News from across the USA
ALABAMA Selma: The state Department of Education is in charge of the city’s troubled school system, possibly for two years. A state review that followed the arrest of a Selma High teacher on charges of having inappropriate sexual conduct with a student found the school system failed to adequately investigate allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior.
ALASKA Mekoryuk: A meeting is set for March on Nunivak to discuss revisions to an agreement that would allow a larger musk oxen harvest. Village residents have petitioned for a larger harvest to fit their subsistence lifestyle.
ARIZONA Phoenix: A state House committee has approved a bill that would require cities and towns to calibrate photo radar cameras every 24 hours.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Windstream is cutting 400 positions, equal to 3% of its workforce, to improve its operational efficiency and save about $20 million a year. Windstream, which has 13,500 employees, said about 175 of the affected workers accepted buyouts.
CALIFORNIA Madera: A dispute about Chukchansi tribal leadership is holding up $1 million in donations to Madera County schools, animal welfare agencies, tribal organizations and veterans groups. COLORADO Colorado Springs: Police said a man was arrested after he brought a loaded handgun into the airport here. He was released from custody and booked a later flight.
CONNECTICUT Waterbury: A legislative report recommends that state parks keep up to half their annual revenue.
lican-American The Repub
reported that the parks turn over nearly all their revenue to the state. Last year, that came to $6.7 million in parking, camping and concession fees at the 107 parks and 32 forests. DELAWARE Bethany Beach: Mayor Tony McClenny said he is stepping down to undergo treatment for a brain tumor. McClenney has been mayor for nine years.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The City Council’s public safety committee holds a hearing today on the fire department’s actions on Jan. 25, The Washington Post reported. An internal report said five firefighters should be disciplined for ignoring pleas to treat Medric “Cecil” Mills Jr., 77, who collapsed across the street from the fire station and later died of a heart attack.
FLORIDA Miami: Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez wants to cut more from local libraries. The department faces a $20 million shortfall next year largely because of the county’s decision to lower a special library tax rate. The reductions have meant libraries are closed Sundays and some weekdays.
GEORGIA Athens: The University of Georgia is trying to raise at least $1 billion by 2020. The money will go to campus infrastructure, faculty support and research.
HAWAII Lihue: Kauai’s utility plans to build a $54 million solar power project on 60 acres in Anahola. The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative said the 12-megawatt solar project will power 4,000 homes.
IDAHO Twin Falls: Attorneys for 14 south-central Idaho cities have formally organized to fight an Idaho Department of Water Resources’ order that could reduce how much water the cities receive.
ILLINOIS Rockford: Mid-sized industrial cities including Rockford, Peoria, Aurora and Danville are forming a new alliance to gain more influence at the Capitol.
INDIANA Hartford City: Four city natives are raising money to fund studies of why Blackford County had the highest overall cancer rate in the state in 2006. State data showed Blackford ranked highest in breast and lung cancer, second highest in colon/ rectal cancer and 22nd in prostate cancer.
IOWA Decorah: A student at Luther College has discovered nine ancient Egyptian documents written on papyrus in a cardboard box in the college library’s archives. The college said sophomore Brittany Anderson was conducting a routine inventory of the papers of the late Orlando W. Qualley, longtime professor and dean of the college, when she came across the nine documents. They were among Qualley’s letters and journals donated to the college in the 1980s.
KANSAS Wichita: City officials are studying the possibility of someday using treated wastewater for purposes ranging from drinking to irrigation.
KENTUCKY Cadiz: The state Department of Education named Trigg County a district of innovation, allowing it to redesign how students are educated by exempting it from administrative regulations, statutory provisions and local board policies.
LOUISIANA Thibodaux: Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes have established alcohol- and tobacco-free zones along Mardi Gras parade routes.
MAINE Augusta: Maine wildlife biologists are checking on hibernating black bears this month against the backdrop of an anticipated November ballot initiative aimed at banning bear hunting using bait, dogs and traps. Bear biologist Randy Cross of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife told Maine Public Broadcasting Network that the bear management program is a success.
MARYLAND Sabillasville: The state attorney general’s office reported a 23% increase in assaults in 2013 at the Victor Cullen Center, a high-security juvenile facility.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Mayor Martin Walsh said he’s considering whether it’s possible to bypass the Beacon Hill Architectural Commission after it rejected pedestrian ramps with tactile warning strips for blind pedestrians. The commission rejected the ramps because they would mar the neighborhood’s Colonial-era character.
MICHIGAN Lansing: Delta College, Grand Rapids Community College, Lansing Community College, Montcalm Community and Mott Community Colleges have signed an agreement to let students in automotive technology programs transfer among the schools without losing credits or having to repeat course work.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: A remaining ring beam that made up part of the Metrodome’s roof structure was taken down using controlled explosives.
MISSISSIPPI McComb: Pike County supervisors may require permits for log trucks and other heavy trucks. MISSOURI Jefferson City: Proposed regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would significantly reduce the amount of particle pollution allowed to flow from new residential wood-powered heaters.
MONTANA Butte: The search for a missing man has been suspended. Butte-Silver Bow Undersheriff George Skuletich told the Montana Standard that no new information surfaced concerning Jim Ryan, 54.
NEBRASKA Omaha: Police ticketed dozens of teenagers for possessing alcohol at a party this weekend and cited a 20-year-old man for allegedly providing it.
NEVADA Las Vegas: Prepaid debit cards tied to a casino customer’s rewards account have been approved for wagering on slot machines in Nevada. The Las
Vegas Review-Journal reported the action was taken with the support of several major gambling companies.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Milton: The New Hampshire Farm Museum is getting some help to restore a row of 100-year-old-plus deteriorating white pine and sugar maple trees. The museum will get a visit from Urban Tree Service, a lawn care company that held an “Extreme Tree Makeover Contest.” NEW JERSEY Sea Isle City: Owner Jay Gillian said he will close Gillian’s Funland. The $2.5 million amusement park opened in 2009, but it sustained “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in damage during Superstorm Sandy and then struggled to partially open by July 4 last year.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: New Mexico State University history professor Jon Hunner has been tapped to serve as interim director of the New Mexico History Museum and the Palace of the Governors.
NEW YORK New York: A 4year-old German shepherd named Caeser, who served three tours of duty overseas, has joined the police department and will patrol the subways. The arrangement with the Defense Department saves the police force the $6,000 to $8,000 cost of training an inexperienced dog. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: A judge blocked a new law that would have allowed taxpayer money to go for tuition at private or religious schools, days before a lottery to determine its first 2,400 students. NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The Game and Fish Department’s hunter education classes are filling up. State law requires anyone born after Dec. 31, 1961, to pass a certified hunter education course to hunt.
OHIO Cincinnati: Joseph Delamerced, 14, beat out more than 60 other students at a regional spelling bee to compete for the third time in the National Spelling Bee held in Washington, D.C., starting May 25. Last year, he placed 12th.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: A student at Oklahoma Christian University found a musical piece hidden on a centuries-old painting. Amelia Hamrick, 20, said she was looking at Hieronymus
Bosch’s painting The Garden of
Earthly Delights when she discovered a musical notation on the backside of one of the nude figures in the piece. Hamrick, a sophomore, transcribed the music to modern notation, recorded it and posted it on her blog.
OREGON Boring: The Clackamas County sheriff ’s office said a man wanted on outstanding arrests warrants was in jail after he barricaded himself inside a home. Spokesman Nate Thompson said deputies tried to stop Raymond Wilebski, 58, as he was driving toward his home. PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: Authorities said a Temple University student on the main campus was grazed by a bullet apparently fired in a shootout at a nearby bar. RHODE ISLAND Pawtucket: Local officials are asking more youths to volunteer to shovel out seniors. Mayor Donald Grebien said the need for their service is at its greatest level this winter.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: A new law meant to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill has so far stopped 55 attempted handgun sales and caused 65 concealed weapon permits to be revoked, the State Law Enforcement Division reported. SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: Residents have been plunging into frigid waters to help raise money for the Special Olympics. The Polar Plunge drew 258 participants and raised $49,000.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Police may have grounds to arrest people for DUI even if they pass field sobriety tests, the state Supreme Court said in a ruling that involved a Sevier County man whose DUI charges were thrown out after he passed six field sobriety tests. The unanimous opinion reinstated the charges against David Dwayne Bell.
TEXAS Dallas: The body of a child was found by firefighters at an apartment blaze. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
UTAH Salt Lake City: Officials showcased a new look for a residential hub should a prison vacate its slot between two highways. The Draper prison is in the middle of a tech corridor, halfway between facilities for eBay and Adobe Systems. A caucus of Utah House Republicans this week backed a measure to move the state prison.
VERMONT Montepelier: The Fish and Wildlife Commission announced that the loon, the white-tailed deer and the brook trout will be replacing the catamount on the state’s conservation license plates.
VIRGINIA Williamsburg: A free shuttle that carried passengers from the Colonial Williamsburg Regional Visitor Center to Jamestown, Yorktown, Busch Gardens and Water Country is being discontinued due to financial pressures.
WASHINGTON Olympia: Conservation Northwest offered a $7,500 reward for help solving the case of an endangered gray wolf found shot to death Feb. 9 in Stevens County. WEST VIRGINIA Morgantown: The Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University will be known starting July 1 as Reed College of Media. The name change is intended to reflect the changing media landscape, which includes public relations as well as journalism. WISCONSIN Stevens Point: A man convicted of killing two Wisconsin Rapids women in a drunken-driving crash last year could face more than 60 years in prison. Timothy Saavedra, 23, pleaded no contest to three charges stemming from the crash July 20 in the town of Linwood.
WYOMING Cheyenne: Today marks the start of the third week of the state Legislature’s fourweek budget session.