News from across the USA

ALABAMA Montgomery: Former Mosses Mayor Walter Hill was sentenced to three years in prison on an ethics conviction. Hill was accused of using city funds to make child support payments. ALASKA Bethel: Bethel’s homeless shelter will get free water deliveries from the city this winter. KYUK-AM reports that Bethel Winter House ran through its supply several times and couldn’t afford to refill it. ARIZONA San Tan Valley: An Arizona sanctuary is sheltering seven cows that were intended for slaughter. The Casa Grande Dispatch reports that the Goshala sanctuary protects cows while educating people about how saving them promotes a sustainable ecosystem.

ARKANSAS Helena- West Helena: The burning of a police cruiser in Helena- West Helena was arson. Police say no one was hurt in the fire last week because the officer who was on duty was not in the car at the time. CALIFORNIA Sacramento: Two people are accused of carjacking and running over a man preparing to evacuate the area downstream of the Oroville Dam last week. COLORADO Colorado Springs: A male black bear brought out of hibernation early by warm weather was captured in a Colorado Springs backyard and will be relocated, The Gazette reports. Temperatures in the high 50s woke up the bear. CONNECTICUT Hartford: Filmmaker Ken Burns once described the artifact collection of The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford as a “treasure trove of unbelievable holdings.” But thousands of those items are at risk from mold. DELAWARE Frankford: Police say an Uber driver was arrested in connection with a series of Sussex County burglaries. Delaware State Police say Saddam Awadallah would return to the homes of passengers he’d taken elsewhere to steal credit cards, computers and other items. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: More than 400 people in the District of Columbia who were told last year they didn’t have the Zika virus are being retested. Officials discovered that faulty tests caused by a math error were conducted between July and December.

FLORIDA Jacksonville: Three undercover Florida narcotics officers are suspended and charged with evidence tampering. Authorities say three beer cans were removed from their vehicle the night one of them fatally shot a man during an attempted drug buy in Jacksonville. GEORGIA Fort Benning: The Army is sending a brigade of about 500 soldiers to Georgia’s Fort Benning. The unit will specialize in training the military forces of U. S. allies. HAWAII Honolulu: A man who breached security at Honolulu International Airport last weekend died after being stopped. The Honolulu Star- Advertiser reports that the man became unresponsive after pushing aside a security officer and running through doors where airplanes were parked. IDAHO Boise: The Boise National Forest has a new deputy supervisor. Tawnya Brummett worked previously as deputy forest supervisor for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.

ILLINOIS Chicago: Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is under fire for spending $ 32,000 on a used SUV for her office. Critics say the purchase is outrageous when Illinois is months behind in paying its bills in a budget stalemate. INDIANA West Lafayette: Crews conducted a prescribed burn at the Celery Bog in West Lafayette to get rid of old growth and invasive plants. The 195- acre Celery Bog contains four miles of trails. IOWA Council Bluffs: A Pottawattamie County jail inmate infected with HIV faces a felony assault charge after allegedly throwing a carton of his urine on a Council Bluffs detention officer, The Daily Nonpareil reports. KANSAS Wichita: Kansas game wardens are getting help from a Facebook page that has more than 42,000 followers, the Wichita Eagle reports. Officials hope the social media exposure will help as a recruiting tool. KENTUCKY Frankfort: Kentucky’s Supreme Court says Lexington’s panhandling ordinance violated the free speech rights of a man arrested while holding a sign asking for money. Dennis Champion’s lawyer said the ordinance singled out beggars but spared people soliciting for groups or causes. LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: A former Georgia- Pacific Corp. computer expert who damaged a Louisiana paper mill’s system by hacking into it was sentenced to nearly three years in prison and ordered to pay $ 1.1 million. MAINE Portland: What better place to hold a conference on lobsters than the biggest city in the lobster fishing industry’s most important state? Portland will host the 11th International Conference & Workshop on Lobster Biology and Management in June. MARYLAND Baltimore: The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore has its first birth of a giraffe in more than 20 years. The female calf born earlier this month is healthy at 6- foot- 1 and 125 pounds. MASSACHUSETTS Wellesley: Wellesley College’s Davis Museum has removed or covered 120 works of art produced by immigrant artists or donated by foreign- born collectors. The Massachusetts school’s move is intended to illustrate the artists’ and donors’ contributions to the cultural wealth of the United States.

MICHIGAN Kalamazoo: Several parents are joining a planned lawsuit against Michigan’s School Reform Office over its threats to close two low- performing Kalamazoo elementary schools, the Kalamazoo Gazette reports. MINNESOTA Minneapolis: University of Minnesota officials are considering shortening the deadline for incomplete coursework to six months to boost graduation and retention rates, The Minnesota Daily reports. MISSISSIPPI Gulfport: Police say three workers were arrested on embezzlement charges in the theft of commercial packages from a Mississippi UPS center. MISSOURI Jefferson City: Applications for concealed carry gun permits in Missouri are dropping after passage last year of a law making them unnecessary in many places. MONTANA Helena: A Montana lawmaker wants voters to add protections for trapping, hunting and fishing to the state constitution, The Helena Independent-Record reports. NEBRASKA Norfolk: The historic Grand Theatre in downtown Norfolk is up for sale. The Norfolk Daily News reports that the property is listed for $ 200,000. NEVADA Las Vegas: A yearlong study of sex trafficking in Las Vegas found mostly underage girls forced by threats to solicit on streets or in casinos. A victim advocate says many are products of the foster care system. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The New Hampshire Food Bank, part of the Catholic Charities NH, produced more than 11,200 pounds of fresh vegetables last year, a record haul of about 3,000 pounds more than in 2015. NEW JERSEY Pemberton: The head of a New Jersey commission considering a new gas pipeline through the Pinelands recommends approval of the project, subject to conditions that include keeping sediment from seeping into wetlands. NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: A New Mexico judge has rejected arguments by defense attorneys that they’re too overloaded to adequately represent poor defendants facing jail time. NEW YORK Albany: New York has spent more than $ 8 million to install hundreds of “I Love NY” highway signs that federal highway officials say don’t comply with federal regulations. Officials are working to resolve the dispute. NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: An American Eagle flight struck a deer while taking off from the Charlotte airport last week. The plane with 44 passengers turned around and aborted its flight to Mississippi. Officials say the aircraft was leaking fuel as a result of the deer strike. No injuries were reported. NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: North Dakota’s Agriculture Department is accepting applications through April 20 for grants to help promote specialty crops such as dry beans and peas, lentils, confection sunflowers and various vegetables. OHIO Cincinnati: Two Democrats and no Republicans have filed to challenge Democratic incumbent John Cranley for mayor of Cincinnati. Cranley will face City Councilwoman Yvette Simpson and former University of Cincinnati board Chairman Rob Richardson Jr. in the May 2 primary. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: A woman could face jail time under a rarely enforced 1915 Oklahoma law that makes it illegal to charge a fee for fortunetelling, the Oklahoman reports.

OREGON Bend: An Oregon dam is at risk from badger tunnels and other burrowed passages, The

Bulletin reports. Johnson Creek Dam owner Debaca Land & Cattle LLC can either kill the animals or trap and move them before making repairs. PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Members of the union that represents Pittsburgh State Prison guards have until Friday to return a survey on where they’d prefer to be transferred. The prison is being closed to help balance the state budget. RHODE ISLAND Providence: State environmental officials are urging Rhode Islanders to “explore the outdoors” during February school vacation week this week. The state Department of Environmental Management plans a birding workshop on sea duck identification at Beavertail State Park on Saturday, among other events.

SOUTH CAROLINA Grainteville: Aiken County deputies say they arrested a man accused of driving through a cemetery the day before last Halloween, damaging several graves. Investigators credit cemetery surveillance video in the arrest. SOUTH DAKOTA Mitchell: South Dakota teachers are nearing retirement at a faster pace than first- year teachers are being recruited, according to the state Department of Education. The Daily Republic reports that more than 30% of South Dakota’s fulltime educators are at least 51 years old. The average retirement age is 59. TENNESSEE Clinton: A man who plowed his pickup through a crowded Tennessee parking lot after a Fourth of July fireworks display has been convicted of vehicular homicide. One man was killed trying to push his daughters out of the way and several others were injured in the 2015 incident, The Knoxville News Sentinel reports. TEXAS San Antonio: Prosecutors in Texas say a school board member was indicted in a public corruption probe targeting bribes by insurers seeking contracts. San Antonio Independent School District trustee Olga Hernandez allegedly accepted cash, jewelry and travel from insurers. UTAH Salt Lake City: For the first time since 1989, a great gray owl has been confirmed in Utah. Bird watchers saw a pair of the owls Feb. 9 in Morgan County, and a Salt Lake City Tribune photographer snapped a picture of one Saturday in Mountain Green. Heavy winter snow likely pushed the owl south to find food.

VERMONT Rutland: A mild winter and healthy turkey reproduction led to the second highest kill for Vermont turkey hunters in 2016. The Rutland Herald reports that hunters tagged nearly 6,800 turkeys in the spring, youth and fall turkey seasons last year, bested only by nearly 7,000 in 2013.

VIRGINIA Chantilly: Customs agents seized 42 pounds of horse meat, including 13 pounds of horse genitals, from two women arriving from Mongolia at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. The horse meat found Jan. 29 was hidden in juice boxes. One of the women said the genitals were for medicinal purposes.

WASHINGTON Spokane: A woman faces a theft charge involving $ 14,000 taken from a memorial fund for two men who died last year in a boat collision on Lake Coeur d’Alene. The Coeur d’Alene Press reports that an Oct. 8 fundraiser for the men’s families brought in almost $ 30,000. WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The Charleston Gazette- Mail reports that the West Virginia Board of Education has posted the job opening for state schools superintendent. Board President Tom Campbell said he hopes to fill the position July 1. The application deadline is March 10. WISCONSIN Madison: Wisconsin hasn’t seen a big increase in snowy owls this winter, unlike the past two years. Instead of some 250 owls seen last winter, the count this year is more like 50, probably because of a more stable food supply in Canada. The owls’ nesting grounds are above the Arctic Circle. WYOMING Greybull: The longtime chief of the Greybull Fire Department died after spending a day helping to remove ice jams from the Bighorn River. An autopsy will determine the cause of Paul Murdoch’s death last week. He was 53.