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

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s one-year-old wrongful conviction division is getting a new director, following the departure of its first leader this fall. The State Public Defender’s Office says that it has hired Illinois attorney Erica Nichols Cook to lead the division charged with investigating cases in which inmates claim they are innocent. The hiring comes after the previously unannounced resignation in September of director Audrey McGinn.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A woman has been arrested after protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline at the Iowa Utilities Board building in Des Moines and demanding a meeting with the board’s chairwoman. The Des Moines Register reports that Jessica Reznicek was arrested Wednesday on a trespassing charge after refusing police orders to leave the building.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Plans for a Marriott hotel in downtown Mason City are dead after a developer failed to meet the latest deadline to start construction. The Globe Gazette reports that San Diego developer Philip Chodur failed to break ground on Wednesday _ the last of three deadlines he missed as he tried to secure financing for the project. The hotel was part of a planned $36.2 million downtown development that includes the hotel, an ice arena, parking ramp and music pavilion.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A 46-year-old Marion man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after his conviction in a child pornography case. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Cedar Rapids says Bryan King was sentenced Wednesday. Prosecutors say King persuaded a 15-year-old child to produce an image depicting sexually explicit conduct and that King distributed that image and an image of another child to another person.