Trump chant denounced; topless bar in tourist Loop; deadly painkiller impostors

ALTO, Mich. (AP) — Lottery officials say a western Michigan man had a winning Powerball ticket in his wallet for two months before realizing he had won $1 million.

In a news release, lottery officials said 53-year-old Daniel Chase of Alto won $1 million when his ticket matched the five white balls drawn Dec. 16. The Morning Sun (http://bit.ly/1RBZClz ) reports the Kent County man bought the ticket in Alma.

Chase says he always puts tickets in his wallet after buying them and checks on them after a while because "it lets the dream of being a winner go on" longer. He came across the winning ticket when cleaning out his wallet last week.

Chase and his wife plan to use the winnings to help their children, complete some home improvements, and travel with family.

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Information from: Morning Sun, http://www.themorningsun.com/

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A measure to curtail the bargaining abilities of teachers' unions by granting Indiana school districts the authority to negotiate higher pay with individual teachers was advanced Monday by a House committee.

The contentious teacher pay bill moved forward despite GOP Senate leader David Long declaring the issue dead last week.

The House Education Committee voted 7-4 to advance the bill, which is opposed by teachers' unions and some school administrators who say such benefits should be negotiated through collective bargaining. They say many districts have a limited pool of money, which means those who are paid more could take away from resources available for all teachers.

"This bill ... is less about giving a few teachers more money," said Gail Zeheralis, a lobbyist for the Indiana State Teachers Association. She added that it's "more about devaluing the rest of them."

The debate comes as state officials and local school leaders have considered steps to address teacher shortages as the number of first-time teaching licenses issued by the state Department of Education has declined by 33 percent over the past five years.

Some districts have negotiated agreements allowing them to pay individual teachers more. But those abilities are on hold pending the outcome of a case currently before the Indiana Supreme Court.

Supporters of the idea say it would give school districts flexibility to fill their classroom vacancies. They say some school districts are at a competitive disadvantage because other districts with more money can recruit their best teachers by offering them more pay. But critics say the bill lacks transparency because it would allow salary agreements to be reached by local school boards during closed-door meetings.

While Long declared the issue dead last week, House Education Committee Chairman Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, says he wants to advance the measure despite intense efforts by teachers' unions to scuttle the bill. Teachers' unions targeted individual lawmakers on social media over the weekend, urging them to vote against the bill.

The measure that House GOP leaders are now advancing was previously approved by the Senate before Long had a change of heart. The Senate last week killed a similar bill that the House had previously approved.

Long called for the bill to be scrapped because it is "misperceived by some as something that would be harmful to teachers." He said lawmakers should work with teachers and come back with a more collaborative bill next year.

Regardless, the bill currently in the House could be voted on and sent to Gov. Mike Pence's desk for him to sign, as long as changes are not made to it. However, if changes are made, the Senate would have to sign off on them before the measure could be sent to Pence.

Education Committee member Rep. Mike Braun, a Jasper Republican, said he understands teachers' concerns but thinks a "trade-off" between "fairness" and "flexibility" is needed.

"If we didn't have that kind of flexibility in our own business, we would be losing out to our competitors," Braun said.

By LEONNA HEURING

Sikeston Standard Democrat

SIKESTON, Mo. (AP) — Luella Duncan celebrated her 25th birthday Monday, but in reality, the Sikeston woman is 100 years old.

That's because Duncan was born on a leap day, which is Feb. 29 and happens every four years.

People born on leap day are known as "leaplings" because their birthday only comes around once every four years, according to "The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies."

Duncan said she didn't like having a leap year birthday when she was a child, the Sikeston Standard Democrat (bit.ly/1LQxvdQ) reported.

"I wanted a real birthday every year," Duncan said. "They didn't celebrate it every year for me. They waited for my birthday; that part I didn't like." Duncan said she's just always told people her birthday is the last day of the month.

"My mother usually made a birthday cake for me on that day," she said of her leap year birthdays.

