Around the nation
News from every state.
ALABAMA Elmore: A K-9 known as both the best narcotics-sniffing dog in the state and a “knucklehead” was honored at a memorial Tuesday after he died searching for drugs during a prison sweep. The 5-year-old Belgian Malinois named Jake suddenly became ill July 18 after contact with synthetic street drug flakka.
ALASKA Anchorage: Repairs and upgrades at quake-damaged area schools could cost over $150 million.
ARIZONA Tusayan: Fees could be going up at a large campground near the Grand Canyon’s popular South Rim entrance. A proposal by the Kaibab National Forest would more than double overnight fees for single sites at Ten X Campground from $10 to $24 and at doubles from $20 to $48.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Officials say the four companies providing coverage through the state’s insurance exchange are seeking an average rate increase of about 2% for next year.
CALIFORNIA San Diego: San Diego Zoo Global says it has achieved the first successful artificial insemination birth of a southern white rhino in North America.
COLORADO Denver: The U.S. Department of Justice has lost track of more than 60 boxes of documents from a 27-year-old criminal investigation into safety and environmental violations at a former nuclear weapons plant, officials said Tuesday.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is seeking scenic photos for the Discover Outdoor Connecticut Photo Contest.
DELAWARE Bowers: The Murderkill River has claimed a bait shop that stood as an icon to the town’s history as a commercial fishing hotspot. Frenchie’s Bait & Tackle partially slid into the river late Monday.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The city’s Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is asking Maryland to release over $50 million the state has withheld for a month amid ongoing funding disputes.
FLORIDA Redington Beach: Authorities and beachgoers came together to protect and transport five pilot whales trapped in shallow water along the shore Monday.
GEORGIA Savannah: Georgia’s seaports are celebrating another year of record growth, though their chief executive warns business will suffer if the U.S. doesn’t resolve its trade war with China.
HAWAII Honolulu: The governor on Tuesday rescinded an emergency proclamation in place to deal with Native Hawaiian protesters who are blocking a road to prevent construction of a giant telescope at a mountain summit they consider sacred.
IDAHO Jerome: The University of Idaho has bought land for a public visitor center, classrooms and other facilities supporting what officials say will be the world’s largest research dairy.
ILLINOIS Chicago: The city’s transportation agencies are boosting services to accommodate tens of thousands attending Lollapalooza.
INDIANA Indianapolis: The body of notorious 1930s gangster John Dillinger is expected to be exhumed in September at a local cemetery, but it could be a tough job because his grave is encased in concrete.
IOWA Iowa City: The ousted director of the state Department of Human Services will pursue a wrongful termination lawsuit, alleging he was let go after objecting to a pay arrangement for the governor’s deputy chief of staff, his lawyer says.
KANSAS Wellington: The National Glass Museum is temporarily closed after the building’s front collapsed.
KENTUCKY Cave City: Federal officials are investigating a report that a man fired a gunshot while camping at Mammoth Cave National Park, an incident that another camper says was prompted by an alleged sighting of Bigfoot.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: More than 260 new laws are taking effect in the state as August begins, including raising the minimum age for marriage to 16.
MAINE Rockland: The Maine Lobster Festival is underway, with festivalgoers planning to eat hundreds of the state’s beloved arthropods and crown a new sea goddess.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: An archaeological dig in historic Chinatown has been cut short after it turned up a New Edition cassette, a toy dinosaur and other bric-a-brac. The city’s Archaeology Program tweeted Tuesday that researchers had reached the water table, making it unsafe to dig further.
MICHIGAN Lansing: A mission to return the Arctic grayling to state waters is nearing a milestone. Juvenile grayling are scheduled to arrive soon at the Oden State Fish Hatchery in Emmet County, where an ultraviolet water disinfection system has been installed.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: About 200 people protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies blocked traffic near a federal building at Fort Snelling on Tuesday.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The Mississippi Wildlife Federation’s Mississippi Wildlife Extravaganza this weekend is facing a boycott by sportsmen, and vendors are dropping out, over the organization’s stance against floodwater pumps in the south Delta.
MISSOURI Columbia: A spokesman for the University of Missouri’s flagship campus says the school has identified fewer than 10 students whose parents may have taken advantage of a financial aid loophole, with wealthy parents transferring guardianship to friends or relatives to make it appear they came from poorer backgrounds.
MONTANA Billings: The blood supplier of area hospitals says it needs more donors after its daily donation count has fallen by more than half.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: A state trooper has cited a driver after pulling over a vehicle that had registration stickers painted onto its license plates, in what a spokesman says is a first.
NEVADA Las Vegas: Airport officials say a 3.1% jump in the number of passengers for the first half of 2019 puts McCarran International Airport on record pace to top 50 million passengers for the year.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Henniker: The Youth Voices Summit at New England College, an annual gathering of current and former foster youth, will be held Thursday and has a rap music theme this year.
NEW JERSEY Manasquan: Bob Menendez, the state’s senior U.S. senator, wants federal officials to take more aggressive action to protect beachgoers from wind-swept beach umbrellas.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: The mother of a Navajo girl who was kidnapped and killed in 2016 urged tribal officials and children’s advocates Tuesday to take advantage of tools and funding under a law that expands access to the nation’s Amber Alert system.
NEW YORK Albany: State ethics officials are threatening to fine a woman up to $75,000 for unregistered lobbying after she rented billboards to criticize state laws on molestation and share her own story of abuse. NORTH CAROLINA Hillsborough: Officials are looking for an emu on the loose that was last spotted jumping on the hood of a car before running away.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A landowners group has sued the state over a new law related to compensation for the use of “pore space,” or cavities in underground rock formations.
OHIO Garfield Heights: A judge wants to take a second look at a 10day jail sentence given to a 79-yearold woman for refusing to stop feeding stray cats.
OKLAHOMA Welch: Authorities are starting a new search for Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible, two 16year-old girls missing and presumed dead for nearly 20 years.
OREGON Portland: A real estate investor has donated 22 acres of undeveloped land to Portland Audubon’s Wildlife Sanctuary.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Pennsylvanians who prefer not to be identified as male or female will soon have a gender-neutral option on their state-issued driver’s licenses.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: The Providence Teachers Union has declared its commitment to work with the state to reform the city’s schools.
SOUTH CAROLINA Lexington: The state Department of Education has been granted $8 million to buy new school buses thanks to a settlement involving Volkswagen.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: The American Civil Liberties Union is creating a new position in the state focusing on indigenous issues.
TENNESSEE Nashville: The state is providing access to federal grant programs to help communities and volunteer fire departments become better equipped for wildfires.
TEXAS Houston: Officials have approved a settlement in a federal lawsuit over the bail system in Harris County that ensures that most people accused of misdemeanor offenses don’t languish in jail.
UTAH Salt Lake City: The state’s decision to award a smaller number of medical marijuana grower licenses than allowed by law is being challenged by six companies that say the state granted licenses to unqualified cultivators and had inappropriate interactions with applicants.
VERMONT Castleton: Castleton University has received accreditation from the New England Commission of Higher Learning for the newest extension of its nursing program.
VIRGINIA Norfolk: The Naro Expanded Video Archival Library, a video rental store that is believed to be among the last of its size on the East Coast, is set to close this month.
WASHINGTON Seatac: Democrats have elected the first female speaker of the state House. With the selection of Rep. Laurie Jinkins of Tacoma, Washington also becomes the second state to have a gay House speaker.
WEST VIRGINIA Huntington: People recovering from substance abuse disorder can get rides to appointments under a forthcoming project.
WISCONSIN Madison: Gov. Tony Evers is pushing to toughen state rules to reduce nitrate contamination in ground and surface water.
WYOMING Cheyenne: Cheyenne Frontier Days officials report a slight increase in attendance at night shows this past weekend, while rodeo attendance saw a slight drop this year.