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

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A trucking company linked to a recent deadly human smuggling case in Texas had long promoted itself as a family firm whose hard-working drivers helped keep the U.S. economy running. But according to public records and interviews with former drivers, Pyle Transportation was a cutthroat business that flouted laws. One of the company’s contract drivers is charged in the deaths of 10 immigrants found in a sweltering trailer in Texas. The firm says it knew nothing about the human smuggling operation.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Court records say an Iowa woman accused of trying to flush her newborn down a toilet and then leaving the baby for dead in a trash can intends to change her plea. A plea hearing is scheduled Aug. 11 in Iowa City for Ashley Hautzenrader, who’s already pleaded not guilty to attempted murder. The records don’t say how she’ll plead and to what charges. Police say the child was found alive in the trash.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Drought conditions are increasing in several states, and extreme heat and weeks with little rain have begun to stress corn, soybeans, wheat and livestock in some areas. The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln says nearly 11 percent of the continental United States is in moderate drought or worse.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska man has been sentenced to more than a year in federal prison for escaping last year from a federal halfway house in western Iowa. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa says 28-year-old Keith Wayne Page, of Omaha, was sentenced Thursday to 16 months in prison for escape, to which he pleaded guilty in January. Officials say Page failed to return to CH Inc., a residential re-entry center in Council Bluffs, in early September.

A special investigation by the state auditor’s office has concluded a deputy sheriff in Carroll County and a staffer in the sheriff’s office improperly split at least 128-thousand dollars’ worth of fees for gun safety classes. Starting January 1st of 2011, Iowans who proved they had completed a gun-handling course and met all other legal requirements automatically got a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

The man who was Carroll County’s sheriff at the time asked Deputy Tom Fransen to start teaching the gun safety classes — but State Auditor Mary Mosiman says the fees for the classes “belong to the county.” The classes were taught in the courthouse in Carroll, county equipment was used, plus the sheriff’s office phone number was listed as the primary point of contact on the materials advertising the classes. Fransen and Shanna Balukoff — a clerk in the Carroll County sheriff’s office — split the fees that were collected over a five-and-a-half year period.

The auditors’ review says the two may have pocketed MORE than 128-thousand dollars in fees because not all receipts in the sheriff’s office were properly recorded. The auditors’ report has been forwarded to state and Carroll County prosecutors as well as the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

(Radio Iowa)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A trucking company linked to a recent deadly human smuggling case in Texas had long promoted itself as a family firm whose hard-working drivers helped keep the U.S. economy running.

But according to public records and interviews with former drivers, Pyle Transportation was a cutthroat business that flouted laws, yet managed to stay afloat despite financial troubles and tangles with the government.

One of the company’s contract drivers was charged Monday in the deaths of 10 immigrants found in a sweltering Pyle trailer in San Antonio. The firm says it knew nothing about the human smuggling operation.

Federal regulators have launched an investigation into the company’s safety record.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have arrested a suspect in the Sioux City stabbing death of a Nebraska man. Police say 29-year-old Daniel Levering, of Sioux City, was arrested Wednesday on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder in the Sunday stabbing and beating death of 36-year-old Vincent Walker, of Winnebago, Nebraska.

Police say Walker was washing his car when he was confronted late Sunday afternoon by three people. Police say the group then assaulted him, with one stabbing him and another hitting him repeatedly with a baseball bat. Walker later died at a Sioux City hospital.

Levering is being held on $1 million bond. His preliminary hearing has been set for Aug. 7 in Woodbury County District Court.

A Nebraska man was sentenced today (Thursday) to 16 months in prison for escaping from a re-entry center in Pottawattamie County. According to the U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, 28-year old Keith Wayne Page, of Omaha, will also be required to serve three years of supervised release following his imprisonment.

On January 19th, 2017, Page pleaded guilty to the charge. He admitted that he failed to return to CH, Inc., a residential reentry center in Council Bluffs in early September of 2016, after being granted a job-seeking pass. In December of 2016, Page was apprehended in Omaha on a federal arrest warrant.

The United States Marshals Service and the Metro Fugitive Task Force conducted the investigation. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says three accidents occurred over the past week. At around 3:30-a.m. Sunday, Deputies responded to a report of a single-vehicle accident on Interstate 80 at the 60 mile marker. Officials say a 2005 Chevy Impala owned and driven by 31-year old Tanner Andrew Peterson,  of Des Moines, was eastbound on I-80 when the car went out of control, crossed the median, crossed westbound traffic, and entered the north ditch. Peterson was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital by Medivac Ambulance. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $3,500. Peterson was subsequently cited into court for Possession of Marijuana 1st Offense. The incident remains under investigation.

At around 4:15-a.m. Monday, Cass County Deputies responded to a report of an accident involving a car and a horse on Highway 48, in Cass County. Authorities say a 2003 Ford F150 owned and driven by 43-year old Christopher Michael Miller, of Griswold, was northbound on Highway 48 when the vehicle struck a large horse in the roadway. The Miller wasn’t hurt, but the horse died at the scene. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $7,000.

And, on Tuesday, a two-vehicle accident happened at around 12:05-p.m. at the intersection of Main and Mills Streets, in Griswold. Officials say a 2010 Chevy Silverado owned and driven by 56-year old Gene Schmeling, of Atlantic, was westbound on Main Street when a 1995 Ford F150 pickup owned and driven by 51-year old Anita Marie Riley, of Griswold, pulled away from a stop sign on Mills Street and in front of Schmeling’s vehicle, causing a collision. No injuries were reported. Damage to Schmeling’s vehicle is estimated at $1,000; damage to Riley’s vehicle is estimated at $1,500. Riley was cited for Failure to Yield.