STATE-BY-STATE
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Birmingham: The Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall opened at the Fultondale Promenade Shopping Center, AL.com reported. The wall is an 80% replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington.
ALASKA Fairbanks: A logjam on the Chena River has caused at least three watercraft to capsize this summer and has doubled in size because of rising waters, according to newsminer.com. An operation using a crane to remove the logs got underway.
ARIZONA Tucson: Mahin Khan was accused in a grand jury indictment of a conspiracy to induce terrorism at a Motor Vehicle Division office in Maricopa County, The Arizona Republic reported.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: A fire that swept through an apartment complex, destroying 16 units, was determined to be arson,
ArkansasOnline reported.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: The city rolled out a bicycle sharing program. The agreement with the county’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority creates up to 65 bike-sharing stations.
COLORADO Aspen: A 1-year-old Shih Tzu that went missing in the mountains near here was found safe after spending nearly a month in the wild, the Aspen
Times reported.
CONNECTICUT Hamden: Police investigated after 18 cats were removed from a vacant apartment.
DELAWARE Dewey Beach: This resort town hosted its 20th annual “Running of the Bull” on Saturday, The News Journal reported. The event, which started as a lark between a group of friends, features hundreds of runners and partiers being chased down the beach by two people in a bull costume.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The
Washington Post profiled Perry Frank, who is compiling a book of building murals that tell colorful stories of the city’s past and present.
FLORIDA Miami: Adonis Losada, the ex- Sábado Gigante funnyman convicted of hoarding child porn on his computer, is headed to prison for 153 years, the Miami
Herald reported, several months after a jury convicted him on 51 counts. The 52-year-old actor’s signature role on Gigante was gray-haired grandma Doña Concha.
GEORGIA Cumming: Nathan VanBuren, 34, a former police officer, faces federal charges after he allegedly searched a police database in exchange for money, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
HAWAII Honolulu: A newly released study shows that the state’s Housing First program worked for an overwhelming majority of homeless people who participated in the Oahu project. The University of Hawaii report says the program worked for 97% of participants last year, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
IDAHO Island Park: Researchers started trapping grizzly bears in parts of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest as part of a project to monitor the bear population in and around Yellowstone National Park.
ILLINOIS Chicago: Pope Francis named Archbishop Blase Cupich to the influential Congregation for Bishops, the Chicago Tribune reported.
INDIANA Franklin: Ryan Farmer, 24, a massage therapist, was charged with battery after prose- cutors said he fondled three female clients, The Indianapolis
Star reported. Farme allegedly groped the women’s breasts while he gave them massages at CMG Family Wellness Center, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Johnson Superior Court.
IOWA Council Bluffs: A supervisor at a casino, a dealer and a patron were charged with conspiring to cheat at roulette at the Horseshoe Casino. The trio allegedly split $20,000 to $30,000 in earnings.
KANSAS Great Bend: Construction started on a facility that will allow easier loading of cargo between trains and trucks. The rail shipping facility is likely to open by the end of the year.
KENTUCKY Frankfort: The name of former state first lady Jane Beshear was removed from the Capitol Education Center on the grounds of the Capitol less than a year after it was added, the
Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: A century ago, a relatively new music genre gaining in popularity around the world was finally given a name: jas. That’s what they called it here, anyway. The music had been around for a few years, but it wasn’t until 1916 that the first reference to “jas” — or jazz, as we spell it now — was made in the local press, The
Times-Picayune reported.
MAINE Westbrook: Police advised people not to let concerns over a large, loose snake keep them away from attending the Riverbank Park Summer Concert Series, WMTW-TV reported. The next concert is Wednesday. The 10-foot-long snake ate a beaver a week ago.
MARYLAND Thurmont: Volunteers from Catoctin Furnace Historical Society discovered a trove of old worker clothing dating to the 1890s, stuffed into the eaves of the Forgeman’s House, which is being renovated into a bed and breakfast. The Frederick
News-Post reported that the clothing helps tell the story of the 19-century workers who kept the iron furnaces going in the village.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A 72-year-old cab driver who got a $100 reward from a man who left a backpack containing more than $187,000 in his taxi was offered a free cruise. Royal Caribbean Cruises offered Raymond “Buzzy” MacCausland and his longtime girlfriend, Sharon King, a seven-day trip to the Caribbean, including airfare to Florida.
MICHIGAN Sturgis: Repairs to a dam are having an impact on farmers who need water from the St. Joseph River. The Kalamazoo
Gazette reported that it’s a critical time for corn and potato growers.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: The giant “1st” atop the First National Bank building will be repaired in the next few months, the Pioneer
Press reported. About half its lights were knocked out in a storm in January, and the sign has been dark ever since.
MISSISSIPPI Moss Point: Mayor Billy Broomfield decided not to banish a pet pig while its owner is on military duty in Iraq, the Sun
Herald reported.
MISSOURI St. Louis: The nation’s elite junior chess players are in town through July 18 for the U.S. Junior Closed Championship. Players from California to New York are competing.
MONTANA Missoula: The city opened a new Veterans Administration center. KECI-TV reported that the facility is twice the size of the old one and has group conference rooms, a full kitchen and multipurpose rooms.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: Three prison staff members were allegedly assaulted by inmates last week, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.
NEVADA Reno: A man was injured after a fall at the Tesla Gigafactory. KRNV-TV reported that the man apparently fell through sheetrock and was left with some broken bones.
NEW HAMPSHIRE North
Woodstock: Three orphaned bear cubs were rescued after their mother was killed in a car crash, WMUR-TV reported.
NEW JERSEY Paterson: An ambitious proposal for a $19.7 million visitors’ center, a flashy, glass-enclosed structure that would stand near the lower level of the Passaic River facing the Great Falls, was presented to the advisory commission for the city’s national park, The Record reported.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: Joel Boyd, the superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools, announced that he is leaving the district for a private education company.
NEW YORK Rochester: For the second time in a week and the eighth time this year, police in the region discovered a body that had been set on fire. All of the crimes remain unsolved, the Democrat &
Chronicle reported. Police have found no evidence to suggest the cases are linked, but the number of cases itself is unusual. NORTH CAROLINA Johnston
County: Wild hogs, living on privately owned land along the Neuse River, are dangerous, but they make for good eating. Travel Channel star Andrew Zimmern, host of the network’s Bizarre
Foods show, dropped in on Jody Rhodes, who founded Carolina Razorback Outfitters to guide hunters in pursuit of the hogs,
The News & Observer reported. Tune in for the episode Tuesday.
NORTH DAKOTA Medora: Commissioners in Billings County approved a zoning change that could lead to the construction of a refinery near Theodore Roosevelt National Park, The Bismarck
Tribune reported. Houston-based Meridian Energy Group wants to build the $850 million oil refinery on a site about 3 miles from the park.
OHIO Akron: The zoo plans to bring back its holiday light show this year for the first time since 2000. The Wild Lights show will be held on weekends at night from Thanksgiving through the week of Christmas. The zoo will be closed during the day on those nights.
OKLAHOMA Edmond: A man who rented a gun at Safety 1st gun range and killed himself was identified as attorney Kermit Milburn, who was under investigation for his alleged participation in a chop shop and cloning operation involving high-dollar Mustang automobiles, The Okla
homan reported.
OREGON Bend: Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon and BridgeSpan Health will not sell individual policies in Deschutes County in 2017, The Bend Bulletin reported. BridgeSpan will also stop selling such policies in Crook and Jefferson Counties.
PENNSYLVANIA Altoona: A statue honoring John Robertson, the founder and continuing head of the Altoona Boxing Club, was unveiled last week, The Altoona
Mirror reported.
RHODE ISLAND Johnston: A high school teacher who was accused last year of putting his name on checks made out to the school no longer faces charges. WPRI-TV reported the Attorney General’s Office dropped the charges against Johnston High School science teacher Greg Russo, 57, citing a lack of probable cause.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The Richland County coroner ruled that a 31-year-old man in a home without air conditioning died from the heat.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Uber failed to provide necessary paperwork to begin ride-hailing services, the Argus Leader reported.
TENNESSEE Memphis: The delayed rollout of body-worn cameras for police officers has been further slowed by problems with the technology. The concerns include problems with the cameras’ docking station in the cars.
TEXAS Canyon: West Texas A&M University reported that the offspring of cattle the school cloned in 2012 had 16% less trim fat, 9% more rib eye and 45% more marbling than average cattle, the Houston Chronicle reported.
UTAH Salt Lake City: A woman’s condition improved after being rescued following a 50-foot fall in Little Cottonwood Canyon, the Deseret News reported. Unified Police Lt. Lex Bell said Abigail Ward, 18, was hiking with her 15-year-old brother when she slipped and fell.
VERMONT Newport: Well, this just takes the cake. And the whole bakery. Cindy Poginy, owner of All About The Cake, is running a contest to give away her business. Required: $175 entry fee, essay and “cake war” bake-off to make sure the prospective owner knows how to “do more than just write,” the Burlington Free Press reported.
VIRGINIA Rockingham Coun
ty: “Unusual bear activity” prompted closures in southern sections of Shenandoah National Park, the Culpeper Star-Exponent reported.
WASHINGTON Blaine: Authorities arrested a driver who allegedly led Canadian and U.S. officials on a cross-border chase that ended here, The Bellingham Her
ald reported.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Amid mounting concerns over its structural soundness, the Oakwood Road fire station was demolished, the Charleston
Gazette-Mail reported.
WISCONSIN Green Bay: A battalion of kids from Upward Bound, armed with shears, snippers and herbicide, stormed into the brush last week and laid waste to hundreds of buckthorn and honeysuckle plants that have been crowding out the desirable plants at the Green Bay Botanical Garden, the Green Bay Press
Gazette reported.
WYOMING Yellowstone Na
tional Park: The park has welcomed more than 1.4 million visitors this year, a 10% increase over the same time in 2015. The National Park Service said the park had about 830,000 visitors during the month of June alone, a 7% jump from last year.