STATE-BY-STATE

ALABAMApreparing to Mobile: commissionThe Navythe USSis GabrielleMobile. Giffords, Giffords, a constructedformer Arizo- in na head congresswoman,wound in a 2011 survived assassina-a tion attempt. ALASKA Fairbanks: The Fairbanks Memorial Hospital’s new $88 million surgery center is on track to be fully operational this spring, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports. ARIZONA Tucson: Tucson wants the Arizona Supreme Court to throw out a lawsuit that protests the city’s policy of destroying guns seized by police. The law suit threatens to pull revenue from the city, The Arizo

na Daily Star reports. ARKANSAS Little Rock: The

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the Rental Assistance Demonstration program is HUD’s latest attempt to support the country’s public housing sector. Three thousand public housing units in 11 Arkansas cities are on the list for the program. CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: Southern California Gas says there’s no health threat from methane seepinge at an underground storage facility. City News Service reports that measurements show less than a cubic foot of gas was released. COLORADO Aspen: Ski-area operators in the White River National Forest are paying more to use public lands. The Aspen

Times reports that the U.S. Forest Service says the 11 resorts in the forest paid $19.94 million in fees in fiscal 2016, reflecting a strong year for Colorado’s ski industry. CONNECTICUTleast 12 homes were New destroyedHaven: At when Haven a condominiumfire raced through complex.a New Fire started officialsin the believeroof of the one blazeof the condos. DELAWARE Delaware City: State officials are citing Delaware City Refining for violating a 2013 order that limits where the company can ship crude oil by barge.

The News Journal reports that refinery officials claim they can ship crude anywhere. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The District of Columbia has paid at least $31.6 million in 173 cases alleging police misconduct since 2005. The Washington Post reports that false-arrest accusations made up about 95% of the money paid from lawsuits. FLORIDA Tampa: No more than 9,500 scrub jays are left in Florida, the only place in the world where the blue-and-grayishbrown birds can be found. GEORGIA Atlanta: A new call center for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Veterans Crisis hotline has opened in DeKalb County, outside Atlanta, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. HAWAII Honolulu: Less than a month after five of Hawaii’s last remaining native crow species were reintroduced to the wild, conservationists say three of the birds have been found dead.

Hawaii News Now reports that the alala has been extinct in the wild since 2002. IDAHO Boise: A state audit of evidence collected in Idaho’s sexual assault investigations shows that law enforcement officials didn’t submit nearly half of the rape kits to be tested. ILLINOIS Mount Pulaski: The names of about 90 people who died this year in this central Illinois town will be read aloud New Year’s Eve on the steps of the local courthouse. The Pantagraph says a bell will toll after each name is read. INDIANA Elkhart: The city’s police department is budgeting more than $85,000 to resume its volunteer reserves program. The

Elkhart Truth reports that funding is secured for up to 10 volunteers. IOWA Des Moines: Sales of Iowa Lottery tickets spiked in the budget year that ended June 30, generating the most revenue in the program’s 31-year history. The Lottery brought in $366.9 million, a $42 million increase from the prior year. KANSAS Wichita: A federal judge has dismissed a Kansas woman’s lawsuit against the state and several agencies after her son was removed from her home in 2015 when he told school officials she used marijuana. Shona Banda of Garden City alleged the defendants denied her civil rights by refusing to allow her to use medical marijuana to treat her Crohn’s disease. KENTUCKY Frankfort: Officials have closed a Kentucky marina due to safety concerns. The state Department of Parks said the marina at Lake Malone State Park was condemned due to deteriorating structures. LOUISIANA New Orleans: Mayor Mitch Landrieu says that to ensure the safety of New Year’s crowds, much of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street will be pedestrian-only from New Year’s Eve through the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2. MAINE Millinocket: Maine game wardens say three women were rescued after a night in the woods. The three were snowmobiling when two got stuck, and the third ran out of gas going for help. MARYLAND Cumberland: A Civil War skirmish near Cumberland is getting attention from the Maryland Highway Administration. The Cumberland Times

News reports that the agency plans to create a scenic overlook at the site known as Folck’s Mill near Interstate 68. MASSACHUSETTS Pittsfield: A man claims a Massachusetts bank made $1.4 million in fraudulent wire transfers from his account to banks in Hong Kong. The Berk

shire Eagle reports that a suit filed last week in federal court contends that Jim Jacobs found out he had been bilked in October when he returned home from a trip to Europe. MICHIGAN Ypsilanti Township: The Yankee Air Museum in Michigan is offering a double- header presentation next week that includes World War II’s Rosie the Riveter. The museum is in a part of the former Willow Run Bomber Plant where Rose Will Monroe and other workers built B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II. MINNESOTA St. Paul: A third deer infected with chronic wasting disease has been discovered in southeastern Minnesota. The Department of Natural Resources says a hunter shot the deer in mid-November about five miles north of where two previously reported infected deer were killed. MISSISSIPPI Hattiesburg: A plan to transform the former Hattiesburg American building into a public arts center is taking shape. The Hattiesburg American reports that architect Sarah Newton is moving forward with design development. MISSOURI Branson: The number of passengers taking off from the Branson Airport has declined for the third straight year. From January through October the drop was 63.5% compared to the same 10-month stretch in 2015, the Springfield News-Leader reports. MONTANA Missoula: Prosecutors are seeking to revoke the 10-year suspended sentence of a man charged with failing to pay restitution for the theft of brass from an ammunition reloading business. The Missoulian reports that John Michael Frenn was ordered in 2011 to pay $25,000 in restitution. NEBRASKA Omaha: Some residents oppose plans by a nonprofit that operates re-entry programs for federal prisoners to open a residential center in a riverfront industrial park near Omaha’s Eppley Airfield, The Omaha

World-Herald reports. NEVADA Minden: Authorities are trying to find whoever broke into Douglas High School in Minden and smashed windows in several classrooms. The damage occurred last week before students went on winter break. NEW HAMPSHIRE Lincoln: Authorities have recovered the body of a man who died while hiking in New Hampshire, near the top of Bond Cliff. NEW JERSEY Newark: A 19year-old man found sleeping in a Uber driver’s vehicle that was carjacked was charged with receiving stolen property. Newark police say Bishaun Williams was captured about six hours after the carjacking occurred. NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: The most popular names for newborns in New Mexico in 2016 were Mia and Elijah. The New Mexico Department of Health has been compiling the name rankings since 2014. NEW YORK Tonawanda: Praxair will preserve its entire western New York work force of more than 1,000 people after merging with a German firm, says Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: North Carolina’s state parks will hold special programs on New Year’s Day as part of First Day Hikes. More than 40 hikes are being offered from the mountains to the coast. NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: North Dakota’s largest power plant is making operational changes to remain competitive.

The Bismarck Tribune reports that Coal Creek Station will be able to ramp its output up and down more quickly depending on whether the wind is blowing and more renewable energy is available. OHIO Columbus: Records show Ohio’s prisons agency made about $4.5 million from selling cattle and equipment after shutting down its prison-farm system.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the amount doesn’t include 12,000 acres of state-owned farmland that hasn’t been sold or leased yet. OKLAHOMA Tulsa: Tulsa experienced a surge of robberies this year, ending a five-year downward trend. Tulsa police data shows over 1,000 robberies from January through November — 19% more than last year’s total of 854 robberies, the Tulsa World reports. OREGON Ontario: A Dodge Durango became the birthplace for a baby girl in Oregon after her parents couldn’t quite get to the hospital in time, The Argus Ob

server reports. PENNSYLVANIA Delta: Authorities say Hassan Muhammad- Richardson, 29, a construction worker, told co-workers that he was going to try to walk across an icy pond last week, but he broke through the ice and drowned. RHODE ISLAND Charlestown: The weeklong occupation of a tribal government building by a faction of the Rhode Island Narragansett tribe ended peacefully on Monday. The breakthrough came after days of mediation. SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: South Carolina authorities are searching for a man who exchanged gunfire with an Allendale police officer after crashing a stolen truck. Police say the man fled and jumped over a fence. There’s no indication he was injured, and the officer wasn’t hurt. SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: Some South Dakotans are worried about an influx of tourists after Pennington County commissioners expanded areas where vacation home rentals can be located. The Rapid City Journal reports that changes include allowing rentals in neighborhoods zoned suburban residential district. TENNESSEE Murfreesboro: Documents show that a Rutherford County jail deputy suffered a concussion after being assaulted by an inmate last month. The

Daily News Journal reports that inmate Matthew Thomas attacked Deputy Jeremy Schrimpf after being told he had lost his trusty privileges. TEXAS Fort Worth: A doctor who survived Ebola after contracting the virus while treating patients in Liberia has returned to practicing medicine in Texas. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Dr. Kent Brantly also teaches young doctors at JPS Health Network. UTAH Ogden: A fire at an Ogden dog food plant caused an estimated $300,000 in damage. The

Deseret News reports that about 200 employees were evacuated from American Nutrition after the blaze broke out Tuesday. No one was injured. VERMONT Montpelier: Two Vermont electric utilities are warning customers about a bill payment scam. Burlington Electric and Green Mountain Power say customers get phone calls threatening disconnection if payment isn’t made immediately. VIRGINIAVirginia’s 37 Richmond:state parks All will of offer free Day, admissionalong with ona numberNew Year’sof hikes and other programs. WASHINGTONington State University’s Everett: efforts Washtoat its boost Everett engineering campus enrollmenthave hit a snag.that Gov. The Jay Daily Inslee’s Herald budget reports proposalfor adding doesn’t enrollments. include funding WESTcials are VIRGINIA proposing Beckley:a beekeepingOfficourse County. for The students Register-Heraldin Raleigh reportsoffered at thata localthe class farm. would be WISCONSIN Green Bay: A tribal corporation is suing Green Bay, seeking damages from a failed waste-to-energy plant. The city revoked the plant’s permit under pressure from citizen opposition. WYOMING Cheyenne: The Wyoming Supreme Court says the public can be barred from meetings of a Cheyenne panel discussing city employee pay. The

Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports that the court says the meetings aren’t covered by the Public Meetings Act because the panel is a temporary body established by a resolution, not an ordinance.