hills may help avoid other districtwide cuts.

The district is looking to make $7 million in cuts over the next 2-years. It blames the cuts on a lack of growth in student populations and the implementation of a statewide private school voucher program that went into effect this school year.

Hills Elementary School is in the town of Hills, about 15 miles south of Iowa City. It’s the district’s smallest school that has a majority enrollment of minority students but also costs the district the most money per student.

“My son is going to be sad because he made a lot of friends here,” said Elena Ramirez of Iowa City.

Ramirez drives her 5-year-old son the 15 minutes to Hill from Iowa City because she said it had helped him to better learn English.

“Now, he can speak more English and spell the alphabet,” she said.

Hills Elementary may be the smallest elementary in the district, but it’s also unique. Of the 140 students enrolled, 43% are Hispanic. That’s three times the district average.

“That’s why we like the school, they help him,” said Elena.

The needs of families like the Ramirez’s aren’t lost to School Board President Ruthina Malone.

“It’s not a decision that any board member signs up to make, to close down a school,” said Malone.

Malone said each student has had access to the districtwide “Student Family Advocates” which offers transportation support, mental health resources, school supplies, and more. She said if they close Hills Elementary, those students will receive the same level of care at whatever elementary they attend.

“If they decide that if Hills gets closed and they want to stay with ICCSD and go to the new home school, transportation will be provided to get them there,” she said.

Malone said she was still undecided about the fate of this school. Fellow board members are already considering millions of dollars in cuts that impact teacher incentives, purchases, an administrative position, and canceling a professional learning day. She said keeping Hills open could leave lasting impacts by potentially cutting 43 teacher positions districtwide.

“We already see some large class sizes throughout our buildings, we are going to see even larger class sizes throughout our buildings if we have to let go,” said Malone.

Malone said there were still a lot of questions they were working through if they were to close Hills Elementary: what the student-to-teacher ratio would be, what students would open enroll into other schools, and what school would the students attend, but Ramirez hoped her son would continue to grow.

“If I have to change his school, maybe he can make more friends,” said Ramirez.

The board will vote on March 26th.

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Iowa

Iowa Supreme Court upholds $4.25 million wrongful death verdict against Manchester police

Published

5 hours ago

November 25, 2025

Press Room

Iowa Supreme Court upholds .25 million wrongful death verdict against Manchester police

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a $4.25 million wrongful death verdict against the city of Manchester in the death of 31-year-old Gus Mormann, who died following a police chase in December 2020.

Mormann was killed after Lt. James Wessels of the Manchester Police Department continued a high-speed chase that other agencies had discontinued. The chase ended when Wessels crashed into Mormann’s motorcycle, severely injuring him. Mormann died about a month later from his injuries.

The case was never initially investigated until Mormann’s family took matters into their own hands, according to their attorney, Dave O’Brien.

“This case, for example, was never even investigated. No one would have ever heard of it if this family hadn’t sat down and said We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” O’Brien said.

Mormann’s mother, Sandra, described her son as someone who “had a lot of friends, everybody just loved him.” She said he was known as a character who always made people laugh and was an avid outdoorsman. Mormann lived with schizophrenia and had previous encounters with Manchester police.

On December 10, 2020, Mormann was riding his motorcycle despite having a suspended license when a police chase began. Eight law enforcement officers from the state patrol, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, and the Manchester Police were involved as Mormann travelled at 100 mph.

The State Patrol and County Sheriff’s Office discontinued the chase, but Wessels continued pursuing Mormann. O’Brien said the police officer bumped Mormann’s motorcycle twice, causing him to crash.

Initially, Mormann’s parents were only told their son had gone into a ditch and was thrown from his motorcycle.

A jury found the police were reckless and disregarded Mormann’s rights, awarding the family $4.25 million. The Iowa Supreme Court upheld that verdict last week.

O’Brien said cases like this don’t happen often, but when they do, they set a precedent.

“We honour officers in Iowa, but if they are committing reckless, egregious, wrongful conduct, we’re going to hold them accountable,” O’Brien said.

The attorney noted this outcome would have been impossible without Mormann’s parents pushing for answers. Sandra Mormann said the family continues to grieve.

“Now we just have a broken heart, empty soul,” she said.

O’Brien said the city still has avenues to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but he believes that is unlikely to happen.

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Iowa

25 burning questions we have entering the 2025-26 Iowa high school boys basketball season

Published

23 hours ago

November 24, 2025

Press Room

25 burning questions we have entering the 2025-26 Iowa high school boys basketball season

The Iowa high school boys basketball season is almost here.

