Furor over sex ed; human waste for farms; aiding Tasmanian devils

By CINDY LANGE-KUBICK

Lincoln Journal Star

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Soft winter light is falling through the second-floor windows of a photographer's studio one Sunday afternoon.

A girl with no hair sits in a chair wearing blue jeans and ankle boots while the photographer takes her picture, while Hollie Urbauer builds her a crown.

The crown is made of henna -- a paste Hollie makes herself, rolling it in small cellophane cones held shut at the top with a clip, like a tube of toothpaste.

The Lincoln Journal Star (http://bit.ly/1PYuvzz ) reports that Hollie is creating the art on Ava Gagner's head as a gift.

It's a gift she's given before to other women who have lost their hair.

Ava is 16. She's a soccer player and a straight-A student and she has alopecia. The crown and the free photos by Jamie Steckelberg Scott are for a GoFundMe campaign Ava's parents started so their daughter can get a special wig, called a cranial prosthesis.

Hollie gave her first gift of henna four years ago to a woman who had cancer and lost all her hair during chemotherapy.

The stranger had heard about her business -- HennaBella -- and wanted to know if Hollie could help her.

Hollie didn't have to think it over. She gladly turned the woman's head into a work of art, free of charge.

"It was just a neat way to bring joy to someone who needed it."

A way to bring beauty.

Bella means beautiful in Italian, Hollie says as she makes her art on Ava's smooth scalp, starting with a circle on the crown of her head, adding one delicate petal, then another and another, in a circle, like the lace of a doily.

Hollie is half-Italian on her mother's side. Her mom who was diagnosed with cancer in 2003, long before her daughter started creating with henna.

"My mom was really the inspiration for this. It was really scary and she was just so brave through everything she went through."

Catherine Stirts would put on her wig and go to work every day, even when she didn't feel well. She'd drive from her home in Papillion to Lincoln to see Hollie, keeping a bucket on the seat in case she had to vomit on the way.

She's her example in life, Hollie says -- of how to be a mom and a human being.

So free henna crowns for women in need? Her pleasure.

"It's so powerful to see the experience of someone going through a terminal illness, I just want to give back in some way."

Hollie is 39. She works on call as a drug and alcohol counselor at the Independence Center and she's finishing her master's degree in counseling. She and her husband, Steve, have two small children.

Her business wasn't planned, Hollie says. It just happened. Several years ago, she discovered henna and began experimenting on herself -- she'd always loved art, drawing mostly, and she was always looking for ways to satisfy her creative side.

When people saw the intricate reddish brown designs on her skin, they all started asking the same question: Can you do that to me?

And in 2011, Hollie began making skin art for parties and special events. She makes henna designs for Relay for Life participants and for special events at Nebraska Wesleyan University and for teachers and clients at Lotus House of Yoga, where she met Ava's mom, Amy.

After she created the first henna crown for a cancer patient, other women found her.

A woman named Michelle, whose two crowns made her feel pretty again.

And a Lincoln East High School teacher and cross country coach named Andrea Kabourek, who was 38 when she died in September and whose story inspired thousands.

Hollie made two crowns for Andrea, adding a crocodile -- her spirit animal -- and the words that she lived by. I CAN. I WILL. RUN HAPPY.

The artist made free henna designs for Andrea's runners, too, those words snaking down their hands and up their calves and forearms.

The henna crowns aren't medicine. They can't cure the women who get them, and they fade away after a few weeks, but Hollie knows they provide some small sense of joy.

She holds the small cone of henna as she circles the girl in the chair Sunday, adding more petals and tiny flowers and a fringe, like the bottom of a shawl, down the nape of her neck.

When she is finished she holds out a mirror, and Ava stares back at herself, a smile spreading across her face.

Bella.

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

An AP Member Exchange shared by the Lincoln Journal Star

By KURT HAUGLIE

The Daily Mining Gazette

HOUGHTON, Mich. (AP) — The process of 3-D printing is becoming so common, there are printers in schools, businesses and possibly even homes, but the plastic filament for the printers is fairly expensive, so Joshua Pearce's students are working on a project to bring the cost of filament down.

Pearce, who is a Michigan Technological University associate professor in materials science and engineering, and electrical and computer engineering, and faculty adviser for the Tech open source hardware enterprise, said students are working to create a method to make the plastic filament needed for 3-D printing from waste plastic, such as soft drink bottles.

His students are developing a device called a recyclebot, which will use shredded or pelletized waste plastic to make the filament. Funding for the project comes from a $25,000 grant from the Ford College Community Challenge. The effort is part of the Tech Enterprise program.

"It's essentially a student-run business," he told The Daily Mining Gazette (http://bit.ly/1K9SfMX ).

The business is nonprofit and uses "open-source," or free, software, Pearce said.

"Nobody's holding stock and nobody's making a salary," he said.

The process for 3-D printing melts the filament in the printer. A design for a final product is created on a computer, and the printer puts down layers of plastic, or metal, until the product is completed.

Besides being a business, Pearce said the 3-D printing program is actually a class, and students have specific tasks they need to accomplish to successfully complete the class.

Students have a choice of two paths in the class, Pearce said, either senior design or Enterprise. They can start as early as their freshman year, in which case they'd stay with the class for their four years as an undergrad. Being with the program for four years could help a student get a job later.

"Industry likes that, because they like to see a student mature," he said.

As part of the class, Pearce said students must create a business plan to sell completed filament makers.

Pearce said students are currently working on a prototype machine which turns shredded or pelletized waste plastic into the filament.

"The students did the design last year," he said.

Students use a paper shredder to create the raw plastic for the filament maker, Pearce said. They also have access to a pelletizer to make plastic pellets.

There is massive potential for other people who may want to make a for-profit company creating plastic filament, Pearce said. The current cost for filament or pellets is about $30 per kilogram, but the filament his students are creating costs about $5 per kilogram to make.

Because of the profit potential, Pearce said one idea for the filament maker is to offer it to people in developing countries where many people gather waste plastic then bundle it to sell for a few dollars a ton. With a solar-powered filament maker, they can sell filament made from the waste they collect for more money than they get for bundled plastic.

"The Enterprise (project) is going to prove it's possible," he said.

Within the Tech community, Pearce said there are at least 100 students with 3-D printers. There is a possibility students could create items for other instructors on campus.

"There's an enormous pent-up demand here," he said.

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Information from: The Daily Mining Gazette, http://www.mininggazette.com

An AP Member Exchange shared by The Daily Mining Gazette

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Travelers making their way through Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport will get a lesson in energy conservation.

A new public art display at the airport called "Behind the Outlet" is designed to make people think about where their energy comes from.

Artist Arlene Birt installed motion sensors over certain tables in the airport's food court that correspond to a lighting display on the wall.

Parts of the display — such as washing machines and other appliances — light up when people sit at certain tables. Birt said the display also shows people how the appliance is powered.

"I'm fascinated by the way people are tied to the world by small, everyday interactions, such as flipping on a light switch, turning on your computer," Birt told Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/1Q7QaW9). "I think the more people are reminded of all that goes into these small, everyday actions, I hope that will help nudge people gradually toward a conservation mindset."

The installation will be on display through 2019. It's part of a partnership between Minneapolis-based utility Xcel Energy Inc. and the airport to improve energy efficiency.

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad's latest budget proposal does not include any money for an upcoming state-mandated summer reading program for struggling third-graders, a move educators say could adversely affect those students and hold them back a year.

The Intensive Summer Literacy Program will not have state dollars attached to it under Branstad's budget recommendations for the fiscal year that begins in July. The Iowa Department of Education had requested about $9 million for school districts to fund the program, which must go into effect in 2017.

Ben Hammes, a spokesman for Branstad, said the governor's budget is "very tight" this year. He said Branstad intends to secure the $9 million funding during the legislative session that begins in 2017, with a special request to lawmakers that it be provided by March of that year.

Staci Hupp, a spokeswoman for the education department, said in an email the agency understands Branstad's explanation. She added, "We'll do everything we can to support (school districts) with existing resources." She noted a separate, continuing education appropriation of $8 million for early literacy initiatives, though advocacy groups point out that money is directed to year-round programming that doesn't include the summer reading program.

The summer reading program was included in a law passed in 2012 intended to make Iowa students proficient readers by the end of the third grade. Many provisions of the law are in effect, including universal screening of students in kindergarten through third grade for signs of reading deficiencies. Effective in May 2017, the law will require every Iowa school district — roughly 335 — to provide an evidence-based summer literacy program for third-graders who exhibit a substantial deficiency in reading. A third-grader under that designation who fails to attend the summer program could be held back a year.

The law includes a one-time waiver for school districts, so it's possible some schools will be able to delay immediate implementation. A struggling student will also be able to advance to the fourth grade if he or she has limited English proficiency or they demonstrate another exemption written into the law.

Tammy Wawro, president of the Iowa State Education Association, said there are serious concerns with the lack of funding. Her group wants the program delayed despite the governor's pledge.

"There are so many funding issues that then to add something like this on top of it, schools ... they'd be crazy not to be worried about being on the hook for this," she said.

The education department released data last year that show nearly one in four Iowa third-graders is not proficient in reading. In a data set of roughly 32,000 students, more than 7,500 were substantially deficient in reading. More than 2,800 were considered at risk.

"That's a huge number of kids," said Heidi Meyer, a teacher who specializes in early literacy intervention at MFL MarMac Elementary School in Monona. "For some of these especially larger districts, but also small rural districts like mine, to find the number of staff to cover that many hours will be a challenge."

Meyer noted that finalized standards for the program released late last year require that enrolled third-graders have an 85 percent attendance rate and 70 hours of instruction during the summer. That came after some educators expressed concern that a higher attendance rate and hours of instruction would be too difficult to achieve.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames and chairman of the Senate Education Committee, called the lack of funding "seriously negligent." He said he had already planned to hold hearings this session to review the law and its guidelines for school districts.

Sen. Ron Jorgensen, R-Sioux City and chairman of the House Education Committee, said he plans to meet with education officials in the next few days to discuss available options, including a temporary delay for implementing the program. He emphasized he supported the concept as long as it's properly funded.

"We don't want to come up to this timeline and see that we have a great percentage of kids that don't have access and would have to be retained according to the law," he said.

CALEDONIA, Wis. (AP) — A wildlife advocate hopes the village board of Caledonia will give milkweed — the host plant for monarch butterflies — a break.

Melissa Warner, of the Southeast Gateway Group of the Sierra Club, wants the southeastern Wisconsin village to remove milkweed from its list of noxious weeds. She says milkweed is critical for the survival of the monarch butterfly, which has seen a steep drop in its numbers.

With the number of monarch butterflies falling during the past two decades, the world needs all the milkweed it can get, Warner said.

"The easiest thing to fix is the milkweed," Warner said. "We can't change the climate or farming practices. But for monarchs, milkweed is essential, and in fact, critical."

The village's legislative and licensing committee voted to recommend the village board omit milkweed from the noxious weed list, The Journal Times of Racine (http://bit.ly/1ns8tvO ) reported.

Last year experts said the number of monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico plunged to its lowest level since studies began in 1993.

Monarch butterflies are being considered for federal protection because their numbers throughout the continental U.S. have dropped by more than 90 percent in the past two decades. Much of the drop-off has been blamed on destruction of habitat that includes milkweed, where monarchs lay their eggs and which provides the sole source of food for caterpillars that later develop into the distinctive black-and-orange butterflies.

Under the village's noxious weed ordinance, specific weeds must be cut or destroyed by landowners before they reach between 10 and 12 inches tall. Violators must pay the cost of having the village's weed commissioner destroy the weeds. Fines start at $50.

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Information from: The Journal Times, http://www.journaltimes.com

CINCINNATI (AP) — City officials in Cincinnati say they have an outstanding idea for human waste: use it as farm fertilizer.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports (http://cin.ci/1JRdKar ) officials made the $65 million pitch last week. They say it's the best, cheapest option for replacing the Little Miami waste incinerator, which no longer meets federal environmental standards.

The city's other options include repairing the incinerator, hauling waste somewhere else or building a new facility. Mayor John Cranley says a study by the Metropolitan Sewer District found that all of those choices cost more — or are less environmentally sound — than building a facility that converts human waste to fertilizer.

Cranley says the city needs technology that benefits the environment and saves taxpayers' money.

Hamilton County and federal regulators would have to approve the idea.

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Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state's education department is planning to develop a system to measure the academic readiness of kindergartners, which supporters say will significantly change the state's approach to education.

The Kansas State Board of Education this week voted to instruct the Kansas State Department of Education to develop a system designed to identify children who need extra support in their early education. The board also approved a new five-point framework to improve school accountability to help individual children, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported (http://bit.ly/1W7ZBYe ).

Jim McNiece, a Wichita Republican and chairman of the state board said Kansas has recorded educational outcomes but has not paid attention to whether children are ready for school, which he called "a whole new approach to education."

"Parents who have financial resources, those kids come better prepared for success in school," McNiece said, adding that educators need to change their approach to children who start school without those advantages.

Topeka school board president Patrick Woods said the proposed change would be "incredibly meaningful."

Woods said elementary schools in his district already try to check the skills of kindergarten students but if the state board's effort provides more thorough data, "then we could really start tailoring individual learning programs."

