State-by-state news roundup,
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Montgomery: A federal judge says Alabama is failing to provide constitutionally adequate psychiatric care for state inmates. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson calls the system “horrendously inadequate.”
ALASKA Moose Pass: Two mountaineering brothers want Alaska’s Historical Commission to put railroad names on three peaks and a ridge, the Peninsula
Clarion reports. But local residents say they don’t recognize or use labels like Locomotive Ridge, the Engine, the Tender and the Caboose.
ARIZONA Tucson: A legal battle over an ethnic studies program in the Tucson Unified School District has resumed in court, seven years after a state law led to the program’s demise, The Arizona
Daily Star reports.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: The Independent Citizens Commission has approved a 2% pay raise for all of Arkansas’ top elected officials except the lieutenant governor, who said he didn’t want a salary bump. The commission was created through a constitutional amendment voters approved in 2014.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Zoo has a new elephant. Shaunzi arrived last week after being trucked 215 miles from the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.
COLORADO Castle Rock: Burglars used tow wires to open the front door and gate of DCF Guns in this Colorado city last month, The Denver Post reports. The same store weathered a previous smash-and-grab attempt using a stolen Jeep that got jammed between concrete barriers.
CONNECTICUT Columbia: Independence Day traditions in this Connecticut town are clashing with an effort to protect bald eagles from noise. Residents are asked to forgo shooting off fireworks this year because an eaglet appeared this spring in a nest.
DELAWARE Rehoboth Beach: Police are investigating counterfeit money used at establishments along the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk, The News Journal reports.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The District of Columbia is giving residents a new gender option on their driver’s licenses. The city will allow residents to choose “X” as a gender-neutral identifier.
FLORIDA Oviedo: A handyman spent 90 days in a Florida jail after white powder was found in his car during a traffic stop. Police said it was cocaine, but Karlos Cashe walked out of jail last week after lab results determined it was drywall, WFTV reports.
GEORGIA Baxley: Police are looking for a couple who were caught on surveillance video attacking the owner of Baxley restaurant and her 15-year-old daughter after complaining that their chicken was cold, WTOCTV reports.
HAWAII Honolulu: Bike sharing is coming to Honolulu, Hawaii News Now reports. The program will let people rent bikes at one of 100 Biki stations.
IDAHO Boise: The Idaho Attorney General’s Office says it’s illegal for the general public to buy aerial fireworks, which require a special permit. A licensed fireworks retailer can sell only non-aerial fireworks.
ILLINOIS New Lenox: Illinois regulators have approved plans for a 100-bed psychiatric hospital to address substance abuse in Will and Grundy counties, the
Chicago Tribune reports. Construction will start this fall.
INDIANA Indianapolis: Wildlife officials say Indiana’s peregrine falcon population is thriving more than a quarter-century after the raptors were introduced to the state. Crews banded 40 peregrine chicks this spring at nine sites around the state.
IOWA Ames: Police say 20 animals were seized from the home of a woman accused of trying to perform surgery on a puppy in her living room. The surgery resulted in the dog’s death, The Des Moines Register reports.
KANSAS Allen: Authorities in Lyon County are investigating a small bomb that was found in a field, the Emporia Gazette reports. Sheriff ’s officials contacted a Fort Riley bomb squad, which disabled the device.
KENTUCKY Owensboro: The 14th annual ROMP: Bluegrass Roots & Branches Festival in Owensboro set a new attendance record with more than 26,000 fans. The International Bluegrass Music Museum says crowds traveled to the June 21-24 event from 39 states and four countries.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: A federal lawsuit accuses New Orleans Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell of setting excessively high bail without regard to defendants’ ability to pay. The suit says people accused of non-violent crimes are sometimes held for months.
MAINE Augusta: Maine health officials have confirmed a case of measles in Franklin County. The last reported case of measles in the state was in 1997.
MARYLAND Upper Marlboro: Police are offering cash to find the vandals who knocked over two-dozen headstones in the St. Thomas Episcopal Church cemetery. Some of the headstones date to the 1800s.
MASSACHUSETTS Hyannisport: Officials say the captain of a ferry couldn’t see the breakwater because of high waves before the vessel crashed June 16 into a jetty in Hyannisport, injuring 18 people. The ferry Iyanough grounded on the rocks at the harbor entrance.
MICHIGAN Blumfield Township: A 160-foot wind turbine blade broke in rural Michigan, leaving it dangling above a field. No injuries were reported, The Saginaw News reports. The turbine is among 75 at the Tuscola Bay wind farm.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Minnesota schools that were able to hire support staff with $12 million in grant money say they’re seeing the impact of having the additional support, Minnesota Public Radio reports. Almost 80 schools were able to hire social workers, counselors, nurses and psychologists.
MISSISSIPPI Vicksburg: The new Miss Mississippi says she and her family have raised money to help provide clean water to needy people. Miss Vicksburg, Anne Elizabeth Buys, won the state contest in her hometown last month.
MISSOURI St. Louis: A judge has upheld a policy barring visitors with guns from entering the St. Louis Zoo, despite pressure from gun rights advocates who say public zoos illegally ban firearms. Zoos claim they can enforce gun bans.
MONTANA Roundup: FBI officials say the “AK-47 Bandit” is a Montana man. Richard Gathercole, 39, of Roundup, was arrested last month in Nebraska. He is accused of committing six bank robberies going back to 2012, typically while carrying an AK-47 rifle with a drum magazine.
