Hypnotizing clients for sex; hot to ban flamethrowers; 3-ring binder attack

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A state income tax break intended to help Ohio attract military retirees has cost the state millions more than originally estimated.

Former Gov. Ted Strickland signed a bill in 2007 declaring military pensions exempt from Ohio income tax.

The state estimated it would cost up to nearly $22 million in tax revenue. But the Ohio Department of Taxation now says the exemption cost more than $29 million in fiscal year 2014 and over $31 million in the 2015 fiscal year, which ended June 30, the Dayton Daily News reported Tuesday.

Legislation in 2013 expanded the exemption to include all uniformed services' retirees, adding retirees from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service to armed forces retirees, said Matt Chafin, chief legal counsel for the taxation department. Chafin said Wednesday it's also not surprising that 2007 estimates for tax expenditures would have increased over time.

Rep. Rick Perales, a Beavercreek Republican and Air Force retiree, said the state recovers much of that money when retirees spend money in Ohio.

"All of that money that they get to keep, they're going to spend in Ohio," Perales said. "In terms of taxes, we'll recover a lot of that when they go out and buy a new car, refrigerator or whatever. If they're not here, that doesn't happen."

Chafin said military retirees do contribute to tax revenue in the form of sales and other non-income taxes, but he says the department has no way of calculating those numbers.

Perales also said the state also gets some of the revenue back through taxes on any new jobs military retirees get.

"Those people retire, but they have 20 years left and that second job is fully taxable," he said.

The state is projecting it will lose more than $36 million for fiscal year 2017.

The nation has about 2 million military retirees. Together, they receive more than $50 billion in pension payments a year, according to the Department of Defense. More than 46,000 military retirees live in Ohio, and the federal government pays them about $1 billion annually.

DETROIT — A suburban Detroit official is trying to extinguish the use of personal flamethrowers, which are being sold online by two Midwest companies, in his city.

The companies, located in metro Detroit and Cleveland, claim their devices can be used for recreation or to control weeds and insect hives, clear snow and ice, clear brush and start a bonfire.

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts calls the proposed uses "pretty specious" and "silly," the Detroit Free Press reported. Fouts wants to ban the storage, use and possession of flamethrowers in Warren because he believes the devices are dangerous and could damage property and cause house fires, injury or death.

"You know something like this will be used by bad people for bad things," Fouts said, adding that he thought it was "unthinkable" such a device would be sold to the general public.

According to the two companies making the devices, flamethrowers are legal in Michigan and most other states. They argue that flamethrowers have been used for decades, that people should be able to own one if they want to, and that misuse can happen with any product.

"It's how a product is used that determines punishment for the operator," said Chris Byars, CEO and project lead at the Ion Productions Team, the metro Detroit company that makes the XM42 flamethrower, touted as the world's first commercially available handheld flamethrower. "Simply owning a particular product should not be a punishable offense. It's a matter of education and respect for safety."

Byars said it's "insulting and discriminatory" for a person to believe anyone who owns a particular product, such as a firearm or a knife, is going to misuse it.

Warren City Council members currently are considering the mayor's proposed ordinance, but the issue was put on the back burner at a meeting last Tuesday.

The ordinance would provide an exemption for law enforcement officers, employees or members of the Armed Forces, firefighters or local, state or federal government officials who are on duty and acting within the scope of his or her employment. All others found in violation of the ordinance would face a misdemeanor charge that's punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Council members are seeking further clarification on what would constitute as a flamethrower under the proposed ordinance.

ST. LOUIS — A pastor who admitted bilking $3.3 million from at least 18 mostly elderly investors was ordered Wednesday to spend seven years in federal prison and repay the victims, many having described in detail how the scheme plunged them or their parents into financial ruin.

Jim Staley, 40, appeared to hold back tears and at times wiped his nose with tissue while apologizing to his victims in the courtroom's standing-room-only gallery, insisting that "I wish I could look at them in the face, but I can't." He pledged to make full restitution because "my faith requires me to do so."

But the seeming show of contrition didn't sway U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber, who credited the married father of six as being a devoted family man and pastor with no previous legal blemishes, but remarked, "this is the first time I've heard remorse from Mr. Staley."

