News from across the USA

ALABAMA Straughn: Tiger Stadium was chosen by AL.com readers as the best high school football stadium in the state. “I love places like this. Football is one of the most important things to a community,” Coach Chris Wilson said. ALASKA Fairbanks: The area is experiencing a rash of fourwheeler, motorcycle and equipment thefts, State Trooper Bryan Spears told newsminer.com. ARIZONA Paradise Valley: Eleven people from two fugitiverecovery companies went to Phoenix Police Chief Joseph Yahner’s private residence after receiving false information that a wanted suspect was hiding there,

The Arizona Republic reported. ARKANSAS Russellville: Hagerty Family Dental wanted to make it clear in case any passersby were wondering: “By the way, I don’t hunt lions,” a sign outside the dental clinic reads, according to Arkansas Online. CALIFORNIA San Luis Obispo: Four police officers who worked at the Leadership Empowerment Discipline boot camp for at-risk youth were arrested on suspicion of physically and emotionally abusing children, the Los Angeles

Times reported. COLORADO Fort Collins: Emily Maul won the world championship title in trail at the 2015 American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Championship Show in Oklahoma City. Maul showed an American Quarter Horse named Only Temptation,

The Coloradoan reported. CONNECTICUT Hartford: Rapper 50 Cent, who filed for personal bankruptcy last month, is trying to lease his Connecticut home valued at nearly $8.3 million, the Hartford Courant reported. DELAWARE Wilmington: A deputy attorney general will argue later this year that elders in a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in Seaford failed to report that a woman and 14-year-old boy, both members of the congregation, were having a sexual relationship. A Superior Court judge here is scheduled to hear the case Nov. 9, The News Journal reported. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Metro officials investigated a train derailment between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stations, The Washington Post reported. FLORIDA Brevard County: Flame retardants and pesticide byproducts are showing up at potentially toxic levels in sharks, rays and other marine life in the Indian River Lagoon and in the ocean just Brevard County, Flori

da Today reported. GEORGIA DeKalb County: Special investigators found the county government “is rotten to the core,” alleging bribery, widespread abuses of taxpayer money and theft of government property, according to a letter sent by the investigators to Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May, The Atlan

ta Journal-Constitution reported. HAWAII Pahoa: Hawaii County called for restoration of a lavacovered road here, the Hawaii

Tribune-Herald reported. Lava crossed the road on Oct. 25 as it stormed through Pahoa and began threatening homes. IDAHO American Falls: Three people escaped injury after their plane crash-landed in Power County, KIFI-TV reported. ILLINOIS Chicago: Long airport security lines at Midway International Airport could be eased by a major $240 million remodeling over the next several years, the

Tribune reported.

INDIANA West Lafayette: Purdue University is rethinking financial aid after the nation’s class of 2015 was named the most indebted in USA history, the

Journal & Courier reported. IOWA Des Moines: A nationally televised prime-time debate among Democratic presidential candidates will be held at Drake University in Des Moines on Nov. 14, the Democratic National Committee announced. CBS News and KCCI-TV are sponsors, in conjunction with The Des

Moines Register. KANSAS Topeka: The number of cattle on Kansas feedlots has been increasing, The Topeka

Capital-Journal reported. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service says the number of cattle on Kansas feedlots has risen 2% the past year to about 1.94 million. KENTUCKY Louisville: Jesse Benton, a central figure in the Paul family political machine, and two others have been indicted by a federal grand jury for buying support for Ron Paul in the 2012 Iowa caucuses, The

Courier-Journal reported. LOUISIANA New Orleans: A Hollywood stuntman working on the Deepwater Horizon movie was found dead in his hotel room, The

Times-Picayune reported. MAINE Canton: Several police agencies searched property around a mobile home here as part of the investigation into a teenager last seen in 1986, the

Sun Journal reported. MARYLAND Millersville: A plane without its landing gear made an emergency landing at Tipton Airport last week, WUSATV reported. One person was on board, and there were no injuries. MASSACHUSETTS Dennis: The New England Aquarium has released four endangered sea turtles back into the ocean eight months after they were rescued on a Massachusetts beach, WCVB-TV reported. MICHIGAN Marquette: A company operating a nickel and copper mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula wants to lease an addi- tional 40 acres of state land, The

Mining Journal reported. MINNESOTA Minneapolis: The Veterans Administration has been using unqualified medical personnel to do examinations — and deny benefits — for traumatic brain injuries at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, according to documents obtained during a KARE-TV investigation. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Airports in Gulfport, Starkville and Kosciusko are sharing in nearly $4.8 million in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration,

The Sun Herald reported. MISSOURI Columbia: A University of Missouri professor faces charges in Washington state accusing him of removing artifacts from a national forest without the proper permits. The

Columbia Daily Tribune reported R. Lee Lyman, professor of archaeology, was charged June 30. MONTANA Ulm: The First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park was designated as a national historical landmark, the Great Falls Tribune reported. It’s one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved bison cliff jump locations on the continent. NEBRASKA Harrisburg: A 60-year-old man died in a tractor accident on his mother’s farm in the Nebraska Panhandle, KNEB radio reported. NEVADA Reno: Peavine Hall, a five-story dorm at the University of Nevada, Reno, will open for 600 freshmen this week, the Reno

