CARTHAGE, Mo. (AP) — Sam Butcher, the artist who created the Precious Moments figurines depicting angelic teardrop-eyed children, has died. He was 85.

The company said in a Facebook post that he died early Monday surrounded by family. It said his life’s mission was “to share God’s gift of love with the world.” No details about his cause of death were provided.

Some of the Christian-themed figurines feature Bible verses or children praying. Fans have collections numbering in the hundreds, while critics deride them as kitsch.

Butcher’s childhood love of illustrating got a wider audience when he began telling Bible stories on a children’s ministry television show while he drew. That experience led to him cofounding a business in 1974 named Jonathan & David after the biblical figures, according to his online obituary.

Early offerings included greeting cards. And within a few years, those drawings were transformed into porcelain figurines.

Thousands of designs have been produced over the decades, and fans of his work flock each year to the Precious Moments Inspiration Park and Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, Missouri.

The cornerstone of the pastel-painted, non-denominational oasis is the chapel, which Butcher was inspired to build by a 1983 trip to the Sistine Chapel in Rome. It includes 84 Biblical murals that cover more than 5,000 square feet.

SPENCER, Mass. (AP) — Three little piggies went to a yoga class.

Their human companions had a blast.

Wilbur, Charlotte and Bluey fit right into a growing trend of yoga with animals, adding some fun to the usual physical and mental wellness exercises at a class in central Massachusetts.

Darting and strolling among the yoginis making downward dog, crow and cobra poses, the piglets also dug up a backyard with their soft pink snouts as two rabbits and a goat named Munchie searched for the tastiest shoots.

The experience was well worth a nearly two-hour drive to the town of Spencer for retired New Hampshire dentist Stacey Delbridge and her daughter.

“The best thing about the piglet yoga was, of course, the piglets and how cute they are,” Delbridge said with a jubilant smile. “They were funny, you know. Just when you were getting to a point where you needed a break, you had a great visitor come see you, and you could quit without looking like a quitter. Yeah. They’re adorable.”

Beyond Yoga & Wellness owner Ashley Bousquet teaches piglet yoga, and says there is such demand that online registrations typically sell out within hours.

The classes begin with Bousquet inviting participants not to fret over interrupting their flows to interact with the piglets, who come from a friend’s farm.

“During the class you have piglets causing mischief and running on you, on top of you or cuddling with you,” Bousquet said. “It’s super cute.”

Amy Finkel brought her two daughters with her, smiling broadly while snapping photos of piglets as the girls hugged a rabbit.

“Seeing them so joyful and happy” was the high point, she said. The low point? “When it was over, because it just seemed to go so quickly.”

Practicing yoga with animals can produce unexpected benefits. If done with shelter animals, it may even encourage adoptions, said Rebecca Purchase of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell.

“Is yoga stressful to animals that join? It can be if it’s not the right animal,” Purchase said. “But for animals that really thrive being around people and getting to socialize with them, it absolutely can be a benefit.”

Finkel is a big fan of animal yoga — she said it helped keep her mind from wandering. “I’m really focused on to what’s going on presently around me. And I think in today’s day and age, that’s very hard to do.”

“I just wanted to sit with them,” Delbridge said. “I could have skipped yoga and gone just piglet. All piglet.”

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana judge who declared that “tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches” has cleared the way for the opening of a new restaurant, delighting a restauranteur following a legal battle.

Martin Quintana, 53, has been trying for about three years to open his second The Famous Taco location in Fort Wayne, a city about 120 miles (190 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis.

But the initial written commitment for the development at a plaza Quintana owns limits the business to “a sandwich bar-style restaurant whose primary business is to sell ‘made-to-order’ or ‘subway-style’ sandwiches.”

Quintana said the nearby Covington Creek Association contacted him to say that his The Famous Taco proposal “somehow ran afoul” to that commitment.

