Flooding in California; snow in New York, Dakotas: Weekend weather

An atmospheric river battering California has prompted evacuations, a Presidential Emergency Declaration and an increasingly dire warning that more heavy rain is coming for portions of the state.

The central part of California was especially hammered by flooding: Roads dramatically flooded around Kern County and National Guard members encountered floodwaters as they deployed to help first responders in Santa Cruz County.

Forecasters' concerns are primarily concentrated away from the state's major population centers. On Saturday afternoon, Los Angeles and San Diego were free of weather watches, warnings and advisories; the San Francisco Bay Area was under an expansive flood watch.

Meanwhile, forecasters said a winter storm could dump a foot of snow or more on northeast North Dakota, part of a storm impacting parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan this weekend.

California storm impacts: Flooded roads, evacuations, levees breached

More than 9,000 California residents were under evacuation orders Friday. First responders rescued dozens of people Saturday in a Northern California agricultural community after the Pajaro River's levee was breached. In the Central Valley's Tulare County, another levee breach prompted evacuations on Friday.

Monterey County Board of Supervisors Chair Luis Alejo said in a tweet that it would take months for residents to repair the damage to their homes from flooding in Parajo, a largely Latino unincorporated Monterey Bay community.

"We need all the help we can get from our state and federal leaders to assist our families through this devastating hardship!" Alejo said.

And in an unusual move, officials opened spillways at Lake Oroville for the first time since April 2019 because one of the most important reservoirs in the state had too much water. State water managers have been grappling with the best way to use recent storms to help emerge from a severe drought.

California weekend forecast

An atmospheric river blasting California will continue to dump rain and heavy snow on much of the state Saturday.

The storm, known as a “Pineapple Express” because it is fed by moisture stretching over the Pacific to Hawaii, has caused particular concern because California's mountains have built up a huge, expansive snowpack after multiple other atmospheric rivers hit the state this winter. It's the state's 10th atmospheric river of the season.

The snowpack at high elevations is so deep it should be able absorb the rain, forecasters said. But lower elevations could face a troubling combination of snow melt and precipitation at the same time.

Central California remained at risk of more strong and severe isolated storms Saturday afternoon into the evening, the National Weather Service said, and the Central Valley could see "hail, strong winds and perhaps a brief tornado."

Rain at lower elevations and snow in the mountains in Northern and Central California were expected at slightly lower intensity than in recent days.

Atmospheric river:The weather phenomenon extends thousands of miles from the tropics to the western U.S

Another storm headed for California

Some of the same areas hit in recent days with snow, heavy rainfall and flooding will see more of the same from the next storm, the weather service said.

The beginning of the week will bring "considerable flooding impacts" along the Central California Coast, San Joaquin Valley, Sacramento Valley and southern Sierra Nevada foothills. The Bay Area should brace for damaging winds beginning Monday night.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, more heavy rain and melting snow may bring widespread flooding before another round of snow "will further compound snow load impacts and issues," according to the weather service.

All the precipitation in California does carry some good news for the state.

About 26 percent of the state is now considered drought-free, up from just 16 percent on Feb. 28, Bob Larson — senior meteorologist with AccuWeather — said, adding that new figure doesn't even include the two atmospheric rivers impacting the state Saturday and next week.

"It's not ending the drought but (it's) absolutely helping," he said. "Although it's causing all kinds of problems short term, the big picture long term is it's a help."

A weird winter winds down:New data details record warmth, strange snow patterns

Winter storm map

East/Northeast

Like California, the eastern and northeastern part of the U.S. will continue seeing winter storm weather on Saturday before a tranquil Sunday, followed quickly by another storm.

A strip of the region between Buffalo and Binghamton, New York can expect 6-12 inches of snow while New York City may get 1 to 3 inches.

The farther east the storm moves, the "less of a big deal it becomes," Larson said.

Western Massachusetts may get between 2 and 4 inches of snow while Boston seems like it will be spared from any major precipitation this weekend.

Come Monday, that'll change with a nor'easter.

"It won't be a prolonged lull," Larson said. "But all of New England should be dry and tranquil in between for Sunday."

The South

Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected in eastern Oklahoma and most of Arkansas on Saturday before the threat shifts southeast to the southern half of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia on Sunday.

US weather watches and warnings

National weather radar

Contributing: The Associated Press

50 States

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Tuscaloosa: The city’s outdoor ice skating venue is open at a new location and with a new name. The event, formerly known as Holidays on the River, has moved to Government Plaza for this holiday season, The Tuscaloosa News reported. It’s now known as Holidays on the Plaza. Ice skating is scheduled to continue through Jan. 17. Along with outdoor ice skating, Holidays on the Plaza features the Tinsel Trail benefiting Tuscaloosa’s One Place, private parties, and other holiday festivities, organizers said. The decision to move the holiday ice skating from the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater was because of ongoing construction on Jack Warner Parkway, city officials said. “With increased visibility and proximity to local businesses and restaurants, we hope to make this event more convenient to the community,” said Stacy Vaughn, director of public services. Holidays on the River began nine years ago on the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum property, the Tuscaloosa News reported. It grew in popularity, and moved in 2015 to the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater. Admission to Holidays on the Plaza is free. However, guests must purchase skate passes to access the ice rink.

Alaska

Bethel: A federal grant will allow an extensive trail system to connect all four communities on Nelson Island, just off Alaska’s western coast. The $12

million grant will pay to take the trail the last link, from Toksook Bay, which received the federal money, to the community of Mertarvik, the new site for the village of Newtok. The village is moving because of erosion. However, Newtok has not yet agreed to accept the trail. Newtok Tribal Administrator Phillip Carl told KYUK the village council has not met in months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the council is scheduled to meet in December, and will vote on the trail project. Even if they decide not to accept the project, Toksook Bay still intends to build most of the trail to Mertarvik. However, they would stop just short of the village, at the border between the two village corporations. Work on the trail to Mertarvik still needs to be designed and go through environmental reviews. If approved, construction is expected to start in 2023 and take about two years to complete. The island’s trail system will span 50 miles, connecting the four communities: Toksook Bay, Tununak, Nightmute and Mertarvik. The trail connecting Toksook Bay to Nightmute is expected to be completed next summer.

Arizona

Phoenix: Two hikers were rescued Saturday in separate operations at Echo Canyon and South Mountain. According to the Phoenix Fire Department, the rescues involved a 59-year-old man who experienced chest pains while hiking Echo Canyon and a 14-year-old boy who tripped and suffered a lower-extremity injury while hiking Holbert Trailhead at South Mountain. Firefighters arrived at Holbert Trailhead just before 11 a.m. Saturday and hiked approximately 1

mile to the location where a 14-year-old boy tripped and fell while hiking. After locating him, emergency personnel conducted basic life-support measures and splinted the patient’s leg. He was extricated by helicopter from the scene. The Phoenix Fire Department said the patient was then taken to a local pediatric emergency room for further evaluation. The other hiker was assisted by Technical Rescue Teams in Echo Canyon. After a quick assessment, rescue teams decided to use the “Big Wheel” to help the hiker off of the mountain after he stated he didn’t feel comfortable walking down on his own, according to the Phoenix Fire Department. Once at the trailhead, a second assessment of the hiker was performed and rescue crews determined the patient needed transport to a local hospital. Phoenix Fire Department said no emergency personnel was injured in either incident.

Arkansas

Helena-West Helena: The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded a $20

million grant to finish the final section of a bike and pedestrian trail in southeastern Arkansas. The Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism was awarded the money to construct the final 13.4-mile section of the Delta Heritage Trail. Once complete, the 87-mile trail stretching from Lexa to Arkansas City will be one of the longest dedicated pedestrian and bicycle trails in Arkansas. The federal grant is being matched by $20

million from the Walton Family Foundation. State parks officials said the project is expected to be finished by 2025.

California

Sacramento: A federal appeals court temporarily blocked an order that all California prison workers must be vaccinated against the coronavirus or have a religious or medical exemption. A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request for a stay of September’s lower court order pending an appeal. It also sped up the hearing process by setting a Dec. 13 deadline for opening briefs. The vaccination mandate was supposed to have taken effect by Jan. 12 but the appellate court stay blocks enforcement until sometime in March, when the appeal hearing will be scheduled. The judge who issued the vaccination mandate followed the recommendation of a court-appointed receiver who was chosen to manage the state prison health care system after a federal judge in 2005 found that California failed to provide adequate medical care to prisoners. In addition to requiring COVID-19 shots for prison workers, U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar required vaccinations or exemptions for inmates who want in-person visits or who work outside prisons, including inmate firefighters.

Colorado

Fort Collins: The remains of the final victim of the Black Hollow Flood have been discovered four months after she and her three family members were swept away in the flood. About 4 p.m. Nov. 20, a local resident reported finding what she thought to be human remains while hiking east of Rustic Road – a little more than 4 miles east of Black Hollow Road – according to a news release from the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies with the sheriff’s office and investigators with Larimer County Coroner’s Office recovered those remains, and the coroner’s office identified them as belonging to 57-year-old Diana Brown of San Antonio. Brown was swept away by the flood waters July 20 along with her family members Richard Brown of Bellevue, Nebraska; Patricia Brown of Madison, Wisconsin; and David Brown of San Antonio. Their bodies were recovered in a section of the river between Arrowhead Lodge and the Indian Meadows area of the Poudre Canyon several days after the flood. Richard Brown owned a mobile home on Black Hollow Road, according to Larimer County property records, but his home residence was in Bellevue. All four victims were in the same house in the small Black Hollow area 45

miles west of Fort Collins when the Black Hollow Creek initiated a flash flood down the mountainside filled with large boulders and trees burned in the Cameron Peak Fire.

Connecticut

Torrington: The Torrington Public Schools district is turning to a limousine service company to help transport students to school because of a bus driver shortage that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. The district plans to use some of its $5.9

million in federal coronavirus relief funds to pay Carriage & Limousine Services of Oxford to help cover its 53 bus routes. The private company has said it can provide 30 passenger buses and 10 passenger vans to cover morning bus runs on an emergency basis and afternoon runs more regularly, the Waterbury Republican-American reported. The company charges $125 an hour for passenger buses and $87.50 an hour for passenger vans. All-Star Transportation, the city’s main bus provider, has had difficulty finding enough drivers, which has caused morning delays and prevented most after-school programs, the superintendent of schools, Susan Lubomski, recently told the Board of Education.

Delaware

Dover: Delaware’s K-12 public schools are continuing to report fewer than 300 COVID-19 cases that are deemed as being in-person and contagious. The Delaware State News reported last week the numbers remained below 300 for the fifth consecutive week. The data was released Wednesday by the Delaware Division of Public Health. The agency said there were 298 cases for students, just 0.21% of the estimated 141,040 public school students. The week’s numbers were slightly up from 0.17% – or 243 cases – from the previous week. Delaware has recorded a total of 3,397 in-person contagious cases among students this school year. That figure amounts to 2.4% of all public school students. Another 665 cases have been reported among staff. The data is for all of Delaware’s public schools. That includes 19 districts and 23 charter schools that are part of the public school system.

District of Columbia

Washington: The Knights of Columbus handed out new winter coats for those in need at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in southeast D.C. on Friday, WUSA-TV reported. Many low-income families have scarce resources to cover even the most basic essentials, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Knights of Columbus launched the Coats for Kids program to ensure that every child in North America would have access to a warm winter coat. Since the program started in D.C. in 2009, councils have purchased and distributed more than 500,000 new winter coats to children throughout North America. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who is the first Black U.S. prelate to earn the coveted red cap, said this is the season for giving if you can. “It’s a great gesture of concern for kids and young people who need a little help at this time of year,” Gregory said. Metro Police officers were also picking up coats. Each district gets three boxes. Officer Karen Voglezon said giving them out is a way to connect with the community they serve. “We never know what anybody’s situation is, so to get a warm coat for the winter is very good,” Officer Voglezon said.

Florida

Miami: Federal authorities have taken into custody a 26-year-old man who apparently stowed away in the landing gear compartment of an American Airlines fight that arrived at Miami International Airport from Guatemala on Saturday morning. The man was in the wheel well area when the flight arrived from Guatemala City at 10:06 a.m., officials said. News outlets reported that Flight 1182 was met by law enforcement because of a security issue. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers took the man into custody, the agency said in a news release. Medics took the man to a hospital for a medical assessment. “Persons are taking extreme risks when they try to conceal themselves in confined spaces such as an aircraft,” the agency said. The news release didn’t say whether the man will face any charges, or what will happen to him when he’s released from the hospital.

Georgia

Lawrenceville: All active school district employees in Gwinnett County eligible for benefits are in line to get $1,000 in bonuses next month, as well as a paid Juneteenth holiday next year. Superintendent Calvin Watts recommended the bonuses to the county’s Board of Education, which approved them unanimously, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The bonus will be paid in a lump sum in the December monthly paycheck for about 21,500 employees, including teachers, administrators and support personnel, according to a news release from Gwinnett County Public Schools. The one-time bonuses’ $21.5

million cost will not tie up future budgets or decrease the year-end fund balance, the news release said. Atlanta Public Schools is also considering $1,000 stipends next month for all its 6,000 workers, including part-time employees.

Hawaii

Honolulu: A food distributor in Hawaii has filed a federal lawsuit against a dairy company because milk from the mainland is allegedly being sold under a name that advertises local ties. The lawsuit filed by Hawaii Foodservice Alliance claims Meadow Gold Dairies is selling milk from California alongside advertising that reads, “Hawaii’s Dairy” and “Made with Aloha,” the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The lawsuit said the company has no cows in Hawaii and their “Lani Moo” mascot is misleading. Meadow Gold has long sold milk produced in Hawaii. The company was sold in April 2020 to Bahman Sadeghi, a Big Island dairy farmer, who allegedly began using milk from outside the state. “We have never claimed that all our milk is local, but we do consider ourselves Hawaii’s Dairy because we are committed to Hawaii and its community and will continue to be while we work toward building a more sustainable operation,” Meadow Gold said in a statement. In a similar but unrelated case, a federal judge recently tossed out a lawsuit against California-based King’s Hawaiian, which produces sweet rolls. Hawaii Public Radio reported King’s Hawaiian was sued because their label features the words “Established 1950” and “Hilo, Hawaii” in reference to the company’s founding. U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton said the packaging clearly states the rolls are made in California and a geographic reference such as Hilo would not deceive a consumer into believing the product was made there.

Idaho

Boise The city is looking to expand its geothermal heating system by 40% as part of a goal to become carbon-neutral by 2050. The city pumps 250 gallons of geothermal water to 96 buildings through 21 miles of pipes. The water has a temperature of 177 degrees Fahrenheit. City officials said that the geothermal heat supplies about 2% of the city’s energy resources. “Geothermal really provides that clean energy alternative,” said Climate Action Manager Steve Hubble, the Idaho Statesman reported. The heated water comes from a river of geothermally heated water flowing under the nearby foothills. Experts said the water is heated by the Idaho Batholith, a massive igneous intrusion of granite producing heat through decay of isotopes like uranium, thorium, and potassium. Boise Geothermal Program Manager Jon Gunnerson said a large fault line runs through the Boise foothills and helps bring the water near the surface. The hot water is pumped from city-owned wells in the foothills to buildings, and then returned to the aquifer. City officials said they want to expand the use of the geothermal water by 5 million gallons (18.9 million liters) a year until reaching 355

million gallons. Gunnerson said anyone interested in switching to geothermal should contact his office. The city says the rate is competitive with natural gas prices.

Illinois

Springfield: The Capitol dome in Springfield will be without holiday lights for the third straight year. The same structural issue that kept workers from hanging about 1,300 lights from the state Capitol dome in 2019 and again last year has not been resolved, Secretary of State spokesman Henry Haupt told The Springfield State-Journal Register. Haupt said an engineering firm conducted an inspection of the dome in 2019 and recommended an observation deck above the dome be fortified before the lights are put up. “It’s the engineering firm just feels the Christmas lights shouldn’t be tethered to it until it’s fortified,” he said, adding that there is nothing wrong with the observation deck necessarily. He said the next step is for the secretary of state’s office – which is the custodian of the building – to work with the Capitol Development Boar to come up with the funding for the project. That means the lights, which were first hung on the dome in 1924 and became an annual tradition in the 1960s, will remain dark for at least one more holiday season.

Indiana

Winamac: Staff at a primate sanctuary in northern Indiana will be feeding the center’s menagerie with freshly picked fruit in the coming years because of a newly planted orchard. A team of volunteers helped plant 60 fruit trees last month on the property of the Peaceable Primate Sanctuary, which is home to baboons and macaque monkeys retired from research facilities and pharmaceutical companies. The new orchard at the primate center is outfitted with an irrigation system and within a few years it will supply the sanctuary with fresh apples, persimmons and other fruits, WSBT-TV reported. The orchard was planted after donations and a partnership with an organization called The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. The next project at the sanctuary, located in Winamac, about 40 miles southwest of South Bend, is to build space for 10 additional primates that will be retiring there, said Scott Kubisch, the center’s director and founder.

Iowa

Des Moines Iowa motorists will soon have the option of keeping their driver’s license on their phones. State officials have begun a pilot project to make digital driver’s licenses, or “mobile IDs,” available for download via smartphone apps sometime in 2022, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported Friday. Iowa is one of several states that have considered, tested or begun issuing digital versions of driver’s licenses. Iowa plans to test devices equipped with digital versions through December, with about 100 state Department of Transportation employees expected to enlist by spring as a test group to make sure the app works. Melissa Gillett, director of the department’s motor vehicle division, said the mobile ID will be optional, but motorists will still be expected to carry hard-copy licenses. Iowa DOT officials are working with technology vendors to address security and privacy concerns inherit with any electronic-based app. They also are working with law enforcement agencies, and want to make sure the digital ID can be accepted by retailers and other places that require people to show identification or proof of age or address.

