STATE BY STATE: NEWS FROM AROUND THE NATION,
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Mobile: For years, Three Mile Creek has been a dumping ground for polluters, and the public was warned about the risks of fishing and swimming there. Now, the Mobile City Council is launching the first one-mile section of a proposed 12-mile trail that uses the creek to connect city communities.
ALASKA Anchorage: University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Tom Case is retiring June 30 from the post he has held for six years. Case is a former dean of the UAA College of Business and Public Policy.
ARIZONA Tucson: A University of Arizona public health expert says recently approved legislation will help students with asthma get help when experiencing respiratory distress at school. The legislation allows school staff to administer asthma medication instead of having to call a parent to get an inhaler or send the child to an emergency room.
ARKANSAS Fort Smith: A judge has ordered Arkansas State Police to release dashcam videos in five cases that the agency refused to release last year. A police official had said the videos were exempt as part of an ongoing investigation.
CALIFORNIA Stinson Beach: Researchers discovered three 10-day-old mountain lion kittens in Sonoma County, The San Fran
cisco Chronicle reports. The mother had been tracked by an Audubon Canyon Ranch research team. The kittens are in good health.
COLORADO Glenwood Springs: A Colorado newspaper discovered 40-year-old photos of serial killer Ted Bundy. The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent reports that the photos from 1977 were locked in an antique safe.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Selfservice liquor machines may soon be coming to Connecticut. Lawmakers are considering a bill to allow businesses with state liquor permits to offer machines that dispense beer and wine to customers.
DELAWARE Wilmington: A former Chicago police official has been tapped as the new police chief in Delaware’s largest city. Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki says Robert Tracy will succeed Bobby Cummings, who is retiring.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The National Portrait Gallery has put up a photo of American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, ahead of the 100th anniversary of Fitzgerald’s birth on April 25. Fitzgerald died in 1996.
FLORIDA Gainesville: On the heels of reduced federal protection for manatees, researchers say Florida’s population of the sea cows could double over the next half century if wildlife managers continue protecting them and their habitat.
GEORGIA Atlanta: A load of Atlanta Braves foam tomahawks fell from a truck shortly before noon Wednesday, delaying traffic on a freeway near the team’s new stadium, The Atlanta JournalConstitution reports.
HAWAII Honolulu: A voyaging canoe and its sister ship are scheduled to come home to Hawaii after going on a worldwide trip. The vessels are scheduled to arrive in Honolulu on June 17 after the last stop in Tahiti, KBMG-TV reports.
IDAHO Boise: Bar owners say Idaho owes them reimbursement after lawmakers tweaked rules on serving alcohol at certain live performances. State law bans serving alcohol during nude or sexually explicit live shows. But the law was amended this year to exempt businesses that don’t primarily derive income from live adult entertainment.
ILLINOIS Peoria: Officials at Bradley University say a campus building has become the first to use solar panels as its primary source of energy. Dozens of solar panels were installed over a sixday period to provide Hillel house with nearly all of its electricity.
INDIANA South Bend: South Bend will get a new chocolate production facility and two museums, one with chocolate exhibits and artifacts, The South Bend
Tribune reports.
IOWA Cedar Rapids: The Cedar Rapids school district is talking to residents about plans to build 13 schools in five years. KCRG-TV reports that estimated costs range between $200 million and $260 million.
KANSAS Topeka: Firefighters rescued a cat from a tree Wednesday. They also rescued its owner, The Topeka Capital-Journal reports. Officials say both were about 16 feet off the ground when they were plucked out.
KENTUCKY Frankfort: Kentucky lawmakers have voted to include the phrase “in the year of our Lord” on some documents, The Lexington Herald-Leader reports.
LOUISIANA Hammond: Southeastern Louisiana University received a $10 million bequest from a 1953 graduate, the largest single donation in the institution’s 92-year history.
MAINE Waterville: A Maine dog that was ordered euthanized for attacking two other dogs is getting another chance, The Morn
ing Sentinel reports. Dakota, an Alaskan husky, was saved Wednesday by an appeal filed with the state supreme court.
MARYLAND Frederick: A Maryland jury has awarded $17 million to the families of two helicopter pilots killed in a 2014 midair collision with a small plane, The
Frederick News-Post reports.
MASSACHUSETTS Lynn: A Massachusetts man has a ready answer when asked for his two cents’ worth: He presents a check for that amount that he got from the government. Bruce Rideout of Lynn tells The Daily Item that he plans to have a frame made for it. The cost? More than $82.
MICHIGAN East Lansing: An error by Michigan State University staff will end a longstanding college prep program for Lansing High School students, The Lan
sing State Journal reports. Federal officials rejected the university’s request to renew its $480,000 Upward Bound grant in February, saying a description of the program was mistakenly left out of the request.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Retired veterans living in Minnesota are getting a big break on this year’s taxes. The state legislature exempted military pension payments from the state income tax.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Mississippi politicians will face new limits next year on how they can use campaign cash. A new law bans legislators and other elected officials from spending such money for any non-campaign purpose.
MISSOURI Jefferson City: Missouri lawmakers are working on a buyout program targeting homes near a pair of St. Louisarea Superfund sites where Cold War-era nuclear waste was buried in the 1970s.
MONTANA Missoula: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has halted plans to transfer management of Montana’s National Bison Range to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Zinke tells the Missoulian that he’s committed to not selling or transferring public lands.
NEBRASKA Omaha: Bernice Gorecki, 83, was struck in the head by a discus at a 2014 track meet in Nebraska. She has been awarded $350,000 in a settlement, The
Omaha World-Herald reports.
NEVADA Las Vegas: Three Las Vegas vending machines will dispense clean needles to drug users. The machines are part of a joint effort by the Southern Nevada Health District, Nevada AIDS research and Education Society and Trac-B Exchange.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission has approved 51 moose hunt lottery permits this year. That’s the lowest number since the state started its current lottery system in 1988.
NEW JERSEY Bernards: A New Jersey church has planted an offspring of a now-dead white oak that was believed to be the oldest in the country. NJ.com reports that the old tree failed to sprout foilage last year and will be cut down soon.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: Facets of New Mexico’s juvenile justice system will go under the microscope as part of a comprehensive task force review launched this week. New Mexico is among states looking for alternatives that respond to youth crime while improving the outcome for offenders.
NEW YORK Buffalo: Authorities are investigating the possible hacking of the computer system at the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo. The hospital’s computer system was taken down Sunday after a virus was detected.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Some lawmakers want to make North Carolina’s public colleges leave their athletic conferences if those leagues boycott the state. Both North Carolina and N.C. State are charter members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, which pulled 10 neutral-site championships from the state in response to a law that limits protections for LGBT people.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Sanford Health has renegotiated a contract with North Dakota officials to keep a nursing program open in Bismarck. The new deal keeps a $1 annual lease rate in place for the next two years.
OHIO East Palestine: A craving for a McDonald’s cheeseburger prompted an 8-year-old Ohio boy to take his 4-year-old sister for a ride in his dad’s van. East Palestine police tell WJWTV that the boy drove about a mile to the restaurant without mishap. He told police he learned to drive by watching YouTube videos.
OKLAHOMA Enid: Police in Enid say the body of a newborn was found last weekend in a trash bin. Officers found the body while investigating reports of an odor.
OREGON Scottsburg: A truck hauling empty pallets crashed through a railing on the Scottsburg Bridge, spilling the trailer into the Umpqua River and seending pallets floating downstream. The driver was treated for minor injuries.
PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: The sign says “No Foul Language.” WTXF-TV reports that it’s at the site of a new library being built on the Temple University campus in Philadelphia. Madison Construction says it was put up so workers will keep it clean around students and any- one else who happens by.
RHODE ISLAND Pawtucket: The Pawtucket Red Sox and the city have hired consultants to explore the financial impact of a new stadium on the city’s downtown revitalization effort, The
Providence Journal reports. The consultants will study two new potential sites for the team.
SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: A man working on a South Carolina road died after he was electrocuted during a repaving project. Authorities say a dump truck clipped a power line, which then fell Tuesday on Marty Dale Whitmire of Liberty. The death is under investigation.
SOUTH DAKOTA Watertown: A judge has ruled that Watertown is violating federal law by encroaching on the Sioux Rural Water System’s territory. But the city argues that the rural water system doesn’t have adequate supplies or pressure to provide fire protection, The Argus Leader reports.
TENNESSEE Nashville: A Tennessee bill to make the names of people who refuse to pay traffic camera fines confidential has been withdrawn for the year, WTVF-TV reports. The sponsor had received 13 traffic camera tickets.
TEXAS Austin: Texas health officials say the state is experiencing its highest incidence of mumps in more than 20 years, including cases possibly linked to the popular spring break destination of South Padre Island.
UTAH Logan: A timber harvesting operation has begun at Utah’s Beaver Mountain, The Herald
Journal reports. The estimated 36-month operation will harvest 320 acres, focusing on reducing fire potential and clearing areas affected by the mountain pine beetle.
VERMONT Montpelier: Key Vermont lawmakers says passing a marijuana legalization bill is unlikely. Senate and House leaders disagree on whether to simply legalize possession and cultivation or tax and regulate sales. Vermont’s constitution doesn’t allow referendums.
VIRGINIA Chesterfield: A suburban Richmond police department has stopped using dozens of new body cameras issued to officers last week due to overheating concerns. Chesterfield County police say cables between the camera and its controller overheated on several units.
WASHINGTON Olympia: Microsoft has struck a deal with Washington state’s largest energy utility allowing the software giant to buy its own power on the open market. The company says the agreement would provide more flexibility and support more carbon-free power in the state.
WEST VIRGINIA Winfield: More than 100 animals were rescued from a West Virginia farm after complaints of suspected neglect and sightings of loose animals. The man who runs the farm said he was going to register as a charity, but a pig ate the paperwork.
WISCONSIN Madison: A majority of Conservation Congress hearing attendees say the state should put the brakes on sand mines, large farms and highcapacity wells. They also favor repealing statutes that relax iron mining regulations. The congress surveyed 3,226 attendees at its spring hearings in all 72 Wisconsin counties.
WYOMING Cheyenne: Wyoming has been awarded up to $2 million in federal funds to retrain workers who lost their jobs in the coal industry. Workers in Campbell, Converse, Crook, Johnson, Niobrara, Sheridan and Weston counties are eligible.