More Skittles; pig wrestling canceled under pressure; suspect left phone number
- Updated
Odd and interesting news from the Midwest.
- By STEVE STOUT The (Ottawa) Daily Times
- Updated
OTTAWA, Ill. (AP) — In the mid-1990s, Ryan Nevins was a student of English instructor and Starved Rock storyteller Bill Myers in classes at Ottawa High School.
Nevins, who became a high school English teacher himself and became personal friends with his former teacher over the years, gave Myers credit as his inspiration for his career in education.
Following Nevins' untimely death — as fate would have it — Myers, who retired from teaching full time at OHS and Marquette Academy years ago, accepted the school's request of becoming Nevins' long-term substitute taking over the English classes of his former student.
Months before his death from cancer April 8 at the age of 38 — in an interview for a news article about his mentor — Nevins explained his long relationship with his former instructor.
"Myers' passion and his love of literature helped me decide to go into teaching and teaching English," Nevins said. "In fact, my personal philosophy (of classroom instruction) is based on his style and approach of teaching. These days, my friendship with Bill remains important to me, because I have always looked up to him not only as a great teacher, but always as a leader."
Myers stepped in.
"I was deeply honored to be asked to take over Ryan's classes, but, at the same time, was heartsick at the circumstances," Myers said. "I felt the tremendous responsibility to carry the flag forward for such a great person, husband, father and teacher."
Myers said Nevins' students quickly became his students.
"We finished lessons on 'Romeo and Juliet' and had other assignments for the weeks I was here such as essay writing, poetry and interpretive homework," Myers said. "I also shoved grammar down my kids' throats while I was there, because they needed it."
Recalling speaking at Nevins' funeral in April, Myers said, "I picked a piece from Edgar Lee Masters' 'Spoon River Anthology' about a dead man named George Gray speaking from his grave who had wasted his life away being afraid to live life.
"Ryan was never afraid. He lived his life to the fullest at home, at work, at play. He put real meaning in the few years he had in life.
"The last time I saw Ryan was during a lunch we shared last fall. During our conversation, I remember how he pounded on the table and said 'Damn it. We only get one chance to live a life. You got to live it.' I will never forget that."
Myers said taking on the classes was physically and emotionally draining for him.
"But, as we went along, the students and I felt like Ryan was with us each and every day during our studies. I hope I did some good for him. I believe I did."
In the classroom that once belonged to Nevins — after Myers took over — students quickly saw the similarities between the two teachers. The two teachers were dynamic instructors who push their passion for literature and life onto their classes.
"It was awesome to be in Mr. Nevins' class," said freshman Molly Harris. "He always made his lessons fun in a learning environment. In many ways, Mr. Myers, when he became our teacher, kept the memory of Mr. Nevins alive."
Classmate Kekoa Gross, 15, agreed.
"Mr. Myers was in a tough spot replacing Mr. Nevins," Gross said. "Like Mr. Nevins, Mr. Myers taught us not only about English and literature, but also how to live our lives. Mr. Nevins, like Mr. Myers, was a great guy."
___
Source: The (Ottawa) Times,
- Updated
STOUGHTON, Wis. (AP) — The Stoughton County Fair has canceled a pig wrestling event amid pressure from city officials and animal rights activists.
The fair board notified the city Thursday after the City Council unanimously asked it to cancel the July 1 event. The council offered $6,000 to help offset some of the money the pig wrestling event would raise for the fair, but also threatened to ban pig wrestling altogether.
An online petition against the event by the Madison-based, pro-vegan Alliance for Animals and the Environment has gathered more than 10,000 supporters.
Fair organizers issued a statement saying pig wrestling has been a signature part of the fair for seven years, with no human or animal injuries. They say the fair anticipates losing a lot more money than the $6,000 the city offered.
- Updated
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A 33-year-old Davenport woman is being held in the Scott County Jail after police say she sexually abused a 13-year-old boy.
The Quad-City Times reports (http://bit.ly/1tz0lNC ) that the woman is being held on $10,000 bail. She's been charged with third-degree sexual abuse and lascivious acts with a child. Each charge is a felony and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
According to an arrest affidavit filed Wednesday by Davenport police, the woman entered into a relationship with and performed sexual acts on the boy sometime between April 23 and May 23.
She remained jailed Thursday and could not be reached for comment.
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Information from: Quad-City Times, http://www.qctimes.com
- Updated
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Items connected to a 1920s shootout between a notorious gangster and two law enforcement officers have been donated to the Wichita/Sedgwick County Historical Museum.
The Wichita Eagle (http://bit.ly/1UQvBjs ) reports that gangster Eddie Adams — who had killed seven people; robbed stores, banks and a Santa Fe express train; was involved in bootlegging liquor, and escaped from custody twice — fatally shot Wichita Police detective Charles Hoffman on Nov. 23, 1921. Officer Charles Bowman was also fatally hit by gunfire before Adams was killed by Detective D.C. Stuckey.
The gun Stuckey used to kill Adams, and other items the detective carried with him, including brass knuckles and a mugshot booklet called "Detecting Made Easy," will be made public for first time in a new exhibit at the end of June.
"This is the kind of material we have wanted for so long," museum curator Frazier Tracy said. "He carried these things on his person. We are thrilled to get it."
A year ago, descendants of Stuckey's contacted the museum. The donor was William Carter, Stuckey's grandson, who now lives in Leavenworth.
"His grandson said (Stuckey) never talked about the incident," Frazier Tracy said. "He said newspapers all over the world wanted to do interviews, and (Stuckey) always refused. I don't know if that was because it was a traumatic experience, if he didn't want to relive it, I don't know."
Stuckey died in 1978 at age 86.
___
Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com
- By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press
- Updated
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's wolf population has reached a record high of nearly 900 animals, state wildlife officials announced Thursday.
Figures from the Department of Natural Resources' over-winter monitoring show between 866 and 897 wolves are roaming the state, up 16 percent from last year's count of 746 to 771 animals.
The current population could be even higher; volunteer trackers counted wolves during the winter, when the population reaches its lowest point before pups are born.
Most of the wolves — between 838 and 869 animals — belong to 222 packs concentrated mostly across the northern third of the state. About 30 packs were located in a swath of west-central Wisconsin running roughly from Chippewa to Marquette counties. Monitoring efforts last year detected 208 packs.
Dave MacFarland, a DNR large carnivore specialist, said the agency doesn't have a good idea of how many wolves the state can sustain.
Thousands of wolves once roamed Wisconsin before the state was settled in the 1830s. By 1960, hunters had wiped out the entire wolf population. In the 1970s, wolves from Minnesota began moving into the state and the population grew rapidly in the 1990s.
As of 2011, as many as 824 wolves roamed the state, creating concerns among farmers that the animals were destroying their livestock. The DNR created a management plan calling for 350 animals statewide but could do nothing since the wolves were under federal regulation.
President Barack Obama's administration removed Great Lakes wolves from the endangered species list in 2012, allowing Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota to take over management. Republican legislators moved quickly to establish a hunting season, and three were held, much to the chagrin of animal rights advocates who insisted the population was still too fragile to support hunting.
The DNR was considering raising its population goal before a federal judge placed Great Lakes wolves back on the endangered species list in 2014, ending wolf trapping and hunting and preventing farmers from killing wolves that attack their animals.
Since then, deer hunters have complained that wolves are thinning the northern herd, leading to anemic deer hunts in that region. So far this year, the DNR has counted 23 confirmed or probable wolf attacks on livestock, hunting dogs and pets. There were 78 confirmed or probable wolf attacks on livestock, hunting dogs and pets in 2015, and 53 in 2014.
Karen Gefvert, governmental relations director for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, said the growing wolf population presents a graver threat to livestock, especially since farmers can't legally kill problem wolves while they're on the federal endangered list.
"It's going to be dangerous," she said. "We have a really big problem."
A spokesman for the Conservation Congress, an influential group of sportsmen who advise the DNR on policy, didn't immediately return an email seeking comment.
Melissa Smith, executive director of Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf, said the new population numbers show wolves can thrive in Wisconsin. Fewer than 100 depredations last year is hardly cause for alarm, she said.
"We should commend the state management efforts the DNR and wildlife services are making in absence of lethal control," she said.
The farm bureau's Gefvert countered that the depredation numbers don't account for wolf attacks that leave behind no evidence.
___
Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trichmond1
- Updated
HAZELWOOD, Mo. (AP) — A suburban St. Louis man is in custody after allegedly groping a woman and running off, only to leave his phone number behind.
Twenty-five-year-old Jerome Devaughn Smith of St. Peters is charged with first-degree burglary and sexual abuse. He is jailed on $50,000 bond.
Police told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/21oUPaI ) that Smith was in a Hazelwood neighborhood Wednesday, handing out flyers for a cleaning company, when he gave one to a 68-year-old woman outside her home. She took the flyer and turned to go inside. Police say she noted that Smith was following her. She told authorities that when she tried to shut the door, he grabbed her breast.
The woman bit the suspect and he ran off. The flyer he left behind included his phone number.
___
Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com
- Updated
AUBURN, Neb. (AP) — A southeast Nebraska county is switching to plastic markers for veterans graves in order to thwart thieves.
Nebraska City radio station KNCY reports (http://bit.ly/1YtJS8r ) that crooks have been stealing the standard bronze markers.
Nemaha County veterans service officer Bill Hessler told the county commissioners Wednesday that the new markers will come in two varieties: one for veterans who served during a war and one for veterans who served during peacetime. The bronze markers had designated service during specific wars.
Hessler says families that want to replace bronze markers can buy the plastic markers for $30.
___
Information from: KNCY-AM, http://www.kncycountry.com
- Updated
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota parents who are behind on child support payments are getting a chance to catch up.
The Child Support Division of the Department of Human Services is this month granting amnesty and returning suspended driver's licenses to anyone who sets up a payment plan. For every $2 a person pays toward past-due support, the agency will kick in $1 toward accrued interest or money owed to the state, The Bismarck Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/1Xrekkh ).
Delinquent North Dakota parents owe a total of $259 million in child support. By comparison, $158 million is disbursed to parents each year.
More than 2,000 North Dakotans have their driver's licenses suspended for failing to pay child support, according to Division Director Jim Fleming. More than 600 have warrants for their arrest.
There are more than 7,000 parents who individually owe more than $10,000 in past-due support, and they're being offered "a fresh start," Fleming said.
"We're not trying to be forgiving or condoning of their arrearage," he said. "We're just trying to do something about it."
Fleming has received some criticism from paying parents who question why delinquent parents should get a break. About three-fourths of noncustodial parents in North Dakota complied with their child support obligations last year — the fourth-highest rate in the nation.
Fleming said the main goal of the catch-up program is to get delinquent parents into payment plans, which can be effective at increasing support.
___
Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com
- Updated
YORKVILLE, Ill. (AP) — The maker of Skittles has expanded production of the colorful fruit-flavored candies to a facility in northern Illinois.
Chicago-based Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. and local officials celebrated the opening of the facility this week in Yorkville, 45 miles southwest of Chicago.
Skittles were previously only made in Waco, Texas. The new production line in Illinois will help the company keep up with demand.
The candies will be made at the company's newly expanded plant in Yorkville. The $50 million plant expansion was helped by incentives from the state of Illinois that included tax credits and money for training employees.
The company also received a 50 percent property tax rebate for five years.
Wrigley promised to hire up to 75 new employees.
___
Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com
- Updated
GLADSTONE, Mo. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City man has been charged with chasing a 13-year-old boy with a hatchet.
The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1W0We7D ) reports that 21-year-old Joseph Havner of Gladstone is jailed in Clay County on charges of assault and armed criminal action. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.
Court documents say Havner told police the boy had stolen $40 from his home four months earlier. The boy told police that Havner chased him Tuesday, demanded the money and threatened him with a hatchet. The boy said he knew nothing about the $40.
A man visiting Havner's home took the hatchet away from him.
Havner told police when asked what he intended to do to the boy with the hatchet that "I was going to kill him."
___
Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com
- Updated
PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) — A western Missouri county commission is demanding that the county's treasurer personally repay more than $20,000 of public funds lost in an email scam.
A letter signed by three Platte County commissioners Tuesday also demands that Treasurer Rob Willard pay more than $1,900 in attorney fees and gave him a week to come up with the money, The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1Uwb1q1 ) reported.
"We believe this is the right thing to do for the person who made this error, who failed to follow policy and procedure," said Presiding Commissioner Ron Schieber.
Willard said a fraudulent email last month duped him into sending a $48,000 wire transfer to a bank in Florida. He made the transfer after receiving what he thought was an email request from Schieber to pay for a state tax consultant.
Schieber didn't make the request. Willard was spoofed by an internet scam that has targeted several counties in Missouri and Kansas.
In a separate letter, commissioners asked county prosecutor Eric Zahnd to investigate whether Willard spent county money without proper authorization, and to impose any penalty allowed under Missouri law.
Willard used to work as an assistant prosecutor under Zahnd. The prosecutor said his office is not an investigative agency and urged the commission to refer the matter to law enforcement.
Once Willard realized his office had been scammed, he contacted the county's bank, alerted the sheriff's office and filed a complaint with the FBI. The source of the fraudulent emails has not been determined.
Wells Fargo has transferred about $28,000 back to the county's general fund.
Willard said Wednesday that the demand letter surprised him, and he's reviewing his options.
"We were spending all of our energies on doing everything we could to recover the money and work with the financial institutions, and it appears that the commission has taken a different focus," Willard said.
As county treasurer, Willard said he is bonded and his office is insured. Willard said he has worked with various banks and the county's insurance provider to recover the funds.
"This was a mistake. It was not malice," he said.
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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com
- Updated
CORYDON, Ind. (AP) — Authorities in southern Indiana say they're investigating after someone apparently exhumed the grave of a woman buried in the 1880s.
Officials say Indiana conservation officers were called to a large wooded area this spring when a landowner in Harrison County found the exhumed gravesite. The News and Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/1YtPqA9 ) archaeologists surveyed the gravesite and collected evidence that was sent for analysis. The grave belonged to Nancy Brown, who died at age 47 in 1881.
It's unclear when the grave was exhumed. A photo from the state shows an upright stone marker at the top of a 3 to 4-foot deep empty hole in the ground.
Conservation Officer Jim Schreck says another grave in the small private cemetery was looted in 1998.
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Information from: News and Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind., http://www.newsandtribune.com
- Updated
MINOT, N.D. (AP) — Gov. Jack Dalrymple has suspended Ward County Sheriff Steve Kukowski while a criminal case proceeds against him.
Kukowski faces misdemeanor charges of refusing to perform a public duty and reckless endangerment in the October 2014 death of 25-year-old jail inmate Dustin Irwin. The Mandaree man died at a hospital after going into cardiac arrest.
Kukowski was charged in February. The next month he went on a 90-day medical leave to recover from knee surgery. The Minot Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/1ZTslp6 ) that he returned to work Wednesday, but Dalrymple on the advice of Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem suspended him for six months or until the criminal case is resolved.
Kukowski maintains his innocence. He's scheduled for a three-day jury trial beginning Aug. 29.
___
Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.minotdailynews.com
- By STEVE STOUT The (Ottawa) Daily Times
OTTAWA, Ill. (AP) — In the mid-1990s, Ryan Nevins was a student of English instructor and Starved Rock storyteller Bill Myers in classes at Ottawa High School.
Nevins, who became a high school English teacher himself and became personal friends with his former teacher over the years, gave Myers credit as his inspiration for his career in education.
Following Nevins' untimely death — as fate would have it — Myers, who retired from teaching full time at OHS and Marquette Academy years ago, accepted the school's request of becoming Nevins' long-term substitute taking over the English classes of his former student.
Months before his death from cancer April 8 at the age of 38 — in an interview for a news article about his mentor — Nevins explained his long relationship with his former instructor.
"Myers' passion and his love of literature helped me decide to go into teaching and teaching English," Nevins said. "In fact, my personal philosophy (of classroom instruction) is based on his style and approach of teaching. These days, my friendship with Bill remains important to me, because I have always looked up to him not only as a great teacher, but always as a leader."
Myers stepped in.
"I was deeply honored to be asked to take over Ryan's classes, but, at the same time, was heartsick at the circumstances," Myers said. "I felt the tremendous responsibility to carry the flag forward for such a great person, husband, father and teacher."
Myers said Nevins' students quickly became his students.
"We finished lessons on 'Romeo and Juliet' and had other assignments for the weeks I was here such as essay writing, poetry and interpretive homework," Myers said. "I also shoved grammar down my kids' throats while I was there, because they needed it."
Recalling speaking at Nevins' funeral in April, Myers said, "I picked a piece from Edgar Lee Masters' 'Spoon River Anthology' about a dead man named George Gray speaking from his grave who had wasted his life away being afraid to live life.
"Ryan was never afraid. He lived his life to the fullest at home, at work, at play. He put real meaning in the few years he had in life.
"The last time I saw Ryan was during a lunch we shared last fall. During our conversation, I remember how he pounded on the table and said 'Damn it. We only get one chance to live a life. You got to live it.' I will never forget that."
