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CHICAGO — The bathroom tiles are recycled wine bottles. The hardwood floors are bamboo. And the sprawling garden gets sprinkled with rainwater collected in 300-gallon barrels.

From its recycled-plastic deck to its solar-paneled roof, everything in and about the 2,500-square-foot home on exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry has a green story — with the goal of showing people how easy it can be to incorporate environmental sustainability into their own homes.

"Green should be for everyone," said Michelle Kaufmann, the Oakland, Calif.-based architect who designed the SmartHome. "If it's only for a few, what's the point?"

It appears the public is catching on.

Green building is expected to represent 6 percent of the residential-construction industry in 2008, according to a survey conducted by McGraw-Hill Construction Research & Analytics for the U.S. Green Building Council. In 2005, about 2 percent of new residential construction was considered "green."

Green housing is growing even while the overall housing market is suffering, said Nate Kredich, the council's vice president for residential-market development.

ANDERSON — A bus driver and his bride tied the knot in front of a trolley at the city's bus terminal — but they didn't tie up traffic.

The 15-minute ceremony Thursday for Steve Sells, 51, and Joetta Deck, 47, delayed the trolley route by less than three minutes.

Sells is a driver for the City of Anderson Transit System, and Deck regularly rode the bus with him. The couple originally planned to get married in Brown County in June, but Deck's father became ill and they postponed the ceremony.

The couple later decided to get married in front of the electric trolley.

"It's something different," the bride said.

The couple said their vows as they stood near the crowd of family and friends — and bus engines — in Western-themed clothing.

Deck wore a white lace dress and a white cowboy hat.

"We just want to get it done and get it over with," Sells said.

CLEAR LAKE — An increase in carp is causing a smelly problem for some Clear Lake residents.

This year's wet weather has caused more water to flow from the lake into Clear Creek, and that has pushed more carp into the stream.

The carp are so plentiful that people are using bows and arrows, spears and even their bare hands to catch them. That's legal, but often the fish are then being left on the shore to rot. That's littering and not legal.

The stench has become annoying to more responsible anglers and residents.

"You can hardly walk around there because of the smell," said Tammy Boeshart, who has lived along Clear Creek for 27 years. "It's not the kids that go in with their little fishing poles to have fun. It's the ones who are there with their bows and take the sport out of fishing."

TOPEKA — Gov. Kathleen Sebelius says she's not pushing for large cuts in spending on higher education.

She said recent requests to state universities have been described inaccurately as directions to cut spending by 7 percent over the next two years.

One University of Kansas official said this week that it could be forced to cut programs for students.

Sebelius told reporters Friday: "I hope they will calm down."

She has asked state agencies to reduce the spending they've been allocated for the current fiscal year by 2 percent.

But she said it's part of the normal budgeting process to ask agencies to submit proposals for reduced, flat and increased spending.

She said she remains committed to preserving services for students.

HOMER — Two Michigan sisters surprised hospital staffers and themselves by giving birth to daughters on the same day.

The Hillsdale Daily News reports Sarah Sweeter made the trip from Kalamazoo to be with her sister Deborah Lewis in Homer for the birth of her niece on Wednesday.

Sweeter wasn't due for at least a week, but 13 hours after Lewis gave birth to her daughter, Ariel, Sweeter had her own daughter, whom she named Wednesday.

Sweeter says it was nice sharing the experience with her sister and being just down the hall from her.

BLOOMINGTON — The Bloomington Planning Commission says no to SuperTarget.

After more than three hours of debate Thursday night, the commission voted down a proposed SuperTarget grocery and department store at the corner of Normandale Boulevard and Old Shakopee Road.

Hundreds of people concerned about traffic turned out for the meeting.

The city staff released a report last week saying the SuperTarget would increase traffic and weaken other nearby retail areas.

Target has offered to pay for road improvements to ease traffic problems.

The proposed zoning change now goes to the Bloomington City Council, which can either uphold or overrule the commission's decision. The council will take up the issue Aug. 18.

FESTUS — State regulators have approved a mining permit for a limestone quarry to be built next to a Lake of the Ozarks sewage treatment plant.

The state Land Reclamation Commission, a part of the Department of Natural Resources, on Thursday voted in favor of Magruder Limestone's proposed new mine near U.S. 54 and the Osage River bridge.

The quarry lies next to a joint treatment plant that serves the cities of Osage Beach and Lake Ozark.

Project opponents urged the state to reject the mining permit, from fear that frequent blasting and heavy truck traffic on the gravel road leading to the mine could damage treatment tanks and water lines. The also feared it could threaten the lake, a popular summer vacation spot.

