Beyoncé's 'Renaissance': Everything about project, British Vogue ...

It's time for the Beyhive to dust off their wings and swarm — a new Beyoncé project is coming.

Buzz about a new endeavor from the singer began last week after she removed all of her profile photos from social media and people within her circle began dropping subliminal hints and seemingly-random adoration posts for the star.

In the wee hours of Thursday morning, Tidal, the music streaming service formerly owned by Beyoncé's husband Jay-Z, announced official news: her upcoming release "Rennaisance" will arrive this summer with "Act I" coming July 29.

The streaming service prefaced the news with several funny tweets throughout the week, including a popular Beyoncé meme of "Flavor of Love" star New York.

On the Grammy-winning artist's official website, "Renaissance" and "Act I" have become the focal point of the homepage with options to pre-save the new music and shop four different kinds of nondescript "Renaissance" merchandise which include a T-shirt, a CD and a collectible "Renaissance" box.

Beyoncé first teased the "Renaissance" title in an August interview with Harper's Bazaar, saying she'd been in the studio for a year and a half working on something new.

"With all the isolation and injustice over the past year, I think we are all ready to escape, travel, love, and laugh again. I feel a renaissance emerging, and I want to be part of nurturing that escape in any way possible," she said. "Yes, the music is coming!"

Beyoncé is coming:A look back on her most-recent interview with Harper's Bazaar

"Renaissance" will come off the back of the singer's visual album "Black is King," which was released July 2020 in correspondence with the soundtrack she made for 2019's "Lion King." Also in 2020, she joined Megan Thee Stallion for a remix of her hit song "Savage."

Beyoncé plans to discuss the upcoming album in a British Vogue interview on June 21. The fashion outlet shared several photos from the cover story on Thursday including the songstress looking regal on a horse in a feathered headdress, a glam shot on a motorcycle and more.

British Vogue teases that "Renaissance" will be the singer's "most ambitious musical project to date." The album is also the result of Beyoncé overthinking every detail and decision as she spent time at home amid the pandemic.

The outlet alludes to the album being party-focused with "soaring vocals and fierce beats." British Vogue writes: "Her upcoming album is music that makes you rise, that turns your mind to cultures and subcultures, music that will unite so many on the dance floor and make them fall in love."

True to the album name, the outlet says it shows her "evolution, one that promises vision, grace – and something a little bit extra."

'The best I’ve felt in my life':Beyoncé reflects on 40th birthday in emotional letter to fans

The last time Beyoncé released a truly solo project was in 2016 with the surprise drop visual album "Lemonade," which spurred hits including "Hold up" and "Formation." In 2019 she released the album version of her headlining performance at 2018's Coachella and in 2018, she and Jay-Z teamed up as The Carters to release their "Everything is Love" album.

Since "Black is King," the singer made Grammy history becoming the most-winning female artist, and the most-winning singer (male or female), in the 63-year history of the Grammy Awards. The 2021 award show solidified her spot after her trophy count rose to 28 wins, the new additions being her music video for "Brown Skin Girl" and a win for best rap performance with the "Savage" collaboration.

Contributing: Naledi Ushe

Jan. 6 hearings, Beyoncé, Russian spy captured, Lake Mead ...

A House hearing investigating the Capitol attack turned its focus on former Vice President Mike Pence. A Russian spy was captured after making an attempt to infiltrate a court investigating Ukraine war crimes. And it's official: New music from Beyoncé is on the way.

👋 Hey pals! Laura Davis here. It's Thursday, and there's Beyoncé news, so let's get to it.

But first, how many is too many? 🦜 A New York man has been arrested multiple times in a dispute over how many bird feeders he has in his yard. Read more.

The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here.

Hearings: Name-calling, death threats, intense pressure on Pence

Pence's refusal to single-handedly reject electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021, as former President Donald Trump pressured him to do, was the subject of Thursday's House hearing investigating the Capitol attack. The panel heard from multiple witnesses who outlined Trump's effort to pressure his vice president to reject electoral votes for Joe Biden during the official certification of state results. The panel's leaders said the evidence showed Trump wanted Pence to either declare Trump the winner or send the votes back to the states to be counted again. According to videotaped witness testimony, on the morning of Jan. 6, Trump telephoned Pence and called him a "wimp" and the "p-word." But Pence resisted that coercion – even amid death threats from those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the day the House and Senate certified Biden's election win. Everything that happened today.

'1776 Returns': Filing reveals Proud Boys Jan. 6 plan to storm buildings.

Filing reveals Proud Boys Jan. 6 plan to storm buildings. Trump raised millions to fight election fraud. Here's where that money went.

It's official: New music from Beyoncé is coming

Beyhive, you ready? A new project from Beyoncé is coming. Buzz about a new endeavor from the singer began last week after she took down all of her profile photos from social media and people within her circle began dropping hints and seemingly-random adoration posts for the star. In the wee hours of Thursday morning, Tidal, the music streaming service formerly owned by Beyoncé's husband Jay-Z, announced official news: Her upcoming release "Renaissance" will arrive this summer with "Act I" coming July 29. Here's what we know.

What everyone's talking about

The Short List is free, but several stories we link to are subscriber-only. Consider supporting our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today.

Russian spy captured in attempt to infiltrate war crimes investigation

A Russian military spy posed as a Brazilian national in an attempt to get an internship at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, which is investigating war crimes allegations in Ukraine, the Dutch intelligence service said Thursday. The General Intelligence and Security Service named the Russian intelligence officer as Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov and said that in April he used an elaborately constructed identity to try to infiltrate the court. According to officials, his infiltration would have provided a "significant contribution" to Russian intelligence, and might also have been able to influence criminal proceedings. Cherkasov was detained at a Dutch airport and deported to Brazil, where he could face court proceedings.

2 U.S. military veterans feared captured in Ukraine. Latest updates.

in Ukraine. Latest updates. Many LGBTQ Ukrainians face hurdles entering U.S. under humanitarian programs.

Feds warn Lake Mead, Colorado River dangerously low

A top federal water official told Congress this week that shortages on the Colorado River system have taken an even grimmer turn, with a whopping 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of reduction in water use needed by 2023 just to keep Lake Mead functioning and physically capable of delivering drinking water, irrigation and power to millions of people. Levels at the reservoir have dropped to an all-time low of 28% of capacity, with no relief in sight, said Camille Touton, Bureau of Reclamation commissioner. Tens of millions of people, including residents of major cities like Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix, rely on the lower Colorado River basin system. What efforts are needed? Keep reading.

Real quick

How much water do we really need?

A viral trend going around has people drinking a gallon of water each day. Should you? Dehydration is a common cause of many of the ailments that bring patients to the ER on a daily basis, with headaches and dizziness, nausea, abdominal cramping and constipation, muscle aches and kidney stones. Biologically, this makes sense, given that 60% of our body is water. The benefits of adequate hydration are undisputed, but how much do we really need? The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is about 3.7 liters of fluids per day for men and 2.7 liters for women. It might seem like a lot, but remember that about 20% of our daily fluid intake comes from food. Drink up! And keep reading to learn more.

Keep cool this summer by recognizing and preventing heat illness.

by recognizing and preventing heat illness. Man found dead in Death Valley National Park after running out of gas during heat wave.

A break from the news

Drake announces new album 'Honestly, Nevermind': What we know

In a surprise that is sure to have fans in their feelings, Drake dropped a new album Friday.

The Canadian emcee announced on Instagram Thursday the release of his seventh album, titled “Honestly, Nevermind," revealing cover art with the album’s title set in a shiny silver calligraphy font, juxtaposed against a plain black background.

"Honestly, Nevermind" runs for 52 minutes and includes 14 songs full of upbeat dance hits, with the only featured artist being 21 Savage for the final song "Jimmy Cooks." Drake's latest follows 2021's "Certified Lover Boy," which broke Spotify records, crowned Drake as the eighth artist in Billboard history to earn 10 No. 1 albums and spawned the hits “Girls Want Girls,” "Knife Talk" also featuring 21 Savage, and “Way 2 Sexy.”

Drake's announcement of new music came just hours after Beyoncé teased major album news via social media, announcing the upcoming release of "Renaissance" which will come out July 29.

After Twitter timelines calmed from excitement surrounding new Beyoncé music, the conversation quickly turned to "Honestly, Nevermind" after Drake's announcement. After the midnight release, the chatter increased with mixed reactions.

'CLB':Drake's producer explains why R. Kelly is credited on 2021 album

"Honestly Nevermind was made out of passionfruit …… Drake is a crazy genius," @the_Lawrenz wrote, referencing the hit from Drake’s “More Life” in 2017.

Writer Najma Sharif tweeted: "Drake saw women having fun when Beyoncé announced and said ‘I will not have it!’”

"First drake album I’ve enjoyed in a while honestly," @KSI wrote.

"Drake has to be trying to get out a contract with that album. That’s not even a mixtape," @_Zeets wrote.

Along with the album, the "Hotline Bling" rapper also announced the premiere of his new SiriusXM radio show "Table for One" which will air on Channel 42. The first episode premiered at 11 p.m. ET and featured Drake as he gave the world an early listen to the entirety of the new album.

