STATE-BY-STATE
ALABAMA Opelika: An abandoned textile mill that served as a setting for the 1979 movie “Norma Rae” was destroyed by fire last week. Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller says the building was in the process of being demolished.
ALASKA Fairbanks: An arbitrator has sided with a former Fairbanks North Star Borough School District superintendent who was fired in 2014 for incompetence. The arbitrator ruled that board disagreements with Pete Lewis’ discretionary judgment aren’t grounds for termination for incompetence.
ARIZONA Tucson: The Bureau of Land Management has a new interpretive site in the Arizona desert where the Air Force had an underground launch silo for a nuclear missile. The site northwest of Tucson was dedicated last week.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: A plan to build a monument to the Ten Commandments at the Arkansas state Capitol will get a public hearing. Lawmakers last year approved a measure requiring the state to allow the monument on Capitol grounds.
CALIFORNIA Oakland: Five girls in their mid-teens are suspects in at least 20 strong-arm and attempted robberies in the San Francisco Bay area. The girls sought out women walking alone as victims, police say.
COLORADO Durango: Dispatch centers in southwest Colorado have dropped a complaint against telecommunications companies over 911 service outages. The
Durango Herald reports that the centers have agreed to work with telephone providers to improve communication.
CONNECTICUT Bridgeport: The city’s former top librarian has sued the library board, alleging he was fired because of his political involvement. Scott Hughes was fired last month after nine years on the job.
DELAWARE Dover: Delaware’s Department of Education is asking for a 7.7% increase in its operating budget. Education Secretary Steven Godowsky presented a budget request of about $1.49 billion.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A commission created by Congress to study the need for a women’s history museum in Washington says the museum should be part of the Smithsonian Institution.
FLORIDA Mulberry: State environmental officials say contaminants have been found in the private wells of 57 homeowners near the site of a sinkhole at a fertilizer plant. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is offering additional testing and treatment if the wells are used for drinking water.
GEORGIA Athens: A 1958 University of Georgia graduate has provided a $2.4 million gift to his alma mater to ensure students don’t have to worry about going hungry. The Let All the Big Dawgs Eat Food Scholarship sponsors meal plans for students with a demonstrated financial need.
HAWAII Honolulu: Hawaii’s governor hopes to cool 1,000 classrooms by the end of the year. But so far, air conditioning units have been installed in only 42 rooms.
IDAHO Melba: Idaho Power is working to improve water quality and habitat in parts of the Snake River upstream from dams in Hells Canyon. Idaho Power operates three dams in the Hells Canyon complex, accounting for about 70% of the utility’s hydroelectric power generation.
ILLINOIS Springfield: The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is offering families a break from Black Friday stress with “Fun Frosty Friday” this week.
INDIANA Kokomo: Work is just about finished on a 26-acre solar farm at the site of a former scrap steel plant in Kokomo. The project’s developer says the solar farm is likely to be operational in early December.
IOWA Elkader: Despite health concerns from neighbors, Clayton County officials have given final approval for expanded silica sand mining on 746 acres.
KANSAS Wichita: A retired police officer has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to fabricating documents. The U.S. attorney’s office for Kansas says Kevin P. Vaughn, 52, admitted falsifying reports to make it appear his company completed a federal training contract.
KENTUCKY Louisville: A federal grand jury has indicted the top elected official in Ballard County and the county’s former treasurer. Judge-Executive Vickie Viniard and former Treasurer Belinda Foster allegedly secured $450,000 in bank loans without the consent or knowledge of the county’s Fiscal Court.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: A hearing is set Nov. 29 in a legal dispute between Louisiana’s governor and attorney general involving discrimination against LGBT people.
MAINE Portland: The New England Fishery Management Council last week approved rules for scallop fishing that are expected to yield about 47 million pounds of scallops this year.
MARYLAND Baltimore: Court records show that four defendants in a racketeering case at Maryland’s largest prison have agreed to plead guilty. Indictments allege a scheme at the Eastern Correctional Institution to coordinate the flow of drugs and other contraband.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A coalition of civil rights lawyers says cancellations of trains on a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter rail line disproportionately affect minority and low-income residents.
MICHIGAN Holly Township: A judge says a family that fought blight and safety citations for living in a travel trailer is entitled to reclaim their property. Timm and Maria Smith had contended that officials in Holly Township in Michigan were trying to take their land to build a riverside park.
MINNESOTA Coon Rapids: A suburban Minneapolis school district is investigating after a Muslim student said a classmate pulled off her hijab and threw it on the ground. The Star Tribune reports that the Anoka-Hennepin School District says preliminary findings indicate the incident wasn’t racial.
MISSISSIPPI Greenville: The burning of an African-American church is still considered arson, but the Mississippi Crime Lab determined that no accelerant was found on items tested from the church. Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville burned Nov. 1.
MISSOURI St. Louis: A lawsuit filed against the Rev. Larry Rice by property owners in downtown St. Louis claims his homeless shelter has a negative impact on public safety. Rice says he has no plans to close the shelter.
