STATE-BY-STATE

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Mobile: A new bike path is the latest step in making Mobile more bicycle-friendly, WALA-TV reports. The path next to Three Mile Creek near Tricentennial Park is part of a trial that will eventually loop the city.

ALASKA Juneau: An Alaska wildlife trooper investigating a report of a brown bear raiding a chicken coop shot and killed the animal as it charged. Troopers say the chicken coop wasn’t protected by an electrified fence, as recommended by game officials.

ARIZONA Phoenix: Officials say new thermal cameras to detect wrong-way drivers on Phoenixarea freeways are being tested. The devices already have alerted authorities to two instances of people driving the wrong way, neither involving crashes.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: The Arkansas State Fair will increase security this year amid a surge of crime in Little Rock, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. The fair purchased walk-through metal detectors for the first time in its 78-year history.

CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: Brother and sister snow leopard kittens romped Tuesday as they made their public debut at the Los Angeles Zoo. The siblings were born in May.

COLORADO Boulder: For the first time in nearly two years, Colorado wildlife officers have killed a bear in Boulder. The Daily Camera reports that the animal repeatedly tried to attack goats.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: The head of the Hartford City Council says most members don’t want the city to file for bankruptcy. But he admits it may be necessary without state aid.

DELAWARE Wilmington: Stockpiles of winter-blend gasoline will continue to be sold in Delaware because of rising gas prices caused by Hurricane Harvey, The News Journal reports. Federal regulators extended a waiver allowing winter blend, which is usually barred between May and September.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Georgetown University in the District of Columbia and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville remain the top three universities in the wider Washington area, according to new rankings from U.S. News & World Report.

FLORIDA Jacksonville: State and federal environmental regulators issued a blanket waiver allowing Florida electric utilities to violate clean air and water standards through Sept. 26 to restore electricity.

GEORGIA Lizella: Police say a man who intended to lend money to a friend was robbed by the friend at gunpoint when they arranged a meeting, The Telegraph of Macon reports.

HAWAII Kailua-Kona: The non-profit group operating Kona’s bike-share program applied for grants to expand, The Hawaii

Tribune-Herald reported. People’s Advocacy for Trails Hawaii recently received a 180-day extension of its $250,000 contract with Hawaii County.

IDAHO Ashton: Mayor Teddy Stronks was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation and fined about $300 for entering an unoccupied home to repossess a refrigerator, The Post

Register reports. Stronks owns a local appliance store.

ILLINOIS Moline: An artist has been chosen to make a replacement sculpture for an eroded statue on top of the Rock Island County Civil War Soldiers’ Monument, The Moline Dispatch

reports. The old statue has been in storage since October 2014.

INDIANA West Lafayette:

Purdue University’s plans for a new online school have drawn criticism from some faculty members. The proposed school would arise from Purdue’s purchase five months ago of forprofit Kaplan University, which faces investigations and lawsuits about hiring and recruitment.

IOWA Cascade: The number of organic farms in Iowa is growing rapidly, but they still constitute a small percentage of state farms. Iowa had more than 670 organic farms in 2015, but that was less than 1% of farms in the state, the

Telegraph Herald reports.

KANSAS Lawrence: A wooden cross on the roof of a local United Methodist Church was found sawed off last week, The Lawrence Journal-World reports. The cross and attached metal flame punctured the roof, causing damage to a gutter. KENTUCKY Prestonsburg: Jenny Wiley State Resorts Park will open its elk-viewing season Saturday with an Elk Night buffet. The menu includes elk roast, elk chili, elk meatloaf and other dishes.

LOUISIANA New Orleans: At least a dozen children who had heart surgery at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans this summer have infected incisions, apparently from contaminated equipment, The New Orleans Advocate reports.

MAINE Orono: Officials are concerned that an annual day of celebration for the University of Maine has an image problem. The local police chief says Maine Day has become a time for students to party and become a nuisance, WABI-TV reports.

MARYLAND Baltimore: The City Council has added a $1,000 fine to the penalty for illegally carrying guns, The Baltimore Sun reports. But the measure stops short of a mandatory sentence of one year in jail.

MASSACHUSETTS Northampton: A man who pleaded guilty to robbing a pizza delivery driver at gunpoint was spared jail time after his victim asked the judge to show the defendant leniency, The

Daily Hampshire Gazette reports.

MICHIGAN Detroit: The Downtown Detroit Partnership is seeking public comment on proposed design concepts for Capitol Park. The park is being redesigned to create a more engaging space for residents and visitors.

MINNESOTA Minneapolis: The composer of a musical set to open Friday at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis died last weekend. Michael Friedman, an Obie-winning composer and lyricist, wrote the music and lyrics for “The Abominables,” a hockey-themed show commissioned in 2011.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The Choctaw tribe will vote Nov. 17 on whether to build its fourth Mississippi casino, The Clarion-Ledger reports. If the measure is approved, the casino would be built in the Red Water community in Leake County.

MISSOURI Kansas City: A former Missouri ambulance service employee has admitted to replacing morphine and fentanyl in ambulances with sterile water. Authorities say Joseph Comstock emptied vials of the pain-killing drugs for his personal use.

MONTANA Helena: A state Child and Family Services official says eight children involved with the division have died this year, Lee Newspapers reports. None of the deaths involved children in out-of-home care.

NEBRASKA Papillion: A pet pig that ran away from home for more than a week before darting out of a cornfield and being hit by a car, requiring amputation of its right rear leg, must now find a new home. The Nebraska Humane Society told Tori’s owner that pet pigs aren’t allowed in Papillion.

NEVADA Reno: The University of Nevada Reno didn’t finish fixing its stadium wheelchair seating problems before the first home football game, The Reno

Gazette-Journal reports.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Durham: The town council has delayed a resolution to create a holiday honoring European explorers and Native Americans on Columbus Day. The issue will be taken up Sept. 18.

NEW JERSEY Newark: The Watchung Hills Regional High School District agreed to settle claims of failing to evacuate a disabled student during a fire alarm. The agreement says the student in a wheelchair was on the second floor with no way to get out.

NEW MEXICO Clovis: A complaint prompted New Mexico’s

Clovis High School Freshman Academy to remove a wall mural containing a dove, an anchor and a Bible verse, The Eastern New Mexico News reports. The Freedom From Religion Foundation says a parent objected to the mural.

NEW YORK Rochester: No-frills toys including a paper airplane, sand and play food are among 12 finalists for a place in the National Toy Hall of Fame. The contenders for the Class of 2017 also include board games Risk and Clue, Matchbox cars, My Little Pony and Wiffle Ball, among others.

NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte:

Three women pediatricians have sued the Carolinas HealthCare System, saying they were paid less than male counterparts, The

Charlotte Observer reports. The suit says one plaintiff is the supervisor of a male doctor who was paid more. Carolinas HealthCare calls the claims invalid.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck:

The state-owned Bank of North Dakota may make low-interest disaster loans available to ranchers dealing with drought. Authorities say state cattle ranchers have sold off about 100,000 animals in recent months due to drought.

OHIO Elyria: The local school district is getting relief from a rule governing stadium bathroom requirements. A 4,000-seat football stadium under construction would need 91 toilets under Ohio’s building code. But The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports that the district won an appeal reducing that number to 51.

OKLAHOMA Norman: An audit found financial mismanagement in the Cleveland County sheriff’s office. Auditors say Sheriff Joe Lester requested more funding in March, but failed to bill Oklahoma corrections from September 2016 to March 2017 for housing state prisoners.

OREGON Klamath Falls: Prosecutors have dropped charges against a father and son accused of operating a cockfighting ring,

The Herald and News reports. The two were arrested after police received a tip about online videos allegedly showing roosters being trained to fight. PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh: A man pleaded guilty to killing three homeless cats by leaving poison mothballs in his yard for them to eat. Authorities say Daniel Smith killed them because they defecated on his sidewalk.

RHODE ISLAND Providence:

The federal government will shut down the shortfin squid fishery Friday to avoid exceeding quotas for the year. The closing is in effect until Dec. 31.

SOUTH CAROLINA Myrtle

Beach: Police in this ocean resort city are seeking a suspect in the armed robberies of two hotels, WMBF-TV reports. Authorities say an armed woman took $406 from the Oceans Dunes Resort and about $230 from a Best Western early Sunday.

SOUTH DAKOTA Brookings:

South Dakota State University and the state Division of Criminal Investigation are reviewing an excessive force claim against a campus police officer. The Argus

Leader reports that two sisters were arrested last weekend, one charged with resisting arrest and the other with obstruction.

TENNESSEE Nashville: An audit finds that the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency hasn’t updated the state’s endangered species list in 16 years. The list is supposed to be updated every two years.

TEXAS Houston: A petroleum company says flooding from Hurricane Harvey triggered a spill of almost a half-million gallons of gasoline from two storage tanks along the Houston Ship Channel.

UTAH Salt Lake City: State education officials say student scores on proficiency exams dropped for the first time since the test was started four years ago. The data show that proficiency rates in 2016-17 fell at every grade level in nearly every subject. Subjects tested include language arts, math and science.

VERMONT Williston: Police are seeking a man wearing a panda costume who’s suspected of shoplifting a rifle at the Dick’s Sporting Goods store. Employees say the man had been in the store earlier looking at the same rifle, the Free Press reports.

VIRGINIA Richmond: The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Virginia lawmakers are looking into problems in the state’s system of 23 community colleges. A report finds that more than 60% of students don’t finish two-year degrees or certificates, and some universities won’t take community college transfers.

WASHINGTON Seattle: A memo suggests that the Seattle Police Department has met its reform goals on excessive force and biased policing problems under a 2012 consent decree with the Justice Department, The Seattle

Times reports. But the monitor overseeing reforms says some key requirements haven’t been met.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston:

Marshall University and West Virginia University will get federal grants for clinical internships and field placements in mental health and drug addiction work.

WISCONSIN Madison: Gov. Scott Walker is heading a 22member trade mission this week to Japan and South Korea. The group, which will return this weekend, includes 13 executives from eight Wisconsin companies.

WYOMING Casper: More than 30 protesters with teddy bears and a sign reading “Yogi Bear says no to guns” showed up at Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ visit,

The Casper Star-Tribune reports. DeVos has said that a school might need guns for defense if there are grizzly bears nearby.