DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Dubuque residents who depend on a program that delivers hot meals to their home have had to switch to frozen dinners because of a dispute over mileage reimbursement that prompted some volunteers to quit the program. The Telegraph Herald reports that the Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging informed residents participating in the Mobile Meals program of the frozen meals in a letter last week. The agency says it contracted its program through a hospital until July 1st.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Mason City man accused of using a hammer to beat his dog has pleaded not guilty to animal torture. The Globe Gazette reports that a Cerro Gordo County jury trial has been set for September 22nd for 63-year-old George Harrington.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former lottery security chief testifying at his ex-coworker’s fraud trial over a Hot Lotto winning ticket says the top threat to any lottery’s integrity can be its own employees. The Des Moines Register reports Ed Stefan, a former chief security officer for the Urbandale-based Multi-State Lottery Association, says expert information technology employees with ill intentions can be dangerous. Stefan spoke Wednesday during the trial of 52-year-old Eddie Tipton, who faces two counts of fraud.

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (AP) — A Rock Island County judge is weighing the case of an Illinois man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend whose body was found in a Minnesota field. The Moline Dispatch reports that Judge F. Michael Meersman’s verdict in Tim McVay’s bench trial will come either Friday afternoon or Monday morning.