When hearing the prison term, Staley slumped forward in his chair and lowered his head.

Webber noted that his observations of body language of many of the onlookers suggested that "if they had the opportunity to attack Mr. Staley they would do that." So Webber said he had called for beefed-up security to keep the throng separated from Staley, who was allowed to remain free on bond until he is told to what prison he must report.

Federal prosecutors allege Staley, who was unregistered in Missouri to sell securities, earned more than $570,000 in commissions while selling investment products he often claimed carried minimal risk and yielded large, guaranteed returns, in some cases 30 to 40 percent.

Staley's attorney has insisted the fraud was unrelated to Staley's clergy work, though prosecutors said some victims invested with him because he was a "nice religious man," and that clergy by nature could be trusted.

Yet in many cases, Staley wound up wiping out those investors' life savings. During Thursday's hearing, victims or their survivors — for privacy, all identified in court only by their initials — called Staley everything from "insidious" to "disgusting and sickening."

One told the judge that Staley "is slick, manipulative and deceitful" in stealing nearly $600,000 from her but reimbursing her just $407, meaning "at this rate I should be (finally) compensated for my losses when I'm 5,800 years old." Others described being socked by huge tax liabilities and penalties linked to their cashing out of annuities and other investments, then giving those proceeds to Staley. In a letter, another victim likened Staley's wrongdoing to "a con game that used God to cloak his evil."

Diana Collins, a federal prosecutor, told the judge that although the state in 2011 ordered Staley to pay $2.9 million in restitution, he never demonstrated a willingness to abide by it. Staley, who was making more than $120,000 as pastor and has lived for free in a million-dollar home rented by his church, has repaid just $1,950, including only $50 this year, in May.

That reimbursement rate, Webber agreed, indicates Staley "has very little interest in making restitution."

Staley called himself overzealous and lamented he should have done his homework about the investments he pitched.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Topeka City Council has approved a ban that bars public nudity in most places, but allows exceptions for breast-feeding mothers and children under age 5.

The measure approved Tuesday makes public nudity a misdemeanor punishable by a fine between $1 and $499 and a jail term of up to 30 days, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. Acting city attorney Mary Feighny said under the new rules, the city wouldn't prosecute someone who was naked in their own yard.

Councilwoman Sylvia Ortiz said the city needed to take action against public nudity, because "we've got too many naked people running around, and it's not the same person."

Councilman Jeff Coen sponsored the proposal and said it was based on a similar nudity ban implemented by the city of Manhattan that has successfully withstood legal challenges. He put forward the measure after hearing reports of nudity in areas that included the Shunga Trail and the city's Wanamaker corridor.

"I am a huge supporter of individual liberties, but jogging naked down Wanamaker affects the quality of life for the rest of us," he said.

The measure does allow nudity at public places outside of a home, "where nudity or exposure is necessary or customarily expected." They include public restrooms, locker and/or dressing room facilities and doctor's offices.

The measure also provides an exception for theaters, concert halls, art centers, museums or similar places in which nudity is incorporated into the art exhibit or theatrical performance.

The City Council previously considered public nudity bans twice, once in 2005 and last September.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The city of St. Louis said Wednesday it will refund roughly $5.6 million to motorists who paid red-light camera tickets over the past year and a half, after the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the ordinance governing the cameras in the city.

After Tuesday's ruling, St. Louis immediately halted the red-light camera program and dismissed pending cases. Officials say they are considering the best way to pay back the money and to mull creating a new red-light camera ordinance that passes legal muster, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Refunds will go only to motorists who paid tickets since Feb. 14, 2014. Anyone who paid a ticket before then was eligible for a class-action settlement amounting to about $20 per ticket.

The state's high court ruling addressed court challenges to red-light cameras in St. Louis and St. Peters and speeding cameras in Moline Acres. The court identified issues with how those cities were implementing the programs and gave what some consider guidance on how to lawfully and constitutionally use the cameras.

In St. Louis' case, a majority of Supreme Court judges found the city's red-light ordinance unconstitutional because it shifted the burden to the defendant to prove another person was operating the vehicle.