Beyoncé is coming:What we know about 'Renaissance,' her 'most ambitious musical project'

Much like some critiques of "Honestly, Nevermind," Drake's last album also came with controversy when “Certified Lover Boy” was snubbed from the major categories at this year’s Grammy Awards, only earning nods for best rap album and best rap performance. His team later requested to remove his nominations from the Grammy's final-round ballot altogether.

More:Drake withdraws his two Grammy Awards nominations for 2022 ceremony

The Toronto-born rapper has long maintained a contentious relationship with the Grammys. Upon accepting his 2019 award for best rap song for “God’s Plan” — his first appearance at the ceremony since 2013 — he launched into a speech that called the honor meaningless before his microphone was silenced.

"We play an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport," Drake said at the time. "You've already won if you have people who are singing your songs word for word, if you're a hero in your hometown. If there's people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain, in the snow, spending their hard-earned money to buy tickets to come to your shows. You don't need this right here, I promise you. You already won."

Making waves:Drake withdraws his two Grammy Awards nominations for 2022 ceremony

Contributing: Melissa Ruggieri, Elise Brisco


Tubing, Hemingway, great white sharks: News from around our 50 ...

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Jasper: Live stand-ins for Santa’s reindeer won’t be allowed in the state this year, as part of the state’s precautions against a deadly deer disease. So far, there hasn’t been any chronic wasting disease in Alabama, and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources wants to keep it that way. The Daily Mountain Eagle reports that the department’s deputy commissioner told the Rotary Club of Jasper on Tuesday that reindeer typically arrive days before a show and might bring in the disease. Ed Poolos of Jasper told the group that reindeer already in the state can stay. Chronic wasting disease is highly infectious and caused by malformed proteins called prions. Animals can spread those for a year or two before symptoms show.

Alaska

Anchorage: At least 14 cities in Alaska have employed police officers whose criminal records should have prevented them from being hired under state law, according to The Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica. The news organizations reported Saturday that they found more than 34 officers who should have been ineligible for these jobs. They said that In all but three cases, the police hires were never reported by the city governments to the state’s Department of Public Safety, as required. In eight additional communities, local tribal governments have hired tribal police officers convicted of domestic violence or sex crimes. All 42 of these tribal and city police officers have rap sheets that would prevent them from being hired by the Anchorage Police Department and its urban peers, as Alaska state troopers or even as private security guards most anywhere else in the United States. Many remain on the job.

Arizona

Phoenix: Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s 1950s adobe home is being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Park Service approved Arizona’s nomination of the house for placement on the register, which the office described as the nation’s list of properties considered worthy of preservation. The home was originally in Paradise Valley but was relocated in 2009 to a Tempe park for use by the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute. O’Connor lived in the home from 1958 until 1981, when President Ronald Reagan named the state appellate judge and former legislative leader to the Supreme Court.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The U.S. Small Business Administration says $10.8 million in disaster assistance loans have been made in Arkansas. SBA director Tanya Garfield in Sacramento, California, said Friday that the loans are to businesses and residents to help rebuild and recover from severe storms and flooding that inundated western, central and southeastern Arkansas from May 21-June 14. Businesses and residents in Arkansas, Conway, Crawford, Desha, Faulkner, Jefferson, Lincoln, Logan, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Sebastian and Yell counties who have damage from the storms or flooding can register for the loans through Aug. 7. Interest rates can be as low as 4% for businesses, 2.75% for private nonprofit organizations and 1.938% for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years.

California

Los Angeles: The agency overseeing the state’s legal marijuana market is struggling to hire sufficient staff and set an overall strategy for the nation’s largest cannabis economy, an audit found. About two-thirds of the 219 staff positions authorized for the Bureau of Cannabis Control remain unfilled, according to an audit by the state Finance Department. A shortage of staff in the enforcement unit is hindering the agency’s ability to conduct investigations. The problems outlined in the audit provide a backstory to the uneven rollout of the state’s legal pot market, which kicked off sales on Jan. 1, 2018. By just about any measure, California’s effort to transform its longstanding illegal and medicinal marijuana markets into a unified, multibillion-dollar industry remains a work in progress.

Colorado

Boulder: Some people stayed cool on their commutes by tubing down a snow-fed creek. The Daily Camera reports that 1,000 people participated in the 12th annual Tube to Work Day on Friday, one of the hottest days of the year. The event is aimed at promoting alternative transportation and celebrating the city’s quirkiness. Organizers bill it as the “world’s greatest traffic jam.” Television helicopter footage showed people going through mild rapids as they made their way down Boulder Creek in tubes, including some dressed in suits. People gathered on bridges over the creek to watch. The event was delayed this year until the water subsided to safe levels following a winter of plentiful snow in the mountains.

Connecticut

Hamden: A new agreement will allow graduates from two community colleges to easily transfer to Quinnipiac University. The president of Gateway Community College in New Haven and Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport has reached an agreement with Quinnipiac’s president, guaranteeing Gateway and Housatonic graduates are admitted into a bachelor’s degree program as third-year students. They must have graduated from the state-run community colleges with a minimum grade0point average of 3.0 and an associate degree in arts or an associate degree in science in business, engineering science, nursing or allied health. The students must also satisfy other transfer admission requirements at the private university and requirements for their major.

Delaware

Wilmington:Sweltering temperatures reached near-record levels Saturday with highs of 96 in Wilmington and 98 in Georgetown — two locations where the National Weather Service collects official data. The record high temperature on July 20 in Wilmington is 100, set in 1895. Georgetown’s record-setting day, where temperatures also hit 100, came in 1977. But the heat index, which takes into account temperature and humidity, reached 109 in Wilmington and 111 in Georgetown. The weather service does not keep heat index records. A reprieve from the warm weather should come Monday as a colder front moves in and pushes out the hot and humid air mass that has lingered over the area since Wednesday.

District of Columbia

Washington:Multiple firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion while trying to put out an apartment fire in Southwest, D.C. on Saturday, WUSA-TV reports. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services crews responded to a seventh-floor apartment fire in the 200 block of I Street. Officials reported smoke conditions on several floors and many residents were evacuated from the building. The fire was put out quickly. Two civilians were taken to a hospital for evaluation and two firefighters were taken for heat exhaustion.

Florida

Key West: A retired 68-year-old Tennessee banker has won Key West’s Hemingway Look-Alike Contest on his eighth attempt. Joe Maxey of Cedar Hill triumphed Saturday night at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, a hangout of Ernest Hemingway during his Key West residence in the 1930s. A judging panel of former winners chose Maxey from 142 white-bearded contenders who competed in two preliminary rounds and Saturday’s finals. Maxey said he loves Hemingway’s writing and shares the author’s fondness for mojitos and women. During his Key West years, Hemingway penned literary classics including “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “To Have and Have Not.” The contest is a highlight of the annual Hemingway Days festival that honors the author’s literary legacy and adventurous lifestyle. The celebration ends Sunday, the 120th anniversary of his birth.

Georgia

Atlanta: A private room that breastfeeding mothers can use to pump breast milk has opened in a building near the Capitol. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports the lactation room in the James H. “Sloppy” Floyd Building – which houses state agencies and a cafeteria – is the second in state offices in downtown Atlanta. Another site at a different state building has been open for six years and averages about 355 visits per month. The new room is open to state employees with a badge, but visitors can access the room through security staff. Its opening came after state Sen. Jen Jordan, an Atlanta Democrat, introduced legislation requiring a lactation room be provided at the Capitol. The legislation stalled, but Republican Gov. Brian Kemp helped secure the room nearby.

Hawaii

Honolulu: A newly appointed, taxpayer-funded attorney representing a former prosecutor wants to delay her trial on bank fraud and identity theft charges. Gary Singh was appointed to represent Katherine Kealoha after her former taxpayer-funded attorney asked to withdraw from the case. Kealoha and her retired police chief husband were convicted last month of conspiracy in a plot to frame her uncle. Their fraud and identity theft trial is scheduled for October At a hearing Thursday, Singh said he needs more time. The timing of that trial will affect scheduling for another trial faced by Katherine Kealoha with her pain physician brother on drug-dealing charges. U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright wants to Singh to consult with other attorneys involved about new trial dates.

Idaho

Jerome: A music festival in southern Idaho has been canceled because organizers say they feared potential raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The music festival called the El Tour de Idaho de Los Inquietos was supposed to take place last Saturday. Event organizers with the Colombia Event Center posted the cancellation notice on Facebook. Leo Morales of ACLU of Idaho said he couldn’t confirm that any Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in southern Idaho, but he said community members were panicked. Jerome City Police Dan Hall said he didn’t have information about ICE agents in the area. Hall said the agency is not required to tell local law enforcement that it is conducting raids. But he did say ICE would inform local police if its activity involves a case that police are already working. Ticket-holders were told to get refunds from where they purchased tickets.

