STATE-BY-STATE
ALABAMA Florence: Low water and the drought are creating dangerous areas for boaters on Alabama lakes and rivers. WAAYTV reports that debris normally underwater is now exposed in the Tennessee River.
ALASKA Fairbanks: A new 300-mile sled dog race slated for December can help qualify mushers for the Iditarod and Yukon Quest. About 20 teams are expected to compete starting Dec. 17, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports.
ARIZONA Prescott: The longawaited memorial for the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who perished in a wildfire three years ago is slated to open Wednesday. The firefighters died when winds shifted and trapped them in a canyon.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: A new report says Arkansas could save up to $50 million a year by looking into efficiencies in some state programs. The research is based on responses by the 21 largest state agencies to a two-page questionnaire, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
CALIFORNIA San Francisco: The California bar association is overhauling ethics rules for attorneys, and some lawyers aren’t happy about a proposal that could lead to discipline for having sex with clients. Supporters of a ban say the lawyer-client relationship is inherently unequal.
COLORADO Aspen: Authorities are seeing more transients living in cars at a park-and-ride in this resort town. Pitkin County sheriff ’s deputy Ryan Turner says an ordinance prohibiting overnight sleeping in public areas would help prevent problems.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: A longtime employee of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut has been named the organization’s new executive director. David McGuire was recently chosen following a nationwide search.
DELAWARE Rehoboth Beach: Rehoboth Beach and neighboring Dewey Beach are getting an $11 million infusion of sand. The
News Journal reports that the sand is part of a long-term federal beach restoration contract.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Metro says riders of its orange and silver rail lines should prepare for fewer trains. Track work is expected to reduce service through Dec. 21.
FLORIDA Marathon: A speeding motorist managed to outrun deputies in the Florida Keys but then called 911 after crashing his car. The Monroe County Sheriff ’s Office says Jason Dyer, 38, initially fled the scene on foot but then called 911 to say he was injured.
GEORGIA Savannah: City officials are proposing a tourist-based fee that would help pay for extra police patrols and property maintenance in downtown Savannah. The fee of 25 cents would apply to purchases of $10 or more, The Savannah Morning News reports.
HAWAII Honolulu: Health officials investigated an apparent spill that put 6,000 gallons of a pinkish substance into a channel near a Hawaii beach park. The Star-Advertiser reports that the spill’s origins are unclear.
IDAHO Rexburg: The demand for concealed carry permits in Idaho is growing after a new law went into effect this year. KIFITV reports that the law allows most gun owners over the age of 21 to be armed in public places as long as their pistol is hidden by clothing, a purse or holster.
ILLINOIS Quincy: Illinois has a new law requiring hairstylists to be trained in domestic violence response. The law will take effect Jan. 1, the Herald-Whig reports.
INDIANA Indianapolis: Indiana school referendums are passing at higher rates than before. All but three of the 20 ballot ques- tions this year were successful, the Indianapolis Business Journal reports.
IOWA Council Bluffs: Officials are trying to determine how far invasive zebra mussels have spread from one of the basins where the city draws drinking water. The Daily Nonpareil reports that the mussels were found during maintenance.
KANSAS Topeka: The cause of an explosion and fire at the Airosol chemical plant in Neodesha is still being investigated. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says officials have identified a number of chemicals that were released into a nearby drainage ditch when responding firefighters sprayed water to put out the blaze.
KENTUCKY Frankfort: The Kentucky Public Service Commission has approved a proposal to allow the East Kentucky Power Cooperative to offer its customers a chance to buy in to a solar panel farm planned in Clark County. Customers would pay a one-time fee of $460 per panel for a 25-year lease.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Interim Southern University at New Orleans Chancellor Lisa Mims-Devezin is now the permanent chancellor. She replaces Victor Ukpolo, who stepped down in June.
MAINE Portland: Two parents are suing a Maine school district and teacher, claiming their daughter was humiliated by having a bag placed on her head four times. The Portland Press Herald reports that the suit seeks damages for counseling, medical expenses and “severe emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment.”
MARYLAND Bowie: A recent study by scholars at Bowie State University concluded that 40 lynchings occurred in Maryland between 1854 and 1933. The study noted that lynching was a tool that whites used to enforce social and economic color lines against blacks.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The Boston Police Department is eyeing software designed to scan social media and the internet for criminal activity and threats to the public. The Boston Globe reports that civil liberty activists worry the technology could be a risk to free speech and privacy.
MICHIGAN Lansing: State regulators have directed their staff to develop rules designed to toughen utilities’ defenses against cyberattacks. Michigan Public Service Commission Chairwoman Sally Talberg says natural gas and electric providers face attempted intrusions into their computer systems on an almost daily basis.
MINNESOTA Golden Valley: The board that oversees the Perpich Center for Arts Education wants to figure out why it has high staff turnover and declining enrollment at its two Twin Citiesarea schools.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Staffing at the Mississippi Highway Patrol is at an all-time low. The Clarion-Ledger reports that 48 candidates graduated from trooper school in 2015, but 66 troopers have left since then.
MISSOURI Springfield: Plans are being made to develop a 4.5acre tract of land near Springfield into a community of tiny homes for disabled, chronically homeless people. The Springfield News
Leader reports that Eden Village will include a community center and 30 homes of about 400 square feet each.
MONTANA Billings: Record sugar beet harvests will keep refineries busy making sugar longer than usual. The Billings
Gazette reports that beets kept growing without a hard freeze in October.
NEBRASKA Kearney: This year’s Nebraska Cattlemen Convention and Trade Show will kick off with Cattlemen’s College. The education program is designed to help improve production and profitability.
NEVADA Las Vegas: A tractortrailer rig crashed into a power box near the Las Vegas Strip last weekend. The crash caused a fire that sent up a plume of black smoke, shut down the city’s monorail and stranded a handful of people in elevators in a nearby high-rise.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Manchester: Manchester’s fire chief is promoting a program aimed at helping those struggling with addiction. The Safe Station program began in May, providing help to anyone who walks into any of the city’s 10 fire stations. NEW JERSEY Trenton: New Jersey’s attorney general wants to settle a lawsuit that would end a state ban on civilians buying stun guns. Regulations permit police in New Jersey to use stun guns.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: The Council on American-Islamic Relations is praising the response of employees at a New Mexico grocery store when a woman yelled at a hijab-wearing shopper last week, saying she was a terrorist. The woman was told to leave the shopper alone.
NEW YORK Fort Drum: People living near Fort Drum can expect to see heavier-than-normal traffic because of the annual Mountain Peak exercise through Dec. 9.
NORTH CAROLINA Bald Head
Island: Repair work has started on a 200-year-old lighthouse on Bald Head Island. The StarNews in Wilmington reports that water damage is the main concern.
NORTH DAKOTA Williston: Williams County landowners whose property might be split if a proposed truck reliever route becomes reality are worried about how disruptive the thoroughfare will be for farming and ranching operations. The Willis
ton Herald reports that two possible routes are being considered.
OHIO Toledo: Ohio lawmakers are looking at consolidating oversight of state efforts to battle harmful algae in Lake Erie. The state’s goal is a 40% reduction of phosphorus going into Lake Erie within the next 10 years.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Officials say nearly half of the citations written under Oklahoma City’s new panhandling ordinance were issued at the same intersection. Critics say the ordinance unfairly targets homeless people.
OREGON Portland: A new state program will allow Oregonians with disabilities save money without fear of losing their state or federal benefits. KNKX-FM reports that the Oregon program opens Dec. 6.
PENNSYLVANIA Erie: The Erie Zoo’s gates will close Thursday for the winter, and that’s when some heavy activity begins. The
Erie Times-News reports that one major project is creating an outdoor lion exhibit.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: The holiday concert season has started at the Rhode Island State House. More than 3,000 student musicians from 57 schools will perform through Dec. 22.
SOUTH CAROLINA Beaufort: Beaufort County reports an increase in homeless students in its public schools. The Island Packet reports that the Beaufort County School District identified 275 for the 2015-2016 school year, up from 98 during the 2011-2012 school year.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: A code enforcement dispute between City Hall and a local business has officials rethinking a rule prohibiting murals that double as ads. The Argus Leader reports that Elegant Mommy owner Shelly Gaddis says she’s working with the city for a more artfriendly ordinance.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Vice Chancellor James King of the Tennessee Board of Regents has been elected chairman of the national Council on Occupational Education. King won the oneyear term at the group’s annual meeting.
TEXAS Dallas: Alumni of a private boys’ school in Dallas have set up an online fundraising campaign for a nonprofit that helps refugees and asylum-seekers. The move by members of the St. Mark’s School of Texas Class of 1997 is in repudiation of ideas espoused by Richard Spencer, an “alt-right” classmate.
UTAH Clearfield: Classes at a local community college teach some Davis School District students the Navajo language. The
Standard-Examiner reports that the Title VI program is funded by the Office of Indian Education.
VERMONT Lyndon: Officials at the Vermont State Colleges Board of Trustees are expected to decide Wednesday on a name for the soon-to-be merged Johnson State College and Lyndon State College.
VIRGINIA Virginia Beach: Twenty-nine months after he started, Leroy Bailey returned home to Virginia Beach last weekend. The Virginian-Pilot reports that the 54-year-old contractor walked around the perimeter of the continental United States — more than 11,500 miles — to raise some $10,000 toward building a homeless shelter.
WASHINGTON Spokane: Officials say the East Valley School District will collect just half of a $3 million transportation levy due to a clerical error. The
Spokesman-Review reports that the levy was supposed to be used to replace aging school buses.
WEST VIRGINIA Summersville: Some residents are concerned that two Richwood schools that closed after devastating floods might be consolidated with another closed school instead of being rebuilt.
WISCONSIN Genoa: An invasive snail is being blamed for the deaths of hundreds of waterfowl on the Mississippi River. The La
Crosse Tribune reports that the birds are believed to have an intestinal parasite found in faucet snails, a food source for waterfowl.
WYOMING Laramie: University of Wyoming officials say they’re considering rebuilding some residence halls to offer more attractive amenities to prospective students. The Laramie Boo
merang reports that university president Laurie Nichols believes some residence halls aren’t as modern as those found at other colleges.