Dumpster Diving Divas; childproofing e-cig liquids; dead woman indicted

By MITCHELL KIRK

Pharos-Tribune

LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) — Shelf after shelf in Merle DeFord's Logansport home hold almost 90 wooden models he's made entirely by hand.

There are trains, semitrailers, motorcycles, antique cars, a tank, cranes, bulldozers and tractors.

The wheels turn, the bucket truck's bucket raises up into the air and the dump trucks dump while the front-end loaders and excavators scoop up and down.

He cut, shaped, sanded and stained every piece from hardwoods all the way down to the steering wheels and gearshifts in the cabs, horns and antennas on vehicle roofs and tiny axes and helmets resting on a firetruck.

"It sounds crazy but I'll come down here and just sit and look at them," he said. "I enjoy it. I done all this myself."

DeFord's been at it for more than 20 years and he has no intention of hitting the brakes on his ever-growing fleet of creations.

He recalled being at a motor home dealership in the early 1990s when he saw a wooden model of a semitrailer on display.

"It hit me like a ton of bricks," DeFord said. "I started and I've been at it ever since."

He's been ordering plans from modeling magazines, cutting the pieces and assembling them in the shop at his home for years.

"I found out real early at this that you don't dare have a temper," he said. "If you break a piece, you just make another one. Throwing it against the wall don't fix it and I found that out real quick."

His role as a punch press operator making small machinery parts at Logansport's former Elco plant prepared him well for the hobby, he said.

How long it takes to finish a project is always the first question he's asked, he said with a laugh. It's also one he's yet to have an answer for.

"I have no idea," he said. "I start in and when I'm done, I'm done. Some days I'll go out in the shop and work three or four hours, the next day I'll work eight hours, I have no idea."

DeFord doesn't stick with one particular subject, as illustrated by the wide variety in his collection. His ideas are sparked by various occasions throughout his life and those he shares it with.

For instance, the inspiration for his wooden school bus, complete with rows of seats inside, came from a friend who drove a bus for a local school corporation.

Pointing to one of the several semitrailers on his shelves, DeFord went on to recall how a truck driver constantly parked a rig across the road from his house several years ago.

"So I ran over there and I measured it all up and that's how it happened," he continued.

An ornate carriage also rests on one of the shelves.

"My wife said, 'Boy, it'd be nice if we had a stagecoach,'" he recalled. "Well that's all she had to say. In the shop I went and that was it."

His models are made from hardwoods like walnut, maple and purple heart.

"They're definitely not toys," he said. "You don't let the kids play with them."

He scoffs at the thought of his handiwork's plastic counterparts.

"The only thing they're nice for is for 3-year-olds who can throw them against the wall," he said. "That's the only thing that's good about them."

Every model was made nearby in the shop on his property equipped with a drill press, table saw, belt sander, workbenches, toolboxes, stereo and mini fridge.

"I dang near live out here," he said. "...I'm out here just about all day."

His constitution requires it, he continued.

"I got to be doing something," he said. "Been that way my whole life. I'm 81 years old and I never slowed down."

The amount of detail in his work is mirrored in the way he maintains his shop.

"I'm a nut on perfection," he said.

Screwdrivers, wrenches, drill bits and other tools all await in designated spots on benches and walls. Handsaws fill a shelf with their cords neatly wrapped. Filing cabinets marked "Patterns" and "Manuals" stand not far from small, labeled drawers filled with bolts, nuts, screws and nails.

This diligence continues as he works, DeFord went on to say.

"Every time I make a mess, every saw cut, everything, I clean it up," he said.

With the exception of a few wheels, he doesn't paint his models, opting instead to stain in order to be able to admire the wood.

DeFord has never sold any but has given some to close friends. He recalled giving a model of a Hummer to a buddy who drives one of the brand's monstrous SUVs.

"I gave him that model of that thing and a big old tear started rolling down his cheeks," he said. "That was all the payment I needed."

DeFord isn't sure what he'll tackle next. Just like his disposition when he's working on a project, he's in no rush to figure it out.

"That's all I got, is time," he said.

___

Source (Logansport) Pharos-Tribune, http://bit.ly/1nwJyHG

___

Information from: Pharos-Tribune, http://www.pharostribune.com

This is an AP-Indiana Exchange story offered by the (Logansport) Pharos-Tribune.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The cold nips at Robin Evans as she rifles through a dumpster outside the Dollar Tree, a place she often goes to search for good finds. Holding a flashlight at midnight, she cannot trust only the parking lot lights to show her what treasures the dumpster might hold.

Evans also receives help from the headlights that shine against the bricks at the back of Dollar Tree as her friend, Careyann Courtright, waits in the car to see if the dumpster is worth getting out to look through. It isn't, so the two light their cigarettes and drive to a new dumpster, hoping their next stop will bring better luck.

Courtright and Evans use dumpster diving as a way to make money by pawning treasures that they find. However, they don't just look at dumpster diving as a way to make money; they also do it to strengthen their friendship and help others by giving some of their finds to friends, family and people in need.

Courtright and Evans have been friends for more than 40 years and have shared an interest in dumpster diving for a long time. Only recently has Courtright helped Evans feel more confident about what they do.

The two call themselves the Dumpster Diving Divas, a name they recently came up with because of their "devious personalities," Courtright said. Ever since their first dive together, the two have found it difficult to stop.

"Once you find a couple of good things, it's really addicting," Courtright said.

The Columbia Missourian (http://bit.ly/1nwyzhs ) reports that dumpster diving has become a somewhat cultural norm as freeganism rises. Freegans are people who live off limited resources, hoping to minimize their ecological footprint. By reducing their use of resources, they hope to live on freedom, generosity and community, according to freegan.info. The website states that activist freegans boycott big corporations they see as responsible for environmental destruction.

According to a 2012 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, 40 percent of food in the United States — estimated to be worth about $165 billion — goes uneaten.

Most freegans are known for diving for food, often in grocery store dumpsters. Courtright and Evans find this idea unappealing and do not identify themselves as freegans.

"I still can't believe people (are) doing this for food," Courtright said.

Instead of diving for food, the divas are looking for buried treasures in the trash, valuable items they can sell to pawn shops or give to those in need. They tend to seek out individuals to help rather than charities.

Evans recalled a time she saw a little boy with no shoe strings in his boots, a dirty shirt and pants that did not reach his ankles; she took one look at him and knew she had to do something. She took the child to one of their storage sheds, containing things she's found while diving, and gave him new clothes. Evans said it was worth it, just to see the kid "grinning from ear to ear."

"What comes around goes around," she said. "I like helping people. That's my greatest reward, I guess."

Not everything they collect in their dives is clothes and knick-knacks; the two have also found valuable oddities, which they store in one of over 10 storage sheds.

Courtright said she found a diamond ring during one dive and wears it every chance she gets. The two also found three letters signed by Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States.

Right now, the letters sit in one of their storage sheds along with other items they have found throughout the years. One 5-by-10 storage unit alone holds enough of their belongings to fill it all the way to the ceiling. The two keep most of their items together in shared units.

Courtright and Evans agree that if they ever discover something valuable when diving, they share it or split the reward.

"We don't fight over anything, like 'That's mine, I found it.' None of that — it's all cool. It's totally cool," Courtright said.

If done right, pro dumpster divers can make thousands of dollars digging through trash, salvaging waste in popular areas. Some places that tend to be more lucrative include commercial, residential and industrial dumpsters.

The Dumpster Diving Divas also managed to find a Lee Reynolds painting appraised at more than $2,600 on the side of a road. Reynolds, born in 1936, has paintings going for $3,200 online.

Despite how lucrative dumpster diving can be, the two say they find their greatest rewards in their friendship with each other and the joy they get when they get to help a friend in need. They also enjoy the idea of not knowing what they might find next.

"I've been doing this since I was a kid. We just get a lot of cool shit," Evans said.

Evans started when her dad first took her to a dumpster dive as a child. From there, she carried the habit to her foster family and now her friends. She started as a form of survival, but now she considers it a fun way to get some extra cash.

"I didn't have anything for the longest time," Evans said.

Evans said her experience has taught her that dumpster diving can also be dangerous and not always legal.

It is important to be safe when going diving, especially at night. Courtright and Evans emphasized the importance of going with a friend and carrying a legal form of protection such as pepper spray, a taser or a knife.

"It's never good to go by yourself, and you always carry something with you," Courtright said.

The divas understand that diving can be dangerous, not just from the threat of other people but from the law as well.

In the United States dumpster diving is legal except where prohibited by local regulation. According to a 1988 Supreme Court ruling, California vs. Greenwood, the Fourth Amendment does not prohibit "warrantless" search and seizure of garbage left outside because there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.

However, if a dumpster is enclosed in a locked area or a "No Trespassing" sign is placed nearby, then the person might be questioned, ticketed or even arrested due to an expectation of privacy, according to the ruling.

"I'm already sketchy about getting in trouble with this 'cause I already have been," Evans said.

Evans was referring to an incident when she and Courtright found a set of night vision goggles and decided to take them. They were later informed by the police that the goggles had originally been stolen from SWAT.

"There are dangers to dumpster diving, and that is one of them," Evans said.

Although Evans and Courtright try to remain within the legal boundaries of dumpster diving, many people still look down on the idea of rummaging through trash.

The two said the mess divers leave behind is a common reason people frown on their actions. That's why Evans and Courtright believe it's important to leave the dumpster better than they found it. It's their most important rule.

"If you're low enough or if your perception of how a person is dumpster diving, then you're not really a person I would want to hang around with anyway," Evans said.

"Really the only ones who would have any criticism about it is the people that put the good stuff in the dumpster, so thank you," Courtright said.

The "divas" are protective about which dumpsters they look through, hoping they will continue to have good luck with them.

"We don't want anyone stealing our good spots," Evans said.

When the two go on a dive, they are often gone for days at a time, not knowing when exactly they will be home.

It can take hours to thoroughly look through a dumpster, and they try to hit two to three a night for three or four days in a week, traveling anywhere from Jefferson City to Columbia. The divas go on such extended excursions because they understand it takes time and patience to find worthwhile things.

"When they say one man's junk is another man's treasure, they mean that, you know?" Evans said.

___

Information from: Columbia Missourian, http://www.columbiamissourian.com

An AP Member Exchange shared by the Columbia Missourian

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Most people Alina Zheng encountered at University of Kansas didn't seem to notice anything unusual about her age.

"I usually don't tell them right away because I don't want them to freak out and treat me any differently," she said. But if anyone did ask, she said, of course she was always honest.

Alina is 16, and she just graduated from the university.

The Lawrence Journal-World (http://bit.ly/1JWj506 ) reports that she got her degree in two and a half years, after enrolling as a full-time student at age 14.

Alina is quick to point out her college experience wasn't much different from most of her peers'. She studied a lot, and classes were hard at times. She lived on campus in Watkins Scholarship Hall, cooked her own meals with her roommates (who included, one semester, her 20-year-old sister Amy), and got involved with campus activities.

Now, she has an internship she hopes will help her decide what to do with her life.

"The bigger goal in mind for me is to figure out what I really want to do and start my career," she said.

Alina isn't the first 16-year-old to graduate from the school, but students like her are rare.

She is the first 16-year-old to earn a degree since spring 1995, according to university spokesman Andy Hyland. He said the university has had an average of three full-time degree-seeking students age 16 or younger on campus each semester since fall 2003.

Chris Wiles, Alina's Honors Program adviser, said Alina was probably the most mature of the many accelerated students he'd worked with.

"She has continued to excel, pursuing multiple majors and graduating early, while participating in a number of opportunities beyond the classroom," Wiles said. "She is obviously incredibly gifted, but she is also a wonderful young woman, and generally just a very pleasant person. For all of her talents, none of it would be possible if she weren't a tireless, dedicated worker as well."

Alina plans to move to Washington, D.C., in the coming week, where she has a spring internship with the U.S. Department of State, pending her passing her security clearance. The internship is through a university program, and she'll be living in an apartment with a couple of other students.

Afterward, she figures she'll take one of two paths: academia, going to graduate school for political science with the hopes of one day becoming a professor, or perhaps working for the government in an area such as foreign service.

She hopes the internship will help her "test the waters."

At some point, she also wants to live in China, where she studied abroad as an undergrad. The goal, she said, would be to solidify her fluency in the language, which she first learned some of from her parents, University of Kansas aerospace engineering professor Charlie Zheng and Lawrence High School integrated studies educator Shirley Zheng, both immigrants from China.

At the university, Alina majored in political science with minors in math and economics.

She was able to complete her degree in less than three years, graduating in December, thanks to college credits she had earned as a student at Lawrence's Free State High School.

And yes, to graduate high school and enroll at the University of Kansas at 14, she did skip a few grades.

Alina said her parents tell her that she was doing well enough in preschool that instead of enrolling in kindergarten she went straight into second grade.

In elementary school, she said, she felt like she wanted more of a challenge and asked to skip all of middle school.

"But my educators didn't want me to miss out on middle school completely," she said, so they compromised. Skip seventh grade, attend eighth grade, skip ninth.

When her family moved from Manhattan to Lawrence, she started at Free State High as a 10th-grader and attended the school for three years.

Throughout childhood and high school, she played the cello, including as principal cellist with the Topeka Symphony Youth Orchestra. She chose to play with the Topeka group over her high school orchestra because the pieces were more challenging, Alina said.

"I'm mostly self-motivated," Alina said.

Alina said part of the reason she chose the university was its individualized attention and the leadership and extracurricular opportunities she would have.

Again, that's basically just like anyone else — except that she happens to be 16.

"It's not for everybody — everybody has to have their own path," Alina said. "I think society's really great today, in that people really respect intelligence and getting a head start in life."

___

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

An AP Member Exchange shared by the Lawrence Journal-World

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Senate has passed a bill that would allow people to carry concealed switchblades and knives.

The chamber passed the measure Wednesday on a voice vote with no debate. The Assembly passed the bill in November; it now goes to Gov. Scott Walker. His spokeswoman said he would review the bill.

Manufacturing, selling, transporting, purchasing or possessing a switchblade has been illegal in Wisconsin for decades. Violators are subject to $10,000 in fines and nine months in jail.

The Republican-authored bill would eliminate the prohibition as well as allow anyone who can legally possess a gun to carry concealed knives of any length without a concealed carry license.

Local governments would be barred from enacting knife regulations stricter than state law.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Liquids used in electronic cigarettes would have to be sold in child-resistant packaging under a bill getting a hearing in the Ohio House.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that provide users with aerosol puffs that typically contain nicotine and sometimes flavorings like fruit or chocolate.

The House Health and Aging Committee scheduled a hearing Wednesday on a Senate version of a bill previously passed by the House.

Bill supporters say liquid nicotine refills can harm children if ingested or absorbed through the skin.

The legislation would require Ohio's health department to develop standards for packaging resistant to children 5 and under. Violators could be fined up to $1,000.

Neither bill affects pre-filled cartridges of liquids, only those liquids that can be added to e-cigarettes. The proposals also apply to non-nicotine liquids.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A State Highway Patrol post commander had an affair with a subordinate's wife last year and stalked her after she ended it, including using a patrol vehicle to stop her for speeding, the Washington County sheriff said.

Lt. William Elschlager from the Marietta post in southeast Ohio was charged with two felonies, menacing by stalking and abduction, related to that alleged traffic stop, Sheriff Larry Mincks said.

Elschlager, 46, didn't enter a response to the charges at his initial court appearance Tuesday. He was described as cooperative and was to be released under electronic monitoring.

His attorney, George Cosenza, said Wednesday they'll defend against the allegations but that it's too early in the process to comment on case details.

Elschlager, an unmarried, 19-year patrol veteran, was arrested at home Sunday after the woman told the sheriff's office she feared for her safety because of Elschlager's position and actions since their months-long affair ended last year, Mincks said.

As of Tuesday, investigators hadn't found any citation issued for the alleged traffic stop, Mincks said.

The woman also reported that she had spotted Elschlager in her backyard and that he'd thrown Christmas presents against a home where she stayed, Mincks said. She said she visited Elschlager at the post to try to persuade him to leave her alone, but he continued to send her text messages, the sheriff said.

Beyond the listed charges, Elschlager is under investigation for allegations including theft, telecommunications harassment and breaking and entering, Mincks said. The sheriff said he had no previous complaints involving Elschlager and that he'd had a good professional relationship with the commander.

The woman's husband had been a trooper for 3 1/2 years and worked out of Marietta when Elschlager became commander last July. The woman and her husband were in the process of getting a divorce, Mincks said.

The woman's husband resigned as a trooper in August amid an internal investigation into allegations that he'd falsified his weight during monthly tracking meant to ensure standards for troopers, said Lt. Craig Cvetan, a patrol spokesman.

Elschlager will be on paid administrative leave as the patrol investigates whether he violated work rules, Cvetan said. He said the agency is cooperating with the investigation.

The commander of the post in Zanesville will temporarily oversee the post in Marietta, Cvetan said.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas would have fewer than half of the local school districts it now has under a reorganization that a conservative Republican lawmaker proposed Wednesday because he said it would trim administrative costs.

Rep. John Bradford said his measure would decrease the number of local school districts to 132 from the current 286 and leave 99 of the state's 105 counties with only one district each. Bradford presented his plan to the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, which agreed to sponsor it as a bill.

Several other Republican lawmakers said they're interested in finding ways to have local school districts operate more efficiently. The GOP-dominated Legislature must close a projected $190 million budget deficit for the fiscal year beginning in July, and the state expects to spend more than $4 billion on aid to its public schools.

Bradford was careful to describe his plan as a district reorganization, not a consolidation. The state forced hundreds of small school districts to consolidate in the 1960s and for many educators and legislators, the term still carries negative connotations of closing individual schools, which Bradford said he doesn't advocate.

"If we really want to save money, we've got to tackle the hard issues," Bradford said.

But Rep. Don Hineman, a Republican from Dighton in western Kansas, said he's skeptical that reducing the number of districts will result in significant cost savings. Mark Tallman, a lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards, said he sees no evidence that Kansas residents are clamoring for consolidation.

"This is really going in the wrong direction," Tallman said. "This is making the false assumption that larger bureaucratic units that are less accessible to voters are better."

A consulting firm hired by the Legislature to find potential budget efficiencies last week recommended that districts have statewide purchasing of food, fuel, services and computer software. It also recommended having all public school employees in a single health insurance plan to lower coverage costs.

Bradford's proposal is designed to cut administrative positions, sell off unnecessary equipment, and close and sell off administrative buildings. Bradford said that based on a survey of districts, he believes the state could save about $170 million over 10 years.

"There are some savings, I think, that could happen," said Sen. Tom Arpke, a conservative Salina Republican who is chairman of a budget subcommittee on education spending. "Let's have the discussion at least."

Under his proposal, any county with 10,000 or fewer public school students could have only a single district. Counties with more than 10,000 students could have multiple districts, but each would have to have more than 1,500 students.

Half of the state's 286 districts have 550 or fewer students, and 69 of them have fewer than 300.

Bradford said he'd leave it to each county to decide whether multiple elected local school boards would remain if there were fewer or only one district.

Rep. Ed Trimmer, a Winfield Democrat on the House Education Committee, said he doesn't think schools can run smoothly if a single superintendent in a county reports to multiple school boards. He said he believes cutting the number of districts eventually would lead to school closures.

"The only way you can get efficiency is by consolidating is if you move students and close schools," Trimmer said. "You have to do that, or there's no point in doing what you do."

___

Online:

Kansas Legislature: http://www.kslegislature.org

___

Follow John Hanna on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apjdhanna

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Two defendants are set to go on trial in a large coupon fraud case nearly nine years after a grand jury indicted the nation's biggest coupon processor and nearly a dozen people.

The grand jury's 2007 indictment alleged that $250 million was stolen over 10 years and that defendants defrauded manufacturers and retail stores by cashing coupons they knew weren't used. The case has languished in federal court in Milwaukee, with two judges on the case moving into semiretirement and the case going twice to an appeals court.

The remaining two defendants appeared in court Tuesday for a pretrial conference, with a trial set to begin next month, the Journal Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1PhIGmH ) reported. Earlier defendants reached plea agreements.

One of the remaining defendants, former International Outsourcing Services CEO Thomas Balsiger, has argued investigators don't understand the coupon business and alleged prosecutor misconduct. He said Tuesday that his former co-defendants will get breaks in prison time in exchange for bending the truth to convict him.

"We know they are going to be paid for performance, and that disturbs me," said Balsiger, who has chosen to represent himself after his attorney's death in 2014.

International Outsourcing handled millions of coupons annually from stores, sent them to manufacturers for redemption and returned the money to stores, while collecting a fee for its service.

Court documents say International Outsourcing executives systematically defrauded stores and manufacturers across the United States, including five manufacturers in Wisconsin, by cashing millions of coupons that weren't used. Some of the coupons were put in a cement mixer in Mexico to make them appear worn and used, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors say International Outsourcing agents bribed small stores in exchange for them submitting large volumes of fraudulent coupons. Those coupons from smaller stores were bundled in with ones from larger chains in order to avoid scrutiny, according to court documents.

Defense attorneys say coupons from small and large stores were mixed for convenience.

The case began in Milwaukee in 2001 when the FBI started looking into a large coupon-redemption check sent to a small store that didn't take coupons.

___

Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com

CLEVELAND (AP) — Court documents say a suburban Cleveland policeman accused of using unreasonable force on a suspect he was interrogating punched and kicked the man, drove him to a cemetery and threatened to put him in the ground.

Documents filed Tuesday by federal prosecutors in Cleveland also say Westlake police detective Robert Toth wrapped a seatbelt around the suspect's neck after driving him to the cemetery.

Toth was indicted in June on federal charges of using unreasonable force, and two counts of obstruction of justice force for allegedly filing a false report about the incident and lying to a federal agent. He has pleaded not guilty.

Toth's attorney didn't immediately return a message seeking comment that was left at his office Wednesday.

INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn. (AP) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents earlier this month seized nearly $650,000 in counterfeit merchandise coming into Minnesota from Canada, including hundreds of hoverboards.

Field operations officers at the International Falls port of entry found the contraband in a rail container destined for nearby Rainier, agency officials said Wednesday. They seized 1,650 Smart Balance hoverboards and 90 computer motherboards with Bluetooth counterfeit trademark violations. The merchandise has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $645,252, authorities said.

Agency spokesman Brian King said the shipment was targeted for inspection because of past mechanical problems with hoverboards, which are motorized two-wheeled boards that have been known to catch fire.

"These scooters have been a hot commodity. It's been a consumer protection issue," he said.

The agency said the growth of foreign trade has resulted in unscrupulous companies making billions of dollars in profits from the sale of counterfeit and pirated goods. U.S. companies can register trademarks and copyrights with the CBP, as Bluetooth had done, King said. That helps customs officials and import specialists to identify merchandise that violates U.S. law.

"We see a lot of those goods out of Asian markets," King said.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota health officials are asking doctors to watch for signs of a mosquito-borne virus in sick people who have recently returned from the Caribbean, Mexico and parts of Central and South America.

Federal health officials recently urged pregnant women to consider postponing travel to any region where the Zika virus is circulating. It has spread across more than a dozen countries since it was first documented last May. The illness causes fever, rash and joint pain. It has also been linked to a rare condition that causes brain damage and abnormally small heads in newborns.

Epidemiologist Dave Neitzel tells Minnesota Public Radio (http://bit.ly/1SwT7D1 ) the state has had only one documented case of the virus and that was back in 2014. The Zika virus is spread when a mosquito bites an infected person and then bites someone else. It's not transmitted from person to person.

___

Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mprnews.org

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Federal prosecutors discovered a Springfield woman indicted this week on suspicion of embezzling more than $288,000 from disabled veterans' benefits had died four days earlier.

A federal grand jury returned the indictment Tuesday against Beverly Sue Wright. Shortly after the charges were announced, prosecutors were told Wright died on Friday.

U.S. Attorney's spokesman Don Ledford said the indictment was presented to the grand jury Tuesday morning before anyone was notified of Wright's death. The office was closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day.

After federal prosecutors receive a death certificate, a motion will be filed to dismiss the indictment.

Prosecutors alleged Wright embezzled the money while working as a legal custodian for veterans who were not able to handle their finances.

MIDLAND, Mich. (AP) — The Midland County sheriff says there aren't enough corrections officers overseeing inmates at the county's jail, so he's keeping the inmate population lower for now.

Sheriff Scott Stephenson tells The Saginaw News (http://bit.ly/1KqO2V0 ) two fights in a common room filled with dozens of inmates in November are among the latest examples of safety concerns related to staffing.

The jail houses out-of-county inmates to generate millions of dollars, offsetting the cost to run the facility and to repay bonds used to build the jail in 2009.

For now, Stephenson has dropped the inmate population at the facility, which hovered at about 270 inmates in 2015, to 205 inmates by mid-December.

The county also faces a federal lawsuit after inmate Jack Marden died last year following a violent struggle with corrections officers.

___

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — City officials say an invasive insect that kills ash trees has been confirmed in Des Moines.

A news release says a larva sample obtained from a tree on the western edge of the city was confirmed as an emerald ash borer on Jan. 8.

The insects are native to Asia and were first spotted in the U.S. in 2002, when they showed up in the Detroit area. Authorities say the insects have spread to at least 25 other states, killing millions of trees. Once infected, trees typically die within five years.

In 2014 Des Moines Public Works began treatment and removal programs for an estimated 6,000 ash trees on public land. A city survey conducted last summer suggests there are about 10,000 ash trees on private property in Des Moines.

By WES JOHNSON

Springfield News-Leader

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — With snorkel and mask and net in hand, Tyler Goodale plies the Current River, The Jacks Fork and other Missouri streams at night, looking for living treasure.

"Some of these small creeks around here are just chock full of amazing fish," Goodale said. "When people paddle canoes down a river, most have no idea what's right below them."

Goodale, a construction worker who lives in Wapapello, became fascinated with what lives in Missouri streams when he was a young boy.

"My dad got me into fishing, and we'd go catch bait and I'd see these different colorful fish that just blew me away by how neat they were. In the 1990s I saw my first 'Fishes of Missouri' book at a library. I had no idea we had these beautiful fish in my home state. People might catch a dozen or so kinds of fish regularly, but there are 240 different species in the state of Missouri."

The Springfield News-Leader (http://sgfnow.co/1JfnGdQ ) reports that over the years he has honed his fish-catching technique, and uses a cellphone to photograph the creatures he finds, some as brilliantly hued as anything you'd see in the Caribbean.

"I catch them with a dip net, often at night when they can't see you sneaking up on them," he said. "I'll drag my canoe to a gravel bar and get in the water. After a while the fish will be curious about you and will come right up to you. The brook darters and rainbow darters have almost every color there is."

One of his most thrilling catches was a rainbow darter in full mating color he netted in a small creek in the city limits of Doniphan.

"I'll snorkel streams and rivers all summer long, looking for fish," Goodale said. "It's real peaceful being in their environment. On a lot of the small rivers you don't see too many people."

Goodale said he grew up in the country and had no neighbors for miles.

"I fell in love with nature at a very young age, and fish were some of the first critters I came on contact with," he said.

"I was absolutely fascinated and to this day, try to learn as much as I can about them and their biology. I would see photos and just wouldn't be satisfied. I wanted to capture them at their best, and share it with the world, through my eyes, so that others could feel my passion and see why I'm as fascinated."

He recently posted several of his photos on the Current River, Jacks Fork & Eleven Point River Facebook page, drawing in admiring comments from paddlers.

One of the most unusual fish he has caught — and released after photographing — is a central stoneroller.

"This gnarly looking fish, the central stoneroller, is actually a native of the Current River watershed and many other Ozark streams," he wrote in a post about the strange-looking fish.

"The males of this species develop spawning tubercles, 'horns,' to battle with other males for prime spawning habitat and females ... much in the same way that white-tailed deer males do! These gnarly males aren't noticed by many river goers, because their spawn is usually over and the horns have faded away before most people venture into the water for the year."

"These are super important fish species, making up to 85% of the diet of Smallmouth Bass in most Ozark streams. The school of minnow sized fish with bright gold flashes you see on the summertime riffles, are almost surely these guys right here."

Though he has photographed fish, cottonmouth snakes, turtles and insects, Goodale said he has yet to find the "Holy Grail" of river fishes.

"That would be a Niangua darter," he said. "I haven't seen one. They're kind of a ghost fish. They are a protected species in the Niangua River, the only place in Missouri where they're found."

___

Information from: Springfield News-Leader, http://www.news-leader.com

An AP Member Exchange shared by the Springfield News-Leader

By BECCY TANNER

Wichita Eagle

HARDTNER, Kan. (AP) — Pake McNally is a throwback.

At age 30, he is easily one of the youngest full-time blacksmiths in the state - thriving in an occupation considered obsolete more than a century ago.

McNally uses the blacksmith shop of his now deceased friend and mentor, Tom Smith. It is filled with dust and charcoal smoke, tools, tongs, anvils and branding irons. Small hills of scrap metal surround the property.

Each day McNally goes to work, he does it with the determination of keeping his town and family's name alive.

"You ever heard of Louis L'Amour? The Tinker?" McNally tells a couple of visitors, citing the famed writer of westerns and L'Amour's blacksmith character who created knives with his hands.

McNally hammers a piece of red-orange metal on an anvil.

"That sparked my interest. No pun intended," he says.

"I put off being a blacksmith for a long, long time. Not because I wasn't interested, but because I was dating a girl, and she told me there was no money in it. And I listened to her.

"That relationship didn't last."

He pounds the metal some more.

"This place is where I am supposed to be, what I am supposed to be doing."

For three generations, McNallys have lived in Barber County.

Pake's grandfather Preston McNally was an area rancher. His father, Mike, was as well; he was killed in a truck accident west of town 11 years ago.

Three years ago, Pake McNally began working in Smith's blacksmith shop.

The Wichita Eagle (http://bit.ly/1JWhyXL ) reports that to passers-by on U.S. 281, it looks like a tin-covered pole barn. To McNally, it is church.

"There's not very more like it anymore," McNally says.

At the turn of the 20th century, blacksmith shops were quietly disappearing on Main Streets across America as horses were retired from farms and cities. Tractors, cars and trucks replaced the equine workforce as mechanics, welders and fabricators took the place of blacksmiths.

But blacksmithing is still going strong, says Patrick Briggs, past president of the Great Plains Blacksmith Association.

"There are thousands of hobbyists making knives and tomahawks," says Briggs, of Douglass.

"When I was growing up, every town would have a blacksmith and a doctor. You could survive with both.

"Blacksmiths were actually the rocket scientists of their day, because they could make anything and fix anything - wagon wheels, plows and harrows. You took it to the blacksmith, who could make anything from scratch. All that went by the wayside when modern equipment and welding came along."

In the heyday of blacksmithing, the blacksmith also served as a farrier, trimming and shoeing horse's hooves. There are still those who do that today, traveling the region.

But, Briggs says, the old-time blacksmith who makes a full-time living creating things from scratch is harder to find.

For McNally, it was simply a matter of time and finding the right mentor, Tom Smith, who was 93 when he died.

"I knew Tom growing up," McNally says. "My dad and grandpa got a lot of their work done here.

"I remember asking my dad if he would talk to Tom about me apprenticing over here. And Tom, he was a man's man, a hard guy.

"My dad told me he would break me. And he would have. I had to come back home as a man for him to respect me and for me to be able to carry my own weight."

After graduating from high school, McNally says, he spent six years working as a firefighter in Colorado and Wyoming.

"I was a wild man firefighter, and we went all over the West fighting fires," he says. "And then I did full-time structure fires and EMS in Junction City."

At 27, he came back to Hardtner.

By then, he had built his own forge and worked in his stepfather's shop at Belvue, near Wamego. He learned Brazilian jujitsu and cage fighting.

He was now ready to become friends with Tom Smith.

It started out a bit strained.

"I didn't know him," McNally says. "He didn't know me."

All they had in common was McNally's interest in blacksmithing and Smith's knowledge of the subject.

They started on Smith's living room couch in the 1950s-era house Smith built himself. The house is on the corner, down the street from the blacksmith's shop. By the time McNally got to be friends with Smith, his mentor was home-bound and had trouble getting around.

"He was like a grandfather, a friend," McNally says of Smith. "We talked about blacksmithing a lot.

"But we also talked about politics and women and fighting - fighting war and fighting fire.

"We talked about life. I told him I was engaged, and he told me I was diving into deep water."

On Dec. 5, McNally married Tayla Kimball, a woman with Barber County ranching roots who supports his blacksmithing.

Each day, for three years, McNally says, he would go and talk with Smith. They would drink beer and tell stories.

Smith was born on Dec. 12, 1921, in Piedmont, Mo. He served as a blacksmith on a U.S. Navy ship in the Pacific during World War II.

After the war, he first worked in a blacksmith's shop in Wakita, Oklahoma, until he bought the blacksmith shop in Hardtner in 1948. His wife, Juanita, was originally from neighboring Kiowa.

"He spent the duration of the war in the South Pacific, and his ship was blown up," McNally says. "He had some pretty crazy stories."

The blacksmith's shop is filled with the tools and memories of Smith. Skillets hang from a corner in the shop; Smith used them to make Stateline Roadkill Chili.

"He'd tell folks it had possum, 'coon, all the roadkill you could imagine. Pick your poison. I know how he made it," McNally says as his voice cracks with emotion.

"He used venison and beef and chili powder and a few other things. He tried telling me the day before he died, but he was pretty weak and couldn't get it out."

To pay tribute to his friend, McNally wants to make the chili and invite all of Smith's and his own friends for a reunion to get the old-timers back.

Best of all, McNally says, he also learned from his friend how to work hard.

"Tom taught me to get out and get in the shop and get to work," McNally says. "Don't waste a day. That generation was all about getting stuff done.

"He drove that point home in a way that resonated with me. I am my own boss, and that is key."

The last time they got together, they drank beer and Smith yelled. He died a few days later, on Sept. 25.

"I was doing something that wasn't the way he did it," McNally says. "He taught me some stuff I still use. I was overcomplicating things, and he was on me about that.

"He wasn't really yelling. He was driving the point home."

The blacksmith's shop is all about light and darkness. Sunlight spills into it, but corners and walls hold pieces of dark treasure.

"To a lot of people, this is just a pole barn," McNally says. "But it is like a church to me. I come in here, it is peaceful and quiet. I am surrounded by history and the things I can make with my own hands."

Six months before Mike McNally died, he told his son that Smith's shop held his grandfather's branding irons. Pake McNally found the irons a week after he began working in the shop.

"That hit me right here," he says, his voice breaking. "My grandfather's brand is on that door right over there. This is a piece of history that I am fortunate enough to keep alive.

"There are pieces of different ranches and outfits from all over this part of the state, and some of their grandsons come in here and have me make branding irons for them."

Pake McNally makes signs for large ranches, hand-forged fireplace tools, branding irons and artwork he sells across the state. He made a unity cross for his wedding last month that he and Kimball put together in front of friends and family. He has made custom handrails and large pieces of artwork such as the tipi at the new powwow arena in Medicine Lodge.

His business comes from his Facebook page, McNally Metal Design, from festivals he shows at and from word of mouth.

"I am always worried about this business and afraid I won't be able to put food on the table, but the thing is, right when I start to freak out, a check will come in the mail and I will get a big job, and that's how I know I am supposed to be in here," he says.

"The stress level has gone down a lot since I have realized this is what I am supposed to be doing."

With only 127 residents, the Barber County town of Hardtner is like a lot of small towns across Kansas - it struggles to keep the next generation in town.

McNally wanted to come back.

"I want to raise a family here and do all that responsible stuff," he says.

"This town, well, it's dying. There are some really good people here and really good stuff that happens. But the guys my age - the men and women - they need to start stepping up and taking part.

"For the most part, we do. We have the best Fourth of July celebration in the state of Kansas and anywhere, as far as I'm concerned."

The town hosts a pit barbecue, has a parade and shoots off thousands of dollars' worth of fireworks.

"That got started in 1958; my grandpa was in charge of pitting the beef in town, my dad did it for years, and now it is my turn," he says.

"I love this place. I want to keep trying, even if the town is dying, fine. But if we don't fight for it, that's what would upset me.

"You got to at least try."

___

Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com

An AP Member Exchange shared by the Wichita Eagle