Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:00 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa plans to use millions of dollars in federal pandemic funds on a long-term plan to improve data management across state agencies, a second information technology project that may not fit the purpose of the aid. State and federal auditors this week told Iowa’s executive branch to return millions of dollars to the state’s $1.25 billion coronavirus relief fund that were spent on new accounting and human resources software. They determined the project wasn’t an appropriate expense. A state report shows the Office of the Chief Information Officer has been given $16.9 million in pandemic aid for a data collection initiative that was under discussion before the pandemic.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state is reporting another 15 people have died of the coronavirus in Iowa and there were more than 1,400 confirmed new cases of the virus. The state Department of Public Health reported Thursday that the 15 deaths in the past 24 hours brought the state’s total deaths from the virus to 1,594. About half of those who died were in long term care centers. There were 1,401 new confirmed positive cases reported for a total of 110,974. The state reported 530 people were being treated in Iowa hospitals for the virus, down slightly from the 535 people hospitalized Wednesday. The state’s 14-day average positivity rate was 9.7%

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are crediting a Mason City police dog with finding a 2-year-old boy who wandered with his dog from his family’s rural home and through a wooded are near a creek this week. The Globe Gazette reports that the incident happened Tuesday, when the boy’s family reported him and the dog missing. Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s deputies searched the property and called in a drone to help search for the boy, but it was Mason City K-9 Kilo who tracked the the boy along a creek to a neighbor’s property. The boy was found sitting on a cinder block with his dog by his side. Officers say he had taken off his wet shoes, socks and coat, but was not in need of medical attention.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The murder trial for a Sioux City man charged with killing his girlfriend’s 19-month-old daughter has been pushed back to next summer. The Sioux City Journal reports that a judge on Wednesday agreed to continue 24-year-old Tayvon Davis’ trial to July 13. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to the continuation. Davis’ trial had been set to start next week. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, child endangerment resulting in the death of a child and multiple acts of child endangerment in the 2018 death of the toddler. An autopsy showed the girl had several blunt force injuries to her head and a kidney and had suffered fractures to her vertebrae and ribs.