The Hays Daily News from Hays, Kansas • Page 7

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12,2004 nMWnHB THE HAYS DAILY NEWS A7 CINDY DAVIS WALKER Press Terry Dunn, on tractor, along with his son, Greg, feed cattle on his farm Oct. 30 In Mlddleway, W.Va. Activists struggle to raise funds for protecting pastoral landscapes By JOHN FLESHER ASSOCIATED PRESS ACME TOWNSHIP, Mich. Fruit-laden pear trees grow amid undulating fields and a wooded valley awash in crimson and gold, making Rick Sayler's 134-acre orchard a haven for leaf-peeping tourists. "If we can keep the developers out, we can keep this place in farming and beautiful," said the fifth-generation agriculturist, whose ancestral roots in the area reach back nearly 150 years.

The rolling landscape and proximity to Lake Michigan that make the region ideal for growing apples, cherries, grapes and pears also attract builders. Many orchards have been plowed under for subdivisions, strip malls and golf courses in recent years, as soaring real estate values are tempting some landowners to sell out. Preservation activists believe a partial solution is to purchase development rights from willing farmers that is, pay them to keep their property agricultural. It's an increasingly popular strate- gjy nationwide where sprawl is gobbling up farmlands In Middleway, Terry Dunn dreads selling his 122 acres. But soreness from decades of grueling chores and the departure of his four grown children leave the 50-year-old open to offers from the highest-paying developer.

Following the lead of other states, West Virginia passed a law in 2000 that lets counties set up farmland protection boards to buy development rights from willing owners where they can be found. "But most farmers aren't interested," Dunn said. "To them, it's 'the most I can get for my And why not? If someone were to offer get from a developer, yeah, I probably would consider it. But I don't think that's going to happen." In Michigan, proposals to boost property taxes to preserve farmland were on eight local ballots during the Nov. 2 election.

Six failed, while two were approved, including a measure in a township near Ann Arbor in the southeastern part of the state. Five referendums were held in adjacent townships in fruit-growing northwestern Michigan. The only one approved was in Acme Township, about 250 miles northwest of Detroit. "Mixed success it's a good first step," said Jim Firstenau, executive director of the Michigan Farmland and Community Alliance. "We need to do a better job of educating the voters." When development rights are purchased, landowners are paid the difference between the agricultural value of the property and what it would be worth if sold for development.

In return, they agree never to convert it to other uses. Critics say preserving farmland is a laudable goal, but purchasing development rights is a giveaway to wealthy farmers. "It's using public money for private enterprise," said Chuck Walter, an Acme trustee. "If these farmers are truly dedicated to land preservation, why can't they just deed their property to agriculture In perpetuity?" VIOXX PATIENTS On September 30, 2004, the international pharmaceutical company Merck recalled VIOXX, arthritis and pain medication, because of an sijtacjk apd stroke. if you or a loved one took Vioxx and have suffered a serious injury (heart attack, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, embolism or even death), you may have a claim against Merck.

Contact Shasteen, Brock Scholz, P.C. today for a free consultation where we will evaluate your claim and recommend appropriate action. SHASTEEN, BROCK SCHOLZ, PC 840 North 48th Lincoln, NE 68504 402-464-0064 or 800-665-0064 (toll free) PUBLIC NOTICE! DIAMOND! STORE CONSOLIDATION SALE KUHN'S DIAMOND JEWELERS is Offering For immediate Disposal to the Public Its Entire Inventory Of Fine Jewelry Gifts. NOTHING HELD BACK Save Up To Ofl the Hutdil on SeIeu tcd VAULTS KUHN'S DIAMOND JEWELERS ON THE Ji lfWy nQM DOWNTOWN LOCA1 1 1009 Main Mgn. fr), pm Sat, Closed Sun, Peterson replica boat stirs drama blocks from courthouse By BRIAN SKOLOFP ASSOCIATED PRESS REDWOOD CITY, Calif.

Two dismissed jurors and a boat-turned-shrlne for Laci Peterson have added this week to the circuslike atmosphere surrounding the murder trial of Scott Peterson. Deliberations were set to resume today after the jury took Veterans Day off. The holiday break came after two straight days of juror dismissals. On Wednesday, Judge Alfred A. Dolucchi dismissed the foreman, a man in his mid-40s who has medical and law degrees.

The judge did not disclose his reasoning. Juror No. 5 was replaced by an alternate whose future son-in-law now owns a restaurant that Scott and Laci Peterson once owned in San Luis Obispo. The action came a day after the removal of another juror who apparently did her own research on the case, violating the judge's order to consider only evidence presented at trial. Each time a juror is dismissed, the panel must begin deliberations anew.

While deliberations went on earlier this week, the drama shifted from the courtroom to a parking lot a few blocks away. Defense attorney Mark Geragos parked a boat there Monday after the deliberating jurors viewed the actual boat prosecutors allege Peterson used to dump his wife's body. Geragos had unsuccessfully sought a mistrial, claiming jurors violated the judge's order during their examination when several of the panelists got inside the boat and rocked it from side to side. Geragos called it "a juror experiment." Geragos hoped to show jurors a videotaped experiment performed by the defense during which the replica boat apparently filled with water. That could bolster his argument that it would have been nearly impossible for Peterson to heave his wife overboard, as prosecutors contend, without tipping.

The judge would not allow Geragos to show the tape. But the replica boat and its contents coveralls stuffed with weights and concrete anchors tied to the arms and legs quickly became a makeshift shrine, with candles, flowers and hand-lettered signs reading "Rot in Prison" and "Justice for Laci and Conner." Briefs Pa, school district mandates 'intelligent design' DOVER, Pa. (AP) When talk at the high school here turns to the origins of life, biology teachers have to make time for both Charles Darwin as well as his detractors. Last month, this rural south- central Pennsylvania community became first In the nation to mandate the teaching of "intelligent design," which holds that the universe is so complex that It must have been created by an unspecified higher power. Last month, the Dover Area School District board voted to overhaul Its ninth-grade biology curriculum.

It now requires students to learn about alternate theories to evolution, which holds that Earth Is billions of years old and that life forms developed over millions of years. Critics say it's a veiled attempt to require public school children to learn creationism, a biblical- based view that credits the origin of species to God. The state American Civil Liberties Union chapter is reviewing the matter. Its Georgia counterpart is fighting a suburban Atlanta district's decision to include a warning sticker in biology textbooks that says evolution is "a theory, not a fact." Father says son accused in death has bipolar disorder PHILADELPHIA (AP) The father of a man accused of beating a third-year medical student to death with a baseball bat said his son suffers from bipolar disorder. Farouk Ali told WCAU-TV on Thursday that his son had been hospitalized for the disorder, which causes moods to fluctuate between periods of depression and high-energy mania.

"It is not a secret that he has bipolar," Ali told the Philadelphia station. Nader Ali, 26, faces homicide charges in the beating death of Lea Sullivan, 25, who was attacked as she walked out of a grocery store onto a crowded downtown street Sunday afternoon. Police said the assailant clubbed her in the head and continued to beat her after she fell. Witnesses took down the attacker's license plate number, leading police to Ali, who was arrested Monday at his parents' home. Ali, a former medical student who was placed on leave from Jefferson Medical College last year because of what a spokesman called "an extreme change in behavior," was a minor acquaintance of Sullivan's.

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