DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque man has pleaded guilty to child endangerment for letting seven children live amid what police say was garbage, rotted food and feces on their home’s floor. Court records say 34-year-old Jermaine Watson also pleaded guilty to four drug counts. He’s scheduled to be sentenced July 18. The mother of the seven, 34-year-old Tiesha Martin, has pleaded not guilty to the same seven counts of child endangerment. Her trial is set to begin June 11. Authorities say Watson is the father of the youngest child.

The records say police and a social worker checking on the children at Martin’s residence Jan. 2 found the squalid conditions and say the children were sharing just one bedroom and bed. Martin has said officers lied about the conditions.

Police in Creston arrested two women Wednesday afternoon. At around 2:25-p.m., 23-year old Areale Gregory, of Creston, was arrested for Theft in the 4th Degree. She was later released from the Union County Jail on a $1,000 bond. And, at around 4:45-p.m., 31-year old Ashley Page, of Creston, was arrested at her home for Simple Domestic Assault. Page was being held in the Adams County Jail while awaiting a bond hearing.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two people charged in last summer’s slaying of a Des Moines high school student are expected to change their pleas. Polk County District Court records say 19-year-old Daniel Lamay and 30-year-old Crystal Lee are due in court Wednesday for a plea hearing and sentencing. The records don’t say what charge or charges are involved. So far both have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
They and 20-year-old Malik Mandujano are accused in the Aug. 22 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Noah Campbell outside a Des Moines convenience store. Mandujano also has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He’s scheduled to begin trial July 16.

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Wednesday, of 36-year old Dirk Parrish, from Lenox. Parrish was taken into to custody in the 200 block of West Illinois Street in Lenox, and charged with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance. He was being held at the Taylor County Jail on $25,000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A group of Democratic lawmakers has dropped a lawsuit against Gov. Kim Reynolds that challenged her use last year of emergency funds to balance Iowa’s state budget. Gary Dickey, an attorney for the legislators, announced the decision Wednesday, days before a hearing was scheduled to review a state motion to dismiss the case. Rep. Chris Hall of Sioux City filed the lawsuit in January against Reynolds and Department of Management Director David Roederer. Six other lawmakers later joined the suit as plaintiffs.

The lawsuit claimed Reynolds’ administration acted illegally last fall when it used $13 million from an economic emergency fund to balance a year-end budget shortfall. The suit said specific economic conditions weren’t met. Reynolds called the lawsuit political and said aspects of the law were outdated. The Republican-controlled Legislature changed the law retroactively last session, which Democrats argued showed guilt.

Dickey said the legislative change complicated the lawsuit’s future.