News from Across the Nation - April 18, 2016

Supervisor Steve Gallardo, Maricopa County, leads a group of kids to a free Major League baseball game in Phoenix. Photo courtesy of Maricopa County, Ariz.

ARIZONA

As their reward for completing 5,000 hours of community service, about 1,000 MARICOPA COUNTY fifth and sixth graders got to enjoy America’s favorite pastime up close and personal.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Steve Gallardo led the group to Chase Field April 6 for one of the Arizona Diamondbacks season-opening games — the D-Backs, as they’re known locally, versus the Colorado Rockies. The event, in its 18th year, is called the D-Backs Jam.

“This program is so important because it teaches our children the value of community service,” said Gallardo, who had the honor of throwing out the first pitch. “This event allows innercity Phoenix youth, many of whom grew up in the shadow of the stadium, to see a game in person. For many of them, it will be their first game, but we hope not the last.”

The Rockies won the game 10–5.

MOHAVE COUNTY supervisors are urging Congress to expand the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include additional residents afflicted with radiation-induced cancers linked to nuclear testing in Nevada between 1945 and 1962, the Mohave Valley Daily News reported.

The act currently covers parts of the county north of the Colorado River along with APACHE, COCONINO , GILA, NAVAJO and YAVAPAI counties. The resolution seeks compensation for approximately 2,000 “downwinders” in southern Mohave County, according to havasunews.com.

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) introduced the Downwinders Compensation Act last summer, but the bill has yet to move out of committee. The resolution urges members of Arizona’s House delegation who aren’t already cosponsors to support the bill.

COLORADO

PUEBLO COUNTY calls it the “world’s first marijuana tax-funded scholarship program,” and it’s now accepting applications for this fall 2016 and next spring.

Voters statewide legalized the sale of recreational marijuana in 2012, which began in 2014.

Last November, county voters approved a ballot initiative to tax the export of marijuana grown in the county to other Colorado counties. Half of the tax proceeds go to the Pueblo County Scholarship Fund; the other half will fund capital projects.

The Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation is the fiscal agent for the scholarships. It expects to make 25 awards of $1,000 each for 2016–2017. Applicants must meet financial need and residency requirements, among other criteria.

FLORIDA

• The Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded the BROWARD COUNTY Homeless Initiative Partnership more than $6.8 million to support its plan to end homelessness.
• Funding, through HUD’s Continuum of Care Program competition, will go to 17 renewal projects including support for permanent supportive housing for people with disabilities, transitional housing for youth, families and individuals, and to management information systems to address homelessness.

• COLLIER COUNTY commissioners have rejected the Atlanta Braves’ proposal to build a spring training stadium in the county near Interstate 75. But the commissioners still hope they can get the Braves to play ball and consider other properties in the county. The issue could be moot, since the team is also eyeing sites in SARASOTA and PALM BEACH counties.
• “I think it’s dead,” Commissioner Tim Nance, told the Naples Daily News. “They need really good access to I-75. Maybe if we had another interchange. But the Braves aren’t going to wait on us.”

LOUISIANA

ST. TAMMANY PARISH is taking its fight against a company’s proposed fracking well to the state Supreme Court. Last month, a state appeals court rejected the parish’s argument that local zoning laws should have blocked the state from issuing a drilling permit.

The nearly two dozen fracking opponents who attended the Parish Council meeting broke into applause after the council voted 11–2 to appeal to the high court, The New Orleans Advocate reported.

MARYLAND

A dozen strip clubs in PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY have closed their doors after a year of fighting the county.

“County officials are using violations of zoning laws to close the doors of the adult clubs that some residents consider to be nuisances,” said Susan Hubbard, a spokesperson for the county’s Department of Permits and Inspections.

Such adult entertainment venues should be located in light industrial or warehouse districts only, county officials said, according to NBC4 News.

MISSISSIPPI

The state flag no longer flies outside the ADAMS COUNTY Courthouse.

County supervisors voted recently to ban the flag — which bears the Confederate battle emblem — from all county-owned buildings, WBRZ News reported.

MICHIGAN

It’s a neat stunt and a good way to encourage owners to make certain their canine pets comply with the state’s animal license laws. OTTAWA COUNTY Treasurer Brad Slagh is sponsoring the Top Dog pet photo contest for a chance to be named “Top Dog” by the Treasurer’s Office.

Along with bragging rights, the top five vote getters, a staff pick and a random entry will all receive gift cards and prizes. Local vets and retailers have donated over $500 in prizes. There is no fee to enter the contest but there are some rules, including one that requires an up-to-date license for any entries.

OREGON

• DESCHUTES COUNTY Clerk Nancy Blankenship and JACKSON COUNTY Clerk Chris Walker have teamed up with professional basketball players—and Jackson County natives — E.J. and Kyle Singler to encourage young voters to participate in the electoral process.
• Videos featuring the brothers will be aired in Central Oregon, Southern Oregon and northern California counties and promoted on social media platforms, KTVZ News reported.

• A $2 million grant from the office of NEW YORK COUNTY, N.Y. (Manhattan) District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. will fund the testing of 2,800 sexual assault forensic exams from MULTNOMAH , MARION and LANE counties.
• The kits — prioritized for action because their cases are approaching statute of limitations for prosecution — will be shipped to a private laboratory in Salt Lake City for examination. According to The Register Guard testing can cost $1,300 apiece.

PENNYSLVANIA

Heroin overdose deaths in LYCOMING COUNTY will now be considered homicides, thanks to a policy change by the county coroner. Charles Kiessling Jr. will no longer mark those deaths as accidental.

“If you chose to sell heroin, you’re killing people and you’re murdering people.

“You’re just as dead from a shot of heroin as if someone puts a bullet in you,” Kiessling told The Daily Item.

Not all homicides are determined to be crimes, and the decision on whether charges should be filed is made by prosecutors.

SOUTH CAROLINA

CHESTER COUNTY has resumed its inmate litter detail, which sends inmates from the county detention center to county roadways a few days a week to pick up trash.

County Supervisor Shane Stuart said he began looking into restarting the program after residents voiced concern last year about trash on the county’s roadways.

All nonviolent offenders who already have been sentenced and are considered low-risk for escape, are included. Some state inmates serving time in the Chester County jail also participate. 

The inmates are searched before they go out to a work site and again before returning to make sure they don’t pick up banned items and bring them into the jail. In late March, an inmate found a wallet with a driver’s license, credit cards and cash that officers were able to return to the owner, The Herald reported.

TEXAS

MCLENNAN COUNTY Commissioners are determined to keep guns out of the courthouse and annex.

In response to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s command to remove signs banning weapons, the Board of Commissioners directed county attorneys to take whatever action is necessary to protect the county from Paxton’s command, which could include defending or filing litigation. Paxton’s command is backed by financial penalties. The action the county approved could include conferring with Paxton, defending litigation or filing litigation.

Commissioners approved a new policy Dec. 23, 2015 to maintain the ban on guns in the county courthouse and annex by anyone but law enforcement, despite state law to the contrary, the Waco Tribune Herald reported.

WASHINGTON

A federal court judge has declined to permanently block the release of KITSAP COUNTY documents about response plans to a nuclear emergency at the U.S. Navy’s Kitsap-Bangor base or other Navy facilities.

U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton on Dec. 15, 2015 had issued a temporary injunction restricting the release of what was termed “sensitive and protected national security information” contained in these federal government documents.

Since then, public records requests to access the documents have been withdrawn, and the judge has found that most of the issues involved in the case have now been rendered moot. The case resulted from a dispute between the Navy and Kitsap County over what information could be released under state public records laws. 

(News From the Across the Nation is compiled by Charles Taylor and Charlie Ban, senior staff writers. If you have an item for News From, please email ctaylor@naco.org or cban@naco.org.)