‘Nightmare’ roof, fire-starting drones, Pennywise Jeep: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Mobile: An animal expert says fencing erected by the Alabama Department of Transportation is helping to protect an endangered turtle species. University of South Alabama herpetologist David Nelson tells AL.com the number of Alabama red-bellied turtles killed on the Mobile Bay Causeway dropped by more than 80% after fencing went up alongside it in 2008. In 2001, Nelson counted 580 Alabama red-bellies that were killed while crossing the causeway. Most of those were females traveling to or from nest sites or hatchlings. Transportation officials have also put up signs during the turtle’s peak nesting and hatching seasons that encourage drivers to be cautious.

Alaska

Anchorage: Opponents of petroleum drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are preparing for a response to a possible petroleum lease sale. The Interior Department hopes to conduct a lease sale by the end of the year. More than 30 groups have joined the Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign, which is a coalition dedicated to protecting the refuge that provides breeding habitat to polar bears, migratory birds and the Porcupine Caribou Herd shared with Canada. Campaign director Desiree Sorenson-Groves says the environmental review for the sale was rushed and has flaws and will be challenged in court. Her group is also warning potential bidders that companies will face damage to their reputations if they bid on leases within the refuge because it will harm polar bears and other Arctic species.

Arizona

Tucson: A new report by an Arizona State University think tank questions whether the state can find enough water to replenish aquifers for pumping to new homes in fast-growing suburban areas without access to Colorado River water. The Arizona Daily Star reports that the Kyl Center for Water Policy report also suggests that the state revamp a landmark 1980 setting current policy on groundwater management. The report warns that some suburbs of Tucson and Phoenix will struggle to find enough water to keep growing without damaging underground aquifers by overpumping. According to the report, the result could be land subsidence, including ground fissures, lower water quality and even the possibility of wells drying up.

Arkansas

Little Rock: A woman woke up to find that her trailer filled with rare and ancient fossils, including dinosaur eggs that are 70 million-year-old dinosaur eggs, was gone. The trailer was taken late last month after Rodger Perkins, Gwynn Shafer and Paul Yumlu packed fossils in it for this month’s Greater Little Rock Gem, Mineral and Jewelry Show, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. Perkins says the trailer had skulls of the perchoerus, a piglike mammal that is one of the rarest of fossils; the doglike cynodictis; the marine reptile keichousaurus; and a pair of baby rabbits that died nearly 15 million years ago. He says the fossils were worth nearly $20,000. Perkins doubts that whoever stole the trailer knew what was inside but says the thieves likely know how expensive the fossils are because they had price tags on them.

California

Santa Clarita: Freshman Rep. Katie Hill, a rising Democratic star in the House, announced her resignation amid an ethics probe, saying explicit private photos of her with a campaign staffer had been “weaponized” by her husband and political operatives. The California Democrat, 32, had been hand-picked for a coveted leadership seat. But in recent days, compromising photos of Hill and purported text messages from her to a campaign staffer surfaced online in a right-wing publication and a British tabloid. The House ethics committee had launched an investigation into whether Hill had an inappropriate relationship with an aide in her congressional office, prohibited under House rules. Hill, one of the few openly bisexual women in Congress, has vowed to fight a “smear” campaign waged by a husband she called abusive.

Colorado

Loveland: Planning is in the works to build a new Veterans Affairs clinic that will give veterans in northern Colorado better access to health care. The Cheyenne Veterans Affairs Health Care System announced that the Loveland clinic is expected to open by the winter of 2022. VA spokesman Sam House tells the Loveland Reporter-Herald that more than half of the population that is served in the Cheyenne system area comes from northern Colorado. House says the facility will more than double the space of the current Loveland and Fort Collins clinics combined and serve more than 200 veterans a day. Construction should start by next summer and take two years to complete. When the new facility opens in 2022, the VA will close its Fort Collins clinic.

