News from across the USA

ALABAMA Beulah: The Lee County coroner says a hunter died when he fell about 20 feet from a tree stand. Nofoul play is suspected.

ALASKA Juneau: A state audit recommends that Alaska’s tourism marketing board be dissolved and replaced by a program that levies fees on tourists rather than state funding.

ARIZONA Tucson: A $2 million gender discrimination lawsuit was filed against the Arizona Board of Regents by a former University of Arizona Honors College dean who claims she was underpaid.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: Watchdogs say a scabies outbreak at Longmeadow Nursing Care in Camden spread throughout the facility and into the community after those in charge failed to act, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: A man who smuggled three highly venomous king cobra snakes through the mail in potato chip canisters was sentenced to five months in prison. Rodrigo Franco says the snakes died in transit.

COLORADO Steamboat

Springs: Meteorologists from across the country gathered here this week for the 29th annual Weather Summit, The Steamboat Pilot & Today reports.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: Several Yale fraternity chapters have postponed recruiting events amid a push by student activists to open them to women as well as men. A student group called Engender has been working to end what it calls sex discrimination by fraternities.

DELAWARE Wilmington: A jury found that former Police Chief Bobby Cummings didn’t violate the constitutional rights of the department’s union president as claimed in a May 2016 lawsuit, The News Journal reports.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The Supreme Court sided this week with District of Columbia police over partygoers in a dispute about arrests at a 2008 bash at a vacant home that was turned into a makeshift strip club.

FLORIDA Tallahassee: Students who get bullied may get vouchers to attend a private school under a measure that lawmakers are considering.

GEORGIA McDonough: A suburban Atlanta hotel was evacuated after a man opened fire in the lobby, shattering a glass door. Authorities say no guests or employees were injured.

HAWAII Honolulu: Hawaii was one of three states to post a record low unemployment rate last month. Joblessness fell to 2% on the islands. The other record low states were Mississippi and California.

IDAHO Boise: State voters would no longer have to disclose their gender to register to vote under a proposal before Idaho lawmakers.

ILLINOIS Springfield: A report says failure to pay debts on time cost the state $1 billion in late-payment penalties. The state comptroller says Illinois had $9 billion in overdue bills on Dec. 31.

INDIANA Indianapolis: The Indiana House has approved a bill to limit regulation of short term residential rentals while allowing local zoning restrictions or permits on secondary properties.

IOWA Des Moines: A state lawmaker was removed as chairman of the House judiciary committee after he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.

KANSAS Topeka: The state attorney general says Pearlie Mae’s Compassion and Care was fined $10,000 for failing to protect patient and employee records. TheTopeka business provides care for people with disabilities.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: State lawmakers are making progress toward putting a crime victims’ rights issue on the November ballot.

LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: A man released early from prison under a criminal justice reform law is back behind bars this week, despite staying out of trouble and securing a job. Nickolos Marchiafava’s release date was miscalculated by officials.

MAINE Portland: The Maine Turnpike Authority wants public input on the future of the increasingly busy stretch from Scarborough to Falmouth.

MARYLAND Salisbury: Cedarhurst Mobile Home Park residents are upset about nearly 60% rent hikes under a new owner, The Daily Times reports.

MASSACHUSETTS Brockton: The Zoots dry cleaning chain has filed for bankruptcy, leaving customers in the lurch with clothes still at the chain’s various locations.

MICHIGAN Battle Creek: Kellogg Community College has reached a settlement to resolve a lawsuit filed by three people arrested in 2016 while distributing copies of the U.S. Constitution outside a campus building.

MINNESOTA Maplewood: Police say one of two men who tried to hold up Princess Liquors died after an employee shot him, KMSP-TV reports.

MISSISSIPPI Lucedale: A mistrial was declared in the manslaughter case of a jail nurse accused of depriving a detainee of insulin, The

Sun Herald reports.

MISSOURI Jefferson City: A man who embezzled at least $380,500 from a University of Missouri fraternity was sentenced to two years in prison, The Columbia Tribune reports.

MONTANA Billings: The state is reminding medical marijuana providers to pay taxes. Fewer than half of the 434 providers that paid taxes last fall paid again at the quarterly deadline, The Billings Gazette reports.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: The Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing railway car plant is poised to get a $3.6 billion contract for new subway cars for New York City.

NEVADA Elko: Firefighters rescued two dogs and cats trapped in a bedroom of a burning mobile home after the residents escaped, The Elko Daily Free Press reports.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: A panel appointed by Gov. Chris Sununu to streamline state government recommends passage of a regulatory reform bill covering everything from building codes to wetlands permits.

NEW JERSEY South Amboy: Authorities say a woman who fell asleep at the wheel rear-ended a state police cruiser at a highway construction site.

NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: The owner of Petland says two thieves stuck a pair of parrots worth more than $2,000 each under their jackets and walked out, the Albuquerque Journal reports.

NEW YORK Oneida: State police are investigating the death of a man after police used a stun gun on him.

NORTH CAROLINA Beaufort: Authorities have accused a former volunteer fire department treasurer of embezzling money by using the agency’s ATM cards to pay personal bills.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The state’s oil industry exceeded the natural gas flaring limit of 15% in October. Updated figures show the industry flared slightly more than 16%, the Bismarck Tribune reports.

OHIO New Carlisle: A silo collapse at the Miami Valley Feed & Grain Co. sent about 10,000 tons of corn onto a road, shutting it down, WHIO-TV reports.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The state Supreme Court has struck down part of a law exempting oil and natural gas companies from being sued when workers are injured or killed on the job. The court said the 2013 immunity measure is an unconstitutional special law.

OREGON McMinnville: A woman who fatally shot two of her neighbors’ dogs after they wandered onto her property was sentenced to two days in jail and fined $1,000, The Oregonian reports.

PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: State lawmakers want Pennsylvania voters to decide whether to reduce the size of the House chamber from 203 members to 151. Supporters say that would improve efficiency.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: The Narragansett tribe says it won’t be a backup water source for a proposed natural gas-fired power plant in Burrillville, The Providence Journal reports.

SOUTH CAROLINA Moncks Corner: State-owned utility Santee Cooper is closing three retail offices where customers can pay their bills. The utility says the closings will save about $1 million.

SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: A state lawmaker wants to require all of his colleagues to be drug-tested to ensure that they’re “clean.”

TENNESSEE Nashville: A federal audit estimates that the state’s Medicaid program paid $2.7 million over seven years for patients who were already dead.

TEXAS Dallas: Civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit accusing Dallas County’s bail system of violating the constitutional rights of poor people by keeping them jailed because they can’t afford to pay bond.

UTAH Salt Lake City: A legislative fight over what should be the state fossil has been avoided with the introduction of the Utahraptor as the official state dinosaur, leaving the Allosaurus as the state fossil, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

VERMONT Burlington: A state advocacy group for immigrants says federal ICE agents arrested 14 construction workers last week at a Colchester hotel, The Burlington Free Press reports.

VIRGINIA Richmond: Two state lawmakers are calling for a study on the feasibility of imposing tolls on large trucks using Interstate 81.

WASHINGTON Spokane: A bill in the state Legislature would let emergency personnel make plans to evacuate cities ahead of a possible nuclear attack, The Spokesman-Review reports.

WEST VIRGINIA Clarksburg: A federal prosecutor says eight people were indicted in a drug distribution case in Harrison County.

WISCONSIN Madison: State lawmakers are looking to legalize children’s lemonade stands after one was shut down by Appleton police.

WYOMING Cheyenne: The state’s high school graduation rate increased slightly to 80.2% last school year. Compiled from staff, wire reports.