News from across the USA
ALABAMA Birmingham: Randall Woodfin was elected mayor Tuesday, easily defeating incumbent William Bell. At 36, he’ll be the youngest mayor in the city’s modern history.
ALASKA Anchorage: The Army Corps of Engineers has released Armstrong Energy’s plans for a billion-plus-barrel Nanushuk oil project on the North Slope, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reports. The project is expected to produce about 120,000 barrels per day of conventional light oil at its peak rate.
ARIZONA Sierra Vista: Officials at the Army’s Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista says it will lose its band. The Army is making changes in its overall music support structure. An inactivation ceremony is tentatively scheduled for next June.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: The Little Rock Zoo is home to two new baby penguins. They are the eighth and ninth hatchlings since the zoo opened its African penguin exhibit in 2011.
CALIFORNIA Lancaster: A newborn boy was surrendered at a hospital north of Los Angeles under a program that allows infants to be safely given up with no questions asked, The Sun reports. The child was the 155th given up since the 16-year-old program began. COLORADO Denver: The sister of an inmate beaten to death in the Arapahoe County jail has filed a lawsuit against the county commission, the sheriff and 10 deputies and officers, The Denver Post reports. Officials declined to comment on the suit.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has nominated two judges to serve on the state Supreme Court. Raheem Mullins, of Cromwell, and Maria Araujo Kahn, of Cheshire, serve on the state Appellate Court and are subject to approval by the legislature. DELAWARE Dover: Police say a 24-year-old man arrested in a shoplifting case died in custody last month. Delaware authorities say John Manning III appears to have experienced a medical incident. A medical examiner’s report is pending. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A suburban Washington man is charged with making racist threats directed at Howard University in 2015. John Edgar Rust is accused of transmitting threats over the internet.
FLORIDA Tallahassee: State officials say Hurricane Irma caused more than $2.5 billion in damage to the agricultural community. Irma dealt Florida’s iconic orange crop the most devastating blow, causing more than $760 million in damage. Beef cattle were next at $237 million.
GEORGIA Atlanta: A new city ordinance eliminating jail time and reducing penalties for having small amounts of marijuana will allow officers to focus on violent crimes, Police Chief Erika Shields says. HAWAII Honolulu: University of Hawaii alumnus and real estate investor Jay Shidler has donated a collection of mainland commercial properties to his alma mater’s business school. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that lease payments for the properties through the next 99 years will total $2.1 billion. IDAHO Boise: State wildlife authorities are trying to find out who poached a mule deer near Melba. A conservation officer found the headless carcass last weekend.
ILLINOIS Chicago: Two graduates of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business have made a $75 million gift to the
school. The Booth School will name its academic high honors after 1975 MBA graduate Amy Wallman and her husband, 1974 MBA graduate RichardWallman.
INDIANA Hammond: The U.S. Senate has confirmed Thomas Kirsch II as the U.S. attorney for Indiana’s northern district. Kirsch is a partner at Winston & Strawn LLP in Chicago.
IOWA Spencer: Alliant Energy has announced plans to build a
300-megawatt wind farm that will cover about 30,000 acres in Iowa’s Clay and Dickinson counties. Officials say the 121 turbines planned for the project should produce enough power for
130,000 homes.
KANSAS Topeka: A sharp increase in violent crimes has been reported as the state Bureau of Investigation deals with a shortage of agents. Killings statewide increased by more than 46% between 2014 and 2016.
KENTUCKY Louisville: An album released last month by the Louisville Orchestra has hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Classical chart. “All In” features an original work by conductor Teddy Abrams called “Unified Field.”
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Louisiana has four months’ worth of federal money left for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Congress let the program’s financing expire in September.
MAINE Fairfield: The Maine Technology Institute is holding a series of workshops on how to apply for $45 million in grant funding following a bond referendum. Voters approved the bond in June, and Brunswickbased MTI is soliciting project applications through Dec. 8. MARYLAND Annapo
lis: The United States Sailboat Show is underway in Annapolis through Monday. A fundraiser is included at the Annapolis Waterfront Hotel to raise money for hurricane relief. The hotel is near the Annapolis City Dock, where the boat show takes place.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A Republican hoping to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has poured $3 million of his own money into his campaign. Winchester executive John Kingston says he’s also raised more than $250,000 from supporters.
MICHIGAN Lapeer: State regulators have detected elevated levels of a group of toxic chemicals in the Flint River and its tributaries that apparently came from an industrial facility in Lapeer. The chemicals are used in many industrial applications and products, including firefighting foams.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: An Anoka man was sentenced to four months in jail under a new state law that holds people accountable for revenge porn. Michael Weigel, 39, created a fake Facebook account under the name of his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend and posted nude pictures of the woman.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The wife of a former state lawmaker pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges that she paid kickbacks to the state’s former corrections commissioner after he steered a $5,000-a-month consulting contract to her. Teresa Malone faces up to 30 years in prison.
MISSOURI Jefferson City: A lesbian who helped raise a child with her former partner following artificial insemination can seek custody or visitation with the child even though they were never married and she was not the one who gave birth, Missouri appellate judges ruled.
