Napping black bears, orangutan birth, blood shortage: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Montgomery:Holt Street Missionary Baptist Church will hold a celebration on Saturday to mark 156 years since Montgomery officially recognized the Emancipation Proclamation that freed enslaved people, three years after President Abraham Lincoln signed it into law. The church, which was integral to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the civil rights movement, has played host to the celebration for decades. Speakers have included Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Shuttlesworth, Fred Gray, C.T. Vivian and Ralph Abernathy. This year’s featured speaker will be Melvin Owens, who is president of the Alabama State Missionary Baptist Convention and pastor of the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Lafayette. The Emancipation Association of Montgomery organizes the event each year. Richard Bailey, the group’s president and historian, said this year’s program will include memorials for Frank Nuckles Jr. and the Revs. Marcus Daniel, Farrell Duncombe and E. Baxter Morris. Local high school seniors will be honored for their achievements, and Brewbaker Technology Magnet High School student Heaven Keeton will read the proclamation. The program starts at 10 a.m. and it’s free and open to the public.

Alaska

Anchorage: Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed John Kuhn, the former U.S. attorney for Kentucky’s western district, to serve as the U.S. attorney for Alaska as President Joe Biden considers a permanent nominee for the position. Garland’s appointment of Kuhn took effect Sunday, according to a Monday news release from the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Alaska. Kuhn most recently worked at a Department of Justice office supporting federal prosecutors across the country on issues including heroin and opioids. Former U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroeder resigned in February. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Wilson took over as acting U.S. attorney but U.S. law only allows an individual to fill that role on an acting basis for 300 days. Wilson has returned to his previous job. Kuhn graduated from the University of Louisville School of Law and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky.

Arizona

Tucson: Workers at state-regulated utilities in Arizona can’t be fired for refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a policy a state commission adopted this month. The practical effect of the policy is unknown because it conflicts with federal vaccination mandates for corporations that go into effect in January but still face multiple legal challenges, the Arizona Daily Star reported. The Arizona Corporation Commission approved it Dec. 15, prohibiting the state-regulated companies from developing, implementing and enforcing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination polices as a condition of employment. Among others, it could affect Tucson Electric Power, Arizona Public Service Co., TEP and sister rural utility UniSource Energy Services. Approved on a party-line vote by the commission’s Republican majority, the policy takes aim at the Biden administration’s mandate that private companies with 100 or more employees must assure their employees are vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to regular testing. The original Jan. 4 federal deadline recently was extended to Jan. 10. TEP and other state-regulated utilities said they are monitoring the legal status of the mandate closely. But they have no plans of their own to mandate vaccination or testing, beyond the current workplace-safety protocols.

Arkansas

Fort Smith: Authorities said they’re investigating the Christmas Eve escape of two inmates who used a water hose to rappel down the side of Sebastian County jail. Jeremiah Slavens, 39, of Fort Smith and Dustin Smith, 36, of Muldrow, Okla., escaped Friday from the jail. Slavens was captured later that night and Smith was captured in Oklahoma at midday Saturday, authorities said. The pair escaped by climbing through the ceiling in one of the jail pods and then making it onto the building’s roof by using an electronic tablet as a light source. They then found a water hose on the roof and used it to rappel down the side of the jail, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. Sebastian County Sheriff Hobe Runion said Monday a combination of policy violations and staff failures made the escape possible. “There is going to be severe discipline at this point to several employees,” Runion said. “It’s a totally unacceptable event. I could stand up here and try and give you reasons, but there’s not. There’s no excuse for what happened.” Slavens was being held on charges of failing to appear in court, possession of drug paraphernalia and theft. Smith was being held on charges of violating parole, being a felon in possession of a firearm, theft and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both will now face second-degree escape charges, authorities said.

California

Santa Monica: The city will offer affordable housing to Black families forced out during freeway construction and other urban renewal projects of the 1950s. About 600 families lost their homes when Interstate 10 was built through the Pico neighborhood, according to the Los Angeles Times. Starting in January, those former residents and their descendants will be offered priority access to apartments with below-market rents in the hopes that they will come back to the coastal city in Los Angeles County. Affordable housing will also be available for families removed when they city bulldozed another Black area, Belmar Triangle, to build the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Children and grandchildren of those who were displaced will be eligible. The city program initially will be open to 100 displaced families or their descendants who earn limited incomes, but city leaders said they hope their efforts will grow into a national model to address past racist policies.

Colorado

Golden: A truck driver sentenced to 110 years for an explosive crash that killed four people in suburban Denver moved a step closer Monday to potentially having his prison term reduced. Judge Bruce Jones scheduled a hearing for Jan. 13 to reconsider Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence following widespread outrage over the severity of his punishment and an unusual request by prosecutors to revisit the matter. During a virtual hearing to discuss the request, one of Aguilera-Mederos’ attorneys, James Colgan, said the defense needed some time to do research to see if there were similar cases that could help guide its approach. Jones said he wanted to learn more about whether the law that allowed him to reconsider the sentence gave him discretion to set whatever sentence he wanted. He said victims would be able to speak at the in-person hearing about whether Aguilera-Mederos should be resentenced. But he noted he did not want them to go through that stress unless they wished to. About 5 million people signed an online petition seeking clemency for Aguilera-Mederos. In addition to the prosecution’s request to lower the sentence, Aguilera-Mederos has requested clemency from Gov. Jared Polis. Last week, District Attorney Alexis King said she would seek a term of 20 to 30 years in the 2019 wreck on Interstate 70 west of Denver. She said that sentencing range reflects an “appropriate outcome” for Aguilera-Mederos’ conduct, noting that the crash was not an accident.

Connecticut

New Haven: Mary Etta Atkinson Joyner, one of New Haven’s neighborhood icons, is on the verge of having a street corner named after her as she marks her 100th birthday. Joyner is the daughter of a Newhallville minister who has been a quiet source of inspiration for decades by helping people in need pay their rent and utility bills and providing food and clothing. In her younger days, Joyner also helped to bring gospel music acts to town including Mahalia Jackson, the Staple Singers and the Soul Stirrers featuring a young Sam Cooke, the New Haven Register reported Sunday. Known as “Mother Mary,” Joyner raised four children with her husband, and then raised five grandchildren after one of her daughters died in a car accident. “We feel as a family that now that she has reached 100 years old, this is how we would like to honor her. This is long overdue,” granddaughter Antoinette Hazard told a city committee that approved the renaming this month. The full Board of Alders must give final approval before it is official. ‘If I could help somebody, I would,” Joyner said when asked about her service to the community. “I really can’t say too much about myself. Other people have to say it. I do the best I can.” Joyner would be the third member of her family to be so honored by the city. Her father and sister also have had corners renamed after them, the Register reported.

Delaware

Dover: Delaware election officials have failed to take action as mandated by law against political candidates and committees who haven’t filed required campaign finance reports, but the scofflaws could escape liability under a new law effective Jan. 1. A report recently submitted to the state Board of Elections showed candidates and committees owed more than $600,000 in fines for failing to file campaign finance reports just for the 2020 election cycle alone. More than $23,000 in additional uncollected fines were owed by candidates and committees who filed reports after the required deadlines. The financial penalties for missing reports have only increased, however, because fines of $50 per day continue to accumulate until a report is filed. Yet, the Department of Elections appears to have done little to try to collect the outstanding fines or to enforce the reporting requirements, other than to send periodic notices to candidates and committees. In those notices, however, the department acknowledges that it is required to refer violations to the attorney general’s office, which could result in misdemeanor criminal charges, if a report is not filed within 30 days of the due date. Meanwhile, under the new law, campaign finance scofflaws could avoid having to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in outstanding fines.

District of Columbia

Washington:Howard University said it's delaying the start of its spring semester because of a surge in COVID-19 cases across the region. In a letter to the community Monday, Anthony Wutoh, Howard's provost and chief academic officer, and Hugh Mighty, the senior vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine, wrote the spring 2022 semester will now start on Jan. 18. Within four days before returning to campus from winter break, individuals will need to show proof of a negative PCR test in order to attend in-person classes. Wutoh and Mighty said the school has an average testing positivity rate of 19% – the highest since the pandemic started. Administrative operations at Howard resume on Monday, with many staff members teleworking and with meetings taking place virtually when possible. Students who live on campus can return on Jan. 14. Howard is offering booster vaccines on its campus Tuesdays and Thursday at Freedman's Hall in Howard University Hospital.

Florida

Palm Beach:More than a dozen one-of-a-kind Hermes handbags with an estimated value of about $1 million were stolen in a smash-and-grab burglary from a boutique store, the owner said. The unique luxury bags were taken when the window where they were on display was smashed in the middle of the night earlier this month in the luxury shopping district of Worth Avenue, according to WPTV. The owner of the handbags shop, Only Authentics, told the television station that some of the bags were valued at more than $100,000 each. Owner Virgil Rogers said the incident happened Dec. 14. The store has a collection of one-of-a-kind pieces of Hermes and Chanel handbags. Alex Piquero, a criminologist at the University of Miami, said the thefts were likely the work of organized criminals. Over the past two months, there have been a series of smash-and-grab burglaries at luxury stores across the U.S.

Georgia

Atlanta: Mayor-elect Andre Dickens has released details of the events planned as a lead-in to his Monday inauguration as the city’s 61st mayor. Dickens’ swearing-in ceremony will culminate the weekend of activities in a 1 p.m. event at his alma mater, Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The first event of the inauguration weekend is a community service day in Atlanta, Dickens announced last week. Volunteers will convene at the C.T. Martin Natatorium and Recreation Center to assemble personal hygiene kits from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. Volunteers will also participate in a cleanup project at Nancy Creek Park from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The activities will include raking, pruning and litter removal. Community whiffle ball games and outreach activities will also occur from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Piedmont Park’s Active Oval and Saturday’s events will end with a reception and inaugural community block party at Pullman Yards from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. On Sunday, there will be a virtual interfaith prayer service beginning at 4 p.m. The ceremony will be streamed live at MovingATLForward.com.

Hawaii

Honolulu: Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has purchased more property in Hawaii, including most of a reservoir that unleashed a deadly flood 15 years ago. Property records showed Zuckerberg’s Kaloko LLC bought a 110-acre site on Kauai last month for $17 million from a company owned by the Pflueger family, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The purchase included most of a reservoir that flooded in 2006, killing seven people, after a section of a dam burst following 40 days of near-constant rain. James Pflueger was held responsible for the tragedy for his management of the dam. Pflueger was sentenced by a state judge to seven months in jail in 2014 and was released in 2015. He died in 2017 at the age of 91. Zucerkberg and wife Priscilla Chang are committed to doing their part of fulfilling legal requirements and promoting safety of the reservoir, said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the couple. The reservoir remains unrepaired and on the state’s list of high-risk dams. The couple plan to extend farming, ranching, conservation and wildlife protection work on the land, LaBolt said. They already had 1,300 acres on the island.

Idaho

Boise: Each of Idaho’s 44 counties and all 24 eligible cities will participate in national opioid settlements, potentially bringing $119 million to the state, Republican Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said. He said the counties and cities agreed to sign onto the $26 billion settlements involving the three largest U.S. drug distribution companies and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. The money would address damage wrought by opioids, which the federal government declared a public health emergency in 2017. Wasden and Gov. Brad Little in August announced that the state would accept the agreement and become eligible for a minimum of $64 million. The state’s participation opened the way for local government entities to take part, and all those eligible have now done so, boosting the amount of money potentially coming to Idaho to about $119 million. The Idaho Drug Overdose Prevention Program, established in 2016 to increase awareness of opioid use and prevent overdoses, said opioid overdose deaths have generally been trending upward the last several decades, increasing from just over 20 deaths a year in 2000 to 123 in 2016 and 116 in 2017.

Illinois

Chicago: Chicago’s surging cases of the omicron variant has prompted City Colleges of Chicago to cancel a Kwanzaa celebration planned for this week at Malcom X College. Wednesday’s start of the celebration toasting African-American heritage was canceled “due to the new COVID variant and out of an abundance of caution,” City Colleges spokeswoman Veronica Resa said. The Kwanzaa event’s cancellation came as the omicron variant of the coronavirus has rapidly spread throughout the country, spurring officials to impose new restrictions and regulations to combat its spread, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Those include the city and Cook County requiring patrons of gyms, bars and restaurants to show proof of vaccination with a valid ID. Cases of coronavirus in the city are up 129% over the previous week, according to the most recent data available from the Chicago Department of Public Health. That’s over 2,500 new cases daily on average with a positivity rate of 9.2%.

Indiana

Windfall: Officials in a small central Indiana town plan to seek reimbursement from a straw storage business after fire crews spent weeks fighting a fire smoldering amid corncobs and straw bales. Windfall Clerk-Treasurer Regina Schmitt said the smoky fire was first reported Dec. 16 and was still burning over the weekend on land leased by Simpson Straw. She said volunteer firefighters pulled about 900,000 gallons of treated water from the town fighting the fire in the pile of corncobs, which stood up to 30 feet high. The town had to cut off its water supply twice because its water tower emptied and pumps were overheating, Schmitt said. Firefighters eventually switched to pulling water from nearby creeks to fight the blaze. Schmitt said the town is working to generate a bill for the water to send to Simpson Straw’s insurer to seek reimbursement, the Kokomo Tribune reported. Schmitt said she will also begin compiling a list of residents who experienced health issues, such as headaches, sore throats and vomiting, from the large amounts of smoke the fire produced in the Tipton County town. Schmitt urged people to hold onto receipts for any expenses they incurred, including by moving to hotels until the smoke clears, so those bills can be sent to the straw storage business’ insurer.

Iowa

Marion: Clarence Frett of Marion has been eating Wheaties for breakfast every morning since he served in World War II; now his photo is on the box. KCRG-TV reported Frett began his morning ritual in 1943 while serving in the Coast Guard. He said his breakfast is simple: a little Wheaties, a little sugar and some milk. “That’s my breakfast; I don’t eat much more than that,” Frett said. Wheaties is now 100 years old, and Frett isn’t far behind – he turns 100 in January. His daughter sent an email to General Mills to see if she could get her father’s face on a Wheaties box – just like Michael Jordan and many other famous athletes who have graced the box. The company agreed and put the longtime barber on the box.

Kansas

Topeka: Democratic state Rep. Aaron Coleman, of Kansas City, has not been criminally charged a month after his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving because the testing to determine whether he was under the influence has not been completed. Coleman, 21, was to have a hearing Tuesday in Douglas County District Court, but it did not occur. A Kansas Highway Patrol trooper arrested him Nov. 27 on Interstate 70 near Lawrence. “At this time, test results are pending from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation,” Assistant District Attorney Ted Baird wrote in a brief report Monday to the district court that was released to reporters. Coleman’s arrest in Douglas County was his second within a month. He faces a misdemeanor domestic battery charge in neighboring Johnson County over an Oct. 30 fight with his 18-year-old brother. Court documents alleged he hit and spit on his brother during a fight over his brother’s plan to get baptized. Coleman pleaded not guilty and has a Jan. 7 hearing in that case. Coleman was embroiled in controversy even before his election in 2020. He has acknowledged past abuses against girls and young women, and a legislative committee reprimanded him in writing in February over those abuses.

Kentucky

Frankfort: Contractors looking to assist tornado victims in western Kentucky must register with local and state officials. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron joined local leaders Sunday to announce the emergency contractor registration program. The program requires contractors to register before doing business and to display placards on their job sites and in the contractor’s vehicle. “Our hope is that launching this contractor registration program in partnership with the City of Mayfield and Graves County will assist Kentuckians with identifying registered contractors and deter unscrupulous contractors from entering the region,” Cameron said in a statement.

Louisiana

New Orleans: A critically endangered Sumatran orangutan in New Orleans has given birth to a healthy male, but his twin brother died in the womb, officials at the Audubon Zoo said Monday. Twelve-year-old Menari gave birth to the first baby without trouble on Christmas Eve and was mothering it appropriately, but she was having problems after that, according to a news release. A team of on-call medical professionals was brought in, including local OBGYN and neonatology specialists who usually treat humans. Menari was anesthetized, and ultrasound showed the second baby was dead and badly positioned. The team was able to remove it without a Cesarean section, the zoo said. The great apes named for their long red hair are considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Threats include hunting and the destruction of the forests and peat swamps where they spend nearly all their time in trees. Fewer than 14,000 live in the wild and their numbers are declining as palm oil plantations spread into their forest habitat, according to the Audubon Nature Institute, which runs the zoo. Sumatran orangutans aren’t weaned until they’re about 7 years old, and females have the longest period between births of any mammals – 8.2 to 9.3 years, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Maine

Lewiston: The Maine Board of Environmental Protection recommended that part of the once-heavily polluted Androscoggin River get a stricter environmental classification in an acknowledgment of cleanup efforts. The recommendation called for the river’s status to upgraded from Class C to Class B on a small portion, from Lisbon Falls to Merrymeeting Bay. Several local groups pushed for an even larger section of the river – beginning farther upriver near Turner – to be upgraded. Any change would need to be approved by the Legislature. State Sen. Ned Claxton, D-Auburn, proposed a bill in the last legislative session to reclassify the larger section of the river. The river’s pollution was one of the motivators for the late U.S. Sen. Ed Muskie of Maine to draft the Clean Water Act in 1972. It “used to be a septic system, an open sewer,” and has come a long way since then, Claxton told the Sun Journal. Upgrading the standard for the lower stretch of the Androscoggin would provide a boost to fishing and recreation, he said. But not everyone supports it. There are mills and businesses upstream that fear stricter environmental standards could make it difficult for them to operate under certain conditions.

Maryland

Ocean City:Atlantic General Hospital will hold its 28th annual Penguin Swim fundraiser on Saturday on the beach at The Princess Royale Oceanfront Hotel at 91st Street. Individuals and teams are invited to join in the fundraising. To register, visit www.aghpenguinswim.org. The fee is $25. Once registered, peoople can start collecting donations. T-shirts are available while supplies last for those who register. Those who raise or donate $100 or more will also be eligible to receive a 2022 AGH Penguin Swim long-sleeve T-shirt while supplies last. All participants are required to register either online or in person, and check in on Friday or Saturday to receive a wristband to gain access to the swim area. Advance online registration is recommended. Preregistration and advance check-in at the Princess Royale are from 2 p.m. 4 p.m. Friday. Event day registration and check-in will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday and ending at 12:30 p.m. The main event is at 1 p.m. on the beach at 91st Street.

Massachusetts

Weymouth: The state Appeals Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by opponents of a natural gas compressor station in Weymouth that had challenged one of the approvals for the facility. A three-judge panel affirmed a Superior Court judge’s decision that the Fore River Residents Against the Compressor Stationgroup could not seek judicial review of the approval issued by the state Office of Coastal Zone Management, The Patriot Ledger reported. The court ruled the citizens group did not have a right to an agency hearing, and therefore did not have a right to judicial review. Alice Arena of the anti-compressor group said the town initially filed the appeal and the citizens group intervened, but the town dropped its appeal as part of a host community agreement with energy company Enbridge. The compressor station is part of Enbridge’s Atlantic Bridge project, which expands the company’s natural gas pipelines from New Jersey into Canada. Opponents argue that the station presents health and safety risks.

Michigan

Lansing: Michigan public schools can use nonteaching staff as substitute teachers the rest of the academic year under a law designed to address a shortage during the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she signed the bill last week, calling it a “temporary stopgap” in a letter to lawmakers. It lets secretaries, paraprofessionals and other school employees without a teaching certificate work as subs as long as they have a high school diploma or equivalency certificate. The Republican-sponsored legislation had been approved by the GOP-led Legislature on largely party lines over Democrats’ objections. In the Senate, four Democrats supported it while two Republicans voted against. Michigan generally requires subs without a teaching certificate to have an associate’s degree or at least 60 semester hours of college credit. There are exceptions for those teaching career and technical education classes, typically if they a professional license in the field. Whitmer signed the bill despite opposition from the Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest public employee union.

Minnesota

Ely: An appellate court affirmed Monday that a wilderness advocacy group has standing to challenge state rules restricting copper mining sites. The ruling means that Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness’ efforts to block a proposed copper mine near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness can continue. Minnesota’s 29-year-old nonferrous mining siting rules prohibit mines in the Boundary Waters but allow them along waters that flow into the popular outdoors getaway. The wilderness group filed a lawsuit in June 2020 arguing the rules should be amended to prohibit mining along waters that flow into the area as well. The lawsuit is designed to block Twin Metals Minnesota’s plans for a massive copper-nickel mine in the Rainy River Headwaters. The wilderness group fears run-off from the mine would flow north into the Boundary Waters. Twin Metals Minnesota asked a lower-court judge to dismiss the case on grounds that the wilderness group hasn’t shown that the mine would harm it and therefore lacks legal standing to sue. That judge refused the request and directed the state Department of Natural Resources to begin reviewing the rules.

Mississippi

Jackson: Some state parks in Mississippi could come under private management in the coming months. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks will seek bids soon from vendors to handle the functions of at least one park, communications director Jennifer Head told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. The department earlier this year asked if private groups were interested in managing a park. Head said two groups responded. She would not reveal which parks are under consideration for privatization, but said that information would be included when the bid invitation is published. House Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committee Chairman Bill Kinkade, a Republican from Byhalia, said the privatization move is the culmination of a year of his visiting state parks. “I look at things from a profitability standpoint,” Kinkade said. He said some state parks that could see private management are Hugh White in Grenada, John Kyle in Sardis, John Cossar in Oakland and Wall Doxey in Holly Springs.

Missouri

Jefferson City: Eight people died on Missouri roadways over the long Christmas weekend, two fewer than during the holiday period in 2020. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Monday that troopers worked 310 total accidents during the period from Thursday through Sunday, including 92 accidents with injuries. The patrol also made 67 arrests for driving while intoxicated. State troopers handled two fatal accidents in the St. Louis area and two in central Missouri. The other four fatal wrecks were investigated by police in Kansas City, St. Louis and two St. Louis suburbs – Overland and Wentzville.

Montana

Pablo:The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes released official election results for five open tribal council positions. Incumbents Len Twoteeth of the Elmo District and Carole Lankford of the Ronan District retained their seats, and Tom McDonald won the new at-large seat, according to a news release. Chairwoman Shelly Fyant lost her race in the Arlee District, which will now be represented by Jim Malatare. The Polson District, formerly represented by Charmel Gillin, will now be led by Jennifer Finley. Newly elected officials will be sworn in at the tribal member quarterly meeting Jan. 7. Elected officials will also be able to run for leadership roles within the council at that time. The election was held Dec. 18, and the five remaining tribal council seats will be up for election in 2023. Voter turnout was 36.6%, which represents about a 6% increase from the last election.

Nebraska

Minden: A former school board member who was removed from office after she refused to wear a mask to meetings in central Nebraska has filed a lawsuit seeking to be reinstated. The Kearney Hub reported Katie Sinsel filed her lawsuit last month against the Minden school district’s superintendent and the board members who voted to remove her from the board. She argued she shouldn’t have been prevented from participating in board meetings and the board lacked the authority to remove her. District officials didn’t immediately reply Monday to a message about the lawsuit, and they haven’t yet responded to the lawsuit in court. Minden is a town of about 3,000 people roughly 175 miles west of Omaha. Last April, Sinsel was arrested for trespassing and disturbing the peace after she refused to wear a mask at a board meeting, but those charges were dismissed. The board voted in late April to remove Sinsel and then voted in May to appoint her replacement. At the time Sinsel was removed from the board, the district said she violated her oath of office by refusing to wear a mask because the board had passed a resolution requiring them.

Nevada

Reno:With three days left in the month, Tahoe has broken a record for December snowfall set 50 years ago. On Monday, December snow totals at the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab reached 193.7 inches, blowing past a 1970 record of 179 inches. The lab, located at Donner Pass, has received roughly 39 inches of snow from Sunday thhrough Monday nd has a chanceto surpass 200 inches. The lab was built in 1946 by the U.S. Weather Bureau and Army Corps of Engineers and maintains one of the longest-running manual snow depth records in the world, dating to 1879. “This has been a very beneficial storm for the Sierra region,” said Dan McEvoy, regional climatologist for the Western Regional Climate Center. The Lake Tahoe Basin is sitting about 200% above average for snow water equivalent – the amount of water that will be released from the snowpack when it melts – for this time of year. And the Basin is sitting at 60% of its peak average snow water equivalent, which occurs around late March or early April, McEvoy said. The median peak average is 27 inches, and today 16.1 inches of snow water equivalent was measured, he said. December’s storms came in “forming a right-side-up snowpack,” he said. Earlier storms were wetter with higher elevation snow, but then temperatures and snow levels dropped. “That’s good for both water content and avalanche concerns,” McEvoy said.

Nevada

Reno: Traffic into and out of the city of South Lake Tahoe area ground to a halt Tuesday night because of bad road conditions, prompting Gov. Steve Sisolak to declare a state of emergency for the area. The emergency declaration allows state officials to order cars on those highways to turn around and head back into western Nevada until weather conditions subside and the roads are safe, according to the governor’s office. The goal is to prevent motorists from becoming stranded overnight on the roadways, potentially running out of gas in subfreezing temperatures without access to emergency services. Highways 50, 207 and 28 are experiencing long delays and dangerous road conditions and all traffic in the area was turned back starting at 8:30 p.m. Westbound Interstate 80 is still closed.

New Hampshire

Moultonborough: Three people and a dog are safe after falling through the ice on Lake Winnipesaukee, officials said. Moultonborough Fire Chief David Bengston said the three who survived the ordeal near Long Island were lucky. They broke through the ice Sunday night while trying to rescue their dog. They were trying to use ladders to reach the pet, but they ended up breaking through, as well, WMUR-TV reported. “The ice just wasn’t thick enough to support the weight of the ladders or the people on the ice,” Bengtson said. They were fortunate that the water was shallow enough for them to make their way to shore with the dog. The people were treated for minor abrasions and cold exposure. The dog wasn’t hurt.

New Jersey

Little Egg Harbor:The Coast Guard rescued three people from a grounded boat Sunday near the entrance of Little Egg Harbor, authorities said. Radio watchkeepers at the Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay command center received a report on VHF Channel 16 that a 36-foot pleasure boat, Phyllis II, had run aground. Channel 16 is used as an international distress frequency. The Coast Guard sent out a 29-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Atlantic City to the scene, but low tide kept the boat crew from reaching the stranded vessel. The boat was 5 miles northeast of Brigantine. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter was launched. The aircrew plucked the three mariners from the Phyllis II and brought them to the Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City in Pomona.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: With authorities logging more than a dozen DWI arrests in the Albuquerque area since Christmas Eve, there are more calls for New Mexico to crack down on repeat offenders. KOB-TV reported many of the cases over the past year involve first-time offenses, but officers have seen familiar faces. One woman marked her fifth DWI offense in May after she was stopped for driving 103 mph on Interstate 40. A man marked his seventh DWI arrest in March when he hit a concrete pillar. In yet another case, a 42-year-old woman was arrested for the seventh time – four of which have come within the last two years. One of the charges against her ended up being dismissed because the officer failed to appear in court. Lindsey Valdez, regional director at Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said cases where there seem to be no consequences are the ones that send a message. “I think it overall shows that some people really don’t find any fear in consequences if there are no consequences to driving under the influence,” she said. As for punishment when convicted, a first DWI could result in a minimum of two days behind bars. An eighth offense would be 10 years. However, Ahmad Assed, a criminal defense attorney, said that doesn’t mean people are spending all of that time in jail because mandatory sentences can be completed through an ankle bracelet program or home arrest.

New York

New York: A federal judge on Monday ordered New York City to install crosswalk signals to aid blind people and those with poor eyesight in more than 9,000 intersections over the next 10 years. The decision by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan came more than a year after he ruled most crosswalks in the city violate laws protecting people with disabilities because they only communicate crossing information in a visual format. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by a nonprofit corporation that represents people with vision disabilities. In the ruling last year, Engelmayer said the city had failed to fully install crosswalk signals that aid the blind and visually impaired at nearly 97% of the city’s 13,200 intersections with pedestrian signals. Attornneyys for the plaintiffs proposed the city add such signals at all intersections that currently have visual-only signals within 10 years. But city officials said they could only install them at 500 intersections per year – a limit rejected by the judge. The judge said installing the signals at more than 9,000 intersections would cost just under $672 million, based on city estimates.

North Carolina

Fayetteville:City residents are encouraged to put their trees out for free curbside pickup on the morning of Jan. 10. Cumberland-Fayetteville Parks and Recreation will collect the trees as part of the 28th Annual Grinding of the Greens, a Christmas tree recycling program. The trees will be taken to the Fayetteville Community Garden, at Van Story and Mann streets off Old Wilmington Road. On Jan. 15, PWC and Duke Energy Progress volunteers will grind them into mulch in an event that begins at 8:30 a.m. The mulch will be used at the garden and other local parks. “Grinding of the Greens encourages Fayetteville residents to recycle their live Christmas trees and since its beginning, has kept thousands of pounds of recyclable material out of our landfills,” the PWC said in a news release. “All lights, stands and trimmings should be removed from the tree,” the release said. “Residents who live outside the city or miss the pickup, may drop off trees at the Fayetteville Community Garden.”

North Dakota

Bismarck:The state Senate defeated a resolution on legalizing recreational marijuana. A similar bill was defeated in the House last week. Introduced by Sen. Dick Dever, R-Bismarck, on March 30, through the delayed bills committee, Senate Concurrent Resolution 4016 would have put the question to the voters of North Dakota whether the Legislature should authorize and regulate adult-use recreational marijuana. The resolution would “provide people the opportunity to express their opinion on whether or not marijuana should be legalized,” Dever said. The original bill squeezed through the committee by a vote of 3-2.

Ohio

Cincinnati:Hoxworth Blood Center said it needs more donors to get the region’s hospitals safely into 2022, and nationally, the American Red Cross has called the blood supply at one of its lowest points ever, threatening health care. Hoxworth said it needs 450 donors a day to meet the demand for blood and blood products from more than 30 hospitals in Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana, spokeswoman Jackie Marschall said. The blood center collects more than 90,000 units of blood every year. In general, winter depresses blood-donor turnout, Marschall said. “Hoxworth’s blood supply is stable, but as this week continues, we need donors to help us protect the blood supply through the new year,” she said. Donors who make and keep appointments Wednesday and Thursday will get a $10 e-commerce card as a token of appreciation. Hoxworth has seven donor centers across the region. Appointments are preferred. Masks are required of everyone. To schedule a donation, call (513) 451-0910 or visit www.hoxworth.org.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: Gov. Kevin Stitt, who was the nation’s first governor to confirm that he got COVID-19, said he doesn’t plan to get a booster shot, even though state health officials are encouraging vaccinated people to do just that. When asked by a reporter Monday if he plans to get a vaccine booster, the Republican governor responded: “No, probably not.” “I’m perfectly healthy, and my doctor hasn’t told me I need to get it,” said Stitt, who contracted COVID-19 in July 2020 and received Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine in March. Stitt’s stance on getting a booster came even though the state’s public health agency and medical community are encouraging Oklahomans to get vaccinated for COVID-19 or to get a booster if they have been vaccinated.

Oregon

Portland: Scott Asphaug will lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon until a new lead prosecutor is appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Asphaug was named acting U.S. Attorney on Feb. 28 and on Saturday was appointed interim by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Asphaug has worked for the U.S. Department of Justice for 16 years and also was a Multnomah County prosecutor. He called the appointment “a privilege.” Oregon’s U.S. senators sent to the White House the names of three finalists for the state’s U.S. Attorney’s job last month. The three include two prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Portland. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel, 50, is the office’s criminal division chief who has worked as a federal prosecutor since 2007 and who has done civil litigation and criminal defense work for two law firms. Assistant U.S. Attorney Natalie Wight, 47, is deputy chief of the office’s organized and violent crime section. She has been working in the District of Oregon since 2012 and with the U.S. Department of Justice since 2003. The third finalist is Vivek Kothari, 40, who does civil litigation with the Portland law firm Markowitz Herbold and co-founded the Oregon Clemency Project in 2020. He was also a federal prosecutor in Atlanta for five years.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: Gov. Tom Wolf said he will have a new top election official as he enters his last year in office, naming Leigh Chapman to replace Veronica Degraffenreid atop the Department of State. Chapman will be the department’s fifth secretary or acting secretary during Wolf’s seven years at the agency. She will take over Jan. 8. The Department of State has been at the center of efforts to protect elections from outside hackers, moving counties to paper-based machines, administering the introduction of a broad new mail-in voting law and defending the administration against allegations of election fraud by former President Donald Trump and his allies. The department took heat in 2021 for a major bureaucratic bungle, failing to advertise a proposed state constitutional amendment, as required, to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue perpetrators and collaborators over decades-old claims. As a result, a statewide referendum must wait two more years, at least, until 2023. Chapman previously served almost two years in the department under Wolf as a policy director, from 2015 to 2017. Most recently she has been the executive director of the Washington-based Deliver My Vote, a voting advocacy group.

Rhode Island

Providence:Providence College will require all students, faculty and staff to have a COVID-19 booster shot for the spring semester, unless they have a school-approved exemption, the college said. The Roman Catholic school joins Brown University, the University of Rhode Island and Salve Regina University in the state in requiring boosters for the spring. Providence students will also be required to document a negative point-of-origin test result within a maximum of five days of returning to campus in January. The school, with about 4,100 students, is asking students, faculty and staff to get a booster as soon as possible, preferably before spring semester classes start Jan. 18. The deadline is Feb. 1. The school will also hold vaccination clinics on Jan. 19 and Jan. 21 for people unable to get their boosters over the break.

South Carolina

Columbia: A series of mild earthquakes rumbled across central South Carolina on Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, rattling windowpanes and disrupting wildlife but causing no apparent injuries or major damage. It was one of about two dozen minor quakes to affect the state this year. About 2:30 p.m, the 3.3-magnitude quake registered in Kershaw County near Elgin, about 25 miles northwest of South Carolina’s capital city of Columbia. It occurred at a depth of 2 miles, officials said. As the earthquake rumbled, with a sound similar to a heavy construction vehicle, it shook homes, caused windows to clatter in their frames and provoked dogs to bark. People reported feeling tremors throughout the Columbia area and as far away as Lexington, about 40 miles southwest of the epicenter, the U.S. Geological survey said. To the northeast, the earthquake was apparently felt at least as far away as Camden, about 18 miles, with some scattered reports ranging even farther. About three hours later, a quake with a magnitude of 2.5 struck in the same area as the first, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Just before 6:30 p.m., a third earthquake of 2.1 magnitude was confirmed. More than two dozen earthquakes have been reported in South Carolina this year, according to federal officials. Earlier this year, the area near Jenkinsville, about 38 miles west of Monday’s tremors, registered six small earthquakes in over a week, with three quakes registered on one day alone. State officials are still studying that spate of seismic activity.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: Lawmakers met behind closed doors Tuesday as they launched an impeachment investigation into the state attorney general for his conduct surrounding a fatal car crash last year. The House Speaker, Republican Spencer Gosch, had pledged a transparent process as a committee that he appointed considers whether to recommend Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s impeachment. But it took just 4 minutes on Tuesday for the committee – made of seven Republicans and two Democrats – to take an oath, then move into a private executive session with the attorney hired to guide the inquiry. Lawmakers planned to take formal action that will lay out the scope of their investigation during a public session scheduled for Wednesday. Ravnsborg, a Republican elected to his first term in 2018, pleaded no contest in August to two misdemeanors in the crash that killed Joseph Boever. The 55-year-old man was walking along a rural stretch of highway in September 2020 when Ravnsborg struck him with his car. Ravnsborg first reported the crash as a collision with an animal. He has insisted that he did not realize he had killed a man until he returned to the scene the next day and discovered Boever’s body.

Tennessee

Nashville: State officials have picked 10 youth mental health programs statewide to receive a combined $6.5 million to expand their offerings. The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services said the Middle Tennessee programs receiving funding are Volunteer Behavioral Health, Prevention Coalition for Success, Youth Villages and TN Voices, which is also receiving funding specifically for Nashville and for Shelby County. The other awardees are Frontier Health in Northeast Tennessee, McNabb Center in East Tennessee, Volunteer Behavioral Health again for Southeast Tennessee and the Cumberland Plateau, and Pathways in West Tennessee. Gov. Bill Lee and lawmakers included the money in the 2022 fiscal year budget. Officials said the selected programs aim to increase school-based services and emergency psychiatric services for children and youth. The initiatives also focus on early intervention for children from birth to 8 years of age.

Texas

Austin:Samsung's plan to build a $17 billion next-generation semiconductor factory in Taylor is being called the largest direct foreign investment in Texas history. The amount of publicly funded incentives that sealed the deal for the town northeast of Austin is of similar historic significance. South Korea-based Samsung is set to receive property tax breaks from the city of Taylor, the Taylor school district and Williamson County totaling $954 million over the life of the agreements, according to an American-Statesman analysis. Combined with a $27 million grant from a state incentive fund, the package adds up to $981 million and easily ranks No. 1 in a database compiled by the public-interest group Good Jobs First of the biggest such corporate incentive deals in Texas history. It's the most expensive deal, even without including about $260 million in infrastructure improvements near the future site of the Samsung factory – such as new roads and water lines – nearly all of which will be funded by Williamson County, the city of Taylor or the state.

Utah

Salt Lake City: A gas pump went up in flames Monday when a recreational vehicle in Salt Lake City drove away with the hose still attached, officials said. The pump was dragged by the RV, igniting a fireball, said Salt Lake City Fire Department Battalion Chief Dan Walker. It was stopped shortly after before anyone was injured when employees at the gas station hit an emergency stop button, he said. An unidentified person driving the RV drove away but was found and was being questioned by police to assess for possible sanctions, he said. The incident occurred about 9 a.m. at a gas station located at a busy intersection near several restaurants and stores. None of the buildings was damaged, Walker said.

Vermont

Bennington: A nonprofit group wants to open a grocery store in downtown Bennington and has secured a $200,000 loan from the town to do so. “The Bennington Community Market will be a small nonprofit grocery store located in the heart of downtown Bennington that promotes sustainable local agriculture, downtown revitalization and healthy food for everyone,” said a statement from the group, according to the Bennington Banner. The organization is is “working with a local architecture firm and contractor to build out a commercial kitchen,” said Aila West, a group member. The store will include “a prepared-food counter, coffee bar, small indoor seating area and additional outdoor seating. We hope to open our doors to the community in late spring 2022,” she said. The total start-up costs are estimated at around $540,000, according to the group’s application to the Bennington Revolving Loan Fund for a $200,000 loan, the newspaper reported.

Virginia

Chesapeake: A mama black bear and three cubs clambered up a tree and napped in the middle of a neighborhood before voluntarily ambling on hours later, wildlife officials said Tuesday. The four black bears left their lofty perch on aptly named Bruin Drive in the city of Chesapeake about midnight Monday, Chesapeake Animal Services said on Facebook. Officials had asked residents near the tree to stay inside and blocked off the road from outside visitors in order to give the bears “space, quiet, and time.” Police were first alerted to the bears about 2 a.m. Monday, The Virginian-Pilot reported.

Washington

Seattle: Data updated Monday showed coronavirus infections in Kings County, the state’s most populous,have jumped in the past week as the omicron variant surges. According to King County’s COVID-19 data dashboard, the county has seen a 195% increase in cases in the past seven days, averaging 1,586 infections a day, The Seattle Times reported. The recent spike marks the highest number of daily cases in King County, which is home to Seattle, since the beginning of the pandemic. The county recorded 2,249 confirmed COVID-19 cases last Thursday, about 3¹/₃ times the peak of its delta wave, which had a seven-day average of about 630 in late August. It’s unknown how many of the cases are attributed to omicron, but local health experts have been predicting a “rapid surge” from the variant that could overwhelm health care systems and disrupt businesses and schools as employees get sick.

West Virginia

Charleston: Gov. Jim Justice announced the first appointees to the newly created Intermediate Court of Appeals. Thomas E. Scarr of Barboursville was appointed for a term of 2¹/₂ years, concluding on Dec. 31, 2024. Daniel W. Greear of South Charleston was appointed for a term of 4¹/₂ years, concluding on Dec. 31, 2026. Donald A. Nickerson Jr. of Wheeling was appointed for a term of 6¹/₂ years, concluding on Dec. 31, 2028. Justice said he had full confidence in his choices to serve on the court. The West Virginia Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission interviewed more than 20 attorneys interested in serving on the court and submitted recommendations to the governor. The new court, which will hear appeals of civil judgments from circuit courts, is expected to open July 1.

Wisconsin

Kenosha: Prosecutors have now charged more than 60 people in connection with offenses committed during protests against police brutality and racism in Kenosha last year. The Kenosha News reported Tuesday that Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley’s office has filed more than 90 separate charges, including 70 felonies and 18 misdemeanors. Six cases involved juveniles. The felony counts include burglary, making threats against police or National Guard troops and destroying an ATM. Protests engulfed Kenosha for several nights in August 2020 after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake during a domestic disturbance. Blake, who is Black, survived but the shooting left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Wyoming

Jackson: Residents south of Jackson are sounding the alarm over the possibility that dozens of high-end commercial campsites, roads and related infrastructure could be carved into the lower flanks of Munger Mountain. A Wyoming-owned 640-acre section of land that raises money for the state’s school trust account, and which is exempted from local zoning regulations, could host the development. At the direction of state lawmakers seeking to wring more money out of state lands in exorbitantly priced Jackson Hole, the Office of State Lands and Investments has identified the site as a potential money-maker and plans to issue an open-ended request for proposals, according to Jason Crowder, the office’s deputy director. “That would give the Board of Land Commissioners the ability to accept or reject any proposal,” Crowder told the Jackson Hole News&Guide. That board, which has the final say, consists of five state officials: Gov. Mark Gordon, Secretary of State Ed Buchanan, Auditor Kristi Racines, Treasurer Curt Meier and State Superintendent Jillian Balow. It remains to be seen which types of formal propositions the board will consider.