USA Today - 26.08.2019

4B z MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2019z USA TODAY MONEY

News from across the USA

ALABAMAMontgomery: The state
will require new forms for getting
married starting Thursday. Instead of
a marriage license, couples will have
a new form notarized and take it to a
probate judge within 30 days. A wed-
ding ceremony is no longer required.

ALASKAJuneau: Charlene Zanoria
used her summer internship to give
underrepresented cultures a moment
in the spotlight. Zanoria, a freshman
at University of Alaska Southeast,
interned for Juneau Public Libraries
and hosted P.O.C. Palooza on Aug. 16.

ARIZONAPhoenix: The state starts a
first-of-its-kind experiment Tuesday,
when it will roll out a professional
licensing law that Gov. Doug Ducey
has touted as a game-changing tool
to make it easier to move to Arizona
and work in a range of regulated
fields, from cosmetology to real es-
tate and optometry.

ARKANSASLittle Rock: Cheryl Ma-
ples, an attorney who successfully
challenged the state’s gay marriage
ban before the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that same-sex couples could
wed nationwide, has died at age 69.

COLORADOColorado Springs: The
U.S. Air Force Academy has an-
nounced it will close its cadet chapel
for extensive renovations beginning
next month. KOAA-TV reports the
military academy says Sept. 3 is the
final day scheduled for visits prior to
the chapel’s three-year closure.

CONNECTICUTVoluntown: The state
plans to conduct mosquito spraying
in parts of Pachaug State Forest con-
sidered at high risk for mosquito-
borne illnesses. Spraying will be con-
ducted Monday at Mount Misery
campground, the nearby horse camp,
and roads leading from the main
forest entrance to Hell Hollow Road.

DELAWAREWilmington: A high-
profile case of a doctor convicted of
raping and abusing more than 85
children has led to major changes in
how the state investigates and dis-
ciplines doctors. Since Earl Bradley’s
arrest in 2009, 178 Delaware doctors
have received some form of disciplin-
ary action from the state. In the dec-
ade before that, licensing records
show only 48 were disciplined.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIAWashing-
ton: As D.C. kids get ready to go back
to school Monday, some have more to
worry about than grades, WUSA-TV
reports. Those in the Southeast
neighborhood face the specter of
violence every day, with some par-
ents reporting hearing gunfire “al-
most every night” and complaining of
bullet holes in school buildings.

FLORIDAMarathon: A non-native,
juvenile olive ridley sea turtle has
been released off the Florida Keys.
Officials say the 30-pound turtle
named Harry was released Thursday
with a small satellite transmitter
affixed to the top of its shell.

GEORGIAAtlanta: A new report says
the state’s public colleges and uni-
versities had an economic impact
worth $17.7 billion statewide during
the 2018 fiscal year.

HAWAIIHonolulu: Scientists in the
state have started to prepare for a
major coral reef bleaching event due
to warmer-than-average ocean tem-
peratures across the island chain.

IDAHOBoise: The state must provide
gender confirmation surgery to a
transgender inmate who has been
living as a woman for years but has
continuously been housed in a men’s
prison, a federal appeals court said
Friday.

ILLINOISWaukegan: The hometown
of the late, famed science fiction
writer Ray Bradbury marked his
birthday Thursday with the dedica-
tion of a statue in his honor outside
the local public library.

INDIANAPortage: The National Park
Service has reopened the Portage
Lakefront and Riverwalk beach areas
at Indiana Dunes National Park, more
than a week after a spill of cyanide
and ammonia from a steel factory
along Lake Michigan.

IOWADes Moines: Google gave two
local nonprofits $175,000 on Friday
through the company’s Impact Chal-
lenge Iowa grant program. Five
judges picked Iowa Jobs for Amer-
ica’s Graduates and Ethnic Minorities
of Burma Advocacy and Resources as
winners, along with three other non-
profits. Voters can cast ballots
through Friday to pick the “People’s
Choice” grant winner, which will
receive another $125,000.

KANSASWichita: City police will

begin using a system that places

alerts on addresses where potential

swatting targets could be living.

Swatting involves hoax emergency

calls to send law enforcement offi-

cers, particularly SWAT teams, to a

particular address. The program

announced Friday is voluntary and

open to people who think they

might become victims.

KENTUCKYFrankfort: A print shop

owner who refused to make a gay

pride T-shirt argued before the state

Supreme Court on Friday that he

shouldn’t be compelled to promote

messages that go against his reli-

gious beliefs. Blaine Adamson, own-

er of Hands-On Originals in Lexing-

ton, declined to print a shirt pro-

moting an LGBT festival in 2012.

