DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A woman who implicated two innocent people in a Des Moines slaying has been sent to prison for murder. Polk County District Court records say 54-year-old Helen Frazier was sentenced last week to 52 years in prison. She’d been convicted of second-degree murder and two counts of malicious prosecution. Prosecutors say she stabbed to death 55-year-old Andrea “Andre” Brown in January 2017.

Frazier initially provided police information that led to the arrest of a Des Moines man. He spent 17 days in jail before charges against him were dropped. Prosecutors say Frazier lied again in telling investigators that another person killed Brown.

(Radio Iowa) — Twice this year, Democrats in the Iowa House have been unsuccessful in getting Republicans to vote for a major change in the state’s Medicaid program. Democrats like Lisa Heddens of Ames argue care for about 38-thousand intellectually disabled Iowans should no longer be managed by private, for-profit companies. “I’m tired of hearing from the families…knowing nothing is going to change,” Heddens says.

Private companies oversee long-term services for intellectually disabled Iowans who need a ride to a job or staff assistance in an independent living home. Heddens is the mother of an adult son who is intellectually disabled. His Medicaid benefits have been managed by UnitedHealthcare, the company that’s exiting Iowa’s Medicaid program. “I’m frightened for the future for my son and so are the families that are out there and they are just begging this body to carve out this small population, give them some stability,” Heddens says.

Heddens favors a return having state-employed case managers for Medicaid recipients like her son. Iowa Department of Human Services director Jerry Foxhoven says the managed care contracts provide protections for Medicaid recipients who have to switch from UnitedHealthcare to another company. Governor Reynolds has repeatedly said the state will stick with managed care for all Iowa Medicaid patients, as costs were escalating in the old fee-for-service system.

A man wanted on a Montgomery County Bench Warrant was arrested Thursday afternoon. 44-year old Anthony Deon Gregory, of Keokuk, was taken into custody on the warrant for Comtempt of Court/Resistance of a Court Order. He was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) — A proposal approved by the Iowa House would direct a state agency to investigate whether prescription drug industry middlemen are overcharging Iowa’s Medicaid program. Representative John Forbes, Democrat from Urbandale, is a pharmacist. He says the State of Ohio found these pharmacy benefit managers — or P-B-Ms — overcharged that state’s Medicaid program by more than 200-million dollars.

“There is a need for more transparency within the PBM industry and I think the state of Iowa with doing this is taking a lead across the country in making sure that the PBM industry’s not taking advantage of people here in the state of Iowa,” Forbes said. Representative Joel Fry, a Republican from Osceola, says Forbes has unearthed concerning data from Ohio’s experience with prescription benefit managers.

“We look forward to the opportunity to make sure that the payments that he is suggesting are off, that we understand those better and figure out if we need to do something for oversight,” Fry says. The proposal passed the House unanimously. It’s included a larger bill that outlined spending for five state agencies.

A separate bill that cleared the Senate this week calls for an annual report on the fees prescription drug benefit managers charge the state’s Medicaid program. That bill also seeks an accounting to determine if the prescription drug managers pass along all the savings from the rebates offered by manufacturers of prescription medications.

(Radio Iowa) — A 400-million dollar spending plan for one state agency has gotten final approval in the legislature and is headed to the governor for approval. All the money for the Iowa Department of Transportation’s next budgeting year comes from the state’s tax on motor fuels. The House and Senate have approved hiring eight new D-O-T employees who will be based in central Iowa.

Representative Gary Mohr of Bettendorf, the Republican in charge of shepherding the D-O-T’s budget through the House, says “We are establishing, as more people move to the western suburbs of the Des Moines metropolitan area, a new drivers license location in Dallas County.” As Radio Iowa reported earlier this week, the D-O-T’s budget plan includes nearly nine-million dollars extra to restock the road maintenance sheds where salt is stored for NEXT winter.

“Our choice is either use more salt or drive on icy roads,” Mohr says. “I think all of us as legislators, on behalf of the people of Iowa, would prefer to have salt so we’re not driving on ice.” Lawmakers have also approved a 27-million dollar plan to consolidate five D-O-T facilities in the Sioux City area into one location.

