FORT WAYNE — Indiana health experts are pushing for more state funding to address problems, including the opioid epidemic, tobacco use and high infant mortality rates.

The Journal Gazette reported that doctors, community leaders and public policy experts discussed health-related topics Tuesday at a forum hosted by the Alliance for a Healthier Indiana.

Allen County Health Commissioner Dr. Deborah McMahan said the state doesn’t put enough money into public health.

The America’s Health Rankings 2017 said Indiana spends less than $62 per resident in public health funding.

A recent report from the United Health Foundation said Indiana has some of the highest rates of tobacco use and obesity.

Dr. Tony GiaQuinta, president of the Indiana American Academy of Pediatrics, said the state should increase cigarette taxes and use that revenue to boost public health efforts.

A Chicago man whom prosecutors said had girls in Gary, Chicago and Aurora, Ill., write on their bodies that he owned them has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for child pornography.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Christopher M. Hall, 44, directed two underage girls he met in an online chat room to have sex with him and several men.

One girl was 12 when he first contacted her online. In addition to Chicago, the encounters took place in Aurora and Gary.

Prosecutors said he made the girls write “Owned by CH” on their bodies, photograph it and send him the pictures. Investigators found more than 7,000 pictures and videos of minors at his home.

Hall had pleaded guilty to inducement of a minor for the production of child pornography and knowingly transporting child pornography. Hall was sentenced Monday.

FORT WAYNE — Walmart opened a new milk processing plant in Fort Wayne that employs nearly 200 workers.

The plant will produce white and chocolate milk for roughly 500 Walmart stores in Indiana, Kentucky Ohio, Illinois and Michigan.

The milk will be sourced from nearly 30 dairy farms in both Indiana and Michigan.

The company was joined by Gov. Eric Holcomb for an opening ceremony on Wednesday.

Holcomb praised the company and said the new facility was a product of the state’s “pro-business climate.”

Walmart said it has nearly 40,000 employees in the state spread out across 130 stores as well as online operations.

STROH — Indiana State Police said skeletal human remains recovered in April from a field in northeastern Indiana have been identified as those of a woman missing since 2012.

Police announced Wednesday that DNA testing and an anthropological exam were conducted to help confirm the identity of the remains found in rural LaGrange County.

Police said Tiffany A. Huffman was reported missing after last being seen in the nearby town of Stroh.

Cause of death hasn’t been determined, but police say foul play isn’t suspected.

Police say a property owner spotted the remains about 35 miles north of Fort Wayne.

They said the level of decomposition made immediate identification of the person impossible.

A forensic anthropology team from the University of Indianapolis assisted with the recovery of the remains.

EVANSVILLE — Police said the death of a 41-year-old man whose body was discovered following a fire at an abandoned apartment in southwestern Indiana is being investigated as a homicide.

The Evansville Police Department said Wednesday that based on an autopsy, investigators believe that Gerard Elliott Matts was dead before the fire started Sunday.

Police said his severely burned body was found by firefighters in an apartment that had its door open.

Cause of death wasn’t being released by authorities. The fire and death are under investigation. Police are seeking tips from the public in the case.

ROCKPORT — Authorities said they have recovered the body of a man from a pond in southern Indiana after the boat he was riding in overturned.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources said Robert A. Hardy, 65, of Tennyson, was on a small paddleboat with two others at the pond on private property in Spencer County when the boat flipped. All three ended up in the water, but Hardy didn’t make it to land.

Following a search, the DNR said a diver found Hardy Tuesday evening in about 8 feet of water.

Hardy was pronounced dead at the scene. Cause of death is under investigation

GARRETT — A man whom authorities said shot and wounded a northeastern Indiana sheriff’s deputy in an exchange of gunfire during an April traffic stop is out of the hospital and jailed.

State police announced an update on the case Tuesday involving Joshua D. Mumma, 41, of Garrett.

He has been booked on charges including two counts of attempted murder, disarming a law enforcement officer and dealing in methamphetamine.

The Associated Press sent an email Wednesday seeking comment from the DeKalb County public defender’s office, which court records said was assigned to represent him.

The DeKalb County prosecutor earlier said DeKalb sheriff’s Deputy Todd McCormick and Garrett Officer Alicia Castro wouldn’t face charges in the April 10 shooting during a struggle over guns that left Garrett wounded. McCormick was shot in the hands.

EVANSVILLE —Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville has added a male giant anteater to its collection.

The zoo said the anteater named Mr. Pickles was born at South Bend’s Potawatomi Zoo in November 2016.

Giant anteaters range from 60 to 90 pounds and are found in the tropical forest and grasslands areas of South America.

The mammals don’t have teeth and use their long tongues to feed on ants and termites, gobbling up approximately 30,000 each day.

The zoo said it’s estimated there are fewer than 5,000 giant anteaters remaining in the wild.

Their habitats are threatened by urbanization and habitat loss, roadkills, hunting and fires.

Zoo director Erik Beck said the Mesker Park Zoo has not had giant anteaters in more than 50 years.

—Associated Press