STATE-BY-STATE

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Birmingham: Birmingham Health Care CEO Jimmy Lacey, who died the day after Christmas, can be an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a fraud case against his boss even though Lacey is dead, a federal judge ruled, according to AL.com. ALASKA Fairbanks: In an attempt to deter shoplifters, police outfitted each entrance at the Walmart with a life-size cardboard cutout of an actual officer, newsminer.com reported. ARIZONA Scottsdale: There are microbreweries, then there are nano-breweries. Drop Axle Brewery, which will open this spring near downtown, spans all of 600 square feet within the Acme Motorwerks at Civic Center Plaza, The Arizona Republic reported. ARKANSAS Garland County: More than six months after the death of his toddler son in a hot car, Circuit Judge Wade Naramore faces a class A misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide, ArkansasOnline reported. CALIFORNIA Salinas: The body of a missing woman probably sat in a Walmart parking lot for months before anyone noticed, The Californian reported. COLORADO Denver: The Colorado Department of Corrections is searching for three men who fled parole supervision earlier this week, KUSA-TV reported. CONNECTICUT Hartford: Officials say testing at Clark Elementary School shows airborne traces of toxic PCB at levels that could be dangerous for children. Superintendent Beth Schiavino-Narvaez said that shuttering the school is the right thing to do, the Hartford Courant reported. DELAWARE Christiana: A school bus driver had to pull over on the side of busy Interstate 95 here and call police after a fight broke out on the bus, The News Journal reported. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Metro ridership continues to decline, which could complicate the transit agency’s budget preparations. A Metro report acknowledged that poor service, chronic breakdowns and “the frequency of severe delays” drive customers away, The Washington Post reported. FLORIDA Melbourne: Florida wildlife officials have concluded a three-day statewide effort to count sea cows, or manatees, from air and by foot, Florida Today reported. Last year’s annual aerial survey spotted a record 6,063 manatees statewide. GEORGIA Savannah: Shea Peaton, a U.S. Navy veteran and antipoaching advocate, asked the community for help finding his service dog, Lilly, a 1-year-old, 50-pound boxer, after she ran away from his hotel room, the Morning News reported. HAWAII Wailuku: Hawaii’s last sugar plantation, which will be shutting down operations at the end of the year, announced its first round of layoffs. Ninety-five workers at Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. will lose their jobs March 7, The Maui News reported. IDAHO Lewiston: The Lewiston Tribune reported that Idaho Department of Fish and Game is using tracking collars in addition to aerial surveys to count elk herds. The collars have been placed on 60 elk in each of six geographic areas throughout the state. ILLINOIS Chicago: The Tribune and top scientists identified drug combinations linked to increased risk of a serious heart condition. The team created a model to protect people from harmful drug interactions. INDIANA Carmel: Former daycare operator Stacey Cox and her daughter, Kirsten Phillips, have been ordered to pay more than $2.3 million to the parents of a 5-month-old boy who died while in their care, The Indianapolis Star reported. IOWA Des Moines: The school district in Ankeny has adopted a new policy banning homemade and store-bought treats from classroom celebrations, The Register reported. The decision comes on the heels of schools nationwide eliminating Valentine’s Day parties to replace them with generic celebrations. KANSAS Wichita: A 28-year-old man is behind bars after having second thoughts about an early morning convenience store robbery and turning himself in, The Wichita Eagle reported. KENTUCKY Louisville: Kentucky men would have to have signed permission from their wives before obtaining a prescription for Viagra or other such drugs for erectile dysfunction, according to a bill filed by a state legislator, The Courier-Journal reported. LOUISIANA New Orleans: After the last piece of king cake has been consumed and the costumes are packed away, there’s still one tiny reminder of Mardi Gras that lingers and lingers. Glitter — the bane of post-Carnival cleanup efforts. Amanda Thomas, who runs Moxie Girl, a cleaning company, shared some strategies with The Times-Picayune: “It’s best to use a dry rag or paper towel or a vacuum first, then use a damp paper towel to catch the strays.” MAINE Fairfield: Robert Sezak, owner of Re-Books sold a set of six “upright Jenny” stamps issued by the Postal Service in 2013 for $59,205 to an absentee bidder, the Morning Sentinel reported. The Inverted Jenny, produced in 1918, were a series of 100 stamps that featured a Curtiss JN-4H biplane printed upside down.

MARYLAND Assateague Island: Three horses at Assateague Island National Seashore are expecting foals this spring, The Daily Times reported. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A fuel van struck a plane at Boston’s Logan Airport, damaging the jet but causing no injuries to the passengers, WCVB-TV reported. MICHIGAN Charlotte: A developer who purchased two dilapidated, 150-year-old buildings that housed Charlotte Chair Co. from 1912 to 1988 is hoping to turn them into a restaurant or brew pub, apartments, a place for a new manufacturing business or office space, the Lansing State Journal reported. MINNESOTA Forest Lake: Zdenko Jakiša, 47, a taxi business owner and wanted war criminal will be deported to Bosnia, the Star Tribune reported. Jakisa was convicted in absentia of killing his neighbor in Bosnia by firing an AK-47 through her bedroom window in 1993. He plead guilty in July 2015 to lying on immigration forms more than a decade ago when applying for refugee status. MISSISSIPPI McComb: Selectman Donovan Hill’s motion to remove the Mississippi state flag from all city buildings because of its Confederate battle emblem failed, the Enterprise-Journal reported. Selectmen Ted Tullos, Michael Cameron and Tommy McKenzie, who are white, voted to keep the flag. Hill and Selectman Ronnie Brock, who are black, voted to take it down. MISSOURI Kansas City: Kansas City created a plan in the city budget to tear down about 800 vacant houses and buildings in struggling neighborhoods in the next two years, The Kansas City Star reported. MONTANA Hamilton: A 49year-old man was charged with kidnapping and assaulting his estranged wife. NEBRASKA Lincoln: Jeffery Wyatt Jr., 22, has been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for shooting a man, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. Wyatt shot Timothy Kuker twice in the abdomen last October on the porch of an apartment building. Kuker survived. NEVADA Las Vegas: The Nevada Public Utilities Commission voted to phase in higher rates for rooftop solar customers over a longer period of time than previously approved. Regulators voted to implement the new rates over 12 years, rather than four years. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: A state Senate committee endorsed a bill that would allow one casino in Rockingham Park in Salem. It’s estimated to produce about $100 million in state revenue each year, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported. NEW JERSEY Bridgewater: The world’s largest gases and engineering company will be moving its North American headquarters here, the Courier News reported. Linde North America, a member of The Linde Group based in Munich, announced it will be relocating this summer to the Somerset Corporate Campus. NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: State Auditor Tim Keller found $4.4 billion in unspent funds in hundreds of agency accounts. NEW YORK Elmira: The school district here has accepted purchase offers for two former school buildings, the Star-Gazette reported. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The Boylan Bridge Brewpub — where the outdoor patio offers a clear view of the downtown skyline — is closed until further notice after one of its basement walls collapsed, The News & Observer reported. NORTH DAKOTA Minot: The first of two new parking ramps downtown has opened. Work began on the ramps in October 2013. The Minot Daily News reported that the project cost is now estimated at $19 million. OHIO Cincinnati: Cincinnati native Tom Tsuchiya, 43, is the new official sculptor for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and the first plaque he will sculpt will be Cincinnati native Ken Griffey Jr., The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Mindy Ellis, who is retiring, has created 76 profile sculptures since 1995. OKLAHOMA Midwest City: Midwest City was named the recipient of the 2015 Zach D. Taylor Jr. Clean Cities Vision Award for its accomplishments in advancing and deploying alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles, The Oklahoman reported. OREGON Eugene: A man was sentenced to four months in jail after pleading guilty to tampering with evidence in a fatal hit-andrun case in which authorities say his wife carried the victim on top of her car for 11 blocks before dumping the body, The RegisterGuard reported. PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: A pair of peregrine falcons is back at their nest in downtown Harrisburg, and people can watch their activities on the Internet. RHODE ISLAND Providence: The Rhode Island Foundation, the state’s largest charitable foundation, awarded a record-high $41.5 million in grants last year to more than 1,600 non-profit organizations. SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: Furman University students have joined a new volunteer partnership with the Greenville Humane Society in which pairs of students go once a month to teach puppy care at 12 afterschool programs throughout the Upstate, The Greenville News reported. SOUTH DAKOTA Mitchell: Mayor Jerry Toomey says it’s time the city addresses annual losses at its Corn Palace tourist attraction. Last year, the loss reached $425,000, The Daily Republic reported. TENNESSEE Murfreesboro: Middle Tennessee State University surpassed $100 million during a recent fundraising effort, The Tennessean reported. TEXAS Houston: A jury awarded $53 million to the family of a construction worker who died while renovating Texas A&M University’s football stadium, The Dallas Morning News reported. UTAH Salt Lake City: KUTV-TV reported that the Utah Division of Drinking Water proposed monthly checks to conform with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. VERMONT Burlington: Landlord Soon Kwon pleaded not guilty to 88 criminal charges related to scores of alleged housing violations at his four city properties, Burlington Free Press reported. VIRGINIA Richmond: The House of Delegates voted 63-35 to prevent state agencies from banning guns in government buildings, a move aimed at reversing Democratic Gov. McAuliffe’s executive order, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. WASHINGTON Bellingham: Taxpayers could be footing a bill of more than $34 million to repair the water-damaged exterior of the Whatcom County Courthouse. The Bellingham Herald reported that an assessment says repairs could cost up $34.1 million.

WEST VIRGINIA Kanawha Valley: Saying the negligence of Freedom Industries caused a chemical spill that contaminated drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people, federal prosecutors sought a two-year prison sentence for former company president Gary Southern, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported. WISCONSIN Green Bay: Former prison food service worker Gayle Saldaris, 51, will spend nine months in jail and nine years on probation for having sex with an inmate at Green Bay Correctional Institution, Green Bay PressGazette reported. WYOMING Green River: A local police officer indicted by a grand jury in the death nearly seven years ago of a 2-year-old boy was held on $1 million bail, the Rocket-Miner reported.