News from across the USA

ALABAMA

Birmingham: Convicted Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph is fighting efforts by prosecutors to seize the small profits from his published autobiography. Peggy Sanford, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, told AL.com prosecutors have received more than $200 from LuLu Press Inc., which has stopped selling the book.

ALASKA

Anchorage: Central Middle School eighth-grader Kenny Petrini will represent the state at the national geographic competition May 20-22 in Washington, D.C., after winning the Alaska Geographic Bee. Petrini beat out 88 other students by correctly answering the question, “Which Russian city, home of the Heritage Museum, lies on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland?” The answer: St. Petersburg.

ARIZONA

Phoenix: The federal Department of Veterans Affairs’ health care system here will no longer be a prime sponsor for the Veterans Day parade. According to the Arizona Republic, VA spokesman Paul Coupaud said the decision stems from liability concerns and manpower issues.

ARKANSAS

Little Rock: The state Board of Education has classified the Lee County and Strong-Huttig school districts as academically distressed because fewer than half of their students scored at proficient or better levels on state tests, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

CALIFORNIA

Joshua Tree National Park: Joshua trees, those spiky sentinels of the Mojave Desert, are having a blossom bonanza. Millions of the trees have been bursting into bundles of greenish-white flowers in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Just about every tree has bloomed this spring when usually far fewer do and they produce fewer flowers, biologists said.

COLORADO

Boulder: University of Colorado regents are considering a tuition plan that could result in a nearly 9% increase for most in-state students. The plan would increase tuition rates to $9,000 for students in the College of Arts and Sciences.

CONNECTICUT

Hartford: Newtown officials and the families of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary school have given away to charities nearly 64,000 stuffed animals and thousands of other gifts that poured into town after the massacre. An official says the last boxes of toys, teddy bears and school supplies were shipped out of the warehouse the town had been using on March 29.

DELAWARE

Milford: Sussex County has granted approval to Home of the Brave, a non-profit men’s shelter for homeless veterans, to open a similar shelter for women. The five-bedroom house for women who need shelter for less than a year would offer residents medical and mental health services, as well as child care and job and educational opportunities.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA:

Metro plans to spend $215 million over five years to replace the troubled 4000series rail cars delivered in the early 1990s, The Washington Post reported. The fleet has problems with brakes, lights and air conditioning.

FLORIDA

Brevard: Volunteers hope to document every gravestone in Space Coast historic cemeteries for the Florida Master Site File, a sort of state archaeological/historic address book, Florida Today reported. The Brevard County Historic Cemetery Recording Project is overseen by the Florida Public Archaeology Network.

GEORGIA

Atlanta: A new study shows Georgia leads the nation in the growth of new women-owned businesses for the first time. The number of businesses started by women since 1997 has shown faster growth in Georgia than anywhere else in the nation. The number of companies has expanded by more than 111%, according to a report commissioned by American Express OPEN. The state has more than 308,000 womenowned companies.

HAWAII

Honolulu: Mayor Kirk Caldwell has signed a measure banning smoking on several beaches and in parks in Waikiki and other parts of Honolulu. Violators will be fined $100 for the first offense and up to $500 for additional violations.

IDAHO

Boise: Idaho can add one more sign of spring to its list: Three Chinook salmon have crossed the final dam before entering Idaho, signaling the first days of spring and the onset of angling season. The Idaho Statesman reported the salmon are expected to arrive from their journey up the Columbia River in smaller numbers this year. More than 600 had crossed the first dam in Bonneville by Monday, lower than the 10-year average of 4,757 by that date.

ILLINOIS

Cahokia: The Cahokia School District 187’s board agreed to a proposal that would cut 52 teachers and force the schools to do without an athletics director, coaches or extracurricular activities. The possible cuts would also target administrators, some 40 coaches and about two dozen noncertified workers.

INDIANA

Hope: Indiana preservationists hope a bargain price will entice a buyer to a historic house. The $1 price tag for the 1884 Queen Anne style house has a catch: The buyer must move and restore it. Greg Sekula of Indiana Landmarks told The Republic it could cost $150,000 to get the house up and running.

IOWA

Iowa City: Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said Tuesday a rowdy inmate caught on tape destroying a semi-indestructible spork designed for institutions to be washed and reused will not face criminal charges after all. Pulkrabek said Tera Harris was being disruptive at the jail when she was given a food tray after normal feeding times.

KANSAS

Topeka: Kansas ranked 38 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for women’s wage equality with men. Kansas women earned 75.6 cents for every dollar men earned in 2011, according to a report by the National Women’s Law Center based on U.S. Census data. The average Kansas woman earned $33,269 and the average man earned $43,993, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

KENTUCKY

Maysville: Mason County Sheriff Patrick Boggs said a Facebook photo has led to the recovery of several stolen signs. Boggs told The Ledger-Independent that his office found 16 signs on Sunday, and charged Zakery Mitchell, 19, of Lewisburg with receiving stolen property. “He posted a picture of himself, with some other people, but you can see all the stolen signs in the background,” Boggs said.

LOUISIANA

Monroe: The city has been approved for $7 million in state funds for a drainage improvement project, The News-Star reported.

MAINE

Augusta: The House has given final passage to bill to raise the state minimum wage. The bill seeks to raise the minimum wage, now $7.50 an hour, to $9 per hour in three increments ending July 1, 2016.

MARYLAND

Silver Spring: The opening date of a new $120 million bus and train hub remains unclear as extensive repair work is still needed.

MASSACHUSETTS

Boston: Several courts are staying open until 7 p.m. on two Tuesdays each month in an effort to make courts more convenient to the public. The pilot program involves the Boston Municipal Court, Housing Court and Probate and Family Court Departments of the Brooke Courthouse in Boston.

