‘Lorax’ tree legend, butter Elmo, meth squirrel: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Athens: Investigators say a man kept a caged “attack squirrel” in his apartment and fed it methamphetamine to ensure it stayed aggressive. The News Courier reports authorities are seeking 35-year-old Mickey Paulk on multiple charges including possession of a controlled substance. Law enforcement was warned of the animal prior to executing a search warrant of the Athens home Monday. It’s illegal in Alabama to have a pet squirrel. Officials from the state’s Department of Conservation recommended releasing the animal, which deputies did successfully. A spokesman for the Limestone County Sherriff’s Office says there was no safe way to test the squirrel for meth.

Alaska

Anchorage: A major earthquake that rocked the state proved to be a trial run in its largest city for a new national wireless network dedicated to first responders. Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll and other commanders had just signed on to test the FirstNet network on their personal cellphones when the 7.1 magnitude quake struck last year. After it caused widespread damage and knocked out phone lines, Doll says officials with FirstNet were the only ones who could communicate without problems. Public safety agencies nationwide are tapped into the network established by Congress in 2012 after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It launched last year. The network is secure, encrypted and off limits to the public. It’s raised concerns among media advocates that the secrecy shields police from scrutiny.

Arizona

Phoenix: The city is the largest in the nation that hasn’t yet issued body cameras to its police officers. The City Council voted in February to fund 2,000 body-worn cameras for patrol officers, but the cameras haven’t yet been rolled out. The controversial May 27 arrest of a couple at whom police yelled, cursed and pointed guns in front of their young children prompted a public apology from Mayor Kate Gallego and an assurance that the city would take measures to prevent similar encounters from occurring again. It also led to incorrect comments by other politicians and media outlets that the officers had turned off their cameras. Gallego said the city will distribute the body-worn cameras by the end of the summer.

Arkansas

Vendor: A Newton County hog farm operating in the Buffalo River watershed has agreed to cease operations, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced last week. C&H Hog Farms of Vendor will close its doors later this year under a $6.2 million buyout agreement that was negotiated by Hutchinson and Department of Arkansas Heritage Director Stacy Hurst. The farm’s owners will retain ownership of the property but will grant the state a conservation easement, which will limit its future usage. Money for the $6.2 million buyout will come from the state and from nonprofit conservation group The Nature Conservancy. Hutchinson said Thursday that The Nature Conservancy will not pay more than $1 million toward the buyout, likely just about $600,000.

California

San Diego: A century-old tree with a long trunk and bushy branches that some believe was the inspiration for fictional Truffula trees in Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax” has fallen in a coastal park. Officials are investigating why the wind-swept Monterey cypress toppled in Ellen Browning Scripps Park last week, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. According to local legend, the tree inspired the “The Lorax” by Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, who lived nearby and worked in an office with a sweeping view of the coastline. But there are no facts to back up the lore. His wife told the La Jolla Village News in 2012 that the idea for Truffula trees in the 1971 environmental fable came from an Africa trip. “He looked up at one of the (local) trees, and said, ‘That’s my tree. They’ve stolen my tree.’ So that’s where that came from,” Audrey Geisel said.

Colorado

Denver: The state Supreme Court says proponents of a ballot initiative to eliminate constitutional limits on taxation and spending can proceed. The court ruled 5-2 in an opinion released Monday that elections officials erred in rejecting the proposed 2020 ballot initiative. The liberal Colorado Fiscal Institute wants to ask voters whether the 1992 Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights should be eliminated. TABOR is a voter-approved constitutional amendment that strictly limits the ability of Colorado government to raise taxes, issue bonds and increase spending without a vote of the people. The court ordered elections officials to certify the proposed repeal question so proponents can begin collecting voter signatures to put the question on the ballot.

Connecticut

Hartford: An effort is underway to identify the remains of two unknown victims of a massive fire at a circus 75 years ago. The Hartford Courant reports that a judge hearing an exhumation request Monday asked for additional information and ordered public service announcements to be placed in two media outlets to make sure anyone with an interest in the exhumations has an opportunity to be heard. The July 6, 1944, fire in Hartford killed 168 and injured 682. Five victims remain unidentified and buried in a Windsor cemetery. State Chief Medical Examiner James Gill wants to compare the unknown victims’ DNA to that of Sandra Sumrow, the granddaughter of 47-year-old Grace Fifield, who was at the circus the day of the fire but was never seen again.

Delaware

Wilmington: The Clifford Brown Jazz Festival will fill Rodney Square with live music for its 31st year starting Wednesday. The festival, an annual tribute to the late Wilmington jazz artist Clifford Brown, kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday with performances by Philadelphia trombonist Jeff Bradshaw, jazz drummer Jamison Ross and trumpeter Etienne Charles. Thursday will see Cuban jazz pianist Alfredo Rodriguez’s trio headlining. Friday’s lineup features the Philadelphia/New York-based Jenkins Project and New Orleans-born trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. The concert will be followed by a downtown block party from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. On Saturday, performances include a headlining set by Grammy Award-winner (and former “Tonight Show” bandleader) Branford Marsalis. The free music festival wraps up Sunday. Go to cliffordbrownjazzfest.org for complete details.

District of Columbia

Washington: The Metro is launching a two-year study of the transit system’s blue, orange and silver lines in order to meet the demands of a growing region, WUSA-TV reports. Metro is limited in terms of what it can do to meet ridership demands because of the lines’ configuration. All three lines merge onto one set of tracks at the Rosslyn tunnel, creating an hourglass design that limits the number of trains that can pass through at a given time. Any disruption in one line can create trouble for another, causing a cascade of delays and service issues across all BOS lines. Over the next two years, Metro is asking its riders, workers and community to get involved in the study and provide their feedback on its BOS lines.

Florida

New Port Richey: A stretch of road on the Gulf Coast that was adopted by the Ku Klux Klan 25 years ago is now being sponsored by a gay rights group. Pasco Pride recently adopted the stretch of Moon Lake Road in New Port Richey. WUSF in Tampa reports that the KKK adopted the 1-mile stretch of the road back in 1993. Pasco Pride President Nina Borders says she was unaware of the KKK’s previous sponsorship. As sponsors, Pasco Pride will clear trash from the stretch of road four times a year. Border says the change in sponsorship reflects how much the community located northwest of Tampa has changed in a quarter-century.

Georgia

Fort Valley: The idea behind The Peach Truck involved selling Georgia peaches from the farm directly to the consumer. The Telegraph reports that the truck now travels around the nation selling peaches in parking lots. Stephen Rose says he now sells about two semitrailer loads of peaches a day. All of the peaches come from Georgia growers. Rose says that social media marketing has been a key driver of the business. He says people go online to follow where the truck will be and line up by the hundreds to get 25-pound boxes of peaches. He says the peaches sold from The Peach Truck go from the orchard to the customer in two days or less.

Hawaii

Kailua: A local company hopes to build an underwater farm that can produce large quantities of edible seaweed. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports Kampachi Farms LLC is working to establish a farm to grow limu more than a mile off Kaiwi Point near Kailua on Hawaii Island. Limu is an ingredient in poke, a traditional Hawaiian dish of diced raw fish. Kampachi Farms is seeking state and federal permits to test growth of four native limu species on submerged lines by supplying the plants with nutrient-rich water from depths between 600 and 2,000 feet. An official says the operation 33 feet below the surface could potentially farm limu in quantities large enough for use as animal feed and biofuel.

Idaho

Boise: A federal wildfire forecaster says the state’s wet spring and below-average temperatures the past three months will likely mean a later start to forest fires, but rangeland fires could be a problem as grasses dry out. Bryan Henry of the National Interagency Fire Center said in a presentation before the Idaho Land Board on Tuesday that the state is mostly looking good at the moment. Idaho Gov. Brad Little and other Land Board members also received an update from state officials on how state firefighting equipment is being deployed, with much of it in the north to protect forests. The state also works collaboratively with Rangeland Fire Protection Associations that involve private ranchers. The state now has nine of them helping protect some 14,000 square miles.

