News from across the USA

ALABAMA Hoover: A Dothan woman was crowned the winner of the Ms. Alabama Nursing Home Pageant, The Dothan Eagle reports. Sarah “Sally” Scott, 83, was chosen from a field of 10 finalists.

ALASKA Juneau: A severe teacher shortage across the nation has added to Alaska’s problem. Alaska Teacher Placement numbers from Aug. 4 show the state has 155 teaching positions and 90 special education positions open, KTOO-FM reports.

ARIZONA Phoenix: Horse racing at Arizona’s two main tracks in Phoenix and Tucson could be in jeopardy next year amid budget cuts, The Arizona Republic reports. The state’s Division of Racing treasury is expected to be empty by March.

ARKANSAS Jonesboro: Arkansas rice farmers say a rising market will help offset lower acreage this year caused by spring floods, the Jonesboro Sun reports. Pocahontas farmer Greg Baltz said he’s down about 20% in acreage.

CALIFORNIA San Diego: Regulators have approved a plan to allow San Diego to avoid upgrading its old wastewater treatment plant as long as the city continues to pursue a $3 billion water recycling program. The decision gives the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant another five years to operate. COLORADO Denver: As of Wednesday, Colorado is requiring anyone convicted of felony driving under the influence to spend time behind bars, The Denver Post reports. A 2015 law makes fourth and subsequent DUI offenses a felony.

CONNECTICUT New Haven: A man who was severely injured when he climbed a Metro-North tower and fell on a high-voltage line that powers the trains is seeking $20 million in a lawsuit that went to trial this week. Omar Colon says tower warnings were inadequate.

DELAWARE Talleyville: The Widener University Delaware Law School has helped more than 40 juveniles begin to clear their records with an expungement clinic, The News Journal reports. Gov. John Carney says expungement clinics offer a second chance for juveniles to move beyond the mistakes of their past.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A breakfast fundraiser Wednesday will benefit a District of Columbia probationary firefighter who was injured at the scene of a rowhouse fire in the Capitol Hill area. Dane Smothers Jr. had just gotten off a truck when he was struck by an arriving truck.

FLORIDA Dunnellon: Police in Florida say a man who was taking a 7-year-old girl to a McDonald’s struck a pole en route and left her at the crash scene. Authorities say Joshua Adam Townsend is facing a child neglect charge. The girl wasn’t hurt.

GEORGIA Savannah: Officials in Savannah are demanding $37,000 from a construction contractor who they say fatally injured a century-old oak tree. Workers were digging a hole for a restaurant water line on public property when they damaged the tree’s roots.

HAWAII Hilo: Hawaii officials believe they’ve successfully removed an invasive deer species from the southern region of Big Island. There have been no confirmed sightings of axis deer in five years, The Hawaii TribuneHerald reports.

IDAHO Garden City: An Idaho man who made a ship in a bottle entirely out of Legos will see his design mass-produced by the toy company. Jacob Sadovich tells KIVI-TV that he came up with the idea after building a minia- ture ship in a bottle using traditional materials. ILLINOIS Urbanna: A new video of the historic bells at the University of Illinois is available while the bells are silent during $160,000 in repairs.

INDIANA Indianapolis: A judge has ruled that IBM owes Indiana $78 million in damages stemming from the company’s failed effort to automate much of the state’s welfare services.

IOWA Iowa City: A task force will focus on setting tuition levels at the state’s three public universities, The Iowa City PressCitizen reports. The task force is in response to more than $30 million in state funding cuts to the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

KANSAS Topeka: The Topeka Veteran Affairs’ hospital is planning a $4.5 million emergency room modernization project this fall, The Topeka Capital-Journal reports. The project comes as the hospital struggles with a staffing shortage.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: Kentucky State Police have an entry in the American Association of State Troopers Best Looking Cruiser Contest. The winner will be featured on the cover of the association’s 2018 wall calendar.

LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Louisiana public schools are restarting an evaluation system that will tie many teachers’ annual job reviews to students’ standardized test scores. The reviews apply to math, English, science and social studies teachers.

MAINE Poland: A Maine woman is one of eight Americans who will participate in the 620-mile Mongol Derby horse race that begins Wednesday. Amanda Charlton Herbert will get to ride 28 semi-wild horses across Mongolia, The Sun Journal reports.

MARYLAND Baltimore: Police Commissioner Kevin Davis says he’s proud of community efforts in the Baltimore cease-fire last weekend, even though two people were shot and killed. Davis says the “Nobody Kill Anybody” effort served as a “great conversation starter and momentum builder.”

MASSACHUSETTS Middleton: Two Essex County Jail inmates and two of their relatives face charges in a failed scheme to smuggle opioids into the facility, The Salem News reports.

MICHIGAN Detroit: Federal officials say restitution claims are being approved in the case of a Detroit-area doctor who put patients through needless cancer treatments. About three-quarters of the claims submitted so far on behalf of former patients of Farid Fata have been approved.

MINNESOTA Minneapolis: A bulldozer ruptured a gas main, forcing the evacuation of buildings within a block of the resulting leak near the University of Minnesota.

MISSISSIPPI Starkville: Private donors have given more than $100 million to Mississippi State University for the fourth year in a row, The Clarion-Ledger reports. It was the second-highest fundraising year on record.

MISSOURI Jefferson City: An audit says former Gov. Jay Nixon spent $2.2 million more on his office than what lawmakers budgeted. The audit says Nixon shifted expenses to other agencies and delayed paying bills.

MONTANA Billings: An arson charge was dismissed against a woman who confessed to setting a 2014 fire that caused $1 million in damage to a Billings apartment building. A judge suppressed Jesse Elizabeth Root’s confession because it was made during a psychiatric evaluation, The Billings Gazette reports.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: City officials are wondering whether to restrict public access to police radio dispatches, The Lincoln Journal Star reports. The switch to a digital radio system by early 2018 gives the police department the option to encrypt its radio channels.

NEVADA Tonopah: A clown-themed motel next to a Nevada cemetery is for sale, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Thompson and Meserve’s Purchase: Authorities say a cellphone signal helped rescuers pinpoint the location of five lost hikers who took a wrong turn while descending New Hampshire’s Jewell Trail. No one was injured.

NEW JERSEY Sea Isle City: A fox that wandered onto a New Jersey beach over the weekend evaded capture by animal control officers. The animal was spotted in Sea Isle City between 39th and 40th streets. It ran into the sand dunes as an animal control officer approached with a net.

NEW MEXICO Carlsbad: Carlsbad Caverns National Park has awarded a $4.7 million contract to modernize the primary elevators at the New Mexico tourist attraction. NEW YORK Albany: A New York Army National Guard unit that traces its lineage to U.S. entry into World War I is marking a century as a fighting force. The Troy-based 42nd Infantry Division was officially formed in August 1917.

NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The News & Observer reports that 51 inmates died in North Carolina county jails over a five-year period through 2016 when they were left unsupervised for longer than state regulations allow. The regulations require checks on jail inmates at least twice an hour.

NORTH DAKOTA Devils Lake: The city’s century-old VFW building that presents accessibility issues for many older and disabled veterans will be remodeled. Officials say that making the building fully compliant with ADA standards could cost anywhere from $70,000 to $150,000.

OHIO Columbus: The state crime lab that tests drugs for Ohio law enforcement agencies wants to get help from other labs to deal with increasing demand for testing amid the opioid epidemic, The Columbus Dispatch reports.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: A former Oklahoma death row inmate has settled a lawsuit against the state and a former prosecutor for $32 million, The Oklahoman reports. Yancy Douglas’conviction was overturned in 2009.

OREGON Woodburn: Vineyard owners are worried that the extensive heat wave in Oregon may be damaging their crops, The Capital Press reports. Excessive heat can blister or sunburn wine grapes.

PENNSYLVANIA Stroudsburg: A prosecutor says a popping sound thwarted a man’s attempt to cheat a court-ordered drug test. The noise came from the suspect’s use of scissors to cut open a condom that he had filled with clean urine to put in the sample cup.

RHODE ISLAND Newport: The founder of the Newport jazz and folk festivals has received an honor from the city that hosts them. George Wein received the Newport Medal of Honor last week from Mayor Harry Winthrop, The Newport Daily News reports.

SOUTH CAROLINA Hardeeville: A beginning driver and her passenger got out just in time after getting stuck trying to turn around at a South Carolina railroad crossing. Authorities say an Amtrak carrying 400 passengers sliced the car in two and the wreckage caught fire as it was dragged down the tracks Sunday, The Island Packet reports.

SOUTH DAKOTA Delmont: The Daily Republic reports that about 420 people attended a weekend dedication service for the new Zion Lutheran Church. The old church was destroyed by a tornado in May 2015 that injured nine people.

TENNESSEE Huntsville: The Scott County Jail is accused in federal lawsuits of not providing adequate medical care to inmates, The Knoxville News Sentinel reports. The suits were brought on behalf of three inmates.

TEXAS Houston: The Houston Police Department is stepping up bicycling safety enforcement after less than three dozen citations were issued since 2015, The Houston Chronicle reports. A 2013 ordinance requires motorists to stay at least 3 feet away from bicyclists and pedestrians.

UTAH St. George: Utility regulators in Utah are considering a rate hike for people with rooftop solar panels who sell the extra back to the power company, The Spectrum reports. Industry researchers argue that such customers aren’t paying their fair share for service.

VERMONT Ferrisburgh: A 10-year-old boy who reeled in a giant carp says he knew it was a record contender before he ever got it ashore. Chase Stokes’ fish set a state record: 33.25 pounds, The Rutland Herald reports.

VIRGINIA Richmond: College students who fall behind on tuition can have a hard time digging out because of a Virginia law on such unpaid bills, The Washington Post reports. The law requires public colleges to turn over accounts of less than $3,000 that are 60 days past due to private debt collectors who can tack on a 30% fee.

WASHINGTON Olympia: The Thurston County coroner’s office is investigating how two gurneys, including one carrying a body, fell out of a van Monday and rolled into traffic, KOMO reports.

WEST VIRGINIA Matewan: The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum has received a $30,000 challenge grant for a project to commemorate the 100th anniversary in 2021 of the Battle of Blair Mountain.

WISCONSIN Galesville: A Wisconsin dairy farmer could be awarded up to $13.5 million after winning a five-year legal battle against a utility over stray voltage. Paul Halderson tells the La Crosse Tribune that his herd dealt with illness and decreased milk production for more than a decade because lines weren’t properly grounded.

WYOMING Jackson: Thieves have made off with more than $115,000 worth of art from multiple Wyoming galleries, The Jackson Hole News & Guide reports. One piece, a Henry Farny painting that disappeared on July 31 from Trailside Galleries, is worth $100,000. It was supposed to be auctioned in September.