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Iowa early News Headlines: Saturday, July 20, 2019

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July 20th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press …

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa State University graduate student accused of sex crimes during his time at the school has been indicted on federal child pornography charges. Federal prosecutors say 33-year-old Jona Shitaleni Paulus, of Ames, was charged Thursday by a grand jury with one count of receiving and one count of possessing child pornography. The Des Moines Register says Paulus was taken into federal custody Thursday, one day after he was sentenced to 90 days in jail related to his guilty plea in a state case.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — The parents of an underweight baby girl who tested positive for cocaine have been sentenced to probation. The Des Moines Register reports that 20-year-old Stazia Kirk and 21-year-old Zak Herman, both of Pella, were sentenced Thursday. . The pleaded guilty in May to felony neglect of a dependent person. Court documents say their 3-month-old baby, Charlotte, weighed less than her birth weight when she was taken to a hospital in December.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s 14-year-old voter registration system will live to see another presidential election. The Iowa Secretary of State’s office confirmed that a long-discussed plan to replace the I-Voters system will not be completed before the 2020 elections. Spokesman Kevin Hall says the office is still in the information-gathering phase of the project. Critics worry that the current system is running on outdated technology and could be vulnerable to hackers.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed in May challenging a new state law that prohibits the use of Medicaid funding for gender reassignment surgery. Judge David Porter says in an order filed Thursday that the two people who filed the lawsuit must first seek to have their surgeries approved by the Iowa Department of Human Services through Medicaid and follow an administrative appeals process.