Illinois

Chicago: Efforts to organize an open-water swim on the Chicago River this fall will be delayed by at least one year. Doug McConnell and his co-organizer Don Macdonald wanted to coordinate a 2.4-mile swim on the Chicago River in September. But McConnell says convincing the relevant city authorities to allow the swimming has proved to be tougher than anticipated. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events informed the team last week that they would need to postpone their swim. The organizers’ new target for the swim is September 2020. McConnell says the swim would raise money for Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine to conduct research for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Indiana

South Bend: The city where Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is mayor is updating its police officers’ body camera technology following the recent fatal police shooting of a black man. Police Sgt. Ryan O’ Neill fatally shot Eric Logan on June 16, but the incident wasn’t captured on video because his body camera wasn’t activated. The shooting sparked protests, prompting Buttigieg to leave the campaign trail for several days to answer questions about public safety and race. O’Neill resigned from the department last week. The South Bend Tribune reports that the technology upgrades will mean officers’ body cameras can be activated manually or automatically when a squad car door is opened. And soon, sensors will activate the cameras when an officer’s gun when it is drawn from the holster.

Iowa

Des Moines:Officials have announced new inspection rules for pigs that will be shown at the Iowa State Fair. A state Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship news release says the additional exhibition requirements are designed to promote biosecurity and animal health as African swine fever continues to spread across China and other parts of Asia and Europe. All pigs must be individually inspected and identified on a certificate of veterinary inspection that was completed within seven days of the fair, which runs Aug. 8-18. A veterinarian will inspect all pigs as they arrive at the fairgrounds before they are unloaded or mixed with other livestock. Biosecurity concerns led organizers to cancel the World Pork Expo scheduled for last month at the fairgrounds. The National Pork Producers Council says African swine fever affects only pigs and presents no human health or food safety risks. There is no vaccine to treat the disease.

Kansas

Topeka: Electric charging stations have been introduced at the Topeka, Lawrence and Towanda services areas on the Kansas Turnpike. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Gov. Laura Kelly announced the charging station additions Wednesday, calling them “a game-changer” for electric vehicle drivers. The Topeka Service Area, similar to the ones in Lawrence and Towanda, has three charging stations. The charging station additions came as a result of an alliance between the Kansas Turnpike Authority, Westar Energy and Kansas City Power and Light. Turnpike officials say the charging stations will help to eradicate “range anxiety,” or the concern an electric car battery will run out of power before reaching a destination. Westar Energy officials say manufacturers expect to spend around $500 billion in the next eight years on electric car development.

Kentucky

Henderson: The city’s downtown experienced a full-on military assault Thursday night — complete with a forced building entry, flash-bang grenade explosions, fake gunfire and troops being whisked away under the cover of darkness in Black Hawk helicopters. Fortunately, it was all friendly U.S. forces carrying out a supervised training exercise in cooperation with local officials. There was some minor collateral damage, though. When the troops stormed the old, empty Immanuel Baptist Temple church building on Second Street that is owned by the city, Holy Name School next door got a little roughed up by the helicopter rotor wash.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: State officials say high water means people are seeing more alligators than usual, and feeding them is dangerous. State wildlife officials sent out a news release during the week, and Gov. John Bel Edwards tweeted about the subject Friday. The governor wrote, “It feels like we shouldn’t have to say this, y’all. But please don’t feed the alligators.” Wildlife biologists say feeding gators makes them view people as an easy food source, increasing the chance that they will bite someone. The statement from the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries notes that throwing fish scraps into the water or leaving them on shore is a bad idea for the same reason. It says fish scraps, like other garbage, should go into garbage cans.

Maine

Portland: America’s harvest of scallops is increasing to near-record levels at a time when the shellfish are in high demand. Sea scallops, harvested mostly by boats from the cold Atlantic Ocean, are the target of one of the most valuable fisheries in America. New data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the harvest topped 58.2 million pounds last year, the highest total since 2011 and the fifth-highest in history according to NOAA statistics dating to 1945. The availability of scallops for consumers hasn’t changed as the U.S. harvest has long been supplemented by foreign sources. Prices to consumers have also held about steady. NOAA says American scallops were worth $532 9 million at the docks last year. That’s the third-highest figure.

Maryland

Bowie: Roller coaster riders were stuck atop a hill for nearly two hours at a Six Flags amusement park when the ride malfunctioned. News outlets quote Six Flags America spokeswoman Denise Stokes as saying the ride came to a stop at the top of the lift hill on the Firebird ride Thursday night. All guests were escorted safely off the ride, but officials said passengers had to wait for nearly two hours on the floorless coaster as the park followed safety procedures. Six Flags officials told news outlets the ride will remain closed while it undergoes an inspection. WJZ reports this is the third time in the past three years that people have been removed from one ride or another at the park.

Massachusetts

Orleans: A family fishing in Cape Cod Bay had an up close and personal encounter with a great white shark that leaped out of the water to snatch a fish they had caught right off the line. Doug Nelson of Franklin, who caught the leaping shark on video on Saturday, told New England Cable News it “gave us a pretty good scare.” His son, Jack, can be seen on the video jumping back as the shark breaches the water’s surface. The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy confirmed it was a great white, as did Marc Costa, captain of the Columbia Sportfishing vessel. Costa said the boat was about three miles west of Great Island in Wellfleet when the shark made its leap.

Michigan

Grand Rapids: The John Ball Zoo is closing a month early this season to work on improvements. Over the next five years, zoo officials are hoping to widen the entryway to enhance accessibility and build an 18-acre playground. The parking lot will also move from the front to the rear of the zoo to make room for the playground. Peter D’Arienzo, who heads the zoo, tells WOOD-TV the zoo is also planning to offer annual exhibits. The zoo recently added toucans, a spider monkey and the popular red pandas. The zoo draws nearly 500,000 people each year. It opened 128 years ago, making it the nation’s 10th-oldest zoo.

Minnesota

St. Paul: State conservation officials say there’s a small, but noticeable increase in loon deaths and the likely cause is West Nile virus. The Department of Natural Resources says the virus was confirmed as the cause of death in two of three loons from northeastern Minnesota earlier this month. Minnesota Public Radio News says the agency is asking lake property owners and others using the lakes to contact a wildlife office if they see two or more dead loons with no obvious injury or cause of death. West Nile was first confirmed in Minnesota in 2002. The virus is spread through mosquito bites. Most people and animals fight off the virus and develop antibodies against future infection. The DNR says loons and crows, however, are especially susceptible to the infection.

Mississippi

Tupelo: Elvis Presley fans will soon be able to rent bicycles to pedal around in the city where he was born. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that a local entrepreneur, Ethan Nolan, is starting a bike rental service in Tupelo. It is called King City Cycles. Nolan belongs to a bicycle club and says rentals will make downtown more attractive to locals and tourists alike. Tupelo attracts big crowds for its annual Elvis Festival. People will rent bikes using a smartphone app, and the app will track the bikes’ location to guard against thefts. Biloxi is among the Mississippi cities that have had bicycle rental services.

Missouri

Bolivar: A woman who knows her snakes encountered a weird one while riding her bicycle on the Frisco Highline Trail. Near one of the first bridges on the southbound route, Christy Dablemont, 47, rode past the snake, then turned around for a closer look. The snake was a venomous copperhead, but with unusual markings down its back. Instead of “Hershey’s Kisses” markings along its side, the snake’s back was mostly a pattern of bronze-colored lines. Dablemont, who worked for 16 years as a wildlife interpreter at Pomme de Terre State Park, said it was the most unusual Missouri snake she has ever encountered. After photographing the snake, she left it to continue sunning along the side of the trail, which runs between Springfield and Bolivar. She noted that the venomous snake’s unusual appearance is a good reminder for people to leave wild snakes alone, especially if you don’t know what it is.

Montana

Helena: A nonprofit group trying to create the nation’s largest nature reserve in central Montana is planning a buffalo hunt on its land later this year. American Prairie Reserve officials say the quota will be 20 based on the approximately 800 bison in the privately owned herd. They will hold a drawing on Aug. 1 in which 16 people will be randomly selected. Six tags will go to residents who live near the reserve, four to Montana residents, four to members of the Fort Peck, Fort Belknap or Rocky Boy tribes and two more to the general public. The fee is $300. Four tags will be donated to local charities for fundraising. Reserve superintendent Damien Austin says limited hunts serve as a management tool to check the bison population.

Nebraska

Omaha: Health officials are warning those in Douglas County to take precautions after West Nile virus was found in mosquitoes in the county. The Douglas County Health Department says in a news release that four local mosquito pools at two locations have tested positive for the mosquito-borne illness. The pools are located at Seymour L. Smith Park in Ralston and Zorinsky Lake Park in western Omaha. The department says high populations of mosquitoes have been reported since May. Residents are urged to apply mosquito repellant and wear long-sleeved shirts, pants and socks and shoes, particularly at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active. Residents should also remove standing water to prevent mosquito breeding. Those who contract West Nile can suffer symptoms ranging from mild flu-like symptoms to death.

