STATE-BY-STATE
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Montgomery: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has appointed Lyn Stuart to lead the Alabama Supreme Court as chief justice. Stuart, an associated justice, replaces Roy Moore, who resigned to run for the U.S. Senate.
ALASKA Juneau: An Alaska marijuana retailer’s tax payment was sent back to the business by the U.S. Postal Service, which refused to ship the money, The Juneau Empire reports. Rainforest Farms tried to send a box of cash to pay its taxes, but the post office says the cash is considered drug proceeds.
ARIZONA Bisbee: Rescuers who descended a cliff to save a dog near Bisbee last week were prepared to deal with aggression or panic. Instead, they were greeted with a wagging tail and face licks. The Cochise County Sheriff ’s Office says a canine harness and rope system lowered the dog to safe ground.
ARKANSAS Fort Smith: An Exide Technologies battery plant in Arkansas has locked out employees following a deadlock in union contract talks. The Southwest Times Record reports that the union rejected the company’s final offer.
CALIFORNIA San Francisco: A second San Francisco cable car conductor is accused of stealing cash collected from riders, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. David Reyes, 55, was arrested last week on embezzlement and theft charges. A week earlier, Albert Williams, 61, was charged in a similar case. A one-way cable car ride costs $7.
COLORADO Denver: The owner of a Colorado wild animal sanctuary is defending the decision to euthanize 11 animals after Elbert County officials denied a request to relocate. The animals at the Lion’s Gate sanctuary included bears and African lions, KMGHTV reports.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Connecticut lawmakers are seeking to reduce the scope of the cable TV and online public affairs network that covers the legislature. Lawmakers want to ensure that limited resources are spent on legislative coverage and not original programs.
DELAWARE Port Mahon: Federal officials say humpback whales are dying in unusually large numbers along the Atlantic Coast. The News Journal reports that a decomposing whale washed into shallow water in the Delaware Bay recently, but weather is hampering efforts to study it.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The White House says a retired Marine major general is the new director of the Secret Service. Randolph Alles is replacing Joseph Clancy, who retired in March.
FLORIDA Tallahassee: Florida’s liquor wall has been around since Prohibition ended. But it could be torn down if Gov. Rick Scott signs a bill to eliminate the requirement of a side store for selling alcohol apart from other products. The measure passed last week by one vote.
GEORGIA Augusta: For now, Augusta officials are rejecting a ban on saggy pants. The Augusta Chronicle reports that a motion to have a lawyer draft an ordinance for the ban failed last week.
HAWAII Honolulu: Residents along Oahu’s north shore are calling for a ban on commercial tour buses. Critics say the buses drop off large crowds of tourists at public parks and beaches, limiting access by residents, Hawaii News Now reports. Com- plaints also include blocked roads and illegal parking.
IDAHO Boise: A revamped commission overseeing Idaho’s natural gas and oil industry and a beefed up state agency to aid that effort emerged from this year’s legislative session.
ILLINOIS Champaign: University of Illinois officials say a team of outside experts has issued suggestions for improving diversity and inclusion on campus.
INDIANA Fort Branch: Residents of Fort Branch lost their only grocery store to a 2014 fire. Now, they’re pressing officials to do something to bring a new store to the Indiana town, the Princeton Daily Clarion reports.
IOWA Nevada: A former Iowa fire academy administrator pleaded guilty to falsifying test scores that were used to improperly certify firefighters. Authorities say John McPhee assigned passing scores to exams without checking or correcting them.
KANSAS Topeka: Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is proposing to spend $24 million over two years on security measures to keep concealed guns out of state hospitals. A 2013 law will require hospitals to let people bring in concealed guns starting July 1 unless the buildings have measures such as metal detectors and guards.
KENTUCKY Louisville: The Coalition for the Homeless says recent counts indicate the Louisville homeless population has declined by more than 5%. But a census of the homeless also shows an increase in the number of people living on the streets, pointing to a need for more shelters.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: Visitors who ooh and ah at the Audubon Zoo’s newest baby will be saying the colobus monkey’s name: Ua. That’s “flower” in Swahili. Ua was born March 17.
MAINE Brewer: A Maine woman accused of attacking her ex-boyfriend with a sword has been banned from town. A judge says Christina McCarthy, who’s described as a transient, has to leave Brewer but may return once to get her belongings — if accompanied by police, WABI-TV reports.
MARYLAND Baltimore: The Maryland Medical Examiner’s Office is searching for additional examiners to help handle a surge in opioid overdose deaths, The Baltimore Sun reports.
MASSACHUSETTS Salem: A Massachusetts city known for celebrating the occult is drawing attention after its mayor snapped a photo that appears to show a scowling face trapped in a streetlamp. Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll shared the photo on Twitter last week, calling the face “eerie.”
MICHIGAN East Lansing: Michigan State University is curbing moped parking following an increase in use of the vehicles to get around campus, The Lansing State Journal reports.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: Mayor Betsy Hodges has blocked the police chief ’s choice for leading a precinct that includes some of Minneapolis’ most violent neighborhoods. Chief Janee Harteau chose Lt. John Demonico for the job, citing his leadership and work in developing community partnerships.
MISSISSIPPI Clinton: Mississippi’s tax collector wants to make sure people renting rooms or vacation properties online pay sales and lodging taxes. The Revenue Department has filed a rules change to clarify that any property advertising itself for rent must pay the state’s 7% sales tax.
