Florida conservationists capture 215 pound python, the heaviest ...

(CNN) She's massive, invasive and covered in scales: A record breaking 215-pound, 18-foot-long Burmese python has been captured in Florida.

The python is the heaviest ever captured in the state, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida announced on Wednesday.

The huge reptile was captured by the conservancy as part of its invasive Burmese python research program.

Biologists found the female by tracking a male "scout snake" named Dionysus with a radio transmitter. Males are attracted to the largest females, according to the conservancy. So by following a breeding male like Dionysus, they can find and remove large breeding females and their eggs.

Ian Bartoszek, a project manager for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, biologist Ian Easterling and intern Kyle Findley caught and euthanized the huge female python before hauling her back to their field truck last December.

Read More

Prehistoric Native American artifact found in gator's stomach

JACKSON, Miss. – What does a 750-pound alligator eat? Well, just about anything it wants, but items found in this particular Mississippi alligator's stomach defy odds and date back thousands of years.

Shane Smith, owner of Red Antler Processing in Yazoo City, Mississippi, said he was examining contents of a 13-foot, 5-inch alligator that weighed 750 pounds and discovered two unusual objects. One he couldn't identify, but the other was clearly a broken stone arrowhead.

The find was so unexpected, he almost didn't let the news out.

"At first, I thought 'I'm not posting this on Facebook,' because no one will believe it," Smith said.

Then, he had second thoughts.

"This is too cool not to post of Facebook," he said. "This has probably never happened before. We gotta post this."

Alligators in Mississippi:5 things you may not know about the South's apex predator

Dog tags in an alligator's stomach

The story first began to unfold in April when a wild game processor in South Carolina reported opening the stomach of an alligator and finding unusual items. Smith read it and was skeptical.

"The curiosity struck me when I saw a post online about someone finding dog tags in an alligator's stomach," Smith said.

To satisfy that curiosity, Smith decided to examine contents of the larger alligators he processed. The first was a 13-foot, 2-inch, 787-pound gator taken by Ty Powell of Columbia, Mississippi.

"We found a bullet in it, and it had not been fired from a gun," Smith said. "I don't know how it got in there."

The second alligator he opened, which was harvested at Eagle Lake, located 15 miles northwest of Vicksburg on the Mississippi and Louisiana border, contained many of the things the first did, including bones, hair, feathers and stones. Then, something else caught his eye.

A find like no other

"Everybody was standing around like I was opening a Christmas present," Smith said. "We kind of put it all in a bin.

"I looked over and saw a rock with a different tint to it. It was the arrowhead."

Smith said he was dumbfounded.

"It was just disbelief," Smith said. "There's just no way he had an arrowhead. Your first thought is it ate (a Native American) or (a Native American) shot it in the stomach."

Smith knew that wasn't the case, though.

"My best hypothesis is wherever he scooped up those other rocks, he got that (Native American) point," Smith said. "We joked about it and said I'm probably the only person on Earth to pull an arrowhead out of an alligator's stomach."

Point dates back thousands of years

James Starnes, director of Surface Geology and Surface Mapping for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, examined a photograph of the point. He estimated it was made about 5000-6000 BC.

'That is the latter part of the Early Archaic and early part of the Middle Archaic (periods)," Starnes said. "How the base is made is real tell-tale in estimating the time period."

Starnes also noted the object is not an arrowhead. It's a point used on an early weapon that launches a spear using a second piece of wood with a cup on one end which acts as a lever to increase velocity.

"That's an atlatl dart point," Starnes said. "People think all heads are arrowheads, but those (arrowheads) would be the little bitty points."

As bizarre as the find was, it was about to get even stranger. Smith found a heavy, tear-shaped object roughly 1½ inches in length. Both he and the hunter who was permitted to harvested the alligator thought it was something more modern — a lead weight used for fishing.

"It's heavy like lead," Hamilton said. "It looks like it's got two holes in it, but they don't go through it.

"It's got a little hole and a bigger hole on top. I guess it goes in and comes back out."

What's a plummet, and why would an alligator eat it?

Starnes said it's known as a plummet and dates back to the Late Archaic Period, or about 1700 BC.

The weight is accounted for because it's made of hematite, an iron oxide traded between early groups and shines when polished. Starnes said what purpose plummets served is unknown.

"The plummets, we really have no idea what they were used for," Starnes said. "These things had some significance, but we have no idea. We can only guess."

So, how did these ancient objects get into the alligator's belly? Ricky Flynt, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Alligator Program coordinator, explained very hard objects, typically stones, aid the reptiles in digestion.

"Alligators, like other animals such as birds and other reptiles, are known for ingesting grit and rocks to help with digestion," Flynt said. "We know alligators and crocodiles do that."

However, alligators differ from fowl such as chickens and ducks. Those animals have gizzards and the grit and sand is stored there to help grind seeds and grains they consume. Alligators don't have gizzards and the stones go into the stomach.

"Sticks, wood; things they can't digest get into their stomachs," Flynt said. "I found a piece of cypress in an alligator's stomach that was 15 inches long."

Follow Clarion Ledger Outdoors on Facebook and @BrianBroom on Twitter.

Anacondas, mongoose on list of animals Florida looks to ban

The state is targeting several non-native species in hopes of controlling the animals before they become the next Burmese python, the next foreign critter, to invade and eviscerate the Sunshine State.

Pythons, iguanas, a plethora of freshwater fish and even monstrous lizards like the Argentine black and white tegu have established themselves in Florida over the past few decades. Most of them are here to stay.

Now animals like flying fox squirrels, mongoose, three types of anacondas, Java sparrows and a handful of others are being singled out by wildlife managers before the animals can take hold and cause damage.

"These animals are considered a high-risk to Florida and are already listed by the (federal government) as injurious, meaning that they are considered potentially invasive at the national level," said Michelle Kerr, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, in an email. "The species being considered are those that have been found to pose a risk to the environment, human health and safety, or the economy of the state of Florida."

Invasive species in Florida:How everyone, from spearfishermen to scientists, is fighting back

More:Burmese and Indian pythons crossbred, invaded South Florida, study suggests

From parasitic and walking catfish to piranhas and sea snakes, nearly 600 non-native species have been introduced here, and about 20 percent of those have taken hold and now call Florida home.

"Florida is considered a big hot spot for invasive species establishment," said Kristen Sommers with the FWC, at a recent meeting. "Over 60,000 observations, not including lionfish, have been recorded. We believe most of the observations are single individuals that have escaped or been released. Despite that, of the over 500 species (that have been introduced), more than 150 species at least are considered to be reproducing."

Lionfish are a venomous saltwater fish that are found mostly on offshore reefs. More than 500,000 have been caught and removed from the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, according to FWC records.

Iguanas are known for burrowing holes in canals, which often causes the sea wall or structure to collapse.

Pythons are known for eating just about anything, from small rare rodents to adult deer and alligators.

FWC commissioners will vote on whether to add this latest group of animals later this year.

If approved, the measure would only allow permitted owners to keep and transport pets like mongoose and yellow anacondas.

More:Are cane toads harmful to humans, pets? Your questions answered

More:Florida researchers bash in heads of overpopulating iguanas

Invasive animals have advantages in that they don't have natural predators living here, and some animals are better able to adapt to changing conditions in the Everglades than native ones.

It is illegal to release any animal that is not native to Florida, although not all species are able to establish breeding populations or damage local plants and wildlife.

Permitted ownership of most of these animals is allowed, although the permit holder must go through an education and facilities inspection process.

Burmese pythons are the most notorious of the prohibited species because they can grow to 20 feet and eat everything.

"We’re not going to get them out," said FWC Commissioner Joshua Kellam at September's commission meeting. "They’re going to be there, and they’re going to continue to multiply, and we’re going to be throwing money at trying to keep as much of a handle on it as we can, but it’s gotten out of control."

Kellam said penalties, which are mostly misdemeanor offenses, should be stiffer to further discourage unlicensed owners from breeding and selling prohibited animals.

Non-native animals feed on and compete with native wildlife for breeding and feeding grounds.

More:Red tide levels are low, but growing season is just beginning

More:Environmental experts say Southwest Florida's algae blooms may not ease until winter

More:Third species of algae, fueled by decomposing fish, is found blooming in Southwest Florida waters

Fighting them is difficult and expensive: State and federal agencies spend about $8 million a year to control and combat non-native species.

About $500,000 of that money is spent controlling the tegu, a relatively smart and social lizard that's also a popular pet.

Some pet shop owners and breeders say they think the state is going too far with its latest list, that some of the animals don't belong in the same group as Burmese pythons — even if they're giant snakes.

"The word anaconda scares a lot of people," said Michael Cole, owner of Ballroom Pythons South in Haines City. "They’ve been imported to this country since the mid-60s, and to my knowledge we’ve had six captures of those animals in the wild in our country. That’s a long time for this animal to be in the country and a very small number of captures."

Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Twitter.

Fact check: Game wardens did not shoot a 28-foot alligator in Florida

The claim: An alligator killed in Florida measured over 28 feet in length

As if murder hornets and megabats weren't enough to haunt people's dreams, claims of a massive, 28-foot alligator said to have been shot while creeping in the backyard of a Florida family's residence have added to the nightmares.

The post on the massive alligator, circulating widely on Facebook, shows a photograph of a large gator suspended by its neck from the loader of a piece of construction equipment. A game warden identified as Joe Goff, said to be 6 feet 5 inches tall, is walking near the gator in the photo, providing a sense of scale that shows the alligator is of significant size.

The Facebook post quotes what is said to be a radio traffic exchange between a helicopter pilot and game wardens at Lake Thomas, Florida, as they tracked a giant gator with a full-sized deer in its mouth.

After the alligator was killed, the post claims, it measured in at 28 feet, 1 inch. A Florida couple had supposedly claimed they could hear the gator "bellowing in the night" but had believed the stories of a giant reptile to be exaggerated. The gator was shot in their backyard.

Tale likely exaggerates a 2005 incident in Texas with a much smaller gator

Social media posts making claims about oversized alligators have circulated for years. In 2005, Snopes published a fact-check saying the photo in question was real, but the information about the alligator's length had been exaggerated. It also didn't take place in Florida.

But parts of the scenario in the story involving the couple who owned the backyard where the alligator was shot were taken nearly word-for-word from an article published April 16, 2005, in The Facts, a newspaper in Brazoria County, Texas.

According to the article, the West Columbia couple, whose names are identical to those in the Facebook post, had dismissed their neighbors' stories as an exaggeration but had also heard the gator making noise in the night. The game warden, also named Joe Goff, was among those who shot the alligator because it was too large to capture.

The alligator measured in at 13 feet 1 inch, which is large for an alligator but less than half the size the Facebook post claims.

The online news article reviewed by USA TODAY did not include an image. An email to The Facts to confirm the image was not immediately returned.

Longest alligator recorded in Florida was just over 14 feet

While alligators can reach large sizes, a 28-foot gator is more likely to show up in a monster movie than real life.

According to National Geographic, the American alligator can measure 10 to 15 feet and weigh as much as 1,000 pounds.

There have been various tales of large alligators killed in the U.S. throughout history, including a claim by naturalist Edward McIlhenny who said he killed a 19-foot-2 alligator in 1890, when he was 17 years old. The facts of that incident are in dispute, however, partly because McIlhenny measured the alligator using his shotgun barrel and has been described as a known "yarn-spinner."

Safari Club International recently recognized the largest American alligator was a 15-foot, 9-inch, gator killed in 2014 by a hunter in Alabama.

If the alligator in the photograph were truly 28 feet long, it would be twice the size of the longest alligator recorded by biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which measured 14 feet, 3½ inches.

Melody Kilborn, public information director for the FWC's southwest region, said staff were not aware of the rumors about a 28-foot alligator roaming in Florida, but that alligators rarely exceed 14 feet.

According to data from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, only four alligators, all of them male, have measured more than 14 feet since the records began in 1977, according to the data.

Fact check:'Megabats' exist, and they're, well, mega

Our ruling: False

The Facebook post appears to have exaggerated and misinterpreted a largely true account of an alligator being shot. Portions of the narrative of this Facebook post come directly from a news article written about an alligator in Texas, not Florida, that measured less than half the length described in the post.

There is no credible record of an American alligator measuring anywhere near 28 feet in Florida, or any other state.

For these reasons, we rate this post as FALSE.

Our fact-check sources:

Ian Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at irichardson@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at @DMRIanR.

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

Sharks vs. gators: It's a bloodbath when they fight each other

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this report misstated the name of the journal in which James Nifong's research appeared.

MELBOURNE, Fla. — At NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the cradle of man's most sophisticated technological feats, something beastly, reptilian, primal in nature lurks motionless among the salt marsh and mangrove swamps.

Nearby, another primitive creature glides through the shallows, its pointed tail propelling the ocean's apex predator toward a brutal Darwinian dance in which the most powerful jaw, quickest strike and the thickest skin often wins this war: shark versus gator.

The two seldom meet. When they do, their dance is no waltz in the national park. It can get ugly — and bloody — real quick at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, a 140,000 acre overlay of the Kennedy Space Center.

When these strangers dance, both see red, in tooth and claw.

More:Florida scientists discover deepwater shark species 'Genie's Dogfish'

More:Florida deputy kills fearless alligator who chased teen up tree

America's space portal is where king of the sea and the boss of the swamp sometimes meet and chomp it out.

Here, gators usually win. But do sharks ever one-up and gobble down a gator?

"I'm sure they would," said Eric Reyier, a fisheries biologist at Kennedy Space Center's Ecological Program and Integrated Mission Support Services. "Both alligators and sharks eat whatever they can."

At times, that's each other.

Shark-gator run-ins are relatively rare, say researchers. Alligators tend to hang out in semi-salty swamps at Merritt Island refuge, while sharks prefer the coastal waters where we swim.

"These interactions are very hard to capture," said Russell Lowers, a wildlife biologist with Integrated Mission Support Services.

But these researchers do capture them, in photos, historical records, and by pumping gator guts to find evidence the top-dog reptile makes mince meat of sharks. It's not easy to find. Gator guts are so acidic, all but teeth and scales are gone within days.

They have found evidence that gators eat nurse sharks, lemon sharks, bonnetheads and rays, a cousin species to sharks.

"It seems to be not very frequent but it's happening," said James Nifong, research biologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, Mississippi. "We don't really know the frequency of this. There's not a lot of people pumping alligator stomachs and looking at something like this."

Nurse and bonnethead sharks that live mostly sedentary lives among the space center's shallows are sitting ducks for voracious, alert alligators. "The shark just bumps into them, and there you go," Nifong said.

A stingray glides by — forget about it. Nifong finds stingray barbs lodged in gator necks.

But who remains swimming is not always so cut and dry when larger sharks enter the fray. Nifong and Lowers documented recent and historical accounts of shark-gator clashes, publishing their findings in the journal Southeastern Naturalist.

"And with no clear winners," Reyier notes. "That would have been a sight to see for sure."

They dug up an October 1887 edition of a sports magazine called the Fish Gazette, which describes a brutal alligator-shark brawl when gale force winds and rain made fresh and salt water worlds collide. According to the write-up, a Florida correspondent of the New York Sun gives "a curious account" of the combat between hundreds of the two prehistoric predators at Jupiter Inlet. Heavy eastern gales brought shoals of black bass from freshwater to Jupiter's coastal waters.

"Solid acres of salt-water fishes piled into the bight of the inlet, and fought for the sea-water that oozed through the sand at high tide. The alligators of the Everglades got wind of what was going on. They came down the Allokehatchie and Lakeworth Creek in scores, and attacked the fish dammed in the bight.

"The slaughter was astonishing," the account continued, with waters that turned to blood, carpeted with dead fish and an estimated 500 alligators swarming the scene.

"The beach was black with their mailed bodies. At night their muttered thunder fairly shook the foundation of the lighthouse."

Then one day a north wind arose, backing up water in the inlet. When waters rose further from wind and rains, fresh water burst through the sandy barrier, "and the pent up waters were roaring and rising to the sea. The army of alligators was caught in the flood and carried outside. A terrific fight ensued. The neap-tide had brought hundreds of enormous sharks to the coast."

The sharks, sensing the blood-laden fresh water, made for the inlet. "Frantic after their enforced fasting during the storm they attacked the alligators."

The noise of the combat eclipsed the ocean's roar.

The article cites an eyewitness, the son of a Judge Paine, of Fort Capron, who said he saw sharks and alligators "rise on the crest of the waves and fight like dogs."

The losers floated in belly-up, rolling ashore in the waves.

For days carcasses drifted ashore: headless, tail-less gators, sharks nearly bitten in half.

The Gulf Stream swept the dead ashore to beaches as far north as Cape Malabar, more than 80 miles away. Clouds of vultures swarmed the shores. "Mr. Paine fancies that the sharks were two active for the alligators, but others say that the percentages of bodies on the beach indicated that the weight of the metal was in favor of the iron-clad reptiles."

Another account they found in The Palatka Daily News in May 1884 describes a roughly 10-foot-long shark and seven-foot-long gator near Pilot Cove, Florida. It didn't go so well for the gator: After multiple tries, the shark finally landed the moral bite to the gator's thoracic region, severing the gator in two parts, one of which the shark promptly wolfed down.

An 1888 account Nifong and Lowers found by unknown authors describes a larger-than-life war between several gators and sharks in the Indian River Lagoon near Titusville. One gator was a 15-footer — probably an exaggeration, Nifong and Lowers conclude.

The sharks bit off gators' forelimbs and parts of their tails. Several sharks and gators died.

Some seem tall tales, spectacular accounts more akin to the 1800s version of "fake news?"

"You have to take some of it with a grain of salt," Nifong said. But, he says, "Just given that we found multiple records of it in multiple occasions," lends some credibility to the accounts.

"I think in any situation it comes to the size differential between the individual alligator and shark," Nifong said. "Larger individual will always have the advantage."

There isn't enough data yet to prove which predator consumes the other more often, he says.

But at the Kennedy Space Center, gators reign supreme.

"At KSC there are fewer large sharks as compared to alligators, at least in the Upper regions of the estuary," Nifong added, "so simply based on numbers I would say there is a greater potential for alligators to consume more sharks then the reverse, but without proper investigation it's a best guess."

But which owns the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) at large?

Sorry sharks, you lose there too.

"On the sharks vs. gators, these days large sharks aren’t as frequent in the IRL system so yes alligators probably have the advantage," Reyier said. "But alligators aren’t common in the lagoon anymore either except in a few places like KSC. So the chances of interaction are reduced compared to historically. These days gators vs. stingrays is much more common."

Gator-ray run-ins also are difficult to witness.

But why does NASA even care?

Knowledge of which wildlife eat what at the space center helps refuge rangers figure out how best to manage federally protected species and their habitats there and gives them the knowledge base needed when seeking permits for new projects or activities at the space center that might impact wildlife.

"It's more about understanding about how those alligators are using that habitat," Nifong said.

NASA wants to know where sharks go, too. Just offshore of where NASA and SpaceX blast off toward the stars, Reyier surgically inserts transmitters the size of pen caps underneath sharks' tough, white underbellies, sews the wounds shut and releases the apex predators

The "pings" the transmitters emit reveal where sharks roam.

He and fellow researchers have a new project using the Liquid Robotics Wave Glider, a solar robot that autonomously surveys offshore of Cape Canaveral. It seeks tagged sharks and other fish, underwater biological sounds and ocean conditions.

The Wave Glider has even survived shark attacks.

Some gators don't survive them. But a shark gobbling down a gator isn't something most are likely to witness in their lifetime.

"You'd have to be real lucky to see that," Reyier said.

Follow Jim Waymer on Twitter: @JWayEnviro

Turtle smuggling; Florida officials crack down on illegal trade

Kimberly Miller

Palm Beach Post

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Florida wildlife officials are increasingly concerned the state’s turtles are being scooped up by smugglers feeding an international demand for the freshwater and terrestrial reptiles.

Turtle launderers, who “wash” wild-caught animals through illegal trafficking rings like ill-gotten cash, have been targeted by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission since a 2009 rule banned the commercial harvest and sale of natural-born turtles.

Undercover investigations have since retrieved thousands of stolen turtles worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But FWC commissioners were told Thursday to be prepared for an uptick in criminal activity that may require tighter oversight as some coveted species become “literally worth more than gold.”

“International prices will continue to go up,” said Col. Curtis Brown, FWC’s director of law enforcement. “We have one of the most densely populated areas in the world for turtle diversity, which makes us a target for illegal trafficking.”

Smuggling:Passenger tried to sneak package of tiny dead birds into US airport

Florida has 23 land and freshwater turtle species. The most sought after include box turtles, diamondback terrapins, mud and musk turtles, softshell turtles and snapping turtles.

While fleshy softshell and snapping turtles are sold as food in Asian markets, box turtles and other varieties are popular pets that can fetch a Florida poacher up to $300 each. In Asia, the same turtle can sell for as much as $10,000 at glitzy auctions held near Shanghai, Brown said.

Between 2016 through 2019, about 6.5 million live turtles were exported from the U.S., including 521,700 from Florida.

“It’s a status symbol to have these in your home,” said Chris Lechowicz, wildlife and habitat program director at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. “Turtles are synonymous with long life. They are a big part of the traditions there (Asia).”

Despite 49 licensed Florida turtle farms and an unknown number of turtle breeders in Asia, Lechowicz said they can’t keep up with demand.

In the presentation to FWC commissioners, Brown noted a 2016 McKinsey & Company study that estimated 76% of China’s urban population will be considered middle class by 2022. That translates into bigger buying power that will “almost definitely” increase demand for turtles, Brown said.

It was 2005 when Florida noticed a significant increase in commercial turtle fishing. A rule passed four years later banned the sale of wild-caught turtles. Some species, such as the imperiled alligator snapping turtles and Suwannee cooters are illegal to take from the wild or possess. There are possession limits for other species such as box turtles and diamondback terrapins.

Lechowicz said the commercial turtle market began to grow in the late ’90s, but that land and freshwater turtles don’t always garner the same attention as their sea-faring cousins.

“Although sea turtles are threatened worldwide there are many other turtle species that are more at risk of extinction in the next century,” he said.

The 4-inch, federally threatened bog turtle native to areas from New York to Virginia can cost as much as $13,000, Brown said.

“There are people who have whole rooms full of turtles. They collect them like postage stamps,” said George Heinrich, executive director of the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust.

Part of the concern about taking box turtles from the wild is they don’t reach sexual maturity until about 10 years old and then lay only four to six eggs per year in two hatching seasons. Box turtles can live to 80 years old and the survivability of the species depends on the adults breeding in the wild for many years.

In Operation Donatello, an undercover operation announced in October, FWC documented more than 4,000 turtles taken illegally and sold over a six-month period, including box turtles, Eastern box turtles, striped mud turtles, Florida mud turtles and chicken turtles.

Two men were arrested as part of the operation with turtles valued at $200,000 on the black market.

Brown said the poachers used FWC’s own research to find areas with the highest turtle densities. They first targeted Edgmont Key south of St. Petersburg but reconsidered after a 2016 fire burned 80 acres of the island, killing some box turtles.

The traffickers then descended on Sanibel Island.

Hundreds of turtles were found during the August 2019 bust. Lechowicz brought 275 back to the island.

Turtle farmers who spoke at the FWC commission meeting said more restrictions on turtle sales would only increase the black market demand.

Retired turtle farmer Jim Watt of Jupiter said prohibitions on snapping turtles “drew an X on that turtle’s back.”

“You had out in the Everglades, in front of God and everyone, farmers, hunters, drug addicts, kids – everyone was catching snappers,” Watt said.

FWC Executive Director Eric Sutton said that there are no plans for turtle restrictions or rule changes but that he wanted to give commissioners an idea of what the situation is and what they may be facing in the future.

“There are so many threats to our turtles, including development, that are working in synergy to have a negative impact on the population,” Heinrich said. “Illegal black market sales is one we can do something about.”

Follow Kimberly Miller on Twitter: @KMillerWeather

News from around our 50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Montgomery: Two new books have been published to coincide with the state’s bicentennial celebration. The Montgomery-based NewSouth Books has joined with Alabama Heritage magazine to produce “Alabama from Territory to Statehood.” The book covers the state’s early period, before its admission into the United States on Dec. 14, 1819. Secretary of State John Merrill co-authored another book called “Alabama: The Bicentennial” that’s being sold by the Alabama Department of Archives and History. It recognizes the contributions of more than 400 notable Alabamians. The state is highlighting nearly three years’ worth of events as its marks the 200th anniversary of its admission into the United States. Hundreds of teachers have gotten new materials and training for state history lessons.

Alaska

Anchorage: Officials have extended the state’s wildfire season through Sept. 30. KTUU-TV reports the Department of Natural Resources announced the season will be extended due to continued warm, dry conditions. Alaska’s statutory wildfire season normally begins April 1 and ends Aug. 31. The season’s official extension under state law means small- and large-scale burn permits will be required for open debris burning or the use of burn barrels through Sept. 30. The announcement marks the first extension since legislation in 2006 shifted the five-month season to begin and end one month earlier. Officials say 682 fires have burned more than 3,906 square miles this season.

Arizona

Flagstaff: In the two years since the Grand Canyon approved a plan to reduce the number of bison roaming in the national park, the herd has only grown in size. No one is sure exactly how many of the massive animals call far northern Arizona home because they’re hard to count amid the Ponderosa pine trees, but it’s in the hundreds. Left unchecked, the herd could reach 1,500 in several years, severely damaging the landscape and water resources, the park says. The reduction plan has been hampered by weather and disagreements over how to kill some of the bison if shipping them off isn’t enough. The Grand Canyon tried to round up some animals last year, but wintry weather set in. The park is taking a second run this month. The Grand Canyon bison are descendants of those introduced to the area in the early 1900s as part of a ranching operation to crossbreed them with cattle.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has announced that Chancellor Andrew Rogerson is resigning his post after three years at the helm. According to a university statement, Rogerson’s resignation took effect Sunday, and he is assuming a faculty position before retiring next year. University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt credited Rogerson with improving fundraising efforts and campus grounds while strengthening ties to the Little Rock community. UALR has faced challenges that include a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall. System leaders earlier this year chose not to increase tuition at UALR but did vote to boost fees by about 3%. Last fall there were 10,525 students enrolled at UALR, down from more than 13,000 students several years ago.

California

Sacramento: Gov. Gavin Newsom has reached a deal with apartment owners and developers on legislation that would cap how rapidly rents can rise as the state grapples with a housing crisis. The deal would cap annual rent increases at 5% plus inflation, with a 10% maximum increase. That’s lower than the 7% threshold lawmakers had previously negotiated amid strong resistance from the real estate and development industries. It marks a victory for renters who say they are being priced out as rents rise, though many renters and social justice groups likely want an even stricter proposal. Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu of San Francisco, the bill’s author, had made numerous concessions to the real estate and development industries to even get the bill to the state Senate. The new deal changes the exemption for newer properties from those built within the past 10 years to within the past 15.

Colorado

Broomfield: City officials are suspending their search for investors to help build a toll road after a soil test found elevated levels of plutonium in the highway’s planned path. The road would cross a buffer zone on the east side of a former nuclear weapons plant northwest of Denver. KUSA-TV reports the Broomfield City Council says it’s halting efforts to find a private partner for the project. The Rocky Flats plant made plutonium triggers for nuclear warheads from 1952 to 1989. Later, the manufacturing site underwent a $7 billion cleanup. State officials announced in August that a soil test found plutonium levels five times higher than the cleanup standard, but a second test found much lower levels. Officials were seeking more information on the results.

Connecticut

East Granby: The nation’s oldest prison will be the backdrop for a day devoted to the importance of conserving bats. The underground tunnels at the former Old New-Gate Prison and Copper Mine in East Granby are the winter home of several state-endangered bat species. On Saturday, the public can catch a glimpse of endangered bats in the “bat cave.” Other family-friendly activities are planned as well. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Department of Economic and Community Development are planning Bat Appreciation Day to highlight the site’s importance to conserving the bat population. Bats at the historic site are considered “cave bats,” in part because they hibernate underground in caves and mines. Connecticut purchased the copper mine in 1773 and operated it as a prison for more than 50 years.

Delaware

Milton: The streets of this small town are usually flooded each October by an undead horde, but it seems there won’t be any dead men walking this year. Milton Zombie Fest organizer and theater director Fred Munzert says the town approved new guidelines that essentially take the street festival off the street and raise the event’s financial burden. The theater’s board decided this month to cancel the event. Munzert says the town council and mayor barred the event’s stage and vendors from the street and halved its number of approved food trucks. He says it costs about $20,000 to throw the family-friendly festival, which organizers said was going to be free to attendees this year. Mayor Ted Kanakos didn’t respond to requests for comment.

District of Columbia

Washington: The D.C. Council has lost its second voting representative on the regional transit authority board. News outlets report Corbett Price announced Friday that he was resigning effective immediately. Price told Mayor Muriel E. Bowser that he was resigning as a district representative for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority board over a family matter and upcoming surgery. He was appointed in 2015 and approved for a second term this year. Several council members unsuccessfully tried to oust Price in July after he lied about an independent ethics probe that found councilman Jack Evans guilty of not disclosing a conflict of interest.

Florida

Naples: Deputies have a cat burglar in custody. Literally, a cat. Collier County sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call Saturday about a suspected burglary in progress. A homeowner heard knocking on a sliding door along with meowing. The caller thought the cat sounds were a ruse to try to get him or her to open the door. When deputies arrived, they found the culprit was a small cat named Bones. They posted a photo on Facebook of the cat in back of a patrol car poking its head through a barred window. The department said Bones was taking to a county animal shelter for “fur-ther questioning.” Collier County Domestic Animal Services, which has the cat in custody, said in a social media post that it was in the process of contacting Bones’ owner.

Georgia

Atlanta: Residents near Fort McPherson say they’re frustrated about what they view as a lack of progress in redeveloping the massive military base. The Atlanta City Council last month approved spending an additional $1.3 million to help keep the Fort Mac Local Redevelopment Authority going. WABE Radio reports that one part of the base – the former forces command building – will be the new home for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Atlanta offices. Board members say they’re still negotiating with developer Stephen Macauley. He had a plan to develop the remaining 144 acres of the site, but the project has stalled.

Hawaii

Honolulu: The USS Arizona Memorial has welcomed large crowds to its reopening after 15 months of repairs. Hawaii News Now reports the memorial received thousands of sightseers Sunday for the first time since its closure by the National Park Service in May 2018. Pearl Harbor National Memorial Acting Superintendent Steve Mietz says workers “had to rebuild the system from scratch” to allow safe access. Exceptionally high tides in 2017 are believed to have dislodged concrete blocks sunk into Pearl Harbor’s sediment and connected by chains to the dock. The repair project cost more than $2.1 million. U.S. Rep. Ed Case says he worked with Hawaii’s congressional leaders to speed the project. Officials say visitor traffic to the national park decreased by about 30% after the memorial’s closure.

Idaho

Boise: Two years ago, an Ada County jury awarded an Idaho State Police investigator $1.5 million in a whistleblower lawsuit he filed against the agency. Brandon Eller thought the case was over, but the judge reduced the award to $1 million, and Eller and ISP appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court. The Idaho Statesman reports the case finally resolved last week, with the state paying Eller $1.29 million in damages, lost wages and legal fees. Eller, a crash investigator, filed the whistleblower lawsuit in 2015, claiming ISP retaliated against him because he testified against another officer in a court hearing. The Idaho Supreme Court ruled that the district judge erred in reducing the jury’s award and sent the case back to court, but both sides settled the case for $1.29 million.

Illinois

Highland Park: Officials are pushing for approval from regulators to add thousands of cubic yards of sand along a Lake Michigan beach that is eroding north of the city thanks in part to rising water levels that continue to threaten shorelines of the Great Lakes. The Chicago Tribune reports the Park District of Highland Park hopes to get the green light from the state’s Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin the $190,000 project at Rosewood Beach. Officials say erosion threatens the stability of the boardwalk for a beach that four years ago reopened after a $12 million renovation project. They say the erosion is the result of waves carrying the sand offshore and rising lake levels that have put some of the beachfront under water.

Indiana

Bunker Hill: A dilapidated air traffic control tower is moving toward demolition at Grissom Air Reserve Base nearly three decades after it was mothballed. The structure built in 1942 was the base’s first air traffic control tower prior to its retirement around 1991. State officials recently determined it has historic significance, but debris falling from the decaying structure is creating aircraft hazards at the base’s airstrip near Bunker Hill, about 60 miles north of Indianapolis. Jim Tidd, the Miami County Economic Development Authority’s executive director, tells the Kokomo Tribune crews have been forced to quickly clean up fallen debris before it’s sucked into the engines of military or civilian aircraft. Tidd says county officials will seek state grant funding to pay for the demolition.

Iowa

Ames: The city has been awarded a $1.66 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant to put more electric buses into the city’s public transportation fleet. The city recently announced CyRide will use the money to replace several diesel buses that have exceeded their useful life. The public transportation entity will also buy battery chargers/dispensers and complete facility modifications to support the technology. Interim Transit Director Barbara Neal says the grant is good news for Ames. She says supporting public transportation is “a great way to reduce your own carbon footprint, while moving to electric buses will help CyRide reduce its emissions.” The Transportation Department’s Federal Transit Administration Low- or No-Emission Grant program has funded over $300 million in new buses, infrastructure and training since its establishment.

Kansas

McPherson: McPherson College and McPherson Hospital are partners in a new health initiative to improve rural health care. The two organizations announced last week that they will combine academic programs and community outreach. As part of the project, McPherson College will offer a new health science degree beginning in the fall of 2020. The McPherson Sentinel reports health science students will gain hands-on training with internships, field experiences and observation at McPherson Hospital. McPherson Hospital CEO Terri Gehring says one goal of the project is to persuade some of the health science students to stay and work in McPherson after graduation. She says the hospital competes with several nearby organizations to recruit and retain employees.

Kentucky

Louisville: Kentucky State Fair officials say attendance was down this year, but revenue was up. WLKY-TV reports no statistics about pricing changes were given, but attendance figures released last week show a drop of more than 25,000. This year’s fair ran from Aug. 15 to 25 and drew 589,170 people. Last year, attendance was 614,470. Temperatures well into the 90s may have played a role. Another factor could have been a change in policy for minors attending the fair. A disturbance involving fireworks led the fair to require minors attending at night to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Additionally, a teenager was arrested during the fair’s first weekend and accused of firing a shot into the air at the fair. Officials say next year’s fair will start Aug. 20.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will close the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge this week to hold its annual controlled alligator harvest. State officials say the refuge will close Wednesday through Sept. 11 until noon each day to harvest the reptiles. After noon each day, the public will be allowed to enter the refuge and use its recreational areas until official sunset. The delayed openings will be in effect each day or until alligator trappers have used their tags for this controlled harvest. The refuge spans 26 miles of coastal Louisiana in Cameron and Vermilion parishes, provides recreational fishing opportunities for crabs, shrimp, redfish, speckled trout, black drum, largemouth bass and other species. Rockefeller attracts over 100,000 visitors annually.

Maine

South Portland: Rapper DMX has helped a local family with its back-to-school purchases. The rapper was in Maine to perform at Rock Row when he crossed paths with Nikki Cutchens and daughter Grace at the Maine Mall. Cutchens told WABI-TV she was in line Saturday when DMX offered to pay. It was unclear how much the purchase was. DMX said he was blessed to have 15 children and wanted her family to be blessed, as well. She said she’s grateful for the act of kindness. Grace Firley and her sister both got a pair of shoes. In her words, “I have DMX’s shoes.”

Maryland

Annapolis: A ban on plastic foam containers aimed at businesses that sell food has taken effect in the capital. The Capital Gazette reports the ban on the material commonly referred to as Styrofoam began Sunday in Annapolis. The Maryland General Assembly and Anne Arundel County Council have passed similar rules that will go into effect next year. Lawmakers say the polystyrene in the containers is difficult to recycle and breaks down into small pieces that can invade the water supply. Annapolis city spokeswoman Mitchelle Stephenson says restaurants and vendors have been alerted twice this year to switch to paper, cardboard or another biodegradable material. Businesses found in violation of the law are fined $100 for the first offense and $200 for subsequent offenses.

Massachusetts

Boston: Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin says he’s kicking off voter registration drives, now that there are just six months to go until the presidential primaries. The Democrat said Tuesday was the six-month mark, so he was holding a voter registration drive at Boston’s South Station during peak commuting hours. With most leases beginning Sept. 1, Galvin said he hopes to catch people who moved recently and need to register at their new address so they can vote March 3. The last day for Massachusetts residents to register to vote, update their address or change their party for the primaries is Feb. 12. Galvin’s office will be holding registration drives throughout the state. Voters can also register online.

Michigan

Lansing: The state Department of Corrections is examining how its mail policy is applied after officers at one prison prevented inmates from reading some stories published by the Lansing State Journal. Workers at the Ionia Correctional Facility blocked inmate access to five stories this year concerning criminal proceedings against a probation officer, prisoners’ parole and re-sentencing hearings, and a lawsuit filed by state prisoners. The Journal reports the Michigan Press Association has questioned why most of the blocked stories were considered unfit for prisoners’ eyes. Department spokesman Chris Gautz says the mail policy is designed to keep prisons safe and MDOC workers’ lives private. The policy also bars mail that promotes violence or racism or that contains nude images. Gautz says Corrections will review inconsistencies brought to its attention.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: A 10-year-old girl is using the profits from selling lemonade to help buy protective vests for police dogs. Josie Larson, of Monticello, set up the lemonade stand when she found out that the K-9s needed the bulletproof equipment. She set a goal of raising $1,000 and wound up taking in more than $1,600. On Friday, Josie presented the Wright County Sheriff’s Office with a check for $1,500. She used the rest of the money to buy treats and toys for the dogs. Josie tells WCCO-TV that it’s important to keep the sK-9s and the officers safe.

Mississippi

Gautier: Soon after alligator season opened at noon Friday with favorable conditions, two hunters caught a giant that could break a state record. Derrick Saucier of Pascagoula and Jarrod Davis of Hurley were making passes of Mary Walker Bayou in Gautier when they spotted the large gator. Saucier said it was minutes before noon, and he felt like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for the season to start. A few minutes later, the pair had hooked the 13-foot, 6-inch alligator and then spent 90 minutes battling it. They struggled to get the animal into their boat and had to tow it to the shallow water of a nearby boat launch. The alligator’s measurements indicate it could near the state record for heaviest male alligator taken in public waters.

Missouri

Kansas City: The Kansas City Zoo is planning a $10 million renovation of its elephant exhibit. The project announced last week will include easier access to the pool for the elephants, as well as adding shade and softer ground for the animals to walk on. Zoo Director Randy Wisthoff says the renovations will also improve visitors’ views of the elephants, with additional seating and handicapped-accessible renovations. The zoo is still waiting to announce final plans for a $75 million saltwater aquarium. KCUR reports the delay is caused mostly by a $7 million contribution from Kansas City. The city council directed City Manager Troy Schulte to try to find the money, but a city spokesman said that no funds have been identified to fulfill the request.

Montana

Missoula: The state health department is proposing new rules for licensing private residential treatment programs for troubled teens now that the agency has oversight of such programs. The Missoulian reports the proposed rules include licensing requirements, unannounced inspections, and protocols for reporting abuse and neglect. The rules say programs may not punish residents through seclusion, physical discipline, withholding food or water, or denying family visits. The state Department of Public Health and Human Services removed 27 children from a private treatment program in July following reports of abuse. Public comment on the proposed rules will be taken at a hearing Sept. 12 at the DPHHS auditorium in Helena. Written comment is also being accepted.

Nebraska

Lincoln: The state’s public utilities agency says it has been awarded nearly $2 million in federal grant money to revamp the state’s 50-year-old 911 system. The $1.99 million grant from the U.S. Transportation Department and U.S. Commerce Department will go toward implementing a new system called Next Generation 911. The new system will use GPS data to help locate those who call 911 from a cellphone. It will also give Nebraska 911 centers the ability to receive digital information to include, text, pictures and video. Earlier this year, state officials said 4 in 5 calls placed to 911 are made on cellphones. The Nebraska Public Service Commission applied for and will administer the grant. The state will have until March 31, 2022, to apply the federal funds.

Nevada

Las Vegas: Rapper Fetty Wap was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of assaulting three employees at a Vegas Strip hotel-casino, police said. The 28-year-old artist, whose real name is Willie Maxwell, was arrested early Sunday on three counts of battery after an incident at the Mirage, according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police. Charging documents have not yet been filed. An email seeking comment from Daniel Kim, who has previously represented Maxwell, was not immediately returned. TMZ first reported that Maxwell punched three people during a fight with a parking valet. A message seeking additional details from police was not immediately returned. MGM Resorts, which owns the Mirage, declined to comment Tuesday.

New Hampshire

Concord: The odds don’t look good for Democratic lawmakers hoping to override more than 50 vetoes issued by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. It takes a two-thirds majority to override a veto, and only three of the 53 vetoed bills originally passed the House by that margin. One of them – abolishing the death penalty – already has become law after lawmakers overrode the veto in May. Another of the three bills would allow towns and cities to double the maximum surcharge on motor vehicle registration fees to $10. The last would allow medical marijuana patients to get prescriptions even if they haven’t had the same doctor or provider for three months. The House meets Sept. 18-19. The Senate meets Sept. 19.

New Jersey

South Plainfield: Authorities canceled a Labor Day parade that the governor was supposed to attend Monday because “destructive devices” were found near the parade route. Thomas Kaiser, 55, of South Plainfield, was charged with two counts of possession of a destructive device for an unlawful purpose, with additional charges expected, Middlesex County prosecutors and local police said. Authorities said a suspicious package containing a destructive device was left at Donovan’s Reef bar in Sea Bright. That prompted an investigation Sunday that led to Kaiser’s home, and other devices were found near the residence, authorities said. The home is located near the start of the South Plainfield Labor Day parade. Gov. Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy had planned to march in the 62nd annual event.

New Mexico

Carlsbad: Officials say a major part of a multimillion-dollar effort to rebuild a ventilation system at the U.S. government’s only underground nuclear waste repository is expected to be done by next year. The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded a contract for the construction of a utility shaft essential to the project. The shaft was designed with a 26-foot diameter, extending 2,275 feet underground. The rebuilt system at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad is intended to add air to the underground and allow the placement of mining and other waste material to occur simultaneously. The ventilation overhaul was prompted by a radiation release in 2014 that contaminated parts of the repository and forced its closure for nearly three years.

New York

Tupper Lake: Turns out residents of this village are hog wild for calling their future semi-pro baseball team the “River Pigs,” after all. The team had been rooting around for a new nickname after some objections from people in the Adirondacks community of Tupper Lake. But the Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports that “River Pigs” got about 70% of the vote in public balloting Saturday. Other options included River Drivers, Axemen, Tupper Timbers and Rowdy Bucks. Village Trustee Ron LaScala says what’s important now is for Tupper Lake to rejoice in its new Empire League team. It’s due to arrive next summer. The name reflects the region’s logging history. River pigs were skilled loggers who broke up logjams on rivers.

North Carolina

Raleigh: A portion of the state’s Medicaid population won’t shift to managed care coverage this fall due to the extended state budget stalemate, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday. Managed care was supposed to go online for Medicaid enrollees in 27 northern counties Nov. 1, with the rest of the state phased in Feb. 1. But without funds to cover the transition and final changes needed to set rates for health care entities providing coverage, the first batch of counties can’t move forward that quickly, DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said. Managed care services are now scheduled to begin in all 100 counties Feb. 1. Cohen suggested the updated rollout schedule could be revisited again if a budget isn’t worked out by mid-November.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Hiring managers across the state are looking for ways to solve a workforce shortage. The Bismarck Tribune reports that Job Service North Dakota, which tracks employment data, estimates the state currently has 14,000 job openings. A decade ago, North Dakota had 8,000. State officials say the real number is closer to 30,000, given that some employers only advertise with one job posting when looking to hire multiple people for that role. A survey of employers last year found that 28% of openings go unfilled longer than three months. Arik Spencer, president and CEO of the Greater North Dakota Chamber, says the shortage is bad for the state’s economy, and it’s going to take a “long-term, more surgical approach” to fix.

Ohio

Toledo: The Toledo Zoo plans to change its giraffe herd after a series of deaths. Four of the zoo’s Masai giraffes have died since 2016, including two in the past two months. Its curator of mammals, Michael Frushour, tells The Blade newspaper the zoo is talking about switching to reticulated giraffes. He says it’s believed that subspecies isn’t as prone to some of the health issues seen with Masai giraffes. An 8-year-old male giraffe, Trevor, collapsed Aug. 24 while on exhibit and died within minutes. His female offspring, Binti, had to be euthanized in June. Lab results showed both had severe anemia, adding to the suspicion of a genetic issue. The zoo says Trevor died of a condition called peracute giraffe mortality syndrome. Binti’s cause of death remains unknown.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: Two of the top leaders at the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety who were named last month as defendants in a civil rights lawsuit have stepped down from their positions at the agency. A spokeswoman for Gov. Kevin Stitt says DPS Commissioner Rusty Rhoades and Oklahoma Highway Patrol Chief Michael Harrell announced their resignations Monday. Stitt has appointed John Scully, the director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, as the new DPS commissioner, effective immediately. The move comes just a few weeks after Rhoades and Harrell were named in a civil rights lawsuit filed by a former patrol captain who alleged the two were involved in a cheating and corruption scandal at the agency.

Oregon

Portland: A floating tourist attraction is set to close after more than 50 years in business. The Oregonian/Oregon Live reports that Undersea Gardens in Newport is scheduled to end operations Sunday. Owner Mariner Square announced the closure of the attraction in Newport’s Historic Bayfront on social media Sunday. Undersea Gardens will be open for free public tours through next Sunday, while its dive shows ended Monday. The gift shop will remain open until Oct. 11. Mariner Square says it is renovating its other two attractions, The Wax Works and Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Undersea Gardens opened in 1966 as a floating “people-quarium” allowing visitors inside the attraction to look out and view sea life in Yaquina Bay, 115 miles southwest of Portland.

Pennsylvania

Gouldsboro: A family says the thief that stole a delivery package of dog food from their porch turned out to be a hungry young bear. Eighteen-year-old Aidan Newman tells WNEP-TV he was just arriving home to pack up for college when he saw the black bear in his family’s yard. He went inside to tell his family, and that’s when they looked out the window and saw the bear come onto the porch and drag the box into the woods. Newman thinks the bear, which seemed about 2 years old, may have been casing place since the boxes from pet retailer Chewy were dropped off earlier that day. The ordeal was caught on the family’s surveillance video. Chewy saw the footage and is replacing the order. Newman says from now on, his family plans to take in the deliveries from Chewy more quickly so the bear doesn’t make it a habit.

Rhode Island

Providence: The city has reactivated its school zone speed camera program just in time for the new academic year. Fifteen cameras were activated Tuesday within a quarter-mile of several schools in an effort to keep drivers from speeding. Police say the cameras are operational on school days from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Drivers caught going 11 mph or more over the speed limit face a $50 ticket. Police say the cameras are meant to protect children. The cameras can be relocated to address problem areas. The cameras were the source of controversy in 2018 when more than 12,000 speeding tickets were handed out in a little over a month, prompting a legal challenge brought by people who said the program was in violation of state law that required warning signs.

South Carolina

Spartanburg: A man who founded one of the nation’s biggest conversion therapy ministries has something to say: He’s gay. The Post and Courier reports Hope for Wholeness founder McKrae Game came out of the closet this summer, nearly two years after he was fired from the faith-based conversion therapy program. He’s now trying to come to terms with the harm he inflicted when he was advocating for religious efforts to change a person’s sexuality. The 51-year-old also is trying to find his place in a community he’s assailed for at least 20 years. Game is one of several former movement leaders who have left the pulpits of heterosexuality, come out as LGBTQ, and condemned conversion therapy as a dangerous and misleading practice.

South Dakota

Custer: The U.S. Forest Service has purchased an additional 350 acres for the Black Hills National Forest for preservation of wildlife habitat and protection of at-risk watersheds and impaired streams. The Rapid City Journal reports the Forest Service announced the purchase Wednesday from the Trust for Public Land. The land was owned by the Myrle G. Case Trust, care of Wells Fargo Bank. It was bought with money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Black Hills National Forest has about 1.2 million acres. In addition to preserving wildlife habitat and protecting watersheds and streams, officials say the land will also be used to provide more recreational opportunities for the public.

Tennessee

Nashville: A Catholic school removed the Harry Potter books from its library after the school’s priest decided they could cause a reader to conjure evil spirits. In an email, the Rev. Dan Reehil of Nashville’s St. Edward Catholic School said he consulted exorcists in the U.S. and Rome who recommended removing the books. Reehil wrote, “The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.” Catholic Diocese of Nashville superintendent Rebecca Hammel said Reehil has the final say at his school. Hammel said she thinks the books by J.K. Rowling are still on the shelves of other libraries in the diocese.

Texas

Austin: The state is teaming with Bumble to crack down on people who send unsolicited nude images on dating apps and elsewhere in cyberspace. The state’s new law banning so-called cyber flashing comes after the Austin-based dating app company lobbied for action. The law is set to take effect Saturday. It makes electronic transmission of sexually explicit material a Class C misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500 if the person who received it hasn’t given consent. State Rep. Morgan Meyer says app users complained to Bumble about people sending unwanted images, and Bumble “realized there was no recourse.” Bumble Chief of Staff Caroline Ellis Roche says the company plans to take the legislation to the federal level and other states.

Utah

St. George: School officials say more than 1,000 homeless students enrolled in Washington County schools last year, and the district is struggling to support the growing population. KUER-FM reported that the state Board of Education says the county has the seventh-highest homeless student population of any state district. Officials say wages have not kept up with inflation from a 139,000-person population increase, and the county is expected to triple in size by 2065. District officials say they are provided $60,000 of state and district funding for fee waivers, food and transportation for homeless students. Officials say that doesn’t include thousands of dollars in donated supplies or new community resources, but it’s still not enough. Officials say a majority of them are temporarily living in unstable situations with people they know.

Vermont

Putney: A general store that dates to the 1790s is getting a new owner. The Brattleboro Reformer reports the Putney Historical Society is set to close the sale of Putney General Store on Wednesday, and the incoming owners, Mike and Kim Cosco, are slated to take over the business the next day. The building will continue to be owned by the historical society. The store has been managed for more than two years by the historical society’s Betsy McIsaac and Lyssa Papazian since shortly after the death of the previous owner, but they’ve been looking for someone to buy the store. McIsaac says the Coscos learned the store was for sale from an online ad. The store was first built in 1796.

Virginia

Fairfax: A $50 million gift made earlier this year to the state’s largest public university was given specifically to “promote the conservative principles of governance,” newly released documents show, raising concerns from critics that it compromises academic freedom at the school. Documents obtained by the group UnKoch My Campus under the Freedom of Information Act and made public last week show that the estate of Allison and Dorothy Rouse specified its bequest to George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School be used “as an endowment to fund a chair or chairs that will promote the conservative principles of governance, statesmanship, high morals, civil and religious freedom and the study of the United States Constitution.” University officials say there was nothing improper about specifying conservative governance as a principle to be promoted.

Washington

Seattle: A cannabis company has offered to collect and properly dispose of any waste from other marijuana stores. KING-TV reports Canna Culture Shop began the pot waste program last week to help reduce the impact marijuana waste has on the environment. Owner Maryam Mirnateghi says the program is meant to keep cannabis packaging from ending up on the street or in waterways. Mirnateghi says the industry is expected to produce more than 1 billion pieces of cannabis packaging annually starting in 2020. She says the program incentivizes customers by giving points to use on new purchases for each item of trash brought into the Seattle store. Mirnateghi says anyone can bring in any cannabis trash from anywhere.

West Virginia

Charleston: A large solar project that will help power a parking building at Yeager Airport is nearing completion. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports construction should be concluded on the 1,800-module project by Wednesday. Then it will take a couple of weeks to wire up. An opening ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 18. The $4 million project is 90% funded by the Federal Aviation Administration and 10% by the state. Yeager Airport Director Terry Sayre says a second array is being planned for the other parking building and the rental car and maintenance structures. Sayre says they eventually want to power the whole airport with off-grid sources. Yeager Airport receives royalties from two gas wells on airport property. It is entitled to a volume of free gas from them once a pipe can be connected.

Wisconsin

Black River Falls: Rains that inundated the state this spring after a wet fall and winter forced farmers to plant their crops historically late, leading to uneven growth stages. Plant pathologist Damon Smith from the University of Wisconsin-Madison says that has made it difficult for farmers to decide when to apply fungicide to crops because it’s based on specific plant growth stages. But an app is helping farmers make better decisions about when to do so, Wisconsin Public Radio reports. Smith says farmers are looking for closely tailored recommendations about what to do. So Smith says one of his programs has developed smartphone apps to help. One, called Sporecaster, lets farmers input data like location and plant growth to help predict the best time to treat for white mold in soybeans.

Wyoming

Cheyenne: Some lawmakers are getting behind a proposal to try to boost the state’s struggling coal industry with a marketing program. The Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee voted Friday to support a bill that would put $1 million toward the effort. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports the bill could be considered during the 2020 legislative session. Gov. Mark Gordon policy adviser Renny MacKay says that besides promoting low-sulfur Powder River Basin coal, the program would help Wyoming officials make sure their positions are heard in decisions affecting the coal industry. MacKay says one example could be discussions about possibly closing an Indiana power plant that uses Wyoming coal. MacKay says the plant’s closure could cost Wyoming $10 million in revenue a year.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Birmingham: The state’s busiest airport is partnering with a company that can identify passengers through eye scans and fingerprints. Al.com reports that Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport recently added kiosks offering the technology for a fee. CLEAR offers a $15 per month membership, paid annually, with various discounts for family members. After the biometric identification, passengers move to the front of physical security screening. The company says its technology is available at more than 60 airports, stadiums and other locations.

Corrections & clarifications: In a previous version of this story, it erroneously stated what CLEAR members do in the security line. CLEAR is not involved with physical security. The article also incorrectly stated the number and types of locations where CLEAR is available. The program is available at more than 60 airports, stadiums and other locations.

Alaska

Kodiak: Alaska has become the only state without an arts council following a loss of funding through state budget cuts. The Kodiak Daily Mirror reports that the closure of the Alaska State Council on the Arts last week means a $2.8 million loss of arts funding in the state. Although only $700,000 is state funding, another $2.1 million consists of federal funds through matching grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and private foundation support. Officials say those funds will no longer be available without the state council as a connecting vehicle. Officials say Alaska residents’ federal taxes will still help pay for the arts in other states through the NEA, but those funds will not contribute to the arts in their own communities.

Arizona

Tucson: A program that prioritizes drug treatment over jail time is credited with keeping people out of jail and saving taxpayers some money. The Arizona Daily Star reports more than 500 people struggling with opioid addiction were sent to a grant-funded Pima County “deflection” program in the past year. Based on jail booking costs, taxpayers saved $178,000 in the fiscal year that ended June 30. The effort began a year ago as a six-month pilot program in two divisions of the Tucson Police Department. Officers could recommend a suspect caught with 2 grams of opioids or less for treatment instead of arrest. Authorities say the program proved successful with nearly 120 people getting “deflected.” The county has since received $1.4 million in federal funds to expand the program.

Arkansas

Fayetteville: Northwest Arkansas cities are figuring out how to handle the arrival of electric scooters, and the process will be evolving, officials say. A state law set to take effect Wednesday authorizes electric scooters vendors to set up shop in any Arkansas city. The scooters are battery-powered, have two wheels and a T-shaped handlebar and a floorboard. Riders pay to unlock them through a mobile app. The law says riders must be at least 16, and scooters have a maximum speed of 15 mph. The law allows municipalities to establish reasonable regulations for the safe operation and presence of the scooters on public property, but not ban them from the public right of way. Fayetteville’s City Council first took up a draft of an ordinance to regulate the devices July 2. Scooter companies will have to apply for a permit, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

California

Santa Rosa: The Sonoma County Fair has eliminated the pig scramble from Farmers Day because of rising public concern and protests over animal welfare. In the long-running event at the fair, youngsters chased and tried to capture piglets weighing 40 to 60 pounds. Officials say this year’s event Aug. 4 will instead include elementary school children carrying watermelons slicked with vegetable oil around an obstacle course in a timed race. The board president says the decision reflects a “heightened awareness” toward calls for humane treatment of farm animals at the fair 55 miles north of San Francisco.

Colorado

Loveland: State wildlife officials are telling people near the Rocky Mountain foothills to keep an eye on their children and pets after a series of mountain lion sightings. Donna Kendrick says she and a neighbor saw a mountain lion recently in their backyards in west Loveland. Kendrick told the Loveland Reporter-Herald on Friday the big cat saw her and “vanished like a ninja.” Kendrick called the Colorado Parks and Wildlife department, where spokesman Jason Clay says wildlife managers are aware of the sighting. Clay says Loveland-area residents reported mountain lions twice previously this year. People have reported mountain lions six times this year in nearby Masonville.

Connecticut

Hartford: State Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais is urging homeowners to review their insurance policies before the upcoming tropical storm season. Peak hurricane season in Connecticut begins in mid-August and runs through late October. Mais says policyholders should discuss with an agent or insurance company if they have appropriate and adequate coverage. Although homeowners, condo and renters insurance cover many types of storm damage, he notes that damage from flooding is excluded. Separate policies can be purchased from the federal National Flood Insurance Program or a private insurer. He says now is the time to buy those policies, considering there’s a 30-day waiting period before the policy takes effect.

Delaware

Wilmington:From 2006 through 2012, nearly 300million painkillers were shipped into Delaware according to a Drug Enforcement Administration database published this week by The Washington Post. If those 276,177,276 pills were distributed equally, that would be 286 for every Delawarean. The data set, known as ARCOS, tracks the journey of every prescription painkiller in the United States, starting with the manufacturer that produced it all the way to the pharmacy that purchased it. In 2006, 29 million prescription painkillers landed in Delaware communities. In 2011, the year with the highest volume, that number was nearly 48 million — a 68% increase. In 2012, the most recent year of data available, the number was 41 million. More than half of the pills — nearly 150 million — arrived in New Castle County. Sussex County had the highest per capita rate in the state at 361 pills per person. Kent County saw the greatest increase in pills delivered between 2006 and 2012, going from 4.5 million to 7.1 million respectively — a 57% increase.

District of Columbia

Washington: Developer Adrian Washington, CEO and founder of Neighborhood Development Company, has apologized for padlocking Little Jewels Daycare and Nooks Barbershop citing environmental concerns last week, WUSA-TV reports. To make amends, Washington has offered the barbershop and daycare spots in a new building paying the same rent. “We did the right thing (where) there was a clear health emergency, but we did it in the wrong way. We didn’t communicate well, we came in suddenly and people rightly felt disrespected,” Washington says. He adds it served as a valuable learning lesson even for a developer who has been in the business for more than two decades.

Florida

St. Augustine: An alligator that eluded capture for days in a Chicago lagoon is settling in its new home. The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park said in a Facebook post Friday that it welcomed the reptile known as Chance the Snapper with a banner, pizza and the band Chicago’s greatest hits. The park that now houses Chance recommended the Florida trapper Chicago officials flew in to capture the gator. The 4-foot, 18-pound American alligator became an instant sensation from the day he was spotted in the Humboldt Park lagoon and photos popped up online. Investigators don’t know why the animal was in the lagoon, but experts say it wouldn’t have survived the winter. Park director John Brueggen says Chance will stay alone for 90 days to make sure he is illness-free, and then join other gators.

Georgia

Atlanta: Georgia Power intends to rely more on solar power than in past years to deliver energy to homes and businesses. It will also close a coal-fired power plant in the northwest part of the state. WABE-FM reports that it’s part of the company’s long-range energy plan, which was recently approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission. Under the plan, Georgia Power will close its coal-fired power plant near Rome. Also part of the plan: the company says it will add more wood burning to its energy mix. Georgia Power has proposed an increase in rates by about 7 %. Hearings on that matter are scheduled to begin later this year.

Hawaii

Wailuki: The governing authority for Maui’s water utility plans to study the feasibility of buying and maintaining an irrigation system that diverts stream water from east Maui and delivers it other parts of the island. The county Board of Water Supply voted Thursday to establish a subcommittee to study the issue, The Maui News reported. Alexander & Baldwin developed the East Maui Irrigation system a century ago to supply water to its sugar cane fields in central Maui. The company last year sold the cane fields to Mahi Pono, which is growing a variety of crops on the land. The system, which is today owned by A&B and Mahi Pono, has also supplied 35,000 residents in Upcountry with water. These water users have been in limbo after a bill that would have authorized the state to extend A&B’s water permits failed at the state Legislature in May. A&B’s diversion permit expires in December. The bill’s failure raises questions about the permit’s renewal and the delivery of water to end users after that date.

Idaho

Boise: In February, Idaho Fish and Game drastically cut the number of moose tags because of population declines across the state. In 2019-2020, there will be only 634 moose tags available each year, a 22% decrease from 2017-2018, which also saw an 8% reduction compared to 2015-2016. The Panhandle region of Idaho saw a 45% reduction in moose tags, the largest in the state, and the elimination of antlerless tags. Wildlife biologists do not have clear answers for the drop in moose population, but the likely suspect is a combination of habitat loss, ticks and predators. Idaho Fish and Game does not know exact moose population numbers but estimates there are 10,000 to 12,000 in the state. To estimate populations, Idaho Fish and Game relies on harvest information.

Illinois

Springfield: Thousands of people have visited the governor’s mansion since it reopened last year after renovations that cost $15 million. The State Journal-Register reports that the governor’s office says more than 29,000 people have toured the mansion. Former Gov. Bruce Rauner spearheaded the renovations because maintenance had been neglected. Recent former governors rarely used the mansion before the renovations. But Rauner lived there and now Gov. J.B. Pritzker has moved in. The mansion offers exhibits highlighting the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago and life during the Civil War. An “Art of Illinois” project also showcases 80 pieces of fine and decorative art. The mansion has hosted free weekly concerts this summer. The mansion is open daily from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for guided tours.

Indiana

Burns Harbor: The Navy is planning to commission its new USS Indianapolis combat vessel at a northwestern Indiana port this fall. The ceremony marking the ship’s entry into the Navy’s active fleet is set for Oct. 26 at Burns Harbor along Lake Michigan. It is the fourth military vessel carrying the Indianapolis name. The second USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine in July 1945 while returning from a Pacific island where it delivered key components for the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Only 317 of its nearly 1,200 crewmen survived the sinking and days in shark-infested waters. The ship was built at a Marinette, Wisconsin, shipyard and will be based near Jacksonville, Florida. It is a Freedom-class littoral ship designed to be highly maneuverable for missions such as mine-clearing and anti-submarine warfare.

Iowa

Coralville: Iowa State University is dropping claims of wrongdoing against a former employee and paying her $225,000 to resolve a legal dispute over its popular outdoor sculptures made from Legos. As part of the settlement, Iowa State has also taken several steps to restore the reputation of Teresa McLaughlin. Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen has written her a glowing letter of recommendation calling her an honest, innovative employee. The school also will dedicate a bench for McLaughlin in Reiman Gardens, the campus landmark that McLaughlin spent most of her career building as its director. Those steps will resolve a contentious three-year legal dispute that derailed Nature Connects, the traveling Lego art program conceived by McLaughlin. McLaughlin had accused the university of failing to pay her commissions. The university accused her of working to market competing exhibits.

Kansas

Garden City: A local zoo says two of four red panda cubs born last week have died. Officials with the Lee Richardson Zoo say one of the male cubs died of injuries “of an unknown origin” shortly after he was born. Another female cub died while being cared for by her mother. The cubs were among quadruplets born last Wednesday to Ember, a 9-year-old red panda. The zoo says only 1% of red panda litters are quadruplets. Ember and the cubs are expected to be on public display in late September or early October. Until then, footage of mom and cubs will be available on the zoo’s social media accounts.

Kentucky

Newport:The city’s plans to install a SkyWheel at the Newport on the Levee can move forward, the city announced Monday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved the permit for construction of SkyWheel, the observation wheel planned for the riverfront, according to the city. Construction on the 230-foot tall SkyWheel will start as soon as possible. It will feature 30 climate-controlled gondolas and will be built at Newport on the Levee, right next to the Newport Aquarium, by Koch Development of St. Louis.

Louisiana

New Orleans: The Mississippi River is finally low enough again to let the Army Corps of Engineers begin closing a huge spillway after a record-breaking run diverting water into Lake Ponchartrain. The corps says Monday in a news release that about 10 of the 168 open bays in the Bonnet Carré spillway would be closed by day’s end. Spokesman Matt Roe says full closing is expected to take about a week, with daily checks to make sure the river remains low enough to avoid stressing the city’s levees. The spillway was created to limit the river’s rush past New Orleans, keeping it below 1.25 million cubic feet per second – an amount that would fill the Empire State Building in 30 seconds. The spillway was opened May 10 for the second time this year.

Maine

Stonington: A group of Maine lobstermen that has the backing of the state’s Congressional delegation is pushing back at a plan to protect endangered whales with new fishing regulations. A federal team has called for the removal of half the vertical trap lines from the Gulf of Maine to reduce risk to North Atlantic right whales. Lobstermen from the Maine coast gathered with three members of the delegation and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in Stonington on Sunday to make the case the new rules would put an unfair burden on a key state industry. Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree, who attended the rally, says right whales need help, but the government’s “one-size-fits-all risk reduction” approach might not be the best way. The whales number about 400 and have experienced high mortality recently.

Maryland

Baltimore: Several hundred people gathered outside Johns Hopkins Hospital to protest the hospital’s practice of suing patients over unpaid medical bills. The Baltimore Sun reports the Saturday demonstration also promoted the efforts of Hopkins nurses to join the National Nurses United union. The Sun reported in May that Hopkins has filed thousands of lawsuits since 2009 against patients with outstanding bills. It reported a large portion of those lawsuits targeted residents of low-income areas. Hopkins emailed a statement to employees Saturday saying it supports its nurses right to unionize, but the union released false information about Hopkins’ debt collection practices. Spokeswoman Kim Hoppe says the court is only called on when patients stop responding and all points of contact are exhausted. She says patients can apply for medical or financial hardship.

Massachusetts

Boston: Lawmakers are weighing a ban on the practice of declawing cats. Supporters of the measure say declawing is cruel and painful. They say cats rely on their paws and claws to groom themselves and to help protect and defend their bodies. The practice involves amputating a cat’s toes to the first knuckle. A bill that would prohibit declawing is scheduled for a public hearing at the Statehouse on Monday before the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. Lawmakers in New York last month voted to approve a bill banning the declawing of cats. The bill was sent to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Declawing a cat is already illegal in much of Europe and in several Canadian provinces, as well as in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver.

Michigan

Arcadia:An exclusive golf course no longer encourages players to hit balls into Lake Michigan after a diver found hundreds in the water. A description on the Arcadia Bluffs website of the 12th hole overlooking the lake had said, “Go ahead and do it, everyone does,” in reference to hitting a ball into the water before striking a tee shot. The Detroit Free Press says Arcadia Bluffs removed that reference last week after inquiries from the newspaper. Golf course president William Shriver says he doesn’t want to encourage the practice. Experts say golf balls are made of plastic and rubber and aren’t good for the Great Lakes. A beverage cart employee says she was fired for discouraging players from hitting balls into the lake. Arcadia Bluffs declined to comment.

Minnesota

St. Cloud:About 400 butterflies filled the sky on Sunday afternoon to celebrate lost loved ones at the eighth annual butterfly release event organized by Quiet Oaks Hospice. More than a thousand people were in attendance to listen to music, send off a butterfly, sip on root beer floats and enjoy a summer breeze by the river. In previous years, the event organizer would read off the names of those who were being celebrated during the butterfly release. But this year, attendees were invited to speak the name of the person they were celebrating and take a moment of silence to reflect.

Mississippi

Columbus: A group petitioning to legalize medical marijuana in the state says it needs about 28,700 more signatures to put the initiative on the November 2020 ballot. Jamie Grantham is communications director for Medical Marijuana 2020. She says organizers have gathered more than 86,000 signatures. That’s about two-thirds of what’s needed. The Commercial Dispatch reports Grantham spoke to a civic club Tuesday in Columbus. She says the state Department of Health would regulate every facet of the program, including overseeing treatment centers where products would be sold. She says only Mississippi licensed physicians could prescribe marijuana products to people with “debilitating medical conditions.” State Public Safety Commissioner Marshall Fisher says he opposes easing marijuana laws because of concerns the drug could be abused. He was a longtime narcotics agent.

Missouri

Kansas City: Lobbyist spending in Missouri has dropped by 94% since voters approved a $5 cap on lawmaker gifts last year. A KCUR analysis of state data concludes that lobbyists spent less than $17,000 on lawmakers in this year’s legislative session compared with last year’s spending of about $300,000. Peverill Squire, a University of Missouri political science professor, says financial gifts don’t buy votes, but they can buy lawmakers’ effort and time. Squire says most of the spending is on larger events that all lawmakers can attend, which adheres to the cap rule. Kelly Gillespie, a lobbyist who heads Missouri Biotech Association, says the new rules limit educational possibilities. Gillespie’s group funded a program last year to teach lawmakers about drug discovery and health care affordability. That is no longer an option.

Montana

Missoula: Glacier National Park officials are teed off over a report that tourists were hitting golf balls off Going-to-the-Sun Road during a traffic delay. NBC Montana posted a video Thursday taken by a tourist during a road construction delay that shows two men teeing off with golf clubs on the side of the steep mountain road. On Friday, Glacier spokeswoman Lauren Alley told the Missoulian the incident is under investigation. She says throwing or hurling things over Going-to-the-Sun Road has the potential to hurt or kill people or wildlife. She says anyone who spots such activity should try to record the person’s license plate number or remember their face if it can be done safely. Alley says law enforcement calls at Glacier are up 40% over last year.

Nebraska

Omaha: Two king penguin chicks that hatched in March are now on display at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. The first chick hatched March 14 and now weighs 26 pounds. The second hatched March 16 and weighs 32 pounds. Their genders are not yet known. The chicks will remain in a segregated “chick pen” in the Antarctic penguin habitat until they molt their nonwaterproof down feathers. It also allows the chicks to get acclimated to the habitat and the other penguins. The chicks were raised by adult males – not typical for this species. Generally, an adult female shares that responsibility. The Zoo’s Aquarium Birds staff only intervened during select feeding times to get the chicks used to accepting food by hand. The zoo has 24 king penguins: 13 males, nine females and the chicks.

Nevada

Fernley: The second-largest commercial land sale in state history is expected to bring thousands of new jobs to a northern Nevada industrial park covering nearly 7 square miles about 30 miles east of Reno. A California-based real estate firm, Mark IV Capital, outlined details of the $45 million purchase along Interstate 80. The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada estimates more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created as a result of the potential development at what will be called the Victory Logistics District. Mark IV Capital cited location and infrastructure as reasons for its decision to acquire the property. In addition to easy railway access, it sits at a crossroad near I-80 and U.S. Highways 50 and 395.

New Hampshire

Loudon: The state Department of Transportation will be implementing a traffic control plan for fans attending Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 Race in Loudon. The race starts at 3 p.m., with maximum traffic congestion occurring in the late afternoon and early evening. There will be ramp closures and other changes affecting Route 106, Interstate 93 and Interstate 393. In some areas, extra temporary lanes will be created.

New Jersey

Newark: Passengers traveling between New Jersey and New York have experienced rail delays of five hours or more about 17 times per year in recent years. That’s the conclusion of a review conducted on behalf of New Jersey Transit and Amtrak. The study’s findings were released Monday by the overseers of a multibillion-dollar project to build a second Hudson River rail tunnel and a new rail bridge over New Jersey’s Hackensack River. The study covered 2014 through 2018 and says the delays cost commuters almost 2,000 hours in extra transit time. They were mostly caused by mechanical problems and an aging infrastructure. The $13.7 billion tunnel project has been stalled by disputes between New York and New Jersey and the federal government over how the cost will be divided up.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: In what’s expected to be a long, contentious process, a few dozen people gathered recently for the first public meeting hosted by Public Service Co. of New Mexico on the planned shutdown of its coal-fired power plant. The utility says it wants feedback on four proposed options for replacing the power that will be lost when the San Juan Generating Station closes in 2022. The proposals are outlined in a filing made earlier this month with the Public Regulation Commission. Regulators will review the options in public hearings over the next nine to 15 months. The Albuquerque Journal reports PNM also will hold meetings in August with organizations that want to test potential changes in the different scenarios using modeling tools to determine costs and feasibility.

New York

Alexandria Bay: The St. Lawrence River has been named the best bass fishery in the nation. It’s a first for the river, which borders Canada to the north and was ranked in the top 10 twice in the past four years by Bassmaster Magazine. The average weight of the entire 149-team field during a June tournament was 20.3 pounds, topped by the winning team from Sam Houston State University, which averaged 24.4 pounds a day. The Big Bass Award for that event was a 6-pound, 7-ouncer. Bassmaster Magazine editor James Hall says in some years there was internal debate over No. 1, but not this year. New York’s Lake Erie out of Buffalo was 10th.

North Carolina

Asheville: Housing prices in Buncombe County have never been higher, outpacing even that of prices in Asheville city limits for the first time in nearly six years, data compiled by area real estate agencies show. The county's median sale price for the year's second quarter was $319,500, up more than 10% from the same time in 2018 and its highest figure on record, according to Mosiac Community Lifestyle Realty. The rise is being driven by more homes selling for more than $300,000 and fewer selling below $300,000 compared to the same time in 2018, Mosaic said. Buncombe had 732 home sales during the quarter, a roughly 8% boost from the previous year's totals. The same time period yielded 453 home sales in Asheville, also a record number for a quarter, says Mosiac.

North Dakota

Bismarck: The state Game and Fish Department says its workers have just completed one of the largest fish stocking efforts in the history of the agency. Crews have stocked 140 lakes across the state with more than 11 million walleye fingerlings from the Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery. Fisheries production leader Jerry Wiegel says the Garrison Dam hatchery had to step up this year because of fish production that couldn’t be used at the Valley City National Fish Hatchery. Its source of water is Lake Ashtabula, where zebra mussels were recently discovered. Walleye already produced at Valley City here used only to stock Lake Ashtabula. Some were also sent to other states for use in lakes where zebra mussels exist.

Ohio

Rossford: Amazon says it will open two new distribution centers in Ohio. The company announced Monday that the two sites in Akron and near Toledo will bring a combined 2,500 full-time jobs. The new facility in Akron will be built on the site of a former shopping mall. The one in Rossford near Toledo is going up at the intersection of Interstate 75 and the Ohio Turnpike. Each of the two distribution centers will cover more than 700,000 square feet. Both centers will employ workers to pack and ship small items. Amazon has five other distribution centers in the state. They employ a total of roughly 8,500 workers.

Oklahoma

Chickasha: One of the last remaining Democrats from a rural district in the state Legislature says he won’t seek re-election in 2020. Rep. David Perryman announced Monday that he won’t seek a fifth-consecutive term for House District 56. The southwest Oklahoma district includes the towns of Anadarko, Chickasha, Fort Cobb, Minco and Pocasset. A minority floor leader, Perryman says it’s a “frustrating time” to be a Democrat from rural Oklahoma and that he’s disappointed with the lack of bipartisanship in the Legislature. Republicans have a 77-24 advantage over Democrats in the House. Perryman says that when he completes his term in November 2020, he plans to resume his full-time law practice in Chickasha.

Oregon

Salem:The state’s iconic Douglas firs are declining as the state’s summers have grown hotter and drier. Drought also is killing grand fir and might be contributing to declines in Western red cedar and bigleaf maple. Oregon has experienced drought each summer since 2012, peaking in 2015. Although rainfall and snowpack have been close to average the past two years, temperatures in many areas still were above normal. Climate change is expected to increase drought in Oregon. Oregon Department of Forestry scientists conduct statewide aerial and ground tree surveys across 30 million acres each year, recording the number of dead and dying trees from all causes, including drought, storms, disease and insect damage. In 2018, about 680,000 acres contained damaged or dead trees attributed to all causes. That’s fewer than at the peak of the drought but still higher than historic levels.

Pennsylvania

Wilkinsburg: Pogopalooza, known as the World Championships of Pogo, bounced into the city last weekend. Extreme pogo stick athletes from around the world came to town to show off their huge tricks and flips to compete for world titles in such categories as High Jump and Best Trick. The events on Saturday and Sunday weren’t just for the grown-ups. Pogo users under the age of 15 entered a “bounce off” competition and those who bounced the longest got a free pogo stick. Visitors tried their hand at pogo-sticking in a free jump area that had pogo sticks of all sizes. In addition to the main competitions, the pogo athletes attempted to break three Guinness World Records over the weekend.

Rhode Island

Newport: A Titanic survivor’s walking stick with an electric light she used to signal for help from a lifeboat has sold for $62,500 at an auction of maritime items. Guernsey’s auction house held the auction in Newport on Friday and Saturday. Guernsey’s President Arlan Ettinger says the top bid on Ella White’s cane was $50,000, plus the surcharge added by the auction house. The preauction estimate had been $300,000 to $500,000. The walking stick was consigned to Guernsey’s by the Williams family in Milford, Connecticut. Ettinger says some family members contested the sale. The issue was resolved before the auction, but the dispute might have made potential bidders nervous. Ettinger says the winning bidder said he was there on behalf of a friend in the United Kingdom.

South Carolina

Orangeburg: A family owned plant in Orangeburg County that makes machines for textile mills is closing after nearly 50 years. Mayer Industries Inc. CEO George Fischer says the company is consolidating its work making braiding machines at plants in Germany. Fischer told The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg that its 59 employees were told of the closing two years ago and the company has been working to help anyone find a new job. Fischer says Mayer Industries did a similar consolidation of its knitting machine business nearly 20 years ago. Mayer Industries built the Orangeburg plant in 1970 and created a course at the nearby technical college to teach workers metric measurements they would need to make machines for the European market.

South Dakota

Rapid City: A National Guard unit has been welcomed home after a nearly year-long deployment to the Middle East. A ceremony was held Sunday afternoon for the 26 members of the 935th Aviation Support Battalion at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Rapid City. KOTA-TV says community members showed their appreciation with prayer and applause. Gov. Krisit Noem told the guard members their dedication did not go unnoticed because of their exemplary work. The Rapid City-based unit provided aviation maintenance and repair support for the Army.

Tennessee

Memphis: The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says six corrections officer have resigned after an internal investigation into accusations of inappropriate conduct. The Commercial Appeal reports that the identities of the deputies were not provided. A social media post from the sheriff’s office says the investigations focused on inappropriate relationships with inmates at the Shelby County Jail. The deputies were suspended with pay in mid-June while an investigation was conducted. One of the deputies resigned in June after being charged with a personal conduct violation and consorting with persons of bad or criminal reputation, which are administrative charges. Sheriff’s Office Captain Anthony Buckner says in a video release that the investigation was halted because the deputies left the department and the office’s General Investigation Bureau did not find sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges.

Texas

Deer Park: The cleanup of millions of gallons of waste and polluted water is far from over four months after a large fire burned for days at a Houston-area petrochemical storage site. The Houston Chronicle reports that Intercontinental Terminals Company, the facility’s owner, must abide by a 31-page management plan that underscores how waste is sampled and identified, stored and discarded. The March 17 fire at the company’s Deer Park site, located southeast of Houston, triggered air quality warnings. More than 21 million gallons of potentially hazardous waste and contaminated water have since been collected from the tank farm and Houston Ship Channel. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office filed water pollution charges in April against Intercontinental Terminals Company, alleging the fire caused chemicals to flow into a nearby waterway.

Utah

Alpine: Police in northern Utah were surprised to learn the suspect in a reported burglary was a wild turkey. Dave Ventrano with Lone Peak police says they received a call on Saturday from a resident who heard a window break in the house next door. The family that lives there was out of town. Officers searched the house and found a dead turkey lying in a pile of broken glass underneath a window on the first floor of the home. Ventrano said the turkey died after flying through the window. He said there are a lot of wild turkeys in Alpine. Police gave the turkey carcass to a resident who owns a local barbecue restaurant.

Vermont

Stowe:The once-endangered common loon is making a comeback in Vermont, but not without the help of humans across the state who build islands for the birds. Eric Hanson, a loon biologist with the state Center for Ecostudies has been leading the group's efforts to manage loon populations in the state. On July 15, Hanson, volunteers from the conservation group Friends of Waterbury Reservoir and Park Ranger Chad Ummel met at the northern part of Waterbury Reservoir to grab some canoes and kayaks and paddled out to build a nesting raft for the two loons that call the artificial lake home. The raft the crew put together on the reservoir was made from a base of cedar logs. Hanson sawed notches on the logs so they fit together like Lincoln Logs.

Virginia

Richmond:The state Department of Health has issued a warning to residents that there has been an increase in respiratory illnesses across the state. The health department received increased reports of respiratory, or breathing, illnesses across the Commonwealth greater than observed in previous summers. Most of the reports have occurred among older adults and those with chronic medical conditions in assisted living and long-term care facilities, the VDH said. The reports involve different regions of the state and different diseases, including pertussis (whooping cough), influenza, haemophilus influenzae infection, Legionnaire’s disease and pneumonia caused by rhinovirus or human metapneumovirus.

Washington

Bremerton:The Kitsap Pride in the Park 2019 event emphasized unity: among law enforcement, churches, elected officials and community members. The Bremerton Police Department, City Council members and Mayor Greg Wheeler were among the hundreds of community members in attendance at Evergreen Park on Saturday. The Police Department took to the main stage following Wheeler's address to announce its “Safe Place” program. The program, operated by Officer and LGBTQ liaison Mitchell Chapman, will allow the department to offer a safe haven at the station for victims of hate crimes while police resolve the issue. Chapman says he will be working closely with local businesses and social services to train them on the protocols to serve as safe spaces.

West Virginia

Vivian: Crews have begun clearing the scene of a train derailment, where up to 20 cars went off the rails, some of which had carried hazardous materials at one point. No one was injured. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports Kimball Fire Chief Jimmy Gianato says the hazardous material train cars were empty during the Saturday crash, but will still be continually monitored becauese of possibility of a leak. After the Norfolk Southern train cars derailed near Vivian, some toppled onto their side. Others fell into the neighboring creek. The newspaper reports one was labeled “Carbon Dioxide Refrigerated Liquid.” Crews with Norfolk Southern, Emergency Railroad Services and Cranemasters worked to clear the scene Sunday.

Wisconsin

Appleton:In the midst of a sweltering heatwave that scorched more than half of the U.S., there was some good news for Appleton residents: It apparently has been worse. A Seattle news station reported Friday that Appleton is home to the hottest "feels like" day in U.S. history, when the temperature hit a high point of 101 degrees with a dew point of 90 degrees on July 13, 1995. That combination produced a heat index — or made it feel like — 148 degrees that day, KOMO News reported. Friday wasn't quite that hot — Appleton saw a high temperature of 90 degrees and dew points ranged from the low-to-mid 70s, says Scott Berschback, a meteorologist out of the National Weather Service office in Green Bay. Berschback couldn't confirm Friday's peak heat index, nor could he confirm the purported record.

Wyoming

Rock Springs: Two residents are trying to end the use of a gas chamber for euthanasia at an animal shelter. The Humane Society of the U.S. says Wyoming is one of just four states where shelters still use gas chambers rather than lethal injection to euthanize animals; the others are Missouri, Ohio and Utah. Animal welfare advocates say gas chambers are cruel because death often doesn’t happen quickly. The Rock Springs Rocket-Miner reports Madhu Anderson and Eve Waggoner have been protesting the use of gas at the Rock Springs animal shelter. Anderson says lethal injection is more humane and not difficult to implement. Rock Springs Police Chief Dwane Pacheco says the shelter only euthanizes feral cats and aggressive dogs and has one of Wyoming’s few free spay-and-neuter programs.

Eco-warriors use brains, brawn to fight python menace

Eric Staats

eric.staats@naplesnews.com; 239-263-4780

Jaimie Kittle rides in the back seat of a Ford F150 bumping along the top of a levee in East Naples. She asks the driver to stop. She thinks she might see something dark and shiny, catching the morning sun.

She hops out and peers into the tall grass.

"Python!" she shouts.

And the fight is on.

***

Kittle, 23, is part of a team of eco-warriors at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. Using brains and brawn, the team targets pythons, a nonnative invasive species threatening to upend the Southwest Florida ecosystem.

The stakes are high. Pythons are apex predators that scientists say have the capacity to decimate native populations. The snakes, which can grow longer than 20 feet, eat raccoons, rabbits, wading birds, even deer. One study blamed pythons for a 90 percent decline in small mammals in Everglades National Park.

State and federal agencies recruit snake hunters — from machete-wielding thrill-seekers from the Miami suburbs to Irula tribesman from India — for headline-grabbing forays into the wilds of South Florida, awarding bounties for the biggest and best catches.

The Conservancy project, funded by private donors and the Naples Zoo, does it differently. Its team tracks radio-tagged snakes and then follows them to other snakes, hopefully egg-laden females.

The goal of the eco-warriors is to break the breeding cycle.

Since 2013, the team that includes wildlife biologists Ian Bartoszek, 40, and Ian Easterling, 25, has captured more than 250 snakes in a 25-square-mile area along the urban edge of East Naples, roughly southeast of U.S. 41 and Collier Boulevard. That's more than three tons of python and, more importantly, more than 3,000 python eggs.

Team leader Bartoszek, the driver of the snake team F150 truck, said unwanted pets released along a rural stretch of U.S. 41 East in the late 1990s could be the source of Collier County's python problem.

The first python hatchling, a sign of a breeding population, was found in 2008, run over on the highway about a mile from the entrance to Collier-Seminole State Park.

Crews at Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve began pulling giant snakes out of the reserve in 2012, a year before the Conservancy tagged its first snakes.

That could mean the eco-warriors still have time to fight back

"Can we make a dent?" said Bartoszek, the Conservancy's science coordinator. "I don't know, but we're going to try."

Related stories:

***

In the same split second of Kittle's python alert, Bartoszek and Easterling burst out of the pickup's front seat and bound down the side of the levee with her.

A 15-foot python with a fat body and a fist-sized head is waiting for them. Before the snake even knows what's happening, the team dives on top of it.

"You have three seconds," Bartoszek said. "Literally, one one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, and it's gone."

The first thing to do when wrangling a giant python is to grip it just behind the head with both hands. The next thing is to hold on.

***

Every two weeks, Bartoszek and his team hire a Cessna 172 Skyhawk and a pilot to gather aerial intelligence on their tagged pythons from 1,000 feet up, listening for beeps from the tags implanted under the snakes' skins.

Antennas, one labeled FWD RT and one labeled FWD LT, are bolted onto each of the wings before takeoff. Bartoszek takes a tangle of wires, a radio receiver and a GPS unit into the cockpit.