Nevada

Reno: Lake Tahoe is the fullest it has been in nearly two decades. Officials say the alpine lake on the California-Nevada border is approaching the legal limit after snowmelt from a stormy winter left enough water to potentially last through three summers of drought. For three weeks, Tahoe has been within an inch of its maximum allowed surface elevation of 6,229.1 feet above sea level, It crept to within a half-inch earlier this week. Chad Blanchard, a federal water master in Reno responsible for managing the water, told the Reno Gazette-Journal it is the longest he’s seen the lake stay that high for so long. Lake Tahoe, the second-deepest lake in the U.S. at about 1,645 feet, typically holds enough water to cover the entire state of California with 14 inches of the wet stuff. Only Oregon’s Crater Lake is deeper.

New Hampshire

Concord: A Republican lawmaker is standing by comments made on social media that slavery was motivated by economics rather than racism, even as he was criticized by his own party. In a Facebook exchange with a former lawmaker, state Rep. Werner Horn wrote that owning slaves didn’t necessarily make someone a racist. He was responding to the former lawmaker’s comment questioning how President Donald Trump could be the most racist president when other presidents owned slaves. Horn on Saturday defended his comments that slavery was a business decision but said he was referring to the 17th and 18th centuries. By the 19th century, he said, racism was used to maintain slavery. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu called Horn’s comments racist and said the “legislature would be better off without” him.

New Jersey

Hackensack:Nearly two dozen protesters gathered Saturday outside the Bergen County Jail demanding that air conditioners that had been malfunctioning for weeks be fixed and warned that the weekend’s scorching temperatures create dangerous conditions for inmates. Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton says that the air conditioners were all working after two malfunctioned Friday night. Before Friday, the jail had been experiencing air conditioning problems for weeks and maintenance staff was working on installing replacement condensers. All those repairs, Cureton said, have been completed.

New Mexico

Alamogordo: Lincoln National Forest is undertaking a multiyear endeavor of creating a forest plan revision. This process is in its beginning stages and public input is needed on some criteria. Lincoln National Forest is wanting to hear from the public about its Draft Wilderness Inventory Criteria and Draft Wilderness Evaluation Criteria. Only public forest system land will be considered for wilderness designation. Privately-owned land will be exempt from wilderness designation, Lincoln National Forest Spokeswoman Laura Rabon says. Public comments must be submitted by July 31, either by email at LNF_FPR_comments@fs.fed.us or by mail to Lincoln National Forest, Attn.: Plan Revision, 3463 Las Palomas Road, Alamogordo, NM, 88310..

New York

Grahamsville: A rare dragonfly has been spotted near a reservoir in the Catskills. A New York City Department of Environmental Protection field ecologist recently found a southern pygmy clubtail dragonfly living along a tributary to the city’s Rondout Reservoir. The city agency says the species is considered critically imperiled in New York. It can only survive and reproduce in clear, clean waters, making them an indicator of water quality. DEP ecologist Frank Beres says the dragonfly hopped on his finger and allowed him to take several photos before flying off. The species’ population in New York and the Northeast has reportedly been dwindling for years.

North Carolina

Candler:Buncombe County will get its first state park, where residents will get a front-row seat for viewing Mount Pisgah and watching wildlife, hiking ridge lines, and maybe even take in a horseback ride. Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law SB 535 on Friday, authorizing the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to create Pisgah View State Park, which will be roughly 1,600 acres, sitting mostly in Candler, with a small parcel in Haywood County. Earlier in the month the governor also signed into law two bills creating the Northern Peaks State Trail in Watauga and Ashe counties, the Wilderness Gateway State Trail in the South Mountains range in McDowell, Rutherford, Burke and Catawba counties, and the Overmountain Victory State Trail reaching across Avery, Mitchell, McDowell, Burke, Rutherford, Polk, Caldwell, Wilkes and Surry counties.

North Dakota

Epping: The state’s Health Department says more than 12,000 gallons of oilfield wastewater has spilled from a pipeline in Williams County, impacting an unknown amount of pastureland. State environmental scientist Bill Suess says the pipeline operator, Polar Midstream LLC, reported the produced water spill Thursday. Produced water is a mixture of saltwater and oil that can contain drilling chemicals. It’s a byproduct of oil and gas development. Suess says state regulators are investing the spill about 3 miles southwest of Epping. He says some of the spill was contained to a well pad. Polar Midstream also reported a 21,000-gallon produced water spill on July. 14 near Williston. Regulators say some of that spill entered an unnamed tributary to the Missouri River.

Ohio

Columbus: The state is raising the minimum age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21. The new law will take effect in October after Gov. Mike DeWine signed it last week. Ohio is one of 18 states that have raised the minimum age for purchasing cigarettes, cigars, electronic cigarettes and other tobacco products. The new law also applies to rolling papers, filters and other smoking and vaping accessories. National statistics show Ohio has one of the highest rates of adult smokers at just over 21%. Backers of the new law say the goal is to prevent children from starting to smoke.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: The state’s rainy spring has provided an ideal environment for ticks. That could be bad news for people and their pets because the pathogens many ticks carry can cause serious diseases. The risk of getting a tick bite isn’t limited to hikers and campers in the woods. Plenty of the bloodsuckers live in urban parks and neighborhoods. Will Hagenbuck, head park naturalist at the Oklahoma City park system, says park visitors can avoid most of the ticks by staying on the trails, but that’s no guarantee. Tick-borne diseases can be dangerous, causing everything from a food allergy to red meat to miscarriage to death. Look behind ears, at the collar line on the back of the neck, armpits, joints, waist and groin, and on your socks and shoes. Adults may be easy to spot, but nymphs might look like a freckle, he said.

Oregon

Salem:Amazon on Friday kicked off a hiring spree for more than 800 positions at its packing and shipping warehouse. The Seattle e-commerce giant is taking a staggered approach to fill its earlier promised target of about 1,000 jobs at the approximately 1-million-square-foot outpost. The warehouse opens in August. Workers can expect to pack and ship larger products including sports equipment, gardening tools and patio furniture. Amazon has adopted a $15-an-hour minimum wage. Oregon’s minimum wage in the Salem area rose to $11.25 on July 1 and will increase to $13.50 in 2022 under state legislation enacted in 2016. The company offers employee benefits such as up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave. Candidates for the Salem jobs have to be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or equivalent. Applicants can go online at www.amazon.com/salemjobs or text SALEMNOW to 77088.

Pennsylvania

Reading: Mayor Wally Scott has reversed course and says he will allow the LGBTQ rainbow flag to fly over City Hall for the first time. Scott last week called off a scheduled ceremony to raise the “pride flag,” calling it a political symbol. But the Reading Eagle reports that Scott posted a video on his Facebook page Saturday saying he had changed his mind. Scott says his change of heart came after a “very prominent woman” he would not name visited him and spoke to him about her experience of realizing she was gay and telling her mother.

Rhode Island

Providence: Lawmakers are praising the signing of legislation that establishes guidelines for a diversion program within the Superior Court. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed the legislation Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey says it’s another step forward for criminal justice reform because the program will offer supervision and services instead of incarceration. McCaffrey of Warwick sponsored the legislation, along with Rep. Robert Jacquard, D-Cranston, in the House. Jacquard says it’s imperative that the state helps people with addiction issues get healthy rather than incarcerating them at great cost to the taxpayers.

South Carolina

Charleston: An extremely rare albino alligator that lived at the South Carolina Aquarium has died. The aquarium posted on its Facebook page that the 22-year-old alligator named Alabaster died Friday morning. He had lived at the aquarium since 2009. South Carolina Aquarium spokeswoman Caroline Morris tells The Post and Courier that Alabaster was believed to be one of about 50 albino gators in the world. Staff at the aquarium said they noticed Alabaster showing signs of infection last week. The statement says workers began treating the gator and officials sought advice from other experts across the country. South Carolina Aquarium President and CEO Kevin Mills says Alabaster served as an ambassador for his species and “captivated the hearts of staff and guests alike.”

South Dakota

Sioux Falls:Gov. Kristi Noem’s approval rating has remained steady, but her disapproval rating has crept upward in her first six months in office, according to a new poll. Noem’s 49% approval rating hasn’t changed during the first and second quarters this year. However, her disapproval rating has increased from 32% to 40%, according to Morning Consult’s quarterly governor poll. Eleven percent didn’t have an opinion of Noem’s job performance during the second quarter. Morning Consult’s poll had a 3% margin of error. The latest disapproval rating puts Noem at eighth among the top 10 most unpopular governors, according to Morning Consult.

Tennessee

Nashville:Two Southwest Airlines planes collided on the tarmac of Nashville International Airport. Airline officials say no injuries were reported in Saturday night’s collision. An emailed statement from Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Michelle Agnew says the winglet of the St. Louis-bound Southwest Flight 1555 came into contact during pushback with the winglet of Southwest Flight 4580, headed for Atlanta. A photograph provided by a passenger on board the flight to Atlanta showed rainy weather and what appeared to be the top of the other plane’s fin clipped off. The airline says both planes returned to the gate under their own power and were taken out of service for evaluation.

Texas

Abilene:A park dedicated to Dyess Air Force Base personnel who died in crashes or other services to their country has been expanded to include memorial plaques. Ceremonies were held Friday at updated Dyess Memorial Park, which was a project of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee. The site previously featured a flagpole, a covered area and bricks. The expanded park now recognizes the 79 military personnel who gave their lives since what originally was known as Abilene Air Force Base opened in 1956. The design involves a sundial memorial, allowing the sun to enter and mark precise points on the grounds and shine on various monuments.

