State by state:
News from around the nation,
ALABAMA Montgomery: The state is locating farms that have been in the same family for at least 200 years as part of Alabama’s bicentennial commemoration.
ALASKA Ketchikan: Subsistence hunters may soon be able to hunt deer anywhere on federal public lands in Southeast Alaska, rather than a predetermined area under current regulations, The
Ketchikan Daily News reports. ARIZONA Flagstaff: More than 30 Arizona breweries have agreed to brew beer with water from a portable treatment system this summer, The Arizona Daily Sun reports. The system is being hauled around the state by a semi-truck. ARKANSAS Little Rock: The state auditor says a 2% pay raise for about 360 Arkansas government elected officials will cost about $708,000 over a 12-month period, The Arkansas Democrat
Gazette reports. The raises will go into effect Friday. CALIFORNIA Oakland: Federal officials are offering a $110,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in several arson fires at half-finished apartment complexes in and around Oakland. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf says the losses make the city’s housing crisis worse. COLORADO Ward: A bear believed to be the one that bit a Glacier View Ranch camp staffer on the head has been trapped and killed by wildlife officers. Black bears aren’t usually aggressive but have attacked several people in the West in recent weeks. CONNECTICUT Hartford: A lawsuit says Connecticut allows what amounts to a canine death row, violating the rights of dog owners by holding animals deemed dangerous for years. The case involves a pair of Rottweilers who’ve been held since being ordered destroyed in 2012. DELAWARE Dover: The Delaware attorney general’s office routinely violates a law requiring a ruling on public information law cases within 20 days, The
News Journal in Wilmington reports. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A record 559 people took advantage of a program providing free rides to people who were drinking to celebrate Independence Day. The Washington Regional Alcohol Program’s Sober Ride service offered free Lyft rides up to $15. FLORIDA Orlando: A 3-year-old Florida boy died after he was beaten with a plastic rod and thrown because he drank milk from a jug. Orange County sheriff ’s investigators say the roommates of the boy’s mother are charged with murder. GEORGIA Atlanta: Georgia is ramping up efforts to crack down on elder abuse, with law enforcement training and a tougher criminal code. But the state still is lacking an elder abuse registry, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. HAWAII Honolulu: Rangers searching by helicopter found the body of a man who died on the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii. Authorities say it’s believed that the man died from a fall, but an investigation is ongoing. Since 1990, four people have died from falls around the crater rim. IDAHO Coeur d’Alene: Starting in August, Idaho residents will have to enter an area code to call other people in the state, The
Coeur d’Alene Press reports. Anyone who gets a new phone number after Sept. 5 will be assigned a new area code, 986. The new code will overlay existing 208 users. ILLINOIS Rolling Meadows: The Rolling Meadows Police Department is bringing back its police dog unit four years after it was disbanded, The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reports. It will cost $16,000 to train and certify a dog and another $56,000 for a fully-equipped vehicle for the dog and its handler, paid with asset seizure funds. INDIANA Columbus: Someone vandalized a rural Indiana church over the weekend and tried to set it on fire, The (Columbus) Repub
lic reports. Several windows at Ohio Chapel United Methodist Church were broken, but the fires set in the sanctuary and basement didn’t spread. IOWA Cedar Rapids: Firefighters spent two days battling flaming bales of recycled cardboard in an International Paper warehouse. The problem involved several bales at different heights and locations. KANSAS Hays: A former caretaker will face trial this fall on charges alleging that she doctored the will of her employer to make herself the primary beneficiary of a more than $20 million estate instead of the Fort Hays State University Foundation, The
Hutchinson News reports. KENTUCKY Bowling Green: Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky is getting a new superintendent, The Daily News reports. Southeast Regional Chief of Staff Barclay Trimble replaces Sarah Craighead, who received a promotion. LOUISIANA New Orleans: Thing will be buzzing for the next few weeks at the Beauregard Parish Sheriff ’s Training Center. The Southwest Louisiana Beekeepers Association and LSU AgCenter are holding their annual beginning beekeepers class. MAINE Portland: A private island with a mansion, two guest houses and a barn with workers’ quarters is on the market in Maine for $7.95 million. Owner John Cacoulidis describes the 86-acre Hope Island as a “magical island kingdom.” MARYLAND Baltimore: Two city schools are testing filters that could allow reopening water fountains. The fountains have been shut down for a decade because of lead contamination fears, The Baltimore Sun reports. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Authorities say a man who crashed his Cadillac into a Boston bicycle sharing station and abandoned the car will be charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Eight bicycles and the station’s bike rack were damaged. MICHIGAN Lansing: This is Michigan Mammals Week, and 31state parks are offering programs intended to teach visitors about the wild animals in their areas. Activities include hikes, animal tracking instruction, games and more. MINNESOTA Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota is renaming Mariucci Arena as part of a sponsorship deal with 3M. The school’s home of men’s hockey will officially be known as 3M Arena at Mariucci as part of a 14-year, $11.2 million agreement. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Customers of Mississippi’s secondlargest natural gas supplier will see bills rise about 3%. The Public Service Commission approved a rate increase last week for Centerpoint Energy. MISSOURI Springfield: Missourians are buying new boats in record numbers. The Springfield