The new framework adopted by the board would check whether children are ready for kindergarten; continue tracking high school graduation rates; track the rate of students who pursue and complete post-secondary education, including technical training certificates and two- and four-year degrees; require high schools to develop individualized plans of study for students to help them work toward post-graduation goals and require local school boards to develop their own ways to measure the social and emotional progress of children.

Education commissioner Randy Watson said state would have to change its school accreditation system to fit the new goals.

The framework doesn't mention state math and reading tests, which McNiece said is a signal to the public that test scores will no longer be the main measurement of school performance.

"We're trying to change the paradigm of thinking," said McNiece, a former high school principal who is also president-elect of the National Association of State Boards of Education.

Students will still take standardized tests but they will be only one factor in the accreditation process, rather than the most prominent factor, Watson said.

State board member John Bacon, an Olathe Republican, was the only vote against the new framework. He said the goals didn't emphasize academics enough.

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Information from: The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal, http://www.cjonline.com

By AMANDA GARRETT

Akron Beacon Journal

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Most of Gordon's teeth are filed down. Others are missing, probably yanked out with pliers so he couldn't defend himself from the bites of other dogs.

His bark is gone, too. It's more like a high-pitched squeal now after someone shoved a pole, stick or something else down his throat to damage his voice box so neighbors wouldn't hear him yelp in pain.

Gordon, his trainer recently said, was a "bait dog" in an Akron dog-fighting ring.

"He was basically the sacrificial lamb," said Daniel Makara as Gordon nuzzled under his arm, rolling over, hoping Makara would give him a pet as they sat on a couch.

Men running the dog-fighting ring stripped Gordon of his defenses and then let their fighting dogs attack him again and again to improve their ferocity, strength and endurance.

Many bait dogs like Gordon don't survive. They're killed during one of the training attacks or fed, cut and bleeding, to the fighting dogs as a treat.

But Gordon was rescued in 2014 when law enforcement busted up one of Akron's dog-fighting rings.

People who work with animals saw potential in Gordon from the start. But it took more than a year to turn Gordon from a bait dog into a pet dog seeking a home.

"Gordon deserves a happy ending," Makara said recently as Gordon leaned against him, trying to rest his block head on Makara's shoulder. "You're a good boy! Good boy, Gordon."

Gordon was probably born some time in 2014. No one knows for sure because veterinarians usually judge a dog's age by the condition of its teeth.

It was a big year for dog fighting in Akron.

In November 2014, more than 100 law enforcement officers descended on West Akron's Cordova Avenue, breaking up the largest dog fighting ring many of them could remember.

Someone was selling hot dogs and barbecued ribs from a concession stand. Someone else was taking bets on dogs at another stand. Inside a garage, officers found a carpeted ring covered in fresh and dried dog blood.

Authorities arrested 47 people, including men who had traveled from Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Indiana for the dog fights.

Humane officers rescued eight dogs, including two that were still bleeding from fresh wounds.

Three days later, Akron police raided the Fern Avenue property of a man whose brother had been arrested at the dog fight. Humane officers rescued six dogs there. Two others were dead.

A month later, Akron police launched a third dog-fighting raid at the Springdale Street home of a man charged in the Cordova Avenue case. Humane officers rescued six dogs there.

Gordon, scarred, malnourished and sick with a bacterial infection, was among the Akron dogs saved.

Amy Beichler, executive director of Public Animal Welfare Society Ohio (or PAWS Ohio), noticed a skinny pit bull mix when she was at Cleveland City Kennel last year to see another dog.

The staff told her his name was Gordon. He had been there at least seven months and was a favorite among volunteers who walked the dogs.

Beichler put Gordon with a foster family for a night, then into a boarding facility for a week until there was space with a permanent foster family "who could handle his high-octane energy."

But Gordon was more than the family could handle. He wasn't aggressive. But he chewed. He peed on the floor. And worse, he would break through the bars of any crate, seeming not to care if he hurt himself.

Beichler knows three area dog trainers who volunteer to help dogs like Gordon. In November, she called Daniel Makara, who owns Rockstar Dog training and specializes in dogs with severe anxiety or aggression, issues that are often intertwined.

"They told me I was Gordon's last hope," Makara said. "I picked him up the same day."

Makara, his wife, their 6-year-old son and Rocky the Rottweiler lived in a house on a Geauga County horse farm.

They set up Gordon in a special crate a veterinarian had owned. The crate — steel on three sides with a heavy-duty door — sat in the mudroom just inside their back door.

"Most dogs turn around in a week," Makara said.

For Gordon, it took two months.

Makara said Gordon has learned good behavior wins him a cookie and a pet. Bad behavior — like pulling on his leash — wins him nothing.

Gordon's also learned what it's like to be a pet. He went on walks with Makara's wife, lounged inside their home and even ended up in their bed.

Gordon still has some issues with the dog equivalent of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, Makara said.

The horses on the farm were a trigger. A bacterial infection stole some of Gordon's eyesight and when he saw horses on the farm, he tried to run at them, squealing his damaged bark.

Focus exercises helped, Makara said, getting Gordon to focus on him, not the horses.

"Patience, fairness and structure is what Gordon needs," Makara said, rubbing Gordon's jowls. "Every dog deserves a second chance. Huh, Gordon?"

After enduring a lifetime's worth of hardship, Gordon finally found his happy ending.

He was adopted Jan. 9 after Charlene Knerr, a 20-year-old nurse's aide from Sandusky, read about him on Cleveland Dog Rescue's Facebook page.

"When I read the post, I instantly started crying," Knerr said. "We figured we could give him love at home that he never had."

Makara said a family would be a good fit for Gordon, and he gets along well with children, so he felt Knerr would be able to provide him the best home.

Gordon didn't waste any time making himself at home with the Knerrs.

Knerr said in just one day he befriended her 1-year-old daughter, Cataleya, playing with her on the floor and putting his paw around her when she puts her arm around him. He even found himself sleeping in Knerr's bed the first night.

"He's got a forever home here, that's for sure," she said.

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Information from: Akron Beacon Journal, http://www.ohio.com

ALBION, Ill. (AP) — The remains of an airman who was listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War have been recovered and are being taken to southern Illinois.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed the remains of Pfc. Kenneth Leroy Cunningham of Ellery, the Evansville Courier & Press (http://bit.ly/1OXJuN6 ) reports. He went missing in Oct. 3, 1969, when he was 21.

Cunningham's remains will be flown to the United States, arriving at the Louisville, Kentucky, airport on Jan. 19. They will then be taken to Albion, Illinois, for funeral services and burial on Jan. 21.

On the day Cunningham went missing, he and a pilot went on a nighttime surveillance mission of targets in the border area of South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Their plane had surveillance equipment, but wasn't armed, and it failed to return at its scheduled time.

The wreckage of the plane was found two days later by a search-and-rescue aircraft atop a 7,000-foot peak in a mountain range. Bad weather prevented efforts to put a ground team at the site on Oct. 5 and 6 in 1969, and a later effort was scrubbed over fears enemy troops had set up a trap there.

Cunningham's brother Dave, who was 12 at the time of his disappearance, said the recovery of his brother's remains "is sort of bittersweet." He said they now know he died at the crash site, but that they still don't know if his plane was shot down.

"It was very foggy and rainy the night his plane disappeared. They may have just flown into the side of the mountain," Dave Cunningham said. "What we know now closes a chapter, but not the book."

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Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com

By ALEXANDRA MESTER

The (Toledo) Blade

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A critical field-research program helping to save the Tasmanian devil from extinction is getting a huge boost from the Toledo Zoo.

The zoo is contributing $500,000 over the next five years to the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, dedicated to an annual population monitoring program.

"We were really interested in that because it is really important to know what the animals are doing, especially if you're releasing captive animals into the wild," said Dr. Randi Meyerson, assistant director of animal programs.

Tasmanian devils, the largest species of carnivorous marsupial, are found in the wild only on the Australian island state of Tasmania.

The endangered critters are threatened by a rapidly spreading and always fatal form of contagious cancer dubbed devil facial tumor disease. Sightings of wild devils have plummeted by more than 70 percent overall and up to 95 percent in some areas.

A multifaceted effort is underway to make sure the devils don't become extinct. The Save the Tasmanian Devil Program is a partnership of Australian national and Tasmanian state government agencies, research centers, laboratories, universities, and wildlife parks and zoos.

The effort includes a captive breeding program, wild devil monitoring and research, work on genetics, a promising vaccine trial, and an ambassador animal program the Toledo Zoo's three devils are a part of.

Biologist Samantha Fox leads the team responsible for annual monitoring and research of wild devil populations for the parent program. She is now an adjunct employee of the Toledo Zoo, and said the zoo's commitment helps secure this particular research effort as available government funding shrinks.

"It's definitely the biggest contribution we've had to the program outside our government funding," Ms. Fox said. "It means our monitoring program can continue for the next five years, and that's very important."

Jeff Sailer, executive director of the Toledo Zoo, said the devil program is now the zoo's largest conservation program in terms of funding.