Illinois

Urbana: An exhibit of unique typewriters, including one used by the founder of Playboy, has opened at the University of Illinois. The university’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library will feature typewriters used by Hugh Hefner and Roger Ebert. Both men were alumni of the university. Hefner’s Underwood Standard portable typewriter that he used in college and to write for Playboy is one of the main exhibits. It is on loan to the library after being sold at auction in December for $162,500. The typewriters used by poet Carl Sandburg and novelist James Jones are also featured. The exhibit “Writers & Their Tools: Parchment-Paper-Processors” opened Monday and ends in August.

Indiana

Indianapolis: A national report says opioid prescriptions in the state have decreased by 35.1% over five years. The American Medical Association Opioid Task Force 2019 Progress Report shows Indiana’s reduction in opioid prescriptions from 2013 to 2018 is 2 percentage points higher than the national average of 33%. Indiana Hospital Association President Brian Tabor said last week that the opioid epidemic has damaged “individuals, families and entire communities” in Indiana. “It’s encouraging to see tangible results of the collective efforts of the state, the Indiana General Assembly and the medical community” in encouraging responsible prescriptions of opioids, he said. A 2017 law passed by the General Assembly requires medical providers to write prescriptions for no more than a seven-day supply of an opioid when first prescribing to a patient.

Iowa

Des Moines: This year’s Iowa State Fair butter sculpture will likely be a hit with the kids. Elmo and his friends from “Sesame Street” will be visiting the 2019 fair. Butter versions of characters from the iconic children’s show will be appearing next to the butter cow, fair officials said in a news release Monday. The show is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The butter sculptures will be on display in the John Deere Agriculture Building throughout the fair, which runs Aug. 8-18. The butter cow has been sculpted at the Iowa State Fair since 1911, according to the news release. Various companion sculptures have joined the butter cow since 1996, including the “American Gothic” couple, Elvis Presley, Harry Potter and other characters.

Kansas

Topeka: The city is gearing up for a major music festival that had to be moved here because of flooding. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the 24th annual Kicker Country Stampede will be held Thursday through Saturday at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka. It typically is held at Manhattan’s Tuttle Creek State Park, but water levels have been high this spring. Plans for one Topeka-area road project and one highway project have been revised to ensure they don’t conflict with the expected rush of visitors. The event typically draws more than 170,000 people. Meanwhile, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Stallbaumer says the sheriff’s office is working with event staff on personnel needed for staffing the event. This year’s performers include Old Dominion, Jason Aldean and Jake Owen.

Kentucky

Owensboro: Part of a bourbon warehouse in western Kentucky collapsed during a thunderstorm. The partial collapse of the O.Z. Tyler Distillery rickhouse was reported early Monday, according to news outlets. Master Distiller Jacob Call says about 20,000 barrels are stored at the location, and it appears that about 4,000 were affected. He says most barrels seemed intact. Call said engineers were heading out to try to determine what caused the collapse. It’s unclear if weather played a role. Officials say no one was hurt. A nearby road is closed while the cleanup continues. Another Kentucky bourbon barrel warehouse collapsed last year. Half of a warehouse collapsed at the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown on June 22, 2018, and the other half came down two weeks later.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: Some state archaeologists are spending three weeks with students at the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired, including a mock dig for 26 students. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said in a news release Wednesday that the program runs through June 28. It also includes pottery making and a field trip to the Louisiana Museum of Natural Sciences. The students range from first through 12th grade. Archaeologists generally use stakes and string to mark off a grid for digging. The students’ grid was made of wood. They put dirt from inside the grid into buckets, then sieved the dirt to find whether they’d turned up anything. The three-week program is a partnership between the school and the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development’s Division of Archaeology.

Maine

Augusta: Single-use plastic bags will be banned in grocery stores statewide by 2020, according to legislation signed by the governor Monday. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed the bill with the goal of limiting plastic pollution, House Democrats said. The ban will come into effect by April 22, 2020, which is Earth Day. Maine’s bill comes as municipalities and legislatures in many states have considered such bans. Maine will allow stores to charge at least 5 cents for recyclable paper or reusable plastic bags. In order to be permitted, plastic bags would have to withstand 75 repeated uses and be made from heavier plastic. The fee wouldn’t apply to restaurants. Plastic bag manufacturers say such bans will only lead to thicker, reusable bags in landfills.

Maryland

Ocean City: This beach town’s favorite cat is continuing to grow in popularity with the release of a self-published book. Within the past year, Pip the Beach Cat has made a name for himself during his adventures in the resort town, garnering more than 15,000 followers on Facebook. When Pip wasn’t trekking the beaches, riding a paddle board or taking a dip in the ocean in recent months, he was working on a children’s book about things to do in Ocean City. “Pip’s Guide to Ocean City Vol. I,” narrated by none other than Pip himself, focuses on the favorite locations and activities of Pip’s owner Emily Meadows and her family. She says the book includes locations she wants the new generation of children to know about while still providing a nostalgia factor for adults who grew up in or visited Ocean City.

Massachusetts

Boston: The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing with a new app that helps users relive the 1969 launch of the Apollo 11 mission. The free app available now uses videos, images and audio recordings from the mission that on July 20, 1969, led to Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk. The JFK Moonshot app will take users from July 16 until July 20 on an augmented reality journey from the Earth to the moon, providing people anywhere in the world the opportunity to view 120 hours of real-time tracking simulation. The app also highlights Kennedy’s inspiration for the mission. In a landmark speech at Rice University in 1962, he challenged the nation to land a man on the moon within a decade.

Michigan

Hell: A comedian and rapper boasted on Twitter on Monday that he purchased the town and renamed it “Gay Hell.” Elijah Daniel, in a stint as Hell’s “mayor,” said the move was sparked by U.S. embassies not being allowed to fly pride flags during Pride Month, an annual celebration of the LGBTQ community. Daniel tweeted: “ahead of pride month Trump’s administration put a ban on embassy’s flying pride flags. so as of today, I am now the owner of Hell, Michigan. I bought the whole town. And my first act as owner, I have renamed my town to Gay Hell, MI. The only flags allowed to fly are pride.” Hell is an unincorporated hamlet whose devilish name has made it a popular tourist attraction. Daniel reportedly paid $100 a day to become temporary “mayor” for three days. He also became the temporary mayor in 2017 and promptly banned all straight people from entering Hell.

Minnesota

St. Paul: Eleven nursing homes in the state are on a list of facilities cited by federal officials for patterns of health and safety violations. The U.S. Senate Committee on Aging released a list of 400 nursing homes across the country that are in need of tighter oversight. The facilities were identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The St. Paul Pioneer Press says two nursing homes in Rochester and Red Wing already receive twice the normal amount of inspections and risk losing federal funding if problems are not addressed. The 11 facilities identified for stricter oversight are just 3% of Minnesota’s nursing homes. The state has about 375 nursing facilities that serve 40,000 residents.

Mississippi

Vicksburg: A grant will buy a tract of land to help preserve a Civil War battlefield. The Vicksburg Post reports that the Mississippi Department of Archives and History is receiving nearly $110,000 from the National Park Service. The money from the American Battlefield Trust will purchase 58 acres at the Champion Hill Battlefield, about halfway between Vicksburg and Jackson. Vicksburg National Military Park Superintendent Bill Justice says the land is along a section of road that connected the parts of the Confederate line and later two parts of the Union line. The Battle of Champion Hill was part of U.S. Gen. Ulysses Grant’s successful effort to take Vicksburg. About 32,000 Union soldiers fought 23,000 Confederates on May 16, 1863. Confederate forces were crushed and retreated to Vicksburg.

Missouri

Springfield: Dickerson Park Zoo is welcoming a new 8-year-old Asian elephant. The elephant, named Hugo, arrived Friday from the Endangered Ark Foundation, a private nonprofit and circus elephant retirement ranch in Hugo, Oklahoma. Hugo will be in quarantine for at least a month. He will then be introduced to Patience, a female elephant, and the zoo hopes they will someday be on exhibit together. Asian elephants are critically endangered. The zoo said in a news release that Hugo came to the zoo to increase the genetic diversity of the U.S. elephant population. Also this month, the zoo also welcomed a male baby giraffe and a black-and-white colobus monkey. A ring-tailed lemur was born April 10.

Montana

Billings: Federal data shows that ranchers in the state lost more than 37,000 cattle last winter when heavy snow piled up and lingered. The Billings Gazette reports the federal Livestock Indemnity Program paid out $11.1 million for the loss of 37,352 cattle in Montana in 2018. The U.S. Farm Service Agency says that’s more than four times the amount paid out for losses in the previous four years combined. Half of the deaths were in a swath of Montana across six counties blanketed by snow up to 30 inches deep. Ranchers and the Farm Service Agency acknowledge that there were more weather-related livestock deaths that didn’t qualify for compensation. The losses for this past winter, which included historically cold temperatures, haven’t been calculated yet.

Nebraska

Omaha: Schoolteacher Nancy Monen had an unusual guest come to her residence earlier this year hoping to see the “little room” off the upstairs master bedroom. The famous man and his adult children were enchanted by the small sunroom and the rest of the 101-year-old house where they’d lived six decades ago. And before he left, the dad scribbled something on the arched door of the little room: “The birthplace of Buffett Associates May 1956.” He signed his name, Warren E. Buffett. It paid off for Monen – who, for the first time a few months later, rented her residence to a trio attending the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, often called the Woodstock of Capitalism. Monen reaped $3,000 and is considering hiking the fee next year to spread the wealth to a charity, the Omaha World-Herald reports. “I’m crazy not to capitalize on that,” Monen said. “Warren would want me to.”

Nevada

Las Vegas: The city is launching a reality show on streaming services that will tell behind-the-scenes stories about how the government navigates local issues. Las Vegas officials announced Monday that the show “Inside Vegas” will premiere Thursday and be available on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV and the city’s GoVegas app. The show’s first season includes three episodes detailing a massage parlor suspected of prostitution, a nonprofit in trouble with police, and the city’s grappling with party houses and short-term rentals. The show will be produced by the city’s communications office.

New Hampshire

Concord: The state isn’t ready to legalize recreational marijuana use, but it is close to expanding options for those who use it for medical reasons. Several bills related to the therapeutic use of cannabis have been sent to Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. One would allow physician assistants to authorize the use of the drug for patients. Another would allow patients and designated caregivers to grow marijuana plants at home. The House passed a bill legalizing recreational use in April, but the Senate later voted to delay action on it. Other bills that would expand the qualifying conditions for medical use also were retained in committee.

New Jersey

Freehold: This borough’s council unanimously passed a resolution Monday stating that Freehold and Peralejos de las Truches, a town of about 175 in Spain, are now “twin” cities. The Spanish locale is heavy on fans of Bruce Springsteen, a native of Freehold. “His message is received across the globe, and we’re happy that this little town has reached out to Freehold Borough,” Mayor Nolan Higgins says. A representative for the Spanish town contacted Higgins via email in April requesting a “twinning” designation. It named Springsteen an “Adopted Son” of Peralejos in 2014 and gave the Boss a plaque stating the recognition at a 2016 E Street Band concert in Madrid, Jose Maria of Peralejos said in his communications with Freehold. The Spanish town hosts the annual “Greetings from Peralejos” Springsteen festival in August.

New Mexico

Los Alamos: Federal officials will be offering tours of portions of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park next month. The National Park Service has teamed up with Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Nuclear Security Administration to organize tours during a weekend in July. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Each day will consist of two tours of 25 people each, each lasting three hours. Not all sites that make up the park are open to the public. Visitors will see Pond Cabin, which served as an office for the scientists who were studying plutonium; a bunker used to protect equipment and staff during explosives testing; and the building where a deadly plutonium accident took place. Officials say more tours will be planned later this year.

