State and Local Daily Digest: N.M. Police Look for Missing Spaceship; Dallas Audit Dispute

ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO
CRIME | “Be on the lookout: missing spaceship.” It’s an only-in-Roswell kind of crime. A blizzard this past winter knocked the large fiberglass and stainless steel flying saucer off the front of the UFO museum, and the saucer was undergoing repairs when it went missing. According to a Facebook posting by the Roswell Police Department, “There are certainly a good number of spaceships/flying saucers in Roswell, but if you happen to see one that looks a little out of place, please give RPD a call.” Maybe this is a job for Mulder and Scully. [Albuquerque Journal]

DALLAS, TEXAS
CONTRACTING | Dallas gave housing contractors $29.9 million over three years, then failed to track if anything was built, according to the city auditor. Among other things, the city also kept no record of how contracting decisions were made, contractor rates or if the money was spent legally. The Dallas Morning News said the missing documentation was the “ad hoc” work of retired Housing Department head Jerry Killingsworth, but the Dallas Observer said he was far too meticulous for that. City Manager A.C. Gonzalez said he didn’t believe the audit. “I would need to be shown directly as to that condition because it is outside of my experience,” Gonzalez, the highest paid city manager in the U.S. at $400,000, said. [Dallas Observer]

NORTHERN CHEYENNE INDIAN RESERVATION, MONTANA
TRIBAL RELATIONS | After a weekend shootout, the Northern Cheyenne’s tribal president declared a state of emergency and wants to ban non-tribal members participating in drug-related activity from the reservation. The Tribal Council is working on updating its legal code on drug use, which covers the usual suspects like alcohol and marijuana but nothing else. "People look at our numbers and say we don't have a drug problem because we're arresting people for intoxication," said Tribal President Llevando Fisher. "But we have a tremendous drug problem." [Billings Gazette]

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
WATER | A group of farmers demanded two members on the California State Water Resources Control Board recuse themselves from a vote to divert water where two tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta would begin. Gov. Jerry Brown’s controversial $15.5 billion California WaterFix tunnels are supposed to ensure a reliable water source for the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. And the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority’s farmers believe the board members in question tipped their hands in a procedural ruling, when they proposed more stringent water flows through the delta once the tunnels are builts. The fear is the members have already made up their minds about south state interests pumping more north state water. [The Sacramento Bee]

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
ETHICS | Seattle is investigating the possibility Transportation Director Scott Kubly committed an unspecified ethics violation related to the city’s struggling Pronto bike-share system. Kubly left his position as president of Alta Bike Share to work for Seattle, which voted earlier this month to buy the bike share for $1.4 million and paid Pronto $305,000 to keep the nonprofit afloat during the winter—without City Council approval first. Kubly hasn’t revealed the nature of the ethics complaint but said he’d “cooperate fully with it.” [The Seattle Times]

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
BUDGETING | Pennsylvania finally has a budget. After a historic nine-month impasse, Gov. Tom Wolf will allow the latest $30 billion Republican spending plan to become law. The budget still has its detractors, especially with regard to education funding. According to Jerry Oeksiak, head of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, "This isn't the kind of budget that our schools need or that our students deserve.” Only three months remain until the next state budget is due. [Philly.com]

CLEVELAND, OHIO
LAW ENFORCEMENT | Between the crowds Donald Trump draws and now the Brussels attacks, Cleveland law enforcement has its hands full preparing for this summer’s Republican National Convention. The Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security are already preparing for worst-case mass riots and terrorist attacks among the 50,000-plus attendees. And Black Lives Matter social media posts are being monitored. Some city officials are more confident than others. “I’ve been here for 37 years, and I do not see anything worse than what we would have at a Cleveland Brown football game," said Terry Zacharyj, Metro Cleveland Security’s operations manager. "Maybe less drinking for the convention." [Politico]

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA
ENVIRONMENT | Environmental groups are preparing to sue Florida Power & Light, saying the utility has known for six years its leaky cooling canal system at the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station is polluting Miami-Dade County’s drinking water. “The fact that there is salt being dumped into the aquifer and the fact that there are contaminants in Biscayne Bay really should have sounded an alarm,” said state Rep. José Javier Rodríguez. “But as of yet, we’re still waiting for state regulators to step up.” [Miami Herald]

DENVER, COLORADO
GUN CONTROL | Colorado sheriffs are undeterred after a federal appeals court rejected their first lawsuit over two restrictive gun laws passed by the state in 2013. On the heels of mass shootings in Aurora and Sandy Hook, Connecticut, Colorado lawmakers expanded background checks for firearms purchases and limited magazine ammo capacity. The 10th Circuit Court judges ruled the 54 sheriffs and other groups on the suit hadn’t shown they were harmed enough by the laws to sue, leaving them room to reconfigure it and try again. [The Denver Post]

ALBANY, NEW YORK
TOURISM | New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign a bill that would make his state the last in the U.S. to legalize mixed martial arts. The legalization of online poker and fantasy sports are also being tossed around in the legislature. Unlike other states with “sin taxes,” New York has opted to seek revenues from companies operating the activities rather than the people, often tourists, enjoying them. [The New York Times]