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.