Anti-racism art, speedway shot sweetener, Pharrell vs. Va. Beach: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Montgomery: The first capital of the Confederacy has renamed a street honoring the rebel president to recognize a Black civil rights lawyer instead, defying a state law meant to protect Confederate monuments and memorials. The Montgomery City Council voted Tuesday night to rename Jeff Davis Avenue for attorney Fred D. Gray, who grew up on the street during the Jim Crow era and went on to represent clients including Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. “When I think of heroes who exemplify the best in our city, (Gray) is certainly at the forefront of that,” said Mayor Steven Reed, Montgomery’s first Black mayor. He initially proposed the change in December. The City Council’s unanimous approval could prompt a $25,000 fine under an Alabama law passed in 2017 to prevent the removal or alteration of Confederate monuments, which have been challenged and taken down across the South, but Reed said donors already had offered to pay the penalty for the city, where delegates voted to form the Confederacy in 1861. Gray, 90, still practices law in Tuskegee, located east of Montgomery, and said the city had kept him informed. “This is a project of the mayor’s,” he said. “He expressed it to me. I was very happy about it. And I am very happy about it.”

Alaska

Anchorage: Citing an increase in rude, violent behavior in schools, the city’s superintendent wants parents to help address the problem with children. The bad behavior has included a fight at a high school that prompted a large police response, along with a TikTok challenge in which students caused thousands of dollars in damage to school bathrooms, KTUU-TV reports. Superintendent Deena Bishop said the pandemic may be behind the behavior. “We are just finding, more and more, our young people, our children, are mostly as stressed out as the rest of us,” Bishop said. “And the stress and the anxiety in the community has taken effect. And we just want to work with our parents to find solutions to this.” The state’s largest school district has recorded nearly 800 suspensions this year, most at the secondary level. Officials say while that’s not necessarily a high number, the severity of the incidents has increased, including fights, assaults, and drug and alcohol issues. Teachers also report younger children seem to have lost the coping skills they need to calm down, Bishop said. In a recent newsletter, she asked parents to intervene after students in many incidents lacked respect and patience. “If you are seeing it at home, guess what’s happening in our schools,” Bishop said of the bad behavior.

Arizona

Fountain Hills: Beaten in his last three elections, former six-term Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is attempting another comeback, this time running for mayor of the affluent Phoenix suburb where he has lived for the past two decades. The former lawman on Tuesday announced his entry in the 2022 mayor’s race in Fountain Hills, a town of about 25,000. After getting crushed by a Democratic challenger in 2016 after 24 years as sheriff, Arpaio finished third in a Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat in 2018 and second in the GOP primary in his 2020 bid to win back the sheriff’s post. In both comeback attempts, Arpaio lost the vote in Fountain Hills. In an interview, he said his last comeback bids failed because he entered those races too late in the election cycle, and his early entry in the mayor’s race is an attempt to avoid the same fate. He rejected criticism that he should walk away from public life. The 89-year-old said he remains in good health and wants to push a pro-business agenda on behalf of the town. Arpaio was voted out as sheriff in 2016 amid voter frustration over his headline-grabbing tactics and legal troubles, including his disobedience of a judge’s 2011 order to stop his large-scale traffic patrols targeting immigrants that led to his 2017 criminal contempt of court conviction, which was pardoned by then-President Donald Trump.

Arkansas

Little Rock: Elizabeth Eckford, one of the nine Black students who first integrated Central High School in 1957, celebrated her 80th birthday at the school with the help of about a dozen students. The teens, members of the Civil Rights Memory Project, lined the sidewalk in front of the high school Monday, holding handwritten signs. “It’s an honor to be here to celebrate with her because she did so much for our school,” Destiny Logan, a senior, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The number of students participating was kept small, and they were told not to clap or make loud noises, as they gathered outside the same school where an angry mob of protesters had met Eckford and eight other Black students in 1957. After President Dwight Eisenhower ordered federal troops to protect the nine students, they began their first full day on Sept. 25, 1957. Images of the nine Black teens became among the most indelible of the civil rights movement, including one of Eckford calmly walking into school as a teen girl behind her shouts. A teacher sang “Amazing Grace,” and the students sang “Happy Birthday” to Eckford. Students and other guests took turns taking pictures with her and telling her stories. “It was the best birthday I had in a long, long time,” Eckford said.

California

Los Angeles: City leaders on Wednesday approved one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates – a sweeping measure that requires the shots for everyone entering bars, restaurants, nail salons, gyms or even a Lakers game. The City Council voted 11-2 in favor of the ordinance that will require proof of full vaccination starting Nov. 4. The move came after the council postponed a vote last week to deal with concerns ranging from who could be fined for violations to whether employees could end up in fistfights when they have to serve as vaccine door monitors. Some critics charge that a mandate would amount to segregation of those who cannot or refuse to be vaccinated. Others call it unenforceable. Business trade groups have said the city mandate will sow confusion because Los Angeles County’s own vaccine rules – which apply both in Los Angeles and in surrounding communities – are less sweeping. However, council members who support the ordinance said it is aimed at reducing the risk of new coronavirus case surges. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who’s expected to sign the ordinance into law, said last week: “I don’t want to bury another city employee, police officer, firefighter.”

Colorado

Denver: A health system fired 119 employees for not adhering to its vaccine requirement without a religious or medical exemption. That accounts for less than 0.5% of the company’s 26,500 employees around the state, said UCHealth spokesperson Dan Weaver. UCHealth employees had until Oct. 1 to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or apply for and receive an exemption. Among those fired, 54 employees were from the Denver region, 33 from northern Colorado and 32 from the southern part of the state. Nearly 1,170 medical and religious exemptions were approved, for about 4% of the workforce, Weaver said. “Despite the loss of these employees, UCHealth’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement has helped to improve staffing. With broad vaccination rates, fewer employees are testing positive for COVID-19 and needing to be out of work while they recover,” he said in an email. The employees who were terminated are welcome and encouraged to reapply if they receive one of the three approved COVID-19 vaccinations, Weaver said. UCHealth is a nonprofit health care system with 12 hospitals and hundreds of medical clinics in the Rocky Mountain region.

Connecticut

Manchester: A private high school’s president apologized Tuesday after cheerleaders from another school reported being subjected to racist taunts after a football game there. Sean Brennan, president of East Catholic High School, said an investigation has not been able to determine who was involved in the Sept. 24 incident, but the school has “no tolerance for derisive and unkind words or behavior directed at our own students or students from other schools.” In an open letter to the Montville High School community, he wrote: “I am deeply sorry this happened, and I promise you that we can and will do better.” A 16-year-old Black cheerleader from Montville reported two East Catholic football players used a racial epithet in telling her to go home after East Catholic won. Another cheerleader reported she also was subjected to racial slurs, and the cheerleaders had water thrown at them. Brennan had earlier issued a statement saying the school took the reports seriously but did not believe “anything inappropriate was said.” There have been daily protests outside East Catholic since the interaction was reported, and leaders from both schools met Sept. 29 to discuss it with Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference officials. The CIAC said both schools will send student representatives to a training session on sportsmanship.

Delaware

Dover: Dover International Speedway is offering the chance to drive around its “Monster Mile” to people who get vaccinated against COVID-19 at the racetrack later this month. Up to 800 drivers and their passengers will be able to take two laps around the track in their own vehicles behind a pace car, according to a news release. Events will be held Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Oct. 17 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be offered. Participants will be able to get their first, second or booster shots. Free coronavirus testing will also be available, and people can get vaccinated at the events without driving the track. The first 250 people to sign up for vaccinations will receive two tickets to the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the speedway April 30, 2022. Registration opened Wednesday at racetoendcovid.org. Appointments are encouraged, but walk-ups for testing and shots without driving the track will be accepted. Driving the track without signing up will only be available if the slots aren’t filled in advance. Drivers going around the track alone must be at least 18 and have a valid driver’s license, car registration in their name and vehicle insurance. Those who are 16 and 17 must have a license and a parent or guardian in the vehicle to sign a release form.

District of Columbia

Washington: Mourners and members of the public gathered on the Washington National Cathedral’s grounds Tuesday evening as its massive funeral bell tolled for America’s more than 700,000 COVID-19 victims, WUSA-TV reports. It was an astounding number – 700 plangent peals of the funeral bell, which was used before the pandemic to mourn the loss of presidents, senators, and luminaries of American life. Now, the bell tolls largely for those who chose to remain unvaccinated, six months after most Americans gained access to the lifesaving shots. “They don’t seem to realize the import of it until they themselves suffer a loss in their family,” said Zenaida Samaniego, who drove from Maryland to hear the hourlong ceremony. “The bells will toll again because of this hard-headedness about getting something that protects people.” With each bell symbolizing 1,000 American deaths from the coronavirus, disruptions and nonchalance were not lost on the mourners. A woman watching a YouTube video on her phone, at full volume, received glares until she got the message. “This must be moving us in a way I didn’t think it would,” said a woman who gave her name as Bess, describing the somber sense of hearing the bells from her Adams Morgan home. “I wish I could say this would be the end. But I don’t think it will be.”

Florida

Miami Beach: The mansion that gangster Al Capone owned for nearly two decades – once fated to be demolished – just sold for $15.5 million. The Miami Herald reports the home was sold to 93 Palm Residence LLC, managed by Coral Gables accountant Toni Alam. Capone, the original “Scarface,” bought the waterfront house for $40,000 in 1928. He died there in 1947 from a heart attack. Developer Todd Michael Glaser and partner Nelson Gonzalez, senior vice president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM, bought the nine-bedroom residence in August for $10.75 million with plans to demolish it and replace it with a more modern project. But preservationists in Miami Beach balked at their plans. Glaser compared the out-of-the-blue offer to a winning lottery ticket. “If someone tells you they want to give you a $5 million lotto ticket, of course you’d take it,” he said. Glaser had previously told the Herald the home, which is about 3 feet below sea level, had flood damage and standing water underneath it. “The house is a piece of crap,” he said at the time. “It’s a disgrace to Miami Beach.” The home is believed to be where Capone and his associates plotted the notorious St. Valentine’s Day massacre in which seven members of an opposing gang were gunned down in a Chicago parking garage in 1929.

Georgia

Atlanta: State inspectors and an investigation found that a state agency unlawfully held onto millions of dollars in seized funds, spending money on Fitbits, exercise equipment and other items. A division of the Department of Revenue also spent funds on engraved firearms and stress balls shaped like beer mugs, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The report released last month by the Office of the Inspector General confirmed reporting last year by the newspaper and WSB-TV detailing how money seized in tax investigations was spent by the Department of Revenue’s Office of Special Investigations. Spending by that investigative division was “clearly wasteful” and “gave the appearance of extravagance,” the report found. The department has since changed its policies and returned money to the state treasury, where it should have gone in the first place, the newspaper reports. Revenue Commissioner Robyn Crittenden, who took over the department in July, vowed to make more reforms. “The department is actively moving forward to ensure the findings highlighted in this report are remedied,” she said. “We are committed to consistently doing the right thing and serving the taxpayers of Georgia with integrity and accountability.”

Hawaii

Honolulu: U.S. Geological Survey officials have lowered the alert level for the Kilauea volcano, saying they expect its latest eruption to remain confined to the summit. The eruption began last week in the Halemaumau crater at the volcano’s summit on the Big Island. Officials with the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory had raised Kilauea’s alert level to “warning” and its aviation code to red as they assessed the intensity of lava fountains covering the floor of the crater and billowing clouds of volcanic smoke. But over the past several days, a thick layer of molten lava has accumulated at the base of the crater, lessening fears it could spread. Observatory officials lowered the alert level to “watch” and the aviation code to orange Monday afternoon. The eruption remains confined to the crater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It’s not in an area where there are any homes. Ron Hanatani, who has a pottery studio in Volcano Village near the park’s entrance, said residents and tourists have been flocking for a glimpse, though as a former geologist at the observatory, he has seen more spectacular eruptions. Village businesses are grateful for the attention during a normally slower time of year for tourists, said Ira Ono, owner of Volcano Garden Arts and Cafe Ono. Even though he has lived in the area for decades, he’s still mesmerized by Kilauea. “We see the glow at night,” he said. “It’s pretty dramatic and beautiful.”

Idaho

Boise: With Gov. Brad Little out of the state Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order involving COVID-19 vaccines. Oh no you don’t, said Little, who promised to rescind it in quick order and was expected to be back in the state Wednesday evening. The maneuvering of Idaho’s top leaders came while Little was in Texas meeting with nine other Republican governors about concerns with how President Joe Biden is handling border issues. McGeachin, a far-right Republican, is running for governor, and the governor and lieutenant governor don’t run on the same ticket in Idaho. Her executive order seeks, among other things, to prevent employers from requiring their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. Most mainstream Republicans prefer to give private businesses latitude to make their own decisions. McGeachin was also rebuffed Tuesday by Maj. Gen. Michael J. Garshak in a query about activating Idaho National Guard troops and sending them to the U.S.-Mexico border. “I am unaware of any request for Idaho National Guard assistance under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) from Texas or Arizona,” Garshak wrote, in part, to McGeachin. “As you are aware, the Idaho National Guard is not a law enforcement agency.” It’s not the first time McGeachin has ruffled feathers in her capacity as acting governor with Little out of state. In May, she issued an order banning mask mandates that Little eliminated on his return, saying such decisions were best left to local officials.

Illinois

Springfield: State and federal officials on Monday unveiled a mobile unit that they say will add speed and efficiency to digital investigations of child pornography and exploitation at a time when young people are using the internet more than ever before. The gray van is assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, whose office oversees the group and its increasing caseload. Tips about alleged exploitation received by the task force increased by 118% from 2017 to 2020 and are on pace to jump another 23% this year. “Child predators are actively trolling the internet, trading, selling and collecting images of the most vile sexual acts involving children,” Raoul said. Other predators log on to appear to innocently befriend young people, he said, then lure them to meet-ups for sex. The mobile unit is funded by a $174,000 federal grant and outfitted with advanced technology. When authorities target a suspect, the unit will be key in an environment where timing is critical, and evidence integrity can make or break a case, said Zeus Flores, a digital forensic examiner for the task force. Instead of having to work in what could be squalid conditions – “some of the homes we’re going into are frankly biohazards,” Flores said – the mobile unit will offer privacy and safety.

Indiana

Indianapolis: Mourners gathered at a small chapel Tuesday evening to remember the dozens of Hoosiers lost last year to domestic violence. The Indianapolis-based Domestic Violence Network, which seeks to raise awareness of and end domestic violence across the state, hosts the annual memorial. The number of people honored Tuesday was the highest in recent memory, advocates said. Among the 74 Hoosiers known to have been killed in domestic violence incidents between June 1, 2020, and May 31, 2021, 34 were from Marion County, with the oldest 77 and the youngest just 7. The names of those 34 from the capital area were read aloud at Tuesday’s service. Domestic Violence Network Executive Director Kelly McBride said the increase in deaths was “staggering.” Eleven people were honored at 2020’s service and 16 in 2019. Ash Rathwell, training services manager for the network, said local service providers have seen a sharp increase in calls for help regarding domestic violence since the pandemic began. But a report released by the group this year examined the overwhelming need domestic violence service providers experienced long before COVID-19. On any given day, there were more than 1,800 victims and survivors served by direct service providers, but at least 182 requests for services go unmet, it found.

Iowa

Des Moines: The Legislature on Tuesday rejected the first set of redistricting maps drawn by a state agency, raising concerns that majority Republicans may opt to insert politics into the state’s nonpartisan process. The Legislative Services Agency drew the maps, which proposed revising Iowa’s four congressional districts to include two that lean heavily toward Republicans, one that favors Democrats and one that both parties would have a chance at winning. After a committee moved the first set of maps to the Senate floor without debate, the full Senate rejected the first plan on a party-line vote, with all 32 Republicans voting “no” and the 18 Democrats voting “yes.” By state law, the LSA is responsible for following detailed guidelines to ensure population balance among Iowa’s congressional districts and to prevent political influence in the initial drafting of changes. By law, the Legislature can only accept or reject the maps without amendment. The LSA now has 35 days to draw a second set of maps, which again must be voted up or down by lawmakers with no amendments. If that is rejected, the LSA would have another 35 days to draw a third set, which could be amended with majority Republicans leading that process – something that hasn’t happened in 40 years, since the first time the state’s current redistricting procedure was in place.

Kansas

Topeka: Legislators are setting up a new anti-mandate committee targeting COVID-19 vaccines and masking in schools. “I’m absolutely not sure it’s safe,” Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, said of the vaccines. Thompson is one of 11 legislators on the Special Joint Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates. Republican leadership announced their eight appointees Monday. Democrats haven’t appointed their three allotted members. “It would be one thing if we knew this thing absolutely worked, and there was no adverse reaction,” Thompson told reporters Tuesday. “But that’s not the case right now.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the authorized COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. But Thompson said that “this is not a true vaccine ... an attenuated or weakened version of the virus itself. This is a a genetically engineered vaccine that some doctors I’ve talked to have told me that this is introducing basically an autoimmune disease into your body.” Republicans have balked at President Joe Biden’s proposed vaccine-or-testing mandates. Brushing aside concerns about immunocompromised people and children who aren’t yet eligible for vaccination, Thompson asked why Biden and others who’ve been inoculated would care whether others have gotten their shots.

Kentucky

Frankfort: The state’s bourbon industry is signaling it’s increasingly bullish on its future after reaching new production heights despite the COVID-19 pandemic and trade disputes in key overseas markets. Bluegrass State bourbon producers filled nearly 2.5 million barrels in 2020, setting a new production record, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association said Monday. It marked the third straight year Kentucky distilleries filled more than 2 million barrels of bourbon. And for the first time in the modern era of American whiskey, Kentucky has 10 million barrels of bourbon aging in distillery warehouses, it said. The state of 4.5 million people has more than 10.3 million barrels of maturing bourbon, according to the latest figures. “Kentucky’s signature bourbon industry continues to invest in our commonwealth at unprecedented levels, despite global pandemic disruptions, exorbitant taxes and ongoing trade wars,” said Eric Gregory, president of the distillers’ group. “This is truly a historic and landmark record.” Massive inventories are a bet on the future because most bourbons typically age four to eight years before reaching their market. Bourbon gets its flavor and golden brown color during aging.

Louisiana

New Orleans: A 2017 lawsuit challenging former prosecutors for hardball tactics, including the issuance of fake subpoenas and the jailing of crime victims who wouldn’t cooperate with investigators, was settled Tuesday in federal court. The suit centered on the practices of staff under former District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, who did not seek reelection last year after two six-year terms. Cannizzaro’s successor, Jason Williams, agreed to the appointment of a special monitor to ensure his office complies with terms of the settlement, including detailed policies written to ensure prosecutors don’t use “coercive or unlawful means to secure cooperation from crime victims or witnesses.” Cannizzaro ended his staff’s use of phony subpoenas soon after the practice was exposed by an online news outlet, The Lens. He defended the jailing of witnesses, including victims, as a rarely used but sometimes necessary practice. Civil rights and criminal justice advocates were harshly critical of the practices. Among the harshest critics was Williams, a defense attorney and City Council member. He won election to succeed Cannizzarro late last year while running as a reformer who vowed to end what he called a “win at all cost” mentality in the district attorney’s office. The settlement calls for a $120,000 payout to three remaining plaintiffs.

Maine

York: A high school student staged a schoolwide walkout after her anti-racism art display sparked complaints, forcing school officials to remove it. York High School senior Claudia Corcoran’s display was part of a school project that tasked students with creating a topic inspired by a book, Principal Karl Francis said. Corcoran’s project included a two-panel painting that describes racism as an issue that continues to plague American society. She donated the piece to the school’s librarian, who displayed it in the library. The York School Department administration ordered that the school should remove the display after complaints from parents, students and faculty. But more complaints on social media followed after its removal. The administration said the artwork was removed because the librarian did not get approval to display it. But in the past, librarians have been allowed to hang student art without permission from school officials. In a statement, YSD Superintendent Lou Goscinski said the student’s art isn’t an issue, “but once we display it, it becomes the speech of the school.” Following that statement, Corcoran staged a walkout Sept. 29, demanding that the school return her artwork to the library. Two days later, Francis announced the art would be put back on display.

Maryland

Annapolis: Gov. Larry Hogan’s former chief of staff has been indicted on charges that he defrauded a state agency he led by inducing it to pay him nearly $280,000 in mostly severance pay before he moved to his post in the governor’s office, the Maryland U.S. attorney announced Tuesday. Roy McGrath also used funds from the Maryland Environmental Service to pay a personal pledge to a museum and got the agency to pay tuition expenses for a class after he left his job as executive director, according to the indictment. He also recorded conversations with senior state officials without their consent and faces state charges, it said. McGrath, of Naples, Florida, fraudulently obtained $276,731 from the environmental service, according to the indictment. The Baltimore Sun, which first reported the story, said McGrath characterized the case as “political persecution.” His attorney, Bruce Marcus, wrote in an email to the Associated Press that his client “vigorously and categorically denies the allegations.” McGrath resigned in August 2020 when he was just 11 weeks into the job as Hogan’s top aide, after the payments became public. Michael Ricci, Hogan’s spokesman, described the charges Tuesday as “very serious and deeply troubling.”

Massachusetts

Boston: Acting Mayor Kim Janey on Tuesday signed an ordinance intended to address climate change by requiring large buildings in the city to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The measure “is a monumental achievement that will have positive impacts on our residents for generations to come,” Janey said in a statement. “We know that the negative effects of climate change bear a disproportionate burden on our most socially vulnerable communities.” Last month the City Council unanimously approved the ordinance, which applies to about 3,500 commercial and residential buildings of 20,000 square feet or more, or about 4% of structures in Boston, according to city officials. They account for 60% of Boston’s building emissions. To reach the goals, building owners can perform energy efficiency improvements; switch to clean, efficient and electric heating systems or fossil fuel-free systems; and purchase clean energy. The measure is an amendment to a 2013 ordinance that required all commercial and residential buildings of at least 35,000 square feet or with at least 35 units to report their energy and water use to the city every year. Buildings covered were also required to show concerted efforts to reduce their energy use or emissions every five years through energy actions or audits.

Michigan

Detroit: Canada invoked a treaty with the United States and asked a judge Monday to suspend litigation over Michigan’s effort to shut down a Great Lakes oil pipeline. Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau made clear that his government is backing Enbridge, the Calgary-based company that operates Line 5. Canada said it requested negotiations with the U.S. about the pipeline. It cited a provision in a 1977 treaty that says no public authority in either country can take steps to interfere with the flow of hydrocarbons. Line 5 moves about 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids daily between Wisconsin and Ontario, traversing parts of northern Michigan. A section of the pipeline runs on the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac, which connects lakes Huron and Michigan at the top of the Lower Peninsula. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel, both Democrats, have said Line 5 is a grave threat to the Great Lakes and should be closed to prevent spills. Whitmer said she was disappointed by Canada invoking the treaty. “Rather than taking steps to diversify energy supply and ensure resilience, Canada has channeled its efforts into defending an oil company with an abysmal environmental track record,” she said, noting an Enbridge pipeline rupture into a southwestern Michigan river in 2010.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: Gov. Tim Walz called on lawmakers Tuesday to approve a series of new moves to respond to the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, including vaccine and testing requirements for teachers, school staff and long-term care workers, plus measures to relieve strained hospital capacity. The Democratic governor detailed his proposal in a letter to lawmakers after meeting privately with legislative leaders. He urged lawmakers to approve the measures in a special session that was originally envisioned for last month to approve a $250 million bonus package for front-line workers who have risked their lives during the pandemic. Negotiations on that plan have yet to produce an agreement and missed a Labor Day target for completion. Since then, Walz has proposed that the session also include drought relief for farmers. But he has also insisted that Senate Republicans agree not to use the special session to fire Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, as some have threatened. Walz urged lawmakers to approve a series of waivers and enact other relief to allow hospitals, nursing homes and child care centers to respond more effectively to the surge. He noted that more Minnesotans are hospitalized for COVID-19 than last spring and that at the end of last week only two pediatric intensive care beds were available in the entire state.

Mississippi

Jackson: The state on Wednesday followed through on its promise to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that it come up with a plan to prevent unnecessary institutionalization of people with mental illness. Lawyers for the state filed a notice of appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Sept. 7, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ordered that the state’s initial plan be submitted to the U.S. Justice Department and a mental health expert for feedback within 120 days. The judge said then that the final plan must be completed in 180 days. State lawyers asked last week that the deadline be postponed because Mississippi intended to appeal Reeves’ ruling. James Shelson, the state’s lawyer, wrote Sept. 27 that if the Department of Mental Health were required to complete its plan and other requirements of Reeves’ order in the allocated time frame, “Mississippi will suffer irreparable injuries from undue interference with its mental health system and a fundamental alteration of that system both in costs and structure.” Under Reeves’ order, the state is responsible for tracking a wide array of data, fund new vouchers to help people with mental illness pay rent and utilities, and start a clinical review process sampling 100 to 200 patients a year “to assure that services are working as intended to address the needs of people with serious mental illness.”

Missouri

Bonne Terre: A man was put to death Tuesday for killing three workers while robbing a convenience store nearly three decades ago – an execution performed over objections from racial justice activists, lawmakers and even the pope. Ernest Johnson died from an injection of pentobarbital at the state prison in Bonne Terre. He silently mouthed words to relatives as the process began. His breathing became labored, and he puffed out his cheeks, then swallowed hard. Within seconds, all movement stopped. In his written last statement, Johnson said he was sorry “and have remorse for what I do.” He said he loved his family and friends and thanked those who prayed for him. Johnson was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m., nine minutes after the dose was administered. A corrections department spokeswoman said four relatives representing all three victims were present. Johnson’s witnesses included relatives and his lawyer. No relatives spoke after the execution. Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said 59 demonstrators gathered on the edge of the prison grounds. Johnson had a history of scoring extremely low on IQ tests, dating back to childhood. His attorney, Jeremy Weis, said Johnson also was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and lost about one-fifth of his brain tissue when a benign tumor was removed in 2008.

Montana

Missoula: The University of Montana law school is launching an independent review following a walkout and rally over alleged mistreatment of sexual harassment and assault victims. About 100 university students and community members gathered Tuesday morning to demand change and accountability in the Alexander Blewett III School of Law, the Missoulian reports. Speakers and students called on law school Dean Paul Kirgis and Associate Dean Sally Weaver to resign, saying they had failed students and created a toxic environment. As first reported by the Daily Montanan, women from the law school say the two administrators discouraged them from reporting allegations of sexual harassment and assault to the university’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX. Following students’ demands, university officials are launching an “independent, outside review to assess the learning and working environment in the Law School and the mechanisms in place to best support students,” according to a statement to the Missoulian on Tuesday from university spokesman Dave Kuntz. The institution has invested significant resources into investigating the allegations against the law school, Kuntz said in the statement. Those initial investigations found law school leaders did not violate university policy.

Nebraska

Omaha: A man who fled to Nicaragua after being charged with dozens of felony counts of child pornography and enticement has pleaded no contest to seven of the counts. Adam Hawhee, 29, faces up to 88 years in prison when he’s sentenced in December, the Omaha World-Herald reports. Hawhee was originally charged last year with two counts of child enticement and 26 counts of child pornography possession. He was accused of trying to entice two 7-year-old girls at an Omaha park in March 2020, leading police to search his home, where they reported finding more than 100 child pornography images – some involving toddlers. Hawhee was freed after posting bond. He was jailed again four months later after allegedly exposing himself to a young boy and trying to coax the boy into his vehicle. Hawhee was freed again after posting bond and fled to Nicaragua, missing a December court appearance. When Omaha police found him and had him returned to Nebraska, a judge set his bond at a whopping $50 million – believed to the highest in Douglas County history.

Nevada

Reno: Tribal lawyers are asking a U.S. judge to reconsider her earlier refusal to block digging at a proposed lithium mine where they say newly uncovered evidence proves it was the sacred site of a massacre of dozens of Native Americans in 1865. The new motion filed in federal court in Reno includes an 1865 newspaper report and two eyewitness accounts of how at least 31 Paiute men, women and children were “murdered by federal soldiers” at Thacker Pass. The accounts were in an autobiography published in 1929 by well-known American labor organizer Bill Haywood. One was from a cavalry volunteer who participated in the slaughter and the other a tribal member who survived it. Nevada Lithium Corp.’s construction is slated to begin next year at what would be the largest lithium mine in the nation and biggest open-pit lithium mine in the world. Demand for the mineral, a key component in electric vehicle batteries, is expected to triple in the next five years. The only significant lithium mine now operating in the U.S. is in Nevada. Another planned halfway between Reno and Las Vegas by Ioneer Ltd. also faces legal challenges from environmentalists fighting to protect Tiehm’s buckwheat, a rare desert wildflower that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service formally proposed last week to be listed as an endangered species.

New Hampshire

Manchester: As a drug recovery program comes to an end at fire stations in the city, a local center that’s part of a state-founded network can offer immediate screening and other services, Gov. Chris Sununu said Monday. The Doorway of Greater Manchester is now available 24 hours a day by calling 2-1-1 and is offering recovery services to coincide with the closing of the Manchester Safe Station program. “I would like to thank the Manchester Fire Department for their tireless service these last few years,” Sununu said in a statement. “Our Doorways have served a tremendous purpose and have provided an excellent service, and we are building out a system that goes beyond the scope of Safe Station.” Safe Station was founded by Manchester firefighters in 2016 in response to the community’s opioid epidemic. People could go to any Manchester fire station for screening and handoff to services. The department will continue to provide mobile, field-based substance use disorder outreach services. The Doorway program is a network of nine locations across the state that provide one-stop access to substance use services.

New Jersey

Newark: A man who used dating apps to lure and kill three women five years ago was sentenced Wednesday to 160 years in prison after a trial in which it was revealed that friends of one victim did their own detective work on social media to ferret out the suspect. Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, 25, sat motionless as the judge gave the sentence in state court in Newark. The sentencing was preceded by emotional statements by family members of victims Robin West and Sarah Butler. In a brief statement before they spoke, Wheeler-Weaver denied responsibility, telling Superior Court Judge Mark S. Ali that he was framed. Wheeler-Weaver’s mother, aunt and brother sat in the gallery but didn’t address the court. The sentences covered three murders, one attempted murder, and other counts including kidnapping, aggravated arson and desecration of human remains. The Essex County prosecutor’s office had credited friends of Butler, a college student from Montclair, with using social media to help police find Wheeler-Weaver. They gained access to her social media accounts, set up a fake account, lured Wheeler-Weaver to a meeting in Montclair and notified police, according to prosecutors. A fourth woman who survived an attack and testified at Wheeler-Weaver’s trial also provided crucial information that helped investigators.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: The City Council has adopted a resolution that acknowledges ongoing generational trauma caused by U.S. Indigenous boarding school policies and formalizes a commitment to work with Indigenous communities toward reconciliation and healing. Councilors voted in favor of the measure during a meeting Monday. Mayor Tim Keller is expected to sign the resolution next week on Indigenous Peoples Day. The city has been researching the history of a public park where students of the former Albuquerque Indian School were believed to have been buried more than a century ago. Ground-penetrating radar will be used to study the site, and another meeting was planned later this week to talk about how to keep moving forward. “It really is kind of a first step for us as a city to move forward toward healing and also to be inclusive of all of our communities in Albuquerque and to understand some of the pain that people have lived with over the years of not knowing,” Council President Cynthia Borrego said during the virtual meeting. Indigenous activists became concerned earlier this year when a plaque memorializing the students from the former school vanished. They established a makeshift memorial of flowers and other offerings and demanded an investigation.

New York

New York: Federal agents raided the offices Tuesday of a New York City police union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, and the Long Island home of its bombastic leader, who has clashed with city officials over his incendiary tweets and hard-line tactics. FBI spokesperson Martin Feely said agents were “carrying out a law enforcement action in connection with an ongoing investigation.” Agents were seen carrying boxes out of the union’s Manhattan headquarters and loading them into a van. The FBI also searched union President Ed Mullins’ home in Port Washington, Feely said. Mullins resigned as the union’s president Tuesday night, according to a message the union’s board sent to members, saying he did so at the board’s urging. The union represents about 13,000 active and retired NYPD sergeants and controls a $264 million retirement fund. “The nature and scope of this criminal investigation has yet to be determined. However, it is clear that President Mullins is apparently the target of the federal investigation,” the board’s message said. “We have no reason to believe that any other member of the SBA is involved or targeted in this matter.” The union’s board said that while Mullins is presumed innocent, it asked him to step aside to ensure the union’s day-to-day operations continue unimpeded.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Some supporters of Republican former Gov. Pat McCrory’s efforts to contest the 2016 gubernatorial election results can be sued for allegedly defaming four residents who were falsely accused of voting twice, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The complaint the Southern Coalition for Social Justice brought forward in 2017 could pave the way for lawmakers and their supporters to be penalized for making inaccurate voter fraud claims in future elections. The unanimous ruling from the three appeals court judges allows a trial court to hear the case against the Pat McCrory Committee Legal Defense Fund and the Virginia-based Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky law firm named in the complaint. The judges also decided that William Clark Porter, a GOP official in Greensboro whose signature was on one of the election protests that was filed, is entitled to a legal defense that would likely clear him of defamation claims because he participated in a “quasi-judicial election protest proceeding.” “Mr. Porter was not the puppet master. He was the puppet, and obviously, he did make serious allegations against our clients, but this is a good ruling for us,” said Allison Riggs, who leads the voting rights program at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. “We believe that we now can proceed against the masterminds of this concerted effort to defame North Carolina voters.”

North Dakota

Fort Yates: The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has elected a woman to be its next leader, according to results released Tuesday. Janet Alkire would be the first woman to head the tribal council in more than half a century. Gates Kelley was elected Standing Rock chairwoman in 1946 and was the first woman to preside over a tribe in the United States, South Dakota Public Broadcasting reports. Alkire received 829 votes to defeat current tribal Vice Chairman Ira Taken Alive, who came in with 762 votes. Taken Alive, who said he is contesting the results, edged Alkire in the July primary that advanced the top two vote-getters. A 15-year Air Force veteran, Alkire has served as Standing Rock’s executive director twice. Her platform included prioritizing youth and elderly wellness initiatives, homelessness, economic development and government transparency. She favors mental health, addiction treatment and rehabilitation for all members and is an advocate for child welfare. The Standing Rock Reservation straddles the North Dakota and South Dakota border and is home to about 8,000 people.

Ohio

Columbus: The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has lost its most important accreditation, a major blow to an institution once widely admired in its industry and by the general public. The zoo said it plans to appeal the decision announced Wednesday by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, considered the nation’s top zoo-accrediting body, one day after the institution announced its new leader. The accrediting group cited concerns about the zoo’s animal programs department and inappropriate businesses practices by its former leaders. Tom Stalf, the zoo’s former president and chief executive, and Greg Bells, its former chief financial officer, resigned in March after an investigation by the Columbus Dispatch found they allowed relatives to live in houses owned or controlled by the zoo and sought tickets for family members to zoo entertainment events. Subsequent audits initiated by the zoo’s board found that improper spending and questionable business practices by the pair resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in zoo losses. Investigations and reviews by the Ohio attorney general’s office and the state auditor are pending. Besides the financial issues, the accrediting group voiced concerns about the zoo’s acquisition of ambassador animals in its animal programs department.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: A prosecutor is again asking the state Supreme Court to remove two members of the Pardon and Parole Board from the case of a high-profile death row inmate. Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater filed the motion Monday to remove Kelly Doyle and Andrew Luck from the clemency hearing for Julius Jones. Prater alleges the two are biased because of their work with inmates on criminal justice reform. “Both Adam Luck and Kelly Doyle engage in political activities that work to release inmates from prison, all of which makes their Board decisions, at the very least, have an appearance of impropriety,” Prater wrote. The court previously rejected Prater’s request to remove the two from Jones’ commutation hearing on the same grounds. The same five-member board narrowly rejected clemency Tuesday for another death row inmate convicted of killing a prison cafeteria worker in 1998, paving the way for the state’s first execution in more than six years. John Marion Grant, 60, is scheduled for lethal injection Oct. 28. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for killing 58-year-old Gay Carter at the Dick Conner Correctional Center in Hominy. Grant’s attorneys said he received ineffective trial counsel because his lawyers never properly presented mitigating evidence, such as his difficult childhood.

Oregon

Portland: After receiving positive reviews, experts say a nonpolice first-response unit has the potential to be a “citywide solution” for an alternative to nonemergency calls regarding people experiencing a mental health crisis or homelessness. During a City Council work session Tuesday, researchers suggested the Portland Street Response team pilot program should be expanded, following a Portland State University study that evaluated the program’s first six months. “Our first recommendation is to commit the necessary resources toward the expansion of Portland Street Response to eventually make its services available throughout the city and during all hours of the day,” researchers wrote in the report. The unarmed Portland Street Response team is composed of a mental health crisis therapist, a firefighter paramedic and two community health workers who are dispatched to 911 calls related to mental health crises or the homeless population. The team currently works Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. From February to mid-August, the team responded to 383 incidents, with two-thirds involving people experiencing homelessness and roughly half involving someone who needed mental health care. Less than 4% resulted in a trip to the hospital, and none led to arrests, the report found.

Pennsylvania

Somerset: Officials in a rural western Pennsylvania county say the elected prosecutor’s access to his office and the courthouse has been restricted after he was charged last month with violently raping a woman he knew through work. Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Lynn Thomas, 36, was accused last month of having attacked the woman in her Windber home. He was charged with rape, indecent and simple assault, strangulation and criminal trespassing. County Solicitor Michael Barbera told The (Johnstown) Tribune Democrat that Thomas can no longer use a remote “key fob” to enter the building through side doors or after hours. Instead, he must use the main public entrance with metal detectors and scanners and staffed by sheriff’s deputies, he said. Barbera said that because Thomas is charged with felonies, he no longer has access to a law enforcement database. The Republican said he is planning to plead not guilty and fight the charges in court. He told reporters Friday through his attorney that he’s taking a leave of absence to focus on his case. His lawyer also told reporters Friday that “there’s much more to this story than meets the eye.”

Rhode Island

Smithfield: Veterinarians are trying to save a bald eagle that was found injured, with infected eyes and elevated lead levels. An environmental police officer and wildlife control specialist from the state Department of Environmental Management rescued the young bird from the shore of Stump Pond on Saturday and brought it to the Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island in Saunderstown, where it’s being treated. The national bird since 1782, bald eagles were once an endangered species, and their recovery is considered “a spectacular conservation success” story, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Still, there are only “a small handful of bald eagle pairs breeding in Rhode Island,” said John Herbert, a biologist for the DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. Veterinarians believe the bird rescued Saturday is a young adult, and he’s almost totally blind, said Kristin Fletcher, executive director of the Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island. It has a lesion on one eye and an apparent problem in the other eye and is being treated with eye drops. Fletcher said the bird might have neurological damage and is being tube-fed. A low level of lead was also detected in the bird, she said. The clinic has treated about a half-dozen bald eagles through the years, and “pretty much every eagle we’ve had has lead issues,” she noted, saying the metal likely gets into the birds through shotgun pellets and sinkers used in fishing.

South Carolina

Columbia: The executive director of the South Carolina Election Commission has left her position several months earlier than planned, with the agency saying she’s taking a new job at a nonprofit that provides cybersecurity resources to election-related entities. Marci Andino had planned to step away from her role Dec. 31 but left office Friday to take over as director of the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, part of the nonprofit Center for Internet Security, commission spokesman Chris Whitmire told The State newspaper. Until a permanent replacement is found, Voter Services Director Howard Knabb is taking the helm in an interim role, Whitmire said. Leading the agency since 2003, Andino implemented a new statewide voter registration system, voter ID law and candidate filing process. Her departure follows tension with state Republican leaders in the run-up to the 2020 election. She recommended stricter safety measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including expanding absentee voting. One of Andino’s suggestions was challenged in court and made it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court: the removal of a witness signature requirement for absentee ballots. But the court ruled unanimously that the rule should stay.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: A panel of judges will review allegations that Gov. Kristi Noem abused her office to help a family member obtain a state appraiser license. The Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday announced it was referring the complaint to the South Dakota Government Accountability, which will investigate the matter and determine if any misconduct occurred. The allegations center on a meeting Noem had with officials with the Department of Labor and Regulation after the agency had recommended denying Noem’s daughter, Kassidy Peters, a real estate appraiser license. Peters ultimately was granted the license in late 2020, four months after the meeting, and shortly after, the state employee who’d recommended denial was no longer employed in the labor office. The Associated Press reported Peters began working as a state-registered appraiser – an entry-level job – in 2016. And in September 2019, Peters applied to become a certified residential appraiser. The appraiser certification program moved to deny the license in summer 2020. Noem initially refused comment on the story but used social media last week to deny any wrongdoing. “I never once asked for special treatment for Kassidy,” the Republican governor wrote. “She is my daughter and I’m proud of her. I raised her to accomplish things on her own.”

Tennessee

Memphis: The University of Tennessee Health Science Center has landed $3.2 million in federal money to upgrade a laboratory used for research on infectious diseases. In a news release, the Memphis campus said the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded the money for equipment and infrastructure improvements at the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory. The school said the lab is one of about a dozen nationwide commissioned by the institute after the 9/11 attacks to study very contagious pathogens as a safeguard against bioterrorism. The laboratory opened in 2009. It has played a role in research related to COVID-19.

Texas

Austin: Opponents of a new state ban on most abortions filed a lawsuit in Illinois on Tuesday after weeks of being thwarted by courts elsewhere in their efforts to block the nation’s most restrictive abortion law. The latest legal challenge came as the Biden administration waited for a federal judge in Austin to rule on a request to halt the law known as Senate Bill 8, which bans abortions in Texas once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks after conception. A hearing was held Friday, but there was no timetable on a decision. Although courts have blocked similar measures elsewhere in U.S., the Texas law has remained in place since early September because it uniquely leaves enforcement solely up to private citizens, who are entitled to at least $10,000 in damages if they prevail in a lawsuit against abortion providers. A San Antonio doctor who admitted defying the law last month was quickly sued – not by anti-abortion advocates but by former attorneys in Illinois and Arkansas who oppose the law and are trying to force a court to weigh in. The Center for Reproductive Rights is now asking a federal court in Chicago to consolidate the lawsuits against Dr. Alan Braid and declare the law unconstitutional. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it to remain in place through inaction.

Utah

St. George: The Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program Clinic from the St. George Regional Hospital is offering five informational meetings this month for those affected by radiation from nuclear testing in Utah, Nevada and Colorado. The clinic is focusing on more than 60,000 people, known as Downwinders, who were exposed to radiation at testing sites during the 1950s and ’60s. A law known as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act will expire in July 2022, according to a press release from Intermountain Healthcare. Those who qualify for RECA will be able to learn more about the compensation for which they can qualify and about starting the process through these public meetings. Qualifying cancers are leukemia; multiple myeloma; non-Hodgkin lymphomas; and primary cancers of the pharynx, small intestine, salivary gland, brain, stomach, urinary bladder, colon, thyroid, pancreas, breast, esophagus, bile ducts, liver, gallbladder, lung and ovary.

Vermont

Montpelier: The state plans to halt legislation that would change the way its criminal justice system handles 18- and 19-year-old criminal offenders because officials said some young offenders are too dangerous to be treated as juveniles. The state became the first in the U.S. last year when it passed the law known as Raise the Age, which treats 18-year-olds as juvenile offenders instead of adults. The reform would also include 19-year-old offenders, Vermont Public Radio reports. But Gov. Phil Scott’s administration said it has concerns with the law including 19-year-olds. “There was a level of dangerousness there that we do not have the expertise to manage as a juvenile system,” said Sean Brown, commissioner of the Department for Children and Families. The administration also said it wants to reform the youth offender program, which allows for people as old as 22 to go through confidential proceedings in family court, instead of the adult court system. Brown said the reform would allow an assessment to decide who is eligible for youth offender status, instead of prosecutors and judges. Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault said a potential new path through the criminal justice system would allow those ages 19 to 25 to process as adults but give them the same confidentiality as in the juvenile system.

Virginia

Virginia Beach: City leaders want Pharrell Williams to bring his popular Something in the Water festival back next year, but the musician is reluctant, saying a “toxic energy” has run the city for too long, and he wishes Virginia Beach had taken a more proactive stance after a police officer fatally shot his cousin. City leaders appealed to the Grammy-winning producer to restore the festival in 2022. In 2019, the event brought $24 million to the local Hampton Roads economy. But Williams, who lived there as a child, wrote that he held the festival to ease racial tension, and he feels the city isn’t valuing his ideas for promoting “human rights for all.” “I wish the same energy I’ve felt from Virginia Beach leadership upon losing the festival would have been similarly channeled following the loss of my relative’s life,” Williams wrote in response. “I love my city, but for far too long it has been run by and with toxic energy.” Williams’ 25-year-old cousin, Donovon Lynch, was killed in March on a chaotic night during which 10 people were shot in separate incidents. Lynch’s father filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit in June. In its response, the city said Lynch, who was Black, pointed a gun at the officer who shot him. The officer, who also is Black, “feared for his life and the lives of other officers and citizens in the vicinity,” the city said.

Washington

Seattle: The Northwest Carpenters Union said it reached a new contract agreement with the Associated General Contractors that would put several thousand striking carpenters in the Seattle area back on the job Wednesday pending a vote on the deal. Union members have been on strike since Sept. 16, with rotating pickets at some major projects. Leading up to the strike, union members rejected four previous contract proposals put forward by union leadership, the Seattle Times reports. Carpenters who voted “no” on previous deals said the agreements did not do enough to boost pay and benefits as the cost of living in the Seattle area skyrockets. Current carpenter wages range from $46.92 to $48.42 an hour. The last rejected offer would have increased pay by about $9.40 per hour over the course of four years, along with increases in benefits. In a statement on its website Tuesday, the union said the new deal includes a $10.02 “total package” increase over three years, retroactive pay dating back to June 1, and a 50-cent increase in the parking reimbursement in some areas of Seattle. Although a majority of union members voted to authorize the strike last month, many of 12,000 members have not walked off the job because they work at high-profile job sites governed by no-strike agreements.

West Virginia

Princeton: A southern West Virginia health department stopped its needle exchange program due to strict requirements under a new state law, officials said. The Mercer County Health Department voted last month to discontinue its program, saying the new regulations are so strict that compliance is not possible, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports. “Under the new law, we can’t comply,” Health Department Administrator Roger Topping told board members. He noted almost 50 requirements that had to be approved for a license to offer a harm-reduction program that includes a needle exchange. Local health officials had begun the needle exchange in 2019 in order to prevent the spread of diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV, as outbreaks have exploded in West Virginia.

Wisconsin

Madison: A conservative legal group has threatened legal action against the University of Wisconsin-Madison, claiming it hired three mental health providers to serve only students of color. UW-Madison spokeswoman Meredith McGlone said Wednesday that the original announcement of the hires cited in the complaint – which said the new hires would “exclusively serve students of color” – was inaccurate and had been updated. “Mental health providers at University Health Services are not assigned based on a student’s race nor are they limited in which students they serve based on race,” she said. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty raised the issue in a Wednesday letter sent to leaders at both UW-Madison and UW System, saying the jobs as originally described violate state and federal laws against racial discrimination. WILL attorney Dan Lennington cited a Sept. 9 announcement that said University Health Services had hired nine new mental health providers, three of whom “will exclusively serve students of color, joining eight providers already in this role.” The school said the new providers would bring cultural awareness to help support students of color. McGlone said students have the option to choose one of the providers with expertise in serving students of color if they wish.

Wyoming

Casper: The state’s toll from COVID-19 has surpassed 1,000 with the addition of 45 deaths to the official tally Tuesday, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. Most of the newly reported deaths occurred last month, according to the paper, which noted that the death count now exceeds the number of residents in almost half of incorporated communities across the sparsely populated state.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Anti-racism art, speedway shot sweetener: News from around our 50 states