STATE-BY-STATE
ALABAMA Huntsville: Recent scattered rain has done little to slow drought conditions, AL.com reported. Almost all of the state is under severe or moderate drought conditions.
ALASKA Fairbanks: Denali National Park rangers investigated a suspected illegal moose killing near the park post office, newsminer.com reported.
ARIZONA Glendale: The state Department of Education reversed its decision to close a private school for severely disabled students after a reinspection found the school safe for children to use, The Arizona Republic reported.
ARKANSAS Camden: Damon Zane Briscoe, 29, was arrested and charged with threatening to kill police after seeing a sheriff ’s office Facebook request to turn in fathers who don’t pay child support, ArkansasOnline reported.
CALIFORNIA Palos Verdes Estates: The city issued a letter saying it would not meet a state deadline to decide the fate of an illegal stone fort used by a group of aggressively territorial surfers called the “Lunada Bay Boys,” the Los Angeles Times reported. The Coastal Commission had told the city it had until July 6 to develop a plan to tear down the crudely built structure or begin a permitting process that would include measures to improve access to one of the most coveted surf breaks.
COLORADO Denver: State wildlife officials are reminding the public to secure food and trash as they have already had to euthanize 14 black bears this year, the Denver Post reported.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Starting July 1, Airbnb’s more than 1,800 active home-rental hosts in Connecticut will collect the 15% hotel tax, and remit the money to the cash-strapped state, the Hartford Courant reported.
DELAWARE Delaware City: The Delaware City Refining Co. could face up to $270,000 in state fines for the unpermitted release of toxic chemicals into the air over several years, The News Journal reported.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Washington National Cathedral will remove Confederate battle flags that are part of two stained-glass windows honoring Gens. Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, The Washington Post reported.
FLORIDA Fort Myers: An argument about installing a washing machine led to Robert Brietling, 47, being charged with aggravated battery after his wife suffered chemical burns when, she said, he doused her with a solution called “Liquid Fire,” The News-Press reported. The Lee County Sheriff ’s Office said the liquid was methamphetamines.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Mays High School head football coach Corey Jarvis failed to follow district rules about spending and collecting school funds, leaving thousands of public dollars unaccounted for, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
HAWAII Lihue: Police departments across the state can now force officers to use body cams after the State Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of the Kauai Police Department, Hawaii News Now reported.
IDAHO Boise: Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said an intercom and video system was activated at the Capitol, the Idaho Statesman reported.
ILLINOIS Chicago: Tickets to Hamilton go on sale this month. Premium seats to the smash musical will run $500 to $600, but more than 18,000 seats will be sold for $10, and 20,000 tickets will be made available to students, the Chicago Tribune reported.
INDIANA Indianapolis: A federal appeals court upheld Jared Fogle’s nearly 16-year prison sentence, saying the former Subway pitchman’s attempts to diminish his actions are futile and rejecting claims that Fogle was improperly sentenced based on his fantasies, The Indianapolis Star reported.
IOWA Council Bluffs: A Pottawattamie County jury has found Michael Wineinger, 47, guilty of four counts of second-degree sexual abuse involving a child under the age of 12, the Daily Nonpareil reported.
KANSAS Salina: State health officials are investigating after 30 Saline County children were found to have high levels of lead in their blood, The Salina Journal reported.
KENTUCKY Lousiville: A 22year-old Louisville man attending the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee ran into traffic on Interstate 24 outside the festival grounds and was struck and killed by two vehicles, The Courier-Journal reported.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: Tomica Newman, 40, who admitted crushing another woman’s legs with her car in a fit of rage outside a nightclub more than three years ago, was sentenced to 10 years in prison as part of a plea agreement, The Times-Picayune reported.
MAINE Portland: The staff of the Maine Public Utilities Commission is recommending against spending up to $75 million a year to expand natural gas pipeline capacity in New England, the Portland Press Herald reported. The Industrial Energy Consumer Group and the state’s public advocate criticized the conclusion.
MARYLAND Salisbury: On Sept. 6, 1971, Karen Ball, then a young girl, threw a message in a bottle into the Indian River Bay, hoping to get a response from a stranger in a faraway land. Her weathered, green soda bottle was unearthed April 22 at Delaware Seashore State Park by Andy Berenty and his vacationing family, who returned it to Ball, The Daily Times reported.
MASSACHUSETTS Attleboro: A Rhode Island man who sold an unlicensed New England Patriots shirt to an undercover police officer that led to a warehouse full of counterfeit merchandise has pleaded guilty, The Sun Chronicle reported.
MICHIGAN Waterford: Dan Tillery may be forced to give up his dog after he posted a photo with Diggy to the Detroit Dog Rescue Facebook page, The Grand Rapids Press reported. Waterford Township police say Diggy, whom officers claim to be a pit bull, is illegal, but Detroit Dog Rescue said Diggy has paperwork from a veterinarian and animal control to prove he is an American bulldog.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Ramsey County authorities are giving away free gun locks at several community sites in hopes of preventing accidental shootings that have killed or maimed children locally and across the country, the Star Tribune reported.
MISSISSIPPI Hattiesburg: Forrest County officials are encouraging residents to get on board with Smart911. The program adds participants’ health details to the information already received by dispatchers, the Hattiesburg American reported.
MISSOURI Kansas City: A proposal to invest up to $27 million to improve Kansas City’s 18th and Vine jazz district stalled after it didn’t get sufficient support from a City Council committee, The
Kansas City Star reported.
MONTANA Pablo: The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have drafted legislation for returning the National Bison Range to federal trust ownership, the Missoulian reported. The agreement comes after a lawsuit was filed challenging the transfer of the lands and control of the bison, saying more research is needed.
NEBRASKA Neligh: The Antelope County Board of Supervisors has OK’d a plan for Invenergy to build a wind farm, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. The farm will have 160 turbines near Neligh.
NEVADA Las Vegas: EHang Inc., a company that manufactures passenger-carrying drones, will be testing its system in Nevada, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. EHang is headquartered in Guangzhou, China, and is partnering with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Gov. Hassan signed two bills into law last week to help fight the opioid crisis –– one that will require opioid prescribers to tighten their rules and the other will allow pharmacies to have drug take-back programs, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
NEW JERSEY Atlantic City: The City Council is holding off on allowing drinking on the boardwalk and in other parts of the city, the Press of Atlantic City reported. The ordinance was pulled hours before a council meeting. The law would have allowed visitors to drink alcohol purchased from specified businesses on some sections of the boardwalk.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: The Los Alamos National Laboratory mishandled hazardous waste and should expect to face civil penalties, The Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
NEW YORK Albany: Heroin use in the state exceeds national averages, and the death rate from the dangerous drug also surpassed national trends, The StarGazette reported.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: A federal judge sentenced Wilfredo Acosta Hidalgo, 47, to six years in prison and ordered him to pay the IRS more than $4.2 million he got through an illegal tax refund scheme, The News & Observer reported.
NORTH DAKOTA Williston: State District Judge Paul Jacobson upheld Williston’s July 1 deadline for oil field crew camps to shut down, the Williston Herald reported.
OHIO Logan: The Scioto River Flyway Corridor, a new nature preserve along the Scioto River, will be dedicated Saturday, the Appalachia Ohio Alliance said. Activities will be centered in the bottomland forest and fields on the Marsha Gunder Schneider Preserve in Pickaway County, one of four preserves in the initiative.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Officials at the Oklahoma CityCounty Health Department confirmed Thursday that they had found five mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus in Oklahoma County, The Oklahoman reported.
OREGON Eagle Point: A rancher jumped on his horse and las- soed a man who was trying to steal a bicycle in the parking lot of local Wal-Mart, the Medford Mail Tribune reported.
PENNSYLVANIA Stroudsburg: Nestle Waters abandoned its plan for a proposed water extraction facility in the Poconos amid community opposition to the project. Nestle official Eric Andreus told township supervisors the project created design and logistical challenges.
RHODE ISLAND North Providence: Authorities were on the hunt for a handcuffed suspect who escaped from police, the Providence Journal reported.
SOUTH CAROLINA West Columbia: City Council has OK’d a plan to allow residents to keep four chicken hens in backyards, The State reported. There were no complaints after a one-year test.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Construction is to start next year on a $10 million parking ramp here, but that might not be soon enough. City-owned off-street parking facilities are at 97% capacity, when the ideal capacity rate is about 85%, the Argus Leader reported.
TENNESSEE Selmer: At least three people are dead at two music festivals across the state over the weekend.
TEXAS Austin: A new study found that Texans who were able to choose their energy supplier in deregulated markets, about 85% of the state, paid an average of 15.5% more than those who only had one power option, The Texas Tribune reported.
UTAH Salt Lake City: Utah State education officials are trying to lower the drop-out rate among teachers, the Deseret News reported. Data from the Utah State Office of Education shows 42% of new teachers in the state leave within five years of starting out.
VERMONT Burlington: The Burlington Police Department, Vermont State Police bomb squad and federal authorities were investigating a pipe bomb blast inside a vehicle Wednesday afternoon. Three adolescents were driving to the beach, police say, when the explosion occurred, Burlington Free Press reported.
VIRGINIA Richmond: The city seeks 250 volunteers to serve as training camp ambassadors during the Washington Redskins Training Camp, which will run from July 28 to Aug. 14, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
WASHINGTON Seattle: Local rescue crews are seeing a jump in missions this year as more hikers explore trails. The Seattle Times reported that most rescues have been for twisted ankles and hikers who end up in the dark without a headlamp.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 28 counties in the state are among the top 50 counties in the country most at-risk for HIV and Hepatitis C because of intravenous drug use, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.
WISCONSIN Madison: Hunters registered 45,496 wild turkeys during the 2016 Wisconsin spring turkey hunting season, an 11% increase from last year and highest since 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
WYOMING Gillette: There’s a squabble between officials in Gillette and the Campbell County Commission over who pays for joint projects, The Gillette News Record reported.