IOWA
Court: Man cannot have hunting gun
DES MOINES — A man with a no-contact order issued against him cannot have a gun to go hunting with his son, the Iowa Supreme Court said on Friday.
In a case from Warren County, the court said a district court judge's order permitting Joseph Weissenburger to possess a gun for hunting violated federal law.
During divorce proceedings between Weissenburger and his wife, Jackie, Joseph Weissenburger was charged with violating a no-contact order and pleaded guilty to harassment. Under a deferred judgment, he was fined and a no-contact order was ordered for five years.
Federal laws states that whenever the protected party under a no-contact order is an "intimate partner" the individual subject to the no-contact order cannot possess a firearm.
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ILLINOIS
Efforts seek to keep Ryan out of prison
CHICAGO — Former Gov. George Ryan was ordered Friday to start serving his corruption sentence within two weeks while his lawyers fought to keep him out of prison pending an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"He is a 73-year-old grandfather whose life revolves around his 17 grandchildren," Ryan's lawyers said in an 11-page petition asking a federal appeals court not to force him to surrender Nov. 7 to start his sentence.
The biggest scandal to sweep through Illinois politics in decades appeared headed for its final chapter Friday morning as U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer ordered Ryan to start his 6 1/2-year sentence.
Ryan and co-defendant Larry Warner were convicted on corruption charges in April 2006 after a six-month trial before Pallmeyer that ended in chaotic jury deliberations — including the dismissal of two jurors.
Ryan was convicted of steering millions of dollars in state leases and contracts to friends and favored lobbyists in exchange for payoffs ranging from expense-paid trips to a seaside resort in Jamaica to a free golf bag.
INDIANA
40 years later, he's joining fraternity
WEST LAFAYETTE — When Michael Doyle pledged Purdue University's Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity, he was 18, and the 1960s were about to hit their stride.
Doyle, now 60, finally joins the fraternity this weekend more than 40 years after his membership paperwork was lost after he pledged in the fall of 1965.
"Somehow the paperwork just never went through," said John Oldani, community relations chairman for the Purdue chapter.
The fraternity found out about the mistake after inviting Doyle to an alumni event. This weekend, the chapter will hold a special initiation ceremony to present Doyle with his official certificate of membership.
"I'm really just impressed with the group of guys in the house now who would take the time to initiate a guy who might be as old as some of their grandparents," Doyle said.
KANSAS
Dead-deer pickup not for squeamish
HUTCHINSON — The job of picking up deer carcass from the side of Kansas roads keeps Cindy Behnke busy this time of year.
With a makeshift hearse, the unpleasant chore is a common task for Behnke and other road crews during the fall, when deer are mating and vehicle-deer accidents increase.
"You have to have a strong stomach," said Behnke, an equipment operator specialist with the Kansas Department of Transportation. "Especially when it's been a hot day."
There were 9,197 deer-related accidents in 2006, a 4 percent increase from the previous year, said Lloyd Fox, big-game coordinator with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Three people were killed, and an additional 291 people were injured.
Behnke estimates her crew in Reno County removes about four deer carcasses a day during the peak season.
MICHIGAN
Parole change for lifers ruled violation
LANSING — The constitutional rights of more than 1,000 inmates serving life sentences in Michigan prisons have been violated since parole policies were toughened in the 1990s, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani said the cumulative effect of the parole changes violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on laws being applied retroactively.
She released her decision last week and has yet to decide what her ruling means for 1,000 to 1,200 Michigan prisoners sentenced before 1992 to life in prison with the possibility of parole. The ruling does not affect inmates sentenced after 1992.
Minnesota
Board OKs funding for cancer testing
ST. PAUL — The Iron Range Resources board wants to put more money into studying a rare lung cancer that strikes miners disproportionately.
The board voted Thursday to spend $250,000 on medical testing as part of a larger study of mesothelioma, the fatal cancer identified in 58 miners. The money won't be spent unless Iron Range Resources Commissioner Sandy Layman and Gov. Tim Pawlenty also approve.
Rep. Tom Rukavina said he proposed the spending because he didn't want the research to wait until the Legislature convenes in February. His proposal would require the state or another entity to match the amount.
Rukavina and others have criticized Pawlenty and the Minnesota Health Department over the mesothelioma issue. Former Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach resigned after admitting that she waited a year to release data on 35 miners who got mesothelioma.
MISSOURI
Tucson firm's meth scanner being tested
SPRINGFIELD — Some Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers have been testing a device that can detect even microscopic traces of methamphetamine with the simple click of a button.
