NewsWatch: Bloodhound, Smart Meter Plan, DWI Offenders, Addict Caravan, 911 Dispatch Consolidation

Arizona Electricity Regulator Threatens Los Angeles Power Supply
An Arizona electric-utility regulator threatened to black out Los Angeles because of that city's boycott over Arizona's immigration law, said the Arizona Republic. But that ability is not in his power. Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce, sent a letter to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday, saying that he'd "be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements so Los Angeles no longer receives any power from Arizona-based generation." Pierce wrote the letter in response to Villaraigosa's comments about the new immigration law in Arizona.

First-Time DWI Offenders in Minnesota Must Use Ignition Interlock
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a bill that requires first-time DWI offenders who registered high blood-alcohol readings when arrested to use a breath-activated ignition system to drive as part of their sentences. The measure requires first-time offenders who registered a blood-alcohol reading of twice the legal limit, or .16, to blow into the ignition interlock system. Repeat offenders also would need to use the device. Drivers ordered to use the devices would lease them for an estimated $100 a month.

County Supervisors Want Sex Offender E-Mail Warning
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has voted to establish an e-mail warning system to alert residents about registered sex offenders living in their neighborhoods, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Supervisor Bill Horn proposed the warning system Tuesday in the wake of sex offender John Albert Gardner III's admission that he raped and murdered two teenage girls. The supervisors have voted unanimously to ask staff members to develop a cost estimate for a system that allows residents to sign up for the e-mail alerts.

Flower Thief Caught by GPS
Police in Holliston, Mass., were able to track down a man who was stealing flowers from a gravesite thanks to GPS technology. According to MyFox Boston police put GPS inside a flower pot. The flowers were taken again, but this time police tracked down the alleged thief.

Official Criticized for Anonymous Website PostsNew Jersey Star-Ledger: A West Cape May, N.J., borough commissioner was criticized for posting anonymously about local politics on a newspaper website, a report in the Press of Atlantic City said. Commissioner Ramsay Geyer admitted to posting on the Cape May County Herald site about voting for a mayor, court consolidations, water-system losses and the Fire Department, according to the report.

Bloodhound Tracking Attacked as Junk Science
A K-9 unit bloodhound named Hunter used a scent from one of a victim's cell phones to lead investigators to a suspect in the 2007 murder of three college students. The testimony came despite objections of defense attorney Roy Greenman, who -- according to an article in the New Jersey Star-Ledger -- sought to exclude dog tracking as unreliable "junk science."

Smart Meter Plan Creates City Conflict
Provo Municipal Councilman Sterling Beck wants to know why the city's Energy Department was paying Veracity Networks $50,000 to install fiber-optic cable. Beck's concern? According to the

Salt Lake Tribune, The city is about to increase power rates for the first time in a generation, and he doesn't want ratepayers supporting a telecommunications company too. In response, Mayor John R. Curtis and members of the council maintained the expenditure was approved by a prior council and is part of a plan to develop "smart" electric meters.

U.S. House Passes Katie's Law to Ease DNA CollectionEl Paso Times: The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed "Katie's Law," a bill intended to help police collect DNA evidence, named for a student murdered in 2003. The law, titled the "Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2010," encourages states to collect DNA samples during arrests at the same time fingerprints are taken for certain crimes. The bill, HB4614, passed Tuesday on a vote of 357 to 32. The legislation now heads to the Senate.

City to Pass Credit Card Fees to CustomersThe State: Columbia, S.C., water customers who pay their bills online would have to pay a "convenience fee" under a proposal in the city's 2010-11 budget. It cost $1, plus 1.7 percent of the bill, for every bill paid online with a credit card. The city has been paying those fees. But as the number of online customers has increased, so has the fee. The city has spent $150,000 on the fee since July 2009, and city officials expect to spend $300,000 next budget year.

Lax Prescription Monitoring Creates "Addict Caravan"St. Petersburg Times In the past month, Cpl. P.K. Williams and two dozen other Hillsborough County, Fla., undercover officers infiltrated pain clinics. They bought prescription drugs from dozens of pain clinic patrons. The investigation revealed a subculture of people from all over the country attempting to capitalize on Florida's lax prescription drug monitoring. Florida legislators have passed a law to track prescription drug dispensing, but it is not funded. Florida is the largest of the dozen or so states without a monitoring system. And of the nation's top 100 doctors who dispense oxycodone, 92 are in Florida.

Commissioners Want Plan for 911 Dispatch Systems
St. Petersburg Times: Pasco County, Fla., inched closer toward overhauling its disjointed emergency dispatch system as commissioners on Tuesday directed administrators to come back with a consolidation proposal. Commissioners got nods of interest from the heads of county and municipal law enforcement, and fire-rescue agencies to keep studying whether to consolidate the county and city systems -- not exactly hearty endorsements, but commissioners were taking what they could get.