Her 12th birthday — third in leap years — is one Duncan said she remembers to this day.

"At school I told everybody: 'It's my birthday and I want you to come to my party tonight.' Now, my mother didn't know about this. Nobody knew about it. I just said it," Duncan recalled.

When school let out, Duncan said she rushed home and told her mother some people were coming to their Puxico home that night.

"It was not 5 o'clock when the first people came. And there they came and, you know, there were no automobiles at that time," Duncan said. "Here came the teams of horses and wagons — and hacks. They called a buggy that was enclosed a hack."

The whole community was there, Duncan said.

"The word got around even though telephones were not popular at that time. We owned one but not everyone owned a telephone, but the word did get around," Duncan said.

The children had gone home from school, telling their parents: "There's a party," Duncan said.

"My mother popped popcorn," Duncan said. "She didn't have anything else to serve so she began popping popcorn and making popcorn balls. That made it more festive because all mothers could not make good popcorn balls, but my mother could."

Because leap years happen every four years, and not that many people are typically born in February, being a "leapling" is quite rare.

Jane Pearson of Matthews is another local "leapling." When her birthday was a nonleap year, Pearson said her mother would celebrate Feb. 28.

"I think she wanted to keep my birthday in the same month," Pearson said of celebrating her birthday on Feb. 28 instead of March 1. "On my first birthday — and there's a newspaper clipping in the Standard — there's a picture of me sitting in a little red rocking chair for my first birthday — and I was 4 years old."

In leap years, Pearson said she's 17.

"I usually celebrate my birthday with my kids, and this year, I'm going to my daughter's and my sister is coming in from Texas," Pearson said.

Overall, Pearson said she hasn't experienced many issues with being a leapling. There have been occasional times over the years where Feb. 29 would be an invalid date when she would have to enter her birthday into a computer. Other than that, she said her leap day birthday hasn't been an issue.

It was only until a few years ago, Pearson said, that she learned the science behind the reason for leap years.

The calendar has 365 days in it, but in fact the earth revolves around the sun in exactly 365 days and six hours. This means that the calendar falls behind by six hours every year, and over time, the seasons would get shifted so that — over a very long period of time — spring would begin in February and so on.

To correct this, the calendar created an extra day in February every four years. So during a leap year, February has 29 days.

According to the "The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies," some believe being born on leap day is bad luck. However, Duncan said she doesn't feel that way.

"My life has been pretty good," Duncan said. "... I feel better now than I did when I was 50 years old."

She also beat the odds when she was born two months early.

"In those early days, they didn't know how to take care of a preemie and so when I was born at home, naturally, the doctor said: 'Just put it over there in that box; it won't live anyway,'" Duncan said.

Her mother was having problems, and the doctor was so busy trying to save her mother's life, Duncan said. Her aunt took it upon herself to take care of Duncan because her mother couldn't and her grandmother was busy with her mother.

"It just fell on her shoulders and she took care of the baby (me)," Duncan said of her aunt.

As her 100th birthday approaches, Duncan said she had just one piece of advice for others: "Give more love — to family and to friends."

When asked if she had any advice for parents who have leap year children, Duncan said to acknowledge every birthday.

"Birthdays are so important to children and so parents (of leaplings) should designate a birthday for children such as the last day of the month and let it be special to them," Duncan said.

Pearson shared the sentiment.

"Make sure you celebrate with your kids — when they're little, especially," Pearson said. "My mother always made birthdays special but especially the ones in leap years. She made sure I knew."

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Information from: Standard Democrat, http://www.standard-democrat.com

Eds: This is an AP Member Exchange shared by the Sikeston Standard Democrat.

SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — The site supervisor of a city-run center where two people were shot has been fired after Saginaw officials learned the facility was rented for a party without permission.

The Saginaw News reports (http://bit.ly/21E6DqL ) Monday from documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request that 57-year-old Duncan Cole was fired after the Jan. 30 shooting at the Andersen Enrichment Center.

