Georgia Gov. Will Veto ‘Religious Liberty’ Bill; Indicted Texas Mayor Has Big Election Dreams

ATLANTA, GEORGIA
LGBT RIGHTS | Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said he’ll veto the state’s controversial “religious liberty” legislation, after major corporations from Apple to the NFL came out against the legislation and threatened to pull business. Pushed by religious conservatives and passed by the Republican-controlled legislature within hours, the bill would have allowed faith-based organizations to deny services to and fire people who violated their beliefs. Seen as a response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold same-sex marriages, the Republican governor said the legislation “doesn’t reflect the character of our state or the character of its people.” [The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

CRYSTAL CITY, TEXAS
MAYORAL AMBITIONS | Although he stepped down as mayor back in February, following the FBI arresting him and most of Crystal City’s elected officials in an investigation of alleged kickbacks, Ricardo Lopez isn’t putting the prospect of a lengthy jail sentence in front of his political ambitions. He’s planning on running for mayor again and after that, lieutenant governor. In the meantime, this small South Texas town doesn’t really have a functioning municipal government. [Texas Tribune]

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
LAW ENFORCEMENT | The Chicago City Council’s black and Hispanic aldermen are angry after Mayor Rahm Emanuel decided to go with his own African-American candidate for the police department’s superintendent. A four-month national search by the Police Board yielded three finalists, two black and one white—none of whom Emanuel prefers. Instead, he plans to appoint Eddie Johnson, the current chief of patrol, as the interim superintendent, reject the other candidates and request a second search in which Johnson should find himself a finalist. Word is out on whether the black and Hispanic caucuses will withhold their votes to confirm Johnson. [Chicago Sun-Times]

DES MOINES, IOWA
EDUCATION | The Iowa Department of Education has promised to revise an education report card that tracks improvement among disadvantaged students. The original version of the scorecard did not explicitly measure the academic performance of black, Hispanic and other minority students. The report card will go through additional changes to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act, which is replacing the federal No Child Left Behind Act. [Des Moines Register]

HARBOR VIEW, OHIO
MAYOR VS. NEIGHBOR DISPUTES | A $40 landscaping rock is at the center of an “ongoing feud” between Harbor View Mayor Rick Brink and his neighbor. The mayor says his unemployed neighbor, a 2014 local high school graduate, has removed the rock on numerous occasions and has threatened him when confronted about the rock. The neighbor denies the mayor’s accusations. Also: “There is no proof at this time that the neighbor took the rock,” according to an incident report from police, who have told the mayor “not to go there anymore.” [Toledo Blade]

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
TRANSIT FINANCE | Almost four months into Paul Wiedefeld’s tenure as general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and Metro is kicking the tires on selling its downtown headquarters. The sale could prove tricky because the eight-story, 308,342-square-foot Jackson Graham Building has the Red Line running through it, as well as other Metro infrastructure. Wiedefeld wants revenue from the sale of the facility, worth an estimated $116.5 million, to go toward customer service improvements. [Washington City Paper]

BOZEMAN, MONTANA
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | Many newcomers say they absolutely love Bozeman, like Miranda Hodges, a Dallas transplant who is pursuing graduate studies at Yellowstone Theological Institute and loves the community and its coffee shops. She says she feels like she’s found home and wants to make Bozeman a better place. But according to research from the 1980s about Bozeman’s population ebbs and flows, newcomers who aim to stay in the area long term often end up sticking around for just a decade. “Bozeman is not a community in the sense that it is composed of the same persons over an extended time period,” according to Montana State sociology research. And that dynamic is likely to continue. [Bozeman Daily Chronicle]

PULASKI COUNTY, ARKANSAS
WORKFORCE | The sheriff’s department in this county that includes Little Rock spent nearly $27,000 on new hats for deputies—including 120 Stetson felt hats—in the past four months as part of an upgrade in uniforms. The department has a $44,000 annual clothing and uniform budget. Sheriff Doc Holladay says he’s “been looking for something, a more professional look, to complete the uniform.” [Arkansas Online]

(NEAR) COLD BAY, ALASKA
VOLCANOLOGY | One of the most active volcanoes on the remote Alaska Peninsula erupted this weekend, sending ash 20,000 feet into the air. Previous eruptions at the Pavlof Volcano have sent ash clouds up to 49,000 feet. On Sunday, the Alaska Volcano Observatory issued an Aviation Color Code of Red following the eruption. [Alaska Dispatch News; Alaska Volcano Observatory]

BARBER COUNTY, KANSAS
WILDFIRE | Crews fighting the biggest wildfire in Kansas history were assisted by a weather system that brought rain and snow to the region on Sunday, but the high winds that storm has brought may make firefighting efforts in this county southwest of Wichita more difficult. [Associated Press via Topeka Capital-Journal]