Joshua trees, flirty juror, free vasectomies: News from around our 50 states
Alabama
Montgomery: The federal government on Wednesday said the state of Alabama illegally discriminates against children in foster care with behavioral and emotional disabilities. The U.S. Department of Justice, in a news release, said the state’s foster care program has illegally placed hundreds of students with disabilities into “segregated and inferior educational programs,” a direct violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. “Students with disabilities in Alabama’s foster care system are among the most vulnerable in the state’s care, and they deserve better than placement in segregated and inferior schools,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. “The Civil Rights Division will defend every child’s right to equal educational opportunities in schools where they can be supported and challenged.” The department’s findings follow an investigation into allegations that the state denies children in foster care equal opportunity to basic educational services on the basis of disability. Gina Maiola, communications director for Gov. Kay Ivey, said in a statement that the Alabama State Department of Education and the Department of Human Resources have been “working proactively since 2018 to address the needs of our specialized treatment centers.”
Alaska
Anchorage: Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has indicated he will vote in favor of calling a convention to consider amending the state’s constitution. Candidates for governor at an Alaska Resource Development Council forum Tuesday were asked during a “lightning round” if they would be voting for a constitutional convention in next month’s general election. Candidates responded by raising “yes” or “no” signs, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Dunleavy and Republican Charlie Pierce raised “yes” signs. Former Gov. Bill Walker, an independent, and Les Gara, a Democrat, raised “no” signs. Voters are asked every 10 years if there should be a constitutional convention. While the question has in the past been soundly defeated, both sides of the debate have been preparing for a fight this year. Some convention supporters see an opening to push for one amid public frustration with years of political fighting over what size check should be paid to residents from Alaska’s oil-wealth fund. During a convention, delegates typically have free reign to propose revisions – or even entirely new constitutions – that would then go back to voters for ratification. Some of those pursuing a convention would like to restrict abortion or alter the process for selecting judges in a way that critics say could make the process more partisan.
Arizona
Phoenix: The state can move forward with the execution of death row inmate Murray Hooper next month, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The high court granted the motion for a warrant of execution of the 76-year-old. He will die by lethal injection or gas in an execution scheduled for Nov. 16, according to the warrant signed by four justices. The other three recused themselves. Kelly Culshaw, an assistant federal public defender representing Hooper, reiterated that he has maintained his innocence in the double slayings on New Year’s Eve in 1980. Hooper was convicted and sentenced “based on corrupt police practices and unreliable witness testimony,” Culshaw said in a statement. “No physical evidence links him to the crime and Mr. Hooper’s execution should not be carried out until an analysis of key fingerprint and DNA evidence, which was scientifically unavailable at the time of his trial, has been completed,” she wrote. Hooper’s defense team filed a petition in September in Maricopa County Superior Court requesting post-conviction DNA and other forensic testing. Defense attorneys say a witness’s description of the assailants changed several times before she identified Hooper, who claimed not to be in Arizona at the time. They also allege criminal informants who helped implicate Hooper were influenced by incentives from the police.
Arkansas
Fort Smith: The sounds of the DC and Marvel cinematic universes will be on display this weekend as the Fort Smith Symphony offers its “Symphonic Superheroes” concert. “It’s an exciting weekend because we have so much going on,” said John Jeter, symphony conductor. The concert is slated to begin at 7 p.m. Saturday at the ArcBest Performing Arts Center. Music from the movies “Robin Hood,” “X-Men,” “The Amazing Spider-Man,” “Wonder Woman,” “Mission Impossible III,” “Captain America,” “Batman/The Dark Knight,” “Transformers,” “Black Panther” and “Iron Man” will be featured. “It’s all very, very exciting stuff,” Jeter said. “The kids will really love it.” There is prominent brass and percussion parts in the symphony, adding drama to the sound, with African and Japanese percussion instruments in the mix too. The symphony will be followed by an after-party for audience members at the Bakery District with live music by the Kool Cats Jazz Quartet. And on Monday, fifth graders may get to see their first symphony with “Earquake” concerts for schoolchildren at the ArcBest PAC. It will be a busy day for the orchestra Monday, with the Indigenous composer chamber music concert at Propak on Garrison at 7 p.m.
California
Sacramento: The state again pushed back its decision on whether to list the western Joshua tree as threatened after a unanimous vote Wednesday by the Fish and Game Commission. The decision to move back the vote until at least February comes months after the commission deadlocked on whether the native desert plant should be protected under the California Endangered Species Act. Since the tree is still under consideration to be listed as threatened, no one can remove it without authorization from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Before the commission’s split vote in June, the Department of Fish and Wildlife sent letters to Indigenous tribes with traditional ties to the area where the western Joshua trees live. That outreach resulted in six responses from tribal nations, said Director Chuck Bonham. In August, tribal members talked about the cultural and ecological significance of the tree on a Zoom call with Bonham and others. “I actually would love more time to keep the conversation alive with the nations themselves,” Bonham said. In 2019, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned for the tree to be listed as threatened in order to protect it from hotter temperatures, intensifying drought and development threats. Commissioners said they need more time to hear from tribal leaders and to allow tribal governments to consult again before the commission can make a final decision.
Colorado
Leadville: A Utah-based Native American tribe that frequently has sparred with President Joe Biden criticized the White House again for not adequately consulting its leaders ahead of this week’s creation of a national monument on ancestral lands in Colorado. The Ute Indian Tribe is one of three Ute tribes in the West that share ancestral ties but operate independently. Representatives from the other two in Colorado – the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute – were on board with the plan and attended Wednesday’s ceremony with Biden but didn’t speak on stage. Biden and others addressed the significance of the land to tribes at length, and the White House’s official proclamation included a mention of Ute burial sites in the area. But the Ute Indian Tribe, which has nearly 3,000 members on lands in an area known for oil and gas operations in eastern Utah, claimed in a news release late Wednesday that it wasn’t on board with the plan. The tribe’s Business Committee, which serves as its governing body, said in the statement it was made aware of the new monument only a few days ago in a phone call with the White House, given scant details and little time to provide feedback. Melvin J. Baker, chairman of the Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council, noted that for centuries, the Camp Hale area was home to Ute people, and it remains culturally important to the Utes.
