A northern Idaho woman charged with first-degree murder in the death of a toddler she was babysitting has pleaded not guilty.

The Lewiston Tribune reports that Natasha N. Hodges, 29, of Lewiston made the plea Wednesday in 2nd District Court.

A grand jury indicted Hodges last week in the Aug. 30 death of 2-year-old Rylee Mingo.

Lewiston police say the young girl and an older sibling had been left in the care of Hodges when their mother went to work. The younger child began to have breathing difficulty and Hodges called an ambulance.

Prosecutors say the child died of internal bleeding after being struck in the abdomen by Hodges.

A trial date hasn't been set yet. Hodges is free on $50,000 bond.

LEWISTON, ID - There were no injuries and no charges filed last night after an elderly dementia patient took a car from a care facility and led police on a short slow-speed pursuit along Snake River Avenue. According to the Lewiston Police Department, the 90-year-old man took the car of an employee at the Lewis-Clark Care Center in the 1600 block of 10th Avenue at about 9:15 p.m.

A new study has been released regarding companies that offer health insurance to employees. The news isn't good for Idaho. The state ranks among the lowest in the country.

A report released last week states that only 43 percent of Idaho companies provide their workers with health insurance. That makes it the fourth lowest nationally. Other states in the region, Montana and Wyoming, rank lower. It is, however, an improvement from last year's score of 41 percent.

The numbers get worse. Among small businesses with 50 employees or less, Idaho ranks second lowest with 28 percent of them offering health insurance. For companies that offer insurance for employee family members, the employees pay 31 percent of their premiums on average. This is the third highest employee contribution requirement in the nation.

The report was published by the University of Minnesota's State Health access Data Assistance Center.