STATE-BY-STATE
ALABAMA Tuscaloosa: Fewer of the 18,000-plus students in the Tuscaloosa County school system were suspended or dropped out in the last school year, The Tusca
loosa News reports. Suspensions fell by 769 to 3,291 and dropouts fell by 38 to 63.
ALASKA Anchorage: A gray whale swimming up the Kuskokwim River was killed by Native hunters who peppered the federally protected animal with gunfire and harpoons and then cut it up for distribution in the Yup’ik village of Napaskiak. Federal officials are investigating.
ARIZONA
Phoenix: An Arizona woman who put her 17-month-old daughter in a stroller, pushed her into the desert and left her to die was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Officials say the number of high school graduates enrolling in Arkansas colleges in 2016 decreased slightly compared to the year before, The Arkansas Demo
crat-Gazette reports.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: The biggest gas storage facility in the West resumed operations this week, nearly two years after a blowout led to a massive methane release that drove 8,000 families from their Los Angeles homes.
COLORADO Grand Junction: The owner of a Colorado biggame hunting ranch has sued an oil and gas company over a pipeline leak that the suit says contaminated the property and killed its planned $5 million sale, The
Daily Sentinel reports.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: A former Trinity College student is seeking to remain anonymous in his lawsuit against the school for disciplining him. John Doe, who graduated last spring, says the cheating allegation was unfounded.
DELAWARE Wilmington: A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a woman who tripped over the remnants of a bench removed from a downtown Wilmington plaza. The judge agreed with the city that it’s immune from liability.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Supreme Court decisions barring states from imposing mandatory life-without-parole sentences on juveniles don’t affect the District of Columbia. That’s because the city has prohibited life-withoutparole sentences for juveniles for decades.
FLORIDA Fort Lauderdale: A hotel manager wants to know why a former police officer wasn’t arrested for punching a parking attendant in a dispute over an $18 charge. Fort Lauderdale police say the investigation remains open.
GEORGIA Savannah: The Savannah Classical Academy Charter School has been put on probation for poor academic performance and organizational problems, the Savannah Morning
News reports. The school’s principal says its students are achieving but the curriculum doesn’t line up with Georgia tests.
HAWAII Honolulu: A Native Hawaiian fisherman is asking an environmental court to stop state officials from issuing commercial fishing licenses to those who aren’t legally admitted into the United States. Hawaii grants foreign fishermen licenses to fish, but some stay confined to their boats.
IDAHO Pocatello: Officials say a bat tested positive for rabies in Idaho’s Bingham County and residents should take precautions. It’s the first bat to test positive for rabies in the state this year.
ILLINOIS Chicago: A green technology development company says it will acquire the site of a former Chicago steel mill. The former U.S. Steel South Works property shut down in 1992.
INDIANA Evansville: Environ-
mental Protection Agency officials say the agency has cleaned up about half of the lead-tainted soil where several long-defunct factories contaminated an area surrounding downtown, The Evansville Courier & Press reports.
IOWA Clinton: A popular boatbased food vendor sank last weekend after hitting a submerged barrier in the Mississippi River. The co-owners of Mimi’s Burger Boat, a child helper and two dogs were rescued.
KANSAS Topeka: A legislative audit contradicts what the Kansas Department of Corrections told lawmakers about the least expensive way to finance a new prison. The audit said state-issued bonds could cost as little as $178 million over 20 years. Corrections said a lease-purchase deal is cheaper, but the audit says that would cost $206 million.
KENTUCKY Inez: The grave of a woman who was buried nearly 15 years ago was unearthed in Martin County, and two men were arrested. WYMT-TV reports that one of them is the grandson of Emily Howard, who died in November 2002.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: A part-time Love Lutheran Church employee was robbed at work last week, and authorities are searching for a suspect. New Orleans police say the man reached into the victim’s pockets, took her cash and fled.
MAINE Portland: Maine’s highspeed ferry known as the Cat is temporarily suspended after two of its engines blew out. The ferry arrived in Portland from Nova Scotia on Monday with only two engines operating, The Portland
Press Herald reports.
MARYLAND Annapolis: A Maryland government watchdog group released a report on how much it costs to run a campaign for the state legislature. Common Cause Maryland found that state senators averaged about $290,000. For delegates, the average was nearly $80,000.
MASSACHUSETTS Westwood: The Westwood Lodge psychiatric hospital that was cited for lapses in care will start accepting new patients again under increased oversight. But the facility’s shuttered unit for children will remain closed, the Boston Globe reports.
MICHIGAN Holland: Authorities say one worker died and one was injured in the collapse of a section of the Holland Civic Center’s ceiling. The center built in 1954 is undergoing a $16.5 million renovation.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: An Islamic cemetery in suburban Minneapolis was vandalized. Authorities say profanities and swastikas were painted at the Al Maghfirah cemetery in Castle Rock township.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Mississippi is reporting its first West Nile virus death for 2017. The victim lived in Grenada County. Nine new cases of the virus were confirmed during the past week, bringing the state total to 19 cases this year.
MISSOURI Columbia: The Boone Hospital Center board of trustees says it will consider a partnership with University of Missouri Health Care, one of four companies competing to operate the hospital in Columbia.
MONTANA Helena: Wildfire suppression has cost Montana $21 million so far this year. Officials say the state will burn about $1.5 million a day to fight fires until weather brings rain or snow.