MICHIGAN

Detroit: A hospital gown developed by the Henry Ford Innovation Institute in collaboration with the College for Creative Studies is being used at Henry Ford Hospital. Resembling a wrap-around robe, the gown closes in the back and front with snaps, is made of a thicker fabric to keep patients warmer and is accessible for IVs and other medical lines.

MINNESOTA

Minneapolis: A worker at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was charged with stealing shotguns, revolvers and other weapons from the checked luggage of passengers who had connections through the busy Twin Cities airport. David Vang, 23, of St. Paul faces 11 felony counts, including 10 counts of theft of a firearm.

MISSOURI

St. Louis: Midwest BankCentre said on its website that a security breach exposed personal loan information of 109 customers.

MONTANA

Helena: The state House is moving forward with legislation that would repeal a state law that criminalizes gay sex, despite a committee’s decision to table it.

NEBRASKA

North Platte: Drew Steier, 20, was given 18 to 36 months in prison for a botched bank robbery.

NEVADA

Las Vegas: Home prices are up 7.3% from a month ago and nearly 31% from last year . The median price for a single-family home sold in March was $161,000, up from $150,000 in February.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

New London: State Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said her office is investigating new complaints against former police chief David Seastrand, who resigned last week after authorities said he told a woman he’d drop charges against her if she allowed him to photograph her nude.

NEW MEXICO

Las Cruces: Battery backup units have been installed at 23 key traffic signals in the city, providing an alternate power source to keep the lights on during outages.

NEW YORK

New York: The city’s long delayed bike-sharing program is set to launch next month.

NORTH CAROLINA

Princeville: State Auditor Beth Woods’ office said it is reporting its findings after a financial investigation of the mayor and former finance officer to state prosecutors, criminal investigators, and state and federal tax agencies. Investigators question more than $11,000 in charges over a two-year period, and some travel reimbursements and contracts.

NORTH DAKOTA

Fargo: The Navy canceled the remaining performances of the Blue Angels due to federal budget cuts, meaning the elite aerial demonstration team will not headline this year’s AirSho here .

OHIO

Berea: The turnpike commission proposed increasing tolls by 25 cents for cars and $1 for trucks for a cross-state trip next year. The tolls would rise 2.7% a year for 10 years to help pay for $1.5 billion in bonds for construction projects.

OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma City: The White House OK’d federal aid for 17 counties hit hard by a winter storm Feb. 24-26. Gov. Fallinsaid the counties have $7.5 million in storm costs.

OREGON

Oregon City: County sheriff ’s Sgt. Robert Wurpes said a 55-year-old man who slipped a razor fragment through the Clackamas County courthouse security system used it to cut his own throat after he was sentenced on a theft conviction, The Oregonian reported.

PENNSYLVANIA

Johnstown: The group behind a hiking trail linked to the Johnstown flood of 1889 has raised $80,000 to buy land to complete a missing 3,900-foot section of the trail. Once the trail is developed and added to the Path of the Flood Trail, people will be able to bike and hike about 10 of the 14 miles along the path that devastating flood waters took as they rushed into the city about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.

RHODE ISLAND

Providence: Republican House Minority Leader Brian Newberry of North Smithfield is inviting firearms manufacturers to relocate to Rhode Island from other states he says are “hostile” to gun owners’ rights. Newberry made the invitations to Hartford, Conn.-based Colt’s Manufacturing Co. and Beretta USA Corp. in Accokeek, Md.

SOUTH CAROLINA

North Charleston: The Boeing Co. announced it will invest $1 billion and create 2,000 new jobs over the next eight years at its 787 assembly plant.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Sioux Falls: The city’s Parks and Recreation Department is behind on hiring temporary employees to work at pools and parks this summer, the Argus Leader reported.

TENNESSEE

Nashville: A Davidson County Election Commission member's statement that the motor voter law had let thousands of non-residents register as voters locally hasn't held up in a state review. At a March 24 meeting of the election commission, Steve Abernathy said there could be 3,000 to 10,000 non-citizens on the voter rolls in the county.

TEXAS

Houston: The University of Houston’s chancellor has agreed to higher wages for English department teaching fellows after they staged a sit-in outside her office. Renu Khator committed $1 million a year to roughly 70 fellows The fellows are paid $9,600 to $11,200 a year to teach freshmen composition classes. They haven’t had a raise in 20 years.

UTAH

Salt Lake City: The city has launched a membership-based bikeshare program that organizers say will offer environmentally friendly transportation downtown.

VERMONT

Montpelier: The Senate is expected to debate a bill today that would move the state’s primary election to Aug. 5 from late August.

VIRGINIA

Salem: The City Council agreed to participate in a cooperative policing initiative with Vinton, Roanoke and Roanoke County to enforce the law in each other’s jurisdictions. Police Chief Jeff Dudley said the agreement will improve the efficiency of joint efforts such as drug investigations.

WASHINGTON

Wenatchee: Animal control officers searched for a vicious Chihuahua or similar small dog that bit a boy at Lincoln Park and a girl in a nearby yard.

WEST VIRGINIA

Oak Hill: The White Oak Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society is turning a 1903 train depot into a showcase for artisans. Chapter secretary Susan Craun said a May 4 ribbon cutting has been scheduled.

WISCONSIN

Madison: A World War II veteran from Brookfield received France’s highest military honor for bravery under fire while flying combat missions during the war. Edward Tyre was awarded the French Legion of Honor.

WYOMING

Laramie: A man was struck and killed by a car while apparently tending to an injured rabbit on a two-lane highway. William Kieren, 79, died at a hospital in Fort Collins, Colo. The rabbit was still alive on the roadway and was eventually put down by a state trooper.