News-Leader reports that new boat sales hit $339 million last year, up 9%. MONTANA Bonner: A new Montana amphitheater is hoping it will stand up to Colorado’s Red Rocks and Washington’s Gorge,
The Missoulian reports. The 4,000-capacity Bonner’s KettleHouse Amphitheater overlooking the Blackfoot River held a ribboncutting ceremony this week. NEBRASKA Omaha: A new mosque and cultural center has opened in Nebraska. Nearly 3,000 people toured the American Muslim Institute in Omaha on Sunday. NEVADA Carson City: Nevada homeowners can take advantage of a foreclosure prevention lifeline offered by the state, the Reno
Gazette-Journal reports. The measure allows homeowners to discuss alternatives to foreclosure with lenders. NEW HAMPSHIRE Laconia: The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is investigating a complaint that participants in an agency-sponsored hunter safety class held at a church were given religious fliers, The Laconia Daily Sun reports. It’s not clear who handed out the material. NEW JERSEY Newark: Dozens of activists took to the streets of Newark last weekend after a 6-year-old boy was shot, NJ.com report. The shooting involving the child was one of three that occurred on Saturday, injuring eight people. NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: Organizers are starting improvement projects for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
this Oct. 7-15, The Albuquerque Journal reports. NEW YORK Albany: Six dairy processors who source their milk from more than 1,200 farms across the state have joined New York’s Grown and Certified program. The program was launched last year by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. NORTH CAROLINA Buxton: There’s a new island off the North Carolina coast. Shelly Island is about a mile long, separated from Hatteras Island by a few hundred feet of water. Experts say the island could continue to grow, or it could suddenly vanish with the next big storm. NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Oasis Midstream wants to expand the Wild Basin Gas Plant in McKenzie County to make it the largest natural gas processing complex in the state, The Bis
marck Tribune reports. OHIO Akron: University of Akron anthropology students are uncovering the long-forgotten history of a graveyard covered by the city’s Schneider Park, The
Akron Beacon Journal reports. People who died while living at Summit County’s poorhouse and infirmary between 1875 and 1919 are buried there. OKLAHOMA Hinton: Authorities say several hundred inmates rioted Sunday at the federal Great Plains Correctional Facility, taking two guards hostage. The riot ended early Monday, and the hostages were freed unharmed. OREGON Cave Junction: Camille the camel died two days after being struck by a stray bullet at the Tiger Preservation Center in Oregon, the Daily Courier reports. Camille was across the highway when the gunfire erupted. One man was injured and a dog was killed. PENNSYLVANIA Monroeville: A woman accused of modeling at a suburban Pittsburgh strip mall while wearing nothing but thighhigh stockings and high heel shoes will face charges of indecent exposure and disorderly conduct. Police say Chelsea Guerra, 21, was posing April 8 at Miracle Mile Shopping Center for a photographer, who also was charged. RHODE ISLAND Providence: Rhode Island has been awarded $200,000 in federal funding to improve boating infrastructure and provide opportunities for outdoor recreation. State partners will provide about $100,000 in matching funds. SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: Local zoo officials say a male orangutan escaped his enclosure briefly. WSPA-TV reports that the orangutan found a weak spot in the wire that holds the netting together atop the enclosure. But officials say the orangutan never left the exhibit and the weak spot was repaired. SOUTH DAKOTA Spearfish: Downtown streets in this South Dakota city are getting a dose of color with six crosswalks painted in an abstract design, The Rapid
City Journal reports. TENNESSEE Nashville: Gov. Bill Haslam has opened an alternative residential program operated by the Tennessee National Guard that gives some teens a chance to earn a high school equivalency diploma outside a traditional school setting. The first class began this week with about 100 cadets. TEXAS Texas City: A 1,033pound hammerhead shark was caught last weekend during a Texas City Jaycees fishing tournament, setting a state record for the species.
UTAH Salt Lake City: Southern Utah University has spent $3.8 million to buy 10 airplanes to lure students amid a pilot shortage. The Salt Lake
Tribune reports that Utah State University has made a similar move. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing predicts about 617,000 more commercial airline pilots will be needed by 2035. VERMONT Bethel: Almost six years after Tropical Storm Irene flooding washed into the White River National Fish Hatchery, it is back in business following $2.3 million in repairs. The hatchery is now focused on producing eggs for landlocked salmon destined for Lake Champlain and lake trout headed for two of the Great Lakes. VIRGINIA Danville: The Virginia National Guard has asked Danville to vacate a shared armory that the city uses as a recreational facility, The Danville
Register and Bee reports. Guard officials cite safety and security concerns. WASHINGTON Bremerton: A new ferry service is carrying passengers between Bremerton and downtown Seattle. Kitsap Transit launched the passengeronly Bremerton Fast Ferry. WEST VIRGINIA Wheeling: More than 8,300 new syringes have been distributed in the nearly two years that a needle exchange program has operated in Wheeling, The Intelligencer reports. WISCONSIN Racine: A landmark sign for Nelson’s Variety Store in West Racine has been bought by an antique sign collector, The Journal Times reports. The sign was taken down June 12 after Nelson’s closed. WYOMING Gillette: The head of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming is touting a rebound for Wyoming oil, the Gillette News
Record reports. In 2016, 11 rigs operated in the state. So far through June this year, 25 rigs have been operating.