Till statue, Lin-Manuel Miranda, buried convertible: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Russellville: A northern Alabama community with large numbers of Hispanic immigrants is using federal COVID-19 relief money to fund an experiment to better serve students who are still learning English. They are hiring and certifying more local, Spanish-speaking staff. More than half of 2,500 students in the small Russellville city school district identify as Hispanic or Latino, and about a quarter are learning English. But the district at times has struggled to find the people and money necessary to help those students achieve. As part of a recent exercise to help the class learn English, a third grader pulled a block from a Jenga tower and read aloud a question written on one side. “Where,” the boy read, then slowly sounded out the other words: “Where would you like to visit?” “Disneyland,” one student said. “Space,” another chimed in. “Guatemala,” one girl said. Kathy Alfaro, a new English language teacher at Russellville Elementary, exchanged a few words with the girl in Spanish, then turned to the other students. “Do y’all know what she said?” Alfaro asked the class. “She said she has a lot of family in Guatemala because she was born there. And I told her that I was born here, but I also have a lot of family in Guatemala.” Districtwide, the percentage of students who met their language proficiency goals increased from 46% in 2019 to 61% in 2022. At the two elementary schools, proficiency jumped by nearly 30 percentage points.

Alaska

Anchorage: U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, received a hero’s welcome Thursday when the Democrat gave the keynote address at the Alaska Federation of Natives conference in Anchorage. Those attending the largest annual gathering of Natives in Alaska showered her with standing ovations, spontaneous songs and gifts, including a bolo tie worn by her Republican predecessor, the late Don Young. Young’s daughter Joni Nelson presented the tie to Peltola, saying it was a passing of the mantle to her. The surprise presentation came after Young’s adult children joined Peltola on stage as she paid tribute to Young, who held Alaska’s sole seat in the House for 49 years until his death in March. Peltola defeated Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich in an August special election to finish out Young’s term. Those three, along with Libertarian Chris Bye, are competing for a full two-year term in the November election. Another of Young’s daughters, Dawn Vallely, later said on stage that her father would have been happy with the results of the special election, won by Peltola. Nelson wore the white beaded tie – which features the state of Alaska in blue beads – onstage but removed it to place it around Peltola’s neck when she greeted the family.

Arizona

Phoenix: The state has sued the federal government to be able to keep more than 100 double-stacked shipping containers that Republican Gov. Doug Ducey had placed to fill in gaps along the U.S.-Mexico border near the southwestern desert community of Yuma. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Arizona on Friday asks that the state be allowed to take the unilateral action it believes necessary to defend its residents from migrants illegally crossing the border. Ducey complains the U.S. government is not doing enough to stop migrants from coming to Arizona, forcing the state to take action. The shipping containers went up in August. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation last week sent a letter telling Arizona to take down the containers, saying they are unauthorized and violate U.S. law. Arizona refused. The Cocopah Indian Tribe in southwestern Arizona also complained that some of the containers were placed on its reservation without permission. The Bureau of Reclamation also demanded that no new containers be placed, saying it hoped to prevent conflicts with federal construction contracts to fill the gaps in the wall near the Morelos Dam in the Yuma area.

Arkansas

Conway: Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended her avoidance of local media in her bid for governor Friday as she appeared in her only debate ahead of next month’s election. Sanders, the Republican nominee who is heavily favored in the November election, has conducted few local interviews during her bid for the state’s top office. Sanders had agreed to only one debate with Democratic nominee Chris Jones and Libertarian Ricky Dale Harrington. Sanders said she’s been speaking directly to voters by campaigning around the state. “Freedom of the press is incredibly important, but with freedom of the press comes a great deal of responsibility,” Sanders said. “When they don’t live up to their end of the bargain, it forces some of us to go outside the box, which I have done every single day for the past two years.” Public polling has shown Sanders leading by double digits, and she’s shattered fundraising records in the predominantly Republican state. Early voting begins Monday in Arkansas. During her two year term as ex-President Donald Trump’s chief spokeswoman, Sanders scaled back televised news briefings after repeatedly sparring with reporters who aggressively questioned her. Sanders often sought to justify the lack of formal briefings by saying they were unnecessary when journalists could hear from Trump directly.

California

Atherton: Three decades after a car was reported stolen in Northern California, police are digging the missing convertible out of the yard of a $15 million mansion built by a man with a history of arrests for murder, attempted murder and insurance fraud. The convertible Mercedes Benz, filled with bags of unused concrete, was discovered Thursday by landscapers in the affluent town of Atherton in Silicon Valley, Mayor Rick DeGolia said, reading a statement from police. Although cadaver dogs alerted to possible human remains Thursday, none had been found more than 24 hours after technicians with the San Mateo County Crime Lab began excavating the car, DeGolia said. Police believe the car was buried 4 to 5 feet deep in the backyard of the home sometime in the 1990s – before the current owners bought the home. The car was reported stolen in September 1992 in nearby Palo Alto, he said. By Friday, the technicians had been able to excavate the passenger side of the convertible, which was buried with its top down. They also opened the trunk, where they found more bags of unused cement. Cadaver dogs were again brought back to the house and again “made a slight notification of possible human remains,” DeGolia said.

Colorado

Castle Rock: Brewing beer, cooking food, and refilling water bottles with recycled wastewater could soon become standard practice in a state that’s synonymous with its pristine-tasting snowmelt and mountain springs. Last week, Colorado’s water quality agency gave unanimous preliminary approval to regulate direct potable reuse – the process of treating sewage and sending it directly to taps without first being dispersed in a larger water body. Pending a final vote in November, the state would become the first to adopt direct potable reuse regulations, according to state and federal officials. “Having well-developed regulations … helps ensure projects are safe and that project proponents know what will be required of them,” said Laura Belanger, water resources engineer with the non-profit Western Resource Advocates. As the state’s population explodes, and regional water supplies dwindle, recycling water for drinking is a significant opportunity for stretching a limited supply, said Kevin Reidy, conservation specialist for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. And he said it’s a game changer in a place like Castle Rock, a city of 75,000 just south of Denver nestled under its prominent namesake butte, that relies primarily on pumping finite groundwater for drinking.

