STATE-BY-STATE
Editor’s Note: This is an abbreviated version of the StateBy-State page. The full version will return.
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Mobile: Mayor Sandy Stimpson is proposing to decriminalize several minor offenses, including possession of marijuana for personal use.
ALASKA An
chorage: To protest his conviction on waste disposal charges, a man is resurrecting a strip club on his crab boat, the Wild Alaskan.
ARIZONA Prescott: A security video shows two people trying to steal cash from a church donation box in Yarnell. The suspects fled when an alarm activated.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Arkansas’ highest court is seeking an 11% pay raise for its justices.
CALIFORNIA San Jose: Ten San Jose-area schools have students sick from norovirus.
COLORADO Firestone: Anadarko Petroleum says it’s permanently disconnecting gas lines like the one linked to an April 17 fatal home explosion.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Police are being urged to release video of the fatal police shooting of an unarmed 15-year-old driver.
DELAWARE Wilmington: Gov. John Carney nominated assistant public defender Gray Traynor to the state Supreme Court.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The Senate passed a bill creating an independent safety oversight panel for Washington’s subways.
FLORIDA Miami: A man who stole an unattended ambulance immediately crashed into a bus.
GEORGIA Jonesboro: Three men were killed when their car
plunged into a small lake during a police chase. A fourth person escaped, The Atlanta JournalConstitution reports.
HAWAII Honolulu: The Honolulu Zoo is holding its chimpanzees in their pen following the second escape of a chimp named Puiwa.
IDAHO Boise: The Idaho Department of Education’s new reading test will be tried by 57 schools, The Times-News reports.
ILLINOIS Pekin: An adult and two juveniles are accused of dumping hundreds of tires, The Pekin
Daily Times reports.
INDIANA New Albany: Duke Energy plans to close coal ash ponds in Indiana because of new federal environmental rules, The
News and Tribune reports.
IOWA Iowa City: A student who collapsed and died in a University of Iowa dormhad the synthetic drug Ecstasy in his body.
KANSAS Lawrence: A man accused of ripping the tail off a pet rabbit described what happened as “an accident.”
KENTUCKY Louisville: Civil rights groups are seeking the removal of a family court judge who won’t hear adoption cases involving gay adults.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Louisiana lawmakers rejected a bill to eliminate inspection stickers for most personal vehicles.
MAINE Addison: A lobsterman’s buoy turned up in France, 2,500 miles from his boat, WCSH-TV reports.
MARYLAND Baltimore: The Baltimore City Council voted to legalize stun gun possession, The
Baltimore Sun reports.
MASSACHUSETTS Worcester: A Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $240,000 from his church to fuel a gambling habit will be allowed to return to parish ministry on a limited basis, The Telegram &
Gazette reports.
MICHIGAN Lansing: Bicyclists in several Michigan cities joined thousands around the world this week in the Ride of Silence to honor those injured or killed while cycling, WLNS-TV reports.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: A canceled wedding with a nonrefundable reception became a celebration for a Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis, the
Star Tribune reports.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Love NASCAR? How about Ole Miss? If you’ve got a favorite cause, chances are Mississippi has a specialty license plate you can put on your car — but at a price.
MISSOURI Kansas City: The Kansas City Zoo is taking steps to breed an endangered species of African wild dogs, The Kansas
City Star reports.
MONTANA Billings: A Laurel woman was sentenced to 10 years of probation and ordered to repay nearly $16,000 to developmentally disabled people she took money from during caregiver work,
The Billings Gazette reports.
NEBRASKA Omaha: The founder of Boys Town is a step closer to sainthood. The Vatican issued a decree of validity for the investigation of the Rev. Edward Flanagan, the Omaha World
Herald reports.
NEVADA Carson City: A woman involved in a deadly DUI crash had methamphetamine and oxycodone in her system, The Neva
da Appeal reports.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Ticks are out in force. New Hampshire has recorded up to 1,600 cases of Lyme disease a year in recent years.
NEW JERSEY Atlantic City: New Jersey officials overseeing Atlantic City’s finances angered some City Council members by hiring a firm to handle the city’s trash and recycling collection,
The Press of Atlantic City reports.
NEW MEXICO Hatch: Dona Ana Community College is blaming stagnant enrollment and budget constraints for the decision to
close a satellite campus in Hatch, The Albuquerque Journal reports.
NEW YORK New York: About once a month since last fall, the Brooklyn Public Library has been presenting the Drag Queen Story Hour. Performers regale an audience of children and their parents with a story as a way of teaching the kids self-acceptance.
NORTH CAROLINA Rockwell: Rowan County sheriff ’s deputies arrested four men on cockfighting charges after finding blood, feathers, about 15 dead chickens and about 30 live chickens in cages during a raid.
NORTH DAKOTA Devils Lake: Health officials are monitoring the cleanup of diesel fuel that spilled into Devils Lake.
OHIO Columbus: Three polar bear cubs born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium last year now have names: Amelia Gray, Neva and Nuniq.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Oklahoma Department of Human Services that said it violated foster parents’ right to bear arms by asking them to keep weapons locked up.
OREGON Moro: Sherman County may order the use of herbicides on a 2,000-acre organic farm after complaints from neighboring farmers about noxious weeds, The Capital Press reports.
PENNSYLVANIA Greensburg: A man who sued Ziggy’s Hotel in Youngwood claims he was served so much liquor that he fell off a bar stool and hurt his shoulder,
The Tribune-Review reports.
RHODE ISLAND Newport: The group that owns The Breakers mansion held a groundbreaking this week for a controversial welcome center, The Newport
Daily News reports.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: A former medical clinic worker was sentenced to two years on federal
mail fraud conspiracy charges, The State reports.
SOUTH DAKOTA Gregory: South Dakota’s oldest drive-in movie theater will install a new $71,000 digital projector, The Daily Republic reports.
TENNESSEE Knox
ville: Authorities say a truck that burned in an arson fire at a Highway Patrol impound lot was being held as evidence in a fatal crash, The Knoxville News Sentinel reports.
TEXAS Port O’Connor: Crews working six miles off the Texas coast have placed 700 concrete pyramids on the Gulf floor to form artificial reefs.
UTAH Salt Lake City: A late spring storm left a blanket of snow this week on parts of Utah, the first May snowfall since 2010.
VERMONT Arlington: A water pump station hit by lightning faces up to $15,000 in repairs, The
Bennington Banner reports.
VIRGINIA Hampton: A dead whale washed ashore last weekend on a local beach, the Daily
Press reports.
WASHINGTON Everett: Snohomish County has agreed to pay $585,000 to settle a free-speech suit brought by a former ombudsman, The Daily Herald reports.
WEST VIRGINIA Grandview: The National Park Service is looking for volunteers to staff a small visitor center this summer in the Grandview area of the New River Gorge National River.
WISCONSIN Wrightstown: Five Wrightstown School District seniors are banned from their graduation ceremony for a prank that included toilet-papering trees, WLUK-TV reports.
WYOMING Casper: Wyoming’s only Planned Parenthood office will close July 21 for financial reasons, The Casper Star-Tribune reports.