News from across the USA

ALABAMA Birmingham: A young man was gunned down in broad daylight on a busy roadway outside an AutoZone, AL. com reported. The victim’s father identified him as Chancey Harper Jr., 20. ALASKA Juneau: Each plant is only a few inches high, but the 262 sprigs of green in one Lemon Creek building are a sign that something big is coming. The city’s first legal commercial cannabis farm was certified and given permission to start fullscale production, the Juneau Empire reported. ARIZONA Peoria: Police investigated a suspected drug transaction that turned violent when a man shot his attacker after being struck over the head with a glass bong and stabbed with the broken shards, The Arizona Republic reported. ARKANSAS Van Buren: After her animal shelter fell into disrepair while she cared for her ailing brother, Shana Garner watched as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals took 40 dogs away, ArkansasOnline reported. Garner, the owner of Shana’s Last Chance Dog Rescue, said she felt it was best to have the animal service come retrieve the dogs. CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: Preservationists are upset after the stained glass windows were removed from the former Bethany Lutheran Church of Hollywood, a 90year- old church, the Los Angeles Times reported. The windows were a fixture in the area, and residents hoped they would remain even as the building changed owners. COLORADO Colorado Springs: The July 28 hailstorm that hit Colorado Springs was the sixthmost damaging event in Colorado history, the Gazette reported. According to an insurance industry trade group the storm earned $ 352.8 million in claims for damage to homes and vehicles. CONNECTICUT Hartford: Total Wine & More says it filed a lawsuit in U. S. District Court challenging Connecticut’s long- standing law prohibiting retailers from selling bottles of alcohol, excluding beer, below a minimum price. DELAWARE Dover: State Police say a man who led officers on a foot chase through Dover Mall when they saw him allegedly taking part in a drug deal has been arrested. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Ron Brown College Preparatory High School, the District’s newest and only single- sex public high school, welcomed 110 freshmen to the first day of classes, The Washington Post reported. FLORIDA St. Petersburg: Officials say two Pinellas County workers erroneously poisoned 74 trees along a creek without consulting their superiors earlier this year. The Tampa Bay Times reported that a total of 78 sabal palmetto trees were poisoned along Joe’s Creek in March by workers who were supposed to spray only four trees for maintenance purposes. GEORGIA DeKalb County: Hemy Neuman was sentenced to life without parole after a jury rejected his defense that he was driven by mental illness to kill a man outside a Dunwoody day care in 2010, The Atlanta JournalConstitution reported. HAWAII Honolulu: Honolulu taxpayers are reportedly responsible for paying nearly $ 10 million to settle dozens of misconduct allegations against police officers and the police department since 2005. City documents obtained by The Honolulu Star- Advertiser show the city has paid or approved settlements totaling $ 9.7 million to end about 80 lawsuits. IDAHO Bayview: The U. S. Navy asked residents to report any unauthorized drones flying near its base, the Bonner County Daily Bee reported.

ILLINOIS Liber

tyville: Would- be burglars drove a pickup through the front window of Just Target Guns, the Chicago Tribune reported. INDIANA Lafayette: A federal grand jury indicted Michael R. Bennett on three counts each of wire fraud and theft of labor union assets while he was president of United Auto Workers Local 2317 in Lafayette over five years ending last December. IOWA Des Moines: Weather is being blamed for a drop in attendance at this year’s Iowa State Fair. The attendance for the 11day fair was 1,031,278. That’s a drop of about 86,000 from last year’s record- breaking 1,117,398, The Des Moines Register reported. KANSAS Mulvane: The Wichita Eagle reported that city administrator Kent Hixson said 44 homes and five businesses saw some sort of flooding damage from last week’s deluge. KENTUCKY Lexington: An 18year- old Georgetown College football player died after he jumped down a flight of stairs at a fraternity house, the Lexington Herald- Leader reported. LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Catherine Heitman, spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Family Services, denied the Red Cross or River Center workers threw away donated food, including 60 boxes of donuts. She said the donuts were preserved in bags and eaten by the shelter’s mostly volunteer staff, The Times- Picayune reported.

MAINE Portland: Atlantic puffin chicks on Machias Seal Island had the worst breeding season ever recorded, the Portland Press

Herald reported. Tony Diamond of the Atlantic Laboratory for Avian Research at the University of New Brunswick blamed a drop in the puffins’ food supply.

MARYLAND Towson: Baltimore County officials narrowly voted to keep schools open on Muslim holidays. The 6- 5 vote followed an emotional discussion among school board members, while dozens of Muslims stood in the audience.

MASSACHUSETTS Milton: A state Department of Conservation and Recreation officer was accused of setting up a camera to videotape women using a staff bathroom at the Houghton’s Pond Bathhouse.

MICHIGAN Eastpointe: A 91year- old man shot and wounded another man who was apparently trying to rob him outside a Detroit- area store, The Macomb

Daily reported.

MINNESOTA Lake Elmo: About 80 homes in Washington County have well water with chemical pollution deemed too high by new federal guidelines, the Pio

neer Press reported.

MISSISSIPPI Biloxi: Former Mayor Jerry O’Keefe, who received the Congressional Gold Medal for his service as a fighter pilot in World War II, died Tuesday. He was 93. MISSOURI Maryland Heights: The Federal Aviation Administration investigated after a small plane made an emergency landing on Page Avenue. No one was hurt. MONTANA Billings: Overall revenue for the state fair set a record at about $ 2.1 million. That’s up about 12% from last year. NEBRASKA Boys Town: Three U. S. coins will be released next year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Boys Town. A limited number of the $ 5 gold coins, $ 1 silver coins and half dollar coins are scheduled to be released next year. One will feature a portrait of Father Edward Flanagan, who founded Boys Town as an orphanage for boys in 1917. NEVADA Las Vegas: More than a dozen drivers were rescued from flooded streets during a summer storm. The National Weather Service said the quickmoving storm drenched the area near Nellis Air Force Base with about 1.5 inch of rain. NEW HAMPSHIRE Portsmouth: The Sarah Mildred Long Bridge was closed to traffic after a malfunction, and the span may never reopen. The 76- year- old bridge connects Portsmouth to Kittery, Maine, via the U. S. Route 1 Bypass. Because federal law mandates that river traffic takes precedence over cars, the lift span was raised and remained stuck in its up position.

NEW JERSEY Trenton: The state Supreme Court reinstated a lawsuit filed by a person partially paralyzed in a waterpark accident. Roy Steinberg claimed employees at Sahara Sam’s Oasis Water Park in West Berlin didn’t properly instruct him on safety on a ride that simulates surfing. NEW MEXICO Acoma Pueblo: New Mexico State University is promoting a project using solar panels to operate remote wells. NEW YORK Albany: The state is raising the fines for misbranding fur, whether it came from an animal or consists of synthetic fibers that look the part. Starting in late November, the top penalty for manufacturing, importing or selling fur- bearing clothing using inaccurate labels will double to $ 1,000 for the first violation and $ 2,000 for each one after that. NORTH CAROLINA Ra

leigh: Five N. C. State University students who signed up for a bone marrow registry at the largest such drive in the university’s history last year learned that their samples went on to save the lives of five strangers from around the world, The News & Observer reported. NORTH DAKOTA Fargo: Construction began on a $ 22 million City Hall. The 150,000- squarefoot building is likely to be completed by mid- 2018. OHIO Cincinnati: Cincinnati Zoo took down its Twitter accounts after being barraged with memes about Harambe, the gorilla that was killed at the zoo in May, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Zoo officials killed the 17- year- old great ape after a 3year- old boy fell into his enclosure. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Attorney General Scott Pruitt ruled craft brewers can sell strong beer for consumption on the premises, clarifying a recently passed law, Tulsa World reported. The law takes effect Friday. OREGON Roseburg: Timber companies are closing access to their lands because of fire risks. The News- Review reported that Roseburg Forest Products, D. R. Johnson in Riddle and Lonerock Timber in Camas Valley have either closed or reduced access to their lands until the hot weather subsides. PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh: Crews rescued a man who became trapped between two buildings, reportedly after trying to jump from one rooftop to another to impress a woman he had just met. RHODE ISLAND Providence: Sales of single- family homes rose 7.5% in July from a year ago, while the median price rose almost 10% to $ 262,500, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors said. SOUTH CAROLINA Liberty: JR Automation Technology, a company that makes equipment that helps manufacturers improve their efficiency, is building a plant near Liberty that will add more than 50 jobs. SOUTH DAKOTA Avon: A Dell Rapids- based company plans a 36,000- acre wind farm in Bon Homme and Charles Mix counties. Prevailing Winds’ facility would include 100 wind turbines, along with related infrastructure and equipment. TENNESSEE Lebanon: The 83acre lakefront farm of actress and country music singer- songwriter Reba McEntire is up for sale for $ 7.9 million, The Tennessean reported. TEXAS Tyler: Police tried to determine who stole the wheels from 48 new vehicles at a car dealership. Police estimated thieves made off with about $ 250,000 worth of tires and wheels, leaving the vehicles up on blocks. UTAH Salt Lake City: A dam rehabilitation project filled the creek running down American Fork Canyon with muck, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. VERMONT Burlington: The University of Vermont will welcome to campus this Friday the most academically talented class — just like last year. With an average high school GPA of 3.64, the class of 2020’ s high school grades are more than a tenth higher than last year’s class, Burlington Free Press reported. VIRGINIA Petersburg: The city could lay off 24 full- time employees, close one of its fire stations, raise taxes and shut down its museums and tourism centers, among other cost- saving measures recommended to reduce a $ 12 million budget deficit, the Richmond Times- Dispatch reported. WASHINGTON Seattle: A King County heroin task force endorsed the creation of a public space where people can inject and smoke hard drugs under medical supervision. WEST VIRGINIA Bridgeport: Employees of Dominion Resources, a Virginiabased utility, gathered thousands of pairs of donated children’s shoes for young flood victims. Dominion Resources Services external affairs representative Christine Mitchell in Hastings said volunteers will sort shoes by gender and size. Deliveries are planned Thursday to students at four schools in Kanawha County and two schools in Clay County. The goal is to have 4,000 pairs for distribution. WISCONSIN Green Bay: Life will get significantly easier Friday for many Green Bay- area commuters when the Interstate 41/ 43 interchange reopens to traffic. Reconstruction of the interchange included safety improvements, new ramps and new bridges, Green Bay Press- Gazette reported. WYOMING Jackson: Federal officials say the number of conflicts between wolves and livestock in Wyoming is up sharply, the Casper Star- Tribune reported. Sheep and cattle killed by wolves have been found in the Upper Gros Ventre area, in the Salt and Wyoming ranges and other areas of the state, wildlife officials said.