September 14th, 2010
09:21 AM ET

On the Radar: Iran hiker, medical pot, D.C. mayor race

Iran hiker released - Sarah Shourd, one of three American hikers detained for more than a year in Iran, has been released from prison, state-run Press TV reported Tuesday. Attorney Massoud Shafii, who is representing the hikers, had said everything was in place for Shourd's release once bail of $500,000 was submitted to the Iranian judiciary.

Shourd, 32; Shane Bauer, 28; and Josh Fattal, 28, were detained July 31, 2009, after they allegedly strayed across an unmarked border into Iran while hiking in Iraq's Kurdistan region. Tehran has accused the three hikers of spying.

California marijuana fight - As Californians consider a November ballot initiative to tax and regulate marijuana for recreational use, there are unlikely characters peppering the political landscape.

California is hardly homogenous, but marijuana legalization makes politics downright confusing in a state where the sides are sometimes flipped. Here, some ex-cops, state assemblymen and billionaire businessmen favor legalization, while there are pot growers and dealers who want to keep it outlawed. Experts say predicting the ballot's outcome is impossible because special interests for both sides will storm the state ahead of the vote, hoping to pull fence-straddlers into their camps.

D.C. mayoral election impact - Mayor Adrian Fenty swept into office in 2006 promising to fix the District of Columbia's struggling schools. Now, Fenty is in the fight of his career - in part because of how he's tried to reform the district's schools. Fenty is in a nail-biter of a race in Tuesday's primary, running neck-and-neck with challenger City Council Chairman Vincent Gray.

While this is a local election, the race is being closely watched far beyond the District because the outcome could carry significant implications for the national debate over education reform.

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Filed under: California • Iran • Medical Marijuana • Politics
soundoff (6 Responses)
  1. philipe12

    No brainer why americans like to be high.

    September 14, 2010 at 10:18 am | Report abuse |
  2. NEDAs Friend

    But state media announced Friday that the release had been called off because legal procedures had not yet been resolved. LIES! LIES! LIES! Iran wanted $500,000 extortion money. They delayed because of arguments over how much to ask for. They released her so she would not die in Iran prison.

    "I think President Ahmadinejad really wanted to use this as a way of building up a store of goodwill just before he comes to New York," said Gary Sick, a professor at Columbia University and a former National Security Council Iran analyst.

    If America is not deaf and blind, it will see that Iran LIES! EXTORTS! MURDERS! and will hold NO store of good will for President Ahmanutjob.

    NEDA NEDA NEDA NEDA!

    September 14, 2010 at 12:51 pm | Report abuse |
    • BryanWolf

      I have been saying that for awhile. They said "Bail" which means you must return for court for trial. They really meant Ransom.

      September 15, 2010 at 8:05 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Joe

    They sure made an Iranian woman out of her scarf and all.

    September 15, 2010 at 12:45 am | Report abuse |
    • BryanWolf

      Shame is it not? I do not think I would be thanking Either them for what they did to her.

      September 15, 2010 at 8:08 pm | Report abuse |
  4. nadal fan

    Seriously, hiking in Iran? Please...

    September 16, 2010 at 4:05 am | Report abuse |
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