An Arizona state senator has stepped through a loophole in a telemarketing law he supported and plunged into some very hot water. Sen. John Huppenthal, a Republican who is considering a run for Congress next year, programmed his computer to call more than 3,000 voters between 1 and 3:30 a.m. Monday. He woke in the middle of the night and discovered the error. "It was the closest thing I've had to cardiac arrest," he told Christina Leonard of the Arizona Republic. Earlier this year, Huppenthal voted for a law to ban telemarketers from using computers to call potential customers at home and deliver pre-recorded messages. The law took effect in August, but it exempts political campaigns. Now Huppenthal is phoning all of the people awakened by his error to apologize. No News Is Good News
Minnesotans are probably heaving sighs of relief this week because their governor says he and the press are no longer at war. On a 10-day trip to Japan to promote his state, former wrestler turned governor, Jesse Ventura, gripped and grinned through a multitude of public appearances without a major faux pas. Trailed by more than a dozen Twin Cities reporters, he toured the sights, including a shrine to Sumo wrestlers, and promoted Minnesota products to Japanese businessmen. Ventura announced during the trip a new trade deal between a pork producer in Minnesota and a Japanese company. "The media and I get along great now. We've developed a new relationship over there," Ventura told Dane Smith of the Minneapolis Star Tribune upon his return.
Dogfight in the Wolverine State
What exactly is a wolf-dog? Michigan Senators grappled with that question this week as they heard testimony for and against a bill to ban the creatures, whatever they are. Kevin Lynch of the Detroit News reports that wolf-dogs have killed five Michigan children since 1981. The state humane society supports the bill, but the president of the United States Wolf-Dog Association -- yes, there is such a thing -- traveled to Lansing from New Jersey to argue against it. "I've only been bit once in my life, and that was by a neighbor's German Shepherd," USWDA President John Davis said. The Michigan Senate is also considering a bill to outlaw the domestication of bears and wild cats.
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