Sperm donor fights child support; gift-wrapped pot; walking again

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — Electric utility Indiana Michigan Power's use of a pesticide to hinder the growth of thousands of trees has drawn concerns from some homeowners.

Indiana Michigan Power spokesman Tracy Warner said the company has treated hundreds of thousands of trees with growth regulator starting more than 10 years ago. He told The (Muncie) Star Press that more than 22,000 trees will be treated this year in its service territory of eastern and northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan.

Warner said using the growth regulator helps delay tree trimmings. The Fort Wayne-based company spent more than $27 million last year on vegetation management, which includes tree trimming and removal, herbicide applications, and growth regulators.

"Trees and power lines are a bad combination," Warner said. "Trees are the No. 1 source of outages during weather events."

Warner said Indiana Michigan Power always notifies customers in advance and gives a number to call if they don't want the growth regulator used.

Muncie resident Sara Mong recently came home to find a door hanger from the company saying the growth regulator would be applied to her property. She was concerned it might contaminate the fruit of a cherry tree and her garden, and tried to call the number on the notice, but it was disconnected.

"It's one thing for them to come and cut your trees, which has everybody up in arms," she said. "But just to come and put poison on your property, that's not right."

Warner said the phone number that Mong was provided was out of service for less than 36 hours because a telephone line was cut in the southern United States. A contractor has since called to tell her the growth regulator won't be used on her property.

Ed White, pesticide products manager at the Office of Indiana State Chemist, said the chemical being used on the tree is listed as a "general use" pesticide, meaning those applying it don't need a state certification unless are doing so for hire on another person's property. White said EPA categorizes the pesticide as one that can cause eye or skin irritation and is slightly toxic if inhaled, eaten or absorbed through the skin.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A student mentoring program that Republican Gov. John Kasich created to give students access to role models has given about six times as much money this year to grant applicants connected to religious organizations as it has to those with no religious or spiritual basis.

Kasich announced the Community Connectors program in his 2014 State of the State speech. The program gives out grants to help companies and organizations partner with area schools. Schools must partner with a faith-based group to qualify for those grants, but not necessarily a religious one.

Sixteen of the 118 grant winners were non-religious, The Plain Dealer reported and they received $1.4 million. By comparison, partnerships involving religious groups received $8.5 million.

Nearly $10 million has been spent so far on the program. Another $20 million is expected to be spent over the next two years.

Supporters of the program say the state is trying to use every means possible to decrease student dropouts. Some partnership administrators say they're focusing on things like career readiness and that converting people is not what they do.

Bill Kitson, CEO of the United Way of Greater Cleveland, is a member of the advisory committee for the program. He helped review grant applications, he said, adding that the groups were not identifiable.

He said the applications were determined based on their chances of success — not by their affiliations.

"I think all those that applied received a fair shot," Kitson said.

Some critics say the program infringes too far upon the separation of government and religion and that the pattern of the awards indicates religious groups were favored.

"Sadly, it's somewhat predictable," said Ian Smith, a lawyer for Americans United. "It seems obvious that the point of this was always to get this kind of response."

Kasich, a 2016 presidential candidate, frequently cites his Christian faith as a motivating factor is his leadership. He faced recent pushback after pledging that if elected he'd push for an agency that would promote "Judeo-Christian values" overseas to counter Islamist propaganda.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska authorities say they seized more than 11 pounds of gift-wrapped marijuana from the trunk of a car in Lincoln.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Lancaster County sheriff's deputies arrested 27-year-old Garrett Scott Brasel of Cambria, Ill., on Wednesday. Brasel had been sitting in the Honda outside a convenience store just off of Interstate 80.

Authorities say Brasel gave them permission to search the car after they received a tip during another traffic stop a few minutes earlier.

Deputies say they tore open two gift-wrapped boxes and found 34 heat-sealed packages of marijuana.

Brasel was jailed on suspicion of possessing marijuana with intent to deliver and possession of a controlled substance. Online court records did not list an attorney for Brasel.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas law enforcement agencies say they are having a hard time filling hundreds of open positions, largely because of negative publicity and low starting pay.

The Kansas Highway Patrol alone has more than 100 open jobs to fill, yet there are only 19 cadets in the patrol academy class now underway in Salina.

Increased public scrutiny of law enforcement after several high-profile incidents, paired with pay starting in the $20,000 neighborhood for new officers in the Wichita area, have young people looking elsewhere for more-lucrative careers, The Wichita Eagle reported.

"It has an impact on your 19-, 20-, 21- and 22-year-olds that maybe at some point were looking to get into law enforcement and over the last couple of years, they've seen the negativity," said Capt. Brent Allred, who oversees the Wichita Police Department's training bureau.

"Maybe they've changed their mind now: Why would I want to be a law enforcement officer with all that stuff going on?'" he said.

Graduating college students are looking for jobs that pay enough to allow them to repay their debt, Allred said. Law enforcement doesn't necessarily do that.

Law enforcement recruiters are struggling to connect with younger people coming out of high school and college, said Crawford County Sheriff Dan Peak.

His brother teaches a criminal justice course at a college in Utah, Peak said, and a common theme has emerged in conversations with students.

"They anticipate they're going to graduate and go right in as a detective," Peak said, adding that they also expect to work day shifts with weekends off.

The reality is much different.

"The very first thing that happens to you is you're going to go to work nights — late nights," said Sedgwick County sheriff's Col. Richard Powell, who oversees the department's training center and firearms range. "You'll get Monday and Tuesday off, and you're going to be working holidays and miss a lot of family events — birthdays, weddings."

The Wichita Police Department has more than 50 openings for officers, while the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office in Topeka has 34 open positions for deputies.

"I've had two slots open for the last four months," said Randy Rogers, sheriff of Coffey County in eastern Kansas. "That's tough for a rural sheriff when you're sitting here with a 14-man department."

Those 14 deputies cover 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

There are so many unfilled detention deputy positions at the Sedgwick County Jail that deputies are on mandatory overtime, Powell said.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A 53-year-old University of Missouri graduate teaching assistant is accused of pulling a teenage family member out of a Columbia school because she wasn't wearing a traditional headscarf worn by some Muslim women.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports Youssif Omar was arrested Wednesday at his home on suspicion of felony child abuse. He was released from the Boone County Jail after posting $4,500 bond.

Police spokeswoman Latisha Stroer says officers were called to Hickman High School at 3 p.m. Tuesday after Omar became irate when he noticed a 14-year-old family member not wearing a hijab.

Stroer says Omar grabbed the girl "very violently by the hair" and pulled her outside and down a flight of stairs.

Omar is a graduate teaching assistant of Arabic.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Nearly 15,000 Wisconsin residents lost access to food stamps in the first three months under a new law that requires some recipients to seek jobs, government data shows.

The Wisconsin State Journal obtained the data from the Department of Human Services under the state open records law. The agency has since published the data on its website. It gives a first look at the effect of the work requirement, the newspaper reported Sunday.

The rule took effect in April for participants in the state's food stamp program, FoodShare. It requires able-bodied adults without children living at home to work at least 80 hours a month or look for work to stay in the program. Participants can get three months of FoodShare benefits before being kicked out of the program if they decline to look for work.

About 25 percent of the 60,000 recipients eligible to work were dropped from the program between July and September, the data shows.

Sherrie Tussler, executive director of the Milwaukee-based Hunger Task Force, said people kicked off the program will have to rely more heavily on charity.

"They will bankrupt our food banks," said Tussler, whose group supplies food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters with emergency food.

However, about 4,500 people found work through a new job training program for FoodShare recipients.

Since the new law took effect, just 7 percent of recipients in Milwaukee County — where about half of the able-bodied childless adult recipients live — who were referred to the FoodShare Employment and Training program were placed in jobs, the data show.

Around 836,000 Wisconsin residents get FoodShare benefits, about 40 percent of them children, according to the DHS.

Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, chairman of the Assembly's committee on public benefit reform, said the changes are working as intended.

"The FSET program was created to help guide able-bodied adults back into the workforce, or put them on the path to gainful employment while remaining on FoodShare," he said in a statement. "So far we have seen thousands of individuals follow the FSET program and secure employment as a result. It is important we continue to enact reforms and transition people from reliance on government to independence."

Laurel Patrick, a spokeswoman for Gov. Scott Walker, said no one will be kicked off the FoodShare program if they are actively participating in the training program or meeting the work requirement.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Nearly five years after Iowa residents flocked to sheriff's offices in a rush to obtain firearm permits, sheriffs are bracing for a wave of renewals.

The initial spike in 2011 came after the Iowa Legislature changed the state's permitting law from "may issue" to "shall issue," giving law enforcement less discretion over who can receive a permit, according to the Dubuque Telegraph Herald.

The number of permits issued in Iowa skyrocketed after the change was made, from roughly 39,000 non-professional permits issued in 2010 to more than 101,000 in 2011. The number of permits issued has remained high ever since, but nowhere near the number issued in 2011. Five-year renewals will begin in January.

The only legal disqualifications from obtaining a permit is if a person is a felon, younger than 21 years old, has a drug or alcohol addiction or has a misdemeanor assault conviction. A person deemed likely to use a weapon to endanger others also can be disqualified, though there needs to be documented evidence to back that claim. Permits also are invalid if a person is intoxicated.

Dubuque County Sheriff Don Vrotsos said there is no way of knowing if the county is more or less safe because of the law change, but that he thinks changes should be made to the law.

"The more guns that are out on the streets, that could be some type of an issue down the road," he said. "Have we had any issues at this time? Not that I'm aware of. That doesn't mean it could not happen."

Jeff Udelhofen, the owner of Tri-State Outdoors, a Dubuque gun store, said the 2011 law change has allowed more people to become educated about firearms, as a safety course is a required component for most applicants.

Udelhofen said the "million dollar question" is figuring out how to keep guns away from the mentally ill.

"It's a tough question to try to figure that out, who's going to get to that point where they snap and what means they're going to use to carry that out," Udelhofen said. "I know, myself, they can background check me to death to make sure I'm clean, and I think most people who don't have anything to hide don't mind more stringent background checks."

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa's crackdown on prescription painkillers is pushing more abusers to heroin, spurring a deadly new wave of addictions that experts say has reached epidemic proportions.

Heroin use still lags far behind marijuana, methamphetamine and painkiller use in Iowa — but it's climbing quickly.

Experts say the heroin epidemic, which is a growing problem nationwide, is largely spurred by people who first become addicted to opiate pain medication, according to the Des Moines Register. As the pills become more expensive and harder to obtain, people move on to heroin, which is cheaper and provides a more potent high.

A single pill of painkillers such as Percocet or OxyContin can cost from $10 to $80, while a bag of heroin sells on the street for about $10, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

"We are at a crossroads of Interstate 35 and Interstate 80. It's coming at us from Chicago and Omaha and Texas," said Mike Polich, executive director of United Community Services in Des Moines. "There's lots of product out there on the streets, and it's cheaper than trying to buy the pharmaceuticals."

Users accustomed to precisely manufactured pain pills can be more prone to deadly consequences with a street-made and highly addictive drug such as heroin, experts say.

Heroin is often smoked or snorted, which makes it less intimidating than the traditional method of injection, dependency experts say. Beating heroin addiction can take users many tries.

"Opiate addiction has the most miserable withdrawal," said John Peters, clinical supervisor of Powell Chemical Dependency Center at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines. "They can't sleep. They can't stand to get off of it."

While not as severe, Iowa's problem has grown so serious that earlier this month more than 100 law officers, prosecutors, public health experts, addiction-treatment providers and others gathered for a heroin and pain-pill summit at the University of Iowa.

The Iowa counties hardest hit by the heroin surge are Polk, Johnson, Linn, Black Hawk, Dubuque and Scott, said Pat Reinert, assistant U.S. attorney for Iowa's northern district office, based in Cedar Rapids.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas sperm donor's battle to avoid being declared the legal father of a same-sex couple's child has some similarities to the fight for gay marriage, the man's attorney argued in court filings.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families has sought to have William Marotta of Topeka declared the father of the child born to Jennifer Schreiner in 2009. The state wants Marotta to be responsible for thousands of dollars in public assistant the state provided, as well as future child support.

Marotta has said he contacted Schreiner and her then-partner after seeing an ad they placed on Craigslist seeking a sperm donor and signed a contract waiving his parental rights and responsibilities.

Kansas law requires a physician to be involved in the artificial insemination process, but that didn't happen in Marotta's case, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. In June, a Shawnee County district court judge said that meant he isn't entitled to the same protections given to other sperm donors.

Charles Baylor, who represents Marotta, argued in a filing earlier this month that state statute shouldn't discriminate against the lesbian couple by forcing the child to have a male parent.

"In October 2012, when this case was filed, it may have been legally justifiable to look only for a non-custodial male upon whom to pin an obligation of child support. That day has passed," Baylor writes in the filing.

The attorney noted that earlier this month DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore told reporters the agency doesn't prevent same-sex couples from serving in any way.

"It's showing that DCF is not discriminating against same-sex couples in the context of their being foster parents. So I don't know why DCF should discriminate against same-sex couples who have always been the parents to the child in this case," Baylor said.

Agency spokeswoman Theresa Freed said the department doesn't comment on pending litigation, though the state might issue its own court filing in the coming week.

"There are laws, policies and procedures put in place within the child support system that serve to protect the integrity of the system, ensuring that children receive the support to which they are entitled," Freed said.

The Kansas Parentage Act requires enlisting the help of a licensed physician during the artificial insemination process. That requirement went into effect in 1973.

By FELIX SARVER

The Herald-News

OLIET, Ill.  — Rene Valenciano has watched the number of Latino and Hispanic students grow at Joliet Public Schools District 86 from when he first started working there in 2011.

Valenciano, an English Language Learners coordinator, said the district has grown by 500 students in the past five years and, by his count, 480 of them needed bilingual services.

While not all children from Latino families speak Spanish, the demand for bilingual services has increased over the years, he said.

Joliet has a long history of Latino families, but their population has grown to become the dominant one in area school districts. Educators at elementary, middle and high schools work with families through bilingual service programs and connections with local social service agencies.

"I think as the community evolves, the district has also had to evolve and look more carefully at the needs of all kids," Valenciano said. "Sometimes educational systems tend to want to cover everybody with the same kind of programming. It's important for us to keep in mind programming has to be more appropriate for the students and their families."

The population of Latino and Hispanic residents more than doubled in Joliet between 2000 and 2010 and makes up about 27 percent of the city, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Statewide, Joliet has the sixth-largest population of Latinos, according to the Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement.

Recent state data show the population increase is reflected in the schools, where Hispanic students make up about 50 percent of those enrolled.

In the past five years, the percentage of Hispanic students - an ethnicity category defined by the state that includes Latino - at District 86 jumped from 50 percent to 57 percent. The percentage of Hispanic students at Joliet Township High School District 204 grew from 39 percent to 45 percent.

Within the schools at each district, Sator Sanchez Elementary and Joliet Central have the highest number of Hispanic students.

Alberto Filipponi, District 204 curriculum director, said people have misconceptions that Latino and Hispanic families are immigrants, but many have been living in Joliet for decades, especially on the northeast side of the city.

The vast majority of the bilingual students at District 204 were born in the U.S., he said.

"The population has thrived here and they're here to stay," he said.

Besides bilingual education services, which are required by federal law, Joliet schools try to work with students and their families in other ways.

"In every building, we're trying to make sure there is at least one front office person who speaks Spanish," Valenciano said of District 86. "At this point, we're close."

In the past three years, the district has made sure monthly newsletters sent by each school are in Spanish and English as outlined in the district strategic plan. The district also has a Spanish and English interpreter at each board meeting.

Filipponi said it's been a District 204 strategic goal to communicate effectively with Hispanic families. While many teachers and support staff speak Spanish, the majority do not, he stated in an email.

"In the near future, we will be looking into implementing a bilingual liaison that can help facilitate communications between teachers and general (education) students whose parents do not speak English," he stated.

Lourdes Paramo, bilingual testing coordinator and teacher lead, works with students and parents at District 204 and is an advocate and leader in the Latino community, Filipponi said.

District 204 also offers a bilingual program that incorporates core graduation requirements in Spanish, such as algebra, biology and physics. Working with the community

The Spanish Community Center in Joliet meets with staff from both districts.

Elizabeth Nevarez, executive director of the center, said her agency focuses on bringing the districts up to date on their services so they can in turn help their families. She said the Spanish Community Center doesn't only work with Latino and Hispanic families.

"We're a good resource for families that need some type of assistance," she said.

She said school districts should embrace diversity and make sure their information is geared toward everyone in the language they understand.

"We need to be able to embrace every culture," she said..

HARRISBURG, S.D. (AP) — Students at Harrisburg High School have won a safe-driving contest sponsored by State Farm Insurance.

The insurer awarded the school $100,000. The Argus Leader reports $22,000 will go toward safe driving education, as part of the contest's rules, while the rest will be divvied up among various charities and causes chosen by a committee of students.

The school is one of 22 across the country that were named winners of the Celebrate My Drive contest, which promotes safe driving education. Participating schools have to submit videos showing their commitment to driving carefully.

Principal Kevin Lein says the school wants to help people in the Harrisburg School District community until the money "runs out."

By GILES BRUCE

The (Munster, Ind.) Times

MUNSTER, Ind. (AP) — Chris Reyes took more steps one day last week than he had in almost a year. But he had more practical concerns.

"I want to know, will I be able to use the bathroom with this?" Reyes asked, a plastic-and-metal brace supporting his legs and lower back.

Vikram Choudhary, a prosthetist and orthotist at Bionic Prosthetics & Orthotics, assured the 22-year-old that he would.

Reyes, who has been paralyzed from the waist down since January, was able to walk with the help of a device called a reciprocating gait orthosis. Choudhary said it has existed for years but is little used in northwestern Indiana.

He said the shine of the "latest and greatest" in new technology often blinds orthotists to what actually works for patients — and can usually be cheaper than electronic braces.

"If it works and it's simple, why complicate it?" Choudhary said. "Overkill is always bad."

On Jan. 14, during what he says was an attempted robbery, Reyes was shot once in the lower back. Ever since, physicians have told him he'll never walk on his own again. He refuses to believe it.

On Tuesday, with an assist from the orthotic device, the East Chicago man walked for longer than he has since winter. His next step is to get out of his wheelchair and start using elbow crutches.

"Turn around," Choudhary told Reyes as he held the parallel bars at the Munster office, his braces creaking.

"Turn around, really?" Reyes asked, his legs bony from a lack of muscle use.

"You can do it," Choudhary said.

Reyes did it — and later started walking backward.

"Wow, man, you're doing good," Choudhary said, noting the patient's gait was already getting better.

"Take longer steps this time, as long as you can. See, you forgot the legs are there."

Choudhary said that in Reyes' case, the underused device can help compensate for his lack of hip strength and function. It does so by keeping his torso straight, and extending one leg when the other flexes, like a seesaw.

"Nothing else may have helped him but this brace," Choudhary said.

Using the orthotic, Reyes will continue physical therapy to try to improve his mobility and become more independent. His ultimate goal remains the same.

"The doctors told me I wouldn't be able to walk again," said Reyes, who hopes to become a counselor for at-risk youth.

"I'm a strong-minded person. I have three kids. I have little ones looking up to me."

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago says it's expanding a program to provide police officers with body cameras.

A Sunday statement from Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office follows the release last week of a squad-car video showing an officer fatally shooting teenager Laquan McDonald. The officer wasn't wearing a body camera.

Chicago will expand the program into six more police districts in 2016. Emanuel says the expansion into one-third of the city will "strengthen the fabric of trust" between officers and city residents.The statement doesn't mention McDonald or demonstrations in recent days calling for sweeping police reforms.

Chicago's pilot body-camera program began in January and just 30 cameras are currently being tested. Sunday's statement says the expansion will be paid for with a $1.1 million federal grant and $1.1 million in matching city funds.