MONTANA Billings: A power storage project that would act as a giant battery to supplement electricity from wind turbines and other sources has received a favorable review from federal regulators. The 400megawatt project would be constructed on a 177-acre site near Martinsdale for roughly $1 billion.
NEBRASKA
Lincoln: A conservation group is offering $1,000 to double the reward being offered in an elk poaching case. The bull elk that was abandoned in a Nebraska wheat field was killed outside of the hunting season that ended Oct. 23.
NEVADA Las Vegas: Parking tickets in Las Vegas will cost drivers dolls, not dollars, this holiday season. The Las Vegas
Review-Journal reports that the City Council approved a “Toys for Tickets” program to benefit a local domestic violence shelter.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Auburn: A bench donated by a Girl Scout troop where kids could sit and meet new friends has been removed after it was found covered with vulgar drawings and swastikas. Troop Leader Rebecca Roy tells WMUR-TV that a sturdier, granite bench will be put in its place — and a security camera.
NEW JERSEY Montclair: A police union says a hacker is to blame for recent posts on its Facebook page that appear to celebrate Donald Trump’s election. One post said: “Guys!! Trump Won!! We Get To Be Cops Again!!!”
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: State officials who began issuing new driver’s licenses last week that meet increased federal security standards are defending their efforts from criticism by advocacy groups for immigrants and the ACLU. Critics describe a chaotic rollout for New Mexico’s two new driving IDs.
NEW YORK New York: Yeshiva University has chosen the head of a Jewish heritage center in Israel as its new president. The university’s board says Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman will officially start work in July.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The North Carolina legislature’s government watchdog agency is tackling formulas for distributing billions of dollars annually to school districts and charter schools. A report released last week says the way money is allotted favors the wealthiest districts.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The North Dakota Department of Health is scrambling to solve legal issues with the state’s newly-approved medical marijuana law. Deputy State Health Officer Arvy Smith tells KFGO radio that without changes, patients won’t need a doctor’s prescription to obtain the drug.
OHIO Shaker Heights: The American Civil Liberties Union says an Ohio high school has reversed its decision to discipline a student who tried to expose a schoolmate’s racism by reposting the classmate’s remarks on Snapchat. The Shaker Heights girl was accused of being disruptive for reposting the comments.
OKLAHOMA Norman: Two anti-Black Lives Matter protesters were escorted off the University of Oklahoma campus last week. University President David Boren used a megaphone to order the men off campus.
OREGON Eugene: More homeless people will be able to receive temporary shelter in an expansion of Eugene’s “rest stop” program. The Register-Guard reports that the City Council voted to make what was a three-year pilot program permanent.
PENNSYLVANIA Hellertown: A former volunteer fire company treasurer who received a $400 annual stipend has been accused of stealing nearly 1,000 times that much from the organization. Agnes Patterson, 51, faces charges of stealing more than $395,000 from the Dewey Fire Company since 2009.
RHODE ISLAND Narragansett: The Coast Guard says a windsurfer was rescued after she became stranded off the Rhode Island coast. A 45-foot Coast Guard boat couldn’t get close enough to reach the woman, so a crewman swam to her and helped her get off the rocks.
SOUTH CAROLINA Beaufort: Authorities last week ruled out arson in a fire that destroyed the almost-completed new headquarters of the Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce. Fire Chief Reece Bertholf said investigators determined the fire was accidental.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: The federal agency responsible for providing health care to Native Americans has unveiled a detailed outline to improve and then sustain the quality of care provided at its hospitals.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Tax collections for Tennessee’s general fund beat expectations by $184 million through the first quarter of the budget year.
TEXAS Snyder: A Texas school official apologized to administrators of a Texas-Mexico border school district after his students chanted “build a wall” during a volleyball match.
UTAH Ogden: The Box Elder County Sheriff ’s Office says an unemployed man who was jailed for an unpaid ambulance bill killed himself hours after his arrest by poisoning himself behind bars. Sheriff Dale Ward said investigators determined that Rex Iverson died in January by taking strychnine contained in gel capsules.
VERMONT Montpelier: The Vermont State Police is the first state police agency to join a White House initiative aimed at improving the relationship between communities and police through data transparency. The agency and the Department of Public Safety have developed five data sets — among them traffic stops, traffic fatalities and DUI arrests.
VIRGINIA Portsmouth: The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame may move from downtown Portsmouth to Virginia Beach. The
Virginian-Pilot reports that the hall’s leadership is in talks with the coastal city about relocating to the Oceanfront.
WASHINGTON Spokane: A norovirus outbreak that infected dozens of homeless people and staff at Spokane’s House of Charity has been largely contained. Crews were disinfecting the shelter last week.
WEST VIRGINIA Morgantown: The West Virginia Board of Education has given grades to the 668 public school statewide. Most got a C on testing, improvement, attendance and readiness for further education or careers after high school.
WISCONSIN Portage: Authorities in Columbia County say a man operating heavy machinery died when it touched electrical lines and he was electrocuted as he got out of the cab.
WYOMING Casper: The city is investigating whether evidence is missing involving an October 2015 wildfire that destroyed 14 homes. The fire spread from the city landfill after a grinder ignited wood chips stored there.