MEAD, Neb. (AP) —  Authorities say an Iowa man was killed when the pickup truck he was riding in went out of control on an icy highway in eastern Nebraska. Authorities say Jose Rodas died Friday after the pickup collided with an oncoming sport utility vehicle on U.S. Highway 77, about 1.75 miles north of Mead. Rodas lived in Sioux City, Iowa. The pickup driver, Nicolas Leon, of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, was taken to a Wahoo hospital. Another passenger, Anevol Hernandez, of Sioux City, Iowa, was treated for minor injuries. The SUV driver was identified as Kristen Kusik, of Lincoln. Kusik was taken to an Omaha hospital.

CENTERVILLE, Iowa (AP) – A Nativity scene removed from a county courthouse lawn in southern Iowa won’t be returning. The scene was erected Nov. 18 outside the Appanoose County Courthouse in Centerville, but some residents complained that a religious display shouldn’t be placed on government property. It was moved away Dec. 9. Other residents soon called for its return. The county owns the building and the land underneath; the city owns the lawn.

The Daily Iowegian reports that City Administrator Jason Fraser said at Monday’s council meeting that the Nativity scene location was just an agenda discussion item, so the council couldn’t vote on the issue.

Sheriff’s deputies in Montgomery County arrested a man on Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charges, Monday, following an incident at a residence in the 1800 block of E. Summit Street, in Red Oak. 34-year old Randon Phelps, of Red Oak, was transported to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center, where his cash bond was set at $300.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Department reports four arrests over the past week. Last Friday, 22-year old Ty Ron Sears, of Decatur, NE., was arrested in Stuart by the Iowa State Patrol, for OWI/1st offense. Sears was released the following day on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

On Dec. 11th, 19-year old Hamadi Osman Makoma, of Erie, PA., was arrested by Adair Police at the Casey’s Store in Adair, for Theft in the 1st Degree, with regard to the theft of a vehicle from Boise, ID, and a gun that was stolen from another vehicle. Makoma’s bond was set at $10,000.

On Dec. 8th, 33-year old Rachel Anne Johnson, of Stuart, was arrested in Stuart by Stuart Police, for Domestic Assault/Bodily Injury, after the vehicle she was in struck her boyfriend, following an argument at a restaurant. Johnson was released from custody later that same day, on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, 18-year old Jesse Slade Brees, of Greenfield, was arrested by Greenfield Police on Dec. 8th, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (a small scale and baggies), and Possession of a small bag of marijuana with the intent to deliver, a Class D felony. Brees was released later that same day on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:50 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Few details are being released about a federal investigation into allegations that sexual arousal experiments were done on residents of a state-run Iowa institution for developmentally disabled residents. The U.S. Department of Justice notified Gov. Kim Reynolds in November that investigators will see if there are law violations at Glenwood Resource Center, an investigation first reported by the Des Moines Register. The investigation is focusing on whether residents were subjected to harmful and uncontrolled human experiments and whether they had inadequate medical and nursing care. Investigators also will look at whether there have been harmful restraint practices and needless injuries.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The state auditor on Monday criticized $40,000 in relocation benefits that helped a veteran Iowa State Patrol supervisor relocate his family home farther away from his new assignment in western Iowa. State Auditor Rob Sand concluded that there was no “public benefit” for taxpayers to cover closing costs and other expenses on the sale of Lt. Joel Ehler’s home in Adel. Sand’s office investigated the matter after The Associated Press reported on the benefits in May. An internal investigation by the Iowa Department of Public Safety found that the benefits were appropriate and that Ehler did nothing wrong.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Vandals have defaced the artwork and property of an Iowa man who displayed paintings of Confederate flags and swastikas in his front yard. The Des Moines Register says the vandal or vandals scrawled the words “Nazi scum” on a trailer and the pickup parked at William Stark’s house in Des Moines and spray-painted over several of the wooden pallets in his yard on which he had painted the Confederate battle flag. The vandalism was discovered Wednesday. Stark told the newspaper for a story earlier last week that he isn’t a racist or white supremacist and would paint any flag, if asked.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Deputies have arrested a Carroll man on charges that he used a stick to kill a rabbit at a Des Moines animal shelter. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday night charged 64-year-old Bobby Carothers with animal torture after the death of the rabbit at the Animal Rescue League of Central Iowa shelter. According to a criminal complaint, Carothers admitted he killed the rabbit, named Petunia. The Des Moines Register reports staff identified Carothers as being the last person in the shelter Sunday night. He was asked to leave and a short time later employees found the dead rabbit. Carothers was held at the Polk County jail.