OSKALOOSA, Iowa (AP) — A November trial has been scheduled for a man accused of killing his girlfriend’s baby son in Oskaloosa. Mahaska County District Court records say 21-year-old Johnny Dale Jr. filed written pleas of not guilty Monday to a charge of first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. His trial is set to begin Nov. 19.

A criminal complaint says Dale was watching the 4-month-old boy when his girlfriend went to work on June 15. She told an investigator the boy had a bruise on his forehead and wouldn’t wake up when she got home. Doctors later told investigators the boy had suffered brain and spinal cord injuries consistent with child abuse.

The complaint also says Dale said he’d grown frustrated with the baby and said he bounced him on an air mattress in an attempt to get him to sleep.

(Radio Iowa) — Smarter cars aren’t necessarily making dumber drivers, but a survey from Iowa’s largest auto insurance company finds smart cars are creating more careless motorists. Ben Buenzow, a State Farm agent in Urbandale, says the survey asked drivers about high-tech features like adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance. Buenzow says, “These adaptive features are really meant to assist the drivers, not replace the drivers.”

While the slick features were designed to make travel safer, the opposite affect may be what’s happening. He says the national survey found drivers with advanced safety tech in their vehicles are taking more risks on the roads. “It appears that the folks with these adaptive cruise controls and lane keeping assistance and the driving assistance are feeling more comfortable, which is allowing them to utilize more cell phone interaction and things along those lines, versus vehicles that don’t have these adaptive features,” Buenzow says. “The numbers are pretty alarming.”

The survey found drivers with advanced features in their cars admit to using their smart phones while driving at significantly higher rates than those without the latest tech. “Upon using video chat on a cell phone while driving, you’re looking at 39% of people that have adaptive cruise control in their vehicle, versus 19% that don’t,” Buenzow says. “So, you have a 20% differential of people that are using video chat while driving down the highways.”

It’s illegal to text and drive in Iowa and doing so is now a primary offense, meaning, a police officer can pull you over just for texting behind the wheel. Still, drivers with improved safety features admit to flaunting that law more often. “Reading or sending text messages, 62% of the respondents of the survey that have these adaptive driving features in their vehicles are utilizing and reading text messages or sending them, versus 49% that don’t have those features,” he says.

The goal of the survey, Buenzow says, is to make motorists aware of their potentially-deadly mistakes and to spark change. He says nothing should take your attention away from your number-one task — driving safely.

The Creston Police Department reports two arrests took place, Monday. 20-year old Noah Wardlow, of Corning, was arrested in Creston for Theft in the 5th Degree. He was later released on a $300 bond. And, 21-year old Ranaya Folks, of Des Moines, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Dept. of Corrections warrant issued in Union County, for Violation of Parole on an original charge of Willful Injury causing bodily injury. Folks was being held without bond on the Union County warrant in Adams County, pending an initial court appearance.

An incident Saturday afternoon northeast of Manning resulted in the arrest of a man from California. Authorities say 50-year old Ronnie Wayne Lee, of Turlock, CA., was being held in the Carroll County Jail on a $50,000 bond. Lee faces felony charges that include intimidation with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, as well as habitual offender.

Lee allegedly brandished and fired a handgun during a robbery that took place at around 3:20-p.m., Saturday. 26-year old Brokk Beam, of Denison, told authorities that he was driving from Denison to Carroll in an Allegro Bay motorhome with two other individuals, 50-year old Ronnie Wayne Lee, and 38-year old Crystal Bates, of Carroll, when Lee produced a pistol and demanded Beam give him his money and cellphone.

Beam handed over $189 and the phone and then was forced to leave the vehicle. He walked to the nearest residence to report the incident. The motorhome was located about an hour later in Manilla, but it was unoccupied.

At about 6-pm Saturday, Lee and Bates were seen in a Lexus sedan with temporary Texas tags, near Highway 71 and 220th Street. A traffic stop was performed and the two were taken into custody and transported to the Carroll County Sheriff’s department.