STATE-BY-STATE
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Montgomery: Gov. Robert Bentley has created a state council to address what he called a growing crisis of opioid misuse and addiction. Alabama has the highest rate of prescription opioid use in the nation.
ALASKA Anchorage: A 21-yearold man has been arrested in the January deaths of two people, KTVA-TV reported. A prosecutor says Jamal Hall faces murder, assault and robbery charges in the shooting deaths of Selena Mullenax, 19, and Foriegnne Aubert-Morissette, 20.
ARIZONA Flagstaff: Animals mistakenly shot during hunting season are helping northern Arizona charities find sources of protein for needy people. The Arizona Game and Fish Department donated more than 6,000 pounds of the seized meat.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: State Democratic Party committee members have deferred selecting new leaders until after the 2018 gubernatorial election. A wing of the party had called for more immediate elections.
CALIFORNIA Pasadena: The city held a ceremony to commemorate a residence where future President Barack Obama lived during his sophomore year at Occidental College.
COLORADO Denver: The city’s Catholic archdiocese is studying whether Julia Greeley, a former slave who became known for her charity work, should be named as a saint. A report will be sent to the Vatican, which will decide whether to proceed.
CONNECTICUT Stamford: Police have arrested the driver of a van they say struck and killed a student as she walked to her school to take the SAT. Karina Tinajero-Arreguin, 18, was hit by a van as she crossed a street in front of Stamford High School on Nov. 5. Wilson Villa-Cabrera, 37, was charged with misconduct with a motor vehicle.
DELAWARE Wilmington: A man convicted of fatally stabbing a psychiatrist who once treated him has been sentenced to life in prison plus 25 years. Authorities have said Christopher Frick, angry because Caroline Ekong, 55, refused to let him leave a psychiatric facility, plotted her death for at least a year.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The National Zoo’s giant panda cub, 1-year-old Bei Bei, continues to do well in his recovery from surgery last month to remove a mass of bamboo that had created an intestinal blockage, WTOP Radio reported.
FLORIDA Miami: A baby ball python is recovering after being found with its mouth sewn shut outside a Dade County home. Lt. Scott Mullin of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom Unit said he took the snake to a friend who is also a snake breeder and they removed the stitches.
GEORGIA Dalton: Two escaped inmates are back in custody after leading troopers on a chase in a stolen flatbed 18-wheeler. Matthew Robert Porter, 27, and Adam Quinn Lethco, 24, escaped from a Jefferson County (Tenn.) jail Friday. They were captured south of Dalton after Georgia State Patrol troopers used stop sticks to blow out their tires.
HAWAII Wailuku: Restaurants in Maui County would have to pack food in eco-friendly containers free of plastic foam under a measure that could be approved early next year.
IDAHO Nampa: A yellow Labrador named Zeta who spent six days lost in a storm drain system was rescued last week and has been reunited with her family.
ILLINOIS Springfield: Democratic state Rep. Lou Lang wants to make seat belts on school buses a requirement in the wake of a fatal crash in Chattanooga, Tenn. Lang will propose legislation requiring three-point seat belts on new, large school buses.
INDIANA Indianapolis: William Hudnut III, the former mayor credited with revitalizing downtown Indianapolis and overseeing the relocation of the Baltimore Colts to the city, died Sunday at a Maryland hospice. He was 84. Hudnut served four terms beginning in 1976, making him the city’s longest-serving mayor.
IOWA Cedar Rapids: A former substitute teacher has been convicted of sexual exploitation by a school employee. Mary Beth Haglin, 24, faces up to two years in prison for the months-long relationship with a 17-year-old Cedar Rapids Washington High School student.
KANSAS Topeka: The state Board of Regents has approved increases in housing and meal fees at all six state universities, from 1.7% at Pittsburg State University to 6% at Emporia State University. University of Kansas students will pay about $10,000 to live on campus next year.
KENTUCKY Danville: A 45-yearold Danville man has been charged with the murder of his 6-week-old daughter, who died of internal injuries at a Lexington hospital. State police say Jeffrey Spielman was taken to the Boyle County Detention Center.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Lawmakers and Gov. John Bel Edwards have reached a compromise to close a $313 million state budget deficit, lessening a higher ed spending cut. They will take a $12 million hit, losing about 1% of their state financing.
MAINE Augusta: Police say they’re investigating after a bogus Facebook page posted several fake news stories. Augusta police say the fake page is nearly identical to their real page, and they’re trying to get it taken down.
MARYLAND Hagerstown: State wildlife managers say hunters killed 12% more deer than last year during Maryland’s recently ended firearm season.
MASSACHUSETTS Sturbridge: Police Sgt. Kevin Mercier, who helped a stranded bus through the snow, discovered that members of Blood, Sweat & Tears were aboard. The 1960s band is on tour with American Idol alum Bo Bice as lead singer.
MICHIGAN Ypsilanti: Eastern Michigan University has named the 14 members of a board that will recommend studies of the racial climate at the Ypsilanti school and suggest ways to provide a more inclusive campus culture. Black students have protested several incidents of racist graffiti left on buildings this school year.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: At least 338 Minnesotans died from opioid overdoses in 2015, up from 319 the previous year, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Almost 100,000 Mississippians have signed up for the Mississippi No Call Registry for cellphones since registration began July 1.
MISSOURI Springfield: Members of an Audubon Society chapter are seeing birds that used to be rare in the Ozarks, and they think climate change is the cause. The Springfield News-Leader reported that Eastern phoebes, black vultures and even roadrunners are becoming established.
MONTANA Whitefish: A website called The Daily Stormer has posted a call to “take action” against Jewish people in Whitefish, providing contact information and urging a “troll storm” against them. The story says Jews have harmed the Whitefish business of Sherry Spencer, whose son Richard is president of the National Policy Institute, a whitesupremacist think tank, the Missoulian reported.
NEBRASKA Omaha: President Obama has signed into law a measure allowing a publicprivate partnership to build a $136 million veterans medical facility in Omaha. The Department of Veterans Affairs will provide $56 million to build 157,000 square feet of medical space.
NEVADA Las Vegas: Two Democrats want fellow lawmakers to abolish Nevada’s death penalty, which hasn’t been carried out since 2006 and is likely to get rarer as the state struggles to find execution drugs.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Campton: Officials with the White Mountain National Forest want to raise the price of their annual household recreation pass from $25 to $40. Daily recreation passes would go up from $3 to $5 and annual passes from $25 to $30. Comments on the plan are being accepted until Jan. 30.
NEW JERSEY Atlantic City: Ashton Funk, a firefighter, will lose his $78,096-a-year job after being convicted of shoplifting $7.98 worth of items in 2015.
NEW MEXICO Socorro: Parts of a missing woman’s case file have disappeared. The Socorro County Sheriff ’s Department and state police are trying to find documents related to searches of the property where Lilly Lopez lived with her boyfriend, Michael Quintana, KRQE-TV reported. Quintana reported her missing in 2009.
NEW YORK New York: Mayor Bill de Blasio has been fined more than $47,000 for violating spending rules during his 2013 mayoral campaign. Among the fines was one for a $550 makeup bill for his whole family on election night.
NORTH CAROLINA Sanford: The city held a makeup Christmas parade Sunday night, less than two weeks after gunfire cut short its originally scheduled procession. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that officials shortened the parade route and there were 35 participants instead of more than 100.
NORTH DAKOTA Minot: Ward County will ask a locksmith to help it improve the security of its new administrative building. Problems include a lack of controlled access to Social Services and the fact that county library patrons can roam the building when offices are closed, because there is no separate entrance.
OHIO Columbus: As many as 40 shops could dispense medical marijuana under rules proposed by Ohio’s pharmacy board, Cleveland.com reported.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Oklahoma ranks ahead of only Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi in overall health, according to the United Health Foundation. Researchers cited high rates of smoking and premature deaths; also, a high percentage of the population, 15%, lacks health insurance after the state declined to expand Medicaid to include more low-income adults.
OREGON Vale: Fifteen people were arrested in an undercover sex trafficking operation after responding to ads on known sex-trafficking websites.
PENNSYLVANIA Erie: The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center plans to add a 177,000 square-foot, $111 million patient care tower to UPMC Hamot hospital in Erie. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2018.
RHODE ISLAND Westerly: Westerly High School track coach Ryan Palmer is being praised for persuading a school bus driver who was driving erratically to pull over and unload his team. Bus driver Shelly A. Way, 52, was charged with drunken driving and resigned last week.
SOUTH CAROLINA Spartanburg: A state bill aims to prevent people who buy computers from accessing porn. It would require sellers to install digital blocking capabilities on computers and other devices that access the internet. Buyers who verify their age and sellers could opt out by paying $20 per device sold.
SOUTH DAKOTA Mitchell: Construction bids are being accepted until Thursday for an $8.1 million city aquatics center that Mitchell voters approved a year ago, the Daily Republic reported.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Beverly Davenport, interim president of the University of Cincinnati, has been named the first female chancellor of the system’s flagship campus in Knoxville.
TEXAS Fort Worth: The deaths of a Fort Worth woman and her 3-month-old son have been ruled homicides after their necks were cut, the Star-Telegram reported. Shanna Vandewege, 36, and her son, Diederick were found dead in their beds Thursday night.
UTAH Salt Lake City: A 17-yearold suburban Salt Lake City boy charged with sexually assaulting and killing a 12-year-old neighbor after luring her from her home is not mentally competent to stand trial, a judge decided Friday. Judge James Michie said the teen could become competent for trial with treatment, and he ordered creation of a treatment plan.
VERMONT Bennington: A state board has sent the names of six people to Gov. Peter Shumlin for a position on the state Supreme Court — a job that opens nearly three months after the Democrat leaves office. Board Chairwoman Margaret Flory, who also is a Republican state senator, said she’d would prefer that GOP Gov.-elect Phil Scott make the appointment.
VIRGINIA Petersburg: A federal appeals court says a city police department policy barring employees from criticizing the department on social media is unconstitutional.
WASHINGTON Everett: A Lynnwood police officer fatally shot a 44-year-old suspect who authorities said had tried to grab the officer’s gun during a struggle.
WEST VIRGINIA Morgantown: The City Council is considering whether to allow people to carry guns in public buildings. City officials said a vote to allow weapons would cost the city between $118,000 and $132,000 for security measures at city hall.
WISCONSIN Milwaukee: The private Medical College of Wisconsin and Froedtert Health are starting a family medicine residency program at a Menomonee Falls hospital next summer in an effort to ease the shortage of physicians in the specialty.
WYOMING Casper: Sinclair Casper Refining Co. has paid the Environmental Protection Agency $655,000 for cleaning up asbestos at an oil refinery in the town of Thermopolis, the Casper Star
Tribune reported.