STATE-BY-STATE
News from across the USA
ALABAMA of alcohol an effort sales to Gadsden: here legalize say the Sunday Supporters move could on endum the make local will be an economy. included immediate The on impact refer- a ballot mayor Tuesday. with and City races Council for Gadsden on
ALASKA ulation of Juneau: black-tailed The deer pop- in rebounded southeast Alaska from harsh appears winters to have years going ago, well. and the hunting is
ARIZONA two men suspected Phoenix: of Police hurling say ing large into rocks a car at and businesses, setting another breakone Tommy on fire Thompson are in custody. says Julio Sgt. Manuel Chebalier, Garcia, 31, were 23, and booked Jeremy on 17 counts of criminal damage.
ARKANSAS Arkansas Realtors Little Association Rock: The said jumped home more sales than in the 10% state in June compared with a year ago. CALIFORNIA Three people San were Fernando: fatally shot and two others injured early Sunday in three separate attacks within the span of an hour.
COLORADO Denver: The Denver Zoo is celebrating the birthday of its longest resident, a 58-year-old hippo named Bertie. KMGH-TV reported the hippo moved in Dec. 16, 1958, after zoo supporters Arthur and Helen Johnson bought him at an auction for $2,450 plus tax.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Former state legislator Jonathan Pelto said he likely has failed to collect enough signatures to get onto the ballot as a petitioning candidate for governor.
DELAWARE Dover: Motorists in Delaware are paying 4 cents less at the pump when compared with a week ago. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A recreation of the Star-Spangled Banner was scheduled to be unfurled near the White House to mark 200 years since the home was burned by the British during the War of 1812. Sunday marked 200 years since the White House was burned on Aug. 24, 1814.
FLORIDA Pensacola: The openair Palafox Market ended its seasonal Wednesday market early because excessive heat hampered crop production, a spokeswoman said.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Delta Air Lines said it plans to hire at least 1,800 flight attendants as it plans for growth next year.
HAWAII Honolulu: Firefighters battling a wildfire caused by young boys playing with a lighter are using helicopters and clearing terrain to attack the 11⁄ 4- squaremile blaze. The fire started in the Makakilo area of Oahu and has forced some 40 people in 20 homes to evacuate, but no one has been hurt.
IDAHO Lewiston: An interim committee of state lawmakers tasked with determining whether state endowment lands are being managed properly to generate revenue is scheduled to meet for the first time Thursday.
ILLINOIS Chicago: A non-profit consumer group is cautioning people who suffered flood damage in recent heavy rains about dishonest contractors. Better Business Bureau President Steve Bernas says home and business owners should carefully consider repair contracts and not rush into making decisions.
INDIANA Terre Haute: An initial round of testing around a former dry-cleaning business here has revealed high levels of toxins in the site’s soil and groundwater.
IOWA Des Moines: An effort to improve access to broadband Internet in rural Iowa failed in the Legislature this spring, but Gov. Branstad, a Republican, is optimistic a revised proposal can succeed next year. Branstad, who is running for re-election, has offered a rebooted version of his broadband proposal.
KANSAS Great Bend: State officials are considering easing regulatory protection of a short, reclusive snake found in northeastern Kansas. The possible change comes amid complaints that the redbelly snake’s designation as a threatened species has held up developments.
KENTUCKY Bowling Green: Veterans Upward Bound, a program designed to help veterans prepare for careers, is seeing booming registration at Western Kentucky University. The initiative has jumped from 99 participants in the 2008-09 school year to 165 veterans in the 2012-13 year.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: The state will honor farms, ranches and tree farms that have been in the same family for at least 100 years. Each recognized farm will get a certificate and a metal sign from the Louisiana Century Farm Program, Department of Agriculture and Forestry spokeswoman Veronica Mosgrove said. Farmers have until Dec. 31 to apply. MAINE York: Federal officials might decide this coming week whether a $78,000 bid is enough to hand over ownership of New England’s tallest lighthouse. An unnamed bidder made the offer for the 133-foot Boon Island Light Station. More than a dozen bidders vied for the lighthouse.
MARYLAND Union Bridge: Cool days and nights combined with adequate moisture this summer will translate into a bumper soybean harvest for local farmers.
MASSACHUSETTS Everett: Four women have accused Mayor Carlo DeMaria of sexual harassment over the past decade. The
Boston Globe reported Sunday that DeMaria rejected the allegations and suggested that opponents of a proposed casino could be spreading falsehoods about him.
MICHIGAN Cassopolis: A major seed company is being sued by more than 30 migrant farm workers who say they were underpaid while removing tassels from corn in southwestern Michigan. The workers are mostly from Texas and were hired in 2012 to work in Cass County.
MINNESOTA Ely: A 23-year-old man has died after the boat he was in hit a rock on a northern Minnesota lake. The Mesabi Daily News reported that Brice Dale Bundy died Friday after the crash on Lake Shagawa in St. Louis County.
MISSISSIPPI McComb: Pike County supervisors will hold a public hearing Sept. 2 on the proposed annual budget and tax levy. The Enterprise-Journal reported the proposal calls for an additional $30 on a $100,000 house with a regular homestead exemption.
MISSOURI Lee’s Summit: A man who was killed in a motorcycle accident Saturday was identified as Andre Strydom of Overland Park, the Johnson County Sheriff's Department said Sunday. The accident occurred when the motorcycle Strydom was riding left the southbound roadway.
MONTANA Helena: About 86 schools in the state will serve free meals to all their students starting this year under a newly expanded program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: Dove hunting season is about to begin. The Game and Parks Commission said doves may be hunted statewide during the season, which runs Sept. 1- Oct. 30.
NEVADA Reno: Evidence of quagga mussels, an invasive species, has been found at the South Fork State Recreation Area, the state Department of Wildlife announced.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Durham: Scientists at the University of New Hampshire are helping to breed better strawberries using genetics. Using a tool called an “array,” researchers at the New Hampshire Agriculture Experiment Station at the school use the DNA of strawberries to select plants with potentially superior combinations of the genes. NEW JERSEY Trenton: Police in Atlantic City are the latest of at least 20 law enforcement agencies in New Jersey to start wear-
ing body cameras during patrols. The number could grow if Gov. Christie, a Republican, signs a law on his desk that would require that many police vehicles have cameras mounted on them.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: New Mexico Game and Fish officers say a bear and her cub have been safely relocated to a remote area after being treed in a Santa Fe neighborhood. The New Mexican reported that both have already been taken to the Gila National Forest since being tranquilized near an elementary school.
NEW YORK Babylon: Authorities say a car veered off the Southern State Parkway on Long Island, struck a tree and burst into flames Saturday night, killing the two adults and three children who were inside.
NORTH CAROLINA Hatteras: The Coast Guard said the longer, alternative ferry route between Hatteras and Ocracoke will become the permanent course because of continued shoaling in the traditional channel.
NORTH DAKOTA Beulah: The local congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is crediting its dramatic growth in membership to the state’s oil boom. The Bismarck
Tribune reported the church had an average attendance of 34 people in 2011, but these days, the congregation has 247 members, with an average attendance of 130 people every Sunday.
OHIO West Chester: Major new retail developments and plans for more have helped spur a boom in hotel building along Interstate 75 in southwestern Ohio. The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reported that more than 700 new rooms will be added to market over the next 12 to18 months.
OKLAHOMA Tulsa: An Tulsa native who commanded the U.S. Air Force Space Command has retired after 38 years of service. William Shelton was born in Tulsa and graduated from Moore High School in 1972. The retired general graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in astronautical engineering. The Air Force Space Command is responsible for running the Department of Defense’s space operations.
OREGON Gresham: Police are asking for help locating a man who walked away from a facility that cares for deaf adults. Authorities said Scott Allen, 51, left the Chestnut Lane facility Wednesday night or Thursday morning. He has a brain injury that has left him with no shortterm memory. He is described as 5-10 and 175 pounds with brown hair. He has a beard and wears glasses. Allen communicates with American Sign Language.
PENNSYLVANIA Pennsylvania fee for snowmobilers, may New soon equestrians Castle: charge a and state posed mountain game license land of bikers trails. up to who $30 The use is prodesigned for be charged, trail upkeep. as and a plan hunters Hikers to raise wouldn’t already money pay a fee.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: For the first time in six years, the state auction of Rhode for abandoned Island held or un- a live claimed dred people property. attended Several the auction hunat tion the building Department here. of Administra
SOUTH CAROLINA burg: Police have arrested Spartan- a man in three connection women in with different an assault loca- on tions ander one Alfaro, week 20, ago. is charged Romel Alex- with first-degree assault and battery.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Gov. Daugaard, a Republican, is considering recover $550,000 filing a meant lawsuit to to go to a vestment-for-green-card beef plant involved in an pro- ingram.
TENNESSEE County officials Jackson: are trying Madison to find a their solution juvenile to overcrowding detention center. at One new suggestion facility that is could to construct cost at a least $10 million. TEXAS Austin: Since implementing a new math curriculum has taken longer than expected, Texas students in the fifth and eighth grades won’t have to pass the state’s standardized math test in order to move to the next grade.
UTAH Heber City: Authorities are trying to recover several guns, a police badge, police uniforms and other gear stolen from an undercover SWAT car. Heber City Police Lt. Jason Bradley said the stolen guns included an AR-15 rifle, a pistol and a shotgun.
VERMONT Winooski: Vermont Student Assistance Corp. has announced a new $50,000 program to help low-income high school students cover the costs of books, fees and travel associated with dual enrollment courses. Dual-enrollment allows some students to take two college classes while still in high school, reducing the costs of college.
VIRGINIA Charlottesville: The largest class in University of Virginia history is on the grounds and going through orientation. About 3,690 first-year students unloaded their belongings Saturday.
WASHINGTON Olympia: Hunters aboard a helicopter took aim at wolves that have been killing sheep in Stevens County. The Spokesman-Review reported state officials have OK’d the hunt for a portion of a wolf pack that has killed at least 22 sheep this month.
WEST VIRGINIA Philippi: Alderson Broaddus University welcomed 403 new students. Classes begin Wednesday.
WISCONSIN Madison: The state Department of Natural Resources is weighing a proposal from the Green Lake Coldwater Fish Advisory Committee to stock Big Green Lake with landlocked Atlantic salmon for four years.
WYOMING Casper: The trial of a former Marine accused of shooting a man to death outside a strip club near Casper has again been delayed to give the defense time to review evidence. The Casper Star-Tribune reported John Knospler’s case was granted another extension to a date in October. Knospler has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the October death of James Baldwin, 24.