News from across the USA

ALABAMA Birmingham: Included on AL.com’s list of mustsee concerts are a double-bill of Journey and the Doobie Brothers on June 2 and “Weird Al” Yankovic on June 12. ALASKA Fairbanks: Despite a months-long leasing dispute with the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the offseason, the Alaska Goldpanners baseball team plans to be ready by the home opener next month, newsminer.com reported. ARIZONA Phoenix: In case you’re wondering what to watch tonight, The Arizona Republic compiled a list of the best Johnny Depp movies, including A Nightmare on Elm Street, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Dead Man. ARKANSAS Hot Springs: An altercation in a parking lot over a Confederate flag sticker led to a woman being punched, according to the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record. CALIFORNIA Tracy: Hazardousmaterials crews collected as much as 21,000 gallons of oil that spilled from a broken underground pipeline, but none of it flowed into waterways, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. COLORADO Colorado Springs: The El Paso County coroner’s office identified a woman who was killed when her car rolled over her in a parking lot as 90year-old Mary Mathis, the Ga

zette reported. CONNECTICUT East Hartford: The state’s high school graduation rate reached a record high 87.2% last year, two-tenths of a percentage point higher than the previous year and 4.5 percentage points higher than five years ago, the Hartford Courant reported. The national high school graduation rate at 82.3% is almost 5 points lower than Connecticut’s rate. DELAWARE Wilmington: The state agreed to provide $7.9 million in taxpayer grants to Chemours with the hopes of keeping the chemical company here, The

News Journal reported. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx appointed Kathryn Thomson as a special adviser focused on fixing the mess that is D.C. Metro, The Washington Post reported. FLORIDA Fort Myers: After sorting through hundreds of tips in the Oct. 17 Zombicon shooting that left one man dead and several injured, police have a simple message for a single tipster: Call us back. The News-Press reported that police are looking for a tipster who called on Nov. 11 or Nov. 12 with vital information about the shooting. GEORGIA DeKalb County: A woman on her way to vote lost control of her car, crashed into a gate and went about 12 feet over a ledge and into a church playground, The Atlanta JournalConstitution reported. HAWAII Honolulu: Money-rate.com has named Hawaii the worst place to make a living for the sixth year in a row,

Hawaii News Now reported. The state fared poorly this year because of its high cost of living — 68.6% above the national norm — and high tax burden. IDAHO Caldwell: Canyon County authorities say three teens were arrested in connection with several burglaries at a Caldwell school and business that caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage. ILLINOIS Park Forest: Two FBI agents were shot and wounded while serving an arrest warrant on a reputed gang member who was found dead inside a home, the Chicago Tribune reported.

INDIANA Muncie: Darrell Bright, 30, has been jailed on neglect allegations because his preteen son was hospitalized after twice being attacked by their family’s dog, The Star-Press reported. IOWA Des Moines: The historic Red Bridge over the Des Moines River will close for a year as engineers elevate it to meet updated flood rules, KCCI-TV reported. KANSAS Wichita: A $1 million gift will help Wichita State University renovate the aerospace engineering building on campus,

The Wichita Eagle reported. The money comes from the Dwane and Velma Lunt Wallace Foundation. KENTUCKY Louisville: A man who was abused by a Catholic priest as a child has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for using two boys to produce child pornography, The Courier-Jour

nal reported. LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Officials urged drivers to find out whether they’re owed a refund through Jefferson Parish’s discontinued red light camera program. Those who were ticketed in Jefferson Parish from 2007 to 2010 were supposed to receive a refund as a result of a court settlement last year. MAINE Wilton: The town was awarded a federal Environmental Protection Agency grant totaling $200,000 to assist with costs associated with cleaning up the former Forster Mill. The Morning

Sentinel reported that the grant is earmarked for one section of the 235,000-square-foot building on Depot Street. MARYLAND Frederick: Nine bicycles, a few scooters, a 1990s computer monitor and a newspaper vending box were among the 1,092 truckloads of silt dredged from Culler Lake in the last few months, The Frederick News-Post reported. MASSACHUSETTS Belchertown: A citizens’ advisory board voted in favor of establishing a timber rattlesnake colony on an uninhabited island. The Recorder reported that the 11member Quabbin Watershed Advisory Committee voted 5-2 in favor of the plan, with several abstentions.

MICHIGAN Detroit: A jury has acquitted a man of attempted murder in the shooting of U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg outside his home here, the De

troit Free Press reported. MINNESOTA New Ulm: Food and beverage company Kraft Heinz will invest more than $100 million in the city, the Pio

neer Press reported. The expansion will add four new production lines and 50 jobs. MISSISSIPPI McComb: Pike County supervisors plan to borrow $2.5 million to expand Gateway Industrial Park, make repairs to the Holmesville bridge and remove a closed bridge on Guy Barkdull Road, The Enterprise

Journal reported. MISSOURI Florissant: KTVI-TV reported that a group of women demonstrated outside Florissant City Hall, insisting the citywide ban on pit bulls violates state law. MONTANA Missoula: Sarah Harmsworth, a University of Montana senior and principal second violinist for the Missoula Symphony Orchestra, says her instrument was stolen from her car, the Missoulian reported. Harmsworth estimates that replacing her instrument and equipment would cost more than $8,000. NEBRASKA Lincoln: Mayor Chris Beutler and a group of community leaders want to double the city’s recycling rate by 2020, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. Lincoln residents and businesses recycle about 22% of the waste produced. The goal is 44% by 2020. NEVADA Las Vegas: Vandals spray-painted graffiti on the sidewalk and doors of Sunrise Mountain High School, causing $1,500 in damage, KVVU-TV reported. NEW HAMPSHIRE Dover: An 83-year-old church will hold a closing ceremony ahead of its upcoming demolition to make room for a housing development.

