Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The trial for a man charged with killing a Des Moines mother and her two young children has again been delayed. Television station KCCI reports that a judge on Thursday agreed to push the trial date for Marvin Escobar-Orellana to April 27 after both sides requested more time to prepare for trial. Escobar-Orellana’s trial had been had been set to begin on Jan. 27. Escobar-Orellana is charged with three counts of first-degree murder after police say he fatally shot 29-year-old Rossibeth Flores-Rodriguez, her 11-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son on July 16 in a Des Moines home.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Billionaire Tom Steyer has qualified for next week’s Democratic presidential debate in Iowa. He’ll be on stage alongside Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. Steyer qualified by hitting polling requirements in South Carolina and Nevada, two of the early voting states. He said while campaigning in New Hampshire on Thursday that his campaign has momentum. A new Fox News poll conducted in South Carolina put Steyer at 15%, and another Fox News poll in Nevada put him at 12%. In previous early state and national polls, Steyer has mostly been in the low to mid-single digits.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state auditor says the Iowa Department of Human Services provided data for an audit of its Medicaid Home Health Program that was so flawed that it was unusable. Auditor Rob Sand said Thursday that it took eight months to get information on the number of patients served, services received and fees paid, but the data was flawed and he couldn’t determine whether money was properly spent or recipients adequately served. Home Health Services provides home-based nursing care, physical therapy and other services for Medicaid recipients. A DHS spokesman disputes Sand’s assertions and says the agency relies on independent audits to ensure it’s operating properly.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The names of three finalists for Iowa’s vacant Supreme Court seat have been forwarded to Gov. Kim Reynolds, who will appoint one of them. The Judicial Nominating Commission on Thursday selected as finalists Joel Barrows, a district court judge out of Bettendorf; Matt McDermott, a Des Moines attorney; and Dana Oxley, a Cedar Rapids attorney. The three were selected from a dozen applicants. Reynolds will have 30 days to make the appointment to fill the vacancy left by the sudden death in November of Chief Justice Mark Cady.

A pedestrian struck by a semi in Page County, Thursday afternoon, has died from injuries suffered in the accident. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2011 Peterbilt tractor-trailer driven by 35-year old Justin Wayne Nall, of Savannah, MO., was traveling north on Highway 71 near the intersection with Nodaway Valley Park a little after 2-p.m., when a pedestrian – 50-year old Joey Clark McComb, of Clarinda, walked into the southbound lane.

McComb then proceeded to walk back into the northbound lane in the path of the semi, before being struck. He was transported by Clarinda Rescue to the Clarinda Regional Health Care Center, where he succumbed to his injuries.

In an update to our report earlier this week, the Iowa State Patrol says a man who was injured in a Monona County collision Monday night, has died from his injuries. The Patrol reports 93-year old Lawrence Nelson, of Mapleton, passed away at Mercy Hospital in Sioux City, where he was flown to by helicopter, following the collision that occurred just before 11-p.m. Monday, northwest of Mapleton.

Nelson’s 2014 Chevy Impala had collided head-on with a 2015 Jeep Cherokee, driven by 26-year old Tari Miller, of Mapleton, as both vehicles were traveling on Highway 141, just west of Plum Avenue. Both drivers were wearing their seat belts. Miller was transported by  Mapleton Rescue to Mercy/Sioux City.

The accident remains under investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)- The names of three finalists for Iowa’s vacant Supreme Court seat have been forwarded to Gov. Kim Reynolds, who will appoint one of them. The Judicial Nominating Commission on Thursday selected as finalists Joel Barrows, a district court judge out of Bettendorf; Matt McDermott, a Des Moines attorney; and Dana Oxley, a Cedar Rapids attorney.

The three were selected from a dozen applicants. Reynolds will have 30 days to make the appointment to fill the vacancy left by the sudden death in November of Chief Justice Mark Cady.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The trial for a man charged with killing a Des Moines mother and her two young children has again been delayed. Television station KCCI reports that a judge on Thursday agreed to push the trial date for Marvin Escobar-Orellana to April 27 after both sides requested more time to prepare for trial.

Escobar-Orellana’s trial had been had been set to begin on Jan. 27. Escobar-Orellana is charged with three counts of first-degree murder after police say he fatally shot 29-year-old Rossibeth Flores-Rodriguez, her 11-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son on July 16 in a Des Moines home.

SACRAMENTO, Calif (AP) – Billionaire Tom Steyer has qualified for next week’s Democratic presidential debate in Iowa. He’ll be on stage alongside Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. Steyer qualified by hitting polling requirements in South Carolina and Nevada, two of the early voting states.

He said while campaigning in New Hampshire on Thursday that his campaign has momentum. A new Fox News poll conducted in South Carolina put Steyer at 15%, and another Fox News poll in Nevada put him at 12%. In previous early state and national polls, Steyer has mostly been in the low to mid-single digits.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A retired business management professor living in eastern Iowa has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for dealing methamphetamine. Federal prosecutors say 61-year-old Randall Mark Gilbert, of Marion, was sentenced Wednesday after he pleaded guilty in July to possession with intent to distribute meth near a school. Officials say police found more than 10 grams of meth in a search of Gilbert’s home, which was within 1,000 feet of Lisbon High School. Police say Gilbert later barged into the home of a woman he believed had set him up, cut the phone line and threatened her with a knife.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a man suspected of killing a 74-year-old Davenport resident was driving the resident’s car when police spotted and then arrested him. Charlie Gary III is charged with murder, robbery and burglary. Scott County court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him. He was arrested Wednesday. A criminal complaint says the 19-year-old admitted breaking into the home of Robert Long, intending to steal Long’s car. The document says Gary told investigators that he strangled Long and then drove away in the car. Long’s body was found Tuesday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Auditor Rob Sand is criticizing the Iowa Department of Human Services. Sand says data it provided for an audit of the agency’s Medicaid Home Health Services program was so flawed he couldn’t even test it. Home Health Services provides skilled nursing care, physical therapy and other services for Medicaid recipients in their homes. Sand says Thursday that it took eight months to get information on the number of patients served, services received and fees paid but the data was flawed and he couldn’t determine whether money was properly spent or recipients adequately served. DHS spokesman Matt Highland says the agency responded to Sand’s requests and relies on independent audits to ensure it’s operating properly.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – Several Iowa and Illinois counties hope to form a sprawling port district along the Mississippi River. Bakers say the plan would improve access to federal funding and aid business development. The Quad-City Times reports that organizers are working on getting governing boards in all 15 counties that share river access to join what would be designated a port statistical area. An application then would be submitted to the Corps of Engineers. If it were approved, the 222-mile-long area would rank 68th in tonnage in the country. The 15 counties have 70 river terminals. Both states are significant exporters of soybeans and corn.