News from across the USA Flint: St. Louis: Newark: Santa Fe: New York:

ALABAMA Birmingham: Lawyer Jennifer Elizabeth Meehan was given a six-month prison sentence after stashing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a shoebox as part of a scam involving a $14 million sorority house at the University of Alabama, news outlets reported. ALASKA Kenai: Teachers and support staff in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District voted to ratify a tentative agreement on their contracts. The agreement came after more than a year of collective bargaining and an arbitration process, The Penin

sula Clarion reported. ARIZONA Flagstaff: Police are investigating a fatal collision involving a tractor-trailer rig and a stolen Arizona Department of Transportation work truck. ARKANSAS Little Rock: Entergy Arkansas and four other parties have agreed to a $54.4 million electric rate increase for 2017, the Arkansas

Democrat-Gazette reported. CALIFORNIA Sacramento: California Highway Patrol confiscated 500 pounds of freshly cut and processed marijuana in El Dorado County with the help of drug-sniffing dogs, The Sacramento

Bee reported. COLORADO Denver: A federal judge ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reinstate a proposal to protect two rare wildflowers found in Colorado and Utah. The Denver Post reported the agency proposed to designate federal land in the two states as critical habitat for the Graham’s and White River beardtongue in 2013. CONNECTICUT Bridgeport: St. Vincent’s Medical Center is offering free counseling to help people select the best Medicare plan to meet their needs for 2017 and help them save money, the

Connecticut Post reported. The Medicare open enrollment period runs through Dec. 7. DELAWARE Dover: A former Department of Health and Social Services worker will serve two years in prison for her role in a nearly $1 million food stamp fraud case. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Warren Graves, a senior D.C. official who served under six mayors, was sentenced to one-year probation and ordered to repay $220,987 to the U.S. Treasury on a federal felony tax charge, The Washing

ton Post reported. FLORIDA Indian River County: Forest officials believe a fire that swept through 900 acres of preserve land was intentionally set,

The News Tribune reported. Florida Forest Service spokeswoman Melissa Yunas said the blaze burned itself out once it got to myrtle trees in the Blue Cypress Conservation Area. GEORGIA Rome: Authorities said an arsonist was responsible for a series of fires in Floyd County that damaged two homes and forced dozens of others to be evacuated. News outlets reported that at least four brush fires stretched along U.S. Route 27. HAWAII Honolulu: A Hawaiian monk seal is back at sea after a life-saving surgery removed a fishing hook it swallowed. The 14-year-old, 400-pound seal known as Benny was seen off Makua Beach in early October with a fishing line hanging out of his mouth, Hawaii Public Radio reported. IDAHO Nampa: Authorities said seven people escaped a house fire, some by crawling out windows, KTVB-TV reported. ILLINOIS Belleville: Authorities said several cars on a train hauling coal derailed in southern Illinois, knocking out power to hundreds and closing several roads. No injuries were reported. INDIANA Valparaiso: Thomas Reichler, a teenager convicted of fatally shooting a man in front of his wife and children, was sentenced to 62 years in prison, The

Times of Northwest Indiana reported. IOWA Dubuque: A Chicagobased non-profit group wants to invest $6 million to turn a former school into affordable apartments for disabled veterans in Dubuque. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reported that Full Circle Communities will ask the city zoning board to approve variances to the minimum lot size and parking requirements. The downtown site is the former St. Patrick Elementary School.

KANSAS Topeka: The Topeka

Capital-Journal reported that 57 arson blazes have been set this year. KENTUCKY Henderson: A man pleaded guilty to driving through a Memorial Day cross display. The Gleaner reported that Anthony Burrus, 28, entered a guilty plea to charges of first-degree criminal mischief and leaving the scene of an accident. LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated Pointe Coupee Parish as a primary natural disaster area due to damages and losses caused by severe storms and flooding that occurred in August. MAINE Benton: A second round of testing conducted by the Kennebec Water District found lower levels of lead in the water at a Maine elementary school. General manager Jeff LaCasse told The

Morning Sentinel all of the sites tested at Benton Elementary School last week are “well below the action level” and lower than what they were before. MARYLAND Salisbury: The community is mourning the loss of David Allen Miles, an assistant principal at James M. Bennett High School who died suddenly at home earlier this week. Miles, 45, was also pastor at St. Mary’s Missionary Baptist Church, one of Somerset County’s oldest churches. MASSACHUSETTS Topsfield: A man was recovering after authorities said he became trapped in a 10-foot-deep hole when the concrete floor of his screened-in porch collapsed. MICHIGAN Staffers from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are stationed here to help state and local health officials investigate an outbreak of shigellosis, a highly contagious gastrointestinal illness spread through just a tiny amount of infected fecal matter. Since March 1, 177 cases have been reported in Genesee and Saginaw counties, the Genesee County Health Department said Wednesday. MINNESOTA St. Paul: A 57-yearold woman lost her life savings when someone broke into her home Saturday and stole 100 gold bars, a $36,000 diamond ring and $60,000 in cash, the Star Tribune reported. Police said the woman hid the items in different areas of her bedroom because she doesn’t trust banks. MISSISSIPPI Tupelo: more than four years and more than $7 million, the renovation and expansion of the Elvis Birthplace and Museum is complete. MISSOURI The charitable foundation for suburban St. Louis-based Enterprise Rent-A-Car is giving $60 million to food banks where the company operates. It is the largest gift dedicated to a single cause in the 34-year history of the foundation. MONTANA Missoula: Construction is underway in Glacier National Park, the Missoulian reported. The park’s current projects include a new bridge being built over Avalanche Creek and the rehabilitation of the St. Mary Entrance Station on the park’s east side. NEBRASKA Lincoln: A resident convinced the city to change his address before he moved into his new home, the Lincoln Jour