A 28-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were wounded during the shooting. No arrests have been made.

Proceeds from the unauthorized rental were not turned over to the city. Records state that the center also suffered substantial damage from the party.

Cole had worked 18 years at the center. The newspaper reports that he is jailed on a 2014 probation violation and faces a hearing on Thursday.

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Information from: The Saginaw News, http://www.mlive.com/saginaw

UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. (AP) — When it comes to St. Louis attractions, the Delmar Loop shopping district arguably joins the Arch, Busch Stadium and Forest Park on the short-list for tourists and locals alike.

But for some neighbors, local politicians and a nearby Catholic university, the Loop's image as a family-friendly destination — recognized by the American Planning Association as a top example of urban revitalization — shouldn't include topless waitresses wearing strategically placed body paint.

A $51 million trolley construction project that has curtailed street parking prompted Loop business owner John Racanelli to close the six-year-old Market Pub House along the Loop's main roadway the stretches into University City. In its place, he wants to open a risque sports bar called Social House II.

The University City Council voted unanimously last week to oppose the plan, suggesting such a bar could tarnish the Loop's image and, based on complaints at the bar's flagship location near downtown St. Louis, lead to increased crime and violence. Two days later, the city planning commission endorsed a zoning law change that would effectively keep the business away from University City, a suburb bordering St. Louis and St. Louis County.

The council is scheduled to vote on those zoning changes next week. And the building's owner, who did not respond to several Associated Press requests for comment, has threatened legal action against his tenant. He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he doesn't plan to renew or extend Racanelli's lease, which expires in March 2017.

The president of nearby Fontbonne University has told city leaders that the private school would stop referring students and their families to the Loop, and also discontinue hosting university events there. The proposed bar is across the street from a nonprofit arts organization with a summer program for children. It's also near the city's public library and a church preschool.

"The best indicator of future performance is previous performance," said Loop restaurant owner Tom Schmidt, whose Salt + Smoke is located near the proposed Social House II. Schmidt said he recently closed another restaurant that shared a parking lot with the original Social House bar, in part because of what he called an excessive number of drunken fights, some involving weapons.

Albert Watkins, a lawyer representing Racanelli and his business partners, said the proposed bar would be an entirely different establishment and chided the project's opponents for their "disingenuous piety." He noted that while the Loop draws plenty of young families, it also attracts panhandlers and carousing college students from nearby Washington University.

He disputes University City's contention that Racanelli needs new liquor and business licenses and an occupancy permit.

"As it stands right now, my client is seeking to do what is lawful," Watkins said.

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Follow Alan Scher Zagier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/azagier

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The handler of an Omaha police dog that was killed on duty in January has been paired with another dog and the new team will prepare for their hazardous duty by training at the department's regional center.

Kobus, a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois, was shot to death Jan. 23 near the end of a daylong standoff with a man who police were trying to serve with a warrant ordering a psychiatric examination. Police said Mark L'Heureux, 59, shot Kobus as officers tried to move in. L'Heureux later surrendered.

L'Heureux died a few days later at an Omaha hospital after he was found unresponsive at Douglas County Jail. His death is being investigated.

Kobus' handler, Officer Matthew McKinney, already was scheduled to be trained with another dog because Kobus was expected to retire in March.

McKinney and his new partner will undergo 16 weeks of work at the Gary and Mary West Regional Canine Training Center, learning how to lead the way for other uniformed patrol officers, detectives and even SWAT teams. The Omaha department holds a training camp whenever it needs to prepare new dog-and-officer teams.

A police dog is "the greatest tool an officer can have when it's midnight and so dark that you can't see five feet in front of you," Omaha police Sgt. Steve Worley told the Omaha World-Herald (http://bit.ly/1nbJFrj ).

Worley oversees training at the center and is licensed by the state to certify police dog teams.

