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son was acting as a private consultant, not a public employee. Its petition said Dickson performed testing on different pathogens to study "the integrity of existing BPI patented processes" and alternatives.
• Ruigh ruled that BPI operated in an "extraordinarily competitive" business, saying its rivals had been aggressive in seeking information about its exclusive food-processing methods. Some tried to hire Dickson, who had signed nondisclosure agreements with BPI.
• The documents from Iowa State's Food Safety Research Laboratory would divulge "confidential information about BPI's food-processing methods and its development of new methods," as would related e-mail exchanges, Ruigh wrote.
• Ruigh said more than 100 Iowa State groups charge the private sector for lab services, and they produce "significant revenue" for the university while providing educational opportunities for students.
• Releasing the records "could lead to a significant reduction in the use of ISU's laboratory services by the private sector and thereby jeopardize the financial viability of the laboratories," he wrote.
• Marler said he would not fight the ruling, acknowledging the records may detail BPI's "secret formula" for using ammonia. Marler, who is defending two scientists named in BPI's defamation lawsuit, said he believes the records will have to be released during discovery in that case.
• "Now that the litigation is basically about whether the product is good, bad or indifferent, all that data is fair game," he said. "They can't hide anything."
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• RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- The spring storm pounding South Dakota is a mixed bag for the agricultural community.
• Much of the state has been mired in drought, and rancher Dave Lindblom tells KOTA-TV that producers will take all the moisture they can get.
• State Fire Meteorologist Darren Clabo also tells the Rapid City Journal that the moisture is welcome, though he says more is needed.
• On the down side of things, South Dakota State University Extension cow-calf field specialist Warren Rusche says the state's calf crop is at significant risk.
• Rusche tells the Journal that wet, cold, windy conditions are the worst kind of weather to calve in, and it doesn't take much to lose a newborn calf.
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