Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:15 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Navy leaders have backed off a commander’s claim that an Iowa State University midshipman fabricated a sex assault, but they say the victim will still be expelled for underage drinking. In a recent letter, a Navy leader says the July 2016 assault was “unfortunate and appalling” but irrelevant to the 20-year-old man’s decision to drink alcohol the night of the alleged molestation. The midshipman has been ordered to repay $55,000 in benefits he received during his years in the scholarship program.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling means black defendants on trial in Iowa have a better chance of challenging all-white juries. The court’s decision throws out a method previously used to gauge the racial composition of a jury. It says judges must consider multiple methods of assessment that offer a more balanced review.

SOLON, Iowa (AP) — A Lake Mills man has died from injuries he received in a bicycle crash last week in rural Johnson County. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that 70-year-old Franklin Dahn was riding his bicycle around 1:30 p.m. June 30 down a hill when he hit an animal and crashed The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says Dahn was flown to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say they have no video or breath test results in the public intoxication arrest of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ new campaign manager. An officer spotted 32-year-old Phil Valenziano urinating outside a bar June 23, days after Reynolds announced he would lead her 2018 campaign. A West Des Moines police spokesman says its officers don’t wear body cameras yet and the arrest wasn’t captured by dash cam video.

A new telehealth initiative will expand H-I-V prevention efforts in rural Iowa, where H-I-V rates continue to climb. TelePrep will use at-home video calls and the postal system to administer H-I-V prevention medication to rural residents who are at risk. TelePrep coordinator Angie Hoth says in other Midwestern states, H-I-V cases are mostly concentrated in big cities.

Hoth says, “Whereas Iowa has approximately 25 to 30 percent of its HIV cases occurring in a rural part of the state, which is quite unique compared to our neighbors.” Hoth says the TelePrep program expects to serve 300 to 500 rural Iowa residents. She says the distance from cities can be a barrier to getting H-I-V prevention medication.

Hoth says, “People who may be at risk may be eligible for HIV prevention and for sexually-transmitted infection prevention don’t always have access to the services they need.” University of Iowa Health Care and the Iowa Department of Public Health are collaborating on TelePrep, which may be the only program of its kind in the country.

(Radio Iowa)

A California man arrested at the Des Moines Airport last fall has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for a drug-running operation. Forty-three-year-old Jonathan Leroy Homedew was convicted of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. Last fall, prosecutors say Homedew mailed more than 10 kilos of the potent, smokable form of methamphetamine in packages. The packages were found in Des Moines postal facilities.

Investigators say Homedew had been traveling between Iowa and California repeatedly last summer, buying drugs in California, mailing them to Iowa and then flying here himself to distribute the meth. Three others pleaded guilty in this case. One man has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison. A woman has been sentenced to more than seven years. A third woman who pleaded guilty hasn’t been sentenced yet.

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Transportation has shut down several interstate ramps in east Omaha expected to affect 47,000 drivers and cause traffic headaches for motorist in Omaha and western Iowa.

Station KETV reports that westbound Interstate 80 ramp to northbound Interstate 480 has been closed along with northbound Highway 75 ramps to westbound I-80 and northbound I-480. Also, the F Street entrance ramp to northbound Highway 75 is closed.

Drivers are being rerouted east on I-80 to northbound I-29 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, then westbound back into Omaha on I-480. The ramps were closed Wednesday night for construction that’s expected to last until the first week of October. The DOT says the closures are needed for bridge repairs and repaving.