STATE- BY- STATE

ALABAMA Montgomery: Democratic former Alabama Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb, noting that the state is “near 50th in all the good categories and first in all the bad ones,” says she is running for governor in 2018.

ALASKA Anchorage: Seven bears have been killed in Alaska so far this year in defense of life and property, officials say.

ARIZONA Williams: New restrictions aimed at preventing wildfires will take effect Thursday at the Coconino and Kaibab national forests. They prohibit fires, campfires and use of charcoal, coal and wood stoves except within a developed recreation site. Smoking is also restricted.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: State Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has again rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling.

CALIFORNIA San Rafael: A 36- year- old man who panhandled for gas money and was then seen pouring the fuel into a Ferrari has been charged with stealing the luxury car.

COLORADO Durango: Officials are considering the development of a regulated homeless campground in the city. The Durango Herald reports that officials visited the Mesilla Valley Community of Hope, a homeless camp in Las Cruces, N. M., for ideas.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: July fireworks are returning to Hartford on July 8. The city had to cancel the display last year because Hartford and East Hartford could not afford to pay overtime for police and fire protection.

DELAWARE Newark: A new clinic at the University of Delaware employs new research to tackle traumatic head injuries. The university partnered with Christiana Care to create the STAR Health Concussion Clinic, which opened June 6, The News Journal of Wilmington reports.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A boy who would have turned 2 this month was found unconscious in a small backyard pool at a home day care Tuesday and died en route to a hospital. Police do not think negligence was involved.

FLORIDA Orlando: Officials are investigating two LA Fitness health clubs after four customers contracted Legionnaires’ disease.

GEORGIA Harlem: A Columbia County middle school teacher who authorities say asked a 14year- old girl to send him explicit photographs via the social media app Snapchat has been arrested.

HAWAII Honolulu: City police have matched some DNA profiles obtained from 180 recently processed rape kits with potential perpetrators in a national offender database — a development that they say could solve years- old crimes or prevent serial sex offenders from raping again.

IDAHO Boise: Two- time Grammy nominee Rosalie Sorrels, a folk singer and Idaho native who recorded more than 20 albums and performed at top folk festivals around the country, has died. She was 83.

ILLINOIS Hoffman Estates: The state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity says Sears Holdings’ elimination of 400 jobs means the company no longer qualifies for state tax breaks. Sears spokesman Howard Riefs acknowledged the company recently fell below the 4,250 jobs it was required to maintain for the EDGE tax breaks.

INDIANA Plainfield: Delivery giant UPS plans a new $ 260 million package processing facility west of Indianapolis. UPS says the project and improvements at existing facilities will create more than 575 full- time equivalent positions over the next five years.

IOWA Ames: Iowa State University has sold former president Steven Leath’s airplane for $ 450,000, $ 48,000 less than it spent to buy the four- seater in 2014. Leath pledged in December to sell the aircraft after a Board of Regents audit questioned dozens of flights he took for training.

KANSAS Lawrence: The University of Kansas will devote a residence hall wing to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and their supporters this fall. More than 20 students have signed up and there is a waiting list, the Lawrence Journal- World reports.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: A $ 240,000- a- year, no- bid contract for a state adoption “czar” sailed through a legislative committee Tuesday despite questions from a Democratic state senator who noted the Baptist pastor and professor has no experience in child welfare or social services,

The Courier- Journal reports.

LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Louisiana ranks 48th in a new annual assessment of child well- being. The Kids Count report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation notes that a higher percentage of children had health insurance but that the percentage of children living in poverty rose to 28%.

MAINE Augusta: A bill to prohibit minors from using a tanning bed is set to die. The Senate on Tuesday upheld Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of Republican Sen. Amy Volk’s bill, which he called governmental overreach.

MARYLAND

Annapolis: The Oyster Recovery Partnership, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring oyster reefs in the Chesapeake Bay, says 28 more restaurants have joined a shell recycling program in the past six months. Those who recycle shells are eligible for a state tax credit of up to $ 750 annually.

MASSACHUSETTS Malden: A woman preparing to go to the hospital for serious pain instead gave birth to an unexpected baby girl Monday, WCVB- TV reports.

MICHIGAN Lansing: State officials have released a tentative plan for reducing nutrient pollution that causes ugly and potentially toxic algal blooms in western Lake Erie. The U. S. and Canada have agreed to seek a 40% cut in phosphorus flows into the lake by 2025, and Michigan’s plan proposes steps for achieving those cutbacks.

MINNESOTA St. Paul: Republican legislative leaders sued Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday, arguing his veto of their funding in a dispute over tax breaks is unconstitutional. State funding for the legislative branch will dry up July 1. House Speaker Kurt Daudt said he hopes it won’t take a court resolution but that Republicans won’t renegotiate bills already signed.

MISSISSIPPI Ridgeland: Tuition and fees at the state’s 15 community and junior colleges will rise by 13% this fall, with the average annual price exceeding $ 3,000 for the first time as schools try to offset state budget cuts.

MISSOURI St. Louis: Attorneys for a man awaiting an August retrial in the deaths of two sisters forced off an abandoned Mississippi River bridge say in a court filing that they’re negotiating with the state Attorney General’s Office on a plea agreement. Reginald Clemons spent 22 years on death row.

MONTANA Missoula: The University of Montana is making another round of early retirement offers after just 14 of 48 faculty members 65 or older accepted offers to retire in exchange for half a year’s salary.