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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, http://www.omaha.com

JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) — A Beloit man convicted of homicide by driving drunk has been arrested again for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Janesville police say the 47-year-old man was arrested following a traffic crash Sunday evening. Officials say he failed field sobriety tests and was arrested on suspicion of his fourth OWI. A child under 16 years of age was a passenger.

The man was on parole for his 1994 homicide conviction. WISC-TV (http://bit.ly/1KYvSzT ) reports the driver has a valid driver's license.

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Information from: WISC-TV, http://www.channel3000.com

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — The actions of a Detroit-area police officer who twice rammed a stalled car with children inside would qualify as criminal if committed by a regular citizen, an appeals court said in clearing the way for the driver to sue.

Southfield Officer Keith Birberick has no immunity in the case brought by Cheryl McCarty, the court found last week in a 3-0 decision, affirming a ruling by a federal judge in Detroit.

McCarty was driving her grandchildren to school in October 2011 when she was stopped on a busy road in Southfield and ticketed for failing to stop for a school bus and failing to present proof of insurance.

McCarty's car then wouldn't start. Twenty minutes later, she said Birberick returned and pushed the car into traffic. He then struck the car again, sending it into a gas station and just missing gas pumps.

Attorneys for Birberick said there's no evidence of malice, but the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had a different view.

"Officer Birberick's actions shock the conscience," the court said, citing a legal standard.

"He then fled the scene of the accident he had just caused and destroyed evidence that might have proven his motivation or malicious intent," the court said. "This is not what one would expect from a reasonable police officer in these circumstances. In fact, this would be shocking — and criminal — behavior if committed by an ordinary citizen."

The lawsuit now will go to trial or be settled.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Authorities are sounding the alarm about a new and deadly twist in the country's drug-addiction crisis in the form of a potent painkiller disguised as other medications.

Tennessee officials say they've seen two dozen cases in recent months of pills marked as the less potent opiates oxycodone or Percocet that turned out to contain fentanyl, a far more powerful drug. One official likened the danger to users playing Russian roulette each time they buy a pill on the street.

In San Francisco, the health department blamed several overdoses last summer on lookalike Xanax containing fentanyl, while Canada has issued warnings about multiple recent cases of lookalike oxycodone pills containing fentanyl.

And in suburban Cleveland, federal agents arrested a man this month after seizing more than 900 fentanyl pills marked like oxycodone tablets.

"These pills are truly a fatal overdose waiting to happen," said Carole Rendon, acting U.S. attorney in Cleveland.

Because fentanyl is cheap to manufacture illicitly, dealers see a chance to make more money by disguising it as oxycodone, which typically can sell for more, she said.

Lookalike pills were likely to blame for some of the county's 19 fentanyl-related overdose deaths in January alone, said Dr. Thomas Gilson, the Cuyahoga County medical examiner.

"People might otherwise say, 'I know I can abuse this much of oxycodone,' and they may be in for a really, really bad surprise when they find out that's fentanyl and not oxycodone," Gilson said.

The drug, typically used for treatment of chronic pain in end-stage cancer patients, is 25 to 40 times more powerful than heroin. Properly prescribed, it's often applied through a skin patch. Fentanyl produced for the illegal street market comes from Mexico, while chemically similar components have been traced to China, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

In a second Ohio indictment, federal authorities have charged a man with obtaining fentanyl from China that killed an addict to whom it was sold in Akron.

The DEA says fentanyl-related overdoses killed more than 700 people nationwide between late 2013 and early 2015.

Mimicry of other drugs is one way fentanyl is now being illicitly marketed, the agency said.

"The fact that fentanyl has been found in this form should hopefully make people nervous that do abuse these types of opiate pills, that they could be getting their hands on something even more lethal," said DEA spokesman Rich Isaacson.

China announced in October it would regulate the sale and distribution of 116 chemical compounds used in the production of synthetic drugs, including acetyl-fentanyl.

The problem of lookalike fentanyl comes as the country struggles to contain a drug overdose epidemic that began with illegal use of prescription painkillers and developed into a heroin crisis.