He calls out the nickname of each snake as he hears its beep. There's Elvis, under the right wing. Argo is along the treeline in the distance. "Johnny, where's Johnny?" Bartoszek said. The plane banks and circles back to get closer to record each snake's location.

On the ground the next day, the snake team will use the coordinates to track the pythons from the pickup, a modified 4x4 with a winch and steel bumpers for heavy-duty field work. Easterling will hold an antenna out the truck's open window, listening for the telltale beeps again.

By keeping track of the snakes' movements, the team hopes to crack the code of python behavior and learn secrets that might help control their spread.

Flying southeast from the Naples Municipal Airport, it's easy to appreciate the challenge of pinpointing pythons, a notoriously cryptic creature. Forests of mangroves and marshes stretch to the horizon, interrupted by a growing number of cul-de-sacs under construction in new neighborhoods.

"That's the python zone," Bartoszek said.

A network of canals, imperceptible on the ground, is as good as an interstate highway for pythons to spread unchecked into every corner of Collier County. The Conservancy strategy is to hold a defensive line along the county's urban edge.

Unlike in the vast Everglades, where tracking a python might lead to isolated tree islands that are hard to get to, Southwest Florida pythons often are found within reach of the pickup and a sometimes treacherous hike through difficult terrain and back.

"We go where these animals go, and they know no boundaries," Bartoszek said.

***

The python hisses and writhes, trying to shake the surprise attack by the snake team.

"Hold on, hold on, she's doing the twist," Bartoszek says, trying to calm the adrenaline-fueled team. "Let's take our time."

Shedding skin makes it difficult to keep a good grip on the snake as it wraps itself around whatever it can find: Easterling's leg, Bartoszek's arm, a big clump of grass.

"You don't mess around with an animal like this. This is a loaded weapon," Bartoszek says.

***

This year, the team considered another captured snake named Jaeger an MVP, a Most Valuable Python, having led Conservancy trackers to three breeding females.

One epic extraction required a 1 1/2 mile slog through dense mangroves and sawgrass. Bartoszek blazed the trail, and Easterling followed behind carrying a 100-pound python in a pack on his back.

Jaeger is among 35 pythons, including 20 still in the field, that the Conservancy has tagged and turned into snitch snakes against their mates.

Researchers were tracking the project's first radio-tagged python, Elvis, when they found the snake they would later recruit for the tagging project and nicknamed the General. The two male snakes were in the same spot, and there's only one reason for that: a female snake they nicknamed Valentina.

Elvis would later play a crucial role in one of the team's crowning discoveries. Last year, they were tracking another tagged male, Kirkland, when they started hearing Elvis' beeps, too. They were in a gopher tortoise burrow — and they had company.

By the time researchers sorted through the twisted pile of snakes, they counted four more males and a single female, 200 pounds of pythons in one spot.

The team has high hopes their latest radio-tagged recruit, Fredo, will live up to his namesake, betraying the family as the doomed youngest Corleone brother did in "The Godfather."

They walked in on Fredo earlier this breeding season with a female the team had been tracking.

"That's a good sign that Fredo has the right stuff," Bartoszek said.

***

Finally, the python tires enough that the snake team can carry it to the top of the levee.

"Let her chill, just keep your guard up," Bartoszek says.

Out of breath, the team lowers the exhausted python into a plastic tub in the bed of the pickup and closes the lid.

Bartoszek locks the lid — just in case — before driving the python back to the Conservancy science lab.

***

One of Jaeger's conquests laid belly up on the necropsy table as Easterling pulled on a pair of blue surgical gloves. He picked up an Exacto knife and pushed the blade into the hefty female's leathery underside.

A day earlier it was still frozen and coiled up, propped up on its edge in the lab's stainless steel sink to thaw.

Easterling sliced the python from head to tip of tail. First, the skin peeled back, then a layer of glistening fat, to reveal internal organs and a load of 46 developing eggs. Easterling counted them off out loud, while Kittle logged the data.

Last, they squeezed a sample of the python's gut contents into a tiny collection bag, labeled with an identification code to be sent off to Christina Romagosa.

Romagosa and her team at the University of Florida will wash the sample using a sieve to collect tiny fragments of bones, teeth, hair and feathers. DNA analysis does not do a very good job of identifying undigested python food, so researchers put the samples under a microscope to identify them based on color and shape.

"It's super neat," said Romagosa, a research assistant professor at UF's department of wildlife ecology and conservation, who also handles gut samples from pythons captured in Everglades National Park. "It's like a Christmas present. You never know what you're going to get."

Turns out the pythons in Southwest Florida eat better than their east coast counterparts, which don't have much of a diet — other than cotton rats. Mammal populations still are large in the pythons' range in Collier, judging from the variety of samples found under the UF microscopes.

Rodents account for about 25 percent of the Collier pythons' diet. Rabbits account for another 30 percent. Opossums, raccoons, foxes, even the occasional deer and an armadillo have been found. No endangered species, and no alligators, Romagosa said.

"Matter of time, I imagine," she said.

***

The captured python lies nearly motionless on the science lab's cold floor. Its 129 pounds puts the team over the 2,000-pound mark for captured pythons this year.

Later, the snake will be anesthesized and then injected with chemicals that will humanely kill it. It will be cut open and added to the Conservancy's tally of arrested python reproduction.

And then, like most of the euthanized pythons, the carcass will be taken to Rookery Bay, carried off by vultures and returned to the ecosystem where it didn't belong in the first place.

Acadia boom, robot servers: News from around our 50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Montgomery: Gov. Kay Ivey is calling lawmakers into special session this month to vote on a prison construction plan that would use part of the state’s coronavirus relief funds to jump-start the building of three new lockups. In a letter to lawmakers announcing the special session, Ivey painted the construction project as a partial solution to the state’s long-standing prison woes, which have included a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit over violence and a separate federal court order to improve mental health treatment behind bars. “Failure to timely resolve these issues outlined in federal lawsuits could result in detrimental consequences for our state,” Ivey wrote to lawmakers. “Achieving an Alabama solution to these problems – rather than a federal court-ordered solution – is paramount.” While proponents said the construction would be a partial solution, one lawmaker said it would put “old problems in new buildings” unless the state made additional reforms. “Just building prisons without engaging in some sort of comprehensive criminal justice reform is the definition of kicking the can down the road,” said Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa. On the use of federal pandemic funds on the project, England said there are “obviously better uses of the money.” Ivey said the special session would begin Sept. 27.

Alaska

Anchorage: Dozens of Afghan refugees will be resettled in the state over the next six months, according to a resettlement organization. Between 50 and 100 refugees will come to Alaska starting in September, Catholic Social Services Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services said in a statement. Resettlement will continue through March. Catholic Social Services Alaska CEO Lisa Aquino told the Associated Press it wasn’t known when the first refugees would arrive in Alaska, but the organization will be ready for them. The refugees were described as being in vulnerable populations, such as children, women and the elderly. Many worked for the U.S. government or the military in Afghanistan in positions like translators. Thousands of Afghanis were evacuated after American forces left Afghanistan last month. They were first sent to military bases in the Lower 48 for screening and preparing to be sent to destinations around the U.S. The refugees, including individuals and families, will work with program staff in several areas like employment and English-language skills after arriving in Anchorage. Aquino said it wasn’t known how many would settle in other parts of the state, but it’s expected a majority would remain in Anchorage.

Arizona

Tucson: As the state’s biggest hospitals fill up with COVID-19 patients – most unvaccinated – physicians in some smaller, more rural communities say their patients who need specialty care are paying the ultimate price. The inability to find a bed has left smaller facilities such as Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital in Green Valley frustrated. A Tucson gastroenterologist drove to Green Valley last week to operate on a patient who couldn’t be transferred anywhere in the state to get the surgery. The hospital has filed a complaint with the Arizona Department of Health Services about the inability to transfer, the Arizona Daily Star reports. The patient lived “only because this doctor was nice enough, was human enough to save his life,” said Stephen Harris, the hospital’s CEO. In Cochise County, Dr. Cristian Laguillo, a senior physician with Copper Queen Community Hospital in Bisbee, said he has never felt this helpless trying to assist patients – even while serving a tour in Afghanistan as a combat medic. A surge line was created in April 2020 by the state Department of Health Services to facilitate transfers of COVID-19 patients across the state. But it’s meant to be used to track down beds for COVID-19 patients. Laguillo said he thinks the state surge line has to change to be for all patients in critical need, not just virus patients.

Arkansas

Lonoke: A former sheriff’s deputy charged with manslaughter for fatally shooting a white teenager whose death has drawn the attention of civil rights activists was released Monday on $15,000 bond. Michael Davis, a former sergeant with the Lonoke County sheriff’s office, is set to appear again in court Nov. 15, Little Rock television station KTHV reports. Davis was charged Friday with felony manslaughter in the death of 17-year-old Hunter Brittain. Davis, who is also white, shot Brittain during a June 23 traffic stop. Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley fired Davis in July, saying the former deputy did not turn on his body camera until after the shooting. Investigators have said Brittain was holding a container at the time of the shooting, and they did not find any firearms in or around the teen’s truck. Davis’ attorney has said the former deputy plans to plead not guilty. Brittain was eulogized by the Rev. Al Sharpton and two attorneys who represented George Floyd’s family. They said the teen’s death highlighted the need for interracial support for changes in policing. Brittain’s family and friends have regularly demonstrated outside the Lonoke County sheriff’s office, demanding more details on the shooting.

California

Sacramento: Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved two measures to slice through local zoning ordinances as the most populous state struggles with soaring home prices, an affordable housing shortage and stubborn homelessness. He signed the most prominent legislation despite nearly 250 cities objecting that it will, by design, undermine local planning and control. The outcome marks the latest battle between what’s come to be thought of as “NIMBY vs. YIMBY.” While most agree there is an affordable housing shortage, proposed construction often runs into “not in my backyard” opposition. “The housing affordability crisis is undermining the California Dream for families across the state, and threatens our long-term growth and prosperity,” Newsom said in announcing his approval Thursday. He also announced the state will put $1.75 billion into what his administration is calling a new California Housing Accelerator, which he said will speed building 6,500 affordable multifamily units that had been stalled for lack of tax-exempt bonds and low-income housing tax credits. It’s part of $22 billion that the state plans to spend to spur new housing and ease homelessness along with the new laws. The bill by Senate leader Toni Atkins would require cities to approve up to four housing units on what was a single-family lot.

Colorado

Denver: A state panel has recommended that a mountain peak west of Denver be renamed in honor of a Native American woman who acted as a translator for tribes and white settlers in the 19th century. Thursday’s recommendation comes amid national efforts to address a history of colonialism and oppression against Native Americans and other people of color after last summer’s protests calling for racial justice reform. It is the first of several name changes being considered by the state panel. The Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board recommended changing the name of Squaw Mountain, located in Clear Creek County about 30 miles miles west of Denver, to Mestaa’ehehe Mountain, which is pronounced “mess-taw-hay.” The name honors an influential Cheyenne translator known as Owl Woman who facilitated relations between white settlers and Native American tribes in the early 1800s, The Colorado Sun reports. The word “squaw,” derived from the Algonquin language, may once have simply meant “woman.” But over generations, the word morphed into a misogynist and racist term to disparage Indigenous women, according to experts.

Connecticut

New London: One restaurant is taking an unorthodox approach to addressing staff shortages: robot servers to serve meals. The operator of the New London location of the Shaking Crab told The Day the ocean-themed restaurant will use regular waiters and waitresses to explain the menu and take orders, but the robots will deliver the meals to the tables. Gulshan Soni told the newspaper the robots can be summoned with a bell. The innovation is partly for showmanship and to draw in customers with something unique, he said, and partly to address staffing shortages being experienced across the industry. The four robots cost between $6,000 and $22,000, Soni said. The restaurant is scheduled to open to the public in early October. The Shaking Crab has more than two dozen locations in the northeastern U.S. and China, according to its website.

Delaware

Wilmington: In uplifting news for environmentalists, Delawareans can no longer release balloons into the sky, thanks to a law Gov. John Carney signed Friday. The bill that lawmakers passed in June makes it illegal to intentionally release balloons in the First State. Releasing up to four balloons is considered littering and can mean a fine of $25 or more. Releasing five or more balloons brings a fine of $250 and up to eight hours of community service for the first offense. Maryland and Virginia passed similar laws earlier this year. While Carney has dedicated much of his tenure to a litter-reduction campaign, the bill isn’t just intended to prevent residents from suffering the sight of latex balloon remnants scattered across the state. The new law is also meant to protect wildlife, according to environmentalists. “Balloons have long polluted shorelines of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, adding to the plastic pollution that threatens both marine life and the roughly 225,000 jobs in the three states that depend on a clean coast,” Oceana field campaigns manager Caroline Wood said in a statement. Delawareans can still throw water balloons as long as they pick up the trash after they pop. People planning celebrations or mourning events can visit preventballoonlitter.org to find other ideas in lieu of balloon releases.

District of Columbia

Washington: After showing signs of coughing, sneezing and a lack of appetite, nine big cats at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoo tested positive for the coronavirus. The Smithsonian said Friday that six African lions, a Sumatran tiger and two Amur tigers exhibited symptoms and tested presumptive positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. The final results are expected in the coming days, the Smithsonian said on its website. “All lions and tigers are being treated with anti-inflammatories and anti-nausea medication to address discomfort and decreased appetite,” the zoo said on its website. “In addition, all are being treated with antibiotics for presumptive secondary bacterial pneumonia. They remain under close observation.” Due to the social distance between visitors and animals, the public is at no risk for the coronavirus. The zoo confirmed no other animals were exhibiting symptoms as of Friday. Zookeepers conducted an investigation of all staff and animals, and the source of the outbreak wasn’t found, according to the website. The first round of the COVID-19 vaccine made for zoo animals by Zoetis has been authorized for use by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The National Zoo has said it will disburse the first round of vaccines among “susceptible species” in the coming months.

Florida

Ocala: A woman floating on a paddleboard in the Silver River used her paddle to push away a large alligator that swam directly toward her in a frightful, up-close encounter captured in startling videos and photographs. The alligator came within inches of Vicki Baker, 60, of Ocala. She estimated the reptile to be nearly as long as her 10-foot paddleboard. It hissed loudly at her. She said at one point it opened its mouth, revealing large teeth and its powerful jaw as it floated on the surface. “What are you doing? Get away from me! Get away from me!” she yelled at the alligator as it swam inches from her paddleboard. “No! Oh, my God, I had to push him away with my paddle!” Nearby, off camera in the video, an employee at Silver Springs State Park can be heard on a speaker advising her: “Ma’am, I’m going to suggest backing up considering you just made him pretty mad.” Baker said she remains puzzled over the encounter. She said she presumed someone else on the water had been feeding the alligator, desensitizing it to humans and helping it associate paddlers on the river with food. “I was afraid,” she said. “I’ve seen them my whole life and have never been afraid.” The encounter happened near Silver Springs, where deep springs feed the Silver River, and the water is so stunningly clear that tourists board glass-bottom boats.

Georgia

Marietta: The Cobb County district attorney’s office is offering warm, furry support to crime victims and staff. District Attorney Flynn Broady announced Friday that Rose, a 3-year-old black Labrador retriever, is joining the office. The victim witness unit has been working to bring Rose on board, according to a news release from the office. “The level of stress and anxiety that victims of domestic violence experience is drastically reduced with the introduction of assistance animals,” unit director Kimberly McCoy said. “It’s been a long process, but we are excited.” The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office partnered with the Pups with a Purpose program to donate the dog. Pups with a Purpose matches people held in the Forsyth County jail with volunteer citizen dog trainers and Forsyth County Animal Shelter dogs. Rose received specialized training from Rucker Dog Training to prepare her to help crime victims in court, the release said. “Child victims will have the opportunity to have Rose there to calm them down and assure them that they are in a safe place so they can tell their story and not feel afraid of what happens if they tell it,” Broady said.

Hawaii

Honolulu: The state Board of Education has approved changing Central Middle School’s name to honor the Hawaiian princess who once owned the downtown Honolulu property. At a meeting Thursday, the board approved naming the campus Princess Ruth Ke’elikolani Middle School. School and community leaders have been trying since 2019 to rename the school. The princess’ home, Keoua Hale, once stood on the grounds of the current campus, and when she died in 1883, her property was bequeathed to Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, according to documents supporting the name change. After Pauahi’s death in 1885, the board of education purchased the property for what became Honolulu High School in 1895, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. It later became Central Grammar School before it was changed briefly to Ke’elikolani School. It became Central Junior High School in 1928, then Central Intermediate School in 1932 and Central Middle School in 1997, the newspaper reports. “In the 1930s, because people couldn’t pronounce the name, they changed it back to Central,” said the school’s principal, Joseph Passantino, Hawaii News Now reports. “So the significance is huge, especially for the staff who’s dedicated over two years to give her that duty and honor.”

Idaho

Caldwell: The principal at a southwestern Idaho public charter school has died due to COVID-19, the school’s board said. The school board at Heritage Community Charter School in Caldwell announced the death of Javier Castaneda in a letter to parents. The school’s website links to a GoFundMe page created Friday that said Castaneda died unexpectedly Wednesday as a result of becoming ill with COVID-19. He is survived by his wife and seven children. The school board said in the letter first reported by KTVB-TV that the school will provide counseling resources and other support for children. The school has some restrictions in place due to COVID-19. It made face masks optional. The school said on its website that it focuses on a classical liberal arts education and uses a dual Spanish-language immersion program to provide a strong foreign language emphasis.

Illinois

Springfield: All 18 of the state’s job centers offering services for people searching for work are accepting in-person appointments after shifting to remote operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Illinois Department of Employment Security announced. In-person appointments began Monday at five offices in Burbank, Chicago, Joliet and North Aurora. Other centers began accepting appointments in August and in early September. Officials encouraged people to use the agency’s website to apply for unemployment benefits, search for work and use other services. Appointments, have to be made at least 24 hours in advance by calling the agency’s hotline, at (217) 558-0401, and last 20 minutes. Anyone entering an office must wear a mask and should reschedule their appointment if they feel sick or have been exposed to COVID-19. Help will still be available over the phone as the job centers reopen for in-person services.

Indiana

Terre Haute: Organizers of a planned museum about basketball great Larry Bird are starting to assemble thousands of items ahead of its expected opening next year. The museum will be part of the new Terre Haute Convention Center, which remains under construction with an anticipated completion date of March 2022. It will include items donated by Bird and others from his career with the Boston Celtics, Indiana State University and the U.S. Olympic team. The site for work on cataloging the memorabilia is being modified for security and should be ready within weeks, the Tribune-Star reports. “As other items are collected, they can be housed in one location,” memorabilia consultant Shelly Keen said. “It’s just going to make things move a little more swiftly than what it was before.” Bird grew up in the southern Indiana town of French Lick. He created excitement during his days at Indiana State in Terre Haute when he led the school to the NCAA title game in 1979, although the Sycamores lost to Magic Johnson’s Michigan State team. When the Celtics won the 1984 NBA Championship, Bird dedicated the win to Terre Haute. He was the Indiana Pacers coach and a top team executive after his playing career.

Iowa

Waterloo: The city’s first Black police chief is facing intense opposition from some current and former officers as he works with local leaders to reform the department, including the removal of its longtime insignia that resembles a Ku Klux Klan dragon. Joel Fitzgerald said his 16-month tenure in Waterloo, a city of 67,000 with a history of racial divisions, is a “case study” for what Black police chiefs face as they seek to build community trust and hold officers to higher standards. In an interview with the Associated Press, he said the attacks were driven by misinformation and racism toward him and his boss, the city’s first Black mayor. “I don’t think there’s been any police chief in America in a small- or medium-sized department that have endured this for the reasons I have endured it, and I think the reasons have to do with race,” said Fitzgerald, who previously served as the chief of larger departments in Fort Worth, Texas, and Allentown, Pennsylvania. “This is my fourth job being the first Black police chief. I’ve dealt with pushback in other places but never so overt. Never so nonfactual.” The backlash has intensified since last fall, when the City Council began pushing to remove the department’s emblem – a winged creature known as a griffin that had adorned patches on officers’ uniforms since the 1960s. After a messy process, the council voted 5-2 last week to order the department to remove the symbol from its uniforms by the end of September.

Kansas

Lansing: A nurse who texted a co-worker a picture of a dementia patient slumped over in a wheelchair and then suggested she was responsible and deserved thanks has pleaded guilty to intentionally administering the wrong medication. The Kansas City Star reports 37-year-old Jennifer Lynn Reavis, of Atchison, is free on bond as she awaits sentencing on charges of endangerment, unlawful administration of a controlled substance and battery. She pleaded guilty to the charges Friday in Leavenworth County District Court. In May 2019, administrators with Twin Oaks Rehab Center in Lansing contacted police after discovering a patient had been getting evening medications along with the anti-anxiety drug Ativan and Benadryl when she was not supposed to receive them. “Your (sic) welcome! I hope she is asleep most of the day tomorrow,” prosecutors said Reaves wrote to an oncoming night nurse in a text that included the photograph of the victim apparently sleeping in a wheelchair. “Hint hint.” The medication caused the patient to become lethargic and be hospitalized, prosecutors say. Reavis admitted to police giving the medicine to the woman, saying she tried to wander away from the nursing home.

Kentucky

Louisville: On the first Saturday after a new “safety zone” law went into effect at the state’s only abortion clinic, some protesters ignored the 10-foot-wide restricted area at the entrance as they followed patients to the door, shouting and berating them. No police were present to enforce the zone meant to ensure safe access to EMW Women’s Surgical Center, where patients often must pass through shouting, jostling anti-abortion protesters waving graphic signs of fetuses. “Repent, murderer!” self-proclaimed sidewalk preacher Jesse Morrell shouted as he and others stepped inside the restricted area to follow a young woman to the door of the clinic. The city’s police department put out a statement Sunday saying it had more urgent priorities than trying to enforce the new city ordinance, which requires officers to witness a violation before they can issue a citation. Morrell, a regular protester outside EMW, said he doesn’t feel constrained by the restricted area. “The thing about these buffer zones is that if you don’t test them, they just get bigger,” he said. “Eventually the whole street will be a buffer zone if we don’t stand up for our rights.” The protests Saturday grew increasingly chaotic as more protesters arrived, swarming vehicles that pulled up to the curb to drop off patients, shouting and admonishing them as they exited.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: A Louisiana-based research organization and a professor at the University of Southern Mississippi are joining forces in a research project aimed at restoring and protecting the Chandeleur Islands in the northern Gulf of Mexico. In a news release announcing the effort, USM noted that the islands provide habitat for gulf fish and wildlife and offer storm protection for coastal Louisiana. Led by Dr. Kelly Darnell, an assistant research professor at USM, the project is one of 20 awarded a combined $2.3 million to find ways of best managing natural resources in the Gulf, including marine mammals, shorebirds, barrier islands, seagrass and fisheries. The projects, slated to begin this month, are funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration RESTORE Science Program. The Water Institute of the Gulf, based in Baton Rouge, will be among those working with Darnell. Others include the University of Florida, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Gulf of Mexico Alliance. Darnell’s project, which relates to seagrass ecosystems along the Chandeleur Islands, was given $127,065. The project will provide usable data for restoration and long-term management of the islands.

Maine

Bar Harbor: Acadia National Park is on track for a record year, as park officials see no signs of visitation slowing down this fall. The park’s busiest year on record was 2018, when there were 3.54 million visits. This year, the number could top 4 million, Kevin Schneider, park superintendent, told the Acadia Advisory Commission. Things have taken off since 2020, which was an off year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2.67 million visits Acadia recorded in 2020 amounted to the lowest annual count the park has had since 2014, the Bangor Daily News reports. But visitation picked up significantly last fall. Since October 2020, “every single month has been a record month” for visitation, according to Adam Gibson, a social scientist for Acadia. The past 11 months have had on average 22% more visitors than the same period from the year before, he said. The park had roughly 800,000 visits last month, and Acadia has welcomed an estimated 2.75 million visitors so far in 2021. The volume of people in the park has resulted in more rescues, said Therese Picard, the park’s chief ranger. The park typically handles two dozen rescues through August of each year, she said, but there have been 50 rescues so far this year. Most of the rescues involve leg injuries of some sort.

Maryland

Annapolis: BP has inked a 15-year agreement with Annapolis-based CleanBay Renewables to turn poultry litter into natural gas. The partnership involves mixing poultry litter with water in a closed system known as an anaerobic digester. One of the end products is biogas, which includes methane. The biogas can be processed into renewable natural gas and used to fuel vehicles. “We have a portfolio of projects and a corporate strategy to develop 30 (facilities) across the U.S.,” said Thomas Spangler, CleanBay Renewables’ executive chairman. Among the first locations slated to receive such a facility is Westover, in Somerset County, with a groundbreaking scheduled for early in the first quarter of 2022. That is expected to be fully operational by mid-2024. Usually, such facilities employ 26 full-time employees over three shifts a day running 24 hours a day, all year. Completing a two-year construction period could also create an additional 250 jobs. According to Spangler, the initial process behind green-lighting projects started with reaching out to Somerset Economic Development Commission and county planning and zoning officials. At the state level, the company approached the Maryland Department of Commerce, state workforce agencies, and area community colleges and universities.

Massachusetts

Plymouth: A museum dedicated to the English colony of Plymouth and local Indigenous tribes is opening a new exhibit to mark the 400th anniversary of Thanksgiving. The Plimoth Patuxet Museums said the exhibit, entitled “We Gather Together: Thanksgiving, Gratitude, and the Making of an American Holiday,” will open Saturday. The exhibit will explore the relationship between Native Americans and English colonists to “better understand the events that led to the first Thanksgiving,” said the museum, which features a replica colonial village and reenactors in Plymouth. It will feature rarely seen artifacts from the museum’s collection, as well as art from across the centuries tracing how the New England tradition grew and emerged as a national holiday in the 19th century, the museum said. “Patuxet/Plymouth is the place where ancient traditions of gratitude in both Indigenous and European cultures merged,” the museum said in a statement. “ ‘We Gather Together’ will explore the ancient and deeply human expression of gratitude that is the bedrock of this national holiday.” The Pokanoket tribe and their sachem Massasoit shared in three days of feasting and entertainment with English colonists in the autumn of 1621, helping to inspire the holiday of gathering and giving thanks, according to the museum.

Michigan

Ypsilanti: A “Black Lives Matter” street mural painted this summer in southeastern Michigan has been defaced by vandals who covered part of it with white paint. The weekend attack in Ypsilanti left the 260-foot mural’s words “Black Lives” drenched in white paint, while the word “Matter” was untouched. Trische Duckworth, executive director of the community organization Survivors Speak, was joined Sunday by city officials and others who expressed outrage over the vandalism in the city about 35 miles southwest of Detroit. “It was an ugly display of hatred,” Duckworth said. She said that no matter who defaced the mural, the act shows that racism and white supremacy “are not a thing of the past. It’s alive and active.” City manager Frances McMullan said law enforcement is investigating the vandalism. She said in a statement that the city was “sickened by this horrible act of destruction” but that the mural would be restored. The vandals left behind the painted name of a group identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist hate group. The Ypsilanti City Council approved the mural at the entrance of a city park in February. Volunteers painted the mural and a second one in June using donated paint. Duckworth said the council is expected to discuss the defaced mural this week.

Minnesota

St. Paul: Agriculture officials in the state say they are seeing an increase in inquiries about mental health. “We are seeing a lot of despair right now, a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety,” said Meg Moynihan, who works for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture with a focus on the human side of farming. Moynihan recently put an ad on Facebook with a link to mental health help. The response caught her attention: nearly 2,500 clicks in 18 days, Minnesota Public Radio reports. “So they’re not just looking at, ‘Oh, there’s the phone number in the ad I could call,’ but they’re clicking through for more information,” Moynihan said. “And I’m hoping that’s some people who want that kind of help and support for themselves. But I’m also hoping it’s for people who might be concerned about somebody they know.” Commissioner of Agriculture Thom Petersen recently surveyed conditions in northwestern Minnesota, where the drought is taking its biggest toll on the state. “I thought I was in Arizona,” he said. “I just looked at this bare church with no grass and the graves, you know, looked like a ghost town. And I kept going, and the pastures were the worst I’ve ever seen in my life.” Peterson said he also met an 80-year-old farmer who’d just sold off all his sheep who said the situation was the worst he’s seen in his lifetime.

Mississippi

Clarksdale: The Mississippi Writers Trail has unveiled a marker for Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and short story writer Richard Ford. The marker for Ford, a Jackson native, was placed recently at the Clarksdale Carnegie Public Library. Ford won acclaim with his first two novels, “A Piece of My Heart” and “The Ultimate Good Luck.” “Our library here in little Clarksdale, Mississippi, is just so pleased to pay tribute and to honor one of the most well-known greatest writers of all times, a native Mississippian, a novelist, a short story writer, and a Pulitzer Prize Winner,” Mary Caradine, interim director of the Carnegie Public Library of Clarksdale and Coahoma County, said in a press release. “Mr. Ford’s achievements are known far and wide.” Ford’s novel “The Sportsman” was named one of TIME Magazine’s Top 100 novels published since the magazine’s inception. Ford wrote “The Sportswriter” while living in rural Coahoma County, and he used the book’s protagonist in future novels, including “Independence Day,” for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1996. “Richard Ford is a true international author and cultural essayist who brings a rich view of the Southern experience to his readers,” Visit Mississippi Director Craig Ray said.

Missouri

Kansas City: A federal investigation is underway after arson damaged a historic church that now serves a congregation predominantly made up of people from South Sudan. John Ham of the Kansas City office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told the Kansas City Star that authorities have determined the blaze was intentionally set, making it a federal crime. The fire was discovered about 9:15 a.m. Saturday at the building known as Harlem Baptist Church on the city’s north side. Arriving firefighters discovered the front of the building and an area of stairs going to the basement were fully engulfed in flames and determined that’s where the fire started. One firefighter had to be rescued after the stairway collapsed but was not injured. The church suffered heavy fire damage to the front and smoke and water damage elsewhere. The church, founded in 1907 as the Harlem Tabernacle Church, is the last remaining original building of a non-incorporated community known as Harlem. It now serves as a gathering place for the United Christian Fellowship. Pastor Gabriel Riak said the congregation has Black and white members, including Sudanese and Americans. He said he was grateful no one was in the building, KMBC reports. Members plan to restore the church, which sustained about $90,000 in damage, he said.

Montana

Helena: Health officials are begging residents to wear masks indoors and get vaccinated against COVID-19 as hospitals face increasing strain in the absence of any statewide health mandates. Officials in Bozeman and Missoula lamented their inability to implement public health restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus after the Legislature passed several laws earlier this year curtailing the power of local health officers to implement rules such as mask requirements and limits on gathering sizes. “Now is the time when we would have mandates in place,” said D’Shane Barnett, Missoula County health officer. “Unfortunately, we have anti-health state legislators who went out of their way to make that not possible.” Lori Christensen, public health officer for Gallatin County, said the legislative changes have “complicated the scene” in terms of immediate action she can take. She said she trying to navigate “the complexity of the law,” but a mask mandate is not on the horizon. In Missoula, officials have requested 24 National Guard soldiers to assist the county in addressing its COVID-19 surge at health care facilities and in The Sleepy Inn, a facility used to quarantine unhoused people who are diagnosed with the virus or identified as close contacts. Bozeman Health has also put in a request for National Guard assistance.

Nebraska

Lincoln: The state is one of the few in the nation that haven’t legalized cannabis use in some form, but the industry has already launched a lobbying group to help influence the rules that will regulate the industry. John Cartier, president of the Nebraska Cannabis Association, said the organization expects some form of marijuana legalization to be approved in the state in coming years, so it makes sense to be prepared, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. “It is not unreasonable to predict that some form of legalization will happen before this decade is done, and with several ballot initiatives planned for 2022, it could come as early as January 2023,” he said. Two ballot initiatives working in tandem to legalize medical marijuana were filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office, and a petition to legalize all uses of marijuana remains on file. Both are seeking to put the question of legalization before voters next year.

Nevada

Las Vegas: A death row inmate convicted in the 1980 robbery-killing of a man for $2 is no longer eligible for capital punishment and must be resentenced, the Nevada Supreme Court said. The justices ruled Thursday that a New York court’s recent erasure of Samuel Howard’s lone conviction for a violent crime took the death penalty off the table for his Nevada murder conviction, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Howard, 73, has been on death row for nearly 40 years after being sentenced in the fatal 1980 shooting of Las Vegas dentist George Monahan during a robbery. According to the Nevada high court, the vacating of Howard’s New York conviction eliminated the one remaining aggravating circumstance making him eligible for a possible death sentence. Under a new penalty hearing for Howard, a jury would decide between on whether his sentence of life in prison would come with or without the possibility of parole. The last person executed by Nevada was Daryl Mack, in 2006 for the 1988 murder of Betty Jane May, of Reno.

New Hampshire

Lebanon: Dartmouth-Hitchcock is starting a dermatology clinic to meet the unique skin care needs of people with Down syndrome. The clinic is opening Tuesday in Manchester. There are many associated skin conditions with Down syndrome, including dry skin, excessive dandruff, rashes around the mouth, acne in the groin and armpits, patchy hair loss, vitiligo, and toenail and foot fungus, Dartmouth-Hitchcock said in a news release. Down syndrome is also linked with other medical conditions such as congenital heart disease, celiac disease, chronic ear infections and thyroid disease. The clinic will consider how treatment plans will affect other medical conditions common with Down syndrome. “Since before the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been my dream to have a dermatology clinic specifically for people with Down syndrome – to really take our time to educate and empower. We are excited to get started,” dermatologist Jillian Rork said in a news release.

New Jersey

Jersey City: An officer safely caught a 1-month-old baby dropped off a second-floor balcony over the weekend, police said. The Hudson County prosecutor’s office said Officer Eduardo Matute was among those called to the Jersey City residence Saturday morning after reports that a man was threatening the baby. He and several officers were positioned below the second-floor balcony as the child was dangled over the balcony railing. Officials said the man dropped the infant after a lengthy standoff, and Matute caught the child. City spokesperson Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said the child was taken to the hospital as a precaution. Mayor Steve Fulop later posted a photo on social media of the officer holding the child, who was wrapped in a white blanket. “Thankfully the baby wasn’t harmed physically,” Fulop said. Wallace-Scalcione said the man who dropped the baby was immediately arrested, and charges are pending. “Kudos to the (Jersey City Police Department) and all the officers involved for their heroics and for bringing a safe conclusion to this dangerous situation,” Prosecutor Esther Suarez said in a Twitter post.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: Amid debate over the state’s system of releasing felony defendants, University of New Mexico research indicates that just under 5% of Albuquerque-area defendants awaiting trial commit violent crimes while free from jail. Findings from the university’s Institute for Social Research’s analysis of more than 10,000 felony cases in Bernalillo County also included that less than 1% of people on pretrial release were arrested for a first-degree felony while on pretrial release, the Albuquerque Journal reports. A senior state courts official said the research indicates that the vast majority of defendants don’t commit new crimes pending trial, but the top prosecutor for Bernalillo County and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said its still troubling that some defendants commit crimes while free. Administrative Office of the Courts Director Artie Pepin said the research “validates the pretrial justice improvements underway in New Mexico.” District Attorney Raul Torrez said through spokeswoman Laura Rodriguez that the few violent crimes committed by people on pretrial release are “an unacceptable price for our community to pay.” Lujan Grisham spokesman Tripp Stelnicki said it “can still be utterly devastating to a family or a community” when 5% of felony defendants commit a violent crime.

