USA TODAY International Edition
50 ★ States
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Madison: A $ 21,000 gift from Inside- Out Ministries is paying the lunchroom debts of all students in the city’s child nutrition program.
ALASKA Juneau: Substance misuse cost the state about $ 3.5 billion in 2018 in resulting health care, productivity loss, criminal justice, traffic accidents and other services, a yearlong study has found.
ARIZONA Flagstaff: Wally Covington, a Northern Arizona University forestry expert who was ahead of his time in urging communities across the West to thin trees and set fire to the landscape as a way to ward off catastrophic wildfires, has retired from his position at the school.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: The state Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a man who fatally shot a U. S. Army soldier and wounded another outside a recruiting station in 2009.
CALIFORNIA Sacramento: Three years after the Oroville Dam spillway broke apart, only 22 of 650 major dams in the state have finalized emergency plans, according to a report by the state auditor.
COLORADO Fort Carson: Any people quarantined here because of the coronavirus outbreak will be housed away from the living and working areas of soldiers, their families and civilian workers, the Army post says. Fort Carson is one of four military facilities approved as possible quarantine sites by the Pentagon.
CONNECTICUT Wallingford: After decades of receiving meeting agendas by a police courier, town officials have switched to email.
DELAWARE Rehoboth Beach: Thousands of people braved the cold and ran to the water Sunday for the 29th annual Lewes Polar Bear Plunge. A record- setting 3,733 people jumped in, raising $ 1,018,000 for Special Olympics Delaware.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is running out of space for names of fallen officers, with capacity expected to be reached by 2029, WUSA- TV reports.
FLORIDA Odessa: Archaeologists will soon start the search for Keystone Memorial Cemetery, believed forgotten 70 years ago on what’s now a tree farm. Some likely remnants of the all- black burial ground were found recently by a Hillsborough County Sheriff ’ s Office dive team.
GEORGIA Peachtree City: Police were called to Holy Trinity Catholic Church after someone found a gun, but it turned out to have been left by a woman who thought it would be safer there than at her home.
HAWAII Hilo: A pair of bills would remove restrictions on wild pig hunting on the Big Island to control the population and protect local plants.
IDAHO Boise: Lawmakers have approved a new administrative rule for the state’s prison system designed to ensure secrecy surrounding the source of lethal injection drugs.
ILLINOIS Springfield: The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has developed a paid internship program.
INDIANA Nappanee: A popular tourist attraction that provides a glimpse into the life and history of the Amish is going on the auction block. It’s not clear if Wednesday’s auction will mean Amish Acres will continue in the form it has for the past 50 years.
IOWA Des Moines: A man who broke into the state Capitol early Sunday caused some damage, authorities said.
KANSAS Topeka: Harcros Chemicals Inc. pleaded guilty Friday to violating clean air rules and is expected to pay a $ 1 million fine for its role in a chemical gas cloud that formed over Atchison in 2016.
KENTUCKY Aurora: Federal and state officials on Monday began using an experimental fishing method at Kentucky Lake to reduce the infestation of Asian carp.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: Tulane University has acquired the complete archives of bestselling author and city native Anne Rice.
MAINE Augusta: The total valuation of real and personal property in the state has increased by more than 5.5% over a year, officials say.
MARYLAND Crisfield: A business is testing the limits of regional flavors. Smith Island Baking Co. now offers a vanilla cake topped with an Old Bay buttercream frosting.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Gov. Charlie Baker wants to reduce fines and make it illegal to arrest Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority riders for fare evasion amid concerns about minority and lowincome riders being unfairly targeted, according to The Boston Globe.
MICHIGAN Detroit: Several dozen apartments meant mainly for homeless members of the LGBTQ community are being developed, The Detroit News reports.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Families in a state welfare program are seeing their benefits increase this month for the first time in 33 years.
MISSISSIPPI Natchez: Visitors to the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians will soon be able to see exactly how the Natchez Indians lived in the 18th century, with the help of 21st- century technology. Mississippi Department of Archives and History officials will offer a new virtual reality exhibit in March, The Natchez Democrat reports.
MISSOURI Springfield: Mike Sutherland, who has been assistant director of the state’s park system for more than two years, was named parks director Friday.
MONTANA Helena: A game farm is under quarantine after an elk tested positive for chronic wasting disease, the Department of Livestock says.
NEBRASKA Omaha: The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has allocated nearly $ 109 million in the aftermath of last year’s historic floods. The Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds will help support disaster relief, long- term recovery and restoration efforts.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The state has added four properties including a chapel and an inn to its register of historic places, the Division of Historical Resources says.
OHIO Oxford: A Miami University professor who was suspended when officials learned a tree with hallucinogenic qualities was being cultivated in the plant conservatory he directed has been given permission to resume teaching classes.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order Monday creating a task force aimed at preparing the state to deal with potential fallout from coronavirus.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: Medical marijuana producers in the state can claim a tax deduction for prescription medication, according to a state Court of Appeals ruling.
NEW YORK New York: East River State Park will be renamed after LGBTQ activist Marsha P. Johnson.
NORTH CAROLINA Asheville: Locally based organic grocery chain Earth Fare says it is closing all its stores, saying it can’t refinance its debt and faces sales challenges.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Officials in the heart of the oil patch are turning to drones to make better decisions about when to restrict traffic on gravel roads. This spring, pilots will fly drones over McKenzie County’s roads after rainy weather.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: City crews have uncovered 28 rentable Lime- S electric scooters in the milelong Bricktown Canal after draining 3 million gallons of water.
OREGON Salem: The Legislature convened its 2020 session Monday, with majority Democrats saying their top priority is legislation aimed at stemming global warming.
PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty has been cleared of allegations that he assaulted a 13- year- old boy during a photo shoot, police said.
UTAH Ogden: A local watering hole, Brewski’s Bar, has confirmed it was one of the sites used to film a Super Bowl commercial for Bud Light Seltzer featuring rapper Post Malone. The recording artist lives in Utah and is frequently spotted around the state.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Twin River Worldwide Holdings Inc., which operates the state’s two casinos, has selected a new site for its headquarters, at Wexford Innovation Complex.
TEXAS Gilchrist: Four months after the Texas General Land Office began filling in Rollover Pass, the popular fishing site’s last marine residents are being targeted for removal.
SOUTH CAROLINA Orangeburg: South Carolina State University plans to unveil bronze busts of three students killed by bullets fired by officers during a 1968 civil rights protest. The busts will be dedicated Saturday as part of the 52nd anniversary commemoration of what has come to be known as the Orangeburg Massacre.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: A state senator wants to make ingesting illegal drugs a misdemeanor, not a felony.
TENNESSEE Memphis: Music legend and Bluff City native Harold Beane has died at age 73. The guitarist, who helped define the early records of Isaac Hayes, later went on to play with Funkadelic and worked with others including Little Richard and Rufus Thomas, died Saturday.
VERMONT Montpelier: The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development has announced $ 80,000 in grant funding for group efforts to attract more visitors, residents and businesses to the state.
VIRGINIA Richmond: The state Senate blocked one of Gov. Ralph Northam’s top gun- control bills Monday, one that would make it a felony to “recklessly leave a loaded, unsecured firearm” in a way that endangers a minor.
WASHINGTON Seattle: A local cannabis farm owner is accused of operating a Ponzi scheme that took in $ 4.85 million from at least two dozen investors.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: A former U. S. Army Corps of Engineers utility barge will be used to sink trees into some of the state’s most popular lakes to improve fish habitat.
WISCONSIN Madison: University of Wisconsin System regents will consider raising tuition for nonresident students and graduate students at a pair of meetings this week.
WYOMING Cheyenne: Environmental groups have filed a new lawsuit against the feeding of elk at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, saying the U. S. government should act sooner to curtail the practice.