By ED WHITE

DETROIT (AP) — A Chinese scientist charged in Michigan with smuggling biological materials pleaded guilty Wednesday but was given no additional time in jail beyond the five months she already spent in custody.

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Yunqing Jian, who was a temporary researcher at a University of Michigan lab, will be released and quickly deported. A judge called it a “very strange” case involving an “incredibly accomplished researcher.”

Jian, 33, was arrested in June and accused of conspiring with a boyfriend to study and nurse a toxic fungus at a campus lab. A pathogen known as Fusarium graminearum can attack wheat, barley, maize and rice. Zunyong Liu was caught carrying small samples while arriving at a Detroit airport in 2024.

In China, Jian and Liu specialized in studying Fusarium graminearum, which is widely found in U.S. fields, depending on weather and growing conditions. But it is illegal to bring it into the U.S. without a government permit, which carries strict conditions. The university had no permits.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Martin said there was potential for “devastating harm,” though he didn’t elaborate.

“I don’t have evidence that she had evil intent,” Martin told a judge, referring to Jian. “But I don’t have evidence that she was doing this for the betterment of mankind either.”

Roger Innes, a University of Indiana expert who looked at the evidence for Jian’s attorneys, said there was “no risk to U.S. farmers, or anyone else” or any intent to create a more virulent strain. He noted that Liu likely wanted to work with a unique microscope at the lab.

Martin asked for a two-year prison sentence for Jian — four times higher than a maximum six-month term scored under sentencing guidelines. U.S. District Judge Susan DeClercq settled on five months in jail, time already served by Jian.

Jian, wearing chains around her ankles and waist, apologized but said little, relying instead on a letter filed with the court.

“I did not follow the rules because I was under pressure to proceed with research and produce results,” Jian wrote. “The research was not to harm anyone, but instead to find ways to protect crops from disease.”

The conspiracy charge against Jian was dropped in exchange for a guilty plea to smuggling and making false statements to investigators. She acknowledged that in 2024 that she had asked a colleague in China to send biological material hidden in a book. The book was intercepted by U.S. agents.

Liu was also charged in the investigation, but he’s in China and is unlikely to return to the U.S.

Jian was a postdoctoral scholar at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, before being granted a visa to conduct research at a Texas university. She has been working in Michigan since summer 2023.

Lakeville South’s football team had state championship aspirations heading into the 2024 season that never came to fruition.

The Cougars lost four games, the last of which came to Anoka in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs. The disappointment led to reflection for players, particularly those from the current senior class.

What went wrong, and how could they fix it for their final season?

“We realized last year’s team was not as connected,” senior offensive lineman Oscar Anaya. “It felt kind of forced at times.”

That showed itself throughout the season, as fingers were occasionally pointed between the offense and defense.

“We learned that we can’t do that. We have to be together,” senior defensive lineman Carter Mayer said. “We can’t be making fun of each other, pushing each other down. We’ve got to lift each other up.”

April marked the first time Lakeville South coach Ben Burk sat down individually with every senior on the roster. The Cougars coaching staff aims to create a player-led program. Those, Anaya recited, “elevate to championship-level teams.”

So the coaches ask questions in pursuit of player-driven answers. In April, Burk asked his seniors what was important to them.

“The brotherhood” was the most frequent answer.

The why was the recollection of how much it meant to these seniors to be intentionally included as true, valued members of the program back when they were sophomores.

The how is what’s separated this group of Cougars, who will meet Moorhead in the Class 6A state semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Make it fun

The Cougars watch film with coaches early in the week, and without them on Wednesday nights, when the offensive players meet at one house to consume tape, and the defensive players gather at another to do the same.

Burk and Co. weren’t aware of that weekly staple until a few weeks into the season. But Mayer noted they existed last year, as well. The 2021 team watched film together on weeknights en route to winning a state championship. The 2024 group brought it back in pursuit of the same result.

“It didn’t work,” Mayer said.

Why not?

“We just watched film,” he said. “We didn’t have any fun.”

Revisions were made this fall. Sessions still feature roughly an hour of film, followed, for the defense, by more film – the cinematic version. It’s movie night. The offense has engaged in poker nights and other activities.

“It’s more of a fun time to hang out,” Anaya said.

This group has done plenty of that. Burk recalled nights during the squad’s offseason team camp at St. Olaf in which the coaches couldn’t get the players to go to bed. They wanted to all be together in common spaces.

Summer activities scheduled and organized by players included a voyage to Marion Lake, where the guys hosted a volleyball tournament and cooked out and a trip to a teammate’s house for pool time and a basketball tournament.

“Those were all about being together and building this group we have now,” Mayer said.

One where every single player is valued. Freshmen and sophomores participate on the scout team during the postseason, once their campaigns have concluded.

One day after practice, senior lineman Mitchell Kelvie had to speak up:

“I just want to shout out the scout team,” he said.

They mattered, too. And he made sure they knew it.

“Things that you wished kids did, and (these guys are) doing it. I don’t think anybody told him to do it, it was just on his heart that day,” Burk said. “It’s all the freshmen and sophomores getting a shoutout from this guy who’s normally gruff and whatever. It’s like, ‘Dang, dude. OK.’ Some of those things have been really powerful indications of team.”

A quote from former Cougars offensive coordinator Jon Bakken has always stuck with Anaya: “My most talented team never won a state championship, but the most connected team has.”

“It made me realize talent truly isn’t everything,” Anaya said, “when you have guys who will literally die on the field for you.”

Bonds weather storms

Burk briefly left the program this fall to take the same job at Cretin-Derham Hall, before reversing course to stay with the Cougars.

It was during those uncertain times that the football players formed a book club. They read “Chop Wood, Carry Water,’ a novel by Joshua Medcalf that highlights the idea of enjoying the process required to reach greatness.

The team met in a classroom and small groups of players took turns presenting about portions of the book.

“We made it so we were together,” Mayer said. “All we cared about was that we were together, and it didn’t matter what was going on outside of us that we couldn’t control.”

This was their program, and they were going to take it by the horns. It’s exactly what Burk wants. It’s why he never shoots down player ideas related to team building or bonding. It’s also up to the team to determine uniform combinations ahead of every game.

“It’s their team, right?” Burk said. “When you find chances to give them a say, they take it and run with it. … (Our coaches) would rather enable the kids, because it ultimately reflects their performance in a positive way.”

As well as their response.

Culture isn’t necessarily critical when things are going well. It’s mandatory when they aren’t.

Lakeville South dropped its regular season finale to Rosemount, 20-15 last month. Gone was the subdistrict title, along with No. 1 seed in the Class 6A playoffs.

In different seasons, you may find others to direct your finger toward. But when it’s truly your program, you point it at yourself.

An offensive player came to Burk after the defeat and noted they “need to pay for our mistakes.” Cougars coaches don’t penalize players with sprints. But the defensive players had been penalizing themselves all season.

The offense joined the party in the postseason. Guys tracked their own blunders – from mental mistakes such as missed assignments or false starts to effort-based errors like not carrying out a fake.

At the conclusion of practice, they run for their sins.

The Cougars are averaging 40 points per game in three playoff contests, including 49 points dropped in last week’s state quarterfinal to bounce reigning champ Maple Grove, the state’s top-ranked team.

“If you have an ego that you can’t learn something from (a loss), then you won’t,” Burk said. “But if your mindset is of ownership – we talk about extreme ownership all the time – if you can do that and look for what’s the lesson, then you’ll learn it.”

They have to – they’re teammates are depending on it.

“We’ve got to lift each other up,” Mayer said, “and believe in each other that, when it gets tough, you’re going to believe in the other person to do their job.”

A life lesson

Creating ideas, coordinating and communicating for additional activities is a lot for kids who already have school and sports on their plates.

Yet Anaya has enjoyed every bit of it.

“I don’t see it as like homework or a chore,” he said. “I see it as a bonding experience and an experience where I can not only grow as a player, but I can also grow as a leader and a person.”

This has been Anaya’s favorite season to date. Mayer concurs, noting the pure enjoyment has relieved much of the pressure that comes with each Friday night. There’s a calm that comes with the genuine belief in and care for the guy next to you.

This fall has taught Mayer a life lesson he plans to carry forward into the future.

“You have to enjoy who you’re with. How you do that is you set up things to make it fun. You don’t want to have it be where every day is long, it’s grueling, you don’t want to be here, the people next to me aren’t very fun to be with,” he said. “You’ve got to work hard and have determination, but it’s really what you make of it. You have to have it be fun to be with each other.”

That may be the 2025 Cougars crowning achievement, regardless of whether this campaign ends in a championship.

“When you’ve got such a loving group of guys you’re around, it makes it really easy to commit to them every day,” Anaya said. “I have a deep love for all of them. When you become connected with this many guys, it’s like you have another family to go to.”

Lakeville South head coach Ben Burk watches their game against Maple Grove during the first half of a football quarterfinal in the State Football Tournament at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, Friday, Nov. 07, 2025. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)
Maple Grove running back James Engle (24) runs past Lakeville South defensive back Aiden Connelly (41) during the first half of a football quarterfinal in the State Football Tournament at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, Friday, Nov. 07, 2025. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

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The parents of children whose images were allegedly used by an employee of Stillwater Area Public Schools to produce child pornography using artificial intelligence placed district officials on notice Wednesday that they plan to sue the district.

The claim stems from federal criminal charges filed earlier this year against William Michael Haslach, 30, of Maplewood, who worked for the district as an Adventure Club seasonal employee during the summers of 2021-2024.

Haslach, who also worked for the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District, allegedly used his position as a lunch/recess monitor, traffic guard and summer youth programs assistant to take photos of children in his care. Haslach then allegedly used those images to produce “morphed/computer generated/AI photos of those minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct,” according to U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Haslach also has been charged with possessing and receiving child pornography.

“This case shows how far behind the technological and legal curve our schools and lawmakers have fallen,” said Imran Ali, a Stillwater attorney who is representing the two sets of parents planning to sue Stillwater Area Public Schools. “Haslach was trusted with children and betrayed that trust by taking their photos and using AI to morph them into explicit, computer-generated images.”

“This victimization could have been prevented, but the schools and the Legislature have failed to act,” Ali said during a press conference at the Eckberg Lammers Law Firm announcing the notice of a claim to be filed and the start of an investigation. “These parents want to make sure no other family suffers the same horror.”

William Michael Haslach (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Haslach worked at Stillwater Middle School during the summer of 2021, at Lake Elmo Elementary during the summers of 2022 and 2024, and at Oak-Land Middle School during the summer of 2023; his last date of employment with the district was in August 2024, district officials said.

He worked for the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District from September 2021 until earlier this year, when he was charged criminally, officials said. His jobs were at Cowern and Richardson elementary schools and North St. Paul High School, district officials said.

Ali said there has been a growing pattern of school employees across the state abusing their positions of trust. During a news conference on Wednesday, he urged school district officials and state lawmakers to establish strict policies governing staff use of personal cell phones and images of children in their care.

“We trust our schools to keep our kids safe – including from predators who misuse technology,” Ali said. “This case should be a wake-up call for every school district in Minnesota.”

Ali said he expects more parents to join the potential litigation against the school district. Two other sets of parents contacted his office after the press conference on Wednesday, he said.

Strengthening protocols

Mike Funk, superintendent of Stillwater Area Public Schools, said Wednesday that he could not comment on specific allegations regarding Haslach because of pending litigation.

“The safety of our students is our top priority,” Funk said. “As a school community, we are deeply saddened that some of our students were among the victims in this case involving a former Adventure Club employee.”

Funk said the district has continued to strengthen its protocols for student supervision and implemented the following safeguards for school-age child care:

Staff may not use cell phones at any time when students are present.
Staff may not take pictures of students unless pre-approved by a supervisor, and photos may only be taken using a district-owned device.

The district this year also adopted “the most stringent personal-device policy in Minnesota” — a policy that bans student use of cellphones and other electronic devices during the school day at all levels — from pre-K through 12th grade, Funk said.

In addition, district officials have added a mandatory 90-minute training program on Sexual Exploitation Awareness and Response for all district staff, he said.

“We remain committed to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for every student in our care, and we will continue working closely with families, staff and law-enforcement partners to uphold the highest standards of safety,” Funk said in a statement.

Federal charges

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According to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court, Haslach “received and possessed child pornography involving children that were abused by others — children that Haslach did not have access to personally.”

Investigators are working to determine whether Haslach distributed the morphed/AI photos that he created to others, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. “Currently, there are strong indications that he did,” officials said. “Law enforcement will continue to update victims as the investigation progresses.”

Haslach was originally charged in Ramsey County District Court in January, but those charges were later dismissed because of the federal indictment, officials said.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Federal Reserve officials expressed opposition Wednesday to another interest rate cut at the central bank’s next meeting in December, further muddying the outlook for the Fed’s next steps.

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The remarks by Susan Collins, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Fed, suggest that the central bank’s rate-setting committee could be tilting against what had been an expected third straight cut next month.

The officials cited several reasons for keeping rates unchanged, after a reduction in September and in October. They argued that inflation is stubbornly elevated and has been above the Fed’s 2% target for nearly five years, while the economy is resilient and doesn’t appear to need more rate cuts. The job market is stumbling, with hiring nearly at a standstill, but layoffs still seem muted, they said.

Another factor has been the government shutdown, which has cut off the economic data the Fed relies on to discern the economy’s path. On Wednesday White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that the jobs and inflation reports for October would likely never be released.

“Formulating an economic outlook is challenging — and the limited data compounds the difficulty,” Collins said in a speech in Boston.

“It will likely be appropriate to keep policy rates at the current level for some time … in this highly uncertain environment,” she added.

That is a shift from her previous speech in October, when she expressed support for at least one more rate cut.

Earlier Wednesday, Bostic said he remains concerned inflation is too high, and added that, “I … favor keeping the funds rate steady until we see clear evidence that inflation is again moving meaningfully toward its 2% target.” Bostic said earlier Wednesday that he will retire when his current term ends on Feb. 28, 2026.

Their remarks come at an unusually challenging time for the Fed, with the economy facing both weak hiring and elevated inflation. Typically, the Fed would reduce its rate to encourage borrowing, spending and job gains, while it would keep it unchanged — or even raise it — to combat inflation.

The 19 officials on the Fed’s rate-setting committee narrowly supported three rate cuts this year at their September meeting, but Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference late last month that the committee remains divided and another cut in December was not a “foregone conclusion.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, at the Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

David Seif, chief economist for developed markets at Nomura Securities, expects the Fed will skip a rate cut in December and won’t reduce borrowing costs again until March.

“There is a large segment of the Fed that is uncomfortable with a December cut,” Seif said.

Collins also said that additional reductions to the Fed’s rate could, by boosting the economy, accelerate inflation.

“Absent evidence of a notable labor market deterioration, I would be hesitant to ease policy further, especially given the limited information on inflation due to the government shutdown,” she said.

Bostic, meanwhile, said the Atlanta Fed’s surveys of businesses show that many companies intend to raise prices next year, a sign that inflation may not cool anytime soon.

“We cannot breezily assume inflationary pressures will quickly dissipate after a one-time bump in prices from new import duties,” Bostic said, referring to President Donald Trump’s tariffs. “Across all our information sources, I see little to no evidence that we should be sanguine about the forward trajectory of inflation.”

Some Fed officials, such as Fed governor Stephen Miran, have argued that the tariffs will only temporarily lift prices and outside those one-time increases, inflation is cooling.