News from across the USA

ALABAMA Mobile: The minor league baseball team in Mobile is on the market, the president of the Southern League says. Al.com reports that the BayBears could relocate to Madison.

ALASKA Talkeetna: Stubbs, the honorary feline mayor of this Alaska town, has died at the age of 20, KTVA-TV reports. Talkeetna, with a population of about 900, doesn’t have a human mayor.

ARIZONA Tucson: The Coronado National Forest has received funding to start aerial seeding of more than 1,000 acres that were burned in a recent wildfire. Officials say projects also were approved to clear drainage channels of debris and establish safety measures for trails and developed sites.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: As of Aug. 1, lottery ticket buyers in Arkansas can use their debit card at retailers willing to take them. But some retailers won’t because they have to pay fees to accept the cards, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

CALIFORNIA San Francisco: The California Supreme Court has narrowed the scope of a 2012 ballot measure that allowed some three-strike inmates to get shorter prison terms. In a unanimous ruling, the court said judges can consider facts in previously dismissed charges to deny a reduced sentence. COLORADO Loveland: No criminal charges are expected against a mower operator who accidentally sparked a Colorado wildfire. The Loveland Fire Rescue Authority says the Spring Glade fire started after a tractor mower spindle struck a rock, igniting dry grass, the Loveland ReporterHerald reports.

CONNECTICUT Stonington: Officials with Stonington Cemetery are seeking to have the 22acre burial ground that dates to the 1750s added to the National Register of Historic Places, The

Day reports. DELAWARE Stanton: Delawarebased student loan provider Sallie Mae is seeking a $2.16 million state grant to hire 285 laid off Barclays and HSBC Bank workers, The News Journal of Wilmington reports.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A man looking for a dropped cellphone tumbled into a building ’s trash chute. District of Columbia fire officials say the man was pulled out with a harness.

FLORIDA Miami Beach: It’s not the kind of summer tourist that Miami Beach expects. Police and wildlife officials captured an alligator last weekend swimming in the Atlantic Ocean near the South Pointe Park pier. GEORGIA Tybee Island: A three-month project to repave four miles of U.S. 80 that links Tybee Island to the mainland is taking place during the peak of hurricane season, The Savannah Morning News reports. Officials say work will stop if a hurricane is forecast to hit Georgia.

HAWAII Honolulu: A condo developer is offering a Mercedes-Benz on a three-year lease to buyers of a unit in one of three towers, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. Hughes Corp. envisions a 16-tower Ward Centers development with 4,300 homes.

IDAHO Ketchum: Wildlife managers killed a black bear after a string of encounters with people at the popular Sawtooth recreation area in Idaho. In one case, a camper woke up with her foot in the bear’s mouth, but she wasn’t injured.

ILLINOIS Chicago: The city is preparing for a 50th anniversary celebration Aug. 8 for its famous downtown Picasso statue. The event veiling willof the re-enact Spanish the artist’s1967 unwork known that Chicagohas become a well known Chicago symbol.

INDIANA Indianapolis: The IndianapolisMuseum of Art is planning a major redesign. Officialstell The Indianapolis Star that the cost could be up to $100 million.

IOWA Clarksville: A man is suspected of starting a weekend fire that damaged the Clarksville City Hall. No one was injured.

KANSAS Topeka: A woman accidentally set her apartment on fire in an attempt to kill a bug by burning it with a flip-style lighter, The Topeka Capital-Journal reports. Damage was estimated at $140,000. KENTUCKY Lexington: University of Kentucky wine-making researchers say limited sales could start by late fall, The Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Kentucky is better known for its bourbon, but the state Grape and Wine Council says it had the first commercial U.S. vineyard in 1798.

LOUISIANA St. Martinville: The national water trail along Bayou Teche dedicated two handicap-accessible floating docks for canoers and kayakers this week to add to the four it already had.

MAINE Augusta: The Maine Department of Labor says most businesses won’t be able to fire an employee for a marijuana-positive drug test unless they can prove impairment on the job. Backers of the marijuana referendum say the law that goes into effect in February will let employers maintain drug-free workplace policies, The Portland Press Herald reports.

MARYLAND Berlin: A man driving an ATV escaped serious injury after being struck by a landing crop duster. The ATV operator said he noticed the plane touch down and tried to get out of the way, but was thrown from his vehicle. The pilot wasn’t injured.

MASSACHUSETTS Orleans: A marine conservation group disentangled a young humpback whale off Cape Cod. The Center for Coastal Studies says the whale had a bridle of heavy line looped though its mouth and twisted across its back, with two orange buoys trailing behind it.

MICHIGAN Flint: A woman accused of stealing cemetery flowers that authorities say she used to decorate her home was sentenced to nine months in jail,

The Flint Journal reports.

MINNESOTA Duluth: Authorities are investigating a fatal boat crash on Dinham Lake. One woman who was thrown into the water was rescued and taken to a Duluth hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

MISSISSIPPI McComb: Part of the Jubilee Performing Arts Center in McComb collapsed, WLBT-TV reports. No one was in the building at the time.

MISSOURI St. Louis: A homeless man is charged with attacking four other homeless people with a hammer as they slept in a vacant St. Louis school building. Two of the victims were critically injured, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

MONTANA Billings: A federal appeals court has ordered a jury trial for a wildlife activist who said his rights were violated in 2012 when a sheriff ’s deputy barred him from watching wild bison being herded into Yellowstone National Park. A barricade placed out of sight of the herding kept activists from seeing how the bison were treated.

