Staci Lehman, who works for the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, was out on Tuesday snapping some photos of a soon-to-be-moved highway weigh station on Interstate 90 near the Washington/Idaho state line.

"We were just doing a Powerpoint on some of the projects that are funded in our master transportation plan," said co-worker Jeff Selle.

Lehman, driving her own car, pulled into the "pretty much deserted" spot, took a couple of photos, and continued on her way.

About 10 minutes later, she says, her privately-owned cell phone rang. On the phone: a state trooper wanting to know why she had been taking those pictures.

She blogged about the experience on the SRTC's transportation blog:

I don't know if this will make you feel better or scare the hell out of you. I'm on the fence about it.

(For those wondering, here's an attorney's concise, authoritative summary of photographers' rights.)

The SRTC post was linked to by one of most-read blogs in America, an...

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