A Tucson firm, CDEX Inc., created the hand-held scanner, which still is in the developmental stage and hasn't been put on the market. The company decided to test the device in Missouri because of the high number of meth labs in the state.
The scanner also is being tested by authorities in Greenlee County, Ariz. CDEX Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Philips said the device already has been used in two busts there.
The company plans to sell the device initially for between $2,000 and $5,500, with the price likely to drop eventually. At some point, the company plans to expand the technology to detect other illicit drugs or explosives.
NEBRASKA
Lodging, camp fees set to increase
CRAWFORD — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is raising rates for lodging rooms and campsites at state facilities.
A $3 increase has been approved for lodging rooms and between $2 and $3 for reserving rooms or campsites. The increases take effect Jan 1.
Reservation fees are going up to $7.
Officials expect the new fees to raise about $127,000.
NORTH DAKOTA
U.S.: Hemp farming clearly prohibited
BISMARCK — Arguments by two North Dakota farmers who say they have a right to grow industrial hemp cannot change "unambiguous" federal law prohibiting commercial cultivation of the plant, Justice Department lawyers say.
Farmers Dave Monson and Wayne Hauge also have no more standing to sue than someone who wants to use drugs recreationally, the lawyers say in their response to the farmers' request that a judge rule in their favor without a trial.
Unless the federal Drug Enforcement Administration takes action against the farmers, the government lawyers say, Monson and Hauge "are in the same position as any hypothetical plaintiff who seeks to change federal drug law so that he can grow, smoke and/or sell marijuana free from DEA oversight."
Hemp, which can be used for a variety of products from rope to skin lotion, falls under federal anti-drug rules because it has trace amounts of the mind-altering chemical THC that is found in hemp's cousin, marijuana.
OHIO
Eight-city coalition to fight gun crime
RICHFIELD — Eight cities across northern Ohio formed a cooperative program Friday to fight gun crimes.
The Northern Ohio Violent Crime Consortium formed by Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, Youngstown, Canton, Mansfield, Elyria and Lorain and state and federal law-enforcement agencies will be funded with a $5.8 million federal grant.
U.S. Attorney Gregory White, whose office prosecutes federal crimes in northern Ohio, and Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann said the goal of the consortium is to reduce firearms trafficking and gun-related violent crime.
SOUTH DAKOTA
Schools underfunded, two officials testify
MITCHELL — Two members of the state Board of Education said in a pretrial deposition that the state is not providing adequate funding for education.
Donald Kirkegaard, of Britton, and Glenna Fouberg, of Aberdeen, both gave depositions under oath as part of a lawsuit against the state brought by parents of students and backed by many South Dakota schools.
Scott Abdallah, Sioux Falls attorney for the plaintiffs, said Wednesday that he was surprised members of the state Board of Education would make such comments.
"It shocked us that they were willing to make those admissions," Abdallah said.
A September 2008 trial date is set. Attorneys have been gleaning testimony from witnesses in pretrial discovery since summer.
WISCONSIN
Thousand of birds killed by parasite
FRENCH ISLAND — Coots are among thousands of waterfowl to get sick after eating faucet snails that carry an intestinal parasite. If a predator doesn't get them first, the birds die from blood loss, shock from a chemical imbalance or a stomach infection. There's no way to save them.
Calvin Gehri, a biological technician with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's La Crosse District, and other wildlife workers have picked up thousands of dead birds along the shores of the Mississippi River between northern Iowa and Dresbach, Minn. More than 25,000 — mostly coots and scaup — have died there since 2002.
Faucet snails are found along the river from Nelson to Fulton, Ill., but the greatest concentration of infected ones is in the La Crosse area.
The snails came to the Great Lakes area from Eastern Europe in the late 1800s. Wildlife experts are trying to find a way to get rid of them without killing native snails.
CANADA
Loonie hits high versus U.S. currency
OTTAWA — The Canadian dollar briefly shot above $1.04 U.S. on Friday for the first time in 33 years, and is inching closer to the currency's all-time high set more than half a century ago.
The loonie's strength has been bad news for Canada's battered manufacturing sector, which has been sideswiped by a currency that has risen by about 20 percent this year alone and seems poised to surpass its all-time high of 106.14 cents US.
That record was set Aug. 21, 1957.
The dollar traded as high as 104.10 cents U.S. during the day Friday — the highest since May 1974 — before closing the session at 103.93 cents U.S.