"The city's goal from the outset has been to utilize technology in a way that allows us to make optimal use of police manpower while at the same time safeguarding individuals' constitutional rights," Michael Garvin, the city's deputy counselor, said in a statement. "We will work with the Board of Aldermen to prepare a new ordinance that complies with the Court's rulings."

FARGO, N.D. — Park district officials in Fargo will be getting some advice from the Humane Society of the United States about how to handle beavers that are chopping down and killing trees along the Red River.

Dave Pauli with the Humane Society tells KFGO-AM he has worked on similar problems for three decades and may have some options for city officials when he visits Fargo next week.

Pauli says a solution is "always complicated."

The Fargo Park District caused an uproar in April when it announced its plans to trap and kill the beavers. Some residents even started an online petition to convince officials to alter their plans.

Dave Leker with the park district says officials would be willing to test control methods at two parks to see which works best.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City tattoo parlor owner has been charged with repeatedly watching five people use the bathroom in the apartment of a 25-year-old employee who lived above his business.

Rodney Sanell, 48, also watched the employee and her boyfriend several times in the woman's bedroom, investigators said in a probable cause statement in support of 42 felony invasion of privacy counts filed Tuesday.

Police found 11 pinhole cameras in the woman's apartment, including four in the bathroom and three in her bedroom, after suspicious devices were reported early last year.

A tattoo parlor maintenance man who was modeling the bathroom in his own home was returning a tool he borrowed from a woodshop connected to the business on March 7, 2014, when he noticed a box containing a security camera hidden inside a smoke detector.

The man didn't think anything of it until he went to the woman's apartment to take a shower and saw a similar-looking smoke detector in the kitchen, prosecutors said. The man, woman and her boyfriend went through the apartment and found four of the smoke detectors, with wires running through the ceiling and walls.

The wires were traced to a room in the basement of the business, where they were connected to a computer monitor containing 11 different images from the woman's apartment, investigators said.

The woman said she had been working for Sanell since she moved to Kansas City in late 2010, and had moved into the apartment in June 2013.

She told police Sanell had remodeled the bathroom in late 2013, when he installed a new vanity. Two of the hidden cameras were hidden inside the vanity facing the toilet and two were aimed toward the shower.

Detectives watched video recorded from the digital hard drive and saw the woman, her boyfriend, the maintenance worker, the woman's female roommate and her boyfriend in various stages of undress in the bathroom. They also observed recordings of the woman and her boyfriend in various stages of undress in her bedroom, the probable cause statement said.

Sanell was charged with one count for each time one of the five victims was recorded. He was being held on $100,000 cash-only bond, and is scheduled for a probation violation hearing on Thursday.

His attorney didn't immediately return a call on Wednesday seeking comment.

RAPID CITY, S.D. — The Pennington County Commission has decided to support the placement of a South Dakota site that's sacred to the Great Sioux Nation into a federal trust.

In 2012, Sioux tribes raised $9 million with the help of celebrities, including Sean "Diddy" Combs and Bette Midler, to buy a 3-square-mile tract in the Black Hills known as Pe' Sla from private landowners. The tribes want to put the land in trust with the federal government to be held on behalf of tribal members.

On Tuesday, county commissioners voted 3-2 to release the land from the county's tax roll and to send a letter of support to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The tribes have been working to secure service agreements for law enforcement, fire protection, paramedics, road maintenance and pest control for the land since it would stop generating tax revenue if place into trust. The Rapid City Fire and Ambulance Service will lead the land's emergency teams and will be reimbursed through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service, said Mark Van Norman, a Maryland-based attorney representing the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Crow Creek, Rosebud and Standing Rock Sioux tribes.

All of the parties involved have approved the services, but the agreements only are valid if the land is granted trust status, said Chief Deputy State's Attorney Jay Alderman.

Pennington County Commissioner Deb Hadcock believes the commission's support of the land trust will be a positive step for the county.

"It is scared land, and if you work with the native people, you know sacred land means the same as church land, in a sense, for the native people," she said. "They use it for ceremonies and different things to do with their culture."

