STATE-BY-STATE

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Gadsden: The city’s Board of Education voted 4-3 this week to launch a nationwide search for a new superintendent. Gadsden Superintendent Ed Miller will leave when his contract expires in August, the Gads

den Times reports. ALASKA Anchorage: An NTSB report says the sole survivor of a May 27 Alaska Panhandle plane crash told investigators that the pilot intentionally shut off one of the aircraft’s engines, KTUU-TV reports. The survivor, Chan Valentine, told authorities that pilot David Kunat was attempting to demonstrate how to restart an engine just prior to impact. ARIZONA Tucson: The U.S. Forest Service has signed off on one of two federal permits needed for a proposed open-pit copper mine near Tucson. The Army Corps of Engineers is still assessing whether the plan for the Rosemont Copper Project is consistent with the Clean Water Act. ARKANSAS Rogers: A woman and an infant were injured when a street sweeper crashed into a Benton County home, The Northwest Arkansas DemocratGazette reports. CALIFORNIA Sacramento: Prosecutors charged a San Francisco man with filing fraudulent applications for disabled parking placards — some of which they say he sold for $1,000. COLORADO Denver: In a step toward possible sainthood, the remains of a former slave were moved to a Catholic cathedral in Denver so people can more easily honor her. People lined up this week to see the skull and other bones of Julia Greeley. CONNECTICUT Hamden: A man allegedly spotted hiking naked two times in Sleeping Giant State Park faces public indecency charges. Connecticut environmental police investigated the case after a woman complained that a man exposed himself. DELAWARE Delmar: A man was injured by a flash fire at the Delaware International Speedway. The State Fire Marshal’s Office says the man was treated for second- and third-degree burns to 20% of his body. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Washington’s subway system will get rid of all its original railcars by the end of the month. The cars date back to the opening of the Metro system in 1976. FLORIDA Miami: A Florida man faces federal charges of leaving recorded messages threatening a mosque. A Miami grand jury indictment says Gerald Sloane Wallace phoned the unidentified mosque in February, left a profane message and said he was “gonna shoot all y’all.” GEORGIA Atlanta: Gov. Nathan Deal has formed the Commission on Children’s Mental Health to study Georgia’s approach to providing mental health care for children and recommend future changes. HAWAII Honolulu: A federal jury has found a Hawaii man and his company not guilty of mishandling fireworks involved in a deadly 2011 explosion. Jurors acquitted Charles Donaldson and Donaldson Enterprises of storing and treating hazardous waste without a permit. IDAHO Aberdeen: Authorities say a stolen pickup was found impaled on 30 feet of guardrail, but the driver may have managed to walk away. A search found no sign of the driver. ILLINOIS Decatur: New employees hired by the city will be required to live within Decatur’s limits for at least five years, The

Herald and Review reports. Police employees are exempt. INDIANA South Bend: City officials are planning to offer panhandlers day work, The South

Bend Tribune reports. The plan is to pay panhandlers $10.10 an hour, the minimum wage for city employees. IOWA Logan: Two men are accused of cutting down and selling walnut trees from Iowa’s Loess Hills State Forest. The state Natural Resources Department says the suspects sold the logs in Council Bluffs in January for more than $4,700. KANSAS Long Island: A fire this week at a Kansas hog farm injured one worker and killed 9,000 animals. The injured worker was hospitalized in Wichita with arm and leg burns not considered life-threatening. KENTUCKY Louisville: Authorities believe a fugitive Kentucky lawyer convicted in a scheme to defraud the government of nearly $600 million is still in the country. Eric Conn’s electronic monitoring device was found last week along Interstate 75 in Lexington. LOUISIANA Lafayette: Traffic camera enforcement may be on hold for a while in Lafayette while the city negotiates for a vendor to manage the program,

The Advocate reports. Meantime, officials say the cameras will keep taking photos and tracking violations. MAINE Westbrook: Half a dozen school buses were pulled from service after they were reported to Maine State Police for expired inspection stickers. MARYLAND Baltimore: A judge has ordered Maryland officials to present a plan this month on admitting and treating criminal defendants found incompetent to stand trial, The Daily Record reports. MASSACHUSETTS Eastham: Scientists are stumped at what’s causing large birds to die on the Massachusetts coast, The Cape

Cod Times reports. Animal hospitals and rehabilitation centers have seen an increase in gannets at their facilities over the past few months. MICHIGAN Ann Arbor: A state appeals court says the University of Michigan can ban guns on its campuses. The 2-1 ruling rejected arguments that the school is stepping on turf controlled by the state legislature. MINNESOTA Edina: Police say three teenagers trying to sneak out of a grocery store with a sto- len cake got a not-so-sweet surprise. Instead of a real cake, the teens inadvertently grabbed a cardboard display cake, KSTP-TV reports. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: A Hinds County judge says Mississippi regulators can shut down All American Check Cashing, one of the state’s largest payday lenders. The company has appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court. MISSOURI Columbia: The University of Missouri plans to close its Washington-based lobbying office by the end of the summer. The closing and elimination of two jobs are part of the university’s system-wide budget reductions. MONTANA Billings: District Judge Russell Fagg says he’ll resign this fall after 22 years on the bench to start his own law firm and ponder a political career. Fagg, 56, says his private practice would focus on mediation, or resolving cases before they go to trial. His last day is Oct. 13. NEBRASKA Lincoln: A Nebraska prisoner serving time on robbery and weapons convictions died at a Lincoln hospital. Prison officials say Daelan Lamere, 22, tested positive for methamphetamine and ecstasy. NEVADA Las Vegas: Health officials say mosquitoes caught in several Las Vegas neighborhoods have tested positive for the West Nile virus. Tests for the Zika virus came back negative. Officials say mosquitoes can carry the West Nile virus after feeding off infected birds. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The city came within one degree this week of matching a record for the coldest day in June. The National Weather Service says the high temperature in Concord on Tuesday was 50 degrees. The record is 49 degrees, set in 1956, 1947, and 1885. NEW JERSEY Pennsville: Engineers are inspecting the area where a construction fire closed both spans of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, halting traffic between New Jersey and Delaware. Sparks from welding ignited construction material underneath the bridge, a key link for heavily-traveled Interstate 95. NEW MEXICO Portales: A garden cultivated by New Mexico preschoolers was mistakenly destroyed by maintenance workers who were mowing. Eastern New Mexico University officials initially believed the Portales school’s garden was raided by vandals for its green beans, peas and squash. NEW YORK New York: A nurs- ing student who celebrated a makeshift graduation on a New York City subway after a breakdown made him miss the actual ceremony got his own personalized graduation. Hunter College President Jennifer Raab and nursing school dean Gail McCain held a ceremony Thursday to give Jerich Alcantara his diploma. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The North Carolina Court of Appeals says Robeson County commissioners must grant a permit sought by FLS Energy to build a solar farm. A planning board had recommended approval of the project. NORTH DAKOTA Mandan: Ranchers are bringing more cattle to auction with 25% of North Dakota in a moderate drought. Kist Livestock Auction reports handling about 1,000 to 1,300 more animals than is typical for this time of the year, The

Bismarck Tribune reports. OHIO Cincinnati: Authorities say the grave of an 8-year-old boy who killed himself after his mother says he was bullied at school was opened to remove a computer tablet sought by investigators. The Hamilton County coroner says the body of Gabriel Taye couldn’t be re-examined, but wouldn’t comment further. OKLAHOMA Chickasha: A Grady County inmate being held on a public intoxication charge is accused of trying to attack a cellmate with a spork, The Chickasha

Express-Star reports. Orlando Miguel Martinez is accused of assault and battery with a deadly weapon. A spork is cutlery that serves as a spoon and a fork. OREGON Pendleton: The U.S. Geological Survey will conduct flights over Pendleton and the Umatilla Indian Reservation during the next few months in a project to study geothermal resources and earthquake hazards,

The East Oregonian reports. PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Pennsylvania’s state treasurer and auditor general warn that the state government’s worsening long-term deficit may require borrowing from an outside lender to prop up routine operations. Gov. Tom Wolf and lawmakers project a $3 billion deficit through July 1, 2018. RHODE ISLAND Tiverton: Residents of this small Rhode Island community say it’s beset by a terrible stench after one neighbor paved a road with unwashed clamshells, WJAR-TV reports. The uncleaned shells had meat still attached, leading to a putrid smell. Video shows maggots crawling on the road.

SOUTH CAROLINA Myrtle

Beach: A woman faces child neglect and animal mistreatment charges after her Myrtle Beach house was declared unfit for humans or animals, The Sun

News reports. Karen Nickerson was arrested after a concerned family member contacted police, and an officer who responded could smell animal urine and feces from the street. SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Officials at the Great Plains Zoo say a 23-year-old brown bear named Kenai has been euthanized after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. Kenai had been at the zoo since 1994. TENNESSEE Nashville: Vanderbilt University has received an anonymous $10 million donation to expand communal living residence halls where faculty members live alongside students. TEXAS Houston: Harris County officials want the U.S. Supreme Court to block a ruling that would allow the release of dozens of misdemeanor offenders who can’t afford bail. Two civil rights groups and a Houston law firm sued the county last year after a woman was jailed two days for driving without a valid license because she couldn’t afford $2,500 bail. UTAH St. George: A woman accused of scamming an elderly Utah resident out of $160,000 in a sweepstakes scam has been sentenced to four years and three months in prison. Raven Shakes, 27, also faces possible deportation back to her home country of Jamaica. VERMONT South Burlington: Police released surveillance images of a vehicle spotted at night near a Vermont school athletic field that was found to be spraypainted with racist graffiti the following day. South Burlington police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime. VIRGINIA Charlottesville: The city’s Lee Park and Jackson Park have new names, ditching their labels honoring a pair of Confederate generals. Charlottesville officials chose Emancipation Park and Justice Park. WASHINGTON Tacoma: A pregnant woman died after her 6year-old son accidentally put their minivan in gear and backed over her in a beach parking lot near Tacoma, The News Tribune reports. But doctors were able to save her baby. WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is organizing regional meetings with clergy in a faith-based initiative to involve more churches in dealing with drug abuse. WISCONSIN Madison: Wisconsin has submitted a request to the federal government to become the first state in the country to drug test applicants for Medicaid. If approved, able-bodied, childless adults applying for Medicaid health benefits would have to undergo drug screening starting in 2019. WYOMING Cheyenne: The Wyoming Department of Health is reporting a significant increase in salmonella cases linked to contact with baby chicks. Six cases involving live poultry are reported this year. Only one Wyoming case was reported in 2016.