STATE-BY-STATE

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Huntsville: A “mannequin challenge” video of people staging a shootout has led to the arrests of two men in Alabama. The video had been shared 86,000 times since it was posted to Facebook on Nov. 9. ALASKA Sitka: The city has been using diesel generators to fill increasing power demands as a hydroelectric plant remains shut down for repairs. The Sitka Senti

nel reports that electric utility director Bryan Bertacchi says it costs around $4,000 a day to run the diesel devices at peak times. ARIZONA Florence: The Pinal County Sheriff ’s Office is tightening its belt by freezing its hiring and putting one of its helicopters up for sale. The office now has 65 vacant positions. ARKANSAS Little Rock: Gov. Asa Hutchinson and legislative leaders have appointed the five members of a board that will develop Arkansas’ medical marijuana policy. The commission is to set up regulations for cultivation and distribution. CALIFORNIA Fresno: California wildlife officials say they won’t seek to strip gray wolves of protections once the rebounding population hits the critical mass of 50. Hunting and livestock groups oppose the wolf ’s return, saying they kill deer and cattle. COLORADO Denver: A man is suing Denver Police after he was wrongly jailed for two months in a sexual assault case because of a DNA mistake. Shawnnon Hale said in a federal lawsuit filed this week that crime lab technicians violated his rights when they improperly identified his DNA as being tied to a July 2014 rape. Prosecutors dismissed charges against Hale after a later test found his DNA wasn’t linked to the crime. CONNECTICUT Norwalk: A social studies textbook that says some slaves in Connecticut were cared for like family members is being pulled from Norwalk’s fourth-grade classrooms. Hearst

Connecticut Media reports that parents were told that the book minimizes the impact and implications of slavery. DELAWARE Clayton: The state Division of Public Health has closed an illegal tattoo parlor that was operating out of a private home in Clayton. The division also is urging any patrons to get tested for possible illnesses, WDEL-FM reports. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: In an 11-2 vote, the District of Columbia council has approved a new tax on businesses to create one of the nation’s most generous paid family leave programs. Congress, however, could still block the legislation. FLORIDA Tallahassee: Gov. Rick Scott is ending a Florida holiday tradition this year: Giving state workers an extra day off. A spokeswoman for Scott said the governor will not be closing state offices an additional day around Christmas. GEORGIA Decatur: DeKalb County police busted an illegal strip club run in a home. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that police raided the club over the weekend, making two arrests. HAWAII Honolulu: Mayor Harry Kim says he wants to make Mauna Kea a “people’s park” and that he still supports building a giant telescope at the summit. Opponents say the telescope will desecrate state land. IDAHO Swan Valley: A fire destroyed a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Swan Valley. The Post Register reports that the building is a total loss. ILLINOIS Springfield: A judge issued a temporary restraining order this week to keep Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration from imposing contract terms on state workers. The Illinois Labor Relations Board issued an opinion saying contract talks between the state and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union were at an impasse. INDIANA South Bend: The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi tribe has announced plans to build a casino with 1,800 gaming devices. The South Bend project will include four restaurants, three bars and a retail outlet. IOWA Cedar Falls: An Iowa native will be the new president at the University of Northern Iowa. Mark Nook is current chancellor of Montana State University Billings. He’ll assume his new position Feb. 1. KANSAS Wichita: A Kansas couple is accused of operating an illegal moonshine operation in their basement. A federal grand jury in Wichita indicted Ryan and Jennifer Penner of Newton on one count of possession of an unregistered still and related charges. KENTUCKY Louisville: The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky will have two full-time attorneys on its staff for the first time in its 61-year history. The group is creating a paid, one-year legal fellowship to employ a second attorney. LOUISIANA Shreveport: A seventh-grader has won $15,000 for himself and $30,000 for his Shreveport school after being named one of five national winners in a cooking contest. Caddo Middle Magnet School student Samuel Davis says he hopes the money for the school will contribute to a cafeteria renovation. MAINE Waterville: Three former Colby College students pleaded guilty this week to criminal mischief involving a dumpster fire that occurred hours before a commencement exercise. The

Morning Sentinel reports that the three must pay restitution and complete community service. MARYLAND Oakland: Garrett County officials are reviewing the county’s comprehensive plan that was last updated in 2008. The resulting document will have implications for expanded natural gas production if the state permits hydraulic fracturing. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Emerson College is investigating the discovery of posters promoting a white supremacist group. The posters were found on two campus buildings. MICHIGAN Detroit: The Detroit Symphony Orchestra plans its first concert in Japan in nearly two decades, and the ensemble’s inaugural trek to China. MINNESOTA St. Paul: The Minnesota Court of Appeals says merely expressing hope that someone will become subject to violence isn’t enough to convict them of actually threatening violence. The court this week threw out the terroristic threats conviction of Gregory Allen Olson, who expressed hope that the trooper who arrested him for drunken driving would get shot. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Gov. Phil Bryant’s wife will be the speaker for Friday’s Mississippi Statehood Day program. Deborah Bryant will focus on the history of the Governor’s Mansion. MISSOURI Springfield: A woman whose pit bull was shot last year by the Sparta police chief has agreed to a $6,000 settlement. The Springfield News

Leader reports that then-Police Chief Andrew Spencer killed the dog at the department’s shooting range. Loose dogs are supposed to be held for five days. MONTANA Helena: The voter initiative that will re-open Montana’s medical marijuana dispensaries will take effect immediately. Judge James Reynolds said an error in drafting the ballot measure shouldn’t delay patients’ access to the drug until July. NEBRASKA Lincoln: Mayor Chris Beutler admits it: He was speeding. Beutler reported the news himself on his Facebook page, saying he was ticketed for going 12 mph over the limit. NEVADA Las Vegas: The former political director of Nevada’s largest labor union will become the first Latina to serve in the state Senate. Clark County commissioners selected Yvanna Cancela this week to fill the Las Vegas vacancy. NEW HAMPSHIRE New Lon-

don: Faced with lower enrollment, Colby-Sawyer College has a projected operating loss of $2.6 million. The New Hampshire school says it will “restructure” and lay off 18 employees, including seven faculty members. NEW JERSEY Bloomfield: A New Jersey bar where six patrons were wounded by gunfire has been temporarily shut down. Inspectors uncovered various fire and health code violations at Sports in the City lounge. All six victims are expected to survive. NEW MEXICO Farmington: San Juan College will lay off 12 employees as part of a budget cut to account for reduced state funding. The Farmington Daily Times reports that four faculty, three professional, three support and two administrator positions will be eliminated. NEW YORK Wilson: Authorities have seized 100 snakes, lots of rats, two miniature pigs and a few dozen birds from a home where dozens of creatures were found dead. The homeowners face animal cruelty charges. NORTH CAROLINA Indian

Trail: A North Carolina man is accused of using a stun gun on a Walmart greeter who asked to see his receipt. John Davis Jr., 42, was arrested on charges of common law robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Gov. Jack Dalrymple has presented the Legislature with a $13.7 billion proposed budget for the next two years. Dalrymple leaves office in a week, and his budget almost certainly will be reshaped by Gov.-elect Doug Burgum. OHIO Cincinnati: A suburban Cincinnati man says someone vandalized the “Zombie Nativity” scene he puts up annually. Jasen Dixon tells WCPO-TV that the ghoulish-looking Mary figure was beheaded and the greenish baby Jesus was flipped into the yard. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The Oklahoma City Zoo has a newborn male giraffe. The zoo says the giraffe calf born Monday is not yet named. OREGON Salem: The city is buying a historic building on the Oregon State Hospital campus for affordable housing. The

Statesman Journal reports that Yaquina Hall will be purchased from the state for about $523,000. PENNSYLVANIA Connellsville: State police say holiday music was blaring from the car of a woman who tore up the yard of her ex-boyfriend’s home. And police say Mary Jo Smith, 47, nearly ran over Alan McCutcheon, 64, and his family as they were setting up a Christmas light display. But no one was injured. RHODE ISLAND Newport: The

Newport Daily News reports that the city planning board unanimously approved a proposed ordinance that would ban singleuse plastic shopping bags. The board sent the ordinance to the City Council. SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: In a move to protect sea turtles, two environmental groups are challenging South Carolina’s installation of hard plastic seawalls on beaches. The State reports that a lawsuit seeks immediate removal of the walls. SOUTH DAKOTA Brookings: Authorities suspended the search for a duck hunter who is presumed dead after his boat capsized. First responders recovered the body of Matthew Hill but couldn’t find his brother, Thomas Hill. TENNESSEE Johnson City: Mountain States Health Alliance is paying the federal government a $50,000 penalty after two parents accused the Johnson City Medical Center of not providing a qualified sign language interpreter while their daughter was dying of cancer. The parents are deaf. TEXAS Dallas: An Islamic grassroots organization that funded 12 billboards across Dallas and Fort Worth to combat misinformation about Islam has been receiving more hate calls in Dallas than in other cities participating in the nationwide campaign, The Dallas

Morning News reports. UTAH Salt Lake City: A Canadian company is delaying the startup of its oil sands mining operation in eastern Utah in a cost-cutting move, The Deseret

News reports. VERMONT South Burlington: City Manager Kevin Dorn says he wants better information on how F-35 jet noise will affect neighborhoods near Burlington International Airport before the Air Force jets are brought there in 2019, The Burlington Free Press reports. VIRGINIA Richmond: A Richmond sheriff ’s deputy has been fired after being charged with shoplifting a $72 bottle of women’s perfume from a Target, Sheriff C.T. Woody says. WASHINGTON Seattle: An environmental group is suing the federal government to force the state to do more to protect Puget Sound from polluted runoff from roads, farms, logging and boats. The pollution poses a threat to protected salmon and orcas. WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The state Department of Transportation is cracking down on highway engineers who have second jobs with private firms that pose a conflict of interest, The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports. WISCONSIN Madison: The University of Wisconsin Law School has notified more than 1,200 former applicants that they could be at risk of identity theft because the school’s database was hacked. WYOMING Green River: A $1,000 reward is posted for catching an ugly fish out of Fontenelle Reservoir. Game and Fish and Trout Unlimited are sponsoring a raffle for tagged burbot, The Rock

Springs Rocket-Miner reports.