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AG will seek execution date in SD guard killing
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says he will seek a new execution date for Eric Robert, now that the state Supreme Court has upheld Robert's death sentence for the killing of a prison guard.
• Jackley says a circuit judge is likely to set Robert's execution date for about three or four months from now. The attorney general says the death sentence is justified because the killing of prison guard Ron Johnson was a brutal and horrific crime.
• Robert pleaded guilty to killing Johnson and asked to be executed, but the Supreme Court had to conduct a mandatory review to make sure the sentence was proper.
• Robert's lawyer, Mark Kadi (KAY-dee), says Robert seems relieved by the court's decision. He says Robert believes the execution should take place soon.
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Drought slows economy in Midwest, Western states
• OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- The rural economy is sputtering in 10 Midwest and Great Plains states as farmers try to cope with this summer's severe drought, according to the newest monthly survey of bankers released Thursday.
• The Rural Mainstreet Index slipped to 47.1 this month, its lowest level since April 2009 and the second straight month of negative growth. Any score below 50 on the 1-to-100 index suggests that the economy will contract in months ahead.
• The index fell from 47.9 in July and 56.7 in June.
• Nearly one-third of the bankers reported that the drought had hurt businesses in their areas in August. The results were compiled from rural areas of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
• "The drought is dampening economic activity across the region," said Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who helped conduct the survey. "Companies with close ties to the farm, such as ethanol, and agriculture equipment sellers are experiencing pullbacks in growth. I expect food processors to take a hit later in the year as higher food prices work their way through the system."
• Jim Eckert, president of Anchor State Bank in Anchor, Ill., blamed the slowdown on lingering fears over regulations from Washington.
• "Uncertainty over future tax policy and the costs of Obama Care have many of our farm and commercial customers sitting on the sidelines in borrowing and hiring (Continued on page 28)
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