Kansas

Wichita: Kansas utility regulators have issued an order requiring Evergy to explain and justify a plan to spend $10.4 billion on its electrical system and report quality of service measures on a quarterly basis amid concerns that the plan is designed largely to benefit a hedge fund investor. The Wichita Eagle reported members of the Kansas Corporation Commission sent a strong signal Tuesday that they won’t tolerate efforts to increase shareholder profits at the expense of unreasonably high rates for Evergy’s 1

million Kansas customers. In a written statement, Evergy said it was reviewing the commission’s order before identifying “if there are appropriate next steps.” At issue is a plan undertaken by Evergy after Elliott Management Corp. bought into Evergy last year with a stated goal of raising the company’s profitability and stock prices.

Kentucky

Frankfort: Kentucky officials spent nearly $1 million to replace office furniture for hundreds of legislative staffers who work out of the state Capitol and Capitol Annex in Frankfort. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Mike Wynn, spokesperson for the General Assembly’s Legislative Research Commission, said the purchase was necessary. “In short, we’ve reached a tipping point,” Wynn said. “Our furniture is more than a decade old, and many items have suffered significant wear over the years. It’s now cheaper to replace those items than repair them.” Fifty executive desks were bought for nearly $1,350 each. Meanwhile, more than 290 bookcases were bought for $815 each and 276 guest chairs were $339 each. No new furniture was purchased for lawmakers and their staffers.

Louisiana

New Orleans: A New Orleans museum plans to launch an elaborate nighttime sound-and-light show next year to showcase individual stories of bravery and sacrifice during World War II. The National WII Museum plans to premier its Expressions of America show on Veterans Day in 2022. It will use music, art installations and projections of what the museum calls “living murals” on the various facades of the expansive museum in downtown New Orleans. The plan is to draw from the museum’s archives to tell personal stories of soldiers, nurses and chaplains who served, their loved ones and others who played a role on the home front, including factory workers, artists and entertainers. The show also will feature actor and veterans advocate Gary Sinise. Expressions of America is being produced at an estimated cost of about $5

million, according to museum spokesman Keith Darcey. It will be sponsored by the Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation, a charitable organization founded in the name of the late comedian who famously entertained troops overseas, and his wife.

Maine

Bucksport: A proposed salmon farm located at the site of the former Verso paper mill in Bucksport has not started construction despite receiving the necessary permits two years ago. A spokesperson for the company, Whole Oceans – which proposed the land-based aquaculture facility located on 100 acres along the Penobscot River – could not provide an update on when construction would start, the Bangor Daily News reported. The project received permits from the Bucksport Planning Board and approval from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in 2019. In 2020, the company bought a second plot of land at the old mill site that it said meant it needed to review its plans. Bucksport Code Enforcement Officer Luke Chiavelli told the newspaper he had not received any applications related to construction on the second plot. The current approvals are valid for five years. The company is in compliance with permits and has paid its taxes, Susan Lessard, the Bucksport town manager, told the newspaper. She said the company told her they were in the process of hiring a CEO and there have been multiple previous changes in the company’s leadership in the past three years, the newspaper reported.

Maryland

Easton: Officials on Maryland’s Eastern Shore have voted to award a contract to remove a Confederate monument from a courthouse lawn and relocate it. The Talbot County Council voted unanimously to award a contract for the removal of the “Talbot Boys” statue and its relocation to a Virginia battlefield, news outlets reported. The council also passed an amendment that would allow submissions of alternative local sites for the monument until Dec. 6. The statue dedicated in 1916 commemorates more than 80 soldiers who fought for the Confederacy. It’s thought to be the last Confederate monument still standing on public property in Maryland besides cemeteries and battlefields. The contract was awarded to Washington, D.C.-based contractor Stratified for $67,000, an amount contingent on the project being funded by the Mid-Shore Community Foundation. No county funds are required for the bid.

Massachusetts

Boston: A man has pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to transport drugs and cash using secret compartments inside tractor trailers. Jamil Roman, 44, of Chicopee was indicted in 2016. He pleaded guilty on Tuesday in federal court in Springfield to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. He is scheduled to be sentenced in March. In 2014, Roman, who owned an auto body shop, and a co-defendant, Javier Gonzalez, conspired to distribute cocaine in western Massachusetts, prosecutors said. Roman admitted to meeting with Gonzalez and conspiring to collect a debt owed for the cocaine, which was part of a larger load obtained from a Mexican supply source. Law enforcement officers seized about $1.17

million in cash from a hidden compartment inside a tractor trailer being driven by Gonzalez to Texas as payment for the drugs, prosecutors said. Gonzalez was sentenced in October to 21/2 years in prison and fined $20,000.

Michigan

East Lansing: In the wake of the death of a Michigan State University student two weekends ago, the school and the Pi Alpha Phi national organization have suspended the school’s chapter of the fraternity. The student, identified as Phat Nguyen, died early Nov. 20 at a residence off campus. An autopsy was conducted but the Office of the Medical Examiner at Sparrow Hospital said the cause of death would not be determined until toxicology results are completed in six to eight weeks. Authorities have said alcohol consumption might have been a factor and shortly after the incident, the East Lansing Police Department said its officers had responded to the scene where four people were “passed out,” including one who was not breathing. According to the Lansing State Journal, Nguyen’s death came a day after the fraternity posted on its Facebook page that he was one of four students who had just joined the chapter.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit the Twin Cities suburb of Rosemount on Tuesday to tout his $1 trillion infrastructure plan. The president has been making multiple stops across the country to highlight the infrastructure package. The White House has projected the package will deliver $4.5

billion to Minnesota for highways, $800

million for public transportation and about $300

million for bridge work over a five-year span, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The state also is in line for $680

million for water projects, at least $100

million for broadband expansion and about $297

million for airport infrastructure. Biden won Minnesota by about 7 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election.

Mississippi

Ocean Springs: Mississippi is unveiling a new app that’s designed to store someone’s driver license on their phone. The app is being billed as a safe and effective way to make sure your ID is always on you, WLOX-TV reported. However, state officials said people will still need a physical driver license to show if requested when they are stopped by law enforcement. Another exception listed on the program’s website is boarding an airplane. Still, there’s a “growing list” of businesses and state agencies that accept the Mississippi Mobile ID, state officials said. “Vendors can accept the Mobile ID with confidence, as information on the digital ID can be verified against what is on file with the Department of Public Safety and will always be accurate and up-to-date,” the program’s website stated. Residents’ information is secure and can only be accessed with their fingerprint or face ID, officials with the Department of Public Safety said. Mississippi Mobile ID is voluntary, and residents may continue relying on their physical ID. More information about the program is available at www.driverservicebureau.dps.ms.gov/mobile-id/

Missouri

Kansas City: The city’s embattled police chief’s last day on the job will be in April, a draft agreement obtained by The Kansas City Star showed. The letter was written after Chief Rick Smith met last week with Mayor Quinton Lucas and Board of Police Commissioners president, Mark Tolbert. The meeting came just four days after a Jackson County found Det. Eric DeValkenaere guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2019 shooting death of Cameron Lamb. Capt. Leslie Foreman, a spokeswoman for the department said in a statement Smith would retire sometime in 2022. She said Smith made a commitment to stay in the position no more than five years when he was hired in August 2017. But the new letter, which is addressed to Smith from Tolbert, provided more details. It said Smith will announce his retirement to the public on March 1, that his last day will be April 22 and that he will be compensated at his current salary through Aug. 31. Smith earns about $191,000 per year as chief. There have been repeated calls for Smith to resign, including during last year’s racial justice protests. Smith’s departure is expected to come up when the police board meets Monday in a closed session.

Montana

Billings: The value of livestock killed by predators such as grizzly bears and wolves is expected to exceed the budget for compensating ranchers for such losses this year, the Montana Livestock Loss Board said. George Edwards, the board’s executive director, said 331 head of livestock have been killed this year by wolves, grizzlies and mountain lions. With more than $262,000 in payouts having been made through Nov. 23, Edwards told The Billings Gazette he doesn’t think the state’s $300,000 annual budget will be enough to cover all the losses. Claims for animals killed by grizzly bears have been increasing in recent years. Six years ago, reported grizzly bear kills of cattle was 50 head, with another 16 probable kills. So far this year, there have been 80 confirmed kills and another 35 that are probable. Wolves also kill sheep, and mountain lions kill sheep and goats. The Montana Legislature started the Livestock Loss Program in 2007 to compensate ranchers for animals lost to grizzly bears and wolves. Mountain lions were added to the predators list and the legislature increased the compensation program’s annual budget from $200,000 to $300,000 in 2019.

Nebraska

Lincoln: Students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln could be required to log into an online class or watch a recorded lecture from home when bad weather strikes. The Lincoln Journal Star reported a new policy gives UNL the option to require students to follow “instructional continuity plans.” The new policy goes into effect Jan. 3, the start of winter interim classes at UNL. The change comes after heavy snow earlier this year forced UNL to call off classes during an already compressed spring semester schedule. Faculty leaders and others asked for the option, and a plan was developed by the Faculty Senate, Association of Students of the University of Nebraska, and campus administrators. Instructors can choose how they want classes to continue in the event of inclement weather, while adhering to the same schedule and ensuring to make the option available for all students.

Nevada

Carson City: Residents of a rural, Republican-leaning town that the Nevada Legislature split into two Assembly districts filed a lawsuit last week challenging the state’s district maps. John Koenig and Gregory Hafen II, a Republican who represents Pahrump in the Statehouse, argued that the maps passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Steve Sisolak are drawn in a way that denies voters their right to elect representatives of their choice. The maps split rural Nye County into three state Assembly districts and Pahrump – its largest city – into two. The lawsuit filed in Carson City court said that combining Nye County voters into a district with more urban communities in the Las Vegas area dilutes their voting power and makes it unlikely that they’ll be able to choose a representative committed to their interests. A representative from a distant county, they said in the lawsuit, “will have little understanding of Pahrump’s and Nye County’s unique and local problems and issues and as such will be unable to adequately represent the needs and interests of Pahrump’s and Nye County’s rural voters.”

New Hampshire

Kittery: The final submarine in the Navy’s Los Angeles class arrived at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard last week for scheduled system upgrades and maintenance work. With more than 140 crew members aboard, the USS Cheyenne docked at the shipyard. Its home base is in Groton, Connecticut, from where it traveled. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard announced the Cheyenne is the third naval ship to be named after the Wyoming city, as well as the first of its class to partake in the Navy’s service-life extension program. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard spokesperson Gary Hildreth said the maintenance of the submarine is expected to last 30 months at a cost of approximately $315

million. At 360 feet long and with a dead weight of 927 tons, the USS Cheyenne is capable of supporting military missions that include “anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance,” according to the shipyard’s statement. The Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company was awarded the contract to build the submarine in the fall of 1989, leading to its construction beginning July 6, 1992. The USS Cheyenne was commissioned Sept. 13, 1996.

New Jersey

Wildwood: One of the Jersey Shore’s most popular boardwalks is undergoing repairs designed to better prepare it for next year’s summer crowds. Wildwood has begun repairing several blocks of its wooden walkway, as famous for the motorized tram cars that carry people up and down it as for the gigantic expanses of sand that stretch to the ocean. The first $4

million of what could be a $30

million to $40

million project is being done solely with state funds included in this year’s budget. The walkway is particularly popular with tourists from Philadelphia and its suburbs. Engineers examined the concrete substructure of the walkway and determined that not all of it was in bad shape. An examination of the boardwalk’s underbelly by local and state officials in 2019 found some spots where concrete crumbled to the touch. But the overall assessment of the substructure cleared the way for less expensive plans to repair the sections most in need of work, Mayor Pete Byron said. Work started last week on a three-block section. Eventually, 20 of the boardwalk’s 26 blocks will be refurbished, a process that could take five years, with work done in the offseason to avoid interfering with tourist season.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: Several members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation are urging the U.S. Forest Service to again allow a decades-old foot race that goes through a wilderness area and up into mountains overlooking Albuquerque. A letter by Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan and Rep. Melanie Stansbury asked the agency to reverse its 2020 decision that the La Luz Trail Race wouldn’t be permitted under the Cibola National Forest’s draft land and resource management plan. The lawmakers wrote that the 9-mile event held annually for more than 55 years “is a point of pride for New Mexicans and an important source of recreation and tourism.” The race, which attracted hundreds of runners, started in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains on the outskirts of Albuquerque and finished at Sandia Crest after an elevation gain of more than 4,000 feet. In a 2020 announcement, Sandia District Ranger Crystal Powell said officials had determined that the race should not have been permitted in the wilderness area because it was a commercial event.

New York

Poughkeepsie: A second gun buyback event through the state Attorney General’s Office in less than six months is scheduled in the city for Dec. 4. Letitia James’ office is holding the event, in association with the city police department, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Beulah Baptist Church at 92 Catharine St. The amount residents can receive depends on the gun they bring, with the range beginning at $25 for a nonworking or antique gun, followed by $75 for a rifle or shotgun, $150 for a handgun and $250 for an assault rifle. Participants will receive a prepaid gift card at the church. Participants can trade in as many guns as they wish. Weapons must be unloaded and transported inside a plastic bag, paper bag or box. Licensed gun dealers and active or retired law enforcement officers are not allowed to participate in the program. Identification is not required to take part, and no questions will be asked. The Poughkeepsie City School District was forced to close its high school for several days after a shooting on Forbus Street roughly a half-hour after dismissal Nov. 15. City police said 40 to 50 people were in the area of the shooting. No injuries were reported. A 13-year-old found by police that day is in a juvenile facility, charged with criminal possession of a weapon.

North Carolina

Concord: A fire has destroyed 60 guitars and up to 100 paintings at the North Carolina home of Jim Avett. He is the father of Scott and Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers band. The Charlotte Observer reported the fire occurred Friday in the city of Concord. “The fire started from a golf cart,” Jim Avett posted on Facebook. “Half the house is totally beyond repair.” Officials said that arriving firefighters saw “heavy fire from the garage” and entered the house to keep the flames from spreading. No one was injured, although Jim Avett said a cat was missing. The Avett Brothers, a three-time Grammy Award nominee, are based in North Carolina and have a national following. Jim Avett said on Facebook the blaze is “not a knockout punch.” “We have the strength, attitude, faith and abilities to move forward,” he wrote. “And we will!”

North Dakota

Bismarck: An agency key to implementing new in-state investment components of North Dakota’s $8.3 billion oil tax savings has a new leader. The State Investment Board recently named Retirement and Investment Office interim Executive Director Jan Murtha to take over the role on a permanent basis, the Bismarck Tribune reported. The office oversees about $20

billion of assets. Murtha, who is an attorney, has led the agency in the interim role since June, when Dave Hunter resigned for a job in Alabama. Murtha was hired in 2020 and previously was the office’s deputy executive director and chief retirement officer. The agency is key to effecting new in-state investment mandates of the Legacy Fund approved by the Legislature, which include making investments in companies in the state. During the Legislature’s special session earlier this month, state lawmakers approved an additional six full-time employees and $1.8

million for salaries and expenses. Murtha has said those resources will help the office meet the new investment requirements.

Ohio

Lima: The city is about to swear in Democrat Sharetta Smith as its first female and first Black mayor. Smith will take her oath of office Monday at the city’s Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center. She defeated Republican Elizabeth Hardesty on Nov. 2 after the two topped a four-way primary in May.Smith succeeds retiring eight-term Mayor David Berger, who has led the city since 1989. She most recently served as his chief of staff. An attorney, Smith previously served as an assistant public defender and criminal court magistrate.

Oklahoma

Enid: The dedication for the world’s tallest fresh-cut Christmas tree, a 140-foot Douglas fir, took place Friday night during the opening ceremony for “The One,” a 42-day Christmas event at 150 W Park Ave. In recent days, a special crew from California used boom lift aerial equipment to decorate the tree with more than 20,000 LED lights. Crew members also braved the Oklahoma winds to add about 10,000 ornaments for a show-stopping effect. And an Enid florist shop owner and local volunteers decorated numerous smaller trees that formed a brightly colored ring around the tree. Kyle Williams, chief executive officer of Hammer Williams Co,. said he and his wife Carol came up with the idea for “The One” extravaganza with their four grown children. They envisioned a series of concerts, plays and other activities to take place around a huge tree in downtown Enid. About two years ago, the Williams family did some research to determine where the tallest fresh-cut Christmas trees were featured in previous years. Williams said he found that the giant trees were often the highlight of elaborate holiday scenes created at outlet malls and casinos across the country. And then there was the large fresh-cut Christmas tree famously featured each year at New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza.

Oregon

Portland: Oregonians will soon have more options for camping – especially those looking for a quick trip – as the state parks department works to complete details on a capital improvement plan. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported staff in the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department recently outlined some of the plans at a Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. Park Services Manager Matt Rippee said expanded campgrounds are in the works for several state parks in the Willamette Valley, including Silver Falls and Champoeg. “It also gives folks an opportunity, if a big storm comes through in the middle of the night, or a baby is crying, they can hop in the car and head home, and it’s not a four hour drive,” he said. The expansion is part of an approved $50 million, by state lawmakers, to fund a series of projects over the next five years. In addition, as part of the package the iconic Smith Rock State Park is set to receive $4 million to $6 million for upgrades throughout the park – including added parking, extended hiking trails and a visitor center.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped its percentage of vaccinated adults in Pennsylvania by nearly 5 percentage points in what apparently was a data correction to weed out duplicates. The agency adjusted the percentage to 68.9%, after a day earlier putting the percentage at 73.7% of Pennsylvanians 18 and older. The downward revision amounted to a reduction of about 1.2

million doses. Pennsylvania’s Department of Health said it sends its data to the CDC, and began in July to refine its data to remove duplicate information and correct data on first, second and booster doses. The data correction came as infections, hospitalizations and intensive-care unit cases are rising in Pennsylvania and many other states. The department said there are 3,349 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, up about 21% in November. That includes 763 in the ICU, up about 17% in November. More than 33,000 people in Pennsylvania have died from COVID-19, according to Department of Health data.