nal Star reported. The address would have been 16660. But the homeowner did not want three 6’s — sometimes associated with bad luck, bad karma and the devil — so the city changed it to 16670. NEVADA Las Vegas: The family that owns property near Area 51 that was seized by the Air Force through eminent domain said their latest independent appraisal exceeds $40 million. James Leavitt, a lawyer for the Sheahan family, said that’s a far cry from the $333,000 the government is offering, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. NEW HAMPSHIRE Durham: Three cases of mumps were linked to the University of New Hampshire, and health officials reminded residents to take precautions, especially those with a connection to the Durham campus. NEW JERSEY The family of a man with cerebral palsy who was sexually assaulted by a former Rutgers-Newark professor was awarded $4 million by a judge. The professor, Anna Stubblefield, is currently serving a 12-year sentence. NEW MEXICO Officials at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis said the state’s driver’s licenses and IDs will continue to be accepted as identification good for entry into the base until October 2017. NEW YORK A jury awarded $10 million to a man who was badly injured when he was crushed in the gap between a subway platform and a train. NORTH CAROLINA High Point: Sears said it will close its customer service call center in High Point next year. The center has about 360 full-time positions, the High Point Enterprise reported. NORTH DAKOTA Dickinson: United Airlines will continue to serve the Dickinson airport for another two years. The state’s congressional delegation said the department selected United for a $4.1 million contract to provide subsidized service through September 2018. OHIO Richfield: Michael Simmons, a police officer accused of stealing more than $26,000 from a charity program that provides money to buy Christmas gifts for financially disadvantaged children, pleaded guilty to grand theft. The 42year-old could be sentenced to 18 months in prison. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Six winter trout areas managed by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation are scheduled to open Tuesday but the season opener will be postponed at two locations because unseasonably warm temperatures have left the water too warm to stock trout at the Perry CCC Lake and Medicine Creek, The Oklahoman reported. OREGON Medford: Cindy Deacon Williams, a member of the Oregon Board of Forestry, is pushing for the extension of streamside no-logging buffers in the state’s Jackson and Josephine counties, the Mail Tribune reported. PENNSYLVANIA Bethlehem: Eight-year-old Christian Hackett, who was once helped by riding therapy horses, has donated his birthday money — $356.36 — to benefit mounted police where he lives, WFMZ-TV reported. RHODE ISLAND Providence: Two field offices for the state Department of Human Services are offering extended hours to help reduce wait times stemming from the state’s new $364-million public assistance computer system. SOUTH CAROLINA Irmo: Through a gift made possible by Make-A-Wish Foundation, Hayden West got to handle the Richland County Sheriff ’s Department police dog Arko, write a speeding ticket and use the lights and sirens in the police car, The State reported. He will also be going to Disney World. SOUTH DAKOTA Canton: Lincoln County planners effectively voted to ban wind development by requiring a 1-mile setback for turbines and noise rules that wind backers call unattainable, the Argus Leader reported. TENNESSEE Memphis: The U.S. Department of Justice said it will examine community policing and use of force as part of a federal review of the Memphis Police Department, The (Memphis)

Commercial Appeal reported. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Police Director Michael Rallings requested the comprehensive review. TEXAS Austin: Several counties saw record-breaking voter turnout for the first day of early voting, including some counties which had double the numbers from the same day in 2012, The

Texas Tribune reported. UTAH Salt Lake City: The family of a 22-year-old man who died during a tooth extraction is calling for more oversight for dentists after finding that the state doesn’t track deaths or injuries during dental procedures, KUTV reported. VERMONT Montpelier: The Green Mountain Care Board voted to approve the all-payer waiver, giving the go-ahead for the state to implement a model Gov. Shumlin said will curb rising health care costs, Burlington Free Press reported. VIRGINIA Richmond: Richmond International Airport recorded its busiest September ever with more than 300,000 passengers, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. The previous September record was set in 2007.

WASHINGTON Seattle: A trial set for next month will weigh whether coal dust that spills into waterways from passing BNSF coal trains violates environmental law. Seven environmental groups sued BNSF Railway in 2013. WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: State officials recommended 11 Appalachian Regional Commission grants for $5.1 million for programs for economic development and infrastructure projects across West Virginia. WISCONSIN Milwaukee: In a case that could require changes to dozens of local “social host” ordinances aimed at combatting underage drinking, a split Court of Appeals has ruled that such laws can’t extend to a private residence, Milwaukee Journal

Sentinel reported. WYOMING Casper: Federal statistics show the state’s jobless rate was 5.3% last month, down from 5.5% in August and 5.7% in July, the Casper Star-Tribune reported.