News from across the USA
ALABAMA Montgomery: The Alabama State Bar is trying to speed up the process for lawyers who are military spouses to practice. The Board of Bar Commissioners has voted to allow them to practice law temporarily if they have passed the bar in another state and have completed a required course on Alabama law.
ALASKA Juneau: The city’s Friends of the Library has handed to the Juneau Assembly the last installment of $1 million raised for a new library in the Mendenhall Valley. The $1 million is part of a local match for the $7 million state grant Juneau received for the library project, according to City Manager Kim Kiefer.
ARIZONA Tucson: Authorities are searching for a man who brought his Chihuahua with him to rob a bank.
ARKANSAS Jonesboro: The Centers for Children at Jonesboro received a $1 million gift from the Judd Hill Foundation aimed at expanding the access of specialized pediatric care.
CALIFORNIA Chico: More than 1,800 chickens will be looking for new homes after a Northern California egg producer closes its doors next month. The San Fran
cisco Chronicle reported the sanctuary Animal Place is hoping to recruit would-be owners for the red hens by April 4. The sanctuary is holding adoption events at its Vacaville quarters on the next three Fridays.
Fort Collins:
search COLORADO is on after a beloved hotel A cat rick’s went Day missing festivities. during Videos St. Pat- show two men stealing the cat named Oreo from the Armstrong Hotel lobby on Saturday.
CONNECTICUT Stamford: Police are looking for two suspects who beat and stomped a man nearly to death outside a diner. Officials told The Advocate that the 28year-old victim fought with the two men outside Curley’s Diner early Monday morning and is now in a coma at Stamford Hospital.
DELAWARE New Castle: The panel that sets the state’s official financial projections lowered revenue expectations for the current year by $107.8 million, putting more pressure on state lawmakers who must develop a balanced budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The highest local court said Mayor Vincent Gray may proceed in trying to remove top administrative law judge Mary Oates Walker from office, The Washing
ton Post reported.
FLORIDA Tallahassee: Two bills filed — one in the House and a companion bill in the Senate — if passed by the end of the state legislative session on May 2, would put an end to the public’s ability to buy lionfish for the centerpieces of their aquariums. Raising them for sale would become a level two felony. The native to the Indian and Pacific oceans has a reputation for decimating reef fish populations.
GEORGIA McDonough: Henry County schools officials will host a recruitment fair for new teachers from 9 a.m. to noon Friday at the McDonough First Presbyterian Church. Officials said they’re expecting to fill nearly 350 teaching positions because of attrition and several new positions becoming available.
HAWAII Honolulu: Board of Water Supply officials said crews have completed repairs to a damaged Honolulu waterline that developed a leak.
IDAHO Coeur d’Alene: Hydroplane races will return to Lake
Coeur d’Alene this summer. The races are scheduled for Aug. 2931, with 30 to 32 race teams expected.
ILLINOIS Champaign: Public health officials here are hoping to convince landlords to ban smoking in apartments. Julie Pryde, district administrator for the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, told the Cham
paign News-Gazette that the effort comes as the University of Illinois bans smoking on campus.
INDIANA Indianapolis: The Indianapolis City-County Council voted Monday night to approve providing up to $23 million in city financing for a 28-story glass tower at the site of the former Market Square Arena downtown.
IOWA Des Moines: State officials said the harsh winter is expected to affect some fish populations in the state.
KANSAS Abilene: The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum here is highlighting World War II allies and resistance groups whose contributions to the war are seldom studied in the U.S. A new exhibit called “Be Ye Men of Valour” introduces visitors to the cultures, peoples and histories of 19 countries whose contributions to the Allied cause are lesser known.
KENTUCKY Frankfort: The Energy and Environment Cabinet is offering $140,000 for environmental cleanup projects. Proposals must be postmarked by April 18 and funding will be made in May.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: A proposal to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to anyone under 18 sailed through a Senate judiciary committee Tuesday.
MAINE Oakland: A mini version of Fenway Park in Maine is getting a $600,000 makeover. The renovations include new allpurpose artificial turf for the Harold Alfond Mini Fenway Park that is expected to be in place in May.
MARYLAND Annapolis: A measure to get the state’s ineffective medical marijuana law working cleared the House of Delegates, and now goes to the state Senate. The measure allows certified doctors to recommend that their patients receive marijuana for medicinal purposes.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Gov. Patrick has signed a bill authorizing the state to borrow up to $177 million for improvements to the state’s military bases.
MICHIGAN Detroit: Restructuring consultants have rec-
ommended that the city increase parking fines for the first time since 2001 and crack down harder on people who don’t pay to boost revenue for the bankrupt city. Chief Operating Officer Gary Brown said the changes would bring in an additional $6 million a year.
MINNESOTA Sauk Rapids: The city decided to regulate e-cigarette sales under its tobacco license, bringing it in line with other cities that require a license, the St. Cloud Times reported.
MISSISSIPPI Sebatobia: Northwest Mississippi Community College will make up an inclement weather day from this year on April 17.
MISSOURI St. Charles: Lindenwood University dismissed a 21-year-old student accused of falsely claiming she had been sexually assaulted on campus. Joanna Newberry faces misdemeanor charges of making a false report.
MONTANA Hamilton: The Ravalli County Sheriff ’s Office said a Missoula man was shot and killed while apparently trying to rob a home near Corvallis.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: The University of Nebraska may drain off a third of its pool of money for raises in the next budget year to help cover a projected shortfall of $4.65 million.
NEVADA Carson City: The Nevada Board of Prison Commissioners has adopted regulations restricting the use of restraints on pregnant inmates and allowing the new mothers to use a breast pump. The move follows a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada on behalf of a former inmate at the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center who was put in leg shackles after she went into labor.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Manchester: Some customers are dealing with car problems after they thought they put regular gas in the tank, but got diesel fuel, instead. WMUR-TV reported the manager at Manchester Mart and Gas said the company that delivers the fuel, Abenaqui Carriers, accidentally put in diesel fuel in the unleaded tanks. NEW JERSEY
Newark: Three Port Authority police officers have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn promotions of 96 other officers
since 2010, charging the promotion process was rife with “nepotism, cronyism and unlawful practices.”
NEW MEXICO Crossroads: A wildfire has burned thousands of acres of prairie. The Highway 508 fire started in Lea County and has moved into Roosevelt County.
NEW YORK Albany: The World War II destroyer escort USS Slater — the last of its kind afloat in the USA — was supposed to head south last month for Staten Island, where it will be drydocked for extensive repairs. But thick ice on the Hudson River has kept the ship in its Upstate port.
NORTH CAROLINA Harkers
Island: A U.S. Geological Survey report compiled for the National Park Service finds that the Cape Lookout National Seashore means more than $20 million for the local economy and supports about 300 jobs. The seashore attracted 480,000 visitors during 2012.
NORTH DAKOTA Fargo: A man who threatened a synagogue was sentenced to a year in federal prison. Dominique Flanigan was accused of calling Temple Beth El in January 2011 and leaving a voice mail message threatening employees.
OHIO Columbus: The state has approved the Scioto Ridge Wind Farm with 176 turbines and associated electric transmission facilities to be located in Hardin and Logan counties. The farm could power up to 83,000 homes.
OKLAHOMA Edmond: A Cherokee Nation artist will discuss his efforts to preserve the Native American language during a speech at the University of Central Oklahoma. UCO’s Department of English and the American Indian Studies Program will host artist and filmmaker Joseph Erb at 6 p.m. March 27.
OREGON Salem: A statewide analysis of osteosarcoma cases won’t be made public, the States
man Journal reported. The report, performed at the request of a state legislator in connection with a string of cancer cases, is protected by federal privacy laws.
PENNSYLVANIA New Wilming
ton: State police are searching for a suspect in a hit-and-run accident: the driver of an Amish buggy. Troopers said the buggy twice hit a passenger vehicle at a crossroads on Route 158. The
buggy then left the scene, and its driver has yet to be identified.
RHODE ISLAND Cranston: Police Chief Marco Palombo Jr. has retired as state police continue to investigate a parking ticket scandal. Palombo had been on paid administration leave since Jan. 10 while state police looked into whether officers issued parking tickets as retribution against two City Council members in November.
North Myr
SOUTH tle Beach: CAROLINA
The city has banned the use of beach tents on the shore May 15-Sept. 15. The use of such tents has been debated along the Grand Strand because of concerns they can block emergency vehicles.
SOUTH DAKOTA Mitchell: A state audit concluded that Mark Schilling, the former director of the Corn Palace tourist attraction, mishandled money, though no evidence has been uncovered that he took any funds.
TENNESSEE Johnson City: School officials said East Tennessee State University has been designated as an official U.S. Olympic training site for canoeing and kayaking. Officials told
the Johnson City Press that the slalom national team members will visit the campus at least twice this year.
TEXAS Temple: About $180,000 is missing from the bank accounts of the Temple Civic Theatre, an arts and performance group.
UTAH Salt Lake City: Fierce winds have torn down a pair of Lewiston barns, burying about 20 calves under hay bales but not seriously injuring any of them. The gusts also shut down ski lifts at some resorts, registering around 90 mph near Ogden.
VERMONT Newport: The U.S. Department of Agriculture said a pilot program intended to help create jobs in rural areas including the Northeast Kingdom region has been extended in the 2014 Farm Bill. Officials said homeowners, businesses, nonprofits and communities have received more than $68 million since the creation of the Northeast Kingdom Rural Economic Area Partnership Zone in 2000.
VIRGINIA Arlington: Arlington County has removed a snowplow driver from duty after seeing a video showing the plow traveling on the wrong side of a two-lane road. Motorist Jason Berry said the plow nearly hit his car.
WASHINGTON Seattle: A mudslide just south of Everett stopped passenger rail service between here and Everett. WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: West Virginia forestry officials are extending the deadline to order tree seedlings. The state Division of Forestry pushed the deadline back two weeks until April 30. Officials told the
Charleston Daily Mail that the move will give landowners more time to survey their properties and determine what type of seedlings they need to order.
WISCONSIN Green Bay: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 31 criminal undocumented immigrants during a three-day roundup.
WYOMING Laramie: The Game and Fish Department will host a free public workshop April 12 on how people can protect themselves against bears, lions and wolves in the backcountry. Topics to be covered at the workshop include how to use pepper spray and how to properly store food in the backcountry.