Black bear chases away pot farmer

By The Associated Press

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PANGUITCH, Utah (AP) - One Utah community is cheering a special bear - but don't call him Smokey. Investigators say a large black bear raided a clandestine marijuana growing operation so often that it chased the grower away. "This bear is definitely law-enforcement minded," said Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins. "If I can find this bear, I'm going to deputize him." Deputies found food containers ripped apart and strewn everywhere, cans with bear teeth marks, claw marks and bear prints across the Garfield County camp on Tuesday. Perkins said the operation on Boulder Mountain included 4,000 "starter" sacks of pot and 888 young plants. School janitor faces porn charges CHICAGO (AP) - A janitor at an elite state academy for teenagers talented in math and science was charged Thursday with possession of child pornography, and the school said FBI agents were checking to see if some of the material had gotten into its computer system. Robert Reese, 37, of Ottawa, appeared briefly before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole early Thursday after agents arrested him Wednesday at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. Cole ordered Reese held pending a bond hearing later. A message left at the Evanston office of Reese's attorney, John T. Kennedy, was not immediately returned. The Aurora-based academy is a special state school for students in grades 10 through 12 who have extraordinary talent in math and science. Storms cause airport delays CHICAGO (AP) - Hurricane Gustav died out undramatically, but its ghost still haunted travelers in the Chicago area. Due to Gusatav-spawned rainstorms and low visibility, delays at O'Hare International Airport were averaging 45 to 60 minutes Thursday evening. More than 200 flights had been canceled. At Midway Airport, a few flights were delayed about 45 minutes, but no major cancellations had been reported. The Chicago Department of Aviation was advising travelers passing through either airport to contact their airline to check the status of their flight.