WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Surface Transportation Board (STB) last week rejected Great Lakes Basin Transportation, Inc.’s (GLBT) application to build and operate a 261-mile freight-rail line in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Progressive Railroading reported in its ruling, the STB said it rejected GLBT’s application because the company failed to provide the board with “accurate financial information” the board needed to determine whether the proposed project had merit.

By rejecting the application, the STB also discontinued the project’s environmental review process.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A northern Iowa agricultural products salesman has been imprisoned for mail fraud and must pay restitution of more than $318,000.

Court records say a U.S. district judge in Cedar Rapids sentenced Richard Wubben, of Buffalo Center, on August 30 to 30 months behind bars and three years of supervised release after he leaves prison. He pled guilty in April.

Prosecutors say Wubben sold seeds, farm chemicals and other agriculture products for Titan Pro, of Clear Lake, from October 2014 to Dec. 8, 2015, but didn’t turn over some money that customers paid.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Nearly 1,800 temporary work visas have been certified in Illinois so far this fiscal year.

Most of the Illinois visas went to labor-intensive fruit and vegetable farms, the Chicago Tribune reported. There’s no cap on the number of visas that can be issued. The U.S. Department of Labor issued nearly 166,000 temporary visas in 2016. The visas more than doubled from the number five years ago.

Temporary visa workers are required to be paid a government-set wage that won’t adversely affect U.S. workers. Those workers are generally paid $13 an hour, higher than the state’s $8.25 minimum wage.

Republican lawmakers have introduced proposals to make the program cheaper and easier for employers to hire temporary foreign workers. The proposed changes to the program include cutting wages, reducing domestic recruiting requirements and allowing year-round visas for dairy and livestock workers.

Labor advocates, including Farmworker Justice, have opposed most of the Republican measures. But some farmers are pleased with a bill that will be introduced by Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia that seeks to replace the visa program.

Under Goodlatte’s proposal, seasonal workers with temporary visas would be able to stay in the United States for 18 months and year-round workers would be able to stay 36 months. Democrats are pushing for proposals that offer “blue cards” to visa workers who have worked in agriculture consistently for two years, which would give them legal status.

NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) — The Deep South’s nastiest soybean pest is marching north, and Mississippi and Arkansas are facing their worst invasion ever.

Two warm winters followed by this year’s warm spring have let invasive red-banded stinkbugs spread well beyond south Louisiana, where they’ve been prevalent since 2000. It’s much worse than 2009, the last time the insects were a big problem in Mississippi and Arkansas, experts say.

“There are huge numbers,” said Gus Lorenz, an entomologist with the University of Arkansas extension service in Lonoke. For instance, he said “there were so many they had to quit harvesting” Aug. 20 in Lake Village. So many bugs were getting into the combine that grain elevators would have rejected the loads as contaminated with foreign matter, he said.

“We’re finding it close to the Tennessee line,” though in smaller numbers that far north than in central and south Mississippi, said Angus Catchot, an entomologist with the Mississippi State University extension service in Starkville.

Jeff Davis, an associate professor of entomology at the Louisiana State University AgCenter, said the 2009 infestation didn’t continue into 2010 because a cold winter and spring killed many of the bugs, which are neotropical critters from South America.

Red-banded stink bugs are smaller but can do more damage than their native cousins. “Their piercing, sucking mouthparts can go farther, deeper into seeds and into the pod wall,” said Davis.

They can also expand them into wider tubes than the local brown, green and southern green stink bugs do, slurping up more at a time. And they seem to have more aggressive enzymes in their saliva, too.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Actor Johnny Depp’s Kentucky horse farm will be sold at auction this month.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported the 41-acre Lexington property that includes a 6,000 square-foot brick house, a guesthouse and three barns will be sold at an auction conducted by the Halfhill Auction Group on Sept. 15. The group hasn’t revealed the minimum price that would be accepted.

The farm was initially listed for sale in December 2016 at $3.4 million, which was later dropped to $2.9 million. Rector-Hayden Realtors’ Gary Denton said there were three offers, but none ended in a sale. County officials have assessed the fair cash value of the farm at $2.3 million.

Depp is a Kentucky native. He purchased the farm in 1995, sold it in 2001 and bought it back in 2005.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The Waterloo City Council has eased administrative procedures for people who want to keep chickens, goats and other traditional farm animals in their backyards.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the council last week approved an ordinance that lets residents avoid appearances before the city Board of Adjustment. To do so, the residents must have enough fenced backyard space and petitions of support signed by all abutting property owners and 60 percent of those within 250 feet.

The ordinance lets a resident with at least 10,000 square feet of fenced backyard to keep up to two small animals, such as chickens, geese, rabbits and minks. Another small animal is allowed for each additional 2,500 square feet of fenced yard, to a maximum of eight animals.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky State Fair drew more than 609,000 visitors during an 11-day run, exceeding last year’s attendance by more than 44,000.

Fair organizers credited good weather and new attractions for the bump in attendance. They say the fair also had record-breaking traffic on social media, with 13 million impressions and a 100 percent increase in fans on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. More than 230,000 visited the website during the fair.

Farm contestants broke records this year in largest pumpkin and watermelon. Prestonsburg’s Dwight Slone grew a 1,223-pound pumpkin and Frank Mudd of Flaherty turned in a 296-pound watermelon.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) — Five members of the Busch family say they will purchase Grant’s Farm and keep the St. Louis County attraction free and open to the public.

The announcement last week ends a two-year dispute among siblings of the family that founded the Anheuser- Busch brewery. The sale price was not disclosed.

Four of the six siblings banded together and wanted to buy Grant’s Farm. Their brother, Kraftig owner Billy Busch, also wanted to buy it, with plans to build a brewery on site. He had the support of one brother.

A judge gave trust manager Wells Fargo power to decide on the sale. Billy Busch says in a statement he is happy that Grant’s farm will remain with the family. He has the option of buying in with his siblings.