STATE-BY-STATE
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Birmingham: About 16% of low-income Alabama preschoolers are obese, says a report based on 2014 statistics from the Women, Infants and Children feeding program.
ALASKA Ketchikan: A nonprofit regional development group is recommending that the Alaska Marine Highway System be managed as a corporation under state ownership. The Ketchikan Daily News reports it would still require a state subsidy.
ARIZONA Kingman: A company using drones to look for copper deposits near a dormant mine has upset residents who have concerns about an invasion of privacy. Residents also worry about what a mining expansion might do to their quality of life, The Kingman Daily Miner reports.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: A judge has been reproached for taking too long to rule on a lawsuit. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Pulaski County Circuit Judge Mary McGowan accepted the state judicial commission’s decision.
CALIFORNIA Newport Beach: One man is dead and three more have been hospitalized after overdosing on a drug at a Southern California bar. Authorities say an employee of the American Junkie, a bar in Newport Beach, was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter.
COLORADO Durango: The Animas River will be the sole source of winter water for Durango because of work at Lemon Dam. The Florida River is the city’s usual water source, but its flow will reduce while crews perform maintenance on the dam.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Portland First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield will lead the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities for the next year.
DELAWARE Dover: The University of Delaware is seeking a modest increase in next year’s operating budget, pledging that any increase will go to scholarships for Delaware students.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Twenty-nine children had their adoptions finalized last weekend as part of Adoption Day at Superior Court in Washington.
FLORIDA Tampa: Hillsborough County is banning employees from participating in certain biker gangs and similar groups after a firefighter associated with the Outlaws was accused of taking part in a bar fight in Key West.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that the banned list also includes the Crips, Bloods, Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, Hells Angels and the Pagans.
GEORGIA Augusta: The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation has announced its 10 “places in peril” list of historic structures. The list includes the Charles T. Walker house in Augusta. Walker was born a slave in 1858 and went on to become a world-renowned minister.
HAWAII Hilo: More forest surveys are planned in the newest Big Island area hit by the rapid death of ohia trees. Researchers say a fungal disease killed a tree estimated to be hundreds of years old, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports.
IDAHO Idaho Falls: A federal judge has approved search warrants to take samples from potato fields after farmers refused to allow authorities to check for a microscopic pest. The Post Register reports that the pale cyst nematode can cut crop production by 80%.
ILLINOIS Quincy: A man who uses the state’s “Homegrown by Heroes” logo on his products says it’s a way of honoring his late
father. The Quincy Herald-Whig reports that the program lets farmers, ranchers and fishermen who’ve served in the military use a special emblem on what they sell to the public.
INDIANA Crown Point: The John Dillinger Museum has seen more visitors since moving from Hammond to Crown Point. The museum takes visitors through the life of the gangster during the Great Depression era.
IOWA Sioux City: An Iowa woman is the sponsor of a new Coast Guard ship named for her uncle, who was killed in 1945 defending his ship from attack.
The Sioux City Journal reports that Donna Fuller gave a short speech prior to the commissioning of the USCGC Rollin Fritch at Cape May, N.J.
KANSAS Salina: Visitors to rural Kansas might be surprised to find several people working to refurbish a Cold War submarine. The Kansas City Star reports that Scott Waters bought the Pisces VI sub last December.
KENTUCKY Louisville: Kentucky’s dentists and optometrists asked Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration not to remove dental and vision coverage from basic Medicaid. But Bevin is allowing dental and vision benefits only for the first three months before it becomes optional through a rewards program.
LOUISIANA Lafayette: The city is offering free bus rides for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Lafayette Transit System says “No Pay Bus Days” are good for Friday, in recognition of Black Friday, and Saturday, for Small Business Saturday.
MAINE Augusta: A new tool installed on Maine’s coast will monitor tides in areas often slammed by storms. The gauge can help predict wave heights.
MARYLAND Ellicott City: A fire ripped across a Howard County golf course, destroying its clubhouse. Authorities say no one was injured in Sunday’s blaze.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The New England Aquarium says it discovered a rescued sea turtle that has only one lung. The turtle is 2 to 3 years old. If it survives, it will be released back into the ocean eventually.
MICHIGAN Corunna: Shiawassee County commissioners are talking about a moratorium on the huge wind turbines. The Argus-Press says Apex Clean Energy wants to develop a wind turbine project in four Shiawassee townships A public meeting is planned for Dec. 7.
MINNESOTA St. Cloud: The City Council has put off discussing a proposal to build a solar garden in part of a local cemetery. Neighbors spoke out against the plan’s possible effects on wildlife and property values, the St. Cloud Times reports.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Trustee C.D. Smith of Meridian will lead the search for a new president of Jackson State University. Carolyn Meyers resigned from the presidency last month after trustees named an accounting firm to oversee JSU’s finances.
MISSOURI Springfield: In about two months, Taney County will stop housing municipal inmates from Springfield. Sheriff Jimmie Russell told The Springfield News-Leader that the jail is not set up to handle the large number of inmates coming from Springfield.
MONTANA Great Falls: The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is proposing to construct a water treatment plant for runoff from an old coal mine. The runoff has been turning Belt Creek orange and degrading the trout fishery for a century, the Great Falls Tribune reports.
NEBRASKA Kearney: Hackers broke into the Central Platte Natural Resources District’s computer system, but officials don’t believe anyone’s identity was compromised. No data was lost because of an automated back-up.
NEVADA Carson City: State demographer Jeff Hardcastle says jobs are growing in Nevada, and more people are coming to fill them. The Nevada Appeal reports that the state will gain nearly 426,000 residents by 2035.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Bartlett: A popular local restaurant is back in business after fire destroyed an adjacent market and deli. Investigators said they don’t consider the blaze last week at White Mountain Cider Co. suspicious, but they’re trying to determine the cause. Two employees in the building escaped without injury. Fire Chief Pat Roberts said two firefighters suffered minor injuries.
NEW JERSEY Lacey Township: The nation’s oldest operating nuclear plant was temporarily shut down due to a fault in the turbine control system. Officials with the Oyster Creek plant said the turbine control system is on the plant’s non-nuclear side.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: A decision to raise ticket prices and eliminate some free days at state museums and historic sites has provided a boost in revenue. But officials tell New Mexico lawmakers that a fresh round of layoffs may be the only way to balance the books.
NEW YORK Wyandanch: A live grenade was found at a Long Island recycling plant and safely detonated by police. Suffolk County police say the plant was evacuated and they’re trying to determine where the grenade came from.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: A woman was accidentally shot in the head outside a gun show at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. Alyssa Glosson, 29, was rushed to a hospital and released later in the day.
NORTH DAKOTA Minot: Minot educators and community leaders have ramped up conversations about establishing a post-secondary technical education center. Minot State University president Steve Shirley says Minot is the only one of North Dakota’s four largest cities without such a center.
OHIO Cleveland: Police are looking for two dozen high school championship rings stolen from the home of athletic trainer Hank Gaughan, a long-time teacher at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland.
OKLAHOMA McAlester: Gov. Mary Fallin says a death row inmate won’t be allowed out of prison to get a marriage license. Fallin says officials are discussing alternatives.
OREGON Salem: The Oregon Innocence Project is requesting DNA testing and retesting of evidence involving a murder case that led to a man being sentenced
to death. Steven Wax of the Innocence Project says there’s physical evidence that either wasn’t tested or was tested using outdated technology.
PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: After more than 10 years of planning, Philadelphia is taking the first steps in transforming an abandoned, overgrown rail line that cuts through the heart of the city into a public park.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: A developer who says he wants to transform the skyline of Rhode Island’s capital city is meeting skepticism from some Providence leaders. But Jason Fane says his proposed trio of luxury residential skyscrapers could be a new symbol for the city’s ambitions to become an innovation hub.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: A life-sized bronze statue of the University of South Carolina’s beloved mascot Cocky could be sitting on a park bench on campus by next fall. The State reports that a committee unanimously approved the $85,000 project last week.
SOUTH DAKOTA Mitchell: South Dakota egg producers are finally feeling relief a year after the bird flu devastation. The outbreak’s effects led to soaring egg prices and hardship for egg producers and turkey farmers, the Daily Republic reports.
TENNESSEE Chattanooga: A study looking at the potential for a bullet train between Chattanooga and Atlanta includes three route options. Supporters note that President-elect Donald Trump talked up mass transit and high-speed rail during his campaign.
TEXAS Austin: The Texas Education Agency has told schools they must provide services to all eligible students with disabilities. The Houston Chronicle reports that schools began denying special ed services after enrollment benchmarks were set in 2004.
UTAH Clearfield: About 25 people were evacuated last weekend from a cold storage facility in the Ogden area because of an ammonia leak. The Standard Examiner reports that the leak occurred as workers were doing maintenance.
VERMONT Montpelier: Gov. Peter Shumlin has appointed Robin Lunge to replace Dr. Allan Ramsay on the Green Mountain health care board. Lunge has been a key player in the state’s health care reform efforts.
VIRGINIA Lexington: A proConfederate flag group has withdrawn its request to hold a parade on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Lexington. The Jan. 16 parade is two days after LeeJackson Day is usually celebrated.
WASHINGTON Olympia: City officials are seeking a private contractor to clean up homeless camps. The Olympian reports that campers will be given 72 hours to vacate before clearing starts.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Enrollment in West Virginia’s public four-year colleges has declined for the fifth consecutive year. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that about 250 fewer students enrolled compared to the previous year.
WISCONSIN Kenosha: A former Miss America has stepped up to lead the Miss Kenosha Scholarship Pageant, which was at risk of being canceled next year for lack of an executive director.
WYOMING Jackson: A hunter killed a buck mule deer in the Shoshone National Forest that tested positive for a fatal neurological disorder, the Jackson Hole News and Guide reports.