Hybrid coral reefs, butterfly petition, drawbridge tragedy: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Ashland: A Florida college student exploring the Alabama wilderness with his girlfriend was fatally wounded during a shootout with a would-be robber who appeared to be living with others in the woods, authorities said. Adam Simjee, 22, was shot to death in the Talladega National Forest near Cheaha State Park on Sunday, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Yasmine Hider and Krystal Diane Pinkins were charged with murder, kidnapping and robbery, the statement said. Wounded several times during the confrontation, Hider was awaiting transfer to jail from a Birmingham hospital, where she underwent surgery for her wounds. Pinkins, 36, was jailed. Simjee and girlfriend Mikayla Paulus, 20, were driving on a National Forest Service road when Hider flagged them down and asked for help with her car, sheriff’s officials said. She then pulled out a gun and ordered them into the woods, they said. Simjee also pulled out a pistol and shot Hider several times, but he also was hit and died at the scene. Hider called out for help, and Pinkins emerged from the forest before fleeing, authorities said. Authorities using a dog tracking team and a state police helicopter found a camp where they saw Pinkins, whose 5-year-old son ran from the woods with a loaded shotgun as officers were arresting her, sheriff’s officials said.

Alaska

Anchorage: Two oil and gas companies have announced plans to invest $2.6 billion into developing a major oil field on Alaska’s North Slope. Australia-based Santos and Spain-based Repsol made the announcement, which was lauded by state political leaders, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Santos has a 51% stake in the Pikka project, and the company said Tuesday that its investment will be $1.3 billion. Santos last year acquired Oil Search of Papua New Guinea, which had been working to advance the project. Santos, in a statement, said the funds will cover the initial phase of development at the Pikka field, with 80,000 barrels of oil daily expected to begin flowing in 2026. If developed, the field on state land east of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska could significantly boost the flow of oil through the trans-Alaska pipeline system. Development could also generate billions of dollars in state and local tax revenue, primarily through royalties to the state. Another major North Slope oil prospect, ConocoPhillips’ Willow project, has been delayed by litigation and a new environmental review. Alaska U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan lauded the plans for the Pikka project. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy said it “will continue the renaissance on Alaska’s North Slope.”

Arizona

Phoenix: An effort by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey to use shipping containers to close a 1,000-foot gap in the U.S.-Mexico border wall near Yuma suffered a brief setback when two stacked containers somehow toppled over. Claudia Ramos, a correspondent for the digital platform of Univision Noticias in Arizona, posted on her Twitter feed a photo she took Monday morning of the containers on their side. She said they fell on the U.S. side of the border. No witnesses have come forward to say what happened Sunday night. Ramos said contractors in the area told her they believed the containers may have been toppled by strong monsoon winds. But C.J. Karamargin, a Ducey spokesman, said he doubted that hypothesis, adding that even though the containers are empty, they weigh thousands of pounds. “It’s unlikely this was a weather event,” Karamargin said, suggesting that someone opposed to the wall was to blame. The stacked pair of containers were righted by early Monday morning. “Clearly we struck a nerve. They don’t like what we are doing, and they don’t want to keep the border open,” the spokesman said. “This happened before securing the containers to the ground. They will be bolted later and will be immovable.”

Arkansas

Fort Smith: Medical marijuana patients spent $23.3 million in July at the state’s 38 dispensaries to take home 4,171 pounds of cannabis. Natural Relief Dispensary of Sherwood had the largest month, with 392 pounds sold, while The Releaf Center of Bentonville followed with 308 pounds. The Arkansas Department of Health reports 88,893 active patient cards. “Medical marijuana purchases increased by more than $1 million from June to July,” said Scott Hardin, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. “An average of $751,720 was spent daily on medical marijuana purchases in July.” Since Jan. 1, 2022, patients have spent a total of $157.9 million to obtain 27,782 pounds from the state’s 38 dispensaries. Arkansas patients purchased 12,056 pounds of medical marijuana in April, May and June totaling $68.75 million. The state tax collection for the first three-month period of the year totaled $8.23 million, the state department reported. For the month of July, the state collected $2.6 million in tax form sales. Patients pay a 6.5% regular state sales tax on medical marijuana and a 4% privilege tax. Cultivators who sell their product to a dispensary only pay the 4% privilege tax.

California

Sacramento: Forecasts for more scorching heat and monsoon moisture brought calls for Californians to conserve electricity Wednesday, along with warnings that lightning, thunderstorm winds and parched vegetation were a recipe for wildfires. The heat wave was expected to be most extreme in the state’s interior, chiefly the Central Valley, where some locations hit 110 degrees Tuesday. The wildfire risk was focused on northern counties. The California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s power grid, called for voluntary electricity conservation from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. due to expectation of increased use of air conditioning and tightening power supplies. Late afternoon through early evening is the period when the grid is most stressed due to high demand while solar energy production is decreasing. Red flag warnings for fire danger were posted for the northern Coast Range, eastern Shasta County and the Mount Lassen area. The National Weather Service warned of the possibility of “abundant lightning” and erratic gusts from thunderstorms. “Lightning can create new fire starts and may combine with strong outflow winds to cause a fire to rapidly grow in size and intensity,” the weather service said.

Colorado

Fort Collins: Tumble out of bed and stumble to your mailbox. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is now available in Larimer County. The country music singer’s international children’s literacy program provides one free book a month to children until they turn 5 to help inspire an early love for reading. Parents in Larimer County can enroll their children in the program through the United Way of Larimer County. “People are really excited about the program,” said Allison Hines, United Way of Larimer County’s senior vice president of resource development. “This is a really great opportunity to get books in the hands of families that may not otherwise have access to them.” Any child qualifies for the program until their 5th birthday. In Larimer County alone, roughly 17,000 children are eligible. Since the program launched last week, over 2,000 people have registered their children for the program, Hines said. Officials hope to have 4,200 families signed up in the program’s first year.The Imagination Library is mostly funded through the Dollywood Foundation, supplemented by the Imagination Library of Colorado, which receives money from the state. The Dollywood Foundation selects the books and sends them directly to the child.

Connecticut

Norwich: The city is investing in public art, with two more artists now invited to paint murals downtown. It seems that 2022 has become the year for murals in Norwich with the murals on Market Street Garage and Castle Church. Now, two more are in the works. The Norwich Street Art Collective invited artists Carlitos Skills, whose legal name is Carlos Alexis Rivera Rivera, from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and Golden, legal name Cristhian Saravia, of Miami, to town. Both of their murals are expected to be finished Thursday. Peter Helms, founder of the Norwich Street Art Collective, was inspired by the street art in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, once a blighted neighborhood but now a place where culture and business thrive. “A group of people decided that if they brought in art, that would inspire people and give them a sense of pride in their community and ultimately transform it economically,” Helms said. Norwich is in a unique position. While millions of people visit the nearby casinos every year, there hasn’t been enough of a draw to pull casino visitors into the city. An outdoor art museum may have the kind of pull needed, Helms said. As long as it was family-friendly, the artists could do anything they wanted, as tight restrictions are “not how you get the best art from artists.”

Delaware

Wilmington: The Riverside community celebrated the completion of 74 mixed-income apartments Tuesday, bringing updated public housing as well as units designated for people with disabilities and special needs as part of a $100 million redevelopment project in the Wilmington neighborhood. Over 100 state, federal and local elected officials, community leaders and neighbors gathered outside the first phase of Imani Village, where units have been set aside to house seniors, veterans and individuals with disabilities, along with transitioning families out of outdated Wilmington Housing Authority apartments into newly built apartment homes with up to four bedrooms. This is the first of six phases of a “Purpose Built Community” redevelopment plan spearheaded by the nonprofit Reach Riverside. It will offer 59 affordable units as well as 15 market-rate apartments. The second phase, expected to be completed by the end of the year, will add another 50 affordable and 17 market-rate units, said Jennifer Lienhard, Reach Riverside’s director of marketing and communications. Announced in 2018, the multimillion-dollar project aims to build hundreds of public housing units as well as mixed-income and homeownership opportunities, revamp early education and health services at Kingswood Community Center, and add high school grades to the local EastSide Charter School.

District of Columbia

Washington: A Catholic school in Northeast D.C. is raising money to repair the damage after someone broke several concrete windowsills and knocked down a statue of the school’s namesake weeks before the first day of classes, WUSA-TV reports. St. Anthony Catholic School said three benches were also pulled out of the ground and damaged. According to a police report, an unknown suspect destroyed the school’s property overnight Aug. 11 and took the head off the statue. St. Anthony Catholic Principal Mike Thomasian discovered the damage Friday and said he was disappointed to see someone would target the school’s patron saint. “Hate crimes can happen in any house of worship, and Catholics are being attacked right now,” he said. “And I didn’t know how strongly I felt about that until it hit home.” The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the incident as a suspected hate crime. It is at least the third religious hate crime investigated by police this year. Then, St. Anthony was targeted again over the weekend, according to Thomasian. He said a custodian discovered the principal’s office had been ransacked, and two religious statues had been destroyed. Thomasian said the thief also took $1,400 that children had raised for a charity. A GoFundMe had raised more than $30,000 in donations as of Wednesday.

Florida

Miami: Scientists and students from the University of Miami dove into the dark waters a few miles off the shores of Miami this week as part of an effort to develop hybrid reefs. The team from the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science was on a mission to collect eggs and sperm from spawning staghorn coral, which they hope to use to fertilize other strains of staghorn corals in a lab. It’s all part of a $7.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to help address security threats to the military and civilian infrastructure along vulnerable coastal regions in Florida and the Caribbean. The Miami-based project seeks to protect coastal bases from damaging hurricane storm surge using hybrid reefs. “Our mission is to develop hybrid reefs that combine the wave-protection benefits of artificial structures with the ecological benefits of coral reefs,” said Andrew Baker, a professor and director of the Coral Reef Futures Lab at the Rosenstiel School. “We will be working on next-generation structural designs and concrete materials and integrating them with novel ecological engineering approaches to help foster the growth of corals on these structures.” They will also be testing new adaptive biology approaches to produce corals that are faster-growing and more resilient to a warming climate, he said.

Georgia

Savannah: Attorneys for the family of a woman killed by gunfire last year as sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at her cousin’s home are calling for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate, arguing the deadly raid echoes the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky. Shooting broke out within seconds after Camden County deputies knocked down the door of Varshan Brown’s darkened home in Woodbine, about 100 miles south of Savannah, just before 5 a.m. May 4, 2021. The officers had a warrant to search the house for drugs. Brown’s cousin, 37-year-old Latoya James, was killed by bullets as deputies and Brown fired guns at each other. Brown was wounded and later charged with crimes. Local prosecutors brought no charges against the deputies after concluding they were justified in using deadly force. Lawyers for James’ family say there are striking parallels between this case and the 2020 raid by police in Louisville, Kentucky, that left Taylor dead. In both cases, officers arrived in the middle of the night and forced their way into homes with little to no warning. And each involved a shootout that killed an unarmed Black woman. “Latoya James was innocent in all aspects of this case,” said Harry Daniels, an attorney for her family. “She was at her cousin’s house. She wasn’t a target of any investigation.”

Hawaii

Honolulu: Warning of a tough flu season ahead, state health officials are urging residents to get vaccinated against influenza and COVID-19 alike, HawaiiNewsNow reports.

Idaho

Boise: State lawmakers who made it more difficult for transgender people to change the sex listed on their birth certificates despite a U.S. court ruling banning such obstacles must pay $321,000 in legal fees to the winning side after losing in the same court. Republican Gov. Brad Little and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney on the State Board of Examiners on Tuesday approved paying the winning side’s legal fees set by the court in June. The court in March 2018 banned Idaho from automatically rejecting applications from transgender people to change the sex listed on their birth certificates. The court ruled the restriction violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. But lawmakers in 2020 approved a ban anyway, and Little signed the bill into law. The 2018 case was reopened, and Idaho lost again, resulting in the $321,000 legal bill. The state previously paid $75,000 after losing the initial case in 2018. The plaintiffs in the case were represented by Lambda Legal, which on its website describes itself as a national legal organization working to get full civil rights recognition for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV. The Board of Examiners typically sends such bills to the Constitutional Defense Council but instead sent the bill to the Legislature on Tuesday.

Illinois

Springfield: The state’s first lady has again bested her husband in an Illinois State Fair tradition, with M.K. Pritzker outbidding Gov. J.B. Pritzker for the fair’s grand champion steer. The first lady’s $105,000 bid for the steer, King, also beat her own record from 2021, when she and the governor were again pitted against each other in the auction.

Indiana

Fremont: Hundreds of fish found dead in a northeastern Indiana lake likely died from natural events tied to recent hot weather, state wildlife officials said. Fisheries biologists with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources visited Clear Lake on Aug. 4 after residents reported numerous dead fish in the lake near the Steuben County town of Fremont, The Journal Gazette reports. The DNR said an estimated 500 fish were found dead, including bluegill, crappie and bass, in the lake about 50 miles northeast of Fort Wayne. The state agency said Monday that natural events likely caused the fish to die and noted that heat, warm water and windless days can produce low levels of dissolved oxygen in lakes. “Without dissolved oxygen, fish are unable to breathe and can die rapidly and in large numbers,” the DNR said in a news release. DNR biologists will continue monitoring conditions at Clear Lake. While the public health threat is considered very low, the agency said people should use common sense when visiting natural waterways, especially during periods of hot weather.

Iowa

Des Moines: A City Council member is countersuing two police officers who took the unusual step earlier this year of suing several people who participated in a 2020 protest following a Minneapolis officer’s killing of George Floyd. Councilwoman Indira Sheumaker’s countersuit says Officers Peter Wilson and Jeffrey George used excessive force and violated her civil rights when they arrested her during a protest July 1, 2020, outside the Iowa State Capitol. Sheumaker’s lawsuit also accuses the officers of filing a frivolous lawsuit against protesters. In June, Wilson and George sued Sheumaker and five other protesters, accusing them of assault and seeking monetary damages, including an unspecified amount in punitive damages. The protest was among demonstrations against racism and police brutality that erupted worldwide following Floyd’s killing. It began as a rally at the Iowa State Capitol to push for the restored voting rights to felons and turned violent as police led away arrested protesters. The officers’ lawsuit – which they filed as individuals and not as representatives of the Des Moines Police Department – accuses Sheumaker and another protester of putting George in a chokehold as protesters attempted to thwart the officers’ attempts to arrest several people on prior warrants.

Kansas

Topeka: Federal officials are expected next month to rename five creeks and a stream on federal land in the state because their names include a slur for Native American women. That word, “squaw,” was formally declared derogatory last November in an order issued by Deb Haaland, the nation’s first Native American Secretary of the Interior. The term is an ethnic, racial and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women, Haaland said in a news release. “Our nation’s lands and waters should be places to celebrate the outdoors and our shared cultural heritage – not to perpetuate the legacies of oppression,” she said. Haaland ordered the Board on Geographic Names, the federal body tasked with naming geographic places, to find replacement names for more than 660 geographic features bearing that term, including the six sites in Kansas.

Kentucky

Frankfort: Kentucky State Parks has launched a photo contest that encourages visitors to capture some of the best parts of their stay. The contest aims to attract more travelers and showcase these “places of beauty, from scenic mountain views to tranquil beaches,” Kentucky Department of Parks Commissioner Russ Meyer said in a statement. Photos can be entered in the categories of camping, scenic, trails and park activities and will be judged on factors including originality and artistic composition, officials said. Photo submissions can be made through Oct. 31, and winners will be announced in December. A grand prize winner will receive a two-night cottage stay, a Canon camera and a $100 Kentucky State Parks gift card. Four honorable mention categories will have first- and second-place winners, who will receive camping certificates and gift cards.

Louisiana

Shreveport: State law does not require that a candidate who mistakenly fills in the wrong address on a qualification form must be tossed off the ballot, a lawyer for Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins told the Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday. A lawsuit says Perkins did not use the address where he claims a homestead tax exemption when he signed up to run for reelection, as the law requires. He used another address for a residence he owns in the city. Perkins has acknowledged the mistake, and none of the seven justices Tuesday accused him of perjury. The case involves the question of whether “there are some things that a candidate does not have to tell the truth about,” Justice Jay McCallum said as he questioned Perkins’ attorney, Scott Bickford. Bickford said state law does not specifically call for disqualifying a candidate for using the wrong address. Jerry Harper, attorney for plaintiff Francis Deal, said the use of false information on the sign-up form for the Nov. 8 election – information the candidate swears to be true – disqualifies Perkins, who wants to run for a second term. Justice Scott Crichton at one point suggested that allowing Perkins on the ballot would be tantamount to nullifying the law. It was unclear when the justices would rule. So far, a district judge and an appellate court have ruled against Perkins.

Maine

Bangor: A man pleaded guilty Tuesday to defrauding federal pandemic assistance programs of more than $300,000, which investigators say was spent on trucks, exercise equipment, a big-screen TV and laptop computers. Craig Franck, 40, of Levant, also used some of the relief money to post bail and hire a defense attorney after being charged with felony fraud in Florida, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he’s sentenced. U.S. Attorney Darcie McElwee vowed to go after those who “take advantage of a national emergency simply to line their own pockets.” Franck formerly owned CCF Acoustics LLC and CCF Acoustical Systems, but neither company was in business or had employees in 2020 and 2021 when he applied for federal assistance during the pandemic, prosecutors said. Franck received $177,400 from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program through the Small Business Administration and $145,060 from a private lender through the Paycheck Protection Program, prosecutors said. U.S. District Judge Lance Walker entered a forfeiture order Tuesday for about $320,000. Franck’s lawyer didn’t immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.

Maryland

Crofton: The family of a man fatally shot by a police officer filed a federal civil right lawsuit Monday against the department and individual officers. Dyonta Quarles Jr. was shot Jan. 30 when Anne Arundel County officers responded to his Crofton home after his mother called 911 saying her son wouldn’t let her leave, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Bodycam footage shows Quarles punching Officer J. Ricci. As officers handcuff Quarles, the video shows him bite Ricci and another officer deploy a stun gun. Ricci calls on colleagues to shoot Quarles, then fires himself. Quarles died, and Ricci was taken to a trauma center in serious condition, officials said. Mikel Quarles said at a news conference announcing the suit Monday that she was asking for help, and her son was killed, news outlets report. Attorneys for the family said part of the suit focuses on officers’ training. The officers weren’t properly trained “and reacted in a manner which was unconstitutional, unreasonable and excessive,” attorney Gregory Kulis said. The officers should have reduced tension, he said. “The police arrived with guns drawn,” Kulis said. “They were ready to go to battle.” The Attorney General’s Office said the case remains under investigation. County police declined comment but said Ricci is still recovering.

Massachusetts

Boston: The city is seeking to ban fossil fuels from new building projects and major renovations, Mayor Michelle Wu announced Tuesday. The Democrat said the state’s largest city will take advantage of a key provision in the climate change bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker last week. That legislation, which is meant to bring the state closer to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, calls for a pilot project allowing 10 Massachusetts cities and towns to require new building projects be all-electric, with the exception of life sciences labs and health care facilities. Wu said the city will file a home rule petition with the Legislature to join the pilot. “Boston must lead by taking every possible step for climate action,” she said in a statement. “Boston’s participation will help deliver healthy, energy efficient spaces that save our residents and businesses on utilities costs and create local green jobs that will fuel our economy for decades.” Wu’s office said natural gas, oil and other fossil fuels used in buildings represent more than one-third of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. New York, Washington, D.C., and Seattle are among the major U.S. municipalities that have enacted similar bans, The Boston Globe reports.

Michigan

Gaylord: Recent solar activity and weather conditions could give Michiganders the chance to view the northern lights through Friday night, according to the National Weather Service in Gaylord. The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are created when charged particles ejected by the sun collide with atoms and molecules in Earth’s atmosphere. These charged particles then emit light that viewers perceive as the aurora. The Upper Peninsula is known to offer great conditions to view night sky phenomena due to its latitude, but Lower Peninsula residents may also get the chance to witness the northern lights, as they’re predicted to be visible as far south as Ohio and Pennsylvania. To spot the northern lights, look for greenish streaks of light that move and change, unlike clouds, which move in one direction. For best visibility, avoid areas with light pollution, and try to gain an unobstructed view of the night sky. The aurora will be visible closer to the horizon and will appear higher up in the sky the farther north the viewer are located. Strong solar activity may interfere with electronic communications such as radio, cellphone, television and satellite signals.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: Former Minneapolis police Officer Thomas Lane, who was sentenced to 2¹/₂years for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, will do his time at a low-security federal prison camp in Colorado. A court order Tuesday directs Lane to report to the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood in the Denver suburb of Littleton on Aug. 30. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson had recommended that the Bureau of Prisons send Lane to the low-security prison camp in Duluth, closer to his home, but the bureau makes the final decisions on where to place inmates, including weighing safety concerns. “He should be fine there,” said Lane’s defense attorney, Earl Gray. According to the Bureau of Prisons website, FCI Englewood is a low-security prison for men with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp. It holds 1,032 inmates, including 97 at the camp. Housing is dormitory or cubicle style. Life there is highly regimented, including frequent head counts and having to wake at dawn.

Mississippi

Lexington: Police have “terrorized” Black residents in a small town by subjecting them to false arrests, excessive force and intimidation, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by a civil rights organization. The group, JULIAN, is seeking a temporary restraining order against the Lexington Police Department to demand protection for the town’s largely Black population. Lexington is about 63 miles north of the capital, Jackson. “It’s both unconscionable and illegal for Lexington residents to be terrorized and live in fear of the police department whose job is to protect them,” said Jill Collen Jefferson, president and founder of JULIAN. “We need both the courts and the Department of Justice to step in immediately.” The town’s city attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The town’s interim police chief, Charles Henderson, cast doubt on many of the allegations in response to an email request for comment. “I’m working on moving the Lexington Police Department forward,” he said. “I will say, don’t buy into everything you hear. This is defamation of character.” The lawsuit comes after JULIAN said it obtained an audio recording in July of then-Lexington Police Chief Sam Dobbins using racial slurs and talking about how many people he had killed in the line of duty.

Missouri

Jefferson City: As the U.S. government expands incentives for renewable energy, a decision by the Missouri Supreme Court is moving the state in the opposite direction by halting a solar energy tax break that has been on the books for nearly a decade. The high court struck down a 2013 state law granting a property tax exemption for certain solar energy systems, saying the tax break wasn’t allowed under the state constitution. The case involved a privately run solar farm supplying energy for City Utilities of Springfield, which serves Missouri’s third-largest city. As a result of the ruling, the company owning the solar energy farm will owe at least $423,360 in property taxes from 2017 to 2020, Greene County Collector Allen Icet said. It’s not clear how many other solar energy sites across Missouri could be affected by the ruling or exactly how much tax revenue is at stake. But the ruling could have a chilling effect on solar energy development in Missouri, just as the federal government is trying to encourage it. “This obviously would put a big kink and cost in the way of someone trying to lay out a large panel system, if you’ve got to pay taxes on the material generating this renewable, free energy,” said Jon Dolan, executive director of the Missouri Solar Energy Industries Association.

Montana

Helena: The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs can be held responsible for damages awarded to a woman who became pregnant after an on-duty BIA officer used the threat of criminal charges to coerce her into having sex, the Montana Supreme Court has ruled. The woman, identified by the initials L.B. in court documents, sued former BIA officer Dana Bullcoming and his employer for the October 2015 sexual assault on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation that resulted in the birth of a child, who is now 7, said her attorney, John Heenan. “This is a woman that had the courage to report a federal law enforcement officer for sexually assaulting her and then had the courage to go through the entire process, including agents there to collect DNA when the child was born,” Heenan said Wednesday. She pursued the case on behalf of people living on reservations to show “that they should have the same rights as Montanans do on this issue.” U.S. District Judge Susan Watters of Billings awarded the woman $1.6 million in damages in May 2020 but had ruled earlier that the BIA could not be held responsible for paying them because under federal law, the coercion and sex were outside the scope of Bullcoming’s duties.

Nebraska

Omaha: The special board appointed by President Joe Biden to intervene in stalled railroad contract talks suggested Tuesday that 115,000 rail workers should get 24% raises and thousands of dollars in bonuses as part of a new agreement to avert a strike. Railroads and unions will use those recommendations as the basis for a new round of negotiations over the next month. It remains to be seen, however, whether railroads will agree to the higher wages or find ways to address union concerns about working conditions. If the two sides can’t agree on a new deal by mid-September, federal law would allow a strike or lockout. But Congress is likely to intervene before then to keep the supply chain moving. A railroad strike could devastate businesses that rely on Union Pacific, BNSF, Norfolk Southern, CSX and other major freight railroads to deliver raw materials and ship their products. In past national rail labor disputes, lawmakers have voted to impose terms on the railroads before workers could strike. A White House official said Biden is optimistic the report will provide a good framework for successful negotiations because avoiding a rail shutdown is in the nation’s interests.

Nevada

Reno: Conservationists who are already suing to block a geothermal power plant where an endangered toad lives in western Nevada are now seeking U.S. protection for a rare butterfly at another geothermal project the developer plans near the Oregon line. The Center for Biological Diversity is petitioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the bleached sandhill skipper under the Endangered Species Act at the only place it’s known to exist. It says the project the Bureau of Land Management approved last year 250 miles north of Reno could ultimately lead to the extinction of the 2-inch-long butterfly with golden-orange wings. “This beautiful little butterfly has evolved over millennia to thrive in this one specific spot, and no one should have the right to just wipe it off the face of the Earth,” said Jess Tyler, a scientist at the center who co-wrote the petition. USFWS has 90 days to decide whether there’s enough evidence to conduct a yearlong review to determine if protection is warranted, so any formal listing is likely years away. But the petition signals the potential for another legal fight all too familiar to Ormat Nevada, which wants to tap hot water beneath the earth to generate carbon-free energy the Biden administration has made a key part of its effort to combat climate change with a shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources.

New Hampshire

Concord: A hermit known as River Dave – whose cabin in the New Hampshire woods burned down after he had spent nearly three decades on the property and was ordered to leave – has found a new home in Maine. David Lidstone, 82, has put in windows and is working on installing a chimney on his rustic three-room cabin, which he said is on land he bought. “The foundation needs repair work,” Lidstone, who received more than $200,000 in donations following the fire, said in a phone interview Monday. “It’s just an old camp, but I enjoy working (on it).” Lidstone, who grew up in Maine, declined to say where he was living or provide a contact for the landowner. A search of Maine county registers of deeds did not show any recent transactions involving Lidstone, but a cousin confirmed he had moved to Maine, and a Facebook post had photos of Lidstone with a family member in his new home. “He’s working on putting it together and clearing land and planting gardens, and he’s got some chickens. He’s moving on,” said Horace Clark, of Vermont, Lidstone’s cousin. Lidstone said he had to leave Canterbury, New Hampshire, over his dispute with a different landowner since 2016 over a patch of forest near the Merrimack River that Lidstone called home for 27 years.

New Jersey

Atlantic City: The state’s casinos, horse tracks that offer sports betting, and the online partners of both types of gambling outlets won $480.7 million in July, an increase of 6.7% from a year ago. But some of Atlantic City’s nine casinos continue to struggle to return to pre-pandemic levels in terms of the amount won from in-person gamblers, with five of them individually winning less in July 2022 than they did in July 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic began. Figures released Tuesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show that the casinos collectively won just under $299 million from in-person gamblers. That’s more than the $277 million they collectively won in July 2019. But five casinos – Bally’s, Borgata, Golden Nugget, Harrah’s and the Tropicana – won less from in-person gamblers last month than they did in July 2019. Nonetheless, Atlantic City’s performance in July “showed indications of a strong summer season fueled by a return to normal operations and consumer behavior,” said Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University. James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, said the resort is off to a good start to the crucial summer season.

New Mexico

Farmington: A fundraiser organized by a local LGBTQ organization at a brewery in Aztec was canceled after the owners of the business reportedly received threats. Nicole Hall, board president of Identity Inc., the Farmington-based nonprofit that was organizing the Aug. 12 fundraiser, said she received a call from one of the owners of the 550 Brewing Taproom two days prior saying the business had received several threats from people apparently upset about the all-ages event including a drag show. The Back to School Bash planned by Identity Inc. at the brewery was intended to raise cash and draw donations of school supplies for children and teachers, according to a flyer for the event posted on the organization’s Facebook page. It included a $5 cover charge and featured a drag show, an open mic session, games and more. But Hall said the brewery owner said she and other business representatives had been contacted through various means by people upset by the prospect of children being present for the drag show. Some reportedly threatened the owners and members of their family, Hall said she was told. “My immediate response was, ‘I’m so sorry people are being hateful to you. We’re used to it, but I didn’t think it would boil over to you and your family,’ ” Hall said she told the brewery’s owners.

New York

New York: Federal authorities say they have busted an organized crime racket reminiscent of the Mafia’s heyday, involving illegal gambling parlors in New York City and Long Island and a police detective accused of helping to protect the lucrative schemes. Two indictments unsealed Tuesday charged nine people, including the detective, with crimes such as racketeering, illegal gambling, money laundering conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Nicknames of the defendants included “Joe Fish,” “Sal the Shoemaker” and “Joe Box.” The top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn said the racketeers operated from fronts including a coffee bar, a soccer club and a shoe repair shop. “Today’s arrests of members from two La Cosa Nostra crime families demonstrate that the Mafia continues to pollute our communities with illegal gambling, extortion and violence while using our financial system in service to their criminal schemes,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. He called the detective’s alleged conduct “shameful.” The Nassau County Police Department detective, Hector Rosario, is accused of accepting money from the Bonanno crime family in exchange for steering police raids toward competing gambling clubs.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Although illegal marijuana and lawful hemp look and smell the same, criminal prosecution for pot can still be legitimate when sight or odor contributes to a warrantless search and seizure, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. A three-judge panel found no errors related to a trial judge or attorney for Derek Edwin Highsmith, who was convicted last year of felony marijuana possession stemming from a Duplin County traffic stop in 2017. He was sentenced to a maximum of a little over four years in prison. Highsmith argued unsuccessfully at a hearing before his trial that the evidence collected after a K-9 alerted officers to possible drugs inside the vehicle should have been suppressed because it was unlawfully obtained. Superior Court Judge Henry Stevens IV denied Highsmith’s suppression motion, saying the K-9’s positive alert for narcotics, along with other factors, provided officers with the facts to find probable cause to conduct the search. The prosecutor called ït a “K-9 sniff-plus case,” Tuesday’s opinion said. Sheriff’s officers said it saw a vehicle that left a residence after many complaints about narcotics sales there, according to the opinion.

North Dakota

Fargo: The city’s school board will reconsider its decision to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at each of its meetings, after the move drew widespread criticism and threats of retaliation from some conservative state lawmakers. Fargo Board of Education President Tracie Newman told board members in a memo that she believes the pledge should be reinstated because the onslaught of “negative local and national feedback” could cost time and resources ahead of the new school year. She called a special meeting for Thursday. The Fargo board voted 7-2 last week to nix a previous board edict from April to recite the pledge before each meeting. The board includes four newcomers from the June election. In deciding against reciting the pledge, the board said the move didn’t align with the district’s diversity and inclusion code, largely because it says “under God” in one phrase. Robin Nelson, one of two board members to vote against dropping the pledge, said no one complained after the panel started reciting the patriotic vow. But since last week’s vote, the board has received “hundreds and hundreds of local and national emails and phone calls,” she said. She has heard personally from state lawmakers who have threatened to get even.

Ohio

Cleveland: A federal judge awarded $650 million in damages Wednesday to two Ohio counties that won a landmark lawsuit against national pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, claiming the way they distributed opioids to customers caused severe harm to communities and created a public nuisance. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster said in the ruling that the money will be used to abate a continuing opioid crisis in Lake and Trumbull counties, outside Cleveland. Attorneys for the counties put the total price tag at $3 billion for the damage done to the counties. Lake County is to receive $306 million over 15 years. Trumbull County is to receive $344 million over the same period. Polster ordered the companies to immediately pay nearly $87 million to cover the first two years of the abatement plan. In his ruling, Polster admonished the three companies, saying they “squandered the opportunity to present a meaningful plan to abate the nuisance” after a trial that considered what damages they might owe. CVS, Walmart and Walgreens said they will appeal the ruling.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: A state lawmaker has filed an Open Records Act lawsuit seeking records about expenditures from Governor’s Emergency Education Relief funds. Republican state Rep. Logan Phillips filed the lawsuit Tuesday against the Office of Management and Enterprise Services and said Gov. Kevin Stitt and Education Secretary Ryan Walters, also both Republicans, have not responded to his requests for the documents. “I am seeking declarative and injunctive relief because I believe failure to provide the requested records is unlawful, and the records need to be made publicly available,” Phillips said. Stitt and OMES representatives told the Tulsa World that Phillips failed to attend scheduled meetings to see the documents. A U.S. Department of Education audit in July sharply criticized state officials for lack of oversight and accountability in how they used nearly $40 million in coronavirus relief funds intended for education. The audit recommended the state return nearly $653,000 spent on non-educational items such as televisions and Xbox gaming systems and audit another $5.4 million for possible refund of misspent funds. The state blamed the Florida-based contractor hired to administer the programs and sued the company for how it distributed the funds.

Oregon

Salem: Oregon’s gubernatorial election took a step closer Tuesday to being a three-way race when unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson delivered thousands of voter signatures to get on the ballot. If the signatures are verified by election officials, the former state lawmaker will face Democratic nominee Tina Kotek, who is a former Oregon House speaker; and Republican nominee Christine Drazan, a former leader of the minority GOP in the House. “Coming onto the ballot through the power of people’s signatures is one of the most meaningful and foundational elements of my campaign,” Johnson said. She and several supporters delivered boxes of signature sheets to election officials in Salem. Johnson’s campaign said it delivered 48,214 signatures to Secretary of State Shemia Fagan’s election officials. Officials need to verify 23,744 of them as valid by Aug. 30 for Johnson to qualify for the November ballot. Tuesday was the deadline to deliver the signatures. “By delivering more than twice the number of signatures needed, we’ve made it very difficult for the political establishment to imagine ways to keep me off the ballot,” Johnson said.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: Two former judges who orchestrated a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks were ordered to pay more than $200 million to hundreds of people they victimized in one of the worst judicial scandals in U.S. history. U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner awarded $106 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages to nearly 300 people in a long-running civil suit against the judges, writing the plaintiffs are “the tragic human casualties of a scandal of epic proportions.” In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, Mark Ciavarella and another judge, Michael Conahan, shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and accepted $2.8 million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of two for-profit lockups. Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court, pushed a zero-tolerance policy that guaranteed large numbers of kids would be sent to PA Child Care and its sister facility, Western PA Child Care. Ciavarella ordered children as young as 8 to detention, many of them first-time offenders deemed delinquent for petty theft, jaywalking, truancy, smoking on school grounds and other minor infractions. The judge often ordered youths he had found delinquent to be immediately shackled, handcuffed and taken away without giving them a chance to put up a defense or even say goodbye to their families.

Rhode Island

Warwick: A group of police officers put on body cameras Tuesday as part of a two-month pilot program that’s expected to pave the way for all the department’s patrol officers to wear them. Sixteen Warwick officers wore the Axon body cameras, which officers are now wearing on all three of the department’s patrol shifts. “This pilot program is really us getting our feet wet,” said Warwick’s police chief, Col. Brad Connor. The camera tryout in Warwick evokes a buzz of activity at police departments across the state as many local police officers get ready to do their jobs, day in and day out, with body cameras. A 30-day public comment period for a set of proposed rules and regulations runs out Friday. The draft policy was developed by the office of Attorney General Peter F. Neronha and the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety with guidance from the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association. Under the program, which is based largely on legislation passed last year, the draft policy can be approved following consideration of public input. The approved policy would govern the use of body cameras by police departments that tap into $15 million in funding that has been allocated by the state legislature.

South Carolina

Columbia: Attorneys for disbarred lawyer Alex Murdaugh say prosecutors are taking too long to share their evidence alleging the disbarred attorney killed his wife and son, unfairly making it tougher to defend him at his upcoming trial. It’s a technical legal dispute that precedes many trials, but because of overwhelming public attention on Murdaugh’s case, attorney Dick Harpootlian called a news conference Wednesday that drew a dozen cameras at which he declared prosecutors want a “trial by ambush.” Prosecutors shot back. “This manufactured drama is just a well-known part of defense counsel’s playbook,” the state Attorney General’s Office responded in legal papers. Murdaugh, 54, was indicted in July on murder charges in the shooting deaths of his wife Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, who were killed June 7, 2021, at one of the family’s homes in Colleton County. He has adamantly denied killing them. Murdaugh’s lawyers immediately asked for the prosecution’s evidence, and court rules require authorities turn it over in 30 days. That deadline was Monday, and defense lawyers said prosecutors didn’t provide the evidence because they wanted a judge to decide whether to require a protective order limiting to whom the defense can show the evidence and how it handles documents, photos and recordings.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., has introduced a bill that would prevent foreign powers like China from buying U.S. agricultural land, according to a press release. The bill plays off the PASS Act introduced on the House side in July by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and co-sponsored by Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D. The Senate bill would amend the 1950 Defense Production Act to allow for the review of agricultural transactions, according to the bill’s language. The difference between Rounds’ bill and the Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security Act includes prohibiting China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from investing in agricultural land, as well as requiring the U.S. secretary of agriculture to report on the risk of foreign takeovers and investments in agricultural companies or land use for ag purposes. “Protecting American farmland is critical to maintaining our national security,” Rounds said. “In my travels around South Dakota, I’ve heard from many farmers and ranchers who are concerned about foreign adversaries owning American farmland.” More than 350,000 acres of farmland in South Dakota belong to foreign businesses, despite a 1979 law barring non-resident foreigners from owning more than 160 acres.

Tennessee

Nashville: Two Black men who challenged their criminal convictions after jurors deliberated in a courthouse room containing Confederate symbols have received opposite rulings from different judges on the same appeals court. One was granted a new trial. The other was denied. The conflicting decisions likely mean the matter will be appealed up to the Tennessee Supreme Court to sort out the discrepancy. The rulings from two three-judge panels of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals center on trials held at the Giles County Courthouse, putting jurors in a room adorned with items maintained by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, including an antique Confederate flag and portraits of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gen. John C. Brown. In June, a state commission approved plans to move the artifacts to a museum. This week, a panel of judges ruled unanimously against a new trial for Barry Jamal Martin, who went to trial in February 2020 and was convicted on drug charges and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The ruling says none of the jurors testified to “even noticing or being aware that the memorabilia was in the room.” The decision also questioned whether an average person would be able to recognize who was in the portraits or what the flag meant.

Texas

Uvalde: Just months after an armed teenager entered Robb Elementary and killed two teachers and 19 children, a summer of conflicting government narratives has set parents on edge, particularly after a state report showed that 376 law enforcement officers showed up at Robb on May 24 but did not engage the shooter for more than an hour. Parents are now trying to plan for the back-to-school season and facing tough choices about their children’s education and safety. Some are keeping their kids in the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District when school starts Sept. 6, the Texas Tribune reports. Some are choosing home-schooling, and others are looking at private schools. At Uvalde High School’s auditorium this past week, district officials laid out for parents new safety measures and increased access to mental health resources for the upcoming school year. Superintendent Hal Harrell discussed the district’s partnership with Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine, which helps identify behavioral health needs of children and adolescents. The district is also contracting Rhithm, a company with an app that allows staff and students to log how they are feeling. Communities in Schools, a nonprofit focused on connecting students with resources, is also sending teams to the district to provide additional behavioral health support to students.

Utah

Santa Clara: A 12-year-old Little League World Series player was in critical condition Tuesday with what his family said was a head injury suffered when he fell off the top bunk of his bed at a dormitory complex. Easton Oliverson is a pitcher and outfielder for the Snow Canyon team out of Santa Clara. The Little League World Series began Wednesday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. His dad, Jace Oliverson, is an assistant coach on the team. “I’ve always been a firm believer of prayer and the power that comes with it, and I feel like if people continue to rally around us that he will make a full recovery,” Oliverson told KSL-TV. “Right now it’s slow. They keep telling me it’s a cross-country race.” Oliverson gave an update on his son’s condition through Facebook and said doctors told him his son had punctured an artery, which caused bleeding on the brain and required the removal of a piece of skull. Snow Canyon Little League started an online store to support the team while in Williamsport. Now, proceeds from the fundraising will go toward Easton’s recovery. Snow Canyon is the first team from Utah to advance to the Little League World Series by winning the Mountain Region. The Santa Clara-based club plays its first game Friday at 1 p.m. and will face the winner of the New England vs. Southeast game.

Vermont

Burlington: A city police officer is on leave after he shot a man in the leg who was having an apparent mental health crisis Saturday afternoon, according to a news release from the Vermont State Police. David Johnson, 20, is still in the hospital, and no information has been shared by police about his condition. Sgt. Simon Bombard, who has worked for the Burlington Police Department for seven years, is on procedural administrative leave. Three police officers responded to a call just before 3 p.m. and found Johnson with a large kitchen knife standing outside the house and threatening suicide, according to the state police. The officers reportedly attempted to speak with Johnson, whom they knew from previous interactions, and de-escalate the situation. After about four minutes, Johnson reportedly charged one of the officers. The officer used an electroshock weapon on him, but it did not stop Johnson, according to the state police investigation. Another officer, whom state police have identified as Bombard, shot Johnson once in the upper left leg. The officer’s bullets also hit nearby occupied cars, and one person suffered minor injuries from broken glass. Johnson is expected to face charges, police said.

Virginia

Montpelier Station: The U.S. Postal Service has closed a small post office over agency management’s concerns about its location inside a historic train depot that also serves as a museum about racial segregation. In a statement this week addressing the closure, the USPS noted that the museum near former President James Madison’s Montpelier estate has historical signage above two exterior doors, one labeled “WHITE” and another labeled “COLORED.” It added that “Postal Service management considered that some customers may associate the racially-based, segregated entrances with the current operations of the Post Office and thereby draw negative associations between those operations and the painful legacy of discrimination and segregation.” The statement said operations were being suspended at the Montpelier Station Post Office with the intention of finding suitable alternative quarters in the community or, in the absence of any, proceeding with a study of whether to discontinue the branch. The post office location had one employee and operated four hours daily, according to the statement. It served about 100 people and closed in June, according to the Culpeper Star-Exponent.

Washington

Spokane: The state’s apple crop is forecast to be a bit smaller this year because of the cool spring. The Washington State Tree Fruit Association projected this week that the 2022 fresh apple crop will total 108.7 million 40-pound boxes. That’s an 11.1% decrease from 2021’s 122.3 million boxes. “We are pleased with the size of the harvest, particularly in the face of a long, cold spring,” WSTFA President Jon DeVaney said. The estimate shows that five popular apple varieties make up the majority of the harvest. Gala leads production at 20%, and Red Delicious and Honeycrisp are each projected at 14%, followed by Granny Smith at 13.4% and Fuji at 12.7% of total production. Cosmic Crisp, which is grown only in Washington state, is 4.6% of the harvest, up from 3.2% last year. Washington apples are sold in over 40 countries and are the state’s top farm commodity, representing 20% of the state’s farm-gate agricultural value in 2020. On average, 30% of the harvest is exported.

West Virginia

Charleston: Officials in one county hit by flooding this week are starting the task of removing residential debris. Curbside debris collection began Wednesday in flood-ravaged neighborhoods of eastern Kanawha County where up to 5 inches of rain fell Monday, the county commission said in a news release. Among the hardest-hit areas were Hughes Creek, Kelleys Creek and Campbells Creek. The statement said dump trucks will collect debris through at least Sunday. The cleanup comes as forecasters predict another rainy stretch of weather starting Saturday. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency in Kanawha and Fayette counties, enabling the National Guard to respond to hard-hit areas. Some people had to be rescued by boat as the flooding damaged more than 100 homes, bridges and roads, interrupted drinking water systems and left more than 2,000 customers without electricity. Along the Fayette-Kanawha county line, several feet of mud made roads impassible in the Smithers area. The state Department of Environmental Protection on Wednesday issued an advisory against the recreational use of a 10-mile area downstream of the Mount Olive Correctional Center to the London Locks and Dam.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee: A man vacationing in the city fell to his death after a drawbridge was raised while he was walking across it. Richard Dujardin, 77, of Providence, Rhode Island, was crossing the Kilbourn Avenue Bridge in downtown Milwaukee on Monday afternoon with his wife, according to a Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office report. Rosemarie Dujardin made it across the bridge, which spans the Milwaukee River, but her husband was about halfway across when it began to open. He grabbed onto a side rail as the bridge sections rose to a 90-degree angle, but he lost his grip and fell about 70 feet to the pavement below, the report says. He suffered a head wound and was pronounced dead at the scene, investigators said. The bridge is controlled by the city’s Department of Public Works, and its two halves are raised and lowered for boat traffic by someone working remotely who has two camera views of the span. The lights and bells were operational as the two sections were raised, and crossing arms came down at each end of the bridge, according to investigators. Interim Public Works Commissioner Jerrel Kruschke said the employee who operated the bridge is in his fourth year and has conducted hundreds of bridge openings. He said the employee has been put on leave and offered counseling.

Wyoming

Cheyenne: Gov. Mark Gordon has a clear path to reelection after winning the Republican primary Tuesday, while state Rep. Chuck Gray won the GOP primary for secretary of state. Megan Degenfelder defeated incumbent Brian Schroeder in the GOP primary for state superintendent of public instruction. Democrats, meanwhile, have all but ceded these offices to Republicans, fielding just two candidates who don’t even have websites for governor and just one candidate for state superintendent. Gordon had faced fierce opposition within the GOP for public health measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus, causing speculation he’d face a tough primary challenge. He didn’t, after lifting a statewide mask mandate and other coronavirus restrictions. Last year, Gordon urged the National Rifle Association to move its headquarters from Virginia to Wyoming. In March, he signed a ban on most abortions that briefly took effect a month after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and is now on hold pending a lawsuit contesting the ban. Both moves helped buttress Gordon’s right-wing credentials. And while Gordon hasn’t gone out of his way to praise Donald Trump, neither has he criticized the ex-president’s fixation on the false belief that fraud cost him reelection in 2020. Gordon on Tuesday defeated Brent Bien, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel who oversaw operations in Guam.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hybrid coral reefs, butterfly petition: News from around our 50 states