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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A housing shortage for those living below the poverty line in Des Moines is being exacerbated by soaring rent costs, a local organization has found. The Des Moines Register reports that rents in the city have increased by more than 15 percent in past five years. The Polk County Housing Trust Fund also says that Polk and eastern Dallas counties are almost 8,000 units shy of meeting demand for single people making less than $15,000 annually.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman accused of trying to flush her newborn down a toilet and leaving the baby for dead in a trash can has pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the case. The Press-Citizen reports that 24-year-old Ashley Hautzenrader pleaded guilty Friday in Johnson County District Court to child endangerment and to neglect or abandonment of a dependent person. In exchange, prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge.

DECATUR, Neb. (AP) — A bridge spanning the Missouri River that connects Decatur, Nebraska, to western Iowa is set to close for repairs. The Sioux City Journal reports that the Decatur bridge will close Monday. Workers will make structural repairs to abutments on each end of the bridge. The pavement leading up to the bridge on each side also will be replaced. Bridge traffic had been reduced to one lane since March 27 because of sandblasting and repainting.

HAMPTON, Iowa (AP) — A 42-year-old Meservey man convicted of kidnapping and torturing a woman has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that Charles Albright was sentenced Friday. Prosecutors say Albright held a 36-year-old woman captive for 12 to 14 hours on Oct. 7 in Meservey, where she was punched, slammed against a floor, shocked with a stun gun and repeatedly bitten by a dog. Albright then took her to Sheffield, where he continued beating her.