Rhode Island

Providence: Gov. Dan McKee said the annual holiday celebration and tree lighting at the State House will take place at 5 p.m. on Thursday on the south lawn. The tree will be lit at 6:15 p.m. Two Christmas trees will be on display at the State House. A 12-foot Douglas fir from Henry’s Christmas Tree Farm in Scituate will be outside the State House and an 18-foot artificial tree will be inside the State House. The Douglas fir was purchased with donations from several local businesses and the artificial tree was purchased with funds from the 2017 National Governors Association conference, McKee said. Keeping a real tree alive inside the State House has proved challenging. In 2005, the tree turned brown and shed all its needles. In 2017 the tree died 10 days before Christmas. The governor’s office purchased an artificial tree in 2019. After the tree is lit, McKee and first lady Susan McKee will read “The Night Before Christmas.” The celebration features performances by Billy Gilman, the Cumberland Clef Singers, the Paul Cuffee Lower School Chorus and the Rhode Island Army National Guard’s “Governor’s Own” 88th Army Band. Unwrapped toys will be collected to benefit local children in need. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus are also scheduled to appear to take socially-distanced photos with children.

South Carolina

Charleston: More loggerhead turtle nests were counted on South Carolina beaches this year than in 2020, according to state Department of Natural Resources data. The Post and Courier of Charleston reported officials counted more than 5,600 sea turtle nests this year, with data still being compiled. The final 2020 count was 5,560. That remains below the state’s two biggest years, with 6,446 in 2016 and 8,774 in 2019. The state’s first nest was reported on May 5 on Seabrook Island. The town of Kiawah Island said its last nest was counted Oct. 10. In July, volunteers found a rare two-headed sea turtle hatchling while conducting an inventory at Edisto Beach. As far as the park specialists know, this was a first for the beach. The turtle was released into the Atlantic Ocean. Loggerheads are the Palmetto State’s primary nesting sea turtles. But the department this year reported a Kemp’s ridley nest and five green sea turtle nests. Last year, 16% of nests were washed away, including some by Hurricane Isaias, said state DNR state sea turtle coordinator Michelle Pate. This year, 3.4% of eggs were lost. Pate said a larger share of lost eggs were eaten by predators this year, including coyotes, foxes and raccoons.

South Dakota

Deadwood: The addition of sports betting helped drive a 20% revenue increase for Deadwood casinos in October, according to new state data. The Rapid City Journal reported that a report from the South Dakota Commission on Gaming showed the casinos generated 20.54% more revenue last month than in October 2020. Gamblers shelled out more than $116

million for slots, $8.3

million for table game bets and $815,036 in sports bets. Sports betting became legal in South Dakota in July. Betting began in early September after the gaming commission approved a list of sporting events that gamblers can wager on, including the Olympics, professional and college sports. Five Deadwood casinos offered sports betting in October, paying out just over $98,000. Most bets were placed on professional and college football. Overall, gamblers spent almost $1.3

billion in Deadwood casinos through the first 10 months of the year. That’s up nearly 40% from 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced casinos to close temporarily. Slot machines paid out more than $10.8

million in winnings and table games yielded almost $1.5

million in winnings, mostly from blackjack and house-banked poker, according to the report.

Tennessee

Nashville: A woman attacked two flight attendants on a Spirit Airlines flight to Nashville on Saturday night, was restrained by a fellow passenger, and then yelled at police officers to “shoot me” when they arrested her. Airport police arrested a 42-year old female for public intoxication after the flight crew contacted officers on the ground at Nashville International Airport about 7 p.m., an arrest affidavit said. The flight took off from Fort Lauderdale at about 6 p.m., according to Spirit Airlines spokesperson Nicole Aguiar and FlightAware, a flight tracking website. When the plane arrived, members of the crew told officers that she attacked two flight attendants, punching one and pulling the other’s hair. Aguiar did not comment on details in the affidavit but said law enforcement officers removed “a passenger for unruly behavior.” When the passenger deplaned, another passenger was restraining her feet with zip ties, the affidavit said. She smelled of alcohol, spoke in a slurred manner, and her eyes were bloodshot. She told officers she drank “a lot,” the affidavit said. After police arrested her, she yelled at the officers on several occasions, using expletives and saying “I didn’t do anything wrong” and “shoot me,” according to the affidavit. The passenger also resisted getting into the police cruiser, including by stiffening her legs to prevent officers from closing the door. Davidson County Sheriff’s Office jail logs showed she was admitted into jail on at 8:40 p.m. Saturday, but she was released 6 a.m., Sunday.

Texas

Killeen: An invasive underwater weed is spreading in a central Texas lake popular with anglers, tangling boat propellers and threatening fish. The weed is hydrilla, an aquatic plant initially imported and sold as an aquarium plant in the 1950s that has become one of the world’s most invasive plants. Fishing guide Bob Maindelle said its presence is at a record level in Stillhouse Hollow Lake, about 13 miles southeast of Killeen. “So much hydrilla has now grown in Stillhouse that entire coves are now completely inaccessible to boating anglers because the matted vegetation entangles the propellers of both outboard engines and electric trolling motors, thus prohibiting access,” Maindelle wrote recently in the Killeen Daily Herald. The plants are spread by uncleaned boats and form thick mats on water surfaces, changing their pH levels, stripping them of oxygen, restricting native plant growth, blocking nutrients for aquatic animals, and hindering irrigation, recreation and water flow, according to the Texas Invasive Species Institute. It also can damage water quality and foster the growth of toxic blue-green algae. Such algae were linked to the recent sudden deaths of multiple dogs at nearby Belton Lake.

Utah

Panguitch: A minor earthquake struck parts of southern Utah on Friday morning. The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 3.0 and was centered about 7 miles west of Panguitch, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It happened at about 6:40 a.m. Quakes of that magnitude are among the smallest generally felt by people.

Vermont

Strafford: A final total of the cost of cleaning up the long-abandoned Elizabeth copper mine in Strafford came in more than four times the original estimate, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said. The Valley News reported that when the Superfund project to clean up the mine began in 2002, its estimated cost, in today’s dollars, was $25

million. When the the cleanup was completed earlier this year the final price tag, released last week, came in at $103

million. Ed Hathaway, the EPA’s Elizabeth Mine project manager, said “cost increases are very common” in the Superfund program. “We’re not building a house. We essentially are unwrapping the site as we clean it up. … As we excavate and as we do work, we uncover more of the challenges,” Hathaway said. In 2001 the EPA designated the abandoned 250-acre copper mine a Superfund site. Acid- and metal-contaminated water from the site contaminated nearby streams. Copper ore was first discovered in the area in the 1790s. Mining operations waxed and waned over the decades with economic conditions. The mine closed in 1958, leaving behind 7,800 feet of tunnels; abandoned buildings; equipment; huge piles of rock, known as tailings; and other mining debris. After the mine closed, contaminated water leached from waste rock and tailings into nearby streams, endangering animals and homes nearby.

Virginia

Roanoke: Police are seeing an increase in thefts of catalytic converters from automobiles across the nation and in parts of Virginia. Roanoke County police officer Greg Benton told The Roanoke Times that he didn’t think catalytic converter thefts have “ever been this prolific.” Catalytic converters filter pollutants from car exhaust. They’re made with valuable precious metals and sit on the underside of a vehicle. They can be removed in a matter of minutes with a machine-powered saw. In July, insurance provider State Farm said it had seen a three-fold jump in the number of catalytic converter claims filed over the past year. The National Insurance Crime Bureau also said that the average monthly thefts across the nation had soared to 1,203 in 2020. There were 282 a month in 2019. In Roanoke City, 182 converters were reported stolen by the end of October. In all of 2020, there were about 16 thefts. In Roanoke County, Benton said thieves had made off with about 30 converters at once. Car owners can take precautions by parking in well-lit, visible areas. Illegally removing a catalytic converter can be done quickly – but not quietly. The sawing tends to make a racket.

Washington

Bellingham: Residents throughout the state were preparing for possible flooding as “atmospheric rivers” again threatened parts of the Northwest, which saw heavy damage from extreme weather earlier this month. People in the small communities of Sumas and Everson in northwest Washington were asked to voluntarily evacuate Saturday night, The Bellingham Herald reported. Both towns near the Canadian border saw extreme flooding from the previous storm. Flood watches were issued for much of western and north-central Washington and the National Weather Service warned that flooding was possible through Sunday. Heavy rain and rising rivers were also expected in the Cascade mountains in the center of the state and the Olympic mountains near the coast. Meteorologists predicted the rain would taper off Sunday and that Monday should be relatively dry.

West Virginia

Charleston: FirstEnergy Corp. has applied to build five solar energy projects throughout its West Virginia service territory. The Akron, Ohio-based utility company estimated the projects, if approved by West Virginia regulators, would generate 50 megawatts of power, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported. The plans comply with a 2020 bill passed by the state legislature that permits electric utilities to own and operate up to 200 megawatts of renewable generation facilities. They would not displace the company’s current coal-fired generation capacity, the newspaper reported. The application was submitted through FirstEnergy’s two subsidiaries, Mon Power and Potomac Edison. Construction could begin as early as 2022, with all projects expected to be completed by 2025. The sites include a 26-acre reclaimed ash disposal site in Berkeley County, a 51-acre site adjacent to a Mon Power substation in Hancock County, a 95-acre site in Monongalia County and a 44-acre reclaimed strip mine property in Tucker County. A fifth location is under review.

Wisconsin

Madison: A community group is urging city officials to back off on plans to shut down a homeless encampment in a city park. City officials have posted notices that camping won’t be allowed in Reindahl Park on Madison’s east side after Dec. 6 and all tents, structures and belongings must be removed from the park by Dec. 9. The encampment has seen more than 70 people at times and has been declared unsanitary, unhealthy and unsafe after a number of attacks and overdoses, a stabbing and a shooting. The city wants to move people living in the park into shelters and a hotel. The Wisconsin State Journal reported that volunteer group Community Action Against Reindahl Eviction issued a statement Wednesday asking the city to halt the eviction. One of the group’s members, Pearl Foster, said the shelters and the hotel don’t have enough space for all the Reindahl campers and it shouldn’t be a problem to keep the park open because it’s not used for winter sports. Linette Rhodes, the city’s community development grants supervisor, said the city doesn’t want anyone sleeping outside during the winter and she’s confidant that all campers will have a place to go as the city shuts down the park.

Wyoming

Cheyenne: When the Republican-dominated legislature met last month to fight federal COVID-19 vaccination rules, it drew a crowd. That first day, people opposed to the federal rules crammed into the House and Senate galleries, filled two overflow rooms and gathered on the steps of the Capitol. State residents who traveled to Cheyenne fear taking a relatively new vaccine and don’t want to lose their jobs for refusing the shots, said Kristy Tyrney, the head of Wyoming Health Freedom, a grassroots group that rejects vaccine requirements. The scene in Wyoming played out across more than a dozen red-state legislatures in recent weeks as Republican lawmakers and governors pledged to fight President Joe Biden’s new immunization rules. Since September, at least 14 GOP-controlled legislatures have debated bills that would undermine vaccine mandates and passed at least 13 new laws, by Stateline’s count.

Teacher strike, eagle paradox: News from around our 50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Birmingham: City leaders complained, yet agreed to a $5 million bailout to help the World Games 2022 reduce a roughly $15 million debt from the sporting event held in the city last month. Mayor Randall Woodfin said the metro area did benefit from the 11-day Olympics-style competition. But he also joined council members in criticizing a lack of transparency about the finances of the event, which featured sports ranging from parachuting to billiards. “I know each of you enough to know this sucks,” Mayor Randall Woodfin told the council at their meeting Tuesday. “I feel the same way you feel.” The World Games lost $2.5 million in expected sponsorships in May, and ticket sales fell about 200,000 short of projections, said Nick Sellers, chief executive of the World Games Organizing Committee. While expenses were lower than projected, the lack of revenue still caused a budget crunch, he said. More than 100 companies or individuals, many of them from Alabama, are owed about $15 million, officials said. Some area companies also complained about a decline in business during the event, which didn’t draw the expected number of international visitors during its run July 7-17. The Birmingham games marked only the second time a U.S. city played host to the World Games in its four-decade-long existence.

Alaska

Juneau: Republican U.S. House candidate Tara Sweeney said Tuesday that she plans to end her campaign, saying she does not see a path to victory or to raise the resources needed to be successful in the November general election. Sweeney was positioned in fourth place after last week’s U.S. House primary as elections officials continued to count ballots. But she was far behind the top finishers, Democrat Mary Peltola and Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich, who were already poised to advance to the November general election. An election process approved by voters in 2020 calls for the top four vote-getters in a primary to advance to the general election, in which ranked-choice voting will be used. Tiffany Montemayor, a spokesperson with the state Division of Elections, said if a candidate who advances from the primary withdraws 64 or more days before the general election, the fifth-place candidate would advance instead. She said that determination would come after the Sept. 5 withdrawal deadline. Peltola, Palin and Begich also were the three candidates competing in last week’s ranked-choice special election that will determine who serves the remainder of the late U.S. Rep. Don Young’s term, which ends early next year. The results of that election aren’t expected until Aug. 31.

Arizona

Marana: A massive, beloved cactus has fallen. “Strong-Arm,” a saguaro that stood in the Tortolita Preserve in Marana near Tucson, fell Aug.4 after living for roughly 150 to 200 years, the town said on its website. The 40-foot-tall saguaro, marked with its own metal sign proclaiming its name, had 34 arms in all and was home to many birds, including a great horned owl and some woodpeckers. In the memorial post on Marana’s government website, Jason Grodman, natural resources supervisor with the Marana Parks and Recreation Department, called it a “saguaro motel” to its many animal residents. “It saw all of the development grow up around us, and it’s really a sentinel for the preserve,” Grodman said in a tribute video for the plant. Marana’s recreation superintendent Bob Stinson said his predecessor had given the saguaro its name since it was one of the largest cacti in the area, and the trail went right by it. “It was just a beautiful specimen,” Stinson said. He said, gauging from the many people he had spoken to about it, Strong-Arm would be missed in the community. Grodman said in the video that the trunk of the saguaro, which remains upright, will likely stand for the next few years, while the arms will likely decompose of the course of about five years.

Arkansas

Mulberry: The attorney for a man seen on video being punched and kneed by officers said Tuesday that the violent arrest is part of an alleged pattern of excessive force by a sheriff’s deputy, and policing experts said some of the blows appeared to be unjustified or even criminal. A bystander’s video of 27-year-old Randal Worcester’s arrest Sunday in the small town of Mulberry sparked outrage after it was posted online. All three officers were later suspended, and state and federal authorities have opened criminal investigations into their actions. It’s the latest case in which increasingly omnipresent cameras have led to consequences for officers and raised questions about what level of force police are justified in using and when. A deputy was caught in the video repeatedly punching and kneeing Worcester in the head before grabbing his hair and slamming him against the pavement. As that was happening, another officer was holding Worcester down as a third also kneed him over and over. Carrie Jernigan, an attorney for Worcester, said the deputy who punched him, Levi White, used excessive force against other people she’s representing. “There’s something going on, and we just need to get it addressed,” she said during a Tuesday news conference with the two other clients.

California

Sacramento: Victims who receive unsolicited sexually graphic material by text, email, app or other electronic means could sue the sender under a bill that lawmakers sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday. The bill targets what’s known as “cyber flashing,” when victims receive such unwelcome surprises, often from strangers. “Just as individuals suffer sexual harassment and abuse in their physical, non-digital lives, there’s a growing incidence of individuals being harassed by receiving unsolicited, sexually explicit images and videos including from people they do not know,” Democratic Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry said when the Assembly approved the bill. The Assembly passed the measure 76-0 last Thursday, and the Senate sent the bill to Newsom on a 37-0 roll call Monday. There was no recorded opposition. The most common recipients are young women, Aguiar-Curry said. The Pew Research Center in a report last year on online harassment found that 33% of women under 35 had been sexually harassed online – three times as often as men. In a 2017 report, the center said more than half of women ages 18-29 had been sent unsolicited explicit images, as had 37% of men in the same age range. The bill would allow recipients to recover at least $1,500 and as much as $30,000 from senders of obscene material.

Colorado

Denver: A Colorado businessman charged in a “We Build the Wall” fraud case that once included former presidential adviser Steve Bannon among defendants wants his October retrial moved from New York to Colorado to save money and spare him from what his lawyer says is bias from political polarization he’ll otherwise face. Attorney John Meringolo wrote in papers submitted to a Manhattan federal court judge late Monday that Timothy Shea cannot get a fair and impartial retrial in New York. He also asked that the retrial be moved from Oct. 24 to early December, saying prosecutors have recently produced a previously seized laptop computer taken from Shea’s Castle Rock, Colorado, residence that contains an email exchange not introduced at the first trial, which ended in June with a deadlocked jury. In requesting a change of venue, Meringolo cited what he called the “obviously politically charged atmosphere of the jury room” at the first trial and said the effect of “political polarization” became obvious when the trial ended in a mistrial after 11 jurors tried to force one juror off the panel, saying he possessed political bias. A similar venue-change request was denied before Shea’s first trial. Meringolo said the first trial was an immense financial burden for his client, and a move would enable him to have witnesses who live closer to Colorado testify on his behalf.