The Des Moines Register came up with 25 questions we’re asking about the upcoming IHSAA season, which begins on Dec. 1. Most questions focus on Des Moines-area teams, but our staff was also curious about teams and players all around the state.

The answers to these questions will be revealed over the next few months.

25 questions entering the 2025-26 Iowa high school boys basketball season

What does back-to-back-to-back state champion Valley look like under a new head coach and without players like Jayden McGregory, Kiki Deng, Trevin Jirak and Zay Robinson?
With three of its five starters back – including Division I-bound big men Colin Rice and Landon Davis – is last season’s runner-up Waukee Northwest the favorite in Class 5A?
Ames graduated most of its starting lineup from last year’s 21-win campaign. How many wins can the Little Cyclones pull off this season?
Who will fill the Anthony Galvin-sized gap in Cedar Falls’ lineup?
Cael LaFrentz scored 400 points as a sophomore and 701 as a junior. Can he break the 800-point mark in his final season of high school basketball?
Is Des Moines Roosevelt the top team in the DMPS?
Only one team across the state finished last season with an undefeated record. Can any programs do that this year?
Players like Jevyn Severson (Madrid) and Pete Craig (Waukee) made an instant impact in their freshman year. Who will be the top first-year high school player in the state this season?
Does Cedar Rapids Kennedy bring back enough firepower to return to the Casey’s Center for the fifth-straight season?
Can Hudson Lorensen, Hudson Shull and Trey Bryte lead ADM back to the state tournament – and past the semifinals?
Who will emerge as the best big man in Iowa?
Will junior Lincoln Norris (Knoxville) sink over 100 3-pointers for the second-straight season?
Can MOC-Floyd Valley make another surprising run in the state tournament, despite graduating three starters from last year’s championship-winning lineup?
Dallas Center-Grimes graduated its leading scorer and leading assist-getter. Who will take over for Kyle Cason and Mateo Dzolota?
Only one Iowa high school boys basketball player has ever scored over 1,000 points in a single season: Wapsie Valley’s Brooks McKowen in 2003. Are there any players capable of hitting that mark this year?
Madrid capped an undefeated season with the Class 1A state title. After graduating three starting seniors – Brody Buck, Fabian Ortiz-Alaniz and Toryn Severson – can the Tigers make it back to the tournament?
Will Des Moines Christian make it to the state tournament after coming up short last season?
Jaxon Clark opted to return to Keokuk instead of playing for Montverde Academy. Will he lead the state in rebounds?
Iowa City Liberty relied on a lot of young players last year. Can Jerimiah Washpun – who scored 437 points – and his teammates help the Lightning to a winning record?
Dual-sport recruit Evan Jacobson opted to play his final season of high school basketball instead of graduating early. How far can he take Waukee after leading the Warriors in points and rebounds last year?
Of the top 10 scorers in Class 5A from last season, seven graduated. Will Rio Aguirre (Ankeny), Washpun (Iowa City Liberty), Tevin Schultz (Dubuque Senior) or someone else emerge as the top scorer in Iowa’s largest class?
What does Linn-Mar look like without Davis Kern on the court?
It’s been a couple of years since Pryce Sandfort (Waukee Northwest) scored over 600 points in a single season. Will any player in Class 5A break the 600-point mark?
West Lyon came up short last season, losing to Western Christian in the state title game. Can Jorden Meyer, Jared Ciesielski and Ben Meyer lead the Wildcats back to the state tournament?
Which program – across all four classes – has the best shot of winning its first-ever state championship?

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

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Iowa

Iowa State basketball Players Era Festival tourney schedule, bracket

Published

2 days ago

November 23, 2025

Press Room

Iowa State basketball Players Era Festival tourney schedule, bracket

Iowa State basketball will compete in the loaded Players Era Festival this week in Las Vegas.

The Nov. 24-27 tournament calls itself “The biggest college basketball event outside of March.”

Iowa State begins play Monday, Nov. 24 against St. John’s in a 3:30 p.m. CT contest.

The Cyclones then will play Creighton on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. CT.

Eugene Rapay’s Cyclone men’s basketball preview

T.J. Otzelberger’s team will play a third game either Wednesday, Nov. 26 or Thursday, Nov. 27. Opponent and time are contingent upon the results of Iowa State’s first two games.

Here’s a closer look at the tournament: