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

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — An official with Menards confirms the home improvement store had purchased the Mall of the Bluffs in Council Bluffs and will tear down the structure to make room for a new store. Menards spokesman Jeff Abbott said Monday the company would build a “bigger and better store” at the site of the mall in eastern Council Bluffs, just off Interstate 80. Tenants of the mall told The Daily Nonpareil newspaper that they have been told to leave the mall by the end of the year or sooner. Abbott said the new store was needed because and existing one was “small and dated.” Menards is based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two French companies will pay the University of Iowa more than $1.1 billion to secure the rights to operate its utility system for the next 50 years under a plan approved Tuesday. The Iowa Board of Regents voted Tuesday to approve the deal with a newly-formed consortium made up of energy company ENGIE and investor and asset manager Meridiam. Gov. Kim Reynolds told the regents that it was a “historic day for higher education in Iowa.” She called it an innovative approach that will create revenue that help finance the school’s strategic plan. Critics have called the deal risky.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An African man who was trying to build a new life in Cedar Rapids has spent the past 18 months at an Iowa City hospital, recovering from a traffic accident that killed two fellow immigrants. Jean-Claude Shako suffered head and other injuries in the June 25, 2018, collision while he and four other immigrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo were headed to work in Tama. He’s well enough to be discharged, doctors have said, but he has no family to move in with, no money for a rehabilitation center and isn’t yet eligible for assistance through Medicaid.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A Waterloo woman has been given a 15-year sentence for scamming a couple out of thousands of dollars by saying she had a kidney transplant, tumors and other medical problems. Court records say 47-year-old Shawn Adams was sentenced Friday. She’s also known as Shawn Tomkins. Prosecutors say she got nearly $58,000 in aid from the Waterloo couple after telling them her tale of woe. Prosecutors say she accused one of one of them of sexually abusing her son when they discovered her scam.