• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- A South Dakota jury has convicted a carnival worker from Texas accused of having crack cocaine shipped to him inside a doll last summer.
• KELO-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1m4uPP0 ) that jurors in Sioux Falls on Tuesday night convicted 55-year-old John Whitfield Jr., of Houston, of possessing drugs and paraphernalia and intending to distribute drugs. However, Judge Brad Zell reversed the conviction on the charge of intending to distribute drugs.
• Whitfield oversaw children's rides at the Sioux Empire Fair in Sioux Falls. He was arrested Aug. 3 after authorities said they intercepted a package containing the doll stuffed with 37 grams of drugs worth more than $3,000 on the street. Police say they found more drug evidence in Whitfield's truck.
• Whitfield's attorney unsuccessfully argued that her client never saw or possessed the package.
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• BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- A strong cold front bearing down on the Dakotas is expected to bring blizzard conditions to eastern North Dakota and northeastern South Dakota.
• The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for those regions for late Wednesday and Thursday. A blizzard watch is posted for north central North Dakota through the James River Valley.
• The weather service says the system will bring only about an inch of new snow, but winds gusting up to 65 mph likely will blow it around along with snow that's already on the ground, creating whiteout conditions. Forecasters say travel in some areas will become impossible at times.
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• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- State officials are meeting with a South Dakota legislative panel to discuss the condition of the state's highway system and the funding used to maintain and build the roads.
• State Transportation Secretary Darin Bergquist and Deb Hillmer of the Division of

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