NEBRASKA Hastings: Authorities have charged Kirsten Tunender, 28, whose two children who were locked out of their southcentral Nebraska home in 91degree heat, with two counts of felony intentional child abuse. Police say the children, ages 2 and 8, didn’t need medical attention.

NEVADA Reno: A weather data center that sends critical information to firefighters and farmers is in danger of closing. President Trump’s budget proposal would cut 82% of the Regional Climate Centers’ budget, the Reno Gazette- Journal reports.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Pittsfield: Police Chief Jeffrey Cain says he knows who is responsible for hanging a homemade Islamic State group flag at the town’s dam. Other residents hung American flags around the dam in response.

NEW JERSEY Englewood: Dwight Morrow High School students have been staying two hours after school and must attend a Saturday session this week to ensure they’re in good standing to graduate. The principal and nine other district employees were suspended after an audit found thousands of irregularities with electronic transcripts and attendance records.

NEW MEXICO Ruidoso: Two people were killed when their twin- engine plane crashed short- ly after taking off from the Ruidoso airport Tuesday night.

NEW YORK New York: The city will extend the season past Labor Day for its six most popular beaches and all Olympic and intermediate- sized outdoor pools. They will stay open until Sept. 10.

NORTH CAROLINA Greenville: Mayor Allen Thomas is resigning to become executive director of the North Carolina Global Transpark, a state- run industrial airport in Kinston.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A committee has named three finalists for an opening on the state Supreme Court. They are South Central District Judge James Hill, Northeast Central District Judge Jon Jensen and Northwest District Judge Robin Schmidt. Their names will be forwarded to Gov. Doug Burgum for consideration.

OHIO Cleveland: An arbitrator has ruled that Michael Brelo, the Cleveland police officer charged criminally after firing 49 rounds at two unarmed black people, shouldn’t get his job back, Cleveland. com reports. Both were killed in the 137- shot barrage by police after a chase in 2012. A judge acquitted Brelo of manslaughter charges at trial.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Researchers preparing to conduct an extensive breast cancer research trial hope to find cancers that mammograms can’t detect. The Oklahoman reports the Mercy Breast Center is scheduled to begin the trial July 1. It will bring in 4,000 women over three years who’ve had a mammogram that was interpreted as normal.

OREGON Portland: Court records show Portland police didn’t pursue or submit evidence for a sexual assault case for five years, despite having the name, address and phone number of a suspect and a sexual assault kit from the alleged victim. Five years later, the kit was tested and matched the man she accused, Clint Curtis Williams, The Oregonian/ OregonLive reports.

PENNSYLVANIA Johnstown: A major dairy has stopped taking milk from 11 farms because of a surplus of milk. Galliker’s Dairy’s 85 farms have produced more milk each year even though Galliker’s is selling less.

RHODE ISLAND Tiverton: Rotting clamshells that were used to pave an access road two weeks ago were being removed Wednesday after complaints about the stench and maggots. The shells had meat still attached.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Thirty- four people across the state have been indicted as part of a methamphetamine ring operating within the state’s prisons. Attorney General Alan Wilson says inmates at prisons in Columbia and Bishopville led the criminal conspiracy, using contraband cellphones to direct drug deliveries, sales and payments with people on the outside.

SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: A 19year- old man is accused of possessing 20,000 fentanyl pills with intent to distribute them. Attorney General Marty Jackley says the street value of the powerful synthetic opioid is $ 500,000. One officer exposed to the drug was treated at a hospital.

TENNESSEE Crossville: A more than $ 100 million wind farm project has been put on hold after state lawmakers passed a yearlong moratorium on new turbines being installed in the state. The

Crossville Chronicle reports that developer Apex Clean Energy of Charlottesville, Va., cited “current market conditions” for suspending the project.

TEXAS Houston: The Texas Department of Public Safety on Tuesday restored expanded hours at 11 of the state’s busiest driver’s license offices after some lawmakers bristled that reduced hours intended to address budget shortfalls instead shortchanged Texas drivers.

UTAH Salt Lake City: Officials say a paraglider who crashed near a Salt Lake City trail last week has died. Sawyer Gordon, 22, died Sunday, four days after the June 7 incident.

VERMONT Plymouth: The state Fish and Wildlife Department has released four orphaned bears found malnourished in residential areas back into the wild.

VIRGINIA Richmond: Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam won the Democratic nomination for governor Tuesday, defeating a more liberal challenger, former U. S. Rep. Tom Perriello. Northam will face former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie, who narrowly defeated Corey Stewart, Donald Trump’s Virginia campaign chairman.

WASHINGTON Seattle: The man who accused Mayor Ed Murray of sexually abusing him when he was a teenager has asked a court to dismiss the lawsuit he filed against the mayor. Delvonn Heckard’s suit claimed that Murray paid Heckard for sex in the 1980s. Murray dropped his reelection bid because of the suit.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: A miner was killed in southern West Virginia on Tuesday night. Authorities say Rodney S. Osborne, of Artie, was using a continuous miner, a machine with a rotating steel drum and conveyor system, to extract coal when he was killed.

WISCONSIN Milwaukee: A man who was shot by a sheriff’s deputy on Milwaukee’s lakefront died Tuesday. Terry Williams, 19, had been on life support since he was shot in the head Sunday after he tried to flee from authorities, then drove onto a curb. Deputy Michael Truax is on leave.

WYOMING Cheyenne: Environmental groups have petitioned the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a statewide ban on cyanide traps used to kill coyotes. Dogs in Wyoming and Idaho have been killed by the traps.