The commission placed several stipulations on the permit, including a limit on the amount of land the company can mine on its 205 acres. The company expects to begin mining operations within the next month.

NORTH PLATTE — Experts say a grasshopper infestation is spreading from western Nebraska's pastureland into crops like soybeans, corn and alfalfa.

Researchers with the West Central Research and Extension Center in North Platte are telling producers that now is the time to spray for the insects.

Grasshoppers have been a pest in western Nebraska's pastureland for the last decade, but now seem to be causing significant damage to row crops.

David Boxler, a research technologist with the center, says producers should prepare to spray now, before the insects make it to their adult stage. Boxler says once the grasshoppers are winged, "it's very difficult to apply a treatment and very costly."

BRECKSVILLE — It was Roto-Rooter to the rescue for an unlucky black kitten that got stuck in an outdoor drainage pipe near Cleveland.

The plumbing and drain service was called in Friday by workers at an Ohio firm. Someone spotted the kitten down an outside pipe, but other agencies either declined to help or didn't answer their phones.

Enter Roto-Rooter.

A crew used a drain snake equipped with a remote camera to keep the scared kitty in its sights. It took six hours to rescue the cat.

The kitten was examined by a vet and then taken home by Larry Ozanick, one of the rescuers.

He says he plans to name the kitten "Roto."

BISMARCK — The number of homes found damaged or destroyed in tornado-ravaged Rolette County continues to rise.

The state Department of Emergency Services says 12 homes were destroyed and 18 damaged in Rolla from the July 7 tornado.

The agency says 47 homes were damaged and eight were destroyed in the Belcourt area.

Cecily Fong, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Emergency Services, says dozens of people have moved in to temporary housing, or with friends and relatives.

She says federal representatives continue to tally the damage and assess the need for permanent housing.

RAPID CITY — Rain and a good grass cover could delay or hinder a state program to poison prairie dogs that move from infested public land to private ranches, a state official said.

But Mike Kintigh also said the spread of plague among prairie dogs in heavily infested parts of the Conata Basin south of Wall could cut numbers enough to reduce the need for state control in some areas.

"In those areas that are plagued out, I'd expect we won't have to go in and treat them," said Kintigh, a regional supervisor for the Department of Game, Fish and Parks in Rapid City.

"I'd expect the number of acres we treat this year would be down, both because of the plague and because of our past treatment efforts."

Federal regulations allow poisoning to begin July 1. Kintigh said the work typically starts later than that and could be delayed even more this year because of the thick grass in western South Dakota.

"When there's abundant food out there, green grass, for these prairie dogs, there's a concern they'll be less likely to pick up the bait (poisoned oats)," he said. "And we're only allowed to treat a given area once a year. So, if we go in when the grass is green, and they don't take the bait and we get a very poor kill, we'll have to sit and watch until next year."

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee man is accused of shooting his lawn mower because it wouldn't start.

Keith Walendowski has been charged with felony possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle and misdemeanor disorderly conduct while armed.

According to the criminal complaint, Walendowski says he was angry because his Lawn Boy wouldn't start Wednesday morning. He told police: "I can do that, it's my lawn mower and my yard so I can shoot it if I want."

Walendowski could face a fine of up to $11,000 and six years and three months in prison if convicted.

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia's fisheries minister called for an expanded annual seal hunt Thursday, thumbing his nose at a proposed move by the European Union to ban the import of seal products amid growing complaints from overseas that the hunt is inhumane.

Ron Chisholm said he believes the hunting methods used by Canadian hunters are humane and he encouraged Ottawa to press the European Parliament to reject the proposed ban.

Under legislation introduced Wednesday, the EU's 27-member states would ban seal products from countries where hunting practices are deemed cruel — though the proposal does not offer a definition of what constitutes inhumane treatment.

Nova Scotia does not have a big stake in the annual slaughter.

The province has a yearly quota of 12,000 grey seals, but hunters have rarely taken more than a few hundred annually.

The bulk of the hunting takes place off the north coast of Newfoundland, where about 200,000 harp seals were taken last year.

Still, Chisholm said Nova Scotian fishermen should be allowed to kill more seals because the grey seal population is growing too fast and they are eating too many fish.

Caitlyn Owens of Des Moines looks over her miniature pinschers at the Waukesha County Expo Center in Waukesha, Wis., during the 2008 Waukesha Kennel Club dog show. The show Saturday attracted breeders from all over the United States.