Ohio experienced 502 fentanyl-related deaths in 2014, up from 84 the year before. In all, 2,482 people in Ohio died from accidental overdoses in 2014, an 18 percent increase over the previous year.

Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says drug overdoses rose again in 2014, driven by surges in deaths from heroin and prescription painkillers. Overdose deaths in the U.S. surpassed 47,000 — up 7 percent from the previous year.

Heroin deaths also continued to climb, by 28 percent to about 10,500.

Despite these statistics and the danger of lookalike pills, addicts aren't always deterred, said Rendon, the acting U.S. attorney.

"When there is an overdose death, users do tend to flock to that drug dealer, because they think that he or she must have incredibly potent — either heroin or fentanyl or a combination thereof," she said.

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Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/andrew-welsh-huggins

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Lawrence is considering allowing people to pay parking tickets with canned goods or monetary donations to food pantries.

The Lawrence Journal-World (http://bit.ly/1XV67SW ) reports that city commissioners are considering the issue Tuesday.

Currently, the fines cost $3. The city had projected bringing in $545,202 to the parking fund from overtime parking violations in 2016. Staff projects that the city would receive $30,000 less annually in parking fines, assuming about 6 percent of parking violators participated in the alternative payment option.

The money pays for three police officers and several other staff members.

Options the council will consider include a pilot program. Alternatively, the program could be offered year-round with fines staying the same or increasing to $5 to offset the revenue loss.

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Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The Ann Arbor school district is proposing to accept up to 200 students from China who would each pay $10,000 a year.

The students would attend one of three high schools and live with local families. Superintendent Jeanice Swift says she has "no doubt" the community will embrace the plan, although she doesn't how soon the district would get 200 students.

Teenagers from China would attend school for two years. Swift considers Ann Arbor to be a "global city" and believes families whose children are learning the Mandarin language would be thrilled to host a native speaker.

The Ann Arbor News (http://bit.ly/1XUXrMk ) says Chinese students likely would try to attend a U.S. college after getting a diploma.

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Information from: The Ann Arbor News, http://www.mlive.com/ann-arbor

OREGON, Ohio (AP) — A northwest Ohio police chief says proposals that would limit who can be a police officer could hurt minority recruitment.

The Blade reports (http://bit.ly/1QQ47fe ) a state commission is mulling whether to include some misdemeanor convictions as grounds for disqualification. A felony conviction eliminates recruits under current policy.

Oregon Police Chief Mike Navarre says the move could reduce police chiefs' discretion. He says those hiring new officers should be able to review the entire situation for applicants.

Toledo Police Chief George Kral says he agrees that additional criminal disqualifications would hurt recruitment and wants the department to mirror the community.

Attorney General Mike DeWine says the review board will consider diversity before making a decision.

New requirements for police recruits would also include passing physical fitness, psychological, drug and polygraph tests.

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Information from: The Blade, http://www.toledoblade.com/

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The nearly 1,600 people who were overpaid a total of nearly $434,000 in unemployment benefits won't have to return the money.

The Iowa Workforce Development Board voted Friday to let the recipients keep the money, which was paid in 2014 as a result of a faulty phone system.

The Des Moines Register reports (http://dmreg.co/1KXzxOk ) that state officials said Friday that several of the Iowans were told to keep the money, under the advice of the agency's former director. The current director, Beth Townsend, says the state didn't keep a list of people who tried to return the money, so, theoretically, anyone could argue the state waived its collection rights.

An audit shows the overpayments were part of more than $909,000 the state lost to scams and errors over three years.

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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com

By SHARI RUDAVSKY

The Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — When Carolynn Sprague learned her young son Liam had been placed on the transplant list for a new heart to replace the diseased one that could eventually take his life, she struggled over her very mixed emotions. While she desperately wanted Liam to survive, she knew what that would take.

