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

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A former youth counselor at Four Oaks juvenile facility in Davenport has been arrested after being accused of helping the escape of three juveniles offenders _ one of which she was involved with romantically. Television station KWQC reports that 19-year-old Hannah Rose Fitzpatrick, of Marion, Iowa, is charged with sexual misconduct with a youth offender in her custody. The charge is an aggravated misdemeanor under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of up to two years.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Seven companies have submitted 21 applications to operate medical cannabis dispensaries in Iowa. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that those were the applications that came in by Thursday’s deadline. Earlier this year, the Iowa Department of Public Health requested proposals from companies, intending to award licenses for up to five medical cannabis dispensaries throughout the state.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — An organization is planning to spend $70 million to gradually demolish and rebuild a retirement community in northeast Iowa. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Friends of Faith Retirement Homes Inc. announced it’ll invest in reconstructing its independent living apartments and skilled nursing center. The senior housing nonprofit opened Waterloo’s Friendship Village in 1968. The city zoning commission voted Tuesday to endorse a zoning request for the project that’ll begin next year.

PANORA, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa man faces kidnapping, sexual abuse and other charges after authorities say he beat and raped a woman. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office tells Des Moines television station KCCI that deputies were called to a Lake Panorama home near Panora after midnight Wednesday. A woman told them that 34-year-old Michael Mackenzie Taylor punched her in the face and choked her until she passed out, then forced her into nearby trees where he raped her.