STATE-BY-STATE

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Jacksonville: Jason Isbell, the Charlie Daniels Band and others will perform Wednesday to raise funds for Jacksonville State University, hit by a tornado in March. ALASKA Anchorage: Wildlife experts are calling this summer one of the busiest years for bear encounters. ARIZONA Phoenix: A U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit accuses Riddle Painting and Coatings of subjecting employees to a hostile work environment. ARKANSAS Little Rock: College enrollment in the state declined by 1.3 percent in the 2018-19 school year. CALIFORNIA Stanford: A law school professor is launching the Enough is Enough Voter Project political action committee to target politicians who commit or ignore sexual misconduct. COLORADO Aurora: The Cherry Creek School District agreed to an $11.5 million settlement after a middle school teacher admitted inappropriate sexual contact with students. CONNECTICUT Hartford: Voter equipment and election monitors will be added and post-election audits enhanced to boost election security. DELAWARE Georgetown: About 50 people at Georgetown Elementary School are being tested after having been exposed to active tuberculosis. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The Potomac Paddle Pub, a solar- and paddlepowered 15-passenger vessel, opens to the public Oct. 4, WTOP reports. FLORIDA Gainesville: Full-time University of Florida professors got an average 8.8 percent raise in 2017-18. GEORGIA Conyers: Honey Creek Elementary School closed Monday after an apparent norovirus outbreak. HAWAII Honolulu: Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut products produced Sept. 6-21 in Kea’au are being recalled due to potential E. coli contamination. IDAHO Coeur d’Alene:A cougar that wandered across a parking lot near a day care center has been euthanized. ILLINOIS Chicago: A judge has vacated the convictions of 18 men investigated by a corrupt Chicago police sergeant, bringing the number of tossed convictions to 42. INDIANA West Lafayette: Purdue University is getting a $30 million donation to help fund the renovation of its Union Club Hotel. IOWA Estherville: Residents have filed more than 300 complaints about the stench from the Central Bi-Products rendering plant. KANSAS Salina: The state attorney general’s office has determined that the Salina City Commission violated the state’s open records law. KENTUCKY Louisville: State officials unveiled redesigned driver’s licenses that will enhance security and make counterfeiting harder. LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Ochsner Health System promises improved operating rooms, equipment and technology for state-owned hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe. MAINE Crab Island: Crab Island, once owned by Arctic explorer Robert Peary, is for sale for $950,000. It includes two private beaches. MARYLAND College Park: The University of Maryland is moving more than 500 students to hotels after mold was reported in Elkton Hall. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The state issued a public health alert after hepatitis A spiked among the homeless and substance abusers. MICHIGAN Lansing: A new Treasury office website helps people claim lost or abandoned property. MINNESOTA St. Paul: The Department of Natural Resources says the gray wolf population is stable. MISSISSIPPI Ripley: North MS Tool has moved from Booneville to Ripley in a $700,000 expansion. MISSOURI Jefferson City: Former Callaway County Collector Pamela Oestreich has pleaded guilty to embezzling about $300,000. MONTANA Billings: Bozeman schools canceled a handful of junior varsity sports events last week because of a bus driver shortage. NEBRASKA Lincoln: Gov. Pete Ricketts rejected a move to adjust the passing threshold of an admissions test for the state’s teacher colleges. NEVADA Las Vegas: Celine Dion will end her concert residency at Caesars Palace in June. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The lights at the First Church of Christ, Scientist are shining for the first time since the 1980s due to a fouryear, $2.5 million renovation. NEW JERSEY Middletown: Firefighters rescued two 11-year-olds who got stuck in a 30-foot tree. NEW MEXICO Las Cruces: The city will receive $11 million in federal funds to build a transit maintenance and operations center. NEW YORK Albany: A measure that makes it illegal to pay for dogs, cats or other animals through lease-to-own plans has been enacted. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Civil rights and election advocacy groups are joining for a “By The People” campaign to oppose all six constitutional referendums on fall ballots. NORTH DAKOTA Minot: A $37 million Ward County jail expansion and renovation is almost complete. OHIO Columbus: The family of an Ohio State University alumnus who donated more than $30 million says the school is illegally draining millions in “development fees” and imperiling the endowment. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: A cyberattack has limited parental access to student information, the district says. Federal officials are investigating. OREGON Salem: The state Winegrowers Association urged lawmakers to protect the state’s $5.6 billion industry from false claims. PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: A state panel urged Congress and legislators to replace voting machines more quickly. RHODE ISLAND Richmond: Repairs to the failing 300-year-old Wyoming Dam should be done by next summer. SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Lt. Bob Beres, also known as “Trooper Bob,” is hanging up his badge. SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: Pennington County is opening a social services complex in the former National American University building. TENNESSEE Memphis: A woman was given 24 years in prison for stealing $162,000 from a program that funds summer meals for poor children. TEXAS Houston: Texas prisons’ medical providers approved only 71 dentures for a state inmate population of more than 149,000 in 2016. UTAH Logan: The tab for a wastewater treatment plant rose $25 million, officials say, because of new steel tariffs and rising construction costs. VERMONT Wallingford: Michelle Kenny hopes a former 1820s Odd Fellows building can become a new community hub with a coffee shop and bakery and a wellness center. VIRGINIA Richmond: A jetty will be built on Tangier Island to protect a navigation channel and harbor. WASHINGTON Bellingham: A city Fire Department officer retired and another quit after several department members practiced intubations on a body that was taken to a fire station. WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: A U.S. attorney is suing a hemp farm and others, saying they violating the federal Controlled Substances Act. WISCONSIN Madison: The state might end the ruffed grouse season early to protect the population. WYOMING Cheyenne: Two members of the Cheyenne Animal Center board quit after the shelter’s CEO was suspended but not fired for ordering a dog to be pepper-sprayed.