Eagle cam, lynching memorial, Midwest wildfires: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Montgomery: After the company that opened a high-tech recycling center in the city went belly-up, and a second company needed steep government subsidies to keep it running, Mayor Steven Reed said the city has decided to cut its losses, end its public recycling service and sell the building. People in Montgomery throw all their trash into one container, and it’s separated and sorted into re-sellable goods at the $37 million facility. RePower South has handled operations there since 2019, when the company poured $10 million into upgrades to produce alternative fuel. But the price of commodities crashed the following year when China changed its import policies, and the facility couldn’t claw back into the black. Since then, Montgomery has paid RePower South about $2 million in subsidies to keep plant operations afloat. Reed said the company may continue to provide service temporarily, but the subsidies are over. RePower South issued a statement Friday afternoon saying it “will soon be announcing a new partnership to bring an advanced plastics recycling capability to Montgomery to build a sustainable, circular economy.”

Alaska

Anchorage: A Republican gubernatorial candidate faces accusations he sexually harassed a former assistant while he was a borough mayor. The lawsuit filed Friday accuses Charlie Pierce of “constant unwanted physical touching, sexual remarks, and sexual advances,” the Anchorage Daily News reports. The woman’s Anchorage-based attorney, Caitlin Shortell, said in an email to the Associated Press that it was filed in the Kenai Superior Court, and she expected a judge to be assigned Monday. “When an elected official abuses their power and position to sexually harass public servants, they must be held accountable,” Shortell said. The AP does not normally identify alleged victims in sexual harassment cases. Pierce is one of four candidates running for governor in Alaska, and all appeared at a forum Saturday morning in Anchorage. “I have no comments on future litigation,” Pierce told the AP following the debate. He said he also had no plans to end his campaign just a few weeks before the Nov. 8 election. “I’ll be in the race,” he said. The lawsuit also names the Kenai Peninsula Borough south of Anchorage as a defendant in the case, claiming the local government failed to protect the woman. She claims the borough provided no way to report harassment or discrimination without fear of reprisal.

Arizona

Phoenix: A man who runs a veterans charity lied about serving in the Army and duped Arizonans – including a retired veteran with cancer and a disabled Iraq War combat medic – out of tens of thousands of dollars, according to family and former supporters. Matt Augee of RecFX Foundation gained trust within military and church communities by touting himself as a warrior and his nonprofit as a Christian cause. He used humor, generosity and encouragement of people’s dreams to suck both the wealthy and the struggling into his schemes, people who know him said. In some cases, Augee’s actions derailed lives, depriving veterans of their nest eggs and leaving at least one military mother homeless, an investigation found. Augee denies wrongdoing. Former supporters, including Augee’s own parents, have tried to stop him by attempting to dissolve the organization and notifying local and federal authorities of their concerns. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has closed at least two investigations without charges, while other agencies did not take action on complaints. Augee continues to operate his foundation, although the IRS website indicates it revoked its status as a nonprofit organization in 2019.

Arkansas

Little Rock: Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to dismiss wire fraud and bribery charges against a former state senator who was set to face trial next month for a second time after a jury deadlocked last year. Gilbert Baker, who also served as a former chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas, was accused of conspiring with a former state judge who admitted to lowering a jury’s award in a negligence lawsuit in exchange for campaign contributions. The judge, Mike Maggio, pleaded guilty to bribery in 2015 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In August 2021, a federal jury acquitted Baker of bribery conspiracy and deadlocked on another bribery charge and seven wire fraud charges. He was set to go on trial again Nov. 8, but prosecutors filed a motion Thursday seeking to dismiss the indictment against Baker. The motion did not give a reason for the dismissal, and a judge must still approve it. Baker’s attorney, Blake Hendrix, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he was preparing to go to trial up until he received the motion. He declined to comment until the indictment is dismissed. Baker’s case was among several corruption cases filed against lawmakers and lobbyists in recent years.

California

San Francisco: Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday vowed he would serve a full four-year term if reelected in November, trying again to knock down speculation that he wants to replace Democrat Joe Biden on the ballot should he not seek a second term. Newsom made the promise during an hourlong debate with his Republican challenger, state Sen. Brian Dahle – the only time the two candidates will meet face to face before voting ends Nov. 8. Newsom is expected to easily win reelection in November more than one year after beating back a recall attempt fueled by anger at his pandemic policies, which included the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order. He has barely campaigned in California this year, instead spending money on ads in challenging Republican leaders Florida and Texas – potential opponents in a presidential election. “Everyday Californians understand what is happening here in California, and the governor is focused on running for president,” Dahle said during a debate that was broadcast live on the radio by KQED News. Asked directly by co-moderator Marisa Lagos if he would commit to serving all four years if he’s reelected, Newsom said “yes.” He defended his national campaigning, saying he “barely” left the state to take on national Republican leaders, who he said are banning books and “demeaning” the LGBT community.

Colorado

Boulder: A man charged with killing 10 people at a supermarket last year is still incompetent to stand trial, a judge ruled Friday, keeping his prosecution on hold. Court proceedings against Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 23, have been paused since December, when a judge first found him to be mentally incompetent. The rulings mean he is unable to understand legal proceedings or work with his lawyers to defend himself. Alissa remains at the state mental hospital, where he is receiving treatment, and was not in the Boulder courtroom Friday. Relatives of those killed sat in the courtroom for the brief hearing while others watched online. District Court Judge Ingrid Bakke said Alissa’s latest evaluation Oct. 10 showed he that there was a substantial probability that he could be treated to be made competent in the “forseeable future,” echoing an outlook she first shared in March. When District Attorney Michael Dougherty said the victims’ families were frustrated with the state hospital and the doctors there, Bakke expressed sympathy, noting that there was not much either the defense or prosecution could do as Alissa underwent treatment. “It understandably is a very frustrating process,” said Bakke, who set another hearing to review Alissa’s condition for Jan. 27.

Connecticut

Hartford: Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has asked a judge to throw out a nearly $1 billion verdict against him and order a new trial in a lawsuit by Sandy Hook families, who say they were subjected to harassment and threats from Jones’ lies about the 2012 Newtown school shooting. Jones filed the requests Friday, saying Judge Barbara Bellis’ pretrial rulings resulted in an unfair trial and “a substantial miscarriage of justice.” “Additionally, the amount of the compensatory damages award exceeds any rational relationship to the evidence offered at trial,” Jones’ lawyers, Norm Pattis and Kevin Smith, wrote in the motion. Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the 15 plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Jones, declined to comment on the filing Saturday but said he and other attorneys for the Sandy Hook families will be filing a brief opposing Jones’ request. Twenty first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School died in the attack on Dec. 14, 2012. An FBI agent who responded to the shooting and relatives of eight children and adults killed in the massacre sued Jones for defamation and infliction of emotional distress over his pushing the bogus narrative that the shooting was a hoax staged by “crisis actors” to impose more gun control.

Delaware

Wilmington: A project decades in the making that promises to alleviate flooding issues in the low-income, low-lying neighborhood of Southbridge was unveiled Wednesday. The $26 million Southbridge Wilmington Wetlands Park was completed earlier this year, 16 years after initial work began and nearly a year after its expected completion because of delays in installing the gates that control the tidal flow within the wetlands. The project was funded through a mix of federal, state and local sources to restore a freshwater wetland and create a flood basin and open park space on contaminated, drained wetland bordered by A Street, Walnut Street and Garasches Lane in Wilmington. The park serves as recreation space as well as a stormwater management facility. Community leaders and elected officials said Wednesday that the project is a perfect example of environmental justice for a community of color surrounded by contaminated industrial sites and devastated by floods for decades. “It stores over 2 million gallons of stormwater that previously caused flooding in these homes back here,” said Wilmington Public Works Commissioner Kelly Williams, gesturing to homes along B Street in Southbridge. “It improves our water quality. As the stormwater traverses over a mile of wetland, it restores the tidal wetland with 62 different planted species.”

District of Columbia

Washington: Howard University wrapped up its homecoming weekend celebration with a visit from Vice President Kamala Harris, a Howard alum, WUSA-TV reports. The nation’s first female and first Black vice president showed up at Sunday’s call to chapel, where she reflected on her time at Howard. “It’s a very special experience to be a student at the mecca,” she said. Howard University’s homecoming celebrations were back in person this year following two years of virtual celebrations due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Florida

Fort Myers: The most devastating storm in the city’s history wiped out the main nesting location for Harriet and M15, the famous North Fort Myers eagle couple whose lives are streamed across the globe during nesting season. “Their nest was completely demolished during Ian – not a stick left, and many of their foundational branches broke off,” said Virginia Pritchett McSpadden, whose family owns the land where the eagle nest is located. “After the storm passed, I remember having this gutted feeling that they were harmed, the trees had fallen, and they wouldn’t return to the area, but to my surprise … both eagles were spotted safe and already attempting to bring in new sticks. It brought tears to my eyes and I know to many others as well.” Losing the nest during September is actually good timing for the birds because there’s still time to rebuild and lay eggs this season. October is typically when bald eagles build and repair nests in South Florida. It’s also the time of year when the Pritchett family turns on the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam. There are actually multiple cameras that show different angles of the nest and branches on which the birds rest. The footage is streamed online to millions of viewers each year. But the camera system was damaged by Hurricane Ian as well, so it may be some time before their daily lives are streamed again.

Georgia

Atlanta: A trial to determine whether the state can continue to ban abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy began Monday in an Atlanta courtroom with testimony from an abortion provider who criticized the restriction and said it has created confusion. Carrie Cwiak, a gynecology professor at the Emory University School of Medicine and a plaintiff in the case, shared how women have reacted when she has explained that their pregnancy was past the time period when abortion is allowed under state law. “It’s upsetting,” she said. “It’s emotional.” Women have wondered aloud what they will do next, she said. Georgia’s law bans most abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” is present. Cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in cells within an embryo that will eventually become the heart as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. That means most abortions in Georgia are effectively banned at a point before many people know they are pregnant. The law includes exceptions for rape and incest, as long as a police report is filed, and allows for later abortions when the mother’s life is at risk or a serious medical condition renders a fetus unviable. Cwiak said the law, however, does not provide clear guidance about when doctors can intervene. The potential criminal penalty for an error is also chilling, she said.

Hawaii

Honolulu: Visitors fed pumpkins to elephants Sunday for the Honolulu Zoo’s “Ele-Fun” day, HawaiiNewsNow reports.

Idaho

Salmon: Officials with an Australian company’s newly opened cobalt mine in east-central Idaho say it could soon produce enough of the key ingredient in lithium batteries to build 400,000 electric vehicles annually. Officials with Jervois Global Limited held an opening ceremony this month at the remote, underground mine located in the Salmon River Mountains on federal land managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Officials said the mine will likely start operating at full capacity early in 2023, producing about 2,000 tons of cobalt. On its website, the company said it wants to “become the leading global supplier of responsibly sourced cobalt and nickel materials to serve both the battery and chemicals markets, and to provide a secure, reliable supply to customers in the face of geopolitical and other risks.” President Joe Biden in March directed the Defense Department to consider at least five metals – lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel and manganese – as essential to national security and authorized steps to bolster domestic supplies. U.S. officials want to reduce reliance on China and other countries for metals needed for electric vehicles and clean-energy storage systems. Gov. Brad Little said he toured the cobalt mine as part of the opening.

Illinois

Stonington: A man killed last week in a central Illinois train accident has been identified as a worker who had been with a local grain cooperative for nearly a half-century, authorities said. Christian County coroner Amy Calvert Winans said Stephen “Steve” J. Jordan, 69, died Friday of multiple traumatic injuries, according to preliminary results of an autopsy performed Saturday. Legacy Grain Cooperative said in a post on its website that Jordan, who was from Moweaqua, had worked the co-op for 49 years. Christian County Sheriff Bruce Kettelkamp said Jordan was driving a rail car mover owned by the co-op when about noon Friday he crossed into the path of a Norfolk Southern engine pulling four empty cars. Jordan was pronounced dead at the accident scene. No one else was hurt in the incident, which occurred near Stonington, a village located about 20 miles southeast of Springfield.

Indiana

Mount Vernon: More than 100 people gathered outside the city’s old courthouse on a breezy autumn Sunday to memorialize the deadliest recorded lynching of Black Hoosiers in state history. The somber ceremony capped off a months­long effort led by 17-year-old Sophie Kloppenburg, a Mount Vernon High School senior, to see a memorial honoring the slain men built on the courthouse lawn. It’s been a long time coming. One hundred and forty four years ago, in October 1878, a mob of white Posey County residents unleashed a torrent of racial violence after eight Black men were accused of raping three white women. The accused never received a trial. The mob ultimately shot, stabbed, hanged and burned to death seven men. Kloppenburg made it her mission to commemorate the lives lost when she learned of the lynchings from a family friend last year. After months of discussions with city and county leaders, and with the help of teachers, University of Southern Indiana historians and community members, Kloppenburg succeeded in securing the memorial’s place at the old courthouse. She spoke to a packed Hovey House on Sunday about the lynchings. “A mob watching African Americans hang has been replaced by a crowd watching us speak and lead,” Kloppenburg said as she recounted the events of October 1878.

Iowa

Des Moines: A rural lawmaker wants to allow raccoons to be hunted year-round, saying their populations have grown too large, making them a nuisance. Republican state Rep. Dean Fisher plans to introduce legislation next year creating an open season on hunting for raccoons, opossums, skunks and groundhogs. Open season hunting already exists for coyotes, and a bill Fisher introduced during the last legislative session would have allowed hunting of those animals without prior state approval as well. It passed the Iowa House but stalled in the Senate. “There’s just no end of the problems with these critters. It’s just gotten out of control,” said Fisher, a retired engineer and farmer who lives in Montour. But unrestricted hunting is controversial. An open season “would cause more of these animals to die unnecessarily,” said Preston Moore, state director for the Humane Society of the United States, which opposed Fisher’s bill. “They’re native wildlife species and play an important role in a healthy and balanced ecosystem.” Wildlife in Iowa is held in the public trust, Moore said, and hunting should not be removed from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ oversight. “They should be managed for the benefit of all Iowans,” the Cedar Rapids resident said.

Kansas

Belle Plaine: An undersheriff in rural Kansas is facing a manslaughter trial for fatally shooting an unarmed man with a homemade beanbag round out of his personal shotgun, a case that comes amid a national reckoning on police violence. Jury selection began Monday in the trial of Virgil Brewer, who was with the Barber County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the deadly encounter with Steven Myers in October 2017 outside a shed in Sun City, about 300 miles from Kansas City, Kansas. A civil lawsuit brought by Myers’ family against Brewer and then-Barber County Sheriff Lonnie Small was settled in 2020 after county officials agreed to pay $3.5 million. Brewer’s criminal trial is expected to focus on whether his lack of knowledge and training with the less-lethal munitions amounted to reckless involuntary manslaughter. Defense attorney David Harger did not respond to messages seeking comment on the case. Brewer has been on unpaid leave since his 2018 arrest. He has been free pending trial. “The fact of the matter is that it is not going to be a good outcome for anybody, no matter whether or not he gets convicted,” Steven Myers’ widow, Kristina Myers, told the Associated Press on Thursday. “Yes, it will be over in that sense, but this one bad decision has ruined the lives of so many people.”

Kentucky

Frankfort: Kentucky public school districts and private schools that own school buses can apply for funding through a program designed to reduce diesel emissions, Gov. Andy Beshear announced. The 2022 Kentucky Clean Diesel Grant Program will reimburse up to 25% of the cost of a replacement bus, the state Energy and Environment Cabinet said in a news release Wednesday. Grant recipients have to cover the remainder. The program will provide $310,643 toward replacing aging school buses. Diesel exhaust contains pollutants that negatively affect health, especially in children, the release said. Applicants in areas that don’t meet air quality standards, proposals that achieve the most cost-effective emission reductions and applications that demonstrate the greatest reductions in emissions will be given priority. The deadline to apply is Nov. 4, and projects must be completed by Sept. 30, 2023. Apply by visiting the Division for Air Quality’s website at https://eec.ky.gov/Environmental-Protection/Air/Pages/Clean-Diesel-Grant-Program.aspx.

Louisiana

New Orleans: The state Supreme Court has suspended a Baton Rouge judge without pay for 180 days for abusing her power to hold people in contempt. East Baton Rouge Parish Family Court Judge Charlene Charet Day, who has held the seat since 2011, violated the law when she issued a bench warrant that resulted in a teacher being arrested at the school where she works, the high court ruled Friday. The Louisiana Judiciary Commission, which investigates complaints of judicial conduct, recommended the six-month suspension in July, finding that Day violated rules of conduct and committed “willful misconduct” when she locked up litigants for contempt of court. Day was directed to pay the commission a $6,260 fine. The justices unanimously agreed that a suspension was warranted, though one thought a less-severe penalty was required, The Advocate reports. “Judge Day’s conduct harmed the integrity of and respect for the judiciary,” Justice William Crain wrote in the prevailing opinion. “When a judge abuses the immense power to deprive a person of their liberty, it has a profound effect on public confidence in the judiciary.”

Maine

Portland: A judge declined a request by developers of a $1 billion power line to resume construction, keeping the project on hold until a judge’s decision next year on the constitutionality of a referendum that halted the project. The judge on Friday rejected an injunction by the New England Clean Energy Connect and said the case is on a “fast track” for a trial in April. Developers suggested the project is at a “tipping point” where delays could cause Massachusetts, which is funding the project, to walk away. The project, which would supply enough Canadian hydropower for 1 million homes in New England, received regulatory approvals, but Maine voters rejected the project in a referendum after construction had begun. The proposal calls for a 145-mile power line from Canada into Maine, where it could connect to the regional power grid. Most if it would follow existing utility corridors, but new section had to be cut through 53 miles of woods to reach the Canadian border. Supporters say the project is a bold step in reducing carbon in the atmosphere and would moderate electric rates in the region. Critics say those benefits are overstated and must be weighed against destruction of woodland habitat.

Maryland

Baltimore: A federal judge has postponed the trial of Gov. Larry Hogan’s former chief of staff. The Baltimore Sun reports that Roy McGrath asked the judge through his lawyer to postpone the trial because federal prosecutors had handed over more than 8,800 pages of evidence in recent weeks. McGrath briefly served as Hogan’s top adviser before resigning after a report in the newspaper detailed a severance payment he received from the government-owned nonprofit Maryland Environmental Service. McGrath also wants the opportunity to review the evidence in his case personally, his defense attorney, Joseph Murtha, said in court Thursday. But because he lives in Florida, he cannot look at discovery documents in the case while out of state, per an agreement with the prosecution. McGrath faces an eight-count federal indictment. Charges include wire fraud, including securing a $233,648 severance payment equal to one year of salary. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman did not immediately set a new trial date but said she would do so in the near future once all the parties were able to look at their calendars. The trial had been scheduled to begin this week.

Massachusetts

Boston: A Canadian man has been arrested in connection with a series of bomb threats last month targeting several prominent locations in Boston, police said Monday. Joshua Kimble, 42, of Peterborough, Ontario, faces multiple charges in Canada, Boston police said in a statement. A series of threats were transmitted to Boston Children’s Hospital on Sept. 9, police said. Over the next four days, the Prudential Center shopping mall, the Orpheum Theater, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Boston Public Library all received threats, police said. All shared similar details and all appeared to have originated in Canada, police said. They did not disclose a motive. Boston police, working with the FBI and the Suffolk district attorney’s office, notified the Peterborough Police Service in Canada, which was granted an arrest warrant for the suspect and a search warrant for his home. Kimble is currently being held pending trial in Canada on 12 counts of public mischief and 12 counts of false information, police said. It could not immediately be determined if the suspect had an attorney. It was not clear when or if he would face charges in the U.S. No other details were provided.

Michigan

Jackson: Prosecutors urged a jury Monday to convict three men for assisting the leaders of a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor, saying they provided land, paramilitary training and inspiration for domestic terrorism in the months ahead of the 2020 U.S. election. Joe Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar were not charged with trying to abduct Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. But their role was critical, according to authorities, who said the trio aligned themselves with key players and repeatedly endorsed the “boogaloo,” a term that became a code word for U.S. civil war. “The plan was hatched, nurtured here in Jackson County,” said state Assistant Attorney General Sunita Doddamani. “It’s really unmistakable what these men in this case did. They promoted terrorism. They sought out terrorists, and they found them and trained them.” The trial in state court in Jackson was an offshoot of the main case handled in federal court, where Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were convicted of a kidnapping conspiracy. Two other men pleaded guilty, and two more were acquitted. The main charge is providing material support for a terrorist act, especially gun drills and ambush training with Fox at a rural property controlled by Morrison. Musico, Morrison’s father-in-law, also lived there.

Minnesota

St. Paul: The Legislature should mandate that the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office proofread every county’s ballots before they’re mailed out, Republican challenger Kim Crockett said Thursday as she decried ballot printing errors in four counties. Crockett acknowledged that state law does not require the office to review the ballots of each precinct across the state for accuracy – that’s long been the responsibility of Minnesota’s counties. But she suggested that Democratic incumbent Steve Simon should have caught the errors anyway, since counties are required to mail copies to his office. “I think it’s a joint responsibility, certainly, between the secretary’s office and the counties, and this is something that I think the Legislature needs to step in and fix right away,” Crockett said at a news conference. Crockett has been a harsh critic in the campaign of how Simon stresses ease-of-voting. She repeated her earlier statement that the 2020 election was “rigged” against Donald Trump and called Simon’s moves to facilitate voting amid the pandemic “lawless and partisan.” She and other Republicans were especially upset with consent decrees that Simon entered into with groups seeking temporary changes, which courts approved.

Mississippi

Greenwood: In a state where health officials expect 5,000 more births each year as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling upending abortion rights, children are more likely to die before their first birthday than in any other state. Mississippi has the nation’s highest fetal mortality rate, highest infant mortality rate and highest pre-term birth rate and is among the worst states for maternal mortality. Black women are nearly three times more likely to die due to childbirth than white women in Mississippi. As the state’s Republican leaders led the legal fight against abortion, Gov. Tate Reeves said he would do everything in his power to make Mississippi the “safest state in the nation for an unborn child.” But access to prenatal and postnatal care has dwindled in Mississippi since the June ruling, making childbirth even more dangerous for poor women and children. The only neonatal intensive care unit in the state’s impoverished Delta region closed in July under financial pressures, moving lifesaving care for ill or premature newborn babies about two hours away by car. And now the publicly owned Greenwood Leflore Hospital has announced the permanent closure of its labor and delivery unit, saying it can’t pay competitive wages and retain experienced nurses. The area’s women will need to travel about 45 minutes to give birth at a hospital.

Missouri

Wooldridge: Roughly half of a small town burned Saturday after a wildfire spread quickly from a farm field and destroyed or heavily damaged 23 buildings, officials said. No one died, and only one person was taken to a hospital for an injury that was not life-threatening, but the entire town of Wooldridge had to be evacuated Saturday because of the fire. The blaze was sparked in a field by a combine that was harvesting crops. A nearby stretch of Interstate 70 had to be closed for nearly two hours Saturday evening because of heavy smoke. Cooper County Fire District spokesman Jim Gann said Sunday that between 4.6 and 5.4 square miles burned before the fire was brought under control. Firefighters were working Sunday to keep hot spots under control with strong winds forecast in the afternoon. Wooldridge is a town of less than 100 people about 20 miles west of Columbia along the Missouri River. Stephen Derendinger, an engineer with the Jamestown Rural Fire Protection District, said half the town is burnt. “It’s devastated,” Derendinger said. Firefighters saved the Wooldridge Baptist Church, Wooldridge Community Club and post office as they pumped water from swimming pools to help battle the blaze.

Montana

Helena: Following extensive bargaining, Gov. Greg Gianforte and public employee unions last week reached an agreement for the state pay plan, according to a news release from the governor’s office. Covering the 2024-2025 biennium, the agreement includes wage increases, health benefit cost freezes, one-time payments and other contractual changes, according to the news release. It characterized the agreement as significant, the Daily Montanan reports. “This negotiated pay plan addresses challenges faced by state and higher education employees and will keep them doing important work for Montana,” said the news release. The governor and union leaders praised the agreement in statements from the governor’s office. “This agreement reflects our commitment to our hardworking state employees for all they do for Montanans,” Gianforte said in a statement. “As Montanans and all Americans face higher prices and historic inflation, this package will help ensure we retain and recruit qualified, dedicated public employees to serve Montanans.” The Montana Federation of Public Employees also lauded the negotiations, according to the news release. “This pay plan agreement is a testament to our bargaining team’s tireless commitment to their fellow MFPE members,” MFPE President Amanda Curtis said in a statement.

Nebraska

Lincoln: Prairie fires pushed by tinder-dry conditions and winds topping 60 mph led to evacuations in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa and destroyed homes and injured two firefighters south of Nebraska’s capital city, officials said. At least two grassland fires were first reported Sunday afternoon south of Lincoln and spread quickly as winds began to pick up and push the fires north, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office reported. The nearly 300 residents of Hallam, about 20 miles south of Lincoln, were ordered to evacuate their homes, and rural residents of southern Lancaster County and northern Gage County were urged to evacuate because of the fires. Officials also asked farmers to turn on irrigation pivots or other water sources to help combat the fires, which were contained by Sunday evening, with the help of rain showers that moved into the area. Officials said three homes and several outbuildings were destroyed in Lancaster County. Two firefighters also were injured, one seriously. Officials had not released their names or updated their medical conditions by early Monday morning. In southwestern Lancaster County, residents made plans to move cattle and other valuables to Christopher Smith’s farm south of the fires. “Everybody’s just trying to help out,” Smith said.

Nevada

Las Vegas: A former Las Vegas-area politician has been indicted on a murder charge – which carries the possibility of the death penalty – in the killing of a veteran investigative journalist who wrote articles critical of him and his managerial conduct. Robert “Rob” Telles, 45, was indicted Thursday and scheduled for arraignment this Wednesday in Clark County District Court, according to court records. One of Telles’ court-appointed lawyers, Edward Kane, declined to comment about the indictment, a move by prosecutors that means Telles will not face a preliminary hearing of evidence that had been set for this week. Telles, 45, a Democrat, lost his party primary in June and has been stripped by court order of his position as Clark County Administrator, heading the office that handles assets of people who die without a will or family contacts. The state Supreme Court has suspended Telles’ law license pending a State Bar of Nevada investigation of allegations that he misappropriated client funds. He was arrested Sept. 7, several days after the Sept. 2 stabbing death of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German outside German’s home. Telles is being held without bail at the Clark County jail. District Attorney Steve Wolfson has said he’ll make a decision in coming weeks whether Telles will face the death penalty.

New Hampshire

Concord: The father of Harmony Montgomery, a girl who disappeared in 2019 at age 5 but was not reported missing until late last year, has been arrested on a charge of second-degree murder, authorities said Monday. He is accused of repeatedly striking her in the head with a closed fist that December. Other counts against Adam Montgomery, 32, include falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse between December 2019 and March 2020. Authorities did not say whether the girl’s body had been found. Montgomery, also is charged with tampering with a witness by attempting to cause his wife and Harmony’s stepmother, Kayla Montgomery, to provide false testimony. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Manchester. An attorney for Adam Montgomery did not immediately comment. “I do want to again express my deepest sympathies to Harmony’s family, friends and loved ones,” state Attorney General John Formella said at the news conference in Manchester. “We understand that today’s news, while significant for purposes of this investigation, is yet another difficult moment for those who loved Harmony and those who have followed this case.”

New Jersey

Neptune: Nurses at Jersey Shore University Medical Center ratified a three-year contract that is expected to increase wages, keep veteran nurses on board and enhance security at the hospital, union officials said Sunday. The contract, approved three months before the current agreement was set to expire, could increase pay for many nurses by 8% to 11%, said Debbie White, president of the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union. “These workers have been adamant that working conditions must improve, and we are now on the right path,” White said. Jersey Shore University Medical Center, owned by Edison-based Hackensack Meridian Health, is the region’s biggest hospital, with 691 beds. Like its competitors, it has faced a series of challenges in recent years, including pressure from insurers to lower costs; a labor shortage; and COVID-19. In mid-September, the union released a survey of its members and found 79% said hospital management doesn’t take adequate steps to keep them safe; 58% didn’t feel safe working in the hospital; and 54% said they wouldn’t feel safe being treated there. Hackensack Meridian said the survey wasn’t scientific. It countered with a letter from Dr. Angelo Chinnici, who said he has worked with Jersey Shore University Medical Center for 40 years and entrusts his family’s care to Hackensack Meridian.

New Mexico

Taos: A judge has ruled five defendants are competent to stand trial more than four years after they were found in a squalid New Mexico compound with 11 malnourished children and the body of a young boy. But multiple motions filed by defense lawyers last week may slow the proceedings again. Taos County sheriff’s officials raided the compound in remote northern New Mexico in August 2018, saying they also discovered a firing range and firearms. In a second search days later, authorities reported recovering the decomposing remains of a 3-year-old boy from an underground tunnel. Authorities said the child was the son of one of the five adult suspects and had been reported missing by his mother in Georgia. All five members of the extended family are charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and providing material support to terrorists. Their attorneys said the defendants would not be facing terrorism-related charges if they were not Muslim. Albuquerque TV station KOB reports that defense lawyers filed motions last week trying to get the judge to drop all kidnapping charges.

New York

New York: City and state officials on Saturday announced new efforts to curb violence and other crimes on the city’s subway system, including increased police patrols, cameras and mental health help for those in need. Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, and other officials disclosed the new measures in the wake of more disturbing attacks in the system, including the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy on an A train in Queens earlier this month and the death of a man pushed in front of another Queens train during a dispute last Monday. Adams said that while crime in the city is down 4% since 2019 and down 17% from 10 years ago, many in the public don’t feel safer. He said the new efforts complement the subway safety plan he announced at the beginning of the year. “We can give you stats all day,” he said. “The question is, how do New Yorkers feel? We must match the actual impacts with how New Yorkers feel on the streets and in the subway system.” Adams and Hochul said police with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be taking primary responsibility for patrolling subway stations adjacent and linked to the four major commuter rail hubs – Penn Station and Grand Central Station in Manhattan, Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn and Sutphin-Archer Station in Queens.

North Carolina

Whiteville: A suspended sheriff has resigned in the aftermath of a leaked audio recording in which he called Black employees by derogatory names and said they should be fired, his attorney announced Monday. Attorney Michael Mills made the announcement during a hearing on whether Jody Greene, who was elected Columbus County sheriff in 2018, should be removed from office, according to news outlets. “Jody Greene loves Columbus County and does not want to put the people he has served through this ordeal,” Mills told Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser. The announcement prompted applause from some in the courtroom, The News & Observer reports. District Attorney Jon David had sought Greene’s removal alleging that he had engaged in racial profiling of employees both personally and through those under his command, WECT-TV reports. Sasser suspended Greene earlier this month until Monday’s hearing on the petition for removal. The rest of the hearing was called off and David, the district attorney for Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus counties, said it was no longer necessary due to Greene’s resignation. David has said that he asked the State Bureau of Investigation to probe allegations of obstruction of justice within the sheriff’s office. That investigation is ongoing.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Unless oil prices increase dramatically in the remaining days of October, North Dakota’s treasury won’t be banking the benefits of a tax increase on drillers that has bumped state tax collections by $120 million since June, the state tax commissioner said Monday. The increase in state oil tax collections was possible because of a state law that adjusts North Dakota’s oil extraction tax when the three-month average price of a barrel of oil went above a specified “trigger” price of $94.69. Oil prices have fallen well below the benchmark in recent weeks, and will almost certainly wipe the increased tax off the books Nov. 1, North Dakota Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus said. “Unless there is a significant geopolitical event or supply disruption of some sort, it will revert back,” Kroshus said. The monthly averages are figured using West Texas Intermediate prices, the U.S. benchmark set at Cushing, Oklahoma. WTI crude was fetching below $85 a barrel Monday morning, and the average has been below the price trigger since August. Oil prices would have average above $110 a barrel for the remainder of October to keep the trigger in place, Kroshus said. North Dakota has two primary taxes on oil production – a production tax and an extraction tax, the latter of which was part of an initiated measure voters approved in 1980.

Ohio

Columbus: Franklin County commissioners are accusing the state’s top election official of making them spend hundreds of thousands of county taxpayer dollars for election security. A directive from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office requires county boards of elections to implement new security standards as it continues to investigate claims of voter fraud from the 2020 presidential election, claims that it has acknowledged are largely unfounded. In Franklin County, officials say the directive requires swapping out physical security locks and keys with keycard access, electronic monitoring systems and new security cameras for areas that house voting machines, poll pads and other election equipment. The commissioners, all Democrats, reluctantly approved a request from the county elections office for $375,000 to complete the state-mandated upgrades – but not without expressing their frustration with LaRose, a Republican, who has been endorsed by and has rallied with ex-President Donald Trump, who continues to publicly deny the results of the 2020 elections while privately acknowledging that he lost. “The security measures are important and critical,” Commissioner Kevin Boyce said. “It’s just frustrating to get such a strong mandate, such a costly mandate, when we’ve been asking for so many things to help ensure voter access and engagement and just not getting any cooperation from them on that.”

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: As the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma works to help people hurt by rising costs of food and other necessities, the organization itself is confronting the effects of high inflation. Supply chain issues driven by labor shortages and equipment availability have reduced the variety of food products and lengthened the lead time on deliveries. Before the pandemic, food orders would be delivered within two to three weeks; it is now eight to 10 weeks. The organization is experiencing persistent hikes of 15% to 25% in costs of food plus freight. “Inflation is touching everything, and the supply chain issues are only compounding that impact both in costs and in food availability,” said Caleb Dixon, chief operations officer for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. According to a new poll, inflation has forced 60% of Oklahoma voters to cut spending on essentials like groceries and on discretionary items like travel. The poll, by Amber Integrated, of Oklahoma City, shows only 17% of the 500 voters surveyed haven’t cut back. A majority in most age groups have cut back on groceries, travel, entertainment and dining out. The biggest percentages by age of people cutting back were those between 40 and 49 and those 70 and older.

Oregon

Salem: A U.S. Forest Service employee was arrested last week by a county sheriff after a planned burn in a national forest spread onto private land. It was the latest episode that underscores simmering tensions over management of federal lands in rural, conservative eastern Oregon. That tension exploded into the 2016 takeover by armed right-wing extremists of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, 300 miles southeast of Portland. One of the extremist leaders was killed by law enforcement officers at a roadblock. Rick Snodgrass, the U.S. Forest Service “burn boss,” was arrested Wednesday and transported to the Grant County Jail, where he was conditionally released, District Attorney Jim Carpenter said in a statement. Carpenter warned that Snodgrass’ federal employment “will not protect him if it is determined that he acted recklessly.” “That the USFS was engaging in a prescribed burn may actually raise, rather than lower the standard to which Snodgrass will be held,” the prosecutor said. Prescribed burns are set intentionally and under carefully controlled conditions to clear underbrush, pine needle beds and other surface fuels that make forests more prone to wildfires.

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia: The city is asking a judge to force the state’s Department of Human Services to take custody of more than 70 juveniles sentenced in court to state rehabilitation programs, hoping to alleviate what it says is dangerous overcrowding at the city’s holding facility. In the lawsuit filed Friday, city attorneys said the state has refused to prioritize transferring juveniles from the overcrowded juvenile justice center. The city is asking a judge to mandate that the state take the sentenced juveniles within 20 days and either contract with a private or public facility or open a state-run facility to handle the increase in youths being sentenced to state centers. Workers from Philadelphia’s juvenile facility spoke last week at a City Council hearing about worsening conditions at the center that’s designed to temporarily hold up to 184 youths between the ages of 10 and 17 who are awaiting court proceedings. But as of last Friday, the lawsuit said the center had reached 223 juveniles – 74 of whom had been sentenced to state facilities and were awaiting transfer. A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services declined to comment on the litigation Monday. In a statement issued after the City Council hearing last week, department officials said the state’s facilities are also at capacity.

Rhode Island

Providence: For the first time, authorities have detected a highly contagious form of avian flu in domestic birds in the state. The state Department of Environmental Management on Friday euthanized a small, backyard flock of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys on a farm in Newport County after confirming that some had been infected with a strain of influenza that has spread throughout much of the country in recent months and led to the deaths of millions of birds. It’s not the first case of the strain of flu in Rhode Island. That occurred in July when a great black-backed gull found seriously ill on a South Kingstown beach tested positive for the virus. But the Newport County case is the first confirmation of the virus in a domestic flock. Environmental authorities have been warning of the virus since last winter, when the strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza spread from Europe and Central Asia to North America. Since then, more than 47 million domestic birds in 43 states have died from the virus or had to be killed after being exposed to infection. While there have been other waves of bird flu in the past, this is the largest outbreak in the nation of a variant of the virus. And the number of fatalities is soon expected to exceed the total in the last major bird flu outbreak in 2015-16.

South Carolina

Columbia: The state’s first-ever round of early voting for the general election started Monday with no problems at the polls, but a state website where people go to check voting locations or get a sample ballot crashed. Technicians were working to fix the South Carolina Election Commission’s website at scvotes.org, agency spokesman Chris Whitmire said. In the meantime, voters can look at their ballot choices before heading to the polls at a different site. The agency’s website is not linked to the state’s voting system, Whitmire said. This is the first year South Carolina is allowing voters to cast ballots in person early without having an excuse as to why they can’t vote on Election Day. Polls are open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., through Nov. 5. There were a smaller number of polling places opened for early voting during the June primaries, and only a few minor problems were reported. Over the past several elections, South Carolina has allowed people to cast absentee ballots in person, but they had to include an excuse for why they could not be at the polls on Election Day. The law passed this year has South Carolina returning to mail-in absentee ballots.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: Fernson Brewing Company and South Dakota State University have collaborated to create a premium beer called Ears Up. The beer will hit the shelves in the Brookings market Tuesday. On Saturday, when South Dakota State hosts Indiana State for Hobo Day, the beer will be available inside the stadium. That’s thanks to a new change in the policy of the state’s Board of Regents, which allows state schools to sell beer to the general public. “As a 2008 graduate of South Dakota State, it’s a bit surreal and deeply humbling to be able to create something for my alma mater,” Fernson co-founder Derek Fernholz said in a press release. “We are so proud of the beer we have crafted, together with SDSU, to be enjoyed by Jackrabbits everywhere. This has been one of our largest undertakings to date, and working with the amazing people at South Dakota State University has truly been (an) honor and a great collaborative effort. We cannot wait to see how this project grows and evolves for years to come.” The beer is billed as an “easy-drinking and smooth premium beer with 5% alcohol by volume.” After beers hit the shelves in Brookings, Ears Up will become available in Sioux Falls and distributors who serve across the state including Rapid City, Mitchell, Watertown, Huron, Aberdeen and Pierre.

Tennessee

Memphis: The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis and Memphis International Airport are co-hosting an exhibit depicting the civil rights movement in Fayette County through the photographs of freelance photographer Art Shay. The photographs will be displayed in the airport’s terminal for departing flights, across from the TSA office, through next October. The public will be able to view the exhibit without purchasing a ticket or going through the TSA security checkpoints. Established in 1996 by civil rights activist and former NAACP Executive Director Benjamin L. Hooks, the Hooks Institute seeks to promote civil rights and social change through multiple avenues, including education, research and community engagement. Shay worked as a photographer and writer after serving in World War II. His work has appeared in Life, Time and Sports Illustrated magazines. For more than five decades, Shay photographed some of the 20th century’s most intriguing figures, from Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton to President John F. Kennedy. The photographer was also fascinated with the happenings of everyday life, leading him to take an interest in photographing the efforts of the civil rights movement, including in Fayette County in the 1960s.

Texas

Austin: A judge has dismissed illegal voting charges against a Houston man who stood in line six hours to cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential primary and became a figure over Republican efforts to tighten election laws. The decision last week followed a wider ruling in Texas that limits the state’s power to prosecute voting fraud cases, which has drawn backlash from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and other GOP leaders. Hervis Rogers, who in March 2020 did not leave a polling center at a historically Black college until about 1:30 a.m., had faced charges that carried a possible sentence of two to 20 years in prison. He had voted while still on parole from a felony burglary conviction, making him ineligible to cast a ballot under Texas law. Rogers said he did not know he was ineligible to cast a ballot when he got in line at Texas Southern University, where reporters had interviewed him and other voters who expressed anger and frustration over the long wait. The charges against Rogers were brought by the office of Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has promoted baseless claims of widespread election fraud and challenged the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, entirely comprised of elected Republicans judges, upheld last month that the state cannot unilaterally prosecute election fraud cases.

Utah

Salt Lake City: Democratic state Sen. Gene Davis resigned Wednesday, hours after legislators from both parties demanded he step aside and leadership stripped him of committee assignments. Davis’ resignation ends a saga that began in August after a former intern posted on Instagram claims that Davis, 77, had inappropriately touched her, including her toes and waist, in multiple instances in their workplace. In his resignation letter, posted on Twitter by the state Senate, Davis said he would resign effective Nov. 19, following the election and scheduled date of interim committee meetings. Davis, who has served six terms in office, is not on the ballot after he was defeated in the Democratic Party’s June primary. His resignation follows public demands from Senate President Stuart Adams and Davis’ colleagues in the Senate Democratic caucus that Davis resign. An independent investigation commissioned by legislative leaders determined that it was “more likely than not” that Davis invaded former intern Sonia Weglinski’s personal space, likely violating the Legislature’s Workplace Discrimination and Harassment policy. It found her allegations to be more credible than Davis’ recollections and accused him of not being forthcoming or completely honest.

Vermont

Essex Junction: Organizers of the Champlain Valley Fair have announced the first grandstand concert for the 2023 fair, more than 10 months before the summer show will take place. Country star Riley Green, known for hits including “There Was This Girl” and “I Wish Grandpas Never Died,” will play the Champlain Valley Exposition grounds Sunday, Sept. 3. Tickets for Green’s concert go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Friday. The Champlain Valley Fair, an annual 10-day event in Essex Junction, draws thousands of visitors a year for animals on display as well as rides, games and food on the midway, but the grandstand concerts are a perennial attraction. This year’s performances included rapper Nelly, Celtic rockers The Dropkick Murphys, ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and country performer Scotty McCreery.

Virginia

Richmond: Gov. Glenn Youngkin continued to raise funds at a quick clip over the past three months, outpacing his recent predecessors, while also traveling the country building his national profile and boosting midterm candidates. The Republican’s Spirit of Virginia political action committee raised nearly $1.8 million in cash over the July-to-September quarter, spent about $1.1 million and ended the quarter with about $2.3 million on hand, according to campaign finance disclosures filed this month. The governor, increasingly viewed as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, far outraised any other Virginia official’s leadership committee during that timeframe, and the strong receipts are a continuation of a trend: the political newcomer’s combination of fundraising and loans to his campaign during his race last year against Democrat Terry McAuliffe shattered records set in the 2017 gubernatorial campaign. Youngkin also brought in big bucks post-election and for his inauguration. In his first two full quarters in office, he raised more than twice as much as his three most recent predecessors in donations of $10,000 of more, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks money in politics.

Washington

Olympia: The payroll premiums on workers’ wages to pay for the state’s paid family and medical leave program will increase Jan. 1. The state’s Employment Security Department announced Thursday that the rate will increase from 0.6% to 0.8% of wages to keep pace with the number of people using the program, with most of the share continuing to be paid by employees. The premium increase comes just weeks after an analysis of the financial health of Washington state’s paid family leave program estimated the fund would hit an $8.7 million deficit by the end of the year. The actuarial analysis by the consulting firm Milliman that was recently presented to a legislative task force showed that the current premium rate is not keeping up with demand for the state benefit that launched in 2020 and it recommended increasing the rate. When premiums first were enacted, 0.4% of workers’ wages funded the program, with 63% paid by employees and 37% paid by employers. An increase to 0.6% had already gone into effect earlier this year, and employees’ share increased to about 73%, with the remainder paid by employers.

West Virginia

Martinsburg: Clorox has opened a new cat litter plant that is expected to create more than 100 new jobs. The company said the Martinsburg facility officially opened Friday, with plans to bring $190 million into the local economy. The facility is in a West Virginia Eastern Panhandle community that includes suburbs of Washington. The plant is expected to reach full capacity by early next year. The project includes a 97,000-square-foot main building and 450,000 square feet offsite at a warehouse. The facility will produce Fresh Step and Scoop Away litter. Gov. Jim Justice, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and staff for U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin joined company officials for Friday’s opening ceremony. Clorox now has three facilities in West Virginia, including Kingsford brand charcoal plants in Mineral and Tucker counties.

Wisconsin

Waukesha: In a trial marked by persistent disruptions, what was expected to be the final day of testimony Monday was marred by more outbursts and interruptions from Darrell Brooks Jr., which once again resulted in his removal from the courtroom. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow ruled Brooks, who is acting as his own attorney, forfeited his rights to call any more witnesses or testify as a result of his behavior after attempting multiple times to determine whether he intended to testify on his own behalf. Closing arguments are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday. Brooks, 40, of Milwaukee, is charged with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide, 61 counts of recklessly endangering safety, six counts of hit-and-run causing death, two counts of bail jumping, all felonies in connection to the 2021 Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy, and one count of misdemeanor battery.

Wyoming

Laramie: Three school districts around the state have been selected for a pilot program aimed at addressing teacher shortages through paid apprenticeships, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. Districts in Laramie, Teton and Fremont counties will be the first to try the program to recruit and train educators, and other schools may be able to join the effort in 2024, according to the newspaper.

From Paste BN Network and wire reports