Connecticut

Manchester: A department store security guard who was shot outside a mall was wounded when he struggled with an alleged shoplifter who pulled a handgun on him, according to an arrest warrant affidavit released Monday. The affidavit was released as Richard LaPlante was arraigned in court on attempted murder and other charges in connection with Friday’s shooting outside The Shoppes at Buckland Hills in Manchester. A judge kept the 30-year-old Windsor resident’s bail at $1 million. Tirso Polanco, a 27-year-old loss prevention officer at the Macy’s store at the mall, was shot in the abdomen and remains hospitalized, police said. According to the affidavit, LaPlante fled the mall after the shooting and took a transit bus home. Police said they were able to track and identify him through mall and bus security cameras. LaPlante turned himself in to police Saturday. His next court date was set for Sept. 7. His lawyer, Ronald Johnson, said after Monday’s court hearing that LaPlante “feels bad” about the shooting.“We’re praying for the victim and hope that the victim is OK, and we’re praying for his family,” Johnson said. “And the most important thing is let the judicial process go through its process.”

Delaware

Wilmington: A group of prisoners has sued the state’s prison system and its private health care contractor, claiming they’ve been left to suffer chronic and sometimes debilitating pain after officials banned certain pain medicines. Aside from complaints involving the pandemic, the lawsuit is the first large-scale litigation filed against Centurion of Delaware, the private health care provider for the state’s prison system. Centurion won a $47 million contract to provide health care for those imprisoned by the state starting in 2020, taking over after years of complaints and scandals involving the prisons’ prior health care provider. The lawsuit names 24 plaintiffs. All but one are currently in a Delaware prison. They each claim that they suffer from chronic pain or nerve damage caused by a range of issues from gunshot wounds to things like degenerative joint and spinal conditions, pain that was treated by medications that were effectively banned by the prison in 2019, the lawsuit says. The suit claims that after that, inadequate alternatives were provided. In some cases, they were given psychiatric drugs or alternative methods such as “distraction” and yoga, which leave the prisoners suffering behind bars.

District of Columbia

Washington: A homeless encampment in Northwest D.C. was cleared Wednesday morning, leaving many people looking for a new location to live, WUSA-TV reports. The National Park Service closed Reservation 70 about 7 a.m. The closure was due to imminent threats to public health and safety from unsheltered encampments in the parks, National Mall and Memorial Parks Chief of Communications Mike Litterst said. The closure will allow for turf rehabilitation, cleaning and maintenance of the park area, and removal of rodent infestation. Fencing will enclose the park and will remain closed while the park is under restoration. There was no information on how long the people who were living there were notified ahead of the closure to make arrangements to relocate. The site is one of many encampments that have been closed to homeless residents in the district this year. Once an encampment is closed, the unhoused people who were living there typically migrate to a different one, which can cause overcrowding.

Florida

Fort Lauderdale: Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz as a toddler was intellectually and physically behind other children, which caused him to isolate himself and hit and bite to get what he wanted, a day care administrator and former neighbor testified Tuesday at his penalty trial for mass murder. He remained socially and behaviorally stunted through elementary school, a special education counselor also testified. Cruz’s attorneys began the second day of their defense by building on testimony that his birth mother’s cocaine and alcohol abuse during pregnancy left him severely brain-damaged, putting him on a road that led to him murdering 14 students and three staff members at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. They are trying to persuade his jury to sentence him to life without parole instead of death. Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in October to the murders, and the trial is only to determine his sentence. Prosecutors say no drugs were found in Cruz’s system at birth. The defense says that’s because his birth mother was put in a residential drug rehab program when she was six months pregnant, but the damage had been done. The defense is trying to overcome the prosecution’s case, which featured surveillance video of Cruz mowing down students and staff as he stalked a three-story building for seven-minutes, photos of the aftermath and a jury visit to the building.

Georgia

Morrow: Two white Atlanta police officers who clashed with Rayshard Brooks acted reasonably during the 2020 encounter that ended with the 27-year-old Black man’s fatal shooting, a specially appointed prosecutor said Tuesday in announcing his decision not to pursue charges against them. Officer Garrett Rolfe, who shot and killed Brooks in June 2020, and Officer Devin Brosnan faced a “quickly evolving” situation when Brooks lunged and grabbed one of their Tasers during an arrest attempt, said Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia. “We did not look at this with 20/20 hindsight. Given the quickly changing circumstances, was it objectively reasonable that he used deadly force? And we conclude it was,” Skandalakis said. The shooting happened against the backdrop of heightened tensions and protests nationwide after the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer less than three weeks prior. Sometimes-violent protests had largely subsided in Atlanta, but Brooks’ killing set off a new round of demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice. Skandalakis said he believes context is important and acknowledged encounters between police and the African American community are sometimes “very volatile,” but he said he doesn’t believe race played a role in this instance.

Hawaii

Honolulu: A food distribution company has agreed to pay $90,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging a Black employee was subjected to racial slurs and racist references to slavery, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday. According to the lawsuit, a supervisor at Suisan Co.’s Hilo warehouse shouted racial slurs at the worker, who was fired after complaining to management. A manager who investigated also used a racial epithet during a meeting with the employee, the lawsuit said. During a second meeting, the manager and another supervisor made jokes about slavery, the lawsuit said. The commission alleged in the lawsuit filed last year in U.S. District Court in Honolulu that the man was later fired in retaliation for reporting the harassment. In addition to the money, Suisan agreed to measures to address and prevent discrimination, the commission said, including outlining an internal complaint process and providing anti-discrimination training. “Even though Hawaii is a racially and culturally diverse state, we continue to see race discrimination and harassment complaints filed with our agency in this region,” said Anna Park, regional attorney for the commission.

Idaho

Boise: Gov. Brad Little on Tuesday called a special session of the Legislature beginning Sept. 1 to use the state’s projected $2 billion budget surplus for a record $500 million income tax rebate this year to help residents deal with increased food and gas prices due to inflation. The Republican governor also proposed an ongoing tax cut of more than $150 million annually by creating a corporate and individual flat tax rate of 5.8% starting next year. The first $2,500 of income for individuals and $5,000 for those filing jointly would be exempt from taxes. Finally, Little wants to bolster K-12 public schools and ongoing education with $410 million annually from sales taxes starting next year. Language in Little’s proclamation calling the special session cites high inflation, currently about 8.5%. “Idaho taxpayers and the education system are especially imperiled by the consequences of historic inflation,” Little’s proclamation said. The proposed bill already has enough co-sponsors in the 70-member House and 35-member Senate to make it to the governor’s desk for his signature. The Legislature would decide when it meets in regular session in January how to spend the education money. Of the $410 million, $330 million is proposed for K-12 and $80 million for ongoing education.

Illinois

Springfield: A former prison guard could face life in prison after a jury convicted him Tuesday of violating the civil rights of a 65-year-old inmate who died after correctional officers beat him in a lockup more than four years ago. The jury of six men and six women deliberated about three hours before returning guilty verdicts on five counts against ex-correctional Lt. Todd Sheffler, 54, of Mendon. Sheffler is the second ex-guard convicted in the death of Larry Earvin in May 2018. A separate jury convicted Alex Banta, 31, of similar charges in April. That jury could not reach a verdict on Sheffler, so the government tried him again. “The defense made a statement about the long, cruel arm of government,” assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene Miller said in his closing statement. “Todd Sheffler violated his training, violated the U.S. Constitution and allowed, participated in and covered up the brutal beating of a 65-year-old man, defenseless, a fellow citizen, handcuffed behind his back and lying on the cold, hard concrete floor. He was the long, cruel arm of government.” Like Banta, Sheffler was convicted of depriving Earvin of his civil rights, conspiracy to deprive civil rights, tampering with a witness, destruction or falsification of records and intimidation or force against a witness. The civil rights charges alone carry sentences of as much as life in prison.

Indiana

Lakeville: Democrat Paul Steury has been confirmed as the party’s candidate for the special election to complete the congressional term of Republican U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski following her death in a highway crash. Democratic precinct committee members from Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District confirmed Steury’s selection during a caucus vote Tuesday evening in Lakeville. “With Paul Steury, Democrats have an educator and proven community leader who is ready to fight climate change, create more good-paying jobs, and build a better tomorrow for Hoosiers across Indiana’s Second Congressional District,” Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl said Tuesday night in a statement. Steury is a high school science teacher from Goshen and will face Republican Rudy Yakym and Libertarian William Henry. Yakym won a Republican caucus Saturday to replace Walorski on the November ballot after gaining the endorsement of Walorski’s husband. Yakym, an executive with Elkhart distribution company Kem Krest, will be a heavy favorite to win in the solidly Republican district. All three candidates are running both in the special election to complete Walorski’s term that ends in early January and the regular election for a full two-year term. Both elections will be on the November ballot.

Iowa

Des Moines: The city is undertaking an ambitious project to survey the condition of every house in Des Moines. The Property Condition Survey intends to survey more than 50 neighborhoods and 96,000 houses across the city, officials said. The initiative employs coordinators to evaluate properties with a focus on safety, according to SuAnn Donovan, the city’s deputy director of Neighborhood Services. As a part of the survey, coordinators will survey the condition of each property’s roof, siding, windows, fence and gates, porch and balconies, and foundation. Properties are then ranked on a scale of one to five, with one indicating the property is in good condition and five indicating it is in need of repair, according to Donovan. The overall score will help the city and Invest DSM, a neighborhood revitalization project, decide where to invest in next, she said. The survey is being used in the development of a voluntary neighborhood assistance program coined “Improving Our Neighborhoods,” Donovan said. Between 2011 and 2021, developers, homeowners and businesses have invested $2.1 billion in the city’s downtown, supplemented by government tax breaks and incentives. She emphasized that the initiative is voluntary and that the city will not be issuing any violations in regard to the findings of the survey.

Kansas

Wichita: An anti-abortion activist is now suing for a complete hand recount of an election in which voters soundly rejected a proposal to remove abortion rights from the state’s constitution. Mark Gietzen is representing himself in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Sedgwick County District Court after a nine-county hand recount that his supporters largely funded wrapped up over the weekend. Fewer than 100 votes changed out of more than 500,000 cast in those counties. The measure failed by about 165,000 votes statewide. Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab said in a news release that the recount results should “put to rest the unfounded claims of election fraud.” In the lawsuit, Gietzen alleges without evidence that votes statewide might have been vulnerable to the same type of programming error that initially switched results in a county commission race. The suit also seeks a revote “where necessary.” A judge quickly dismissed a lawsuit Gietzen filed before the election seeking to have ballot drop boxes removed across the state.

Kentucky

Jackson: In the wake of the worst flooding in eastern Kentucky memory, 59 Breathitt County residents have signed onto a lawsuit against Blackhawk Mining and a contracted company, Pine Branch Mining, alleging nearby strip mining operations amplified the flood damage. Ned Pillersdorf, a local attorney representing the plaintiffs, said a majority of those 59 residents are now homeless, and those who aren’t won’t have access to clean water for months. The mining operations were a “ticking time bomb ready to explode with any type of heavy rainfall,” the filing in Breathitt County Circuit Court alleges. Following the late July flooding, residents said they found fish on their property that would normally reside in the silt ponds of coal mining operations, which the plaintiffs say indicates failure on the part of the coal companies to properly maintain its silt ponds and overall operation. Kentucky Administrative Regulation 20:060 requires coal companies to keep any debris or water from its operation from escaping its property into non-permitted areas, such as the residences below. The filing also accuses the coal companies of failing to continuously reclaim strip mined land, as required under Kentucky Revised Statute 350.100, damaging residents’ water supply, and causing property damage.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: About two dozen juvenile inmates at a troubled detention center won’t be moved to the notorious state penitentiary at Angola until at least the middle of next month, as a legal battle over their transfer plays out, officials said Tuesday. The juveniles are currently being held at the Bridge City Center for Youth in Jefferson Parish. Officials have long acknowledged issues at the center, which wasn’t designed to house certain high-risk inmates. There have been at least four escapes this year, as well as a riot in which 20 juveniles took over parts of the complex. But the plan to move them to Angola has been sharply criticized by criminal justice advocates, former officials and parents of children currently held at the center, The Times-Picayune/The News Orleans Advocate reports. A federal lawsuit to block the state from moving forward with the transfer was filed Friday on behalf of a teenager currently held in Bridge City who is set to be transferred to Angola, the newspaper reports. The defendants in the case – which include Gov. John Bel Edwards and the Office of Juvenile Justice – and their attorneys said Tuesday that they would not transfer any of the inmates until at least Sept. 15. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for Sept. 6.

Maine

Augusta: The state’s public defender system wants to more than double its budget to better represent people who can’t afford an attorney. The Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services voted to recommend a $62.1 million budget next year. The proposal would open four public defender offices in the state and raise the hourly fee from $80 to $150 for court-appointed lawyers. Maine is the only state in the nation without a public defender’s office for people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. The state relies on private attorneys who are reimbursed by the state, but the number of lawyers willing to take court-appointed cases has declined in recent years. The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine is suing the state, contending there’s a failure to train, supervise and adequately fund a system to ensure the constitutional right to effective counsel. The budget request, which will be considered by lawmakers, comes against a backdrop of states grappling with public defender systems across the country.

Maryland

Baltimore: A Texas man was sentenced to six months in federal prison Tuesday for threatening a Maryland doctor who has been a prominent advocate for COVID-19 vaccines, a federal prosecutor said. Scott Eli Harris, 52, of Aubrey, Texas, pleaded guilty in February to threats transmitted by interstate communication. U.S. Attorney for Maryland Erek L. Barron announced the sentence, which will be followed by three years of supervised release, in a news release Wednesday. “While we are all entitled to our own opinion, no one has the right to threaten the life of someone because of race, national origin, or because of holding different views,” Barron said in a statement. “Threats like these will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” According to Harris’ plea agreement and statements made in connection with the plea hearing, Harris sent a threatening message from his cellphone to the doctor. Court documents identify the doctor only as “Dr. L.W., who had been a vocal proponent of the COVID-19 vaccine.” Harris’ message included violent statements such as: “Never going to take your wonder drug. My 12 gauge promises I won’t. .… I can’t wait for the shooting to start.” Harris’ message also made reference to the doctor’s Asian American background and national origin.

Massachusetts

Kingston: A project underway in the woods of coastal Massachusetts seeks to restore a 32-acre former Catholic summer camp on the banks of the Muddy Pond in Kingston to something closer to what it might have looked like before European colonization transformed it. Through the Wampanoag Common Lands, the Native Land Conservancy – the local Native group that received the donated forestland this year – envisions a natural environment filled with indigenous plants and animals where Wampanoags can practice cultural ceremonies and educate new generations in traditional ways. Ramona Peters, a Mashpee Wampanoag who founded the conservancy, said the effort is all the more meaningful because the land is some 5 miles from where Pilgrims arriving on the Mayflower established the English colony of Plymouth, near the remnants of a Wampanoag community wiped out by European disease. “This is basically where the first impact of colonization of this country happened,” she said. “It’s very significant that it’s been returned to us.” The Wampanoag Common Lands is part of a growing movement of Indigenous-led conservation efforts helping to preserve and reinvigorate Native culture and identity, said Beth Rose-Middleton, a professor at the University of California, Davis, focused on Native American environmental policy and conservation.

Michigan

Ann Arbor: University of Michigan researchers are studying how well people with autism spectrum disorder can detect road hazards, and they plan to assist the young motorists in sharpening their driving skills. The upcoming effort will be the second phase of a project funded by Ford Motor Co. that teams the Ann Arbor university with a local driving school. During phase one of the study, researchers found that students with autism spectrum disorder detected fewer hazards than control participants during simulated drives. But lead researcher Elise Hodges said some extra work behind the wheel did the trick. “Those folks that underwent training improved in two-thirds of hazards in the simulated drive,” said Hodges, a clinical associate professor in the University of Michigan’s neuropsychology program. Ann Arbor Academy, a school for students with learning and social differences, hosted driving lessons. Hodges designed the simulated drives and oversaw the study. Ford footed the bill. The goal, in part, was to provide an opportunity for those with autism spectrum disorder to improve their driving skills. “Many of them … would like to drive, but getting from wanting to drive and being able to drive are two different things,” she said. The individualized driving sessions planned for phase two are expected to start in a month or two, Hodges said.

Minnesota

Eden Prairie: A suburban Minneapolis mall resumed normal business hours Tuesday after a fatal shooting that had earlier locked down the shopping complex. Police responded to the Eden Prairie Center mall Monday night and found a man dead of what they said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The shooting happened in the Scheels sporting goods store, which also sells firearms. Police Chief Matt Sackett said it’s not clear whether the man brought a weapon to Scheels or accessed one of the store’s guns. “It’s obviously an active and fluid investigation, but again, we do believe it to be an isolated incident. There is not a threat to anybody else in the public,” Sackett said at a briefing. Will Dammann was shopping in Scheels when he heard an alarm sound and a commotion near a door. Seconds later a store announcement told people to evacuate immediately. “So then it was, you know, the hustle bustle of getting out. Then everyone was just standing out in front, and that’s when the police just started rolling in,” Dammann said. He said people seemed calm, including store employees. He did not hear a gunshot, Minnesota Public Radio News reports.

Mississippi

Lorman: The Honors Curriculum Program at Alcorn State University is being renamed in honor of Myrlie Evers-Williams. The program will be renamed the Myrlie Evers-Williams Honors Program in recognition of the civil rights leader, author and journalist who spent over three decades seeking justice for the 1963 murder of her former husband, Medgar Evers, the university said in a news release. Evers-Williams attended Alcorn A&M College for a year, and there she met and fell in love with Medgar Evers. The two later married in 1951. Alcorn said the honors program attracts academically successful and socially conscious students and assists the university in cultivating global citizen scholars. Evers-Williams expressed her appreciation to the school for recognizing her. “This designation is a special recognition that I hold close to my heart, acknowledging my time on Alcorn’s campus, my life’s work, and my dedication to furthering the fight for equality and human rights,” she said. Alcorn President Dr. Felecia M. Nave praised Evers-Williams’ achievements and said she was proud to recognize the civil rights leader on campus. “She’s an ideal example of the strength, courage, and character that Alcornites exude. We’re thrilled to recognize her for extraordinary contributions and ongoing activism,” Nave said.

Missouri

St. Louis: John Wood, a Republican running as an independent for U.S. Senate, announced Tuesday that he was withdrawing from the race. Wood said on Twitter that he decided not to challenge Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Democratic nominee Trudy Busch Valentine in the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt. Wood said he has significant differences with Schmitt and Valentine, but “it has become evident there is not a realistic path to victory for me as an independent candidate.” Wood, a lifelong Republican, former U.S. attorney and most recently a top investigator for the U.S. House committee examining the Jan. 6 riot, said he entered the race when disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens was the front-runner for the Republican nomination. He said it would have been “unacceptable” for Greitens to be Missouri’s new senator. Schmitt soundly defeated Greitens in the Aug. 2 GOP primary. Greitens resigned as governor four years ago after a sex scandal, two criminal charges that were eventually dropped and a legislative investigation that could have led to impeachment hearings. This year, his ex-wife accused him of abuse. Wood’s candidacy was backed by a political action committee led by retired Republican Sen. John Danforth, which spent millions on his campaign.

Montana

Great Falls: Visitors to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls will have the unique opportunity Monday to get close to some of Montana’s most powerful predators: hawks, falcons and owls. Educational staff from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will be in the city with two or three live “ambassador birds” in conjunction with FWP’s Montana WILD program. Three 40-minute programs will give attendees an up-close encounter with the birds, along with insights into what makes raptors unique from other types of birds, why they are so important to our ecosystems, and simple things property owners and recreationalists can do to protect and conserve raptors. “The mission of the ambassador bird program to educate and hopefully get people interested in the outdoors and what we’re doing in terms of conservation,” said Ali Pons, of FWP’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. The Montana WILD program is an outgrowth of the work being done at the center in Helena, which takes in injured and orphaned raptors for rehabilitation and release. Montana WILD cares for 15 ambassador birds too injured to be released on their own. “They wouldn’t make it,” Pons said of raptors who’ve become stars of the educational program. “They also have a personality and a demeanor that makes them good education birds.”

Nebraska

Lincoln: A judge has dismissed the discrimination lawsuit of a former Lincoln Police Department spokeswoman, saying her allegations did not sufficiently prove a hostile work environment. Erin Spilker said in her lawsuit that she faced years of discrimination and that the department not only mishandled allegations of sexual assaults by male officers but also disciplined the women who complained. “She is under a microscope, and has been subjected to assaults, harassment, intimidation, threats and retaliation, which affect her ability to do her job,” Spilker’s attorney, Kelly Brandon, said in the complaint. In his order issued Monday, District Judge Kevin McManaman acknowledged Spilker’s string of allegations, from male colleagues making sexualized remarks about female colleagues to suffering various acts of retaliation after she complained, the Lincoln Journal Star reports. But McManaman said, citing case law, that the allegations amounted to “an amalgamation of discrete incidents … and not one unlawful employment practice.” The allegations “are not so similar in nature, frequency and severity as to be considered part and parcel of a hostile work environment,” McManaman wrote. Spilker, who was a 20-year veteran of the department before she resigned earlier this year, is among several female Lincoln police officers who have sued, alleging sex-based discrimination in the department.

Nevada

Reno: A new herd of wild horses is descending on the Black Rock Desert for 2022’s Burning Man festival. The Wild Horses of the American West project is rounding up more than a dozen life-size sculptures from local and international artists to bring awareness to environmental concerns surrounding the West’s wild horses. “Everyone loves horses. Wild horses are beautiful,” said organizer Adrian Landon. “But the bottom line is they need to be managed.” A longtime metalwork artist, Landon’s career has largely focused on equine sculptures. In 2019, he created “Wings of Glory,” a giant, flying Pegasus with moving parts now on display in England. This year, Landon had a vision of creating a herd of horses to bring awareness to the plight of Western ecosystems and the need to bring wildlife, plant life and water resources into balance. He put out a call to other artists interested in creating equine art and received dozens of replies. He selected 10 artists and used a grant from Burning Man to help fund their pieces. Now, the herd includes a sculpture from British artist Simon Bellamy, who fashioned a galloping steel piece based on the work of pioneering motion photographer Eadweard Muybridge, and Turburam Sandagdorj, a paper-cutting artist who learned the ancient art from his dad.

New Hampshire

Concord: Continuing with its efforts to close gaps and recover from missed learning, the state Department of Education has selected Tutor.com to provide 24/7 online tutoring for every middle and high school student in the state. Through the partnership, more than 100,000 middle and high school students will gain unlimited access to Tutor.com – anytime, anywhere, from any internet-connected device. The service will be available to students at all New Hampshire schools (public, non-public and charter), as well as students in Home Education and Education Freedom Account programs. “This tutoring will not only facilitate and enhance learning but serve as a tremendous resource for students hoping to enhance their educational experience, or those students in need of individualized instruction. This partnership will also support teachers in their ongoing efforts to assist students who may be struggling and seeking additional guidance,” said Frank Edelblut, the state education commissioner. School districts are being encouraged to register for Tutor.com’s free access for their students; students outside those districts will be able to register individually.

New Jersey

Edison: Mayor Sam Joshi said symbols of hate and discrimination are not welcome in the township, after a piece of construction equipment, viewed as a symbol of hate by the Muslim community, was featured in the Aug. 14 India Day Parade. The parade, from Edison to Woodbridge, marked the 75th anniversary of India’s independence and the division of the South Asian subcontinent into two nations, Hindu-oriented India and Muslim-oriented Pakistan, after years of civil strife. In a statement Monday, Joshi said Edison is committed to celebrating and working in harmony with people from all cultures. But an American-Islamic relations group said it’s disappointed the mayor has not gone further in rebuking the parade organizers, whom the group called to apologize. The parade, organized by the Indian Business Association, featured a piece of construction equipment with the photos of political leaders in India, who are described as proponents of hate against Muslims and other minorities, according to Azra Baig, chair of the South Brunswick’s Human Relations Commission. In India, Baig noted, homes, businesses and houses of worship are being bulldozed because of people’s faith and when they stand up for their rights. “Something this hateful should never be included in a parade in Edison,” she said.

New Mexico

Santa Fe: The state will no longer deny licenses to practice law solely because of an applicant’s citizenship or immigration status, including some aspiring law students who arrived in the U.S. as children and don’t have a clear path to citizenship. Announced Monday, the rule change from the New Mexico Supreme Court is scheduled to take effect Oct. 1. Several states already have provisions that disregard residency or immigration status in licensure decisions. “The change in the licensure rule is grounded in the fundamental principle of fairness, and is consistent with New Mexico’s historical values of inclusion and diversity,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Shannon Bacon said in a statement Tuesday. She said the shift aligns New Mexico with recommendations by the American Bar Association and provisions in at least eight other states that provide attorney licensing to some immigrants. All applicants are still required to graduate from law school, pass the bar exam and undergo further character vetting by a board of bar examiners. The rulemaking drew immediate criticism from state Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce, at a time when GOP candidates are challenging two incumbent state Supreme Court justices in the November general election.

New York

New York: Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is headed to Harvard this fall as a teaching fellow at the university’s schools of government and public health. De Blasio, a Democrat who served as mayor from 2014 to 2021, will take part in “a variety of discussions, events, and programming” at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School and will teach classes on leadership and public service at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the schools said in separate announcements Wednesday. Dean Michelle A. Williams cited the former mayor’s time grappling with public health crises including COVID-19, homelessness and the opioid epidemic. Setti Warren, interim director of the Institute of Politics, said de Blasio’s “decades of experience in local government, federal agencies, national campaigns, and running the largest city in the country will provide invaluable insight to our students and the Harvard community.”De Blasio, who grew up in Massachusetts and is a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan, was prevented by term limits from seeking a third four-year term as mayor. After an unsuccessful campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, de Blasio flirted this year with running for governor of New York and later mounted a brief run for a congressional district that includes his Brooklyn home.

North Carolina

Raleigh: A federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked a local district attorney from prosecuting state Attorney General Josh Stein or anyone else for his 2020 campaign ad through a criminal libel law. The majority of a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, granted the request by Stein’s campaign committee and others associated with his campaign to prevent enforcement of the law while they sue to attempt to have the law overturned as unconstitutional. The 2-1 decision came the day after a Wake County grand jury formally asked the Wake district attorney’s office to submit an indictment against Stein and two of his advisers or any one of the three for jurors to consider. Wake County DA Lorrin Freeman said Monday that could have happened as soon as next month. Any formal charges could harm the political future of Stein, a Democrat and possible 2024 gubernatorial candidate. The law, which dates back to at least 1931, makes it a misdemeanor to circulate “derogatory reports” about a candidate with the intent of hurting that candidate’s chances in the election. Stein’s Republican opponent in 2020, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill, cited the law while demanding that the board investigate a political ad that accused the Republican of letting more than a thousand rape kits go untested. O’Neill said the ad was false because police agencies, not prosecutors, are responsible for testing the kits.

North Dakota

Fargo: A school board reversed course on its decision to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at its monthly meetings, following complaints from conservative lawmakers and an angry backlash from citizens around the country. Seven of the nine members of the Fargo Board of Education, including four newcomers who took office in June, voted earlier this month to cancel a previous board edict that was approved a couple of months before the election. The new board agreed with member Seth Holden, who said the pledge did not align with the district’s diversity and inclusion code in part because the phrase “under God” does not include all faiths. Republican Gov. Doug Burgum last week promoted new legislation that would require public schools and governing bodies to administer the pledge without mandating that people recite it. Republican state Rep. Pat Heinert, a retired county sheriff, is suggesting that sanctions be put in place for public boards and commissions that don’t require the patriotic oath. Angry emails and voicemails dominated Thursday’s special meeting to reconsider the vote. Nyamal Dei, a refugee who fled war-torn Sudan, played a profanity-laced voicemail from a man who called her a slave, racist and Nazi. Several board members apologized to Dei, the lone Black member on the board, for taking the worst of the abuse. Dei said reversing the decision would be giving in to hate. She paused for several seconds before casting the lone “no” vote to reinstate the pledge.

Ohio

Columbus: A strike by teachers in the state’s largest school district entered its third day Wednesday – the first day of school for some 47,000 students, with some of those students and their parents rallying to their sides. Parents, students, teachers and other employees gathered at schools across the Columbus School District with plans to picket for hours, advocating for safer buildings, better heating and air conditioning, smaller class sizes, and a more well-rounded curriculum that includes art, music and physical education. It’s the union’s first strike in the district since 1975. Picketers blasted music on the sidewalks outside Whetstone High School in Columbus and waved to honking drivers. Some held up signs reading:“Columbus schools deserve working air,” “a history lesson in progress,” and “my feet hurt but I’ll walk as long as it takes.” The school district and the union resumed bargaining Wednesday afternoon. The school board said its offer to the union put children first. The Ohio Education Association said more than 94% of the Columbus Education Association members voted to reject the school board’s final offer late Sunday. The union represents more than 4,000 teachers, librarians, nurses and other employees, though it isn’t clear how many of those 4,000 members were not on the job Wednesday.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday rejected clemency for a man facing execution Thursday for the 1997 hammer killing of a Choctaw man, despite a recommendation from the state’s Pardon and Parole Board that his life be spared. James Coddington was convicted and sentenced to die for the beating death of a friend and co-worker, 73-year-old Albert Hale, inside Hale’s Choctaw home. Prosecutors say Coddington, who was 24 at the time, became enraged when Hale refused to give him money to buy cocaine. Coddington’s execution is scheduled for Thursday morning. “After thoroughly reviewing arguments and evidence presented by all sides of the case, Governor Kevin Stitt has denied the Pardon and Parole Board’s clemency recommendation for James Allen Coddington,” Stitt’s office said in a statement. During a clemency hearing this month before the state’s five-member Pardon and Parole Board, an emotional Coddington, now 50, apologized to Hale’s family and said he is a different man today. “I’m clean; I know God; I’m not … I’m not a vicious murderer,” Coddington told the board. “If this ends today with my death sentence, OK.” Coddington’s attorney, Emma Rolls, said Coddington doesn’t have any pending appeals that would delay or stop his execution Thursday.

Oregon

Klamath Falls: The Klamath Irrigation District in southern Oregon plans to defy a U.S. government order issued last week for a halt to water deliveries to farmers in the drought-stricken basin. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation manages the Klamath Project, which includes Klamath Irrigation District and serves 266 square miles of farmland around the Oregon-California border. A limited allocation of water was allowed for irrigators from Upper Klamath Lake this year because of extreme drought. The bureau has said the project is now out of water and ordered a shutdown last week, but irrigation district directors met Monday and authorized the district’s manager, Gene Souza, to continue operations, the Capital Press reports. The district operates a canal that provides water to nine irrigation districts encompassing about 191 square miles. Souza said in a letter to Alan Heck, acting area manager for the U.S. agency, that it has not provided a legal basis for shutting down the project and that doing so would deny farmers of the water they have legal rights to receive. “I am not doing my duty if I just comply because I do not have a legal justification to deny the people I serve their property,” Souza told the Capital Press.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: State elections officials said Wednesday that a push last week to recruit new poll workers produced more than 1,100 applicants, including at least one in 58 of 67 counties. The effort tied to Help America Vote Day, organized by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, brought in the most applicants in some of the populous suburbs of Philadelphia – 221 in Montgomery County, 132 in Chester and 91 in Delaware. Allegheny County, which encompasses Pittsburgh, drew 100 applicants, while Philadelphia brought in 47. In central Pennsylvania, Lancaster received 71 applications, Dauphin 40 and Cumberland 39. Poll workers, often older people, are paid to help run elections in some 9,000 polling places across the state, but it has been a challenge to recruit and train sufficient numbers of them during the COVID-19 pandemic. Poll worker shortages predate the pandemic, however, in part because their work can require 14- or 16-hour days. Lisa Schaefer, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said the influx of 1,146 new candidates was a welcome boost. Some counties promoted the recruitment drive last week.

Rhode Island

Providence: A new report suggests ways the city can atone for its extensive ties to the trans-Atlantic slave trade and centuries of racism and discrimination by, among other things, establishing home repair funds, launching financial literacy programs, and boosting aid to Black and Indigenous organizations. The report, issued Monday by the Providence Municipal Reparations Commission, notably doesn’t recommend giving out direct payments to Black and Native American residents, as some had called for. Instead, it defines “reparations” as efforts that close the “present-day racial wealth and equity gaps,” and it outlines 11 areas for the city to focus its reparations work, including criminal justice reform, neighborhood development, health equity, and improving educational and cultural opportunities. Providence’s reparations effort was launched the same year Rhode Island voters approved a ballot referendum getting rid of the words “and Providence Plantations” from the state’s formal name because of its slavery connotations. The new report suggests creating a dedicated fund to support residents touched by urban renewal policies that displaced and negatively affected communities of color. It also calls for forgiving certain municipal court debts; ending police use of so-called no-knock warrants; decriminalizing consumption of alcohol in public; and creating a school curriculum based on the city’s research into its racist and discriminatory policies.

South Carolina

Columbia: A showdown between defense attorneys for disbarred lawyer Alex Murdaugh who say prosecutors are unfairly withholding evidence and prosecutors who want the defense to agree to secrecy rules first is heading for a courtroom next week. In their latest court filing, defense lawyers said the secrecy rules as Murdaugh awaits a murder trial in the shooting deaths of his wife and younger son are hypocritical because prosecutors are leaking evidence to media outlets, including a video the leaker said was taken not long before the killings. Prosecutors, including South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson himself, denied the leaks last week. A hearing about the matter is scheduled for Monday at the Colleton County courthouse, where defense attorneys want the murder trial to take place in January. The cellphone video from Murdaugh’s son included Murdaugh talking to his wife outside the family’s Colleton County home where the killings happened, said defense lawyers, who said they hadn’t been given the video, but it was shown to Murdaugh’s family by state agents. The leaked media reports did not include that the conversation was friendly and about dogs, the defense said. Defense lawyer Dick Harpootlian said the state contends that Murdaugh killed his wife and son “for no apparent reason” within minutes of the light-hearted conversation.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota is joining other states in filing an amicus brief in defense of the Indian Child Welfare Act. The friend of the court brief involves the U.S. Supreme Court case Brackeen v. Haaland, which challenges the act that establishes federal standards for placement of Native American children in foster of adoptive homes. The act seeks to give the child’s family and tribe the opportunity to be involved in decisions from which they previously may have been excluded, including placement and services. Arguments in the case are scheduled before the high court this November. Stephanie Amiotte, legal director for the South Dakota ACLU, said if the court overturns the law, it could be devastating for tribes. “ICWA was enacted by Congress to address a situation where disproportionate numbers of Indian children were being removed from their homes, and eventually a disproportionate number of them were being adopted into white families,” Amiotte told South Dakota Public Broadcasting. The act’s opponents say the race-based policy is unconstitutional. Amiotte said keeping Indigenous children connected to their culture improves outcomes. “Native American Children have been essentially invisible within the American society,” Amiotte said.

Tennessee

Memphis: The superintendent of the state’s largest school district has resigned as he was being investigated by an outside attorney for allegations that he abused his power and violated policies. The Shelby County School Board accepted the resignation of Joris Ray during a specially called meeting Tuesday evening, officials said in a news release. Ray was appointed to lead Memphis-Shelby County Schools in 2019, and he had worked in the district for more than 24 years. The board had suspended Ray during an investigation stemming from allegations made in divorce proceedings between Ray and his wife, who is also a school district employee. A board resolution says it took action “to review the allegations to determine whether Superintendent Ray, during his tenure as Superintendent, engaged in relationships with District employees violative of MSCS policies.” The investigation was being led by former U.S. Attorney Edward L. Stanton III. In a statement posted on Twitter, Ray thanked colleagues for their “many, many small but powerful acts of devotion and commitment.”

Texas

Houston: Texas officials have accused the state’s most populous county of defunding some of its law enforcement agencies in violation of a new law that prevents such funding cuts. In a letter sent Monday, Texas Comptroller Glen Hegar alleged leaders in Harris County, where Houston is located, reduced funding for the offices of its constables in the current fiscal year and would again reduce funding next year. Harris County officials pushed back against the claims they were defunding law enforcement, saying they have actually increased funding, proposing a budget for the next fiscal year that would allocate $1.4 billion for justice and safety – which is 75% of the county’s budget and the most ever allocated by the county for public safety. Hegar accused the county of ending a policy that would have let the constables’ offices automatically roll over unspent departmental funds from one fiscal year to the next, resulting in a loss of more than $3 million. He also accused the county of reducing funding for the constables by up to $12 million for the 2022-23 fiscal year. Constables and their deputies are licensed peace officers who have the same powers as regular police officers but also have the added responsibility of civil law enforcement.

Utah

Salt Lake City: Republican state leaders sued the Biden administration Wednesday over the president’s decision last year to restore two sprawling national monuments on rugged lands sacred to Native Americans that ex-President Donald Trump had downsized. The lawsuit over Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments alleges President Joe Biden’s action violates the authority granted in a century-old law that allows presidents to protect sites considered historically, geographically or culturally important. The legal argument has been repeated for years by Republicans, and the legal challenge had been expected since Biden made the move in October 2021. The lawsuit is the latest twist in a yearslong debate spanning three presidential administrations about proper protections of lands that include ancient cliff dwellings and petroglyphs. Trump’s decision to cut them in size opened them for mining and other development, although market dynamics kept that in check. “President Biden made no attempt to explain how 3.23 million acres constituted the ‘smallest area compatible with the proper care and management’ of these supposed monuments,” the lawsuit claims, citing the 1906 Antiquities Act outlining rules for designating national monuments.

Vermont

Strafford: A woman was attacked by a black bear over the weekend while walking her two dogs on trails on her Strafford property, the state Fish and Wildlife Department reported Tuesday. The 61-year-old woman was treated at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph on Saturday for non-life-threatening injuries, including a bite wound on her leg and multiple scratches, the department said. Fish and Wildlife game wardens and a bear biologist visited the site and concluded that the bear was a female with cubs who was likely provoked when the woman and her dogs surprised the group. They were unable to find the bear and say such attacks are extremely rare in the state. At the time of the attack, the woman had called her two dogs, who were out of sight, when she heard a large noise and realized a bear was charging her, officials said. She told game wardens that she tripped on a stone wall as the bear was charging her and then realized the animal was on top of her and had bitten her. The woman said her Jack Russell terrier barked at the bear, prompting the animal to get off her. She said she left with her dogs without seeing the bear again and called 911 when she got home. She also texted a neighbor to take her to the hospital.

Virginia

Richmond: A ratepayer protection that state regulators included in a recent order approving Dominion Energy Virginia’s application to build and recover the costs of a massive offshore wind farm would force the utility to scrap the project, Dominion said in a filing this week. The State Corporation Commission granted approval this month for the 176-turbine, multibillion-dollar project off Virginia Beach. Dominion immediately raised concerns about the commission’s inclusion of a performance guarantee for the wind farm and in a petition Monday asked the regulators to reconsider that element of their order. Dominion “shares the Commission’s concern, as expressed in the Final Order, that the Project be constructed and operated in a way that reasonably mitigates risk for its customers. The Commission’s unprecedented imposition of an involuntary performance guarantee condition on its approvals, however, is untenable,” the filing said. “As ordered, it will prevent the Project from moving forward, and the Company will be forced to terminate all development and construction activities.” The commission’s Aug. 5 order included three “consumer protections,” including the performance guarantee, which it said would protect customers who are paying for the wind farm “from also having to pay for replacement energy if the Project does not generate the amount of electricity upon which Dominion bases its request and its cost estimates.”

Washington

Seattle: An analysis of Washington State Ferries data shows ferries are running behind schedule this year more than they have in the past decade, with a consistent decline in on-time performance. Ferries spokesperson Ian Sterling told The Seattle Times that with 50% more passengers traveling by ferry in the summer, it is not unusual to see a dip in on-time performance from June to September. But the delays are more pronounced this year, and passengers on the Anacortes/San Juans route face particular problems, according to WSF data. While this route usually records more delays than others, in June, nearly half of all sailings on this route ran behind schedule. The newspaper reports that was a 40 percentage point gap from WSF’s target to run on time for 95% of trips. WSF attributes the lower on-time performance to a staffing shortage and a higher number of passengers on busy routes. On weekends, especially holiday weekends like Labor Day, passengers on popular tourist routes such as Anacortes/San Juans and Port Townsend/Coupeville are more likely to face delays on Thursday and Friday afternoons leaving the Seattle area and returning on Sunday and Monday afternoons. As of July this year, WSF had a 6% decline in staffing since 2019, when it was running at full capacity.

West Virginia

Charleston: A cleanup project is planned for the Kanawha River next month. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan is sponsoring the 32nd annual Great Kanawha River Cleanup from 8 a.m. to noon Sept. 10. Cleanup sites will be in Kanawha, Putnam and Fayette counties. Anyone who wants to volunteer should register with the department at (800) 322-5530 or christopher.j.cartwright@wv.gov. Bags and gloves will be provided for volunteers, and REAP will arrange for the trash to be hauled away. Volunteers will receive a T-shirt. Last year, 59 volunteers helped remove 1.9 tons of litter and 301 tires from five sites along the Kanawha River.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee: A federal judge has rejected a motion by the Milwaukee Police Department that sought to dismiss a case brought by two city residents who claimed their constitutional rights were violated when they were arrested near a memorial site for a Black man fatally shot by an officer in 2016. The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is representing the residents, including Jarrett English and a plaintiff who did not wish to be named. They were arrested Aug. 30, 2016, in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood, where police killed Sylville Smith approximately two weeks earlier. The 23-year-old Smith, who was armed, was running from police who suspected him of dealing drugs. The officer who killed Smith, also Black, was acquitted in the fatal shooting. Smith’s death touched off days of rioting in which businesses were burned, including a gas station, an auto parts store and a beauty supply shop. Firefighters were held back from the gas station blaze because of gunfire. The two plaintiffs, in their 2019 lawsuit, said their rights to the freedoms to assemble and to express themselves were violated when police in riot gear cleared Smith’s memorial site and arrested each of them at separate locations in the neighborhood.

Wyoming

Cody: The rush to build wind farms to combat climate change is colliding with preservation of one of the West’s most spectacular predators – the golden eagle – as the species teeters on the edge of decline. Ground zero in the conflict is Wyoming, a stronghold for golden eagles that soar on 7-foot wings and a favored location for wind farms. As wind turbines proliferate, scientists say deaths from collisions could drive down golden eagle numbers considered stable at best. Yet climate change looms as a potentially greater threat to the species: Rising temperatures are projected to reduce golden eagle breeding ranges by more than 40% later this century, according to a National Audubon Society analysis. That leaves golden eagles doubly vulnerable – to the shifting climate and to the wind energy promoted as a solution to that warming world. “We have some of the best golden eagle populations in Wyoming, but it doesn’t mean the population is not at risk,” said Bryan Bedrosian, conservation director at the Teton Raptor Center in Wilson, Wyoming. “As we increase wind development across the U.S., that risk is increasing.” Turbines blades hundreds of feet long are among myriad threats to golden eagles, which are routinely shot, poisoned by lead, hit by vehicles and electrocuted on power lines.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Hurricane Ida update: Did levees fail? Any damage? Latest on ...

Editor's note: Having trouble connecting? Read USA TODAY's text-only storm updates.

Fleets of boats, high-water vehicles and helicopters rescued hundreds trapped by Hurricane Ida’s floodwaters across southern Louisiana on Monday and utility repair crews rushed in to restore the power grid after the storm left a path of destruction on its way out the state.

More than 1 million homes and businesses were without power in Louisiana and another 90,000 in Mississippi as Ida, downgraded from a furious Category 4 hurricane to a tropical storm, remained a danger with its heavy rains and storm surge.

Two deaths have been confirmed -- a person hit by a falling tree outside Baton Rouge and later a male driver who drowned in New Orleans. The Louisiana Department of Health said the motorist drowned after trying to drive through floodwater.

Related:Ida was one of the strongest hurricanes to hit US mainland. Here are some stronger ones.

A third person was attacked Monday by an alligator in flood waters caused by the storm near Slidell, located just across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, according to Jason Gaubert, a spokesman for the St. Tammany Fire District No. 1.

The man's wife witnessed the attack, which took the man's arm off, Gaubert told USA TODAY. When his wife went to call for help, the man disappeared into the flood waters. His body hasn't been recovered and officials were investigating, Gaubert said.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he expected the death toll to rise "considerably.''

The governor’s office said damage to the power grid appeared “catastrophic” – dispiriting news for those without refrigeration or air conditioning amid the stifling heat and humidity. Forecasts call for temperatures in the mid-80s to near 90 by midweek.

"I can’t tell you when the power is going to be restored. I can’t tell you when all the debris is going to be cleaned up and repairs made,” Edwards said in a news conference. “But what I can tell you is we are going to work hard every day to deliver as much assistance as we can.”

Edwards said at least 671 people had been rescued by Monday afternoon.

Ida, which roared onto the Gulf Coast near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Sunday with 150-mph winds, knocked out power to the entire city of New Orleans before heading northeast toward Mississippi.

Levees failed or were overtopped along some rivers and bayous south of New Orleans but held up in the city. Some people posted their addresses and locations on social media to direct rescue teams. Roofs were torn off some buildings by the powerful winds, which decreased to about 35 mph by mid-afternoon. Still, tropical storm-force winds extended out 150 miles.

"Heavy rainfall and flash flooding threat continues to spread inland,'' the National Hurricane Center said in its 4 p.m. Central Time update, when Ida was 20 miles northwest of Jackson, Mississippi.

The storm was inching north at 9 mph, the slow roll driving up rainfall totals and toppling power lines along Ida's path.

At least 1 death in Louisiana as New Orleans loses power; Biden approves major disaster declaration

EPA relaxes fuel rules for Louisiana, Mississippi

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, responding to requests from Louisiana and Mississippi, temporarily suspended requirements related to fuel volatility to make sure residents have easy access to fuel.

Reid Vapor Pressure requirements govern fuel volatility, which refineries change according to the seasons to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.

EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan issued emergency fuel waivers effective immediately to allow Louisiana and Mississippi residents access to the widest range of fuels. The waivers end Sept. 16.

Heat, water contamination among top concerns in Ida's wake, ex-FEMA head says

Craig Fugate, the former head of FEMA under President Barack Obama, said with the threat of flooding diminishing as waters recede in Louisiana, the loss of electricity poses a serious danger to residents. Temperatures in New Orleans for the next two days are predicted to hit 88 degrees with high humidity -- conditions that can be dangerous for some without air conditioning, he said.

"We're still in summer and so without electricity, it's going to be very dangerous for the elderly, for those with pre-existing conditions, on top of dealing with COVID," Fugate said.

He said reports of the loss of water pressure in Jefferson Parish suggests downed trees have ripped open water and sewer lines, raising concerns about access to clean drinking water and sewage pollution.

"That will be driving a lot of FEMA response after the initial rescues," Fugate added.

Lines for gas at station damaged by storm

About 24 hours after Hurricane Ida made landfall in southeast Louisiana, lines of people waited Monday to fill cans with gas at a station and store called Veillon’s in Prairieville.

The building had sustained damage, with metal roofing peeled and lying twisted on the ground, and its doors and windows remained boarded. But the pumps were still working and accepting credit cards, and the word had gotten around Facebook, prompting Monday's lines.

People came with multiple cans to get fuel for their generators at home. The whole town seemed to be without electricity after the Category 4 storm hit the state. Prairieville seemed to miss the rain but not the strong winds.

Linemen working the area said they were addressing outages at hospitals, police stations and other emergency locations before they head into the community to restore power.

New Orleans' $14 billion risk-reduction system passes major test

The memories of endless miles of flooded streets still haunt some New Orleans residents who lived through the Hurricane Katrina disaster 16 years ago.

Though Hurricane Ida was technically stronger with winds of up to 150 mph -- making it a Category 4, one level higher than Katrina -- the frequent scenes of people getting rescued from the roof of their New Orleans homes as the floodwaters surged appear not to have been replicated this time.

That's because the levee system for the most part withstood the test of the storm.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said no major levees failed during Ida, thanks to a $14 billion hurricane risk-reduction system that was built in the greater New Orleans area following Katrina in 2005. The system was activated Sunday morning for just the second time, and even though the floodwaters overtopped some levees and other minor ones did fail, more extensive flood damage was averted.

Katrina survivor on riding out Ida: 'It was horrible'

Paten Neville and his family have weathered hurricanes before, including the legendary Katrina in 2005. So Neville's words as a seasoned hurricane survivor carry extra weight after he stayed at his mother's house in Houma with at least six other family members, ranging from children to adults. They spent at least half the storm underneath the carport.

“It was horrible,” said Neville, 34. “The tree fell first. Boom. Then after a while, the roof (was) flying off (and) water started pouring through.”

Neville said Katrina was worse because of the massive flooding. Ida seemed to be more of a wind event, at least in the Houma area, but he added an observation that lent some perspective: The amount of water that came inside during Ida could be measured in buckets.

Officials ask residents who fled not to return home yet

Many Louisiana residents who fled Ida are clamoring to return home, but even though the storm is no longer a hurricane, the devastation it left behind has created plenty of dangers.

Officials in the affected areas are asking for patience, pointing out conditions are still hazardous and some roads remain unpassable.

"If you evacuated before Hurricane Ida, we request that you DO NOT RETURN until further notice,'' Jefferson Parish Councilman Scott Walker tweeted Monday. "Power remains out with hazards on the road.''

Said Terrebonne Parish President Gordon Dove: “We completely understand the desire of our residents to return to their homes and loved ones. We also want this to happen as soon as possible, but in a safe and orderly manner.”

Biden says federal government won't abandon storm-hammered region

President Joe Biden pledged to stand with people in the affected areas for as long as necessary during the recovery. Biden named senior adviser and former congressman Cedric Richmond as his liaison with authorities in the Gulf, and instructed his team to get storm victims the assistance they need. Biden lauded the resilience of people of Louisiana and Mississippi but said that "in moments like these we can see the need for government to respond."

"When folks get knocked down, we're here to help you get back on your feet," he said.

Louisiana officials fear COVID-19 spike

Gov. John Bel Edward's office said over 2,200 evacuees were staying in 41 shelters as of Monday morning, a number expected to rise as people were rescued or escaped from flooded homes.

Christina Stephens, Edwards' spokeswoman, said the state will work to move people to hotels quickly so they can keep their distance from one another. Even before Ida hit, Louisiana was battling a fourth coronavirus surge sparked by the highly contagious delta variant and relatively low vaccination rates across the state.

“This is a COVID nightmare,” she said. “We do anticipate that we could see some COVID spikes related to this.”

4 hospitals damaged by storm

Four Louisiana hospitals were damaged and 39 medical facilities were operating on generator power, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday. Scores of patients were being evacuated to other cities. Lady of the Sea General Hospital in Lafourche Parish, near where Hurricane Ida made landfall, was among those hard-hit.

“All patients and staff are fine at this time without injury, although our hospital has sustained significant damage,” Lady of the Sea CEO Karen Collins said.

In Houma, the Terrebonne General Health System hospital sustained major damage and had to transfer patients right away to other healthcare facilities, officials said.

Edwards said 22 nursing homes and 18 assisted living facilities have been evacuated, though evacuating the largest hospitals was not an option because there aren’t other places to send the patients. Warner Thomas, president and CEO of Ochsner Health, said the system evacuated a smaller hospital in St. Charles Parish on Sunday. He said 35 patients were moved to other hospitals.

NYC sends team to aid recovery

An 83-member team of specially trained New York City police officers and firefighters has been sent to Louisiana to assist Ida response and recovery efforts. New York Task Force 1, managed by the city Emergency Management Department, brought six dogs, four water rescue boats, equipment to support rescues from collapsed structures and confined spaces, and hazardous materials equipment.

"After Hurricane Katrina, our members were proud to bravely serve in New Orleans and help the people of Louisiana,” Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. "I know they will make us proud once again."

Hundreds of boats, high-water vehicles to the rescue

Rescuers across southern Louisiana began launching hundreds of boats into the floodwaters Monday. New Orleans and several parishes said their 911 systems were experiencing technical difficulties, so some trapped residents sought help via social media. The Louisiana National Guard said it activated 4,900 personnel and lined up 195 high-water vehicles, 73 rescue boats and 34 helicopters. Local and state agencies brought in hundreds more.

Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans knew of 500 people who said they were going to stay in areas that were flooded, Parish Council member Deano Bonano told WWL-TV.

"We know we have people we need to rescue. We've been getting calls all night," he said. "We're going to methodically go up and down every street transporting individuals out to buses and putting them in shelters."

Power outage could last 6 weeks for some

More than 1 million utility customers in Louisiana and almost 130,000 in Mississippi were without power Monday. The utility Entergy, citing Ida's "catastrophic intensity," said all eight transmission lines that deliver power into the New Orleans area were out of service. The company said it had provided back-up generation to the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, but that some homes could be without power for weeks.

"It will likely take days to determine the extent of damage to our power grid in metro New Orleans and far longer to restore electrical transmission to the region," Entergy warned.

Joe Valiente, director of emergency management in Jefferson Parish, said Monday that the outages could last up to six weeks: "100% of the grid is smashed," Valiente told NPR. "We are estimating six weeks based on numbers that Entergy gave us."

Dark New Orleans reawakens after brunt of storm passes

New Orleans residents who didn't flee the storm began emerging from their homes Monday, ducking and dodging downed light poles, pieces of roofs and branches.

“I had a long, miserable night,” said Chris Atkins, who was in his New Orleans home when he heard a “kaboom” and all the sheetrock in the living room fell into the house. A short time later, the whole side of the living room fell onto his neighbor’s driveway.

“Lucky the whole thing didn’t fall inward. It would have killed us,” he said.

Ida's center crosses into Mississippi

Hurricane Ida crossed into Mississippi's Amite County from Louisiana and was headed north, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm slowed down slightly as it made its way over land and across the Mississippi River, causing massive power outages in southwestern Mississippi, primarily in Adams, Wilkinson, Amite and Pike counties. A state of emergency for the city of Jackson was in effect – winds of up to 65 mph were forecast for the area Monday night.

Central Mississippi into far western Alabama could see 4 to 8 inches of rain with isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches before the weather passes Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said.

– Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.

Residents in rural areas report major damage

About 68 miles southwest of New Orleans, Albert Naquin sheltered in Pointe-aux-Chênes with seven others. Naquin, the Traditional Chief of the Isle De Jean Charles Tribe, watched Ida rip shingles from his home and peel away the front side of his house.

"I saw bits and pieces," Naquin said. "My neighbor's house broke in half."

– Melissa Brown, Lafayette Daily Advertiser

Sheriff warns against sightseeing in battered Terrebonne Parish

In Terrebonne Parish, southwest of New Orleans, Sheriff Timothy Soignet said electricity and water utilities are not functioning and all roads are blocked by downed trees, utility poles and other debris. Terrebonne Parish is under a curfew until further notice and Soignet said no one should attempt to sightsee. Crews are working to clear debris and additional vehicles on the road will hinder progress, the sheriff said. First responders have not yet been able to reach certain parts of the parish, he said.

“Prayers are with the citizens and business owners of Terrebonne Parish in this difficult time," Soignet said. "If you have evacuated, please don’t try to return yet, and if you are in the parish, shelter in place.”

– Keith Magill, The Courier

Ida was so powerful it reversed the flow of the Mississippi River

A U.S. Geological Survey gauge at Belle Chasse, south of New Orleans, detected the Mississippi's flow moving backward around midday Sunday because of the amount of water Ida whipped up. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Ricky Boyette confirmed engineers detected a “negative flow” on the Mississippi River as a result of storm surge. Although rare, the river changing course is not unprecedented, occurring during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Isaac in 2012.

"I remember, off hand, that there was some flow reversal of the Mississippi River during Hurricane Katrina, but it is extremely uncommon," Scott Perrien, a UDGS hydrologist, told CNN.

– Ryan Miller

'People are in attics' in small Louisiana town

Mayor Tim Kerner said much of the Town of Jean Lafitte, a community of 2,000 people just outside the Jefferson Parish levee protection system, was underwater. Kerner told WGNO the levees were overtopped by rapidly rising water. Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng told the station that "people are in attics in Lower Lafitte."

"Total devastation, catastrophic" Kerner said. "This is a very dangerous situation. I’ve never seen so much water in my life. We’ve lost our school and everything ... People’s lives are I believe at stake now.''

Kerner said the water swept over a 7.5-feet-high flood wall protecting the town, leaving some people at the mercy of the rushing water. When the weather breaks "we are going to send an army to them," he said.

First death reported in Louisiana

The Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office said deputies received a report Saturday night of a resident injured from a fallen tree in Prairieville. Deputies arrived on scene and confirmed that the victim had been killed, the office said on social media posts. More than 250 roads in the parish were closed because of downed trees or power lines, and the office urged everyone to stay home.

Ida could drop 24 inches of rain in some areas

Through Tuesday morning, Ida could bring total rainfall accumulations of 10 to 18 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 24 inches, the National Weather Service said. Heavy rain combined with storm surge resulted in catastrophic impacts along the southeast coast of Louisiana, with life-threatening flash flooding and "significant" river flooding continuing farther inland.

Where Ida is headed next

The center of Ida is forecast to move over central and northeastern Mississippi on Monday afternoon and night and move across the Tennessee Valley on Tuesday. Additional rapid weakening is forecast during the next day or so. "Considerable" flash flooding is possible from the Lower Mississippi Valley through the Middle Tennessee Valley, Ohio Valley, Central/Southern Appalachians and into the Mid-Atlantic in coming days, the weather service said.

Contributing: The Associated Press

News from around our 50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Tuscaloosa: Officials say they expect new arrangements between the University of Alabama and the city’s business incubator to help entrepreneurs and generate new jobs. The Tuscaloosa News reports that the Bama Technology Incubator, which features on-campus support for startup companies, will now be known as Edge Labs. Officials say the name change is significant, as it will emphasize the connection between Edge Labs on the northern end of UA’s campus and the Edge, an off-campus business incubator. The Edge opened in February as a collaboration among UA, the city of Tuscaloosa and the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.

Alaska

Anchorage: Researchers have begun questioning whether there’s too much of a good thing in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean. Wild populations of pink salmon are flourishing. Their numbers are enhanced by the annual release of 1.8 billion fish from Alaska hatcheries, and critics say they’re having an effect on other species. Biological oceanographer Sonia Batten examined 15 years of data and noticed that zooplankton was abundant in even-number years and less abundant in odd-number years. That corresponds with even-odd variations in pink salmon abundance. University of Alaska professor emeritus Alan Springer sees reproduction effects on seabirds that also feed on zooplankton. State regulators say they have no evidence the ocean has reached its carrying capacity for hatchery fish, which brought sales averaging $120 million for 2012 through 2017.

Arizona

Tucson: Experts say a federal court ruling against a planned mining project in the state is expected to have national repercussions if upheld by higher courts. The Arizona Daily Star reports the mining industry has decried the ruling against the proposed $1.9 billion Rosemont Mine. The U.S. Forest Service’s approval of plans for the new copper mine in southeastern Arizona was overruled July 31 in U.S. District Court. The project was planned to spread across federal, state and private land. Mining company attorneys say the decision usurps the role of government agencies, could bring chaos to federal mining reviews and will add permitting delays. Conservation and tribal groups praised the ruling, saying it recognized the Forest Service’s failure to protect public land and resources.

Arkansas

Bentonville: An accident involving a ride that derailed on the last night of the Benton County Fair and injured at least two has prompted a state investigation. The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports the ride shut down Saturday after a cart from a miniature roller coaster derailed, sending two people in an ambulance to a nearby hospital. Their conditions weren’t immediately available. Bentonville Fire Department Battalion Chief Justin Scantlin says a third person also rode in a car to the hospital. Arkansas Department of Labor general counsel Denise Oxley says investigators will examine the ride and its maintenance records as well as talk to the owner, operator and any witnesses. Oxley says the ride was inspected before the fair opened last week.

California

San Jose: The mayor has proposed requiring gun owners in the nation’s 10th largest city to carry liability insurance to cover taxpayer costs associated with firearm violence. The Mercury News reports that, if approved, Mayor Sam Liccardo’s strict new measure would be the first of its kind in the nation to curb gun violence. The city of 1 million was home to two children killed in a July 28 mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Liccardo announced his proposal Monday. It would require approval from the City Council. He likened the proposal to attempts to lower smoking rates and car crashes. Gun rights groups are vowing that if the City Council approves the measure, they will take San Jose to court.

Colorado

Aspen: The U.S. Forest Service has put a logging project in the state on hold as it deals with a lawsuit. The Aspen Times reported Monday that the agency had authorized the plan to clear-cut about 2.5 square miles in the Upper Fryingpan Valley, saying it would improve forest resiliency and increase the amount of young forest. The logging near Basalt was planned to begin this summer. A group of residents near the project area filed a lawsuit earlier this year, claiming logging would increase carbon emissions and harm tourism and recreation. District ranger Curtis Keetch says the project will proceed after the litigation is resolved.

Connecticut

Hartford: Consumers, businesses and health care providers in the state will be able to compare the cost and quality of medical care at hospitals and provider networks online. The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy has launched HealthscoreCT.com, which includes a quality scorecard and a cost estimator that is scheduled to be released at the end of September. OHS Executive Director Vicki Veltri says the website, which includes interactive tables and graphs, “gives people the resources to make better health care decisions” and gives providers an opportunity to improve on the cost and quality of the care they give patients. Once fully implemented, the free service will help consumers determine if the high cost charged by a particular network means good quality.

Delaware

Dover: A fire department official says dozens of pet snakes died when a blaze ripped through a home. No people were injured in the fire that broke out Sunday morning in Dover. The homeowner told firefighters that approximately 60 snakes were in the house. All of them are believed to be dead. There was no immediate word on what kinds of snakes were being kept in the home. Deputy Chief Michael O’Connor Jr. of the Dover Fire Department says the snakes were kept in bedrooms throughout the house. O’Connor says the fire apparently started in the kitchen and caused extensive damage to the house.

District of Columbia

Washington: A D.C. Council staffer is accused of firing a gun outside a pop-up marijuana market this month. News outlets report 24-year-old DaVon Lorenzo Fuller was arrested Saturday and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm. A police statement says Fuller and another man were being robbed by two people. Both men shot at the robbers, firing at least a dozen rounds. Fuller’s attorney Daniel K. Dorsey says Fuller fired in self-defense. Police are looking for Fuller’s companion. The statement says Fuller was denied a concealed-carry permit, making it illegal for him to take the weapon outside his home. Fuller is a staffer for councilwomen Brianne K. Nadeau, who has passed several laws to help reduce gun violence. He’s been placed on administrative leave.

Florida

Tallahassee: Republican lawmakers from the state are postponing an immigration “listening tour,” saying a charged atmosphere after the El Paso, Texas, shootings and the Mississippi immigration raids won’t lead to a productive discussion. State Sen. Joe Gruters said Monday that the tour scheduled to begin next week will be pushed back, probably until November. Gruters also chairs the state Republican Party. Gruters and state Rep. Cord Byrd planned to lead the tour with stops across Florida. They’re the lawmakers who sponsored bills requiring local governments to cooperate with federal authorities enforcing immigration laws. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the sanctuary policy ban into law. Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani said Gruters and Byrd should cancel the tour, calling it politically motivated rather than a sincere attempt to listen to Floridians on immigration issues.

Georgia

Stonecrest: A local high school graduate has won a $30,000 college scholarship through the “Doodle for Google” competition. Citing a Google statement, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Arantza Pena Popo’s design was featured on the tech giant’s homepage Tuesday. The nationwide contest asked grade schoolers to redesign Google’s logo based on what they hoped for the future. Popo’s doodle titled “Once you get it, give it back” shows a framed picture of Popo’s mother carrying her as an infant sitting above an adult Popo caring for her aging mother. The Colombia native graduated as a valedictorian from Arabia Mountain High School in Stonecrest. Google says the school will get $50,000 to establish a computer or technology lab. Popo plans to study graphic design at the University of Southern California this fall.

Hawaii

Hilo: Geologists have measured high temperatures in rock ripped up by road crews during reconstruction of a Big Island highway inundated by lava. Hawaii News Now reports that Hawaii Volcano Observatory geologists recorded temperatures of cooling lava rock on Highway 132 above 700 degrees Fahrenheit from the 2018 Kilauea volcanic eruption. Geologists say the drill bit used to hammer the rock into pieces has changed colors from the intense heat, and rocks take most of the day to cool. Hawaii County officials say the construction will grant access to some residents’ landlocked homes and farms about 24 miles southeast of Hilo. Officials say reconstruction began in July and is expected to be completed by Oct. 5 to qualify for 100% federal reimbursement.

Idaho

Boise: The state’s sage-grouse numbers have dropped 52% since the federal government decided not to list the birds as an endangered species in the fall of 2015. It’s not yet clear whether the three-year decline is part of a cyclical pattern or indicative of a more serious issue, but the Idaho Statesman reports the trend could force state and federal wildlife and land managers to take a closer look at how sage grouse are faring in Idaho and other western states. Under Idaho’s sage grouse management plan, wildlife managers must work to determine the cause of population declines and come up with an appropriate response any time numbers drop below a certain level. Idaho Fish and Game biologist Ann Moser says it looks like populations are low enough in several parts of Idaho to trigger the plan.

Illinois

Wilmington: A group conducting an archaeological dig has found pieces of broken pottery, projectile points and other artifacts dating to the 1600s. Two University of Notre Dame professors have been leading summer volunteers on an exploration at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in northern Illinois. The project at the Middle Grant Creek Site is revealing how people of the Oneota culture lived in the area four centuries ago. Earlier this month volunteers digging in a 6-foot-deep pit found projectile points made of rock that would have been used for hunting. They’ve also found painted pottery and needles made from bones, which were likely used to weave mats from tallgrass. The group is gathering evidence to reconstruct the environment and ecology of the last prehistoric culture of the upper Midwest.

Indiana

Indianapolis: An agriculture economist is projecting a nearly 20% drop in revenue for the state’s corn and soybean crops this year. That prediction from Purdue University professor Chris Hurt comes after Indiana farmers faced several weeks of planting delays because of persistent spring rainfalls, followed a long summer dry spell. Hurt says those troubles and the ongoing U.S. trade fight with China could lead to a $1.3 billion revenue drop for Indiana’s corn and soybean crops from last year’s $6.8 billion. Purdue agricultural experts spoke Monday during a program at the Indiana State Fair. They said the state’s farmers face a risk that late-planted corn and soybeans won’t mature before the fall freeze.

Iowa

Maquoketa: City leaders have promised to work with a company they know little about – including its name – but they say it could bring up to 200 new manufacturing jobs to town. The Telegraph Herald reports that Maquoketa leaders signed a nonbinding letter of intent to the company that says if Maquoketa is chosen for the project, city leaders will propose a development agreement. The objective is to have that agreement in place “within the next 120 days, if not sooner.” Nic Hockenberry, director of Jackson County Economic Alliance, says that “this isn’t usually how it works if you’re being considered for a site, but we take all inquiries seriously.” The city would provide the land and help install utilities to the site, if the city were chosen.

Kansas

Topeka: The state Department of Transportation plans to spend $5 million this year to help cities and counties repair 3,800 bridges that are in poor condition or structurally insufficient. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the department is restarting a program suspended in 2014 when state government struggled with revenue shortfalls. An estimated 20% of the 19,000 county and city bridges in Kansas need to be repaired or replaced. The department will provide up to $150,000 toward replacement or rehabilitation of a bridge on a local roadway system. The agency also offered $50,000 to a city or county in exchange for permanently closing a functionally obsolete bridge. Funding was drawn from $216 million in sales tax funneled to the state highway fund in fiscal year 2020, which began July 1.

Kentucky

Slade: State parks officials say a wilderness advanced first aid training course will be offered later this year at Natural Bridge State Resort Park. Officials say the five-day course will be presented Dec. 2-6 and geared toward people who work or play in remote wilderness areas. They say it’s recommended for backcountry guides, canoe trip leaders, college outdoor programs, hiking club leaders, emergency medical technicians and adventure race safety personnel. Officials say the course will focus on stabilizing patients, treatment and evacuation guidelines for patients in remote areas. Learning will take place in the classroom as well as outdoor settings. The fee of $375 covers the course only. Lodging and meals at Natural Bridge are available at discounted rates.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: Police say Baton Rouge’s African American history museum has been reported vandalized exactly a month after its founder was found dead. News outlets report police are investigating the damage to the Odell S. Williams African-American Museum founded by Sadie Roberts-Joseph. Photos posted online Monday show flipped benches, windows on the ground, and other damage including torn and ruined landscaping. It’s unclear if the inside of the museum suffered any damage. It’s been closed since Roberts-Joseph’s death. The 75-year-old was found dead last month in the trunk of a car. Preliminary autopsy results showed she was strangled before being shoved into the trunk. Police later arrested 38-year-old Ronn Bell on a charge of first-degree murder. He had been renting from Roberts-Joseph and was about $1,200 behind in rent.

Maine

Augusta: A Republican lawmaker says a legislative fix would address a problem with timing of a handful of potential “people’s veto” votes. In a “people’s veto,” residents gather signatures to force a ballot question to veto a state law. Secretary of State Matt Dunlap at first incorrectly told “people’s veto” petitioners their attempted vetoes could go on ballots in June. He then announced they would go on ballots in March, alongside Maine’s presidential primary. Citizen petitioners fear a heavily Democratic turnout at the primary would doom their effort. They want to overturn laws including one that bans so-called conversion therapy for gay people. Rep. Patrick Corey, of Windham, says his proposal would exempt “people’s veto” votes from presidential primary elections. He says it’s about treating voters equally.

Maryland

Baltimore: An animal rights group has filed a federal complaint against Johns Hopkins University researchers over a lab experiment in which nine dogs had to be euthanized after spinal surgeries. The Baltimore Sun reports that Stop Animal Exploitation Now wants the U.S. Agriculture Department to impose fines of $10,000 per animal under the Animal Welfare Act. The group says Hopkins told the National Institutes of Health that it ended the federally funded experiment to study gastrointestinal issues when some dogs suffered acute paralysis. Hopkins spokeswoman Kim Hoppe says that the program rigorously complies with animal welfare regulations and that the remaining dogs were adopted. Federal law requires animal testing of drugs for humans.

Massachusetts

Nantucket: The island’s first pot shop is up and running. The Green Lady Dispensary opened Sunday on an appointment-only basis after receiving approval to operate from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. Massachusetts voters legalized recreational pot for adults in 2016, but marijuana businesses faced additional obstacles to opening off the mainland because it remains illegal to transport marijuana through federal waters or to fly it there. The Green Lady Dispensary is cultivating marijuana on the island and received permission from regulators to conduct on-site laboratory testing in lieu of the normal requirement that products be tested at a licensed independent lab. The family-run store says appointments will be required through Labor Day.

Michigan

Lansing: Researchers say the state may have more than twice as many sand dune acres as previously known. Alan Arbogast of Michigan State University recently oversaw development of what he calls the most detailed and comprehensive map of the state’s dunes, which total 230,000 acres. He tells MLive.com the project mapped previously unrecognized dunes on the west coast of the Lower Peninsula. It also documented dunes on the eastern side of the state along Lake Huron that hadn’t been included in previous surveys. Arbogast is chairman of the university’s Department of Geography. His team gathered and analyzed remotely sensed imagery and compared aerial photos, topographic maps and soil data. They verified the findings in the field. Roughly half of the dune acreage is publicly owned or controlled by a local land conservancy.

Minnesota

St. Paul: Gov. Tim Walz says he still wants Senate Republicans to hold hearings on Democratic proposals for gun control and emergency insulin supplies. The governor told reporters Monday he finds it “absolutely unacceptable” that none have been scheduled following the latest mass shootings in Ohio and Texas. He contrasted the impasse in Minnesota with states with Republican governors and legislatures that have adopted gun safety measures, as well as President Donald Trump’s recently stated willingness to consider stronger federal background checks. Proposals for tighter gun controls and easier access to emergency insulin stalled out during the 2019 Legislature’s regular session amid GOP opposition. Walz says it wouldn’t be productive to call lawmakers back if they’re not willing to do anything, but voters are demanding action.

Mississippi

Jackson: It’s painfully hot in the state now, but residents suffering through a blistering heat wave can take solace in the news that ice skating will be available this year at the Mississippi State Fair. State Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson says a temporary ice rink will be installed inside the Mississippi Coliseum on the fairgrounds in Jackson. Gipson announced that a Florida-based company called Magic Ice USA will build and manage the 8,000-square-foot rink. Construction will begin in late September, and the fair runs Oct. 2-14. The cost of skating will be $10 per person. Admission to the fair costs $5 for every person older than 6.

Missouri

Kansas City: A bidder from Nebraska has paid $920,000 for a house designed and built by iconic architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The Kansas City Star reports that Heritage Auctions says the new owner wants to remain anonymous for now, but the bidder plans to honor the integrity of the Sondern-Adler house that sold Monday. Wright designed the home in 1939 for Clarence Sondern. He designed a later addition for the second owner, Arnold Adler. Heritage Auctions spokesman Eric Bradley says the winning bidder plans to keep it a national or regional destination. The home had been on the market for 11 months at $1.65 million. Bidding began at $450,000. Bids quickly soared to $775,000, with the Nebraska bidder on the phone going head-to-head with a representative for a local bidder.

Montana

Great Falls: Members of a state task force whose goal is to help various agencies work together in reporting and searching for missing Native Americans want to add more people to the panel. The Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force met in Great Falls on Saturday and decided it wanted to add representatives from Indian Health Services and the U.S. attorney’s office. The task force was created by the Montana to help state, local, federal and tribal law enforcement agencies identify jurisdictional barriers that prevented the agencies from working together. The task force members were told the Department of Justice has not yet found the right candidate for the new job of missing persons specialist to work with the various agencies and oversee databases of missing persons.

Nebraska

Omaha: The Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office is giving people the opportunity to get rid of unwanted or unsafe guns, ammunition and leftover fireworks. People can turn in those items from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Aug. 17 at a drop-off location at the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office south parking lot garage in Papillion. The amnesty day event allows the items to be dropped off with no questions asked, but police will document all firearms. If a gun is linked to a crime or reported stolen, police will investigate. Officials say all guns, ammunition and fireworks turned in at the event will be safely disposed of by the sheriff’s office and Omaha Police Department.

Nevada

Las Vegas: As students head back to school this week, the nation’s fifth-largest school district is dealing with one of its biggest teaching shortages. KVVU-TV reports the Clark County School District has more than 700 vacant teaching positions. Officials say there have not been such a large number of openings during the first week of school since 2014. Some teachers say there is no way staff and students won’t feel the strain of having fewer instructors. Teacher Maria Zuniga says she sometimes has to substitute for another class in situations like this at the expense of her break time. District officials have said that teacher recruitment and retention are top priorities in their Focus 2024 plan.

New Hampshire

Hampton: The state’s Department of Environmental Services has lifted a ban on most shellfish harvesting along the ocean coastline and Hampton-Seabrook Harbor after a drop in toxic algae bloom known as red tide. The harvest closure went into effect May 9 in response to elevated levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning detected in blue mussels. Chris Nash, the department’s shellfish program manager, said Maine and Massachusetts have been reporting similar red tide declines. He said the one exception is that surf clams along the Atlantic Coast continue to show unacceptably high levels of the toxin. He said surf clams typically retain it much longer than other types of shellfish. The DES says paralytic shellfish poisoning is life-threatening. Symptoms include tingling, burning, numbness, drowsiness, incoherent speech and respiratory paralysis.

New Jersey

Newark: Residents began picking up bottled water Monday, days after elevated lead levels were found in homes where city-issued filters had been distributed months ago as part of an ongoing effort to combat contamination. Newark has given thousands of filters to residents in homes with lead service lines. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said recent tests showed drinking water in a few locations was still testing high for lead despite the filters. Water was available at four locations Monday. The process was successful for some people, not so much for others. Emmett Coleman, a senior citizen who said he is a heart transplant recipient, said he waited an hour for his two cases of water. He lugged them down the stairs and began to carry them up the street to his car before a worker came out to help him.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: State officials say visits to museums and historic sites have fallen. The Albuquerque Journal reports New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs says overall attendance for the fiscal year that ended June 30 dipped 2% from last year. According to the agency, in fiscal 2019, 992,574 visitors were counted for the eight state-run museums and the six historic sites. In fiscal 2018, attendance was at 1,014,041 and was largely led by the blockbuster “Da Vinci – The Genius” exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque. The biggest drops in attendance came at the Fort Sumner/Bosque Redondo site and the New Mexico History Museum, with a 30% and 17% decrease respectively.

New York

Bethel: State police are warning travelers in the Hudson Valley of likely traffic delays coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock festival. Troopers say traffic congestion is expected on routes 17 and 17b in Sullivan County on Thursday through Sunday. Traffic is expected to be particularly heavy on Route 17 westbound between the Thruway in Harriman and exit 104 onto Route 17b in Monticello. Peak traffic for westbound lanes is anticipated between 1 and 7 p.m. and for eastbound lanes between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. all four days of the anniversary concert weekend. Local officials expect up to 100,000 visitors to the Woodstock festival site in the town of Bethel on Thursday through Sunday. The site is hosting separate shows by festival veterans like Carlos Santana and John Fogerty.

North Carolina

Wrightsville Beach: Volunteers who watch sea turtles nest fear more than 100 hatchlings were lost because they were attracted to artificial lights instead of the light of the moon. Nancy Fahey of the Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Project tells The StarNews of Wilmington that 112 sea turtle hatchlings broke through their shells early Aug. 1 after volunteers had quit watching the nest. She says she found turtle tracks under a pier and other places. She hopes the city can find a way to address problems with artificial lights. Wrightsville Beach Town Manager Tim Owens says most structures with problematic lighting predate the city’s lighting ordinance. He says one solution may be to ask property owners to shield bright lights when a nearby nest is nearing the end of its incubation period.

North Dakota

Bismarck: State agriculture officials say anthrax has been confirmed in a group of cows in a pasture in eastern Billings County. The case was confirmed Friday. It is North Dakota’s first reported case of anthrax this year. State veterinarian Susan Keller says producers in Billings County and surrounding areas should check with their veterinarians to see if they should start vaccinating their cattle for anthrax. Anthrax vaccines are readily available, but it takes about a week to establish immunity, and the vaccine must be administered annually. Anthrax is caused by bacterial spores that can lie dormant in the ground until they are activated by heavy rains, flooding or drought. Scattered heavy rains may have triggered the recent case. No anthrax cases were reported in North Dakota last year.

Ohio

Columbus: Opponents hoping to overturn a financial rescue for the state’s nuclear power plants and two coal-fired plants have failed to clear an initial hurdle to put the issue before voters next year. Ohio’s attorney general says there were inaccuracies in the petition summary submitted by Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, so it wasn’t certified as a fair and truthful representation of the proposed statewide referendum. The campaign says it will submit revised language. Lawmakers approved the $1.5 billion rescue package last month. It tacks a new fee onto every electricity bill in Ohio and scales back requirements that utilities generate more power from wind and solar. Backers say it saves jobs and protects nuclear plants that account for nearly all of Ohio’s clean energy. Opponents criticize it as a bailout.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: A state district judge has blocked implementation of a new law that requires top brands of wine and spirits to be sold to all Oklahoma alcohol wholesalers. The Oklahoman reports Judge Thomas Prince in Oklahoma City ruled the new law violates the state constitution. The state Supreme Court had remanded the legal challenge launched to the new law by a group of liquor wholesalers. Currently, manufacturers can designate a single wholesaler to distribute their products. The group argued the law unconstitutionally changed the amendment passed by voters in 2016 that also allows the sale of strong beer in grocery and convenience stores and the sale of cold, strong beer in liquor stores.

Oregon

Portland: Far-right groups are traveling to the city from around the United States this weekend to rally against self-described antifascists who are planning to oppose them. Portland’s leadership is mobilizing in hopes of avoiding clashes similar to those in June and in 2018 that attracted national attention. Since President Donald Trump’s election, Portland has become a political arena for far-right and far-left groups to face off. None of the city’s nearly 1,000 police officers will have the day off Saturday. The Oregon State Police and the FBI are also helping out. Mayor Ted Wheeler says he may ask Democratic Gov. Kate Brown to call up the Oregon National Guard. The Southern Poverty Law Center says the groups coming to Portland include far-right militias, white supremacists, white nationalists and other hate groups.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: The governor says at least four children from the state were recently separated from their parents by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and wrote Monday to demand the agency halt the practice until it has a plan to ensure the welfare of children. Gov. Tom Wolf asked Homeland Security Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan to account for all children separated from their parents this year in Pennsylvania and to tell him how long they were kept apart and about any steps the federal government took to ensure their well-being. Wolf said in the letter that the four children are U.S. citizens and come from at least three migrant families. He said that “information relayed” to state officials indicated federal agents did not make sure that the children had adequate temporary guardianship.

Rhode Island

Providence: State health officials are cautioning people to avoid contact with seven lakes and ponds because of potential risks from blue-green algae. The locations are Almy Pond in Newport; Sisson Pond in Portsmouth; JL Curran Reservoir in Cranston; Mashapaug Pond in Providence; and several lakes within Roger Williams Park in Providence, Pleasure Lake, Roosevelt Lake and Elm Lake. All recreation – including swimming, fishing, boating and kayaking – should be avoided. The Rhode Island Department of Public Health also warned that people and pets should not ingest water or eat fish from the locations. Contact with water containing blue-green algae commonly causes irritation of the skin, nose, eyes and/or throat.

South Carolina

Ridgeland: The leader of the state’s health and environmental agency says putting out a trash fire that has been smoldering for months is the department’s top priority. The fire at a recycling company in Jasper County started in early June with hazardous levels of smoke particles and a voluntary evacuation of a neighborhood nearby happening earlier this month. Department of Health and Environmental Control Director Rick Toomey said at an agency board meeting Thursday the department hired an outside company to put out the fire at Able Contracting Inc. The Island Packet of Hilton Head reports Toomey also said it can’t wait for delayed federal testing of water and air samples near the fire and is paying a private firm to see if there are more hazards than just smoke.

South Dakota

Rapid City: Prosecutors in Pennington County have declined to issue charges resulting from a police seizure of hemp-derived CBD oil that contained THC, the compound in marijuana that produces a high sensation. Officers raided a health food store in Rapid City in May and seized 16 individual or bundled packages of CBD oil products worth about $3,000. The raid was the result of an earlier purchase by a Rapid City police officer who had a CBD product tested and found it was positive for THC. The Rapid City Journal reports state’s attorney Mark Vargo says he chose not to charge the owner of Staple and Spice Market because it would be difficult to prove she knew the CBD products she was selling contained THC. The manufacturer, Plus CBD Oil, says on its webpage that its products contain less than 0.3% THC.

Tennessee

Nashville: The state is holding events to celebrate the 99th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which ushered in women’s right to vote. Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, the Tennessee State Museum, and the Tennessee State Library and Archives are collaborating on events Friday and Saturday in Nashville. Congress passed the 19th Amendment in June 1919. Three-fourths of state legislatures were required to ratify it for its nationwide adoption. Tennessee became the 36th and final state needed for ratification in August 1920. The park and museum will feature living history programs and hands-on activities. Historians will depict stories related to the women’s suffrage movement at the park. Keeping with Tennessee’s “Perfect 36” nickname, the Tennessee State Parks Run Club will host the Perfect 3.6 Race for Ratification on Saturday.

Texas

La Porte: Officials say Aug. 25 is the last date for public visits to the Battleship Texas near Houston before the 107-year-old vessel undergoes repairs. The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department says staff and contractors, starting Aug. 26, need full access to the ship at La Porte to prepare for $35 million in renovations. The agency in June announced a pared-back summer schedule for visitors at the Battleship Texas State Historic Site so personnel could begin cataloging thousands of artifacts. The historic items will be put into storage before the Battleship Texas goes into dry dock to fix the leaking hull. The Battleship Texas Foundation in May announced the ship would get a new home following repairs. No site was announced.

Utah

Salt Lake City: Imprisoned polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has suffered a mental breakdown and isn’t fit to give a deposition in a sex abuse case against him, according to a recent court filing. Forcing Jeffs, 63, to testify would be “futile,” said lawyers representing a community trust that once belonged to a polygamous sect run by Jeffs on the Utah-Arizona border. The trust and Jeffs were sued in 2017 by a woman who says she was sexually abused by Jeffs when she was a child. Lawyer Zachary Shields said Monday that he isn’t trying to cover for Jeffs, who he says has done many awful things, but that he doesn’t want attorneys to waste time and money traveling to the Texas prison where Jeffs is housed until he is determined to be mentally competent.

Vermont

Montpelier: Admission to state-owned historic sites will be free on Bennington Battle Day this Friday. It’s a state holiday commemorating the Revolutionary War victory over the British on Aug. 16, 1777. The Vermont Division of Historic Preservation says three sites are key to Vermont’s role in the American Revolution. They are Mount Independence, a fortification built by American troops in 1776 and 1777, in Orwell; the Hubbardton Battlefield marking the site of the Revolutionary War battle fought on what would become Vermont; and the 306-foot-high Bennington Battle Monument. Other sites that will be free to visit are Chimney Point in Addison; the Senator Justin S. Smith Morrill Homestead in Strafford; and the President Calvin Coolidge Birthplace and Homestead in Plymouth Notch.

Virginia

Richmond: Researchers at the University of Richmond believe a burial ground of enslaved Africans may lie beneath the campus. The Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Collegian, the university’s student newspaper, report researchers say they’ve discovered evidence suggesting an unknown number of slaves may be buried behind Puryear Hall. Dywana Saunders, a research associate at one of the university’s libraries, says a history book describes campus land that once belonged to lumber plantation owner Ben Green, who likely owned slaves. A 1947 Richmond News Leader article added to the evidence, describing a small pile of bones that had been unearthed on campus. Researchers say they hope a ground survey using radar technology will provide more answers.

Washington

Seattle: A wildfire-triggered thunderstorm has provided an unusual opportunity for scientists to fly through its clouds and take photos and measurements. The Seattle Times reports information collected from Thursday’s flight could inform new research about wildfire-induced thunderstorms, which only recently have been studied in detail. Philippe Papin, a postdoctoral atmospheric scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, says such thunderstorms don’t produce much precipitation that reaches the ground but can create lightning strikes with potential to spark new fires. The research is part of a project between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aimed at better understanding wildfire smoke’s impact on air quality and the climate.

West Virginia

Huntington: Officials say the number of HIV cases in Cabell County has risen to 71. The state Department of Health and Human Resources posted the figure Monday, saying the virus has spread primarily among intravenous drug users. The cluster, tracked since January 2018, represents a drastic increase from the baseline average of eight cases annually over the past five years. Officials confirmed last month that one person associated with the cluster has died. Dr. Cathy Slemp of the state Department of Health and Human Resources told The Register-Herald that there haven’t been any indications the cases have spread outside Cabell County. The health department says it is working to find gaps in health care and prevention coverage.

Wisconsin

Madison: Republican legislators are reintroducing a bill that would punish students who interfere with campus speeches and presentations. The state Assembly passed a bill last session that would suspend University of Wisconsin System students twice accused of disrupting others’ free speech. Students who disrupt others’ free expression a third time would be expelled. The measure died in the Senate, but UW regents adopted the sanctions as policy in October. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, Sen. Chris Kapenga and Reps. Cody Horlacher and Dave Murphy reintroduced the bill Tuesday. Passage would cement the sanctions in statute.

Wyoming

Jackson: Under threat of legal action, federal wildlife managers are pledging to start weaning elk that winter on the National Elk Refuge in northwest Wyoming off supplemental feeding. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been talking with Wyoming wildlife managers for about a dozen years about the feeding program. But the threat of litigation by the Earthjustice environmental group has forced the agency to act. Earthjustice attorney Tim Preso tells the Jackson Hole News & Guide that the federal agency has agreed to have a plan in place by the next feeding season, which typically begins in late January or early February each winter. Earthjustice contends the supplemental feeding of elk increases the risk of spreading chronic wasting disease among wildlife in the area.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports