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CHICAGO — The state wants to borrow up to $1.4 billion to help pay unpaid bills, even as the federal government approved sending more than $775 million a year over the next five years to help care for Medicaid patients.

The short-term borrowing means businesses waiting months to be paid should get at least some of their money soon.

But the state is just exchanging one kind of debt for another. It will have to pay off the $1.4 billion loan by the end of the fiscal year in June 2009. Given the state's $2 billion budget deficit and a faltering economy, it's not clear where Illinois government will find the money.

"We're running into a dollar crunch," Katie Ridgway, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, said Thursday.

MUNCIE — Actor Erik Estrada has returned to Muncie to take part in overnight police patrols in the city where he starred in the short-lived reality series "Armed & Famous."

The former star of the 1970s motorcycle cop drama "CHiPs" is a reserve officer on the Muncie Police Department.

The 60-year-old actor planned to work the midnight shift for three nights last week, patrolling city streets from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

He took target practice at the police gun range on Wednesday. On Saturday, he planned to help officers at a charity event.

Estrada taped "Armed & Famous" for CBS in Muncie in the winter of 2006-07. He and several other celebrities patrolled the city as reserve officers.

He also returned to Muncie last winter to keep up his reserve officer status.

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids City Council member has proposed a 2 percent sales-tax increase for two years to help pay for flood relief.

Justin Shields last week urged his colleagues to back the emergency local option sales tax to help flood victims.

Other members of the council and Mayor Kay Halloran said they are ready to talk about the idea.

Voters would have to approve the local-option sales tax. Among the City Council's list of requests of state lawmakers is to let cities approve such a tax without a vote.

Officials say the proposed tax increase would generate an estimated $23 million per year for the city.

WICHITA — As the recession deepens, people are buying less expensive cuts of beef like hamburger and chuck, an industry analyst told the Kansas Livestock Association.

Per-capita consumption of chuck was up 10 percent, while consumption of more expensive loin was down 7 percent so far this year, statistics show.

Hundreds of cattlemen gathered here for the group's annual convention amid profit losses and fears over a global credit crisis and concerns about stricter environmental regulation under the Obama administration.

"Costs have increased so much there is no profitability for any livestock segment — every livestock segment has lost money," said CattleFax analyst Randy Blach.

Those losses are reflected in per-capita meat consumption — an industry measure of available meat supplies — that has now dropped to its lowest levels since 1982.

LANSING — Legislation passed by the Michigan House would prohibit motorists from text-messaging while driving except when reporting accidents or crimes.

Supporters say the measure passed by a 68-32 vote Thursday is aimed at improving safety on Michigan roadways.

But it ran into opposition from some lawmakers who contend that it infringes on personal freedom.

The legislation passed by the Democratic-led House now goes to the Republican-led Senate.

The bill would allow text-messaging on cell phones or other devices only to report a traffic accident, road hazard, crime or medical emergency.

The legislation would not affect the use of GPS navigation devices.

A bill that would have banned talking on hand-held cell phones while driving failed to pass the House.

ST. CLOUD — Retired Stearns County District Court Judge Bernard Boland is heading to Afghanistan later this month as part of a confidential U.S. government project.

He says he'll spend two months in Afghanistan in a judicial capacity, but specifics about his role are confidential.

Boland retired full-time service as a judge in 2006 after 23 years on the bench.

He says it's likely that he could return to Afghanistan for several months in 2009 and possibly 2010 if the project endures.

It's not the first time Boland has worked in another country. From July 2003 to July 2004, he spent time in Sarajevo helping to set up a Western-style legal system.

WASHINGTON — Missouri is getting three new community-based clinics for military veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to open clinics next year in Excelsior Springs, located in northwest Missouri, and in the Bootheel town of Sikeston. A clinic in Sedalia is scheduled to open in 2010.

In a statement Thursday, Republican Sen. Kit Bond said the clinics "will make it easier for Missouri veterans to receive the health care they need."

Community-based clinics generally serve military veterans in rural areas. They offer comprehensive primary care, routine and urgent-care procedures and education.

The clinics also provide mental health services, including counseling and substance abuse treatment.

LINCOLN — Polka is alive and well at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

John Sens, a senior environment-agricultural sciences and natural resources major at UNL, started the band Less Talk More Polka last spring.

"We're a group of students who want to have fun together playing music," Sens said. "We play mostly standards with a few original songs as well."

The group has nine members, includes clarinet, trumpet and saxophone, and is open to all students.

"We have about 50 songs that we know," Sens said.

Doug Bogatz, a senior music education major, joined the group as a way to relax from his studies.

"Being a music major is pretty serious business," Bogatz said. "It's nice to just play for fun."

The band generally plays polka standards, and most of the music is from the library of Craig Fuller, senior lecturer at the School of Music, Bogatz said.

BISMARCK — Delta Airlines President Ed Bastian says Delta will be expanding service in Bismarck and Fargo, with daily flights to Salt Lake City beginning in June.

Bastian says the Salt Lake City hub will open up to North Dakota travelers 27 other destinations to which the airline flies.

Bastian made the announcement Thursday in Bismarck at a meeting hosted by North Dakota U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, a Democrat, who had earlier asked that the airline consider establishing direct service between North Dakota and Salt Lake City.

PIERRE — The birthrate in South Dakota last year was the highest in 20 years.

Statistics from the state Health Department show there were 12,253 resident live births in 2007, for a birthrate of 16.2 per 1,000 population. That's up from 11,914 births and a rate of 15.8 per 1,000 in 2006.

There were 79 infant deaths in 2007, compared with 82 in 2006.

The department also reported a 2007 teen birthrate of 18 per 1,000 teen females, an increase from 17.2 in 2006.

MADISON — The Wisconsin Better Business Bureau is urging consumers to be skeptical of e-mails that look like they're from legitimate shipping companies.

The agency says a new string of phishing e-mails is making the rounds this holiday season.

Phishing is an online scam where hackers create valid-looking e-mails, usually to trick recipients into revealing private information.

The bureau warns of recent phishing e-mails that appear to come from shippers including FedEx, UPS and Wal-Mart.

The subject line suggests there was a problem with a delivery and the recipient should open an attachment for further instructions. The attachment contains a computer virus.

Other false e-mails look like surveys or e-cards.

YARMOUTH, Nova Scotia — Nova Scotia lobster is retailing for as little as $3.87 a pound in some Massachusetts fish markets, according to a Boston wholesaler.

Supermarkets will sell for slightly higher than fish marts on Cape Cod, said Neil Zarella of the Boston Lobster Co.

He said he sympathized with Nova Scotia fishermen who staged a 48-hour work stoppage last week in a bid to reduce supply of their product. Nova Scotia fishermen are making about $3.19 per pound for their lobster. They returned to their boats Wednesday to resume fishing.

"Who can blame them? I wouldn't want to fish for that price either, but the fact of the matter is it may come down to where they can't fish at all if they can't sell them," Zarella said. "There's times this (past) fall, where in Maine, the boats stayed tied up because there was no market for (their lobster)."