LOUISIANAAlexandria: One of the

world’s northernmost sugarcane

fields has been planted at a Louisi-

ana State University research sta-

tion in central Louisiana. The LSU

AgCenter is looking into how well

various varieties can survive chilly

weather.

MAINEMillinocket: The Friends of

Katahdin Woods and Waters group

says it’s pleased with progress in

the three years since the national

monument was created in northern

Maine. The group hosted a cele-

bration Saturday night to mark the

anniversary with music, dinner,

awards and an auction.

MARYLANDBaltimore: City fire

officials say they plan to dispatch

fewer firefighters to initial fire

alarms, as departments see the

number of medical emergency calls

rise above those of fires.

MASSACHUSETTSSherborn: A

“peace park” in this Boston suburb

has been forced to take down a

United Nations flag after residents

objected, citing property rights.

MICHIGANIshpeming: An arsonist

has hampered Santa’s toy produc-

tion this fall. Mlive.com reports

police asked for the public’s help in

solving the weekend’s arson and

property damage case involving the

Santa’s Workshop building used at

Christmastime.

MINNESOTADuluth: The ever-

present danger of rip currents in

Lake Superior has some calling for

more to be done to improve public

safety. Retired police officer Dennis

Hoelscher tells Minnesota Public

Radio News that lifeguard services

need to be improved. Lifeguards

don’t work on “red flag” days that

have high risk of rip currents.

MISSISSIPPIColumbus: Officials

say the city was on its way into debt

but has turned its finances around,

saving about $805,000 since March.

MISSOURIKansas City: Authorities

say a shirtless man reportedly drag-

ging a topless, unconscious woman

through downtown was actually

lugging a life-size doll. Police said in

a tweet that callers reported the

man looked like he wanted to throw

the woman over a bridge, dropped

her and appeared to be trying to

dress her. One caller said he was

yelling “savior” while holding the

woman. Police told him “not to carry

it around in public anymore.”

MONTANAHelena: State officials

say U.S. health officials have ap-

proved their plan to create a rein-

surance pool aiming to lower indi-

vidual health insurance premiums.

NEBRASKALincoln: The state’s

highest court lifted one of the last

major hurdles for the Keystone XL

pipeline in the state Friday when it

rejected another attempt to derail

the project.

NEVADAReno: Safari Club Interna-

tional plans to hold its national

convention in Las Vegas in 2021

instead of Reno. The sportsman’s

club is ending its three-year agree-

ment with Reno a year early.

NEW HAMPSHIREConcord: A year

after Gov. Chris Sununu’s unsuc-

cessful push to prolong school sum-

mer vacation until Labor Day, the

vast majority of communities are

sticking with earlier start dates.

Schools in 80% of districts will be

starting before Labor Day this year.

NEW JERSEYNew Brunswick: Rut-

gers University’s daily student

newspaper will cease print publica-

tion on Fridays and shift to report-

ing more news online. The Daily

Targum’s student leaders say the

decision is meant to help it stay

afloat after a vote last spring result-

ed in a loss of all student funding.

NEW MEXICOBloomfield: The city

has asked residents to help fund the

remaining balance of fees resulting

from a Ten Commandments monu-

ment lawsuit. Bloomfield launched

an online fundraiser asking for help

coming up with $467,000 it owes

the American Civil Liberties Union.

NEW YORKTupper Lake: Orga-

nizers of a new semi-pro baseball

team are rooting around for a new

nickname after some residents

grunted at proposed moniker “River

Pigs.” The Adirondack Daily En-

terprise reports Tupper Lake Village

Board Trustee David Maroun says

the name of the Empire League

team will be changed. “River Pigs”

was chosen to reflect the region’s

logging history, but some residents

said it sounded demeaning.

NORTH CAROLINARaleigh: State

election officials on Friday certified

bar code ballots for use starting

next year despite an outcry that

they can’t be trusted by voters who

want to confirm their choices.

NORTH DAKOTABismarck: A study

finds converting a historic railroad

bridge into a pedestrian bridge can

be done but would be pricey. Land-

scape architecture professors at

North Dakota State University

looked at repurposing the Bismarck-

Mandan Rail Bridge. The Bismarck

Tribune reports they concluded it

would cost almost $6.9 million.

OHIODayton: Kanye West hosted a

Sunday service in support of those

affected by the city’s recent mass

shooting. A large crowd gathered at

the musician’s service in a park in

Dayton. The event featured choir

singers and was also attended by

comedian Dave Chappelle, who

resides in nearby Yellow Springs

and was hosting a special block

party and benefit concert in Dayton

later Sunday, featuring national and

local entertainers.

OKLAHOMAOklahoma City: The

city council is expected to set a city-

wide vote for a one-cent sales tax

that would generate nearly $980 mil-

lion over eight years to fund dozens

of city projects, including money for

social services like mental health and

homelessness.

OREGONSalem:After two walkouts

this year by minority Republican

senators in the Legislature, Demo-

crats say they’ll ask voters to change

quorum rules, allowing the State-

house to convene with only a simple

majority of lawmakers present in-

stead of the current two-thirds.

PENNSYLVANIAPhiladelphia: Hun-

dreds of bicyclists have been caught

with their pants down – and their

shirts and underwear off, too. About

3,000 cyclists gathered in a Philadel-

phia park Saturday to disrobe before

saddling up and setting off on the

annual Philly Naked Bike Ride.

RHODE ISLANDProvidence: A state

lawmaker says he’s frustrated that

mandated replacement license plates

will have a design similar to the

state’s distinctive “wave” plates in

use since 1996. Sen. Louis DiPalma

tells the Providence Journal the new

design is supposed to make it easier

for police to tell from a distance that

a plate is old.

SOUTH CAROLINANorth Charles-

ton: The city is giving $1 million to a

new African American history mu-

seum and asking it to include the

city’s story. The North Charleston

City Council voted unanimously

Thursday to give the money from the

city’s taxes on hotels to the Interna-

tional African American Museum

being built in Charleston.

SOUTH DAKOTARapid City: A state

board is weighing whether to raise

bonding requirements for natural gas

and oil drillers. The Rapid City Jour-

nal reports the Board of Minerals and

Environment is considering the in-

crease as the state pursues a

$15.5 million lawsuit against a Texas-

based company for abandoning gas

wells in western South Dakota.

TENNESSEEKnoxville: A baby giraffe

has officially been named Big Girl

Two but will be called Bea. Zoo Knox-

ville officials announced the 2-

month-old giraffe’s name Saturday.

TEXASWaco: More farmers in the

state are wading into the whiskey

business. The Waco Tribune-Herald

reports the burgeoning Texas whis-

key industry is doubling down on

Lone Star pride by recruiting growers.

UTAHSalt Lake City: A new U.S.

government management plan un-

veiled Friday clears the way for coal

mining and oil and gas drilling on

land that used to be off limits as part

of a sprawling national monument in

the state before President Donald

Trump downsized the protected area

two years ago. But the plan would

also add a few safeguards for the

cliffs, canyons, waterfalls and arches

still inside Grand Staircase-Escalante

National Monument that weren’t in a

proposed plan issued last year.

VERMONTColchester: Police are

investigating the theft of about

$37,000 worth of equipment stolen

from a music center during the Lake

Champlain Chamber Music Festival.

VIRGINIAHampton: Gov. Ralph

Northam says he signed a directive

Saturday to create a commission on

African American history in the state.

He says it will review educational

standards and instructional practices

to teach black history.

WASHINGTONTacoma: Point De-

fiance Zoo & Aquarium is celebrating

the birth of its first tamandua pup,

which is the size of an avocado.

WEST VIRGINIAPipestem: Fans of all

things horror gathered at Pipestem

Event Center on Saturday to visit the

first-ever FearFestWV. Guests en-

joyed vendors specializing in horror

merchandise, live music of the metal

genre and big-name horror actors.

WISCONSINMadison: A rare bee not

seen in the state in more than a cen-

tury has turned up in the Chequame-

gon-Nicolet National Forest. It’s

known commonly as a cuckoo bee,

but its scientific name is a mouthful:

Epeoloides pilosulus.

WYOMINGCasper: The city will be-

gin restoring another stretch of the

North Platte River in October, the

next step in a long-term project ex-

pected to cost at least $23 million.

From USA TODAY Network and

wire reports

HIGHLIGHT: CALIFORNIA

Feral burros graze in the Mojave Desert.U.S. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT VIA AP

Los Angeles:Someone has been killing the wild burros of the Mojave Desert, and

the Bureau of Land Management is offering up to $10,000 to help catch the cul-

prit or culprits. In the past three months, 42 burro carcasses containing gunshot

wounds have been found along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 15. The animalsare

protected under federal law. Anyone found guilty of harassing, branding or kill-

ing one faces a fine of up to $2,000 and a year in jail. More than that, burros are

an enduring symbol of the American Southwest, evoking a time when their sure-

footedness in rocky terrain and ability to carry heavy loads long distances with-

out complaint made them perfect pack animals for prospectors and others.