"You feel like a horrible person because all you want is for your child to live, but you know that someone else's child has to pass for that to happen," she told The Indianapolis Star (http://indy.st/1QM80Sm ).

For Liam, the wait ended on Feb. 25, 2014, at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Caught up in Liam's care, the Spragues knew nothing about a tragic house fire in their hometown of Indianapolis three days earlier that killed the couple who lived there, along with two of their children. They did not know about the two other children who survived for a day before perishing. They did not know about the SUV that was stolen from the family's house days after the fire.

Nor did they know that the Guerra family had given permission to the Indiana Donor Network to transplant the organs from Fuentez, age 7, and Miranda, 13, who had succumbed to smoke inhalation.

All Carolynn and her husband, Rich, knew was that Liam, age 4, was getting a new heart.

And they knew from the start that they would want to thank the donor's family personally, to let them how their loss had led to life for another child.

Normally the Indiana Donor Network puts donors in touch with recipients only if the recipient reaches out and writes a letter to the donor's family, which the Indiana Donor Network delivers. Then the donor can decide whether to pursue the relationship.

But Indianapolis is a big small town made even smaller by social media.

A mutual friend told David Guerra, Fuentez's uncle, that she knew a 4-year-old boy who had received a heart transplant the day after Isabel Guerra, David's mother, decided to donate her grandchildren's organs. Other friends told the Spragues they had heard on the news that Fuentez's heart had gone to a 4-year-old boy in Ohio.

Carolynn Sprague had hesitated to reach out to the donor's family, knowing that they were still grieving. If the family was indeed the Guerras, she thought, they would need even more time to come to terms with their loss.

Within two months, however, David reached out and left a message on Liam's Facebook page.

Both families knew they had found one another, which the Network later confirmed.

When friends held a welcome-home party for Liam at the end of May, about a month after he was discharged from a 315-day hospital stay, the Guerras were there to celebrate, as well.

Liam took one look at Isabel Guerra, the woman who had made the decision to give a stranger her grandson's heart, and there was an instant bond.

"He just knew who she was. He just looked at her with admiration," Carolynn said.

Since then, the two families have become close friends, attending one another's parties. Turns out the two families once lived about 10 minutes apart on the Eastside.

Liam, 6, has thrived since his transplant. He has shown no signs of rejecting his new heart.

A few months before his life-saving operation, though, he had a massive stroke, perhaps a side effect of a temporary device that had been placed in his heart to help him survive until a new heart became available. The boy, who was advanced at age 3, had to relearn how to walk and talk.

He is even learning some words in a new language. Like Isabel's many grandchildren, Liam calls her "Wela," a nickname for the Spanish "abuela," which means grandmother. Sandra Lopez, Fuentez's aunt, is Tia Sandra.

For the Guerras, the experience has helped assuage the sorrow.

"It's awesome to see Liam," Lopez said. "This is giving someone else a chance to live. It was impossible for Fuentez and Miranda to survive. ... It's sad when we think about it, but we have good memories."

Liam is one of two people whom the Guerras have met who have benefited from their decision two years ago. They are also in touch with a little girl in West Virginia who has Fuentez's liver.

More than 20 people in eight states received organs from the Guerra family.

Wednesday the Guerra and Sprague families gathered at the Indiana Donor Network to share their stories and unveil a video that they made about their experience to encourage others to become donors.

Some of the firefighters who had responded to the fire that had gutted the Guerras' home on North Olney Street were also in attendance. No cause for the fire was ever determined.

That fire ranked as the worst that Joni Kelley, an engineer at Station 10, has ever seen in her 20 years with the Indianapolis Fire Department, she said. As her truck pulled up to the scene, she recalled, other firefighters were bringing the bodies out. They started doing CPR right away.

The horrific images have been ingrained in her mind ever since, she said.

So she welcomed the chance to see Liam in person, to watch him play with his little sister, Milli, who was born the month before he received his transplant.

"Just having the opportunity to see this, it helps us not to end with that horrible vision," Kelley said. "This gives us something positive to attach to that."

