News from across the USA Lincoln: Carson City:

ALABAMA Birmingham: Singer Jimmy Buffett’s childhood home last week backed off a short-lived ban on selling pitchers of margaritas, the drink he made famous. The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board ended the pitcher prohibition a day after al.com published a column criticizing it. ALASKA Juneau: A fungus that damages trees is making its way through Alaska. CoastAlaska

News reports that spruce bud blight infects Sitka spruce. It’s black and looks like a dead, crusty coating on buds. ARIZONA Phoenix: The prospect of monsoon flooding has some Arizona cities, including Tucson and Scottsdale, distributing free sandbags to help protect property. ARKANSAS Hot Springs: Panhandling ordinances in two Arkansas cities are in dispute amid challenges by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU claims violations of free speech rights by Hot Springs and Fort Smith. CALIFORNIA Marina: The last remaining sand mine in the United States will close in 2020. The Lapis Sand Plant is on a remote beach in Monterey County. COLORADO Boulder: Researchers hope drones will be a key tool for battling emerald ash borers,

The Daily Camera reports. As part of data collection, scientists sent drones over Boulder areas that have ash trees showing varying levels of damage. CONNECTICUT East Lyme: State officials closed the swim area at Rocky Neck State Park in East Lyme last week because of high bacteria levels. But the rest of the park remains open. DELAWARE Wilmington: A grand jury indicted three former Delaware Psychiatric Center workers in connection with a male patient’s death last December. The charges include felony crime against a vulnerable adult and misdemeanor forgery, falsifying business records and patient abuse or neglect. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Police say a man intentionally drove a car into a transgender woman, leaving her critically injured. Police say the driver and the victim had exchanged words beforehand, but the nature of that exchange isn’t clear. FLORIDA Winter Haven: Police caught a fleeing probation violations suspect when he fell through the ceiling of a Florida apartment complex into a resident’s shower. GEORGIA Jackson: A grand jury indicted a former Jackson police officer accused of falsely claiming that a gunman shot her. Police initially said Sherry Hall reported being shot in the abdomen by a suspect who ran away but her bulletproof vest protected her. Authorities said later that Hall wasn’t shot and there was no suspect. HAWAII Honolulu: One of Honolulu’s few remaining freshwater springs will be protected for life after several groups united to purchase it. Kanewai Spring was bought for $2.6 million. IDAHO Caldwell: An Idaho woman is accused of stealing her daughter’s placenta and umbilical cord from a hospital to conceal any possible drug use that could result in the baby being taken away, KIVI-TV reports. Based on surveillance video, Rhiannon Stoneham faces a destruction of evidence charge. ILLINOIS Chicago: Officials are looking into ways to improve Chicago’s 80-year-old Lake Shore Drive. The highway has undergone several extensions and pedestrian access projects, but planners have struggled to balance traffic flow with preserving park land, the Chicago Tribune reports. INDIANA Fort Wayne: The old Sports and Spirits bar that closed last September after three men were fatally shot there will be demolished soon. The owner plans to turn the property into a green space with a memorial, and a service to remember those killed will be held. IOWA Oskaloosa: Officials are testing fur found in a soybean field where a black bear was sighted last week, The Oskaloosa

Herald reports. Officials weren’t able to find a bear right away but say there have been multiple bear sightings in recent weeks. KANSAS El Dorado: A log book suggests that Kansas prison officials may have downplayed an inmate disturbance last month,

The Kansas City Star reports. Officials reported no violence and no weapons accessed by inmates. But the log shows two fights involving inmates, and at least one had a weapon. KENTUCKY Benton: The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has reached a settlement with a shipping firm whose cargo vessel damaged the old Eggners Ferry Bridge. The shipper agreed to pay $3.37 million for damaging a 322-foot section of the bridge in January 2012. The state spent $7 million to replace it. LOUISIANA LaPlace: Authorities say a man set fire to his exgirlfriend’s house while her six children were inside. The Times

Picayune reports that Demond Sampson is charged with violating a protective order, and aggravated arson of an inhabited dwelling. MAINE Yarmouth: Some residents say this Maine town’s annual clam festival parade set for Friday has a seat-saving tradition that’s gone too far. Instead of chairs reserving spots for viewers, some people are tying ropes to reserve entire sidewalks. Police say there are no anti-roping rules, but they’re asking people not to do it. MARYLAND Baltimore: Maryland health officials say a wild groundhog found at The Maryland Zoo had rabies. WJZTV reports that the groundhog captured July 8 in the zoo’s wilderness section was not part of an exhibit and followed a zoo visitor. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A collection of amputation tools used in the Revolutionary War has fetched more than $100,000 at auction. The kits were owned by Dr. John Warren, a Continental Army surgeon and a Harvard Medical School founder. MICHIGAN Grand Rapids: A former Michigan golf course has transformed into hilly grassland for hikers and nature. The Grand

Rapids Press reports that the Blandford Nature Center officially opened The Highlands last week in Grand Rapids. MINNESOTA Rochester: The Mayo Clinic has launched a $1 billion project to combine its electronic health records into a single, upgraded computer system, The Post Bulletin reports. It allows all medical personnel involved to see information about a patient’s medications, allergies and health issues. MISSISSIPPI Hattiesburg: A woman accused of threatening three judges was found fit to stand trial after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. The Hattiesburg-Amer

ican reports that Debbie Foret was indicted on charges of retaliation against a public servant and cyberstalking. MISSOURI Kansas City: A suburban Kansas City man will spend a year and a day in prison after admitting to stealing more than $86,000 from two churches where he worked or volunteered. MONTANA Helena: The Montana Historical Society has made plans for absorbing a 16% budget cut as state revenue declines. Officials say some workers will see layoffs or reduced hours. The museum also will end guided tours of the Capitol building. NEBRASKA The state has designated 13 Nebraska hospitals as primary stroke centers. The designation is part of a Stroke System of Care across the state to aid in rapid recognition of symptoms, patient transport and timely treatment. NEVADA Nevada has moved to reduce supply problems at recreational marijuana stores facing overwhelming demand for newly legal pot. Emergency rules will let some retailers transport the drug from growers to storefronts. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office is launching a criminal investigation into sexual assault and misconduct allegations at St. Paul’s School. A May report detailed sexual assaults by teachers on students and information about student sexual conquest rituals. NEW JERSEY West Windsor: A police officer called to help a woman in labor on the roadside says he merely supervised as a take-charge father delivered the baby himself. Natalie Ward Cabral, born last week, gets her middle name from the cross street in West Windsor where she was born, NJ.com reports. NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: Health officials report a second hantavirus death this year in New Mexico, a 53-year-old woman from McKinley County. The state had five fatalities last year from the severe respiratory disease. NEW YORK New York: The giant Ferris wheel being built on Staten Island’s waterfront has hit a snag. The Staten

Island Advance reports that the project is “indefinitely delayed” after its developer fired the design-build team.

NORTH CAROLINA

Lexington: A dog that had a chain embedded in its neck underwent surgery to remove it. Authorities believe the chain was placed on the dog when it was a puppy, The WinstonSalem Journal reports. NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: During a dig last week, a group of North Dakota high school students uncovered fossils estimated to be from an era shortly after dinosaurs went extinct, The Bis

marck Tribune reports. OHIO Cleves: Police say a fuel truck driver who apparently overdosed on drugs and was found slumped over the wheel of his running vehicle at a gas station was “sitting on a bomb.” WLWT-TV reports that Kristopher Phoenix is charged with felony drug possession and operating a vehicle under the influence. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Ancient artifacts discovered at an bridge construction site will be sent to the Sam Noble Museum in Norman, KOKH-TV reports. The artifacts are about 3,000 to 4,000 years old. OREGON Portland: A gonorrhea epidemic has hit Oregon, with cases nearly triple what they were in 2012. Officials in some counties have launched awareness campaigns with ads on dating sites, Facebook and Google. PENNSYLVANIA Washington: A woman who was trapped for more than nine hours when her dilapidated apartment building partially collapsed is recovering after surgery. Megan Angelone was pulled from the building by emergency crews. RHODE ISLAND Burrillville: Police are investigating an online Dropbox containing sexually explicit photos and videos of dozens of girls. A Burrillville High School official notified police in May about the discovery.

SOUTH CAROLINA Boiling

Springs: A baby bull that was running amok in a Spartanburg County neighborhood last week fled into the woods after efforts by a state trooper and others to corral it came up empty. SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: A helicopter medical team transporting a patient says it recently had a close encounter with a drone flying well above the federal 400-foot ceiling limit. The “near miss” was reported to Air Traffic Control, the Argus Leader reports. TENNESSEE Nashville: Until now, only one of the two celebrity lawyers who faced one another at the “Scopes monkey trial” was memorialized outside the courthouse where the case was heard. A statue of creation defender William Jennings Bryan has been there since 2005. Last week, evolution defender Clarance Darrow’s statue was set up. TEXAS Beaumont: A hunter sentenced last year to probation for killing two endangered whooping cranes is behind bars for probation violations. Trey Joseph Frederick was sentenced to 11 months for using an assaultstyle rifle to hunt from a road. His probation barred firearms. UTAH Salt Lake City: Billboards in Salt Lake City tell people not to give money to panhandlers. Instead, they say, give money to groups that aid the homeless. VERMONT Middlebury: A fire destroyed the 23-room Blue Spruce Motel last week. The cause of the blaze isn’t known, The Rutland Herald reports. VIRGINIA Richmond: The city has unveiled a monument honoring African American civil rights advocate Maggie Walker. The event last weekend was held on what would have been Walker’s 153rd birthday. WASHINGTON Seattle: A robot named Tracey is greeting passengers at SeattleTacoma International Airport. The human-sized robot carries an electronic sign and can speak six languages. WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: A federal appeals court has upheld $1.23 million in civil contempt fines ordered against one of Gov. Justice’s family coal companies. WISCONSIN Oshkosh: Two men accused of stealing 100,000 diapers from a charity are going to jail. WLUK-TV reports that Jason Havel was sentenced last week to nine months. Co-defendant John Forbes was given the same sentence in June. WYOMING Jackson: The national increase in demand for seasonal foreign workers has hit Wyoming, The Jackson Hole

News and Guide reports. Requests for H-2B visas in the state are on the rise.