Around the nation
News from every state.
CALIFORNIA Santa Clarita: A fast-moving brush fire erupted near a huge amusement and water park Sunday, sending visitors to the exit to escape clouds of smoke and ash before fire officials asked them to stay put while they worked to contain the blaze. Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor announced the evacuation shortly after noon. About a half-hour later, the park said fire officials asked guests to shelter in place due to road closures. Park visitors were asked to move to the back of the property, away from firefighting activity near the entrance, said Rachel Gallat, who was visiting a friend who works at the park.
ALABAMA Montgomery: Researchers are in the midst of recording the city’s civil rights history in a new way. Three archaeologists and an architect are carrying iPads, snapping pictures and recording information about every structure built before 1969 to compile a complete history of culturally significant neighborhoods.
ALASKA Anchorage: A state labor department report says job gains after three years of losses could signal the end of the state’s recession.
ARIZONA Mesa: Dozens of Asianowned businesses have set up shop in the city. With last year’s closing of the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix, many see the district in western Mesa as a successor to be a hub for Asian-Americans in the metro area.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: CBD has been extracted from Arkansas’ first legal hemp harvest, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
COLORADO Denver: A ski resort trade association expects visits to the state’s resorts to be up 13% from last year following a snowy winter and spring that extended the ski season.
CONNECTICUT Middletown: Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support dancer Netta Yerushalmy’s residency.
DELAWARE Wilmington: Parts of the West Center City neighborhood damaged in the 1968 riots ignited by Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination are set to be redeveloped after many years of empty restoration promises.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Logan Circle in northwest D.C. has been named one of the nation’s 28 friendliest neighborhoods, WUSATV reports. The National Geographic Traveler magazine list is based on user-generated data such as walkability and home affordability. FLORIDA Miami Beach: A famous part of South Beach is getting a makeover. City officials unveiled tons of new equipment Sunday for the popular outdoor workout area along A1A known as Muscle Beach. GEORGIA Augusta: The Richmond County Coroner’s Office has made progress in matching military grave markers that were discovered at an old funeral home.
HAWAII Honolulu: The head of Honolulu’s planned rail line has submitted a revised recovery plan for the $9.2 billion project.
IDAHO Boise: Federal authorities are taking public comments on a plan to conduct an extensive environmental study involving killing wolves and other predators in the state that attack livestock, deer and elk.
ILLINOIS Chicago: Dispensaries are staffing up and remodeling in preparation for the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state.
INDIANA Indianapolis: The fifth annual Chreece hip-hop festival in late August will bring Talib Kweli to the city, organizers announced.
IOWA Des Moines: The state leads the nation when it comes to the amount of poop its people and livestock generate, research from a University of Iowa scientist shows.
KANSAS Topeka: The Kansas State University Weather Data Library says average rainfall in the state in May was 10.26 inches, the wettest month on records going back 125 years.
KENTUCKY Louisville: An analysis finds African Americans in the city are disproportionately stopped and are three times more likely to be searched than white drivers, despite a much higher incidence of contraband found with white drivers.
LOUISIANA St. Joseph: New cabins are open at Lake Bruin State Park.
MAINE Skowhegan: Vandals have trashed a fairgrounds booth, stealing 120 whoopie pies and drinking half a gallon of iced tea. John Youney, a director of the Skowhegan Lions Club, tells the Morning Sentinel whoever is involved can confess and volunteer to work off the crime. MARYLAND Burkittsville: A video game inspired by the Marylandbased horror film “The Blair Witch Project” is expected to come to PCs and Xboxes in August.
MASSACHUSETTS Nantucket: The eighth annual Nantucket Book Festival opens Thursday and runs through June 16.
MICHIGAN Holland: Families can follow the yellow brick road as a project brings “The Wizard of Oz” to town. The Holland Sentinel reports yellow bricks were laid in Centennial Park for the Holland Oz Project.
MINNESOTA Minnetonka: Local dog rescue group Retrieve a Golden of the Midwest says it’s saving the lives of golden retrievers by flying them to the U.S. from China.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The state Supreme Court has changed the rules to say a person seeking to become a lawyer has to pass the bar exam within three attempts or go back to law school for at least 12 semester hours before retaking it.
MISSOURI Kansas City: Area attorneys whose underwire bras had been setting off jail metal detectors can now see their clients without removing their lingerie for screening, but only if they talk to clients by phones separated by glass.
