Panda-versary, prison tattoo artist, Conch Republic: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Montgomery: The Southern Poverty Law Center unveiled an interactive statue at the downtown Civil Rights Memorial Center on Tuesday. The Blank Slate Monument, created by Ghanaian artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo, contests the narratives that Civil War memorials present. It is is described as “a reimagining of the American monument; interrogating the traditional white supremacist commemoration of the American Civil War.” A digital sign within the piece allows users to change its message using their phones. “The Civil Rights Memorial Center is honored to bring the Blank Slate Monument to Alabama and specifically Montgomery – a city critical to the civil rights movement and a city continuing to respond to injustices of today,” said Tafeni English, CRMC director. “This monument serves as a reminder of the continued struggle for the liberation of Black people and the importance of preserving the truthful, rich history of Black Americans.”

Alaska

Juneau: The board tasked with drawing the state’s political boundaries has approved new Alaska Senate districts for the Anchorage area, with two members expressing opposition. The Alaska Redistricting Board adopted the plan, 3-2, on Wednesday, the Anchorage Daily News reports. The board had gone back to work after the state Supreme Court ruled that a Senate district pairing part of east Anchorage and the Eagle River area constituted an “unconstitutional political gerrymander.” The new plan would join part of the Eagle River area with south Anchorage and Girdwood for one Senate district and another part of the Eagle River area to an area that includes a military base for another Senate district. The board’s dissenting members said the plan would improperly give Eagle River greater representation in the Senate. “This is still gerrymandering, just in a different way, in my mind,” board member Melanie Bahnke said. The board had been considering two options to address concerns raised by the court. The other option would have joined the Eagle River area’s two House districts into one Senate district. Two House districts make up one Senate district. If the new plan is upheld, Republican Sens. Lora Reinbold, of Eagle River, and Roger Holland, of Anchorage, would be in the same district.

Arizona

Phoenix: Prosecutors have asked the state Supreme Court to call off an upcoming hearing scheduled by a lower-court judge to determine the mental fitness of a prisoner to be executed in what would be Arizona’s first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years. Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office told the state’s highest court in a filing Wednesday that the May 3 mental competency hearing scheduled in Pinal County for death-row prisoner Clarence Dixon is likely to delay his May 11 execution. Dixon was sentenced to death for his murder conviction in the 1977 killing of Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin. The prosecutors are seeking to throw out the lower court’s order that concluded defense lawyers had shown reasonable grounds for planning a hearing over whether Dixon is psychologically fit. Dixon’s lawyers have said their client erroneously believes he will be executed because police at Northern Arizona University wrongfully arrested him in a previous case – a 1985 attack on a 21-year-old student. His attorneys concede he was in fact lawfully arrested then by Flagstaff police. Dixon was sentenced to life sentences in that case for sexual assault and other convictions. DNA samples taken while he was in prison later linked him to Bowdoin’s killing, which at that point had been unsolved.

Arkansas

Little Rock: U.S. Sen. John Boozman raised $1.1 million over the past three months for his reelection campaign as he continued to surpass his rivals in fundraising for the Republican primary next month, according to federal fundraising records. Boozman’s campaign reported having $2.5 million on hand at the end of March after spending $2.1 million during the first quarter. Friday was the deadline for candidates to file quarterly fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission. Boozman, first elected to the Senate in 2010, has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump and the state’s top Republicans. Jake Bequette, a former NFL and Arkansas Razorbacks player challenging Boozman, reported raising nearly $344,000 during the quarter and spending almost $200,000. Bequette’s campaign had more than $555,000 on hand. A super PAC supporting Bequette’s bid also spent more than $1.1 million on television ads. Another Senate hopeful, conservative activist and former TV reporter Jan Morgan, raised more than $215,000 during the quarter. Morgan’s campaign spent $221,000 and had $54,751 on hand. Stuttgart pastor Heath Loftis gave his Senate campaign more than $20,000 and raised another $1,100. Loftis had $1,560 on hand.

California

San Francisco: A spring storm brought several feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada and rain to parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, with more stormy weather expected this week. The seven-day snow total topped 3 feet in some mountain areas as of Saturday, UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab reported. “We’re getting a bit of an abundant April!” the research station in Soda Springs said on Twitter. Mammoth Mountain in the eastern Sierra reported a foot of fresh snow. The resort has said it would remain open to skiing and snowboarding until Memorial Day. Lake Tahoe resorts also reported significant snowfall. Drivers heading up to the mountains were urged to use caution because of slippery conditions. Parts of Northern California including the Bay Area could see pockets of rain for much of the week thanks to an unsettled weather pattern stalling over the region, the National Weather Service said. The welcome precipitation could help slow the start of the fire season but won’t do anything to alleviate the state’s drought, said Matt Mehle with the weather service office in San Francisco. “What this rain is doing is bringing moisture and allowing grasses and finer fuels to grow and green up,” Mehle told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It will alleviate fire concerns, at least for the short term.”

Colorado

Boulder: A judge ruled Friday that a man charged with killing 10 people at a supermarket last year is still mentally incompetent to stand trial, further delaying court proceedings in the case. But the judge also said that assessment could change soon. Experts at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo have said there is a substantial probability that Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 22, can be restored to competency within the “reasonable future” and remain competent by taking medications, Judge Ingrid Bakke said during a brief hearing. It is a prognosis she first mentioned in a March 11 scheduling order. The prosecution of Alissa has been on hold since December, when Bakke first ruled he was mentally incompetent – unable to understand legal proceedings and work with his lawyers to defend himself. Alissa is being treated at the state mental hospital and was not in court for Friday’s hearing. The judge set a July 21 hearing to again evaluate Alissa’s competency to stand trial. Bakke’s ruling came nearly a month after Boulder, the home of the University of Colorado, marked the first anniversary of the attack that killed workers, customers and a police officer who rushed inside the store.

