IOWA (IRN) – A high school teacher in Iowa has been placed on leave for assigning students to “pretend you are a black slave.” The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the assignment for an online freshman class at Liberty High School in Iowa City asked students to write four sentences about what they would do if they were a slave who was freed.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – More than half of Iowa’s COVID-19 deaths are connected with long-term care facilities, and recent federal guidelines are calling for more routine testing to be done at those facilities. Governor Kim Reynolds’ office says Iowa won’t be able to comply due to lack of resources.

BENTON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The Benton Community School District has lost two students in four days. On Sunday, 13-year-old Mahailah Cruzen was killed in an ATV accident. The driver of the ATV, a 14-year-old, is still in the hospital. On Wednesday, 16-year-old Mackenzie Kvam was killed in a collision with a school bus. Investigators say the van she was riding in dropped off the shoulder and over-corrected, hitting the bus head on. Five students on the bus suffered minor injuries.

IOWA (IRN) – There were 51 people killed in crashes on Iowa roads in the month of August, tied for the highest single-month total in the last decade. So far this year there have been 228 traffic fatalities in the state of Iowa.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The University of Iowa says the Big Ten’s move to have a fall football season will not impact its decision to eliminate four sports programs. Athletic Director Gary Barta announced last month the elimination of men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis and men’s gymnastics. He said the cuts were “100% driven by” the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the postponement of football for safety reasons and tens of millions in lost revenue.