STATE-BY-STATE

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Birmingham: Trim Tab Brewing prepared to launch Pillar To Post Rye Brown in cans, which will be available wherever Trim Tab beers are sold, AL.com reported. ALASKA Fairbanks: University of Alaska researchers want to bring locally caught salmon into school cafeterias and classrooms throughout the state. The Fish to School program is meant to help students understand how what they choose to eat affects their health, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. ARIZONA Phoenix: Thrillist named Welcome Chicken + Donuts among the 33 best doughnut shops in America, The Arizona Republic reported. ARKANSAS Little Rock: Police released a picture of a man suspected of shoplifting from a Kroger and threatening store employees with a knife when confronted, Arkansas Online reported. According to a police report, the man tried to conceal $20 worth of shrimp. CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: The Times reported that more than 88% of Angelenos are in favor of the city’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to a survey conducted by Loyola Marymount University. COLORADO Rush: Authorities in El Paso County have euthanized three dogs that mauled four children over the weekend, KRDO-TV reported. CONNECTICUT West Haven: State police identified local and state officers who used their stun guns while trying to remove a man from his car after an accident here, the New Haven Register reported. DELAWARE Wilmington: After nearly 18 years of leading the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington’s Hispanic Ministry, Brother Chris Posch, a beloved friar, is being transferred to a Franciscan Order diocese in Silver Spring, Md., The News-Journal reported. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Sage Publications, which resides on the sixth floor of the Watergate building, installed a wall-length timeline of the political scandal, a commemorative plaque and a copy of The Washington Post front page headlined “Nixon Resigns,” the Post reported. FLORIDA Cape Coral: A local fisherman and a friend from Texas pulled a nearly 500-pound Goliath grouper from a canal, The News-Press reported. Researchers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have taken samples of the 7.5-foot-long fish and said it will be two to three weeks before they can place a cause of death. GEORGIA Savannah: The Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon will continue to rock city streets through 2018, the Savannah Morning News reported. Improvements for this year’s race include more race personnel and the addition of almost a dozen bands on the race route. HAWAII Honolulu: University of Hawaii officials are planning to raise tuition to help pay for neglected maintenance, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The three-year plan would increase tuition by no more than 2% annually and would follow two years of 5% tuition hikes in the current school year and 2016-17. IDAHO Lewiston: A woman was sentenced to at least three years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter for a car crash that killed her 5-year-old-daughter, the Lewiston Tribune reported. ILLINOIS Joliet: A 15-year-old Joliet Central High School student is accused of posting a threat on Twitter to “shoot up the school,” the Chicago Tribune reported. Police Deputy Chief Al Roechner said the teen tweeted the threat after others made fun of his new shoes at a basketball game. INDIANA Greenfield: Matthew Wagoner, 31, was sentenced to 65 years in prison for the death of his 1-year-old daughter, who died May 28 of multiple blunt-force trauma because of assault, The Indianapolis Star reported. Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton said Zoey suffered 50 injuries, including broken bones, cuts and bruises. IOWA Sioux City: The Boys Club of Sioux City will begin accepting girls as members after nearly 50 years of having afterschool programs and other activities for boys, the Sioux City Journal reported. The local chapter’s board of directors approved the change earlier this month. KANSAS Manhattan: Bags brought to ticketed Kansas State University athletic events must be clear starting next school year, the Manhattan Mercury reported. Besides clear bags, the policy allows small clutch bags and medically necessary items after proper inspection. KENTUCKY Frankfort: The Salato Wildlife Education Center here opens for a new season on March 1. The center features native species of Kentucky, including exhibits of snakes, turtles and fish. LOUISIANA New Orleans: The Times-Picayune announced 20 concerts readers shouldn’t miss this spring, including M83 on April 6 at The Civic Theatre and Trombone Shorty on April 23 at The Saenger Theatre. MAINE Portland: Harvest on the Harbor, the annual food and spirits festival, was sold to Stefanie Manning and Gabrielle Garofalo, the Portland Press Herald reported. MARYLAND Fruitland: State fire marshals charged Johnny Pierre, 36, with second-degree arson in relation to a 2008 Nissan Rouge catching fire in December, The Daily Times reported. If found guilty, Pierre could face up to 40 years in prison and/or $45,000 in fines. MASSACHUSETTS Seekonk: The owners of the Old Grist Mill Tavern are suing the Chiquita banana company, alleging a truck carrying bananas caused a fire that destroyed their business, The Sun Chronicle reported. David Salvatore, who represents the owners, said that a truck carrying bananas rolled over in June 2012, and ruptured a natural gas line that sparked the blaze. MICHIGAN Marion Township: Sharon Bath, 72, and her adult son Kevin Roberts have received two and five years’ probation, respectively, for not providing adequate care to more than 75 cats on their property, the Daily Press & Argus in Howell reported. They had faced animal cruelty charges and were ordered to trap any remaining feral cats. MINNESOTA St. Paul: The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency wants to ban sanitary wipes that are clogging wastewater treatment systems, the St. Cloud Times reported. MISSISSIPPI Natchez: The city’s annual financial audit for the 2013-2014 fiscal year is nearly eight months overdue. The records for the 2013-2014 