USA TODAY International Edition
50 ★ States
ALABAMA Birmingham: A man wanted on drug and weapons charges has posted a video denying he fed methamphetamine to a so-called attack squirrel that he considers a pet. “You can’t give squirrels meth; it would kill ’em,” Mickey Paulk says. “I’m pretty sure ... I’ve never tried it.”
ALASKA Anchorage: Federal marine biologists for the first time have recorded singing by the rare North Pacific right whale.
ARIZONA Phoenix: State test scores still show more than half of students in most categories, including thirdgrade reading, aren’t passing.
ARKANSAS Mountain Home: Hickory Park will get a splash of color thanks to Care Center Ministries of Mountain Home. Volunteers will meet at 9:30 a.m. Saturday to paint.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: Officials say someone climbed a Hollywood public art piece and stole a statue of Marilyn Monroe.
COLORADO Denver: A report indicates the Mile High City had the highest increase in the nation in its violent crime rate last year, but crime remains low compared with the most violent large U.S. cities.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Gov. Ned Lamont has signed legislation that increases the minimum age to purchase cigarettes and other tobacco products to 21.
DELAWARE Bethany Beach: As thousands of people flock to Dover for Firefly Music Festival, one of the world’s rarest fireflies is battling for survival at beaches in the state. The Bethany Beach firefly, found in only seven habitats along Delaware’s southern coast, lost one this year to new residential construction, according to a local scientist.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: District of Columbia lawmakers voted to add $47 million in excess reserves from the Washington Convention and Sports Authority to the city’s fiscal 2020 budget.
FLORIDA Holmes Beach: Police say they’ve located the South Carolina owner of a prosthetic ear that washed up on the beach.
GEORGIA Atlanta: The state is shifting its presidential primary to late March, leaving the group of states that vote on Super Tuesday, early in the month.
HAWAII Honolulu: The U.S. Navy will christen a new guided missile destroyer – the USS Daniel Inouye, named for a senator who represented the state for half a century – during a ceremony this weekend. U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii will speak at Saturday’s ceremony in Bath, Maine.
IDAHO Moscow: The University of Idaho has ordered a student who owns a beverage company to stop using the name “Vandal Beer.” The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reports officials sent the letter, citing trademark infringement, to Vandal Beer owner R. Austin Nielsen this week. The school’s mascot is the Vandals.
ILLINOIS Wauconda: A Civil War reenactment is back on after it was temporarily canceled by a county official over questions of its value, as well as the use of the Confederate flag. The (Waukegan) News-Sun reports Lake County Forest Preserves District President Angelo Kyle says Civil War Days will be held July 13-14 at Lakewood Forest Preserve.
INDIANA West Lafayette: Purdue University plans several events commemorating the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing commanded by alumnus Neil Armstrong. The university says the activities begin July 18.
IOWA Sibley: A company that’s been fined thousands of dollars for the stink coming from its plant has lost its lawsuit targeting the city’s odor ordinance.
KANSAS Hutchinson: Hutchinson Zoo director Ryan VanZant says last month’s flooding covered more than one-third of the zoo. The Hutchinson News reports it has been mostly closed since May 21.
KENTUCKY Frankfort: A state agency says it secured a $5 million federal grant to continue the Transition Age Youth Launching Realized Dreams program, providing youthsupport services, through 2024.
MAINE Augusta: The Legislature sent a proposal to the governor Wednesday to ditch presidential caucuses for a primary system that would have voters rank candidates.
MARYLAND Annapolis: A memorial dedication, gun violence forum and moment of silence are among events scheduled for the one-year anniversary of the deadly attack on The Capital Gazette newspaper.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The Angell Animal Medical Center found 19 baby pacifiers in a bulldog’s stomach after a family brought the pup in, saying it had stopped eating.
MICHIGAN Lansing: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered state agencies to step up efforts to reduce phosphorus pollution and otherwise improve water quality in Lake Erie.
MINNESOTA St. Peter: An invasion of gnats is presenting a risk to the health and lives of livestock. The Mankato Free Press reports gnats cause weight loss and stress.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Persistent flooding across wildlife management areas has decimated some wildlife habitats and food supplies, leading the state to allow supplemental deer feeding in two counties.
MISSOURI Kansas City: McDonald’s has started a trans-Atlantic barbecue feud with the introduction of a Kansas City-themed hamburger in the U.K. Outgoing Mayor Sly James tweeted that the fast-food chain should “stay in your lane.”
MONTANA Billings: AT&T has started dropping cellphone customers in the state’s northeast, citing regular data use outside its service area.
NEBRASKA McCook: Family Fun Nights have been scheduled for June 26, July 5 and 19, and Aug. 2 at Red Willow State Recreation Area.
NEVADA Las Vegas: City officials have activated a program that lets people settle fines for parking tickets with school supplies.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: A committee of lawmakers has reached a compromise on changes to the state’s new work requirements for Medicaid recipients that would have most spend at least 100 hours a month working, going to school or participating in community service.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: Gov. Phil Murphy has signed legislation requiring ride-hailing services to show extra driver identification.
NEW MEXICO Lovington: Lea County has approved more than $5 million in upgrades to its airport in the heart of the Permian Basin, the state’s booming oil region.
NEW YORK New York: Artist Kehinde Wiley will unveil his first monumental public sculpture in Times Square this fall in response to Confederate statues nationwide. The bronze “Rumors of War” sculpture features a young black man dressed in urban streetwear mounted atop a horse.
NORTH CAROLINA Oak Island: Advocates for sea turtles say a hefty fine is in store for whoever dug into a nest of loggerhead sea turtle eggs. The Oak Island Sea Turtle Protection Program says the nest was tampered with Monday.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The state’s female prison population has reached capacity, leaving some inmates in the custody of counties.
OHIO Brecksville: A ceremonial torch traveling the length of the 85-milelong Cuyahoga River will make a stop in Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Friday afternoon on its way to Cleveland to celebrate the river’s health 50 years after it infamously caught fire.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney has announced plans to expand its operations at Tinker Air Force Base.
OREGON Salem: Gov. Kate Brown deployed state police Thursday to try to round up Republican lawmakers who fled the Capitol in an attempt to block a vote on a climate plan.
PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: A mural by the artist who painted Michelle Obama’s official portrait has been dedicated. Amy Sherald’s 6story-tall work portrays Najee Spencer-Young, 19, a participant in the city’s Mural Arts education program.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed a bill Wednesday to preserve federal abortion protections in state law.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Riverbanks Zoo and Garden plans to send off two African elephants in order to bring in Southern white rhinos.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: The Sioux Falls Freemasons and Architecture Inc. opened a time capsule Wednesday, revealing multiple artifacts the Masons had placed downtown 95 years ago, including a handbook for new owners of telephones.
TENNESSEE Nashville: The three new eagles at Radnor Lake State Park’s Barbara J. Mapp Aviary Education Center are finally ready to meet the public.
TEXAS Dallas: A federal law enforcement official says the FBI received a call three years ago about the 22year-old man who opened fire on a courthouse downtown Monday.
UTAH Salt Lake City: A state commission has agreed to provide a $21.4 million grant to a multicounty coalition for a proposed new 80-mile rail route to haul crude oil.
VERMONT Montpelier: The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is reminding people not to release aquarium fish into the wild.
VIRGINIA Richmond: The state plans to mark 400 years of black history with an exhibit and a tribute to tennis star Arthur Ashe Jr. “Determined: The 400-Year Struggle for Black Equality” opens Saturday at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
WASHINGTON Seattle: A new federally funded study confirms marijuana use went up in the state after its first legal pot stores opened in 2014. In fact, consumption doubled over three years – a conclusion scientists reached after analyzing raw sewage.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: State agricultural officials are warning about a fungal disease that attacks boxwood shrubs.
WISCONSIN Madison: The state Assembly has approved a bill that would require online vendors like Amazon to collect and remit sales taxes from third-party sellers.
WYOMING Cheyenne: Some rodeo circuit cowboys say they will boycott this year’s Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo because of the new format for roping and steer wrestling events.