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SD man cleared of murder going to prison anyway
• WATERTOWN, S.D. (AP) -- A Watertown man cleared of charges that he killed his ex-girlfriend's toddler is going to prison on child abuse and drug charges.
• Judge Robert Timm on Wednesday sentenced 26-year-old Jay Barse to serve a total of five years and pay $2,000 in fines.
• Jurors last November found Barse not guilty of murder and manslaughter charges in the March death of 14-month-old Serenity Seaboy, who was treated for head trauma but later died. Serenity was the daughter of Barse's ex-girlfriend. He lived with the woman and child at the time.
• Barse told police he abused the girl four days before she went to the hospital. He said in court Wednesday he was ashamed of his actions.
• Timm denied Barse's request to have time already served counted as part of his sentence.
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Eagles make Michigan power plant warm winter home
MIKE HOUSEHOLDER, Associated Press
• MONROE, Mich. (AP) -- A Michigan utility has welcomed a flock of visitors to the state's biggest power plant this winter. But they aren't all that personable.
• The south-flying out-of-towners -- nearly 200 bald eagles -- have taken up residence at DTE Energy's massive plant along Lake Erie, transforming 800 acres in Monroe into their cozy, cold-weather abode.
• The birds have been a common sight these past few frigid months, patiently perching on tree branches and using their 6- to 7-foot wingspans to smoothly glide over the lake and swoop into the plant's spillway to snatch gizzard shad, their food of choice.
• The iconic raptors are drawn to the plant's warm water discharge, which gives them easy access to the baitfish as well as a vast wooded area where the people-shy birds can roost in seclusion. DTE Energy has set aside the land in the back of the plant for wildlife habitat preservation and is happy to host the eagles when temperatures drop.
• "People look at it as a very majestic bird," said DTE Energy wildlife biologist Matthew Shackelford, who has been tracking eagles at the plant in Monroe, about 35 miles southwest of Detroit, for a dozen years -- back when there were only a handful of them wintering there.
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