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

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A power spring storm system raking the Midwest has left thousands without power in northern Iowa and damaged some homes and businesses. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that nearly 19,000 Alliant Energy customers were without power by midday Thursday in the area, including the communities in and around Brit, Garner, Forest City, Mason City and Northwood. Heavy rain, hail and high winds gusting to 60 mph pummeled the area Wednesday night into Thursday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Johnston woman has been charged two months after a child at her home day care was found unresponsive and later died. The Des Moines Register reports that 47-year-old Trina Mazza was charged Thursday with one count of child endangerment causing death and one count of operating a day care center without a license. She has pleaded not guilty.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris says she owns a gun and called it a “false choice” that the only two gun control options are complete, unrestricted access or a desire to seize everyone’s guns. The California senator revealed after an Iowa campaign event that she is a gun owner. She says, “I own a gun for probably the reason that a lot of people do: for personal safety.” She says she supports “smart gun-safety laws,” such as universal background checks and assault weapon bans.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Iowa and Nebraska transportation officials said Thursday that they’re hoping to have nearly all roads and bridges that were damaged by last month’s flooding repaired by midsummer, but that a wet spring could hamper their efforts. Iowa Department of Transportation Director Mark Lowe and his Nebraska counterpart, Kyle Schneweis, held a joint news conference Thursday in Council Bluffs to update the public on damage in their states and how long it might take to repair.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg announced Thursday that $2.9 million in Catalyst Grant funding will be awarded to 29 communities across the state. The recipients were recognized during a special ceremony Thursday night at a Rural Summit in Grinnell.

Among the communities receiving an award, was the City of Coon Rapids, which plans to use its Catalyst funding to transform a former seed company building downtown. The community of 1,200 suffered a setback when the business moved out of town, leaving a half-block of vacant property in its wake. New training space for an industrial biotech company and upper story rentals in the space will restore community pride and provide fresh hope for workforce growth.

The Community Catalyst program was initiated in 2018 by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) to help create fundamental, positive change in Iowa’s downtowns. The grants, $100,000 per community, assist with the redevelopment or rehabilitation of buildings to stimulate economic growth and reinvestment.

The community of Slater, which is home to 1,489 residents, will use its Catalyst grant to revitalize a main street building that has been vacant for 20 years. The future renovated property already has a potential buyer in a tech company that is proposing to add 25 new well-paid jobs. The project is expected to not only improve appearances downtown, but also generate excitement that high-tech is happening in small towns too.

Of the 29 communities awarded during the 2019 application round, 16 have populations of fewer than 1,500. Program rules require at least 40 percent of funds be awarded to cities with fewer than 1,500 people. The Catalyst Grants are awarded annually based on funding availability. IEDA awarded $1.8 million in grants to 18 cities in 2018. Emergency Catalyst grants have also been awarded to the communities of Anamosa, Vinton and Marshalltown since the program’s inception.

For more information on the Community Catalyst program, visit iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/community/catalyst or contact Jim Thompson at 515.348.6183 or catalyst@iowaeda.com.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris says she owns a gun and called it a “false choice” that the only two gun control options are complete, unrestricted access or a desire to seize everyone’s guns.

The senator from California told reporters after a campaign event in Iowa that she is a gun owner. She says, “I own a gun for probably the reason that a lot of people do: for personal safety.”

The 2020 White House hopeful says that Americans “are being offered a false choice, which suggests you’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away.” She says she supports “smart gun-safety laws,” such as universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons.

Cass County Democratic Party Chair Sherry Toelle said Thursday, that Presidential hopeful Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–NY) will be at the Atlantic campus of Iowa Western Community College on Thursday, April 18th.

Doors will open at 4:05 PM with Senator Gillibrand delivering remarks and conversing with caucus-goers from 4:20 PM until about 5:20 PM. Prior to the event, she will tour IWCC. “Conversations with Kirsten” will focus on the topics of education and national public service.

Senator Gillbrand is the junior senator from New York. She was born and raised in upstate New York, where she, her husband, and their two sons still reside. Prior to being elected to the US Senate, she served as a law clerk and as a lawyer in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006 and was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2009, where she has since won reelection twice.

Her campaign would appreciate an RSVP from those who plan to attend the event. You can do so by going to https://www.mobilize.us/kirstengillibrand/event/90257/ Of course, you can attend without signing in but the numbers will determine in what room the event will take place.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested a woman this (Thursday) afternoon on an arson charge. 19-year old Jessice Lynn Dickerson, of rural Emerson, was arrested at around 2-p.m. for Arson in the 1st Degree, following an investigation into fires set in a restroom trash can and in the stairwell of the Stanton Viking Center at around 9:45-a.m. (Thursday) morning. Red Oak Fire and the State Fire Marshals Office assisted in the investigation.