Teen climate activists, highway bagel roast, red tide: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Tuscaloosa: The city is getting $3 million in federal grant money to help remove lead contamination from low-income homes. The Tuscaloosa News reports the money will be used for safety improvements in 250 homes in the city. Tuscaloosa is the only Alabama city to receive money under a $314 million program overseen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Money is going to 77 state and local agencies nationwide. Lead paint is sometimes found in the paint that’s in older homes, and exposure to the metal can cause damage to the brain and nervous system in children. Officials in Tuscaloosa will work with housing agencies, medical and social service providers to identify homes with lead-based hazards.

Alaska

Juneau: A new report by a nonpartisan watchdog group says the U.S. Forest Service has lost nearly $600 million through its management of the Tongass National Forest. Coast Alaska reports the study by Taxpayers for Common Sense calculates the service’s losses through roadbuilding and timber sales. The report says the average net loss has been about $30 million annually over the past 20 years. The group cites a 2016 report by the Government Accountability Office detailing the average annual cost of the Tongass timber program without factoring the cost of building access roads. The group projects a net loss of at least $180 million despite the Forest Service projecting the availability of an additional 300 million feet of boards in the next four years.

Arizona

Flagstaff: A Colorado River tributary in northeastern Arizona is being eyed for power generation. A newly formed Phoenix company wants to put up dams on the Little Colorado River. Pumped Hydro Storage LLC is seeking approval from the federal government to study sites on the Navajo Nation. Nothing would happen without the tribe’s approval. Tribal President Jonathan Nez says the Navajo Nation would need to consider the impacts of the proposals on water, the economy and the environment and hear from those living in the area. Environmentalists say the protection of sacred sites, an endangered fish and the serenity of the larger Grand Canyon region is at stake. The hydropower industry says there’s renewed interest in pumped storage facilities to supplement wind and solar energy.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The mayor on Monday proposed returning local control to the city’s schools after a state plan to grant only limited authority sparked fears that the district could revert to a racially divided, “separate but equal” system 62 years after the desegregation of Central High School. Mayor Frank Scott proposed forming a temporary school board appointed by the city and state to run the district from January until a local board is elected in November 2020. Arkansas has been in control of the 23,000-student district since January 2015, when the district was taken over because of low test scores at several schools. Scott asked the state Board of Education to take up the proposal when it meets this week and said he also has discussed it with Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Education Secretary Johnny Key.

California

Sacramento: Pharmacists in the state will be able to dispense HIV prevention pills to patients without a doctor’s prescription after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Monday that supporters say will greatly reduce the spread of infection. Advocates of Senate Bill 159 say California is the first state to authorize pre-exposure prophylaxis, also called PrEP, and post-exposure prophylaxis, known as PEP, without prescriptions. California is already considered a leader in AIDS prevention, they say. PrEP is a once-daily pill for HIV-negative people, while PEP is a medication that people take to prevent the virus from taking hold. Supporters say PEP significantly reduces the risk of infection, but only if started within 72 hours of exposure to the virus. Not everyone can get to a doctor in that time frame, says Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California.

Colorado

Aurora: A group of demonstrators against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement disrupted a City Council meeting after breaking out in chants. The Sentinel reports that the Aurora City Council meeting was briefly suspended Monday after some council members left their seats while police escorted demonstrators outside. Authorities say anti-ICE protesters made multiple demands of the city during public comment, including ending the use of city resources to help ICE, prohibiting participation in ICE functions and barring police from profiling prior to making stops. Officials say the city doesn’t invest funds in private prisons, and officers do not participate in ICE arrests, according to department policy.

Connecticut

Windsor: Authorities exhumed the bodies Monday of two victims of the 1944 Hartford circus fire in the hopes of determining whether one of them is a woman who is among five people still listed as missing after the tragedy. The exhumations at Northwood Cemetery in Windsor occurred about 2 miles from the site of the big top fire that killed 168 people and injured 682 others. Forensic experts at the chief medical examiner’s office will try to determine whether one of the two unidentified women was 47-year-old Grace Fifield, of Newport, Vermont, who was never seen again after attending the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus on July 6, 1944. Officials will compare DNA samples taken from the remains to ones provided by Fifield’s granddaughter, Sandra Sumrow.

Delaware

Wilmington: Five of the state’s previous governors and two of its former chief justices are backing Gov. John Carney in his attempt to preserve a Delaware law that requires a political balance among state court judges. The former officials have filed legal briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Carney, who has asked the court to reverse a federal court decision that struck down the state constitutional provision that requires Carney to split judicial nominations and judgeships between the two major political parties. Former Govs. Jack Markell, Ruth Ann Minner, Tom Carper, Dale Wolf and Michael Castle filed a brief to back Carney. Former Delaware Chief Justices Myron T. Steele and E. Norman Veasey filed a separate brief in support of Carney. Seventeen law professors from across the country filed a third supporting brief.

District of Columbia

Washington: Lawmakers in the district are considering a tax on sugary drinks containing “natural common sweeteners.” The Washington Post reports the bill proposed Monday by council member Brianne K. Nadeau would levy a 1.5 cent-per-ounce excise tax on the sweet drinks. It wouldn’t apply to alcohol, milk, all-natural juices or drinks with artificial sweeteners, such as diet soda. The newspaper notes this would be one of the highest taxes on sugary drinks in the nation. The bill would replace the city’s recently passed 2% additional sales tax on soft drinks. Researchers say higher sales taxes don’t affect consumer decisions, as the extra cost is added at the register, after a consumer has already picked their product. An excise cost would be imposed on distributors, who would then raise sticker prices.

Florida

St. Petersburg: Scientists say toxic red tide is back in the waters off the state’s southwest coast after fading away earlier this year following a 15-month bloom. Biologists at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute said Friday that samples taken from the waters off the shore of Collier County found high concentrations of the toxic algae where they also received reports of dead fish and cases of respiratory irritation. Red tide is a natural occurrence that happens due to the presence of nutrients in salt water and an organism called a dinoflagellate. The 15-month bloom caused respiratory irritation in people and killed sea turtles, manatees, dolphins and fish. Scientists also observed low concentrations of the red tide algae in Lee County, according to the institute’s red tide status report.

Georgia

Atlanta: Oprah Winfrey says she’s giving $13 million to increase a scholarship endowment at a historically black college. Winfrey announced her plan Monday at Morehouse College, adding to the $12 million she gave to the all-male college 30 years ago. She was meeting with 47 students already benefiting from the existing endowment. Morehouse President David Thomas says Winfrey’s endowment has paid to educate almost 600 students over the past three decades. Winfrey’s announcement came weeks after Morehouse announced it would cut some employee salaries and retirement contributions to increase student aid and would also eliminate some jobs. Billionaire Robert Smith won wide notice earlier this year when he promised to repay all student and family loans accumulated by Morehouse’s class of 2019. That one-time gift will be worth $34 million.

Hawaii

Kailua-Kona: A county agency has found nearly 10% of tsunami warning sirens on Hawaii Island are inoperable. West Hawaii Today reports Hawaii County Civil Defense made the determination following an Oct. 1 test of the Big Island’s outdoor warning system. Civil Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno says nine of the 92 sirens installed in communities around the island did not work during the test. The sirens warn people to move to high ground when an approaching tsunami is detected. Civil defense sends tsunami alerts via cellphone, but not all areas have reliable service, nor are all residents registered. Magno says the state Emergency Management Agency is responsible for the maintenance, repair and replacement of sirens across Hawaii.

Idaho

Boise: The city has closed a day shelter for homeless families and plans on moving some funding to Interfaith Sanctuary Shelter, which will begin offering day-shelter services seven days a week this month. Interfaith Sanctuary Jodi Peterson-Stigers told the Idaho Statesman shelter officials hope to reduce the trauma families experience from having nowhere to go on the weekends. Boise spokesman Mike Journee says attendance at the city day shelter has been declining since Interfaith Sanctuary opened its day shelter in late 2017, so it made sense to close the city facility and rely on Interfaith Sanctuary for the service. The city plans to lease the site of its former shelter to Jesse Tree, a private nonprofit that provides assistance to low-income people struggling to pay rent or facing eviction.

Illinois

Aurora: An overnight fire has destroyed a historic Masonic temple that was abandoned more than a decade ago. The fire began about 10 p.m. Monday in the Lincoln Masonic Temple in the Chicago suburb about 40 miles west of Chicago. A portion of the building collapsed onto power lines, cutting power to some homes as firefighters worked to douse the flames. Aurora Fire Chief Gary Krienitz tells WLS-TV the building’s structural integrity was a big challenge for crews. The 50,000-square-foot building was built in 1922 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It’s been empty since 2008, when it was last used as a banquet hall. Aurora officials then shut the building down due to potentially hazardous conditions.

Indiana

Rensselaer: Thousands of bagels went from frozen to toasted Sunday evening after a semi hauling the beloved breakfast item went up in flames. An off-duty Indiana State Police trooper saw a semi driving north on I-65 that was smoking heavily from its rear axle, according to the Indiana State Police. By the time the trooper arrived at the truck, its brakes were engulfed in flames, and the fire was spreading to the trailer itself. The rear tires of the semi also exploded due to the heat from the brake fire, state police said. The driver was eventually able to disconnect the tractor from the trailer, and the fire was extinguished. The semi was carrying 38,000 pounds of frozen bagels, state police said. The fire closed the right lane of northbound I-65 near Rensselaer until about 1 a.m. Monday.

Iowa

Waterloo: The city has become the first in the state to approve a measure banning the city and many businesses from asking about applicants’ criminal records in early stages of the hiring process. The City Council approved the so-called ban-the-box ordinance, which doesn’t let employers ask about an applicant’s criminal history until after making a conditional job offer, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. The measure is intended to ensure people with criminal convictions get a fair chance of getting jobs by encouraging employers not to discard applications only because potential workers check a box stating they have been convicted of a crime. Similar measures have been passed in dozens of cities around the country, but Waterloo is the first city in Iowa to approve such an ordinance.

Kansas

Overland Park: The state’s second-largest city has passed an ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. KCUR reports that the City Council in this Kansas City suburb passed the measure Monday with a 10-1 vote. The new ordinance prevents residents and employees from being denied housing, employment or services from businesses because of sexual orientation or gender identity. Backers were overjoyed. Brett Hoedl, of Equality Kansas of Metro Kansas City, said it could create pressure for adoption of a statewide law. Nearly two dozen states outlaw discrimination against someone because they are LGBTQ. Missouri and Kansas aren’t among them. Council Member Dave White voted for the ordinance but said he wanted more teeth in the legislation. The ordinance allows fines of up to $1,000.

Kentucky

Louisville: A young elephant calf born this summer has just about everything he needs, except a name. But he’s a step closer to getting one. The Louisville Zoo has announced three finalists: Fitz, Rocket and Walt. A Monday zoo statement says that more than 15,000 names were submitted for the calf born Aug. 2. Kristin Hays of Prospect submitted “Fitz” after her great-grandfather, who loved elephants. Tatyana Malkin’s 9-year-old daughter, Sofia, asked her to submit “Rocket” to go with the zoo’s recently named bongo, “Groot,” both from the movie “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and Taylor Barr of Meade County submitted “Walt” after Walt Disney. Zoo visitors can drop coins or bills in a kiosk to vote at the zoo, or vote online with credit card donations.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: Gov. John Bel Edwards is battling to hold onto the Democrats’ only governorship in the Deep South, with an onslaught of national GOP firepower aimed at ousting him. Republicans see Edwards’ 2015 victory as a fluke and believe they can recapture the governor’s mansion in a state with no other Democratic statewide elected officials. But the moderate Edwards is an anti-abortion, pro-gun former Army ranger. And he is proving remarkably resilient deep in the heart of Trump country. Edwards is leading in the polls, within striking distance of outright victory in Saturday’s primary, when all candidates run against each other on the same ballot. National Republican leaders are barnstorming the state trying to energize GOP voters and keep Edwards from claiming enough cross-party support to top 50%.

Maine

Portland: Marijuana enthusiasts in the Pine Tree State will probably be able to purchase their preferred products in retail stores by March 2020 after years of waiting. Voters approved legal adult-use marijuana at the polls in November 2016, and the road to legal sales has been long and bumpy. The state’s Office of Marijuana Policy says a key act passed by the Legislature is now in effect, and that means the office is in a position to complete final adoption of Maine’s marijuana rules. The act made tweaks to Maine’s Marijuana Legalization Act that were necessary for the marijuana office to adopt the rules, which it is expected to do within two months. That means it will probably be able to accept applications for retail marijuana sales by the end of 2019.

Maryland

Baltimore: A City Council committee has modified a proposed ban of plastic bags to focus on particularly thin plastic. The Baltimore Sun reports the Judiciary Committee voted 4-2 Monday to amend the proposed ban to apply only to bags thinner than about two-thousandths of an inch. The newspaper says the move upset bill sponsor Councilman Bill Henry and environmentalists, who say the bags are barely distinguishable from thinner grocery bags. Retailers argue the thin bags are reusable. Henry says retailers could just continue to use plastic bags under the amended language, and the added thickness of permitted bags wouldn’t be enough to encourage their reuse.

Massachusetts

Boston: Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts has been scrambling to make amends since black students were mistreated on a class trip in May. The world-class museum was accused of racism after students said they were harangued by white patrons and a staff member who allegedly told the children: “No food, no drink and no watermelon.” Makeeba McCreary, MFA’s chief of learning and community engagement, says the museum has doubled down on efforts to be a more diverse, inclusive place. In addition to banning two patrons and launching an internal investigation and an independent review, the MFA has created a new position: senior director of inclusion. It’s given over an entire wing to female artists in “Women Take the Floor,” an exhibition timed to coincide with next year’s centennial of U.S. women winning the right to vote. And this month, for the first time, it’ll open its doors for free to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day.

Michigan

Detroit: At its darkest hour, in the early 1950s, fewer than 20 male Kirtland’s warblers were counted in the world. Today, after a concerted recovery effort by federal and state wildlife management agencies, conservation groups and the timber industry, the black-and-gray songbird with a yellow underbelly, a uniquely Michigan-centric species, has more than 2,000 nesting pairs. As a result, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday removed the bird from the federal list of endangered species. Kirtland’s warblers have historically nested in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The birds require very specific conditions – large stands of young, dense jack pine forest. If the trees are older, the birds, for some reason, won’t use them.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: President Donald Trump’s campaign is threatening to sue the city for trying to force it to pay $530,000 in security costs for this week’s rally. Trump’s campaign accused Mayor Jacob Frey, who has been critical of the president, of “conjuring a phony and outlandish bill for security” at Thursday’s rally at Target Center. The campaign said arena management attempted to pass the costs to the campaign under threat of withholding use of the arena. It also said the sum was far more than that for a 2009 health care rally at the building by President Barack Obama. The Star Tribune says the city based its estimate on methodology for past major events like the 2018 Super Bowl and Final Four. Frey said when Trump’s rally was announced last month that Trump’s “message of hatred” was unwelcome.

Mississippi

Jackson: A federal court that rejected the state’s 15-week abortion ban should have let the state present evidence about whether a fetus experiences pain, an attorney for the state argued Monday. But a lawyer for Mississippi’s only abortion clinic said the Supreme Court has been clear that a woman has a right to have an abortion before the fetus is viable. The arguments came during a hearing at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. It’s one of many laws pushed by conservative states in recent years, aimed at trying to persuade the increasingly conservative Supreme Court to further restrict the amount of time when abortion is legally available, or even to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Missouri

Columbia: The city has banned so-called conversion therapy for minors. The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the City Council voted unanimously Monday to become the first in the state to ban the practice. “Conversion therapy” is the scientifically discredited practice of using therapy to “convert” LGBTQ people to heterosexuality or traditional gender expectations. A Democratic state lawmaker proposed a statewide ban on the practice during this year’s annual legislative session. But the bill didn’t get a hearing in the Republican-led Legislature. Columbia is home to the University of Missouri System’s flagship campus and trends more liberal than many other areas of the state.

Montana

Harlem: The City Council has voted to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. The Billings Gazette reports Harlem passed a resolution last month to join Missoula, Bozeman and Helena as Montana cities that have changed the name of the federal holiday that will be marked next Monday. Harlem is located just outside the Fort Belknap Reservation. Columbus Day recognizes Christopher Columbus, whose 1492 voyage spurred European colonization of the Americas. Native Americans say celebrating Columbus ignores the atrocities and violence inflicted on their ancestors. The Montana House passed a bill in 2019 to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day statewide, but it died in a Senate committee.

Nebraska

Terrytown: City Council members have decided to put off indefinitely a proposed ordinance that would have barred anyone from feeding geese or other wild critters inside city limits. The council had scheduled a third and final reading and vote last week. But City Attorney Libby Stobel told the council Thursday that the proposal conflicts with a proposed zoning change that would allow residents to keep up to eight hens, either chicken, duck or turkey. The Scottsbluff Star-Herald reports that Stobel says the proposed ordinance defines ducks as waterfowl, so if the proposal were to be passed, people would be allowed to own ducks but not feed them. Stobel recommended that before more discussion, council members should determine whether the ordinance was worth pursuing. They voted 4-0 to stop any further consideration of the measure.

Nevada

Reno: Maintaining the state’s status as keeper of the highest year-round highway pass in the Sierra Nevada might get a little more difficult this winter, but the Nevada Department of Transportation insists it is up to the task. The department has concerns about the reliability of a remote-operated system that uses propane-powered blasts to trigger controlled avalanches on Nevada State Route 431 at the Mount Rose Summit. The human-triggered avalanches clear the snow load from slopes overhanging the highway, thus making the roadway safer for drivers once the avalanche debris is cleared. But that system is showing its age, NDOT spokesperson Meg Ragonese says, and the department is making contingency plans in the event the system can’t operate during the upcoming winter.

New Hampshire

Concord: The state’s Democratic congressional delegation says New Hampshire will be getting more than $600,000 in federal funds to help law enforcement agencies fight the opioid crisis. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen says the state is receiving $664,673 through the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services program. Of that, $489,674 will go to the New Hampshire Department of Safety for the state’s Anti-Heroin Task Force and $174,999 to Dartmouth College for a program supporting the hiring of law enforcement officers and expansion of community policing. State Police Col. Chris Wagner welcomed the funding, saying it will drive cross-border initiatives to disrupt drug trafficking organizations that fuel the opioid epidemic.

New Jersey

Seaside Heights: The New Jersey Historic Trust is providing a $750,000 grant to help refurbish a 109-year-old carousel. The money will go toward restoring the 1910 Dr. Floyd L. Moreland Dentzel-Looff Carousel at the Casino Pier arcade in Seaside Heights. But the funds won’t be made available until the grant is approved by the Legislature and receives Gov. Phil Murphy’s signature. The carousel was shut down in early April and will be dismantled later this month. The ride will be temporarily moved into storage, and its mechanical parts will be inspected. Seaside Heights Mayor Anthony Vaz says he hopes the refurbished carousel is running by 2021.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: About a quarter of Navajo women and some infants who were part of a federally funded study on uranium exposure had high levels of the radioactive metal in their systems, decades after mining for Cold War weaponry ended on their reservation, a U.S. health official said Monday. The preliminary findings from the University of New Mexico study were shared during a congressional field hearing in Albuquerque. Dr. Loretta Christensen – the chief medical officer on the Navajo Nation for Indian Health Service, a partner in the research – said 781 women were screened during an initial phase of the study that ended last year. Among them, 26% had concentrations of uranium that exceeded levels found in the highest 5% of the U.S. population, and newborns with equally high concentrations continued to be exposed to uranium during their first year, she said.

New York

Albany: Brook trout have been discovered in a high-elevation Adirondack Mountains lake for the first time since the lake was declared fishless due to acid rain 32 years ago. The Department of Environmental Conservation says the breeding population of trout in Lake Colden in the High Peaks Wilderness demonstrates the effectiveness of clean air regulations enacted since the 1980s. Acid rain results when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from fossil fuel combustion mix with moisture in the air to produce sulfuric and nitric acid. In the 1960s, scientists determined it was causing tree die-offs in higher elevations of the Catskills and Adirondacks and had made many lakes and streams too acidic to support fish. Ongoing sampling has shown improving water quality since air pollution emissions have been reduced.

North Carolina

Statesville: The star of CNBC’s “The Profit” has settled a yearlong dispute with the city over a huge American flag at the reality TV star’s recreational vehicle store. News outlets report Statesville Mayor Costi Kutteh announced the settlement with Marcus Lemonis on Monday, allowing the flag to continue flying outside Lemonis’ Gander RV company. At 40 feet by 80 feet, the flag violates a city ordinance limiting flags to 25 feet by 40 feet. The settlement requires Gander RV to pay about $16,000 for fines and legal costs and the council to change the ordinance to allow the flag. The council voted against that in June but unanimously agreed to it this time, just ahead of Tuesday’s elections.

North Dakota

Bismarck: State environmental regulators have signed an agreement with the federal government that permits companies to self-report infractions in exchange for exemption from fines. The Bismarck Tribune reports the state Department of Environmental Quality signed a memorandum with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday. The agreement follows a North Dakota law passed in 2017 that gives companies the choice of conducting self-audits at power plants, oil and gas sites, and waste facilities and then reporting issues they identify to the state. Environmental Quality director Dave Glatt says the types of infractions could include companies forgetting to submit paperwork or neglecting to secure a necessary permit for a facility.

Ohio

Dayton: Books on a young white supremacist’s awakening and on Iranian refugees in Sweden are winners of awards celebrating literature’s power to promote peace and understanding. Dayton Literary Peace Prize officials say Eli Saslow’s “Rising Out of Hatred” won for nonfiction, and Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde’s “What We Owe” won for fiction. Runners-up are Wil Haygood’s “Tigerland,” about an inner-city Ohio school’s 1969 athletic triumphs, in nonfiction and Richard Powers’ Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Overstory,” about human impact on forests, in fiction. Winners receive $10,000 each and runners-up $5,000 each. A Nov. 3 gala is planned in Dayton. The literary peace prizes grew out of the 1995 Bosnia peace accords negotiated in the southwestern Ohio city.

Oklahoma

Tulsa: A committee overseeing a project to find the remains of victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre says more areas should be investigated. The Oklahoma Archaeological Survey used ground-penetrating radar to search north Tulsa’s Oaklawn Cemetery on Monday. It also plans to search another cemetery and a park for the victims of the violence that left as many as 300 dead on Tulsa’s Black Wall Street. Oversight committee member and state Rep. Regina Goodwin says searchers should also look under U.S. Highway 75, adjacent to the cemetery, where she believes bodies may have been buried. Officials say Monday’s search was largely inconclusive because nearby cameras and cellphones interfered with scanning equipment. Bystanders are asked to stay at least 300 feet away. The area will be searched again.

Oregon

Salem: If state lawmakers again fail to pass a law regulating greenhouse gas emissions next year, voters could be called on to do it. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports three initiative petitions filed with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office on Monday would require the state to phase out electricity sources that contribute to global warming and transition to a carbon-free economy by 2050. If they proceed to the November 2020 ballot, the measures would likely usher in a bruising ballot fight. But one of the organizations spearheading the efforts, clean energy coalition Renew Oregon, is hoping the measures instead add urgency to next year’s legislative session. The carbon cap bill has been in the works for over a decade and was the focus of a tussle in the Legislature this year, flaming out amid a walkout by Senate Republicans.

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh: The University of Pittsburgh is moving to block a new election seeking to unionize graduate student workers that has been proposed by a state labor board official. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the university said in a statement Tuesday that it disagrees with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board official’s finding of unfair labor practices. A university statement Tuesday said the institution “acted appropriately leading up to and throughout the April 2019 election,” which left the United Steelworkers 37 votes short. The union and student organizers accused university officials of tactics including coercion that discouraged the vote. The university had 20 days to respond to the hearing examiner’s Sept. 18 proposed ruling and order for a new election. The matter is now expected to go before the full labor board.

Rhode Island

Providence: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $12.4 million in the state to protect low-income families from lead-based paint and home health hazards. The agency and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, announced Monday that RIHousing is getting $8.4 million, and the city of Woonsocket is getting $4 million. Reed says lead poisoning remains a real problem that affects too many kids. RIHousing, created by the General Assembly, provides mortgage loans and other assistance to homebuyers. It will address lead hazards in 340 homes for low-income families with children and perform assessments in another 118 units. The work will be targeted in Pawtucket and Central Falls.

South Carolina

Walhalla: A police officer killed in the line of duty in 1928 is finally being remembered at a national law enforcement memorial. Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw said research by his employees showed Officer William Henry Talley confronted two men disrupting a church service near Salem on Oct. 11, 1928. The men beat him in the head with a club or stick, and he died the next day at age 52. Crenshaw says one man was sentenced to life in prison and the other to 10 years. Crenshaw said in a statement that the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C., reviewed the research and will place Talley’s name on its memorial. Talley worked for the Oconee County Rural Police Department, the predecessor to the sheriff’s office.

South Dakota

Rapid City: Two 16-year-old activists, one from Pine Ridge Reservation and one from Sweden, urged politicians Monday to listen to indigenous people on climate change. At a rally in Rapid City that attracted hundreds of people, Greta Thunberg spoke out against the proposed path of the Keystone XL pipeline through South Dakota, which she said is “not morally defensible.” “Indigenous peoples have been leading this fight for centuries,” the Swedish teen said. “They have taken care of the planet, and they have lived in balance with nature, and we need to make sure that they’re voices are being heard.” Tokata Iron Eyes planned the rally and invited Thunberg to speak at the Pine Ridge and Standing Rock reservations. “We are marching for our lives, we are marching for climate justice, and we are marching for indigenous rights at the same time – because those two things go hand in hand,” Iron Eyes said.

Tennessee

Memphis: A group of voters is appealing a judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the security of voting machines in the state’s largest county and calling for a switch to a handwritten ballot and a voter-verifiable paper trail. Lawyer Carol Chumney says Shelby County Advocates for Valid Elections has filed an appeal to U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker’s ruling last month that their lawsuit failed to show any harm has come to them and that they have no legal standing. The lawsuit claims the outdated touchscreen voting machines are not secure because they do not produce a voter-verifiable paper trail, and security safeguards are needed to shield the system from outside manipulation. The voters’ group says Parker disregarded that “there is circumstantial evidence that election tampering has occurred” in the county.

Texas

Austin: Texas A&M University officials decided to ban e-cigarettes from all campuses because of the health risks associated with smoking them. Chancellor John Sharp announced Tuesday in a memo that the ban will go in effect “as soon as possible” on all A&M system campuses across the state, including the flagship university in College Station and Tarleton State University and Texas A&M University-Commerce in North Texas. The ban is applicable to students, faculty and staff at 11 universities and across eight state agencies. “This health threat is serious enough that I want to see the ban include every building, outside space, parking lot, garage and laboratory within the Texas A&M System,” Sharp said in the memo. He noted smoking is prohibited in most areas of the A&M system.

Utah

St. George: Zion National Park visitation set records this summer, averaging more than a half-million visitors per month. Yearly park visitors have more than doubled over the past decade at the southern Utah park known for its red-rock cliffs and narrow slot canyons. Park officials have been struggling with how to handle the crowds, and this year they limited the number of people who could hike two of the most popular trails on holidays. Park spokesman Eugenne Moisa says visitors to Angels Landing and the Narrows were kept waiting in the shade, instead of on the narrow, sunny trails. The nonprofit Zion Forever Project is also accepting donations to expand access to the east side of the park in hopes of dispersing visitors to that less-visited area.

Vermont

Burlington: The City Council has passed a resolution that aims to let noncitizens vote in city elections. Councilors voted in favor of the resolution 10-2 on Monday. Councilor Adam Roof, who wrote the resolution, says everyone in Burlington should get a vote because they’re all affected by the decisions of local government. He tells WCAX-TV that expanding voting rights would “build a more inclusive community” and make it easier for everyone in Burlington to participate in the democratic process. Council President Kurt Wright says he voted against the proposal because he believes only American citizens should have the right to vote. The resolution needs ultimate approval from the Legislature before it can become law.

Virginia

Charlottesville: The city is preparing to appeal its defeat in a lawsuit over two Confederate monuments. The Daily Progress reports the City Council on Monday night authorized the city attorney to appeal once a judge delivers his final ruling against removing statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Circuit Court Judge Richard Moore ruled last month that monuments don’t send a racially discriminatory message. He also issued a permanent injunction preventing the city from removing the statues. A group of residents sued the city, citing a state law that protects war memorials. The only outstanding issue is their request for more than $600,000 in attorneys’ fees. A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15.

Washington

Spokane: Gov. Jay Inslee is seeking ways to reduce the number of wolves killed by the state. Inslee sent a letter Tuesday to the Department of Fish and Wildlife saying the statewide wolf management plan does not appear to be working in the Kettle River Range area of Ferry County, where the state has killed about two dozen wolves that were preying on cattle. His efforts come as wildlife experts say the vast majority of the predators are causing no trouble. The Ferry County situation is unique, experts said. “About 90% of wolf packs are co-existing in our state without livestock conflicts,” the agency said in a statement. The Kettle River Range is different because the lush, steep terrain is ideal wolf habitat that is also shared with large cattle ranches, making predation an issue.

West Virginia

Charleston: The U.S. Supreme Court says it will leave in place a court decision that derailed the impeachment trials of three West Virginia Supreme Court justices accused of corruption. The case was one of a long list of those the high court announced Monday that it wouldn’t hear. In question was a decision by five acting justices of West Virginia’s highest court who ruled last year that prosecuting then-state Chief Justice Margaret Workman in the state Senate would violate West Virginia Constitution’s separation of powers clause. That ruling in Workman’s case was later applied to also halt impeachment proceedings against two other justices who have since left the court: Robin Davis and Allen Loughry. Davis retired after the House approved impeachment charges against her. Loughry resigned after being convicted in federal court of felony fraud charges.

Wisconsin

Madison: A paralyzed state lawmaker would be allowed to call into committee meetings he can’t attend in person under rule changes Republicans unveiled Tuesday that are designed to meet demands the Democrat made nearly a year ago. But Democrats and Rep. Jimmy Anderson, who is paralyzed from the waist down, objected to Republicans tying the accommodations with several other rule changes that would strengthen GOP power in the Assembly. One of the most significant would allow Republicans to take multiple votes on overrides of vetoes made by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. “I don’t know why these are all being mixed together,” Anderson said. Republicans didn’t include Anderson in discussion of the accommodations, which he called “offensive, disappointing and frankly really frustrating.”

Wyoming

Cheyenne: A hunting advocacy group seeks to eliminate mountain biking and all-terrain vehicles in two wilderness study areas in the western part of the state. The group Mountain Pursuit sued the U.S. Forest Service in federal court in Casper on Sept. 26. The lawsuit targets mountain biking in the Palisades Wilderness Study Area and biking and ATVs in the Shoal Creek Wilderness Study Area. The group claims that the Forest Service allows bikes and ATVs but that the law that established the areas doesn’t. Wilderness study areas are candidates for designation as wilderness, where mechanized transportation is prohibited. Forest Service spokeswoman Mary Cernicek declined comment Friday, citing policy not to comment on litigation.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Teen climate activists, highway bagel roast: News from around our 50 states