MISSOURI Kansas City: A federal appeals court has rejected arguments by a man sentenced to prison on drug charges that he had a religious duty to sell heroin. Timothy Anderson says he provides the narcotic to “the sick, lost, blind, lame, deaf and dead members of God’s Kingdom.”
MONTANA Billings: A man who was injured after being struck by a sport utility vehicle in Billings was cited for jaywalking. Police say Harold Bohrer, 81, was crossing the street outside of the crosswalk one day last week when he was hit by a vehicle pulling out of a parking lot, The Billings Gazette reports.
NEBRASKA Norfolk: A memorial dedicated to Vietnam veterans was unveiled Sunday at the Norfolk Veterans’ Home. It includes an engraved stone and engraved benches surrounding it.
NEVADA Reno: Some recreation activities in Hungry Valley have been scaled back since 13,000 acres were given last October to the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, KTVN-TV reports. But colony officials say peaceful things like riding horses and backpacking are still allowed.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Manchester: The city has lifted voluntary water restrictions put in place last fall during a drought. Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas tells WMUR-TV that water levels in Lake Massabesic are back to normal.
NEW JERSEY Atlantic City: Atlantic City police have confiscated 62 toy guns from a store on the Boardwalk. Police say the toys at Bags and Accessories appeared real except for orange tips at the end of the barrels, but the tips are easily removed.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: Unions representing state government workers in New Mexico oppose Gov. Susana Martinez’s plan to save money through furloughs, The Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
NEW YORK New York: It’s a salamander with a few more comical names. The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo is displaying two Eastern hellbenders — also known as “devil dogs,” “snot otters” or “old lasagna sides.”
NORTH CAROLINA Ocracoke: A woman who led police on a highspeed chase on a North Carolina coastal island found out it’s hard to elude the law when the only road leads to a ferry dock. Tara Cranmer ran after she was stopped near the dock but was caught an hour later.
NORTH DAKOTA Des Lacs: Voters in the Des Lacs-Burlington school district last week rejected a $15 million bond issue to improve school buildings, The Minot Daily News reports.
OHIO North Lima: Police in Ohio are looking for Bigfoot. A gift shop owner reports that statues of the hairy creature vanished from outside her store last week, WFMJ-TV reports.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Oklahoma has hit a record — more than 62,000 offenders in the state’s prisons. The state Department of Corrections asked for nearly $849 million to build two new prisons, but lawmakers cut that to about $485 million.
OREGON Grants Pass: Officials at a Grants Pass youth shelter apologized for turning down proceeds from a concert that featured the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus. The faith-based Hearts With A Mission was to get nearly $3,000 from the sold-out event, The Grants Pass Daily Courier reports.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Pennsylvania is cracking down on illegal gambling machines. State Police say inspections last week at 48 bars and clubs in four counties resulted in the seizure of 215 illegal gambling devices and over $177,000 cash.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Rhode Island’s second-largest hospital system is laying off workers to cut costs. Most of the Care New England layoffs will be at Women and Infants Hospital.
SOUTH CAROLINA Myrtle Beach: Two sharks are being tracked close to South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach, The State reports. The sharks were originally tagged near Hilton Head Island.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pine Ridge: Amid a wave of drug crimes, a law enforcement shakeup has hit the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council declared a state of emergency last week and withdrew its support of Police Chief Harry Martinez, who later resigned, KOTA reports.
TENNESSEE Nashville: More than two acres of state-owned property in downtown Nashville near the state Capitol will be auctioned June 21, The Tennessean reports. The facilities were once used by the Tennessee Regulatory Authority.
TEXAS Laredo: The FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety have raided Laredo municipal offices, the Webb County Courthouse and other offices. Agents seized materials and sent employees home during the raids last week. The FBI declined to reveal what prompted the action.
UTAH Ogden: Investigators say a candle started a fire that caused $10,000 in damage to a Catholic church in Ogden, The Standard-Examiner reports. The first floor of the building sustained most of the damage. No one was injured.
VERMONT Craftsbury: Vermont police are searching for the people responsible for tearing up a farmer’s field with a vehicle. Police say it appears a vehicle did several “doughnuts” in a hayfield belonging to the Demeritt Farm, Fox 44 reports.
VIRGINIA Springfield: A woman says she was asked to leave a Virginia church for breastfeeding her 1-year-old daughter. A state law passed in 2015 allows women to breastfeed anywhere they have a legal right to be. Officials at Summit Church in Springfield did not respond to requests for comment.
WASHINGTON Spokane: Methamphetamine is contributing to more drug overdose deaths than any other drug in Spokane County, according to a report issued by the county Medical Examiner’s office. Fatal meth overdoses climbed from 29 in 2015 to 49 last year, a 69% increase, The Spokesman-Review reports.
WEST VIRGINIA South Charleston: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has stopped a pilot project that would have charged entrance fees at seven state parks and forests. Justice calls the decision to charge a $2 daily fee starting Memorial Day weekend an error made without his approval.
WISCONSIN Milwaukee: Three women went to court last week to seek the right to sell homemade baked goods to the public. Wisconsin bans such sales of cookies, muffins and other homemade bakery. Sellers need a license, which means renting or building a commercial kitchen, getting inspected and paying fees.
WYOMING Casper: Authorities say a woman stole nearly $40,000 worth of brass vases from a Wyoming cemetery and recycling the metal for cash. A Casper cemetery worker reported at least 250 flower vases missing from headstones.