Connecticut

East Hartford: The grieving widows of two slain police officers gave tearful tributes to their husbands Friday during a funeral attended by thousands of law enforcement officers from around the country. Others who spoke at the service for Bristol Officers Dustin DeMonte and Alex Hamzy pleaded for an end to hatred and suspicion against the police. “To Alex and Dustin, you were both true heroes, amazing people, and you will be missed beyond words by everyone,” said DeMonte’s wife, Laura, who is pregnant with their third child. “I am so sorry this happened to you. Two of the very best humans. So kind, positive and fun-loving.” DeMonte, Hamzy and Officer Alec Iurato were shot Oct. 12 in what police believe was an ambush set up by a 911 call made by the shooter, Nicholas Brutcher. Iurato, who survived a gunshot wound to his leg, struggled to get behind a police cruiser and fired a single shot that killed Brutcher. Brutcher’s brother, Nathan, also was shot – possibly by his brother – and survived. DeMonte was a sergeant with 10 years’ experience on the force, and Hamzy was an officer for eight years. The funeral included formal, posthumous promotions of DeMonte to lieutenant and Hamzy to sergeant.

Delaware

Dover: The state auditor was sentenced Wednesday to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and complete 500 hours of community service for official misconduct and conflict of interest convictions. Auditor Kathy McGuiness avoided jail time for the misdemeanors, each of which carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison, news outlets report. McGuiness maintains her innocence, and prosecutors sought a sentence of 30 days in prison for the Rehoboth Beach Democrat based on her lack of remorse. Her attorney argued that a $1,000 fine was sufficient. In July, a Kent County jury convicted McGuiness on three misdemeanor counts but acquitted her on felony charges of theft and witness intimidation. A judge later threw out a misdemeanor conviction for improperly structuring contract payments to a consulting firm, rejecting her request for a new trial. The conflict of interest charge involved the May 2020 hiring of her daughter Elizabeth “Saylar” McGuiness. Prosecutors alleged that Saylar McGuiness, 20, and a friend were hired even as other part-time workers in the auditor’s office left because of a lack of work during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. Authorities said McGuiness then allowed her daughter special privileges that were not available to other “casual-seasonal” workers.

District of Columbia

Washington: First lady Jill Biden will host a roundtable Monday on breast and cervical cancer, part of the administration’s “moonshot” effort to reduce deaths from cancer, the White House said. The event is one of many being launched by the American Cancer Society. Singer Mary J. Blige, an advocate for cancer screening, will participate in the roundtable with Biden. President Joe Biden announced in February his goal of halving cancer deaths in the next 25 years. The issue is personal for the president, whose son Beau Biden died in 2015 of brain cancer. Biden launched the cancer moonshot the following year when serving as then-President Barack Obama’s vice president.

Florida

Miami: More than 230 pythons were removed from the Everglades as part of an annual competition to eliminate the invasive species from the South Florida wetlands preserve. Florida wildlife officials said Thursday that 1,000 hunters from 32 states and as far away as Canada and Latvia removed 231 Burmese pythons during the 10-day competition known as the Florida Python Challenge. Matthew Concepcion won the $10,000 top prize for removing 28 Burmese pythons. Another hunter, Dustin Crum, won a $1,500 prize for removing the longest python, a snake that measured over 11 feet long. Pythons became invasive in Florida after they were brought into the state as pets and then abandoned in the wild by their owners, wildlife officials say. Since 2000, more than 17,000 wild Burmese pythons have been removed from Florida, where they are a destructive presence for native species, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “Every one of the pythons removed as part of the Challenge is one less preying on our native birds, mammals and reptiles,” said Rodney Barreto, the commission’s chairman.

Georgia

Atlanta: A beer garden near downtown Atlanta filled for a recent event hosted by Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock aimed at Latino voters. Some said they came to seek Warnock, who is seeking reelection in the midterm elections Nov. 8 against Republican challenger Herschel Walker. But others came to see a particularly high-profile Latino who would be speaking on Warnock’s behalf: composer, actor and filmmaker Lin-Manuel Miranda. “Who I’m really here to see is Lin-Manuel Miranda because I’m a really big fan of his,” said Camilla Estrada, of Atlanta, who described herself as liberal and said she plans to vote for Warnock. Georgia Democrats spent the first week of the state’s 19-day early voting period in frantic activity, as they implore supporters to vote in advance. Warnock and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams each held multiple events a day. Miranda also appeared with Abrams at a restaurant in suburban Lawrenceville on Wednesday, while the Abrams campaign later rolled out a recorded chat with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday night. Almost 575,000 people had voted in Georgia by the end of Thursday, roughly on pace with the 2020 presidential election, when 5 million votes were cast in the state, buoying Democratic hopes that a big turnout might help them.

Hawaii

Honolulu: Hawaiian Airlines will operate 10 cargo planes for Amazon.com starting next fall under a deal that could eventually involve more planes and give Amazon a 15% stake in the airline. The airline’s parent company, Hawaiian Holdings Inc., said Friday that it will fly and maintain an “initial fleet” of 10 leased Airbus A330-300 jets for the retail giant. The fleet could grow “depending on Amazon’s future business needs,” the company said. Hawaiian said it issued warrants that Amazon can exercise over the next nine years and acquire up to 15% of Hawaiian stock. Shares of Hawaiian Holdings jumped 13% in afternoon trading Friday. When travel plunged and consumer spending spiked early in the pandemic, airlines began carrying more cargo and demand for freighter planes grew. More recently, the cargo business has cooled off as consumer spending shifted away from goods toward services including travel, and airlines have been stuck with excess cargo capacity. Global demand for cargo fell 8.3% in August compared with a year earlier, the International Air Transport Association reported this month. Hawaiian said it won’t use any of its current planes to serve Amazon. Instead, Amazon’s air division will lease the first 10 planes -- which will be converted from passenger jets to freighters -- from leasing company Altavair.

Idaho

Boise: It’s not uncommon for Idaho wildlife officials to be called for help when a moose, mountain lion, black bear or other wild animals wander into one of the state’s rural communities. But Idaho Fish and Game officials are asking the public for help with a particularly unusual find – a 3.5-foot alligator that was discovered hiding in the brush of a rural neighborhood about 40 miles northwest of Boise. Southwest Region spokesperson Brian Pearson told the Idaho Statesman that a New Plymouth resident was walking their dog Thursday evening when they noticed something moving in the brush. Further investigation revealed the alligator – a creature commonly found in the coastal wetlands of the southeastern U.S., but certainly not native to Idaho. Pearson said the resident put the alligator in a nearby horse trailer until Idaho Fish and Game conservation officer could pick it up Friday morning. The department has the animal in captivity for now, but Pearson said it will be euthanized or given to a licensed facility unless the owner is located. Idaho Fish and Game officials are hoping members of the public will call the department if they have any information about the alligator’s origins.

Illinois

Chicago: Three young men were fatally shot and two more seriously wounded early Sunday during what police called a caravan of street racers involving about 100 vehicles that took over an intersection on the city’s Southwest Side. The shooting happened about 4 a.m. in Brighton Park after the caravan blocked streets leading to the intersection for illegal street racing, Chicago police Cmdr. Don Jerome said during a news conference. Those killed were between the ages of 15 and 20, Jerome said, adding that the two wounded are expected to survive. Police made no immediate arrests. Caravans blocking streets for drag racing, cars turning doughnuts and “drifting” are a “semi-recent phenomenon where they gather throughout different points of the city, and there were several others last night of no consequence … until this one,” Jerome said. The City Council member for the neighborhood where Sunday’s shooting happened said police and other city officials needed to act more aggressively to shut down such caravans. “This is not just fun and games on the street,” Alderman Raymond Lopez told reporters at the scene. “We are seeing gangs and criminality join into the drifting and drag racing.”

Indiana

Crown Point: A northwestern Indiana man who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his 9-year-old daughter as he was talking to her two brothers about gun safety won’t serve any prison time for her 2017 death. A Lake County judge sentenced Eric S. Hummel, 38, on Thursday to one year to be served in the county’s community corrections program while living at home, followed by 3¹/₂years of probation. Judge Natalie Bokota accepted the Hobart man’s guilty plea to reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent charges in Olivia Hummel’s death, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports. Prosecutors had sought an 8¹/₂-year prison sentence for Hummel, but Bokota said she agreed with Hummel’s attorneys that incarcerating him would result in further trauma to his boys. According to court records, Hummel said he was showing a handgun to his sons and telling them to never play with it “because it can kill someone” when he accidentally shot and killed his daughter. Hummel told a 911 dispatcher he didn’t realize the gun was loaded when he pulled the trigger. He admitted in his plea agreement that he was talking to his sons about gun safety in a bedroom of his Hobart home in June 2017 when he pointed a handgun at the boys and pulled the trigger.

Iowa

Grinnell: In a rare move, leaders of Grinnell College and the city appealed this month for the public’s help to put an end to racial harassment, slurs and graffiti that have shaken the campus community this fall. In an open letter to the public Oct. 16, Grinnell Mayor Dan F. Agnew and Grinnell College President Anne F. Harris asked residents to mobilize against the harassment against black citizens, students and community members and not be complacent to any racism they may witness. They urged residents to report any harassment or vandalism to police, tip police if they know any individuals who have been involved, and to enroll in bystander intervention training to help prevent future incidents. Grinnell police said Friday that they had only one formal incident report, and no arrests had been made. But in a statement to the campus community Oct. 12, the private college said there had been several incidents, including defacement of campus signs and vehicles with racist and white supremacist graffiti and harassment of community members by “unknown individuals screaming slurs from moving vehicles.” “We also know that additional incidents may not have been reported,” the statement said. Grinnell, routinely ranked as one of the nation’s best liberal arts colleges, has a diverse student body.

Kansas

Topeka: Two years after her mate’s death, a female lion at the Topeka Zoo has grown a mane. The confident, sassy African lion named Zuri was always pretty much in charge of her three-member pride at the zoo, said her animal curator, Shanna Simpson. But staff members were still taken aback when, in the wake of her mate’s death two years ago, the aging lioness began growing what appeared to be a “mohawk” atop her head. That was followed by a rare and significant growth of the fur around Zuri’s head and neck, Simpson said. Zuri is intelligent, feisty and easy to train, Simpson said. The Topeka Zoo acquired Zuri and sister Asante in 2005 from the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas, then in 2006 it acquired Avus from the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin, to mate with Zuri and Asante. Avus had a large mane. Female African lions are attracted to males with large manes, Simpson said. Those manes help protect the males as they fight with other lions and with predators such as leopards and hyenas, she said. Zoo staff suspect Zuri’s increase in fur was triggered by the death of Avus, which left she and her sister as the only remaining members of their pride, Simpson said. “She feels like she needs to protect her pride, so her testosterone increases,” Simpson said. “And boom, she’s got more fur around her neck.”

Kentucky

Louisville: Local public transit workers have authorized a strike, but they aren’t walking out just yet. Union members with the Transit Authority of River City voted 95% in favor of the strike authorization Thursday, amid contentious contract negotiations. For now, buses will continue to run as scheduled, with no immediate plans to initiate a strike, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1447 President Lillian Brents said after the vote. The two sides are set to return to the bargaining table Nov. 2. Union leadership said workers want “a safe workplace and a fair contract.” The union is asking for a 6% raise for all workers after one year and 4% raises after years two and three, along with a cost-of-living adjustment of 1.25% every six months. TARC has offered a 3% raise for technical maintenance workers and radio room employees, a 2.5% raise for coach operators and a 1% raise for nontechnical maintenance workers, according to the union. The raises would take place in each year of the three-year contract. They do not include a cost-of-living adjustment. TARC claims the union’s salary demands are unrealistic and would exceed TARC’s annual budget, which is set by Louisville’s mayor and Metro Council.

Louisiana

New Orleans: Prohibitions against nonunanimous jury convictions – outlawed by Louisiana voters in 2018 and, later, by the U.S. Supreme Court – do not have to apply retroactively to earlier convictions, Louisiana’s highest court ruled Friday. The ruling came in the case of Reginald Reddick, convicted of murder by a 10-2 jury vote in 1997, but the court acknowledged it had implications for hundreds of others convicted with 10-2 or 11-1 jury votes. In 2018, Louisiana voters approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting nonunanimous verdicts in trials for crimes committed after Jan. 1, 2019. At the time, Louisiana was one of only two states allowing such verdicts. In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that nonunanimous verdicts were unconstitutional, broadening the effect of the state constitutional amendment. But in 2021, the Supreme Court made clear in a case known as Ramos v. Louisiana that its decision against nonunanimous verdicts applied only to future cases and cases in which the defendants’ appeals had not been exhausted. Friday’s state high court majority ruling by Justice Scott Crichton cited the Ramos case and other jurisprudence in determining that neither federal nor state law required a retroactive application of the prohibition.

Maine

Lewiston: A Republican congressional hopeful in a highly competitive race is spreading misinformation about the state’s housing policies, public housing directors said. Former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin is challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, who narrowly defeated the Republican in 2018. During his campaign, Poliquin has relayed a story about a woman living in her car who allegedly told him she was taken off a housing list because of immigrants who are living in the country illegally. Poliquin, who has focused his campaign on issues such as curtailing immigration and protecting gun rights, used the anecdote as part of his argument for increased border security. The Maine Association of Public Housing Authority Directors rebuked the story on Thursday with a statement to the Bangor Daily News that did not name the candidate but came in response to his statements. The statement said: “Such misinformation erodes trust in the public housing system on which so many individuals and families depend for safe, quality affordable housing, and it cannot be left uncorrected.” Eligibility for federal housing assistance is limited to U.S. citizens and noncitizens who have eligible immigration status, federal rules state.

Maryland

Annapolis: A video shows Republican Dan Cox, who is running for governor, accepting a gift from a young man wearing a shirt with a Proud Boys insignia during the candidate’s primary victory party this summer. The video, obtained by The Washington Post, shows Cox accepting a comb from him. “Here, this is a present from Maryland Proud Boys to you,” the young man said in video footage publicly posted on Cox’s Vimeo account. Members of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, were involved in storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. After accepting the gift, Cox asked the man’s name and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you,” Cox said, before greeting other supporters. The Washington Post reports the clip was removed after the newspaper contacted Cox’s campaign, which responded with a statement denying an association with the young man. “In the noise of the victory celebration, it was hard to hear what was being said,” Cox said, adding that he was surprised by the man handing him something and that “frankly, I did not even keep the comb.” Cox has reiterated false claims that the 2020 presidential election “was stolen” from Donald Trump, and he volunteered to help decertify results in Pennsylvania. He has also issued denials and apologies about his conduct surrounding Jan. 6. Although he said he attended the “Stop the Steal” rally, he has said he left before the march to the Capitol.

Massachusetts

Plympton: A nearly three-week strike by truckers at New England’s largest wholesale food distributor has come to an end with a new labor agreement, the Teamsters union said. The five-year agreement includes an immediate $5 per hour pay raise, an $11 per hour raise over the course of the agreement, improved retirement benefits, and keeps drivers on the union health insurance plan, the Teamsters Local 653 said in a Facebook post Thursday. About 300 workers at the Sysco facility in Plympton south of Boston went on strike Oct. 1. “I’ve never been prouder to be a Teamster. This fight proves that we truly are the biggest, fastest, strongest union in the world,” Local 653 shop steward Kevin Whitten said. “This strike brought members together like never before and built solidarity that will continue for years to come.” An email seeking comment was left Friday with a spokesperson for Houston-based Sysco. More than a dozen picketers at the facility were arrested early Monday after blocking the exits with tractor-trailers and preventing some employees from leaving. Sysco, which has distribution facilities across the country, supplies food to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants and other businesses. The Plympton facility remained operational during the strike with third-party drivers.

Michigan

Detroit: A teenager accused of killing four fellow students and injuring more at his high school is expected to plead guilty to murder this week, authorities said Friday. Ethan Crumbley had created images of violence during a classroom assignment last November but was not sent home from Oxford High School in southeastern Michigan. He pulled out a gun a few hours later and committed a mass shooting. Authorities have pinned some responsibility on Crumbley’s parents, portraying them as a dysfunctional pair who ignored their son’s mental health needs and happily provided a gun as a gift just days before the attack. They also face charges. Crumbley, 16, is due in court Monday. “We can confirm that the shooter is expected to plead guilty to all 24 charges, including terrorism, and the prosecutor has notified the victims,” said David Williams, chief assistant prosecutor in Oakland County. A message seeking comment was left for the boy’s lawyers. Crumbley was 15 when the shooting occurred at Oxford High, roughly 30 miles north of Detroit.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: Two former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death are heading to trial on state aiding and abetting counts, the third and likely final criminal proceeding in a killing that mobilized protesters worldwide against racial injustice in policing. J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao have already been convicted of federal counts for violating Floyd’s civil rights and begun serving those sentences. Many witnesses expected to testify at their state trial have already done so at both their federal trial and at the state trial against their former colleague, Derek Chauvin. While much of the evidence in this proceeding will look similar, there will be some key differences. Jury selection gets underway Monday.

Mississippi

Greenwood: Hundreds of people applauded – and some wiped away tears – as the community unveiled a larger-than-life statue of Emmett Till on Friday, not far from where white men kidnapped and killed the Black teenager over accusations he had flirted with a white woman in a country store. “Change has come, and it will continue to happen,” Madison Harper, a senior at Leflore County High School, told a racially diverse audience at the statue’s dedication. “Decades ago, our parents and grandparents could not envision that a moment like today would transpire.” The 1955 lynching became a catalyst for the civil rights movement. Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago so the world could see the horrors inflicted on her 14-year-old son. Jet magazine published photos of his mutilated body, which was pulled from the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi. The 9-foot-tall bronze statue in Greenwood’s Rail Spike Park is a jaunty depiction of the living Till in slacks, dress shirt and tie with one hand on the brim of a hat. The rhythm and blues song “Wake Up, Everybody” played as workers pulled a tarp off the figure. Dozens of people surged forward, shooting photos and video on cellphones.

Missouri

Columbia: Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a top Republican prospect for governor, wants to block public funding for library books that might appeal to the “prurient” – meaning sexual – interests of minors. Ashcroft proposed the new rule on libraries last week. It does not include a more-detailed definition or include examples of which specific books would be restricted as appealing sexually to children or teenagers. In a statement, the Missouri Library Association called Ashcroft’s rule “an infringement on the professional judgment of librarians, and an effort to further stoke division in the communities that libraries serve.” The group warned that small and urban libraries, which rely most on state funding, would face the greatest impact from the policy. Ashcroft on Friday said he didn’t propose the rule in response to any particular book but hoped it would prevent potential issues. “I know that a lot of Missouri libraries are doing a good job on this and reflecting the values of the taxpayers that paid for the materials,” Ashcroft said. “But I just think it’s good to have some guidelines to make sure that we’re reinforcing that parents are in control.” The proposal would require state-funded libraries to adopt policies on the age-appropriateness of literature, which is already common at both school and public libraries in the state. And under the rule, anyone could challenge access to books. The proposal is what’s known as an administrative rule, which would have the same effect as a law if enacted.

Montana

Helena: Two physician groups have asked state election officials to issue a correction to statements printed in a voter information pamphlet that they argue are false and and could confuse voters as they consider an abortion-related ballot measure. The complaint comes from two groups that oppose a referendum that would raise the prospect of criminal charges for health care providers unless they take “all medically appropriate and reasonable actions to preserve the life” of an infant born alive, including after an attempted abortion. At issue is language in the pamphlet written by supporters that explains the proposed measure. Supporters say the referendum requires medical care to be provided if an infant is born alive after induced labor, cesarean section, attempted abortion or other method. The physicians say that supporters dropped a word from the language of the proposal and that the law, if passed, would also apply to an infant born as a result of natural labor, even if a fetus was born extremely preterm, and regardless of the infant’s prognosis or the family’s wishes. The complaint was made Friday by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology on Friday. They asked the Montana Secretary of State’s Office to issue a correction to statements.

Nebraska

Omaha: Union Pacific delivered 13% more profit in the third quarter, but the railroad predicted Thursday that its customers will ship fewer items than it expected, confirming the economy is slowing down in the face of soaring inflation. The Omaha-based railroad said it now expects the number of shipments it handles to be up about 3% this year and match the third-quarter number. Previously, Union Pacific had predicted that volume would be up 4% to 5% this year. “I have no idea if we’re in a recession or one is looming,” UP CEO Lance Fritz said. “I do know that the economy is slowing down.” Union Pacific reported $1.9 billion profit, or $3.05 per share, in the quarter. That’s up from $1.67 billion, or $2.57 per share, a year ago, but this year’s results were weighed down because the new contracts the railroads agreed to with their 12 unions cost $114 million more than Union Pacific had been planning on. Without that one-time charge for the new contracts, which only half of the unions have approved, Union Pacific would have reported earnings per share of $3.19. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $3.06 per share.

Nevada

Reno: A rural county can start hand-counting mail-in ballots two weeks before Election Day, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday, but it won’t be allowed to livestream the tallying and must make other changes to its plans. The ruling came in response to an emergency petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, which challenged several aspects of Nye County’s plan to start hand-counting votes this week. The ACLU said in its lawsuit that the plan risked leaking early voting results. It also said that rules on touch screens to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act were too vague and restrictive and that the county violated state law with its “stringent signature verification” for voter ID. Located between Las Vegas and Reno, rural Nye County was one of the first jurisdictions nationwide to act on election conspiracies related to mistrust in voting machines. Alongside the primary machine tabulation process, Interim County Clerk Mark Kampf’s plans to publicly hand-count all paper ballots. The hand count was first proposed to county commissioners by Republican secretary of state candidate Jim Marchant in response to false claims about Dominion voting machines. Sadmira Ramic, the ACLU of Nevada’s voting rights attorney, praised the ruling.

New Hampshire

Keene: A small plane crashed into a building, killing the two people on board and sparking a large fire on the ground, authorities said. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Saturday that a single-engine Beechcraft Sierra aircraft crashed into a building north of Keene Dillant-Hopkins Airport in Keene on Friday evening. City officials said on their Facebook page that no one was injured in the building hit by the plane but that “those on the plane have perished.” “The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates,” the FAA said. Keene Mayor George Hansel told the Associated Press that two people on the plane died but that they have not been identified. He said the the plane hit a two-story barn connected to a multi-family apartment building. All eight people were evacuated from the apartment building due to the subsequent fire. At a morning press conference, Hansel said the plane was owned by Monadnock Aviation, which is based at the airport. He said it was unclear where the plane was headed, and no one answered the phone at Monadnock. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and the operations at the airport were not affected, he said.

New Jersey

Trenton: The state’s new K-12 public school mental health plan is facing lots of opposition from state lawmakers who say they won’t back its proposal to eliminate the decades-old School Based Youth Services program, which provides critical counseling and support for teens in low-performing districts. The School Based Youth Services program, set up in 90 of the state’s public schools, is scheduled to be eliminated by June 2023 to make way for NJ4S, New Jersey Statewide Student Support Service Network, an expanded and revamped system that would be available to all or most of the state’s 2,400 schools. Unveiled in October as a “first-in-the-nation” effort to centralize services and spread them beyond schools and into libraries, group homes and social service agencies, NJ4S was in the works for more than a year and created as a response to the pandemic’s teen mental health crisis under the guidance of Department of Children and Families’ Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer. But it was immediately met with intense criticism from educators and advocates who support expanding services but said the time-tested school-based programs must also stay.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: The U.S. Department of Agriculture will waive cost-sharing requirements for farmers and ranchers affected by the largest wildfire in the state’s recorded history. U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján on Thursday announced that the agency will cover cost sharing for emergency forest restoration, conservation and other environmental improvement programs. The move follows the approval of a massive federal spending bill that included $2.5 billion in relief for those affected by the fire and post-fire flooding. That bill included a provision to waive cost sharing for all programs administered by the USDA. The wildfire was sparked by two government planned burns earlier this year. It ripped through hundreds of square miles of forest and grazing lands, destroying homes and the livelihoods of many of the rural residents. Through no fault of their own, Luján said, residents lost large swaths of cherished lands and will have to grapple with the effects for years. “Our farmers and ranchers, business owners and families deserve relief to recover,” he said in a statement.

New York

Buffalo: The victims of a racist mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket will be honored with a permanent memorial in the neighborhood, elected and community leaders announced Friday. The shooting “is part of the Buffalo story forever going forward,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “We want to do something that people remember. A place to come and reflect. A place to honor. And a place to say never again.” Former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, whose 86-year-old mother Ruth Whitfield was among the 10 Black people killed May 14, is among those appointed to a planning commission tasked with acquiring land, seeking input on the design, securing funds and maintaining the monument. Buffalo NAACP President Mark Blue will lead the effort. “It’s not going to take the place of my mother or the lives of the other loved ones that were lost here,” Whitfield said. “So we will forever miss them and honor their legacy by what we do going forward.” The officials did not specify a budget or timeline for the project’s completion. Brown said numerous businesses and people have offered to contribute. Payton Gendron, 19, has been charged with killing 10 and wounding three others at the Tops Friendly Market. Investigators said he drove 200 miles from his Conklin home intending to kill as many Black people as possible at the store, which he targeted because of its location in the predominantly Black East Buffalo neighborhood. He has pleaded not guilty.

North Carolina

Salisbury: A man who was shot during a weekend concert at Livingstone College has been identified as a suspected shooter and is now facing charges, officials said Tuesday. The shooting took place Saturday during a performance featuring rapper Asian Doll at the historically Black college in Salisbury. Police are also asking for help identifying another person of interest. Salisbury police obtained a warrant charging Talib Latrell Kelly, 21, of Salisbury, with attempted first-degree murder, discharging a firearm on educational property and possession of a firearm by a felon, the department said. Kelly is not a Livingstone student, Salisbury police Capt. P.J. Smith said at a news conference. Officers were called to the campus about 11 p.m. and found gunshot victims and others who had been hurt as concertgoers fled the gunfire, city officials said in a statement. Video footage from the event shows that a fight broke out while Asian Doll was on stage. Two male victims were taken to Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte with gunshot wounds, and officials also identified a woman who had a superficial wound to her neck, Smith said. None of the victims’ injuries were considered life-threatening, he said.

North Dakota

Bismarck: A North Dakota farmer who had been detained in Ukraine since November 2021 on accusations he planned to kill his business partner is back home, the state’s two U.S. senators announced Friday. Kurt Groszhans, from Ashley, North Dakota, has ancestors from Ukraine and went there to farm in 2017. The relationship with his partner, law professor Roman Leshchenko, crumbled after Groszhans alleged that Leshchenko embezzled money from him. Groszhans and his assistant were arrested on charges of plotting to assassinate Leshchenko, who was then Ukraine’s agriculture minister. Groszhans said in a statement Friday that the Ukrainian officials made up the charges in an “effort to shut me up” after he discovered corruption “at the highest levels” of the government. “I am grateful to be home after this horrible ordeal,” Groszhans said in a statement. “My family and supporters worked tirelessly over a long period of time to make this happen and it was nice to be able to celebrate my birthday on North Dakota soil. The fact they refused to classify me as a wrongful detainee was an unfortunate and politically cowardly act that cost me almost a year of my life,” he said.

Ohio

Cincinnati: The state of Ohio will not require the COVID-19 vaccine for school students despite a recommendation from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel. A panel with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the federal government’s list of routinely recommended vaccinations. The panel’s decision, likely to be adopted by the CDC director, formally adds the shot to a list often used by schools and health officials in making vaccination requirements. Ohio leaders made it clear Friday that the vaccine would not be required for Ohio students. “The State of Ohio does not mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for school attendance. The ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) vote does not change Ohio law. The state’s list of required vaccines can only be changed through legislation,” Ohio Department of Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff said in a statement. Indeed, not every vaccine on the list has been adopted by Ohio as a requirement for schoolchildren, such as flu shots. A list of required vaccines for schools and child care in Ohio can be viewed on the Ohio Department of Health website.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: A private foundation has raised more than $6 million to build a residence for future Oklahoma governors and their families, under a plan that calls for the current mansion near the state Capitol to be used for official meetings and special events, according to Gov. Kevin Stitt and people involved in the project. Talks about building a new home on the mansion grounds predate Stitt’s inauguration in 2019 and grew out of concerns about the cost of renovating the century-old structure. Stitt told reporters on Wednesday that he and his family – who lived only temporarily in the mansion – would not live in the new residence if he wins a second term next month. “It will not benefit Gov. Stitt,” he said. The foundation, Friends of the Mansion, is expected to announce plans for the residence after the Nov. 8 election. The foundation was created in 1995 by former Gov. Frank Keating and former first lady Cathy Keating to pay for renovations and additions. The new residence is envisioned for land behind the current mansion. Plans would have to be approved by two zoning commissions that oversee the area near the Capitol.

Oregon

Portland: The mayor plans to ban camping on city streets and move unhoused people to designated campsites, as the growing homeless population has become the top concern for the vast majority of residents. “The magnitude and the depth of the homeless crisis in our city is nothing short of a humanitarian catastrophe,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said Friday. “We need to move our scattered, vulnerable homeless population closer to the services that they need.” The resolution would establish at least three large, designated outdoor camping sites, with the first opening within 18 months of securing funding. Wheeler didn’t specify when the funding would be confirmed or how much the measure would cost. The designated camping sites would initially be able to serve up to 125 people and would provide access to services such as food, hygiene, litter collection and treatment for mental health and substance abuse, Wheeler said. The sites could eventually serve 500 people. Oregon’s homelessness crisis has been fueled by a housing shortage, the coronavirus pandemic and drug addiction. More than 3,000 people are living without shelter in Portland, a 50% jump from 2019, and there are more than 700 encampments across the city, Wheeler said.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: The state’s elections chief wants legal penalties against two Republican county officials and their lawyer for what she calls in a new court filing their “unprecedented, reckless decision” to give an outside group access to voting machines during pending litigation on that subject. Lawyers for acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman last week asked the state Supreme Court to hold in contempt the two Fulton County commissioners and to dismiss the litigation that had been scheduled for oral argument before the justices this week. Chapman was appointed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. On Friday afternoon, the justices appointed Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer as a special master to gather evidence on the contempt request and make a report with recommendations by Nov. 18. During their long-running dispute with the state, Fulton County GOP Commissioners Stuart Ulsh and Randy Bunch had allowed one group, Wake TSI, access to voting machines as part of the failed effort to locate fraud that might overturn ex-President Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat. That prompted the Department of State to tell counties they “shall not” allow such access to voting machines. Ulsh and Bunch were moments away from permitting a second group, Envoy Sage, to inspect the machines in January when the state Supreme Court put that on hold. The inspection planned in January was to involve computers, electronic poll books, ballot scanners and possibly more.

Rhode Island

Providence: A lawsuit claiming that Brown University failed to protect female students from sexual harassment and assault can move forward in part, a federal judge ruled last week. Four former students filed a federal class action suit in August 2021 alleging that the university systemically and repeatedly failed to protect women from harm, including rape, despite knowing that sexual assault on campus is “endemic.” Two current students later joined the suit. The university moved to dismiss the suit in March. On Oct. 18, U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell Jr. allowed the plaintiffs’ claim for injunctive relief to go forward but denied their efforts to seek monetary relief. The plaintiffs were enrolled between 2018 and 2021. The plaintiffs can sue to force Brown to “ensure that the Title IX office receives, investigates and resolves complaints.” The plaintiffs must still prove that their suit meets the criteria for class-action certification. Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or in activities that receive federal financial assistance.

South Carolina

Columbia: Months after accusing disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh of killing his wife and son, investigators and prosecutors have released few details about the evidence that they believe connect him to the shootings. That’s led Murdaugh’s lawyers to file a flurry of court documents requesting information from the prosecution, seeking to publicly weaken the case before the January trial has begun. The defense attorneys argue that there was unknown DNA found under Murdaugh’s wife’s fingernails. They also have a different suspect, Murdaugh’s friend Curtis Eddie Smith, arguing that he failed a lie detector test regarding the killings. Murdaugh has already admitted to asking Smith to arrange Murdaugh’s own death to defraud his life insurance company. Those defense documents even boosted a story from Smith that prosecutors later said had no evidence to back it up – that Paul Murdaugh killed his mother, Maggie, when he caught her with a groundskeeper at the family’s Colleton County hunting lodge, and the groundskeeper then shot the son. Alex Murdaugh, 54, has proclaimed his innocence ever since June 2021, when he found the bodies, each shot several times. He has said through his lawyer he “loved them more than anything in the world.”

South Dakota

Vermillion: The University of South Dakota may welcome a new sorority chapter in the coming years. Alpha Pi Omega, the country’s oldest Indigenous Greek letter organization, could open doors on campus if enough students express interest, according to a flier circulated on social media promoting an informational session held Oct. 13. APO is a sisterhood of Indigenous women who are committed to each other, communities, tribes, families, academic excellence and self-empowerment, according to the flier. Its philanthropic cause is the National Indian Education Association. Hanna Delange, a spokesperson for USD, said nothing has been solidified yet with the sorority’s plans but confirmed the informational session took place as a chance for students to learn about the potential organization. Brooke Poppe, director of sorority and fraternity life on USD’s campus, said while there is no current timeline to open the sorority, the plan moving forward is on hold until there is enough student interest. It takes five or more students to start any student organization on campus. When or if Poppe receives a list of interested students, USD can move forward with the APO national organization in the expansion process. Poppe said her office hopes to have that potential list together by the end of the semester.

Tennessee

Chattanooga: Employees of Bess T. Shepherd Elementary School blasted a recent nighttime prayer meeting over the school’s exterior loudspeaker, although district officials said it was an accident. An unidentified neighbor who could hear the praying from inside his or her home Monday night posted a video on the Reddit website that recorded about two minutes of a speaker praying over the intercom, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. “This went on for 45 minutes,” the video caption said. The video included a woman’s voice repeatedly saying, “We need you in this school, God. We need you in every school, God.” She spoke of casting the things of hell “back to the abyss” and said: “You cannot rule in this school. You cannot rule in the hearts and minds of the children.” The speaker also prayed over staff members. District officials said the prayer meeting occurred about 6 p.m. Monday, although they were not aware of it until Thursday morning. “There were staff members inside the building praying who were unaware the external intercom system was enabled,” district spokesperson Steve Doremus said in an email. “As soon as they were made aware, the intercoms were turned off.”

Texas

Austin: The Texas Department of Public Safety fired an officer Friday who was at the scene of the Uvalde school massacre and becomes the first member of the state police force to lose their job in the fallout over the hesitant response to the May attack. The department served Sgt. Juan Maldonado with termination papers, spokeswoman Ericka Miller said. No details were offered about his role at the scene of the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School or the specific reason Maldonado was fired. The firing comes five months after the mass shooting that has put state police under scrutiny over their actions on the school campus as a gunman with an AR-15-style rifle killed 19 children and two teachers. Maldonado could not be reached for comment Friday night. Body camera footage and media reports have shown the Department of Public Safety had a larger role at the scene than the department appeared to suggest after the shooting. State troopers were among the first wave of officers to arrive but did not immediately confront the gunman, which experts say goes against standard police procedure during mass shootings.

Utah

Salt Lake City: Gov. Spencer Cox hosted the first of what governors across the U.S. are planning to be a series of new discussions on how states could address mental health issues. Neither Cox nor other governors involved are proposing specific policy solutions so far, but that isn’t the point – the idea is to listen to physicians, pediatric psychologists, educators, parents and others to try to find areas of consensus. Cox, the vice chair of the National Governors Association, is among a bipartisan group of governors who have joined NGA chair Phil Murphy, the governor of New Jersey, in forwarding the “Strengthening Your Mental Health” initiative, with the ultimate goal of finding nonpartisan policies that states everywhere might adopt. Over two days at a roundtable event in Salt Lake City, Cox, a Republican, and Murphy, a Democrat, hosted a series of conversations on the topic, hoping to hear experts’ opinions on potential solutions connected to prevention, early intervention and resilience building. “Youth mental health is an urgent issue in Utah and nationwide,” Cox said. “The (COVID-19) pandemic has heightened the problem, and it’s important that we be proactive in bolstering support resources and letting young people know that help is available.”

Vermont

St. Albans: A fired deputy who is the only candidate on the November ballot to become sheriff of the county where he served was charged Friday with simple assault for kicking a shackled prisoner, authorities said. John Grismore, 49, of Fairfax, was cited on the charge Friday through his attorney. He is due in court Monday in St. Albans to answer the charge, Vermont State Police said in a news release. Surveillance cameras recorded the prisoner being kicked Aug. 7. In the Aug. 9 primary, Grismore won the nominations of both Franklin County’s Republican and Democratic parties to have his name on the November ballot for sheriff. But after the video became public, he was suspended and then fired by outgoing Franklin County Sheriff Roger Langevin. The county Republican and Democratic parties gave their support to a write-in campaign by Sheriff’s department Lt. Mark Lauer, a 27-year Vermont State Police veteran who has been at the department for nearly a decade. Gale Messier is also running a write-in campaign. He spent decades in law enforcement including 20 years at the sheriff’s department in Chittenden County, Vermont’s most populous county. On Friday, Grismore said in an email that “the story is still the same” and that he had nothing new to add.

Virginia

Fort Belvoir: A “barricade situation” drew the FBI and other law enforcement officials to a U.S. Army base outside the nation’s capital Sunday, according to the official Twitter account of Fort Belvoir in northern Virginia. The base tweeted shortly before 1 p.m. that its law enforcement officials, local police and the FBI had responded “to a barricade situation” Sunday morning. “The situation is ongoing, & we cannot comment further at this time,” the base tweeted. It provided no other details except to say some of the gates to the installation remained open. The situation was inside a home, WUSA-TV reports. Fort Belvoir sits on about 8,800 acres of land along the Potomac River in Fairfax County and is located about 20 miles south of Washington. The base is home to several Army command headquarters, elements of the Army Reserve and Army National Guard and nine Department of Defense agencies, according to a Department of Defense website that serves the military community. The installation has 2,154 family housing quarters and seven child youth service facilities, according to Fort Belvoir’s 2022 strategic plan.

Washington

Seattle: Authorities said Friday that they arrested three suspects in the slayings of two people and shooting of a police officer after a daylong search on a tribal reservation in northeastern Washington. The Colville Tribes Emergency Services said on Facebook on Friday evening that the third suspect was arrested in Elmer City, one of several small communities on the rural reservation. Two others were arrested earlier in the day. The search for the suspects began after the Colville Tribal Police Department responded to a report of a shooting Thursday in Keller, a small community about 275 miles east of Seattle. Officers found two people dead, and an officer who came across a vehicle described as having left the scene was shot in the arm, according to the department. He was doing well after being transported for medical care, the department said in a news release. Police identified two of the suspects as Curry Pinkham and Zachary Holt. Robin Redstar, a Colville Tribal member and Nespelem resident, said she and other residents waited in their home for hours, and at one point one of the suspects was believed to be in a gully behind her house. Authorities eventually arrested a man in front of her home around 10 a.m. after he tried to enter her neighbor’s back door, Redstar said. Her neighbor, a hunter with guns, was able to detain the man and get him to the street, where a tribal police car was waiting, Redstar said. “It was pretty quick. Corbie (the neighbor) was giving him a good speech about morals,” she said.

West Virginia

Charleston: Voters will get the final say on a ballot question that would amend the state constitution to give the Republican-dominated Legislature control over virtually every aspect of public schooling. The vote comes amid a fight raging nationally over the politicization of schools. West Virginia’s Republican leaders have joined politicians elsewhere in pushing to regulate how subjects such as race are taught in classrooms and funnel public money into alternative education options, including charter schools and voucher programs. Just this year, the state Board of Education joined a lawsuit against top Republicans over a school choice program – one of the nation’s most expansive – alleging it unconstitutionally drains money from public schools. The case went to the state Supreme Court, which sided with lawmakers. And in a state that once was a stronghold of organized labor, some see the proposed amendment as part of an effort to defang the most formidable center of union power left standing: public school employees. Four years after more than 30,000 school workers went on strike in one of the nation’s poorest states, igniting teacher walkouts nationwide, many say they’re overworked and exhausted.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee: A Milwaukee County judge on Friday denied a Republican Party of Wisconsin request to stop the city of Milwaukee from continuing a get-out-the-vote effort that the city argues it neither runs nor funds. Judge Gwen Connolly wrote that the arguments made by the party and Milwaukee voter Elizabeth Burke were “deficient” and that issuing such an order would chill constitutionally protected free speech. The lawsuit was one of two filed by the Republican Party of Wisconsin and other plaintiffs in the weeks after Mayor Cavalier Johnson made comments Sept. 12 about an initiative dubbed “Milwaukee Votes 2022” and referenced door-to-door canvassing funded by the “private sector.” Johnson’s spokesman then said the campaign conducting the canvassing is privately funded, and the city’s association was “limited to the mayor voicing support for the work.” The first lawsuit, which centered on an open records request, was dismissed earlier this month after the party said it had received the requested records from the Milwaukee Election Commission and Mayor’s Office related to the get-out-the-vote effort. In the second lawsuit, filed Sept. 28, Burke and Republicans argued that though Milwaukee Votes 2022 is a purportedly nonpartisan get-out-the-vote effort, the city would partner with an organization, GPS Impact, that openly works to elect Democratic candidates and advance progressive causes.

Wyoming

Pinedale: A hunter accidentally shot himself in the leg while trying to fight off a grizzly bear attack in west-central Wyoming – the second such attack in a week’s time, officials said. Lee Francis, 65, of Evanston, was taken to the University of Utah Health hospital for treatment after the encounter Friday, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office said. Francis was hunting with his son in an area south of Grand Teton National Park on Friday evening when the bear attacked him. He was able to fire several rounds from his handgun, causing the bear to run away, but one of the rounds hit Francis in the lower leg, the sheriff’s office said. His son used a satellite phone to call for help just before 6 p.m., then began providing first aid. His son was able to help his father onto a horse, and they headed toward a nearby lake to meet search and rescue crews. Francis was eventually taken to the hospital via helicopter, the sheriff’s office said in a statement. Wildlife officials had not located the grizzly bear, Sgt. Travis Bingham with the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday. Because it was snowing, Game and Fish planned to try to search for the bear again Monday, weather permitting, he said.

From Paste BN Network and wire reports