STATE- BY- STATE

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Florence: The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the conviction of a man serving a life sentence for killing a volunteer coach whose body was stabbed dozens of times and thrown into the Tennessee River. Jeremy Williams, 32, claimed that he killed Brioni Rutland in self defense.

ALASKA Juneau: Alaska’s top marijuana regulator is looking for help. Sara Chambers, acting director of the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, says it needs more staff to handle the workload. The first cannabis business licenses were issued last summer.

ARIZONA Dewey: An Arizona tow- truck driver who was repossessing a car drove away with a toddler in the vehicle. The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office tells The Daily Courier that the driver, realizing by the end of the block that the child was there, called police. The child wasn’t hurt.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: Eviction notices posted at Little Rock homeless camps provoked a protest last week. The Arkansas Democrat- Gazette reports that signs told camp occupants to remove themselves and their belongings within five days.

CALIFORNIA San Francisco: San Francisco has denied a permit for a “Summer of Love 50th Anniversary” concert. The June 4 event in Golden Gate Park was expected to draw tens of thousands of people to mark the 1967 counterculture movement. The promoter is appealing the denial.

COLORADO Aspen: The Bureau of Land Management has purchased a recreation site on the Upper Colorado River from Eagle County, The Aspen Daily News reports. The property is a key access point for an 85- mile stretch of the river that draws more than 75,000 visitors a year.

CONNECTICUT Bristol: Police say no one was injured when a loaded gun was found outside a Bristol elementary school. Students on their way to school found the 9mm handgun last Wednesday off a bus path that leads to the school’s front door.

DELAWARE Newark: Delawarebased B. F. Rich Windows & Doors is shutting down, laying off all of its roughly 130 workers. The News Journal of Wilmington reports that company officials say it has been struggling financially since 2007.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: It was no ordinary jam last week at Washington’s Bunker Hill Elementary School. Orchestra students got to perform with violinist Joshua Bell and cellist Yo- Yo Ma.

FLORIDA Fort Myers: A Florida man pleaded guilty to threatening the owners of two Muslim grocery stores in the Fort Myers area. Authorities say James Benjamin Jones told one store owner that he and others “will blow up all Muslims and get this land back.” Sentencing is pending.

GEORGIA Blue

Ridge: The FBI is investigating a Georgia man who says he was exposed to ricin. The Fannin County sheriff told WAGA- TV that a field test of the car driven by William Christopher Gibbs tested positive for the deadly toxin. But the FBI found no evidence of risk to the public.

HAWAII Honolulu: Hawaiian Airlines and its pilots union have reached a tentative agreement on a six- year contract, The Honolulu Star- Advertiser reports.

IDAHO Boise: Idaho lawmakers may require sign language interpreters to get a professional license from the state. Supporters say unqualified interpreters have caused miscommunication in key situations, like emergency rooms or legal proceedings.

ILLINOIS Chicago: The union representing Chicago Transit Authority bus drivers wants their portable toilets replaced with permanent toilets. The union says some portable toilets are in dangerous areas.

INDIANA West Lafayette: Developers are deleting a couple of floors from a planned high- rise tower near Purdue University to meet Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The Purdue Airport runways are less than two miles away, The ( Lafayette) Journal & Courier reports.

IOWA Des Moines: The head of Iowa’s prison system ordered a temporary shutdown of several satellite prison units to deal with a $ 5.5 million budget cut, The Des Moines Register reports. The units hold some 400 inmates.

KANSAS Topeka: The Kansas Natural Resources Conservation Service is taking applications for $ 2 million in financial assistance for those affected by a wildfire in March 2016. The fire destroyed miles of fencing and killed hundreds of cattle.

KENTUCKY Campbellsville: No injuries were reported in a fire last week that damaged a sports facility at Campbellsville University. The Kentucky school’s men’s soccer coaches discovered the fire inside the locker room storage and laundry area.

LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has made a sixth trip to Washington to lobby for federal disaster aid. The governor’s latest request comes amid cleanup from tornadoes that hit the state last

week.

MAINE Augusta: Not everyone in New England is a Patriots fan. Maine Gov. Paul LePage, asked by WGANAM if he’ll invite the Super Bowl champs to visit his state, replied “not a chance.”

MARYLAND West Ocean City: A woman suspected of robbing a bank last week was arrested later the same day with about $ 4,500 stashed in her underwear, The Daily Times of Salisbury reports.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A Massachusetts travel agent has been sentenced to almost four years in prison for taking deposits from cruise customers to support his gambling habit. Federal prosecutors say Bret Gordon took about $ 2.25 million.

MICHIGAN Mount Pleasant: A Republican student group at Central Michigan University apologized for a Valentine’s Day card that mocked Jews who died in the Holocaust. The card, with a photo of Adolf Hitler, said, “my love 4 u burns like 6,000 jews.”

MINNESOTA New Ulm: A hazardous materials team cleaned up a mercury spill last week in New Ulm. Authorities believe a property owner removed about two gallons of mercury from a garage and disposed of it in the trash.

MISSISSIPPI Brandon: A Mississippi man is accused of not paying some $ 223,000 in child support, The Clarion- Ledger reports. Tony Haywood and his ex- wife divorced in 2004.

MISSOURI Springfield: Missouri State University is withdrawing as host of this year’s Missouri Valley Conference men and women’s track and field championships. School officials are seeking cuts in athletic department spending, The Spring

field News- Leader reports.

MONTANA Billings: Yellowstone National Park started shipping hundreds of wild bison to slaughter last week for disease control. More than 400 bison have been captured this winter trying to migrate from the park to lower Montana elevations in search of food.

NEBRASKA Norfolk: A Nebraska animal shelter is teaming up with a domestic violence service to help victims remove their pets from abuse situations, The Nor

folk Daily News reports.

NEVADA Las Vegas: Three baggage handlers at McCarran International Airport have been accused of stealing luggage checked on flights. The Las Vegas

Review- Journal reports that stolen items include guns and luxury purses.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: New Hampshire dairy farmers hurt by a drought and milk prices are on track to get $ 2 million in legislative relief. Lawmakers hope it will help preserve and maintain dairy farms.

NEW JERSEY Runnemede: Three Camden County high schools are carrying the overdose spray Narcan. Superintendent Brian Repici says nurses at the Highland, Timber Creek and Triton schools have been trained to use the lifesaving opioid overdose antidote.

NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: A federal grand jury in New Mexico has indicted four people on charges of conspiring to import and fraudulently sell Filipinomade jewelry as made by Native Americans.

NEW YORK Albany: New York’s state Capitol is hosting a Black History Month exhibit that honors prominent African- Americans with ties to the state, including Underground Railroad heroine Harriet Tubman.

NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: Charlotte- Mecklenburg police arrested a woman after investigators found almost 500 pieces of stolen mail in her car. The Charlotte Observer reports that police also found several credit cards and bank- issued checks.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A broken water line flooded a large portion of Kirkwood Mall. Mall officials told The Bismarck Tribune that valves to shut off the water were frozen and closing them took two hours.

OHIO Brecksville: A pair of bald eagles is attempting to nest at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. The area around the nest in the Pinery Narrows section of the park is closed through July.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Gov. Mary Fallin’s proposal to add Oklahoma’s 4.5% sales tax to various services currently excluded would generate about $ 769 million for cities and counties and about $ 934 million for the state, The Oklahoman reports.

OREGON Portland: Two development companies have filed a lawsuit to evict a homeless tent camp across the street from a Portland hotel they’re renovating. The Oregonian/ OregonLive reports that the Grove Hotel developers say the camp lowers neighborhood property values.

PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh: The National Aviary in Pittsburgh wants people to visit — and interact with — its baby Eurasian eagle owl. Bird keepers unveiled the owlet last week. Aviary officials hope the bird will become comfortable around people before it’s sent to a zoo.

RHODE ISLAND Warwick: A judge facing sexual harassment and judicial misconduct complaints tells a state commission that the allegations against him are racially motivated. Rafael Ovalles became Rhode Island’s first Hispanic judge in 2005, The

Providence Journal reports.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Gov. Henry McMaster says raising the gas tax should be the “last resort” for fixing South Carolina’s roads. But McMaster won’t say if he thinks the state has reached such “desperate circumstances.”

SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: South Dakota lawmakers may require food stamp recipients to pursue child support enforcement as a condition of eligibility. Backers say the requirement would help children receive all the financial support available to them.

TENNESSEE Nashville: Tennessee lawmakers are considering a sales tax holiday for guns and ammunition. The “Second Amendment sales tax holiday” would be on the first weekend of September each year.

TEXAS Pharr: Officers at a Texas border crossing seized nearly 2 tons of marijuana found inside thousands of green lime- shaped bundles hidden in a load of real citrus. U. S. Customs and Border Protection officials say the fake fruit was intercepted Jan. 30.

UTAH Tooele: An official who oversaw supplies and logistics at Utah’s Dugway Proving Ground is accused of stealing government equipment. The Deseret News reports that the penalty could be up to 10 years in prison and a $ 250,000 fine for the thefts of military- grade rifle scopes and other optic devices.

VERMONT Burlington: A union that represents University of Vermont professors is negotiating a new contract with the school. The Burlington Free Press reports that the current threeyear agreement ends June 30.

VIRGINIA Virginia Beach: A necropsy performed on a dead whale that washed ashore on an Eastern Shore beach didn’t reach a conclusion on the definitive cause of death. The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center says the whale was fairly decomposed. But it showed injuries consistent with vessel interaction, although the injury was not necessarily the result of a propeller strike.

WASHINGTON Crystal Moun

tain: Two Crystal Mountain Resort skiers face fines up to $ 1,000 after ducking under a rope and skiing in an area closed due to avalanche danger, The News Tribune reports. A 2011 law makes it a misdemeanor to use closed terrain at a ski area.

WEST VIRGINIA Huntington: Surgical residents at Marshall University have a new tool in a simulation laboratory unveiled last week. Marshall says the nearly $ 200,000 investment will offer learning opportunities by letting residents experience a variety of surgical situations, and thus enhance patient outcomes.

WISCONSIN Madison: Gov. Scott Walker says he’s counting on college students and families across Wisconsin to convince lawmakers to approve his 5% tuition cut proposal. Walker says concern about the cost of higher education is widespread.

WYOMING Jackson Hole: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is ready for skiers once again after regaining power. The Jackson Hole News & Guide reports that the resort reopened the lifts, gondolas and Aerial Tram on Monday. They were shut down last week due to a power outage, which interrupted a traditionally busy time during the Wyoming ski resort’s peak winter season.