Connecticut

Waterbury: Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will be getting back the $75,000 in fines he paid to a court for failing to appear at a deposition last month in a lawsuit over his assertions that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, a judge has ruled. Relatives of some of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 Newtown massacre sued Jones for defamation, saying they have been subjected to harassment and death threats from Jones’ followers. A judge found Jones liable for damages, and a trial on how much he should pay the families is set for August. Judge Barbara Bellis in Waterbury ordered the return of the money Thursday because Jones eventually did show at a rescheduled deposition. The fines, which escalated daily, were aimed at making sure Jones did appear for questioning. Jones said he missed the March 23-24 deposition in Austin, Texas – home to Jones and Infowars – because of a medical problem that included vertigo. He said his doctors first thought it was a serious heart issue, but it later turned out to be a sinus infection. Bellis said there wasn’t enough evidence Jones was too ill to attend the deposition. Jones paid a $25,000 daily fine for April 1 and another $50,000 daily fine for April 4. He then attended a deposition in Bridgeport on April 5-6.

Delaware

Wilmington: Wilmington University will continue to prioritize science, technology, engineering and mathematics education as the school announced its partnership with Futures First Gaming, which will create degree and certificate pathways for students in the esports and gaming communities. The partnership announced April 11 will provide students with education and training in a variety of areas that pertain to the esports industry. “The agreement between WilmU and FFG leverages the capabilities of both to ensure there’s academic rigor that benefits students with and without esports and game design credentials,” Scott Shaw, assistant professor and academic chair of WilmU’s Game Design program, said in a press release. “There’s so much more to it beyond programming and game design, and this agreement provides pathways to educational credit for skill-building, and opportunities to gain a wider perspective of the industry.” FFG was co-founded in February 2020 by CEO Stephen Sye, who said the company’s goal was to spread the reach of esports, a form of competition using video games, to the state of Delaware.

District of Columbia

Washington: Fifty years after pandas first took up residence in the nation’s capital, the Smithsonian National Zoo celebrated the “Panda-versary” with its beloved bears Saturday, WUSA-TV reports. Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and their baby Xiao Qi Ji – which means “little miracle” – enjoyed a fruit-and-ice cake as part of the commemoration. The first pair of pandas arrived in D.C. on April 16, 1972, thanks to a deal between first lady Patricia Nixon and the Chinese premier. Since then, the mammals have become the most popular attraction at the Smithsonian National Zoo. Their 50 years have improved relations with China through what’s been called “panda diplomacy,” bolstering conservation efforts and ingraining the bears into Washington’s identity. “For me, the birth of Xiao Qi Ji was pretty spectacular,” said the zoo’s chief curato,r Brian Amaral. “During my entire (five-year) tenure here, we’ve tried to have panda cubs, and for various reasons that we are not sure of, we were not successful, but August of 2020 changed all that, so that was pretty amazing.” In 2021, pandas were downgraded from endangered to vulnerable status by Chinese conservation officials, although they still face many threats, including the threat of climate change to the bamboo forests where they live.

Florida

Key West: The 40th anniversary celebration of the Florida Keys’ symbolic secession from the United States, motivated by a 1982 U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint established on the only road connecting the Keys with mainland Florida, has begun in Key West. The 10-day Conch Republic Independence Celebration kicked off Friday with a waterfront ceremony at the island city’s Mallory Square. The offbeat republic was born April 23, 1982, shortly after a Border Patrol checkpoint was erected at the top of the Florida Keys Overseas Highway, the lower end of U.S. Highway 1. Agents ostensibly searched departing cars for drugs and other contraband. The obstacle created a miles­long traffic jam that enraged Keys officials, visitors and residents. After appeals to remove the roadblock were denied by federal officials, Key West’s then-Mayor Dennis Wardlow led local leaders in staging the tongue-in-cheek secession, proclaiming the independent Conch Republic and raising its royal blue flag. “We made the announcement that if we’re going to be treated as a foreign country, then we will become a foreign country,” said Wardlow, who was named the republic’s first “prime minister.” The roadblock was subsequently removed, and the eccentric “nation” is now internationally recognized as the Florida Keys’ irreverent alter ego. “It’s been 40 years, and the people are still supporting the republic,” Wardlow said after Friday’s ceremony. “And the government has not put up any border checkpoints, and they haven’t messed with us.” Festivities will continue through April 24 with events including a pirates’ ball, a wacky drag queen footrace and a sailing regatta that recalls the Keys’ seafaring heritage.

Georgia

Atlanta: The police chief will retire this summer as the city struggles to tamp down its rising homicide rate and as residents on the north side of the city consider seceding to form their own entity, largely over crime concerns. Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant will retire in June, and a nationwide search for his replacement will be conducted, Mayor Andre Dickens’ office announced Friday. “As Mayor Dickens plans his leadership strategies for this great city, I believe it is essential that he and the city of Atlanta have a Chief of Police who is willing to serve throughout his term,” Bryant said in a statement. When he took office, the mayor said he would assess Bryant’s performance in his first 100 days before deciding whether to keep him long term or search for a new chief, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Dickens said he’s looking for a leader who shares his vision for the city. “I am thankful that the chief agreed to stay on for my first 100 days as Mayor, and I have grown to rely on the Chief’s counsel during our daily meetings,” Dickens said in the statement. “We will miss the Chief’s leadership as he enjoys his well-earned retirement.” Bryant, an Atlanta native, joined the department in 1988 and rose to become a major in 2010 and a deputy chief in 2014. Bryant was named the department’s interim chief in June 2020.

Hawaii

Honolulu: A COVID-19 omicron variant hybrid called XE has been detected in the state, the Hawaii Department of Health said. The department’s laboratories division confirmed one case of XE in its latest coronavirus variant report, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. The hybrid contains genetic material from both BA.1 and BA.2 variants. The department found it in a sample collected last month. The XE subvariant is believed to be about 10% more transmissible than BA.2, which itself is about 30% more contagious than the original omicron. It was first detected in the United Kingdom. Infectious disease epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said XE doesn’t appear to have more severe effects than other versions of the virus. A recombinant variant occurs when an individual becomes infected with two or more variants at the same time, resulting in a mixing of their genetic material within the patient’s body, according to the UK Health Security Agency. It’s not unusual for this to happen, the agency said in a news release. XE is a recombinant lineage of BA.1 and BA.2, with the majority of its genome, including the gene encoding for the spike protein, coming from BA.2, the report said.

Idaho

Boise: Gov. Brad Little said Friday that he won’t participate in debates heading into next month’s Republican primary. The first-term governor had been invited to participate in debates put on by Idaho Debates on Idaho Public Television and by KTVB-TV. “Governor Little has a proven track record of cutting red tape, responsibly managing the budget and the economy, and providing Idaho families and businesses with historic tax relief and record investments in schools, roads, water, and other areas,” his campaign said in a statement. “Those historic accomplishments and facts are non-debatable.” Little has drawn several Republican challengers, including far-right Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin. The governor and lieutenant governor run on separate tickets. Little has a significant fundraising advantage, and debating McGeachin in a statewide televised debate could give her a big platform with not much to gain for himself. The two have sparred during the coronavirus pandemic, with McGeachin as acting governor issuing several executive orders while Little was out of town. Little rescinded McGeachin’s orders each time upon his return. McGeachin, who has been endorsed by ex-President Donald Trump, tweeted that Little’s decision wasn’t based on “a scheduling conflict” and said he was “showing his elitist attitude.” After Little’s announcement, Idaho Debates officials said it was unclear if the governor’s debate would be held without Little, and they were conferring with other candidates. They said it was the first time in more than three decades that a sitting governor seeking reelection had declined to participate.

Illinois

Chicago: A fire that roared through a prominent church on the South Side was sparked by a propane torch on the building’s roof, the Chicago Fire Department said Saturday. “The CFD Office of Fire Investigation has determined the fire at Antioch Church to be accidental and caused by work being done on the building roof using a propane torch,” the department said on Twitter. The multiple-alarm fire blaze at the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church began after 2 p.m. Friday, an hour after services ended, and wasn’t brought under control for 90 minutes. Exactly three years prior, the famed Notre Dame cathedral in Paris was severely damaged after a fire broke out beneath its roof. “This church is an anchor in this community,” Antioch’s pastor, the Rev. Gerald Dew, told reporters at the scene. “If we’ve got to lose something, losing it on Good Friday is the best time to lose it because after Good Friday comes Resurrection Sunday.” No one appeared to be inside at the time of the fire, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. About 150 firefighters and 50 engines, trucks and ambulances went to the scene, he said. The only reported injury was a firefighter who slipped on the street, injured his ankle and was taken away in an ambulance, Langford said. The South Side church is well-known for its political clout and community involvement, investing in several housing projects starting in the 1960s. It provides over 1,500 units of affordable housing for seniors, the physically handicapped and for families, Dew said.

Indiana

Indianapolis: The Indiana State Fair will celebrate the state’s automotive heritage this year. Fairgoers can expect to see iconic celebrity cars from movies and books and world-class classic car collections showcasing Indiana-made vehicles, the fair announced this past week. During the first decades of the 20th century, more than 250 automobile manufacturers opened in the state, including Duesenberg, Stutz, Cord, Auburn and Studebaker, according to Indiana Landmarks, a historic preservation group. This year’s fair will run from Friday, July 29, through Sunday, Aug. 21. It’s closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Iowa

Iowa City: Hundreds of American white pelicans are visiting the Iowa River, delighting the city’s residents with their snowy feathers and prominent yellow bills. “They are a big white bird that from behind looks like a swan,” said Anna Burkhardt-Thomas, the state’s top bird expert within the Iowa Department of Natural Resources wildlife diversity staff. “That really long yellow beak with a pouch for fish is a key feature.” For more than a week, the pelicans have been swimming in and flying around the Iowa River as far south as Terry Trueblood Recreation Area all the way north to the Coralville Lake. Large clusters of the birds loiter south of the dam in downtown Iowa City, where turbulent water stirs up fish. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports this Midwest spring break is part of the pelicans’ migration from their winter habitat on the Gulf Coast shores to Minnesota or Canada, where they will spend the summer, Burkhardt-Thomas said. But pelicans don’t always come through Iowa in such large numbers, and they don’t always stay so long. “They might stick around longer if they are finding a good food source,” she said. American white pelicans have black flight feathers on the underside of their wings only visible when their wings are open. The birds have a 9-foot wingspan – larger than brown pelicans found near the ocean.

Kansas

Topeka: State funds for public schools have been held up as Republican lawmakers push for policies critics say would punish educators for court rulings that forced the GOP-controlled Legislature to boost its spending. A legislative proposal ties $6.4 billion in spending to policies pushed by conservative Republicans, including an “open enrollment” proposal to allow parents to send their children to any public school with enough space. Another provision would restrict surveys of students’ families, their beliefs, mental health, or drug or alcohol abuse. A third would expand a state-funded college scholarship program to students outside Kansas. Republicans drafted the measure before lawmakers began their annual spring break earlier this month, to settle differences between the House and Senate. When legislators reconvene April 25, they must decide whether to add more money for special education programs and whether to link dollars to policy changes. Conservatives argue they are trying to make schools more accountable for how they spend state money. They’ve been linking money to policy since 2014, when the Kansas Supreme Court issued the first of seven rulings in an education funding lawsuit filed against the state by four school districts.

Kentucky

Louisville: A jury has awarded $450,000 to a man who sued his employer after he asked that it not celebrate his birthday at work, and colleagues did it anyway. Kevin Berling told his manager at Gravity Diagnostics in Covington in 2019 that a birthday celebration would cause him immense stress, citing bad childhood memories surrounding his parents’ divorce. But the company didn’t heed his request, and Berling suffered a panic attack. The next day he had another panic attack when his supervisor chastised him for “stealing his co-workers’ ” joy and “being a little girl,” according to a lawsuit. Berling was fired after the second attack. He alleged in his lawsuit that the company discriminated against him based on a disability and retaliated against him for demanding a reasonable accommodation to it. The jury returned the verdict after a two-day trial in Kenton County that ended in late March. The jury awarded him $300,000 for emotional distress and $150,000 in lost wages. An attorney for the company, Katherine Kennedy, said it continues to deny liability and is pursuing its post-trial options. Brazil said her employees, rather than the plaintiff, were the victims in the case. Berling’s attorney, Tony Bucher, said once the jury got to meet his client, they realized the company’s claim that he posed a threat was far-fetched.

Louisiana

Maurice: A high school senior who lost her best friend in a head-on collision is on a mission to improve safety on Highway 167. Emma Hebert and Ramsie Baumgardner both attended North Vermillion High, and Baumgardner became the third high schooler killed on that highway in the past four years. She was 18. Some sections of the state highway are uneven and unlit. Hebert is one of the people in the Maurice community fighting for change. She joined others at a Vermilion Parish Police Jury meeting in February to discuss adding lights and other ways to increase safety, but she left feeling as if nothing would be done. “I wanted (action), so nobody else has to go through what we went through,” Hebert said. She turned her final paper for her dual-enrollment English class into a persuasive argument to put lights and better signage on the highway. “The lack of lighting and signage on highway 167 makes it perilous, and it is imperative that state and local authorities take action to prevent head-on collisions,” Hebert wrote. She collected police data on highway crashes and learned about the dangers and prevalence of impaired driving. The information fills a large binder, along with more than 1,100 responses to an online survey she posted last month. More than half of those responding identified as 16 to 22 years old. Most were fine with the highway during the day, but a resounding majority said they felt unsafe at night. The main difference is lighting, Herbert said.

Maine

Bar Harbor: The trail network at Acadia National Park is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Park Service said Thursday that the listing recognizes 109 trails that cover 117 miles. The network becomes the largest system of trails listed on the register. The park service said the trail system was recognized because of its historic significance and ties to the history of Mount Desert Island, where the park is located. Kevin Schneider, superintendent of Acadia National Park, said in a statement that the recognition “is a testament to not only the historic significance of these trails, but also the incredible dedication of the National Park Service staff, partners and volunteers who continue to preserve them.” The park service worked for several years to nominate the trails to the register. It was approved last week.

Maryland

Baltimore: A container ship longer than three football fields has finally been pried from the muddy bottom of the Chesapeake Bay more than a month after it ran aground. After two unsuccessful attempts to dislodge it and the subsequent removal of roughly 500 of the 5,000 containers it was carrying, the Ever Forward was refloated just before 7 a.m. Sunday by two barges and five tugboats. A full moon and high spring tide helped provide a lift to the salvage vessels as they pulled and pushed the massive ship from the mud, across a dredged hole and back into the shipping channel. Once refloated, the Ever Forward was weighed down again by water tanks to ensure safe passage under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on its way to an anchorage off Annapolis, The Baltimore Sun reports. Marine inspectors will examine the ship’s hull before the Coast Guard allows it to return to the Port of Baltimore to retrieve the offloaded containers. The cargo ship, operated by Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp., was traveling from Baltimore to Norfolk, Virginia, on March 13 when it ran aground just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Officials have said the grounding did not result in reports of injuries, damage or pollution. The Coast Guard has not said what caused the Ever Forward to run aground.

Massachusetts

Boston: Legislation outlining steps the state needs to take to meet its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 cleared a key hurdle late Thursday when the Massachusetts Senate voted 37-3 to approve the sweeping climate bill. The bill’s passage sets the stage for negotiations with the House, which last month passed its own, more narrowly focused bill. Both Democratic-led chambers hope to come up with a single compromise proposal to ship to Republican Gov. Charlie Baker before the end for the Legislature’s formal session on July 31. The Senate bill tries to address climate change in three areas: renewable energy, transportation and buildings. The bill would set aside $100 million for an investment fund to support the clean energy industry while updating the process of bringing more offshore wind energy online. It would allow solar panels on agricultural and horticultural land and supporting emerging technologies like nuclear fusion, networked geothermal and deep geothermal energy. It would also increase to $3,500 the rebate for the purchase of many zero-emission passenger cars and light-duty trucks, offer another $1,000 for buyers trading in an internal combustion vehicle, deploy more car charging stations across the state, and require new developments to allocate 10% of parking spaces to charging stations. The bill aims to reduce the use of fossil fuels in the construction of buildings by letting a handful of communities participate in two demonstration projects.

Michigan

Detroit: Four Michiganders – a taxidermist, his wife and two mink farm employees – were infected with a unique coronavirus strain connected to minks, leading state health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conclude they likely contracted the first known U.S. cases of so-called animal-to-human virus spillover. Michigan’s four mink-connected COVID-19 cases, the only known animal-to-human cases in the U.S. to date, infected more people than was previously known. The Detroit Free Press and the Documenting COVID-19 project first reported on the mink cases in April 2021, after discovering details about them in Freedom of Information Act requests, and National Geographic confirmed last month that four cases with the same genetic mutations had been linked together. All four people fully recovered. There have been other animal-to-human COVID-19 cases documented with white-tailed deer in Canada and a hamster in Japan. While Michigan’s cases are the only known animal-connected COVID-19 cases in the U.S., there could be other cases that have gone unreported, as the country is not actively testing for such outbreaks.

Minnesota

St. Paul: State corrections officials are looking to launch a prison tattoo program in hopes of curbing bloodborne diseases as inmates ink themselves with homemade tools. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports the Corrections Department is searching for an experienced tattoo artist to oversee tattoo studios in state prisons. The aim is to slow the spread of diseases like hepatitis C that can spread when inmates try to tattoo themselves or each other with unsterilized tools like electric motors and ballpoint pens and share contaminated needles. Corrections spokesman Nick Kimball said as of January, anywhere from 1,200 to 3,500 of the prison system’s 7,511 inmates were infected with hepatitis C. The prison system treats about 80 to 100 inmates for the disease each at a cost ranging from $20,000 to $75,000 per inmate.

Mississippi

Tupelo: Technology donations are giving a boost to a nonprofit organization that provides education programs for Hispanic residents. El Centro, in Tupelo, is receiving three years of free internet access and a $50,000 grant from AT&T and 15 computers from Dell Technologies, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports. “It opens up a lot more possibilities for us and for us to be able to tell the community, ‘Whatever you have a need for, we can provide it,’ ” El Centro Director Allen Bradford said Thursday of the donation. El Centro, started in 2006, provides free after-school tutoring and services, adult English classes and workshops on topics relevant to the community. The computers came with a free digital learning platform, free digital literacy courses and workshops created with the Public Library Association. El Centro becomes one of more than 20 Connected Learning Centers that AT&T is opening nationwide. The company created its Connected Learning program in response to COVID-19 and the need to bridge the digital divide, said AT&T Mississippi president Mayo Flynt. El Centro helps K-6 students with homework because it can be difficult for students who grow up in bilingual homes and communities, Bradford said. During the pandemic, some fell behind when learning at home.

Missouri

Independence: City Council member Mike Huff is suing to retain his seat after one of the winning candidates died shortly after the election. Huff was one of four candidates who ran for two council seats in the April 5 election. He came in third, behind fellow member Karen DeLuccie and newcomer Jared Fears. DeLuccie died of cancer April 12, the same day the election results were certified. In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Huff said the Jackson County Election Board and the Independence city clerk should not have certified DeLuccie as the winner because she was incapacitated by her illness, The Kansas City Star reports. Huff argues he should be declared the winner of the second at-large seat. DeLuccie’s family said after her death that her lung cancer prognosis in early February was positive. But after a scan April 7, two days after the election, showed that treatments had not worked, she decided to stop treatment and spend time with her family. Sara Zorich, a director at the Jackson County Election Board, said the city will have to decide how to proceed. The City Council is expected to vote this week on whether to hold a special election.

Montana

Helena: The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped 0.3 percentage points in March to 2.3% as it continued to hit new record lows, Gov. Greg Gianforte said Friday. The number of unemployed people in the state fell to 13,106 – a decline of 1,162 people from February. Montana’s unemployment rate in recent months has been the lowest since records started being kept in 1976. Also in March, the state’s total employment hit a new high at 545,360 workers. That’s up by more than 3,200 workers compared to February. The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.6% in March, down 0.2 percentage points from February’s rate. Inflation has risen 8.5% over the past 12 months, a 40-year high. That’s driven prices sharply higher for purchases including gasoline, airfare, used cars and trucks and fuel oil.

Nebraska

Lincoln: Gov. Pete Ricketts has signed off on a $900 million property and income tax cut package. Ricketts said the bill will provide nearly $1 billion in annual tax relief once it is fully implemented. The measure will reduce the top individual and corporate income tax rates to 5.84% by 2027. Currently, the highest individual rate is 6.84%, and the top corporate rate is 7.5%. Property owners will also receive a refundable tax credit to reimburse them for some of the taxes they pay to community colleges, and the law will speed up the state’s plan to phase out taxes on Social Security income. That tax will now by eliminated by 2025. Some senators raised concerns how the tax cut will affect the state budget in future years, but lawmakers ultimately passed the package.

Nevada

Las Vegas: A state panel has endorsed an agency’s request for funding to expand Gov. Steve Sisolak’s security team. The Board of Examiners’ vote last Tuesday forwards the Department of Public Safety’s request for $373,051 to the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The department wants to expand Sisolak’s security detail to eight positions by adding a sergeant and two officers. A department memo cited “various national threat alerts” and referenced two incidents in which Sisolak and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo were separately accosted and verbally attacked in public. “Recently our own state experienced verbal attacks on elected officials in a public place,” the memo said. “A recent assessment of the Dignitary Protection operation by the Capital Police Chief revealed the need for expanding the protective team. With this being an election year, the need for stronger protective services is critical to protect Governor and First Family.” Sisolak, a Democrat, is running for reelection this year, while Lombardo is a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor. The Board of Examiners consists of Sisolak, Attorney General Aaron Ford and Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske.

New Hampshire

Concord: Some business owners struggling to hire workers are lining up behind Gov. Chris Sununu’s plan to use $100 million in federal funds to increase the state’s housing stock. In the two months since Sununu announced the initiative, the state’s unemployment rate has fallen to 2.5%, while the vacancy rate for a two-bedroom apartment fell to under 1%. That’s been tough on companies like Boyce Highlands, which makes architectural moldings in Concord and recently acquired a lumber company in Brentwood. “Our plan in five years is to double the size of that operation, but with very limited housing, it’s very difficult to attract good quality workers,” co-owner Brien Murphy said at a news conference Wednesday. While New Hampshire is one of the region’s fastest growing states, the lack of affordable housing continues to be an obstacle, said Taylor Caswell, commissioner of the Department of Business and Economic Affairs. Half of the total would go to developers of multifamily projects with at least five units, with preference given to projects aimed at lower- and middle-income workers. Another $40 million would go to towns and cities, including $30 million to encourage them to approve projects quickly. Another $10 million would help communities update zoning regulations or demolish vacant, dilapidated buildings.

New Jersey

Trenton: Police officers will be allowed to purchase and consume marijuana once it’s officially and legally for sale in the state, just like any other potential customer, under the recreational weed laws passed last year. On Thursday, acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin issued a memo alerting police chiefs that law enforcement agencies “may not take any adverse action against any officers because they do or do not use cannabis off duty,” which was codified in the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act. Police officers are barred from possessing or using marijuana while on the clock and from performing any work while under the influence. The marijuana legalization laws allow any employer to maintain a drug-free workplace and puts into place procedures for suspected drug use while on the job. Platkin’s memo reminds police chiefs they have the same rights. But a drug test must accompany a physical examination as well, as THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, can stay in the bloodstream for weeks. A positive drug test could mean the police officer smoked a joint on the way to the station or simply ate a cannabis-infused gummy at an off-duty barbecue a month ago.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: An appeals court on Friday uphold a lower court’s rejection of two ranching groups’ challenge to a federal agency’s designation of certain riparian areas of Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico as critical habitat of a mouse species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2016 designated nearly 22 square miles in the three states as critical habitat of the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse. The decision by a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a U.S. District Court judge correctly rejected the challenge by two New Mexico ranching groups, the Northern New Mexico Stockman’s Association and the Otero County Cattleman’s Association. Livestock grazing can damage mouse habitat, and its protected status has prompted federal managers in some areas to restrict access to streams and wetlands. The appeals court said the Fish and Wildlife Service complied with legal requirements for assessing economic impacts of critical habitat designation, adequately considered the effects on ranchers’ water rights and “reasonably supported its decision not to exclude certain areas from the critical habitat designation.”

New York

New York: The former union boss for the nation’s largest correction officers’ union might have gotten too harsh a prison sentence when he was ordered to spend nearly five years behind bars for corruption convictions, a judge said. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who sentenced Seabrook to four years and 10 months in prison in early 2019, said in a ruling Friday that the length of Norman Seabrook’s prison term deserves a second look. He noted disparities in the sentence given to Seabrook, who is Black, and co-conspirators who are white. But he also said in a written ruling that the former head of the New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association did not deserve a new trial after his 2018 conviction on conspiracy and honest service wire fraud charges. Prosecutors said he accepted $60,000 in bribes in 2014 to funnel $20 million in union funds to a risky hedge fund. All but $1 million was lost. Seabrook has said there was no evidence he ever intended to “lose a dime” of union members’ money. In October 2021, Seabrook asked Hellerstein to grant him a new trial on several grounds including ineffective assistance of counsel and unjust rulings against him, which Hellerstein said in his Friday ruling all fall “well short of the mark.”

North Carolina

Charlotte: Three primates suffered frostbite while enduring subfreezing conditions this year at an exotic animal farm operated by a county commissioner that has been repeatedly cited by federal inspectors. The latest citations, involving a black and white ruffed lemur, a De Brazza’s monkey and a capuchin, were issued in March by the U.S. Department of Agriculture against Zootastic Park of Lake Norman, The Charlotte Observer reports. “The lemur’s hand was injured and remains contracted while the De Brazza’s and capuchin suffered the loss of their tail tips,” according to a copy of the federal inspection report, obtained by the animal welfare group PETA. Scottie Brown, the Iredell County commissioner who owns the park outside Charlotte, didn’t reply to a phone message from the newspaper Thursday. In another instance, the inspector saw a young howler monkey “hugging a live electric cord that was connected to a heating pad inside its enclosure.” That could have hurt or killed the monkey, the inspector wrote. The USDA also cited Zootastic for medicating animals without a veterinarian present, allowing visitors unsupervised access to some animals, and failing to document its purchase or disposal of at least a dozen animals, the inspection reports show.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Two North Dakota Army National Guard soldiers are being recognized for saving migrants from drowning at the southern border of the United States last month. Spc. Luis Alvarado, of Bismarck, and Spc. Gracin Clem, of Dickinson, were conducting surveillance for U.S. Customs and Border Protection on March 22 when they observed five migrants attempting to cross the Rio Grande River, the National Guard said. The migrants were halfway across the river but struggled to stay above water due to strong currents and high winds. The two men were equipped with nylon rope lifelines, and Clem swam a line out to help the people that were struggling. The soldiers rescued two people as the other three managed to get to safety. “There wasn’t time to be scared,” Clem said. “It wasn’t an option.” Alvarado and Clem are assigned to the North Dakota National Guard’s 957th Engineer Company and have been part of the southwest border mission since the fall of 2021. “These heroic actions demonstrate the unyielding commitment of our Guard members to preserve lives while in the service of our nation,” said Maj. Gen. Al Dohrmann, North Dakota adjutant general. “Our entire chain of command is extremely proud of the actions of all our soldiers.”

Ohio

Toledo: Ohio State University will pay $2 million to settle more lawsuits brought by men who said they were sexually abused decades ago by now-deceased team doctor Richard Strauss, increasing the number of survivors who’ve reached settlement agreements to nearly 290. The payouts by the university have now reached just under $60 million to former athletes and other men who alleged Strauss carried out the abuse at campus athletic facilities, a student health center, his home and an off-campus clinic. The latest settlement announced Friday ends lawsuits brought by 57 survivors whose cases had been dismissed by a federal judge who last year ruled that the legal window for such claims had passed. Dozens of men whose cases were dismissed have appealed that decision and have yet to reach settlements. The hundreds of survivors who have sued the university said it failed to stop Strauss despite students raising concerns during his 20 years at Ohio State as far back as the late 1970s. No one has publicly defended Strauss, who died in 2005. Ohio State has said that a law firm investigation for the university and lawsuits filed against the school have revealed more than 170 total instances of rape and more than 2,600 instances of fondling attributed to Strauss.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: Republican Scott Pruitt, the scandal-ridden former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, filed Friday to run for Oklahoma’s open U.S. Senate seat, making a return to politics in a state with deep ties to the oil and gas industry. Pruitt, 53, a former Oklahoma attorney general and outspoken supporter of the energy industry, is seeking the seat being vacated by longtime Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe. While Pruitt was attorney general, he filed more than a dozen lawsuits against the agency he was later picked to lead by ex-President Donald Trump. After arriving in Washington, he worked to dismantle Obama-era environmental regulations that aimed to reduce toxic pollution and planet-warming carbon emissions. Pruitt stepped down as EPA administrator in 2018 amid a wave of ethics scandals, including living in a bargain-priced Capitol Hill condo tied to an energy lobbyist. He also faced ethics investigations into pricey trips with first-class airline seats and unusual security spending, including a $43,000 soundproof booth for making private phone calls. And he demanded 24-hour-a-day protection from armed officers, resulting in a swollen 20-member security detail that blew through overtime budgets and racked up expenses of more than $3 million.

Oregon

Portland: Officials at Oregon Health & Science University have apologized to employees after a fake phishing test drew complaints about raising false hopes. The university sent the phishing test email to employees April 12 offering up to $7,500 in financial assistance, Portland TV station KGW8 reports. The email, from a “benefit@ohsu.edu” address, read in part: “In response to the current community hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Oregon Health & Science University has decided to assist all employees in getting through these difficult times.” It included a link where respondents could “register” for pandemic-related benefits. But the offer was not real – it was a test intended to measure employees’ cybersecurity awareness and OHSU’s own technology systems. The test was sent several days after the university sent a message to employees warning them about suspicious emails. The phishing test was met with frustration from some employees. In a statement, OHSU apologized and said the university didn’t fully consider the harm the phishing test could cause. “This week, as part of OHSU’s regular exercises to help members practice spotting suspicious e-mails, the language in the test e-mail was taken verbatim from an actual phishing e-mail to ensure no one else fell for the scam. That was a mistake,” the OHSU statement said. “The real scam was insensitive and exploitive of OHSU members – and the attempt to educate members felt the same way, causing confusion and concern.”

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: An ad by one of three people seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor this year drew a complaint Friday and a sharply worded letter from the party’s presumed nominee for governor. The dispute pits Attorney General Josh Shapiro against state Rep. Brian Sims over Sims’ ad that the Shapiro campaign says falsely implies Shapiro has endorsed Sims. Shapiro took the unusual step earlier this year of endorsing and running with state Rep. Austin Davis of Allegheny County, even though in Pennsylvania candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are not paired on the primary ballot. So when the Shapiro camp noticed that “ENDORSED JOSH SHAPIRO,” along with a check-marked ribbon, appeared at the end of Sims’ new statewide ad, lawyers fired off a cease-and-desist order. “Not only does the ad mislead voters, it also places Attorney General Shapiro in a false light,” argued Courtney Weisman, a lawyer for Shapiro, in the letter sent Friday. She said Sims’ wording was designed to mislead Pennsylvanians. The ad began running on streaming services in markets around Pennsylvania this past week, Sims’ spokesperson said.

Rhode Island

Providence: The state Department of Environmental Management plans to hire somebody who can recruit hunters and trappers, including women and people from minority communities. “We’re hiring! DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) is looking for an innovative self-starter with a strong human dimensions background to coordinate the state’s efforts to recruit, retain and reactivate (R3) outdoor enthusiasts, specifically hunters, trappers and shooting sportsmen and women,” the department said in a Facebook post. The job, which pays $71,487 for a 35-hour workweek, is consistent with a wider effort to encourage those outdoor sports. License fees for those activities and taxes on equipment help pay for wildlife management and land conservation, but Rhode Island and other states across the nation are seeing a drop in hunting, according to the DEM. “We’ve seen a tremendous decline in the number of people who participate in hunting,” said David Kalb, supervising wildlife biologist for the DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. For example, Kalb said, the state sold 8,800 hunting licenses last year, a sizable drop from the peak of 11,600 in 2000. Revenue has decreased along with the drop in license sales, Kalb said, although he couldn’t immediately attach a dollar figure to it.

South Carolina

Columbia: A prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair later this month, according to court documents filed Friday. Richard Bernard Moore, 57, is the also first South Carolina prisoner to face the choice of execution methods after a law went into effect last year making electrocution the default and giving inmates the option to face three prison workers with rifles instead. Moore has spent more than two decades on death row after being convicted of the 1999 killing of convenience store clerk James Mahoney in Spartanburg. If executed as scheduled April 29, he would be the first person put to death in the state since 2011 and the fourth in the country to die by firing squad in nearly half a century. Only three executions in the United States have been carried out by firing squad since 1976, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. South Carolina is one of eight states to still use the electric chair and one of four to allow a firing squad, according to the center. In a statement, Moore said he didn’t concede that either method was legal or constitutional but more strongly opposed death by electrocution and only chose the firing squad because he was required to make a choice.

South Dakota

Brookings: Rural communities are more vulnerable to economic effects from major historical events like the COVID-19 pandemic and recessions than urban communities, according to two local students’ research. Brookings High School seniors Will Hummel and Aditya Tummala will present their study, “The Disproportionate Effect of Labor Force Exodus on Rural America: A Study on the Implications of Pandemic-Era Recessions on Rural Midwest Communities,” next month at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta. The May 8-13 fair is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition, hosting more than 1,500 high school students from 75 countries to share science projects of their own design. It will be the third time at the fair for Hummel and fourth time for Tummala, but it’s their first time together as a team. They also took this project to the Eastern South Dakota Science & Engineering Fair at South Dakota State University on March 22, securing the first grand prize award, earning them an all-expense-paid trip to the international fair. Hummel said because rural communities tend to base their economies on things like agriculture, mining or harvesting raw materials, like soybeans and corn, and then shipping those materials out, it leaves them more vulnerable to economic events.

Tennessee

Nashville: State lawmakers are advancing a bill strictly limiting the shackling of pregnant inmates. The Republican-led Senate passed the legislation by Democratic Sen. Raumesh Akbari without opposition Thursday. The bill would generally prohibit restraints of a pregnant inmate. More specifically, a pregnant inmate’s ankles, legs or waist couldn’t be shackled during labor or delivery. The legislation also would not allow a pregnant inmate to be shackled behind the back or to be attached to another inmate. Some exceptions allowing restraints on a pregnant inmate would be when the inmate is moved within or outside of a facility, if the inmate is an immediate flight risk, if the inmate poses a self-threat or threat to the fetus or others, or if the classification level of the inmate requires restraints. In those cases, the bill says only the least restrictive restraints necessary should be used. The legislation still needs a vote from the House.

Texas

Austin: Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday repealed his traffic-clogging immigration order that backed up commercial trucks at the U.S.-Mexico border, after a week of intensifying backlash and fears of deepening economic losses. The Republican governor dropped his new rules that had required all commercial trucks from Mexico to undergo extra inspections to curb the flow of migrants and drugs and ratcheted up a fight with the Biden administration over immigration policy. Some truckers reported waiting more than 30 hours to cross. Others blocked one of the world’s busiest trade bridges in protest. Abbott, who is up for reelection in November and has made the border his top issue, fully lifted the inspections after reaching agreements with neighboring Mexican states that he said outline new commitments to border security. The last was signed with the governor of Tamaulipas, who earlier in the week said the inspections were overzealous and created havoc. On Friday, he joined Abbott and said they were ready to work together. Pressure was building on Abbott to retreat as gridlock on the border worsened. The American Trucking Association called the inspections “wholly flawed, redundant and adding considerable weight on an already strained supply chain.” One customs agency in Mexico estimated the losses at millions of dollars a day, and produce distributors warned of empty shelves and higher prices if the order was not rescinded soon.

Utah

Salt Lake City: U.S. Sen. Mike Lee worked on early efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, helping to push legally dubious schemes to keep then-President Donald Trump in power, before he shifted course and quickly backed away. His efforts, revealed in text messages obtained by the House panel investigating the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, drew quick condemnation Friday from his reelection challengers. Text messages between the Utah senator and then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows detail how Lee encouraged top Trump advisers to embrace Sidney Powell, a Republican lawyer who later spread wild and baseless claims of a rigged election. The messages from Lee to Meadows – and messages from Texas U.S. Rep. Chip Roy to Meadows – were reported on and published Friday by CNN. They show Lee’s efforts to assist Trump began Nov. 7 and included early support for Powell. Later, Lee explored a plan to encourage state legislatures to alter the outcome of the 2020 election by appointing alternate electors. At one point, Lee said he was working “14 hour days” assisting Trump. At another he asked Meadows: “Please tell me what I should be saying.” By mid-November, the messages show Lee beginning to lose confidence in Powell and, eventually, the alternate electors plan.

Vermont

Essex Junction: After 50 years of helping to teach local students how to drive, a local high school’s driver’s education simulators have been put “out to pasture.” John Dunn posted pictures of the simulators languishing outside Essex High School in a Burlington Area History Facebook group last month and was flooded with comments from people who used the machines in school. The simulators, put into use in 1972 and taken out in 2022, were not just the only ones in Vermont – they were the oldest ones of their kind in use anywhere, according to Bill Mayville, who first used one as an EHS student in 1973 and then returned to the school to teach driver’s education for the next 39 years. The simulators were his main teaching tool. “I was sad to see them go, but I knew they were going to go,” he said. When the school first received the 12 simulators, “it was a big deal,” Mayville said. More were planned to come to the state, and Essex even had a driver’s education course planned for a field near the school. But the Nixon-era funds were frozen, according to Mayville, and Essex remained the only program in the state to have the simulators. Vermont State Police also trained on them, and they were used as an evaluation tool for teens with special needs or older adults to determine if they were capable of driving. One was handicap-equipped with full hand controls.

Virginia

Richmond: Virginia Commonwealth University has received nearly $1 million in federal funds to study gun violence in the city as it experiences a spike in homicides. The money comes from the Omnibus Appropriations Agreement for the 2022 fiscal year approved by Congress this month, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. VCU’s project, the RVA Gun Violence Prevention Framework, aims to create a public health response to addressing the social, economic and systemic factors that lead to gun violence. The project is led by school representatives, VCU Health and the city of Richmond. Last year, Mayor Levar Stoney called gun violence a public health crisis, and the city allocated $133,000 toward the initiative. There were 101 slayings in the city last year, the most since 2004. Most involved guns. Richmond police classified 93 of the killings as homicides. In addition to intentional gun deaths, VCU Health reported last summer that it had seen a surprisingly high number of gun accidents. VCU also received $400,000 for a program seeking to support recruitment and training efforts of early childhood educators across central Virginia.

Washington

Yakima: A hovering arctic jet stream has brought biting cold, snow, rain and hail that is concerning growers across central Washington’s Yakima Valley. Grower Mike Saunders with Apple King–Pro Orchard Management said orchards were laden with snow Wednesday, an unusual sight, the Yakima Herald-Republic reports. Freezing temperatures began early last week with another cold snap expected this week. Growers have been using wind machines and smudge pots to warm the apple, pear and cherry orchards. Washington State Tree Fruit Association spokesperson Tim Kovis said the trees there are in bloom, but the cold is keeping the bees from pollinating, which is the biggest concern. “This is the window that is essential for the bees to be out in the orchards and pollinating those buds for the growing process,” he said. He said it’s still too early to assess the impact and said growers will know more this week. Not all orchards in the state are in the same dilemma, though they are facing freezing temperatures, Kovis said. Chelan, for example, has had snow, but fruit trees there have yet to bud, he said.

West Virginia

Fairmont: Most of the protesters arrested at a power plant linked to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin have settled trespassing cases. Twelve of the 16 protesters arrested last weekend at the Grant Town Power Plant in Marion County settled cases Friday, the activist group West Virginia Rising said. All 16 were arrested April 9 for trespassing after forming a human chain, The Dominion Post reports. The protest attracted about 200 people to call attention to the plant’s burning of low-grade coal, which emits more pollution. Manchin’s son runs the plant and burns the low-grade coal sold by Enersystems, the senator’s company. Manchin, Democrat, is chairman of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Among the protesters last week was J. Davitt McAteer, the former mine safety chief in the Clinton administration. McAteer said Manchin “appears to be contributing mightily to the problem (of coal pollution) while reaping untold benefits,” he said.

Wisconsin

Green Bay: The state Department of Natural Resources is ending its practice of posting volunteer guards along the Wolf River to protect spawning sturgeon from poachers. WLUK-TV reports Sturgeon for Tomorrow has been posting guards along the river around the clock each spring for decades in coordination with the DNR to protect the fish. DNR Regional Conservation Warden Ben Treml said there have been no major complaints or poaching cases for at least 15 years, and coordinating the volunteers is a lot of work, with notable difficulty in finding people willing to work overnight. He added that no volunteers have patrolled the river for the past two years during the pandemic. Jim Patt, president of the southwest chapter of Sturgeon for Tomorrow, said he’s not happy with the DNR’s decision. No one knows how much poaching is really going on, he said, and if word gets around that the guards aren’t on the river, any more poaching could increase.

Wyoming

Jackson: The West’s oldest horse-drawn parade might become a relic after two years of pandemic-related cancellations. The Old West Days Parade drew just 22 entrants in 2019, when it was last held, and the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce is now trying to decide whether to bring the Memorial Day season event back, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. The chamber is asking members of the ranching community to speak up if they want to keep the tradition going, according to the paper.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Panda-versary, prison tattoo artist: News from around our 50 states