Across the USA

NEWS from every state

Alabama: Gadsden — The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating break- ins of five police vehicles. Etowah County sheriff’s spokeswoman Natalie Barton said several assault weapons taken from cars belonging to the Etowah County and Calhoun County sheriff’s offices and Sardis City and Gadsden police departments.

Alaska: Anchorage — Five days after an armed man abducted a barista from a coffee shack, police don’t know if it was random or the man targeted 18-year- old samantha koenig. A store surveillance camera showed a man in a hooded sweatshirt forcing Koenig to leave at about 8 p. m. Wednesday.

Arizona: Phoenix — Police are searching a landfill south of Phoenix for the body of a 5- year- old Jhessye Shockley of Glendale. She has been missing for more than four months. About 20 officers used rake- like tools to sift through every single piece of garbage in a 36,000- square- foot area of the Butterfield Landfill. They will search eight hours a day Monday through Friday for up to six weeks.

Arkansas: Little Rock — The Lottery Commission is putting new limits on pay for its next director after being criticized over the $ 324,000 salary for the former director. The commission voted for a $ 175,000 maximum salary. The commission plans to begin interviewing candidates to replace Ernie Passailaigue, who resigned last year.

California:

Sacramento — Proponents of a “millionaire’s tax” said they will begin collecting signatures for an initiative to raise income taxes on the state’s wealthiest, even as Gov. Brown pushes his own tax hike. The California Federation of Teachers is backing an initiative to raise taxes on people making more than $ 1million a year. Brown, a Democrat, favors a separate proposal to temporarily raise rates on people making more than $ 250,000.

Colorado:

Denver — A suburban Denver sheriff plans to start sending political campaigns the tab when roads have to be closed, traffic directed and deputies put on overtime. Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson, a Republican, said he would send Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney a bill for $ 5,000 to $ 6,000 for “extraordinary” security costs at a rally Monday.

Connecticut:

Ledyard— Mayor John Rodolico will honor Navy sailor Daniel Spencer for aiding two people injured in a car accident. Spencer, a Chief Culinary Specialist, will receive a proclamation for bravery Friday at the Navy Submarine base in New London.

Delaware:

Dover — The group Stand Upfor What’s Right and just is merging with the Delaware Center for Justice and will become a DCJ advocacy program. The Center for Justice is a nonprofit agency that has worked on social service programs involving alternatives to incarceration, prisoner re- entry programs and victims’ rights.

D. C.: The National Park Service will spend nearly $ 85,000 to launch the D. C. Park Prescriptions program this year, a project that unites health care providers with park managers to promote activities that get people outside and moving. The program will involve the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park and others.

Florida:

Tampa — Organizers of the Aug. 27- 30 Republican National Convention are looking for 7,500 volunteers to help welcome the thousands of visitors expected. The Tampa Bay

Times reported that the committee has a list of about 2,000 volunteers, and

it is registering more online at www. 2012tampa. com/ get- involved.

Georgia: Atlanta — Gov. Deal, a Republican, has announced the REACH Scholarship, a need- based, privately funded college scholarship program for middle school students. Those who complete requirements will receive a renewable yearly tuition scholarship of $ 2,500. Initially, 25 students from Bulloch, Douglas and Rabun counties will participate.

Hawaii:

Honolulu — Hawaiian Electric says savings for those using solar panels will lead to higher electricity bills. The utility says it will have to make up a $ 7.4 million reduction in revenue from solar power with a rate hike. The utility estimates it will have to raise rates by a half- cent a kilowatthour on Oahu, 1.7 cents for the Big Island and1.6 cents for Maui County.

Idaho:

Idaho Falls— Police are investigating the theft of thousands of dollars in pipe taken from thecity of Idaho Falls Water Department. KIFI- TV reports 190 pieces of underground pipe valued at nearly $ 8,000 were taken sometime within the last week.

Illinois:

Chicago — Mayor Rahm Emanuel said a law signed by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn will improve safety for students. The bill allows Chicago to use speed enforcement cameras to monitor drivers around the city’s schools and parks. The cameras will send $ 100 tickets if drivers go more than 5 mph over the limit.

Indiana:

Terre Haute — The city is trying a new tactic in its ongoing battle against crows. Members of the Crow Committee are trying fishing line tied to form large “X’s” atop buildings in the hopes that it can discourage the birds from landing there. They tried to scare the crows with fake owls, the sounds of a bird in distress and fire works.

Iowa:

Iowa City— Some University of Iowa students have started an off- campus magazine, Verum, aimed at college student interests. It was developed by journalism students rob johnson, Brad Jackson and Sarah Bulmer. More than 30 free lancers contributed pieces on such subjects as politics, sports, fashion and music to the first issue.

Kansas:

Wichita — The Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service says a variety of wheat called TAM 111 is the most popular of all those planted in the

12.6% state. of TAM the state’s 111 has 2012 been wheat seeded acres. on

Kentucky: New York City Williamsburg mayor Rudy — Giuliani Former will visit on the April University 3 to speak of on the leadership Cumberlands in a time at www.ucumberlands.edu of crisis. Free tickets are available or by calling 606- 539- 4432.

Louisiana: Baton Rouge — Mall of Louisiana deputies for will night hire patrols off- duty after sheriff’s two teens were shot in the mall’s boulevard area last month. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks said the sheriff’s office already has stationed its mobile observation tower at the mall and has increased patrols.

Maine: Portland — No Umbrella Media said its International moustache Film Festival will be held immediately before the fifth annual mustache pageant, known as the Stache Pag, on March 30. Proceeds benefit the arts group mensk, Northeast Historic Film and mustache Fights Cancer.

Maryland: Upper Marlboro — Stink bug numbers are down. Jerry Burst, a pest management and vegetable specialist at the University of Maryland’s Central Maryland Research and Education Center, said the wet weather likely knocked many of the bugs off trees and crops and drowned them. Predators or parasites also could be responsible.

Massachusetts: Boston— Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center confirmed federal investigators have subpoenaed six years of hospital records as part of an investigation into whether the hospital overbilled Medicare by admitting patients for short stays who could have been treated as outpatients.

Michigan: Detroit— Representatives of the wayne County treasurer’s office are going door- to- door to negotiate with renters, squatters or owners who have defaulted on property taxes. The goal is to keep houses occupied. The county will require buyers to keep up with their tax bills for two years.

Minnesota:

Northfield— Amale resident of Valleyview Assisted Living and Memory Care home admitted to setting a fire that forced the evacuation of residents Sunday, Northfield police said . Oneof the 38 residents was taken to the hospital for observation. The fire heavily damaged at least one room and caused smoke and water damage.

Mississippi: Jackson— The state Department of Education is requesting $ 2.5 million to start a superintendent’s academy. The Clarion- Ledger reports Superintendent Tom Burnham told House Education Committee members the academy is “desperately needed” for new administrators to get training. Sixty of Mississippi’s 152 school districts have new superintendents.

Missouri: Springfield — The Mayor’s Commission on human rights plans to discuss whether felons deserve protection from discrimination beginning at its Feb. 15 meeting, The Springfield

News- Leader reported. Commission

Chairman George Davis said that if employers refuse to hire felons for nonrisk jobs, they need a valid reason.

Montana: Kalispell — A single- engine plane that crashed into a house after takeoff will be taken to a shop for inspection by the National Transportation Safety Board. Fire Department Chief Dave Dedman says no one on the plane or in the house was injured.

Nebraska:

Bennet — One of the few true round barns left in the state has been damaged by heavy, wet snow. Don Ehlers, whose grandfather completed the barn in1924, told the Lincoln

Journal Star that he and his wife noticed a portion of the roof collapsing Saturday. The barn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The barn might beyond repair.

Nevada: Reno — A study by two researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno says airport operations generate about $ 2 billion a year for the local economy and create about 22,000 jobs in the region. The economic impact study on Reno- Tahoe International Airport and Reno- Stead Airport was released by UNR’S College of Business.

New Hampshire: Hampton — Organizers said more than 1,100 people plunged into the Atlantic Ocean for the annual Penguin Plunge and raised more than $ 688,000 for Special Olympics New Hampshire.

New Jersey: Newark— Treasury Department data shows that retirements in the state police and firefighter pension system have swelled by 48% over the past two years. A separate report shows police and fire staffing levels dropped by1,470, or 4%, last year.

New Mexico: Portales — Eastern New Mexico University says its spring semester enrollment is a school record, with 5,084 students, topping the 5,000 mark for the first time in ENMU’S history. The spring’s enrollment is an increase of 4.5% over the previous record, set last year with 4,864 students.

New York: Peru — Three tundra swans from the Arctic are drawing bird watchers to Ausable Point State Park on lake Champlain. The two adults and a juvenile have established a presence just offshore, likely drawn by the mild winter and open lake.

North Carolina: Durham — North Carolina Central University will permanently display a section of lunch counter from the Woolworth store where black students staged a civil rights sit- in 52 years ago this month. The protest came a week after the first lunch counter sit- in was held in Greensboro.

North Dakota: Fargo — Supporters of a campaign to restore the University of North Dakota’s retired Fighting Sioux nickname are making a final push to get the 13,500 petition signatures needed to force a statewide vote. Petitions are due at the secretary of state’s office in Bismarck by midnight tonight. Supporters want the nickname issue on the June primary ballot.

Ohio: Cleveland — A disposal site for dredged 88- acre river Cleveland silt and Lakefront gravel is now Nature the Preserve. The site started with Cuyahoga River dredgings deposited by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers 35 years ago. It was filled in1999.

Oklahoma: Oklahoma City — Gov. Fallin, a Republican, opened the 2012 legislative session by outlining her plan to streamline the state’s tax code by consolidating the number of individual income tax brackets from seven to three and providing an income tax break for all Oklahomans. She had few specifics on how the plan would be paid for.

Oregon: Newport — Steven Brown, the veterinarian at the Oregon Coast Aquarium who cared for the killer whale Keiko, star of the Free Willy films, has died at age 62. Brown worked with Keiko before the animal was sent to Iceland in1998 to be freed.

Pennsylvania: Villanova — Villanova University plans to build two new dorms and a performing arts center. The $ 200 million project will move about 1,100 students into on- campus housing. Residents have complained about students living in the otherwise quiet town of Radnor.

Rhode Island:

Providence — Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis is visiting the East Providence Senior Center and St. Martin de Porres Senior Center today to tell voters how to obtain a free voter ID. A new law last year requires voters to show government- issued ID. The first test of the law will be the April 24 presidential primary.

South Carolina:

Greenville — The Department of Motor Vehicles plans to put new drivers into more traffic than they usually face in the typical road test on neighborhood streets . Dmv executive director Kevin Shwedo said he expects the more realistic road tests by this summer.

South Dakota:

Sioux Falls— Ajudge has sentenced to death a second inmate who acknowledged killing a prison guard during a failed escape April 12. Rodney berget, 49, pleaded guilty to killing Ronald Johnson, 63, who had been called in to work on his birthday the day he died.

Tennessee:

Chattanooga — Chattanooga Endeavors, which found jobs for at least 200 felons a year for the last decade, is trying to resurrect the program with grant money. The nonprofit group lost much of its funding last year. Executive director Tim Dempsey is hoping that three grants and a fundraising campaign will get the jobs program operating again.

Texas:

Edinburg — Police at the University of Texas- Pan American are investigating a “suspicious” death after a woman’s body was found near an outdoor staircase of a science building. A statement from the university said the body was found shortly before 8 a. m. Monday and identification of the woman was pending.

Utah: a Mexican West food Valley restaurant City — Workers used oven at cleaner gunman entered to foil an the armed kitchen robbery. at El Calor A Taqueria and demanded about money. closing A time struggle Sunday ensued, cleaner and an in employee the man’s sprayed face. He the was oven booked in the Salt Lake County Jail.

Vermont: Montpelier— Gov. Shumlin, want a Democrat, to make it and easier legislative for small leaders businesses insurance to offer plans high- known deductible as “bronze health plans.” Businesses would be able to shop outside proposed health care exchanges. The proposal would further the goal of creating a single- payer system, the state officials said.

Virginia: Richmond — Honeywell plans to spend $ 27.5 million to increase its Chesterfield County operation’s production capability, and will add 50 jobs. The operation produces polyethylene fiber for bullet- resistant vests and other ballistic protection used by police and the military.

Washington: Montesano — A man firing a black powder cannon in a remote location near Montesano was injured when it spontaneously discharged. The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office told KBKWTHE 45- yearold Montesano man suffered a severe injury Sunday to his right leg and third- degree burns to his left leg.

West Virginia: Charleston — The Senate has approved a bill that would allow police to ticket drivers for texting or talking on their cellphones. Monday’s vote sends the bill to the House of Delegates, which is considering its own measure to curb distracted driving. Violations would cost a $ 50 fine.

Wisconsin: Madison— Amana federal judge called “the epitome of a white- collar career offender” is to serve more than seven years for transporting stolen vehicles. Gale Rachuy, 61, pleaded guilty to obtaining vehicles in Wisconsin through worthless checks and taking them to Minnesota.

Wyoming: Cheyenne — The Bureau of Land Management plans to offer more than 150 parcels of land for oil and gas leasing in Wyoming in the spring. The parcels up for sale on may 1 in Cheyenne cover about 232,000 acres in Albany, Carbon, Lincoln, Sweetwater and Uinta counties.

U. S. territory:

Puerto Rico— A Puerto Rican fisherman spent nearly three weeks adrift in the Caribbean, surviving on raw fish and trapped rainwater, before reaching the Colombian island of San Andres. Jose Luis Mendez, 40, of Mayaguez, said a stiff wind blew his boat out to sea on Jan. 15. He then had engine trouble and ran out of gas. He lost 40 pounds during the ordeal.