Gazette-Journal reported. Built originally to house 400 students, double rooms will house three students. NEW HAMPSHIRE Manchester: Mount Washington College is closing next April because of declining enrollment, New Hampshire Public Radio reported. The college said in a statement it will stop enrolling new students immediately and focus on the school’s roughly 500 current students. NEW JERSEY Millstone: A man playing horseshoes in the backyard of the local Elks Lodge be- came the victim of a freak accident, when a tree estimated to be 20 feet tall, fell atop him, according to the New Jersey State Police. Police did not provide the identity of the 55-yearold man, the Asbury Park Press reported. NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: An inmate who escaped from a prison work detail here was captured after an eight-hour manhunt, The

Santa Fe New Mexican reported. NEW YORK Chemung County: The Elmira man who stole the Mark Twain bronze plaque from Woodlawn Cemetery was sentencec to six months in the county jail, five years of probation and $1,575 in restitution, plus a surcharge. Daniel M. Ruland, 33, was accused of prying off and stealing the plaque between late December and Jan. 2, the Star-Gazette reported. NORTH CAROLINA High Point: For 37 years, the Shakespeare Festival paraded kings and jesters across stages. This month, its budget cut, its coffers drained, its bankruptcy papers filed, the band of heartsick thespians offered all its theatrical goods for auction: more than 2,500 items ranging from the snow machine to King Lear’s purple robe, The News &

Observer reported. NORTH DAKOTA Minot: More than $5,000 was donated to help a cat that was shot near here, The

Minot Daily News reported. OHIO Youngstown: Residents at least 60 years old can earn college tuition credits at Youngstown State University or Eastern Gateway Community College by volunteering at youth-oriented programs, The Vindicator reported. OKLAHOMA Muskogee: Some Cherokee Nation citizens are unhappy with the tribe’s recently signed hunting and fishing compact with the state and are circulating petitions calling for a vote on the issue, the

Muskogee Phoenix

reported. OREGON Cave Junction: Up to 40 homes were evacuated south of here due to a wildfire. PENNSYLVANIA Wyomissing: The state Department of Human Services issued an emergency order to close the YMCA Berkshire Center here, the Reading

Eagle reported. The center is part of the YMCA of Reading and Berks County. RHODE ISLAND Providence: The Route 102 span, Bridge #672, was named after two local residents killed in action during the Vietnam War — Pfc. Allan McCutcheon and Pfc. James Blanchard. SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: Three K-9s with the Greenville Police Department are getting ballistic vests, thanks to Vested Interest in K9s Inc., a Massachusetts-based non-profit. K-9s Valor, Rocky, and Saber will receive the bullet- and stab-resistant vests, The Greenville News reported. SOUTH DAKOTA Sturgis: Those attending the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally failed to set a world record for the most people assembled in one spot wearing only their underwear, the Rapid City Journal reported. Only 182 people gathered for a photo, well below the record of 2,270 people. TENNESSEE Clarksville: Gary McClure, the long-time head baseball coach at Austin Peay State University, was arrested in a prostitution sting, The Leaf

Chronicle reported. TEXAS San Antonio: A San Antonio man is servicing the community one haircut at a time, KSAT-TV reported. After a homeless man asked 21-year-old Rudy Ibanez for money, the Shalom Hair Fashions barber offered a free haircut instead. Inspired by the man’s gratitude, Ibanez now offers free haircuts to the homeless each Sunday.

UTAH Salt Lake City: The Salt

Lake Tribune reported ( that residents of the Salt Lake City School District will see an annual increase of $4.67 per $100,000 of assessed property value, which is about $9 for the average home. Granite School District residents will see a $860,000 tax increase, or about $5 each year for the average home. Murray School District is considering a similar tax hike. VERMONT Burlington: A local man suspected in the theft of a cast-iron cannon has turned himself in a week after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Leonard Bessette, 54, pleaded not guilty to a charge of petty larceny of property worth less than $900, the

Burlington Free Press reported. VIRGINIA Richmond: Duck Donuts will open its second area location this fall in Short Pump in West Broad Village, the Times

Dispatch reported. WASHINGTON Spokane: The area’s busiest marijuana store, the Greenlight, was robbed. The

Spokesman-Review reported that two employees and a customer were bound inside the store while the robbery occurred. No one was injured. WEST VIRGINIA St. Albans: Charles Hatfield, 53, was charged with stalking after allegedly spraying sulfuric acid and sprinkling another unknown substance on the plants and flowers on his ex-girlfriend’s property, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported. WISCONSIN Green Bay: Wisconsin Hmong leaders aim to change state law to give legal status to cultural weddings so couples would not need two ceremonies. The Hmong 18 Council of Wisconsin, an elected group that coordinates issues among the 18 Hmong clans in the state, is promoting pending legislation that would allow marriage negotiators called Mejkoob to legally certify weddings, Green

Bay Press-Gazette reported. WYOMING Cheyenne: Officials are drafting a master plan to upgrade the 83-acre park where Cheyenne Frontier Days is held, the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reported. New restrooms, buildings and parking are among the upgrades being considered.