NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Minimum wage: Voters in Kansas City, Mo., will decide Tuesday whether to raise the city’s minimum wage above the state minimum, even though a new state law forbids cities from making their own rules on the issue. The proposal would set a minimum wage of $10 per hour and increase it annually, eventually reaching $15 per hour in 2022. Missouri’s Republicanled legislature in May passed a measure barring local governments from enacting minimum wages different from the state, which is $7.70 per hour.
2 Invasive species: A federal report released Monday proposes a $275 million array of technological and structural upgrades at a crucial site in Illinois to prevent invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes and its vulnerable fish populations. The report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers analyzes options for upgrading the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, a complex on the Des Plaines River that is considered a bottleneck where defenses could be strengthened to prevent carp populations in the Mississippi River watershed from migrating into Lake Michigan. Scientists say if the voracious carp become established in the Great Lakes, they could devastate its $7 billion fishing industry. Among technologies the report endorses is an electric barrier that would repel fish.
3 Florida sinkhole: Pasco County authorities condemned another house Monday because of a growing sinkhole, the seventh home to be red-tagged since the ground opened July 14. The sinkhole now stretches about 260 feet across at its widest point. Contractors have been working to clear debris and haul in earth to shore up the site in suburban Tampa.
4 Boating death: A woman died in Southern California after getting tangled in a rope attached to a sinking boat, officials said. Tasha Turner, 30, of Hemet (Riverside County) had been on the boat with six other people Saturday on their way to go tubing in the Colorado River along the Arizona line. The boat lost power and began to sink. According to police, the six others were able to swim to safety, but Turner could not free herself from the rope and sank with the boat. A rescue team recovered her body Sunday.
5 Sage grouse: The Interior Department on Monday unveiled a plan to protect the threatened sage grouse that gives Western states where the bird lives, including California, flexibility for economic development. Miners, ranchers and some governors had argued Obama-era policies jeopardized logging and other businesses. The grounddwelling bird has suffered a dramatic population decline across its 11-state range. Environmental groups had argued the Obama-era plan did not do enough to protect the sage grouse from extinction.
6 Rapper killed: A rapper known as Yung Mazi was shot and killed outside an Atlanta pizza shop, less than eight months after he survived being shot at a Waffle House and then tweeted “God made me bulletproof.” The shooting happened Sunday night, when officers heard multiple gunshots outside the restaurant. A suspect ran from the scene, and no arrests have been made. The Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim by his legal name, Jabril Abdur-Rahman, 31.
Chronicle News Services