PIERCETON, Ind. (AP) — Police said a northern Indiana woman died when she apparently was run over by a farm vehicle she either stepped or fell off of.

Koscuisko County Sheriff’s Sgt. Chad Hill said 42-year-old Leslie Hodges of Pierceton, 35 miles west of Fort Wayne, died Feb. 26 in a skid loader accident. Hill said investigators aren’t sure exactly what happened, but that her death appeared to be an accident. She was found under a traction tract of the skid loader.

Detectives found evidence Hodges was loading large rolls of hay bays with a device attached to the skid loader when she got off the vehicle and was run over as the vehicle went in a circle. The Kosciusko County coroner ruled she died from blunt force trauma.

HICKORY CORNERS, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say dozens of cows have died in a dairy barn fire in southwestern Michigan.

The Battle Creek Enquirer reported the fire happened Feb. 27 at a farm near Hickory Corners, about 40 miles southeast of Grand Rapids. No people were in the barn at the time and firefighters were called after an employee spotted smoke.

No people were injured. It took crews about 20 minutes to get the fire under control. The cause was under investigation. The exact number of cows killed wasn’t known. Lt. Dennis Barnum of the Hickory Corners Fire Department estimated that 80 died.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — State and local animal control officials have rescued more than 30 horses from a Knox County farm. The animals are temporarily being cared for at Chilhowee Park, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Officials have now taken 35 animals from the 35-acre farm, including two horses that were taken directly to the University of Tennessee veterinary medicine school Feb. 29 because of their poor condition. Two dead horses were found Thursday and a live horse and a donkey were taken to UT.

Another 31 horses have been taken to the park, where they are kept in buildings where cattle shows are held. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office said multiple counts of animal cruelty were pending against the owners of the farm.

The owners had been cited twice previously for animal cruelty after animal control officers with the sheriff’s office raided the farm in response to several citizen complaints. The owners got probation last month for the previous charges, but they were also ordered to comply with random inspections this year to check on the welfare of the animals.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sac County woman has pled not guilty to 93 counts of animal neglect.

Sioux City television station KTIV reported Mary Brodersen entered the plea during her initial appearance in court Feb. 24. The charges stem from the rescue of 87 dogs and one cat from a farm in rural Kiron. The carcasses of five dead animals were found when officials searched the farm Jan. 25.

Authorities said the dogs were kept in a wooden shack, up to five in 4-by-4-foot wire cages, which were stacked on top of each other. Brodersen faces a maximum of 12 years in prison if convicted of all the charges. She has relinquished ownership of the animals, which have been turned over to various shelters.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Rumble strips in the driving lanes of some rural Kentucky highways aren’t intentional. They’ve been etched into asphalt by the old-fashioned metal wheels that some Amish farmers have been putting on modern tractors.

State Sen. Joey Pendleton of (D-Hopkinsville) wants the damage stopped. But he’s getting little sympathy from fellow lawmakers for a bill he filed that would bar steel-wheeled tractors and farm implements from being driven on highways, unless they have a strip of rubber to keep the metal from digging into the blacktop.

The Amish, riding a wave of goodwill among Kentucky lawmakers, have little reason to worry that Pendleton’s bill will pass the legislature. Senate Transportation Committee Chair Ernie Harris of (R-Crestwood) said he doesn’t intend to call the measure up for a vote.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Ranking Member Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) urged the IRS to provide former MF Global customers, who may need to file their taxes with incomplete information, with guidance as income tax filing deadlines approach.

The firm filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31, 2011, after revealing that hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money had gone missing. “Former MF Global customers are still waiting for 1099 forms detailing gains and losses to their accounts in 2011,” the letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman stated.

“The court-appointed trustee applied for and received two extensions from your agency, but the former customers of MF Global must still pay their taxes on time. Many of these customers are farmers and ranchers who have significant planting responsibilities in the spring and we urge your agency to respect the difficult time constraints they are under.”