Florence: An attorney for an inmate who was the subject of a national manhunt after escaping with the apparent help of a jail official said he will ask to move his trial to another city. Mark McDaniel, an attorney representing Casey White, said he will seek a change of venue to move his upcoming capital murder trial and the separate escape case to a new location. When Casey White disappeared with jailer Vicky White, he was awaiting trial on a charge of killing a woman in 2015.

Anchorage: The Biden administration is suing the state over fishing rights on a river that runs through a national wildlife refuge, saying Alaska is undermining federal efforts to limit harvests when fish numbers are low to residents in the area of predominantly Indigenous villages. U.S. Interior Department spokesperson Melissa Schwartz said the openings violated federal law and interfered with a priority for rural subsistence use under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

Phoenix: Gov. Doug Ducey is in Israel for five days of talks with political and business leaders. Ducey arrived in Israel on Sunday morning, accompanied by the heads of the Arizona Commerce Authority and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Ducey spokesperson C.J. Karamargin said the Republican governor’s meetings would focus on trade, water and border security. Ducey has worked over his seven years in office to boost economic ties with Israel, which has a similar arid climate and water and security issues. His plans included meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Isaac Herzog, as well as former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also was slated to meet with the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Thomas Nides; pay a Memorial Day visit to Israel’s 9/11 memorial in Jerusalem; meet with the city’s mayor; and visit some historic sites.

Charleston: The city honored the 1954 integration of its school district – the first public district to do so in the South – with a memorial celebrating the July 27, 1954, decision to desegregate Charleston Public Schools. The decision followed the May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, which determined that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. On Aug. 23, 1954, 11 Black students – three ninth graders and eight elementary school children – attended class alongside 480 white students. Barbara Dotson was one of the 11 Black students to attend school alongside white students. She became the first Black female student to graduate from the Charleston School District.

Sacramento: A school district has been unable to identify who subjected a Black assistant principal to racist graffiti and messages on social media even after a six-month investigation in which 45 witnesses were interviewed. Elysse Versher, assistant principal at the West Campus High School, told The Sacramento Bee she planned to resign, saying the Sacramento City Unified School District failed to protect her from the harassment and does not take incidents of racism and hate crimes seriously. Versher was made aware in November of social media posts by students calling her racial slurs and criticizing her enforcement of school dress codes. She found racist graffiti painted on a wall across from her parking spot. West Campus is a public college prep school for academic achievers. The school’s dress code states that students cannot wear clothing that promotes violence, drugs or alcohol or hate speech. Students cannot wear helmets or hoods that obscure the face unless required by the student’s religious practices. Versher said back in November that she has been disrespected and even threatened by parents of non-Black students and that non-Black students do not respect her authority. “They do not respect me as a human being,” she said. District officials expressed frustration over the results of their investigation.

Rocky Mountain National Park: A climber was killed and two others were injured Sunday after a rock fall and avalanche in Rocky Mountain National Park, officials said. A woman suffered minor injuries, and a man who suffered more serious injuries was rescued by a Colorado National Guard helicopter using a hoist during a break in wintry weather, a park press release said. The park’s search and rescue team was looking for another man who was with the other two climbers near the Dreamweaver Couloir on Mount Meeker at the time of the avalanche Sunday morning, it said. Search crews found his body in avalanche debris about 5:15 p.m. Sunday, park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson said. The identities of the victims were not immediately released. The avalanche was witnessed by climbers in the area.

New London: The nation’s energy secretary and Danish wind developer Orsted say they want American union workers to build offshore wind farms to dot U.S. coastlines – the building trades workers who could otherwise be left out of a transition to renewable resources. The Biden administration wants to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, generating enough electricity to power more than 10 million homes. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm visited the New London State Pier facility this month to see how Orsted, energy provider Eversource and the state of Connecticut are transforming it into a hub for the offshore wind industry. At a press conference afterward, the Democratic governor and Democratic congressmen spoke about creating American jobs – messaging that will surely play into their reelection campaigns. Gov. Ned Lamont said there are “hundreds of good paying jobs right here,” and “we’re just getting started.” U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal thanked the unions, saying that “this is the future of energy in the United States of America right here.” U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney said they’re maximizing every opportunity for the state to grow in a sustainable way. U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, the only one not up for reelection, echoed the same message, saying offshore wind is the “holy grail of public policy” because it creates jobs, helps the local economy, makes the country more secure and helps save the planet.

Dover: State House leaders chastised a fellow Democrat who suggested in an online discussion that those who don’t support mask-wearing amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases but do support gun rights should kill themselves with their firearms. House leaders gave no indication, however, that they want to pursue formal disciplinary action against Rep. John Kowalko, who made the comment in a post following last week’s Texas school shooting but later deleted his Facebook comments and apologized. Kowalko, a Newark Democrat who once described himself as “your textbook liberal, progressive Dem,” made the remark about guns last week in an online back-and-forth with a conservative commenter over whether people should wear masks. Delaware House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst and Majority Whip Larry Mitchell said in a joint statement released Friday that Kowalko’s comments were “offensive and indefensible.”

Washington: Metro riders who take the Orange Line will have to deal with several station closures as crews work on reconstruction and improvements, WUSA-TV reports. The closures, which began Saturday, are expected to last more than three months. According to a release from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the closures will affect the New Carrollton, Landover, Cheverly, Deanwood and Minnesota Avenue stations until Sept. 5. WMATA said free shuttle bus services along three routes and free parking for Metro customers at the closed stations will be available. The closures are part of Metro’s “Platform Improvement Project,” which aims to reconstruct the aging concrete platforms at 20 stations. WMATA said 17 stations have completed the renovations over the past 21/2years.

Tallahassee: There’s nothing to indicate the Florida Department of Health told an employee to falsify COVID-19 data, and she wasn’t fired out of retaliation, according to a state investigator’s report released this month. Former department employee Rebekah Jones received national attention when she raised questions about the state’s COVID-19 dashboard and claimed she was fired for exposing problems. The state said she was fired for insubordination after being reprimanded several times. An inspector general’s 268-page report found no evidence of wrongdoing or retaliation by the department. Jones, a Democrat who is running for the U.S. House seat now held by Republican Matt Gaetz, is also facing criminal charges after authorities said she illegally accessed the Department of Health’s computer system to send a message to 1,750 people and downloaded confidential data and saved it to her devices.

Brunswick: Workers cooking burgers and tater tots in a Sonic fast-food kitchen fled after discovering a nonvenomous ball python hiding behind the deep fryer. Police Lt. Matthew Wilson found employees of the Sonic drive-in huddled in the parking lot when he arrived to investigate May 21. On the phone, they described the culprit as brown with diamonds on its back. “When I saw it, I could tell it was just a ball python and not a rattlesnake,” Wilson told The Brunswick News. He not only removed the large snake but also found it a new home with a friend who has a large terrarium and a fondness for snakes. Wilson said the python likely slipped into the Sonic’s kitchen through an open back door, finding a cozy spot for its cold-blooded body behind the hot fryer. Police don’t know where the snake came from, though Wilson said it had likely been a pet that got turned loose by its owner.

Honolulu: A contractor hired by the Navy is recommending a series of structural repairs to a massive fuel tank farm at Pearl Harbor to make sure the facility doesn’t leak petroleum when its tanks are drained, a report released Friday said. The recommendations for the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility came after the complex’s pipes leaked fuel into Pearl Harbor’s tap water last year, sickening thousands of military families. The Pentagon has since agreed to comply with a state order to drain the tanks and permanently shut them down. The Navy has a June 30 deadline to inform the state Department of Health when and how it plans to drain the fuel.

Boise: A woman charged with killing her two youngest children and her new husband’s previous wife will be tried alongside her husband, and their trial has been delayed until early next year because the judge said that will give her attorneys enough time to effectively prepare a defense. Judge Steven Boyce ruled that delaying Lori Vallow Daybell’s trial another 90 days to Jan. 9 would not violate her rights for a speedy trial. Vallow and her husband, Chad, have pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if they are convicted.

Chicago: The discovery of the bodies of three women inside a senior housing facility this month left the city looking for answers to questions that were supposed to be addressed after a far longer, hotter heat wave killed more than 700 people nearly three decades ago. The city is facing the reality that because of climate change, deadly heat waves can strike just about anywhere, don’t only fall in the height of summer, and need not last long. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office has yet to determine the causes of death for the three women whose bodies were found in the James Sneider Apartments on May 14. But the victims’ families have already filed or plan to file wrongful death lawsuits against the companies that own and manage the buildings. It took the sight of refrigerated trucks being filled with dead bodies after Chicago’s 1995 heat wave to drive home the message that the city was woefully unprepared for a silent and invisible disaster that took more than twice as many lives as the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. That realization led to a system in which city workers call the elderly and frail and turn city buildings into 24-hour cooling centers when temperatures become oppressive. What happened this month is a reminder that the type of safeguards in place to make sure people don’t freeze to death because they have not paid their heating bills often do not exist to prevent people from overheating in their homes.

West Lafayette: An agreement that will bring $75 million over the next 10 years to Purdue’s West Lafayette campus has officially been signed between the university and Rolls-Royce. Backed up by over 70 years of partnership, the relationship between Purdue and Rolls-Royce has been highlighted through millions of dollars invested in aerospace testing technology, graduate student research fellowships, and 600-plus Purdue alumni in Rolls-Royce’s workforce, according to a release from the university. The funds from this agreement will go toward gas turbine and electrical and digital technology research, with most of the investment going towards Zucrow Laboratories. In April, Purdue also announced plans for a $73 million, 55,000-square-foot propulsion laboratory for hypersonic technologies in Purdue’s Discovery Park District. “Purdue’s research partnership with Rolls-Royce will address some of the greatest technology challenges facing the U.S,” Purdue President Mitch Daniels said in the release. “Our faculty and students will work on advanced technology capabilities to ensure long-term national security. This will enhance the university’s role as a world leader in engineering research.”

Des Moines: Families could soon be able to open-enroll their children in other school districts at any point during the year after the Legislature passed a bill last week that removes a March 1 deadline. Republicans framed the legislation as a way to give parents more choice about how their children are educated, while Democrats said it could undermine school districts’ ability to set a budget by April 15 every year, as they are required to do by law. The change was passed as part of the final budget bill of the year. The last-minute push to expand open enrollment in Iowa came after Republicans’ education agenda for the year largely collapsed. Just before the annual legislative session adjourned, House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Harford, said House Republicans lacked the votes to pass a proposal from Gov. Kim Reynolds that would have given families taxpayer-funded scholarships to pay private school expenses. Other GOP-backed policies that would have required schools to post their curriculum and library books online also fell by the wayside before the legislative session ended early Wednesday morning. Throughout the legislative session, Republicans have criticized school districts around the state for policies with which they say parents disagree, which they say show parents need other options.

Topeka: Visitors to the Statehouse will soon be able to honor Gold Star families who have lost a family member in the line of military duty. Senate Bill 330 authorizes the construction of a memorial honoring Kansas Gold Star families. It passed the Legislature unanimously and was signed by Gov. Laura Kelly. The Capitol Preservation Committee is tasked with approving plans for a permanent memorial on Statehouse grounds. The monument will be on the Veterans’ Walk along the sidewalk at the southwest entrance. Public funds cannot be used for the project, which will depend on gifts and other funding.

Frankfort: Incoming high school seniors who have previously taken the ACT will be eligible to retake the standardized test for free, Gov. Andy Beshear said. A statewide ACT retake day will be held this fall on a date chosen by Kentucky’s Department of Education. More information on the date and locations will be shared with schools in the coming months, Beshear said.

New Orleans: Seventeen years after Hurricane Katrina flooded the city, the Army Corps of Engineers has completed an extensive system of floodgates, strengthened levees and added other protections. The 130-mile ring is designed to hold out a storm surge of about 30 feet around New Orleans and suburbs in three parishes. Congress provided $14.5 billion for what is formally called the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System and related projects. It included two features the Corps described as the world’s largest – a pumping station and a 1.8-mile barrier that can be closed against storm surges. The levees stood up to Hurricane Ida in 2021, though some suburbs outside the system flooded.

Augusta: A settlement approved for the University of Maine at Augusta president who bowed out amid controversy ensures he will be paid at least $235,000 in the first year. Michael Laliberte will receive an additional $30,000 for a housing allowance on top of his $205,000 salary, which will be paid in a lump sum July 1, the Kennebec Journal reports. If he fails to obtain another job, then he will receive his full salary for another two years, or he will receive the balance if he receives a lower-paying job. University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy was taken to task for failing to disclose to a search committee that Laliberte was the subject of no-confidence votes in his previous job, at State University of New York at Delhi. Malloy has found himself on the receiving end of several no-confidence votes since the controversy began. Malloy, a former Democratic governor of Connecticut, has apologized for the handling of the job search, and Laliberte announced he was declining to take the job as scheduled Aug. 1. The settlement isn’t sitting well with some, especially after nine faculty members were cut the University of Maine at Farmington.

Annapolis: Gov. Larry Hogan announced vetoes of 18 bills Friday, including a measure that would have allowed voters who forget to sign their mail-in ballot envelope to do so after mailing it to get it counted. The Republican governor also vetoed a bill that would have allowed union dues to be tax-deductible, as well as a measure that would have stayed eviction proceedings against tenants who could show they are awaiting a determination about rental assistance. The Maryland General Assembly, which has a supermajority of Democrats, won’t have the chance to override these vetoes when lawmakers convene in January for their regular 90-day session because it is the last year of the term.

Boston: It took more than three centuries, but Elizabeth Johnson Jr., the last Salem “witch” who wasn’t officially pardoned, has been cleared of her supposed crime. Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday formally exonerated Johnson, clearing her name 329 years after she was convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and sentenced to death at the height of the Salem Witch Trials. Johnson was never executed, but neither was she officially pardoned like others wrongly accused of witchcraft. Lawmakers agreed to reconsider her case last year after a curious eighth grade civics class at North Andover Middle School took up her cause and researched the legislative steps needed to clear her name.

Lansing: Two more Republican candidates for governor are suing to get on the Aug. 2 primary ballot, just days before the lineup must be settled. James Craig filed a lawsuit Friday night in the Court of Claims, while Michael Markey went to the Court of Appeals on Sunday. They were declared ineligible last week, the result of a tie vote by the Board of State Canvassers. State election officials said they didn’t meet the 15,000-signature threshold because of fraudulent signatures on petitions. Perry Johnson and Donna Brandenburg also didn’t make the ballot. Johnson filed a lawsuit Friday. There seems to be no dispute that fraudulent signatures were turned in by paid circulators, though there’s no evidence that the candidates were aware of the scam. The candidates want courts to order the board to put them on the ballot. They said the elections bureau should have inspected petitions line by line. In Johnson’s case, the appeals court said it could make a decision Tuesday. Five other Republican candidates landed a ballot spot, including Tudor Dixon, a former conservative TV news host who has the backing of Betsy DeVos, head of the U.S. Education Department during the Trump administration.

Lafayette: The owner of a rural weekly newspaper in southern Minnesota is looking to give his publication away so he can travel to Ukraine. Minnesota Public Radio reports Lafayette-Nicollet Ledger owner and publisher Lee Zion is willing to dig trenches, teach school or fight in Ukraine. Before he leaves, he wants to give the newspaper away for free. Zion produces the newspaper by himself, reporting, editing and laying out pages for about 500 subscribers, and wants to make sure a person committed to local journalism takes over. He said the towns he covers would suffer if the newspaper disappeared.

Jackson: Troublesome incidents involving female ride-share passengers and drivers have increased enough to prompt a local entrepreneur to come up with a new business, WLVT-TV reports. Literally Just Ladies is the first of its kind in the Magnolia State, Leigh Sullivan said, and she hopes it will offer safer transportation. She said an app for the company is being developed. Sullivan has been a ride-share driver in Jackson’s metro area for more than six years after doing the same work in her native New Orleans before coming to Mississippi. “And every single time I pick up a female at night, early morning, trying to get to the airport trying to get home from the airport, the first words I hear are, ‘I’m so glad it’s a woman. Thank God, it’s a woman,’ ” she said. Sullivan said she had tossed around the idea of an all-female wing of her transportation business for a while because of the feedback she was getting from her passengers. “And then Nov. 2, my friend Brandy got shot here in Jackson. She got shot seven times. And that was probably the defining moment, like, OK, now is the time.” Brandy Littrell, 36, a Lyft driver, was kidnapped Nov. 2, taken to a wooded area and shot seven times, miraculously surviving the attack.

Springfield: A swastika was painted on the outside wall of a historically Black church in southwestern Missouri, and police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime. Pitts Chapel United Methodist Church in Springfield reported the swastika was spray-painted on the building May 18 or 19. The NAACP and the Missouri chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the vandalism. A county parks crew removed the swastika. Pitts Chapel is Springfield’s oldest historically Black church, the Rev. Tracy Wolff said. It was founded in 1847 by a group of enslaved Africans.

Billings: A federal judge has given U.S. wildlife officials 18 months to decide if wolverines should be protected under the Endangered Species Act, following years of dispute over how much risk climate change and other threats pose to the rare and elusive predators. The order from U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy came after environmentalists challenged a 2020 decision under the Trump administration to withhold protections for the animals in the lower 48 states, where no more than 300 are thought to remain. Wildlife officials have previously estimated that 250 to 300 wolverines survive in remote areas of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington state. The animals in recent years also have been documented in California, Utah, Colorado and Oregon.

Omaha: Police arrested a 20-year-old man who had been going door-to-door with a chain saw after he caused a disturbance near a local school. Police said the man was about a quarter of a mile west of the Omaha Veterans Administration Center with the chain saw Friday morning in what they called an attempt to “make money.” Police said a homeowner confronted the man. They argued, and the man threatened the homeowner, who then chased the man. The man dropped his chain saw, but the homeowner tackled him another quarter of a mile to the west, near Holy Cross Catholic Church and its school. Police said the man tried to enter the school to get away from the homeowner, with no intent “to cause harm to anyone inside.” Police said they found several drug pipes on the man. He was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and possessing drug paraphernalia.

Las Vegas: A high school honors student said in federal court that he’s being bullied by students and harassed by campus administrators who search him for a gun every time someone identifies him on a state hotline that invites anonymous reports of school threats. “I’m a student, not a threat,” Reno High School junior Lucas Gorelick, 16, told the Associated Press. “I have rights. I want people to know what is happening, and I want to ensure safety for all future students.” A lawsuit filed May 23 in U.S. District Court in Reno argued school district officials have violated Gorelick’s constitutional rights to equal protection and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. He said his backpack and pickup truck were searched five times in two weeks based on anonymous tips, but no weapon was found. He also noted he has been the target of other incidents he termed “bullying situations” that he traced to his Jewish heritage, his work with Democratic party candidates and his school achievements. His father, Jeff Gorelick, characterized a state Department of Education hotline called SafeVoice – established in 2017 after approval from the Legislature – as “an unthinking system” that grants anonymity to bullies.

Concord: Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law a $100 million fund to settle sexual and physical abuse claims at a state-run youth detention center. The Legislature approved creating a fund to compensate those who were abused as children at the Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly the Youth Development Center. The Manchester center has been the target of a criminal investigation since 2019, and 11 former workers were arrested last year. Nearly 450 former residents have sued the state, with allegations involving more than 150 staffers from 1963 to 2018. Victims of sexual abuse would be eligible for payments of up to $1.5 million each, while payments to victims of physical abuse would be capped at $150,000. The center is named for former Gov. John H. Sununu, the current governor’s father.

Trenton: The state Department of Environmental Protection will distribute $21.4million to counties and municipalities as part of the Clean Communities program to reduce litter and beautify the Garden State. The funding includes just under $19.1 million on the municipal level and $2.3 million awarded to the state’s 21 counties, said DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette. The money represents an increase of about $700,000 over the $20.7 million allocated for the 2021 fiscal year. The additional grant funds will help communities improve their local environments and improve quality of life by removing litter, including from roadways and around stormwater collection systems, LaTourette said. “These community-level efforts have far-reaching impacts across the state, from beautifying neighborhoods to improving water quality and enhancing wildlife habitats,” he said. Counties and municipalities can use the grants to promote litter-related activities such as cleanups and to purchase equipment for the activities. The money can also be used to adopt and enforce anti-littering ordinances and boost public information programs. “We are grateful for funding that helps keep New Jersey litter-free,” said JoAnn Gemenden, executive director of the New Jersey Clean Communities Council.

Santa Fe: Students at Mora High School laughed and danced during their prom with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham at the Governor’s Mansion on Thursday night – a silver lining for students during a tumultuous end to the school year. Many students were forced to flee their homes by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in recent weeks, and some had only recently returned. Some students arrived decked out in suits and gowns, while others stuck to their roots, showing up in cowboy hats, jeans and boots. Spanish and country music boomed through speakers as students two-stepped across the governor’s back patio. Lujan Grisham said she couldn’t throw a party and sit on the sidelines, so she jumped in to dance the “Cupid Shuffle” with students, state Sen. Leo Jaramillo, D-Española, and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández. “I’m just elated that we could do this for the kids,” said New Mexico Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus. “I’ve chaperoned a lot of proms – this one’s a little different than I’ve done before.” Lujan Grisham told the Albuquerque Journal a lot of work went into making sure students knew they had a “whole state that cares about their happiness and well-being.”

New York: Police say someone busted into the altar at a Brooklyn church, stole a $2 million gold relic and removed the head from a statue of an angel at some point late last week. The incident happened between 6:30 p.m. Thursday and 4 p.m. Saturday at St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church, known as the “Notre Dame” of Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. The church was closed for construction at the time. Camera recordings from the church’s security system were also stolen, the church’s pastor said. The Diocese of Brooklyn called it “a brazen crime of disrespect and hate.” The diocese said the thief or thieves cut through a metal protective casing and made off with a tabernacle dating to the church’s opening in the 1890s. The tabernacle, a box containing Holy Communion items, was made of 18-carat gold and decorated with jewels, police and the diocese said. It’s valued at $2 million. The diocese said it is irreplaceable because of its historical and artistic value. According to a guidebook posted on the church’s website, the tabernacle was built in 1895 and restored in 1952 and 2000. It’s described as a “masterpiece and one of the most expensive tabernacles in the country, guarded by its own security system,” which involves an “electronically operated burglar-proof safe” and 1-inch-thick steel plates that “completely enclose the tabernacle.” Holy Eucharist, bread consecrated as the body of Christ, was taken from the tabernacle and thrown on the altar.

Wilmington: New Hanover County School Board member Nelson Beaulieu might be out of a job in November. With all absentee and provisional ballots counted, Beaulieu fell behind newcomer Jennah Bosch for the final Democratic nomination for the school board race this fall. But it’s still unknown if that result will hold. Beaulieu is only behind Bosch by two votes, with not even 0.01% of the vote separating them. Beaulieu held a three-vote lead at the end of election night with all precincts reporting, but Bosch overcame that during the official canvass when absentee ballots were counted. With the canvass complete, the results are official, and as of now, Bosch will join Judy Justice, Dorian Cromartie and Veronica McLaurin-Brown as the Democratic candidates in the general election for school board in November. Beaulieu said he has not decided if he will demand a recount. Candidates are allowed to demand recounts if there is less than a 1% split between themselves and the lowest prevailing candidate. With such a slim margin between the candidates, a recount could change the result.

Bismarck: The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map showed 19% of the state in some form of drought, down from 21% two weeks ago and 80% three months ago, The Bismarck Tribune reports. Three-fourths of the state was suffering through either extreme or exceptional drought in May 2021. The western fourth of the state is still abnormally dry, but no severe, extreme or exceptional drought conditions exist anywhere in the state. Most of the state saw at least a half-inch of rain over the past week, which has helped improve conditions in western North Dakota.

Columbus: Gov. Mike DeWine announced plans Friday to spend “a significant amount of money” on efforts to ensure every school building in the state is properly protected against an attack. The Republican governor said he has asked the state schools superintendent for an assessment of which schools need such infrastructure additions within the next few days. DeWine did not name a figure but said: “This is not going to be cheap.” He also did not detail the types of security measures, which based on measures some schools already have in place might range from metal detectors to classroom barricade devices.

Taft: Authorities said a 26-year-old man was in custody after one person was killed and seven people were injured in a shooting early Sunday at an outdoor town festival in eastern Oklahoma, where witnesses described frantic people running for cover amid gunfire. An arrest warrant was issued for Skyler Buckner, and he turned himself in to the Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday afternoon, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. OSBI said those shot at the Memorial Day event in Taft, located about 45 miles southeast of Tulsa, ranged in age from 9 to 56. A 39-year-old woman was killed, OSBI said. The injuries of those wounded were considered non-life-threatening. OSBI had earlier said two juveniles were injured in the shooting but said Sunday afternoon that only one juvenile was injured. Witnesses said an argument preceded the gunfire just after midnight, the agency said. About 1,500 people attended the event in Taft, which usually has a population of just a few hundred people. Members of the Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office were in attendance and immediately began rendering aid, OSBI said. Gov. Kevin Stitt said on Twitter that he was grateful for the OSBI’s “swift response to assist local police.”

Salem: It could be a dangerous boating and floating season on the North Santiam River. Downed trees have created one complete blockage in the river and two other major hazard points between Stayton and Jefferson. There haven’t been many incidents so far this season due to cool and wet weather, but with the river running higher than normal, warm weather approaching and potentially good fishing on the way, officials are warning boaters about the hazardous locations as the summer float season gets underway. “The amount of trees in the North Santiam has increased significantly this past year, and there are a fair number of obstructions,” said Brian Paulsen, boating safety program manager for the Oregon State Marine Board. “With high and cold water, there’s a high risk for everyone.” Many of the hazards come from numerous trees killed in the Labor Day fires that have been washed downstream and gotten trapped in certain areas of the river, particularly between Buell-Miller County Park boat ramp, Greens Bridge and Jefferson. The logs can capsize boats and sweep people into “strainers,” where strong current traps people against branches and limbs, sometimes leading to drowning. All reported obstructions statewide can be pinpointed on the Marine Board’s reported waterway obstruction dashboard.

Dent’s Run: A scientific analysis commissioned by the FBI shortly before agents went digging for buried treasure suggested that a huge quantity of gold could be below the surface, according to newly released government documents and photos that deepen the mystery of the 2018 excavation in remote western Pennsylvania. The report, by a geophysicist who performed microgravity testing at the site, hinted at an underground object with a mass of up to 9 tons and a density consistent with gold. The FBI used the consultant’s work to obtain a warrant to seize the gold – if there was any to be found. The government has long claimed its dig was a bust. But a father-son pair of treasure hunters who spent years hunting for the fabled Civil War-era gold – and who led agents to the woodland site, hoping for a finder’s fee – suspect the FBI double-crossed them and made off with a cache that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The newly revealed geophysical survey was part of a court-ordered release of government records on the FBI’s treasure hunt at Dent’s Run, about 135 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, where legend says an 1863 shipment of Union gold was either lost or stolen on its way to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.

Providence: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked Brown University graduates Sunday to “hold on to your hope,” even when faced with darkness in the world right now. “Amid the darkness, it would be easy to descend into apathy or despair. But we can’t. We can’t,” Pelosi said at the Ivy League school in Providence. The California Democrat referenced the “senseless” shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York – as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the looming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights, the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and voter suppression. “You’re graduating into a vastly different world,” she said, congratulating the students on their bravery and resilience. Referencing President Abraham Lincoln’s efforts to unite the country during “one of America’s darkest hours,” Pelosi called on the graduates “to help summon the better angels of our nature to help heal America’s fractured soul.” Pelosi was the principal speaker for the Class of 2022 commencement ceremony and one of nine people to receive an honorary degree during the three-day commencement weekend. Recording artist Shaggy was also honored Saturday for his work as a musician and a philanthropist.

Columbia: Scientists are looking for volunteers to help them study the differences in heat across short distances in the city. A sensor will be put on the car window of volunteers who will then drive certain routes to get exact temperature readings, University of South Carolina professor Kirstin Dow told WLTX-TV. Dow is part of a mapping project paid for by the National Integrated Heat Health Information System to identify and research heat islands, or small areas that are hotter than their surroundings just feet away. That data can help determine the best materials to use for buildings or ground cover or how important trees are to cooling off as temperatures are expected to get hotter. A similar mapping project was done in Charleston last summer and determined the influence of the sea breeze doesn’t extend far inland, said Scott Curtis, the director of the Near Center for Climate Studies, which helped Charleston with the study. “One of the areas that was the hottest was the port. And not because it was near the water – because there is lots of asphalt, lots of concrete, there’s just no vegetation at all,” Curtis said.

Sioux Falls: More than 60 Indigenous students celebrated their high school graduation in a special ceremony Friday. The Sioux Falls School District has held a senior honoring ceremony specifically for Indigenous students for at least a decade, said Anna Brokenleg, instructional coach and teacher on special assignment for the Office of Indian Education for the district. A total of 90 Native American students will graduate from Sioux Falls public schools this year, Brokenleg said, counting 60 who were able to attend Friday night’s ceremony, ahead of graduation for all four public high schools Sunday. “Historically, when you look at graduation rates for Native students, they’re often very low,” Brokenleg said, explaining why it’s important to honor these students in a culturally relevant manner. “Hearing from a variety of elders and professionals allows them to see a mirror of the kinds of things they can be in life … and to have a gathering for families to be able to celebrate with them, and the hard work they’ve put in … it’s a really important thing to do.” The honoring ceremony started with an opening prayer, songs by Crazy Bull, and a presentation of the U.S. and South Dakota flags, as well as an eagle feather staff, by veterans. Three speakers gave addresses, then a group of student leaders carried in their tribal flags.

Nashville: Gov. Bill Lee has signed off on a new campaign finance and ethics face-lift, bucking objections from some of the state’s most influential advocacy groups who opposed the measure. “I think that transparency is a good idea,” Lee told reporters earlier this month. “I think that whenever we have transparency into organizations that politically lobby, that’s a good thing.” The Republican governor signed the measure Friday. The move comes as a federal investigation has hovered over the GOP-controlled General Assembly for over a year that has so far led to one Republican lawmaker pleading guilty to a federal wire fraud charge over allegations she helped carry out a political consulting kickback scheme. However, even as the statehouse’s top legislative leaders called for campaign ethics reform amid the ongoing investigation scandals, so-called dark money groups have remained fiercely opposed to the new changes. Many argued the law will result in them disclosing donors. Opponents include Americans for Prosperity, Tennessee Right to Life and the National Rifle Association. Supporters counter that the new law will shine a light on expenditures, not donors. Specifically, certain politically active nonprofits must disclose spending totaling at least $5,000 within 60 days of an election on communications that contain a state candidate’s name or likeness. The measure also states that political committee leadership must provide identification.

Austin: A man has been sentenced to six years in prison for setting fire to the Travis County Democratic Party office in downtown Austin. Federal court records showed Ryan Faircloth, 31, of San Antonio, was sentenced Friday to 72 months in prison after pleading guilty in January to arson for throwing a Molotov cocktail into the office in September. An attorney for Faircloth did not immediately return a phone call for comment Saturday. Faircloth, who was arrested days after the attack, had faced up to 20 years in prison before reaching a plea agreement in the case. No one was in the office when it was attacked about 2 a.m. Only a small stack of papers caught fire, officials have said, and the blaze was quickly extinguished by employees of a neighboring business.

Syracuse: Ninth graders at Syracuse Arts Academy asked a science teacher whose gender transition they witnessed to be their graduation speaker. Bree Borrowman began transitioning two years ago, when the students were seventh graders, and they supported her at every step in her journey, she said. So she was especially touched when student body officers asked her to be the one to send them off on their own new journey. As as far as she can tell, she may be the first transgender person ever to speak at a graduation event in Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. “Each one of you is absolutely brilliant, beautiful and wonderful,” Borrowman told the group of 132 ninth graders at the public charter school. “However, feelings of shame and guilt from outside influences can often make us feel less than and unloved. … You are not alone. I love you. And my door is always open.” Parents, administrators and former students waited in a group around Borrowman after the ceremony to thank her for her speech. Some said it made them think of how they can be more supportive of their family members and friends who are LGBTQ. Borrowman, 65, grew up in Bountiful and has lived in Utah nearly all of her life.

Weybridge: The remains of a Revolutionary War soldier are being moved to a resting place elsewhere in the state because erosion threatens some of the graves at an old cemetery near a riverbank. Josiah Clark, who fought in the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts, was buried in the Stow cemetery in Weybridge in 1835. Erosion over the years left his grave perched on the edge of a steep eroding bank, so his bones were exhumed in 2019. This month a horse-drawn wagon carried a flag-draped coffin containing Clark from the congregational church to another cemetery nearby for a reinterment ceremony. The rest of the roughly 20 graves will also be moved to the Old Weybridge Hill Cemetery eventually, including the remains of Revolutionary War soldier William Haven.

Richmond: Legislative leaders are proposing a new criminal misdemeanor in state law for possession of more than 4 ounces of marijuana in public. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the proposal is included in a new two-year state budget plan, which became publicly available online Sunday evening. The General Assembly will meet Wednesday in special session to consider the budget. The language on marijuana – like much of the budget agreement – followed discussions that were not held in public. The budget compromise backed by House Appropriations Chairman Barry Knight, a Republican, and Senate Finance and Appropriations Chair Janet Howell, a Democrat, would write into law that anyone caught in public with more than 4 ounces of marijuana would be guilty of a Class 3 criminal misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $500, plus a criminal record. A second or subsequent offense would be a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of the group Marijuana Justice Virginia, along with heads of other organizations, blasted the proposal in an email sent to Howell on Sunday evening. “Please stop finding more ways to criminalize Virginians,” she wrote.

Seattle: Gov. Jay Inslee’s appointments to an obscure regulatory panel have cost the state $70,000 in a public records lawsuit settlement and forced the governor to name new appointees. The dispute centered on Inslee’s handling of appointments to the Washington State Building Code Council, which establishes minimum standards for new construction, including rules for energy efficiency, plumbing and fire safety, The Seattle Times reports. State law says two of the council’s 15 members must be nominated by trade associations representing residential and commercial builders. But Inslee last year ignored builder group recommendations and instead named two of his own picks. The Building Industry Association of Washington and the Associated General Contractors of Washington sued over the appointments and filed another lawsuit saying the governor’s office failed to turn over relevant documents after a public records request. The state later admitted that a member of Inslee’s staff had made a material false statement in a sworn court declaration by saying one of Inslee’s nominees had been put forward by another building trade group, when he had not.

Charleston: After more than a half-century of carrying visitors on scenic round-trip journeys to the depths of two river gorges, the aerial tramways serving Hawks Nest and Pipestem Resort state parks soon will be replaced. West Virginia State Parks officials are hopeful new, improved aerial tramways will be operating at the two parks next year. The Hawks Nest aerial tramway has been closed since June 6, when a routine morning inspection by the state park’s staff turned up a safety issue that required substantial remediation. “Since then, we’ve shuttled 7,600 people down to the marina to ride the jet boat,” said Joe Baughman, the park’s superintendent. The shuttle involves a van trip from Hawks Nest’s lodge to Ansted, about a mile to the east, followed by a 4-mile descent to Hawks Nest Lake on Mill Creek Road. The Hawks Nest tramway, which opened in 1970, typically carries more than 45,000 visitors annually on steep, 800-foot descents from the lodge to a marina on Hawks Nest Lake at the base of the New River Gorge. The aerial tramway at Pipestem, which began operating in 1972, carries visitors nearly two-thirds of a mile, descending from the rim of Bluestone Canyon and crossing the Bluestone River before arriving at Mountain Creek Lodge. The trip involves an 1,100-foot drop in elevation and six minutes of sightseeing time.

Madison: When Wisconsin Republicans asked the public to report concerns about the 2020 election, voters flocked to the web to submit tips – often about the very officials conducting the probe. “There is a very disturbed man ranting like a lunatic and telling provable lies about the election in order to undermine election integrity,” one person wrote in April. “Not only that, he’s stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from taxpayers by pretending to do a legitimate investigation. This is fraud at the highest levels and he literally advocated nullifying the votes of Wisconsin. Please stop this flagrant fraud asap.” The submission was similar to dozens of others filed over the past year that taunt Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester and former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman for budgeting $676,000 for a review of a presidential election that recounts, court decisions and independent studies have concluded was properly called for President Joe Biden. Few submissions contained concrete tips about the way the election was run. Some were vague. Others were unhinged. The messages were submitted over the past year to a wifraud.com, a website set up by Gableman. He recently shut down the site but continues to maintain two others, wielectionreview.org and wispecialcounsel.org.

Casper: Organizers of a planned abortion clinic say they won’t be deterred by last week’s potential arson. When they settled on a summer opening for the women’s health clinic earlier this year, they felt upbeat about their plans even as they knew they would face opposition to what will be the only such clinic to offer abortions in the state. There were the expected protests and harassing messages. Things got more tense after a leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that, if finalized, would likely make abortions illegal in Wyoming and half of the states. Then last week, their building was damaged by a fire police believe was deliberately set. None of it has derailed plans to open the clinic – a rarity in heavily Republican parts of the United States where most abortion providers at the moment are fighting just to stay in business, let alone expand services. “We can’t be bullied into submission,” Julie Burkhart, the clinic founder, said as she watched from across the street as Casper police and firefighters investigated the blaze.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports