Star Wars
Most Star Wars fans among you probably knew that the spaceship of the bounty hunter Boba Fett is called "Slave I." But that will probably no longer be the case from now on, because Disney has apparently decided not to use this term in the future.This was the result of the first LEGO Con last weekend. Among other things, there was the presentation of some new sets from the Star Wars universe. The focus was also on Boba Fett's spaceship, which will be called exactly that in the future - "Boba Fett's Starship". As the Jedi News magazine learned from Jens Kronvold Frederiksen and Michael Lee Stockwell (both Lego designers), this was done at Disney's explicit request. As Frederiksen explained:
"Everyone is doing it (no longer using the name 'Slave I'). It may be something that has not yet been officially announced. But it is something that Disney no longer wants to use . "
The two Lego designers did not provide a more detailed explanation of how the name change came about. But it seems reasonable to assume that this is an effect of the major "Black Lives Matter" protests in the recent past. As a result, many companies began to dispense with or remove terms such as "slave" and master ("master") when naming their products. This rethinking should now have arrived at Disney too.
Source: Jedi News
‘Star Wars’ X-wing lands in DC, Disney delays cruise, Truman museum: News from around our 50 states
Alabama
© Jake Crandall/ Advertiser Mac McCutcheon, 68, was first elected to the state House in 2006 and has served as Speaker since 2016.Montgomery: State House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said he will not seek reelection next year. McCutcheon, 68, said in a statement that he is stepping away from politics to spend time with his family and to do some traveling with his wife during retirement. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to represent the people of District 25 in the House and the citizens of the State of Alabama as speaker, but after four terms it’s time to go home,” McCutcheon said. McCutcheon, a Republican from Monrovia, is a former police officer and crisis negotiator. He was first elected to the House in 2006. He served as the chairman of the influential House Rules Committee, which decides which bills come up for debate, from 2012 to 2016. A new speaker will be selected in the organizational session in 2023.
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Juneau: The state House reached in dramatic fashion an agreement that Gov. Mike Dunleavy said would avert a government shutdown. House Speaker Louise Stutes indicated the outcome was not assured when she called the House to order, and House Minority Leader Cathy Tilton, who had been negotiating with Stutes, said things were “absolutely, completely close” to unraveling. Involved was adoption of a statement of the House, calling for creation of a House-Senate working group to make recommendations on a “comprehensive fiscal plan” for the next special session. There also was another vote on the effective date provisions attached to the state spending package lawmakers approved earlier this month. Those provisions failed in the House at that time but squeaked by on Monday. The new fiscal year starts Thursday.
ArizonaChandler: A new casino will open on Gila River Indian Community land south of Chandler, the tribe recently announced. This will be the tribe’s fourth casino, allowed because of Arizona Native American tribes’ newly negotiated tribal compact with the state. Before, the Gila River Indian Community was allowed three casinos, which it operates at Wild Horse Pass and Lone Butte in Chandler and Vee Quiva in Laveen. The new casino will be on community trust land south of Gilbert Road and Hunt Highway, outside Chandler’s southern border. The casino is expected to open in 11/2 to 2 years. Gov. Doug Ducey in April signed a historic agreement with Arizona’s tribes, marking the biggest update to gambling in the state in decades. In addition to allowing sports betting, the compact provides for casino expansions and at least four new casinos, including at least two in metro Phoenix.
ArkansasFort Smith: The River Valley Regional Food Bank and Antioch for Youth and Family have partnered to fill in the gap with the Summer Picnic Basket for Kids program. The Summer Picnic Basket for Kids program was made possible through a grant from Feeding America. The program was designed to help students attending eight elementary schools with the highest levels of food insecurity in Fort Smith. Arkansas ranked fourth-highest in the nation for child food insecurity in 2020, according to Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger relief organization. A 2019 study conducted by the Urban Institute found that 1 in 4 children was food-insecure in Sebastian County. Food insecurity refers to the lack of access to enough food and the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods for a healthy, active lifestyle, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
CaliforniaLos Angeles: Health officials in Los Angeles County now strongly recommend that people wear masks indoors in public places – regardless of their vaccination status – to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus. The move came two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom reopened California and lifted the statewide mask mandate. The LA County recommendation – which is not a mandate – in the nation’s most populous county does not match what the state government and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, which is that vaccinated people in certain public indoor settings do not need to be masked. Unvaccinated people are supposed to wear masks in public. The World Health Organization, however, is urging vaccinated people to wear masks as cases of the delta variant spike worldwide, which was first identified in India. Hong Kong said it will ban all passenger flights from the U.K. starting Thursday. More than 95% of COVID-19 cases in the U.K. are of the delta variant.
ColoradoGlenwood Springs: A portion of Interstate 70 in western Colorado was closed Monday following a series of mudslides triggered by rainfall over the weekend near where a wildfire burned last year. Although eastbound lanes of I-70 through Glenwood Canyon were expected to open later in the day because of cleanup work overnight, there is no estimate for when westbound lanes of the highway will reopen, the Colorado Department of Transportation said. The largest of the mudslides that happened on Sunday along Colorado’s main east-west highway flowed down the same drainage as the one that happened Saturday along the Grizzly Creek Fire burn scar, the Glenwood Post Independent reported. The fire, which started in August, burned about 51 square miles. Sunday’s main mudslide reached 80 feet wide and 5 feet deep in areas. Travelers might have to expect on-and-off closures of I-70 in Glenwood Canyon when rainfall is expected in the area this summer, said Kane Schneider, a CDOT transportation maintenance employee.
ConnecticutHartford: Gov. Ned Lamont’s office said rebates under the state’s Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate program will increase to between $750 and $7,500, depending on the type of vehicle purchased. That’s up from between $500 and $5,000. The state is also extending the program to the purchase of used electric vehicles. Connecticut has about 7,000 electric vehicles on its roads, the administration said. The administration estimated that state consumers need to be driving 125,000 to 150,000 electric vehicles by 2025 and 500,000 by 2030 to meet the state’s statutorily mandated greenhouse gas reduction target. The move comes the same day the administration announced it has been awarded a $7.4 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration for the purchase of 10 battery electric buses and 10 DC fast chargers. The buses are earmarked for CTtransit’s Waterbury division and will help make that city’s bus depot the first bus facility in the state capable of running a 100% battery electric bus transit fleet, the governor’s office said.
DelawareWilmington: City officials are reminding area residents that city pools are open and free electric fans are available for eligible older adults as dangerous hot temperatures and high humidity are expected to linger through at least Wednesday. The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning for New Castle County through 8 p.m. Wednesday. The temperature Monday afternoon at New Castle County Airport was 90 degrees and was expected to climb to a high of 92 degrees. Wilmington Parks Director Ian Smith said most city pools and spray parks are now open with COVID-19 health protocols in place. The city operates five indoor and outdoor pools, but the Foster Brown Pool is closed for repairs and the P.S. du Pont Middle School indoor pool does not open until July. The three operating pools, William 'Hicks' Anderson Community Center Pool, Eden Park Pool and Joseph R. Biden Jr. Aquatic Center (formerly Prices Pool), are staffed by Red Cross-certified lifeguards and have changing facilities and showers. There is no cost to use the pools during public swim hours. The city also operates six water spray parks daily from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. City residents who want a free fan must bring a photo ID showing proof of age and address to the lobby of the Louis L. Redding City/County Building, 800 N. French St., Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., or call the City Customer Service Center by dialing 311.
District of ColumbiaWashington: Starting in 2022, the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum will display an X-Wing Starfighter model from the latest 'Star Wars' trilogy, WUSA-TV reported. The X-wing will sit at the entrance of the museum's Albert Einstein Planetarium, located on the National Mall. The detailed replica with a 37-foot wingspan is housed at the museum's reservation hanger in Fairfax County for restorations, where it is also on public display. 'Star Wars introduced generations of fans here on Earth to outer space as a setting for adventure and exploration,” said Margaret Weitekamp, chair of space history at the museum. “All air-and-space milestones begin with inspiration, and science fiction so often provides that spark. The iconic X-wing displayed amid our other spacecraft celebrates the journey from imagination to achievement.” The Smithsonian did not provide a specific date in 2022 for when the X-Wing would be moved to its main site. Lucasfilm -- the producing studio of the 'Star Wars' series -- has indefinitely lent the model to the Smithsonian Institute. The museum previously curated a 1997 'Star Wars: The Magic of Myth' exhibit that displayed props and costumes from the original trilogy. The museum remains closed because of COVID-19 restrictions, though it is set to reopen July 31.
FloridaCape Canaveral: Disney Cruise Line is postponing its first test cruise since the pandemic brought the cruise industry to a standstill after a handful of participants had inconsistent test results for the coronavirus, the company said. The Disney Dream had been scheduled to set sail Tuesday from Port Canaveral, Florida, with 300 employees who had volunteered for the “simulation” cruise. But the trip was postponed until next month, pending approvals, because a small number of employees had inconsistent results for the coronavirus, “which is considered positive by the CDC,” Disney said in a statement. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had approved the cruise line’s request to conduct a two-night test cruise. The federal government is starting to allow cruises to sail again, but only if nearly all passengers and crew are vaccinated against the virus. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning business from requiring proof of vaccination, so cruise lines must prove the effectiveness of their COVID-19 safety protocols on test cruises. Last weekend, Celebrity Edge departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida, becoming the first cruise ship to leave a U.S. port in 15 months.
GeorgiaSocial Circle: A federal grant has been awarded to sample, grow and save 14 rare plant species in Georgia. The $780,000 grant will support work by a partnership led by the state Department of Natural Resources, the agency said in a news release. It will also increase the capacity to preserve plants at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Atlanta Botanical Garden and the Chattahoochee Nature Center and to spread expertise and support to others in the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Challenge grant was awarded for a five-year project to protect the 14 plants, which are all listed as endangered or threatened by federal authorities, and to all members to the alliance to help do that work. Safeguarding the plants includes protecting species’ genetic stock, growing the plants in a nursery and planting them in the wild, the release says. Protecting and restoring habitats is also crucial to saving at-risk plants.
HawaiiLihue: Officials want to study parking lots at crowded beach parks on the Hawaiian island of Kauai and explore the possibility of imposing fees on tourists’ vehicles. Kauai has allocated $30,000 of the county’s federal coronavirus relief money to study parking at Poipu, Lydgate and Hanalei’s Black Pot beach parks, The Garden Island reported Monday. The measure that directs the Department of Parks and Recreation to conduct the study was in the works before the COVID-19 pandemic, when Kauai was feeling the strain of too many tourists, Councilmember Luke Evslin said. When officials imposed travel restrictions to try to protect Hawaii against the spread of the virus, there were days when fewer than 100 people entered Kauai County. Now that restrictions are easing, more than 32,000 people traveled to the state one day last week, with more than 2,500 going to Kauai, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. The ordinance allows the parks department to impose parking fees on visitors and directs it to conduct a study to determine those rates. The department will be facilitating the study but would need council approval to enact such a program. Violating the parking fees would come with a $100 fine for the first offense. More than two offenses would mean a fine of up to $500.
IdahoRigby: The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said a woman drowned in eastern Idaho on Sunday after she became trapped in a log jam. The 50-year-old woman and her husband were kayaking on the Snake River near Rigby when the accident happened about 5 p.m., EastIdahoNews.com reported. The sheriff’s office said in a prepared statement that the woman’s kayak overturned in the log jam, causing her to be pinned underwater against the logs and current. It took first responders about an hour to recover the woman’s body, the sheriff’s office said. The woman and her husband are both from Jefferson County. Authorities did not release their names.
IllinoisNaperville: A man who said he sprayed trees in a suburban Chicago park to protect them after a dog chewed off the bark has been ticketed by authorities. Asher Thomas is accused of “altering flora” in a Naperville dog park. The ticket from the Will County Forest Preserve carries a $225 fine, the Aurora Beacon-News reported. “Just as you can’t go around doing things to other people’s property, even if intentions are good, you can’t allow your dogs to do damage or spray a foreign substance on trees,” said Forest Preserve Deputy Police Chief Dave Barrios. Thomas said he regularly takes his dog, Dixie, to Whalon Lake Dog Park and learned that another owner’s German shepherd had gnawed away the bark on more than a dozen trees. He said he used a can of tree pruning sealer to cover the wounds. “The whole purpose was to prevent trees from being lost,” said Thomas, who works for the U.S. Coast Guard. “What if I saved the trees? What if the other nine I did not spray died and the ones I treated lived?” He said a “tree is worth more than gold” in his native state, Colorado. Thomas said he will ask a judge to dismiss the ticket for “good Samaritan” reasons.
IndianaNoblesville: Firefighters and police officers in Noblesville will receive coronavirus-related bonuses of $2,000 each and other city workers will get $1,000 each. “We didn’t give raises this year, and this is our way of saying thank you for working through the health crisis. … People will spend a lot of this money locally,” Mayor Chris Jensen said. The money will come from Noblesville’s share of federal aid for the COVID-19 pandemic. Hamilton County gave $3,000 to each of its workers. Jensen said police and firefighters are getting larger bonuses because they were at risk of getting COVID-19, the Indianapolis Star reported. “They were out answering calls and in close contact with people,” he said.
IowaAnkeny: Police arrested an Ankeny man Saturday after he allegedly threatened to blow up a McDonald’s restaurant for neglecting to include dipping sauce with his order of chicken McNuggets. Television station WHO 13 reported that police in the Des Moines suburb arrested the 42-year-old man after he admitted to investigators that he called the Ankeny restaurant Saturday night upon realizing his order mistakenly didn’t include the dipping sauce. During the call, he threatened to blow up the restaurant and punch an employee. The man was charged with a felony of false report of an explosive or incendiary device. He was booked into the Polk County Jail on Saturday and released on a bond Sunday.
KansasManhattan: The government’s latest crop snapshot Monday showed the Kansas winter wheat harvest is running slower than usual for this time of year. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that about 41% of the state’s wheat has been cut. That is behind the 44% at this time last year and the 48% five-year average. The report reflects crop conditions as of Sunday and comes amid recent rains that have kept many combines out of fields. The agency also reported that 83% of the wheat had matured. It rated the condition of the crop still in the ground as 12% excellent, 50% good, 25% fair and 13% as poor or very poor. Planting for two other major Kansas crops also is nearly finished with 95% of the soybeans and 94% of the sorghum now seeded. The state’s corn crop is also mostly in good shape with just 6% rated as poor or very poor.
KentuckyFrankfort: A startup spirits producer is reviving an old name as it plans to open a distillery at the same Kentucky site where whiskey was made starting in the late 1860s. The new E.J. Curley distillery will be located at Camp Nelson in Jessamine County. It’s at the same site as the original E.J. Curley & Co. operation. Spirits production is scheduled to begin by May 2022, along with the opening of a tasting room. Company leaders said they expect to welcome more than 100,000 visitors annually. The new distillery will offer two Kentucky mash bills that will reflect traditional bourbon whiskey, with plans to launch a first-of-its-kind Kentucky-blended international spirit, according to a news release announcing the project. The company is reviving the E.J. Curley name, which dates to the Civil War-era. After Prohibition, it was known as Kentucky River Distillery until it closed in the late 1960s, early 1970s, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
LouisianaLake Charles: A volunteer organization that mobilizes veterans for disaster recovery efforts has helped a southwest Louisiana woman return to her hurricane-damaged home. Team Rubicon renovated the home of Susan Stewart of Lake Charles. The American Press reported that Stewart returned to the house late last week – months after hurricanes Laura and Delta struck the area. “My house was shuffled during Laura, but rain came in during Delta and fell through the cracks,” Stewart said. She met Team Rubicon members when they were cutting trees down in the neighborhood. Volunteers initially signed her up for gutting and mold treatment but ended up completely restoring the home, including heating and air conditioning, plumbing, electrical work, flooring, roof and windows. A Team Rubicon press release said the organization was founded following the Haiti earthquake of 2010. The volunteer veterans use skills and experience gained from their time in the military to help people prepare, respond and recover from disasters.
MaineAugusta: The Maine Hospital Association wants the state to mandate that all health care workers get the COVID-19 vaccination once the federal government grants full approval for the vaccines. Health care worker vaccination data showed wide variations in vaccination rates among the state’s hospitals and nursing homes. “We would prefer if there is a mandate, that we want the mandate to cover all health care providers,” said Steven Michaud, president of the Maine Hospital Association. “Job No. 1 for us, however we can get it done, is to get them vaccinated.” A blanket requirement would prevent health care workers who don’t want the shot from switching jobs to employers who do not mandate the vaccine. Such clusters of unvaccinated workers could lead to more outbreaks, Michaud said. The vaccines in use – Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson – were approved in 2020 and early 2021 by the FDA under an emergency use authorization. Studies showed the vaccines worked, and have worked safely and effectively as they’ve been given to millions of people worldwide starting in December.
MarylandOcean City: The Ferris wheel at a historic amusement park on the Ocean City boardwalk has reopened following a zoning violation. Trimper’s Rides said on June 9 that it would move the ride after a surveyor contracted by the company found that the Ferris wheel overhung town property by at least 10 feet, the Salisbury Daily Times reported. When company president Antoinette Bruno confirmed that the ride would be dismantled and relocated, she said it wouldn’t operate this summer. But Trimper’s Rides said “It’s baaaaack!!” in a Facebook post on Saturday with an accompanying photo of its 149-foot-tall Ferris wheel. The Ocean City town council said at its meeting on June 7 that the company would continue to be penalized with fines if it didn’t move the ride. Bruno told the council that the ride’s placement was the result of human error. She estimated that moving the Ferris wheel and other rides could cost more than $100,000 – an expense she said the company couldn’t afford. Trimper’s Rides received multiple fines from Ocean City before the ride was removed from town property, according to the Daily Times.
MassachusettsBoston: The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has scheduled two virtual meetings to discuss plans to replace the Bourne and Sagamore bridges. Officials at the public information meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday will present an overview of the proposed Cape Cod Canal Area Transportation Improvement Program, which not only includes replacing the two bridges across the Cape Cod Canal, but improving the approach road networks. The purpose of the meetings is to provide the public with the opportunity to become acquainted with the proposed project and to gather feedback. The state’s policy concerning land acquisitions for the project will also be presented. The $1 billion effort to replace the bridges – both more than 80 years old – will be done in three phases, with construction not expected to start until 2025 at the earliest, state transportation officials have said.
MichiganDetroit: COVID-19 vaccinations will be mandatory for employees at one of Michigan’s largest health care providers. Henry Ford Health System in southeastern Michigan said the policy starts Sept. 10 and covers employees, medical students and contractors. Nearly 70% of 33,000 staff members have been fully vaccinated, Henry Ford Health said Tuesday. “We acknowledge the magnitude of this decision and we did not make it lightly. … Safety and infection prevention are everyone’s responsibility,” said Wright Lassiter III, president and chief executive. There will be exemptions for people with medical or religious reasons. Henry Ford Health said employees already are required to get a flu shot every year and stay current with vaccinations for other diseases. The Detroit-based health system has five acute care hospitals: four in the Detroit area and one in Jackson. It has treated thousands of people with COVID-19.
MinnesotaMinneapolis: June’s dry weather has impacted Minnesota’s pastures, and might soon force cattle farmers to make tough decisions before they run out of grass. Cattle veterinarian and University of Minnesota extension educator Joe Armstrong said those decisions include possibly weaning calves early to lower the amount of energy cows need, or selling cattle early to reduce the size of the herd, the Star Tribune reported. Minnesota is abnormally dry. A majority of the state is declared to be in a moderate or severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor at the University of Nebraska. Monday’s crop report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said roughly half of Minnesota’s pasture and range land is in very poor or poor condition. Only 14% of the state’s pastures are in good condition and none was deemed excellent for the week ending Sunday, the USDA said. “At this point, if we get rain, it may help regrowth a little bit, but we’ve lost so much that even a decent amount of rain is just not going to benefit the crop this year,” said Armstrong. Jared Luhman, who raises Red Angus with his family near Goodhue, said he has never experienced anything like this, and his father told him this is the worst it has been since the drought of 1988. Their pasture usually gets 60% of its grass growth in May and June before conditions dry out in July, Luhman said. “But we are already dry in what is usually the wet season, so we don’t know what that means for the rest of the year,” he said.
MississippiGreenville: A historic northwest Mississippi building complex with 19th century roots has been purchased by a nonprofit economic development group and will reopen as a hotel this fall after closing down during the pandemic. The Delta Democrat-Times reported that the Greenville Inn and Suites building was purchased from the Mississippi Levee Board in June by Main Street Greenville, a division of Greater Greenville Development Foundation. The plan is for it to reopen as a 36-room, boutique hotel in September. The Levee Board most recently leased the building to TROP Casino, which operated it as a hotel. The hotel closed last year during the COVID-19 pandemic and TROP did not renew its lease. “The Levee Board is thrilled that the Greater Greenville Development Foundation wanted to purchase the hotel. It is a win-win for downtown Greenville, GGDF, and the Levee Board,” said Peter Nimrod, the chief engineer of the Levee Board. “They will do an excellent job in preserving a downtown landmark and will run a very successful and unique hotel for visitors to stay while visiting Greenville.” The property was originally comprised of a bank built in 1880 and the Levee Board Building built in 1883. The Levee Board acquired the bank in 1919. In 1997 the property was converted into a hotel and a third building was erected, creating a courtyard between the two original buildings.
Missouri
© AP People view an exhibit about the Berlin airlift during a tour of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Mo. The facility will reopen Friday after a nearly $30 million renovation project.Independence: After nearly two years of renovations complicated by COVID-19 restrictions, the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum is ready to welcome visitors back with an updated focus on how Truman’s legacy resonates today.The museum opens to the public Friday, with hours and visitor numbers initially restricted because of pandemic regulations. Visitors will find a museum reimagined during its most extensive renovation since it opened in 1957 in Truman’s hometown, an eastern suburb of Kansas City. The nearly $30 million project includes a sparkling new entrance; many more artifacts, photographs, videos and films; and exhibits that encourage visitors to touch and interact with displays. One solemn gallery showcases Truman’s first four months in office, some of the most consequential months in U.S. history. Germany surrendered, the U.S. dropped nuclear bombs on Japan to end World War II, and world leaders at the Potsdam conference determined the makeup of the postwar world.
MontanaMissoula: A federal judge said a management plan for the Flathead National Forest failed to adequately protect imperiled grizzly bears and bull trout, but he’s leaving the plan in place while officials review their policies. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy will allow several planned timber harvest projects on the 3,750-square-mile forest to proceed, the Missoulian reported. The development came in a 2019 lawsuit from environmental groups who alleged that allowing new road building in the forest could harm threatened species like grizzly bears. Molloy agreed that the Fish and Wildlife Service did not properly analyze how the plan for the forest could harm grizzlies and trout. But the judge said shutting down timber projects could have yielded severe economic damages to local communities, and that the new forest plan was better than a previous one from 1986.
NebraskaOmaha: Nebraska will formally end its coronavirus emergency this week, Gov. Pete Ricketts said, even though rural parts of the state continue to lag larger cities in vaccinations. Ricketts said he will let the state’s current virus emergency expire as scheduled on Wednesday along with its remaining social-distancing guidelines that were made mandatory earlier in the pandemic. He said he also expects all schools to be open for in-person learning this fall without imposing any mask or vaccination requirements. “We need to get back to normal,” he said at a news conference. His comments came as the number of virus-related hospitalizations dropped to 27 on Sunday after more than a month of declines. Still, Nebraska continues to show a wide disparity in vaccination rates between urban and rural areas. In Lancaster County, encompassing Lincoln, more than 52% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to the state’s coronavirus dashboard. But in the rural Panhandle, the proportion is 31%. In Sioux County, on Nebraska’s northwestern border, less than 19% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
NevadaCarson City: MGM Resorts International switched on a giant solar farm Monday that will power up to 90% of the company’s 13 Las Vegas properties and 36,000 hotel rooms. “As Nevada’s largest private employer and operator on the Strip, MGM Resorts is uniquely positioned to use our scale and resources to make a significant and positive difference. It’s an obligation and commitment to take incredibly seriously,” MGM Resorts President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle said. “It’s fair to say that much in Las Vegas Strip has now gone solar.” The 323,000-panel system will produce an estimated 100 megawatts, roughly enough to power 27,000 U.S. homes annually. The company said the energy will be enough to supply 90% of its daytime energy needs. MGM called the solar farm the hospitality industry’s largest renewable energy project. It said it wants to transition toward renewable energy sources to reduce carbon emissions by 45% per square foot throughout its roughly 65 million square feet by 2025. The array of solar panels sits in the desert northeast of Las Vegas and will be managed by Invenergy, which owns and operates renewable energy developments throughout the world.
New HampshireHanover: Dartmouth College is selling its FM radio station, meaning that for the first time since at least 1958, the college will not broadcast on either AM or FM frequencies. The sale of the school’s FM radio show that goes by the name 99Rock on WFRD-FM could take up to a year to complete, the Valley News reported Saturday. WFRD-FM had been operating at a loss, Dartmouth spokesperson Diana Lawrence told the newspaper, and the school decided that it was not, “fiscally prudent or sustainable to continue to operate the station.” The sale of the FM station will also mean the elimination of the station’s one remaining employee. The Federal Communications Commission first granted Dartmouth a commercial license for its AM frequency in 1958, and that station, WDCR-AM, stopped broadcasting and moved online in 2008. Students will continue to produce radio programming online after the FM station’s sale, the college has said. Proceeds from the sale will support the ongoing work of Dartmouth Broadcasting, which is the student umbrella organization that had overseen both AM and FM stations, the school has said.
New JerseyTrenton: New Jersey’s prison system is about to begin housing inmates based on gender identity, the result of a lawsuit filed in 2019 by a transgender woman who said she was forced to live in men’s prisons for a year and a half. The new policy goes into effect Thursday and provides greater protections for transgender, intersex and nonbinary people in state prisons, most importantly by housing them based on the gender they identify with rather than by sex assigned at birth. Inmates can provide information about their gender identity at anytime during their incarceration, under the policy. Other protections include single-cell housing while final housing determinations are being made; being able to shower separately from other inmates; the right to have input into housing decision and to appeal those decisions, and a prohibition of physical examinations to determine an inmate’s genital status. Pat-down searches or strip searches by transgender women by male officers will be prohibited. The policy will be maintained for at least one year, according to the settlement. Under terms of the settlement, the woman, identified in court papers as Sonia Doe, will receive $125,000 in damages and $45,000 for attorneys’ fees, and won’t face any sanctions in connection with an assault that occurred in prison in May 2019.
New MexicoAlbuquerque: An organization that represents thousands of racehorse owners and trainers is accusing New Mexico regulators of violating their civil rights. The New Mexico Horsemen’s Association said it is suing the New Mexico Racing Commission in U.S. District Court, saying it had no other recourse since the commission had barred the group and its members from contacting any commissioners or attending the panel’s regular public meetings. The commission took action to limit communication after the horse owners sued in December to stop the commission from using purse money to cover operating costs at the state’s five privately owned race tracks. The commission also voted earlier this year to prohibit association members from contributing 1% of their purse winnings to the association and ending the contribution of starter fees that fund medical expenses as well as fees that go toward advocacy efforts. That prompted another legal challenge by the association in state district court. The commission has not commented on any of the pending litigation.
New YorkAlbany: Tenants and their advocates hope New York’s revamped rent relief program will finally help renters and landlords who have struggled to get assistance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Paperwork requirements made it tough for tenants and landlords to get relief funds in a previous round of pandemic assistance. Last year, New York dedicated $100 million from the federal CARES Act to rental relief and received 94,000 applications. But it ended up rejecting most applicants. It has dispersed $47 million to date to 18,000 applicants, far fewer than officials had hoped to reach. Now, it has a new $2 billion fund, passed in April, but people can only submit online applications and the website has been crashing in recent days and weeks. Ernesto Tohom, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala studying business at Baruch College who lost his job in a deli last year, said the state denied his application for rental relief last year because he could not provide documentation that he had lost his job, which was off-the-books. This year, he’s trying again because of expanded eligibility criteria – which does not consider immigration status – but has not been able to submit the required documents because that part of the website has malfunctioned each time he’s tried to load it. In New York City alone, renters owe at least $1 billion in back rent, according to a survey of rent-regulated apartments by Community Housing Improvement Program, a landlord trade group.
North CarolinaRaleigh: Textile executives joined advocates for the environment and the poor to urge state legislators to reject a major energy bill pushed by state House Republicans. The coalition held a news conference to criticize the wide-ranging proposal, which would order an early retirement of several coal-fired plants operated by Duke Energy subsidiaries. The bill, which got a committee hearing earlier this month, also would expand solar production and allow the electric utility to seek multiyear rate increases from the North Carolina Utilities Commission. Textile companies are worried about the financial expense the likely rate increases would have upon Duke Energy customers like themselves. They warned the burden would be so great it would discourage efforts to expand in the state. North Carolina is home to 30,000 textile industry positions, which in turn support 90,000 additional related jobs, Dan Nation with Gastonia-based yarn maker Parkdale Mills said. Significantly higher electricity costs would push industry investments out of North Carolina and into other states, Nation said.
North DakotaGrand Forks: Col. Timothy Curry is the new commander at Grand Forks Air Force Baser, replacing Col. Cameron Pringle during a change of command ceremony Monday for the 319th Reconnaissance Wing. Pringle was named commander in June 2019, the same month Curry took over as vice commander. Curry has been in charge of organizing, training, and equipping the base’s RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft fleet. He has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Meritorious Service Medal. Curry graduated from the United State Air Force Academy in 1999, He has earned three master’s degrees, in strategic intelligence, military strategy and pastoral counseling,
OhioColumbus: Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation directing about $2.2 billion in federal COVID-19 relief to children’s behavioral health care, water and sewer infrastructure projects, local government budgets and paying off the state’s unemployment insurance loan. “There are bill signings you’re OK with, then there are bill signings that you’re very happy with,” the Republican said at a Statehouse signing ceremony. “This is one I’m very happy about.” The bill allocates all but $500 million of Ohio’s first payout from the American Rescue Plan Act, with decisions yet to be made on how the rest will be spent, DeWine said. It includes $84 million for pediatric behavioral health initiative, $250 million for water and sewer infrastructure, $422 million for more than 2,000 local governments and roughly $1.5 billion to repay a federal loan that shored up the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.
OklahomaOklahoma City: Oklahoma National Guard troops who have been assisting with the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic will begin ending their assignment beginning Thursday, health officials said. Over a 15-month deployment, Guard troops helped sanitize long-term-care facilities that were particularly hard hit during the first several months of the pandemic. Troops also helped distribute personal protective gear and transport testing specimens and supplies across the state. Meanwhile, data from Johns Hopkins University showed Oklahoma’s seven-day rolling average of daily deaths and daily new cases have increased over the last two weeks. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Oklahoma increased from 120.29 new cases per day on June 12 to 196.43 new cases per day on June 26. The rolling average of daily deaths also increased during the same time period from 1.29 deaths per day to 4.29 deaths per day. Oklahoma ranks 40th in the nation with just 37.9% of its population fully vaccinated, compared to a national average of 45.8%, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
OregonPortland: Oregon hospitals over the weekend saw a sharp increase in the number of people experiencing heat-related illnesses, according to the Oregon Health Authority. Agency spokesperson Delia Hernández said 128 people visited Oregon hospitals for heat-related illnesses on Sunday, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. That compared with 24 heat-related hospital visits Friday and 56 such visits Saturday. The heat has broken state records, with Portland reaching 112 degrees on Sunday. That record was broken again Monday when temperatures reached 113 degrees. Hernández said the state health authority couldn’t immediately confirm whether anyone had died from the recent heat-related illnesses, or the severity of any of those illnesses. Richard Leman, a public health expert with the Oregon Health Authority, among other things urged people to use fans or air conditioning, avoid hot food and heavy meals and to close windows and shades during the afternoon, the hottest part of the day.
Pennsylvania
© Photo courtesy of Scott Getgen Emergency responders inspect a tanker that was among 33 Norfolk Southern train cars that derailed in Newberry Township near Goldsboro, Pa.Goldsboro: Authorities said dozens of freight train cars derailed in Pennsylvania, but no injuries or hazardous spills were reported. Chief Steve Lutz of the Newberry Township police force said 33 of the 133 cars on the eastbound Norfolk Southern train derailed and overturned shortly after 3 p.m. Monday in northern York County near Goldsboro. Lutz said all of the cars were intact except for one car that contained pellets of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. One of the overturned tanks carried crude oil, but none of it leaked, he said. The York County emergency management office said no injuries, evacuations or environmental hazards occurred. Lutz said there was no concern about anything leaking into the Susquehanna River or drinking water. The cause of the derailment wasn’t immediately known. Norfolk Southern spokesperson Jeff DeGraff said the company is investigating and will complete a report for submission to the Federal Railroad Administration.
Rhode IslandProvidence: The state and the city have committed a combined $600,000 to revive the WaterFire Providence arts installation this year. Gov. Dan McKee and Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor said $150,000 would be provided through a state discretionary fund, with another $150,000 provided from the Commerce Department’s budget if approved by the board, WPRI-TV reported. Also, the Providence City Council reversed course and pledged to provide $300,000 in federal relief funding for WaterFire, which was canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The future of the event founded in 1994 was in jeopardy. Peter Mello, managing director of WaterFire, told city councilors last week that the organization had gone into debt during the pandemic after losing private sponsorships. Employees were furloughed, but the organization wants to bring them back this summer to reinstall infrastructure. WaterFire brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city to see the arts festival backlit by burning braziers on the city’s rivers.
South CarolinaColumbia: State officials gave initial approval Tuesday to a $6 million settlement to resolve dozens of prisoner lawsuits against the Department of Corrections following a riot that killed seven inmates. With one abstention because of a conflict of interest, the State Fiscal Accountability Authority voted unanimously to approve the deal, which it said would work toward resolving a total of 81 lawsuits filed by or for inmates in state and federal courts against the prison system. The 2018 riot raged for more than seven hours at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, about 40 miles east of Columbia. Most of the slain were stabbed or slashed; others appeared to have been beaten. One inmate described bodies “literally stacked on top of each other, like some macabre woodpile.” Corrections officials have blamed the violence – the worst U.S. prison riot in 25 years – in part on illegal cellphones, which Department Director Bryan Stirling has said represent the greatest security threat inside prisons because they give inmates an unmonitored way to communicate with the outside world and each other. Stirling told the Associated Press after the vote that the deal next goes to the plaintiffs for signatures, before a court decides how to divvy up the money.
South DakotaSioux Falls: Gov. Kristi Noem said she will join a growing list of Republican governors sending law enforcement officers to the U.S. border with Mexico. Noem’s announcement that she will send up to 50 South Dakota National Guard troops to Texas comes as the GOP ramps up a political fight with President Joe Biden over border security. The issue has drawn a host of prominent GOP figures: former President Donald Trump was expected to travel to the border this week and Republican governors from Florida, Nebraska and Iowa have committed to sending law enforcement officers for border security. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this month announced plans to build more barriers along the border.
TennesseeNashville: Tennessee plans to suspend construction-related lane closures on interstates and state routes during the Fourth of July holiday weekend to reduce traffic delays, transportation officials said. Suspension of lane closures in construction areas will start Friday morning and end on the morning of July 6, Tennessee’s Department of Transportation said. “It is estimated that 939,000 motorists will travel Tennessee’s interstates and state routes this July 4 holiday,” Tennessee Transportation Commissioner Clay Bright said. “To help motorists reach their destinations safely and without unnecessary delays, we are suspending lane closures during this holiday travel time.” Drivers will still face some long-term lane closures on construction projects, the department said. Workers might be on the site of construction zones, and reduced speed limits in work zones will still be in effect, the department said.
TexasAustin: As coronavirus hospitalizations and cases continue to decrease in Austin and Travis County, Dr. Desmar Walkes, the area's top health chief, said she's growing increasingly concerned about one variant of the disease and the threat it poses for unvaccinated residents. Walkes, who began her role as Austin-Travis County health authority earlier this month, said Austin and Travis County health leaders are closely monitoring the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant making its way across the nation. Walkes said although the strain has yet to be confirmed in Austin and Travis County, the Delta variant will put the area's unvaccinated residents most at risk. Seven cases have been confirmed in Dallas County, according to the county's website last updated on Tuesday. Although residents who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can still be infected by the variant, they are likely to have a milder case and not experience severe illness leading to hospitalizations, Walkes said. Unvaccinated residents, even if they were previously infected with COVID-19, though, will likely be at greater risk of contracting the coronavirus if exposed to the Delta variant.
UtahSalt Lake City: Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, is planning to visit Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah this week as part of a tour through southwestern states, the White House announced Monday. Emhoff will be visiting the park on Friday as part of a Biden administration tour to celebrate the country’s progress against COVID-19. Emhoff’s visit comes as many U.S. states continue to experience lagging vaccination rates. No additional details about his visit were immediately available. First lady Jill Biden also announced Monday that she and Emhoff will tour a vaccination site in Houston on Tuesday and another vaccine clinic at a middle school in Phoenix on Wednesday. Biden’s office said the trips are intended to highlight the ease of getting vaccinated and mobilize outreach efforts. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited southern Utah in early April as she prepared to submit recommendations on whether to reverse President Donald Trump’s decision to downsize the Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante.
VermontRutland: The long-awaited extension of the Amtrak line from Rutland to Burlington might be delayed until later in 2022 because of issues in the supply chain. Vermont Rail Action Network Executive Director Christopher Parker told the Rutland Herald on Monday that work is under way at the station in Rutland and the yard and station in Burlington, but some parts are proving difficult to get. “It turns out the switches are on back order,” Parker said. “I don’t know how serious that is.” That could delay the opening of the line from early 2022 to sometime later in 2022, Parker said. The Ethan Allen Express train is being extended north from Rutland to Burlington with stops in Middlebury and Vergennes. The Vermont Rail Advisory Council recently discussed the schedule for the line, Parker said. Southbound trains would leave Burlington at 10:15 a.m. and then depart from Rutland at 12:25 p.m., arriving at New York’s Penn Station at 5:50 p.m. The northbound trips leave from New York City at 2:21 p.m., reaching Rutland at 7:46 p.m. and Burlington at 9:55 p.m. Amtrak service to Vermont was suspended last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Service from Washington and New York City will resume on July 19.
VirginiaRichmond: Virginia is expanding its Medicaid program to provide a comprehensive dental benefit to poor adults, meaning more than 750,000 Virginians will be eligible for the benefit starting Thursday. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that it is part of a two-year state budget that includes $35 million in state and federal funds to provide a wide range of dental care to adults for the first time. Currently, Medicaid will pay only for emergency tooth extraction for adults. The benefit expansion includes checkups three times a year to prevent oral disease that can lead to bigger medical problems. The safety-net program serves more than 1.8 million Virginians, including 558,000 people who receive health care coverage because of expanded eligibility. The change will likely mean a significant jump in demand for dentists and about 1,500 dentists have committed to serving adults under the Medicaid benefit. Virginia Dental Association Executive Director Ryan Dunn said more dentists will be needed. Currently, about 2,000 dentists provide dental services through Medicaid, but to get more to participate in the program, Dunn said the state must raise reimbursement rates.
WashingtonOlympia: Most of the COVID-19 restrictions that have been in place and modified several times since March 2020 will be lifted Wednesday, meaning restaurants and bars and other businesses can resume full indoor occupancy levels and physical distancing requirements will be lifted. Since May, all of the state’s 39 counties have been in the third phase of a four-stage reopening plan, with indoor capacity limited at 50%. Now, businesses across the state can resume normal operations. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee had set the June 30 date for reopening, and the state fell short of an option that would have allowed earlier opening if 70% of residents age 16 and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Even with the creation of lottery incentives with prizes up to $ million, the statewide vaccination rate for those 16 and up is just over 68%. Residents age 12-15 have been eligible for vaccinations since last month, and more than 37% of that group have initiated vaccination, and about 28% are fully vaccinated.
West VirginiaCharleston: Federal regulators are proposing a $12,288 fine in response to an explosion and fire at a West Virginia chemical plant that killed a worker and injured three other people. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed that Optima Belle LLC pay the penalty in a citation issued this month, saying the plant in Kanawha County violated federal code that requires employers to provide a workplace “free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees,” the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported. The agency found that the company left employees exposed to hazards while they conducted a chemical drying process on a solid chlorinated product, according to regulators. John Gillenwater, 42, of Hurricanewas killed in the Dec. 8 explosion. Optima Belle can abate the violation by developing policies and training to prevent similar occurrences in the future, regulators said. The company could also contest and litigate the case, OSHA spokeswoman Lenore Uddyback-Fortson said. If the company accepts the citation as issued, the fine would become a final order, she said. Optima Belle has scheduled an informal conference to discuss the citation, she said.
WisconsinMadison: A former drug smuggler can practice law in Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The 4-3 ruling reverses a decision from the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners to block Abby Padlock from becoming an attorney in the state. According to court documents, Padlock became a drug smuggler to earn money so she could become an international language instructor. Police stopped her and a friend as they were driving through Minnesota in 2015 and discovered 114 pounds of marijuana in their vehicle that they were moving from Oregon to Wisconsin. Police also discovered $30,000 in her house that she had been paid for the job. Padlock was charged with two felony drug counts. The charges were reduced to one count of misdemeanor marijuana possession. She was sentenced to three days in jail, placed on probation for two years and ordered to pay a $30,000 forfeiture. She applied to the University of Wisconsin Law School while she was still on probation, but noted on her application that the charges had been dismissed. Applicants also are required to supply a host of details about any criminal violations. Padlock failed to provide any details about her arrest. She did not divulge the amount of marijuana she was carrying, the initial charges she faced, that she spent three days in jail or that she was ordered to pay a $30,000 forfeiture. She was admitted to the law school and began her studies. Officials there didn’t learn of her criminal history until she joined a program that required a background check. The law school chose not to discipline her and allowed her to finish school. She applied for admission to the state bar in 2019. This time, she did include details of her crime on her application.
WyomingCheyenne: The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday that it won’t allow Wyoming and Montana to sue Washington state for denying a key permit to build a coal export dock that would have sent coal to Asia. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito voted in the minority in the ruling against letting the states sue the third in a case that would have gone directly before the high court. The two major coal mining states have sought to boost exports to prop up an industry in decline for a decade as U.S. utilities switch to gas-fired power and renewable energy. The Washington state Department of Ecology in 2017 denied a permit for the export dock, saying the facility on the Columbia River would cause “irreparable and unavoidable” environmental harm. Denying the permit violated the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against trade protectionism between states, the coal states argued in 2020. Washington state officials were not trying to block Wyoming and Montana coal but acted because of “valid environmental concerns” about the dock, attorneys for the state argued in a court filing later that year In any event, the developer of the Millennium Bulk Terminal project went bankrupt and the project wouldn’t proceed, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued in May. Wyoming this year set aside $1 million to help Gov. Mark Gordon’s office pursue the lawsuit and potentially file others against states with policies leading to the early shutdown of Wyoming coal-fired power plants.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Star Wars’ X-wing lands in DC, Disney delays cruise, Truman museum: News from around our 50 states