Connecticut

East Haddam: Hundreds of acres in eastern Connecticut are in the process of being acquired by the state to expand existing parks and wildlife conservation areas, but thousands more need to be attained or protected in order to meet a fast-approaching goal of protecting 21% of Connecticut land as open space by 2023. Eric Hammerling, executive director of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, says the state still has “a ways to go” and hopes officials will keep pushing to reach the goal. Last week, Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney announced $560,000 in federal funds to protect more than 400 acres in eastern Connecticut, including nearly 100 acres that will be added to the Devil’s Hopyard State Park in East Haddam.

Delaware

Dover: The state’s only NASCAR racetrack continues to shrink. Reflecting waning attendance nationwide for the popular motor sport, Dover International Speedway, also known as the Monster Mile, will reduce seating at its grandstands to 54,000 from 83,000. It is at least the third time that track owner Dover Motor Sports has removed thousands of seats at the facility in the past decade. Prior to 2009, capacity stood at 135,000. Rebuilding the grandstand with fewer seats will cost the publicly traded company $1.5 million. The project is underway and is scheduled to be complete before the racetrack’s spring NASCAR event.

District of Columbia

Washington: The Smithsonian’s National Zoo has announced the birth of one lesser kudu and the death of another. The Washington Post reports the male calf was born Oct. 14, just weeks after his grandmother died. Citing a news release, news outlets report the zoo says the healthy calf may make his public debut this fall. The calf was born to a kudu named Rogue, who was the daughter of a kudu named Shirley. The 9-year-old Shirley died late last month after what the zoo described as complications during the birthing process. Her calf was stillborn. The International Union for Conservation of Nature says the lesser kudu is a type of antelope considered to be “near threatened,” with a declining wild population of about 100,000.

Florida

Miami: Homeless people living with HIV now have secure locations in the city where they can store their expensive medications. Through the IDEA Exchange, patients can store their medicine in lockers at a converted shipping container office. They also can choose to have social workers deliver small quantities of the medicine to them. The program is run by the University of Miami. Prescriptions are paid for by Medicaid or a federal drug assistance program for low-income people living with HIV. Storing medication for the homeless has long been encouraged by public health experts. Washington, D.C., New York, Boston and other cities offer similar services. University of Miami physician Hansel Tookes, who directs the Miami program, says the initiative began in 2018 after an HIV outbreak among the city’s homeless.

Georgia

Savannah: The National Park Service says crews will spend several months cleaning out years of accumulating storm debris and dead wood around a Civil War-era fort on the Georgia coast. Fort Pulaski National Monument east of Savannah still has a large debris pile left over from the passing of hurricanes Matthew and Irma, as well as a tornado, in 2016 and 2017. Dead and damaged trees remain in the woods outside the fort. The Park Service says in a news release that a cleanup project will remove the debris and dead wood to reduce wildfire risks. Work began in October and is expected to continue until spring. Officials say the work may require temporary closure of some areas of the park outside Fort Pulaski.

Hawaii

Honolulu: Researchers have found the majority of plastic marine debris washing up on the state’s shores is from abroad. The Star-Advertiser reports the study conducted at Hawaii Pacific University revealed that pollution from north and east island beaches is washing ashore where there are fewer residents and tourists. Researchers say it is possible the debris swept in from as far as 3,000 miles away from the coasts of Asia, as well as the Americas. Researchers say more than 4,600 pieces of plastic debris were collected for the study from three sea surface areas, three seafloor dive sites and 11 shorelines. Researchers say based on weathering and chemical composition, the debris could tell experts where it came from and how it got to island shores.

Idaho

Boise: State officials have made it more difficult for young transgender people to change the sex listed on their birth certificates despite a U.S. court ruling that appears to ban such obstacles. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare released comments from the public last week on a temporary rule requiring people younger than 18 to get approval from medical or mental health professionals before requesting the change. Many of the comments said they wanted the conservative state to go back to banning all gender changes on birth certificates. A federal judge ruled last year that an Idaho law barring transgender people from changing their birth certificates violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Health and Welfare’s board of directors complied with the order and changed the state’s rules last year. But this May, the board approved the temporary rule requiring anyone under 18 to get approval before requesting the change.

Illinois

Chicago: Gov. J.B. Pritzker is endorsing legislation that would allow college athletes in the state to make money from endorsements. During a Sunday interview on WGN-Radio, Pritzker said college athletes deserve the same opportunity as everyone else to earn compensation based on the use of their name and their image and likeness. Democratic state Rep. Emanuel Welch of Hillside has introduced legislation that would put Illinois in line with California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law this year allowing athletes at the state’s universities to use their names and likenesses to make money. The law also bans schools from kicking athletes off the team if they get paid. Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs said Sunday that he would urge his GOP colleagues to oppose Welch’s proposed legislation.

Indiana

Indianapolis: The state will change the vendor of its teacher licensing exams following complaints about low pass rates under the current program. Test administrator ETS will replace Pearson starting in September 2021. The move comes after Republican state Sen. Jean Leising of Oldenburg introduced legislation this year requiring the state to adopt a national teacher licensing program to replace Pearson’s, which customizes exams to Indiana standards. The Tribune-Star reports Leising says the change will help address the state’s teacher shortage. Some people have said Pearson’s exams are too difficult. Tim McRoberts, associate executive director of the Indiana Association of School Principals, says Pearson doesn’t provide adequate study materials, which makes it difficult for students to prepare. He says there’s no doubt testing changes could be helpful.

Iowa

Iowa City: An eastern Iowa school district has secured federal grant funding to monitor students’ social media accounts for possible warning signs that students might harm themselves or their peers. The Iowa City Community School District received the grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. A portion of the $187,000 grant is earmarked to contract with a company that will scan social media posts. It’s part of a districtwide push to improve safety across the school district. School officials have not yet determined what all the monitoring will entail. School officials note that the district already has the right to look at the emails and Google Drive accounts of students who are using district technology.

Kansas

Topeka: Kris Kobach has acknowledged in a diversion agreement that he failed to properly supervise his staff while representing himself as the then-Kansas secretary of state during federal court proceedings. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the confidential agreement resolves complaints made to the Kansas Disciplinary Administrator’s Office about Kobach’s conduct in a voter registration case. Details of the findings aren’t disclosed under Kansas rules, but a public notice of the agreement says Kobach stipulates he didn’t properly supervise lawyers and non-lawyers during the litigation. The lawsuit involved a challenge to a Kansas law requiring voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. The disciplinary administrator’s office says there was no finding of dishonest conduct by Kobach, who is seeking the Republican nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat.

Kentucky

Louisville: Pennywise the clown has returned to terrorize Derby City, and he’s driving a 2005 Jeep Wrangler. The monster at the heart of the new “It: Chapter Two” film and the shape-shifting villain of Stephen King’s classic horror novel now sits in the driver’s seat next to Andrew Johnson, the owner of a modified SUV with a passenger-side steering wheel and a whole collection of creepy props and decals. The Louisville resident and self-employed auto mechanic has spent the past six years dressing up his two SUVs to fit certain themes. The “It” Jeep, though, has been his biggest hit yet. It has decals with popular phrases and references to the movie. It has theatrical blood sprayed across its white exterior – “if it gets wet,” Johnson says, “it actually drips.” It has two arms pulling poor Georgie’s yellow rain jacket into the Jeep’s grill. And it has a 6-foot-3 clown with glowing eyes and trademark red balloons in the driver’s seat.

Louisiana

Cameron: What used to be Louisiana’s largest state wildlife refuge is celebrating its centennial. The Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge was 86,000 acres when the land was bought in 1914 and donated to the state in December 1919. Officials say it’s now down to about 71,500 acres. That’s about a 17% loss. The southwest Louisiana refuge has been a site for research to reduce coastal erosion, such as finding ways to build stone breakwaters light enough not to sink in the soft silt near what remains of the shore. There’s also been a great deal of wildlife research, including studies that helped alligators and bald eagles get off the endangered list. Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Jack Montoucet describes the refuge as a giant outdoor laboratory.

Maine

Georgetown: An environmental group is working with shellfish farmers to grow more of a species of clam it thinks can better stand up to predators that have plagued the state’s harvest of bivalves. Seafood lovers have sought Maine’s softshell clams for decades, but the state’s harvesters are collecting fewer of those clams, in part because of the spread of crabs and worms that prey on them. Massachusetts-based group Manomet thinks the answer might lie in the aquaculture of quahogs, which are a harder species of clam associated more with Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The group is working with four shellfish farmers to grow quahogs in Maine and study the results. The federal government’s NOAA Sea Grant has taken notice and provided $65,000 to give the project a boost.

Maryland

Baltimore: The State Department of Education has responded to concerns about Holocaust instruction by announcing plans to enhance and expand how it’s taught. A statement released by the department says the changes include teaching middle schoolers about anti-Semitism and strengthening Holocaust education for high schoolers. News outlets report advocates and elected officials had raised concerns about state curriculum guidelines. Baltimore Jewish Council executive director Howard Libit says the council thought the guidelines didn’t do enough to ensure students learn about the Holocaust. State Superintendent Karen B. Salmon said in the statement that the education department plans to provide teachers with tools to help them teach the Holocaust with confidence.

Massachusetts

Worcester: Worcester Polytechnic Institute has received a five-year, nearly $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a robotic system to detect and monitor prostate cancer. Grant recipient Haichong Zhang, a biomedical engineer at the school, says his surgical imaging robot will be safer and more accurate than current tests, including ultrasounds and biopsies. Zhang tells The Telegram & Gazette he wants to create a minimally invasive, easily accessible and cost-effective way to better detect prostate cancer, which will affect one-fifth of all men at some point in their lives. Zhang is working on the project with Gregory Fischer, a professor of robotics and mechanical engineering at WPI.

Michigan

Detroit: A local museum will begin charging patrons from outside the Motor City area an admissions fee for the first time in seven years to remedy an increasing budget deficit. The Detroit News reports that the Detroit Historical Museum will charge adults $10, while seniors, students, active-duty military and first responders will pay $8. Children ages 6 to 17 will pay $6. Museum executive director Elana Rugh says the museum lost $297,000 in 2018. The museum’s 2019 operating budget is about $4.5 million. Residents of Detroit, Highland Park and Hamtramck will be able to enter at no cost. Detroit historian Ken Coleman says he worries the fee will prevent low-income people from other places from visiting the museum.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: Clergy and immigration activists are trying to remove the name of a revered bishop from a federal building where hundreds of deportation orders are issued every year, calling the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown an affront to his memory. The Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling houses the Minneapolis-area offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security. It’s named for the first Episcopal bishop of Minnesota, who persuaded President Abraham Lincoln to pardon most of the 303 Dakota Indians sentenced to death after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, though 38 were still hanged in the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Now the Episcopal Church in Minnesota, the Minnesota Council of Churches and others want Whipple’s name taken off the building – or the eviction of ICE and its immigration courts. They’re planning a vigil and news conference outside it Tuesday to launch the “What Would Whipple Do?” campaign. They’ll also call on the Legislature to declare Minnesota a sanctuary state.

Mississippi

Jackson: Gov. Phil Bryant says the state’s cash reserves are at their highest level ever. The Republican said Friday that the state Department of Finance and Administration has transferred just over $205 million into the state rainy day fund. The money was the unspent surplus for state government for the budget year that ended June 30. With the transfer, the rainy day fund has hit its limit, by law, of $554.8 million. Bryant said on Twitter that the amount of money in the fund is “the most in Mississippi’s history.” Republicans who lead the budget-writing process in the Legislature say conservative spending practices led to the surplus that filled the rainy day fund. Critics say Mississippi government is underfunding education, health care and other core services.

Missouri

Jefferson City: A state panel wants a test track for an ultra-high-speed Hyperloop system to be built in the Show-Me State. The group of elected officials and business leaders made the recommendation Monday as part of a study commissioned by the House speaker. Hyperloop technology involves a tubular track through which a train-like pod carries passengers at speeds of more than 600 mph. Advocates want to connect Kansas City to St. Louis with the high-speed system. The report says Missouri first would need to apply to be the site for a roughly 15-mile test track that could cost between $300 million and $500 million. The estimated cost to build a full hyperloop system across Missouri ranges from $30 million to $40 million per mile, or about $7.3 billion to $10.4 billion total.

Montana

Great Falls: National Weather Service meteorologists say snowfall in the state has broken a 35-year-old record. Through Monday afternoon, more than 35 inches of snow has been recorded in Great Falls in September and October. Scientists say the amount sets a record for the timeframe beginning July 1, blasting past the previous record of 18.1 inches in 1984. Meteorologists say that is well over half of the 60 inches that routinely falls during an entire snow season. Meteorologists say snow is expected to continue with record-breaking cold through mid-November. Scientists say the average temperature in October has been 40.3 degrees, about 5.9 degrees below normal. Scientists say residents should be prepared as current weather continues to behave more like December or January.

Nebraska

Lincoln: University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers have launched a university-backed startup company to help prevent and fight wildfires with drones. The university on Monday announced the new business venture, Drone Amplified, which is headed by Carrick Detweiler, an associate professor of computer science and engineering. The company’s drone-mounted technology carries chemical spheres the size of pingpong balls. At the press of a button, the spheres ignite, intentionally sparking small fires to burn vegetation and deprive incoming wildfires of potential fuel. The drones can also be equipped with thermal cameras to help spot hotspots, and they can be used in situations that are unsafe for manned aircraft, such as low-visibility nighttime operations. University researchers tested the technology in 2016 with a controlled fire at the Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice.

Nevada

Las Vegas: A developer who grew up going to the Huntridge Theater is poised to get city approval to buy the shuttered former movie house in central Las Vegas, renovate its damaged roof and convert it to an arts hub. J Dapper tells the Las Vegas Sun the architecture won’t change, but the building dating to 1943 could be converted into a concert venue, a performance auditorium or a community arts space. Dapper says he also hopes to put restaurants, condominiums or office space on the 4-acre parcel at Charleston Boulevard and Maryland Parkway to make the venture more profitable. Dapper needs city approval because the property has been listed since 1993 on the National Register of Historic Places. A City Council vote is scheduled Nov. 6.

New Hampshire

Concord: New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald is telling residents to be aware of scammers targeting personal information through the use of popular phone-based word games, such as Words with Friends. The game’s app is downloaded for players to take turns building words in a crossword-style fashion, similar to Scrabble. Authorities say scammers use the app’s communication function to ask users questions to gain personal information that’s used to exploit the individual. They say scammers also try to seek a personal or romantic connection and urge the user to send gift cards, money and valuable property. Scammers also will send harmful links and ask users to switch to other platforms that make it easier for the scammer to access the user’s personal information. Authorities say players should only communicate with people known to them.

New Jersey

Asbury Park: Jersey rock royalty was onstage Sunday night in the state’s musical cradle as rocker Jon Bon Jovi brought crooner Southside Johnny Lyon with him into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. The two rockers played a duet at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall, where both had performed many times on their way up from Jersey shore local bar bands to worldwide stars. Pop rock band The Smithereens was also inducted this year. In the performing arts category, Jason Alexander, who played George Costanza on “Seinfeld,” made the cut. Inductees in the category of arts and letters included “Jaws” author Peter Benchley, longtime Star-Ledger sports columnist Jerry Izenberg, “Game of Thrones” author George R. R. Martin and photographer Timothy White.

New Mexico

Santa Fe: State wildlife officials are rejoining direct efforts to manage endangered Mexican gray wolf populations in cooperation with the federal government and counterparts including Arizona. The New Mexico State Game Commission voted unanimously with one absence Friday to become a cooperating agency in the recovery program after leaving a pact in 2011. Wildlife Division Chief Stewart Liley says the agreement will make New Mexico a lead player in the program with greater discretion over management decisions amid concern among ranchers about livestock falling prey to wolves. The Mexican wolf is the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America and has struggled since releases into the wild in 1998. Surveys show at least 131 in the wild in the southern mountain ranges of New Mexico and Arizona.

New York

Albany: The eastern hellbender will get more protection and the bald eagle and peregrine falcon will get less under proposed changes to New York’s list of endangered and threatened species. The Department of Environmental Conservation is proposing removal of 19 species from the state’s endangered and threatened list. Those species including the bald eagle and peregrine falcon show significant population growth, making them no longer threatened. There are now 390 pairs of breeding bald eagles in New York, compared to one pair when they were listed as endangered in 1973. The agency is proposing to add 18 other species as threatened or endangered. They include several species of freshwater mussels, the common nighthawk and the eastern hellbender salamander. Public comments on the list proposals are being taken until Dec. 24.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Parts of the state’s textile, agricultural and railroad past have been recognized as national historic places, a designation that can help preserve them. The state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources said in a news release that seven North Carolina properties have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. They include Caromount Mills in Rocky Mount; Sanford Tobacco Co. redrying plant and warehouse in Sanford; Carolina and Northwestern Railway freight depot in Lenoir; and Taylorsville Milling Co. roller mill in Taylorsville. Also added to the list were the T. Austin and Ernestine L. Finch house in Thomasville; the Gem Theatre in Kannapolis; and the Bunyan S. and Edith W. Womble house in Winston-Salem. Federal and state incentives are created to help preserve National Register places.

North Dakota

Willow City: Wildlife officials say a state game warden escaped serious injuries when he was attacked by a bull moose. Game & Fish Department Chief Game Warden Robert Timian tells KFGO radio that District Game Warden Jonathan Toftland was in the Willow City area Wednesday to investigate a report of an injured or sick bull moose. As Toftland approached the animal, it stood up and charged him, knocking him to the ground. The moose was killed. Timian says the outcome could have been “far worse” and credits help from others who were in the area for helping Toftland. The game warden was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and released. Timian says investigators are trying to determine if the bull moose was sick.

Ohio

Columbus: Some state lawmakers say they hope to prevent numerous vehicle crashes by gradually installing rumble strips down the center of some roads. Ohio Rep. Timothy E. Ginter, a Salem Republican, is chief sponsor of a bill to require the state Department of Transportation to add rumble strips on all undivided, two-way highways with speed limits higher than 45 mph. The Dayton Daily News reports the House passed the bill unanimously in June, and the Senate Transportation Committee held a hearing on it last week. State Highway Patrol data shows more than 500 people have died in the past five years due to drivers crossing over the center of undivided Ohio highways. The Federal Highway Administration says rumble strips have reduced rural two-lane road crashes by about 45% nationwide.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: A group trying to prevent partisan gerrymandering of Oklahoma’s legislative and congressional districts is seeking a public vote on whether to create a new bipartisan commission to redraw district boundaries. A group that includes the president of the Oklahoma League of Women Voters and Let’s Fix This, an organization aimed at helping Oklahomans engage politically, filed its petition Monday with the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s Office. The group is seeking to gather enough signatures to place the proposed constitutional amendment on a statewide ballot. Under the plan, the power to draw both legislative and federal congressional districts would be transferred from the Legislature to a bipartisan commission. The commission would include an equal number of Republicans, Democrats and representatives unaffiliated with either party selected by a group of retired judges.

Oregon

Eugene: A group of wine industry interests in the state have formed a new trade group. The Eugene Register-Guard reports the new coalition is called the Oregon Wine Council, and it has an agenda that differs from the Oregon Wine Association. Members of the new group earlier this year opposed wine legislation they viewed as anti-competitive. They claim to represent the interests of the entire state. Board member Sam Tannahill says the majority of large, taxpaying wine growers as well as many of small producers around the state don’t have a say in how their tax money is spent. A board member of the Oregon Wine Association, Justin King, says the argument that his organization is made up of selfish people from one area of the state is patently false.

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh: The front of a city bus was up in the air Monday after a sinkhole opened under it during rush hour downtown. The Port Authority of Allegheny County says only the driver and one passenger were aboard the bus when it plunged into the hole. The passenger was taken to a hospital for a minor injury Monday, and the driver was not injured. The agency tweeted that the bus was at a red light when the street gave way, and the rear half plunged into the hole. A photo shows the front of the bus pitched into the air and the front wheels of a car that was behind it dangling over the sinkhole’s edge. A tow truck was brought in late Monday to remove the bus.

Rhode Island

Providence: The governor and public school superintendents are trying to raise awareness about the importance of regularly reading to children. “SUPERS Read,” a statewide reading event, began Monday and continues through Nov. 8. Superintendents and other guest readers will read to infants and toddlers enrolled in local child care and Early Head Start programs. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo and education leaders will kick off the event Monday at the Children’s Workshop in Warren. Raimondo also plans to unveil an updated website that makes accessing state programs for young children and families more straightforward. The Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children, United Way of Rhode Island and Rhode Island KIDS COUNT organized the reading celebration to highlight the importance of reading to children to promote school readiness.

South Carolina

Columbia: The director of the state’s prisons says his agency will begin classifying inmates by their behavior behind bars, not the crime they committed. Corrections Director Bryan Stirling says the reclassification could reduce the number of maximum-security inmates by 4,000. There are currently about 7,000 inmates in maximum security in South Carolina prisons. Stirling told The Post and Courier of Charleston moving inmates from maximum security will let them move in prison more freely, take more classes and go on work-release programs. They also can become eligible for parole quicker. To get out of maximum security, prison officials say inmates must not be in gangs and must follow the rules. Stirling says consolidating maximum security will allow his chronically short staff to concentrate on the worst behaved inmates.

South Dakota

Pierre: Entrance and camping fees to state parks will likely cost more next year. The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission has approved fee increases for 2020. An annual state park pass will be $36, an increase of $6. A day pass will be $8, a $2 increase. Camping fees for prime sites will increase $5 to $26, and preferred sites will increase from $19 to $23. The commission says a wet spring made 10% of campsites temporarily unavailable this year, and revenue is down by $1.9 million compared to last year. And it’s estimated that repairs to campsites, roads and boat ramps damaged by flooding will cost $8 million. The Rapid City Journal says the fee increases still need approval from the Legislature’s Interim Rules Committee.

Tennessee

Memphis: A psychiatrist whose license was suspended last year for using riding crops on patients may now lose her license again over allegations that she violated her professional probation. The state Board of Medical Examiners says Dr. Valerie Augustus didn’t participate in therapy sessions or reimburse the state $50,000 for the cost of the case. The newspaper recently obtained new charges the state Department of Health filed against Augustus last month, accusing her of misconduct and violating a board order. The board has said the 57-year-old Christian Psychiatric Services operator used a crop or whip on at least 10 patients. Augustus appealed the ruling, saying the whipping was done jokingly. A hearing is set for January.

Texas

Houston: The Houston Police Department has unveiled a new crime lab in a move to accelerate service and shed its scandal-ridden past linked to a backlog of rape kits. Police and city officials several years ago started the process of untangling the lab from the department and into an independent agency, the Houston Forensic Science Center. In 2014, the department transferred management of its crime lab to the center even though the physical lab remained in the Police Department’s downtown headquarters. The Houston Chronicle reports that authorities said the new facility was revealed last week and features state-of-the-art labs, ventilation systems and a consolidated design. The center’s president, Dr. Peter Stout, says the 83,000-square-foot space will serve as a model for the rest of the U.S.

Utah

St. George: A college professor has completed a massive project decorating the exterior of his house in an elaborate Halloween tribute to Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion and the “Nightmare Before Christmas.” Dixie State University professor Josh Pedersen studied more than 200 images of the attraction to model the design as close to the original as possible. He started by creating digital plans for an intricate pattern along his roofline, then printed the design using a large-format laser printer available at a university Makerspace. Once the pattern was cut out and attached to a base, he added 168 electric candles and 66 fake pumpkins. Many people pitched in to help with the installation, which took about a week. Pedersen says he’s wanted to do the project for years.

Vermont

South Burlington: The Vermont National Guard has received 14 noise complaints since the first two F-35 fighter planes arrived at the Burlington International Airport last month. Capt. Mike Arcovitch, whose office tracks noise complaints, says the complaints came from eight people, and two were anonymous. The F-35s are louder than the F-16s the guard used to fly. He says officials had expected more noise complaints when the new jets started flying from the South Burlington airport that is home to the Vermont Air National Guard. The guard took delivery last month of the first two of what will be 20 F-35s, all due in the state by summer. Arcovitch says the guard used to receive noise complaints about the F-16s as well, but he did not have a comparison.

Virginia

Richmond: State health regulators are asking lawmakers to greenlight a licensing system for music therapy. The Daily Press reports that regulators want to set credentialing standards for therapists as well as set up a system for the state to look into any complaints. Music therapy is used to help people with various medical conditions develop everything from language skills to motor coordination. It can provide a drug-free way to regulate moods in people with depression or foster socialization in those with limited means of communication. It gained popularity in veterans’ hospitals in World War II as doctors became interested in music’s ability to heal soldiers with both physical and mental problems.

Washington

Seattle: An anti-tax activist is again bringing a $30 car-tab initiative to voters that would cut a major source of funding for transportation projects across the state. Sponsored by Tim Eyman, Initiative 976 would lower most taxes paid through annual vehicle registration to $30 and largely revoke the authority of state and local governments to add taxes and fees without voter approval. The measure would also repeal taxes and fees already in place, a move the state Office of Financial Management says could cost the state and local governments more than $4 billion in revenue over the next six years. Eyman says the November ballot measure is a chance for voters to tell their government that they voted years ago for $30 car tabs, and they meant it.

West Virginia

Bluefield: Officials have pulled off a creative rescue of a malnourished German shepherd that was stuck in a dam. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports an animal control officer said the dog had probably been trapped in the Ada dam for several days before the rescue. The effort began Friday afternoon when a 911 call came in for an injured and skinny dog in the spillway. But rescuers couldn’t get into the dam, and its tall, steep walls made it impossible for the dog to climb out. So officials used a rope to lower a trap baited with food into the spillway. After about 2 ¹/₂ hours, the dog finally went into the trap, and the rescue workers brought him to a shelter. There, they named him Lucky.

Wisconsin

Janesville: Former House Speaker Paul Ryan has launched a new nonprofit organization he says will be focused on fighting poverty, increasing economic opportunities and advancing evidence-based public policies. Ryan announced the launch of the American Idea Foundation on Monday. He moved more than $7 million from his congressional account into the nonprofit when he announced its formation earlier this year. The foundation will be based in Ryan’s hometown, Janesville, though he moved his family to Maryland this year. Ryan decided against seeking re-election last year, ending his 20-year career in the House. The Republican from Janesville has kept a mostly low profile since then.

Wyoming

Cheyenne: The Federal Communications Commission is expected to provide $12.1 million to expand broadband coverage to rural parts of the state over the next decade. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports three companies are expected to receive funds to extend service to more than 4,700 homes and businesses lacking high-speed internet access. The FCC says Inventive Wireless of Nebraska, Tri County Telephone and Union Telephone will receive funding. Officials say service will be expanded in seven counties: Albany, Big Horn, Niobrara, Park, Platte, Sublette and Uinta. A Wyoming State Broadband Program survey of more than 2,400 residents found 26.9% of respondents lacked reliable broadband.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Nightmare’ roof, fire-starting drones: News from around our 50 states