Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:10 a.m. CST

GUTHRIE CENTER, Iowa (AP) — Democratic congresswoman Cindy Axne returned to her southwestern Iowa district last weekend for the first time since voting in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump. Axne narrowly won a Republican-leaning district in 2018 and is a top GOP target in 2020. Republicans have been running ads against her focused on impeachment, and Vice President Mike Pence had spoken on local television to urge her to vote against it. But at her town hall, none of her constituents asked about the vote. Instead, they focused on rural issues and the trade deal that passed last week.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — In a victory for prosecutors, a judge has ruled that they can use key evidence against the man charged with killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts. Judge Joel Yates agreed with prosecutors that some statements made by Cristhian Bahena Rivera must be suppressed because they came during an interrogation after he was not read his full legal rights. But Yates ruled that prosecutors can use information provided by Rivera that led them to the body of Tibbetts, who disappeared in July 2018 while out running in Brooklyn, Iowa. He also ruled that they can use key blood evidence.

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman who told police she intentionally ran over a teenager because she believed the girl was Mexican has been charged with another hit-and-run crash that hurt a 12-year-old boy. Des Moines police charged Nicole Franklin with attempted murder in connection with a Dec. 9 crash that occurred less than an hour before another hit-and-run in suburban Clive. In the latest charge, Franklin was accused of hitting a boy in a Des Moines apartment complex. The boy suffered minor injuries. In the later incident, Franklin was charged with attempted murder after her vehicle hit Natalia Miranda as the 14-year-old was walking to school to watch a basketball game.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A group of top state officials has approved payments of nearly $400,000 to continue a lawsuit defending former Gov. Terry Branstad. A jury found in July he discriminated against former Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Chris Godfrey because he is gay and awarded him $1.5 million. State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald and Auditor Rob Sand refused to approve the payment. They say taxpayers shouldn’t continue paying. Gov. Kim Reynolds, Secretary of State Paul Pate and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig approved the bills, bringing total court costs to more than $8 million, which will climb since Reynolds is appealing the case.