All of Pe' Sla has sacred value because of the land's role in tribal creation, Van Norman said. In addition to using the land for ceremonies, the tribes also plan to reintroduce bison to Pe' Sla.

The U.S. Department of the Interior is expected to make a decision after a public comment period closes around Sept. 20, Van Norman said.

WEST FARGO, N.D. — A former North Dakota teacher of the year who was accused and then cleared of having a sexual relationship with a student is returning to the classroom.

The West Fargo School District confirmed Wednesday that Aaron Knodel will be teaching English at Sheyenne, one of two public high schools in the city. Classes begin next week but teachers were at school Wednesday for workshops.

Knodel was suspended for the last school year after being charged with having a sexual relationship with the 17-year-old female student in 2009. He was cleared by a state district court in June and reinstated by the West Fargo School Board last month. The state teacher licensing board essentially backed that decision.

District officials originally said they weren't sure if Knodel would return to the classroom as a teacher. The school district said Wednesday that students can opt out of any class, including Knodel's, but the district doesn't track those numbers.

"Students at Sheyenne have had their schedules with teacher names on them for nearly a week now, so we probably would have heard about it if there were a whole lot of them who requested transfers" from Knodel's class, said Heather Konschak, spokeswoman for district superintendent David Flowers.

Knodel, who has not talked publicly since he was charged with five felony counts of corruption or solicitation of a minor, declined to comment Wednesday to The Associated Press.

Phone calls were at the center of Knodel's trial in April. Evidence showed more than 90 calls between Knodel and the student from Oct. 10, 2008, to March 9, 2009. That included 23 calls after 10 p.m. and six after midnight, including one that lasted four hours.

Mike McNeff, the Rugby school superintendent and member of the state teacher licensing board, said he was bothered by the conversations and voted against dismissing the case against Knodel. The vote was 5-3 in favor of Knodel, with little discussion.

"Thirty-six hours of talking to a student and 90 phone calls — I just feel it's overboard," McNeff said.

Mindy Grant, a West Fargo parent, said Wednesday she would like to hear Knodel admit that the phone calls were a bad idea.

"Even if there was no sexual connotation or anything going on in these conversations, even if there was no criminal liability proved, I think that what he did was extremely inappropriate," Grant said. "And for the school district to stand up and support his actions is a horrible signal to any other student who might find themselves in that sort of position."

Knodel, who previously taught English and debate at West Fargo High School, was assigned to Sheyenne because there was a need at that school, Konschack said. Greg Grooters, principal of Sheyenne, referred all questions to the district office.

Flowers, who investigated Knodel's conduct before recommending to the school board that he be reinstated, said in his report that Knodel's phone calls were well-intended and fulfilled a challenge that teachers mentor and support struggling students. Flowers also recommended that the district make new rules for contact between students and teachers.

Patti Stedman, the school board president, said she has not heard from any of her constituents about Knodel returning to the classroom. She also said the board trusts the investigation by Flowers.

"I feel confident that he did his due diligence and the right decision was made," Stedman said. "He has nothing to gain by putting somebody back in the school system who he feels is not going to be good for kids."

Konschak said Flowers was not granting interviews about Knodel.

"We're trying to put this behind us," Konschak said. "We're trying to get school started. We're trying to get Aaron into the classroom to teach."

OMAHA, Neb. — Police say they have arrested a suspect after a 76-year-old woman was robbed and punched in the face inside a church in Omaha.

The Omaha Police Department said in a Wednesday statement that 22-year-old Wayman Clark has been arrested after a felony warrant for robbery was issued. It wasn't immediately known if he has an attorney; online court records don't yet list the case.

The department said investigators are still working to identify another male believed to have helped in the Sunday robbery that was caught on surveillance video at St. Cecilia Cathedral.

The video shows the woman reading a parish newsletter inside the church's entrance when one of the suspects approaches her from behind and grabs her purse before running out of the door. The other male strikes the woman in the head, knocking her down, before also fleeing the scene.

The woman, who wasn't identified, hit her head against the side of the table as she fell down. She was helped by a parishioner before being taken to Creighton University Medical Center with a large bump and scrapes on her forehead. She was treated in the emergency room and has been released, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The Rev. James Netusil said he was in the sacristy preparing for morning Mass when the assault occurred. He said the woman was "pretty shaken up" and initially didn't want to be taken to the hospital.