MONTANA Billings: Tribal officials are urging Crow Agency residents not to drink or touch the water after vandals shot up, smashed and burned the area’s water treatment facility, the Billings Gazette reports. Damage is estimated at $1 million.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: A lawsuit accuses two county sheriffs and a police chief of harassing two employees with the Nebraska Crime Commission after it denied grant funds to a western Nebraska anti-drug task force.
NEVADA Reno: Heightened police and security will be part of the Eldorado casino’s outdoor Italian festival this weekend. That is to help ease concerns after the attack on concertgoers in Las Vegas last weekend. The two-day downtown Reno festival typically draws about 30,000 people.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Portsmouth: City Police Capt. Frank Warchol says his department is investing in equipment and training needed to recognize whether a motorcycle is illegally loud. State law says no idling motorcycle should be louder than 92 decibels, New Hampshire Public Radio reports.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: Amy Andersen, an American Sign Language teacher at a Cape May County high school, has been named New Jersey’s Teacher of the Year.
NEW MEXICO Las Cruces: New Mexico State University will let motorists who get certain parking tickets pay with peanut butter, The Las
Cruces Sun-News reports. Those cited for “no current permit” can pay with at least 80 ounces of peanut butter from Oct.
23-27. The donation will go to the
Aggie Cupboard.
NEW YORK New
York: Residents are petitioning to have West Eighth
Street in Greenwich Village co-named “Jimi Hendrix Way.” Hendrix opened Electric Lady Studios on the block just before his death in 1970.
NORTH CAROLINA WinstonSalem: Authorities say a man who jumped from a moving cab to avoid paying his fare was fatally injured. Police initially thought Michael Jason Curl was a hitand-run victim. NORTH DAKOTA Minot: The Minot Public School District is in settlement talks with ServPro, which sued the district for $1.9 million in unpaid cleanup expenses resulting from the 2011 Souris River flood, The Minot Daily News reports. OHIO Toledo: Authorities say Dewanna James, 43, who was awaiting trial on a murder charge, was found unresponsive in her Lucas County jail cell Monday night and was pronounced dead Tuesday. No signs of foul play or visible injuries were found. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City:
State health officials say a wild bat found at the Oklahoma City Zoo tested positive for rabies. Officials say there have been 40 cases of animal rabies statewide so far this year.
OREGON Portland: A Secretary of State audit says an Oregon program that aims to help elderly low-income people and those with disabilities get care to stay in their homes has failed to fully protect them from potential
harm, Often, The relatives Oregonianuse the reports. program to provide home health care.
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RHODE ISLAND Providence: Gov. Gina Raimondo apologized Wednesday for slamming Rhode Island’s biggest media outlets a day earlier over what she sees as critical or insufficient coverage of her administration. SOUTH CAROLINA Irmo: Police in suburban Columbia says a woman wearing scrubs with a teddy bear design has tried to lure preteen boys into her car by offering to give them a ride. Irmo Police Chief Don Perry says the boys were between 10 and 12 years old. SOUTH DAKOTA Vermillion:
The state Supreme Court is hearing a dispute between neighbors over the size of a new house. Josh and Sarah Sapienza’s attorney says they got the necessary permits for the home, which towers over their neighbors’.
TENNESSEE Gatlinburg: The Tennessee water utility that serves the Gatlinburg area that was ravaged by wildfires is seeking to charge customers more as it rebuilds, The Knoxville News Sentinel reports.
TEXAS Dallas: A jury has awarded $42 million to a couple who were trapped in their burning car following faulty repair work by a Dallas body shop. Marcia and Matthew Seebachan suffered burns and crushing injuries in 2013.
UTAH Salt Lake City: The head of a Utah-based investment firm has won Senate confirmation to the Federal Reserve. Randal Quarles is the only nomination President Trump has made to the central bank. VERMONT South Burlington:
City teachers overwhelmingly approved a new contract early Wednesday just hours before a strike was due to start. Details won’t be released until the agreement has been approved by the school board. VIRGINIA Char
lottesville: Jason Kessler, the main organizer of an Aug. 12 white nationalist rally in which a woman was killed, has been charged with perjury. Kessler alleged in January that he was punched while gathering signatures for a petition to remove a city councilman. He later pleaded guilty to assaulting the man he accused. WASHINGTON Port Orchard:
A local jail inmate faces new charges after unintentionally leading investigators to guns hidden in his vehicle, The Kitsap Sun reports. The inmate made phone calls to two men to retrieve guns from the trunk of his car. Jail phone calls are recorded, and inmates are informed of that.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: A new report says about 554,000 West Virginians still lack access to high-speed Internet service, including about half of all those who live in rural areas. WISCONSIN Madison: The state is honoring two Department of Natural Resources officers who rescued a couple from a disabled boat during a storm on Lake Winnebago this summer. Jeff Nieling and Tom Sturdivant initially had to cope with their own boat taking on water before locating the stranded vessel. WYOMING Jackson: American Airlines will offer a direct flight to Dallas from the Jackson Hole Airport during the offseason starting next spring, The Jackson Hole News And Guide reports. Currently, the airport has only two direct connections, to Denver and Salt Lake City, during the offseason.