STATE- BY- STATE

ALABAMA Huntsville: DeKalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris announced that his office is working to equip all certified deputies with backup weapons they’ll wear concealed, AL. com reported. ALASKA Fairbanks: Voters will decide in October whether retail sales of marijuana will be subject to a 5% tax. An ordinance proposing the tax was unanimously approved by the City Council, newsminer.com reported.

ARIZONA Flagstaff: Viktor Lisnyak, 29, of New York was arrested in connection with a series of phone calls threatening to kill children at elementary schools, the Daily Sun reported.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: Piro Brick Oven & Barroom, which opened in February, plans to change its name to Raduno Brick Oven & Barroom because the original moniker closely resembled Pyro’s Fire Fresh Pizza, which has multiple locations in Memphis, according to Arkansas Online.

CALIFORNIA Burbank: Tuesdays are Porn Star Karaoke nights at Sardo’s Grill & Lounge. Performers, producers, directors and crew go to sing — fully dressed — after a long day’s work. “This is a place where you can come and be yourself,” talent manager Tee Reel told the Los Angeles Times. “The only other time you see people is on set, and it’s hard to talk when you’re naked.”

COLORADO Denver: An antigovernment activist was sentenced to a month in jail for destroying a barricade on Bureau of Land Management property, KUSA- TV reported. David Justice, 58, of Gunnison was also banned from all federal lands for two years and ordered to pay $ 4,000 in restitution.

CONNECTICUT Waterbury: Police say they used a GPS system found in a stolen van to track the theft of $ 60,000 worth of tires and rims to property owned by a local tire store. The Republican-American reported police recovered the van on July 10 and with it evidence it had been used to steal tires from several local dealerships. DELAWARE Wilmington: State taxpayers have been paying to fix the city’s sidewalks for more than a decade, even though the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that it was the city’s responsibility, The News Journal reported. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Top Metro officials faced more sharp questioning before two House subcomittees earlier this week. FLORIDA Tallahassee: Florida Department of Elder Affairs general counsel Mary Thomas, seeking to be the first IndianAmerican woman elected to Congress, has kicked off her campaign, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. Should she win the 2nd District seat in 2016, Thomas, 37, said she would end illegal immigration and dismantle the U. S. Department of Education. GEORGIA Savannah: More than 40 children with Down syndrome will go back to school in August ready to tackle new challenges waiting for them, thanks to Camp Buddy, which helps children exercise their motor, speech and sensory skills, the Morning News reported. HAWAII Hilo: An audit found that misuse of county credit cards is confined to Mayor Billy Kenoi’s office and one other department, West Hawaii Today reported. IDAHO Boise: A study found that the four- day school week some Idaho schools have adopted has not been saving money as they were intended, The Spokesman- Review reported.

ILLINOIS Chicago: U. S. District Judge Robert Gettleman tentatively approved a plan to send refund checks to hundreds of thousands of people who bought into TV pitchman Kevin Trudeau’s false promises of shedding pounds while eating steak and ice cream, the Tribune reported.

INDIANA Noblesville: Breakfast with Hailey Green’s family might soon include Southern biscuits and gravy, and $ 1 million. Green, a 25- year- old travel agent, is a finalist in the Lay’s “Do Us a Flavor” potato chip contest. Voters can weigh in on whether her flavor makes grocery store shelves at www.DoUsAFlavor.com or #votebiscuits on Twitter and Instagram, the Indianapolis Star reported. IOWA Johnston: Residents here applauded a plan to keep a popular bike trail on the north side of Northwest 60th Avenue, The Des Moines Register reported. KANSAS Merriam: A pair of shoe store employees helped rescue a 2- year- old locked inside a sweltering car, KCTV- TV reported. KENTUCKY Louisville: An assistant county attorney who was suspended last month for making derogatory remarks in court about gays, immigrants and the disabled has been fired by County Attorney Mike O’Connell. Karl Price was initially reprimanded for disparaging Korean Americans in his private practice. But O’Connell suspended him after The Courier- Journal published a story showing that he had ridiculed others in court. LOUISIANA New Orleans: Student- debt protesters disrupted a parade held by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, throwing fake money and handing out fans that noted funding public higher education would cost the government less than the war on drugs, The Times- Picayune reported. MAINE Portland: The City Council is denying a permit to a group that wanted to hold a marijuana farmers market in a public park, the Portland Press Herald reported.

MARYLAND Somerset County: The Somerset County Board of Education has reached an agreement with William Johnson, former Washington Academy & High School principal whose transfer to a county alternative education school two years ago was met with upheaval and controversy, the Daily Times reported. MASSACHUSETTS Barnstable: A former local police chief was sentenced to nine months in prison for a second drunken driving conviction, the Cape Cod Times reported. John Lundborn, 47, was sentenced Monday. MICHIGAN Hazel Park: Two nurses who were Michigan’s plaintiffs in the Supreme Court gay- marriage case will marry Aug. 22 in Southfield, Mich., the Detroit Free Press reported. MINNESOTA Rockford: The city will soon power its municipal buildings mainly with solar energy, after forming a partnership with the locally based WrightHennepin Electric Coop, KARETV reported. The city will be providing the space and the electric utility will be building and maintaining the solar arrays. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: There’s currently a $ 15 million gap in the city budget. The Clarion- Ledger reported the city is in the process of preparing a budget for the new fiscal year, which begins in October. MISSOURI Springfield: Missouri has already seen nearly as many drowning cases in the first seven months of this year as in all of 2014. The Springfield NewsLeader reported that two recent drowning deaths pushed the total in the state this year to 26, two fewer than all of last year.

MONTANA Victor: For the first time since 1938, water from Lost Horse Creek is flowing into the Bitterroot River in late July, providing an infusion of cold water for heat- stressed fish, the Ravalli

Republic reported.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: The City Council has approved a church’s plans for a 95- foot- tall radio tower but also ordered that six trees be planted to screen it from view, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.

NEVADA Sparks: The city will consider an ordinance that would make it illegal to host feral cat colonies on both private and public property, the Reno Ga

zette- Journal reported.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Manchester: A spike in heroin use has created a new problem — dangerous needles being left at parks where children play, WMUR- TV reported. Don Pinard of the parks and recreation department here said that needles in parks across the city are being found just about every day. NEW JERSEY New Brunswick: Former Middlesex County sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo was denied parole from state prison, where he is serving a nine- year sentence for trading public jobs for bribes, the Courier News reported. NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: New Mexico ranks near the bottom of the list for the well- being of children, KOB- TV reported. The state ranks 49th for the wellbeing of children in a report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. NEW YORK Syracuse: The City Clerk and Common Council have sued Mayor Stephanie Miner’s administration to reinstate their computer access, which was blocked July 1 because they refused to sign Miner’s computer use policy, the Post Standard reported. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Biologists see more coyotes in and around cities, but the shy animals rarely confront humans. Stan Gehrt, an expert on urban coyotes, told The News & Observer that rabbits and rodents common in cities contribute to a food supply that can be richer than in rural areas. NORTH DAKOTA Fairmount: Repairs are underway on the storm- damaged water tower here, The Daily News reported. The top of the tower was blown to one side by strong winds that accompanied a thunderstorm last week. OHIO Athens: A woman whose request for a same- sex divorce in Ohio was mistakenly granted and then denied by a judge is seeking a redo after the Supreme Court’s gay- marriage ruling, WOUB- FM reported. OKLAHOMA Enid: Several earthquakes, ranging from magnitude 3.0 to 3.5, were recorded in the area. OREGON Portland: A fire damaged six food carts near Portland State University, and four of them are likely a complete loss, The Oregonian reported. PENNSYLVANIA Hollidaysburg: A jury has been selected in the trial of a man charged with using a prison computer to email threats to bomb the county courthouse and disrupt the local water supply, The Altoona Mirror reported. Adam Hardin, 25, will face trial Aug. 12.

RHODE ISLAND West Warwick: A new house here — the “Lil’Lodge” — is 150 square feet and can be attached to any standard size pickup truck, WJAR- TV reported. It can also be parked at campgrounds or other sites.

SOUTH CAROLINA Duncan: The local NAACP chapter is exploring asking Byrnes High School to change its Rebel team name, prompting people on both sides of the issue to rally at the school, The Greenville News reported. SOUTH DAKOTA Aberdeen: Some are questioning the cost of a proposed $ 8 million public library here. The American News reported that the project cost has increased from an initial estimate of $ 6.9 million. TENNESSEE Bolivar: Hardeman County’s sheriff is suing his county because it reduced salaries for some of his employees without his knowledge, The Jackson Sun reported. TEXAS Fairfield: Three people died on Interstate 45 in a headon collision caused by a driver traveling the wrong way on the highway, WFAA- TV reported. UTAH St. George: Paramedics with the state’s largest private ambulance company may go on strike, and St. George area officials are worried about the potential impact on patients. The Spectrum reported that paramedics with Gold Cross Ambulance will vote on Saturday to decide if they will go on strike, picket or distribute handbills. VERMONT Middlebury: The family of Dr. Kenneth Najarian, who was killed while bicycling, believes driver Holly Gonyeau should face more serious criminal charges, but the prosecution and state police stood firm that a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence is all the evidence supports, The Free- Press reported. VIRGINIA Petersburg: Teachers took part in an equine- assisted recertification class at Richard Bland College, learning how to interpret the shifting body language of horses and how to apply those lessons back in school, the Richmond Times- Dispatch reported. WASHINGTON Yakima: One man is in jail and police are looking for a 16- year- old boy after at least 98 firearms were stolen from an outdoor supply store, the Yakima Herald- Republic reported. Police say he wasn’t involved in the burglary but knew the guns were stolen. WEST VIRGINIA Morgantown: The Mountain Music Concert Series at Chestnut Ridge Park has become a favorite destination for musicians and fans alike. The venue’s high elevation often provides a respite from hot and humid weather, making it a fun, family- friendly experience, wvpublic.org reported. WISCONSIN Fond du Lac: Steven Timothy Snyder, who killed a state trooper before police killed him in a shootout in March, had committed nine robberies in three Midwestern states, Marathon County Sheriff Scott Parks told the Wausau Daily Herald. WYOMING Casper: A local man is heading to trial on charges that he tried to kill his wife by hitting her with his pickup truck. The Casper Star- Tribune reported that Clint Weber pleaded not guilty in February to attempted second- degree murder, among other charges. His trial starts Monday.