Utah

Logan: Children are honing their business savvy at entrepreneur fairs in Utah after a legal change that allows children to run a business without a license or permit. The Herald Journal reports children between the ages of 5 and 16 lined the streets of downtown Logan on July 13 to sell their wares as part of The Libertas Institute’s annual Children’s Entrepreneur Market. The libertarian think-tank hosts the event in 11 cities across Utah. Market manager Lynee Fife says it helps children gain confidence, interact with adults and learn other social skills. Some items for sale included pancakes, homemade slimes and beeswax products.

Vermont

Montpelier: The state is going to be receiving nearly $100,000 from the federal government so schools can get more food from local farms. The office of Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy says the Farm to School grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will strengthen farm-to-school programming in 20 schools in Franklin and Grand Isle counties. Anson Tebbetts, the secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, says the project will help schools, students and Vermont farmers. This award was part of more than $9 million in USDA grants for 126 projects in 42 states.

Virginia

Norfolk: Gov. Ralph Northam says he could soon be rolling out a plan for free community college tuition. In a Wednesday announcement, the Democratic governor described a program that would allow Virginia residents to attend community colleges for free in exchange for a year spent working in public service or a high-demand field. Northam said it would be called G3 for “get skilled, get a job and give back.” He says he expects more details and a formal announcement to come in a few weeks. The Virginian-Pilot reports Northam’s proposal follows a plan he laid out while campaigning in 2017. At the time, he said the program would initially cost the state $37 million but would earn more than twice that amount back in income taxes after five years.

Washington

Seattle: Puget Sound beaches were temporarily closed after millions of gallons of sewage flowed into the water. The state Department of Ecology says early Friday the West Point Wastewater Treatment Plant released an estimated 3 million gallons of untreated sewage over about 27 minutes after backup pumping systems failed during power disruptions. On Thursday, officials say a separate power failure at the Renton Wastewater Treatment Plant resulted in potentially limited disinfection of treated wastewater. That plant discharges into Puget Sound northwest of Duwamish Head in Seattle.

West Virginia

Charleston: A West Virginia sailor and veteran is among those honored on a recently dedicated World War I memorial in New York City’s Times Square. The monument was authorized by the World War I Centennial Commission to honor six sailors who died when the USS San Diego, the largest U.S. Navy warship, sank off the coast of Long Island. The Gazette-Mail reports Frazier Oran Thomas’ hometown was listed as Charleston in Navy casualty reports. He was among more than 1,000 sailors on the ship 100 years ago and died when it exploded from coming into contact with an underwater mine. The plaque was unveiled in May during Fleet Week New York. The commission says it’s set to be permanently placed in Ocean Beach, New York, this summer.

Wisconsin

Madison: A report shows 11 rural hospitals in Wisconsin stopped routinely delivering babies in the past 10 years. The state Office of Rural Health report shows that the closures were the result of the challenge of a low number of on-call providers and number of deliveries. The Wisconsin State Journal reports the most recent obstetrics closures were in Grantsburg and Ripon in 2017. The report, which was released last week, indicates that 56% of the state’s rural hospitals perform routine deliveries, compared with 40% of rural hospitals nationally. The report says nearly 99% of women of child-bearing age in Wisconsin live within a 30-minute drive of a hospital that provides obstetrics.

Wyoming

Gillette: Campbell County could lose out on more than $30 million in mineral production taxes owed by a bankrupt coal company following a decision by a judge. Delaware U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Kevin Gross ruled Campbell and Converse counties don’t have first priority when it comes to collecting from Cloud Peak Energy. The Gillette News-Record reports the ruling could make it difficult for the counties to collect. They must wait in line behind other creditors. Local officials say Campbell County alone could be owed $30 million or more. Gillette-based Cloud Peak Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. The loss will be a hit for school districts across the state. As much as 75% of the tax revenue goes back to the state for redistribution to districts statewide.

News from around our 50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Montgomery: Some residents of a rural community are complaining about a Spanish-language event planned for this weekend featuring live music and bull riding, but a local official says he worries such comments appear “anti-Latino.” News outlets report people from the Snowdoun area near Montgomery have asked county and city leaders to block the Festival Latino, scheduled Sunday in a field. They say a similar event in July was so loud and raucous it traumatized livestock. But Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange says organizers haven’t violated any zoning rules. County Commissioner Dan Harris says he voted against a move to block the festival because opposition appears to be “anti-Latino” even if it isn’t. Harris says he doesn’t want to be part of that, particularly after the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas.

Alaska

Kenai: A wildlife monitoring group is seeking citizen scientists to help track beluga whales off the state’s coast. The Peninsula Clarion reports the Alaska Beluga Monitoring Partnership is offering volunteers an opportunity to help scientists understand more about Cook Inlet beluga whales. The partnership is a collaboration of several organizations including Beluga Whale Alliance, Defenders of Wildlife and the Alaska Wildlife Alliance. Monitoring events are expected to take place between Aug. 14 and Nov. 15. Planned monitoring locations include Twentymile River and Bird Point near Girdwood, Ship Creek in Anchorage, and the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers. Officials say volunteers will learn about the conservation needs of Cook Inlet beluga whales and receive training on identifying and recording data on beluga distribution and behavior.

Arizona

Tucson: Officials have approved placing a “sanctuary city” measure on the ballot, but not without some pushback. KVOA-TV reports the Tucson City Council voted Tuesday night to allow the initiative on the November ballot, which could potentially lead to Arizona’s first-ever “sanctuary city.” Councilmembers were required to vote after the measure got more than the minimum required number of petition signatures. The initiative would add protections for people living in the U.S. illegally. Video shows a woman wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat repeatedly shouting that the initiative defies U.S. immigration law. The footage has since gone viral on social media because of an man in a green polo shirt laughing nearby. #GreenShirtGuy was the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter as of Wednesday morning.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The governor is asking lawmakers to approve $25 million for a new state grant program aimed at increasing access to high-speed internet in rural areas. Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday announced the creation of the Arkansas Rural Connect program, which will provide grants to qualifying communities with at least 500 people to deploy high-speed broadband to residents. Hutchinson, who announced the program at a meeting of the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Association in Rogers, says he’ll ask the Legislative Council to approve $5.7 million for the program this year, and the remainder will need to be appropriated by lawmakers in next year’s legislative session. In May, Hutchinson released a plan to expand rural access to high-speed broadband by 2022.

California

Los Angeles: Actor Danny Trejo played a real-life hero when he helped rescue a baby trapped in an overturned car after two cars collided at an intersection in the Sylmar neighborhood Wednesday. Video aired by KABC-TV shows Trejo at the crash scene. Trejo says he crawled into the wrecked vehicle from one side but couldn’t unbuckle the child’s car seat from that angle. He says another bystander, a young woman, was able to undo the buckle. Together they pulled the baby safely from the wreckage. The Los Angeles Fire Department says three people were taken to a hospital, and there were no life-threatening injuries. The 75-year-old Trejo, an L.A. native, is perhaps best known for playing the character Machete, originally from the “Spy Kids” series.

Colorado

Colorado Springs: State wildlife officials say thousands of tarantulas are expected to start their annual migration through the state soon. The Gazette reports the migration is expected to begin this month through early October. Officials say the Oklahoma brown tarantulas migrate through La Junta, about 176 miles southeast of Denver. Scientists say the majority of the spiders are 10-year-old males looking to mate with females hidden in Colorado’s grasslands. Officials say the peak time to view the migration is mid-September near Comanche National Grassland south of La Junta off U.S. Highway 109. Officials say tarantulas are mostly harmless to humans but have bites that can cause injury or allergic reaction and hairs that can be irritating to the eyes, mouth and nose.

Connecticut

Hartford: The federal Office for Civil Rights has launched an investigation into the state’s policy allowing transgender high school athletes to compete as the gender with which they identify. The investigation follows a complaint by the families of three girls who say they were discriminated against by having to compete in track against two athletes who were identified as male at birth. They say that violates Title IX, the federal law designed to ensure equal athletic opportunities for females. The Connecticut Association of Schools-Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference says its policy follows a state anti-discrimination law that says students must be treated in school by their gender identification. Transathlete.com says Connecticut is one of 17 states that allow transgender high school athletes to compete without restrictions.

Delaware

Wilmington: Everyone’s a critic, including Delaware Air National Guard officials who wanted nude images of Adam and Eve depicted in a 50-year-old mural by famed artist Jamie Wyeth to put on some pants. Someone apparently isn’t mooning over the huge, 10-by-30-foot mural that shows the bare buttocks of the Garden of Eden couple. It hangs on a wall of a building at the guard’s 80-acre base at the New Castle County Airport. The mural was created by Wyeth when he served with the Delaware Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Air National Guard officials have had recent talks about possibly altering or covering up part of the artwork by the well-known painter. Wyeth is the scion of three generations of widely celebrated American artists, including his illustrator grandfather N.C. Wyeth and his late father Andrew Wyeth, one of the best-known painters of the 20th century.

District of Columbia

Washington: An internal review of D.C. public schools shows more than 30% of employees have expired background checks. News outlets report Chancellor Lewis Ferebee shared the review’s findings with parents Tuesday and in a letter Wednesday. The district launched the review in June after an employee of a private before- and after-school program allegedly kissed and fondled a 13-year-old student on multiple occasions. The district says it discovered the company didn’t conduct proper background checks. Ferebee says by the end of October, all after-school staff, school staff and central office staff will have active background checks. He also says staff will receive more training on how to spot and respond to sexual misconduct cases.

Florida

Fort Lauderdale: Gov. Ron DeSantis says the state is expanding its efforts to eradicate invasive pythons in the Everglades and is working with the federal government to get snake hunters to remote areas of Big Cypress National Preserve. DeSantis announced Wednesday that Florida will double its resources for python removal and that the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Agriculture have a new agreement to begin hunting pythons in 130,000 acres of state parks. He’s directing the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District to work together to research ways to eliminate pythons and to make a python challenge an annual event instead of once every three years. The challenge awards python hunters who capture the most snakes, which have decimated native species.

Georgia

Milton: A farmer says his beloved miniature donkey named Sammy was literally scared to death by this year’s Fourth of July fireworks. Now he and an animal rights group want Georgia to ban rockets that go boom. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wrote to Gov. Brian Kemp, House Speaker David Ralston and others Wednesday asking for a “Sammy’s law” limiting fireworks to the non-explosive, non-aerial varieties. John Bogino tells WGCL-TV that Sammy and his other farm animals are like pets to him. His pet donkey of 22 years died last month, and he says Sammy wasn’t his first animal to die because of fireworks. He says one of his horses fled explosions in late July several years ago and had to be euthanized due to severe injuries.

Hawaii

Honolulu: Scientists have discovered that a growing pond of water inside a crater is being heated by the Kilauea volcano. The U.S. Geological Survey says temperature readings taken last weekend show that the pool of water in Kilauea’s Halemaumau crater, the former home of a popular lava lake, is about 158 degrees Fahrenheit. For the first time in recorded history, the presence of water in the crater was confirmed last week. Since then, scientists have found two other small pools of water nearby. The crater floor collapsed about 2,000 feet, and the lava lake disappeared last summer as Kilauea stopped erupting for the first time in over 30 years. USGS geologist Matt Patrick told the Associated Press it’s hard to determine how deep the magma chamber is beneath the bottom of the crater floor where the water was found.

Idaho

Spokane: A study by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game has found that cougars kill more elk than wolves in the state. The Spokesman-Review reports the study found that wolves accounted for 32% of adult female elk deaths and 28% of elk calf deaths. The study found that cougars accounted for 35% of adult female elk deaths and 45% of elk calf deaths. The study published earlier this year in the Journal of Wildlife Management examined 15 years of data. The study also found that food availability and the severity of winter is the most important factor for elk calf survival. Idaho Department of Fish and Game senior wildlife research biologist Jon Horne says the findings are also likely applicable for Washington, Montana and Canada.

Illinois

Springfield: Officials are showcasing one of the most popular attractions of the Illinois State Fair. The butter cow was unveiled Wednesday afternoon at the fairgrounds. The sculpture has been a part of the state fair for almost 100 years. This year’s cow has been sculpted from 800 pounds of recycled butter. The cow stands near the word “Future” to incorporate the theme of the fair, which is “Building Our Future.” The cow is on display at the Dairy Building. Last year, hundreds of pounds of butter were sculpted into a cow by the same Iowa artist, Sarah Pratt. The base had “Land of Lincoln” written on it and included a stovepipe hat, as a nod to Abraham Lincoln. The fair started Thursday and ends Aug. 18.

Indiana

Indianapolis: Rainbow-colored streamers welcomed students back for the first day of classes Thursday at Cathedral High School, a show of support for a gay teacher fired from the Catholic school over the summer. The brightly colored streamers were a silent twist on a long-held Cathedral tradition to decorate “the hill” with toilet paper on the first day of school, but they still spoke volumes. The private high school has been embroiled in a debate over LGBTQ rights since it fired longtime teacher Joshua Payne-Elliott because of his same-sex marriage. Cathedral officials have said they only did so at the order of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, which began requiring employment contracts with “ministerial language” and morality clauses to be used at its schools four years ago.

Iowa

Dyersville: They’ve built it. Now they’re coming. Major League Baseball is headed to town in 2020. The Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees announced Thursday that the two teams will play an official big-league game at the “Field of Dreams” movie site Aug. 13, 2020. “It’s definitely exciting,” says Roman Weinberg, the director of operations for Go the Distance Baseball, which owns the Field of Dreams movie site. “There’s nothing more American than the Field of Dreams and America’s pastime.” The 1989 movie centers on the 1919 White Sox and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Jackson, who was banned by MLB along with seven of his teammates for his alleged role in the White Sox throwing the 1919 World Series, inspires a farmer, played by Kevin Costner, to build a baseball field. The site has since become a tourist attraction, with fans from across the globe flocking to the Iowa cornfield to see it.

Kansas

Topeka: The state plans to impose what some tax experts say would be the nation’s most aggressive policy for collecting taxes on online sales, possibly inviting a legal battle. The Department of Revenue issued a notice last week saying any “remote seller” doing business with Kansas residents must register with the department, collect state and local sales taxes, and forward the revenues to the state, starting Oct. 1. It cites a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year allowing states to collect sales taxes on internet sales. Most states now have policies to collect such taxes, but almost all set minimum annual sales or transaction thresholds to exempt small businesses, according to groups tracking tax laws. Kansas is the first to attempt to collect the taxes without exempting any businesses, they said.

Kentucky

Louisville: Amid major legislative efforts to restrict or end abortion in the state, a new poll commissioned by Planned Parenthood finds a majority of likely voters in the commonwealth believe the procedure should remain available. Asked whether it’s important for women to have “access to all of the reproductive health care options available, including abortion,” 65% said yes, according to the poll. Also, 65% said they’d have doubts about a law that bans abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case legalizing abortion. Just 18% said they believe all abortions should be illegal – though another 37% said abortion should be allowed only in “extreme cases,” such as for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest or to save the life of the woman. And 43% said abortion should be legal with some regulations.

Louisiana

Pride: A highway marker honoring blues singer and guitarist Buddy Guy has been recovered, months after it disappeared. News outlets report Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff’s Office received a tip Wednesday that the sign was at a person’s house in Pride, roughly 30 miles northeast of Baton Rouge. Lt. Craig Dabadie says investigators believe a driver ran off the road and knocked the sign off a pole in May. Someone else picked it up as a souvenir. The sign was posted along Louisiana 1, marking the spot where Guy recorded a music video. The marker honors the Louisiana native’s legacy in music. Rolling Stone magazine listed him at No. 23 on its list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists.” No arrests were made, and the investigation is ongoing.

Maine

Portland: A federal program designed to help farmers suffering due to trade disruption is unlikely to assist the state’s wild blueberry growers. Maine is the sole commercial producer of wild blueberries in the United States. The industry has struggled in recent years with falling crop sizes and low prices to farmers. Maine Agriculture Commissioner Amanda Beal has called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to include the crop in its Market Facilitation Program, which is slated to provide billions to growers negatively impacted by foreign trade retaliation. But the USDA said in a statement that the program is intended for crops that aren’t easily used in school food programs or through food banks. Wild blueberries sometimes fill those needs. The agency says the blueberries remain eligible for other USDA assistance programs.

Maryland

Baltimore: The news of Toni Morrison’s death led a west Baltimore artist to create his own version of an ancestral shrine. The Baltimore Sun reports that 50-year-old Ernest Shaw Jr. completed a mural of the celebrated artist and Nobel laureate by Tuesday, just a day after Morrison’s death. Shaw says he considers the death of the 88-year-old Morrison to be the acquiring of an ancestor. He says creating the mural was his way of pouring libations, a reference to a ritual used to honor ancestors and deities. He says there’s no death in dying as Morrison has just transitioned to now work with “the other side.” The spontaneous mural dedicated to “TONI M” covers a Graffiti Alley wall behind Motor House and took several hours to complete.

Massachusetts

Boston: Ever since “Boston Strong” became a rallying cry after the Boston Marathon bombing, the idea of “strong” has become an inescapable part of how this country heals after tragedy. People mourning this past weekend’s mass shootings in Ohio and Texas have rallied around the slogans “Dayton Strong” and “El Paso Strong.” After many tragedies, the mantra has been used in social media posts, memorials, pins, stickers and other mementos. Massachusetts resident Christopher Dobens co-created the blue and yellow “Boston Strong” T-shirts that helped rocket the phrase into the national lexicon. He says the idea was inspired by Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong cancer foundation and the U.S. Army’s “Army Strong” slogan. Dobens says it’s heartbreaking to see so many places have had to adopt the “strong” mantra because of violence.

Michigan

St. Ignace: State and federal agencies are gearing up for a celebration of Smokey Bear’s 75-year legacy of preventing forest fires. Smokey will join staffers with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other partners Friday at Straits State Park in St. Ignace. A family-friendly birthday party is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. It will feature a fire truck open house, displays of wildland fire equipment, fire-prevention games, refreshments and an opportunity to meet the iconic bear. Smokey has shared fire-prevention messages with the signature phrase, “Only you can prevent wildfires.” Debbie Begalle of the Michigan DNR’s Forest Resources Division says the slogan is still relevant. Nine out of 10 wildfires are started by people.

Minnesota

St. Paul: The state Department of Natural Resources has denied requests to reconsider the tailings dam permits that it issued for the planned PolyMet copper-nickel mine. The DNR said Wednesday that opponents did not raise any new issues that materially affect its 2018 decision granting the permits. The Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa and environmental groups asked the DNR to reconsider in light of tailings dam failures elsewhere. DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen said in a statement that her agency studied the failures but remains confident in the safety of the PolyMet dam. The DNR issued its decision one day after the Minnesota Court of Appeals stayed a different permit for the mine, governing water pollution, pending a court investigation into potential irregularities in how state and federal regulators handled that permit.

Mississippi

Biloxi: Hurricane Katrina left lasting scars on the Hurricane Camille Memorial at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. The church reached out to the Biloxi Fire Department, which, in turn, reached out to Lodging and Leisure Investments for help in returning the memorial to its best condition in light of the storm’s upcoming 50th anniversary. Officials tell WLOX-TV restoring the tile mosaic is the greatest challenge in the project. Other work includes power washing and cleaning each name on the memorial’s walls. Camille’s 50th anniversary will include a memorial service at the memorial site at 5 p.m. Aug. 17. Afterward, a program will be held at the Seafood & Maritime Industry Museum at 6 p.m.

Missouri

Jefferson City: Attorney General Eric Schmitt says counting of untested rape kits in the state is nearly complete. Schmitt said Wednesday that 95.6% of law enforcement agencies and 98.5% of hospitals and Veterans Affairs medical facilities have completed their inventory of sexual assault evidence kits. Former Attorney General Josh Hawley began an audit of the backlog in 2017 after the Columbia Missourian reported Missouri had never done a statewide review of untested rape kits. Schmitt began a SAFE Kits Initiative in February and appointed Judge M. Keithley Williams to lead the effort to eliminate the backlog of sexual assault kits. The counting project received funds from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Rape kits contain DNA samples and other evidence from medical procedures conducted immediately after an attack.

Montana

Missoula: A man charged with assaulting a 13-year-old boy who refused to remove his hat during the national anthem believed he was doing what President Donald Trump wanted him to do, his attorney says. Attorney Lance Jasper told the Missoulian he will seek a mental health evaluation for Curt Brockway, a U.S. Army veteran who became caught up in the heightened animosity and rhetoric gripping the nation and convinced himself he was following the president’s orders. “His commander in chief is telling people that if they kneel, they should be fired, or if they burn a flag, they should be punished,” Jasper said. He said Brockway “certainly didn’t understand it was a crime.” Brockway suffered a traumatic brain injury in a vehicle crash in 2000 that has affected his decision making, and Jasper said he plans to raise that in his client’s defense.

Nebraska

Lincoln: The remains of twins who joined the Navy together have been returned to the city for burial, decades after their deaths on a battleship at Pearl Harbor. The Lincoln Journal Star reports two ceremonies will be held in succession Saturday at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery for Rudolph Blitz and brother Leo Blitz. There will be two flag-covered caskets, two 21-gun salutes, two invocations, two flags presented to their surviving sister, 93-year-old Lincoln resident Betty Pitsch. Her DNA contribution helped bring her older brothers home. The 17-year-old twins left Lincoln High to join the Navy in 1938 and had been stationed at Pearl Harbor for a year and a day before the USS Oklahoma went down during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack by Japan. Their remains were buried at a Honolulu cemetery and later identified after being unearthed in 2015.

Nevada

Reno: A jumbo jetliner that sparked controversy at last year’s Burning Man festival when it got stuck in the desert for nearly a month has returned for this year’s event after organizers agreed to post a bond for the popular art installation. The Bureau of Land Management granted a special permit to the foundation that converted the 747 into a nightclub. Burning Man officials reviewed the Big Imagination Foundation’s plans before it transported the multi-ton aircraft last weekend to the Black Rock Desert, 100 miles north of Reno. Group leaders haven’t disclosed the cost of the performance bond. They get the money back if they comply with the permit. Critics say the plane severely damaged the playa floor last year when it dug holes into the soft alkali dust and got stuck.

New Hampshire

Concord: Gov. Chris Sununu has signed a bill to help the state’s dairy farmers. The purpose of the bill is to provide a way to support dairy farmers by buying specially labeled milk for an extra 50 cents per gallon. The measure creates a dairy premium fund that replaces the milk producers’ emergency relief fund. Money remaining in the fund after payment of the premiums would be available to promote the program. It’s anticipated that the premium milk will be available this fall.

New Jersey

Kearny: Two actors from the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black” visited federal immigration detainees at the Hudson County jail Thursday. Vicci Martinez and Emily Tarver met with two female detainees from Jamaica. The actors, whose show tackled issues of immigration detention and family separation in its final season, said they wanted to draw attention to the plight of immigrants in such facilities. The visit was organized by Freedom for Immigrants, an organization that aims to abolish immigration detention and was featured in the final season of the show, and First Friends of New Jersey and New York, a nonprofit that sends volunteers to visit immigrant detainees. After leaving the jail, Tarver recounted the story of the woman she met, a victim of domestic violence who sought help from the police and wound up detained, for four months so far, when her immigration status came into play.

New Mexico

San Antonio: A federal agency is taking advantage of high water levels in the Rio Grande to help a tiny minnow listed as an endangered species. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation workers recently aided in creating more habitat for the Rio Grande silvery minnow on the Middle Rio Grande, the Albuquerque Journal reports. Reclamation crews worked from January to March to lower and widen the riverbank on the southern end of private property near Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. They excavated 46,000 cubic yards of dirt to create water channels where minnows could escape the fast-moving river. The tiny fish, listed as endangered in 1994, was once abundant throughout the Rio Grande Basin from Colorado to Texas and into Mexico. It’s now found only in a fraction of its historic habitat as the river system has seen dam building and the straightening of its once meandering channels over the past 150 years.

New York

Albany: Gov. Andrew Cuomo has approved legislation aimed at bolstering the health and safety standards for all pet dealers operating in the state. The bill signed Thursday calls for separate spaces for pregnant animals and requires all enclosures be cleaned daily and disinfected at least once every two weeks. “Pet dealers must be held to standards that will promote the safety, good health, and overall well-being of the animals in their care,” says a memo attached to the bill. Under the new law, which takes effect in 90 days, pet dealers are required to regularly groom animals to prevent matting and flea and tick infestations and provide animals with diurnal lighting cycles, which mimic natural, 24-hour light patterns. And any for-profit dealer selling, or planning to sell, at least 25 cats or dogs in a year must provide an annual veterinary checkup for each animal.

North Carolina

Wake Forest: The city is being recognized for its commitment to preserving monarch butterflies. Wake Forest announced Wednesday that the recognition was awarded by Monarch City USA, a nonprofit organization that promotes the species and recognizes areas that work on recovering butterfly populations. The nonprofit group says that the butterflies rely on milkweed and nectar plants. The butterfly’s population has declined as the plants have dwindled. Wake Forest, northeast of Raleigh, features the plants that attract the butterflies at E. Carroll Joyner Park. The town has installed signs that identify the butterfly habitat and one noting Wake Forest’s designation as a “Monarch City USA.” The nonprofit says it’s the first in the state to receive the designation.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Two environmental groups who say regulators should have intervened in the location of an oil refinery near the state’s top tourist attraction, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, are taking their case to the state Supreme Court. The Public Service Commission last year declined to review whether the refinery could be built just 3 miles from the park in the western Badlands, the Bismarck Tribune reports. Regulators concluded the proposed $800 million Davis Refinery would be too small to warrant review under state law. The Environmental Law and Policy Center and the Dakota Resource Council don’t believe developer Meridian Energy Group is being forthright about the refinery’s size and asked a state judge to force the commission to hold a hearing. South Central District Judge Bruce Romanick refused in May, ruling that the PSC followed state law.

Ohio

Springdale: A long-standing community event is facing backlash on social media. A Facebook post promoting Springdale’s annual Goldfish Swim has garnered more than 3,500 comments, most outraged, since it was posted Aug. 1. The end-of-summer event has been going on for almost 40 years. More than 4,700 people have signed a Change.org petition to stop the event, saying it is “obvious” animal abuse. City officials take 1,000 feeder goldfish and put them in the Springdale Community Center Pool. Children under the age of 12 try to catch the fish with their bare hands, take them home and care for them. “No nets, poles or help from mom and dad. Bring a plastic bucket to take your new pet home,” the post about the event says. The event is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at the Springdale Pool.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: Police were justified when they fatally shot a black teenager who was naked and unarmed, an attorney for the city argues in a response to a civil rights lawsuit filed by the teen’s parents. The parents of Isaiah Mark Lewis contend in their federal lawsuit that Sgt. Milo Box and Officer Denton Scherman used excessive force and acted “unnecessarily and unjustly” when they hit their 17-year-old son with a stun gun and then fatally shot him April 29 after he allegedly broke into a home. In a response filed Wednesday on behalf of the city, attorney Taylor Clark denies that the city violated Lewis’ constitutional rights and says: “Lewis was justifiably shot by a service weapon after being ineffectively tasered.” “Edmond also admits that Isaiah Mark Lewis was naked and unarmed when he was shot and that verbal commands were given to Isaiah Mark Lewis prior to the shooting,” Clark wrote. The officers have been on paid administrative leave since the shooting. Taylor declined further comment.

Oregon

Salem: A judge has ruled that the state Fish and Wildlife Commission illegally reversed an earlier decision granting endangered species status to the marbled murrelet, a small seabird that nests in old-growth forests. Environmental groups say Oregon has sought to avoid protections for the bird, allowing clear-cut logging in its habitat. A spokeswoman for the wildlife department said it won’t comment on legal matters. The ruling was by Lane County Circuit Court Judge Lauren Holland in Eugene. Conservation groups said they petitioned the wildlife commission to list the marbled murrelet as endangered, and it voted to do so, concluding the bird was likely to go extinct. But the commission reversed itself without explanation. Holland said the commission was required to explain its reversal and failed to do so.

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia: Philadelphia’s Music Alliance will induct musicians spanning a wide range of genres to its Walk of Fame, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, R&B group The O’Jays and ’80s rock band The Hooters. The class of 2019’s other honorees include Philadelphia socialite and philanthropist Dorrance “Dodo” Hamilton, who died in 2017; disco queen Evelyn “Champagne” King; and Jody Gerson, the current CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group and the first woman to run a major music-publishing company. Longtime rock-radio DJ Pierre Robert is this year’s dual Radio Row Award recipient and Walk of Fame inductee. The announcements were made Wednesday at the Independence Visitor Center. The group will be formally inducted Oct. 22 during a gala at The Bellevue.

Rhode Island

Providence: Gov. Gina Raimondo says the state will begin offering a gender-neutral option for residents to put on their driver’s licenses and birth certificates. Rhode Island will join the ranks of about a dozen other states already offering an option of “X” instead of the standard “M” or “F.” The option is in response to the governor’s conversations with the transgender and LGBTQ community. The Democratic governor says this is “just basic fairness” in order to ensure all residents are being recognized for who they are. The Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Health echoed the governor’s remarks. The governor adds that the biggest hurdle has been the implementation of the change. Residents could potentially see the option available within a year.

South Carolina

Aiken: Officials say the U.S. government followed a requirement to remove weapons-grade plutonium from the state. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said 1 metric ton of nuclear material has been shipped out of the Savannah River Site near Aiken. The U.S. Energy Department was ordered in 2017 to remove that much plutonium by January. Federal court records said half the plutonium was sent to Nevada. Wilson’s statement Wednesday didn’t say where the other half was shipped. South Carolina sued the federal agency after it halted a plan to turn plutonium once used to make nuclear weapons into fuel for nuclear reactors. The Energy Department owes the state $200 million in fines in part because 11 metric tons of plutonium remain at the site.

South Dakota

Burke: As this small town recovers from a tornado that destroyed its civic center and caused other extensive damage, some residents are asking why the community’s warning siren wasn’t sounded. The EF-1 tornado with 100 mph winds ripped through Burke on Tuesday night, ripping roofs off buildings and homes, uprooting trees and leaving the school building unusable for the beginning of classes. Two men suffered minor injuries when a garage collapsed. Gov. Kristi Noem visited the community Wednesday and called the damage “unbelievable.” Noem promised the state’s help in the community’s restoration efforts. Burke Mayor Thomas Glover says the siren is sounded when officials get notification of a tornado sighting or that one is imminent. Glover says that did not happen.

Tennessee

Nashville: Add Glen Campbell to the list of late country music legends with a museum in their honor in the city’s downtown. Clearbrook Hospitality LLC announced plans Thursday to open The Glen Campbell Museum and Rhinestone Stage, a live music venue, at the corner of Broadway and 2nd Avenue. It’s slated to open in early 2020. Campbell died in 2017 at age 81 following an extended battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The 4,000-square-foot venue will feature immersive, interactive displays showcasing different stages of Campbell’s career. He was a studio musician in The Wrecking Crew; the singer of many hit records including “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Southern Nights”; and a television and film actor. In the evenings, the museum will transform into live music venue The Rhinestone Stage, where national and local acts can perform intimate shows.

Texas

Austin: The state’s annual back-to-school sales tax holiday is coming this weekend. The Texas Comptroller’s Office says the tax break begins Friday and runs through Sunday. Customers can buy most clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks – sold for less than $100 – tax free from a Texas store or from an online or catalog seller doing business in the state. The sales tax exemption applies only to qualifying items. The tax break does not include products such as jewelry, handbags, briefcases, luggage, computer bags, umbrellas, wallets and watches. The Texas sales tax holiday weekend started in 1999.

Utah

Riverton: Administrators from more than 60 schools in northern Utah gathered ahead of the first day of classes to assemble “care kits” for students in need. The Deseret News reports administrators from the Jordan School District met Wednesday to pack more than 2,400 kits, which include food, personal hygiene products and backpacks loaded with school supplies. Walmart donated the supplies. Event organizer Peggy Margetts said the kits help students in a discrete way and show students their school cares about their well-being. Students will receive the kits at the start of school. Administrators said they will keep some on hand to use during the year.

Vermont

Montpelier: The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets says the state’s cheese producers won 44 ribbons at the American Cheese Society’s annual awards competition. Officials say this is Vermont’s best showing yet. The results were announced at the society’s annual conference last week in Richmond, Virginia. Agriculture officials say five Vermont cheeses were finalists for the best in show. A total of 25 Vermont companies submitted cheeses to be judged among the more than 2,000 total entries. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott congratulated the state’s cheesemakers on their “impressive achievement.” He says their “commitment to excellence is helping Vermont grow its economy by creating jobs and further strengthening our great Vermont brand.”

Virginia

Blacksburg: Town officials are cracking down on an unsanctioned Virginia Tech fraternity they say is operating in violation of zoning rules. Blacksburg officials recently determined the house is being used as a base for the rogue frat Omega Alpha Kappa. Zoning Administrator Paul Patterson said frat activities at the house must stop. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the fraternity is not recognized by the university and was formed by members of Kappa Delta Rho when that chapter was suspended for violating alcohol policies. The fraternity has a history of trash citations and accusations that members made female guests at social events feel uncomfortable. The Roanoke Times reports the university has advised students to avoid the fraternity and seven others for their safety.

Washington

Seattle: A $219 million property-tax levy that would abolish overdue fines in the Seattle Public Library system is heading toward approval. The Seattle Times reports the seven-year levy supporting the library system had 73% of the vote in returns Tuesday. The measure proposed by Mayor Jenny Durkan would authorize additional property taxes and replace a $123 million library levy set to expire at the end of this year. The levy would collect about 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2020. The additional library funding would support seismic renovations, new programs for children, more social workers, extended operating hours and the elimination of fines for overdue items. About $167 million would be used to maintain current services.

West Virginia

Charleston: The state’s Public Port Authority board has decided to consider lease proposals and bids for the Heartland Intermodal Gateway Facility in Prichard. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the board made a motion Wednesday in Charleston to delay a possible public sale. West Virginia Transportation Secretary Byrd White says the board discussed selling it because of a funding shortage. Wayne County Commissioner Jeff Maddox says the county’s economy isn’t the best, but a sale for “pennies on the dollar” would be “a grave error.” The board will further discuss options at its September meeting. The $32 million facility opened in 2015 on 76 acres donated by Norfolk Southern railroad. It’s designed to move containers more efficiently by rail through a double-stack method while offering a cheaper alternative to gas-guzzling trucks.

Wisconsin

Madison: State prison officials say they illegally released information that could reveal whether inmates are in substance abuse treatment. The Department of Corrections said Thursday that officials responding to an open records request released records June 24 that contained 1,041 inmates’ personal identification numbers and locations. No names were released, but DOC officials say someone could use the numbers and locations to learn whether an inmate is at a substance abuse facility or receiving treatment. The agency says that information is confidential under Wisconsin law. Only two people saw the information, and they’ve since confirmed the data has been destroyed. DOC spokeswoman Molly Vidal didn’t answer emailed questions asking who received the questions and what information they actually wanted.

Wyoming

Meeteetse: A ranch where black-footed ferrets were discovered in the 1980s is being preserved. The Nature Conservancy recently announced a conservation easement agreement to restrict the Lazy BV ranch’s 2,300 acres near Meeteetse from being subdivided or developed. The ranch is in the area where the ferrets were discovered in 1981 after they were thought to be extinct. The ferrets were used to start a captive-breeding program that has restored black-footed ferrets in Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and elsewhere in the western U.S. Jim Luchsinger of The Nature Conservancy tells Wyoming Public Radio it had been a dream of the ranch owners to protect the ranch and bring ferrets back. The protected land is also home to greater sage grouse, mule deer, antelope and Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports