Q: What's the status of the case against the man accused of killing Jennifer Ewing, the Silver Comet Trail biker? I have never heard of the case coming to trial.

MARIE SMITH, Atlanta

A: Searchers found the body of Jennifer Ewing, a 54-year-old Sandy Springs mother of three, about 40 feet off the Silver Comet bike trail between Hiram and Dallas on July 26, 2006.

Michael William Ledford, a man with a lengthy criminal history including a rape conviction, was charged with kidnapping and murder two days later. Ledford has denied being on the trail the day of the crime. His trial in Paulding County Superior Court is tentatively set for April.

Q: How big is the plastic "field" of trash in the Pacific Ocean? Are there any efforts to clean it up? Do ships cross through it?

MIKE MAUK, Lawrenceville

A: The mass of trash in the Pacific Ocean is more like a "plastic soup," according to Marieta Francis, executive director of Algalita Marine Research Foundation. It is neither an island, nor a field. Made of small pieces of floating plastic, its size is estimated to be larger than the United States, and it is in motion with the currents.

There have been no efforts to clean the plastic from the water. "It would be like trying to sift the sand in the Sahara desert," Francis said. Ships can safely cross through the plastic, and in some cases might not even see it.

Researchers Richard Hallman and Nisa Asokan wrote this column.

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