Tension growing between ranchers, mustang backers

RENO, Nev. -- Tensions bubbled over on the range in a turf battle that has been simmering for decades over one of the icons of the American West and scant forage on arid, high desert lands from Nevada to Wyoming.

With the presence of wild horses continuing to pit animal advocates against ranchers, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which is caught in the middle, on Saturday began seizing hundreds of cattle from a longtime rancher that it says are trespassing on public land in southern Nevada.

The action came a day after the agency agreed to remove horses from the range in southwest Utah after Iron County commissioners threatened to take matters in their own hands.

Wild-horse protection advocates say the government is rounding up too many mustangs while allowing livestock to feed at taxpayer expense on the same rangeland scientists say is being overgrazed.

Ranchers say the government refuses to gather enough horses in the herds that double in size every five years while moving to confiscate cattle on lands where their ancestors have operated for more than a century.

The BLM says it's doing all it can, given budget constraints, overflowing holding pens and a distaste for the politically unpopular options of either ending the costly roundups or slaughtering excess horses.

The agency started taking cattle Saturday from Cliven Bundy, who it says has been trespassing on U.S. land without required grazing permits for over 25 years. Bundy doesn't recognize federal authority on land he insists belongs to Nevada.

"These people are thieves," Bundy told The Associated Press on Saturday. "I haven't even started fighting yet. You think I'm going to lay down and just give up. I'm going to fight for the Constitution and state sovereignty."

Asked what actions he planned to take, Bundy replied, "Why don't you wait and see. As I told the BLM and county sheriff, 'I'll do whatever it takes.'"

BLM spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon, in a media conference call Saturday afternoon, said her agency was implementing two federal court orders to remove Bundy's cattle after making repeated efforts to resolve the matter outside court.

Plans call for the removal of some 900 trespassing cattle from 1,200 square miles of land in southern Nevada managed by her agency and the National Park Service over the next three to four weeks, she said.

A federal judge in Las Vegas first ordered Bundy to remove his trespassing cattle in 1998. Similar orders were issued last July and again in October.

"(Bundy's trespassing) is unfair to the thousands of other ranchers who graze livestock in compliance with federal laws and regulations in the West," Cannon said, adding the agencies are working with local and state officials to ensure the removal occurs in a safe manner.

She declined to comment on the number of personnel involved, and was unable to provide a cost estimate for the operation.

Bundy, who said he owns about 500 cows, estimates at least 100 federal agents and other personnel, many of them armed, gathered around the ranch his family has operated since the 1870s southwest of Mesquite a few miles from the Utah line.

"I've tried to stop them for 20 years. I've tried to be legal in the courts. I've tried to do it politically and through the media. Now, it's about down to having to do it as 'We the people,'" he said.

It's a battle that has raged since the 1980s when the Sagebrush Rebellion challenged federal ownership of Nevada rangeland ranchers said was rightfully theirs.

During the past 10 years, horse advocates have been more the aggressors, asking courts to block roundups they say violate the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burro Act of 1971. But in recent months, ranchers have again gone back on the attack.

The Nevada Farm Bureau Federation and Nevada Association of Counties sued the government in U.S. District Court in Reno in December seeking to force the BLM to step up roundups and, if necessary, sell excess mustangs for slaughter — something they say is allowed under the law but that the federal agency has resisted.

Earlier this week, a federal magistrate judge in Reno granted horse advocates' request to become a party in that case based on their argument no one else involved — including the BLM — has the horses' best interest in mind.

In Utah, Iron County commissioners had threatened to gather up hundreds of mustangs themselves, saying the horses threaten livestock and wildlife on rangelands already damaged by drought.

"We will take whatever action we have to take to reduce those numbers immediately," Commissioner David Miller told the Salt Lake Tribune.

But BLM State Director Juan Palma, in an email sent Friday to Miller, said he is committed to working with the county in developing a plan to reduce the number of horses, The Spectrum of St. George, Utah, reported.

"Both the BLM and Iron County have a shared interest in the well-being of the range and all who rely in its health. ... Additionally, (we have) our shared interest in the well-being of sustainable populations of our wild horses," Palma wrote.

Recreational hog hunting popularity soaring

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- A quick tap on the roof of the electric hunting cart and the pop of two rifle shots and Jody Greene and Jeff Goeggle have taken down their first hog of the night.

It's one of hundreds they will kill this year; they bagged 420 last year.

Goeggle's tap on the roof of the cart signals he has spotted a hog, and he and Greene both shoot to ensure one of them hits the animal. It's a routine they'll repeat during approximately 200 hunts in 2014.

You might call them hog wild, but they are just two of many local hunters who are part of a national trend of recreational hog hunting that's popularity has soared in recent years.

Goeggle and Greene, who run Double G Hog Control in Monterey with Greene's wife, Tracy, have hunted hogs together for nearly three years for farmers and landowners who have problems with wild hogs rooting up their property.

While they are happy to be of service to those whose land or crops are overrun by hogs, Goeggle and Greene enjoy hog hunting and don't charge for their services. The hunters generally stop at gas stations or other places after hunts and give away the hogs.

The network of farmers and friends they've created provides them with 150,000 acres in Mississippi and Louisiana to hunt anytime they want.

"It's fun to do, and it's challenging," Greene said. "It's something I can do with my family and friends, and it's pretty exciting out there at night."

Greene and Goeggle hunt during the day and also at night using night-vision goggles and thermal scopes.

"The thermals pick up heat, and there's no way they can hide from them," Greene said.

Goeggle and Greene have developed a system involving teamwork to effectively hunt hogs at night.

Goeggle rides on the back of a Polaris hunting cart scanning the horizon through his thermal scope before moving his eyes to the farmland, looking for signs of rooting or a bright white spot, indicating heat from an animal.

When he spots something, Goeggle taps on the roof of the cart and gives Greene — who's wearing the night-vision goggles — directions to the animal.

Sometimes it's an armadillo, a deer, maybe even a bear. But if it is a hog or a group of hogs, called a sounder, Goeggle and Greene determine who takes the first shot, and then a second shot from the other hunter follows to ensure a kill.

Goeggle and Greene don't want to give away all their secrets, but they say it takes perseverance and perfected techniques to hunt hogs.

