STATE-BY-STATE
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Birmingham: Condoleezza Rice spent the first 11 years of her life in this city, and she visits at least twice a year. “I love Birmingham,” Rice told AL.com. “I’m just very proud, despite all of the problems, that Birmingham is emerging.”
ALASKA North Pole: About 25 years ago, a judge ordered Dan Bates to paint a mural as the penalty for a youthful indiscretion. The painting of a tractor is still on the side of the North Pole Grange, newsminer.com reported. The grange has since become an artists’ hub, and Bates is one of the featured artists.
ARIZONA Phoenix: Real estate agents had hoped the Super Bowl in Glendale would give the housing market a boost, but the weather didn’t cooperate. “Sunshine sells Arizona, and we didn’t have a lot of it,” Diane Brennan, a real-estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, told the Republic.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Almost 44 years ago, 10 airmen assigned to Little Rock Air Force Base were killed in the deadliest plane crash in the base’s 60-year history. Those 10 names and names of 20 other airmen were finally added to the High Flight Memorial, arkansasonline reported.
CALIFORNIA Sacramento: Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown has adopted a puppy, the Los Angeles Times reported. Colusa “Lucy” Brown joins Sutter, another pooch that Brown took in from his sister, Kathleen, in 2011.
COLORADO Fort Collins: Firefighters rescued Andrew Neely, 22, Saturday after he fell through the roof of Pueblo Viejo, an Old Town restaurant, and became lodged in a kitchen air duct. Neely was cited for trespassing, the Fort Collins Coloradoan reported.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Rates of heavy drinking in Connecticut went up 21.3% between 2005 and 2012, while binge-drinking rose nearly 14%, with the largest increases among women, the Hartford Courant reported. The report by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation says Connecticut’s drinking rates are now above the national average.
DELAWARE Wilmington: The speed limit on Interstate 95 here rose to 65 mph from 55 mph, The News Journal reported. The new limit went into effect Monday.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Next month, the Pentagon will host a $3.5 million international competition that will pit robot against robot in an obstacle course designed to test their physical prowess, agility and even their awareness and cognition, The Washington Post reported.
FLORIDA Viera: “Charlie” flapped his wings to freedom as the 500th bald eagle to be rehabilitated and released back to the wild by the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland, Florida Today reported. The center has operated for 35 years.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Adventure Time topped the Journal-Constitution’s list of animated shows perfect for binge-watching.
HAWAII Oahu: Nainoa Thompson, the first Hawaiian in modern times to successfully navigate a canoe over vast ocean distances using ancient Polynesian techniques, received the 2015 Peter Benchley Award for Excellence in Exploration, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
IDAHO Boise: Small, non-farm businesses in nine counties are eligible to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans to offset losses caused by the drought in Elmore County, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced last week.
ILLINOIS Aurora: The Forest Preserve District wants drivers to be careful because of some slowmoving objects on the road. Spring is turtle nesting season, the Beacon-News reported.
INDIANA Bloomington: An employee in Indiana University’s Office of Student Ethics has been accused of uploading child pornography from a university computer. Jon T. Riveire, 32, Bloomington, was arrested last week on suspicion of possession of child pornography, The Indian
apolis Star reported.
IOWA Des Moines: Des Moines Public Schools is rethinking its proposal to outsource substitute teachers to a temp agency — at least for now, The Register reported. But district officials say that hiring Kelly Educational Staffing to find substitutes remains a possibility.
KANSAS Wichita: A 31-year-old woman is in jail on suspicion of first-degree murder after an argument at a party ended with the death of the hostess, the Wichita
Eagle reported. Lydia Treto, 31, was hit by an SUV. According to police, the suspect had been asked to leave the party after being involved in a physical altercation with Treto.
KENTUCKY Louisville: The state Board of Pharmacy approved an emergency regulation last week that gives pharmacists the option to dispense naloxone, the drug that reverses heroin overdose, without a doctor’s prescription. The state is among the first in the nation to do so, The Courier-Journal re
ported.
LOUISIANA La
fayette: Businesses in nine Acadiana parishes were granted more than $30 million in state tax incentives in 2013 by Louisiana Economic Development, much of them in the form of property tax exemptions, The Advertiser reported.
MAINE Augusta: A proposed law would expand drug testing to state residents who apply for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Under the plan, those who apply for benefits who have been convicted of a drug-related felony within the last 10 years could be given a drug test, WCSHTV reported.
MARYLAND Rockville: A neighbor has been charged with firstdegree murder fior the slayings of Dick and Jody Vilardo, 65 and 67, who were found dead Mother’s Day, WUSA-TV reported. Scott Tomaszewski, 31, was arrested Saturday on a cruise ship in Juneau, Alaska.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Chief city planner Kairos Shen, under pressure to resign, is asking to be fired so he can take advantage of a little-used benefit that could double his pension, the Boston Globe reported. If Shen is fired, he would receive $71,000 a year for the rest of his life vs. $35,000 if he resigned.
MICHIGAN Dearborn Heights: The deaths of a police officer and his neighbor remain a mystery three days after they were found on the floor of the policeman’s garage, the Detroit Free Press reported. Autopsies were performed on Officer John Burdick, 46, and James McEwen, 45, but the results were inconclusive.
MINNESOTA Kimball: The National Weather Service said a brief tornado touchdown was reported here Saturday night, where large trees were uprooted and some roofs were damaged, the St. Cloud Times reported.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The number of criminal charges in southern Mississippi has fallen 28%. According to Justice Department reports, the Southern District of Mississippi filed criminal charges against 597 people in 2004. By 2014, that number had fallen to 429, The Clarion-Ledger reported.
MISSOURI Pineville: A 12-yearold Kansas boy drowned in a canoeing accident on the Elk River, Springfield News-Leader reported. Michael Cox, of Pleasanton, Kan., was paddling in swift current when his canoe was washed into a log, capsizing the craft, state highway patrol said.
MONTANA Box Elder: Two Vermont women have sued a payday lending business owned by the Chippewa Cree Tribe for what they describe as “extortionate” and “predatory” lending practices. A Plain Green LLC spokeswoman said the business provides short-term loans and helps tribal members with economic development, the Great
Falls Tribune reported.
NEBRASKA Utica: A four-time state wrestling champion whose left leg was amputated after a car accident this spring graduated this past weekend from Centennial High School, the Lincoln
Journal Star reported.
NEVADA Carson City: State senators will vote on a bill Tuesday to ban punishment for students who chew a toaster pastry into the shape of a gun, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: After requiring residents six years ago to buy purple trash bags from the city to reduce waste and encourage recycling, the city council is considering a plan to increase their prices by 25%, the Concord Monitor reported.
NEW JERSEY Camden: Rosa Badalamenti of Brooklawn has settled for $180,000 her lawsuit claiming she was forced to urinate on a cell floor while in the custody of Westville police, the (Cherry Hill, N.J.) Courier-Post reported.
NEW MEXICO North Valley: Outside calligrapher Kathy Chilton’s home sits “Kathy’s Poetry Box,” which offers passers-by paper, a pen and nearly a dozen poetry books. Anyone can write a poem, take a book or leave a book, the Albuquerque Journal notes.
NEW YORK Rochester: Friends of a man found dead in a park Sunday have set up a GoFundMe fundraising page to raise money for funeral expenses. Gabriel “Gabe” Stolt, 26, went for a run Saturday morning and was not seen until his body was found the next day, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. Stolt leaves behind a pregnant wife.
NORTH CAROLINA Conetoe: After presiding over 30 funerals for people 32 or younger, due largely to conditions associated with poor diet, the Rev. Richard Joyner of the Conetoe Chapel Missionary Baptist Church to started a community garden. Eight years later, 60 students tend 25 acres of vegetables and 130 bee hives, according to The News & Observer.
NORTH DAKOTA Heimdal: Cleanup efforts continue at the site of a May 6 oil train derailment, the Minot Daily News reported. BNSF Railway crews are cleaning the tank cars that were hauling Bakken crude shale oil drilled in the state.
OHIO Lancaster: Seven people remain hospitalized after a botulism outbreak at a church potluck here killed a 55-year-old woman and sickened at least 20 others April 19, WBNS-TV, Columbus reported.
OKLAHOMA Norman: The Cleveland County Genealogical Society will be focusing on historic black towns in the state at its monthly meeting today , The Norman Transcript reported. Oklahoma had a third of the approximately 60 black towns founded across the USA between 1865 and 1915.
OREGON Salem: The entire Oregon coast has been closed to sport razor clamming because of elevated levels of domoic acid, the Statesman Journal reported.
PENNSYLVANIA Doylestown: Police here are warning residents of a scam to get victims to send money or banking information to the caller, The Intelligencer reported. The caller claims to be holding a sibling for ransom after having gotten into a car accident with the victim’s relative.
RHODE ISLAND Barrington: Pawtucket Red Sox President James “Jim” Skeffington, who four months ago bought the minor-league team, died Monday at the age of 73, WPRI-TV reported.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Debate over exceptions to a bill banning abortions at 20 weeks brought a stalemate to the state Senate as a compromise fell apart and a senator began a filibuster, The Greenville News reported.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Three of the city’s oldest elementary schools closed their doors for the final time, the Argus Leader reported. Longfellow and Mark Twain were nearly 100 years old. The two, plus Jefferson, are being replaced by Susan B. Anthony Elementary.
TENNESSEE Nashville: A man trapped in a storm drain for four days was rescued Sunday, The Tennessean reported. The man, who was dehydrated, did not have any life-threatening injuries.
TEXAS Fort Worth: A Tarrant County grand jury declined to indict a Grapevine police officer who shot and killed an unarmed Mexican national on the side of the road after pulling the man for a traffic stop in February, WFAATV reported.
UTAH Scipio: Two gas station will keep their designation as as public rest stops — despite being fined for pushing unneeded repairs on motorists, Salt Lake Tribune reported.
VERMONT Burlington: Commencement speaker Nina Totenberg, legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio, urged approximately 2,938 University of Vermont graduates Sunday morning to be informed citizens, which will make them more “useful” citizens, Burlington Free Press reported.
VIRGINIA Richmond: The convictions of 17 people who are still locked up or under court supervision may have been compromised by ex-detective Jason Norton, whose misconduct has resulted in three federal cases being thrown out, the Times-Dispatch reported.
WASHINGTON Auburn: A carjacking suspect who stole a car from a gas station while a woman sat in the backseat was arrested Sunday. Investigators believe the man broke into a home, stole the man’s car then drove to a gas station where he stole another car, KING-TV reported.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: A state lawsuit against drug wholesalers says that over five years, the companies shipped more than 200 million doses of two popular prescription painkillers to the state, despite suspicious orders from “pill-mill” pharmacies, the Gazette-Mail reported.
WISCONSIN Green Bay: Packer Fastener will mount a 3.5-ton, 10-foot tall hex nut fabricated by Robinson Metals Inc. in front of its new headquarters in Green Bay. It’s believed to be the world’s largest hex nut, Green Bay Press-Gazette reported.
WYOMING Worland: Parents are concerned that a school “training exercise” went too far, the Casper Star-Tribune reported. Students were unaware that an unknown man on the playground of East Side Elementary School was part of a school-law enforcement exercise to prepare students for an intruder situation.