ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man disguised a video camera as an alarm clock so he could record a woman and her 11- and 12-year-old children when they used a bathroom in their Polk County home.
Court records say 53-year-old Brian Hoffman, of Lidderdale, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of invasion of privacy, unlawful interception of communication and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

The woman described Hoffman as a friend after she called police to report her discovery of the camera. Police say the clock was placed to face the bathroom and the memory card was accessible through a wireless internet connection. Police say the card had several images of the woman and the children naked.

Hoffman told investigators he didn’t know the clock contained a video device.

The Creston Police Department reports 18-year old Mariah Lynn Reed, of Creston, was arrested Thursday afternoon. Reed was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a warrant for Violation of a Protection Order, and Interference with Official Acts. She was transported to the Adams County Jail, and held without bond.

The Iowa Department of Transportation’s District 4 Office in Atlantic reports two bridge replacement projects will begin next month in northern Adair County. Both projects are on Highway 25, less than five-miles south of Interstate 80. The projects include a bridge over the Middle River (1.2 miles S. of I-80), with an estimated cost of slightly more than $2-million, and, the North Turkey Creek bridge, located 4.6-miles south of I-80. That project is estimated to cost a little more than $1.4-million. In both cases, the old bridges will be removed, with a new substructure and piers installed prior to the bridge deck.

Residents in the area of the bridge closures will still have access to their homes, with staggered barricades for local traffic only. Traffic will otherwise be detoured from I-80 on County Road P-28, south to Highway 92, east of Greenfield. Both projects are scheduled to begin May 29^th, with completion in November.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A woman accused of abducting her three daughters in northwest Iowa has pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors. Clay County District Court records say 26-year-old Danica Arzaga, of Spencer, entered the pleas Wednesday to three counts of misdemeanor child endangerment. The charges had been lowered from felony kidnapping. She was given two years of probation and a suspended prison sentence of six years.

Authorities say Arzaga took the two 8-year-olds and a 4-year-old from their home in Royal on Sept. 19. The children were found abandoned in Sanborn later that day. She was arrested Sept. 20 in Sioux City.
The children had been removed from Arzaga’s custody and placed in another relative’s care.

Officials with the Audubon County Emergency Management agency report a bridge replacement project will begin in northern Audubon County, one week from Monday. Work on the bridge located on 130^th Street between Mockingbird and Nighthawk Avenues in Viola Township between sections 18 and 19, is set to begin April 16th. The road will be closed at the work site, through the end of May, weather permitting.