A day of organized Israel-Hamas war protests is planned in Iowa City Friday, beginning with a demonstration outside of City High School, followed by a three-day rally on the University of Iowa campus.

The demonstrations take place as student-led protests and encampments have swept across college campuses in America, with participants calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for their respective universities to stop investing endowment money in Israel, among other demands.

This week, protestors at a rally at Iowa State University on May 1 demanded the school cut financial ties with companies that profit from the Israel-Hamas war.

Organizers of the three-day demonstration on the Pentacrest in Iowa City said they are not planning an encampment, and that they are “standing in solidarity” with other student protests — which have been the sites of increasingly hostile confrontations between protestors and police resulting in hundreds of arrests and injuries — and to facilitate “education and cultural exchange.”

The demonstration, which is planned from noon to 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, is said to include musical performances, artist demonstrations, and areas for prayer and study.

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More: Iowa City student group prepares for weekend Israel-Hamas war rally on Pentacrest

A student group at Iowa City High School organized a strike from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Friday, May 3, encouraging students and community members to join them “in solidarity with students at Columbia University and across the country in standing up for the human rights of all Palestinians and denouncing the US-funded genocide.”

About a dozen participants were setting up the demonstration outside the high school before 9 a.m. The students plan to head to the Pentacrest at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

High school administration acknowledged a “student walkout” and that “students have the right to participate in organized protests,” in principal John Bacon’s email to the City High Community on Thursday, May 2.

In the email obtained by the Iowa City Press-Citizen, Bacon said that students who leave class to attend the demonstration will be marked with an unexcused absence unless parents excuse it by notifying the school.

Students who return to school after participating will have to check in at the main office.

More: Why are college students protesting across US for Palestinians? What about in Iowa?

Iowa City Press-Citizen reporters Jessica Rish and Julia Hansen contributed to this article.

Paris Barraza is a trending and general assignment reporter at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at pbarraza@registermedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

WESTLAKE — The rematch of last year’s nonselect Division II baseball state championship game went extra innings Thursday night as No. 20 Lakeshore beat No. 12 Iowa 7-5 in nine innings.

Game 2 of the best-of-3 quarterfinals series will be Saturday at 11 a.m. If necessary, Game 3 will start at 1:30 p.m.

The Titans broke a 2-2 tie with five runs in the top of the ninth inning. They quickly loaded the bases on a single, error and a walk. Mason Maldonado hit a RBI single to left field for the go-ahead run and an error on the same play allowed another run to cross the plate. Reese Sanzone gave Lakeshore plenty of breathing room with a two-run triple.

Iowa (20-12) attempted a two-out comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning and cut Lakeshore’s (17-19) lead to two on Tyler Dartez’s bases-clearing double, but Mason Gegenheimer induced a ground out to end the game.

Iowa forced extra innings when Reed Dupre hit a one-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, but the Yellow Jackets left a runner on second and third base.

The Yellow Jackets left a runner on third again in the bottom of the eighth inning. Cole Corbello led off by drawing a base on balls, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and ground out before Titan starting pitcher Owen Guth got a ground out to end the threat.

Guth pitched eight innings to earn the win before being relieved by Mason Gegenheimer in the ninth inning. He allowed two earned runs on three hits with four strikeouts and five walks.

Dupre took the loss in relief, allowing five runs, three earned, on three hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Corbello started on the mound for Iowa and allowed one earned run in seven innings with four strikeouts and four walks.

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – The governors of Nebraska and Iowa are asking for federal funds to help residents recover from last Friday’s devastating tornadoes.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds declared a state of emergency for Pottawattamie County hours after a deadly tornado struck Minden, Iowa, severely injuring Nicholas Ring, who died a day later. She later added eight other counties to the declaration: Clarke, Crawford, Harrison, Mills, Polk, Ringgold, Shelby, and Union counties.

On Thursday, Reynolds requested “expedited” relief, urging President Biden to declare a federal disaster for the area, which would release funding for affected counties from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as well as the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen said Saturday that President Biden had expressed support.

“The federal government is here to help us every single step of the way and we’ll being having declarations soon. So we’ll make sure that we’re helping everybody,” Pillen said then.

TORNADO RECOVERY

How to help — and find help

Here are ways you can assist those in Nebraska and Iowa who are recovering from tornadoes that hit on Friday, April 26.

Pillen issued Nebraska’s state of emergency proclamation for Douglas, Washington, and Lancaster counties on Sunday.

On Thursday, his office reported that had formally submitted an application to the president requesting “federal assistance for a wide range of emergency relief costs, including debris removal, emergency protective measures and individual assistance,” according to a news release.

“Preliminary cost assessments submitted to FEMA for public infrastructure damage in all counties is $11.5 million. Over $8 million of that is for damage assessed to public infrastructure in Douglas and Washington,” the release states.

Authorities have estimated that nearly 400 homes in Nebraska were impacted by Friday’s tornadoes, including about 160 that were completely destroyed. Pottawattamie County officials have reported that about 300 homes and businesses sustained some sort of damage; 48 homes in Minden were entirely destroyed.

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