USA TODAY International Edition
50 ★ States
ALABAMA Reeltown: The baptism of 26 high school football players on the 50- yard line has drawn complaints from a group that pushes for separation of church and state.
ALASKA Anchorage: Smoke rose more than 5 miles above Shishaldin Volcano on Unimak Island in the Aleutians on Sunday, the Alaska Volcano Observatory says.
ARIZONA Phoenix: The state has agreed to pay $ 100,000 to settle a lawsuit by a former corrections officer who alleged his coworkers and supervisors repeatedly harassed him over his status as a transgender man.
ARKANSAS Fayetteville: A new highyield, long- grain rice variety developed by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will be available to rice growers in 2021.
CALIFORNIA Oakland: Homeless mothers evicted last week from a house where they were squatting plan to move back after speculators agreed to sell it to a nonprofit. Wedgewood Inc. will sell the property to the Oakland Community Land Trust.
COLORADO Denver: A sheriff ’ s deputy who was pulled over by state troopers while driving three prisoners in a transport van has been charged with traffic offenses including reckless endangerment, authorities say.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: State lawmakers plan to resurrect a bipartisan proposal that attempts to help older workers who often face age discrimination when seeking employment.
DELAWARE Dover: Legislation aimed at permitting dogs in outdoor areas at eating establishments has passed the state House of Representatives and now goes to the Senate.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: A local startup is betting the skies are the future of food delivery, WUSA- TV reports. Shehan Weeraman and Nick Adimi named their drone- based company Hangry.
FLORIDA West Palm Beach: Invasive iguanas burrowing into the soft dirt around an aging dam have cost the city $ 1.8 million in emergency repairs.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Gov. Brian Kemp wants to expand Inspector General Deborah Wallace’s office, which handles sexual harassment complaints.
HAWAII Honolulu: A man suspected of stabbing a woman and killing two police officers wandered his neighborhood recording people with a camera mounted on his hat and rigged a barbecue grill to blow thick smoke directly into neighbors’ windows, a lawyer for residents said.
IDAHO Boise: A lawmaker says Chicken Dinner Road is a historic name, and he’s opposing an animalrights group’s request to rename it.
ILLINOIS Springfield: Gov. J. B. Pritzker has signed a law that eliminates driver’s license suspensions for most non- moving violations.
INDIANA Indianapolis: Hoosiers’ electricity bills could rise and several utilities may face obstacles in their plans to phase out coal- based power generation under politically charged legislation filed last week.
IOWA Davenport: City leaders are condemning a homeowner’s snow display depicting a figure gunning down a snowman in a Bernie Sanders shirt and another in a Democratic Party hat. Mayor Mike Matson said he’s asked police to investigate.
KANSAS Lawrence: The University of Kansas will close its School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, but students will not be affected, according to a school official.
KENTUCKY Henderson: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Gov. Andy Beshear on Tuesday announced the approval of federal “Duck Stamp” funding for land acquisition to expand the new Green River National Wildlife Refuge.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: Revenue from food and drinks has increased from a new $ 1 billion terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, according to a recent report, which could mean more flights are added in the future.
MAINE Yarmouth: A massive elm nicknamed Herbie is long gone, but it will live on, thanks to cloned trees being made available to the public. At 110 feet and more than 200 years, Herbie was the tallest and oldest elm in New England and survived 14 bouts of Dutch elm disease.
MARYLAND Salisbury: As rising seas drive saltwater farther inland, state officials are urging local governments, drinking water suppliers, farmers and others to start preparing now for a saltier future. Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration recently released the state’s first plan to combat saltwater intrusion.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is auctioning off seven vintage subway cars, starting at $ 500 apiece.
MICHIGAN Detroit: A national competition is underway that seeks artists’ proposals for a planned public sculpture outside the main entrance to the TCF Center downtown.
MINNESOTA St. Cloud: State troopers will be carrying more than 600 kits to give to homeless people who need clothes, food and toiletries. The Department of Public Safety collected donations and assembled them into “Care and Go” kits.
MISSISSIPPI Meridian: The state will pay $ 3 million for a fence to keep wild animals off the runways of Naval Air Station Meridian.
MISSOURI Jefferson City: The state Supreme Court on Tuesday gutted a voter ID law that has been called “a solution in search of a problem.”
MONTANA Billings: Federal environmental regulators say the U. S. Bureau of Indian Affairs violated an order to repair a public water supply system serving about 1,300 people on the Crow Indian Reservation.
NEBRASKA Waverly: A stargazing woman who fell 27 feet off a bridge to the ice below has been transferred to an Omaha hospital.
NEVADA Las Vegas: Organizers of a protest of new city ordinances affecting the homeless say 12 demonstrators were taken into custody.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The state is holding a weeklong celebration of wine. New Hampshire Wine Week includes Thursday’s 17th annual Winter Wine Spectacular, which benefits EasterSeals New Hampshire.
NEW JERSEY Jackson: An ad in the Waze navigation app is misdirecting motorists headed to Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa into the wilderness of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, police say.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: The Democrat- led Legislature is looking for new ways to bolster a lagging public education system and open up economic opportunities by legalizing recreational marijuana and providing tuition- free college education.
NEW YORK Battenville: The state is planning restoration work on the early childhood home of women’s rights advocate Susan B. Anthony.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: An appeals court on Tuesday upheld the legality of a legislative session that Republicans quickly called in December 2016 to push through laws that weakened the power of incoming Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A new agreement between the state and Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation means bighorn sheep could be roaming the reservation in the next couple weeks.
OHIO Columbus: The state Supreme Court has rejected a recommendation that tools used to measure offenders’ suitability for being released after an arrest be made available to all judges as they make bail decisions.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: A Democratic lawmaker is seeking to repeal the state’s controversial permitless carry law that took effect last year.
PENNSYLVANIA Greensburg: A defense attorney plans to appeal the murder conviction of a man who asserts that his now- deceased twin brother was the shooter.
RHODE ISLAND Pawtucket: A woman is taking legal action against the city for handcuffing and arresting her 13- year- old daughter after a fight with another student, the American Civil Liberties Union says.
SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: A group representing the LGBTQ community say it is time for the Greenville County Council to reverse a resolution passed in 1996 that condemned homosexuality as incompatible with community values.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Prisoners at the South Dakota State Penitentiary are trying to raise money and awareness about Native American women who are crime victims. The inmates made 200 pairs of earrings and raised $ 5,000, which they donated to Urban Indian and Health of Sioux Falls and Rapid City.
TENNESSEE Memphis: The state’s college athletes could financially benefit from the use of their names, images and likenesses under legislation introduced by a pair of lawmakers from the city.
TEXAS Austin: The number of foster care children who slept in state offices, hotels and other temporary housing spiked by 49% last year.
UTAH St. George: A new survey finds that in the Beehive State more than anywhere else in the nation, divorce doesn’t necessarily mean contention. USAWillGuru. com says Utah has the highest percentage of amicable breakups at 79%.
VERMONT Montpelier: The state House on Tuesday unanimously approved a proposed constitutional amendment to make clear that Vermont prohibits slavery.
VIRGINIA Richmond: The state Senate has advanced legislation to scrap the state’s Lee- Jackson holiday celebrating two Confederate generals.
WASHINGTON Seattle: State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is challenging the lavish personal spending of bankrupt anti- tax activist Tim Eyman, saying Eyman’s assets must be preserved so he can pay his debts to the state.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: People interested in portraying historical figures for the West Virginia Humanities Council’s History Alive program can submit proposals through Feb. 1.
WISCONSIN Madison: All day care centers, child care providers and children’s camps would have to test their water for lead under a bill the state Senate approved Tuesday.
WYOMING Cheyenne: A second Democrat has entered the race for an open U. S. Senate seat. University of Wyoming ecology professor Merav Ben- David, of Laramie, announced her candidacy Saturday.