He sued the Fort Wayne Plan Commission in December 2022 after it denied his proposed amendment that would specifically allow his restaurant to offer made-to-order tacos, burritos and other Mexican-style food items, The Journal Gazette reported.

Allen Superior Court Judge Craig Bobay ruled Monday that the plan commission acted correctly when it denied Quintan’s proposed amendment. But the judge also found that his request was not needed and he found that the original commitment allows restaurants like the proposed The Famous Taco.

“The Court agrees with Quintana that tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches, and the original Written Commitment does not restrict potential restaurants to only American cuisine-style sandwiches,” Bobay wrote.

Quintana said Thursday he is relieved the legal fight is over, and he is looking forward to opening his second The Famous Taco restaurant in Fort Wayne, which is Indiana’s second-most populous city with about 270,000 residents.

“I’m glad this thing is over. We are happy. When you have a decision like this the only thing you can be is happy. We’re excited,” he told The Associated Press.

Quintana said he came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1988, working first as a farm worker in California picking grapes, olives and kiwi fruit before entering the restaurant business in Michigan before moving to Chicago and finally Fort Wayne in 2001. He also operates a second restaurant in the city.

Quintana said his new family-owned The Famous Taco restaurant should open in two or three months. He said that like his other The Famous Taco location that opened nearly seven years ago, customers will be able choose their favored toppings for tacos, burritos or tortas assembled by eatery staff.

“You know, that’s a sandwich, that’s bread. That’s a sandwich,” he said of tortas. “We go through a lot of those.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A candidate for West Virginia secretary of state said he has been hospitalized for copperhead snake bites sustained while removing election campaign signs.

Doug Skaff said he was bitten in the left leg and the right foot Wednesday near U.S. Route 119 in Danville, news outlets reported.

Skaff told West Virginia radio network MetroNews that passersby called for medical assistance. The South Charleston resident said he expects to be in a hospital in Charleston for a few days.

Skaff ran in the secretary of state’s race as a Republican on Tuesday. In unofficial returns, Skaff finished second to Kris Warner.

Skaff resigned his House of Delegates seat from Kanawha County last September after stepping down as the chamber’s Democratic leader in August. He announced in October that he was switching to the GOP and running for secretary of state.

Skaff served in the House from 2009 to 2014 and was elected to the chamber again in 2018. He is president of HD Media, which owns the Charleston Gazette-Mail and several other state newspapers.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado woman’s attempt to steal a pickup truck — shortly after she was released from jail on a car theft charge — was thwarted not by officers, nor the truck’s owners, but by her inability to drive a stick shift, Boulder Police said.

The woman had been released from jail on May 3 after being accused of stealing a car a day earlier, and walked down the road until she spotted a pickup truck with the keys inside. She then started the pickup, but apparently discovered she couldn’t manage the manual transmission, so she got out and walked away, leaving the truck to roll forward and strike a fire hydrant, police said.

The woman was arrested and now has a May 30 court date on new charges of motor vehicle theft, careless driving, driving without a license and failing to report the crash. The truck was returned to its owner, police said.

Police titled a social media post about the case “Stick Shift FTW,” which is an acronym for “for the win.”

MIAMI (AP) — Airport security officers in Miami found a slithering surprise last week — a bag of snakes hidden in a passenger’s pants.

According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger’s trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.

The post included a photo of two small snakes that were found in what appeared to be a sunglasses bag.

TSA said the snakes were turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

NORTH BEND, Wash. (AP) — It was an unusual wildlife sighting Sunday when four zebras escaped from their trailer and galloped into a Washington neighborhood.

Three of the four black-and-white striped animals were quickly captured, but the fate of the fourth wasn’t immediately known Monday, Washington State Patrol Trooper Rick Johnson said.

The zebras were being transported from Washington to Montana when the driver took the Interstate 90 exit for North Bend, located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Seattle, to secure the trailer.

That’s when the the zebras bolted.

Witness Dan Barnett of North Bent told KING-TV of Seattle that he was in “disbelief,” when he saw the zebras eating grass off the side of the offramp.

He and other drivers helped protect the zebras from the busy nearby interstate, as drivers on the offramp pulled over to “make a makeshift fence” to block the animals from the highway, Barnett said.

The zebras then began heading toward town, trotting past brunch patrons at a restaurant near the interstate exit. Soon after, three of the AWOL zebras were in Whitney Blomquist’s backyard.

“I called someone and was like, ‘So I found the missing zebras, they’re in my yard. Yeah – not sure what to do,’” Blomquist said.

The zebras then ran to a neighboring yard, where two were captured with the help of rodeo professionals. The third, the baby of the herd, was corralled later.

Johnson posted photos of the loose zebras on the social platform X. “This is a first for me and all @wastatepatrol troopers involved,” he wrote. “Crazy!”

LEBANON, Ind. (AP) — A central Indiana man who won a primary election for a township board position while charged with killing his estranged wife has been found guilty of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.

A Boone County jury convicted Andrew Wilhoite, 41, of Lebanon on Thursday, local news outlets reported.

Wilhoite was charged with murder in the death of his wife, 41-year-old Elizabeth “Nikki” Wilhoite, who was reported missing by coworkers on March 25, 2022, when she did not show up for work. Her body was found in a creek near her home the next day.

She had filed for divorce on March 17 and had recently finished chemotherapy treatments for cancer.

Wilhoite told police he struck his wife with a flowerpot during an argument, then dumped her body in the creek.

He faces 10 to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 4.

One of his attorneys, Jennifer Lukemeyer, said she had no comment on the verdict.

Wilhoite was one of three Republican candidates who advanced in a 2022 primary for a township board position before later withdrawing from the race. He received 60 of the 276 total votes for Republicans for three positions on the Clinton Township Board, Boone County election results showed. The race drew only three candidates.

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of young dancers in white tutus and tightly coiffed hair gathered in New York’s Plaza Hotel on Wednesday to break the world record for dancing on pointe in one place.

The spectacle was organized by Youth America Grand Prix, a ballet scholarship program that is celebrating its 25th anniversary with three nights of performances at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

The dancers included students aged 9 to 19 who are competing for scholarships as well as professional dancers who are alums of the program.

Tchaikovsky music played as the ballerinas stood on tiptoes and switched their weight rapidly from one foot to the other — a step called bourrée — for a full minute.

Tina Shi, an adjudicator for Guinness World Records, announced the results: “353, that is a new Guinness world record! Congratulations!”

The New York-based Youth America Grand Prix has operated the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition since 1999.

The previous record for ballerinas on pointe en masse was 306.

An escaped mountain goat that somehow got stuck under a Kansas City bridge has survived a rocky rescue effort and now may be reunited with the owners who suspect he was stolen from their farm two months ago.

“It’s the story that captured the hearts of Kansas City,” said Tori Fugate, of the KC Pet Project, a nonprofit that handles animal control for the city and operates shelters. “Forget a solar eclipse. We were on goat watch.”

After Monday’s eclipse, people spotted the animal, believed to be a missing goat named Chug, hopping around on the pillars that support the bridge, high above the ground below.

Hoping to guide it to safety, a driver managed to get a rope around the goat’s neck, but that only added to the danger, said Fugate. When firefighters tried to rappel over the side of the bridge to capture the goat, he spooked and tried to jump to the next platform. But his hooves slipped and the rope caught, causing the goat to hang from his neck, not moving.

Firefighters managed to undo a snag in the rope, creating slack in the line. The goat then fell as much as 15 feet (4.5 meters) to the ground, landing in a spot where crews had added padding in an attempt to soften the impact, Fugate said.

A waiting veterinarian sedated the goat and crews carried him in a sling to the top of a rocky hill, where firefighters gave him oxygen. Then he perked up and was taken for X-rays, Fugate said.

“He miraculously has no broken bones,” Fugate said. The goat had been clambering along bridge supports that are as much as 80 feet (24 meters) above the ground, a fall he wouldn’t have survived, she said.

She said this was just the latest part of the goat’s adventure. He entered the shelter as a stray on March 13, was dubbed Jeffrey and was adopted later that month. But he immediately jumped the fence at his new home, she said.

“Thanks to his media fame, yesterday we had somebody reach out and they said that he is very similar to their goat that went missing back in February,” she said.

The family lives two hours away and plans to came to come to the shelter Wednesday to confirm he is their stolen goat, named Chug. If he is, they plan to bring him home with them, and the goat’s adoptive owners say that is OK with them.

“He seems to be very particular about his living situation,” Fugate said.

MARSHALL, Mich. (AP) — An animal a Michigan hunter thought was a big coyote when he shot it in January has been determined to be a gray wolf, the first time the species has been found in southern Michigan in more than a century, wildlife officials say.

The hunter shot the wolf in Calhoun County, in the southern reaches of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, while taking part in legal coyote hunting accompanied by a guide, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said.

The man “said he encountered what was initially believed to be a large coyote” but it weighed 84 pounds (38 kilograms), which is significantly more than the 25 pounds (11 kilograms) to 40 pounds (18 kilograms) that Eastern coyotes typically weigh, the DNR said.

“A series of genetic tests on the harvested animal confirmed that it was a gray wolf, a species not sighted in that part of Michigan since the likely extirpation of wolves from the state in the early part of the 20th century,” the agency said Wednesday.

Gray wolves are currently confined “almost exclusively” to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the DNR said. The few instances of wolves being present in the state’s Lower Peninsula in the past two decades have been in the Lower Peninsula’s northern areas, the agency added.

“This is an unusual case, and the DNR is actively delving into the matter to learn more about this particular animal’s origin,” Brian Roell, a DNR wildlife biologist who’s a large carnivore specialist, said in a news release. “While rare, instances of wolves traversing vast distances have been documented, including signs of wolves in recent decades in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.”

Roell said Friday that the DNR learned about the animal from social media posts in January touting it as “a world record coyote” but he said he was certain from photos posted online that it was a wolf. The agency obtained samples from the animal from a taxidermist soon afterward.

Roell said the DNR received genetic test results from two laboratories late last week confirming that it was a gray wolf and the agency seized the carcass from the taxidermist earlier this week.

“We seized all parts of the animal and I was told it would be in our diagnostic laboratory today,” he told The Associated Press.

Gray wolves are a protected species under the Endangered Species Act and they can be killed “only if they are a direct and immediate threat to human life,” Michigan’s DNR said.

Roell said the question of how the wolf ended up in southern Michigan remains under investigation by the DNR. He said he harbors “some doubt” that it ended up their naturally, noting that the area of Michigan where the animal was shot does not have habitat suitable for sustaining gray wolves.

“If this animal did indeed get naturally to Calhoun County it was likely just drifting, looking for others of its own kind,” he said.

HARPER WOODS, Mich. (AP) — A dog missing in California since the summer turned up more than 2,000 miles away in Michigan.

Police in Harper Woods, a Detroit suburb, responded to a call about a stray dog last week, picked up the terrier mix and contacted an animal welfare group.

Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society said it quickly discovered that the dog, named Mishka, had an identity chip implanted in her with information about her owner.

Mehrad Houman and his family live in San Diego but were in Minneapolis when the phone rang. He drove 10 hours to Michigan for a reunion with Mishka, the adoption group said on a Facebook post with pictures and video.

“This is a tale that Hollywood would love to tell,” the group said.

Harper Woods police confirmed its involvement Thursday. A message seeking additional comment was left for the animal organization.

Mishka had disappeared in July from Houman’s workplace.

“She was clean, well-fed. Whoever had her took good care of her,” said veterinarian Nancy Pillsbury, who examined the 3-year-old dog, gave her a rabies shot and cleared her to travel home to California.

“How she got here — that’s a story only Mishka knows,” Pillsbury told The Associated Press.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — It rained marshmallows at a suburban Detroit park on Friday as children raced to snatch up thousands of the gooey treats being dropped from a helicopter.

The annual Great Marshmallow Drop took place at Catalpa Oaks County Park in Southfield, hosted by Oakland County Parks.

Hundreds of children waved and cheered as the helicopter passed by on its way to the drop zone. Once there, a passenger dumped the treats out of a sack and onto the grass below and children darted to collect them.

Officials stressed that although the fluffy treats are tempting, they must not be eaten because they hit the ground. Instead, kids exchanged the marshmallows they collected for a prize bag containing candy, a coloring book and a one-day pass to a water park.

Speaking before the event, Melissa Nawrocki, Oakland County recreation program supervisor, said 15,000 marshmallows would be dropped.

“It was just a celebration. The weather is beautiful, so we were happy to get outdoors and interact and pick up some marshmallows,” said Robin Kinnie, the mother of three Great Marshmallow Drop participants, one of whom took part in a special drop reserved for children with disabilities.

The helicopter made four passes, dropping marshmallows aimed at kids in three age categories: 4-year-olds and younger; 5 to 7 year olds, and those 8 to 12 years old. The drop for children with disabilities came later in the day.

“Being a special needs mom, I love seeing events like these that are catered toward him, so he doesn’t feel excluded,” Kinnie said.

COOLIDGE, Ariz. (AP) — It literally stinks that visitors to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in south-central Arizona might not be able to use the attraction’s picnic area until May.

Monument officials announced Wednesday that the picnic area will be closed from March 28 through April 30 due to the density of an invasive and noxious winter weed called stinknet that can grow more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) tall.

The weed has a turpentine-like odor and can cause serious breathing problems as well as severe skin rashes.

Stinknet has bright yellow blossoms on narrow green stems. The blossoms are round and similar to the shape of golf balls, right down to the dimpled pattern.

Arizona Native Plant Society officials said stinknet explosively spread in Maricopa County during the wet fall and winter seasons of 2016, 2018 and 2019.

That led to heavy infestations on the north fringes of Phoenix and Scottsdale along with rapid movement southward to Casa Grande.

Monument officials are asking visitors not to walk near — or step on — the flowering weed to avoid spreading it.

They said the Casa Grande Ruins team is working on a solution that will get the picnic area reopened as soon as possible, but they said it may take until May 1.

The monument, located in Coolidge about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Casa Grande, preserves a group of structures built by the Hohokam tribe more than 700 years ago.

FRANKLINVILLE, N.J. (AP) — Firefighters in southern New Jersey came to the rescue of a dog who got stuck in a spare tire.

The Franklinville Volunteer Fire Company crew found Daisy, an 11-month-old yellow Labrador, when they responded to a Franklin Township home last Thursday. Her neck was deep in the middle of the tire rim, and the firefighters worked quickly to devise a rescue plan while attempting to keep Daisy calm.

Lt. Brandon Volpe told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the crew first used dish soap and water but couldn’t free the dog, who was “pretty stuck in there.” They then tried vegetable oil and when that didn’t work they put plastic wrap around her neck, hoping the oil and soap would make it slippery enough for her to slide down.

When that also failed, Volpe remembered he had plasma cutters — used for cutting steel and metal — at his home, so the crew put Daisy on a red wagon and headed to Volpe’s garage.

Volpe recalls the dog “panicked a little bit,” but a fire blanket was put around her head and neck for protection. Within five minutes, Daisy was free.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman allegedly found a lucrative quirk at a gas station pump — double-swipe the rewards card and get free gas!

Unfortunately for her, you can’t do that. The 45-year-old woman was arrested March 6 and faces felony theft charges accusing her of a crime that cost the gas station nearly $28,000.

Prosecutors say the woman exploited the system over a period of several months. Police learned of the problem in October when the loss-prevention manager at Bosselman Enterprises reported that the company’s Pump & Pantry in Lincoln had been scammed.

Fuel pumps at the station received a software update in November 2022 that managed, among other things, rewards cards. But the company was unaware of a glitch that allowed anyone swiping a rewards card twice to put a gas pump into demonstration mode. In demo mode, the user could pump gas at no cost.

A probable cause statement from prosecutors said the loss-prevention manager determined that one particular card had been used repeatedly to obtain free gas. Police were able to trace the card to the suspect, and video surveillance showed the woman pumping gas on multiple occasions from November 2022 until June 1, when the glitch was fixed, the statement said.

Authorities believe the woman not only used the scam to get free gas, but that she allowed another woman to use her card — for a fee.

The probable cause statement said the other woman told police that that she paid to use the card for “discounted fuel.” Authorities believe the woman paid Thompson $500 for gas purchases that should have cost about $700.

All told, the card was used 510 times, and more than 7,400 gallons of gas were pumped for free, the probable cause statement said.

The suspect is free on bond and has a court hearing April 11. A phone message was left Tuesday with her attorney.

ABBEVILLE, La. (AP) — A rare calf born with two faces — four eyes, two noses, two mouths and two ears — continued to flourish Thursday, eight days after its birth at a southwest Louisiana farm.

The owners of Breaux Farms LLC in Cossinade, a community about 90 miles (145 kilometers) west of Baton Rouge, said the calf, which appears normal from the ears back, was named “Deux Face” — “deux” is French for “two.” The chance of this type of birth is 1 in 400 million, Eric and Dawn Breaux said in a post on Facebook.

“We know this calf will have a short life span and will most likely only live a few days,” Dawn Breaux said. “She has beaten a lot of odds by being born alive.”

Most calves with polycephaly, the condition of having more than one head, are stillborn. Some live for several hours or days. According to Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, the oldest living two-faced calf survived for 40 days.

At 8 days old, Deux Face is making slow progress under the care of several veterinarians and the Breauxs, the Facebook posts said.

“She has trouble lifting her head but is holding it up more and more as she is getting stronger,” Dawn Breaux said in an update. “She is not standing on her own yet so she is unable to nurse on her mom. We have been bottle feeding her from the start.”

Deux Face is using a sling for support as she works on building her leg muscles. An update from the Breauxs says they “brought her outside to get some sun and a little time with the other cows.”

The calf is not for sale.

In one of their updates, the Breauxs said they are not allowing any visitors or photos for the calf’s safety and for her “wellbeing and our privacy, we are not allowing any media involvement.” They declined an Associated Press interview.

“She does not appear to be suffering or in any pain,” another Facebook post said. “We are monitoring her constantly and taking it day by day. She has beaten many odds, but only time will tell her fate. We are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. This is the reality of caring for God’s creations.”

Donna Lindstrom was lying in bed and looking at her phone Wednesday morning when she heard a loud bang that rattled her 19th-century house in the central Connecticut town of East Hampton.

Soon, the 66-year-old retired delivery driver and dozens of other town residents were on social media, discussing the latest occurrence of strange explosive sounds and rumblings known for hundreds of years as the “Moodus Noises.”

“It was like a sonic boom,” Lindstrom said. “It was a real short jolt and loud. It felt deep, deep, deep.”

It was indeed a tiny earthquake with a magnitude of 1.7, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Robert Thorson, an earth sciences professor at the University of Connecticut, said booms, rumblings and rattling have been recorded in the East Hampton area, including the nearby village of Moodus, for centuries, dating back well before a larger earthquake, recorded on May 16, 1791, knocked down stone walls and chimneys.

In fact, Moodus is short for “Machimoodus” or “Mackimoodus,” which means “place of bad noises” in the Algonquian dialects once spoken in the area. A local high school has even nicknamed their teams “The Noises,” in honor of that history.

The occurrences were frequent enough that the federal government, worried about the possible effect of seismic activity on the nearby, now-decommissioned Haddam Neck Nuclear Power Plant, conducted a study of the “Moodus Noises” in the late 1980s, Thorson said.

What they found was that the noises were the result of small but unusually shallow seismic displacements within an unusually strong and brittle crust, where the sound is amplified by rock fractures and topography, he said.

“There is something about Moodus that is tectonic that is creating these noises there,” Thorson said. “And then there is something acoustic that is amplifying or modifying the noises and we don’t really have a good answer for the cause of either.”

Thorson said there could be a series of underground fractures or hollows in the area that help amplify the sounds made by pressure on the crust.

“That’s going to create crunching noises,” he said. “You know what this is like when you hear ice cubes break.”

It doesn’t mean the area is in danger of a big quake, he said.

“Rift faults that we used to have here (millions of years ago) are gone,” he said. “We replaced that with a compressional stress.”

That stress, he said, has led to the crunching and occasional bangs and small quakes associated with the “Moodus Noises.”

“It’s just something we all have to live with,” said Lindstrom. “I’m just glad I don’t live in California.”

BABYLON, N.Y. (AP) — Four people were charged Wednesday with concealing a human corpse and tampering with evidence in connection with the discovery of body parts in parks on Long Island.

The four — Amanda Wallace, 40, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, Steven Brown, 44, all of Amityville, and Alexis Nieves, 33, who police said is homeless — have not been charged with killing the victims, identified as a 53-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman. All four defendants pleaded not guilty to hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence and concealing a human corpse and were released without bail.

According to police, a girl walking to school last Thursday found a severed arm on the side of the road at Southards Pond Park in Babylon, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of New York City. Police later discovered another arm and a leg. All of those remains appeared to belong to the 53-year-old man, police said.

The next day, a cadaver dog located the head, an arm and parts of two legs. Those remains appeared to be from the 59-year-old woman, police said.

Additional remains found Tuesday in nearby West Babylon and in a state park were from the same two people, police said. The victims’ names have not been released.

The four defendants were arrested after police executed a search warrant at the Amityville home that Wallace, Mackey and Brown share.

Newsday reported that during separate arraignments in Suffolk County District Court on Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Frank Schroeder said authorities have significant evidence against the four, including meat cleavers, butcher knives, blood and video surveillance. He did not specify where the weapons and blood were found.

Mackey’s defense attorney, John Halvorson, said, “We look forward to fighting these charges.”

Brown’s attorney, Ira Weissman, said, “Steven Brown didn’t kill anybody.” Weissman said he could not comment on the specific charges Brown faces, as he has not seen the evidence.

Wallace’s attorney, Keith O’Halloran, said his client “looks forward to defending herself in court.”

A message seeking comment was sent to Nieves’ attorney.

BOILING SPRING LAKES, N.C. (AP) —

Authorities in North Carolina have obtained arrest warrants for two people in a poaching case involving hundreds of Venus flytraps, which grow naturally in the eastern part of the state.

Officers with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission obtained arrest warrants for two people accused of stealing nearly 600 of the rare plants from conservation land in Boiling Spring Lakes, WECT-TV reported. It is not clear if the people have been arrested and authorities with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission have not returned messages left by The Associated Press.

Venus flytraps are native to southeastern North Carolina.

“They only grow naturally within a 100-mile radius of Wilmington,” Sgt. Matt Criscoe with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission told the news station. “This time of year they start to bud flowers,” making it easier to find them and prompting increased patrols for poachers, Criscoe said.

He said the plants are sold on the black market or locally.

Wildlife officers responded to a complaint last month about two people digging for flytraps in Boiling Spring Lakes. They were stopped at a local gas station and officers searched their backpacks. They’re accused of harvesting more than 590 plants, Criscoe said.

The accused have not been publicly identified.

Digging up the plants and removing them from public land or land held privately by another person is a felony in North Carolina. ___ This story corrects the status of the people accused to show that arrest warrants have been issued for them, not that they have been arrested.