Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:25 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Crews have started vaccinating people in Iowa’s nursing homes, bringing hope that families will soon be able to visit the isolated residents, although it could take weeks to complete the vaccination drive. The government has contracts with three pharmacy companies to vaccinate nursing home residents and staff. They began Monday. Iowa Health Care Association CEO Brent Willett says Iowa has about 31,000 residents and 37,000 staff members in 445 nursing homes and 258 assisted living facilities. He says vaccinations are the most significant development for nursing facility residents who have been largely isolated from their families during the pandemic.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge who has warned against political corruption is ridiculing President Donald Trump’s pardons, including those issued to former Republican members of Congress and campaign operatives. Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt of the Southern District of Iowa says, “It’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals.” In a bit of humor, the judge says that “to get a pardon, one has to be either a Republican, a convicted child murderer or a turkey.” Pratt was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 1997.

ZEARING, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man accused of killing his wife will go to trial in June. WHO-TV reports that 70-year-old Gary Pillman was previously declared incompetent to stand trial, but that ruling was reversed after psychiatric treatment. Pillman has pleaded not guilty. Betty Pillman was found dead outside the couple’s home in Zearing in November 2019. She had been stabbed. Court documents say Gary Pillman went to a neighbor and admitted to the killing, saying he also tried to kill himself. The bench trial is scheduled for June 2.

LAKE PARK, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have released some additional details about the suspicious death of a 25-year-old woman last week in a small lake community in northwestern Iowa. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said Monday that Angel Bastman was found dead in her home in Lake Park on Dec. 22. Her death is being treated as a homicide. Four days after Bastman’s body was discovered, police located a vehicle she had rented and tried to stop it, but the driver fled. The 23-year-old driver of that vehicle was arrested for fleeing police after the vehicle crashed. Authorities are still investigating Bastman’s death.