Florida
Lawmakers Budging on Drilling
The once solid wall of antidrilling sentiment in the Florida Legislature is beginning to show cracks with a half-dozen Republican lawmakers telling the St. Petersburg Times that they would support offshore drilling with safeguards should the federal government lift its offshore drilling moratorium and leave the issue up to individual states. But that view is far from universal among the Legislature's Republican majority, suggesting a tense debate ahead. 
Source: St. Petersburg Times

Illinois
Unemployment Reaches 15-Year High
Unemployment in Illinois surged in June to 6.8%, the highest level in 15 years, rising from 5% a year earlier. The rate was up from 6.4% in May and exceeded the nation's 5.5% June unemployment rate, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said. The construction sector reported the biggest losses.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times

Michigan
State Experiencing an Oil and Gas Boom
High gas prices are fueling a surge in the state's oil and gas industry. A late-May auction of state-owned oil and gas mineral rights was one of the largest in years (149,000 acres) and completely sold out for the first time since 1981. Experts credited the boomlet to high oil prices and advances in oil and gas exploration and drilling technology that have made finding and extracting resources more efficient.
Source: Detroit Free Press

Rhode Island
Employees Cleaning State Properties Arrested
Fifty immigration agents and 12 state police detectives swept into six Rhode Island courthouses and arrested 31 maintenance workers on suspicion of being illegal immigrants. No charges had been filed against the two cleaning companies that supplied the workers: TriState Enterprises, of North Providence, and Falcon Maintenance LLC, of Johnston. The two companies have at least 45 contracts to clean state buildings.
Source: The Providence Journal

Wyoming
S&P Increases State Credit Rating
Wyoming's credit rating–now more stellar than ever–should make the state attractive to business investors, State Treasurer Joe Meyer says. The state has received an upgraded credit rating from AA to AA+ from Standard and Poor's. Wyoming's improved S&P rating is primarily due to its mineral wealth and investment portfolio, which enables the state to fund legislative appropriations without borrowing from the private sector.
Source: Wyoming Tribune Eagle