USA TODAY International Edition
50 ★ States
ALABAMA Montgomery: Gov. Kay Ivey said Tuesday that the state must reinvent its corrections system as it grapples with a prison crisis and also called for borrowing $ 1 billion to fund improvements at public schools.
ALASKA Anchorage: State highway officials are looking for mechanics. Electronic message boards along roads are displaying help- wanted messages, KTVA- television reports.
ARIZONA Tucson: A federal judge has reversed the misdemeanor convictions of four activists, saying members of humanitarian group No More Deaths were led by “sincere religious beliefs” when placing water and food for migrants in Arizona’s protected Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge near the border.
ARKANSAS Bentonville: Benton County plans to appeal the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s decision not to help pay for the costs to clean up damages from two tornadoes last October, officials said.
CALIFORNIA Sacramento: Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed a plan Tuesday that would keep more water in the fragile San Joaquin River Delta while restoring 60,000 acres of habitat for endangered species and generating more than $ 5 billion in new funding for environmental improvements.
COLORADO Steamboat Springs: The school district has hired a former FBI agent to conduct an investigation into a high school’s culture related to student claims of sexual misconduct.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: A federal judge has dismissed nearly all claims in a lawsuit that sought to force allmale fraternities at Yale University to admit women, saying the groups are excluded from federal Title IX law.
DELAWARE Bridgeville: A year after moving the World Championship Punkin Chunkin to Illinois, event organizers have made a plea to their fans to find them a new home back on the Delmarva Peninsula.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: A thief stole a mother’s vehicle while she was pumping gas and her child was in the back seat. The mother was dragged Tuesday while trying to stop the thief, news outlets report.
FLORIDA Miami: Two men charged with drug trafficking could have done a better job hiding their wares than using a package labeled “Bag Full of Drugs,” authorities say.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Gov. Brian Kemp and state Superintendent Richard Woods have announced a plan to cut five mandatory standardized tests.
HAWAII Honolulu: A sick Hawaiian monk seal is suffering from a parasitic infection often spread via feral cat feces, wildlife officials say.
IDAHO Bonners Ferry: A long- closed road through grizzly bear habitat in northern Idaho will reopen following national security concerns, federal agencies said. The U. S. Forest Service and the U. S. Department of Homeland Security announced the plan to reopen more than 5 miles of Bog Creek Road after years of discussion, The Spokesman- Review reports.
ILLINOIS Joliet: Police are searching for a man who caused thousands of dollars of damage in a Walmart in suburban Chicago by spraying disinfectant inside the store while wearing a surgical mask and a sign on his back declaring that he has the deadly coronavirus.
INDIANA Gary: A local has man testified that a now- dead man gave him a video recording of his confession to killing five people in 2000, a crime for which another man is serving 300 years in prison.
IOWA Des Moines: Griff the bulldog, Drake University’s live mascot, will retire this summer.
KANSAS Wichita: A collaborative effort aims to preserve historic TV and radio programs produced by public media stations in Kansas. KMUW- FM and the American Archive of Public Broadcasting say the online collection will be digitized.
KENTUCKY Hodgenville: The town where President Abraham Lincoln was born will host activities next Wednesday to commemorate his 211th birthday.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: A group that was denied permission to march in the city of Natchitoches’ Christmas parade when it insisted on carrying Confederate battle flags asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to revive its lawsuit alleging constitutional violations.
MAINE Portland: The state’s two U. S. senators are pushing for the federal government to crack down on the use of dairy terms on plantbased products.
MARYLAND Baltimore: Democrat Kweisi Mfume and Republican Kimberly Klacik won special primaries Tuesday for the U. S. congressional seat that was held by the late Elijah Cummings.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Commuters can expect several years of station gridlock at South Station, one of the city’s busiest train depots, once major construction kicks off in late summer, officials say.
MICHIGAN Saline: A public meeting called to address racist social media posts by high school students turned volatile when a white parent asked a Hispanic parent, “Why didn’t you stay in Mexico?”
MINNESOTA St. Paul: A bill rolled out Wednesday would tightly restrict voter registration data that details party preferences.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: A plan to give teachers at least a $ 1,000 pay raise has won state Senate approval.
MISSOURI Jefferson City: Lawmakers have voted to make grants available for potential builders of an ultrafast Hyperloop test track.
MONTANA Bozeman: The Environmental Protection Agency says it is removing part of a former woodtreatment facility from its list of Superfund sites, despite concerns.
NEBRASKA Omaha: American evacuees from the growing coronavirus outbreak in China will be flying into Omaha as soon as Thursday and be quarantined at a nearby Nebraska National Guard training base, officials said Wednesday.
NEVADA Carson City: The Tahoe Fund says it landed a $ 100,000 donation to jump- start upgrades in the Spooner Lake area of Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park.
NEW HAMPSHIRE North Sutton: A University of New Hampshire expert on kiwiberries will give a crop overview and discuss other aspects of the grape- sized fruit Saturday.
NEW JERSEY Toms River: Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration has restored funding to one of two public assistance programs that help senior citizens maintain independence.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: Democratic legislators are pressing a plan to raise annual state spending by more than a half- billion dollars to expand early childhood education programs, boost teacher salaries and shore up health care for the poor.
NEW YORK Albany: The state could ban retail pet shops from selling dogs, cats or rabbits by 2021 under a Democratic state senator’s bill.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Officials approved the creation of a citizen advisory board Tuesday charged with reviewing the police department’s policies.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A group is seeking to oust Burleigh County Commissioner Kathleen Jones through a recall petition due in part to her support for resettling refugees in the county.
OHIO Columbus: The Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame is seeking nominations to honor people who have continued to contribute to their communities after their military service.
OKLAHOMA Tulsa: The city will conduct a test excavation at an area cemetery this spring as part of an effort to find remains of victims of a 1921 race massacre, officials say.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: A bill that would provide millions in tax breaks for construction of facilities to use natural gas extracted in the state to make fertilizers and other chemicals will be vetoed by the governor, his spokesman said Wednesday.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Inspectors found no evidence of black mold days after a General Assembly office was evacuated. Renovation work, which included the removal of filing cabinets, had raised concerns because it coincided with a lawsuit involving the committee whose offices had been cleared and a state police investigation.
SOUTH CAROLINA Charleston: Several downtown streets were closed Wednesday after construction crews found a Civil War artillery shell.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: Small towns say they are strapped for cash after historically bad flooding last year and are asking the Legislature to let them use money from gas taxes for roads.
TENNESSEE Nashville: A Republicanled legislative panel has decided not to decide, for now, whether it thinks a bust of a former Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader should be removed from the Capitol.
TEXAS Fort Worth: An appeals court heard arguments Tuesday in the case of a mother who does not want a hospital to end life- sustaining treatment for her 1- year- old daughter.
UTAH Salt Lake City: A resolution encouraging consideration of later high school start times has earned unanimous support from a state legislative committee.
VERMONT Montpelier: The Democratic- led state House failed by one vote Wednesday to override a veto by Republican Gov. Phil Scott of a bill that would have established a paid family leave system.
VIRGINIA Richmond: The capital city recorded a 10% increase in its homeless population during a winter survey, according to preliminary data.
WASHINGTON SeaTac: The city will no longer issue exorbitant bills for free- speech demonstrations after a $ 37,000 charge to an immigrant rights group prompted a lawsuit.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: A resolution to prohibit the state’s court system from interfering in ongoing legislative action failed in the state Senate on Wednesday.
WISCONSIN Madison: Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul and advocates for victims of sexual assault made a last- ditch effort Wednesday to save a pair of bipartisan bills intended to prevent a backlog of untested rape evidence kits, blasting Republicans’ divisive substitute proposal as a partisan attempt to ensure nothing becomes law this session.
WYOMING Casper: Project leaders are seeking names to include in a memorial honoring military veterans from Wind River Indian Reservation.