"From the video, we know that she had just walked in two minutes before and suddenly, she's attacked," he said.

Netusil said security cameras have been installed throughout the church and on campus for at least 10 years and the "system is exceptionally thorough."

TREYNOR, Iowa — A former teacher has agreed to give up his teaching and coaching licenses as part of a plea deal in his sexual exploitation case involving students.

The Daily Nonpareil reports that Michael Travis pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of assault. He also agreed to surrender the licenses to the Iowa Education Department. He won't have to register as a sex offender or serve any time in jail.

The newspaper reported that Travis maintained his innocence despite his negotiated plea of guilty. He was arrested in May 2014 on two counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee.

Travis had been an assistant softball coach at Treynor High School and taught elementary school.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — A Sioux City man has been sentenced to four years in prison for repeatedly hitting his 13-year-old stepson with a three-ring binder.

The Sioux City Journal reports 48-year-old Michael Bardwell was sentenced Friday on two counts of child endangerment. He had pleaded guilty.

Court documents say Bardwell struck the boy in the head several times on May 15 while they were in a Sioux City hotel room. According to authorities, the boy placed his hands over his head for protection and suffered a fractured middle left finger.

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — The fire chief and five members of his department in the Twin Cities suburb of Maplewood have been placed on administrative leave, apparently over the death of a woman at a nursing home.

Police Chief Paul Schnell says firefighters and paramedics were called to the Good Samaritan Society nursing home Aug. 7 where a 71-year-old woman with Parkinson's disease had stopped breathing and was unconscious.

The Star Tribune says resuscitation attempts were made and firefighters were in the process of taking her to the hospital when the woman's husband arrived and asked them to stop.

The woman was taken back to the nursing home where she died a short time later. Schnell says police investigated because there was no "do not resuscitate" directive in place. Police determined there was no criminal wrongdoing, but the six were placed on leave.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An attorney who was suspended by the Ohio Supreme Court after being accused of hypnotizing female clients for his sexual gratification has agreed to permanently surrender his law license.

Michael Fine submitted his resignation Monday. A court spokesman says Fine no longer can practice law in the U.S.

Police in the northeast Ohio village of Sheffield began investigating Fine last fall when two women reported that they believed they'd been hypnotized after losing track of time and being unable to recall meetings and phone calls with Fine. Police then recorded Fine using explicit language while talking to the women. The police chief says the case is under review by Lorain County prosecutors.

Fine's attorney said in November that Fine was undergoing medical treatment. The attorney didn't return phone messages Tuesday.

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — A Wisconsin sheriff says a police dog assigned to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits had been left in his partner's car for 47 minutes before being found dead.

The K-9 named Wix and his handler, Brown County Deputy Austin Lemberger, were assisting with security at the tournament Aug. 13. Brown County Sheriff John Gossage says Lemberger took the 3-year-old Belgian Malinois (MAL'-in-wah) for a short walk, and the deputy made sure Wix had water and that the air conditioning was working.

Gossage says Lemberger found the dog unresponsive in the car less than an hour later. The sheriff's office says the air conditioning had stopped working, and the car's K-9 heat alarm didn't activate.

Press-Gazette Media reported Tuesday that the maker of the heat alarm has offered to help in the department's investigation.

CHICAGO — A man who won a $25 million award in 2012 for a wrongful murder conviction as a youth has been charged in a Chicago shooting.

Authorities say Thaddeus Jimenez was charged Tuesday with aggravated battery and weapons violations in the shooting of a 33-year-old man in what is being called an internal gang dispute. A bond hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

According to police accounts, Jimenez on Monday pointed a handgun at the unidentified victim's head before shooting him in both legs.

Jimenez was 13 years old when convicted in 1993 for the murder of 19-year-old Eric Morro. Jimenez served 16 years in prison before prosecutors in 2009 asked a judge to vacate his conviction.

Jimenez sued the city of Chicago and several officers, claiming police ignored evidence against another teen.