Fellow firefighter Adam Adkins, a lieutenant, said he frequently has tried to counsel other firefighters who have faced similar traumas. Tuesday night he was talking to firefighters who fought a Johnson County blaze earlier this week that claimed the life of a toddler. He told them about how much he was looking forward to meeting Liam and the Guerra family the next day.

Remember the 21st and Olney fire? he asked.

"Something good has come of it."

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com

This is an AP Member Exchange shared by The Indiaanpolis Star

PLYMOUTH, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana sheriff was indicted Monday on 10 felony counts, including bribery and official misconduct, alleging he accepted $40,000 to allow special privileges for a jail inmate and a visitor.

Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine is accused of allowing unrecorded and unsupervised visitations and phone calls between the inmate and the visitor. Rovenstine did so "with the intent to hinder the punishment" of the inmate, the indictment stated.

The indictment also stated that Rovenstine threatened a law enforcement officer.

Rovenstine did not respond to an email and two phone messages from The Associated Press requesting comment Monday. Court records do not indicate whether he has hired an attorney.

Rovenstine, 56, is charged with three counts of bribery, one count of intimidation, one count of assisting a criminal and five counts of official misconduct. An Elkhart County Jail spokeswoman said Rovenstine was taken into custody shortly before noon Monday and released on $10,000 surety bond.

The indictment alleges the misconduct started in March 2011 and continued into August 2015.

The indictment alleges Rovenstine took the bribes from Kevin Bronson while he was an inmate at the Kosciusko County Jail. Bronson is charged with three felony charges of corrupt business influence and seven felony charges of intimidation. Also charged is Mark Soto, a professor at Grace College in Winona Lake, who faces three felony charges of corrupt business influence and three felony charges of intimidation.

The Warsaw Times-Union reported Soto served as a spiritual mentor and counselor to Bronson.

Soto and Bronson are accused of intimidating multiple men, including threats to beat or kill the victims and their families.

Marshall County Prosecutor E. Nelson Chipman Jr., who has been appointed as special prosecutor in the case, said at a news conference Monday that Soto has been arrested and that Bronson remains in custody after being arrested 14 months ago for possession of cocaine with intent to deal and criminal gang activity.

One victim was allegedly told Bronson would break his legs unless he gave Bronson money, and another man was forced to provide free medical services to Bronson under threat of a beating, the indictment states.

Bronson and Soto are also accused of threatening to beat or kill another man and his family unless the man provided legal services without payment to help them secure a movie or book contract, the indictment states.

A message was left Monday evening at the office of Soto's attorney, David Kolbe.

Warsaw is about 40 miles northwest of Fort Wayne.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln has a plan for a futuristic mass transit system that would include 50 electric-powered, driverless shuttles downtown that could seat up to a dozen people, alongside 650 driverless passenger cars.

Officials said the plan could be launched within three years if the city were to win the Smart City Challenge issued by the U.S. Transportation Department. The department would provide a $40 million grant and $10 million would come from Vulcan Philanthropy. Nearly 80 cities are competing, and finalists for the $50 million will be announced in mid-March.

Lincoln's fiber optics infrastructure manager, David Young, told the City Council during a recent presentation that the system would lower the number of vehicles on city streets, reducing the need to widen some roadways.

City staffers have expressed optimism about Lincoln's chances in the grant competition, the Lincoln Journal Star reported Monday (http://bit.ly/1nbPJQC ). The city already has most of the fiber optic cable in place necessary to handle driverless cars. Allo Communications will put in the rest as it offers high-speed Internet service to every home and business over the next three years as part of its franchise agreement.

The city would gather data, offer transportation technology training through the public schools and put in sites for charging electric vehicles as part of the three-year grant.

Lincoln's plan would create an "unprecedented demonstration project that can be documented and later applied to other midsized cities," the city said in its grant application.

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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, http://www.journalstar.com