NEBRASKA Wahoo: A grand jury will investigate the death of a Saunders County Jail inmate. The sheriff says Robert Imus refused to eat or take insulin for his diabetes before being found unresponsive in his cell Saturday.
NEVADA Las Vegas: The Mirage casino-resort in Las Vegas reports the birth of a bottlenose dolphin calf on July 17. The calf, which doesn’t have a name yet, and mother Huf n Puf are doing well.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Pelham: Police say they were forced to drag a driver out of his burning car after it crashed into a tree because he refused to leave, telling them he was a mechanic. Michael Hines was charged with driving under the influence and possession of cocaine.
NEW JERSEY Margate: For years, this New Jersey shore town argued that sand dunes installed to protect it from future storms would let large pools of water form, blocking beach access. Following heavy rain last weekend, that’s exactly what happened.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: Police are investigating the theft of a 1,700-pound barbecue pit from the popular Pepper’s Ole Fashion BBQ restaurant, The
Albuquerque Journal reports. The black and red 200-gallon smoker was stolen Sunday while it was cooking a batch of brisket.
NEW YORK New York: An ancient vase that was housed in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for years is now taking up space in a prosecutor’s office. A warrant issued last month questions whether it was looted from Italy.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The head of North Carolina’s system of 58 community colleges is stepping down 13 months after taking the job. No reason was given why James Williamson is leaving.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Under a new state law, North Dakota hospitals must alert patients in non-emergencies whether air ambulances are covered under the patient’s insurance. State Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread says the legislation was spurred by patients being hit with unexpected high bills.
OHIO Youngstown: Authorities say an Ohio man stored his girlfriend’s body in a freezer while another woman assumed her life by moving into her home, using her credit cards and caring for her dog. The body was found last weekend at a home near Youngstown. The boyfriend and the other woman are being held on corpse abuse charges.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Federal education officials project that Oklahoma’s pre-K through 12th-grade student enrollment will grow 6% over the next decade, adding 41,000 students to the financially-strained public school system, The Okla
homan reports.
OREGON Medford: Landowners are raising concern about a proposed pumice mine, The Mail
Tribune reports. The critics say it could increase truck traffic, bring noise and affect deer and elk habitats in a high-use recreation area between Prospect and Union Creek in southwest Oregon.
PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: A man who posted an online video of himself climbing Philadelphia City Hall and its clock tower says he wanted to get pictures from a unique vantage point. KYW-TV reports that the man climbed the building while scaffolding was up this year for renovations and maintenance.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: The state has painted over a mu- ral on Interstate 95 by a renowned children’s author and illustrator after it was repeatedly defaced. Authorities said the mural that depicted statues of notable people in Rhode Island history was “beyond saving,” The Providence Journal reports.
SOUTH CAROLINA Bluffton: Vinny the alligator is getting a new home, whether he wants it or not. The Island Packet of Hilton Head reports that Vinny is being relocated from his golf course pond at the Villas at Old South after a wheelchair-bound man complained, saying he felt threatened even though Critter Management judged Vinny to be a “good gator.”
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: South Dakota smokers would see a $1 tax hike on a pack of cigarettes under a ballot measure aimed at making the state’s four technical institutes more affordable. Backers need to submit nearly 14,000 valid signatures to the secretary of state in November to get the issue on the ballot in 2018.
TENNESSEE Murfreesboro: A Tennessee bride was arrested hours after saying “I do” when authorities say she pointed a gun at her groom. WTVF-TV reports that witnesses said Kate Elizabeth Prichard, still in her wedding dress, pulled out a 9mm pistol and pulled the trigger but the gun wasn’t loaded. Police say she then loaded a round and fired into the air.
TEXAS Austin: Texas lawmakers are pushing to study the state’s skyrocketing rate of pregnancyrelated deaths. The maternal mortality rate doubled between 2010 and 2012, giving Texas the highest rate in the U.S. and the developed world.
UTAH Alta: A Utah hiking trail with a vibrant wildflower display is being overrun on summer days with visitors, The Deseret News reports. Bekee Hotze, district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, urges hikers to stay on the trail and to not pick the wildflowers.
VERMONT Castleton: Tenants at the Windy Hollow Mobile Home Park plan to buy and upgrade it with $362,000 in federal grant funding, The Rutland Her
ald reports. The sale is pending an environmental review as required by the grant.
VIRGINIA Ladysmith: The remodeling of a Virginia corner store turned up “cash on delivery” receipt records from the 1930s, The Fredericksburg Free
Lance-Star reports. The documents were found at the Ladysmith Citgo, which used to house the community’s post office.
WASHINGTON Olympia: The attorney general’s office has told the state Supreme Court that Washington has fulfilled its constitutional requirement to properly fund public schools. State lawmakers last month approved a plan to increase spending on K-12 schools by $7.3 billion increase over the next four years.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Officials say last weekend’s flooding damaged some 200 statemaintained roads, with repair costs approaching $7 million. The flooding affected roads in 11 West Virginia counties.
WISCONSIN Verona: State lawmakers are looking to ease restrictions on wineries and craft breweries. A measure introduced Tuesday would allow wineries to stay open until 2 a.m. instead of closing at 9 p.m. and would let microbreweries sell beer on-site.
WYOMING Cheyenne: The winners of a Wyoming online auction will be able to welcome people to their home or business in a big way. The state Department of Transportation is selling five “Welcome to Wyoming” signs that formerly greeted drivers from other states. Each sign measures 8 feet by 4 feet and weighs over 100 pounds.