Hogs are highly intelligent and thrive in a variety of climates and conditions, which Greene and Goeggle say means they can be run off one spot only to pop up in another.

The surge in popularity of wild hog hunting locally follows a national trend of hunting hogs recreationally.

Some would argue the increased popularity of hog hunting came as a response to farmland and other property becoming overrun with wild hogs.

Others, like Mississippi State extension associate Bill Hamrick, say the translocation and release of wild hogs for hunting is largely responsible for the pervasiveness of wild hogs, which number in the millions around the country.

"There have always been some pockets of them around, but it seems like in the past 10 years, it's really gotten worse," Hamrick said.

Wild hogs are considered nuisance animals in Mississippi and Louisiana and have looser regulations than traditional game.

Landowners and leaseholders — and any hunter with the landowner or leaseholder's written permission — may hunt nuisance animals year-round at any time of day or night with no caliber restrictions on the lands they own or lease in Mississippi.

In Louisiana, wild hogs can be hunted year-round during the day. Nighttime wild hog hunting is allowed March 1-Aug. 31.

Those loose regulations — compared to regulations on other game — are one of the main appeals to local

hunters who like to hunt all year and practice their shot between deer, turkey, duck and other game seasons.

Hogs are not Tres Atkins' go-to game animal, but he does hunt them to stay sharp in between seasons.

"There's no season on them, and there's no set limit, and it's something for me to do in between deer and turkey season," he said.

Hunter Billy Fitt was hunting coyotes when he came up on a group of hogs on a hunting trip years ago on Glasscock Island.

"I've been hunting them basically my whole life, but I got real serious about it probably three years ago," he said.

Fitt mainly hunts hogs using traps, occasionally with dogs.

"You have to be relentless," he said. "It's not like deer hunting. It takes a lot of time, and they go nocturnal if you pressure them. They're unpredictable, too. They can be in one spot one day and then two miles from it the next day.

"But it's a lot of fun when you get one."

Drought threatens Texas rice farmers' futures

BAY CITY, Texas -- Brothers Stewart and Kirby Savage should be out right now, planting rice, a crop that their family has grown in Matagorda County for nearly a century. But here they sit, in their low-slung office along Texas 60, talking water, or the lack of it.

The Savage family, like many rice farmers, are facing a third year in a row without irrigation water from the Colorado River. That's because Texas officials have cut off deliveries to maintain reservoirs near drought-stricken Austin, more than 100 miles away.

This would have seemed ludicrous not too long ago. For decades, farmers had all the water they could use from the Colorado. They now are idling land, laying off workers and wondering whether they have a future in cultivating rice.

The Savage family, for one, will try for the first time to grow corn, a less profitable crop but one that does not require the copious amounts of water that rice does.

"We have to diversify if we still want to farm," said Stewart Savage, an affable 53-year-old who has worked at the farm nearly his entire life. "But we can't grow enough corn to sustain (the five-family operation). We are not swapping dollars" by switching crops.

In a season of hard decisions in the Texas rice belt, growers and owners of related business say they are trying just to get to next year. Maybe it will rain by then. But it's clear farming's hold on the land is fragile.

"Farmers are seeing the nasty end of population growth," in Austin and other places upstream, Ronald Kaiser, a professor of water law and policy at Texas A&M University, told the Houston Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1fBPCau). "We are probably looking at a long-term transition" for agriculture.

The Colorado rises in West Texas, winds through the Hill Country and bisects Matagorda County before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. Farmers on the coastal plains began drawing from the rain-fed river in the 1880s.

A half-century later, the Lower Colorado River Authority built a chain of reservoirs in Central Texas to generate power, tame floods and provide a reliable supply of water for farmers and others. The state's population has surged since then, with more and more people moving into communities that barely existed, if at all, when the dams were constructed.

Texas projects the population of the lower Colorado watershed to double to nearly 3 million people by 2060, and it's apparent that there is not enough water to meet everyone's needs. The persistent drought only has heightened tensions among those who rely on the river.

Historically, growers are the largest users of Colorado water. Rice is a water-intensive crop, grown in fields flooded at 3 to 4 inches deep. In Matagorda County alone, farmers have built about 400 miles of canals to carry the river water to the cropland.

With enough water, rice farmers can harvest twice, once in July and again in October. But their supply is interruptible during dry times - unlike shares for municipalities and industry, which pay a significantly higher rate than irrigators.

In 2012, with low water levels in the reservoirs, the river authority took the unprecedented step of withholding water from the farmers. It happened again last year. And again earlier this month, the start of the growing season.

The river authority said it could not deliver water to farmers because of record low flows into the reservoirs. The lakes are now 38 percent full, meaning any release would threaten the water supply for more than 1 million people living in and around Austin, state officials said.

The river authority plans to build at least one reservoir in rice country to store rainfall on the coastal plain and ease the burden on the Central Texas lakes, but the first one will not be completed until 2017.

Its emergency orders, meanwhile, have sent a jolt through Colorado, Matagorda and Wharton counties, which usually produce 5 percent of the nation's rice crop. The three-county area lost more than 1,200 jobs in the first year without irrigation water from the river, according to a Texas A&M analysis released this month.

The hardest hit was Matagorda County, where more than 90 percent of its rice acreage went unplanted in the first year without water from the Colorado. As a result, the direct value of its rice production plunged from $20.7 million to $2.4 million, the Texas A&M study found.

"The Colorado River is the economic lifeblood of Matagorda County," said Haskell Simon, a longtime rice farmer who has been unable to grow a crop since the restrictions began.

And it's not only the farmers who are hurting. A crop-duster went out of business, and a fuel supplier stopped making bulk deliveries to farms in Matagorda County.

BU Growers, for one, expects to see sales for seed rice and its drying and storage services drop 75 percent this year from levels three years ago. The company is looking more to Louisiana for rice to meet its brokerage contracts.

"I feel like I have one foot in the grave," said Joe Crane, BU Grower's managing partner.

Still, the consensus seems to be that Bay City, Matagorda County's seat, won't die soon. But the 17,500-person town understands that its future remains intertwined with the farmers.

The businesses tied to agriculture "can come and go," Crane said. "But if the growers go, we won't be back."

