(AP) — A 61-year-old southeastern Michigan farmer caught growing thousands of marijuana plants has been spared prison and placed on probation by a compassionate judge who says the case “screams out” for leniency.

Edwin Schmieding was arrested two years ago after authorities found marijuana growing in his Lenawee County fields and greenhouse. His wife told police that they were trying to tap the state’s medical marijuana market.

But many plants were small and of low quality. Detroit federal Judge Bernard Friedman also was influenced Tuesday by letters from relatives and friends who said Schmieding was a selfless man who helped others at every turn.

Schmieding took responsibility for his crime but asked the judge for mercy. Schmieding is recovering from throat cancer and needs a medical procedure every three to four months.

(AP) — A White House official says President Barack Obama is telling the State Department it shouldn’t approve the Keystone XL pipeline unless it’s sure the project won’t increase greenhouse gas emissions.

Obama will make the announcement Tuesday in a speech on his climate change plan at Georgetown University. That’s according to a senior White House official, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the announcement by name ahead of Obama’s speech and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Environmental activists have been pleading with Obama not to approve the pipeline, which would carry oil extracted from tar sands in western Canada to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast. The White House has insisted the State Department is making the decision about whether the pipeline is in the national interest.

(AP) — Making technology fun. That’s the goal of so-called coding camps for kids that are becoming more popular amid an effort to expand access to computer programming and inspire more youths to seek technology careers.

Supporters of the initiative point to estimates there will be 1.4 million computing jobs by 2020 but only 400,000 computer science students by that time.

Those at iD Tech Camps, which have grown from 200 students in 1999 to 28,000 this year nationwide, use interest in gaming to build bridges to computer programing and hopefully tech careers.

At a recent forum, Code.org founder Hadi Partovi talked about his nonprofit’s push to expand programming classes in schools. He notes less than 5 percent of U.S. high school students spend time learning computer science while it’s a graduation requirement in China.

(AP) — About 500 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes in a northeast Iowa town that’s threatened by a rain-swollen creek.

The Butler County sheriff and other emergency officials are in New Hartford on Tuesday to help with the evacuation. Officials went from door to door on Monday to warn residents about the danger posed by Beaver Creek as it nears a record crest level.

New Hartford, nearly 90 miles northeast of Des Moines, was devastated in June 2008 when Beaver Creek crested at a record 16 feet.

The National Weather Service says more than 7 inches of rain fell Monday in portions of the Beaver Creek basin, ground that was already saturated. The rest of Butler County is under a flash flood watch until Wednesday morning.

(AP) — The body of a 24-year-old man presumed drowned in Lake North near Columbus has been recovered.

Officials say members of the Platte County Dive & Rescue team pulled the body of Jorge Manuel, of Madison, out of the water on Monday.

Authorities say an angler reported that the man and some relatives were on the south side of the lake when Manuel went into the water a little before 8 p.m. Saturday. He didn’t resurface.

(AP) — Thousands of customers are still without power following a thunderstorm that caused widespread damage in the Omaha area.

Omaha Public Power District said Tuesday morning that more than 10,600 of its Douglas County customers didn’t have electricity. That’s down considerably from the outage’s peak of 52,000 late Monday morning.

OPPD workers were being helped by crews from other utilities, including the Nebraska Public Power District.

Winds reaching 70 mph knocked down trees and limbs, damaging vehicles, homes, businesses and other a variety of buildings on Monday before the storm blew into Iowa.

National Weather Service forecasters are keeping an eye on a storm system that’s moving toward Omaha with winds that could reach 50 mph.

(AP) — One small rodent is getting the blame for a massive power outage in southern and eastern sections of Wichita.

Nearly 10,000 customers of Westar Energy were affected by the outage Monday afternoon.

Authorities say a squirrel crawled into equipment at a substation, causing a transformer to blow out. A fire then broke out at the substation. Firefighters were quickly able to bring it under control.

Power was restored to the Westar customers in about one hour.

(AP) — The Supreme Court says generic drug manufacturers can’t be sued in state court for a drug’s design defects if federal officials approved the brand-name version the generic drug copied.

The justices voted 5-4 to agree with generic manufacturer Mutual Pharmaceutical Co, Inc., which wanted a $21 million judgment against it dismissed.

A New Hampshire jury gave that to Karen L. Bartlett after she took sulindac, the generic form of the drug Clinoril, in 2004. It caused her outer skin layer to deteriorate and burn off, leaving at least 60 percent of her body as an open wound. She is also now legally blind.

The federal appeals courts upheld her verdict, but the justices said federal law pre-empts the New Hampshire law that allowed Bartlett’s lawsuit.

The Nebraska State Patrol in conjunction with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office took three impaired drivers off area roads during a special enforcement effort held on Saturday, June 22.

The special enforcement effort which included high visibility patrols throughout Hall County during the evening hours on Saturday, June 22, was paid for thanks in part to a more than $2,000 grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety (NOHS).

In addition to the three DWI arrests, five juveniles were cited for minor in possession of alcohol, two drivers were cited for driving under suspension, two speeding citations, six warnings were issued for seat belt violations and one citation was issued for violation of the child restraint law.

(AP) — An eastern Nebraska man has been sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay more than $18,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to a federal charge of bankruptcy fraud.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says U.S. District Court Judge John Gerrard sentenced 57-year-old Ross Boydston, of Creston, on Monday.

In March, Boydston pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud after being accused of selling livestock that had been pledged as collateral to American Mortgage Company without notifying the company of the sales and without remitting the proceeds to AMC. He also lied about the sales after filing for bankruptcy.

Besides probation, Boydston must pay restitution of $18,044.