MONTANA Stevensville: Trumpeter swans have built a nest in a wildlife refuge that biologists hope will lead to the first offspring documented in the Bitterroot Valley in decades.
NEBRASKA Omaha: Health officials are taking steps to control mosquito populations that carry West Nile and other diseases as a wet spring has led to more breeding grounds.
NEVADA Las Vegas: Lawmakers have agreed to let voters decide next year whether to amend the state Constitution to recognize same-sex marriages, add a voters’ bill of rights and overhaul the board of pardons.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The state would join more than a dozen counterparts requiring insurance coverage of fertility treatments under a bill that passed the House.
NEW JERSEY Asbury Park: “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander, band The Smithereens, rocker Southside Johnny Lyon, and legendary basketball player and coach Anne Donovan are among this year’s inductees to the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: The state’s largest city is the latest to embark on upgrades to its portion of the historic Route 66 Highway. City officials are eyeing a $2.3 million plan that would add medians, landscaping and lighting.
NEW YORK New York: The creators of the High Line park turned a disused rail line into an urban oasis, art showcase and tourism magnet. The park is now marking two milestones. Its final section opened Wednesday, days before the 10th anniversary Sunday of the opening of the first section on June 9, 2009.
NORTH CAROLINA Brevard: The General Assembly is looking to impose stricter guidelines on zip lines and high ropes courses after some deaths in the state.
NORTH DAKOTA New Salem: A mud run is expected to draw hundreds of people for good, dirty fun this week. Medieval Rush will be held Saturday in New Salem.
OHIO Cleveland: A new interactive exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is set to open next month. Cleveland.com reports that the “Interactive Garage” exhibit opening July 1 will enable visitors to play instruments on their own or with friends or strangers at the museum. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Researchers at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University are jointly developing drone technology to improve weather forecasting.
OREGON Portland: Two protesters have been sentenced to five days in jail for throwing horse lubricant mixed with gold glitter on police.
PENNSYLVANIA Deer Lake: The rustic training camp where Muhammad Ali prepared for some of his most famous fights has undergone an elaborate restoration and opened to the public Saturday.
RHODE ISLAND Lincoln: The Community College of Rhode Island is using a sensory tool to help the public understand what it’s like to live with dementia. The first free demonstration of the Virtual Dementia Tour will be held Tuesday.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The state has passed a law that bars protein grown in a laboratory via stem cells from being advertised as “meat.” SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: A Native American woman is bringing attention to the impact of methamphetamine addiction from within the South Dakota Women’s Prison. Heather Shooter started the support group Sober is Sacred to encourage other inmates to join the fight to demand more drug treatment services. TENNESSEE Nashville: Tennessee Promise scholars can fulfill a community service requirement with a volunteer event in parks this month. TEXAS Houston: The Houston Zoo’s new Texas Wetlands Exhibit showcases some whooping cranes that were relocated here after their federally funded habitat closed last year. UTAH Mapleton: A woman is celebrating 15 years rehabilitating wildlife in her backyard. The Daily Herald reports Patti Richards channeled her passion for birds and bears into starting the Great Basin Wildlife Rescue.
VERMONT White River Junction: The state attorney general’s office says a second forum for a hate-free Vermont is being held this Thursday at Hartford High School.
VIRGINIA Norfolk: David Farragut, the U.S. Navy’s first admiral and a major player in Union Navy operations in the Civil War, fled north in a “betrayal” this city didn’t forget, The Virginian-Pilot reports. Now a small park here has been dedicated to him.
WASHINGTON Mount Vernon: Skagit County officials estimate the growing elk population in the region is costing farmers $1.4 million a year.
WEST VIRGINIA Minden: Thirty years after residents marched to bring attention to the PCB contamination causing cancer in their community, members of Minden Community Action say more work must be done. The Register-Herald reports the group organized a Saturday march as a re-enactment of a 1989 effort.
WISCONSIN Madison: State agriculture officials are concerned farmers will be tempted by quick access loans and credit cards as many take on more debt this year.
WYOMING Pine Bluffs: Catholics have marked the 20th anniversary of a shrine featuring one of the largest concrete sculptures in the U.S. A 30-foot Virgin Mary stands at the center of Our Lady of Peace Shrine.