STATE- BY- STATE

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Tuskegee: The home of the Tuskegee Airmen is competing to become the manufacturing site of a new Air Force training jet. The state and Macon County officials have put together an incentive package to try to help Italian- based Leonardo DRS land the contract. The plant would bring 750 jobs.

ALASKA Anchorage: Voters will decide Tuesday on a $ 58.45 million school bond package for the Anchorage School District. It includes a dozen projects, the Alaska Dispatch News reports.

ARIZONA Tucson: Many of the dozens of animals that lived in a Tucson home that operated an animal sanctuary were killed in a fire Friday night. They included rabbits, owls, falcons, raccoons and the owner’s pets.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: The state Senate approved legislation last week that would levy a special tax on medical marijuana. The bill would impose a 4% tax per transaction. The tax would raise an estimated $ 1.2 million in fiscal 2018 and $ 2.4 million in fiscal 2019.

CALIFORNIA Antioch: A driver was killed when he rammed his SUV into the back of a firetruck stopped at the scene of a crash Friday evening, according to the East Bay Times. A firefighter on the truck suffered minor injuries.

COLORADO Fort Collins: A former Army medic accused of breaking glass doors and throwing a Bible into a Colorado mosque has been charged with felony criminal mischief. Joseph Scott Giaquinto, 35, also was charged with a misdemeanor hate crime.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: Lawmakers are considering whether the state should become the first in the country to allow police to use drones outfitted with deadly weapons, a proposal immediately met with concern by civil rights and liberties advocates.

DELAWARE Dover: A woman who admitting killing her weightlifter husband in 2013 by putting antifreeze into his steroid injections has been sentenced to 40 years in prison. Jamie Baker, 47, was sentenced in Kent County Superior Court and ordered not to contact the family of her late husband, James.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Crashes involving injuries rose steadily from 2013 to 2015 but the number of fatalies fell slightly, WTOP radio reports. The Howard University Transportation Research and Data Center found that crashes rose from 19,456 in 2013 to 21,539 in 2014 and 24,265 in 2015. There were 29 fatalities in 2013, 24 in 2014 and 26 in 2015.

FLORIDA Tallahassee: Children testifying in court in abuse, abandonment and neglect cases would be allowed the help of therapy animals under a bill passed by the Florida House. The bill expands a law that already allows therapy animals for victims testifying in sexual offense cases.

GEORGIA Douglas: A Coffee County jail employee has lost his job after being arrested in a sting operation. Brent Harrelson was charged with soliciting and buying drugs after a former inmate told drug agents that a jailer had asked him about buying methadone. A meeting was set up and Harrelson was arrested, Sheriff Doyle Wooten says.

HAWAII Honolulu: More than 2,000 of the 6,000 Nu Skin distributors in China and Hong Kong who were planning to attend a conference in Hawaii this month will not attend because of visa troubles, the Honolulu StarAdvertiser reported.

IDAHO Meridian: A harsh winter followed by a string of rain- storms has left farm fields soggy and delayed planting at least two weeks in much of the Treasure Valley area of southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon.

ILLINOIS Normal: Illinois State University reports that three students have confirmed cases of mumps. The school sent an email alert across campus and is contacting students whose records show they are exempt from the measles- mumps- rubella vaccine.

INDIANA Indianapolis: The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is planning a public exhibit displaying thousands of letters that people sent to Ryan White, a teenager who died of AIDS nearly 27 years ago. A spokesperson says the effort is part of a research project to shed light on public sentiment during the height of the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.

IOWA West Des Moines: A Winterset woman was charged with child endangerment after police say she was found drunk at the West Des Moines preschool where she worked. Prosecutors say Angela Hircock, 43, had a blood- alcohol content of 0.37.

KANSAS Hutchinson: A proposed master plan for the Kansas State Fairgrounds would replace the century- old racetrack with a new horse exhibition area and practice arena.

KENTUCKY Hebron: Federal border protection officials say they seized scores of shipments of synthetic drugs in March at an DHL express consignment facility at the Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky International Airport.

LOUISIANA New Orleans: A Delgado Community College admissions counselor has been charged with misdemeanor sexual battery after a student accused him of demanding sexual favors in return for reducing her tuition. Rashad Harold, 36, is due in court Tuesday.

MAINE Portland: Federal investigators say two Maine men were indicted on charges related to illegally trafficking in baby eels. Baby eels sometimes fetch more than $ 2,000 per pound because they are prized by Asian aquaculture companies for use in food.

MARYLAND Baltimore: A rare 1804 silver dollar fetched almost $ 3.3 million in what officials say is a record- breaking coin collection auction. The last of five auctions for the D. Brent Pogue coin collection Friday yielded about $ 21.4 million.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A fishing magnate known as “The Codfather” has pleaded guilty to federal charges of evading fishing quotas and smuggling money to Portugal. Sentencing for Carlos Rafael is set for June 27.

MICHIGAN Bay City: A nonprofit that recognizes veterans is working to create Michigan’s first Gold Star Family Memorial Monument. The Bay Veterans Foundation is hosting a groundbreaking ceremony April 29. The monument is expected to be completed by Sept. 30.

MINNESOTA Minneapolis: Authorities say the drug carfentanil is to blame for five recent overdose deaths, and could be a factor in up to five additional cases. Carfentanil is 10,000 times more potent than morphine. These are the first known carfentanil deaths in the state.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: State House Speaker Philip Gunn says he will appoint a committee to study the pros and cons of creating a state lottery.

MISSOURI St. Louis: St. Louis University Hospital plans to open a $ 12 million Center for Radiation Medicine on Tuesday. It’s the first structure in a capital project that will lead to replacing the current hospital.

MONTANA Helena: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Great FallsBillings said it would file for bankruptcy protection as part of a settlement with 72 people who filed sex abuse claims.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: A bill that could provide immunity from drug charges for people who seek medical help for opioid overdoses has won initial approval in the state Legislature. Thirty- four other states and the District of Columbia have similar laws.

NEVADA Las Vegas: A 48- yearold former Las Vegas kindergarten teacher has been found guilty of abducting a 16- year- old girl he met through an Internet advertisement and kept in his apartment for nine weeks in 2013. Melvyn Perry Sprowson Jr. could receive life in prison.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Russian vodka is still being sold at state liquor stores after legislators defeated a bill that suggested suspending or banning it in response to Russian interference in the U. S. presidential election.

NEW JERSEY West Milford: A bobcat that was hit by a car and spent months in rehabilitation is back in the woods at Waywayanda State Park in Passaic County. on Wednesday.

NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: The future of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design is in doubt after negotiations broke down for the sale of the school to an Asian company.

NEW YORK New York: A state appeals court has ruled that civilian complaints made to a police watchdog agency about the white officer involved in the choke- hold death of unarmed black man Eric Garner should not be made public.

NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: Someone took two copies of the Quran from the chapel at Charlotte Douglas International Airport and left a note criticizing the Islamic holy book.

NORTH DAKOTA Fargo: A Fargo woman is accused of trying to kill her husband by pouring battery acid in his beer. Nyabenda Spes has been charged with one count of reckless endangerment, KFGO radio reports.

OHIO Toledo: A former nurse’s aide dubbed the “Angel of Death” after he admitted killing 37 hospital patients in Cincinnati and in London, Ky., died Thursday, two days after he was attacked and beaten in his prison cell. Donald Harvey, 64, pleaded guilty in 1987. He later claimed he was responsible for killing 18 others while working at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Cincinnati.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The number of flu- related deaths in Oklahoma was 84 on Thursday, up by 16 from the number reported the previous week.

OREGON Portland: Thrifty, eco- conscious Oregon residents hauled used water bottles and soda cans to bottle- recycling centers and grocery stores Saturday as the per- bottle refund rate doubled to 10 cents.

PENNSYLVANIA Chester: A 19- year- old man is charged with assaulting nine women, and raping at least six, starting when he was 16. DeJohn Lee has been in custody since early January and recently said he had many more victims, said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan, who urged them to come forward. RHODE ISLAND Providence:

State legislators will have less money to work with as they craft a budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning in July. The Provi

dence Journal reports that revenues are currently $ 27.3 million, or 1.3 percent, below estimates.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Christian Soura, the state’s Medicaid director, is leaving state government after more than six years. Brian Symmes, a spokesman for Gov. Henry McMaster, says the Republican governor did not ask Soura to leave. His last day will be Friday.

SOUTH DAKOTA Spearfish: Five children died early Saturday in a house fire. Spearfish police and fire officials say the victims were believed to be between the ages of 6 and 9 years old.

TENNESSEE Nashville: The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled against a woman who sued after being fired by William T. Ailor, a newly elected Knox County judge. The court said Ailor was within his rights to fire Judith Moore- Pennoyer because state law gives employers wide latitude to dismiss people.

TEXAS Houston: A fugitive sex offender was arrested last week after falling down a manhole in front of Houston’s criminal courthouse, the Houston Chronicle reports. After he was extricated, Robert Lee Brooks, 56, offered conflicting dates of birth to his rescuers and hospital officials, raising the suspicion of deputies who were helping him. Brooks was determined to be a sex offender and arrested.

UTAH Salt Lake City: Mormon church leaders say worldwide membership has reached 15.88 million. Membership has tripled since 1982, when there were 5 million members, and has grown by about 2% each of the past nine years. Church leaders met Saturday in Salt Lake City.

VERMONT Burlington: The University of Vermont has issued sanctions against two fraternity chapters. Its Phi Gamma Delta chapter was issued a four- year suspension of recognition and is required to cease all activities. UVM said last September pledges were led in drinking games and drinking. Alpha Gamma Rho was found responsible for providing alcohol to underage students. The chapter was put on probation.

VIRGINIA Norfolk: Thirty- two babies in Hampton Roads died during as a result of child abuse and neglect in the past fiscal year, an increase from 21 the previous year, a new report says. Many deaths were accidental. Fifteen babies died while sleeping with adults. Others were in cribs with too- soft bedding, or put on their stomachs.

WASHINGTON Seattle: The family of Amazon. com founder Jeff Bezos family has strengthened its longstanding support of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center by giving it its largest gift ever: $ 35 million.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Gov. Jim Justice has named Loita Butcher, a veteran of the West Virginia Division of Corrections, as the first woman to head the state prison system.

WISCONSIN Madison: Up to 18% turnout is predicted for the Wisconsin state superintendent election on Tuesday between incumbent Tony Evers and challenger Lowell Holtz.

WYOMING Laramie: Jack Skinner, who manages Laramie’s regional airport, says it’s too soon to panic over a Trump administration proposal to eliminate subsidized air service to rural communities. The city would be among 112 communities nationwide that could lose out if the subsidies are eliminated.