Kidnapping suspect marched in ag science victim’s vigil CHICAGO, Ill. (AP) — The suspect in the kidnapping of a University of Illinois scholar from China marched in a vigil for the victim a day before his June 30 arrest, federal prosecutors said last week, adding that he also spoke about what makes an ideal victim and talked about how she fought and resisted.
The new details surrounding 26-yearold Yingying Zhang’s June 9 disappearance arose at a detention hearing for Brendt Christensen in U.S. District Court in Urbana, not far from the central Illinois school, said a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office in Springfield.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric Long ordered that Christensen, 28, remain jailed pending trial. Long said the recent graduate student at the university’s physics department poses a danger to the community and is a flight risk.
Prosecutors haven’t explained who Christensen spoke to about abducting Zhang, including whether someone close to him secretly recorded him. The U.S. attorney’s office statement said Christensen “made a threat to another person to whom he made incriminating statements.”
Christensen’s lawyer, Tom Bruno, said his client deserves the “presumption of innocence.” He said he doesn’t think “a negative inference” can be made from prosecutors’ statements that Christensen marched in a vigil for Zhang a day before he was arrested.
Weeks ago, Zhang arrived at the university to conduct research in agricultural sciences and planned to begin work on her doctorate in the fall. She was abducted on her way to sign an apartment lease off campus in Urbana. Christensen allegedly lured her into his car after she got off one bus and tried to flag down another bus.
He earned a master’s degree in physics from the University of Illinois in May andlived in nearby Champaign. He previously lived in Stevens Point, Wis.
DEQ chief delays ruling on Grayling hatchery expansion
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The director of Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is delaying a decision on whether a fish farming operation can substantially boost production of rainbow trout on the Au Sable River.
Heidi Grether wants an administrative law judge to reconsider whether Harrietta Hills Trout Farm should have to monitor fish for whirling disease under a permit that would let the company gradually raise output to 300,000 pounds annually at its facility in Grayling, up from 20,000 pounds a few years ago.
Groups opposing the expansion say farm-raised fish could expose wild trout downstream to the deadly sickness. Administrative Judge Daniel Pelter recommended granting the permit in February and said the DEQ doesn’t have authority to require such monitoring.
But Grether disagreed in a recent order. She told Pelter to take another look and said she’ll make a final ruling on the permit afterward.
Ohio July 4 parade marred by truck accident injuring five
FREMONT, Ohio (AP) — Multiple people are injured after an antique tow truck crashed into two tractors during a northwest Ohio city’s Independence Day parade.
Fremont Police Chief Dean Bliss says at least five people were injured in the crash and were taken to a local hospital. One of the injured was later airlifted to a Toledo hospital.
Police say the tow truck’s driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into two farm tractors near the beginning of the parade. Witness John Pemberton tells The News-Messenger of Fremont it appeared that the truck lost control of its brakes, and the driver was trying to avoid hitting bystanders.
Sandusky County medical workers responded immediately, as they were in the parade.
Sgt. Belinda Rosenberger says the Tuesday morning accident is still under investigation.
Fire at commercial egg farm kills more than 100K chickens
YORK SPRINGS, Pa. (AP) — Authorities said more than 100,000 chickens died in a fire that destroyed a barn at a Pennsylvania commercial egg farm in Pennsylvania.
The blaze at Hillandale Farms in Tyrone Township was reported around 5:45 a.m. July 1. Tyrone is about 29 miles southwest of Harrisburg. A Heidlersburg Fire Co. captain said flames were visible above the roof of the 600-foot barn by the time fire crews arrived.
Crews concentrated on keeping the blaze from spreading to other buildings. Three firefighters were treated at the scene, two for dehydration and one for a laceration.
The fire chief said adjacent chicken houses were undamaged and the animals unharmed.
The burned building was destroyed. Officials said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. It’s believed to have been accidental.
Indiana Grain Indemnity Fund collections ended July 1
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Indiana Grain Buyers and Warehouse Licensing Agency wants to inform grain producers and elevators that the 0.2 percent premium collected on all grain marketed to licensed grain buyers for the Indiana Grain Indemnity Fund is no longer being deducted starting July 1, 2017.
Per Indiana law, once the fund reaches $25 million by the end of the fiscal year, the Indiana Grain Indemnity Corp. (IGIC) board may not require the collection of additional farmer premiums. Currently, the fund has more than $35 million.
The fund was created by the General Assembly in 1995 to protect Hoosier grain farmers from catastrophic financial losses in the event of a state licensed grain buyer or warehouse failure. The fund is administered by the IGIC board of directors. |
