Strip club 1, Nuns 0; Shih-Tzu heist; requiring to allow school shooting clubs

DETROIT (AP) — Police say a man who was watching a movie on his phone has died in a car crash on a Detroit highway.

Clifford Ray Jones of Detroit was partially ejected through the sunroof when his 1996 Toyota rolled in the wee hours Sunday.

Lt. Mike Shaw of the state police says it appears to be another case of a driver distracted by technology. No other vehicles were involved in the crash. The 58-year-old Jones wasn't wearing a seat belt.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri would become one of a few of states that outlaw abortions based on prenatal screening if a proposal before the Senate becomes law.

A Senate committee heard testimony Tuesday on a bill that would prohibit doctors from performing an abortion on a woman motivated "solely" by a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.

Bill sponsor Sen. David Sater said that fetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted at substantially higher rates even though the screening isn't always accurate, but he didn't cite a specific study during testimony.

A 2015 study published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics estimated that since 1996, about 30 percent of fetuses with Down syndrome were selectively aborted annually in the U.S.

Everyone deserves life, not just the children deemed perfect, said Sater, a Republican from Cassville. "Ending someone's life simply because they are different or might have Down syndrome is discrimination. There is no other way to look at it."

But opponents said this proposal goes beyond past efforts to restrict abortion access. Missouri has a 72-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions, and a requirement that an abortion doctor have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital has left only one abortion clinic in the state.

While those laws are "hurdles" for a woman seeking an abortion, they don't necessarily violate a woman's right to an abortion, American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri policy director Sarah Rossi said.

This bill, she said, is "literally putting up a wall — a straight-up wall — in front of a woman who wants to have an abortion."

Samuel Lee, president of Campaign Life Missouri and a supporter of the bill, said no court case has successfully challenged similar measures in other states. North Dakota has outlawed abortions based on prenatal diagnosis of mental disabilities, and Arizona has banned abortions based on the race or sex of the child. At least four other states have legislation pending against abortions after a Down syndrome diagnosis, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research center that supports abortion rights.

Lee said this bill should be viewed as a protection for people with disabilities rather than an attempt to restrict abortion.

Dr. Kathryn Stambough, an obstetrician at Washington University in St. Louis, told the Senate committee the bill does nothing to help people with Down syndrome.

"In fact, I would argue that by ignoring the complexity of the diagnosis and the thoughtful consideration of women and their families making a decision, bills such as this do more to exploit the population than they do to protect it," she said.

But Ryan Gallagher, the father of a 2-year-old girl with Down syndrome who testified Tuesday, said he felt deflated when he first heard his daughter's diagnosis after her birth. But since then, he said he's seen how joyful she is.

"Knowing a little more about a child — that they will have some additional challenges ahead — shouldn't give a parent the right to decide a baby isn't good enough or worthy of living," he said.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Thousands of Nebraska students attend private schools each year, yet a state lawmaker says public schools have no plan to handle a glut of students if a private institution nearby were to suddenly close.

Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus told the Legislature's Education Committee on Tuesday that public schools should prepare financially and understand the costs they would face if they had to accept dozens, hundreds or even thousands of new students.

Schumacher said he questioned whether public schools could handle the increase during a series of property tax and education hearings last year.

"They aren't ready," Schumacher said.

Schumacher presented a bill to the committee that would require districts to increase their facilities, staff and cash reserves, or pay private schools a kind of "insurance policy" to stay open.

Under the insurance policy option, a public school would pay the private school 10 percent of the cost of accepting all of its students. In exchange, private benefactors would have to guarantee that they would pay 75 percent of the cost of keeping the private school in operation for three years.

Schumacher said he knows the bill won't pass, but he introduced it to prod local school boards into discussing the issue.

Nearly 38,000 students are attending private schools this year, compared with nearly 316,000 enrolled in a public school, according to the Nebraska Department of Education.

John Bonaiuto, a lobbyist for the Nebraska Association of School Boards, said districts don't need a law to prepare for a private school's closure. Public school board members talk frequently with their private counterparts and would likely know well in advance that a school is facing trouble, he said.

"It would not be a surprise," Bonaiuto said. "We'd figure out how to work things out and continue to serve the communities."

Jon Habben, executive director of the Nebraska Rural Community Schools Association, said local districts should have the freedom to create their own transition plan.

Habben, a former superintendent at Newman Grove Public Schools, said he was once faced with the possible closure of a nearby private school with shrinking enrollment. Habben said his local state senator approached him and asked how the district would handle an increase in students.

"Quite honestly, I didn't have an answer," Habben said. "But it sure got me thinking about what we would do."

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The bill is LB781.

CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban Chicago order of nuns say they will continue to press their case after a judge dismissed their lawsuit claiming a strip club neighboring their convent violates zoning laws.

However, Cook County Circuit Judge Peter Flynn on Tuesday ruled the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo can rework their lawsuit alleging Club Allure in Stone Park violates prostitution regulations and is a nuisance to the community.

Flynn said the complaint was too vague. He asked the lawyers for the nuns to provide specific, detailed examples of nuisances or lewd behavior inside or outside the club.

After the hearing, Sister Noemia Silva said her order is called to "protect our values, and we will not change them."

Attorney Robert Itzkow, who is former owner of the club, says it is a legal business.

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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times, http://chicago.suntimes.com/

BELLEVILLE, Mich. (AP) — The superintendent of a Detroit-area school district says there were "improprieties" in the extraordinarily high scores of students who took state math and reading tests last spring.

The Van Buren district investigated at the request of the state Education Department. Savage Elementary scored sixth in the state in math out of more than 2,800 schools and also did well in English.

The tests, known as the M-STEP, were given last spring. The state says it's "highly unlikely" that the Savage results were due to chance.

The state has scratched the scores. Van Buren Superintendent Michael Van Tassel says some staff members have been placed on leave. He wouldn't say how many.

Parents protested Tuesday with signs that said, "I Support Savage Teachers." The superintendent is defending his investigation, despite the criticism.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Senate has approved a bill that would allow legislative employees to carry handguns inside the Statehouse.

Senators voted 36-13 Tuesday in favor of exempting those workers from current state regulations that ban deadly weapons from the Statehouse and the nearby state office buildings. Those regulations allow exceptions for police officers, members of the General Assembly and judges.

Bill sponsor Republican Sen. Jim Tomes (toms) of Wadesville says legislative staffers often leave work after dark and believes that they should be able to protect themselves. Opponents argued that it was dangerous to allow more weapons inside the Statehouse and that training should be required.

Other state government workers would still be prohibited from having weapons at the Statehouse complex.

The proposal now goes to the House for consideration.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Shooting clubs that use BB guns and other air guns could hold practices and competitions in schools under a Kansas bill.

Unless schools closed their grounds to all outside clubs, they wouldn't be allowed to refuse a shooting club from using their facilities, The Wichita Eagle (http://bit.ly/20r9QcD ) reported.

Rep. Blake Carpenter, a Derby Republican, introduced the bill in response to a controversy in the Derby school district. After operating at the south-central Kansas district's Oaklawn Elementary for 30 years, district leaders forced the Derby BB Club off campus last year.

Club founder Larry Richardson said the organization has never had an incident. He said students in the club have participated in national competitions and two earned college scholarships.

"We just want to be treated like everybody else," Richardson said during a Tuesday hearing before the House Committee on Federal and State Affairs.

Under the bill, schools could still restrict students from bringing air guns to school independently of their involvement in an extracurricular club and prohibit their use during the school day.

The bill also would require shooting club participants to sign a liability waiver and obtain parental permission. But Mark Tallman, the lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards, said that wouldn't protect schools if nonparticipants were harmed or school property was damaged. The bill also says that schools could not require organizations to purchase liability insurance.

Rep. Dick Jones, R-Topeka, suggested amending the bill to include language that ensured that the guns being allowed on campus didn't fire pellets or BBs at a fast enough velocity to break the skin as a way to address safety concerns.

Emma Klausmeyer, a junior at Kapuan Mount Carmel Catholic High School in Wichita, talked to the committee about participating in the Sedgwick County 4-H Shooting Club and competing last year in 4-H Nationals in the air rifle competition.

"I can understand why schools don't want a gun in their building," she said. "But at the same time it's like we've had no injuries as long as I've been there."

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

HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) — A book has been returned to a library in western Michigan — 49 years later.

The borrower says he was a college student in 1967 when he checked out a book about World War II from the Herrick library in Holland. He says the book was stored in a trunk that hadn't been opened until recently.

Library director Diane Kooiker declined to identify the book, the man's name or the amount of money given to the library.

In a letter to the library, the man described it as a "modest donation" to cover what could be a "tremendous fine."

Kooiker tells The Grand Rapids Press (http://bit.ly/1VoLT2b ) that honest people sometimes can misplace a book.

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Information from: The Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/grand-rapids

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Slightly more Indiana schools are receiving A grades under changes to the state's rating system that headed off big declines anticipated from lower student scores on the ISTEP standardized exam.

Ratings approved Tuesday by the State Board of Education give A grades to about 57 percent of some 2,100 public and private schools — up from about 54 percent of schools receiving A ratings last year. The new ratings give an F grade to about 3 percent of schools — down from 4 percent last year.

Despite the state's ISTEP reprieve for schools, several local school superintendents told the board that the letter-grade ratings were harmful to their communities and that the standardized test wasn't a useful tool for teachers.

Schools could receive higher grades than last year, but not lower ratings, under a state law change approved by legislators and signed by Gov. Mike Pence last week following discord around the state over ISTEP results.

Schools fared much better in the new ratings than they would have without the one-year reprieve.

Preliminary figures had projected a more than four-fold increase to about 17 percent of schools receiving failing marks, while those receiving A ratings would have fallen by more than half to 23 percent.

Many school officials say teachers didn't have enough time to prepare students for the tougher exam given last spring under new state standards adopted in 2014, a few months after lawmakers withdrew Indiana from the national Common Core standards.

Tom Hunter, the superintendent of the Greensburg Community Schools in southeastern Indiana, called last spring's ISTEP exam "chaotic" because of the changes and technical troubles that students faced taking the test online.

"Make no mistake, we want our students to be academically competitive," Hunter told the board. "We simply want a fair and valid means of assessing their achievement."

Slightly more than half of students passed both the language arts and mathematics portions of last year's ISTEP exam, down from nearly 75 percent who passed both sections in 2014.

The Indiana House education committee chairman on Tuesday also backed off a proposal calling for an outside company to rescore the 2015 exams, with the committee modifying the bill to make that step an option for the state Department of Education and Board of Education.

"Rather than make the General Assembly make that determination at this point in time, it just provides that the state board can make that decision," said House education Chairman Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis.

A full rescoring of the ISTEP exam was estimated to cost up to $10 million, but the Department of Education maintained that work wasn't needed.

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Department of Education school grades: http://bit.ly/1NyiSLx

ROSEVILLE, Minn. (AP) — A tiny puppy with a big price tag stolen from a Roseville pet shop has been recovered.

Police say two men have been arrested for stealing the 3-pound Shih-Tzu from the Har Mar Pet Store last week. The dog is valued at nearly $1,200. Authorities say they were able to track down the dog because an employee from a neighboring store saw the men with the dog and was able to get a license plate number.

The Star Tribune (http://strib.mn/1WMKymR ) reports that on Monday, officers went to the address linked to the license and spotted the dog running around in the living room. Two men were arrested and the puppy was returned to the store.

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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A Senate panel has approved a lawmaker's push to make it permanently daylight saving time in South Dakota because she's sick of changing her clocks.

The committee sent the measure to the full Senate on Tuesday. Sen. Betty Olson's bill says South Dakota "elects to reject standard time."

Olson says she and many of her neighbors are "darn sick" of switching clocks and having to adjust to the change.

The Republican lawmaker says she prefers standard time, but her husband likes daylight saving time, so she went with that as a compromise in the bill.

Republican Sen. Brock Greenfield says he doesn't see the harm in more discussion.

Greenfield pointedly noted that "the times have changed" since the inception of daylight saving time.

There was no testimony opposing the measure.

REMER, Minn. (AP) — People are roaming northern Minnesota forests in search of chaga, a black and crusty fungus that has become an alternative health sensation.

More people are searching for chaga with it fetching as much as $20 a pound, Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/1JyrFT1 ) reported. Believers in the fungus say it helps treat ailments such as joint pain and Lyme disease.

Shane Dugan and Ted Frick started a chaga business in tiny Remer, which is about 100 miles west of Duluth. Dugan, who also delivers mail, noticed about four years ago a steady stream of 50-pound boxes being shipped out and asked Frick, the postmaster, what it was.

"He said, 'It's chaga.' I said, 'What's that?'" Dugan said. Frick didn't know and told him to look it up.

After doing some research, Dugan and Frick recruited foragers to harvest chaga. They're shipping the fungus globally, and Dugan said they have roughly 450 pounds of chaga in a storeroom.

Dugan and Frick's business is careful to say that their products aren't intended to diagnose, treat or cure disease. Other chaga distributors have been warned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for claiming their products can be used for treating diseases such as cancer and HIV.

"There's a lot of people selling this. There's companies selling extracts and capsules, making all kinds of claims," said Ron Spinosa, past president of the Minnesota Mycological Society and a regular chaga tea drinker. "They're selling it like snake oil."

The state Department of Natural Resources is concerned some people are illegally harvesting chaga in state parks. Ed Quinn, a natural resource program consultant with the department, said chaga isn't technically a mushroom and therefore can't be harvested in state parks.

Another concern, Quinn said, is how the chaga is being collected. He said people sometimes people climb trees using spikes and can cause damage, and that using a knife or small axe to remove the fungus can also damage trees.

Spinosa said demand is making chaga harder to find. It can regrow if harvested correctly.

Dugan said his harvesters are saying that finding chaga is becoming more difficult.

"I keep asking these guys, 'How much time do you think we've got?'" Dugan said. "They go, 'Five to seven years, maybe.'"

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

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A man who skipped his own armed robbery trial after stripping naked and wiping feces on his body is heading to prison.

The Columbus Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/1Sgg1xh ) that Wendell Watkins Sr. was sentenced Monday in Columbus to 20 years in prison.

Watkins and two others were charged with robbing a Columbus man of more than $35,000 in casino winnings in October 2012. The trial was ordered to continue without Watkins after authorities found him naked on a jail toilet.

A psychologist found that Watkins was pretending to be mentally ill.

The 33-year-old Columbus man was convicted of charges including aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary.

Watkins said in court Monday that he is not crazy and his only law is God.

His attorney told the judge her client has mental-health problems.

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An Eau Claire man didn't have a constitutional right to view pornography on a university library computer, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The case began in December 2014, when two students doing their homework in the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire library noticed David Reidinger, then 45, was watching pornography on a nearby computer. According to court documents, one of the students reported him to a front desk worker, who called campus police. Officers told Reidinger that his conduct was causing a disturbance and gave a $295 disorderly conduct citation.

Reidinger fought the citation, but Eau Claire County Circuit Judge Kristina M. Bourget ultimately found him guilty.

He argued to the 3rd District Court of Appeals that he had a First Amendment right to view legal adult pornographic material at a public library, pointing to two U.S. Supreme Court decisions, one from 1969 and the other from 1997, that he claimed supported his contention.

In the 1969 decision the court established private possession of obscene materials isn't a crime. In the 1997 case the high court struck down provisions in the federal Communications Decency Act that imposed criminal penalties in attempt to protect minors from indecent and offensive Internet communications. The court found the provisions lacked the precision that the First Amendment requires when a law regulates speech.

Reidinger also alleged that UW System administrators, campus police and prosecutors had harassed him.

The appellate court ruled unanimously in a terse, five-page opinion that the citation was valid. The court said neither of the Supreme Court cases Reidinger cited establishes a First Amendment right to view pornography in a public library or any other public place.

Prosecutors didn't have to prove Reidinger's conduct caused an actual disturbance; they had to show only that the conduct could tend to cause or provoke one, the court ruled. In this case there was enough evidence that Reidinger's public viewing of pornography at the library was indecent and tended to provoke a disturbance, the opinion said.

The court didn't address Reidinger's harassment allegations, calling them "unsupported and undeveloped."

Court records did not indicate an attorney for Reidinger. He said during a brief telephone interview Tuesday morning that he hadn't seen the decision and had no comment.

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Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trichmond1

PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) — A southern Wisconsin woman is charged with mistreating and abandoning a dog that was found in a duffel bag at a wildlife area last week.

Fifty-six-year-old Terri Lynn Benson of Pardeeville was charged Monday in Columbia County. She is free on a $10,000 signature bond.

Benson told police the female black Lab, named Misty, had gotten out Wednesday and came back "acting goofy." She said the dog later appeared to be having seizures, so she took the animal for a ride.

WKOW-TV (http://bit.ly/1JyNLoa ) reports under police questioning, Benson said she had hit the dog with a hammer "three to four" times. A veterinarian says the dog needed 19 staples to her head.

Benson is due back in court Feb. 8. Her attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.

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Information from: WKOW-TV, http://www.wkow.com

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) — A couple rushing to a Rochester hospital for the imminent birth of their daughter didn't quite make it to the delivery room — but they came so very close.

Kannon Schultz was born on the sidewalk in front of the Mayo Clinic Methodist hospital entry door with the help of an employee who was just leaving work.

The Post-Bulletin (http://bit.ly/1OMEwzR ) says contractions were peaking as Cory and Kelly Schultz rolled up to the entry door last Tuesday. While Cory ran in for a wheelchair, Kelly laid on the sidewalk.

Radiology technician Deborah Vinge thought Kelly had fallen, then realized she was giving birth. After a couple of pushes, the newborn arrived safely.

The new parents joke that if they had hit even one red light while speeding to the hospital, their daughter would have been born in their van.

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Information from: Post-Bulletin, http://www.postbulletin.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio initiative seeks to boost access to mental health consultants in an effort to curb the number of children expelled or suspended from kindergarten, preschool and other early childhood education settings.

Officials set aside $9.1 million for the initiative in the state's two-year budget, which will benefit 75 counties, according to the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. The funds allow for up to 64 mental health consultants who will work with teachers and at-risk students in programs such as Head Start, preschool and child care settings. Some consultants already are in classrooms.

Preschoolers and kindergartens are expelled at a higher rate than high school students in Ohio, which is in line with the national trend, said Dr. Valerie Alloy, who leads the department's early childhood mental health initiatives. During the 2012-13 academic year, nearly 4,000 out-of-school suspensions and expulsions for fighting and disruptive behaviors were reported for Ohio's kindergarteners.

Disruptive behavior can be associated with childhood trauma, abuse and neglect.

Alloy said children's behavior can go beyond the typical biting and kicking seen in the early developmental stage, to behavior that's more severe and continuous. "Those children present a danger in the classroom when you've got 25 other little ones and one or two adults in charge," Alloy said in an interview.

The initiative will help train teachers to address behavior issues while putting consultants in the classroom to help prevent expulsions. It also will create a way for families or preschools statewide to call mental health counselors to help intervene with children at risk of expulsion.

Alloy said the goal is to address any mental health and wellness issues early to give children a better chance at success.

"Birth to 5 is the most critical time for a child's brain development," she said, noting it's when children learn to form attachments and regulate themselves emotionally. She said the initiative seeks to prevent disruptions in this developmental process that affect their ability to learn and relate to others.

"We call it 'get the right care to the right child at the right time,'" Alloy said.

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This story has been corrected to show that Ohio officials set aside $9.1 million for the initiative in the state's two-year budget, not $1.9 million.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri will be spending the next few days on a St. Louis County jury hearing a civil case.

McCaskill, a Democrat, posted several messages on Twitter throughout the day Monday as she waited to find out if she would be selected for the jury.

The senator, a former prosecutor, said early in the day that she didn't expect to be chosen.

But after a day of tweeting about the television shows the jury pool was watching, what she wore and what was for lunch, the senator was surprised to be chosen for the jury.

McCaskill tweeted: "HOLY X@#(asterisk)! I am on the jury" and then stopped using social media.

Details of the case McCaskill was chosen for were not immediately available.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota judicial officials are warning the state's residents of a phone scam in which callers try to collect money by threatening people with legal action.

Officials with the Unified Judicial System say callers identify themselves as court employees and tell people that they can avoid immediate legal action by paying them.

The callers may seem legitimate by making it appear as if they're calling from a clerk of courts office.

Anyone receiving these calls can contact South Dakota's Consumer Protection Division or else call a local court to verify an outstanding court debt.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Citizens who want to express their views at public meetings don't have a free speech right to do so if their actions disrupt government business, according to a ruling Monday by the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

The ruling comes in the case of Robin Hensel, who was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct for disrupting a Little Falls City Council meeting in 2013 when she refused to move her chair into a public-seating area at the request of authorities, forcing the meeting to start late.

Hensel argued that her First Amendment rights were violated. But a three-judge appeals court panel disagreed, saying a state law that makes it a crime to disrupt a lawful meeting or assembly is constitutional.

The judges found the statute protects the ability of officials to govern as well as the rights of citizens to participate in government. They also said citizens can express dissatisfaction with government in ways that don't disrupt meetings. The decision notes that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the First Amendment doesn't guarantee the right to communicate one's views in any time, place or manner desired.

Hensel's attorney, Kevin Riach, said in an email that he's disappointed with the outcome, but plans to petition the state Supreme Court for review.

"Part of why we took this case was our concern that the statute could be used to squelch dissent at local government meetings," Riach said. "The ability of citizens to express dissatisfaction with their elected officials without fearing reprisal is critical to the health of our democracy."

Paul Reuvers, an attorney for the state, said the ruling reaffirms that governing bodies have the ability to control their meetings.

Hensel "was, in our view, baiting the city and trying to be arrested in this situation. All she had to do was sit in the gallery like everyone else," Reuvers said.

The appeals court said the state's statute is not overly broad or vague, and can be understood as prohibiting conduct that could interfere with the ability to conduct a meeting. Judge Michelle Ann Larkin, writing for the panel, also said that such laws "are neither unique to Minnesota nor of recent vintage."

Hensel regularly attends city meetings and posts videos, city documents and news articles online. In 2012, she sued the city of Little Falls in federal court after officials prohibited her from having multiple signs in her yard. Hensel challenged the city ordinance that limited yard signs, and she objected to a large "Support Our Troops" sign in town. That case was settled without going to trial.

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Follow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amyforliti . More of her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/amy-forliti

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A North Carolina defense contractor's project could land Jeeps back on the battlefield as the U.S. Army looks for inexpensive, lightweight, unarmored vehicles that can be flown into remote locations.

The Army wants to find vehicles that can ferry troops and cargo over rough terrain in situations that don't call for heavily armored vehicles, and workers at Charlotte-based Hendrick Dynamics have developed a specifically modified Jeep Wrangler they believe can fill that void, according to The Blade (http://bit.ly/1RT3OjE).

The project is in its early stages, but Hendrick Dynamics executives have said they are excited about the Wrangler's potential.

"We've got a really good opportunity to deliver to the Army a highly capable platform at a significantly reduced cost," said Marshall Carlson, Hendrick Dynamics general manager. "One of the best points of the project is you're starting with such an incredibly capable vehicle which comes right off the line in Toledo."

The vehicle would mirror the role the Willys MB — a forerunner of the modern Jeep — filled in World War II. Jeep's origins in Toledo go back to 1941 when Willys-Overland Motors began mass production of the olive-drab vehicle for the military in 1941.

The Toledo factory built more than 240,000 Wranglers last year, but a Fiat Chrysler spokesman declined to comment on the company's involvement with Hendrick Dynamics.

Hendrick Dynamics says it has built about two dozen prototypes.

Officials said selling points of the modified Wrangler is that startup and developmental costs are reduced because it's based on a production vehicle and it offers the advantage of providing a developed service and parts network that covers much of the world.

The Army didn't return a message seeking comment, but a September report from DefenseNews said the Army plans to release a request for proposals by the end of this year, the newspaper reported.

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