fiscal year didn’t reach independent auditor Deanne Tanksley’s office until Aug. 2015, The Natchez Democrat reported. Each year, the city is expected to send its financial records to Tanksley when the fiscal year ends in September. MISSOURI St. Louis: A winter storm left thousands without power and caused many school districts to cancel classes, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. MONTANA Bozeman: The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that the Gallatin County Commission voted unanimously to move the polling place for the precinct covering most of Montana State University from an off-campus church to an on-campus gym. NEBRASKA Lincoln: A man was sentenced to 300 days in jail for pushing headstones off of their bases at Wyuka Cemetery in 2014, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. NEVADA Reno: An overflow shelter was closed after apparent copper theft, KTVN-TV reported. The building does not have water or power for the 120 people who were staying there. NEW HAMPSHIRE Durham: The University of New Hampshire Survey Center polled 534 adults for the Business and Industry Association’s Report on Consumer Confidence. Nearly half said they expect New Hampshire businesses to do well in the next year. NEW JERSEY Westhampton: Friends Academy of Westampton, a private academy founded here in 1983, has announced plans to close at the end of the school year because of declining enrollment, The Courier-Post reported. NEW MEXICO Silver City: Fire is to blame for the destruction of a historic mill along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. The so-called arrastra, or a primitive mill, was used for crushing gold ore during the 1800s. NEW YORK White Plains: Lawyers for the city and police officers involved in the 2011 shooting death of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. have asked a federal judge to toss a $21 million wrongful death lawsuit brought by the retired correction officer’s family, The Journal News reported. NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: Work will begin this summer to install a center-hung scoreboard at Time Warner Cable Arena that will be one of the biggest in the NBA, The News & Observer reported. NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Three local police officers involved in recent shootings are on desk duty while investigations proceed. OHIO West Chester: A former church treasurer has been sentenced to serve five years in prison after admitting he embezzled $800,000 over 14 years from Tri-County Baptist Church in this Cincinnati suburb and used it to buy drugs, pornography and escorts, The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reported. Garry Meyer, 61, pleaded guilty to aggravated theft and apologized to the church and his family. OKLAHOMA Lawton: The local airport will no longer land heavy military aircraft in an effort to extend the life of its runway pavement. The Lawton Constitution reported that the Lawton Metropolitan Area Airport Authority voted to give Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport director Barbara McNally the jurisdiction to decide when heavy aircraft could land at the airport. OREGON Salem: Oregon has paid more than $6.6 million on legal fees in ongoing litigation over the failed Cover Oregon health insurance exchange portal, the Statesman Journal reported. PENNSYLVANIA Scranton: Federal prosecutors say a man used stolen identities to fraudulently deposit $1.6 million in tax refund checks into an account he owned, the Scranton Times-Tribune reported. RHODE ISLAND Cranston: Police are examining a loaded gun that was found stuck between two curbstones near Cranston High School East. SOUTH CAROLINA Wellford: Burdened by financial losses and potentially facing closure, Hollywild Animal Park officials pleaded for support to keep their zoological and educational efforts afloat. The 100-acre non-profit animal park needs to raise $500,000 by the end of the year, The Greenville News reported. SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Some neighbors of the Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center here say the residential lot the hospital owns is an employee smoking area, the Argus Leader reported. TENNESSEE Murfreesboro: A .50-caliber Barrett M82 sniper rifle made here has become the official state rifle, The Tennessean reported. TEXAS Fort Worth: Amazon is looking to increase its distribution space in North Texas by leasing a more-than-1-millionsquare-foot warehouse, The Dallas Morning News reported. UTAH Ogden: Volunteers at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah have named an injured bald eagle and say he is almost ready to be released. The Standard-Examiner reported that the center is calling the bird Aquila, after the constellation representing the eagle who carried and retrieved Zeus’ thunderbolts. VERMONT St. Albans: Patrick Coleman, 26, faces possession of heroin charges after an officer came upon him in front of Barlow Street School, holding a loaded syringe, WPTZ-TV reported. VIRGINIA Arlington: Strange Lands, the Public Library’s science fiction book club, will discuss Walter Miller’s classic A Canticle for Leibowitz on March 16 at the Java Shack. WASHINGTON Seattle: The Salvation Army says the two shelters it runs near the city’s homeless camp are never full, The Seattle Times reported. WEST VIRGINIA Fayette County: The schools superintendent may move all Collins Middle School students to portable buildings next school year, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported. WISCONSIN Ashwaubenon: The Wisconsin Department of Justice on Wednesday released its final report on the death of Dustin M. Kuik, 25, who was shot by Ashwaubenon Public Safety Officer Brian Murphy outside the Quality Inn Stadium Area Hotel, Green Bay Press-Gazette reported. Murphy “acted lawfully, within his capacity as a public safety officer, Brown County District Attorney David Lasee said in a statement. WYOMING Powell: Ironside Bird Rescue reported an increase in the number of protected birds that have been shot in recent months, the Powell Tribune reported. A bald eagle found in January near Riverton was the most recent protected bird brought in with a gunshot wound.