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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three applicants to fill an Iowa Supreme Court vacancy have close political ties to Gov. Kim Reynolds who, thanks to Republican changes to the judicial nominating process last year, now has a heavier influence over the panel that chooses finalists. Among the 15 applicants to be interviewed Friday by the State Judicial Nominating Commission is Sam Langholz, the governor’s senior legal counsel. If he’s a finalist Reynolds could decide whether her own lawyer becomes the next justice. Democratic Sen. Rob Hogg says it’s a test to see if the commission has turned partisan or continues Iowa’s merit-based selection of judges.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Felons would be required to repay restitution to victims before they could get their voting right restored under a bill passed by the Iowa Senate. Earlier Tuesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds for the first time indicated support for the measure. Iowa is the only state that automatically takes felon voting rights away. Felons must apply to the governor who requires that they have at least a payment plan for court ordered financial obligations. Senate Republicans insisted on complete restitution repayment before they would consider a constitutional amendment automatically restoring voting rights upon the completion of a felony sentence.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Police say an arrest has been made in the stabbing death of a Cedar Rapids man. Police say in a news release that 36-year-old Jacqueline Marie Holmes was arrested Wednesday morning at the home where a 35-year-old man was found with a stab wound to his upper torso. The man was later pronounced dead at a hospital. His name has not yet been released. Police say an investigation showed that Holmes had stabbed the victim, with whom she was in a relationship. Holmes has been charged with first-degree murder in the case. She also had an arrest warrant for revocation of probation on other charges of child endangerment, operating while intoxicated and other counts.

WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder died Wednesday morning at a southeast Iowa hospital. Everett Lyon was pronounced dead due to natural causes at 3:58 a.m. at Great River Medical Center in West Burlington. He’d been sent there for a suspected heart attack. The Iowa Corrections Department says Lyon was 71. Lyon was convicted of first-degree murder in Marshall County. Prison records say Lyon had been serving his time at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. His incarceration began on April 10, 1979.