IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The mother of a 10-year-old eastern Iowa girl whose abduction prompted an Amber Alert last month has pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor child endangerment charges. Forty-four-year-old Shelly Johns entered a guilty plea April 21. Criminal complaints allege Johns burned her daughter in the face with a cigarette, smacked and kicked her and pulled her hair. Police also claim she kept drugs inside the house where she lived with the girl and used them in her presence. Her husband, 48-year-old Kenneth Johns, is accused of abducting the girl from a Solon home in early March.

CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) — A former Cherokee teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a student has been arrested following a two-year investigation. Police arrested 32-year-old Chad Osler, of Manchester, on Monday and charged him with two counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee and one count of lascivious conduct with a minor. Kristen Rickey, superintendent of West Delaware Community School District where Osler is currently employed, says Osler has been placed on paid administrative leave. Cherokee Community School District Superintendent John Chalstrom says Osler resigned in 2013. He was previously the district’s physical education teacher.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two men have been rescued after their rubber raft became stuck on a river dam in Mason City. Police, firefighters and medics were dispatched to the Winnebago River dam around 3:30 p.m. Monday. Authorities say 26-year-old Rusty Thorngren and 45-year-old Marc Ciska were cited for public intoxication

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Staffers in the Iowa Legislature are starting some of the tasks associated with adjourning the session, even though lawmakers are not close to concluding the budget process. Friday will mark the last day for lawmakers to receive daily expense payments, as well as the final day of work for many clerks and pages in the part-time Legislature. But lawmakers in the Democratic-majority Senate and Republican-controlled House have not reached a compromise deal on the state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say more than $40,000 in equipment has been stolen from a Waterloo welding supply company. A Superior Welding employee discovered $40,000 to $50,000 worth of equipment missing. Items stolen include cutting tools, helmets, copper and more. No arrests have been made in the case, which remains under investigation.

A former Marine unit has returned to Ho Chi Minh City for a ceremony tonight (Wednesday) honoring the last two Americans, including an Iowan, to die in the Vietnam War.

Darwin Judge

Darwin Judge, from Marshalltown, and fellow Marine Charles McMahon were killed by enemy fire 40 years ago today. A bronze and granite memorial will be dedicated on the grounds of the old U.S. Embassy. Douglas Potratz, who was part of the Embassy Guard unit with Judge and McMahon, is leading the delegation.

“If we memorialize the last two to die, put it in a plaque and put it in that compound where they worked at one time, I think it’s a fitting tribute for them and all the other servicemen who served in that country and died in that country,” Potratz said. Potratz is with the Fall of Saigon Marines Association. He calls Darwin Judge his “hero,” as Judge made sure Potratz’s wife and then-three-year-old daughter were safely boarded on a plane that shipped them out of Saigon.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with Hy-Vee, Incorporated, issued a recall Tuesday for Hy-Vee Summer Fresh Pasta Salad, which is sold in its stores’ kitchen department cold cases and salad bars. The Omaha World-Herald reports the recall was issued due to potential contamination with listeria monocytogenes. It came after Hy-Vee was notified that the frozen vegetables used to make the ready-to-eat pasta were potentially contaminated. Inventure Foods of Jefferson, Georgia, produced the frozen vegetables.

Listeria monocytogenes can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

The Summer Fresh Pasta Salad is packaged upon customer request from the kitchen cold case and would have been packaged in 16-ounce (1-pound) or 32-ounce (2-pound) clear plastic containers. A light tan scale-produced label with the product name, weight and price would have been affixed to the container.

The recalled product was available between April 9th and Monday, April 27th. Hy-Vee has since pulled the ready-to-eat Summer Fresh Pasta Salad from its distribution channels and the stores in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota to which it was distributed. All stores that received the product have been instructed to dispose of it.

To date, Hy-Vee has not received any complaints associated with the salad. Customers who purchased the recalled pasta salad from the Hy-Vee kitchen department cold case or salad bar between April 9th and April 27th should dispose of the product or return it to the store for a refund. For questions, call Hy-Vee Customer Care at 1-800-772-4098.