New York

New York: Officials say they’re assigning an extra 500 police officers to the city’s transit system amid a jump in fare evasion and assaults on workers. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that officers will be deployed to high-ridership subway stations and bus routes, as well as locations with increased levels of staff assaults. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says assaults reported by employees increased by 15.2% from 2013 to 2017. The agency says lost revenue from fare evasion jumped from $105 million in 2015 to $225 million in 2018. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr., who stopped prosecuting most subway fare evasion cases last year, says his office will contribute $40 million to the policing effort. Under a revised policy, the NYPD now issues summonses to most fare evasion suspects instead of arresting them.

North Carolina

Statesville: The city has voted against the flying of really big flags, holding its ground against a reality TV star’s huge Stars and Stripes. News outlets report the Statesville City Council voted down changes to the flag ordinance Monday night. That means flags in Statesville must be no larger than 25 feet by 40 feet, roughly half the size of the American flag that Marcus Lemonis has unfurled outside his Gander RV company. Statesville has asked a court to order Gander RV to comply or pay a $50-per-day fine. Lemonis runs Camping World and stars on “The Profit” on CNBC. He says the flag is staying. He’s said he’ll go to jail for contempt of court to protect his constitutional rights.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Some north Bismarck residents are complaining about calcium deposits in water from their faucets at home. Bismarck’s director of utility operations, Michelle Klose, says the problem has been identified in at least 64 mainly newer homes on the outskirts of the city. The Bismarck Tribune reports that Klose says the residue does not present a health risk. Greg Wavra, administrator of the North Dakota Drinking Water Program, says that Bismarck’s water meets the requirements of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and that calcium buildup should not be a cause for alarm. The city says magnesium heating rods may cause the deposits and suggests that homeowners switch to aluminum heating rods and lower the temperature of water heaters to mitigate the problem.

Ohio

Columbus: A state lawmaker has introduced legislation that would require school districts to name a valedictorian and a salutatorian. The House bill introduced by Republican state Rep. Niraj Antani, of Miamisburg, comes after Mason High School in southwestern Ohio decided it will stop awarding those academic honors. Many schools traditionally have bestowed the valedictorian title on the graduating student with the highest cumulative grade-point average. The salutatorian title has often gone to the student with the second-highest average. The Columbus Dispatch reports Antani says the gist of the legislation is that “academic competition is good.” The bill allows districts to set criteria for selecting valedictorians and salutatorians. Some Ohio education groups oppose any state bill mandating decisions they say should be made at the local level.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: The state Pardon and Parole Board says nearly 750 prisoners applied in the first four months of the year for their sentences to be commuted. Justin Wolf, the board’s general counsel, says this is about twice the number of applications submitted by the end of April last year. Wolf tells The Oklahoman that more than 560 inmates applied for commutations last month alone. Commutation is a form of clemency intended to correct an unjust or excessive sentence. A measure that took effect in 2017 made some drug and property crimes misdemeanors, not felonies. Agency officials say the bump in applications might be because Gov. Kevin Stitt last month signed legislation directing the board to speed up commutations for those whose crimes have been reclassified as misdemeanors.

Oregon

Salem: All seven of the state’s public universities will raise tuition for the 2019-2020 school year, with officials citing increased costs and less money than expected from legislators. The hikes range from 2.33% at Western Oregon University in Monmouth to 9.9% at Ashland’s Southern Oregon University. Gov. Kate Brown had made education a priority of this session, repeatedly saying that she wanted to create a “seamless system of education from cradle to career.” The Democrat expressed disappointment that higher education wasn’t involved in a $2 billion increase for K-12 schools that legislators approved earlier this year, and she has continued to push the Legislature to increase university budgets to avoid tuition increases higher than 5%. Legislators recommended a two-year higher education budget of $836.9 million. That is $100 million more than last biennium, though schools like the University of Oregon said they needed at least $120 million more to keep tuition increases below 5%. The University of Oregon, one of the state’s largest public universities, will raise tuition 6.91% next school year.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: Gov. Tom Wolf is vetoing budget-season legislation to substantially ramp up taxpayer support for private and religious schools. In Wolf’s veto message Tuesday, he questioned why Pennsylvania should expand a tax credit that subsidizes private institutions while the state’s public school system remains underfunded. The Democratic governor also criticized the tax credit program as lacking accountability, saying little is known about its educational quality or the middleman groups that can withhold 20% of the money. The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the bill over Wolf’s objections amid budget discussions. Just four Democrats voted for it. It would have nearly doubled the Educational Improvement Tax Credit to $210 million annually. The program effectively lets corporations and business people direct tens of millions in tax dollars to favored private and religious schools.

Rhode Island

Providence: The state has received a $2.8 million federal grant to boost efforts to bring an Amtrak stop to Rhode Island’s main airport. The Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grant was announced by U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Reps. Jim Langevin and David Cicilline, all Democrats. The state Department of Transportation will use it to pay for further planning efforts between the state and Amtrak. Currently, T.F. Green Airport is connected to Providence and Boston by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter rail line. Amtrak stops in Providence, Kingston and Westerly, Rhode Island. The delegation says adding Amtrak service to the airport in Warwick could position the state to attract new investment, create jobs, and enhance transportation options for residents and visitors.

South Carolina

Florence: Civil War cannons that sat on the bottom of the Pee Dee River for 150 years are now restored and on display at a veterans center in Florence. The cannons are from the Confederate ship Peedee, which was built to break the Union blockade of the South, but its cannons were tossed into the river in 1865 and the ship scuttled as Union troops approached. University of South Carolina archaeologists recovered the cannons in 2015, and scientists at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston have spent four years restoring the cannons. The cannons belong to the U.S. government. The Florence County Museum agreed to display them at the Florence County Veterans Center to honor how all veterans’ sacrifice to serve in wars.

South Dakota

Rapid City: The murder of a pharmacist who was raped and strangled in her home in a South Dakota city more than half a century ago has been solved with the use of DNA technology and genealogy databases, police said. Investigators believe Eugene Carroll Field killed 60-year-old Gwen Miller in 1968 when he was a 25-year-old living in Rapid City, Detective Wayne Keefe said at a news conference Monday. He said there was enough evidence to charge Field with first-degree murder, but he died in 2009. It is “a little surreal” to finally identify the killer after 51 years and up to 5,000 hours of work, Keefe said. The motive remains unknown. “Today, there’s a slight celebratory mood because the case has been solved,” Police Chief Karl Jegeris said. “But I assure you, the fact of how horrific this crime was wears heavy on each and every one of our hearts.”

Tennessee

Manchester: A group that partners with musicians on voter registration efforts says the 1,390 voters it signed up at Bonnaroo represent its all-time high for one festival. A news release from HeadCount says it has registered almost 600,000 voters at 7,500 concerts and music festivals since 2004. Bonnaroo ran from Thursday through Sunday. HeadCount says it wants to register more than 200,000 voters by the 2020 presidential election. A new Tennessee law set to take effect in October allows fines and potentially jail time for voter registration workers who don’t follow new rules. Tennessee will likely be the first state imposing fines for submitting too many incomplete registration forms. HeadCount Director of Engagement Tappan Vickery says she hopes the group can keep providing its services without risking fines or prosecution.

Texas

Corpus Christi: High school and college students can get their feet wet in marine animal care with a new career exploration program at the Texas State Aquarium. The Animal Science Exploration Program for high school students is set for June 27, from 5 to 7 p.m., and the college-oriented event will take place July 25, from 5 to 7 p.m. Each program is $120 per participant, or $60 for aquarium members. A parental escort is required for participants 17 and younger. Admission for an escort is $10 each, or free for one member. During both events, students will learn about potential aquarium jobs, including careers as a marine biologist, aquarist, animal nutritionist, water quality specialist, professional diver and enrichment specialist. The students will then move on to hands-on activities, including helping to feed sea turtles.

Utah

Salt Lake City: A government watchdog will investigate whether the U.S. Interior Department broke the law by making plans to open lands cut from a national monument in the state by President Donald Trump to leasing for oil, gas and coal development, a pair of Democratic congressmembers said Monday. The Government Accountability Office’s investigation into whether Interior violated the appropriations law by using funds to assess potential resource extraction in the lands cut from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is the latest chapter in a long-running saga over the sprawling monument created in 1996 on lands home to scenic cliffs, canyons, dinosaur fossils and coal reserves. Trump slashed the monument by nearly half in 2017 following a contentious review by former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of monuments around the country.

Vermont

Johnson: A nonprofit group trying to fight opioid addiction plans to turn a former Catholic church into a recovery center. Vermont Public Radio reports that Greg and Dawn Tatro recently purchased the closed St. John the Apostle Church on behalf of Jenna’s Promise, an organization named for their daughter who died of an overdose in February. Greg Tatro said he plans to build a full-service health care center on the site and will host “sober parties” there to bring together people in recovery and families from the local community. He said the next steps are to talk with the neighbors, work on fundraising and start developing plans for a sober house.

Virginia

Richmond: A three-dimensional “LOVE” artwork will be traveling around the state this summer to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the “Virginia is for Lovers” slogan. The artwork unveiled Thursday in Richmond will travel to Virginia Welcome Centers for “50 Years of Love” events so travelers can take their photos with it. It was created by artist Melanie Stimmell Van Latum and unveiled by the Virginia Tourism Corporation. The slogan was created in 1969 by the Richmond-based advertising agency Martin & Woltz Inc., now known as The Martin Agency. Other events planned to mark the anniversary include a 50-mile bike ride on the Virginia Capital Trail on Sunday. Additional events will be held at breweries, wineries and parks throughout Virginia.

Washington

Seattle: Members of the Lummi Tribe, along with activists and scientists, launched the Salish Sea Campaign this weekend to save the southern resident orcas and restore their home. KCPQ-TV reports the campaign calls for an impact study on stressors to the Salish Sea caused by humans. It also wants to end new stressors like Navy underwater weapons tests until the Salish Sea is healthier. The tribe says it will measure the sea’s health by the number of salmon using 1985 levels as a baseline. Lummi Nation elder Raynell Morris says that “our relatives under the sea are telling us they need help.” The Lummi Nation’s plan to bring back Lolita the orca was also showcased. The killer whale was captured off Puget Sound in 1970 and taken into captivity.

West Virginia

Charleston: The West Virginia House of Delegates has pushed a sweeping Republican education proposal one step closer to passage. Lawmakers on Tuesday advanced the plan to allow the state’s first charter schools, setting it up for a full vote in the GOP-controlled chamber Wednesday. If approved, the bill would then head to the Senate for consideration. Education unions and Democrats oppose the measure. They argue that it’s similar to a wide-ranging Senate bill that has led to massive teacher protests at the Capitol. The House bill, among other things, would cap the number at charter schools at 10. The legislature is currently in a special session after failing to agree on education measures before the regular session ended in March. Teachers are packing the statehouse to rally against the House bill.

Wisconsin

Madison: A new group is forming to push for ending a University of Wisconsin System tuition freeze and more state funding for UW-Madison. Badgers United launched Monday. The board of directors includes former Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, a UW-Madison alumnus. John and Tashia Morgridge, alumni who have donated millions of dollars to the campus, also sit on the board. Republican lawmakers have kept tuition rates for in-state students frozen since 2013. The GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee in May approved a proposal in Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ budget that extends the freeze for another two years. Evers’ budget called for $127 million in additional state aid for the system, but the committee cut that back to $58 million. System President Ray Cross called the reduction a “kick in the shins.”

Wyoming

Riverton: The Wyoming Department of Health has released details on its plan for affordable air ambulance services in the state. The department’s Franz Fuchs says the proposal seeks to decrease the cost of air ambulance services and increase the availability of the service in Wyoming. Under the agency’s proposed plan, the state would determine the number and location of air ambulance bases with the goal of providing the best coverage and response time. Companies would bid to become the state’s Medicaid provider for the service. An attorney for one air ambulance company criticized the proposal, asking how many patients will be required to take ground ambulances. The plan met with mixed reactions from state lawmakers on the Interim Labor, Health and Social Services Committee last week.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Lorax’ tree legend, butter Elmo, meth squirrel: News from around our 50 states