"Conservation is part of our mission," he said. "This is the largest (program) at the moment, though we have many others that also get funding."

The funds are coming primarily from donations, sponsorship, and the sale of devil-related merchandise at the zoo. Any gaps are filled with earned revenue.

"It speaks volumes of this community that they want to help us with this," Mr. Sailer said.

The monitoring program conducts annual visits to 10 areas throughout Tasmania. The Toledo Zoo's funding will pay for eight of those sites, with the other two already being funded and managed by the University of Tasmania.

Over a period of a week at each site, devils are caught in humane traps to be counted and thoroughly examined. They are scanned for a microchip that would have been implanted if they had previously been caught, or given one if the animal is new to researchers.

The devils get a full health check, including taking various measurements like weight and length, checking the condition of females' pouches to see if they have bred or are carrying young, taking an ear biopsy for DNA, and recording any signs of the cancer.

"We then have a picture of the population in that year," Ms. Fox said. "It gives us a picture of what is happening with each population through time. It's important for us to get good background knowledge for each population before we can decide how to help that population."

The program has discovered the cancer generally spreads about 5 to 10 kilometers a year. In areas where the cancer has been present for some time, populations drop by up to 95 percent. The few devils left are typically only a year or two old.

"We thought they would all die out, and then they could put this disease-free captive population into the wild," Dr. Meyerson said. "But it turns out about 10 percent were surviving and reproducing."

The females left in a small population are typically breeding sooner than larger devil populations, perhaps because they generally have better body conditions as a result of far less competition for food and resources.

"These few females that have managed to have a litter at 1 year old are just managing to keep the population around," Ms. Fox said. "It tends to just stay at this static level. It never seems to go down or go up."

The young adults will still die early because of the disease, leaving their offspring behind and accounting for the researchers' documentation of small populations of devils entirely of young animals.

While these small populations are persisting, it wouldn't take much to wipe them out entirely from a specific area, Ms. Fox said. Australia has a well-known problem with roadkill, and devils are primarily scavengers. If the breeding females are killed while eating roadkill, that's it.

"Part of the next strategy is to look at putting some of our captive devils back into the wild to supplement those populations," Ms. Fox said.

In 2015, a couple of dozen captive-bred devils were released after being inoculated with a trial vaccine. The monitoring program also will help track those devils, if they show signs of the cancer, and how they impact devil populations.

In the meantime, four American zoos have Tasmanian devils as part of the ambassador program. In addition to Toledo, zoos in San Diego, Albuquerque, and Los Angeles have devils on exhibit.

Toledo's trio of two females, Tatiana, 3, and Orchid, 2, and a 3-year-old male named Nugget are well settled in their Tembo Trail exhibit. The captive-bred devils are genetically over-represented in the Australian breeding program and subsequently became ambassador animals. They will not be bred; Nugget had a vasectomy before coming to the Glass City.

With microphones in their enclosure and frequent public feedings, the naturally vocal animals have become a popular stop for visitors to the zoo to hear their signature screams as they argue with each other over their meals.

"The three of them are very compatible and we've been very happy," Dr. Meyerson said. "People seem to really enjoy them."

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

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Part of a recently adopted ordinance in northwest Ohio that abolished jail terms and fines for possessing small amounts of marijuana is already in effect despite a pending legal challenge.

Toledo residents in September approved an initiative that wrote a new ordinance into the city's municipal code aimed at decriminalizing marijuana and hashish possession, The Blade reported (http://bit.ly/1l150CO).

Both drugs are illegal under the Sensible Marijuana Ordinance, but Toledo's new ordinance reduces all penalties, regardless of quantity.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Sheriff John Tharp and Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates filed suit to block sections of the law that attempted to rewrite state felony law regarding amounts of marijuana greater than 200 grams.

A review of Toledo Municipal Court cases revealed that a woman convicted of marijuana possession since the ordinance was approved was sentenced to no fines and no jail time.

Sean Nestor, who managed the campaign for the marijuana ordinance, said the pattern of arrests and convictions since the ordinance sounds consistent with the law.

"There's still somewhat of a punitive aspect to having a criminal record," Nestor said.

The attorney general's complaint argues that the city has no power to amend or create felonies. It seeks an injunction and contends that the courts have clearly ruled criminal statutes with no penalties invalid.

The lawsuit doesn't contest parts of the ordinance that abolish fines and jail terms for misdemeanor marijuana possession.

Lawyers for both sides have debated whether Toledo voters had the power to create a new fifth-degree felony for marijuana and hashish possession. The city's official position is that the law is constitutional.

DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said the case has been briefed and both sides are awaiting further instruction or a ruling.

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

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers pushing to change the state's loose ethics laws next will turn to ways to clamp down on the flow of unlimited gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers.

Lobbyist gifts "are probably going to be the biggest meat" of upcoming discussions, Republican House Speaker Todd Richardson said after four other ethics-related bills passed last week. One of the chamber's committees will review an outright ban on gifts on Tuesday. "I'm hopeful that those bills will move out of committee. Hopefully we'll have them very soon."

Lobbyists can spend whatever they want on sports tickets, dinners, drinks and other expenses for lawmakers. Lobbyists doled out nearly $220,000 in gifts to lawmakers last year, examples of which include more than $800 worth of St. Louis Cardinals baseball tickets for a House member. The year before, House and Senate members raked in more than $209,000 in gifts.

Missouri's practice is in stark contrast with states to its west and east, where gifts are capped at $40 per year per lobbyist in Kansas and gifts are outright banned in Illinois — though there are exceptions for meals and travel.

Recent scandals have since fueled a wave of ethics-related bills in the House and Senate. Passage of such measures is a top goal for this session for Richardson, who took over as speaker after John Diehl stepped down on the final day of the 2015 session while admitting to exchanging sexually suggestive texts with a Capitol intern. Months later, former state Sen. Paul LeVota left office amid allegations that he sexually harassed interns. He denied those claims.

Disagreement between the House and Senate, both dominated by Republicans, derailed a package bill of ethics changes last year. But Richardson and Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard say they have been in communication for months, and Richard joined Richardson on the House dais in a gesture of unity when the chamber took up ethics bills. And there's bipartisan support, with Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon calling for a ban on lobbyist gifts, along with a number of other changes to ethics laws.

A measure aimed at closing the revolving door of lawmakers becoming lobbyists immediately after leaving office was among several passed by the House on Thursday, the first day that final approval could be given to bills. Elected officials would be banned from lobbying for a year after their terms end.

All four measures are now in the Senate's hands, where Richard has said they will be addressed promptly. Those proposals were criticized primarily by Democrats as not going far enough.

A Senate committee also this week reviewed an ethics bill this week that would require former lawmakers to dissolve their campaign coffers before becoming lobbyists and wait two years before lobbying. It also would ban lobbyist gifts.

Recent examples of prominent lobbyist spending include a $3,000 dinner at a Dallas steakhouse in 2014 that involved a former House speaker and Diehl, who then was House majority leader. At that dinner, a dozen lobbyists representing Missouri-based businesses such as Hallmark Cards and Ameristar Casino split the tab for lawmakers who were attending a conference with the American Legislative Exchange Council. That group brings together lawmakers and big-business backers who support limited government to craft model legislation and public policies.

That dinner also highlighted discrepancies in how lobbyists report gifts, as some disclosed the dinner as going to individual lawmakers while others reported it as a group expense.

None of the bills debated in committees or on the House floor so far have included limits on campaign contributions — the third tier of Missouri's trio of loose ethics laws. It seems unlikely that piece will gain traction because leaders have not cited it as a priority.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' high sales taxes on groceries have people crossing state lines to shop, particularly residents living in border counties, and the trend is hurting not only low-income families, but also rural grocery stores and local governments, according to a new study.

Kansas lost $345.6 million in food sales in 2013 — costing the state $21.2 million in lost sales tax revenue, according to a recent report by Wichita State University's Kansas Public Finance Center. The center analyzed the latest available food sales data, which does not include last year's food tax hike to 6.5 percent, among the highest in the nation even before local sales taxes are added in. Kansas is one of only 14 states that tax food.

In northwest Kansas, 73-year-old Larry Adams and his wife struggle to make ends meet on the $800 monthly Social Security check he receives. The Logan couple has been doing most of their grocery shopping and non-food item shopping in neighboring Nebraska for about 10 years when they cross the border for doctor's appointments.

Nebraska doesn't have a grocery tax, he said. "It doesn't cost us anything extra to go out of state," Adams said of driving the 80 to 100 miles.

Of the state's 105 counties, 35 counties share at least one border with a neighboring state that has either no or lower food sales tax than Kansas, the study noted. Colorado exempts grocery store food sales from taxes, Missouri has a 1.2 percent tax on food sales and Oklahoma has a 4.5 percent tax.

The WSU study was commissioned by KC Healthy Kids, a nonpartisan, nonprofit that has been advocating for healthy living for 10 years. The study found that for every 1 percent difference in sales taxes between adjacent states or counties, food consumption drops about $101.80 per person per year in the county with the higher food sales tax.

KC Healthy Kids was looking for ways to make compelling arguments to the Legislature this session on why it should eliminate or reduce the sales tax on food, state policy manager Ashley Jones-Wisner said, and the first was equity, because sales taxes on groceries have a disproportionate impact on low-income families and their access to food. But the organization realized it needed hard numbers on the economic impact such taxes have on the state.

"We could talk until we were blue in the face as advocates, but it's nice to have some data — some substantial data from a neutral third party — to kind of substantiate that," she said.

The state's largest county, Johnson County, suffered the biggest losses with an estimated $93 million loss in food sales in 2013, the report said.

But food sale losses on a per-capita basis hit less populated border counties the hardest — especially Greeley, Pottawatomi and Comanche counties, where grocery stores are already struggling to survive amid dwindling populations. When people crossed borders to shop, it hurt the local economy, as well as county and municipal governments who impose their own sales taxes on food and other items.

"We are putting a tax on something which disproportionately affects low-income households, and it appears to cause people to move across borders to do shopping, which basically produces a revenue loss," said Ken Kriz, the center's director. "So the question is, thinking going forward, what are the goals we are trying to achieve by keeping this in place?"

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Assembly Republicans are pushing a bill to eliminate Wisconsin's minimum hunting age, raising questions about how young is too young to fire a gun in the woods.

The measure's supporters say parents should have the power to decide whether their child is ready to hunt. Opponents counter that young children aren't physically or mentally ready to wield long guns and could hurt themselves or others.

"Can that 1-day-old to 9-year-old differentiate between shoot (or) don't shoot?" Joseph Lacenski, president of the Wisconsin Hunter Education Instruction Association, said in remarks submitted to the Assembly natural resources committee. "Can they differentiate between what is killing versus hunting? Can they rationalize the difference between video games they have been playing and the consequences of the real world?"

Right now, children as young as 10 can hunt in Wisconsin without passing a safety course if they're accompanied by a mentor. The mentor must remain within arm's length of the student and they can have only one weapon between them. The number of mentored hunt licenses has steadily grown, from 19,054 in 2010, the program's first year, to 31,250 in fiscal year 2014, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

Under Rep. Joel Kleefisch's bill, anyone of any age could hunt without safety training alongside a mentor, and the mentor could carry his or her own weapon.

Kleefisch said the bill will give parents the ability to make choices for their children. The measure also will resolve conflicts for mentors who want to hunt themselves but don't have much time to spend in the woods by allowing them to teach and hunt simultaneously, he said.

He submitted data from the Sportsmen's Alliance and Families Afield to the natural resources committee that show children younger than 10 can participate in mentored hunts in 34 of the 41 states that offer programs and that Wisconsin is one of only four states that limit mentor-student teams to a single weapon.

"Our utmost goal is to look at safety first," Kleefisch said. "So many other states have safely introduced new hunters to hunting without the burdensome regulation we have in Wisconsin."

The National Rifle Association, the gun rights group Wisconsin FORCE, Whitetails of Wisconsin and the state bear hunters association all have registered in support of the bill, according to state Government Accountability Board records.

Opponents maintain young children can't handle large-bore rifles and shotguns. Ray Anderson, a Madison-area hunting safety instructor, submitted remarks to the committee saying he tells parents not to even enroll their children in training until they're at least 12.

"Too many children age ten or younger are not ready to hunt," he wrote. "We've had situations in class where 9- and 10-year-olds simply don't have the maturity to handle a firearm. They inadvertently point the firearm at others and instructors. I implore you to not pass (the bill). If anything, raise the minimum age limit to 12 or at least age 11."

Others contend that allowing mentors to hunt while teaching would diminish students' experiences because their teachers would be more focused on their own success. The instructor association's Lacenski warned in his remarks to the committee that a mentor could purchase a license for a newborn and then use it along with his own to kill two deer for himself.

Kleefisch, who said he has mentored more than a dozen hunters in the past year, said mentors are honorable.

"If selfishness was the motivation of the mentor, he or she would simply hunt by themselves," he said.

DNR officials declined to comment, saying the agency typically doesn't talk about pending legislation.

The natural resources committee is set to vote on the bill Wednesday. Passage there is likely. The bill's prospects beyond that are murky. Committee approval would clear the way for a vote on the full Assembly floor but Republicans are swamping their leaders with bills as the session draws to a close and it's unclear if Speaker Robin Vos supports the measure. His spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the bill's chances.

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