ACKLEY, Iowa (AP) — A trial has been scheduled for a woman accused of helping her boyfriend torture his 8-year-old son by locking him in a basement enclosure, withholding food and making him endure dog bites. Hardin County District Court records say 39-year-old Traci Tyler on Monday has entered a written plea of not guilty to a kidnapping charge. Her trial is set to begin Sept. 11. The boy’s father, 30-year-old Alex Shadlow, is scheduled to enter a plea Monday.

An arrest affidavit says the boy was locked for at least 9 hours a day last summer in an enclosed space under the basement stairs at the Ackley home, where he slept on concrete and had no access to a bathroom.
Police say Tyler also urged her dog to attack the boy, which left scars on his back and limbs.

(Radio Iowa) — A Des Moines man is being treated for serious injuries after he and his motorcycle were hit and pinned underneath an SUV. Police Sergeant Paul Parizek says it happened just before noon Wednesday on Fleur Drive, southwest of downtown Des Moines. The motorcycle and SUV were both southbound and shifting lanes to pass a Des Moines Waterworks vehicle that was stopped on the roadway for maintenance work. “We don’t why just yet, we’re looking at maybe mechanical error or operator error, but according to witnesses the SUV accelerated pretty rapidly as the motorcycle was slowing,” Parizek explained. “It struck the motorcycle from behind and it swept the motorcycle and the driver of the bike underneath the SUV. It continued on, dragging him, about 250 feet down this road.”

Rescue crews arrived to find the motorcyclist, 44-year-old Louis Kueh trapped underneath the Chevy Equinox. “Firefighters did some remarkable work…it was very impressive to watch,” Parizek said. “They were able to provide medical care while he was pinned underneath the car, while other firefighters were arranging the rescue. Eventually, after about 30 minutes, they were able to raise the car and pull him out from underneath.”  Seventy-year-old Shirley Kephart of Des Moines was driving the SUV. According to Parizek, impairment and excessive speed have been ruled out as factors in the crash. “My personal opinion, just having years of experience, I think she thought she was going to hit the brake and she hit the gas,” Parizek said.

Kuehl – who was not wearing a helmet – was being treating for serious injuries, but is expected to survive. “I really thought when I was watching this that we were eventually going to be talking about a fatality crash,” Parizek said. “I have never seen…mechanically what I saw, as far as him being completely underneath, trapped under the vehicle, and still alert and talking to us.”  Kephart was not injured in the crash.

One person died and two others were injured when a semi ran into two motorcycles Wednesday evening in eastern Iowa’s Johnson County. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2018 Harley Davidson motorcycle and and 2016 Harley, were traveling together on Interstate 80 eastbound at around 5:40-p.m., when they began to slow for traffic that was stopped up ahead for a previous accident. An eastbound 2000 Peterbilt semi was unable to stop in-time, and struck the rear of both motorcycles, which came to rest in the south ditch near mile marker 250.

One of the motorcyclists died at the scene. The other was transported by Johnson County Ambulance to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, in Iowa City. The driver of the semi was also transported to UIHC by ambulance. The Patrol did not immediately release the names of those involved in the crash, which remains under investigation.

DRAKESVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors have filed more charges against a man accused of fleeing a southeast Iowa accident in which a 9-year-old boy died and his brother was injured. The Ottumwa Courier reports the new charges against 41-year-old Terry Petary, of Drakesville, are: causing serious injury by vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident, possession of a controlled substance, leaving the scene of an accident that causes death and failure to report an accident. He’s already been charged with vehicular homicide.

The Iowa State Patrol says a pickup truck struck the boy and his brother a little before 10 p.m. June 24 as they walked on a rural road west of Drakesville. The patrol identified the dead boy as 9-year-old Merlin Beechy and his brother as 12-year-old Nathan Beechy, of rural Drakesville.

A traffic stop in Montgomery County at around 6:45-p.m. Wednesday, resulted in the arrest of two men from Nebraska. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 20-year old Evan A. Bauer, and 18-year old Ryan M. McKittrick, both of Omaha, were subsequently arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Both men were cited into court, and then released at the scene.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

FAIRFIELD, Iowa (AP) — Small family operated organic dairy farms with cows freely grazing on verdant pastures are going out of business while large confined animal operations with thousands of animals lined up in assembly-line fashion are expanding. Many traditional small-scale organic farmers are fighting to stay in business by appealing to consumers to look closely at the organic milk they buy to make sure it comes from a farm that meets the idyllic expectations portrayed on the cartons.

SALIX, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in northwestern Iowa say they’ve pulled the body of a man who went missing while canoeing from a lake. The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office says deputies were called to Snyder Bend Park on Monday evening for a report of an empty canoe floating on the park’s lake. Crews searched the lake that evening and again the next morning, when the body of 70-year-old Ronald Cooper, of Sergeant Bluff, was found.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have confirmed the body of a child recovered the Mississippi River in eastern Iowa is that of a child who fell into the water upstream on the Illinois side. Authorities say dental and other records, video recordings and interviews with family were used to establish that the body of 2-year-old Hawk Newberry had been found. He fell into the river July 24 while with family members at Schwiebert Riverfront Park in Rock Island, Illinois.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque woman tied to two drug overdose deaths has pleaded guilty. Court records say 24-year-old Brianna Martin pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids to distribution of heroin. Her sentencing date hasn’t been set yet.