Connecticut
Bristol: Two police officers shot dead Wednesday night were apparently drawn into an ambush by an emergency call about possible domestic violence, authorities said Thursday. A third officer was wounded in the gunfire. State police said in a release that the 911 call the night prior about a dispute between two siblings appears to have been “a deliberate act to lure law enforcement to the scene” in Bristol. Bristol Police Sgt. Dustin Demonte and Officer Alex Hamzy were killed. Officer Alec Iurato was injured. Police said suspect Nicholas Brutcher, 35, was shot dead, and brother Nathan Brutcher was wounded. The surviving brother, 32, was hospitalized, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether he or his family had an attorney or someone else who can speak for them. The deadly encounter came during a week when at least 11 police officers have been shot around the country. Connecticut State Police said they were still working to answer many questions that remained about the confrontation. Neighbors said they heard two or three sets of gunshots, about 30 in all. “I heard a whole war going on behind me,” said Danny Rodriguez, who said he was outside his home across the street when the gunfire rang out. It was so intense that he could smell gunpowder in the air, he said.
Delaware
Wilmington: Anyone planning to drive through the city on Interstate 95 south this weekend will need to find a different route starting Friday morning, the Delaware Department of Transportation said. As part of the ongoing “Restore the Corridor” project, the highway will be closed between the U.S. Route 202 and the Second Street on-ramp from 9 a.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Tuesday. Drivers coming from Pennsylvania should use I-495 south to bypass Wilmington. All local traffic will be directed to exit I-95 onto U.S. Route 202 and then to take Delaware Route 141 south back onto I-95. Delays and heavier traffic are expected around all detours. By closing part of the highway, construction workers can pave and strip the road, install lighting and build guardrails more safely and quickly. And while it may inconvenience drivers, Department of Transportation spokesperson C.R. McLeod said the road closure represents the “final stretch of major work.” Construction on I-95 in Wilmington, which has been ongoing since early 2021, is slated to wrap up by the end of this year, which is earlier than expected. “The end is within sight,” McLeod said. A similar closure of I-95 north is slated for the last weekend of October.
District of Columbia
Washington: The district filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court on Thursday against chemical manufacturer Velsicol Chemical LLC, claiming it violated city environmental laws by polluting a major waterway, the Anacostia River and the surrounding area for decades. In a complaint filed by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, the city alleges that Velsicol produced a pesticide that contained chlordane and marketed it to low-income homeowners in the city from 1945 to 1988. That was the year the chemical was banned for sale in the U.S. by the Environmental Protection Agency over health effects in humans, including tremors, convulsions and cancer. But Racine claimed at a press conference that Velsicol knew long before that that chlordane could cause cancer, as far back as 1959, yet still sold products that contained the chemical. Velsicol did not immediately return calls for comment. As recently as the 1960s, D.C. residents used the Anacostia River for recreation and food, but years of pollution from a variety of sources – sewage, chemical runoff and litter – made the river unusable. The lawsuit developed out of a decadeslong effort to clean up the river, Racine said. Local environmentalists, like Matt Gravatt, chair of the D.C. chapter of the Sierra Club, said the river is almost back to being safe for public use, but not yet.
Florida
Tallahassee: Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday issued an executive order expanding voting access for the midterm elections in three counties where Hurricane Ian destroyed polling places and displaced thousands of people. The move, which followed requests from Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota counties and voting rights groups, comes as Florida begins to undertake a massive recovery from the Category 4 hurricane that hit Sept. 28 and leveled parts of the state’s southwest. The order extends the number of early voting days in the three counties and authorizes election supervisors to designate additional early voting locations, steps that allow voters to cast ballots at any polling place in their registered county from Oct. 24 through Nov. 8. Election supervisors can relocate or consolidate polling places if necessary. The order also waives training requirements for poll workers and suspends a signature requirement for voters requesting to have a mail ballot sent to an address different from the one election officials have on file. DeSantis has faced questions over what steps he would take to ensure voting access in the heavily damaged southwest part of the state, which has leaned conservative in recent elections. The Republican governor, who is up for reelection, has made tightening election laws a top priority over the past two years as he and others in the GOP reacted to ex-President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Georgia
Atlanta: An Atlanta-area sheriff stands accused of punishing detainees by having them strapped into a restraint chair for hours even though they posed no threat and obeyed instructions. Now a jury must decide whether he violated the men’s civil rights. A federal grand jury in April 2021 indicted Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill, saying he violated the civil rights of four people in his custody. Three more alleged victims were added in subsequent indictments. Prosecutors say placing the seven men in restraint chairs was unnecessary, was improperly used as punishment, and caused pain and bodily injury. Jury selection was set to begin Wednesday, and the trial is expected to last at least two weeks. Hill calls himself “The Crime Fighter” and uses Batman imagery on social media and in campaign ads. He has been a divisive figure – attracting both fans and critics – since he first became sheriff in 2005. This will be his second trial on criminal charges. The voters of Clayton County returned him to office in 2012 while he was under indictment, accused of using his office for personal gain – charges he ultimately beat. Hill and his lawyers have said his prosecution is baseless and politically motivated.
Hawaii
Honolulu: An Oahu project aimed at at-risk youth has won a $20 million grant in a global challenge from the Kellogg Foundation, HawaiiNewsNow reports. Multiple nonprofit agencies running out of the Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center will receive the money over the next eight years, providing services surrounding a juvenile correctional site, according to the outlet.
Idaho
Boise: A nuclear waste treatment plant designed to treat 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing, radioactive waste that has had numerous setbacks will likely start operating in early December, a U.S. Department of Energy official said Wednesday. Connie Flohr, manager of the Idaho Cleanup Project for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management, told state officials the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the department’s 890-square-mile site that includes the Idaho National Laboratory has successfully completed test runs with a simulant material. “We have every confidence that we will be operating in December,” she told members of the Leadership in Nuclear Energy Commission during an online meeting. The commission makes recommendations to the governor regarding policies to support the viability and mission of the Idaho National Laboratory and other nuclear industries in the state. Commission members, appointed by the governor, include state lawmakers, local government elected officials, university officials and others. The lab, one of 17 Energy Department national labs, is the nation’s top advanced nuclear energy research lab and one of the state’s largest employers with about 5,000 workers. It’s a huge economic driver in the state, especially in eastern Idaho, bringing in millions of federal research dollars.
Illinois
Springfield: Seven months after it purchased a former Pillsbury Mills plant, the nonprofit group responsible for clearing the property provided a first look at progress made on the site Wednesday prior to a public meeting. Chris Richmond, president of Moving Pillsbury Forward and a former Springfield fire marshal, hosted the tour of the vacant site, showing off a series of buildings deemed safe for showcasing to small groups. Richmond displayed several artifacts found during cleanup of the property conducted over the summer, including tools, a map of the property from 1966, handmade grain scoops and chairs, and an old Pillsbury’s Best flour sack. “The wrenches are the kind you would have seen pre-World War II,” Richmond said. “I’m sure these are 75 years or older.” Richmond and his organization completed their purchase of the property in March, with environmental testing and cleanup of the site being conducted throughout the summer. The property was home to a thriving grain and flour plant that had thousands of employees at its peak in the 1950s before a significant decline. When Pillsbury sold the plant to Cargill in 1991, about 350 workers were there, with 200 of them being transferred to Tennessee as part of a company restructuring.
Indiana
Indianapolis: The state Supreme Court issued an order Wednesday that prevents the state from enforcing a Republican-backed abortion ban while it considers whether the ban violates the state constitution. The court said in the order that it was taking over appeals of a judge’s decision last month that blocked the law a week after it took effect. It denied a request from the state attorney general’s office to set aside the preliminary injunction and scheduled a hearing on the lawsuit filed by abortion clinic operators for Jan. 12. Owen County Judge Kelsey Hanlon blocked the law from being enforced, writing that “there is reasonable likelihood that this significant restriction of personal autonomy offends the liberty guarantees of the Indiana Constitution” and that the clinics will prevail in the lawsuit. The ban was approved by the Republican-dominated Legislature on Aug. 5 and signed by GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb. That made Indiana the first state to enact tighter abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade in June. The five-member Indiana Supreme Court – all the justices were appointed by Republican governors – did not explain its decision. The order, signed by Chief Justice Loretta Rush, said “a majority” of the court agreed with its provisions but gave no further details.
Iowa
Des Moines: Domestic violence deaths in the state are on the decline this year after spikes in 2020 and 2021. Between January and August, 12 people were killed in domestic violence incidents, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office announced. That compares to 17 deaths over the same period in 2021. Iowa had seen a spike in domestic violence fatalities over the prior two years, according to figures collected by the attorney general’s office. There were 17 deaths in all of 2020 – at that time the most Iowa had seen in a decade. More violent still was 2021, with 20 deaths in total. The deadliest year on record since 1995 was 2006, with 22 killings. State officials have attributed the 2020 and 2021 increases to the stresses on families during the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2021, Sandi Tibbetts Murphy, director of the Attorney General’s Crime Victim Assistance Division, noted that people in unsafe relationships had fewer options to cope with them under lockdown conditions. “Some victims can’t leave their homes, and services haven’t been as accessible,” Tibbetts Murphy said in a news release. “These issues have limited the ability to serve victims. And sadly, research has shown when services are limited, we see a rise in domestic violence homicides.”
Kansas
Topeka: Alex Red Corn was dining out with his children one day in Salina when a bus full of student-athletes from Liberal High School pulled up and showed his children the kind of discrimination that still exists in dozens of Kansas high schools. “I was sitting at an Applebee’s, and the Liberal Redskins came into town,” he said. “A whole bus full of Liberal Redskins-themed stuff was surrounding us at the restaurant, and my kids were there, and there was a level of discomfort there.” But that’s a daily reality for the estimated 10,000 Kansas students who are Native American and either attend or are in the same athletic leagues of schools with disparaging, racist Native American imagery, said Red Corn, an assistant professor of educational leadership at Kansas State University and a member of the Osage Nation. Months after the Kansas State Board of Education helped organize a committee to address severe deficiencies in the education of and for Native American people, the group returned Tuesday with an initial proposal to have the state board formally recommend all Kansas high schools remove any Native American-themed mascot and imagery. The board had helped create the group after Education Commissioner Randy Watson made disparaging comments toward Native Americans in February.
Kentucky
Frankfort: Startup bourbon producer Jackson Purchase Distillery is boosting its investment. The company will increase its distilling operation investment in Fulton County in western Kentucky to nearly $26 million and create 54 full-time jobs, Gov. Andy Beshear said. Jackson Purchase’s project has grown from an initially planned investment of $8.76 million and 30 jobs. Last year, the company’s management group acquired an unused distilling facility, the governor’s office said in a news release. To bolster the nearly complete distillery, company leaders began an expansion that will involve purchasing additional land, constructing barrel storage and making upgrades throughout the facility. “Kentucky’s bourbon and spirits industry continues to see tremendous growth,” Beshear said. “This is not possible without the support of companies like Jackson Purchase Distillery, which is tripling its original investment in this project and creating nearly double the number of quality jobs.” The distillery will produce in excess of 60,000 barrels annually once fully operational.
Louisiana
New Orleans: Transparency in reporting incidents of violence and other problems at the city’s long-troubled jail has improved recently, but only slightly, a federal judge told sheriff’s office officials Wednesday. U.S. District Magistrate Judge Michael North held a status conference on efforts to bring the Orleans Justice Center into compliance with mandated reforms. Those measures are required under a 2013 court-backed agreement involving the U.S. Justice Department, inmate advocates and the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office. North applauded the improvements, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reports, but he warned Sheriff Susan Hutson that her administration still has a way to go in terms of transparency. North said the sheriff’s office has started sending the court weekly reports about jail incidents, including acts of violence, overdoses and suicide attempts. But he said more needs to be done. “We still have no information as to what’s being done to investigate these problems and why they continue to happen,” North said shortly before ordering the sheriff’s office to submit a proposal to the court for how it will share information about its investigations and prevention plans.
Maine
Portland: A former Navy SEAL who’s seeking to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree apologized for comparing federal fisheries regulators to rapists, saying the statement was “over the top.” Republican Ed Thelander was called out during a debate Wednesday evening for remarks he made earlier in the day attacking the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during a rally for Maine’s lobster industry. “NOAA wants to rape you and your family, and they are saying pick a child,” he said. “You don’t negotiate with a rapist, and that’s what’s happening.” Pingree said during the debate that Thelander’s comments were not productive and dragged the discussion “down into the gutter.” “My comments were over the top, and I apologize for that,” Thelander said. “I’m very passionate about it. I love those families. I’m seeing the struggles they have, and nothing has been done about it.” Pingree, who lives in an island community on North Haven, disputed Thelander’s claim that nothing was being done as Maine officials fight regulations aimed at protecting right whales that could harm lobstermen. “Don’t say I’m not passionate about it,” she said. The debate in Maine’s 1st Congressional District touched on immigration, the economy, energy, abortion, education and other topics.
Maryland
Baltimore: An appeals court refused Wednesday to intervene in a lower court’s decision to free a man who served more than 20 years in prison for the killing of a high school student, a case chronicled by the groundbreaking “Serial” podcast. The state Court of Special Appeals issued its order a day after prosecutors dropped charges against Adnan Syed in the 1999 killing of 18-year-old Hae Min Lee, saying DNA evidence excluded him as a suspect. Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn ruled last month that the state had violated its legal obligation to share evidence that could have bolstered Syed’s defense. Phinn ordered Syed’s release from prison and gave prosecutors 30 days to decide whether to retry him or drop the charges. Lee’s family asked the Court of Special Appeals – Maryland’s intermediate appellate court – to halt the case and suspend the deadline that Phinn set for prosecutors to decide whether to drop the charges. They argued they didn’t get adequate notice of the hearing at which Phinn ruled. A lawyer for Lee’s family said they wanted the judge to hold another hearing they could attend and address the court. But a three-judge panel from the appeals court rejected the family’s request in a two-page order. The panel gave Lee’s family 15 days to argue why their appeal isn’t moot given that the case against Syed has been dropped.
Massachusetts
Boston: Boston Common, America’s oldest public park, is getting a multimillion-dollar makeover that includes an expanded visitors’ center, more restrooms, additional sports facilities, and even a sit-down restaurant at the famed Frog Pond, city officials announced Wednesday. The goal is to make the 50-acre swath of green space in the heart of the city more welcoming, convenient, fun and accessible for both city residents and tourists. “Boston Common’s gorgeous tree-lined paths and open spaces have hosted so many moments marked in history, from shaping our collective conscience to celebrating our communities,” Mayor Michelle Wu said in a statement. “We’re excited to be sharing a plan that honors the Common’s history, reflects the community’s vision, and creates a space that will be more accessible, more resilient, and more inclusive for generations to come.” The Common was founded in 1634 and draws millions of people per year. It has been used as a place for public executions, as a pasture, and as a military training field, according to the nonprofit group Friends of the Public Garden, which helped develop the Boston Common Master Plan. More recently it has hosted civil rights marches, Vietnam War protests and a 1979 Catholic Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II and attended by an estimated 400,000 people during a soaking rainstorm. It was also the site of huge protests in 2020 against police brutality.
Michigan
Jackson: Prosecutors raised concerns Wednesday about a female juror who apparently has been smiling at one of three men on trial in connection with a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. Judge Thomas Wilson said he, too, noticed it and pledged to pay “close attention” to the juror. He said the expressions didn’t appear to be a reaction to testimony. “She is in my direct view,” Wilson said. “So I am often looking right at her while I’m listening to the witness testify. … I’ve seen smiles come out of her face. Not great big smiles but more of a small smirk.” The juror has been looking at Paul Bellar, 24, who was a member of a paramilitary group, the Wolverine Watchmen. Bellar, Joe Morrison and Pete Musico are charged in state court with providing material support for a terrorist act. The trial has lasted eight days so far. “Since the start of the trial – and we’re prepared to offer sworn testimony on this from two different witnesses – there’s been nonverbal communication” between a juror and Bellar, said Assistant Attorney General Bill Rollstin. He suggested that Bellar sent a signal Wednesday by clenching his fists and shaking them in an “affirmative way.” But Bellar’s attorney, Andrew Kirkpatrick, said that was a misinterpretation: Bellar was excited because the lawyer offered him Skittles candy for his birthday.
Minnesota
Minneapolis: A man pleaded guilty Tuesday to filing fraudulent insurance claims for a staged arson he attempted to portray as a politically motivated attack. Federal officials said Denis Molla, 30, of Brooklyn Center, falsely reported to law enforcement in September 2020 that someone had lit his camper on fire and that three unknown males were near his home when he heard an explosion. Molla told officials his garage door was vandalized with a spray-painted Antifa symbol and the words “Biden 2020” and “BLM.” He claimed his camper was targeted because it displayed a Trump 2020 flag. Police discovered that Molla started his own property on fire and spray-painted the graffiti on his own garage. He then submitted multiple insurance claims seeking coverage for the damage to his garage, camper, vehicles and residence caused by the fire, court documents show. Molla also created and allowed others to start two GoFundMe accounts to benefit Molla and his family. In total, he submitted more than $300,000 in fraudulent insurance claims, of which he received approximately $61,000 from his insurance company. Molla also received more than $17,000 from individual donors via GoFundMe. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
Mississippi
Jackson: Some legislators say they will renew efforts to clarify that people in Mississippi may possess chemical strips to detect traces of the deadly drug fentanyl. A bill to decriminalize the test strips died early this year. But the state House Drug Policy Committee chairman, Rep. Lee Yancy, R-Brandon, now supports the effort, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports. Rep. Sam Creekmore, R-New Albany, said he’ll introduce a bill during the legislative session that begins in January. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid more lethal than heroin, has pushed drug overdoses to new highs across America. Delivering test strips to people is part of a strategy known as “harm reduction” that gives appropriate products to drug users to prevent accidental overdoses. If someone is about to take an illicit drug, they brush part of the substance against a test strip to see if it contains trace amounts of fentanyl. Opponents say the strategy encourages drug users to continue an addiction, but health professionals who testified at a legislative committee meeting Monday said it’s a useful mitigation strategy that can save lives. Dr. Daniel Edney, Mississippi’s state health officer, said he wants people who use drugs to seek professional help to end their addiction, but they need “harm reduction” tools in the short term. “The test strips are not going to encourage people to use drugs,” Edney said. “Those who are going to use drugs are going to continue to use drugs, anyway.”
