MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A woman accused of sexually abusing a 2-year-old child at her Mason City in-home day care has been given five years of probation. Court records say 31-year-old Tawny Symonds also was sentenced to a suspended five-year prison term at a hearing Monday in Mason City.

Symonds had submitted a written Alford plea in Cerro Gordo County District Court to child endangerment after prosecutors agreed to drop sexual abuse and assault charges. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges the state likely can prove the charge. Symonds must pay more than $1,000 in restitution and is barred from contact with minors.

A traffic stop for a vehicle driving recklessly in Fremont County, resulted in the arrest of the driver and his passenger. Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports Deputies conducted the traffic stop early this (Tuesday) morning in the 3600 block of Highway 2. During the course of the stop, a passenger in the vehicle, 51-year old Timothy Holdaway, of California, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and trying to introduce a Controlled Substance (contraband) into a secure facility. The driver, 56-year old Douglas Swisher, of West Virginia, was arrested for Reckless Driving. He was also cited for traveling 90 miles per hour in a 55-mph zone.

Both men are being held in the Fremont County Jail while awaiting an appearance before the Magistrate.

HOLDAWAY,T

SWISHER,D

Sheriff’s Deputies in Montgomery County, late Monday night, arrested a man on an OWI charge. 52-year old Bartholomew Leo Chabotte, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 11-p.m. at the intersection of C Avenue and 130th Street. Chabotte was charged with OWI/1st offense. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond.

A Ringgold County Sheriff’s Deputy conducting a traffic stop on a speeding vehicle traveling on Highway 25, Monday, arrested the driver of the vehicle on drug charges. The incident occurred at around 12:10-a.m.  Authorities say Seth Allen Millslagle was pulled over.

After he was informed a K9 was going to conduct a sniff around the vehicle, Millslagle admitted to having drug paraphernalia. K9 “Heky” was deployed and alerted to the vehicle. A search was conducted, and drug paraphernalia along with a small amount of marijuana, was seized from the vehicle.

Millslagle was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Speeding. He was brought to the Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office and later booked into the Ringgold County Jail.

One person died and another was injured during a crash Monday afternoon on Warren County Road R-63. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the driver of a 2008 Nissan Sentra, 29-year old Jenny Somvong, of Indianola, who was wearing her seat belt, died from injuries she suffered in the crash. The driver of a 2006 Buick Rainier CXL, 29-year old Cody Meyer, also of Indianola, was wearing his seat belt, but was injured in the crash and transported to Mercy Hospital by ambulance.

The Patrol says Meyer was southbound on R-63 when his SUV left the road and struck the west guardrail. The vehicle bounced off the guardrail and entered the northbound lane, where it hit the Buick as it was crossing the Middle River Bridge.

The accident happened at around 4:42-p.m., Monday.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CST

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a small plane made an emergency landing on ice-covered Clear Lake and took off again before authorities reached the scene. The plane landed on the northern Iowa lake Saturday afternoon and taxied closer to the shoreline. No injuries were reported, and the plane did not appear significantly damaged. Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s deputy Jeff Bryant says the plane was gone by the time he reached the scene from Mason City.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa Workforce Development worker who’d once described her boss as rude has been awarded unemployment benefits. The Des Moines Register reports that Trudi Snyder was fired after complaining to colleagues that agency director Beth Townsend was “obnoxiously rude” and later comparing the agency management to “the Gestapo.” Last week an administrative law judge awarded Snyder the benefits, saying employees’ complaining about work, their co-workers and their managers is a fact of life.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — A Burlington resident has been imprisoned for shooting to death another man. Court records say Joseph Mayorga Jr. pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month and immediately was sentenced to 50 years. Police say he killed 47-year-old James Nelson on Feb. 10 last year. Mayorga told investigators that Nelson said something offensive about Mayorga’s wife, so he shot him in his left eye.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — The trial of a second man accused of fatally shooting a gender-fluid Iowa teenager will be moved to another county. The Hawk Eye reports that a judge Thursday granted a request from the attorney for Jason Purham, of St. Louis. The trial will be held in Washington County and is scheduled to begin Sept. 25. Purham has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder in the slaying of 16-year-old Kedarie Johnson.