STATE-BY-STATE
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Montgomery: A federal order meant to protect whistle-blowers doesn’t apply to a woman fired and sued for defamation by an auto supplier, a county judge ruled, according to AL.com. Renosol Seating in Selma fired and sued Kim King in March after she tried to deliver a letter to Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, a customer of the plant, saying she feared a chemical used in the car seat-production process was making workers sick.
ALASKA Fairbanks: A 17-yearold driver was cited for allegedly causing a crash on the Steese Highway bridge that involved 10 vehicles, newsminer.com reported.
ARIZONA Scottsdale: A motorist forced the temporary closure of Scottsdale Municipal Airport after driving onto an active runway, The Arizona Republic reported. ARKANSAS Eureka Springs: Officials will discuss relocating hundreds of vultures roosting in a neighborhood, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. Migratory black vultures arrive in the state by the thousands in September and October.
CALIFORNIA Carmel-by-the-Sea: Days after Pope Francis elevated Father Junipero Serra to sainthood, vandals struck the Carmel Mission where the remains of the missionary are buried, toppling statues and damaging gravesites, the Los Angeles Times reported.
COLORADO Denver: Colorado is converting a highway shoulder lane on a mountainous highway into a “ski lane,” an express lane for winter recreational travelers, according to the state Department of Transportation. The 13-mile toll lane on Interstate 70 will be open just 72 days a year and cost from $3 to $30, depending on traffic.
CONNECTICUT Norwalk: A family of 11 people was safe after their boat began taking on water near Shea Island, located about a mile from the shoreline.
DELAWARE Wilmington: Bayhealth Medical Center’s Kent General Hospital faces $73,509 in fines for allegedly mishandling hazardous hospital waste and pharmaceuticals. Similar allegations have been lodged against St. Francis Hospital, which could face a $13,021 penalty, The News Journal reported.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The Landmark Music Festival, a twoday musical event to raise funds to restore the National Mall, got off to a rough start, The Washington Post reported. Problems included gate-crashers, long lines to buy beer and a lack of toilet paper.
FLORIDA Pensacola: The National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola’s Naval Air Station was evacuated Sunday, and the base closed, because of an unspecified bomb threat, The Pensacola News Journal reported.
GEORGIA Marietta: Shane Simpson allegedly sold a baseball with a fake Babe Ruth autograph to a pawn shop for $1,000, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
HAWAII Hanapepe: KITV-TV reported that a fundraiser is under way to save a 1955 Ford F-150. The vehicle has been a fixture in the town since 1991.
IDAHO Bonner County: Police are investigating a collision that killed a man who stepped back into the highway to take photos of a brush fire, KTVB-TV reported.
ILLINOIS Chicago: For the second straight weekend, more than 50 people were shot across the city, including a 10-year-old girl grazed in the neck in the Woodlawn community, the Chicago Tribune reported.
INDIANA Indianapolis: The Indianapolis Star reported that the city’s Wheeler Mission Ministries will merge with Bloomington-based Backstreet Missions on Oct. 1, spurred on by the retirement of Backstreet’s executive director. Wheeler has operated Camp Hunt, a long-term addiction recovery program for men, since 1953 in the Bloomington area.
IOWA Iowa City: A faculty assembly representing the University of Iowa’s College of Liberals and Sciences has called on all nine members of the Iowa Board of Regents to resign over questions about the recent search that led to the hiring of non-academic businessman Bruce Harreld as the next UI president, The Des Moines Register reported. KANSAS Topeka: Shawnee County Commissioner Kevin Cook is calling for more fan support for Topeka’s junior hockey team, The Topeka Capital-Jour
nal reported. Cook said he was disappointed with the attendance when he attended the Road-Runners’ home opener.
KENTUCKY Louisville: Louisville Metro Police have arrested a man they say threatened to detonate bombs across the city if all Jefferson County Public Schools were not evacuated Friday. Benjamin Fullmer, 25, faces felony charges of second-degree terroristic threatening and tampering with physical evidence, The Courier-Journal reported.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: Recent promotions within the Police Department have drawn the ire of police union representatives, The Times-Picayune reported. MAINE Palmyra: A woman died after she lost control of her car and crashed into a tree with three children inside, WABI-TV reported. The children suffered injuries but are all expected to live.
MARYLAND Ocean City: Brenden Thomas, who sued an Ocean City cop for excessive use of force, has been awarded $45,000, the Daily Times reported.
MASSACHUSETTS Haverhill: Less than a week after a fire de- stroyed an abandoned mill here, firefighters extinguished a blaze in a century-old house, The Eagle-Tribune reported.
MICHIGAN Gladwin: A conservation easement by the Little Forks Conservancy on 313 acres of land will protect the property from future development.
MINNESOTA Pelican Rapids: Home and cabin owners here are threatening to sue if the Department of Natural Resources proceeds with more muskellunge stocking. Members of the Pelican Lake Property Owners Association told Minnesota Public Radio that they think muskie stocking has damaged the walleye fishery.
MISSISSIPPI Natchez: Local sales tax collections increased by approximately $148,000 for the 2014-15 fiscal year, following a six-year, upward trend. Sales tax collections from Oct. 2014 through Sept. 2015 totaled $5.7 million, the Natchez Democrat reported.