Missouri
Springfield: Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri is offering free vasectomies to uninsured patients in Springfield on Nov. 4 and in Joplin on Nov. 5. Vasectomy appointments will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. To be eligible, patients must complete a pre-screening exam by Nov. 3. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, leading Missouri to ban abortions, PPSLR saw demand for male sterilization procedures increase. “Since the Dobbs decision, we have seen an increasing number of male-bodied people coming and requesting this service,” Dr. Margaret Baum said. “We performed 142 vasectomies in 2021; already this year we’ve done close to 200 in 2022, and the year’s not out yet.” Baum said patients from across the state have been traveling to the clinic in St. Louis. In May, she began to provide vasectomies at the Springfield Planned Parenthood health center. Baum performs female sterilization procedures as well. “It’s just really important that these services are offered without judgement, without stigma, so that people who are informed about the procedure can make a good decision and decide if it’s the right thing for them, their relationship and their family,” Baum said.
Montana
Helena: The commission that oversees the Montana State Library voted Wednesday to accept a new logo with colors pulled from the state flag after one commissioner criticized an earlier color scheme as reminding her of a rainbow LGBTQ pride flag. Commissioners voted 4-2 to approve the new logo but also decided to pause spending any additional money on the rebranding rollout until December, when they can consider additional information about how that money would be spent. The commission had voted 4-3 in early July to reject the initial logo after the library paid a company $130,000 in donated library foundation funds to create it as part of a rebranding effort to educate residents about the services the state library provides. Commissioner Tammy Hall said in June that the original colors brought to mind a pride flag, something she argued could set up an unnecessary political battle as the library seeks funding from the likely Republican-controlled Legislature next year. Commissioners agreed last month to consider a new color scheme. The predominantly blue logo is shaped like a hexagon and is meant to look like information is coming in through a prism and being reflected out as knowledge in four colored triangles. The rejected logo had triangles colored an orange-red, yellow, medium green and bright blue. The new logo has triangles colored red, bright yellow, yellow-green and a more muted blue – all pulled from the state seal on the Montana flag.
Nebraska
Omaha: Average ACT scores for this year’s high school graduates across the state hit their lowest point in decades, the Omaha World-Herald reports. The mean composite score on the college entrance exam for seniors in the class of 2022 was just 19.8, dropping below 20 – the maximum score is 36 – for the first time since 1991, according to the newspaper. Nebraska education officials said a downward trend in scores began five years ago, meaning it can’t be chalked up solely to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning.
Nevada
Reno: Less than a month before Election Day, 14 members of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt’s family sent a letter endorsing his opponent, Democratic U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. “We staunchly believe that Catherine is well equipped with her own ‘Nevada grit’ – a quality that she will take forward in representation of our home state for six more years across the halls of Congress,” the letter said. First obtained by The Nevada Independent, the letter does not mention Laxalt by name. Instead, it talks of Cortez Masto’s understanding of “the daily realities of dogged hard work” and mentions her experience in public education as well as her commitment to law enforcement. The family members also wrote that Cortez Masto’s career demonstrates she is “an authentic advocate of Nevada.” It marks the second time that some of Laxalt’s family has endorsed his opponent. During his unsuccessful gubernatorial run in 2018, a dozen family members endorsed Democrat Steve Sisolak in an op-ed to the Reno Gazette-Journal. That letter more explicitly criticized Laxalt, saying he “leveraged and exploited” the family name throughout his campaign.
New Hampshire
Rye: The state Department of Environmental Services issued an immediate boil-water order Wednesday for customers of the Rye Water District after samples detected E. coli bacteria. The department wrote in its advisory Wednesday: “All consumers are being notified by the system and DES staff is working with the system to resolve the situation.” The Rye Water District was beginning the process of notifying district customers Wednesday afternoon. District superintendent Arik Jones noted that the district had yet to determine ways to assist affected users, such as by providing them with bottled water. Rye residents are distributed water by three purveyors, according to Jones: the Rye Water District, the city of Portsmouth and the Aquarion Water Company. The Department of Environmental Services’ boil order affects Rye Water District customers living in town only, he said. “This does not affect Aquarion customers,” Jones said. “It does not affect anybody served by Portsmouth.” The Rye Water District services roughly 1,600 connections and about 4,000 total customers. Jones said the boil-water advisory does not include Greenland residents, whom the district serves using Portsmouth water.
New Jersey
Trenton: Lawmakers unveiled new legislation Thursday to rewrite the state’s firearm carry laws after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June expanding gun rights. Democratic Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Senate President Nicholas Scutari, surrounded by other lawmakers and red T-shirt-clad Moms Demand Action supporters, said the new measure will bar permit holders from carrying in schools, polling places, bars, restaurants, theaters, sports arenas, airports, casinos and child care facilities. It also sets up a new requirement that permit holders carry insurance to protect against accidental discharge, coverage that Scutari said is already available in insurance marketplaces. The bill increases permitting, though the exact amount wasn’t immediately clear. The funds will be put toward compensation for crime victims under the legislation. The measure also calls for permit holders to undergo gun safety training and would set up a vetting process that requires non-family references to vouch for applicants. It would disqualify applicants with past violations of restraining orders and other “character of temperament” concerns, though just how those issues would be defined wasn’t immediately clear.
