RAIN RUNOFF BRINGS OUT SUSPICIOUS-LOOKING LEAVES

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) -- Rain runoff from Carroll College in June and
July brought some suspicious-looking weeds to one neighborhood.

Residents thought the familiar-looking plants were marijuana.

Rain runoff from the college swamped residents' backyards and flooded
their basements. Residents figured the runoff water brought the plants
with it.

Red Leair and John Bacskai, who live in the neighborhood, called the
Waukesha Police Department to check out the plants.

The plant was a weed, but not the weed everyone thought it was, said
Waukesha Police Detective Doug Kennedy. What was growing in residents'
yards was just a common weed.

"It looks like marijuana and can be commonly mistaken for it, "
Kennedy said.

Kennedy said he fields several calls during the summer from people who
believe they have marijuana growing in their yards.

"We always take a look at it," Kennedy said. " There' s a chance it
is marijuana."

Kennedy said police would rather investigate the plants than decline
to respond, on the chance a plant might be marijuana. People who
report the plants won' t get in trouble, he said.