Jim Beam Airbnb, Sasquatch Museum, police lowriders: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Montgomery: Panhandlers and people who donate to them could face punishment including jail time if an amendment to a city law is passed and signed. The City Council discussed the contentious panhandler law Tuesday that would make it punishable for a person to give or receive an object through a car window on a public road. The panhandling ordinance was passed unanimously in July but was never signed by Mayor Todd Strange. If signed with the new definitions, the law would also clarify that a person giving or receiving an object from a car window while on public property would also be breaking the law. The punishment for the first offense would be a minimum of two days in city jail and a fine. People breaking the law for the third time could spend five days in jail. For the fourth offense, the perpetrator would face a minimum of seven days in prison.

Alaska

Juneau: The U.S. Forest Service is taking comments on a proposal that would exempt the country’s largest national forest from a ban on timber harvests and road building in roadless areas. This option is listed as the preferred alternative by the agency in a draft environmental review and would exempt the Tongass National Forest from the so-called Roadless Rule. The Forest Service says this alternative is in line with a request from the state. The state submitted a petition seeking an exemption in 2018. The agency says the alternative affects 9.2 million acres of inventoried roadless areas and would convert 165,000 old-growth acres and 20,000 young-growth acres from a designation as unsuitable timber lands to suitable. Conservationists criticized the plan as shortsighted and lacking in rationale.

Arizona

Phoenix: For years, Arizona State and Arizona fans have clamored about how underrated their college football rivalry is. That might change. A recent New York Times article noted the ASU-Arizona rivalry as one of the biggest in sports and the No.1 rivalry in all of college football, according to a study conducted by two college professors and published at KnowRivalry.com. Some other teams from the state came up in a different part of the study, which weighed unbalanced rivalries, fans of one team that hated another team much more than that perceived rival hated them.0 According to the study, the Arizona Coyotes and Arizona Diamondbacks led their respective leagues in “Largest Rivalry Gap.” Coyotes fans perceive the Los Angeles Kings as their main rival, but Kings fans don’t feel the same way. Same goes with Diamondbacks fans and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The University of Arkansas at Monticello says its chancellor will step down at the end of the semester as the school faces a budget deficit amid a large drop in student enrollment. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports Karla Hughes will resign Dec. 31 after three years leading the school. She is the first woman to lead a four-year University of Arkansas System school. Gregg Reep, who chairs the school’s board of visitors, says the administration told the board that it expects there to be a $1 million to $2 million budget shortfall. Hughes took over as chancellor in January 2016, and enrollment has steadily dropped under her watch, from about 3,900 that year to 2,855 this semester.

California

Los Angeles: The western Joshua tree needs protection under the California Endangered Species Act because of threats from climate change and habitat destruction, the Center for Biological Diversity said in a petition Tuesday to the state’s Fish and Game Commission. The petition comes amid rising concern about the future of the crazy-limbed trees with spiky leaves that have come to symbolize the Mojave Desert and draw throngs to Joshua Tree National Park. Researchers have found Joshua trees are dying off due to hotter and drier conditions, and fewer young trees are surviving, according to the center. The trees are migrating to higher elevations with cooler and more moist conditions, but they face destruction by fire due to invasive, non-native grasses in those locations. Joshua trees also face challenges from urban sprawl in the desert, energy projects and off-road-vehicle use.

Colorado

Denver: Weather officials have verified a new high temperature for the state that surpasses the previous record by a single degree. KCNC-TV reports the Colorado Climate Center confirmed the Lamar area reached 115 degrees Fahrenheit on July 20. The previous record of 114 degrees was recorded in July 1933 in Las Animas and again in July 1954 in Sedgwick. A previous report says the high temperature required verification after it was first reported by a Twitter user, whose Aug. 1 post was noted by a state climatologist. The temperature was submitted to the Colorado Climate Center, the National Weather Service, the National Center for Environmental Information and other agencies. Officials say Colorado weather has also set records this year for hottest monthly average, largest hailstone and lowest pressure level.

Connecticut

East Hampton: A police officer’s membership in the Proud Boys, a far-right group known for engaging in violent clashes at political rallies, didn’t violate department policies, the town’s police chief has concluded in response to a civil rights group’s concerns. The East Hampton officer, Kevin P. Wilcox, “stopped his association” with the Proud Boys in February, about five months before the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law inquired about his social media connections with other group members, Police Chief Dennis Woessner said. In a letter to the Washington-based civil rights group, the police chief acknowledged Wilcox had been a Proud Boys member and made online payments to a group leader. The rights group described those publicly visible, online transactions as monthly dues that helped fund the Proud Boys’ “violent or otherwise illegal” activities.

Delaware

New Castle: Rebecca Louise Vitelli, a preschool teacher in the Colonial School District, was named this year’s state Teacher of the Year on Tuesday night. Vitelli is a preschool special education teacher at the district’s Colwyck Center, where she works with students with autism and different health and cognitive needs. She says she strives to be inclusive in her teaching and believes every student has the drive and ability to learn. A graduate of the University of Delaware, she has been teaching for four years and has her master’s of education. Vitelli was selected out of a group of 20 teachers, one from each district as well as a charter school representative. The candidates were nominated by districts and charter schools for their teaching ability and dedication to students.

District of Columbia

Washington: The district wants to increase low-cost housing options in its more affluent neighborhoods. News outlets report the D.C. Office of Planning released a housing equity report Tuesday that details the mayor’s plan to break up concentrated poverty. Mayor Muriel Bowser says the separation of affordable housing from other housing was created to disadvantage specific populations, especially black residents. She says in the report that residents are spending a large share of their income on housing, and low-income residents are feeling the encroaching threat of displacement, despite existing housing protections. She has set a goal to build 36,000 new district homes by 2025, and a third of those homes would be affordable housing units.

Florida

Panama City Beach: Amid the devastation of Hurricane Michael along the Panhandle, experts say there’s a ray of hope – a once-imperiled bird is enjoying a renaissance. There are an estimated 225 to 250 breeding pairs of snowy plover in Florida. The majority of the state’s threatened species live in the Panhandle. The snowy plover has struggled to survive as its habitat has succumbed to development and overgrown vegetation. But when Category 5 Hurricane Michael washed ashore last October, it created the sparsely vegetated conditions the birds prefer. Sixty-eight snowy plovers were successfully fledged this year on about a 40-mile stretch from Port St. Joe to St. Andrews State Park. That’s up from just 12 successful fledglings in 2018. The Palm Beach Post reports the last time plover productivity was so high in the Panhandle was after hurricanes Ivan and Dennis in 2004 and 2005.

Georgia

Cherry Log: In the picturesque mountains of north Georgia, an unassuming roadside building is now ground zero in the search for Bigfoot. David Bakara has put his passion for the legendary creature on display at Expedition: Bigfoot! The Sasquatch Museum in Cherry Log. Bakara welcomes skeptics and believers alike, but he has no doubt these strange creatures really do exist. The longtime member of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization opened the museum in early 2016. The attraction has an elaborate display of Bigfoot laying siege to a remote cabin. Color-coded maps document hundreds of alleged sightings. A towering reproduction depicts a hairy, 8-foot-tall beast. And the famed 1967 video of an alleged Sasquatch sighting plays on a loop, along with harrowing recollections from those who claim to have encountered a Bigfoot.

Hawaii

Honolulu: A city councilor says she wants visitors to take a pledge to respect and help protect the island’s natural resources. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports Councilwoman Kymberly Pine wants tourists to Oahu to sign a form with a pledge to be environmentally responsible and culturally sensitive during visits. Pine has proposed a bill to enlist the Office of Economic Development or another city agency to help establish the Keep Hawaii Hawaii program. A City Council committee is expected to discuss the proposal at an Oct. 22 meeting. Pine says the program could work with the visitor industry to promote its environmental goals. Similar pledge programs have been established in Hawaii and Kauai counties, but Pine’s program would be the first in Hawaii to coordinate with a local government agency.

Idaho

Boise: The U.S. Air Force wants to fly supersonic fighter jets at lower altitudes in lightly populated areas of southwestern Idaho, northern Nevada and southeastern Oregon to better simulate combat conditions. The Air Force on Wednesday said it plans to prepare an environmental impact statement to study the idea and will hold meetings and take public comments through Nov. 25 to help shape the study. Mountain Home Air Force Base in southwestern Idaho operates flights over portions of the three states. The Air Force says allowing jets to fly lower will give crews training in low-altitude tactics and radar masking using mountainous terrain for survival. The first meeting is Nov. 4 in McDermitt, Nevada. Later that week in Idaho, meetings are planned for Boise, Grand View and Mountain Home.

Illinois

Chicago: The state’s top leaders trumpeted the benefits of automatic voter registration when signing a bipartisan plan in 2017 to change how the state finds and signs up eligible but unregistered voters: more civic participation, fewer barriers to the ballot box and modernized systems. But Illinois hasn’t lived up to its promise, rolling out automatic voter registration far behind schedule and struggling with other changes the law made. The delays have elections experts and advocates worried, saying it’s meant missed opportunities for voters and less time to work out potential problems ahead of 2020. “There are a lot of advocates and community members who thought the bill was signed, a switch was flipped. That we won. In fact, that’s not the case,” says Jay Young of Common Cause Illinois, which backed automatic voter registration. “This is exceptionally frustrating.”

Indiana

Crawfordsville: Some students at Wabash College are calling for transparency and communication after the all-male school ended a longtime practice of handing out sheepskin diplomas to graduating seniors. President Gregory Hess of the private liberal arts college in western Indiana told students last week about the planned end of the 187-year-old tradition and the switch to paper diplomas. Administrators say the change was made because the quality of sheepskin diplomas was worsening, and the prices were increasing. Hess noted that the Crawfordsville school made the decision in April. Roarke Tollar, a graduating senior, says he’s concerned the school’s decision to quit using the specialty diplomas presents a “slippery slope” as it pertains to what the administration is willing to eliminate.

Iowa

Bagley: Nick Lestina made a frightening discovery at his home this month. Five inches of animal blood, fat and tissue from a neighboring meat locker had seeped into the basement through a floor drain, creating a scene worthy of a Halloween movie. “Some things you just think you’ll never see,” Lestina said. The father of five has lived next door to Dahl’s Custom Meat Locker for 10 years. He said there was never a problem until Oct. 3, when he stopped home to pick up a power drill and noticed his sump pump spewing red liquid. Two weeks later, the blood is still seeping into the basement, and the Iowa Department of Public Health has told the family it’s not safe to live in the home. The floor drains in both buildings are connected to the same tile line, a clog in which most likely caused the blood to back up into the home.

Kansas

Overland Park: Attorneys are considering offering diversion to a 13-year-old girl arrested last week for pointing a finger gun at classmates. The Kansas City Star reports diversion was discussed Tuesday during a juvenile court hearing for the Overland Park eighth grader, charged with felony threatening. Another court hearing was scheduled for Dec. 17. The girl’s mother told The Star last week that on Sept. 18, a boy asked her daughter who she would kill if she could kill five classmates. The girl reportedly made a gun with her fingers and pointed at four students, then herself. Overland Park Police Chief Frank Donchez confirmed the mother’s story but said there are more facts he could not disclose. Under diversion, the charge would be dismissed if the girl successfully meets certain conditions set by authorities.

Kentucky

Clermont: For about $23 bucks, you can either get a bottle of Jim Beam bourbon or spend a night at the company’s distillery in Kentucky. The company has posted the Clermont property on Airbnb, with reservations running from Oct. 21 through the end of the year. The online posting says Jim Beam American Stillhouse renters will “join the Beam family for a weekend and live like one of Jim Beam’s seven generations of Master Distillers.” It says stays at the property built in 1919 includes a distillery tour and tasting. The posting also promises that the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath rental comes with a bar fully stocked with premium Jim Beam bourbons. The posting is signed by Fred Noe, the seventh generation master distiller and Beam’s great-grandson.

Louisiana

New Orleans: A man who has spent two-thirds of his life in prison for a murder he always denied committing has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will be released. Since his arrest in 1977, shortly before his 20th birthday, Elvis Brooks of New Orleans has maintained that he’s innocent. Advocates from the Innocence Project-New Orleans say evidence that would have cleared him was withheld at trial. Brooks said Tuesday that prosecutors offered the plea bargain while he was with his lawyers last Thursday, preparing for a hearing on that claim. After pleading guilty Tuesday to manslaughter and armed robbery, the 62-year-old told reporters he’s been locked up since 1977 and wants his freedom. He had to return to prison for processing but was expected to be released Wednesday.

Maine

Calais: The National Park Service is looking for someone to lease a house located on a historic site near the border of Maine and Canada. The structure up for lease, called the McGlashan-Nickerson House, is located within Saint Croix Island International Historic Site. The park service says it has declared the house to be excess to its own needs, but it wants to preserve it through a lease. Superintendent Kevin Schneider says the lease opportunity is a chance to “repurpose a historic home and an even greater opportunity to preserve an important historical building that was connected to the 19th-century Maine Red Granite Company.” The Italianate-style house was constructed around 1883. The park service is accepting proposals until Dec. 10. The lease can last up to 60 years.

Maryland

Annapolis: Gov. Larry Hogan says he’s ordering expedited work on repairs to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge that are causing major traffic backups, but the work can’t be delayed without a risk to safety. Hogan said Wednesday that maintenance delays for more than a decade have “caused tremendous safety problems.” He says if repairs are neglected, “the crisis could go from terrible and unbearable to catastrophic and life-threatening.” The bridge is the only one in Maryland that crosses the bay and connects the state’s western and eastern shores. An average of 74,870 vehicles use it daily. It’s just over 4 miles long. The $27 million deck rehabilitation project began last month. It’s slated to last about two years. Hogan says crews will work 24 hours a day.

Massachusetts

Boston: A Civil War monument standing across the street from the Massachusetts State House will be taken down for a makeover. The Boston Globe reports the Robert Gould Shaw and Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial in Boston will be removed from its base and transported offsite so it can be restored and a new concrete foundation can be built. Local leaders gathered around the sculpture Tuesday to discuss the $2.8 million restoration project set to start in the spring and expected to take five to six months to complete. The leaders also unveiled the launch of a new augmented reality app, Shaw 54, that gives visitors a new way to experience the memorial that was first unveiled in 1897. The sculpture honors the first regiment of black troops recruited in the North to fight in the Civil War.

Michigan

Lansing: Legislation advancing in the state is designed to help police better interact with people with autism or hearing issues. The state Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to let people elect a “communication impediment designation” when applying for or renewing their driver’s license, vehicle registration or state ID card. Law enforcement would be notified of the designation when looking up a license or registration in a database during traffic and other stops. Supporters say the bills would help officers avoid misinterpreting autism-related behaviors that could escalate interactions with law enforcement. The legislation goes to the House for consideration next.

Minnesota

Becker: A missing 6-year-old boy was found safe early Wednesday after a search by hundreds of volunteers and the use of a drone with a thermal camera that helped locate the child in a dark cornfield. The boy, named Ethan, hadn’t been seen since 4:10 p.m. Tuesday, when he got off a school bus with his siblings near Highway 25 in Becker and ran to play with the family dog, according to the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office. Becker is about 45 miles northwest of Minneapolis. The sheriff’s office said on its Facebook page that Ethan was found safe with his dog about 1:50 a.m. Wednesday, about 1.5 miles from his home. He was brought to a hospital to be checked and was cold but otherwise OK, authorities said. One of the more than 600 volunteers who helped search for the boy brought his drone with thermal imaging. The device targeted Ethan and the dog in the cornfield that had already been searched, sheriff’s officials said.

Mississippi

Jackson: Abortion opponents have filed a lawsuit challenging a local ordinance that will restrict noise levels and require protesters to remain a certain distance from the entrance of health care facilities. The lawsuit says the Jackson ordinance unconstitutionally limits free-speech rights as people try to persuade women not to end pregnancies. Owners of nearby shops and restaurants have complained about commotion outside Mississippi’s only abortion clinic, Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The bright pink clinic is in the eclectic Fondren neighborhood. Some protesters use bullhorns, and the clinic plays loud music to cover the sound. Jackson City Council members adopted the ordinance Oct. 1, and it is scheduled to take effect Oct. 31. Clinic workers have said protesters harass women.

Missouri

Jefferson City: State Auditor Nicole Galloway says the state isn’t saving enough money to avoid having to cut spending or raise taxes in the event of a recession. Galloway released a report Tuesday suggesting lawmakers come up with a way to save more money than is currently allowed by the state constitution to be kept in the Budget Reserve Fund. The fund was capped at $642 million to start the current fiscal year. That’s because the constitution limits the fund to 7.5% of net general revenue, with a maximum of 10% under special legislative approval. Galloway pointed to a 2018 study by Moody’s Analytics that estimated Missouri would need about $1.3 billion in reserves to survive a moderate recession without cutting spending or raising taxes, or $2 billion to survive a severe recession.

Montana

Helena: The state is considering five sites for a new history museum. Lee Newspapers of Montana reports the possibilities include upgrading the Montana Historical Society building and adding another building nearby or purchasing property at the former site of the Capital Hill Mall in Helena. Other candidates include a spot east of St. Peter’s Health, land the state owns near the Department of Transportation building on the east side of Helena and property available for long-term lease near the airport. The 2019 Legislature approved an increase in the state’s lodging tax to help pay for the project, which would allow the Montana Historical Society to display a larger share of the state’s collection.

Nebraska

Lincoln: A group of business, education and government leaders has launched an initiative to grow the state’s pool of tech workers. CQuence Health CEO Mike Cassling, who chairs the newly formed Nebraska Tech Collaborative, says the state is losing jobs at an alarming rate because Nebraska companies are choosing to expand elsewhere or not at all due to a lack of qualified workers. He says that there isn’t enough awareness in Nebraska of the tech jobs available; that more tech education is needed, especially in K-12 schools; and that more women and minority workers need to be recruited and developed. “This is an issue where failure is not an option,” Cassling told the Omaha World-Herald. “We are definitely behind other states, other cities, all around us.”

Nevada

Gerlach: Burning Man’s theme next year is set to blow Burners’ minds and thrill “Rick and Morty” fans. Despite sardonic speculation that Burning Man could go with a “Hindsight 2020” theme, the organization announced Tuesday that it was instead going with the theme of “The Multiverse,” a physics theory based in the idea that there are some number of universes beyond ours, if not infinite. The theme of Burning Man, which hosts 80,000 people in northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert each year, informs the aesthetic of the man sculpture and Black Rock City, as well as other secondary art. In the animated adult series “Rick and Morty,” Rick, a sociopathic scientist grandfather, and his grandson, Morty, embark on endless adventures across space and time in the multiverse, but the mutliverse is a serious concept initially introduced by physicist Hugh Everett in 1957.

New Hampshire

Durham: A research center at the University of New Hampshire is getting a federal grant to support police officers and others who investigate crimes involving child sexual abuse images. Officials say a surge of such images online and new technology designed to intercept them mean more investigators are being hired to review such material, but doing so can have toxic effects on their mental health. The university’s Crimes Against Children Research Center will use a three-year grant to interview police and forensic examiners across the country to identify best practices for workload, counseling and debriefing. The center also will use its findings to develop a screening instrument to help agencies assess whether candidates are suitable for such work. The funding comes from the National Institute of Justice.

New Jersey

Hackensack: A Jersey-based group of former A-list session musicians that has toured together since 2012 is receiving an award. The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is giving The Hit Men its “Road Warrior” award later this month. The group will play a concert in Nashville on Oct. 28. The hall of fame recognizes the often-unsung musicians who have backed legendary pop performers. Former members of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons initially formed The Hit Men in northern New Jersey and began touring to capitalize on the success of the Broadway musical “Jersey Boys,” which showcased Valli’s music and career. They added studio musicians who had recorded and toured with a who’s who of rock superstars in the 1960s and ’70s. The group continues to play concerts around the country.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: The state’s largest police force wants to go slow and low. The Albuquerque Police Department is inviting high school students to design the department’s first lowrider patrol car. The winner of the competition will have his or her artwork displayed on the car’s hood and will receive a $5,000 scholarship. Officials say the design must be free of offensive, inappropriate or gang-related material. The contest winner will be selected by the Albuquerque Police Department’s Southwest Area Command Program Response Team. Lowriders are custom cars dropped low to the ground with murals and sometimes hydraulics. The vehicles are popular among Mexican Americans in New Mexico, Texas and California.

New York

New York: The Museum of Modern Art’s new $450 million, 47,000-square-foot expansion offers visitors more than much-needed elbow room. It emphasizes new juxtapositions of works to encourage broader perspectives and new narratives. The revamped MoMA, a third bigger than the old one, opens to the public Oct. 21. While iconic works by the likes of Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso and Pollock remain dependably on view, visitors are invited to see them in a new light, now displayed side by side with less familiar works by women and minorities, as well as artists from places like Africa, South America and Asia. The goal is to rethink the familiar and make Modernism feel fresh and challenging again. The revamped MoMA promises to rotate many of the works in its galleries every six months.

North Carolina

Kill Devil Hills: The National Park Service says a bust of Orville Wright that was stolen from the Wright Brothers National Memorial on the North Carolina coast has been found. A news release from the park service Tuesday said a visitor to the beach at Kill Devil Hills called authorities in Dare County to say the bust was tucked into some dunes. The park service said initially that the monument was damaged either Saturday evening or Sunday morning. The granite base on which the bust was mounted had been toppled and damaged. An investigation continues into the theft as well as damage to the granite base. Homeowners have been asked to review security video footage for suspicious activity. The memorial honors aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright.

North Dakota

Fargo: A clinic is accused of participating in kickback schemes that have cost the federal government millions of dollars in fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims. A whistleblower complaint brought against Bismarck’s Mid Dakota Clinic and its building partnership alleges that doctors referred patients to the clinic’s surgical center, allowing them to increase their pay in the form of profits from the center. The document says Mid Dakota Clinic had a similar kickback arrangement with another physician group in Bismarck. The suit was filed in January 2017 by former Mid Dakota CEO Jeffrey Neuberger and unsealed last month. The federal anti-kickback law is meant to prevent abuses that occur when a person profits from a patient referral. That often includes ordering unnecessary procedures.

Ohio

Columbus: A new state law taking effect Thursday raises the minimum age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21. Ohio is one of 18 states that have raised the minimum age for purchasing cigarettes, cigars, electronic cigarettes and other tobacco products. The law signed in July by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine also applies to rolling papers, filters, and other smoking and vaping accessories. Violations could lead to penalties for both the seller and buyer. State officials say it also will become illegal to give such products to someone under 21. The governor and other supporters of the change say the new law is intended to help prevent children from becoming smokers. National statistics have shown Ohio has one of the highest rates of adult smokers at just over 21%.

Oklahoma

Ada: For the past 15 years, casino gambling has been a financial boon for the state and many of the Native American tribes located there. Tribal casinos generate more than $2 billion a year, with $139 million going to the state last year to fund education. But the financial windfall has increased more than the tribes’ wealth. It has also brought influence in many towns, where casinos are major employers and tribes fund local services. The tribes are now locked in a showdown with Oklahoma’s new Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, who has demanded a larger share of casino revenue for the state. The tribes have refused. Many now question whether even a popular governor now has the clout to challenge the popular support for the tribes.

Oregon

Salem: Two counties in the state are offering the opportunity for U.S. military members, their dependents and others living overseas to vote in special elections this November with smartphones, officials announced Wednesday. While some technology experts have warned that such systems could be insecure, the two counties have already advised hundreds of registered voters living overseas about the option to cast ballots using blockchain-based mobile voting. Oregon residents normally vote by mail. Jackson County Clerk Christine Walker expressed confidence in the system and said it will help ensure that the votes of those overseas will be counted. She noted that overseas mail systems can be unreliable and said she was very worried that Washington’s threats to pull the United States from the United Nations’ postal agency would prevent voters overseas from casting ballots.

Pennsylvania

Jim Thorpe: A popular excursion train in eastern Pennsylvania says it is shutting down next month because of a tax dispute with the local borough. The Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway says it will cease operations Nov. 25 after 15 years of running vintage coaches along the Lehigh River through Glen Onoko and into Lehigh Gorge State Park. In September, a tax collection agency filed suit saying Jim Thorpe borough was owed about $95,000 in unpaid amusement taxes from 2016 to 2018. Railway’s owner – Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad – maintains that the ride is not an amusement and is exempt. It says the company makes its money from freight. Mayor Michael Sofranko says officials were “blindsided” and had been trying for weeks to meet with the company and work out an agreement.

Rhode Island

Providence: A group protesting federal immigration policies is planning to “occupy” the Statehouse. Former Democratic state Rep. Aaron Regunberg, who helps lead Never Again Action Rhode Island, says he’s bringing a toothbrush and pillow Thursday. The group plans to stay through the evening to coincide with Sukkot, the Jewish holiday commemorating the desert wandering of the Jews. Capitol Police say anyone in the building after it closes at 4:30 p.m. could face arrest for trespassing if they refuse to leave. Regunberg says the group wants state leaders to close a Central Falls detention facility used by federal immigration officials and stop collaborating. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo’s spokesman says the governor understands there are concerns about the facility and is open to reviewing future legislation about the issue.

South Carolina

Columbia: A group of state senators is studying what South Carolina needs to do if it wants to increase the pace of widening interstate highways. The Special Interstate Subcommittee met Wednesday for the first time, getting an overview of projects in the works, like widening Interstate 85 near the North Carolina state line and Interstate 20 west of Columbia. State Department of Transportation Secretary Christy Hall also detailed future projects like the $1.6 billion to untangle the intersection of I-20, I-26 and I-126 in Columbia. Hall says lawmakers’ 2017 decision to increase the gas tax 12 cents over five years and other fees are helping accelerate the pace of work, but some projects like widening I-26 from Columbia to Charleston or Interstate 526 around Charleston are still decades away.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: A local psychology teacher has been recognized as one of the top educators in the U.S. Alison Ter Horst was surprised Wednesday with a check for $25,000 at Washington High School. Ter Horst was one of only 40 teachers selected nationwide – and the only one in South Dakota this year – to receive a Milken Educator Award. The Milken Family Foundation uses the awards – dubbed “the Oscars of Teaching” – to recognize inspirational teachers who encourage others to join the field. Ter Horst was recognized in part for helping create a dual-credit program that lets students get college credit if they enroll in a teacher preparation program after graduation. She’s been teaching for about 12 years but says she originally wanted to be a guidance counselor.

Tennessee

Nashville: The state’s attorney general says a new law allows felons to have antique guns. An opinion last week by Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s office says the law removed a ban on guns manufactured before 1899, certain replicas and black powder-using muzzleloaders for people convicted of felonies or certain misdemeanors. The bill passed this year without any state lawmakers voting against it. The change took effect in May. Federal law doesn’t prohibit felons from having antique guns. But a 2015 state attorney general’s opinion concluded that Tennessee law generally prohibited it. Republican bill sponsor Sen. Kerry Roberts requested the legal opinion. He says the antiquated weapons do not use modern ammunition and said his research found they are seldom if ever used to commit a violent crime.

Texas

Point Comfort: Formosa Plastics Corp. has agreed to pay $50million to settle allegations that a company plant spilled tons of pellets into waterways near the Gulf of Mexico. Texas RioGrande Legal Aid on Tuesday announced the agreement involving the Formosa plant in Point Comfort. A judge in Houston will consider approving the settlement, to be paid over five years into a fund supporting environmental water projects. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt in June ruled in favor of people who alleged the Formosa plant violated clean water laws through discharges into Lavaca Bay and Cox Creek that began in 2016. Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, representing plaintiffs, said the consent decree means Formosa agrees to “zero discharge” of plastics and will clean existing pollution.

Utah

Salt Lake City: A proposed conversion therapy ban in the state is in danger of being derailed after the influential Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints came out Tuesday night in opposition, just months after it said it wouldn’t stand in the way of a similar measure under consideration. The church said in a statement that the regulatory rule prohibiting Utah psychologists from engaging in LGBTQ conversion therapy with minors would fail to safeguard religious beliefs and doesn’t account for “important realities of gender identity in the development of children.” State regulators crafted the rule at the request of Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, a member of the church, who in June asked for a set of rules after a similar bill died in the Legislature despite the church not taking a position.

Vermont

Rutland: A feasibility study has found that the shuttered College of St. Joseph could be converted for use as an education center. College officials have been looking for a way to put the campus to use that maintains the original education mission. They are considering the possibility of converting it to the CSJ Center for Excellence and Innovation. The proposed center would provide non-degree education and workforce development, accelerator programs, office space and more. The college is among three independent Vermont colleges that closed last spring. The Rutland Herald reports the next phase will be to attract potential investors for the proposed center.

Virginia

Charlottesville: A group dedicated to preserving the city’s Confederate monuments is asking the city to pay for an inspection of recent vandalism to two monument pedestals and install cameras in the area. The monuments, like others around the country, have been a source of controversy for years. White nationalists rallied in Charlottesville two years ago in part to protest the city’s plans to remove a Gen. Robert E. Lee monument. The Monument Fund sent a letter to Charlottesville’s city attorney Tuesday, saying monuments of Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson were vandalized in mid-September and again Monday. The group asks the city to investigate. A city spokesman couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

Washington

Seattle: A federal judge has ruled the city may consult outside experts to study ways to fix flaws in the Seattle Police Department’s internal investigations of officers accused of misconduct. But The Seattle Times reports U.S. District Judge James Robart, who is presiding over a 2012 consent decree requiring the city to address allegations of excessive force and biased policing, warned the city against using the results to justify its current accountability system. If that occurs, “then the exercise will be a failure, reform will be delayed, and full and effective compliance with the Consent Decree will recede further into the future,” Robart wrote in a nine-page order. Robart’s ruling made clear the city must correct deficiencies in the accountability system that prompted him to rule in May that the police department had fallen partially out of compliance with the consent decree.

West Virginia

Charleston: The state is offering free rain barrels to schools. The Department of Environmental Protection says schools with current or planned flower or vegetable gardens will be given priority. Applications on the agency’s Rain Barrel Program website must be submitted by Nov. 1. The project’s goal is to teach students about stormwater pollution and how collecting rainwater helps reduce pesticides, bacteria and litter in waterways. The program offers hands-on installation of the rain barrel, including the rain barrel and parts kit, with student participation and will be paired with a one-hour water education session.

Wisconsin

Madison: The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case seeking to dramatically scale back the ability of governors to change the intent of lawmakers through partial budget vetoes. Rick Esenberg, leader of the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty that brought the case, said Wednesday that the court had agreed to take the case, skipping the usual process of lawsuits working their way up from lower courts. Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is controlled 5-2 by conservatives. The case seeks to reverse more than four decades of precedent upholding the governor’s broad veto power. The lawsuit seeks to overturn four of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ 78 partial vetoes, arguing that he improperly and unlawfully used his broad constitutional powers to create new laws never approved by the Legislature.

Wyoming

Casper: The University of Wyoming could lose the papers of a longtime “Superman” comic book editor after his son took offense to comments by U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. The Casper Star-Tribune reports Hank Weisinger contacted the university’s American Heritage Center on Tuesday demanding the return of the collected papers of Mort Weisinger. The elder Weisinger spent three decades as the story editor of the “Superman” series published by DC Comics Inc. Hank Weisinger says his action was prompted by comments Cheney made Monday placing blame for Turkey’s Oct. 9 invasion of Syria on presidential impeachment proceedings by Democrats. Weisinger says he does not want his father’s papers at a university represented by a member of Congress he perceives as opposing Superman’s values of “truth, justice and the American way.”

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports