In brief: Idaho delays abortion bill vote

BOISE – Senators with Friday afternoon flights opted to delay voting on a measure to require women to undergo a fetal ultrasound before terminating a pregnancy.

Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis told colleagues he’d stick with his promise of a noon adjournment.

That means debate on one of the session’s most disputed measures will be pushed back to next week.

The legislation cleared the Senate State Affairs Committee Wednesday on a 7-2 vote after hundreds packed the Capitol.

Advocates hope adding to abortion hurdles will encourage women to opt against such procedures, while foes argue it is nothing more than an intrusion into the private lives of women facing a heart-wrenching choice.

Woman sentenced for wire fraud

ST. LOUIS – An Idaho woman who defrauded egg donors in Missouri has been sentenced to probation, along with four months in a halfway house and four months of house arrest.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 32-year-old Janae Helgerson, of Boise, pleaded guilty in federal court in St. Louis in December to wire fraud. She was sentenced Friday.

Helgerson was arrested in February 2011. Her business, Mid-West Egg Donation, matched couples seeking to conceive a baby with women willing to provide eggs.

Federal prosecutors say six egg donors in Missouri failed to receive nearly $30,000 owed to them.

Lawmakers pull bill on dropout funds

BOISE – The Idaho House delayed voting on a bill allowing for state spending on a military-based program targeted at high school dropouts.

The bill was pulled Friday from the House floor at the request of Majority Caucus Chair Ken Roberts after several lawmakers expressed opposition. The measure would open the door for state alternative school funding to go toward the Youth Challenge Program.

But opponents raised concerns there was no long-term plan for the program and that Idaho could potentially be on the hook for additional funding should federal dollars fall through at some point.