New Mexico
Santa Fe: An expert in the field of Indigenous art has been named as the executive director of the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. Pollyanna “Polly” Nordstrand, who is Hopi, will take on her new role next month. She will oversee a team of curators, anthropologists and archaeologists who are responsible for the preservation and interpretation of objects and works of art that represent Native people from the American Southwest and northern Mexico. “It is an exciting time to step into this leadership position as MIAC envisions its place as a 21st century museum with new exhibitions and expanded partnerships with tribal communities,” she said in a statement. Nordstrand, selected following a national search, is coming from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas, where she was its first curator of Native American art. In New Mexico, she’ll manage an anthropology library and archives as well as the Center for New Mexico Archaeology, the state’s archaeological repository. Nordstrand began working in the museum world around 1990 as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act came into effect. She said her approach to museums has been shaped by the increasing collaboration between tribes and institutions, and she has advocated for more equity and inclusion in museums.
New York
New York: A federal appeals court on Wednesday allowed the state to continue enforcing its new gun law as it considers a lower court ruling that would block key provisions. The decision from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came six days after a federal district judge in Syracuse declared multiple portions of the law unconstitutional and placed a temporary hold on them. The state promptly appealed the order. The decision puts a hold on U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby’s order until a three-judge appeals panel can make a decision on the state’s motion. Suddaby on Thursday put a hold on several of the state’s new licensing rules for carrying handguns in public, including one that made applicants turn over information about their social media accounts. The judge also chipped away at the list of “sensitive” locations where people cannot carry guns. He said the state couldn’t ban people from carrying guns in New York City’s subway system or Times Square. Attorney General Letitia James said she was pleased the law would stay in effect. “My office will continue our efforts to protect the safety of everyday New Yorkers and defend our common-sense gun laws,” she said in a release.
North Carolina
Raleigh: Two history-making Black politicians and country music star Eric Church were among the six latest recipients of the state’s highest civilian honor announced Thursday. On Nov. 15, Gov. Roy Cooper will present the North Carolina Awards, which were created over 60 years ago to recognize significant contributions to the state and the country in several fields. Church, a native of Granite Falls, has received many Grammy nominations, among other industry awards. Other new recipients include U.S. Rep. Eva Clayton, of Warren County, who was the first African American woman to represent North Carolina in Congress when she took office in 1992. She was also the state’s first Black representative since 1901. Former lawmaker Mickey Michaux of Durham served in the Legislature for more than 45 years, almost all of that time in the House, where he served as the chief budget writer in the late 2000s. He was appointed a U.S. attorney in 1977, becoming the first African American in such a role in the South since Reconstruction, according to the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Other recipients are Dr. Priya S. Kishnani, a professor and researcher at the Duke University School of Medicine; Stanley Riggs, a longtime East Carolina University marine geologist and expert on the coast and climate change; and journalist David Zucchino, a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill who received a Pulitzer Prize in 2021 for his book on the 1898 overthrow of Wilmington’s government by white supremacists.
North Dakota
Williston: More than 1,000 pounds of homemade explosive materials have been recovered in a residence in northwestern North Dakota, authorities said Wednesday. Police said multiple chemicals and powders were also found in the apartment in Williston, located in the North Dakota oil patch near the Montana border. No arrests have been made, although police say they have identified a person of interest. Bomb squads from Williston, Minot and Bismarck were disposing of the explosive materials at the Williston landfill. The process was suspended Wednesday afternoon due to high winds and fire danger. Police said explosions could be heard in some parts of the city as the devices were detonated.
Ohio
Columbus: The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which a probate judge rejected a transgender woman’s request to correct her birth certificate, leading to a split in court rulings and guidance on the issue. Attorneys for the Clark County woman argue the judge’s ruling, upheld by the 2nd Ohio District Court of Appeals, runs counter to a federal court decision, an Ohio Department of Health certificate change process, a Supreme Court probate form allowing for gender corrections, and procedures in more than a dozen other Ohio probate courts. The Clark County judge improperly ruled that nothing in state law gives probate judges authority to correct gender on a birth certificate unless it was originally made in error, according to an Aug. 1 court filing by the woman’s attorneys asking the high court to hear the case. The attorneys also noted that the state Health Department updated its process to allow for birth certificate corrections after a federal court in 2020 found unconstitutional Ohio’s rule prohibiting changes to gender on birth certificates. In addition, the state Supreme Court issued a form in August 2021 allowing probate courts to correct gender under state law, the attorneys said. The Supreme Court ruled 4-3 Tuesday to accept the Clark County case.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City: A district attorney debate took a bizarre turn Tuesday when the Republican candidate accused his Democratic opponent of being complicit in the disappearance and possible murder of two people. Kevin Calvey, an Oklahoma County commissioner, made the accusation toward the end of the hourlong livestreamed event. “Two Oklahomans are missing and may have been murdered because Vicki Behenna was willing to submit fake documents to a federal court to get her crooked client out of prison,” Calvey said to audible gasps in the auditorium. Behenna, a former federal prosecutor who is now a defense attorney, denied the accusation. “It doesn’t surprise me that Mr. Calvey would make these statements,” Behenna said. “He is a career politician who has created a false narrative for his own political gain. This is something politicians do. This is not something a district attorney does.” Earlier in the debate, the two clashed over who is to blame for the problems at the aging Oklahoma County jail and the prosecution of police officers for fatal shootings. Both questioned each other’s integrity and fitness for the job throughout what was their only scheduled debate. They agreed that the death penalty should be rarely sought and that possession of small amounts of marijuana should be decriminalized.
Oregon
Portland: Voters in at least four counties – Douglas, Klamath, Lane and Columbia – have complained to local election officials about people knocking on their doors, questioning residents and looking for evidence of 2020 voter fraud. Klamath County Clerk Rochelle Long issued a statement last month after residents called her office asking if the group was from the elections office, KGW reports. “I wanted to make it clear they were not from our office,” Long said. “We don’t go door to door. We don’t ask you how you voted.” Long warned that people may seem official and identify as from an integrity group. Long couldn’t point to any one person or group responsible for the effort. Election officials across the country have received similar complaints about people going door to door hunting for proof the 2020 election was fraudulent. While ex-President Donald Trump continues to argue the election was stolen, a mountain of evidence shows otherwise. “What these folks are doing is simply out trying to gather data in an unofficial way, and then unfortunately we’re seeing people misusing that data to try and spread the big lie,” Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan said. “The election in 2020 was safe and secure in all 50 states.”
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: Two supporters of then-President Donald Trump arrested after driving a Hummer with guns and ammunition to a site where votes were being counted in November 2020 were convicted of weapons charges Wednesday but acquitted of election interference. Prosecutors argued that Vets for Trump co-founder Joshua Macias and co-defendant Antonio LaMotta, both of Virginia, planned a mass shooting in Philadelphia as the outcome of the presidential election remained uncertain. However, Common Pleas Court Judge Lucretia Clemons rejected that theory, finding the men guilty only of bringing weapons to the city without a permit Nov. 5, 2020. LaMotta is separately charged with federal misdemeanor offenses stemming from his alleged illegal entry of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Both men remain free on bail pending a scheduled sentencing in December, when they face a possible sentence of probation to 18 months in jail, defense lawyer William J. Brennan said. “The commonwealth has presented no evidence to show that they came here to interfere with an election,” Brennan, who represents Macias, said after the one-day nonjury trial. “They came, they stared at a building, they talked to some police officers, and they didn’t bother anybody.”
Rhode Island
Providence: Rhode Island police departments are poised to spend $16 million in state and federal grants to equip police officers with body cameras and cover the costs of managing and operating the equipment. The architects of the Statewide Body-Worn Camera Program announced the grant awards to 42 police organizations Wednesday as Rhode Island moved closer to a deployment of 1,773 cameras – roughly a camera for every front-line police officer, according to Attorney General Peter Neronha. “That is a lot of law-enforcement officers (who) will now have the tools to bring us into the century in which we are operating,” Neronha said. State police Col. Darnell Weaver described the grant announcements as a culminating moment after months of coordination and planning work by police leaders and their agencies. “Cameras will add transparency, provide accountability and give a point of view, of perspective, to every police contact,” he said. The grant money was apportioned to finance the program for five years. The awarding of the money carries significance beyond finances. Police organizations that receive the money must comply with a detailed set of regulations on the use and operation of body cameras.
South Carolina
Columbia: A pregnant Black activist serving four years in prison over comments she made to police during racial justice protests in the summer of 2020 will not receive a lesser sentence, a judge has ruled. A jury this spring found Brittany Martin, 34, of Sumter, guilty of breaching the peace in a high and aggravated manner. Martin’s attorneys pushed for the sentence to be reconsidered and expressed concern about her pregnancy and health. Racial justice groups also got involved. In an Oct. 5 order, Judge R. Kirk Griffin pointed to Martin’s prior criminal convictions that he said contributed to her original sentence. In November 2020, an Iowa judge sentenced Martin to probation for leaving the scene of an injury and willfully causing bodily harm after her teenage son accused her of purposely hitting him with her SUV and driving away. Griffin also noted previous convictions across multiple states for shoplifting, public disorderly conduct and possession of a short-barreled shotgun. Sumter County Assistant Solicitor Bronwyn McElveen said in a September filing that Martin has been on probation at least six times. “Probation has not been a deterrent to further criminal activities for the Defendant,” Griffin wrote in his order. “An active prison sentence was appropriate in this instance.”
South Dakota
Sioux Falls: The state’s Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday authorized its staff to begin reviewing an application for a pipeline designed to transport carbon dioxide from ethanol refineries to an underground site in Illinois, assessing a filing fee of up to $400,000. The pipeline is the second proposed in the state. Both projects would pump carbon dioxide to sequestration sites where it would be buried thousands of feet underground. The one before the Public Utilities Commission – proposed by Navigator CO2 – would connect ethanol refineries across the Great Plains to a site in Illinois. The commission’s staff found that it could cost over $270,000 to review Navigator CO2’s application, which was submitted last month. Navigator CO2 agreed to covering a filing fee of up to $400,000. “It needs to be a quality evaluation and not have that cost fall back on the taxpayers,” said Kristen Edwards, a staff attorney for the commission. The pipeline projects, spurred by federal tax credits, promise to help in the fight against climate change by storing carbon dioxide rather than letting it be emitted into the atmosphere. But environmental activists have also pointed out the technology has struggled to get off the ground and allows emission-heavy industries to avoid taking drastic steps to cut greenhouse gases.
Tennessee
Nashville: Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett has taken a plea deal after he was charged with driving under the influence after leaving a bar in June. In a statement, Hargett said he offered a best interest plea in the case Thursday, which amounts to pleading guilty while maintaining innocence. The Republican said his attorney believes he had a “strong case” to argue, but Hargett said he wanted to “accept responsibility for my actions and move forward and to focus on how God can use me to make something positive from this difficult time.” “It is wrong to drive any vehicle under the influence of alcohol, and rest assured this is a mistake I will never make again,” he said. The plea deal includes a $350 fine, a DUI school requirement, and having his driver’s license restricted for a year, news outlets reports. According to a report by a Tullahoma Police Department officer, an officer on June 18 pulled over the car Hargett was driving after watching it leave a bar and swerve over lane markings several times. The officer wrote that Hargett smelled like an “intoxicant,” had glassy eyes and kept saying, “Yes, sir,” at inappropriate times when he had not been asked a question. Hargett performed poorly on a field sobriety test, and a passenger in the car – who was not named – said the two had been drinking four hours earlier, the report said. Hargett agreed to a blood sample. Hargett has said he had been at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester.
Texas
New Boston: Prosecutors asked a jury Wednesday to sentence a woman to death for killing a pregnant woman and stealing her unborn daughter from her womb. The appeal came as the penalty phase of Taylor Parker’s capital murder trial began for the October 2020 murder of Reagan Simmons-Hancock and theft of her unborn baby. The Bowie County jury previously found Parker guilty of capital murder. Prosecutor Kelley Crisp told jurors that the evidence would show Parker, 29, faked a pregnancy and repeatedly lied before killing Simmons-Hancock, 21, at the woman’s New Boston home Oct. 9, 2020, to get the infant she claimed to have been carrying. The baby also died. Parker’s attorneys hope to persuade the jury to spare Parker’s life and let her serve life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Defense attorney Jeff Harrelson said they would show that Parker was mentally ill.
