GERMANTOWN, Ohio — Officials have seized four bears in southwest Ohio as the state cracks down on residents who haven't complied with tightened requirements for owning dangerous wild animals.

Department of Agriculture spokesman Erica Hawkins said the bears were removed Wednesday from a property near Germantown, southwest of Dayton. She said owner Daniel Chambers previously reported having a tiger and a cougar, but those weren't found.

Hawkins said Chambers refused to surrender the animals, which were taken to a holding facility while officials search for new homes. A hundred animals, surrendered or seized, have moved through the facility since Ohio enacted stricter rules after a Zanesville-area exotic animal escape in 2011.

LONG BEACH, Calif. — SeaWorld wants to greatly expand the tanks its uses to hold killer whales in San Diego, but animal rights activists fear the plan would pave the way for breeding the animals in captivity — something they say is cruel no matter the size of the tanks.The California Coastal Commission is expected today to consider the $100 million proposal for the marine theme park.The panel has been flooded by tens of thousands of e-mails against the project that opponents also say represents a marketing ploy to boost plummeting park attendance.The staff of the commission that regulates land and water use along the California coast has recommended approving the expansion under nine conditions that include forbidding SeaWorld from housing recently captured orcas in San Diego.SeaWorld says it has not collected any orcas in the wild in more than three decades, its animals are well treated and shows raise support for conservation.

NORTH PORT, Fla. — The families of three North Port High School students who died after being hypnotized by former Principal George Kenney will receive $200,000 each from the Sarasota County School District under a settlement agreement approved by the school board.The agreement was approved Tuesday night. The $600,000 settlement closes a bizarre, years long case that began after former North Port High School Principal Kenney admitted he hypnotized 16-year-old Wesley McKinley a day before the teenager killed himself in April 2011.A subsequent investigation found that Kenney hypnotized as many as 75 students, staff members and others from 2006 until McKinley's death. One basketball player at the school said Kenney hypnotized him 30 to 40 times to improve his concentration.