Education

A sale for the assets of Iowa City’s 150-year-old Mercy Hospital was underway in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon — although details about bidders and results weren’t immediately made public.

Proactive safety measures — including students not being allowed to take backpacks, bags or purses to school unless they are clear, see-through bags — will remain in place through Friday as the investigation continues.

Mercy Iowa City has received at least one bid to compete with the University of Iowa’s $20 million offer to purchase substantially all its assets as part of the hospital’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy — triggering an auction on Wednesday morning in Chicago.

Initiative to drive interest in careers in architecture, construction and engineering

No backpacks, bags or purses will be allowed in schools Tuesday, and only designated doors can be used for entering, exiting.

Parental rights and transgender-affirming policies have become a rallying cry with conservatives and among those vying for the Republican presidential nomination in the early nominating state of Iowa. And the Linn-Mar Community School District once again found itself at the forefront of the national gender identity debate.

District says “all campus closure” is for the safety of students and staff.

The races technically are nonpartisan, but they’ve become increasingly partisan in recent years as disagreements over school curriculum, transgender students and COVID-19 measures have galvanized education politics at the state and local level.