by Barry Drue
“Now we’ll get our day in court. . .” Bellaire Road pig farmer Roger Turunen said after two hours of testimony in Baraga County Circuit Court on Friday, March 4, 2016. Circuit Judge Charles Goodman carefully deliberated the motions and testimony of five attorneys before ruling in Turunen’s favor, and, additionally, agreeing to set a trial date in the four-year saga involving the Department of Natural Resources’ efforts to claim Turunen’s unique breed of old-world pigs violate the DNR’s Invasive Species Order. In a strange procedural case full of twists and turns, more legal maneuvers came up recently in the case still known as Turunen v Stokes. (Rodney Stokes was the DNR Director from November, 2010, to July, 2012, when the case originated.) To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.