Baby born during crash leaves hospital

        LOUISVILLE — The newborn torn from his mother's womb during a highway crash last week left the hospital on Friday.

        Patrick Furtado was in good condition when he was discharged from Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville around 2:30 p.m., the hospital said in a statement.

        He and his father, Boaventura Furtado, were headed to an “undisclosed location,” the hospital said.

        Mr. Furtado, 42, said in the statement that he and his son will “begin a new life together.

        He also thanked all the strangers who sent gifts and prayed for the family. The hospital fielded hundreds of calls from well-wishers checking on Patrick's condition.

        Mr. Furtado and Patrick's mother, Olga Maria Nunes Bera-Cruz, were traveling in a tractor-trailer Dec. 19 when they crashed on U.S. 127 near an entrance to Lake Cumberland State Resort Park.

        Ms. Cruz, 31, was killed after she was thrown through the windshield and caught under the truck. Patrick was later found next to her, still attached by the umbilical cord. His only injury was a scratch to his elbow.
       

Ex-senator pleads guilty to baiting ducks

        LEXINGTON — A former state senator from Lexington has pleaded guilty to feeding wild ducks so that he and six friends could shoot them.

        Michael R. Moloney pleaded guilty Thursday to putting 500 pounds of corn around a pond on Jacks Creek Pike in Fayette County to attract the ducks.

        As part of a plea bargain, Mr. Moloney agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs. He also is barred from hunting doves, ducks and geese for the next two years.

        Under a new federal law that he was charged with violating, Mr. Moloney could have faced up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine, said Pat Rogers, the acting assistant regional director of law enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
       

Child-care service closed after arrest

        HUNTINGTON, Ind. — A woman has closed her in-home child-care service and could lose her state license if her husband is convicted of molesting a 7-year-old girl there, authorities said.

        Karin Grimes voluntarily closed her business after her husband, Huntington County police dispatcher Jaryl D. Grimes, was arrested Dec. 23 and charged with molesting a girl in his wife's care.

        Karin Grimes was licensed to care for 10 or fewer children in the home, said Andrew Stoner, a spokesman for the Indiana Family and Social Services Adminis tration.

        Jaryl Grimes fondled the girl and had her touch his genitals after he followed her upstairs, took off his clothes and climbed into the bed where she was going to take a nap, city police investigators have said. He was being held in the Whitley County Jail.
       

Ind. to improve care at centers for disabled

        INDIANAPOLIS — The state pledges to improve care at two centers for the developmentally disabled and limit the use of bodily restraints and mind-altering drugs under a settlement agreement reached with federal officials Friday.

        The settlement is designed to enhance care at the Muscatatuck and Fort Wayne centers while avoiding a potentially lengthy and costly court battle between the state and U.S. Department of Justice over alleged civil rights violations.

        The Justice Department issued a report in June 1999 that cited numerous problems at the centers, including misuse of physical and chemical restraints and failure to protect residents from harm.
       

Cold weather has ice anglers excited

        PORT CLINTON, Ohio — Ice fishing guides and anglers near Lake Erie are trying not to get too excited. But with a solid two weeks of below-freezing temperatures, they can't help it.

        “I'm smiling, but I don't want to start crowing much because then we'll put a jinx on it,” said Pat Chrysler, a fishing guide from Put-in-Bay.

        It's easy to understand why people are thrilled.

        Ice fishing in Ohio has been dismal the last three years. Warm winters have permitted only a few weeks of frozen fishing on Lake Erie since 1997.

        Already this year, thick ice has formed around the Lake Erie islands and in Sandusky Bay.

        “I'm convinced I could walk out there right now,” said John Hageman, another guide from Put-in-Bay. “But I'm not going to take people out there until I know there's 8 inches.”

        The ice in most spots is about 3 to 6 inches thick, which is thick enough for people on foot but not for trailers full of equipment, Mr. Hageman said.
       

Jeep assembly plant to remain shut down

        TOLEDO, Ohio — DaimlerChrysler AG's Jeep assembly plant will remain shut down another week because of slow Jeep Cherokee sales.

        About 3,500 workers scheduled to return Tuesday have been told not to report until Jan. 8. Another 1,000 workers on the Jeep Wrangler line were notified earlier that they would be getting an added week off.

        Workers will get 95 percent of regular pay under contracts with the United Auto Workers.

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