In the Savage family's office hangs a framed poster-size photograph of three combine harvesters moving across fields full of nearly waist-high rice plants. The scene is from 2011, the last year the farm received irrigation water from the Colorado.

Since then, the family has returned two of the leased machines to the dealership. There's no reason to keep all of them when there isn't as much rice to harvest, Stewart Savage said as he looked at the picture.

The family, like others, survived the last two years with the help of crop insurance, but that's going away. The payments for equipment and land and taxes are not.

This year, the Savage family will be able to pump groundwater for about 500 acres of rice, an organic variety of long-grain American basmati. But the new water supply won't be enough to cover all of the land planted in past years.

That's why the family is planting about 700 acres of corn, a crop that isn't as thirsty as rice. "We're hoping this is a one-year deal because we want to go back to rice," Stewart Savage said. "Our land is for rice."

Upstream interests have criticized the rice farmers for growing crops that required too much water and for exporting their product - some of the grain is shipped to Mexico and South America, among other places.

But the Savage family and other farmers say Matagorda County is uniquely suited for rice because of the clay layer under the thin topsoil, as well as the climate. The price for rice is also better than other crops.

Rice generates about two times more revenue per acre than corn, said Brent Batchelor, a Bay City-based agent for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, which assists farmers.

In all, Matagorda County farmers will grow about 25,000 acres of corn this year, up from about 15,000 acres before the restrictions on Colorado water, Batchelor said.

Meanwhile, farmers will cultivate about 2,500 acres of rice, down from 25,000 acres three years ago.

Rather than switch crops and invest in new expensive equipment or a water well, Billy Mann will let cattle graze where he once grew rice. "The payout will take too long for me," said Mann, 73, whose two sons are not interested in following him into farming.

The grim situation keeps Harley Savage, the 83-year-old patriarch who followed his father and grandfather into rice farming, awake at night. He worries about the future for his sons, as well as his two grandsons, Scott and Stew, both in their 20s, who have joined the family business.

"You never think this is going to happen, that someone is going to tell you that you can't farm," Harley Savage said. "I think about how we can keep this all together. I just don't know if we can support five families on corn."

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Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://bit.ly/NIjdEf

Eds: This is an AP Member Exchange shared by the Houston Chronicle.

Startup aims to poach workers at tech bus stops

SAN FRANCISCO -- Where some see a queue of engineers awaiting private commuter shuttles, one San Francisco startup sees an opportunity to lure talent from top Silicon Valley tech firms.

Software company Bigcommerce has spent the last two weeks trying to recruit talent from San Francisco's numerous techie shuttle stops.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1lHElt6 ) that company executives want to poach employees from Google, Facebook and other tech giants.

They come boasting a clever hashtag (#poached), poached egg sandwiches and $40 million in funding raised from former AOL chief Steve Case's venture capital firm.

Meanwhile, the shuttles have grown controversial in the last year, with some residents who see them as a symbol of neighborhood gentrification protesting their use of municipal bus stops for $1 per stop each day.

Task force to study online gambling, sports bets

BILOXI, Miss. -- Mississippi's chief gambling regulator is heading up a group that will gather data on how Internet gambling and sports betting are working other states.

Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, is chairman of the task force.

State Rep. Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach, chairman of the House Gaming Committee, asked Godfrey to take the job and provide an unbiased look at the pros and cons of Internet gambling and sports betting.

The group's first meeting will be in May during the Southern Gaming Summit in Biloxi. It will present its findings by the end of the year.

Bennett said this in no way endorses either form of gambling. He said it will be more comprehensive than anything he's seen on the subjects and he envisions other states using the information that is collected.

The original intent was to consider just Internet gambling. The focus grew to include all forms of sports betting when "a number of legislators from the coast and other areas came to me and asked me to add that to it," Bennett told The Sun Herald (http://bit.ly/Pr7lYo ).

Godfrey said the group will not be making any recommendations regarding any new legislation or regulations.

He said the task force will start with three states — Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey — where Internet gambling or sports betting is legal.

Among the things Godfrey said he wants to study are whether the software for online gambling sites works as well as it claims to, and how it is working to keep people from out of state off the sites — something that is required by current laws.

Two of the more-difficult issues are problem gamblers and underage gambling, Godfrey said.

"It will be interesting to see what other states have done," he said.

Room Service, Rosalind run dead even at Keeneland

By GARY B. GRAVES The Associated Press

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Room Service and Rosalind dueled to an exciting dead-heat finish in Saturday's $500,000 Central Bank Ashland at Keeneland and earn big points toward the Kentucky Oaks.

Both 3-year-old fillies laid back in the Grade 1 stakes race before surging ahead at the top of the stretch to run side-by-side to the wire. At first glance Rosalind appeared to have the inside edge before the outcome was declared even upon photo review.

Room Service and Rosalind, with Shaun Bridgmohan and Joel Rosario aboard respectively, ran the 1 1-16 miles in 1:43.38. Room Service paid $6.60, $6.40 and $4.20. Rosalind returned $5, $4.40 and $3.40.

The rare ending gave each horse 70 points toward the Oaks on May 2 at Churchill Downs.

Thank You Marylou paid $4.80 to show and earned 20 points.

Southern Quality Meats closing in Pontotoc

PONTOTOC, Miss. -- Southern Quality Meats plans to close its plant in Pontotoc.

Company officials notified the plant's 110 workers Friday that the 52-year-old plant will be consolidated with a newer plant in Albertville, Ala., 160 miles west of Pontotoc, The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (http://bit.ly/1mMckxQ) reported.

"This was an extremely difficult decision because of the impact it will have on our Mississippi employees and their families and the surrounding communities," CEO Jerry Wilson said in a news release. "After careful consideration, we have determined that this action best supports our ongoing business strategies and enables us to provide the highest quality product to our customers."

Albertville Quality Foods has processed meats for food service, retail and national accounts since 1988.

Southern Quality Meats opened in 1962. It will be shuttered between June 3 and June 17.

Officials said the company is "committed to support its employees affected by the decision over the next several months."

The company said it would work with qualified employees to fill any vacancies in Albertville, and has asked state and local officials what training and other assistance is available.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a complaint in May against the company, alleging that workers in Pontotoc tortured animals with electric stunners.

Company president Don Haynie said, after getting a copy from a third party, that it showed two incidents in which a company employee used improper procedures that were against company policy. He said the company retrained its employees and installed a restraint system for animals that made the proper procedures easier.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said SQM's response to concerns at the plant was deemed adequate.

Navy center in RI to launch new sensor facility

NEWPORT, R.I. -- The Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport is preparing to formally inaugurate a facility that includes a massive tower designed to repair and certify periscopes, submarine communication systems, electronic warfare equipment as well as imaging and optical systems.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed is expected to attend Monday's ribbon-cutting ceremony at the $20 million Electromagnetic Sensor Facility. The 54,000-square-foot building includes six laboratories and a five-story periscope tower.

The new building has space for both workers and equipment for prototyping, acquisition and production support, as well as in-service engineering and test functions.

Reed helped secure funding for the project through his position as chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee.

Cunningham rejoins Timberwolves after arrest

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Dante Cunningham rejoined the team on Saturday, two days after he was arrested and later charged with felony domestic assault for allegedly choking his girlfriend during an argument.

Cunningham was released from jail on Friday and took a flight on Saturday morning to Orlando, Fla., where the Timberwolves were scheduled to play the Magic. Cunningham was expected to be in uniform for the game.

Cunningham cannot be disciplined by the league and the Timberwolves for the same transgression, under terms of the collective bargaining agreement. The league was expected to wait until it had all the details before deciding on imposing any punishment.

The Wolves said on Thursday shortly after his arrest that they were still gathering information and take the matter "very seriously."

The Timberwolves cannot deactivate Cunningham because that could be viewed as a form of discipline and could cause the NBA Players' Association to file a grievance. Whether he actually plays in the game or not is up to coach Rick Adelman's discretion.

A criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court said his girlfriend told police they got into the argument early Thursday at his suburban Minneapolis home. The woman, who is not named in the complaint, told police he kicked down a locked bedroom door, grabbed her around the neck and slammed her against the wall, choking her for 15 to 20 seconds during which she could not breathe.

Police said the woman, who had been in a relationship with Cunningham for the past eight months, did not require medical treatment.

Cunningham was charged with one felony count of domestic assault by strangulation. The 26-year-old missed Friday night's victory over the Miami Heat.

In his fifth year in the league, Cunningham is averaging 6.0 points and 4.0 rebounds this season. He is set to become a free agent on July 1 after completing the final year of his contract that pays him $2.1 million this season.

"The Minnesota Timberwolves organization takes the matter very seriously and does not condone the type of behavior that is associated with this situation," the team said on Thursday. "However, we need to let the legal process run its course, and will have further comment at the appropriate time."

Associated Press Writer Steve Karnowski, in Minneapolis, contributed to this report.

Advocates of renewable energy cite progress in UT

SALT LAKE CITY -- Advocates of renewable energy are hailing three developments in Utah this week, including the unveiling of the Salt Lake City area's first fast-charging station for electric cars.

In addition, Scatec Solar announced plans to start construction later this year on an 80-megawatt solar plant in Iron County, which will be the state's largest commercial solar field.

And Utah Clean Energy was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to operate one of six new regional wind energy resource centers in the nation.

Utah Office of Energy Development Director Samantha Mary Julian told the Deseret News (http://bit.ly/1smo3Hx ) that the string of developments shows market forces are moving toward renewable energy in the state.

US Steel idles Indiana mill due to lack of ore

GARY, Ind. -- U.S. Steel has temporarily halted steelmaking at its massive northwestern Indiana steel mill because the ice-covered Great Lakes have cut off the mill's access to vital iron ore.

The company says in a letter to its customers that it has idled the Gary Works complex's blast furnaces and steelmaking due to "unprecedented ice conditions on the Great Lakes."

The Times of Munster reports (http://bit.ly/QMW0D4 ) that treacherous ice covering much of Lake Superior has prevented ships from hauling iron ore from Minnesota's Iron Range to northwestern Indiana steel mills.

The Gary Works complex is the nation's largest steel mill, stretching seven miles along Lake Michigan. It can produce 7.5 million net tons of steel a year.

More than 5,800 employees who work at the mill continue to report to work.

Bills fans, players pay tribute to late owner

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- With hundreds of pictures and mementos spread throughout the Buffalo Bills fieldhouse honoring late owner Ralph Wilson, Bruce Smith couldn't resist bringing one more.

The Hall of Fame defensive end pulled out a photo taken the day he signed his rookie contract in 1985. It showed Wilson with his hands across his face as if he were praying.

Smith called the picture one of his "special memories."

There were many to go around Saturday, during a public remembrance celebrating Wilson's life and legacy.

With Frank Sinatra — Wilson's favorite — playing over the loudspeaker, and an array of photos, trophies and souvenirs on display, Bills former and current players, employees and thousands of fans paid their respects to the team's founder, who died on March 25.

Report: Gov't files lacking for $6B in contracts

WASHINGTON -- A government investigation has found that the State Department has incomplete files or is missing files for more than $6 billion in contracts over the last six years.

In one case involving State Department operations in Iraq, officials couldn't provide 33 of the 115 contract files requested. Those missing files were for contracts worth $2.1 billion.

A State Department spokeswoman, Marie Harf, says that the $6 billion hasn't gone missing and calls it a "bureaucratic issue" that's being addressed.

The report by the State Department's Office of Inspector General recommends establishing a centralized system for maintaining, tracking and retaining files. Other recommendations include random checks of contract files and holding accountable those responsible for maintaining files.

The report is dated March 24 but was released to the public on Thursday.

Vivendi to sell SFR to Altice for up to $19.5B

NEW YORK -- Vivendi says it will sell SFR, the No. 2 mobile phone operator in France, to media company Altice in a deal that could be worth up to $19.5 billion.

Vivendi says it accepted a bid worth 13.5 billion euros ($18.5 billion). The deal also includes additional payments of up to 750 million euros ($1.03 billion). Vivendi will keep a 20 percent stake in SFR but says it may sell those holdings at a later date.

Altice owns the French cable operator Numericable.

Vivendi wants to focus on its other businesses, Universal Music Group and Canal+ pay television.

The French company entered exclusive negotiations with Altice in March. The conglomerate Bouygues also wanted to buy SFR, offering as much as 15 billion euros ($20.6 billion) Friday.

PERS returning money to nearly 3,000 retirees

SALEM, Ore. -- The Public Employees Retirement System will send checks totaling more than a half-million dollars to nearly 3,000 retirees to fix incorrect cuts to their pensions.

The Statesman Journal newspaper reports (http://is.gd/srYj0S ) the issue arose when PERS tried to identify which retirees lived out of state for the purposes of a pension reduction that passed last year.

One pension cut included in Senate Bill 822 targeted a "tax remedy" that was created in 1995 as a way to help Oregonians cover part of the cost of income taxes on their retirement checks.

Because out-of-state retirees don't pay Oregon income taxes, lawmakers decided they shouldn't get the benefit.

The agency, however, had some problems figuring out who lives in Oregon and who doesn't.

Panama's president unveiling subway ahead of vote

PANAMA CITY -- Counting down his final weeks in office, Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli on Saturday is inaugurating the most-emblematic project of a five-year term marked by fast economic growth and more than a hint of hubris — Central America's first subway system.

The metro will surely alleviate the booming capital's dreadful traffic. But critics say the $2 billion spent on the 9-mile (14-kilometer) rail line would have been better used building a higher-capacity surface transport network and expanded bus system.

The critics also are unhappy about what they consider Saturday evening's over-the-top party, with a free concert and fireworks, to celebrate the new subway. They call it a political stunt a month before Panama's elections to drum up support for Martinelli's preferred successor, former Housing Minister Jose Domingo Arias.

Trains themselves won't start running a full schedule until Monday.

Martinelli, who leaves office July 1, isn't fazed by the criticism. Notably brash with friends and foes alike, the 62-year-old supermarket magnate hasn't tired of boasting that he has accomplished more in five years than was done in the previous 50. He has an approval rating of 60 percent, and relishes the chance of getting his chosen successor elected, which no incumbent Panamanian president has done since democracy was restored in 1989.

"This is a project that makes the opposition burn," Roberto Henriquez, a presidential aide, said in a recent television interview. "But gentleman, I'm sorry: The metro is a reality, and next week we'll be delivering the benefits to all the people."

Since Martinelli took office in 2009, Panama has spent upward of $15 billion on infrastructure improvements, including new hospitals, airports and 990 miles (1,600 kilometers) of highways. The subway is Panama's second costliest project in the past century, surpassed only by the current $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal that began before he became president.

"Never has a government done so much for a country and its people," proclaims a TV ad featuring the subway and a catchy, merengue-tinged chorus of "Promises Fulfilled."

The government hasn't announced how much a ride will cost. Instead, it is waiving fares for the first few months in what analysts say is a clear attempt to boost the candidacy of the little-known Arias, who holds a narrow lead in most polls over former Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro.

Panama's region-leading infrastructure is a point of pride for many of the country's 3.4 million people, although the spending hasn't been without controversy.

Vice President Juan Carlos Varela broke with Martinelli in 2011 and later accused the president and his two sons of taking kickbacks from Italian state-controlled Finmeccanica in exchange for government contracts.

No charges were filed against the president, but the allegation has reinforced perceptions that the construction — which has propelled economic growth averaging 9 percent a year since 2010 — is also fueling corruption and waste. Panama fell 20 places to 102nd in Transparency International's latest annual ranking of 177 countries on corruption.

The subway cost 30 percent more than the price budgeted when the contract to build it was awarded to Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht SA in 2010. Roberto Roy, the metro's top executive, says costs rose because of design changes, including construction of two additional stations.

Martinelli's penchant for self-promotion led to the two giant boring machines used to dig the metro's more than 4 miles (7 kilometers) of tunnels being named Marta and Carolina, in honor of his wife and daughter.

First lady Marta Linares is Arias' running mate, a sign that Martinelli will remain influential if his political disciple wins. The president was barred by the constitution from seeking re-election.

Carolina Rodriguez, who works as a maid in the downtown district of flashy, high-rise apartment buildings, doesn't much mind the political overtones of the subway's inauguration so long as the train reduces her pre-dawn commute and remains affordable.

"It's all very pretty and Martinelli says the train will help us," said Rodriguez, who spends 90 minutes every day commuting in from San Miguelito, a poor neighborhood on the subway's northern terminus. "Hopefully the train will relieve my daily headache."

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Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.

Conservationists claim victory on new farm bill

MINNEAPOLIS -- Wildlife and environmental groups are claiming victory when it comes to conservation under the new farm bill.

Two of their top priorities made it into the law, which set federal farm policy for the next five years.

One is "conservation compliance," which means farmers will have to use good conservation practices on highly erodible lands and protect wetlands to qualify for crop insurance premium subsidies.

The other creates "sodsaver" protections to discourage farmers from plowing up native grasslands in the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana and Nebraska.

It wasn't a total victory, though. The $57.6 billion in the farm bill for conservation programs over the next 10 years represents a net reduction of $4 billion. And conservationists are disappointed that fewer acres can be enrolled in the popular Conservation Reserve Program.

Task force to study online gambling, sports bets

BILOXI, Miss. -- Mississippi's chief gambling regulator is leading a group that will gather data on how Internet gambling and sports betting are working other states.

Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, is chairman of the task force.

State Rep. Richard Bennett, a Long Beach Republican and chairman of the House Gaming Committee, asked Godfrey to take the job and provide an unbiased look at the pros and cons of Internet gambling and sports betting.

The group's first meeting will be in May during the Southern Gaming Summit in Biloxi.

Bennett says other states may use the information that is collected.

Godfrey tells The Sun Herald (http://bit.ly/Pr7lYo ) the group will not be making any recommendations regarding any new legislation or regulations.

LSU gets $1M gift from power company

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Power provider Entergy Louisiana says it will give $1 million to Louisiana State University's College of Engineering to provide a research laboratory and classroom complex.

The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/1iaBPWJ ) LSU has raised more than $50 million to renovate Patrick F. Taylor Hall, which will be turned into a high-tech engineering complex.

LSU and the state of Louisiana have a partnership under which the state matches dollars raised by the university.

LSU officials say Entergy's donation will help promote innovative research and teaching.

The latest gift follows Entergy's earlier $300,000 gift to the engineering college for equipment.

Entergy Louisiana is a subsidiary of New Orleans-based Entergy Corp.

Sandwich signs getting bigger in Poplarville

POPLARVILLE, Miss. -- The Poplarville Board of Aldermen has passed new ordinances for sandwich signs that can be displayed in the city, increasing the dimensions from two to six feet.

The Picayune Item reports (http://bit.ly/1mHXxEo ) the thought behind the increase is that with the new truck stop coming to Poplarville, the two feet sandwich signs would not be noticeable from a truck driver's view.

Alderwoman Shirley Wiltshire says the two-foot sign ordinance was passed in 2009 with the knowledge that as the city grew and the business landscape evolved, modifications would be needed.

Wiltshire says the change will allow local businesses to capture the new market opportunities the truck stop will bring.

LSU explores using sugar to make plastics

BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU AgCenter researchers are studying how to make plastics from a byproduct of sugar and say the development could give sugar cane farmers a stake in the plastics industry and reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing plastics.

Derek Dorman, an LSU AgCenter polymer scientist at the Audubon Sugar Institute, told The Advocate (http://bit.ly/PdREnr) that aconitic acid found in cane and sweet sorghum juices is a potential source of biodegradable plastics.

"This acid can be formulated into polyester, or plastic. It is very versatile in terms of how it can be used," Dorman said.

Because aconitic acid can be harvested from plants, it has less environmental impact when synthesized into biodegradable polyester plastics, unlike plastics produced from crude oil. The acid is extractable from molasses, syrup or mud generated during syrup production.

Researchers at the Audubon Sugar Institute are studying how to synthesize nontoxic, biodegradable polyesters from aconitic acid as well as cinnamic acid and glycerol.

All are potential products of the sugar cane and biodiesel industries that can be used as structures in skin and bone-tissue engineering.

With Enrollee Goal Met, Obamacare Still Faces Political Trial

“ It just takes a small number of people who view themselves as losers to make trouble for the law politically.

- Drew Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation

i i

hide captionPresident Obama arrives in the Rose Garden on Tuesday to trumpet 7.1 million signups under the Affordable Care Act.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

President Obama arrives in the Rose Garden on Tuesday to trumpet 7.1 million signups under the Affordable Care Act.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

President Obama and his supporters had a rare opportunity to celebrate this week.

A last-minute surge in people signing up for health insurance sent the total government enrollment figures over the seven-million mark.

That number seemed out of reach just a few months ago, when a crash-prone website threatened to undermine the president's signature health care law.

Republicans are still bent on repealing the law, but now millions more Americans have a stake in Obamacare's survival.

On Tuesday, the president marked the comeback. "The bottom line is this: Under this law, the share of Americans with insurance is up, and the growth of health care costs is down, and that's good for our middle-class and that's good for our fiscal future," he said.

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We don't yet know how many of the new enrollees were previously uninsured, but multiple surveys show that overall insurance coverage is on the rise. Even before the surge in sign-ups over the last few weeks, Sharon Long of the Urban Institute estimated nearly 5.5 million people had gained coverage through private insurance or programs such as Medicaid.

"Insurance coverage is going up," Long says. "There may well be some people who've lost coverage. But the number of people who've gained coverage swamps that effect."

That doesn't mean the controversial health care law is out of the woods. Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, says the real test is still to come, as people go to the doctor, make their co-pays, and decide whether the coverage is a good deal or not.

"When you look at the policies, there's no question but that the winners will vastly outnumber the losers," Altman says. "But we've also learned over the last year that it just takes a small number of people who view themselves as losers to make trouble for the law politically."

Indeed, Republican critics like Wyoming Sen. John Barasso continue to highlight the stories of people who've been hurt by the health care law.

"People paying more in premiums, people losing their doctors, not having access to the hospitals in their community, higher co-pay, higher deductibles," Barasso said. "That's what the American people are facing."

Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana offered his own, alternative health care plan this week, at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. Jindal suggests offering vouchers as a substitute for Medicare and a tax break for those who buy health insurance on their own. He also wants to let the states decide how to protect people with pre-existing conditions.

"The Republican Party needs to be more than the party of no," Jindal said. "We have to have solutions. We talk about the need to repeal Obamacare and I think that's absolutely right."

But Democratic pollster Geoff Garin says repeal has just gotten more difficult. While polls show less than half the country approves of Obamacare, attitudes towards it have improved somewhat. Garin says we may have reached an "inflection point."

"I think the tables may have turned a little bit as more and more people feel they have a stake in the Affordable Care Act and who really don't want the Republicans to be taking away new rights and new benefits that they're enjoying because of the law."

Insurance companies will soon be deciding how much to charge for next year's coverage. The late surge in customers may help to limit price hikes, and perhaps boost competition. But there's likely to be wide variation around the country, and people in some areas may see much bigger increases than others.

Outgoing KCC head says state needs low-income plan

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Whenever the Kansas Corporation Commission was hearing a rate case, people would tell him that they couldn't afford to pay any more for energy, Commissioner Thomas Wright said.

They were telling the truth, but he and the other two commissioners couldn't do much about it, he said.

Wright, who has been on the commission since 2007, is nearing the end of his second term and sat down with The Topeka Capital-Journal to discuss the challenges and achievements of his tenure. Gov. Sam Brownback has appointed Sen. Pat Apple, R-Louisburg, to succeed Wright at the KCC, subject to Senate confirmation.

Successes the KCC enjoyed in that time included introducing replacing massive piles of data with electronic forms of information in hearings and helping to integrate Kansas with the Southwest Power Pool, which allows states to share the cost of transmission infrastructure, Wright said. In the most recent years of his tenure, however, he said he realized they needed to tackle the problem of rising utility costs for low-income people.

About 19,591 Topeka households, or 25.7 percent of the total, have incomes of $30,000 or less, Wright said. About 5,652 of those households have been identified as having low efficiency, based on how much they spend on their annual electric bill compared to the average low-income household.

Those households are particularly vulnerable to increases in energy prices because they can't afford to pay for upgrades like insulation that would reduce how much energy they use, Wright said.

"In the future I can't see how we don't address this," he said.

The simplest way to lower costs for low-income people would be to charge them a lower rate, or to add a tariff to customers' bills to benefit those who can't afford to pay — but neither of those methods would pass constitutional muster, Wright said. That leaves energy efficiency as one of the few remaining tools, he said.

"You can't subsidize one class of ratepayers by another class," he said.

The U.S. Department of Energy appropriates about $6 million for weatherization programs in Kansas annually, Wright said, but that doesn't go far toward addressing the number of households in need to help.

"$6 million throughout the state of Kansas isn't going to get us anywhere," he said.

The problem goes beyond the low-income households who aren't able to pay their bills, Wright said. Though their electric or gas provider can shut off service after the cold weather rule expires on March 31, they spread the cost of unpaid bills to their other customers, he said. Administrative costs also go up because the companies have to pay someone to shut off service and use staff time trying to set up payment plans for families that can't keep up with their bills.

"People who are in this category accumulate debts (for utilities) they can never pay," he said.

Kansas needs to create an organizational system that brings all of the groups working on energy costs for low-income people together, Wright said. While the KCC can't order utility companies to do weatherization for low-income people, it can provide incentives to encourage them to work with nonprofits and government agencies, he said.

"If they were coordinated they could get a lot more bang for their buck," he said.

---

Information from: The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal, http://bit.ly/1hmvQvP

AP KANSAS PANORAMA

Recreational hog hunting popularity soaring

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- A quick tap on the roof of the electric hunting cart and the pop of two rifle shots and Jody Greene and Jeff Goeggle have taken down their first hog of the night.

It's one of hundreds they will kill this year; they bagged 420 last year.

Goeggle's tap on the roof of the cart signals he has spotted a hog, and he and Greene both shoot to ensure one of them hits the animal. It's a routine they'll repeat during approximately 200 hunts in 2014.

You might call them hog wild, but they are just two of many local hunters who are part of a national trend of recreational hog hunting that's popularity has soared in recent years.

Goeggle and Greene, who run Double G Hog Control in Monterey with Greene's wife, Tracy, have hunted hogs together for nearly three years for farmers and landowners who have problems with wild hogs rooting up their property.

While they are happy to be of service to those whose land or crops are overrun by hogs, Goeggle and Greene enjoy hog hunting and don't charge for their services. The hunters generally stop at gas stations or other places after hunts and give away the hogs.

The network of farmers and friends they've created provides them with 150,000 acres in Mississippi and Louisiana to hunt anytime they want.

"It's fun to do, and it's challenging," Greene said. "It's something I can do with my family and friends, and it's pretty exciting out there at night."

Greene and Goeggle hunt during the day and also at night using night-vision goggles and thermal scopes.

"The thermals pick up heat, and there's no way they can hide from them," Greene said.

Goeggle and Greene have developed a system involving teamwork to effectively hunt hogs at night.

Goeggle rides on the back of a Polaris hunting cart scanning the horizon through his thermal scope before moving his eyes to the farmland, looking for signs of rooting or a bright white spot, indicating heat from an animal.

When he spots something, Goeggle taps on the roof of the cart and gives Greene — who's wearing the night-vision goggles — directions to the animal.

Sometimes it's an armadillo, a deer, maybe even a bear. But if it is a hog or a group of hogs, called a sounder, Goeggle and Greene determine who takes the first shot, and then a second shot from the other hunter follows to ensure a kill.

Goeggle and Greene don't want to give away all their secrets, but they say it takes perseverance and perfected techniques to hunt hogs.

Hogs are highly intelligent and thrive in a variety of climates and conditions, which Greene and Goeggle say means they can be run off one spot only to pop up in another.

The surge in popularity of wild hog hunting locally follows a national trend of hunting hogs recreationally.

Some would argue the increased popularity of hog hunting came as a response to farmland and other property becoming overrun with wild hogs.

Others, like Mississippi State extension associate Bill Hamrick, say the translocation and release of wild hogs for hunting is largely responsible for the pervasiveness of wild hogs, which number in the millions around the country.

"There have always been some pockets of them around, but it seems like in the past 10 years, it's really gotten worse," Hamrick said.

Wild hogs are considered nuisance animals in Mississippi and Louisiana and have looser regulations than traditional game.

Landowners and leaseholders — and any hunter with the landowner or leaseholder's written permission — may hunt nuisance animals year-round at any time of day or night with no caliber restrictions on the lands they own or lease in Mississippi.

In Louisiana, wild hogs can be hunted year-round during the day. Nighttime wild hog hunting is allowed March 1-Aug. 31.

Those loose regulations — compared to regulations on other game — are one of the main appeals to local

hunters who like to hunt all year and practice their shot between deer, turkey, duck and other game seasons.

Hogs are not Tres Atkins' go-to game animal, but he does hunt them to stay sharp in between seasons.

"There's no season on them, and there's no set limit, and it's something for me to do in between deer and turkey season," he said.

Hunter Billy Fitt was hunting coyotes when he came up on a group of hogs on a hunting trip years ago on Glasscock Island.

"I've been hunting them basically my whole life, but I got real serious about it probably three years ago," he said.

Fitt mainly hunts hogs using traps, occasionally with dogs.

"You have to be relentless," he said. "It's not like deer hunting. It takes a lot of time, and they go nocturnal if you pressure them. They're unpredictable, too. They can be in one spot one day and then two miles from it the next day.

"But it's a lot of fun when you get one."

Baton Rouge company wins school contract

BATON ROUGE, La. -- A Baton Rouge construction company has been awarded a $49 million to rebuild Lee High School.

The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/1dTXLIP ) the bid by Milton J. Womack Inc. won out over bids from three other companies submitted to the East Baton Rouge School Board.

The work is expected to be completed by August 2015.

Ex-Ill. casino boat fetches $600,000 at auction

WOOD RIVER, Ill. -- The former riverboat that once served as the Casino Queen along East St. Louis' riverfront is under new ownership.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1hfJXJ4) reports that federal marshals on Friday auctioned off the vessel called White Star One for $600,000.

There were 14 bids during the sale that lasted just five minutes and opened with a $200,000 bid.

Gerald Smallwood was one of the three bidders and represented a Florida man who had the winning offer. It's not immediately clear what that buyer — a former shipyard owner who owns riverfront properties in Kentucky — plans to do with the vessel.

The White Star has languished since the Casino Queen operation moved inland a few years ago.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://bit.ly/1kFiuie

Northern Va. vineyard pairs wine with music

PURCELLVILLE, Va. -- The tasting room at Stephen and Shannon Mackey's Loudoun County vineyard is every bit as quaint and cozy as one would expect to find at a local family-run winery.

There is a spacious bar for those coming to sample the vineyard's varieties, rocking chairs by a large window overlooking the vines, three young boys running outside of the farmhouse ... and Metallica blasting through the speakers.

Metallica?

"As former audio engineers, this is the coolest sound system in any winery in the world," says Stephen Mackey, owner of Notaviva Vineyards in Purcellville, Va.

After a few additional minutes of Metallica, Mackey switches the sound system to Hank Jr., Usher and organ music.

"The music is a little heavy to enjoy with a white, crisp wine," he says.

"Most people hear that organ come out and they say, 'Pour me a red!' This is not a white wine music, you know?"

This eclectic song cycle is something through which Mackey rotates frequently for Notaviva's unique offering: wine paired with music.

Skipping over more traditional pairings — say, wine and cheese — and going straight for music sounds a little unusual. But for the Mackeys, it makes perfect sense.

Stephen Mackey, originally of Sterling, and Shannon Mackey, of south Florida, both studied audio engineering technology at University of Miami.

"We both thought we wanted to work in recording studios," says Stephen Mackey, who instead worked as a live music sound engineer, touring with artists including Garth Brooks, Matchbox20, Martina McBride and Amy Grant.

In 2000, Mackey moved back to Loudoun County, and not long after, reconnected with Shannon Mackey at a friend's wedding. After spending some time at Stephen Mackey's property on Short Hill Mountain, the two decided to chase down their dream of buying land and opening a vineyard.

"The next day, I went online and I Googled, 'How do you grow grapes?'" Stephen Mackey says. "It was a complete romantic whim, a leap of faith, that 11 years later is really a dream come true, almost."

The Mackeys knew they needed to brand their vineyard in a way that set them apart from others in the area's growing wine industry. Immediately, they decided to build their brand around a passion for music.

At first, the brand started with the name of the vineyard. Mackey explains Notaviva is an aggregation of two words: nota, meaning "music note," and viva, meaning "with life."

"When I came up with the word, it was intended to convey music's impact on human emotion. Notaviva is that feeling you get when you hear your favorite song," he says.

Now, the Mackeys host an annual summer music and wine pairing at their vineyard. The event is so popular that they hope to soon offer wine and music pairings a few times a month.

Music and wine may seem like two disparate subjects, but Mackey argues they are quite similar.

"They are both subjective. They're personal. Everyone has his own favorite playlist and own favorite wine list," he says. "A good wine is a wine you like. A good song is a song you like. If it moves you, it works."

The Mackeys' pairing of wine and music is "not a marketing gimmick," Mackey says. It has been recognized and researched by others who study cross-modal perception — or the interaction between two or more senses.

A 2012 article in The Economist shares the findings of researchers from Oxford University who explored the connections of smells and sounds with volunteer subjects.

The researchers found sweet and sour smells were associated with higher-pitched sounds; smoky and woody smells were associated with lower-pitched sounds. Blackberry and raspberry smells were linked with piano; musk was coupled with brass.

"If you're smelling or tasting something, the other elements of your environment do impact that," says Mackey. "(It's) not just the food in your mouth. (It's the) other stimuli that are in that moment."

Basically, the image and the feeling music inspires enhances or diminishes the taste of what you're drinking. As Mackey says, your environment sets the "vibe."

"Our tank-fermented viognier is best paired with acoustic guitar rock. We think of that as our 'party on the patio' wine. So, it's not necessarily about picking a song; it's about picking a vibe."

Mackey describes his cabernet franc as a great "book-by-the-fire wine."

"Because it's a medium-bodied wine, it doesn't go with big, bold music. It goes with more of a chamber-music kind of a vibe."

However, his favorite moment is when the vineyard's customers challenge him. One recently told him Notaviva's cabernet franc is best paired with the blues.

"If you think it goes with the blues, then please drink it with the blues. We just want you to enjoy it and be open to that idea," he says.

The wine and music pairing at Notaviva is similar to a blind taste test.

Mackey pours one of the vineyard's varieties into a glass and plays eight recordings on the stereo. A playlist might include everything from Journey to classical music and, yes, Metallica.

Each participant then rates how the wine tastes with each song.

"It's subjective, it's unique and it's really personable," Mackey says.

Then, Mackey collates the data, shares it with participants and publishes it on Notaviva's website.

At a previous year's event, Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why" swept the viognier category and B.B. King's "The Thrill is Gone" dominated the cabernet franc.

But music at Notaviva doesn't stop with the annual pairing event. The Mackeys incorporate it in any way they can — from violins as decorations to live music performances on peak weekends.

Recently, the duo announced the launch of a full recording studio at Notaviva, complete with a production, mixing and mastering room.

"It was never just about selling wine," Mackey says. "Notaviva Vineyards is now Loudoun County's largest recording studio."

Mackey just finished recording and producing a few tracks for local singer/songwriter Crys Matthews, and hopes other locals follow suit.

"The idea of Notaviva Vineyards was to foster creativity, to encourage the arts, to encourage culture . It was never about watching wine coming off of a conveyor belt. That sounds like a job."

Pieces fall in place for big Tetris game in Philly

PHILADELPHIA -- Hundreds of Tetris fans are expected to gather in Philadelphia to play the classic video game on the face of a skyscraper.

Images of supersized shapes are set to fall Saturday evening on the 29-story Cira (SEAR'-uh) Centre. The building has hundreds of LED lights embedded in its facade.

The gigantic game will help kick off an event called Philly Tech Week. It also celebrates the upcoming 30th anniversary of Tetris, which was created by a Russian computer programmer.

Drexel University professor Frank Lee oversaw development of the Philadelphia display. Last year, he created the world's largest game of Pong on the same skyscraper.

It's not the first time Tetris has been played on a building, but this could be the biggest version yet.