Georgia’s new “super speeder law,” which went into effect Jan. 1, applies to motorists convicted of driving 85 miles per hour or faster on a multi-lane road or interstate, or 75 miles per hour or faster on a two-lane road.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has said fines collected under the new law could generate $23 million annually for the state’s coffers, and other estimates run as high as $30 million. But at least one Middle Georgia sheriff claims it’s going to create a hardship for the poor.

Emanuel County Sheriff J. Tyson Stephens, a past president of the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, says the new law amounts to yet another tax on citizens, one that will disproportionately deplete the pockets of the poor and lower middle-class.

“Let’s say you have a single mother who’s trying to get about and get her kids to day care and school and herself to work, and she slips up and has a ticket,” explains Stephens. “She pays that fine with her local jurisdiction, and then it goes to Driver Services, and they send her a notice sometime later she’s being assessed $200 on [her] super speeder violation, and we are talking about someone who could barely pay the first fine.

“So now she has to decide, does she pay the $200 to the state or does she feed her children that week? Obviously, she’s going to have to choose the rent and food over the super speeder law. Next thing you know, her insurance is canceled. It’s a domino effect, and I don’t see the need for it.”

Stephens’ assessment of how the law works is correct. After a conviction is processed through the appropriate court, word is sent to the Georgia Department of Driver Services. The offender is then notified she has to pay $200—the super speeder fine, in addition to her original fine—within 90 days, or her license is suspended. If the license is suspended, the offender must fork over $250 to get it back.    

Oregon on Friday became the 12th state to ban the disposal of certain electronics into landfills.

The second phase of the state's electronics recycling law makes it illegal to trash televisions, computers and monitors and could lead to a $500 fine.

Oregon's e-cycle law was passed in 2007 to slow electronics waste and the toxins released as they break down.

The first phase was launched a year ago and required electronics manufacturers to pay for a permanent statewide program with free, convenient recycling.

In the first eight months, Oregon collected more than 14.3 million pounds of TVs, computers and monitors.

The parents who pulled the balloon boy hoax in hopes of landing a reality TV show were sentenced to jail Wednesday — 90 days for him, 20 days for her — and barred from profiting from their newfound celebrity status for the next four years.

Choking back tears, Richard Heene apologized in court for the frenzy he caused when he claimed his 6-year-old son Falcon had floated away in a giant helium balloon shaped like a flying saucer.

"I'm very, very sorry. And I want to apologize to all the rescue workers out there, and the people that got involved in the community," said the 48-year-old Heene, a UFO-obsessed backyard scientist who turned to storm-chasing and reality TV after his Hollywood acting career bombed.

The sentencing was the culmination of a saga that transfixed the nation in October with the sight of the silvery balloon hurtling through the sky on live television. In the end, it was all a publicity stunt by a family broke and desperate for attention and money after networks kept rejecting their reality TV show pitches.

Karen Cunagin Sypher's attorney, James Earhart, entered the not guilty plea Tuesday, a month after a federal grand jury handed up a second indictment against her.

The new charges stem from a police report Sypher filed accusing Pitino of raping her. The FBI, Louisville police and prosecutors have said there was no basis for her rape allegations.

Sypher entered not guilty pleas in May to charges of trying to extort money from Pitino and lying to the FBI. She is accused of demanding college tuition for her children, her house to be paid off and $10 million.

A lawyer for a Las Vegas woman is calling for criminal charges against hospital officials who he says ignored his client in the emergency room so long that she went home and gave birth to a premature baby who died.

Attorney Jacob Hafter on Tuesday accused University Medical Center administrators and nursing officials of criminal neglect for failing to treat 25-year-old Roshunda Abney. He also accused them of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Abney's premature daughter.

Hafter says he doesn't trust the Clark County district attorney to prosecute because the public hospital is owned by the county.

There was no immediate response Tuesday from state Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto.

A UMC spokesman says the hospital is investigating the Nov. 30 incident, and cooperating with ongoing probes by outside agencies.

Michigan asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to sever a century-old connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system to prevent Asian carp from invading the lakes and endangering their $7 billion fishery.

State Attorney General Mike Cox filed a lawsuit with the nation's highest court against Illinois, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. They operate canals and other waterways that open into Lake Michigan.

Bighead and silver carp from Asia have been detected in those waterways after migrating north in the Mississippi and Illinois rivers for decades.

Officials poisoned a section of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal this month to prevent the carp from getting closer to Lake Michigan while an electrical barrier was taken down for maintenance.

But scientists say DNA found north of the barrier suggest at least some of the carp have gotten through and may be within 6 miles of Lake Michigan. If so, the only other obstacle between them and the lake are shipping locks and gates, which open frequently to grant passage for cargo vessels.

The lawsuit asks for the locks and waterways to be closed immediately as a stopgap measure, echoing a call by 50 members of Congress and environmental groups last week. But the suit goes further, also requesting a permanent separation between the carp-infested waters and the lakes.

The Manhattan federal appeals court on Wednesday reissued its decision upholding the conviction of ex-lawyer Lynne Stewart, saying it has serious doubts whether her sentence of two years and four months is reasonable.

The 70-year-old Stewart was locked up last month after the court said she should begin serving the penalty for her 2005 conviction on charges she let a jailed Egyptian terrorism client's messages reach his followers. The court also directed she be resentenced.

A defense lawyer for Stewart hasn't returned a telephone call from The Associated Press seeking comment. Prosecutors won't comment.