STATE-BY-STATE
News from across the USA
ALABAMA State school’s University new Montgomery: $62 officials million, say 26,500-seat Alabama the stadium for game the against Thanksgiving will be Tuskegee, ready Day Nov. The football 15 Montgo- and set mery ton, grounds, vice Advertiser president said the reports. stadium for buildings Eric scoreboard Thorn- and was ALASKA to be installed Kenai: A on food Monday pantry, run each United opened. Wednesday Methodist Church member by Church, the Soldotna Troy has Castimore, her church the pantry’s to launch organizer, the service. asked
ARIZONA ronmental Albuquerque: advocacy group An has envi- proposed millions that of federal acres in officials Arizona set and aside New Mexico program. for Michael a jaguar Robinson reintroduction of the Center the U.S. for Fish Biological and Wildlife Diversity Service told that the the endangered 1,300 square cats miles need the more agency than has proposed.
ARKANSAS sas State Fair Little passed Rock: last year’s The Arkan- attendance that ended total Sunday. for the fair’s Attendance 10-day run was 447,938, tendance up of from 446,573. last year’s total at
COLORADO tional Park: Rocky A wildfire Mountain burning in Na- the park winds has and spread warm, because dry weather. of strong The Fern on Monday, Lake Fire after was growing listed at 102 792 acres acres the attacking day before. the blaze Firefighters because aren’t it’s in steep, many beetle-killed rugged terrain trees. where there are
CONNECTICUT animal rescue team Mystic: from An Mystic planning Aquarium to release is two seal pups into the waters off Rhode Island. The 5-month-old harbor seal pups — named Hershey and Brunswick — were thin and dehydrated when they were found in Maine. They received treatment at the University of New England’s Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center in Biddeford, Maine.
DELAWARE Wilmington: OperaDelaware turned to crowd funding to try to raise $10,000 in 10 days. A new technology called CashSplit from a Hockessin developer allows nonprofits to host fund-raising campaigns through referral networks.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Metro has opened three new escalators at the Dupont Circle rail station after an 8 1⁄ 2 -month project. Metro plans to replace 94 escalators throughout the system over the next seven years.
FLORIDA Tallahassee: Investigators and city inspectors on Monday were combing through the rubble trying to find clues after the floor of an apartment collapsed early Sunday. Officials said 55 people were injured and damage is estimated at $250,000.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Morehouse College will furlough faculty and cut its budget because of a drop in enrollment. Interim Provost Willis Sheftall told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the college has 2,360 students, or about 125 fewer than projected.
IDAHO Rexburg: The State Department of Agriculture will test more cattle in Fremont County for brucellosis as it expands the Designated Surveillance Area for the disease. Agency veterinarian Tom Williams says cattle can come into contact with wildlife that can transmit brucellosis. The illness can cause pregnant animals to miscarry. The surveillance area covers the counties of Fremont, Bonneville and Teton.
ILLINOIS Chicago: Ground has not yet been broken for the National Public Housing Museum, but people can take a virtual tour of the future site. The museum partnered with the University of Birmingham in the U.K. to produce the tour of the last of the Jane Addams Homes.
INDIANA Fishers: A farm equipment company is pulling the plug on a popular, long-running Christmas lights display seen by thousands of Indianapolis area commuters along Ind. 37. Reynolds Farm Equipment said that construction in the area is to blame for postponing the 20th annual display for a year.
IOWA Parkersburg: A high school math teacher in northeastern Iowa allegedly had sexual relationships with four students during the 2011-12 school year, The Des Moines Register reports. Ashley Anderson, 24, faces four felony charges after admitting to sexual misconduct with the Aplington-Parkersburg High School students ages 16 to 18, according to court documents. She resigned from her teaching job earlier this fall.
KANSAS Eudora: Kansas Food Day takes place this week, and state Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman will spend part of it touring the garden, orchard and culinary arts facility at a high school. The state Agriculture Department is partnering with the Eudora School District for the celebration Wednesday at Eudora High School. Officials from Douglas County and the state Department of Education will also take part.
KENTUCKY Louisville: Investors unveiled plans to reopen Kentucky Kingdom amusement park. The team said it plans to restore all but one of the park’s existing rides and add four new ones, including a $15 million roller coaster. Kentucky Kingdom last operated in 2009.
LOUISIANA Winnsboro: Authorities are investigating a possible racially motivated attack on a Winnsboro, La. woman, who was left severely burned. Sharmeka Moffitt , 20, called 911 about 8 p.m. Sunday and told police she was attacked in a park and burned by three men wearing hoodies, authorities said Monday. Investigators say the letters “KKK” were painted on the hood of Moffitt’s vehicle.
MAINE Milbridge: Dorr Lobster Co., started placing specialized tags on whole lobster that is shipped out of its packing warehouse. The tag, which has the company logo on it, identifies the lobster as being caught in Maine “using sustainable practices.” It includes the company’s phone number, website address, and a tracking number that diners can look up online, the Bangor Daily News reports.
MARYLAND Baltimore: The police department is re-evaluating its “special police” program that empowers certain security guards to act as police officers and make arrests; they aren’t trained by city or state police. The move comes as special police officers face lawsuits accusing them of overstepping their boundaries, and complaints from citizens who say they operate without oversight.
MASSACHUSETTS Braintree: Four Rockland Trust employees can add “spelling bee champion” to their résumés after their team won the Great Grown-up Spelling Bee. Fifteen teams of four competed in the fourth annual adult spelling bee and the money raised will benefit the town and go toward scholarships, schools and special town projects. Braintree Rotary Club president Terry Nicklas estimated the event raised $15,000, the Patriot Ledger reports.
MICHIGAN Wixon: Schools in Wixom, a Detroit suburb, were in lockdown mode Monday after at least 15 random shootings in the area left the community on edge, the Detroit Free Press reported. Investigators say the shots were fired from a moving car.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: New federal data show more than 9,500 students at state colleges and universities have defaulted on their federal student loans in the past three years. Roughly one in seven students who borrowed federally backed money to attend public two-year colleges are behind on payments.
MISSISSIPPI Tupelo: Lorenzo Washington, 11, died when a column of concrete blocks fell on him outside the Huddle House, a restaurant where his mother worked.
MISSOURI Verona: Augusta County supervisors are mulling the idea of banning panhandling and dogs that bark too much at night. A board of supervisors committee drafted proposed ordinances to address both nuisances and will air them this week.
MONTANA Hamilton: Bitterroot College of the University of Montana in Hamilton hopes to raise $50,000 to cover a shortfall for the spring semester or it could cancel some classes. College director Victoria Clark says the college is asking the community to sponsor spring classes. Costs range from $761 for introduction to general chemistry to $2,662 for anatomy and physiology lab. The school is offering 42 classes this fall, but offerings could drop to 20 this spring.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: Lawmakers have scheduled a hearing on children who “age out” of the foster care system. The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee will hear testimony Thursday about the services that are available for youths who leave the system because of their age.
NEVADA Minden: Nelle O’Neill, of Carson Valley, is the first woman to win a gold medal in the 54-year history of the Violin Makers Association of Arizona International. Her entry was commissioned for McKenna Oh, violist for the Reno Philharmonic Youth Symphony Orchestra.
CALIFORNIA Phoning home 30 years later
NEW Manchester: HAMPSHIRE Motorists their fill-ups got a deal after on a conservative action group paid political a New Hampshire cheap gas in gas criticism station of to President offer Barack Americans Obama's for Prosperity energy policies. was offering up to 15 gallons of gas at $1.84 a gallon (price per gallon in 2008) to the first 150 motorists who showed up at a station in Manchester between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sunday.
NEW JERSEY Atlantic City: School board members and district administrators meet today through Thursday for the New Jersey School Boards Association’s annual convention.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: The Department of Transportation says it will spend $20 million repairing the state's roads and bridges as winter approaches. Earlier this year, Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed highway maintenance legislation saying it allocated the $20 million from the state road fund for maintenance projects, but only offset it with a $12 million transfer from tax revenue on car and truck sales.
NEW YORK Savannah: A new bridge provides hunters, hikers, bikers and birders with year-round access to 3,500 acres of protected wilderness in the Montezuma Wildlife Management Area. The state Department of Environmental Conservation said the elevated, 100-foot-long wooden bridge will carry vehicles across the Seneca River to Howland Island.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Attendance at this year’s State Fair, which ended Sunday, was the third highest at 965,237. Last year just over 1 million people attended the fair. In 2010, attendance nearly reached 1.1 million.
NORTH DAKOTA West Fargo: The Bonanzaville museum and historical village is opening a new 15,000square-foot facility that will include an events center, a conference room, and a rotating exhibit gallery .
OHIO Chardon: The trial of T.J. Lane, 18, has been delayed from Nov. 26 until Jan. 14 while his attorneys prepare an insanity defense. Lane is charged in the shooting rampage Feb. 27 in the Chardon High School cafeteria that killed three students.
OKLAHOMA Boise City: The fire that destroyed the Crystal Hotel Sunday is under investigation. The hotel, a fixture on Main Street since 1926, closed four months ago. It had been closed several years before reopening with a new restaurant.
OREGON Salem: A colony of honeybees has abandoned its hive at the governor’s mansion, the Statesman Journal reports. The Willamette Beekeepers Association installed the hive in the mansion’s backyard in June. Two weeks ago, more than 60,000 bees resided in the hive and beekeepers had removed about 35 pounds of honey. But on Friday, the “first bees” were nowhere to be found. Beekeepers suspect they left to escape varroa mites, a parasite that feeds on the blood of bees.
PENNSYLVANIA say a man in his 20s Rochester: who shot his Police costumed mistaking nine-year-old her for a skunk, cousin should after not have close been to people's firing a homes. shotgun The at night girl, who so was was hit wearing in the a back, black shoulder costume and and neck, hat with Children's a white Hospital tassel. She of Pittsburgh. was taken to
RHODE Lincoln Chafee, ISLAND ex-Boston Providence: Red Gov. Sox pitcher Green Monster Jon Lonborg were and on hand Wally as the the first distributed 900 Red to Sox motorists. license plates The specialty were license ground plates and the feature team’s a logo. green The back- plates cost $41.50 more than standard plates. Twenty dollars of each plate sold goes to the Red Sox Foundation to benefit a student scholarship program.
SOUTH CAROLINA Clemson: Clemson University trustees has given initial approval to a $98 million building plan that would replace a sprawling 1950s-era dormitory complex with new brick residential space located in a reshaped central core of the campus.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: The number of students in public colleges, universities and technical schools taking distance education classes has increased 13% in the past year and has jumped almost 71% in five years, according to the Board of Regents. More than 20,000 students enrolled in at least one distance course in the public university system last year.
TENNESSEE Nashville: The Contributor, Nashville’s street newspaper to benefit homeless and formerly homeless people, is hosting its first high-end fundraising event Thursday , The Tennessean reports. The Paper Ball will be held at the old Federal Reserve Bank and will treat costumed guests to a catered dinner .
TEXAS Austin: The Lower Colorado River Authority will provide downstream rice farmers with irrigation water as drought conditions ease. Farmers had been cut off with the historic drought had depleted Central Texas reservoirs that flow into Gulf Coast tributaries. The lack of water caused rice production in Matagorda County to drop from 24,000 acres in 2011 to just 1,500 acres this year.
UTAH Saratoga Springs: Fire investigators believe target shooters sparked a wildfire that burned about 400 acres on Saturday. Saratoga Springs Fire Chief Jess Campbell said investigators found evidence that indicates target shooting may have been involved. Last week, two target shooters were charged with sparking the 5,507-acre Dump Fire that cost $2.1 million to extinguish in June.
VERMONT Montpelier: The Vermont Supreme Court has dismissed challenges to the construction of an industrial wind project on Lowell Mountain. The 21-turbine Kingdom Community Wind project, developed by utility Green Mountain Power, is due to come on line in December. The Supreme Court upheld a decision last year by the Public Service Board stating the wind farm’s benefits outweighed negative impacts, and hewed to state energy and economic policies, reports the Burlington Free Press.
VIRGINIA Roanoke: The state leads the nation in the number of legally owned machine guns — 30,220 — that are
fully automatic, according to an annual report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
WASHINGTON Spokane: Police are looking for a Trailways bus stolen from the downtown bus station.
WEST VIRGINIA West Liberty: Students and staff from West Liberty University are returning to the tornado-ravaged Kentucky town that shares the same name. The school sent a team of volunteers to the town shortly after it was devastated by storms March 2. This week, they will help paint newly built homes.
WISCONSIN Madison: Most state schools meet or exceed expectations as defined on new, more stringent report cards released by the Department of Public Instruction.
WYOMING Cheyenne: This is one of the top states when it comes to the percentage of residents who sign up to become organ donors. Nearly 60% of adults had registered as organ donors through the end of 2011. The state was among 10 recognized by the Health Resources and Services Administration for its high rate of organ donors.