MISSOURI Kansas City: Police are investigating after four people were injured during a shooting in the 18th and Vine Jazz District, The Kansas City Star reported.
MONTANA Bozeman: Montana State University is offering a doctorate in education designed to prepare graduates for careers in research and as faculty members.
NEBRASKA Omaha: Crews have begun working at the future site of the Omaha National Cemetery, the Omaha World-Herald reported. Cemetery director Cindy Van Bibber moved onto the property earlier this month.
NEVADA Reno: The University of Nevada-Reno wants to lure a few students from Vermont, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported. Director of Admissions Steve Maples said the university currently has students from 49 different states and Washington, D.C., but no students from Vermont.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Merrimack: Police here provided two parking spaces in the front of the station for child custody exchanges. Both spaces are under 24-hour surveillance.
NEW JERSEY Newark: The federal judge presiding over the criminal corruption case against Sen. Robert Menendez threw out four of the 22 charges in the indictment against him and a wealthy Florida eye doctor but rejected other defense arguments to dismiss the case, including that Menendez is protected from prosecution under the Speech or Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Asbury Park Press reported. NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: Trash issues are making it a challenge for Joy Junction, a local shelter, to keep pickup sites open for the homeless, KOAT-TV reported.
NEW YORK Bedford: Frank and Joanne Verni of Greenwich, Conn., were on a Vespa scooter when they crashed into a tree on Old Post Road, The (Westchester County) Journal News reported. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Food truck Pho Nomenal Dumpling Truck took home a $50,000 cash prize as winner of the Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race,” The News & Observer reported.
NORTH DAKOTA Minot: The 38th annual Norsk Hostfest, with Scandinavian chefs and Viking re-enactors, continues through Saturday, the Minot Daily News reported.
OHIO Colerain Township: The University of Cincinnati Medical Center apologized for the lost remains of a newborn baby as a private company unsuccessfully searched Rumpke landfill for the body, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
OKLAHOMA Sapulpa: An open house will be held on Saturday for the planned Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum here. The museum is located at an old military armory in Sapulpa and is expected to open in early 2016.
OREGON Grants Pass: For the third consecutive year, gypsy moths have turned up near here. The leaf-eating moths don’t pose an immediate threat at this level, but their presence makes foresters nervous, the Daily Courier reported.
PENNSYLVANIA Beaver Falls: There were another round of fires here last weeked and all of them are considered suspicious, KDKA-TV reported. In the past few weeks, more than a dozen homes have burned in the Beaver Falls area.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: A 32-year-old man robbed at knifepoint smashed the window of his assailant’s getaway vehicle, the Providence Journal reported. Police are looking at video footage from a nearby restaurant.
SOUTH CAROLINA Orangeburg: Just in time for Halloween, Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell is warning parents to pay close attention to their chil- dren’s candy after deputies found marijuana-infused candy during a recent bust at a motel in the Santee area. The packaging on some of the candy says it is for medical use only, WLTX-TV reported.
SOUTH DAKOTA Selby: The Walworth County Commission rejected a proposal to build a $5.2 million regional jail here, the American News reported.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Music producer Dave Brainard was left unconscious with a broken jaw, severe lacerations to his face and several missing teeth following an assault earlier this week, The Tennessean reported. After initially striking him, a car continued to drive into him and his companions, then the driver got out, punched and choked Brainard until he was unconscious. The assailant remains at large.
TEXAS College Station: Members of the Texas A&M University Agronomy Club planted a cornfield maze to challenge the public’s agility when it comes to crops. The Eagle reported the maze is near the Kyle Field football complex and opens Oct. 10. UTAH St. George: The Spectrum reported that Federal Aviation Administration data shows an 8.7% increase in the number of people boarding planes at St. George Regional Airport since 2013 and a 60% increase since 2010.
VERMONT Montpelier: Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell, 68, said he will not seek re-election. Sorrell served twice as Chittenden County state’s attorney and also in the administration of Gov. Howard Dean before being named attorney general in 1997, Burlington Free Press reported.
VIRGINIA Richmond: Michael Sciolino, 27, who is accused of driving a car onto the city’s bike race course, was suffering from a sports concussion and did not have alcohol or drugs in his system, lawyer Robert Flax said, according to the Times-Dispatch.
WASHINGTON Spokane: Human rights advocates say people may be trying to pass pets off as service animals. State law does not specify how to prove dogs are qualified for the task, and anyone can buy a service animal vest online, The Spokesman-Review reported.
WEST VIRGINIA Lavalette: Beech Fork State Park is undergoing a $150,000 trail-improvement project, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported. Crews added low-gradient switchbacks to the Overlook Trail to convert a leg-burning, lungbusting climb into one nearly anyone could manage.
WISCONSIN Green Bay: Wisconsin showed it still knows a thing or two about brewing beer on one of the industry’s biggest stages — the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colo. Leading the way was Titletown Brewing Co., named the Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year and earned silver medals for Johnny “Blood” Red ( Irish-style red ale category) and S.S.A. (smoke beer category), Green Bay Press-Gazette reported.
WYOMING Cheyenne: Plans are underway to replace the Yellowstone supercomputer with a faster computer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research-Wyoming Supercomputing Center near here. Rich Loft, the director of technological development in the computation and information systems lab at NCAR, told the Laramie Boomerang that a new machine should be ready by 2017.