News from across the USA

ALABAMA Huntsville: One of Alabama’s largest events centers is proposing a $42 million expansion to meet increased demand, Al.com reports. Plans for the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville include a new music hall and more parking. ALASKA Healy: Alaska’s first community-based telepharmacy opened this week, The Fairbanks

Daily News-Miner reports. Alaska Family Pharmacy allows customers to avoid driving to Fairbanks to fill prescriptions or visit a drugstore. ARIZONA Phoenix: A group of Arizona lawmakers is seeking to cut the soaring costs of police and fire pensions. The effort comes just over a year after 70% of voters approved changes to the state’s public safety pension plan. ARKANSAS Little Rock: Police say a mall worker wrestled away a stripper pole from a would-be thief. A woman who became frustrated when she couldn’t get cash for a return in Little Rock’s Park Plaza Mall tried to leave with the stripper pole instead. But the worker took it back, despite being bitten by the woman, KATV-TV reports. CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: A hand-drawn map that shows Walt Disney’s original ideas for Disneyland has sold at auction for $708,000. Disney commissioned an illustrator to create the map in 1953. COLORADO Pueblo: The Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo is no longer in “immediate jeopardy” of losing federal Medicare funding, The Pueblo

Chieftain reports. The hospital passed an inspection by state health officials for conditional approval. CONNECTICUT East Hampton: A wedding reception was unexpectedly cut short after a fire broke out Sunday at a Connecticut banquet hall, WFSB-TV reports. The couple was in the middle of cutting the cake when guests were alerted. No one was injured.

DELAWARE Rehoboth Beach: A dispute over a parking spot in Rehoboth Beach prompted a woman to punch another woman in the face, The Wilmington

News-Journal reports. Police say Nakala Spencer was trying to save a parking space when the other woman tried to park there. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Commuters are finding their trips on the Washington Metro transit system a little more expensive this week. New fares, schedules and rail system hours are in effect. Most bus and rail fares cost 10 to 25 cents more.

FLORIDA Miami

Beach: Wildlife officials are trying to determine how a sea turtle ended up dead on a Florida beach. The Miami Herald reports that the 300-pound female loggerhead had been nesting. GEORGIA Atlanta: DeKalb County has been fined $294,000 for spilling sewage into public waters and underreporting the number of spills to environmental regulators, The Atlanta Jour

nal-Constitution reports. DeKalb officials discovered the problem last year. HAWAII Kailua- Kona: State agriculture officials want consumers to wash their vegetables to guard against rat lungworm disease, The Hawaii Tribune

Herald reports. Hawaii has 16 confirmed cases this year.

IDAHO Meridian: Police in Meridian say a girl escaped serious injury after she was run over by a parade float. KBOI-TV reports that the girl fell from the float during the Dairy Days parade last week. She sustained only some abrasions to her legs and abdomen. ILLINOIS Joliet: Students, environmentalists and others are trying to convince officials at Joliet Junior College not to sell school property that includes a rare type of wetland to a developer who hopes to extend a road in a mall project, The Daily

Southtown reports. INDIANA Indianapolis: Developers are being asked for ideas on potential uses for the vacant Indianapolis City Hall building. City officials pulled support in March for a $55 million project incorporating the building in a new 150-room hotel that was never started. IOWA Waterloo: A new shelter and trail are among the final pieces in transforming a floodravaged Iowa neighborhood into a riverfront recreation area. A $200,000 state grant will fund additions in Waterloo’s Sherwood Park Recreation Area, The Couri

er reports. KANSAS Salina: Drones can now fly after dark at the Kansas State Polytechnic Campus in Salina. The university says the campus’ Applied Aviation Research Center has received a Federal Aviation Administration waiver that will allow flights of unmanned aircraft systems

at night. KENTUCKY Louisville: Officials are seeking entries to compete for cash and blue ribbons in the upcoming Kentucky State Fair. In all, 32 categories will be judged.

LOUISIANA Baton

Rouge: Farmers and ranchers in seven Louisiana parishes are eligible for federal disaster loans if they suffered losses caused by excessive rain in April and May. Evangeline Parish was designated a primary natural disaster area for the April 4-May 23 period. MAINE Rome: Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills was all smiles at the dedication of a lakeside camp created by his foundation to help injured veterans and their families. Nearly $3 million in cash and contributions have gone into overhauling the former lakeside home in Maine of cosmetics magnate Elizabeth Arden. MARYLAND Annapolis: Preser- vationists worried about keeping U.S. colonial history above water have scheduled a conference here Oct. 29-Nov. 1. The Colonial Annapolis National Landmark District includes about 147 historic buildings. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: State lawmakers will consider a bill this week to prohibit motorists from using cellphones or other electronic devices while behind the wheel, unless those devices are in hands-free mode. Exceptions would be made for emergency situations.

MICHIGAN Lan

sing: Maria Louisa Mason, who ran Michigan’s Hispanic/Latino Commission for nearly 30 years, is accused of stealing money earmarked for a proposed statue of labor leader Cesar Chavez. MINNESOTA Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota is testing body cameras on its police officers for the next two months, The

Minnesota Daily reports. Officials say the school’s Twin Cities, Duluth and Morris campuses are each testing different brands. MISSISSIPPI Laurel: A man faces aggravated domestic assault and kidnapping charges after allegedly holding his girlfriend captive and carving his name in her leg. The victim ran into a Jones County business screaming last week and was taken to a hospital with cigarette burns, bruises and the name “William” carved into her leg. MISSOURI Columbia: Facing two years of budget cuts, officials at the University of Missouri Libraries have posted a wish list of more than 400 books they hope to buy, The Columbia Mis

sourian reports. MONTANA Helena: Federal agents found homemade bombs in a Musselshell County home that may be connected to a rash of bank robberies in several states. FBI agents, along with local deputies and officers from California and Idaho, found numerous IEDs. NEBRASKA Lincoln: The University of Nebraska-Lincoln plans to raze two high-rise dormitories that have housed thousands of students since 1963. All 13 stories of Cather Hall and Pound Hall will be imploded as early as the end of the year, the Lincoln Jour

nal Star reports. NEVADA Las Vegas: Police say two people are dead and a third is critically wounded after gunfire erupted during an argument over a weekend dominoes game at a Las Vegas home. A suspect is being sought. NEW HAMPSHIRE Newington: Twenty-nine New Hampshire Air National Guard Security Forces Squadron members are ready to deploy to six air bases throughout the United States Central Com

mand next month. NEW JERSEY Brooklawn: Police say a man who stole potted plants from a New Jersey produce stand led officers on a chase approaching 100 mph. NJ.com reports that the suspect took several plants from Verchio’s Produce in Brooklawn. NEW MEXICO Rio Rancho: State land managers are teaming up with one of New Mexico’s Native American communities to curb illegal dumping on tribal and state trust land. NEW YORK New York: A bicyclist is in serious condition after he was hit last weekend by a driver fleeing police near Penn Station. Police say the driver narrowly missed a crowd of pedestrians.

NORTH CAROLINA Manns

Harbor: The Old Manns Harbor Bridge is closed most of this week so workers can make repairs. Formally known as the William B. Umstead Bridge, the 60-year-old span will get repairs to its metal joints on the deck. NORTH DAKOTA Wahpeton: A committee has begun work on plans to celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary next year. A contest to design the sesquicentennial celebration’s logo also is underway, The Daily News reported. OHIO Toledo: The state has embarked on a program to drastically cut harmful algae in Lake Erie. The Ohio Lake Erie Commission is in charge of meeting a 40% reduction of phosphorus going into western Lake Erie within the next 10 years. OKLAHOMA Tulsa: After years in the dark, crews in Tulsa are scrambling to rewire the city’s decimated lighting grid. Copper thieves stole 33 miles of the pricey metal. But the patchwork repairs will use cheaper aluminum. OREGON Medford: A man who stole a TV and PlayStation from a friend being treated for a gunshot wound was sentenced to two years in prison, The Mail Tribune reports. Police say Joshua Lines took his friend’s keys while the friend was in surgery and used them to enter his home and take the TV and video game console. PENNSYLVANIA Mifflinburg: A Pennsylvania man being pursued for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend tried to avoid capture by locking himself in a porta-potty. Christopher Ott is charged with simple assault, criminal trespass and harassment. RHODE ISLAND Cranston: Rhode Islanders who want to do in-person business with the state Division of Motor Vehicles are being asked to make reservations at some offices during the agency’s transition to a new computer system. Branches will return to walk-in service beginning July 18. SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The University of South Carolina is raising its tuition 3% or more across all campuses. SOUTH DAKOTA Yankton: Onethird of the judgeships in South Dakota’s 14-county First Judicial Circuit are vacant, the Yankton

Daily Press & Dakotan reports. TENNESSEE Nashville: Nashville’s library system is ditching fines for overdue books, movies and music and forgiving the ones that patrons currently owe. The change will take effect July 5. TEXAS Bishop: Six cows were killed and a Texas deputy was injured during a suspected drunken driving accident, KRIS-TV reports. The weekend crash occurred as the deputy was leading a group of cows off the road that they had wandered across in Nueces County. UTAH Cottonwood Heights: A memorial plaque on the grave of a Utah girl who died in a car crash 10 years ago has been stolen, KUTV-TV reports. Leslie Meyer’s family made the discovery when they visited her grave last weekend in Cottonwood Heights. VERMONT Craftsbury: Rowing is stirring up a row at Great Hosmer Pond. Some lakeside vacation home owners say a rowing camp at Craftsbury Outdoor Center monopolizes the pond. VIRGINIA Richmond: Representatives of several Native American tribes are celebrating plans for a monument near Virginia’s Capitol. The Richmond

Times-Dispatch reports that the “Mantle” will recognize the state’s Native American legacy. WASHINGTON Seattle: Seattle’s $15-an-hour minimum wage has led to conflicting studies. The

Seattle Times reports that a University of Washington team found that the law has boosted low-wage job pay but also caused a 9% cut in hours. A University of California at Berkeley review found that the law raised pay without hurting restaurant industry jobs. WEST VIRGINIA Elkview: A bridge that was washed out in flooding last year is being replaced at Crossings Mall, and 23 of its 26 businesses are expected to reopen, The Charleston Ga

zette-Mail reports. WISCONSIN La Crosse: A work crew is spending a week on a Mississippi River island to eradicate invasive plants and poison ivy as part of a state and federal effort to clean up beaches along the waterway, the La Crosse Tri

bune reports. WYOMING Jackson: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is offering novice mountain climbers a way to do so without a rope. The Jack

son Hole News & Guide reports that the resort’s recently opened via ferrata allows users to connect their harness to fixed cables so that any slip will result in a short, safe fall. Compiled from staff and wire reports.