Utah
Salt Lake City: The two candidates challenging U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens in a suburban congressional race laid into the first-term Republican on Wednesday evening for announcing at the eleventh hour that he wouldn’t participate in the sole general election debate. Democrat Darlene McDonald and United Utah Party’s January Walker both accused Owens of being a coward for skipping it and cast doubt on his reasoning – that he took issue with the moderator. Owens’ absence reflects a trend emerging in politics nationwide: While running attack ads and speaking to friendly media outlets, candidates and their consultants are deciding to minimize debate appearances or shirk them altogether. Owens said Wednesday afternoon that he wouldn’t participate because the commission had chosen Salt Lake Tribune editor Lauren Gustus as moderator. He was outraged in April 2021 when the newspaper published an editorial cartoon satirizing remarks he made about immigration and people crossing the border illegally. The sketch likened his remarks about immigrants entering people’s neighborhoods after crossing the border to Ku Klux Klan rhetoric. The cartoon garnered pushback from Utah’s entire congressional delegation. “I will not, in good conscience, have anything to do with the racist Salt Lake Tribune,” he said in a statement published on Facebook and YouTube.
Vermont
Waterbury: A drop of blood that was subjected to modern DNA testing enabled Vermont State Police detectives to make an arrest in the 1989 murder of a Danby couple found stabbed to death in their home, police said. Michael Anthony Louise, 79, was arrested Thursday in Syracuse, New York, on two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of George Peacock, 76, and Catherine Peacock, 73, police said. The Peacocks were found dead Sept. 17, 1989. There were no signs of forced entry or items of significance having been removed from the house. Louise, who was married to one of the Peacocks’ daughters, was identified as a suspect about two weeks later. Investigators at the time developed circumstantial evidence tying Louise to the killings, police said. Detectives were unable to establish a conclusive link until forensic testing in May 2020 confirmed a DNA match to George Peacock in a spot of blood found inside Louise’s car in October 1989. The blood sample had been tested previously, but earlier tests were inconclusive. Authorities did not say why it took two years to make the arrest following the DNA match but said more information would be released when Louise is arraigned.
Virginia
Dinwiddie: Three students and a teacher were taken to hospitals Wednesday after a fire broke out during a demonstration in a high school chemistry classroom, officials said. When the fire broke out in the classroom at Dinwiddie High School, the fire alarm was pulled, and all students were evacuated from the building, Dinwiddie County Public Schools officials said in a statement. A teacher was taken to a local hospital, and three students were taken to VCU Medical Center, officials said. Officials didn’t release details of their conditions. One student was treated at the scene and released. The cause of the fire is under investigation, officials said. Students were dismissed early, and Thursday was designated an asynchronous learning day, officials said.
Washington
Seattle: Poor communication, deception, bad judgment and a lack of leadership contributed to tension, violence and killings in Seattle in 2020, according to a review of the city’s response to racial injustice demonstrations that year. Seattle’s inspector general, Lisa Judge, released the 81-page review Tuesday. It focuses on 23 days in June, shortly after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis led to protests across the U.S., The Seattle Times reports. Earlier reports by her office looked at the Seattle Police Department’s crowd control policies and on rebuilding community trust. On June 8, 2020, police abandoned the East Precinct building in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood in an attempt to defuse tension with protesters. The demonstrators used the opportunity to declare an eight-block “cop-free” zone known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. The inspector general’s office concluded the occupation revealed a dysfunctional relationship between the city administration, led by then-Mayor Jenny Durkan, and police department, led by then-Police Chief Carmen Best. It also found police brass misled the public, exaggerated dangers posed by protesters to justify leaving the precinct, and employed a racist ruse in an apparent attempt to frighten and intimidate thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters.
West Virginia
Charleston: Students in kindergarten through 12th grade across the state have been invited to enter the First Lady Student Ornament Competition this fall. First lady Cathy Justice is asking all students to participate in the 18th annual event. It is open to students in public and private schools as well as those who are home-schooled. Students are asked to create a “Nutcracker”-themed ornament for a tree to be displayed at the Culture Center in Charleston during the holidays, according to a news release from Gov. Jim Justice’s office. There will be four divisions according to grade, and a winning class will be chosen from each division. The winning ornaments will be donated in January to the West Virginia State Museum. The four winning classes will receive a gift card to help buy supplies for their class. The ornaments and Christmas tree will be unveiled in early December in conjunction with Joyful Night. Entries may be mailed to Elizabeth Yeager, Department of Arts, Culture and History, The Culture Center, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. East, Charleston, WV 25305. Include phone number, email, mailing address, teacher name, school and class. The ornaments must be received by Nov. 18.
Wisconsin
Madison: Wildlife officials estimate the state’s wolf population currently stands at about 970 animals, demonstrating that a much-maligned February 2021 hunting season had little impact on the population as a whole. Wisconsin Public Radio reports Department of Natural Resources officials released their latest population estimates at a board meeting last month and said they estimate between 812 and 1,193 wolves currently roam the state, with 972 likely the best estimate. Conservationists feared that a February 2021 hunting season would devastate the population after hunters killed 218 wolves in just three days, about 100 more wolves than the DNR allowed. Conservationists and wolf lovers called the hunt a slaughter. But the new numbers indicate the season had little effect on the population, which stood at roughly 1,100 wolves before the hunt began. The DNR planned to hold another hunt in November 2021, but a Dane County judge placed that season on hold in October 2021. A federal judge this past February restored protections for gray wolves across most of the country, preventing states from holding wolf hunts. Wisconsin’s current wolf management plan, which dates back to 1999, calls for capping the population at 350 wolves. The DNR is working to update the plan but hasn’t released anything yet.
Wyoming
Green River: A new soda ash mining operation is planned near an existing site outside the city, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. A subsidiary of the Ciner Group, based in Turkey, plans its new Project West development not far from the Pacific Soda mine and said it expected to bring in up to 2,000 temporary jobs during construction, with 300 permanent positions once the mine is operational, according to the newspaper.
From USA TODAY Network and wire reports
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joshua trees, flirty juror: News from around our 50 states
