STATE-BY-STATE

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Montgomery: A federal judge has set a July 25 hearing to consider a voting rights group’s request to force Alabama to tell convicted felons that they could be eligible to vote. State lawmakers passed a measure this year clarifying which felons cause a loss of voting rights.

ALASKA Anchorage: The CDC is warning about undercooked game meat after two outbreaks of trichinosis in Alaska. Ten people who ate undercooked walrus were sickened, but all of them recovered.

ARIZONA Flagstaff: Recreationists heading for the mountains will notice an increase in logging activities linked to the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project, The Arizona Daily Sun reports. Crews using chain saws have thinned several forested areas north of the city to reduce the risk of wildfire and post-fire flooding.

ARKANSAS Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas doesn’t plan to sell alcohol at sporting events despite new state-issued alcohol permits, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

CALIFORNIA San Diego: San Diego’s school board has voted to take legal action against the College Board after 540 high school students’ Advanced Placement tests were declared invalid because their seats were too close together. The College Board says the Scripps Ranch High School seating violated test rules, but did not claim any students cheated.

COLORADO Durango: Last Wednesday was a tough day for Colorado bears. The Durango Herald reports that two bears were shot after entering homes and two more were tracked by Wildlife Services and euthanized.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: The Connecticut Supreme Court says a woman’s profane tirade against a store manager was protected free speech. The court last week ordered an acquittal for Nina Baccala on a misdemeanor breach of peace charge.

DELAWARE Georgetown: Facing protests, Providence United Methodist Church removed an anti-LGBTQ sign. The News Journal of Wilmington reports that the pastor says the sign was posted by a church member without her knowledge.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A man who pleaded guilty to touching teenage girls visiting the National Museum of Natural History will be sentenced Sept. 15, The Washington Post reports. Authorities say Devone Foote touched the buttocks of the 13- and 14-yearold girls from California in April.

Eglin Air Force Base: FLORIDA Investigators are trying to determine what caused an explosion that sent potentially dangerous methyl chloride smoke into the air at Eglin Air Force Base’s McKinley Climatic Lab, the Pensacola News Journal reports.

GEORGIA Atlanta: Georgia’s health commissioner is now head of the the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Brenda Fitzgerald is an OB- GYN and has been head of the Georgia Department of Public Health since 2011.

HAWAII Lihue: Six people were arrested for camping without permits on Kauai Island, The Garden Island reports. Officers dismantled 15 camps in a crackdown on squatters, some of whom had gardens growing bananas, papaya and other fruits.

IDAHO Boise: The state Department of Lands has released a map detailing recreation accessibility on Idaho’s public endowment lands. The state has about 2.44 million acres of endowment land managed by a board of top political leaders.

ILLINOIS Chicago: Forty new police cars are rolling in Chicago, the first of 550 Ford Explorers and Interceptors that the city will have by early next year.

INDIANA LaPorte: Authorities say drug-laced gummy bears are responsible for sickening a group of Indiana young people. The 11 victims, men and women ages 18 and 19, were visiting LaPorte County from Fishers.

IOWA Iowa City: A man faces burglary and criminal mischief charges involving the destruction of property at a University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics building, The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports.

KANSAS Wichita: Sedgwick County commissioners will vote this week on demolishing the former Judge Riddel Boy Ranch, which closed in 2014. Local officials have recommended approval of contracts to clear asbestos from the site and then raze it, The Wichita Eagle reports.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: The Department of Homeland Security has given Kentucky more time to overhaul its driver’s license program. But the extension is just until Oct. 10. State officials say they’ll ask for an extension to January 2019.

LOUISIANA Shreveport: Officials say a man left an 8-year-old child in a vehicle while he went in a casino. The Shreveport Times reports that Jakebrian Jones is charged with child desertion.

MAINE Freeport: Police have declined to charge a woman who shot and killed her neighbor’s dog, The Portland Press Herald reports. Freeport police say they received reports of a dog chasing livestock before the shooting.

MARYLAND Baltimore: The city plans to base parking meter rates on demand on some downtown streets, The Baltimore Sun reports. The change also will include adjusting rates biannually to help ensure free spots on every block.

MASSACHUSETTS Chatham: Beachgoers on Cape Cod beware: The Portuguese man-of-war has returned. If touched, the creatures can deliver an extremely painful sting.

MICHIGAN Mason: An audit says nearly $5 million is missing from the St. Martha Roman Catholic Church near Lansing. The disclosure came last week during a hearing for the Rev. Jonathan Wehrle, who’s charged with embezzling $100,000 or more.

MINNESOTA St. Paul: Minnesota hunters and anglers can soon expect a modernized electronic licensing system with new bells and whistles. The Department of Natural Resources is looking for a vendor to upgrade the system when the current contract expires in 2020.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The University of Mississippi will post a sign acknowledging that slaves built some main campus structures that went up before the Civil War.

MISSOURI Warrensburg: Officials are trying to determine who abandoned 16 dogs and puppies that were found last week near baseball fields close to the Warrensburg Animal Shelter. The Warrensburg Daily Star Journal reports that all suffered from long-term neglect.

MONTANA Helena: Native Americans say the federal government’s decision to lift grizzly bear protections in the Yellowstone National Park area violates their religious freedom. Tribes consider the grizzly sacred.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: Two agencies that regulate Nebraska’s water are joining forces. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Environmental Quality announced the new partnership last week, effective Aug. 1.

NEVADA Reno: The Washoe County prosecutor says two Reno police officers were justified in fatally shooting Mathew Grows in November 2015. Authorities say Grows injured two neighbors and was walking toward three unarmed people with a gun in his hand when he was shot.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Bath: A historic general store reopened a year after it was sold at auction. The Brick Store in Bath, built more than 200 years ago, was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

NEW JERSEY Newark: A car idling outside Newark Liberty International Airport was stolen last week with a dog inside. Officials say a Jack Russell terrier was in the blue BMW convertible when someone jumped in and drove away.

NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: A lawsuit claims that four New Mexico prisons are violating a personal space deal with inmates, The Santa Fe New Mexican reports.

NEW YORK Albany: Police in upstate New York are launching an effort to reduce drunken boating. Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple and Saratoga County Sheriff Mike Zurlo announced “Operation Sober Boater” on the Hudson River last week.

NORTH CAROLINA Asheville: A man will serve five years in prison for setting a series of forest fires last year in the North Carolina mountains. Prosecutors say the blazes did little damage.

NORTH DAKOTA Minot: Authorities say construction of a jail in Minot is ahead of schedule. The Minot Daily News reports that work on the $38.2 million Ward County Jail expansion is 80% finished and is expected to be completed in early November. OHIO Toledo: A police mistake led to 115 people having their speeding fines refunded, The Blade reports. Officials say a hand-held speed camera used Feb. 1was stationed inside a school zone, where the speed limit is lower. But the camera targeted vehicles outside the zone.

OKLAHOMA Norman: A judge has ruled that items confiscated during 2015 raids at a now-closed Norman pipe shop should be returned to its owner, The Oklahoman reports. The judge said he couldn’t determine whether the confiscated items, including assorted glass pipes and rolling papers, are drug paraphernalia.

OREGON Medford: The City Council is considering a proposal to allow downtown food trucks to expand their hours until 2:30 a.m., The Mail Tribune reports. More than 100 food trucks are registered in Medford County.

PENNSYLVANIA Ross: A contractor removed an alarm clock that’s been in a family’s wall vent for nearly 14 years, beeping every day at the same time. The homeowner tells KDKA-TV that he tied the clock to a string to use its beep to pinpoint where to drill for a TV cable, but the clock fell off the string. Its battery still powered the alarm.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: The Rhode Island church where John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier wed in September 1953 is inviting visitors to kneel where the couple knelt, listen to the music that played and imagine the day. St. Mary’s Church is where the couple worshiped during visits to Newport.

SOUTH CAROLINA Walhalla: Authorities say a South Carolina man may have been exposed to rabies after getting too close to a fight between two woodchucks. One of the animals scratched and bit the man, and one of the woodchucks tested positive for rabies. The other woodchuck wasn’t available for testing.

SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: Federal regulators have rejected a Black Hills hotel’s application to operate a septic system, The Rapid City Journal reports. The EPA denial means The Lodge at Mount Rushmore can’t open.

TENNESSEE Memphis: Health officials say the number of people diagnosed with Legionnaire’s disease at The Guest House hotel at Graceland has climbed to five. The pool and hot tub are temporarily closed.

TEXAS Victoria: Prosecutors say a woman with no medical training faces up to five years in prison after faking being a registered nurse. Leticia Gallarzo was hired at two hospitals and three nursing homes in five Texas cities over seven months. UTAH Salt Lake City: Construction on a $725 million Utah freeway will begin in less than three years, pending federal approval. The road is designed to cut commuter traffic congestion in the Salt Lake City area by 35%.

VERMONT Barre: Gov. Phil Scott has another checkered flag. The Republican chief executive won the 50-lap feature last Thursday at Barre’s Thunder Road, taking home $1,200. This was his 30th win but his first since becoming governor in January.

VIRGINIA Richmond: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted a final permit to Dominion Energy for a power transmission line above the James River. Opponents say the line will blight views in one of the country’s most historic areas that includes Jamestown, Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg.

WASHINGTON Seattle: Officials say an engineer drove his Amtrak train too fast when it derailed earlier this month. An investigation found that the train failed to slow to the 40 mph speed limit approaching the Chambers Bay drawbridge south of Seattle, triggering a safety switch that activates if the drawbridge is open.

WEST VIRGINIA Brooks: The bridge that provides the only road access to the Camp Brookside area of New River Gorge National River in West Virginia is closed for repairs. The shutdown is expected to last about five weeks, the National Park Service says.

WISCONSIN Madison: The state Supreme Court says homeowners don’t have to let in assessors as a condition for challenging property taxes. The court, in a 5-2 ruling, said assessors need to get warrants or use other sources of information if they can’t get a homeowner’s consent to enter.

WYOMING Cheyenne: A draft study has been released for a natural gas field that could become one of the biggest in the USA. The Normally Pressured Lance Field eventually could cover 220 square miles and have as many as 3,500 wells.