50 ★ States

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Montgomery: People receiving unemployment benefits would be required to contact three potential employers each week under a bill sent to Gov. Kay Ivey.

ALASKA Juneau: Political donors have sued over campaign finance rules enacted under a 2020 voter initiative, arguing the disclosure rules are burdensome and could lead to reprisals in a “cancel culture” climate.

ARIZONA Phoenix: The state Supreme Court has issued an execution warrant for a death- row prisoner in what would be Arizona’s first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years. Clarence Dixon has 20 days to decide whether to face lethal injection or execution via gas chamber.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday proposed a $ 1 million expansion of a program that supervises high- risk parolees.

CALIFORNIA Sacramento: A legislative hearing was disrupted Wednesday when an animal rights organizer glued her hand to a table.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: Alex Jones was questioned Wednesday by lawyers for families of Sandy Hook victims. He said in a video on his Infowars website that the lawyers began the deposition by “demonizing” him for questioning official versions of events on the 2012 school shooting.

DELAWARE Dover: Over 17,000 warnings have been issued since speed cameras’ January installation in an I- 95 construction zone in Wilming

ton, state transportation officials.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Mayor Muriel Bowser said Thursday that she tested positive for COVID- 19 and would “work at home while following isolation protocols.”

FLORIDA Orlando: Mickey Mouse

will soon be able to hug again. As soon as mid- April, personal interaction between visitors and costumed characters will be allowed again at Walt Disney World.

GEORGIA Atlanta: A state law enforcement agency would have the authority to initiate investigations of election crimes under the latest voting regulation approved by the GOPcontrolled Legislature after ex- President Donald Trump’s repeated, false

claims of widespread voter fraud.

HAWAII Honolulu: The City Council has banned commercial activity on some popular Oahu beaches, citing complaints about overcrowding.

IDAHO Boise: More than half of the state is in a severe drought, and a water expert says that’s likely to worsen in the coming months.

ILLINOIS Springfield: Police Chief Ken Scarlette said he has initiated paperwork for the decertification of an ex- officer linked to racist, antisemitic and homophobic comments that appeared in an online blog post.

INDIANA Indianapolis: Members of the community who’ve long pushed city police to overhaul their policy on use of force against civilians say they worry a new law setting statewide policies will undercut those efforts.

IOWA Dyersville: The impending Field of Dreams development could be in line for more government support. Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday that the state will allocate $ 100 million in federal money to tourism projects through a new program called Destination Iowa, and local leaders plan to apply.

KANSAS Wichita: Local law enforcement officers weren’t adequately punished for joking about police violence and sharing racist content in a series of text messages, an independent report has found.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: Gov. Andy Beshear on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would bar transgender participation in girls’ and women’s school sports from sixth grade to college.

LOUISIANA Ponchatoula: The state’s second- largest free event returns Friday to mark its 50th anniversary after a two- year pandemic shutdown. The Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival runs through Sunday.

MAINE Augusta: State lawmakers are moving toward banning pesticides with intentionally added chemicals known as PFAS by 2030.

MARYLAND Annapolis: To encourage the Washington Commanders to stay in Maryland, the state House approved a $ 400 million plan to develop the area around FedEx Field, but it does not include money for a new stadium for the NFL team.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A couple say they’ve bought a building to create a Holocaust museum. The New England Holocaust Memorial is in Boston, but the city has no indoor museum dedicated to the tragedy.

MICHIGAN Lansing: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sued Thursday to protect reproductive rights, asking a court to recognize a right to abortion in the state constitution and overturn a 176- year- old ban that may take effect if Roe v. Wade is vacated.

MINNESOTA St. Paul: Over 1,100 residents used the state’s insulin safety net program to secure over

$ 6 million worth of the lifesaving drug last year, according to the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy and the MNsure health insurance exchange.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The Republican- led state is the latest to ban election offices from accepting donations from private groups for voting operations – a movement fueled by conservatives’ suspicion of donations by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2020.

MISSOURI Kansas City: The state Supreme Court has thrown out the convictions of a man who’s spent 16 years in prison for a slaying he and others contend he did not commit.

MONTANA Helena: A judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked four laws that the state Democratic Party, tribal organizations and youth groups argued were meant to make it more difficult for Native Americans, new voters, the elderly and those with disabilities to vote.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: Abortion rights proponents scored a surprising victory by derailing a state bill that

would have automatically outlawed abortion if the U. S. Supreme Court ever overturns Roe v. Wade.

NEVADA Reno: The Reno- Tahoe International Airport is embarking on an ambitious expansion of its facilities as it struggles to keep up with the region’s explosive growth.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Chatham: A hiker suffered a serious head injury after climbing a fire tower atop Mount Kearsarge North to take photos, the Department of Fish and Game said.

NEW JERSEY Atlantic City: Many of the city’s casinos are spending millions on renovations, as the industry expects a busy summer.

NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: The City Council has voted to uphold a previous decision to repeal an ordinance barring retailers from distributing single- use plastic bags.

NEW YORK New York: A small encampment of homeless people stood its ground against police and sanitation workers before authorities moved in Wednesday to clear tents, blankets and other belongings as part of Mayor Eric Adams’ crackdown on living in the city’s streets.

NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Meredith College announced Wednesday that the women’s college is renaming a building named after a white supremacist.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: State officials say routine childhood immunization rates have declined during the coronavirus pandemic.

OHIO Cleveland: Local officials have asked city judges to expunge 4,000 minor misdemeanor marijuana convictions dating back to 2017.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: State revenue collections in March were up nearly 23% from a year prior, State Treasurer Randy McDaniel said.

OREGON Portland: State Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters has sent a letter to Gov. Kate Brown and legislative leaders asking for a summit to address a crippling shortage of public defenders that’s led to the dismissal of dozens of cases.

PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: State Police have settled a federal lawsuit alleging troopers routinely and improperly tried to enforce federal immigration law by pulling over Hispanic motorists and detaining those they suspected were in the U. S. illegally.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: Most U. S. casinos are off to their best start ever in 2022, but that’s not the case at the state’s two casinos, according to figures released this week by the American Gaming Association.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: A bill allowing limited use of medical marijuana is heading to the state House floor – the furthest the proposal has made it during an eight- year push.

SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: A legislative panel looking into the impeachment of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg over a fatal crash declined to hear a detailed account of events, state troopers said Wednesday.

TENNESSEE Nashville: A bill to exclude same- sex couples from a proposed legal marriage contract process sparked widespread backlash after sponsors initially failed to include a minimum age limit in the legislation.

TEXAS Houston: A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Wednesday visited a death row inmate whose execution they’re trying to stop amid doubt she fatally beat her 2- year- old daughter.

UTAH Salt Lake City: The NBA plans to keep its next All- Star Game in Utah’s capital city, despite its opposition to the state’s ban on transgender youth athletes playing on girls’ teams.

VERMONT Montpelier: Gov. Phil Scott has signed a bill that allows people to change their birth certificates to reflect their gender identity.

VIRGINIA Richmond: Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday ended what his office called a “burdensome” restriction on single- use plastic at state agencies and in higher education.

WASHINGTON Olympia: Gov. Jay Inslee has signed legislation requiring employers to include salary and benefits information in job postings, The Seattle Times reports.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The state Department of Environmental Protection is taking registrations for this month’s highway cleanup.

WISCONSIN Madison: A University of Wisconsin- Stout professor decided to delay sending a survey to UW System undergrads about their thoughts on free speech after an interim chancellor resigned over the project.

WYOMING Cheyenne: A wind energy company was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay over $ 8 million after at least 150 eagles were killed in a decade at its wind farms, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.