Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Spanish teacher at a Des Moines middle school has been named the 2015 Iowa Teacher of the Year. Governor Terry Branstad announced Friday that the award would go to Clemencia Spizzirri, who teaches at Merrill Middle School. In a statement, Branstad called her a “role model to students and colleagues.” The 38-year-old Spizzirri has taught at Merrill Middle School for five years.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — A Fort Madison man facing a first-degree murder change in the death of a Burlington man has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. The Hawk Eye newspaper reports 42-year-old Lenard Polhans entered the guilty plea Friday to voluntary manslaughter in Des Moines County District Court. He remains jailed without bond as he awaits sentencing.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Police in central Iowa have arrested and charged a mother and her teenage daughter with assault after they say the pair fought with other students. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports that the 38-year-old Fort Dodge woman and her 16-year-old daughter fought with two other students inside Fort Dodge Senior High School Thursday morning.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — University of Iowa officials have removed a public art work meant to denounce racism after students were angered by its image of a Ku Klux Klan robe. Artist Serhat Tanyolacar says he displayed the 7-foot-tall robe on campus Friday to join with protesters upset over the shooting of Michael Brown.