After School Satan Club, plane swap fail, Amazon helix: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Birmingham: The state will remember the Holocaust, the systematic slaughter of Jews and other people by Nazis, with events planned for this week in Montgomery and Birmingham. The Alabama Holocaust Commission is sponsoring an annual gathering of remembrance Tuesday at the Alabama Department of Archives and History in the capital. A child survivor of the Holocaust, Inge Auerbacher, is scheduled to speak, and a state proclamation will be presented. A commemoration will also be held Thursday at Temple Beth-El in Birmingham. The program will feature George Nathan, the son of Alabama Holocaust survivors Henry and Sophie Nathan. The family lived in both Anniston and Birmingham after arriving in the United States. About 6 million people were killed by the Nazis in the early 1940s during World War II. The state Holocaust commission holds events each year to remember the victims.

Alaska

Juneau: Legislators are considering a request by Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration that the state take over part of a federal environmental permitting program, though some members of the state Senate’s budget-writing committee have expressed concerns with the potential costs. Administration officials have said the idea behind the proposal is to speed the construction of roads, bridges, mines and drilling projects, the Anchorage Daily News reports. While the state would have to follow federal standards, critics of the proposal say the state has traditionally favored development and underfunded oversight capabilities. Industry groups say the current permitting process is too slow. The House included a $4.9 million increase to the budget of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, which expects to hire 28 new staff members. The funding was part of the House version of the state operating budget, which passed earlier this month; senators currently are working on their version. If the proposed increase is approved, department officials plan a two-year process to take over part of the federal Clean Water Act known as Section 404. Permits issued under that section determine whether a developer can fill wetlands, rivers or other bodies of water during construction.

Arizona

Phoenix: Aviation history wasn’t made Sunday night, but disaster was avoided, as cousins Luke Aikins and Andy Farrington were unsuccessful in completing the first-ever “plane swap.” One plane spiraled out of control as the two pilots were thousands of feet in the air. Both pilots were safe with no reported injuries. The Red Bull-sponsored flight, which took place at an undisclosed location in Arizona, began as the two pilots ascended to the skies about 5:45 p.m. local time. Nearly an hour later, the two jumped out at 12,100 feet in the air with the airbrake system engaged on both planes. Aikins was able to successfully get into the other plane, but Farrington was unable to do the same. The plane spiraled out of control as Farrington could be heard saying on-air: “Blue plane is out of control.” Farrington then deployed his parachute and safely landed in a remote area. The uncontrolled plane had a parachute on it that automatically activated when it got to a certain altitude, and it was deployed before touching the ground. The condition and location of the plane weren’t immediately known. The 6-mile-per-hour winds created good conditions for the stunt, the pilots said leading up to the stunt, as the area had faster winds in the days leading up to the event. But Farrington was unsure what happened.

Arkansas

Little Rock: Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday said he was refusing most of $146 million in federal pandemic rental assistance the state was to receive, citing the state’s low unemployment rate and economic climate. With Hutchinson’s decision, Arkansas joins Nebraska in turning down the latest round of pandemic rental assistance funds. Hutchinson, a Republican, asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that the state be allowed to use 39% of the funds — about $60 million — for “housing stability” programs offered by nonprofit groups that would include job training, education and treatment as well as some rental assistance. Arkansas still has about $20 million from the first round of rental assistance that was given to states. “Our economy has returned, there’s jobs aplenty out there and we have existing programs in place for rental assistance that were pre-pandemic,” Hutchinson told reporters at a news conference at the Capitol.

California

Los Angeles: Nearly 2,000 homeless people died in Los Angeles County during the first year of the pandemic, an increase of 56% from the previous year, driven mainly by drug overdoses, authorities said. The findings released Friday in a report from the county’s Department of Public Health showed that despite initial fears, the coronavirus itself was not the main culprit in deaths among California’s largest-in-the-nation unhoused population. But it did cut people off from mental health and substance abuse treatment after services were drastically reduced to prevent the spread of the virus. Between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, the county recorded 1,988 deaths of homeless people, up from 1,271 deaths during the same period a year earlier, the report said. During both of those years, drug overdoses were the leading cause of death, but they increased by 78% in the pandemic’s first year. In the pre-pandemic year, the Department of Public Health reported 402 fatal overdoses. In the year after the outbreak, the number nearly doubled to 715, the report said. The report found that 179 homeless people died from COVID-19 during the pandemic’s first year. A San Francisco study released last month showed similar findings: Between March 2020 and March 2021, there were 331 homeless deaths recorded in San Francisco, more than twice the number of any previous year, with the leading cause of death being drug overdose, according to a study conducted by the University of California San Francisco and the city’s Department of Public Health.

Colorado

Fort Collins: Heading into what experts speculate may be one of the worst summers of wildfire the state has seen, Gov. Jared Polis and state fire officials are preparing for the future. “We are vastly improving our year-round fire response, expanding our arsenal of world-class firefighting tools and continuing to activate every tool we have to help our communities prepare for and respond to the threat of wildfires and climate change,” Polis said in a press release Friday. In the past two years, Colorado has experienced the three largest wildfires in state history – the Cameron Peak Fire, the East Troublesome Fire and the Pine Gulch Fire – and just five months ago it saw the most destructive fire in state history, the Marshall Fire. Just last week brought wildfires in Monte Vista, near Longmont; between Gypsum and Dotsero, in Custer County; and northeast of Las Animas, according to state officials. “Colorado could very well be headed towards the worst wildfire season in the state’s history. We need to take action,” state Senate President Steve Fenberg said. He is supporting legislation that would invest $15 million in first responders and communities to improve the state’s emergency dispatch system and add a second air tanker and two high-quality helicopters. The bill would also create the Office of Climate Preparedness.

Connecticut

New London: The recent appearance of two cruise ships in the city has raised hopes that Connecticut might stand to benefit from the return of an industry decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The two ships, part of American Queen Voyages, were on a tour of the East Coast and Canada and were the first cruise ships to stop in New London in four years. Both are scheduled to stop in New London on the way back south in the fall. The ships each brought about 90 passengers and 75 crew members and were met with gift bags, discounts in local restaurants and a driving tour of the city. Connecticut also has deep-water ports in New Haven and Bridgeport that can handle large ships, but the state often isn’t seen as a cruise destination. “It’s encouraging that with the industry just really trying to make a comeback, they picked New London,” Mayor Michael Passero told the New Haven Register. Connecticut ports could benefit from Canada’s reopening its own ports to cruises after two years, as well as from industry trends toward more domestic routes and smaller ships that cater to an older clientele, said Chris Gray Faust, managing editor of consumer review site Cruise Critic. “There has been a pivot toward more domestic cruises,” Gray Faust told the newspaper. “Some of these ports are ones that you don’t think of as cruise ports, necessarily.”

Delaware

New Castle: The Wall That Heals, a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, is returning to the First State on Tuesday. The Vietnam War memorial will be escorted by Delaware State Police and veterans on motorcycles to New Castle, where it will be met by students and volunteers at Southern Elementary School about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday and at William Penn High school about 2:30 p.m. The Wall That Heals is a mobile exhibit that features a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The replica, built in 1996, stands 7 feet 6 inches high at its tallest point and 375 feet long. Similar to the original, it is erected in a chevron shape and allows visitors to do name rubbings of individual service members’ names. Visitors can also experience the Wall rising above them as they walk toward the apex, a key feature of the Washington memorial. After arrival at William Penn High School – the first school in the nation to host the wall – the setup will begin Wednesday. The Wall will be open to the public 24 hours a day, starting Friday and ending Sunday at 2 p.m. More than 100 volunteers are needed to guard the wall, help with parking and assist with events in the coming days. An opening ceremony begins at 9 a.m. Thursday with a Prisoner of War keynote speaker. A candlelight vigil will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday to read the names of Hometown Heroes from the exhibit with a procession along the wall and a 21-gun salute.

District of Columbia

Washington: Jon Stewart, accepting the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, warned Sunday night that speculation about the future of comedy amid increased audience cultural sensitivity was ignoring a true and enduring threat: authoritarian governments around the world. “Comedy doesn’t change the world, but it’s a bellwether,” Stewart said. “When a society feels under threat, comedians are who gets sent away first.” Stewart pointed in the audience to Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef, whose Stewart-inspired political comedy show earned him both fame and self-imposed exile. Youssef’s story is “an example of the true threat to comedy,” Stewart said. The intersection of comedy and politics was the main theme as celebrities and comedy royalty gathered to honor Stewart, who set the modern template for mixing the topics during his 16-year run hosting TV’s “The Daily Show.” Stewart, the 23rd recipient of the prize, was honored in testimonials from fellow comedians and previous Mark Twain Prize recipients. And his political influence was apparent Sunday from a guest list that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and White House press secretary Jen Psaki. This was the first Mark Twain ceremony since Dave Chappelle’s in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic scuttled the event in 2020 and 2021.

Florida

Fort Lauderdale: The judge overseeing jury selection for a man who murdered 17 people at a high school declared Monday that the process will start over, conceding she should have questioned 11 potential jurors who said they would not follow the law before she dismissed them. In granting the motion filed by Nikolas Cruz’s prosecutors over the strong objection of his attorneys, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer nullified two weeks of work by prosecution and defense lawyers, forcing them to begin the entire process anew Monday. As a result, almost 250 potential jurors who had said they could sit for a four-month trial will not be called back next month for further questioning. More than 1,200 candidates had been screened. Prosecutor Carolyn McCann made her argument after miscommunication caused 11 jurors who were improperly dismissed by Scherer two weeks ago not to be told to return to court Monday as had been planned for further questioning. Scherer said they would be brought in next week, but McCann argued that more time would be wasted if it turned out the potential jurors had to be struck anyway. She said the prosecution has just as much right to question potential jurors and to an untainted final panel as the defense. “This is not harmless error,” McCann said.

Georgia

Savannah: Officials have put the brakes on the city’s largest road race. The Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon has brought tens of thousands of runners to Georgia’s picturesque founding city since first adding Savannah to its race roster in 2011. But Mayor Van Johnson said the city won’t be granting marathon organizers a permit or paying the $25,000 contract fee this year. Organizers released a statement saying a comeback in 2023 appears unlikely. They had intended to return to Savannah this fall, and runners had been registering for the race before City Hall announced its decision. Johnson told news outlets Savannah needs a break from the marathon to evaluate whether it’s worth the cost – not just in taxpayer money for sanitation and extra police but also in hassles to residents and businesses affected by street closures. He said the city has recouped “a relatively very small percentage” of what it has spent on the event. Visit Savannah, the city’s tourism bureau, reported the 2019 marathon had an economic impact of $23 million. Michael Owens, president of Savannah’s Tourism Leadership Council, said the race gave the city’s hospitality industry a needed shot in the arm during what’s otherwise a slow period for tourists right before the holidays. “To be honest with you, it’s devastating,” Owens told WTOC-TV. “I’ve gotten more phone calls about this than anything. I’ve gotten more calls about the cancellation of Rock ’n’ Roll than I did in the beginning of the pandemic.”

Hawaii

Wahiawa: The only skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility in central Oahu expects to close this summer. Wahiawa General Hospital said it plans to close its long-term nursing center July 22, citing insufficient insurance reimbursements and continued financial challenges, Hawaii News Now reports. It’s also been struggling to hire and retain staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wahiawa General, a small independent hospital, had received millions in taxpayers dollars to keep it afloat in the past, but it is still losing over a million dollars a year. It also doesn’t have the money to improve existing facilities, such as the long-term nursing center, which was built in 1966. Hospital administrators said many of the patients in Wahiawa are covered by the Supplemental Security Income program or Medicaid, which have low reimbursement rates. The long-term care center has 115 beds, according to its website. It currently has 60 patients. John McDermott, the state’s long-term care ombudsman, said Hawaii can’t afford to lose nursing homes, especially when the state’s senior population is increasing so rapidly. The nearest alternatives for skilled nursing and rehabilitation are in Kaneohe and Pearl City. Wahiawa General is giving 90 days’ notice and helping to relocate patients.

Idaho

Lewiston: Jurors convicted a 17-year-old boy of first-degree murder after about three hours of deliberation Thursday. Demetri Ewing and his father Clyde Ewing were both charged with first-degree murder in connection with the Jan. 8, 2021, shooting death of Samuel Johns, The Lewiston Tribune reports. Clyde Ewing has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled to begin May 16. Ewing, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, was charged as an adult and could face up to life in prison when he is sentenced in June. During Demetri Ewing’s nearly two-week trial, Nez Perce County prosecutors said the father and son were in the midst of a family dispute over a missing gun and an Army bag that had belonged to Clyde Ewing’s late father. Prosecutors said the pair believed the bag had been left at Johns’ home, so they left their motel in Clarkston, Washington, and rode bicycles to Johns’ residence in the neighboring town of Lewiston, Idaho. Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman said the Ewings used zipper-style cable ties to bind the hands of a woman in the home, and that one of them shot and killed Johns. Under Idaho law, prosecutors are not required to prove which defendant killed someone, only that a person was killed in the process of another planned felony like a burglary.

Illinois

Chicago: A man seen on video wheeling a bulky suitcase out of a woman’s apartment has been acquitted of murder. Cook County Judge Diana Kenworthy noted a lack of evidence against Jimmy Jackson, 75, and said the video was not enough to convict him. Daisy Hayes, 65, disappeared in 2018. Family members were stunned by the verdict Friday. “All I could do is scream and just run out the courtroom – like, what didn’t you see?” daughter Teresa Smith said of the video. Jackson, 75, and Hayes, 65, had an intermittent relationship. “You see him struggling with this suitcase. You see him actually put the suitcase in the dumpster. You actually see him take garbage from other dumpsters to put on top of her so it can be concealed,” Smith said. Jackson was arrested in Tennessee after Daisy disappeared.

Indiana

Indianapolis: Local native and 12-time Grammy-winning singer and producer Babyface will headline the Madam Walker Legacy Center on June 17 as part of a weekend­long Juneteenth celebration at the historic theater. Tours of the newly remodeled center, a family-friendly outdoor block party and other musical performances will be spread throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Babyface, whose given name is Kenneth Edmonds, will also be inducted into the Madam Walker Legacy Center Walk of Fame. His credits include some 250 top-10 R&B and pop hits, working with the likes of Beyoncé, Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston. He last performed in Indianapolis on the free stage of the Indiana State Fair in August.

Iowa

Des Moines: The local school district plans to hold a series of discussions to address school violence following a shooting outside East High School last month. The five public meetings will give the school community a chance to talk about concerns related to violence in schools and communities and how to begin healing from the shooting death of Jose Lopez-Perez, 15. While Des Moines Public Schools is hosting the events, outside community groups will guide the conversations. Lopez-Perez was shot and killed outside the school March 7. Also injured were East High School students Kemery Ortega, 18, and Jessica Lopez, 16. Ten teenagers have been charged with Lopez-Perez’s death and the shooting. The meetings’ topics will be guided using information gleaned from earlier conversations with student following the shooting. East High School students focused their discussion on student health and well-being, school climate, culture, and safety, said Madeline Cano, the East community school coordinator. Students also said they wanted to see the school “bounce back from COVID.” The community school coordinators help support students and families within Des Moines schools and the community.

Kansas

Kansas City: A Wyandotte County judge struck down a GOP-authored congressional map enacted earlier this year and ordered the Legislature to take steps to address what he considered to be gerrymandered district lines. It is the first time a state-level judge has waded into redistricting for the U.S. House, though the ruling is all but certain to be appealed, setting up a showdown at the Kansas Supreme Court. Wyandotte County District Court Judge Bill Klapper called the maps passed over the veto of Gov. Laura Kelly earlier this year “motivated at least in part by an intent to dilute minority voting strength” and said state courts had the right to take up redistricting cases. Three lawsuits were filed challenging the map, arguing the new district lines illicitly divide the Kansas City area and improperly place Lawrence in the sweeping 1st Congressional District dominated by western Kansas. Supporters say the decision to divide Wyandotte and Johnson counties, as well as splitting Kansas City between the 3rd and 2nd districts, was born out of simple math, with population growing in the region. But critics argue the endeavor amounted to nothing more than racial and political gerrymandering, something cited by Klapper in his 200-plus-page opinion that quoted everything from the French philosopher Montesquieu to folk music.

Kentucky

Louisville: An arson unit is investigating after a fire destroyed a synagogue and worship center on the final day of Passover. Rabbi Avrohom Litvin, regional director of Chabad of Kentucky, said the blaze started as a grease fire in a building adjoining Louisville’s Chabad House early Saturday, WDRB-TV reports. Firefighters brought it under control, but it apparently rekindled around noon, and the Chabad House caught fire. Litvin said the Chabad House was quickly engulfed in flames, and the roof collapsed. No one was injured, but the sanctuary and nearly everything in it was destroyed, Litvin said. Only the Torah scrolls were rescued, having been removed that morning for an off-site remembrance service due to electricity being cut off at the synagogue. Litvin said it was a “miracle” the 75 congregants – including 25 children – were not in the synagogue at the time of the larger fire and in harm’s way. “There’s a story of a man who was on his way to a big vacation, and he breaks his leg, and he feels so bad that God let his leg be broken just before his vacation,” he said. “And then he reads that the plane went down, and he says, ‘God saved my life by breaking my leg.’ “So I absolutely see the hand of God here. ... Yes, this leg got broken; the core of the building is gone. But we can rebuild the building.” Litvin said officials told him they have not uncovered any evidence of arson, though their investigation is ongoing, including determining if the second fire was a reignition of the first.

Louisiana

New Orleans: A small, historically Black university known for its success in getting graduates into medical school announced Thursday that it is now planning its own medical school. The coronavirus pandemic emphasized the need for greater diversity in medicine because representation and trust are part of the reasons for health disparities affecting underrepresented populations, said Reynold Verret, president of Xavier University of Louisiana. “Xavier was founded with the mission of promoting the creation of a just and humane society through education,” he said in a news release announcing plans for a medical school and graduate school of health sciences in New Orleans. “The establishment of graduate education programs dedicated to the preparation of more black healthcare professionals is a natural extension of our foundress’ legacy as we approach our second century of service. It is also where we are called to answer a critical need of our nation.” For decades, the Catholic school founded in 1925 has graduated more African American students and students of color who go on to get medical degrees and health doctorates than any other higher education institution in the U.S., the news release said.

Maine

Augusta: Democratic Gov. Janet Mills asked tribal chiefs and legislative leaders in a letter made public Monday to drop their effort to amend a 1980 land settlement deal that gave the state of Maine some governmental power over tribes. Mills said the proposal to expand tribal sovereignty could be a setback in tribal relations with her administration, instead of building on recent successes. “I do not wish to have a confrontation,” she wrote in the letter. “It would serve no constructive purpose and only inflame emotions on all sides of the discussion.” The letter was written Thursday night, the day before the bill failed to advance in the appropriations committee. Maggie Dana, chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point, said previously she hoped the governor would be “on the right side of history” and agree to the long-sought changes. For the tribes, it has been a long, frustrating battle since they traded some rights to the state under the $81.5 million Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1980, signed by President Jimmy Carter. Because of the settlement, tribes in Maine have less autonomy than tribes elsewhere across the country, and their reservations are treated like municipalities, subject to state law. Critics of extending tribal sovereignty feared there could be unintended consequences and further litigation if that changed.

Maryland

Salisbury: A potentially lucrative revenue stream for struggling commercial fishermen and women could become a reality as the state begins to research a shrimp fishery in Maryland’s warming waters. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Mary Beth Carozza, R-Worcester, would allow the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to establish a shrimp fishery pilot program for certain commercial licenses. “As a lifelong commercial fisherman, I have seen changes to our environment, our fisheries and our livelihood,” said Sonny Gwin, a fisherman based in Ocean City. “An abundant amount of shrimp has been seen in Maryland waters, both in the Atlantic Ocean and its tributaries. We would like to have the opportunity to participate.” Gwin said the first step in diversifying the industry on the Delmarva Peninsula is understanding the impact it could have. Warming waters in the Atlantic Ocean are among the reasons much of the seafood caught off Maryland’s coast is becoming more diverse. White shrimp, which typically thrive in the Gulf of Mexico and south Atlantic Ocean, used to only venture as far north as North Carolina in any significant numbers. But as water temperatures rise off the coast of Maryland, shrimp have moved farther north.

Massachusetts

Nantucket: Scientists at MIT are proposing releasing hordes of genetically altered mice on the posh vacation destination of Nantucket to combat the growing scourge of Lyme disease. Researchers with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab’s Mice Against Ticks project explained their plan to residents of the island off Cape Cod at a recent meeting, The Boston Globe reports. The scientists said hundreds of thousands of native white-footed mice engineered to resist the bacteria that causes Lyme could help slow disease transmission. They say if Lyme were less prevalent among mice, then fewer ticks would contract the disease, leading to less cases among humans. The proposal would require review from regulators, not to mention local support, but Joanna Buchthal, the project’s research director, argues the idea offers a “real, if revolutionary, way” to address the disease. “With so many people suffering from Lyme every single day, which is an awful disease, we need a solution urgently,” she told the newspaper. Nantucket is one of Massachusetts’ hot spots for Lyme disease, which is now the most common infectious disease on the island, the Globe reports. Incidents of Lyme disease have nearly doubled nationwide since 1991, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Michigan

Taylor: A person taking part in a suburban Detroit police training program suffered a gunshot wound and was hospitalized, Michigan State Police said. The shooting happened Sunday afternoon during the exercise at a Taylor city park for the city’s volunteer auxiliary police program. The civilian was a “role player” in a training scenario when an auxiliary officer in the training fired a shot from his service revolver, hitting the person in the abdomen, state police said. The person was taken to a hospital in stable condition. State police investigators were reviewing the shooting at the request of Taylor police. The volunteers with Taylor’s auxiliary police assist the city police force during emergencies and help with other duties such as home and business checks and anti-crime programs, according to the city website.

Minnesota

Crookston: Volunteers and National Guard members in northwestern Minnesota spent two days sandbagging to fortify the city from an expected record flood along the Red Lake River. Gov. Tim Walz authorized 100 members of the Guard to assist with the flood fight after heavy rains forced the the tributary of the Red River to spill its banks. At least 50 Guard members were on hand over the weekend to aid efforts through Sunday. The National Weather Service has been predicting the Red Lake River to near 29 feet Monday or Tuesday. The record high water mark was 28.4 feet in 1997. No injuries or damages have been reported, and the city has not asked anyone to evacuate, Crookston Police Chief Darin Selzler said. Officials were switching from a sandbagging to monitoring stage late Sunday, the Crookston Times reports. Several counties in the northwestern Minnesota region have declared local emergencies and activated their emergency plans, according to Walz’s office. Many county roads were covered with water or washed out, and officials warned motorists about attempting to drive through flooded areas. The Red Lake River flows into the Red River at East Grand Forks and Grand Forks, North Dakota, where officials from both cities have started to activate permanent flood protection measures.

Mississippi

Jackson: The state is enacting a new law that says state and local government agencies cannot withhold services or refuse jobs to people who choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The ban applies to state agencies, city and county governments and schools, community colleges and universities. COVID-19 vaccination mandates have not been widespread in Mississippi, but some lawmakers said they were acting against the possibility of government overreach. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Friday that he had signed House Bill 1509, and it became law immediately. “Government shouldn’t be in the business of forcing Americans to choose between the COVID-19 vaccine & putting food on their tables, sending their kids to school, or visiting a small business,” Reeves said on Twitter. The law specifies that COVID-19 vaccinations cannot be required for children to attend school or day care. It does not change Mississippi’s other childhood vaccination requirements, which are some of most stringent in the nation. The law also says anyone in Mississippi can cite “a sincerely held religious objection” to avoid a public or private employer’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

Missouri

Jefferson City: A bill approved by the state Senate would impose limits on Missouri’s public records law to exclude certain types of documents and communications and no longer classify some meetings of elected officials as “public.” Senate Bill 741 was initially designed to limit personal information of constituents from being public in records requested by members of the public but was amended Thursday by Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-St. Louis, to include a litany of other adjustments to the Missouri Sunshine Law. The law allows for members of the public, press and other organizations to request and acquire government documents. Under the bill, documents and communications “that do not have substantial administrative or operational value” would not be considered public records and could thus be made unobtainable through a request. “A lot of times when you’re working on a bill, you’re going to go through many drafts, and you want to be able to think out loud with your staff a little bit, and it might not even be a good idea,” Koenig said. “When it’s not a working document, I think it’s appropriate for that to not necessarily be public.” The legislation allows the state to close any document kept by lawmakers and staff “that contains information regarding proposed legislation or the legislative process.”

Montana

Helena: A judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of a state law that required transgender people to have undergone a “surgical procedure” before being allowed to change the sex listed on their birth certificates. District Judge Michael Moses of Billings ruled Thursday that the law is unconstitutionally vague because it does not specify what surgical procedure must be performed. The law also required transgender people to obtain a court order indicating they’d had a surgical procedure. Because he could grant the temporary injunction based on the vagueness issue, Moses said he did not further analyze the constitutionality of the law. “We are thrilled that the court recognized the substantial and unnecessary burdens this law places upon transgender individuals in violation of their constitutional rights,” said Akilah Lane, staff attorney at the ACLU of Montana, which challenged the law. The plaintiffs – Amelia Marquez, of Billings, and a transgender man who is not identified in court records – wanted to change the sex on their birth certificates without undergoing costly surgical procedures. Both argue having a birth certificate that does not match their gender identity puts them at risk of embarrassment, discrimination, harassment or violence if they are asked to provide their birth certificate.

Nebraska

Omaha: Google says it will invest more than $750 million in the state in 2022, including construction of a data center in Omaha. The Omaha World-Herald reports the investment also includes an expansion of Google’s existing data center in Papillion. Company leaders did not provide specific financial details for that or any of the other projects during an event with elected leaders in Papillion. The new northwest Omaha data center will be the third Google data center to open in the region. Along with the facility in Papillion, Google has one in Council Bluffs. The Nebraska projects are part of Google’s investment of about $9.5 billion in offices and data centers across the U.S. A company official said Google didn’t have any job figures for the Omaha area.

Nevada

Reno: An electric scooter sharing program years in the making has finally launched. The City Council approved an exclusive three-year franchising deal with Bird, a company that partners with cities to provide e-scooters and e-bikes. On Thursday, city officials and Bird representatives met for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the official start of the program, which aims to bolster “micromobility” transport options downtown and in Midtown. Bird’s e-scooter fleet will deploy in phases over the next eight weeks, with the full fleet reaching approximately 1,000 scooters, a schedule released by City Council shows. The program operates at no cost to the city, which will receive a cut of every scooter ride around town. Riders will pay $1 to start the vehicle and 39 cents a minute thereafter, with Reno receiving 25 cents per ride and $20 per scooter in registration fees, though certain riders can get a 50% discount. The Bird deal has been years in the making as the city opted for a cautious approach to reimplementing an electric vehicle sharing program after its first partner, Lime, saw its electric bikes vandalized at the rate of nine per week in 2018.

New Hampshire

Concord: The state Senate has killed a proposed expansion of New Hampshire’s education tax credit program, arguing it would diminish the benefits for current beneficiaries. House Bill 1298 would have raised the upper income limit for the state’s tax credit scholarship program from 300% of the federal poverty level to 500%. Created in 2013, the program provides scholarships for students by allowing businesses to donate to the scholarship fund that administers the program and receive a credit on their business taxes. The scholarships may be used for private school tuition. Advocates for the bill had argued that the expansion would allow the program to boost families in the middle class. Currently, the program can benefit any family of four making up to $83,250 per year; expanding it would allow a family of four making up to $138,750 to access the funds. But a bipartisan group of state senators said the expansion would only mean more students would be competing for the same pool of funds donated by businesses. “The (Senate education) committee heard concerns about the neediest of students receiving less funding from this tax credit program as this bill would open the pool to a larger population of students,” said Sen. Denise Ricciardi, R-Bedford Republican.

New Jersey

Ocean City: The developers of a wind energy farm off the southern New Jersey coast said Monday they have hired two companies to connect the project to the electrical grid on land. Ocean Wind 1 has signed contracts with companies that will build electrical substations on land and run power lines from the offshore wind farm to the onshore connection points. Ocean Wind 1 – a joint venture between Orsted, the Danish wind power company, and Newark-based PSEG – hired JINGOLI Power LLC and Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company Inc. The moves come as New Jersey is working aggressively to become the East Coast hub of the fast-growing offshore wind energy industry. In February, six companies bid a combined $4.37 billion for the right to build wind energy projects on the ocean floor off New Jersey and New York in the U.S. government’s largest such auction in history. Before that happened, New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities approved three offshore wind energy projects: two by Orsted and one by Atlantic Shores. Those three projects combined aim to provide enough electricity to power more than 1.6 million homes. The Ocean Wind 1 project is among those three and could provide enough power for 500,000 homes.

New Mexico

Carlsbad: State environmental regulators are reviewing plans submitted by Mosaic Potash to investigate and define the extent of groundwater contamination from discharges associated with potash mining along the Pecos River in southern New Mexico. The state Environment Department announced earlier this month that contamination had been detected in nearby groundwater monitoring wells between the company’s Laguna Grande lake and the river. As a result, the company was required to submit a plan for monitoring and dealing with the pollution. Potash mining is a main economic driver in Eddy County. A salt rich in potassium, potash is used mostly as a plant fertilizer and in animal feed. Carlsbad was the site of potash’s first discovery in North America in 1925 during oil drilling. The discovery led to a boom in development in the former ranching town that predated the area’s prominence in fossil fuels. Mosaic’s mine, about 16 miles east of Carlsbad, produces the ore both through its underground mining and via surface operations. Waste resulting from mining the ore is moved around the facility into multiple disposal areas, potentially leeching into groundwater supplies. Extracting potash from underground generates tailings that are disposed of along with salty brine water.

New York

New York: Several dozen teachers and other school employees in the city who officials said submitted fraudulent proof of COVID-19 vaccination were placed on leave as of Monday. The United Federation of Teachers is challenging the disciplinary action, which it says violates its collective bargaining agreement. The employees in question were placed on leave after investigators determined they had provided false vaccine cards, a spokesperson for the city Department of Education said. “Fraudulent vaccination cards are not only illegal, they also undermine the best line of protection our schools have against COVID-19 – universal adult vaccination,” the spokesperson, Nathaniel Styer, said in a statement. “We immediately moved to put these employees – fewer than 100 – on leave without pay.” A COVID-19 vaccination mandate took effect for New York City school employees last fall and was later expanded to include all city employees. The school vaccination rule was a key component of the city’s policy of opening all classrooms to in-person learning this academic year, rather than offering a remote option as some school districts did. The UFT said in a notice of claim that about 82 members were notified last week they were being placed on unpaid leave because they’d provided false proof of vaccination.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr., the key player in an absentee ballot fraud probe that led to a do-over congressional election, has died. His daughter, Andrea Dowless Heverly, wrote that her father “passed away peacefully” Sunday morning, according to a social media post. He had been diagnosed with an advanced form of lung cancer and died at his daughter’s home in Bladen County, his friend Jay DeLancy said. Dowless was in his mid-60s. The political operative was set to go on trial this summer on more than a dozen state criminal counts related to absentee ballot activities for the 2016 general election and the 2018 primary and general elections. A half-dozen others were also charged. Witnesses told state officials that Dowless, with help of his assistants, gathered hundreds of absentee ballots from Bladen County in 2018. Those workers testified they were directed to collect blank or incomplete ballots, forge signatures on them and even fill in votes for local candidates. The 2018 general election results for the 9th Congressional District were ultimately thrown out, and a new vote for the seat was ordered by the State Board of Elections, following an inquiry. Dowless was working in the 2018 congressional race for then-Republican candidate Mark Harris. No charges were filed against Harris.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Secretary of State Al Jaeger has approved the formatting of a petition for a proposed ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. The sponsoring committee behind the petition must obtain 15,582 valid signatures by July 11 for the measure to be placed on November’s ballot. That figure amounts to 2% of North Dakota’s population. If supporters miss that deadline but obtain the signatures by April 21, 2023, the measure could be placed on the June 2024 ballot or come to a vote if a special election occurs before then. The proposed measure seeks to allow people age 21 or older to purchase and use marijuana under certain conditions, the Bismarck Tribune reports. It also sets up the framework for the sale of marijuana within North Dakota, a process that would be implemented by the state Department of Health and Human Services or another entity as determined by the Legislature. The department could register up to seven marijuana manufacturing businesses and 18 dispensaries. Similar petition drives have failed twice in recent years to gather enough signatures to place a measure on the ballot.

Ohio

Columbus: State regulation of streams that flow temporarily after rainfall will be restricted under legislation signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Construction companies, the mining industry and other business groups say removing so-called ephemeral streams from regulation would make Ohio’s practice consistent with federal law. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency created a permitting system for development projects affecting ephemeral streams after the government removed them from federal oversight in 2020 and left their regulation up to states. The EPA says about 36,500 miles of the state’s 115,200 miles of primary headwater streams are ephemeral streams. DeWine signed the bill last week, saying it strikes a balance between protecting state waterways and providing consistency in state regulations to support economic development. Environmental groups largely opposed the legislation, saying the streams play an important role in maintaining water quality. They also questioned why Ohio would remove the streams from regulation at the same time it’s spending millions to improve water quality under DeWine’s H2Ohio initiative.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: After calling for the disestablishment of a tribal reservation in eastern Oklahoma and criticizing the lingering impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court’s McGirt decision, a candidate for the 2nd Congressional District is receiving pushback from tribal leaders. John Bennett, 47, who is stepping away from his post as chairman of Oklahoma’s Republican Party to seek a seat in Congress, said he believes the court’s ruling continues to be an issue for law enforcement and needs to be reversed. “Congress needs to go back, and they need to de-establish the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation. I say once they do that, then they can carry on as they have, you know, all of these years,” Bennett told the Washington Examiner last week. “So when I get to Congress, this will be one of my priorities because it hurts everyone in my district, tribal and nontribal.” The Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Tribes, which includes the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Muscogee Nations, said the anti-tribal rhetoric should not be welcome in Washington. In a statement signed by each of the tribes’ leaders, the group condemned Bennett’s comments for ignoring ongoing efforts to expand criminal justice systems alongside state and federal partners. They also said the call for a McGirt reversal is an attack on tribal sovereignty.

Oregon

Clatskanie: An investigator has determined that Clatskanie High School girls basketball players in northwest Oregon “more likely than not” used racist language against members of the De La Salle team during a December game. As a result, Clastkanie has been placed on probation by the Oregon School Activities Association until mid-February 2023, The Daily News reports. The association said the high school team’s players and coaches must engage with a guest speaker about equity and inclusion before next season, among other measures, and all Clatskanie student athletes and coaches must complete racial equity training and implicit bias training. A press release from Clatskanie High School athletic director and dean of students Ryan Tompkins on Wednesday confirmed the findings of the report more than two months after it was completed. Tompkins said the high school is prepared to meet the probation requirements. De La Salle North High School President Oscar Leong said he believes the drawn-out process of the investigation has resulted in positive change for student-athletes across Oregon. Additionally, the investigation found that Clatskanie school staff and referees assigned by the Lower Columbia Officials Association failed to address concerns about racially charged language after they were brought up during the game.

Pennsylvania

Dillsburg: A school board has denied a resident’s request form an After School Satan Club at Northern Elementary School. Hundreds from the community filled the auditorium for the Northern York County School District board meeting last week and erupted into applause when the votes were taken on the issue. Only board member Thomas Welch voted in favor of the club. The evening had more than two hours of citizen comments, with the majority opposed to the adoption of the club. Many comments focused on the age of the children the club would target, the cultural and biblical issues, and the content on the Satanic Temple’s website for the program. Many of the residents spent the evening rallying the crowd and quoting Christian scripture, saying regardless of any laws that allow freedom of speech, proposing the club is morally wrong. One said the introduction of the club would contribute to a social decline in school. “So nobody benefits from having an After School Satan Club, whether it be those who are against them or those who are in favor of them, because Satan always does harm all the time. That, philosophically, has been proven,” a resident asserted. There were some voices in support, saying that they understood the concerns but that the formation of the club was a constitutional right.

Rhode Island

Providence: The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up a conservative advocacy group’s challenge to the state’s campaign finance laws. The Gaspee Project and national conservative legal groups appealed to the high court after two lower federal courts ruled against their 2019 lawsuit arguing Rhode Island’s campaign finance disclosure laws are unconstitutional. The Supreme Court denied Gaspee’s appeal petition Monday, according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and the Campaign Legal Center, which defended the state’s campaign finance laws in the case. “To reduce political corruption, we need real transparency about who is spending big money in elections and to that end, voters in Rhode Island have a right to know who is attempting to influence their votes,” Campaign Legal Center Senior Vice President Paul Smith said in a news release. “This denial of review from the Supreme Court of the United States means that vital right will remain in place and continue to enable Rhode Islanders to be well-informed before heading into the voting booth.” The 2019 lawsuit from Gaspee and the Illinois Opportunity Project sought to strike down Rhode Island’s disclosure laws around “independent expenditures,” spending to influence an election that is not coordinated with any campaign.

South Carolina

York: A county is suing two cities inside its border, saying they are refusing to keep up with a deal to pay $73 per day to house jail inmates from the cities. York County said it will continue to take inmates from Rock Hill and Tega Cay until the court rules, The Herald of Rock Hill reports. Rock Hill officials said they don’t mind paying a fair fee, but York County has failed to give a detailed assessment of how it came up with a $73-a-day cost per inmate. The county originally wanted to charge $100 but lowered the assessment after Rock Hill asked for details, the city said in a statement. Documents obtained by the newspaper showed the cities were paying about $43 a day per inmate before the fees were increased. York County said other cities in the county like Fort Mill, Clover and the city of York have signed an agreement to pay the $73 fee. York County is asking a judge to decide if the county, which is legally required to have a jail, has to take inmates from cities without a written agreement on fees. Rock Hill officials said their residents and businesses pay York County $7.9 million in property taxes that help run the jail and the sheriff’s office.

South Dakota

Pierre: Despite an annual $15 million given to the Bridge Improvement Grant program and other additional funding focused on bridges, the state continues to tread water when it comes to how quickly work is done, leaving hundreds of bridges requiring “high priority” corrective repairs and dozens closed. An analysis of data through the Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inspection program focused on the vast amount of data that FHA collects on the nation’s bridges, looking at data from 2015 and the most recent data from 2021. To some, the bridge program, as well as other aspects of the 2015 transportation package, haven’t panned out the way they were supposed to. “I know I’m sounding a little bit negative about it, but I feel like we got duped a little bit,” Brown County Highway Superintendent Dirk Rogers said. The BIG program was created as a collaboration between the state and local governments. To be eligible to participate, counties had to enact local wheel taxes on vehicles so they had a source of local funds in the program. Since 2015, 37 counties have added a wheel tax, according to the South Dakota Department of Revenue, and only six counties in the state don’t have a wheel tax.

Tennessee

Nashville: The state will soon add harsh penalties against public schools that allow transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports, under legislation signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Lee. Lee quietly signed the proposal last Friday without comment. The governor had previously signed a measure last year mandating that student-athletes must prove their sex matches that listed on the student’s “original” birth certificate. If a birth certificate is unavailable, then the parents must provide another form of evidence “indicating the student’s sex at the time of birth.” This year, the GOP-controlled Legislature decided to add penalties to that ban, which is in effect even as a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality makes it way through court. A trial has been tentatively set for March 2023. According to the bill, Tennessee’s Department of Education would withhold a portion of state funds from local school districts that fail to determine a student’s gender for participation in middle or high school sports. The measure does not specify exactly how much money should be withheld by the state. The bill will go into effect July 1. “Telling transgender students that they can’t participate as who they really are amounts to excluding them from sports entirely – depriving them of opportunities available to their peers and sending the message that they are not worthy of a full life,” Henry Seaton, ACLU of Tennessee’s transgender justice advocate, said in a statement.

Texas

Eagle Pass: Search crews on Monday recovered the body of a Texas National Guard member who went missing after jumping in the river on the U.S.-Mexico border to help a migrant who was struggling to swim across. The body of Spc. Bishop Evans was found three days after he was reported missing in the Rio Grande near the border city of Eagle Pass. The local sheriff has said Evans jumped into the river without his jacket or radio to help a woman who appeared in distress while trying to swim over from Mexico. “Our National Guard soldiers risk their lives every day to serve and protect others and we are eternally grateful for the way SPC Evans heroically served his state and country,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement Monday. The body was found near the boat ramp of a bridge in Eagle Pass, said Democratic state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, whose district includes Eagle Pass. Migrant rescues are common in the river along the Texas border, and the attempted crossings are also sometimes deadly. Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber said the bodies of as many as two migrants a week are sometimes found along his county’s section of the river. Evans was assigned to Abbott’s sprawling border mission known as Operation Lone Star. Gutierrez said Evans is at least the fifth Guard member known to have died during the mission that began last year. He called for an inquest into their deaths.

Utah

Cedar City: Four people were killed when a single-engine airplane on a sightseeing tour crashed minutes after takeoff in rural southwestern Utah, authorities said Sunday. Deputies discovered the aircraft after responding to a report of a fire just before 7 p.m. Saturday about 5 miles east of Cedar City, the Iron County Sheriff’s Office said. Pronounced dead at the scene were pilot Steven Eatchel and his wife, Lindsay Eatchel, of Springville, Utah; Thomas Eatchel, of Heber City, Utah; and Danielle Deagostini, of Sandy City, the sheriff’s office said. The National Transportation Safety Board identified the aircraft as a Diamond DA-40 and said it was investigating the crash. No cause was immediately identified. The plane earlier in the day flew from Spanish Fork to Cedar City, where it had a layover of about 2¹/₂hours at the regional airport before taking off and heading east toward some mountains for a sightseeing tour of Zion National Park, the sheriff’s office said. Radar communication with the aircraft was lost about four minutes after it took off. The position of the downed aircraft and damage to foliage at the crash site suggested it was headed west when it crashed, the sheriff’s office said.

Vermont

Burlington: The share of Vermonters living with a disability is growing quickly, yet nobody is sure just how many people fall under this category – an uncertainty that may affect how the state allocates money for support. Vermont’s population of people who have at least one disability rose nearly 10% between 2011 and 2020 to over 14% of people in the state, according to a study by Avacare Medical Blog, which analyzed 2021 U.S. Census Bureau data. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 1 in 5 adults in Vermont has at least one disability. Even higher is the figure from the Vermont Department of Health, which says 24% of Vermont adults had at least one disability as of 2019. How people are polled and how disability is defined can make it difficult to understand the true number of those living with a disability in Vermont, said Sarah Launderville, executive director of the Vermont Center for Independent Living. “I think that there’s a bunch of people who might not think that they fit into that category of disability because of the way that we look at disability in society,” Launderville said. To be considered disabled by the Social Security Administration and receive financial support, a person’s disability cannot be “partial” or “short-term,” meaning a medical condition prevents ability to work, according to the agency website. However, not all types of disabilities prevent someone from working or living independently.

Virginia

Falls Church: The Arlington County Board gave unanimous approval Saturday to Amazon’s plans to build a unique, helix-shaped tower as the centerpiece of its emerging second headquarters in northern Virginia. Amazon announced the plans in February 2021 for the eye-catching, 350-foot tower to anchor the second phase of its redevelopment plans. The new office towers will support a second headquarters for Amazon that is expected to welcome more than 25,000 workers when complete. The helix is one of several office towers granted approval, but it stands out. The spiral design features a walkable ramp wrapping around the building with trees and greenery planted to resemble a mountain hike. Amazon has said the building is designed to help people connect to nature, and the outdoor mountain climb will be open to the public on weekends. The plans have gone through the famously thorough review process of Arlington County, including numerous public hearings. Earlier this month, the county planning commission voted 9-0 to support the project. On Saturday, the County Board voted 5-0 to approve the plans. They also include park space and will accommodate a community high school, along with ground-level retail. Amazon has said it hopes to complete the project in 2025.

Washington

Olympic National Park: The Olympic Peninsula has lost 45% of its glacier coverage since 1980, according to a new study by Portland State University professor Andrew Fountain and co-authors from Washington state and British Columbia. The peninsula’s remaining 250 glaciers, which covered about 2 square miles at last estimate, should be gone in another 50 years as humanity’s pollution continues to overheat the planet, the study found. Fountain told KUOW glaciers worldwide are getting a kind of double whammy, with less snow in the winter and more melt in the summer. Beyond the fascination they provide for a small community of researchers, glaciers serve as frozen reservoirs. “These glaciers provide water during the hottest, driest parts of the year,” Fountain said. Salmon and people in glacier-fed watersheds rely on nature’s ice chests to keep rivers flowing and cool each summer. Fountain said a rapid end to fossil fuel burning could delay the glacial melt-off by a few decades. “We have to encourage our lawmakers to start enacting legislation to cut greenhouse gases,” he said. “I think, for the foreseeable future, the fate(s) of the glaciers on the Olympic Peninsula are sealed.”

West Virginia

Northfork: Several communities in the state’s southern coal fields celebrated the completion of a long-awaited project to bring clean water to local communities last week. The Elkhorn Water Project began in 2015 and included a new 400,000-gallon water storage tank on Elkhorn Mountain. The recently completed second phase brings county water to 112 McDowell County Service District customers in Upland, Kyle and Powhatan; 163 customers in Northfork and Algoma; and 101 in Keystone, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports. Many water systems in the area were installed in the early 1900s by coal companies and have been failing for years. Residents of Keystone, for example, were under a boil-water notice for more than a decade. U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., met with local and state officials Thursday to celebrate the completion of the second phase. Capito said clean drinking water is among the basic infrastructure rights, which also include good roads and broadband access.

Wisconsin

Waukesha: Five months after an SUV plowed through the crowd and killed six people at a Christmas parade, the city continues to have the tragedy in mind in legislative decisions. Various committees have studied proposals for things such as a permanent parade memorial, safety barricades and public consideration of how to address the 2022 parade. The actions complement an effort by nonprofit organizations to collect and disperse funds to aid the hundreds of victims in the parade tragedy. Waukesha’s Christmas Parade in 2021 will forever stand for the tragedy that it was, and a special commission with the city has begun to try to figure out how to memorialize those who died. The Waukesha Parade Memorial Commission has considered creating three sites: a permanent large memorial, possibly in Grebe Park, and one or two smaller sites along the parade route on Main Street. “It’s about what we can to help avoid this anytime in the future, not just for Waukesha but for any community,” said Jerry Couri, the commission’s chairman, whose business, Couri Insurance Agency, has long been a fixture on Main Street. The commission began with the expectation of having the permanent memorial in place in 14 to 15 months. Couri said members are keeping that time frame in mind as they develop ideas.

Wyoming

Casper: Conservation groups are still seeking protections for a rare plant that scuttled plans for a gypsum mine in the Bighorn Basin area, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. The Center for Biological Diversity has joined with two smaller groups in announcing plans to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if federal officials don’t finish a status review on the thick-leaf bladderpod by mid-June, saying the agency is violating its own deadlines, according to the newspaper.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: After School Satan Club, plane swap fail: News from around our 50 states