STATE- BY- STATE

ALABAMA Anniston: A handcuffed suspect who allegedly stole an Anniston Police Department car was captured after a chase along Interstate 20. Police say the man managed to slip through the car’s glass window divider to get into the driver’s seat. ALASKA Anchorage: A leak of natural gas from an Alaska North Slope oil well was plugged by pumping salt water down the well. But the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation says the well won’t be officially secured until a mechanical plug is put in place.

ARIZONA Kingman: Traveling circuses could be a thing of the past in Mohave County, The Mo

have Valley Daily News reports. Based on information from animal rights groups, officials are reviewing a proposed ordinance banning traveling circuses.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has again rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would ask voters to approve gambling in the state.

CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: A Los Angeles city councilman wants to move an Asian elephant from the city zoo to a sanctuary where it can roam more widely. But zoo officials say Billy the elephant’s 6 1⁄ - acre habitat is 2 state of the art.

COLORADO Pueblo: Firefighters found skeletal remains while battling a Colorado brush fire. The Pueblo Police Department says firefighters were dousing the blaze near a train bridge over the Fountain River this week when they came across the body of a male.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: Jonathan Harris is stepping down as Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection commissioner to pursue “other professional opportunities.” Harris is considered a possible 2018 Democratic candidate for governor.

DELAWARE Wilmington: The family of a guard killed during a Delaware prison riot and five other officers who survived the uprising have sued the state. The plaintiffs say officials ignored security and staffing problems at the Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Georgetown University has renamed two campus buildings in honor of people sold as slaves in 1838. The renaming is part of the school’s effort to atone for profiting from a slave sale orchestrated by two Jesuit priests to pay off school debts.

FLORIDA Sarasota: Authorities say a woman charged a “cover fee for drugs” at the flop house she operated in Sarasota County. Danielle Baggett was arrested April 11 on a charge of running a nuisance dwelling after deputies responded to seven overdoses, including her own, The Bradenton Herald reports.

GEORGIA Kennesaw: A Georgia police officer found a stun gun disguised as a package of cigarettes during a traffic stop. Officials say the driver repeatedly requested to smoke while the officer was speaking to him, but he wasn’t allowed to get his cigarettes during the stop.

HAWAII Honolulu: Some Hawaii lawmakers are pushing a sanctuary state resolution. The proposal urges law enforcement to not work with federal immigration agencies. Opponents fear that such a stance risks federal funding.

IDAHO Boise: Federal officials say progress is being made eradicating a microscopic pest threatening Idaho’s $ 900 million potato industry. Viable potato cyst nematodes can reduce crop production by 80%.

ILLINOIS Chicago: Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office says Paving Season has started in Chicago. Among roads to get repaved this year: 1.1 miles of North Broadway.

INDIANA Valparaiso: School officials in Valparaiso confronted a man last week who entered Thomas Jefferson Middle School with heroin, a hypodermic needle and a pocketknife. Police said Jason Rasco came in a rear door left ajar, The ( Northwest Indiana) Times reports.

IOWA Iowa City: Iowa State University’s military training program expelled a cadet accused of falsely claiming that he was sexually assaulted during an altercation that left him hospitalized. But the cadet’s supporters insist the sexual assault was real.

KANSAS Greenwood: Volunteer firefighters make up 90% of Kansas’ firefighters, and they’re in need of additional funding, The Wichita Eagle reports. Kansas spends about $ 300,000 at the state level on firefighting, less than almost any other state.

KENTUCKY Columbus: The Coast Guard says a tow boat carrying diesel fuel, lube oil and hydraulic oil sank in the Mississippi River near Columbus in Kentucky. There was no indication that any fuel leaked.

LOUISIANA Mandeville: Park officials repaired a broken sewer line that was leaking untreated wastewater from Fontainebleau State Park into Bayou Castine near Mandeville, The New Orleans Advocate reports.

MAINE Portland: Fishing regulators this week agreed to change the way the East Coast scallop fishery is managed. The goal is to avoid conflicts between small- and big- boat fishermen that caused officials to close the northern Gulf of Maine.

MARYLAND Largo: A Maryland amusement park this week reopened a roller coaster that left 24 riders stuck 80 feet in the air. Six Flags America says technicians fixed a problem with a wheel on the train and state inspectors cleared the ride.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Under court order, district attorneys in Massachusetts are moving to dismiss thousands of drug cases tainted by the misconduct of a former state drug lab chemist. Up to 24,000 cases could be affected.

MICHIGAN Ionia: Citing insufficient evidence, a Michigan judge has released two service dogs accused of killing a farmer’s goats last summer. Three veterinary experts testified at a hearing that there was no blood found on the dogs.

MINNESOTA St. Paul: Minnesota lawmakers may be close to a deal putting the state in line with federal Real ID license requirements.

MISSISSIPPI Ocean Springs: A rare white squirrel, not believed to be albino, is attracting attention on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, The Sun Herald reports. Members of a photography club filmed it recently at Little Children’s Park in Ocean Springs.

MISSOURI Joplin: Missouri Southern State University has cut faculty and staff slots and campus programs amid anticipated cuts in state funding. President Alan Marble tells The Joplin Globe that reductions could also come with double- digit tuition increases.

MONTANA Kalispell: Members of the Blackfeet Indian Tribe will vote this week on a water compact that’s been decades in the making. If approved, the deal would confirm and quantify the tribe’s water rights and its jurisdiction on the reservation near Glacier National Park.

NEBRASKA Omaha: The Omaha Public Schools board has decided to keep its superintendent for another year while it resets the search for a successor. The Omaha World- Herald reports that the search for a new superintendent stalled when all three finalists withdrew.

NEVADA Las Vegas: Fire officials blame a faulty light fixture at the Bellagio shopping complex for setting off a fire on the roof last week. No one was hurt.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Laconia: New Hampshire wildlife officials have found a home for a monkey that was being illegally kept as a pet. State Fish and Game officials tell WMUR- TV that the Patas monkey, named Bella, is now living at a primate sanctuary in Oklahoma.

NEW JERSEY Newark: Another doctor has pleaded guilty in a bribes- for- test referrals scheme involving a now- defunct New Jersey firm. Federal prosecutors say Ahmed El Soury got more than $ 66,000 in bribes linked to Parsippany- based Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services.

NEW MEXICO Las Cruces: The Dona Ana County Clerk’s Office is visiting high schools this month in an effort to register new voters. Staff members target teachers and parents as well as students who’ll be eligible to cast ballots in the next election.

NEW YORK New York City: Prosecutors say a man arrested in the death of a New York City runner told police he “lost it” and strangled the victim during a chance encounter. Chanel Lewis pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first- degree murder in the Aug. 2 attack on Karina Vetrano.

NORTH CAROLINA Went

worth: The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the destruction of two mailboxes by apparent homemade explosive devices. The News & Record reports that the explosions occurred Sunday night in Eden and Stoneville.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The number of bighorn lambs in the North Dakota Badlands has reached a low point. But state officials reinstated hunting last year, and a season this fall appears likely.

OHIO Worthington: An Ohio man says he was trying to set a good example for his children April 8 when he turned in $ 14,000 he found on the side of the road in a Columbus suburb. WBNS- TV reports that Jake Bowers took the bag of $ 100 bills to police, who returned it to its owner.

OKLAHOMA Sperry: Sperry Police Chief Justin Burch issued himself a citation for speeding — but only after being caught on video. Burch admits he was “wrong in traveling at 75 and 80 mph” in the town about 10 miles north of Tulsa but that he had a reason.

OREGON Baker: Oregon wildlife officials are cutting in half the number of deer tags allowed for this fall’s hunting season in Baker Countyfollowing the winter deaths of hundreds of deer, The Baker City Herald reports.

PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: Five men have been convicted in a violent string of robberies, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Prosecutors say the men primari- ly robbed drug dealers, posing as police officers and sometimes tracking their targets with GPS.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: A city councilman is calling for a crackdown after a band of dirt bikes and ATVs barreled through a busy Providence park on Easter Sunday. The city has a ban on such recreational vehicles from its streets, sidewalks and parks.

SOUTH CAROLINA Mount

Pleasant: Susie and Steve Polston were worried that someone was trying to get into their home Easter Sunday. Instead, Polston’s 16- year- old son found a nine- foot alligator crawling on the secondstory porch, The Post and Courier reports.

SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: A former South Dakota Air National Guard member has settled a lawsuit claiming that an employer who fired her did so illegally while she was on active duty. BioFusion Health Products must pay Amber Ishmael $ 3,000 in back pay.

TENNESSEE Nashville: State tourism officials have launched a personalized website to help travelers plan trips to Tennessee. The site offers click- and- save itinerary maps that let visitors add travel ideas.

TEXAS Austin: The director of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has resigned after lawmakers criticized her for taking taxpayer- funded trips to Hawaii and San Diego.

UTAH Salt Lake City: A man who filed a lawsuit seeking $ 2 million after Salt Lake City police shot and killed his dog has challenged two laws requiring extra fees before suing a law- enforcement officer, The Salt Lake Tri

bune reports. Earlier this year, a judge ruled against dog owner Sean Kendall’s $ 2 million lawsuit. He has appealed.

VERMONT St. Johnsbury: Vermont has reached an agreement on new offices for some 80 state employees who were displaced this month because of elevated levels of cancer- causing chemicals in their building. The Caledonian Record reports that the state signed a five- year lease for the former microDATA building in St. Johnsbury.

VIRGINIA Charlottesville: The Charlottesville City Council has decided to sell the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in its downtown park. If it doesn’t sell, the council will consider donating it.

WASHINGTON Spokane: Washington state’s Kalispel Tribe has sued the federal government for approving a rival casino project by the Spokane Tribe. The suit contends that the new off- reservation casino about two miles from the Kalispel’s Northern Quest Casino “will have a devastating impact” on Northern Quest.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The nine- member West Virginia Board of Education has two new members. Gov. Jim Justice this week appointed Deborah Sullivan and Joseph Wallace. Sullivan recently retired as principal of Charleston Catholic High School. Wallace is an attorney from Elkins.

WISCONSIN Shiocton: A Wisconsin spring tradition is underway as sturgeon spawning has started on parts of the Wolf River, WLUK- TV reports. Crews netted and tagged about 200 fish earlier this week.

WYOMING Jackson: A Wyoming bail bond company has put new ankle monitors on inmates who were wearing faulty equipment, The Jackson Hole News and Guide reports. The owner of Teton Bail Bonds says none of the malfunctioning tethers were worn by high- risk offenders.