Myers said taking on the classes was physically and emotionally draining for him.
"But, as we went along, the students and I felt like Ryan was with us each and every day during our studies. I hope I did some good for him. I believe I did."
In the classroom that once belonged to Nevins — after Myers took over — students quickly saw the similarities between the two teachers. The two teachers were dynamic instructors who push their passion for literature and life onto their classes.
"It was awesome to be in Mr. Nevins' class," said freshman Molly Harris. "He always made his lessons fun in a learning environment. In many ways, Mr. Myers, when he became our teacher, kept the memory of Mr. Nevins alive."
Classmate Kekoa Gross, 15, agreed.
"Mr. Myers was in a tough spot replacing Mr. Nevins," Gross said. "Like Mr. Nevins, Mr. Myers taught us not only about English and literature, but also how to live our lives. Mr. Nevins, like Mr. Myers, was a great guy."
___
Source: The (Ottawa) Times,
STOUGHTON, Wis. (AP) — The Stoughton County Fair has canceled a pig wrestling event amid pressure from city officials and animal rights activists.
The fair board notified the city Thursday after the City Council unanimously asked it to cancel the July 1 event. The council offered $6,000 to help offset some of the money the pig wrestling event would raise for the fair, but also threatened to ban pig wrestling altogether.
An online petition against the event by the Madison-based, pro-vegan Alliance for Animals and the Environment has gathered more than 10,000 supporters.
Fair organizers issued a statement saying pig wrestling has been a signature part of the fair for seven years, with no human or animal injuries. They say the fair anticipates losing a lot more money than the $6,000 the city offered.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A 33-year-old Davenport woman is being held in the Scott County Jail after police say she sexually abused a 13-year-old boy.
The Quad-City Times reports (http://bit.ly/1tz0lNC ) that the woman is being held on $10,000 bail. She's been charged with third-degree sexual abuse and lascivious acts with a child. Each charge is a felony and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
According to an arrest affidavit filed Wednesday by Davenport police, the woman entered into a relationship with and performed sexual acts on the boy sometime between April 23 and May 23.
She remained jailed Thursday and could not be reached for comment.
___
Information from: Quad-City Times, http://www.qctimes.com
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Items connected to a 1920s shootout between a notorious gangster and two law enforcement officers have been donated to the Wichita/Sedgwick County Historical Museum.
The Wichita Eagle (http://bit.ly/1UQvBjs ) reports that gangster Eddie Adams — who had killed seven people; robbed stores, banks and a Santa Fe express train; was involved in bootlegging liquor, and escaped from custody twice — fatally shot Wichita Police detective Charles Hoffman on Nov. 23, 1921. Officer Charles Bowman was also fatally hit by gunfire before Adams was killed by Detective D.C. Stuckey.
The gun Stuckey used to kill Adams, and other items the detective carried with him, including brass knuckles and a mugshot booklet called "Detecting Made Easy," will be made public for first time in a new exhibit at the end of June.
"This is the kind of material we have wanted for so long," museum curator Frazier Tracy said. "He carried these things on his person. We are thrilled to get it."
A year ago, descendants of Stuckey's contacted the museum. The donor was William Carter, Stuckey's grandson, who now lives in Leavenworth.
"His grandson said (Stuckey) never talked about the incident," Frazier Tracy said. "He said newspapers all over the world wanted to do interviews, and (Stuckey) always refused. I don't know if that was because it was a traumatic experience, if he didn't want to relive it, I don't know."
Stuckey died in 1978 at age 86.
___
Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com
- By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's wolf population has reached a record high of nearly 900 animals, state wildlife officials announced Thursday.
Figures from the Department of Natural Resources' over-winter monitoring show between 866 and 897 wolves are roaming the state, up 16 percent from last year's count of 746 to 771 animals.
The current population could be even higher; volunteer trackers counted wolves during the winter, when the population reaches its lowest point before pups are born.
Most of the wolves — between 838 and 869 animals — belong to 222 packs concentrated mostly across the northern third of the state. About 30 packs were located in a swath of west-central Wisconsin running roughly from Chippewa to Marquette counties. Monitoring efforts last year detected 208 packs.
Dave MacFarland, a DNR large carnivore specialist, said the agency doesn't have a good idea of how many wolves the state can sustain.
Thousands of wolves once roamed Wisconsin before the state was settled in the 1830s. By 1960, hunters had wiped out the entire wolf population. In the 1970s, wolves from Minnesota began moving into the state and the population grew rapidly in the 1990s.
As of 2011, as many as 824 wolves roamed the state, creating concerns among farmers that the animals were destroying their livestock. The DNR created a management plan calling for 350 animals statewide but could do nothing since the wolves were under federal regulation.
President Barack Obama's administration removed Great Lakes wolves from the endangered species list in 2012, allowing Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota to take over management. Republican legislators moved quickly to establish a hunting season, and three were held, much to the chagrin of animal rights advocates who insisted the population was still too fragile to support hunting.
The DNR was considering raising its population goal before a federal judge placed Great Lakes wolves back on the endangered species list in 2014, ending wolf trapping and hunting and preventing farmers from killing wolves that attack their animals.
Since then, deer hunters have complained that wolves are thinning the northern herd, leading to anemic deer hunts in that region. So far this year, the DNR has counted 23 confirmed or probable wolf attacks on livestock, hunting dogs and pets. There were 78 confirmed or probable wolf attacks on livestock, hunting dogs and pets in 2015, and 53 in 2014.
Karen Gefvert, governmental relations director for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, said the growing wolf population presents a graver threat to livestock, especially since farmers can't legally kill problem wolves while they're on the federal endangered list.
"It's going to be dangerous," she said. "We have a really big problem."
A spokesman for the Conservation Congress, an influential group of sportsmen who advise the DNR on policy, didn't immediately return an email seeking comment.
Melissa Smith, executive director of Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf, said the new population numbers show wolves can thrive in Wisconsin. Fewer than 100 depredations last year is hardly cause for alarm, she said.
"We should commend the state management efforts the DNR and wildlife services are making in absence of lethal control," she said.
The farm bureau's Gefvert countered that the depredation numbers don't account for wolf attacks that leave behind no evidence.
___
Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trichmond1
HAZELWOOD, Mo. (AP) — A suburban St. Louis man is in custody after allegedly groping a woman and running off, only to leave his phone number behind.
Twenty-five-year-old Jerome Devaughn Smith of St. Peters is charged with first-degree burglary and sexual abuse. He is jailed on $50,000 bond.
Police told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/21oUPaI ) that Smith was in a Hazelwood neighborhood Wednesday, handing out flyers for a cleaning company, when he gave one to a 68-year-old woman outside her home. She took the flyer and turned to go inside. Police say she noted that Smith was following her. She told authorities that when she tried to shut the door, he grabbed her breast.
The woman bit the suspect and he ran off. The flyer he left behind included his phone number.
___
Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com
AUBURN, Neb. (AP) — A southeast Nebraska county is switching to plastic markers for veterans graves in order to thwart thieves.
Nebraska City radio station KNCY reports (http://bit.ly/1YtJS8r ) that crooks have been stealing the standard bronze markers.
Nemaha County veterans service officer Bill Hessler told the county commissioners Wednesday that the new markers will come in two varieties: one for veterans who served during a war and one for veterans who served during peacetime. The bronze markers had designated service during specific wars.
Hessler says families that want to replace bronze markers can buy the plastic markers for $30.
___
Information from: KNCY-AM, http://www.kncycountry.com
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota parents who are behind on child support payments are getting a chance to catch up.
The Child Support Division of the Department of Human Services is this month granting amnesty and returning suspended driver's licenses to anyone who sets up a payment plan. For every $2 a person pays toward past-due support, the agency will kick in $1 toward accrued interest or money owed to the state, The Bismarck Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/1Xrekkh ).
Delinquent North Dakota parents owe a total of $259 million in child support. By comparison, $158 million is disbursed to parents each year.
More than 2,000 North Dakotans have their driver's licenses suspended for failing to pay child support, according to Division Director Jim Fleming. More than 600 have warrants for their arrest.
There are more than 7,000 parents who individually owe more than $10,000 in past-due support, and they're being offered "a fresh start," Fleming said.
"We're not trying to be forgiving or condoning of their arrearage," he said. "We're just trying to do something about it."
Fleming has received some criticism from paying parents who question why delinquent parents should get a break. About three-fourths of noncustodial parents in North Dakota complied with their child support obligations last year — the fourth-highest rate in the nation.
Fleming said the main goal of the catch-up program is to get delinquent parents into payment plans, which can be effective at increasing support.
___
Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com
YORKVILLE, Ill. (AP) — The maker of Skittles has expanded production of the colorful fruit-flavored candies to a facility in northern Illinois.
Chicago-based Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. and local officials celebrated the opening of the facility this week in Yorkville, 45 miles southwest of Chicago.
Skittles were previously only made in Waco, Texas. The new production line in Illinois will help the company keep up with demand.
The candies will be made at the company's newly expanded plant in Yorkville. The $50 million plant expansion was helped by incentives from the state of Illinois that included tax credits and money for training employees.
The company also received a 50 percent property tax rebate for five years.
Wrigley promised to hire up to 75 new employees.
___
Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com
GLADSTONE, Mo. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City man has been charged with chasing a 13-year-old boy with a hatchet.
The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1W0We7D ) reports that 21-year-old Joseph Havner of Gladstone is jailed in Clay County on charges of assault and armed criminal action. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.
Court documents say Havner told police the boy had stolen $40 from his home four months earlier. The boy told police that Havner chased him Tuesday, demanded the money and threatened him with a hatchet. The boy said he knew nothing about the $40.
A man visiting Havner's home took the hatchet away from him.
Havner told police when asked what he intended to do to the boy with the hatchet that "I was going to kill him."
___
Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com
PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) — A western Missouri county commission is demanding that the county's treasurer personally repay more than $20,000 of public funds lost in an email scam.
A letter signed by three Platte County commissioners Tuesday also demands that Treasurer Rob Willard pay more than $1,900 in attorney fees and gave him a week to come up with the money, The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1Uwb1q1 ) reported.
"We believe this is the right thing to do for the person who made this error, who failed to follow policy and procedure," said Presiding Commissioner Ron Schieber.
Willard said a fraudulent email last month duped him into sending a $48,000 wire transfer to a bank in Florida. He made the transfer after receiving what he thought was an email request from Schieber to pay for a state tax consultant.
Schieber didn't make the request. Willard was spoofed by an internet scam that has targeted several counties in Missouri and Kansas.
In a separate letter, commissioners asked county prosecutor Eric Zahnd to investigate whether Willard spent county money without proper authorization, and to impose any penalty allowed under Missouri law.
Willard used to work as an assistant prosecutor under Zahnd. The prosecutor said his office is not an investigative agency and urged the commission to refer the matter to law enforcement.
Once Willard realized his office had been scammed, he contacted the county's bank, alerted the sheriff's office and filed a complaint with the FBI. The source of the fraudulent emails has not been determined.
Wells Fargo has transferred about $28,000 back to the county's general fund.
Willard said Wednesday that the demand letter surprised him, and he's reviewing his options.
"We were spending all of our energies on doing everything we could to recover the money and work with the financial institutions, and it appears that the commission has taken a different focus," Willard said.
As county treasurer, Willard said he is bonded and his office is insured. Willard said he has worked with various banks and the county's insurance provider to recover the funds.
"This was a mistake. It was not malice," he said.
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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com
CORYDON, Ind. (AP) — Authorities in southern Indiana say they're investigating after someone apparently exhumed the grave of a woman buried in the 1880s.
Officials say Indiana conservation officers were called to a large wooded area this spring when a landowner in Harrison County found the exhumed gravesite. The News and Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/1YtPqA9 ) archaeologists surveyed the gravesite and collected evidence that was sent for analysis. The grave belonged to Nancy Brown, who died at age 47 in 1881.
It's unclear when the grave was exhumed. A photo from the state shows an upright stone marker at the top of a 3 to 4-foot deep empty hole in the ground.
Conservation Officer Jim Schreck says another grave in the small private cemetery was looted in 1998.
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Information from: News and Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind., http://www.newsandtribune.com
MINOT, N.D. (AP) — Gov. Jack Dalrymple has suspended Ward County Sheriff Steve Kukowski while a criminal case proceeds against him.
Kukowski faces misdemeanor charges of refusing to perform a public duty and reckless endangerment in the October 2014 death of 25-year-old jail inmate Dustin Irwin. The Mandaree man died at a hospital after going into cardiac arrest.
Kukowski was charged in February. The next month he went on a 90-day medical leave to recover from knee surgery. The Minot Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/1ZTslp6 ) that he returned to work Wednesday, but Dalrymple on the advice of Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem suspended him for six months or until the criminal case is resolved.
Kukowski maintains his innocence. He's scheduled for a three-day jury trial beginning Aug. 29.
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Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.minotdailynews.com
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