NEBRASKA Omaha: Attempts by Omaha leaders to upgrade 300 miles of substandard streets have opened old wounds between City Hall and Elkhorn residents. The Omaha World-Herald reports that some people in the former city that was annexed by Omaha wonder why they should pay to upgrade streets viewed as fine before annexation.

NEVADA Henderson: A vintage British Strikemaster jet crashed and burned in the desert just after takeoff Monday from a suburban Las Vegas-area airport, but authorities said the pilot escaped serious injury.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Benton: Officials with the White Mountain National Forest say work to repair damage from severe thunderstorms earlier this month likely will continue through the fall and beyond. Initial assessments show more than $11.5 million in damage.

NEW JERSEY Brielle: A fishing crew reeled in a 926-pound Mako shark, the biggest shark catch in New Jersey history.

NEW MEXICO Wagon Mound: The town’s public schools board is locked in a legal battle with Superintendent Sheryl McNellis-Martinez after an ineligible mem- ber Vegas voted Optic on reports.her contract, the Las NEWple with YORK metal Fort detectors Edward: are Peobannedisland where from an a Hudson archaeology River project Americanis uncoveringhistory. ExcavationsColonial are20 years ongoingat Fortfor the Edwardfirst timeon Rog-in ers Falls Island, reports. The Post-Star of Glens NORTHSome 2,000 CAROLINA worshipers Raleigh:are expectedtion Mass Wednesdayof the Holy for Namethe dedica-of Jesus capsule Cathedralwas installed here. in A a time cornerstone recent withlife of objectsthe Roman marking Catholicthe diocese.

NORTH DAKOTA Grand Forks: Authorities arrested a man accused or setting off a large firework in a Grand Forks bar filled with people. Officials say several customers were hit with flying glass. OHIO Trenton: An Ohio brewery will skip the hops and barley to put out 2 million cans of water for disaster victims, The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reports.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: More Oklahoma high school students are registering for college courses as funding for the concurrent enrollment program shrinks, The Oklahoman reports. The state’s concurrent enrollment program has allowed high school juniors and seniors to earn college credits since 2005.

OREGON Portland: A lawyer for a man who pleaded guilty to conspiracy in an Oregon wildlife refuge takeover says his client tested positive for morphine because he ate an “everything ” bagel with poppy seeds, The Ore

gonian reports.

PENNSYLVANIA Nazareth: Authorities rounded up a 215pound bear that caused a stir when it strolled through Nazareth and climbed a tree. State game officers planned to tranquilize the bear but needed firefighters to catch it in a tarp as it fell. The (Easton) Express-Times reports that the bear started running but passed out from the tranquilizer dart.

RHODE ISLAND Jamestown: About $200,000 has been raised and another $200,000 in pledges received for an endowment to maintain the historic Beavertail Lighthouse, The Newport Daily

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SOUTHThe Sioux DAKOTAFalls School Sioux Board Falls: is expandinges social anda program emotional that skills teach-to students,ports. HundredsThe Argusof childrenLeader re- took part addresseslast yearan increasingin the program number that of behavioral issues. TENNESSEE Nashville: The city has gone to court against Off the Wagon Tours, arguing that state law prohibits tractors from usingThe streets Tennesseanto pull party wagons,

reports. But a lawyer for Off the Wagon says the city should drop the case because a state agency agreed to register the tractors as commercial vehicles. TEXASsales tax Austin: holiday The will annualbe Aug. Texas11-13 as school. children Texas prepare exemptsto returnmost to clothing,plies and footwear, backpacks school priced sup- less than taxes $100that weekend.from sales It and includesuse itemsmail, and sold even online, layaways.by phone or UTAH Ogden: Restaurant chain owners Javier and Amanda Chavez say they’re honored to be the first Hispanic grand marshals of the Ogden Pioneer Days Grand Parade, The Standard-Examiner reports. The Javier’s Authentic Mexican Food couple have had Pioneer Days sponsorship roles for 15 years. VERMONT Poultney: Green Mountain College is set to expand a sustainable design major with the opening of a woodworking shop in Poultney, The Rutland

Herald reports. VIRGINIA Norfolk: About 600 concrete reef balls will be placed in the Lafayette River this summer to help restore the oyster population, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation says. The 300-pound balls provide habitat for oysters, fish, crabs and other sea life.

WASHINGTON Sequim: The Coast Guard says the Lady Washington, a full-scale replica of an 18th-century sailing ship, ran aground Monday in Sequim Bay. KOMO reports that the vessel did not take on water and no pollutants leaked.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: West Virginia environmental regulators are updating the state’s impaired streams and lakes list, and seeking public comment through Aug. 21. Such waterways fail to meet state water quality standards. WISCONSIN Algoma: Anglers from around the nation are competing this week in the nine-day K/D Salmon Tournament in Kewaunee and Door counties, WBAY-TV reports. The grand prize winner will reel in $10,000.

WYOMING Jackson: A twomile stretch of Moose-Wilson Road, a popular route into Grand Teton National Park, is temporarily closed through early Thursday for dust reduction. Construction to pave the road’s dirt section won’t begin for another year, News & Guide The reports. Jackson Hole