New York

Albany: The state is taking steps to address a mounting shortage of school bus drivers. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday announced several short-term and long-term initiatives, including opening up new testing sites for commercial driver’s license applicants, expediting the testing and permitting process, and conducting outreach to law enforcement, firefighters, military and other organizations that already have trained drivers. A study by the New York Association for Pupil Transportation two years ago found that 8 in 10 school transportation directors considered driver shortages a major concern, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem. A lack of drivers can lead to delayed departures and arrivals and the cancellation of field trips and other extracurricular activities. “Our schools and public health officials have moved mountains to ensure our children receive an in-person education this year, and we are leaving no stone unturned to make sure schools have adequate bus service to bring students to school and back,” Hochul said in a statement. The state is reaching out to more than half a million existing commercial driver’s license holders in the state, including those who are currently unemployed, Hochul said.

North Carolina

Monroe: Union County’s school board voted Monday to modify the district’s quarantine protocols to comply with state law and let the county health department lead contact tracing efforts. The move comes after the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services threatened to sue the district for overhauling contact tracing procedures and allowing most of its 7,000 quarantined students back into the classroom so long as they are not symptomatic or known to be infected with the coronavirus. “UCPS will recognize quarantines in accordance with state law of students and staff who are considered close contacts with a COVID-19-positive case,” said Kathy Heintel, a member of the board. Because it is one of a handful of districts not compelling students or staff to wear masks and does not have an online learning option, some Union County parents say the quarantines have amounted to 14 days of near-total learning loss. Roughly one-sixth of the district’s 39,000 enrolled pupils were stuck at home the week before the district substantially changed its COVID-19 protocols. Fewer than 1,700 kids were quarantined last week after the changes, a 77% weekly drop.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Regulators say the state has officially lost its status as the nation’s second-biggest oil producer. North Dakota produced just over 1 million barrels of oil per day in July, the most recent month for which data is available from the state Oil and Gas Division. The July production marks a 56,000-barrel-per-day or 5% drop from June, the Bismarck Tribune reports. Texas continues to lead the nation in oil production. The Permian Basin spans parts of New Mexico and Texas, and it’s arguably the biggest competition for North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch. The southern oil-producing region is closer to major refineries and export terminals, and it attracts significant drilling and investment within the oil and gas industry. North Dakota ranked second, behind Texas, in oil production for nine years. It lost that status to New Mexico in July. The two states had been neck and neck for several months. New Mexico had 82 rigs drilling Friday, far more than the 27 operating in North Dakota. Aside from bragging rights, a state’s position holds other implications. Rankings can affect an oil company’s ability to find investors to fund a project in a state, North Dakota regulators have said. North Dakota had surpassed Alaska to take second place in oil production in 2012.

Ohio

Columbus: The State Medical Board of Ohio has renewed the medical license of a doctor who drew nationwide attention and derision for claiming COVID-19 vaccines were magnetizing recipients and had a connection to 5G wireless towers. Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, a state-licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine, first received her license in 1984, and it had been set to expire Oct. 1, on its regular two-year basis. Tenpenny spoke to the Ohio House Health Committee in June about her false vaccine claims. She is among the 12 most prolific disseminators of COVID-19 misinformation on social media, according to research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. An anti-vaccine activist since the 2000s, Tenpenny has called vaccines a “method of mass destruction” and “depopulation”; charges $623 for her “boot camp” to train people how to convince others to refrain from vaccination; and sells her book “Saying No to Vaccines” for $578 on Amazon. State law allows the medical board, with the votes of at least six of its 12 members, to refuse renewal of any physician for “making a false, fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading statement” in relation to the practice of medicine.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: The state on Monday scheduled its first executions since it put lethal injections on hold six years ago following a series of mishaps. Included on the list of seven executions is Julius Jones, whose case has drawn national attention. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals scheduled Jones to die Nov. 18 by lethal injection for the 1999 slaying of Edmond businessman Paul Howell, who was shot in front of his family during a carjacking. The court set the date despite a Sept. 13 recommendation by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board that Jones’ death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment without parole. The recommendation has received no decision by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who must make the final decision. Jones’ case was featured in 2018 on the ABC television documentary series “The Last Defense.” That drew the attention of reality television star Kim Kardashian West and numerous professional athletes with ties to Oklahoma, who appealed for clemency. Jones, 41, has consistently maintained that he is innocent of the killing. Oklahoma once had one of the busiest death chambers in the nation, but executions were put on hold following a botched lethal injection in 2014 that left an inmate writhing on the gurney and drug mix-ups in 2015.

Oregon

Dallas: The Oregon Medical Board has revoked the license of a doctor west of Salem for refusing to follow COVID-19 guidelines in his office, spreading misinformation about masks and overprescribing opioids. According to medical board documents, the board also fined Steven Arthur LaTulippe $10,000 on Sept. 2, The Oregonian/OregonLive reports. LaTulippe sued the medical board in January after his license was suspended for placing patients in danger by disregarding COVID-19 mandates and asking patients to remove their masks. LaTulippe’s family practice, South View Medical Arts in Dallas, did not properly screen patients and relied on the receptionist’s ability to visually gauge whether visitors were sick, according to the medical board documents. At least 95% of patients did not use masks at the clinic between March and December 2020, LaTulippe told medical board officials. LaTulippe made bogus claims to patients that masks were ineffective against COVID-19 and could cause carbon dioxide poisoning, according to the medical board. LaTulippe also made anti-mask comments during a pro-Trump rally in Salem on Nov. 7, 2020. The Multnomah County Republican Party posted footage of his comments to YouTube, which removed the video for violating its community guidelines.

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia: Supporters of a plan to open supervised injection sites to try to reduce overdose deaths urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to review a court decision that bans the practice. The test case centers on a nonprofit group’s Safehouse project in Philadelphia, though officials in other states are watching closely as they debate similar programs. Nationally, more than 93,000 people died last year from drug overdoses, a sharp spike from just a year earlier. A divided U.S. appeals court had rejected the Safehouse plan in January, although Philadelphia’s Democratic mayor and top prosecutor endorse it. The city itself lost 1,200 people to overdoses last year. The nonprofit group’s plan to open a site was thwarted when former U.S. Attorney William McSwain, a Trump appointee now running for governor, argued that it violated a 1980s-era drug law aimed at “crackhouses.” The district judge rejected McSwain’s argument, but the appeals court agreed with him in a 2-1 decision that nonetheless called the goal of harm reduction “admirable.” Safehouse last month asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision. The amicus brief filed Friday said Congress never intended the crackhouse statute to encompass harm reduction efforts offered by medical personnel.

Rhode Island

Providence: The state is offering $4 million in grants to help communities build and expand recreation facilities. Democratic Gov. Dan McKee and the Department of Environmental Management announced Friday that the outdoor recreation matching grants would be available to local municipalities and Native American tribes seeking to acquire, develop or renovate outdoor recreational facilities in their communities. Grant applications are due by Dec. 17. The money is provided through a clean water and green bond approved by voters. McKee said the state’s network of bikeways, open spaces and other recreational assets help attract people and businesses to Rhode Island. “Access to green space and clean, functional recreation facilities improves health, promotes stronger social ties, and enhances neighborhood satisfaction and pride,” McKee said in a statement. Applicants can apply for smaller recreation development grants or larger acquisition grants, capped at $400,000.

South Carolina

Lexington: A school board will consider asking the Legislature to drop what amounts to a ban on school mask mandates to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The State newspaper reports the Lexington County School District 1 board surveyed parents recently and found more than two-thirds supported a mask mandate. A similar percentage of district employees also backed a mandate. At its Tuesday board meeting, Lexington 1 board will consider asking lawmakers to repeal a part of the state budget that effectively bans school mask mandates by denying districts the funds to enforce them. “For months, we have heard from a small and vocal group of parents and staff on both sides of the mask debate,” school board chair Anne Marie Green said in an email to parents. “We wanted to know how our entire community truly felt about masking.” Green told The State she isn’t sure if the board would adopt a mask mandate immediately “because our numbers are going in the right direction.” However, she said the local school board is better positioned to respond to sudden changes than the Legislature, which won’t hold a regular session until early next year. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 2,357 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 17 coronavirus-related deaths Monday, according to the paper.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: Musicals scheduled in the state’s two largest cities have been postponed or scrapped due to the pandemic. A show that was set to run this past weekend at the Orpheum Theater in Sioux Falls was postponed to Sept.29-30 after two cast members tested positive for the coronavirus. The production of “Lost in Vegas,” held by local theater company Lights Up, held its opening run last weekend in front of about 200 people each day. After one cast member had tested positive for the virus this past week, the show went on Thursday after officials blocked the first two rows and warned the 150 people in the audience about the results, director Brent Grosvenor said. “We did the right thing. We talked to the cast. The cast made an informed decision still to perform,” Grosvenor said. “We had understudies replacing sick actors, and that’s how the real world works.” After another cast member tested positive for the virus Friday, theater officials called off the rest of the weekend shows. In Rapid City, the Black Hills Community Theatre announced Friday that it had canceled all planned performances of “Matilda” following the increased spread of COVID-19 infections in the region. Theater officials told the Rapid City Journal many younger participants in the show are not yet eligible for vaccinations.

Tennessee

Memphis: State officials say donors have added 144 acres to a state park known for being the first east of the Mississippi River to be open to African Americans. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said the expansion of T.O. Fuller State Park is the result of a donation by philanthropists Hugh and Margaret Jones Fraser and the Carrington Jones family of Memphis. Nonprofits groups The Land Trust for Tennessee and Wolf River Conservancy helped with the acquisition. The park, opened in 1938, was also only the second state park nationwide that was open to African Americans. In 1942 the park was named after Thomas O. Fuller, a prominent African American educator, pastor, politician, civic leader and author. The park includes 8 miles of trails, four shelters, 35 picnic tables, basketball courts, an interpretive center, and diverse landscapes with more than 200 plant species.

Texas

San Antonio: A doctor who said he performed an abortion in defiance of a new state law has all but dared supporters of the near-total ban on the procedure to try making an early example of him by filing a lawsuit – the only way the restrictions can be enforced. The state’s largest anti-abortion group said Monday that it’s looking into the matter after Dr. Alan Braid in a weekend Washington Post opinion column became the first Texas abortion provider to publicly reveal he violated the law that took effect Sept. 1. The law prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, which is usually around six weeks and before many women even know they are pregnant. Prosecutors cannot take criminal action against Braid, because the law explicitly forbids that. The only way the ban can be enforced is through lawsuits brought by private citizens, who are entitled to claim at least $10,000 in damages if successful. Legal experts say Braid’s admission is likely to set up another test of whether the law can stand after the Supreme Court allowed it to take effect. Braid wrote that on Sept. 6 he provided an abortion to a woman who was still in her first trimester but beyond the state’s new limit. “I fully understood that there could be legal consequences – but I wanted to make sure that Texas didn’t get away with its bid to prevent this blatantly unconstitutional law from being tested,” he wrote.

Utah

Salt Lake City: The state’s newest license plate option features an outline of Utah and five hands of different colors holding it into place. The words “many stories, one Utah” are printed underneath, the Deseret News reports. Gov. Spencer Cox said he hopes someone will see it and think about what it represents. “I hope and believe because of the incredible artwork that it will inspire conversations,” Cox said. The new license plate unveiled at the state Capitol on Thursday honors the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. While there are no direct links to his image or likeness – as a result of legal reasons from the King estate – the design itself is inspired by him and his work as a civil rights activist before he was assassinated in 1968. Utah’s work toward an MLK-themed license plate dates back to 2012, according to Simba Maponga, chairman of the state’s Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission. A 2020 bill led by Rep. Sandra Hollins, D-Salt Lake City, and Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, then paved the way for a license plate to recognize King’s work and life, with money from the plates going toward scholarships for “underrepresented or underserved” students. The winning design was submitted by Eleanor Smith, a former Timpview High School and current BYU student.

Vermont

St. Albans: The city’s hospital is seeking approval to build a $7.5 million expansion of its emergency department. The Northwestern Medical Center has been considering an upgrade to its emergency department, which was built around 1989, since before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, said Jonathan Billings, the hospital’s vice president of community relations. COVID-19 has clearly exacerbated the need, Billing’s told the St. Albans Messenger earlier this month. The emergency room currently has curtained treatment bays to separate patients. “If you have someone with active COVID-19, you can’t put them in a curtained treatment bay,” he said. The expansion would eliminate such use by updating those areas to increase patient privacy and safety and to better limit the spread of infectious airborne diseases, such as the coronavirus, through additional air quality-controlled rooms, Billings told the newspaper. The expansion would add six emergency department treatment stations, bringing the total to 20. About 2,400 square feet would be added, and 6,800 square feet of existing space would be renovated.

Virginia

Norfolk: A Republican candidate for the House of Delegates has apologized after tweeting a derogatory comment about the appearance of House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn that some Democrats said was an antisemitic attack. The Washington Post reports that Hahns Copeland, who is running to represent the Norfolk-based 89th District, on Friday tweeted a response to a tweet by House Democrats that featured a video of Filler-Corn, who is Jewish, talking about a child care subsidy program. “I was surprised to see a pair of eyes and a mouth with that NOSE,” Copeland tweeted. He apologized in another tweet late Friday, calling the earlier tweet “immature and impulsive.” “It was never intended to be anti-Semitic or reference her ethnicity or religion,” Copeland’s tweet said. He conceded his earlier tweet was “inappropriate and insensitive.” Democrats said it was an antisemitic attack on Filler-Corn. The speaker’s staff said Friday that she had not heard directly from Copeland. “These types of hateful comments are unfortunately far too common today, and they are too often invoked instead of solutions to the real issues Virginians face,” Filler-Corn said in a statement. “I hope this candidate and his supporters choose to do what is right and acknowledge that words from those in office or seeking it have an impact.”

Washington

Spokane: This has been a record-breaking year of drought in much of Eastern Washington, state officials say. In April, a huge volume of snow in the Cascade Range measured in at 132% of normal statewide, raising hopes of an abundant water year, the state Department of Ecology said in a blog post last week. But now 16 Washington counties, including 13 in Eastern Washington, are drier than they’ve ever been since record-keeping began in 1895, the blog said. According to the National Weather Service, from March to August the state saw just 6.90 inches of precipitation. Normal during that time is 13.03 inches. To end the current drought in the lower Columbia River area, Ecology Drought Coordinator Jeff Marti said the state would need 11 inches of rain by next April. The odds of that kind of rebound are low. “The question is, will we have a full recovery before next spring?” Marti said. “The odds for significant improvement of conditions are pretty good for Western Washington. But I’m less optimistic about the east side. Based on historic climatology, the odds for significantly ameliorating current conditions is about 1 in 5 across Eastern Washington. For a full recovery in Eastern Washington, the odds are about 1 in 20,” Marti said.

West Virginia

Charleston: A grassroots group is using newspaper advertisements to further push Sen. Joe Manchin to support issues it considers important to low-income West Virginians. The Poor People’s Campaign took out the full-page ads Sunday in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel and The Journal of Martinsburg. The group has repeatedly pressed the influential moderate Democratic senator in an effort that includes conducting a rally at the state Capitol in Charleston last month. Manchin has opposed a $15 federal minimum wage and an elections bill that he said he couldn’t support because it lacked bipartisan support. Senate Democrats unveiled a pared-back elections bill last week. The Poor People’s Campaign also had a news conference scheduled Monday to urge Manchin to help change Senate filibuster rules that have blocked passage of legislation. Scheduled participants include state organizers as well as the group’s national co-chairs. Manchin long has defended the filibuster as many of his Senate colleagues have shifted on the issue.

Wisconsin

Madison: The retired conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice leading a Republican-ordered investigation into the 2020 presidential election released a video Monday threatening to subpoena election officials who don’t comply and saying the intent was not to overturn President Joe Biden’s relatively narrow victory in the battleground state. The unusual 6-minute video from Michael Gableman comes after election clerks were confused by an email his office sent last week that was flagged in at multiple counties as junk or a possible security risk and was not broadly forwarded to municipal clerks as he wanted. Gableman said Monday that if the state’s 1,900-plus municipal and county election officials did not cooperate with his investigation, he would “compel” them to comply. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has said he would sign subpoenas requested by Gableman as part of the investigation. Vos hired Gableman at a cost of nearly $680,000 in taxpayer money to conduct the investigation. Vos declined to sign subpoenas sought by Rep. Janel Bandtjen, chair of the Assembly elections committee, seeking ballots, voting machines and other data in Milwaukee and Brown counties. Gableman said local clerks who run elections in Wisconsin will be required to prove that voting was done legally.

Wyoming

Casper: The city is considering offering employees a $250 incentive for getting fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. City workers could also get $100 for dependents or spouses who get their inoculations, as well as $50 for booster shots, and the employees themselves would be eligible retroactively if they’ve already gotten their shots, according to the paper. The proposal is set to be considered at a City Council meeting Tuesday.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports