Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A housing shortage for those living below the poverty line in Des Moines is being exacerbated by soaring rent costs, a local organization has found. The Des Moines Register reports that rents in the city have increased by more than 15 percent in past five years. The Polk County Housing Trust Fund also says that Polk and eastern Dallas counties are almost 8,000 units shy of meeting demand for single people making less than $15,000 annually.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman accused of trying to flush her newborn down a toilet and leaving the baby for dead in a trash can has pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the case. The Press-Citizen reports that 24-year-old Ashley Hautzenrader pleaded guilty Friday in Johnson County District Court to child endangerment and to neglect or abandonment of a dependent person. In exchange, prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge.

DECATUR, Neb. (AP) — A bridge spanning the Missouri River that connects Decatur, Nebraska, to western Iowa is set to close for repairs. The Sioux City Journal reports that the Decatur bridge will close Monday. Workers will make structural repairs to abutments on each end of the bridge. The pavement leading up to the bridge on each side also will be replaced. Bridge traffic had been reduced to one lane since March 27 because of sandblasting and repainting.

HAMPTON, Iowa (AP) — A 42-year-old Meservey man convicted of kidnapping and torturing a woman has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that Charles Albright was sentenced Friday. Prosecutors say Albright held a 36-year-old woman captive for 12 to 14 hours on Oct. 7 in Meservey, where she was punched, slammed against a floor, shocked with a stun gun and repeatedly bitten by a dog. Albright then took her to Sheffield, where he continued beating her.

HAMPTON, Iowa (AP) — A 42-year-old Meservey man convicted of kidnapping and torturing a woman has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that Charles Albright was sentenced Friday in Franklin County District Court. He was convicted in July of first-degree kidnapping and willful injury.

Prosecutors said Albright held a 36-year-old woman captive for 12 to 14 hours on Oct. 7 in Meservey, where she was punched, slammed against a floor, shocked with a stun gun and repeatedly bitten by a dog. She was then taken to Sheffield, where Albright continued beating her.

Her injuries included burns and broken bones in her face. Albright also faces trial Sept. 26 on a felony explosives count, accused of having a bomb or bomb parts.

DECATUR, Neb. (AP) — A bridge spanning the Missouri River that connects Decatur, Nebraska, to western Iowa is set to close for repairs. The Sioux City Journal reports that the Decatur bridge will close Monday. It’s expected to reopen on Sept. 11, according to the Nebraska Department of Transportation.

Workers will make structural repairs to abutments on each end of the bridge. The pavement leading up to the bridge on each side also will be replaced. Bridge traffic had been reduced to one lane since March 27 because of sandblasting and repainting.

The posted 75-mile detour will take traffic onto U.S. Highway 75 to South Sioux City, across the river on U.S. Highway 20 and south on Interstate 29. Motorists also may choose to head south and cross the river at Blair, Nebraska.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman accused of leaving her newborn for dead in a trash can has pleaded guilty to reduced charges. The Press-Citizen reports that 24-year-old Ashley Hautzenrader pleaded guilty Friday in Johnson County District Court to child endangerment and to neglect or abandonment of a dependent person. In exchange, prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge.

Authorities have said Hautzenrader gave birth May 8 last year in a bathroom at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Police say Hautzenrader tried to flush the baby down a toilet and then put it in a pillowcase and left it in the trash. The child was soon found alive.

Hautzenrader faces up to 12 years in prison when she’s sentenced at a later date.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A housing shortage for low-income workers in Des Moines is being exacerbated by soaring rent costs, a local organization has found. The Des Moines Register reports that rents in the city have increased by more than 15 percent in past five years.

The Polk County Housing Trust Fund also says that Polk and eastern Dallas counties are almost 8,000 units shy of meeting demand for single people making less than $15,000 annually. Only one low-income housing, tax-credit development project was approved this year in Polk County by the Iowa Finance Authority. The Libertad will provide 40 units for families and individuals who have struggled to find permanent housing.

Hubbell Realty Co. says all 1,966 new rental units built last year in Des Moines were market rate.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — An accelerant detection dog in northeast Iowa has had a busy first year sniffing around fires. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Radar joined Waterloo Fire Rescue in May 2016. The golden retriever and yellow lab mix has investigated the charred remains of 30 fires to determine if there are any traces of flammable fluids.

His partner, City Fire Marshal Chris Ferguson, then collects samples from areas Radar highlights and sends them for testing at the state crime lab. Ferguson says the evidence Radar finds can be used in trial or to help get a guilty plea. He says only one of Radar’s arson cases have gone to trial so far.

Cedar Rapids and Council Bluffs are the only other cities in Iowa that have an accelerant-sniffing dog.

MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho (AP) — A 70-year-old Iowa man riding in the back seat of a pickup without wearing his seatbelt died after the vehicle rolled on Interstate 84 in southwestern Idaho and he was ejected into oncoming traffic and struck by a tractor-trailer. The Elmore County Sheriff’s Office says a 70-year-old Iowa woman driving the 2002 Dodge Durango drifted off the shoulder of the eastbound lanes just before 3 p.m. on Friday.

Police say the woman overcorrected and the vehicle crossed both eastbound lanes and entered the median where it rolled, coming to rest on its wheels and blocking both westbound lanes. The woman and a 52-year-old man from Idaho also riding in the pickup were transported to a Boise hospital.

The tractor-trailer driver was treated at the scene. Names haven’t been released.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Three Tanzanian children who were flown to Sioux City for medical treatment after surviving a bus crash that left more than 30 people dead are about to head home. Wilson Doreen and Sadia joined their mothers at a farewell reception Thursday at Mercy Medical Center. Twelve-year-old Wilson Tarimo thanked the Stem Medical Missionaries who rescued them from the May 6th bus crash in Africa, and then those who treated her in Iowa. She thanked all the doctors and nurses who who helped here recover.

Wilson Doreen suffered spinal injuries and could not move her legs when she was flown to Sioux City. She can now walk with crutches after being treated at Mercy and at Madonna Children’s Hospital, and is expected to be able to run in three months. She also thanked all of those who helped her.

Mercy Marketing Director Matt Robbins says the entire Siouxland area was greatly impacted by the children as they got to know them the last several weeks. “Three months ago when Sadi, Doreen and Wilson and their families and friends came to us here in Sioux City — they kind of came to us as strangers — and now a few months later, they’ll leave not only as friends, but also family as well,” Robbins says. “They are part of the Mercy family, but also the family here in Siouxland.”

The children and their mothers will fly back home next week.

(Radio Iowa)

If you’ve driven through areas of the state where there are wind turbines you may’ve noticed there are times when the giant blades are not moving. Alliant Energy spokesman, Justin Foss, says his company expects a 40 percent operating capacity for the turbines they install. “New designs, new technology and better understanding of how they operate is allowing us to generate energy from them more often,” Foss says.

He says the turbines can stop if there is not enough wind, and also have to be shut down if the wind is too strong. “It needs a wind speed of between seven and 45 miles-an-hour to operate. Our new turbines are going to go from between just below seven all the way up into 60 mile-an-hour winds to be able to generate that energy,”Foss says, “that’s just improved design and technology that allows them to capture more of that wind and turn it into energy.”

The turbines are also shut down for maintenance. “They do go through routine maintenance at least twice a year — so each turbine gets serviced at least twice a year — so they will shut that down while it’s being serviced,” Foss explains. The capacity of the power grid is another factor that might lead to turbines being shut down. “Sometimes we just get too much wind on the grid. And it’s not because we’ve got too much wind here, but maybe there is just not enough demand on that day,” Foss says. “We see that Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays we have the lowest demand on the power grid. And if you’ve got too much energy going onto the grid that will cause problems and you have to shut some stuff off to match the demand with how much is being generated.”

He says all the changes have allowed them to increase the turbine use to 40 percent. “If you look back just a few years ago — even a decade ago — it was in the 20’s and 30’s,” Foss says. Information from the American Wind Energy Association says Iowa generates nearly 37 percent of is electricity from wind.

(Radio Iowa)