NEBRASKA Omaha: A former automobile dealership owner in Nebraska was sentenced to five years of supervised release for defrauding banks. Mark Tincher also was fined $50,000 and must pay more than $833,000 in restitution.
NEVADA Reno: A Nevada man is safe after helicopter rescuers plucked him from a rock surrounded by swift-moving water above a nearly 50-foot waterfall. Kalani Tuiono escaped from the snow melt-choked Yuba River in California with minor scratches and scrapes.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Sunapee: An 80-year-old New Hampshire woman fought off a rabid bobcat last month, aided by her two dogs and her gardening sickle. Elsie Dabrowski needed more than 50 stitches. Her dogs chased off the bobcat.
NEW JERSEY Cape May Court
House: Officials euthanized the Siberian tiger at New Jersey’s Cape May County Zoo. Rocky, who was 16 years old and survived cancer treatment a couple of years ago, was having difficulty walking after suffering problems with his hips and hind legs.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: The competition for a multibillion-dollar contract to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory is beginning amid concerns about safety at the New Mexico facility, including reports of mishandling plutonium and radioactive waste.
NEW YORK Rome: A misspelling on diplomas given to Rome Free Academy’s 338 graduates gave the Class of 2017 an Italian twist, The Post-Standard of Syracuse reports. The text says the diplomas were issued in Roma, with the Italian spelling of Rome.
NORTH CAROLINA Fayetteville: A woman is accused of assaulting a hospital emergency room nurse who was treating a trauma care patient next to her. The Fayetteville Observer reports that Christina McClain acted “irate” when told to be quiet.
NORTH DAKOTA Grand Forks: Officials in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks are urging people to protect themselves against mosquito bites after a crow tested positive for the West Nile virus.
OHIO Toledo: A man who falsely reported a planned shooting, prompting extra security at churches and synagogues, was sentenced to four months in jail for the hoax, The Blade reports. Mohomed Abdouni told the court he was drunk when he told the FBI in January that a relative planned to shoot people at a church.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Auto dealers in Oklahoma are challenging the removal of the state’s tax exemption on vehicle sales. Their lawsuit contends that ending the 1.25% exemption didn’t meet the required 75% vote in both houses of the legislature to pass revenue raising bills.
OREGON Klamath Falls: Authorities say a woman impersonated a U.S. Department of the Treasury employee while trying to pay a $20 parking ticket with a fraudulent money order, The Herald and News reports.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Gov. Wolf says he’ll sign a bill giving Pennsylvania police departments discretion to refuse public requests for copies of audio or video recordings by officers.
RHODE ISLAND Bristol: A Navy veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder says she only wants a heads up from neighbors shooting off Fourth of July fireworks. But someone stole Maegan Antunes’ yard signs requesting the courtesy, WJARTV reports.
SOUTH CAROLINA Lexington: A couple are looking for bigger baby clothes after their son was born at a whopping 14.4 pounds, WLTX-TV reports. Dad Arthur Keisler says he has big plans for his son, Colin Austin Keisler — to become a defensive lineman at Clemson University, and play for the Green Bay Packers.
SOUTH DAKOTA Beresford: Hendrix Genetics plans to build a $25 million turkey hatchery south of Sioux Falls. The company estimates that more than 100 temporary and permanent jobs will be created by the hatchery, which will have the capacity for 35 million hatching eggs.
TENNESSEE Memphis: Health officials are investigating a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in the hotel at Graceland in Memphis. The Shelby County Health Department says three people were diagnosed with Legionnaires’ and the pool and hot tub are temporarily closed. The hotel is near the museum centered on the life of Elvis Presley.
TEXAS Belton: Authorities arrested a Texas couple on child abandonment and other charges, claiming they kept their 14-yearold adoptive son in a wooden shack with limited access to food and water. Warner and Suzanne Stadler adopted the boy eight years ago, KWTX -TV reports.
UTAH Salt Lake City: The Salt Lake City zoo’s bird show has lost a macaw. The blue-and-gold bird, named Winston, suddenly flew away at the end of a performance and was hit by a car. The Deseret News reports that zoo officials believe something spooked Winston.
VERMONT Montpelier: The state auditor finds that Vermont government employees under investigation for misconduct often remained on paid leave longer than necessary, The Times Argus reports.
VIRGINIA Richmond: Liquor stores will be open on the Fourth of July. The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control says its 366 stores statewide will open as scheduled on the holiday but will close early at 6 p.m.
WASHINGTON Tacoma: Tacoma has started helping homeless people move into temporary emergency shelters, KING-TV reports. The city will be able to fit 62 people in a temperaturecontrolled tent, and 21 people will have assigned tents outside.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: West Virginians will vote Oct. 7 on Gov. Justice’s plan to issue bonds to support about $3 billion in projects to repair and rebuild state highways and bridges.
WISCONSIN Madison: A federal judge has refused to stop helicopter training, hunting dog training and motorcycle races at the Sauk Prairie State Recreation Area. The Sauk Prairie Conservation Alliance filed suit in January seeking to stop the activities.
WYOMING Kemmerer: Outdoor Channel hunting show star Billy Busbice Jr. was fined $23,000 and given a suspended jail term for poaching. The incident occurred on Spring Creek Ranch when the Wildgame Nation star acknowledged accidentally killing an elk calf while trying to harvest a bull.