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keep his farming operation afloat.
• "I would probably have lost a year of production," he said. "I'm just very appreciative of Farm Rescue. It's nice to have an organization in our state that's there to help the farmers."
• The foundation also will help arrange for volunteers to come to a farm to help a recovering farmer with such tasks as tarping a grain truck, but it will not pay doctor or therapy bills, Gross said. The goal is to help up to 20 farmers in North Dakota this spring and expand to the other four states this fall as more funding comes in.
• "They're different organizations, but we do want to stick to the same geographical area as Farm Rescue," Gross said. "We do use volunteers, and some of these are Farm Rescue volunteers."
• Farmers do not have to be Farm Rescue aid recipients to be eligible for help from the foundation, he said.
• Brett Kakela, his father, Mark, and brother, Bryan, together farm about 11,000 acres, growing spring wheat and canola.
• "Brett's favorite job on the farm was driving the truck and he hasn't been able to do that, but with (the new equipment) he may be able to do it sooner," Mark Kakela said. "Farm Rescue has really been good for Brett, and for a lot of people in a similar situation."
• Farm Rescue last year helped its 200th farmer, and that figure is likely to approach 250 by the end of this year, Gross said. The organization is currently taking applications for spring planting help.
•

• CLARION, Pa. (AP) -- A western Pennsylvania man is jailed in South Dakota until he can return to face charges that he kidnapped a 13-year-old girl who authorities describe as a family friend.
• Police say Alexandria Sewell disappeared in the middle of the night March 28 from her home in Clarion County, and was found unharmed in Martin, S.D. on Saturday.
• Martin police say 31-year-old Joshua Baker, of Leeper, was with the girl and has been charged with kidnapping and interfering in the custody of the girl. Authorities say Baker is a family friend, but haven't said why they believe he took the girl with him.
• Online court records don't list an attorney for Baker. It wasn't immediately clear when he'll return from South Dakota to face the Pennsylvania charges.

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