Foster’s Daily Democrat reported that the ceremony on Sunday will celebrate the history of St. Charles Church. NEW JERSEY Palmyra: Sgt. Stephen Coveleski and Patrolman Alex Hubel answered a call from Noelle Stevens, who said her son’s bike had been stolen from the front porch. The Daily

Journal reported that police were unable to locate the bike, which belonged to 29-year-old Wayne Stevens, a 2014 Special Olympics medal winner. When the officers saw how upset Stevens was about his stolen bike, officers pooled their money to buy Stevens a new bike. NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: Dozens of people were displaced by a fire at the Desert Sands Motel. The American Red Cross is assisting with the location of nearly 60 people displaced by the fire. NEW YORK Buffalo: A record number of restaurants will line the streets downtown for Taste of Buffalo this year, WGRZ reported. Sixty-two restaurants will partake in the two-day event, July 9-10. NORTH CAROLINA Asheville: Officials will use part of a $50 million city infrastructure project in the River Arts District to replace a tobacco barn with a constructed wetland, The Citizen

Times reported. NORTH DAKOTA Fargo: The state’s staple spring wheat crop is 94% planted, well ahead of the average pace. The seeding of all other crops including durum wheat, barley, corn, soybeans, sunflowers, potatoes and canola also is well ahead of average. OHIO Columbus: A federal court ruling declaring Ohio GOP lawmakers’ voting restrictions unconstitutional could easily wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court — and generate a 4-4 split decision, The Columbus Dispatch reported. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: A controversial bill that would have required Oklahoma schools to grant religious accommodations to students who object to sharing restrooms or shower facilities with transgender students died in a House committee, The Oklaho

man reported. OREGON Hermiston: A wildfire burned several buildings at the former Umatilla Chemical Depot, the East Oregonian reported. PENNSYLVANIA Red Lion: A storm brought nickel-sized hail to the local area, blanketing streets, sidewalks and decks. Wrightsville Mayor Neil Habecker told the

York Daily Record the hail piled into drifts about 3 inches deep. RHODE ISLAND Providence: Construction on an extendedstay hotel here is set to move forward after the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation voted to give the developer up to $4.8 million in taxpayer assistance over 20 years, the Providence Journal reported. SOUTH CAROLINA Charleston: The College of Charleston has purchased the historic King George IV Inn for $3.2 million,

The Post and Courier reported. Officials said the 10-room inn built about 1790 gives the college a central place to house campus guests, such as speakers and others. SOUTH DAKOTA Aberdeen: Police are investigating a break-in at Central High School, the Amer

ican News reported. TENNESSEE Knoxville: Alma Soto Soto, an undocumented immigrant living here but facing a federal court order to return her son to Mexico, has fled with the child, the Knoxville News

Sentinel said. If true, it is the third time the mother has disappeared with the 5-year-old since she first spirited him away from Mexico and his father in 2013. TEXAS Austin: Police say they are investigating 13 incidents of someone intentionally throwing rocks at vehicles on Interstate 35, injuring five people, the Austin American-Statesman reported. UTAH Salt Lake City: Salt Lake County wants to do away with a limit on building heights at the downtown convention center. Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams told The Salt Lake

Tribune that the zoning change would give the county more flexibility while negotiating with a hotel developer. VERMONT Colchester: A crowd gathered Tuesday to celebrate the success of the 2015 Community Campaign, which raised $3.6 million to support local programs, strategic initiatives and volunteer recruitment, Bur

lington Free Press reported. VIRGINIA Richmond: Almost 5,000 felons have registered to vote a little more than a month after Democratic Gov. McAuliffe restored their civil rights by an executive action under legal challenge by Republican leaders in the General Assembly, the

Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. WASHINGTON Roy: A Pierce County sheriff ’s deputy has been hospitalized after his patrol vehicle struck four cows that had wandered into the middle of the road here, The News Tribune reported. WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The Mineral Wells Volunteer Fire Department will receive a federal grant of more than $655,000 for vehicle acquisition. Grants for personal protective and other equipment include $187,000 for the Independent Fire Company No. 1 in Ranson and $45,000 for the Springfield Valley Volunteer Fire Company in Hampshire County.

WISCONSIN Pewaukee: A local man first investigated 18 months ago has been charged with stealing trade secrets from Rockwell Automation, where he was employed as a software engineer. Tan Liu, 45, is the third Chinese citizen charged by the FBI with taking proprietary information from major Milwaukee-area employers since 2013, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

WYOMING Evanston: An 18year-old died in a crash after trying to pass a vehicle on the highway, the Rocket-Miner reported. Christine Finney had been headed north on Wyoming State Highway 89 when she attempted to pass a vehicle in front of her.