News from across the USA

ALABAMA Phenix City: A Taco Bell employee who refused service to two Lee County sheriff’s deputies over the weekend was fired, AL. com reported. ALASKA Fairbanks: When Michelle Felix was a child, rides on public transportation meant family time and amusement, such as going to a Seattle Mariners game. “I have lots of fond memories,” she said. The bus rides sowed the seeds of a career. The 36- year- old is the new public transportation manager at the Metropolitan Area Commuter System, newsminer. com reported. ARIZONA Tucson: The state spent nearly $ 600,000 to stabilize dust blowing off David Turner’s land and causing problems on Interstate 10, the Arizona Daily Star reported. The blowing dust led to car crashes and forced officials to detour cars off I- 10 near Turner’s property. ARKANSAS Little Rock: An armed man attempted to rob two Entergy Arkansas employees working on the city’s south side. The employees were inside an Entergy truck, and when the man knocked on a window and showed a handgun, the workers drove away, ArkansasOnline reported. CALIFORNIA Encinitas: Wally, the dearly departed humpback whale, seems unwilling to leave the coast — even in death. Efforts to push his carcass out to sea have been thwarted, and his remains keep emerging back on various beaches every few days, the Los Angeles Times reported. COLORADO Denver: The federal government is moving forward with plans to purchase more than 12,500 acres of land to add to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, the Denver Post reported. Officials have begun negotiating with The Nature Conservancy, which owns the property. The land borders the park on three sides and includes a bison herd, meadows and wetland areas. CONNECTICUT Greenwich: Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger joined a growing list of residents who have been targeted by thieves who steal Range Rover luxury vehicles, the Greenwich Time reported. DELAWARE Sussex County: Four county Food Lion grocery stores will become Weis Markets stores. Weis Markets recently inked a deal to buy 38 existing Food Lion stores in three states, including locations near Lewes, Millsboro, Millville and Rehoboth Beach. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: As summer temperatures rise, Metro riders take to Twitter to express their unhappiness about boarding trains and walking into a wall of oppressively steamy air because the air conditioning isn’t working, The Washington Post reported. “Dang, got my first # wmata # hotcar of the summer,” one tweeted. FLORIDA Fort Myers: First Church of the Nazarene has changed its sign to entice those playing Pokémon Go to come catch some of the monsters that have digitally invaded the world and your Facebook feed, The News- Press reported. The sign reads: “Come by and let God take a Pikachu.” GEORGIA Macon: Derrick “De De” Hudson, 19, was charged after he allegedly wrote, “Just kill all white cracker cops” in a response to a Facebook post by WGXA- TV, The Atlanta Journal- Constitution reported. HAWAII Oahu: Taco Bell customers were warned that they may have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus by an infected employee, The Honolulu StarAdvertiser reported. IDAHO Idaho Falls: Idaho State University’s former assistant tennis coach and the university denied allegations made in a lawsuit in which a former tennis player says he was discriminated against because of his Mormon faith. The Post Register reported that former coach Nate Gross was accused of harassing Orin Duffin, who played on the team during the 2014- 15 season. ILLINOIS Chicago: Under a measure that passed the Health Committee, animal control workers wouldn’t try to trap and remove or kill coyotes unless they caused some kind of problem, the Chicago Tribune reported. INDIANA Indianapolis: Sun King, the local brewery that has long insisted its beers need refrigeration, announced that two of its year- round brews will be sold warm due to a change in processing, The Indianapolis Star reported. IOWA Sioux City: A woman who duped dozens of people into buying non- existent tickets to the Super Bowl and other high- profile events has been charged with fraud. KANSAS Leavenworth: Confederate currency, bone dice and memoirs from a nurse who also was a Union spy are among a 3,000- piece Civil War collection that the University of St. Mary is adding to its library. The Kansas City Star reported that the Bobby D. Law- rence collection includes several memoirs, along with more than 2,000 books about the Civil War. KENTUCKY Bowling Green: Western Kentucky University says it is reducing tuition rates for high school students taking college courses. Beginning this fall, the dual- credit classes at the university will be reduced from $ 210 to $ 156 for three credit hours. LOUISIANA New Orleans: George Ingmire’s radio show, New Orleans Calling, will no longer be funded, The TimesPicayune reported. WWOZ Chief Operating Officer Arthur Cohen said the station is working to get its finances in order. MAINE Cape Elizabeth: The state fire marshal’s office here says a Lincolnville woman set a stolen vehicle afire after driving it for more than 200 miles.

MARYLAND Ocean City: Police used a social media app to trace a vehicle theft suspect’s path and arrest him, The Daily Times reported. Brian Engelmann, 24, was charged with vehicle theft and other traffic violations after stealing a 1994 Jeep Wrangler and driving erratically on Coastal Highway while recording the incident on Snapchat. MASSACHUSETTS Merrimac: One person died and two others were hospitalized after a car fleeing a traffic stop crashed into a utility pole. MICHIGAN Covert Township: Nearly two dozen security workers at Palisades nuclear power plant are on paid leave after inconsistencies in fire inspection records were found, The HeraldPalladium reported. Among the 22 workers’ duties is to perform routine checks to look for possible signs of fire, and they are under investigation for saying they did so when it might not have happened. MINNESOTA St. Paul: Former governor Wendell Anderson, 83, has died, the Star Tribune reported. Anderson appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1973 with a big northern pike and a wide grin as a symbol of his state’s good life, then alienated voters when he appointed himself to a vacant U. S. Senate seat, the paper reported. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The Rev. Duncan Montgomery Gray, a civil rights advocate and retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese, has died at age 89, The Clarion- Ledger reported. MISSOURI Columbia: Moody’s Investors Service said the University of Missouri system’s credit outlook is stable. The agency maintained the system’s Aa1 credit rating. MONTANA Billings: A 19- yearold man died in a fiery motorcycle crash, The Billings Gazette reported. The crash remains under investigation. NEBRASKA Lincoln: The city will be without a roller- skating rink for the first time in more than 50 years when Skate Zone closes next spring, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. It was in operation for nearly 63 years. NEVADA Minden: Two people suffered minor injuries when a small aircraft made an emergency landing at the Minden- Tahoe Airport. The pilot performed an emergency landing on the dirt next to the runway. NEW HAMPSHIRE Nashua: The Fire Marshal’s Office investigated a fire that tore through a multistory apartment building and displaced dozens of people, WMUR- TV reported. NEW JERSEY Linden: Kyle Chambliss, 28, is facing charges including aggravated assault after he allegedly fought with police and then defecated in his pants in an effort to keep police away, the

Courier News reported. NEW MEXICO Farmington: Navajo Nation lawmakers likely will consider legislation on mining and other capital projects during the summer session, the Farmington Daily Times reported. NEW YORK Greece: John Agostinelli began work on a 42foot- long cutter rig boat 34 years ago. Dozens of family and friends watched as the sailboat, named Grace, was taken from a barn and transported to the waterfront, The Democrat & Chronicle reported. Agostinelli estimated that his labor of love took 20,000 hours to complete.

NORTH CAROLINA Sylva: The Conservation Trust purchased 50 acres known as the Open Branch Headwaters Property along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Located near Waterrock Knob in Jackson County near Asheville, it includes mountains rising to 5,400 feet. NORTH DAKOTA Minot: Emergency officials pulled a woman from the Souris River after her car crashed into the water, KMOT- TV reported.

OHIO Cincinnati: Tim Skinner’s house exploded while he went to the grocery store to buy chips, and though the veteran who retired two weeks ago survived without injuries, two of his three dogs were killed and most of his belongings were destroyed, The

Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

OKLAHOMA Tulsa: Heather Thomas, 29, was taken into police custody after a standoff at the Air National Guard base, the Tulsa World reported. Police bomb squad officers were called a little before noon after police received a report indicating a woman was driving around the complex with an unknown device. OREGON Junction City: Fire Capt. Jason Peterson said spontaneous combustion caused a fire that burned a $ 1.5 million hay harvest, The Register- Guard reported. PENNSYLVANIA Hanover: A 29- year- old mother was accused of stuffing her children, ages 3 and 5, into the trunk of a red Corvette, then driving around town. RHODE ISLAND Narragansett: More than 100 people gathered to hold hands as a sign of peace in response to the recent violence nationwide. WPRI- TV reported that the human chain spanned a stretch of seawall between Narragansett Town Beach and The Towers, a historical venue constructed in the 1880s. SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: Demetrius Sims, a man who spent almost two years in jail for an armed robbery he said he didn’t commit, had the charges against him dismissed after evidence suggested prosecutors might lose their case, The Greenville News reported. SOUTH DAKOTA Edgemont: A wildfire in the Black Hills temporarily prompted the evacuation of about 60 people. KELO- TV reported the evacuation order was lifted around 11 p. m. Sunday. No injuries were reported. TENNESSEE Nashville: A man angry for receiving a traffic ticket dragged officer Danny Johnson, 52, up an interstate ramp after he stopped his pickup to yell at the officer, The Tennessean reported. Danny Troupe, 54, was charged with reckless endangerment and evading arrest. TEXAS Laredo: A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board on a bus crash that killed nine people in May says that an initial inspection of the bus found no mechanical defects and that the driver’s preliminary toxicology tests found no evidence of drugs or alcohol. UTAH Highland: Authorities found a man’s body at the mouth of American Fork Canyon. VERMONT Monkton: Vermont Gas will drill under rather than transplant a rare variety of sunflowers, the Burlington Free Press reported. VIRGINIA Roanoke: Volunteers installed bear- resistant food lockers along the Appalachian Trail in an effort to reduce the number of unwanted encounters between hikers and black bears. The Roanoke Times reported that more than two dozen volunteers recently installed four heavy food lockers at spots along the trail. WASHINGTON Yakima: The Grandview School District and Wapato School District have been hiring foreigners to meet educator needs in special education, math and English as a second language, the Yakima HeraldRepublic reported. WEST VIRGINIA Madison: Boone County school board members voted to finally make severe cuts to their employees’ pay and benefits, trying to avert a state Board of Education takeover, the Charleston Gazette- Mail reported. WISCONSIN Sheboygan: Police shot and killed an armed robbery suspect outside the Union Avenue Tap, where a patron was shot and wounded, The Sheboygan Press reported. WYOMING Cheyenne: An accident involving a commercial tanker resulted in about 10,000 gallons of crude oil spilling along Interstate 80 in Carbon County, according to the Highway Patrol.