STATE-BY-STATE

ALABAMA Birmingham: Federal authorities say an Alabama man is charged with making counterfeit $100 bills. A U.S. Secret Service special agent says a tip led them to search Hollis Nikia Bullard’s Birmingham apartment, where thousands of dollars in fake money was found. ALASKA Anchorage: Alaska officials say tests of state seafood show no detectable radiation, five years after a nuclear power plant disaster in Japan, KTVA-TV reports. ARIZONA Tombstone: Tombstone Mayor Dusty Escapule signed a proclamation this week naming the Arizona city “America’s Second Amendment City.” The mayor says it’s a symbolic way to show support for the right to bear arms. ARKANSAS Springdale: A transit system serving four Arkansas counties limited its service after a fire destroyed nearly all its buses. Ozark Regional Transit says 20 buses were destroyed. Only four buses weren’t seriously damaged. CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: A California lawmaker wants to name a section of Interstate 110 in Los Angeles in honor of Vin Scully. The legendary Dodgers broadcaster retired last year after 67 seasons. COLORADO Greeley: Two large swastikas drawn in the snow at a Greeley park have been cleared away. The Greeley Tribune reports that someone went out on the thin ice and wiped away the 10foot-by-10-foot symbols on a frozen lake. CONNECTICUT New Milford: The New Milford Historical Society will open a special exhibit this spring to note the 100th anniversary of U.S. entry into World War I. “Warriors of the Home Front” will focus on the role of American women during the war, The

News-Times reports. DELAWARE Alapocas: DuPont plans to spend $200 million to modernize and upgrade the Experimental Station. That’s the Delaware-based chemical company’s 114-year-old research facility in Alapocas. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A rare bird at the Smithsonian National Zoo’s Bird House in Washington is dead. The Guam Kingfisher that died last weekend was one of only 146 in the world, The Wash

ington Post reports. FLORIDA Miami: Two tropical, disease-carrying mosquitoes have been found on the U.S. mainland for the first time. The new arrivals from Latin America and the Caribbean were crowding out native species in traps at Florida’s Everglades National Park. GEORGIA Atlanta: Projects to relieve traffic snarls will begin soon on stretches of interstate highway in metro Atlanta and Savannah. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal says the projects will cut traffic delays by a third to a half. HAWAII Honolulu: The shortfall in Hawaii’s public employees’ pension fund has grown to more than $12 billion, The Honolulu

Star-Advertiser reports. IDAHO Blackfoot: A man who crashed a vehicle into a house, killing the 92-year-old resident, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Post Register reports that Dillon Grant Gibson pleaded guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter. ILLINOIS St. Charles: An Illinois high school cancelled classes earlier this week after a widespread stomach virus caused hundreds of absences. About 800 of St. Charles East High School’s 2,000 students missed class Monday, the Daily Herald reports. INDIANA Lyons: A $2,500 reward is offered after conservation officers say a whooping crane that scientists were tracking was found fatally shot in Indiana. The bird was found dead Jan. 3 near the Goose Pond State Fish and Wildlife Area. IOWA Marshalltown: Leaders of Central Iowa Healthcare are moving ahead with the sale of the Marshalltown hospital as part of bankruptcy proceedings, The

Times Republican reports. KANSAS Wichita: A prison documentary filmed at the Sedgwick County Jail in Wichita in 2015 is set to begin airing this weekend on MSNBC. The Wichita

Eagle reports that “Lockup” follows the stories of inmates and prison staff. KENTUCKY Lexington: A Kentucky family court judge was reprimanded for requiring divorcing couples with children to participate in special hearings to determine if their marriages are really irretrievably broken. Childless couples didn’t have to participate in such hearings, The Lexing

ton Herald-Leader reports. LOUISIANA Pierre Part: Authorities say a man who accidentally texted an Assumption Parish deputy about an upcoming drug sale was arrested. Sheriff Leland Falcon says when Dwayne Paul Herbert delivered crystal meth, narcotics officers were waiting. MAINE Freeport: A political donation by the granddaughter of Maine-based L.L. Bean’s founder has put the retailer on the defensive. The company issued a statement last weekend denying any political agenda after being targeted for boycott. MARYLAND College Park: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is pledging tuition and student loan debt relief. He’s proposing to cap tuition increases at 2% and tax deductions for interest paid on student loans. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Massachusetts officials have awarded $5.7 million in grants to support efforts to curb gang violence. Gov. Charlie Baker said the money will support education and employment opportunities for at-risk youth who might otherwise get involved in gangs. MICHIGAN Lansing: A handful of state employees at a Michigan government office in downtown Lansing were relocated after bedbugs were found in the building. The insect was spotted Dec. 22 in Constitution Hall, The

Lansing State Journal reports. MINNESOTA Blaine: Officials in Blaine say the city’s tap water is safe to drink again. Residents of the Minneapolis suburb were told last weekend to boil their water after Blaine’s water system went down for a couple of hours, Minnesota Public Radio reports. MISSISSIPPI Baldwyn: Baldwyn School District voters have approved a $2 million bond issue to pay for construction of a career and technical education facility, The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports. MISSOURI St. Clair: Conservation officers found what appears to be dismembered human remains in a burn pile near the confluence of the Meramec and Bourbeuse rivers in Franklin County, KSDK-TV reports. MONTANA Billings: Federal officials are delaying a decision on whether to lift protections for more than 700 grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park and allow hunting. Dozens of American Indian tribes and conservation groups say hunting could reverse a four-decade recovery. NEBRASKA Omaha: The Omaha school board is split over choosing a new board president. The board voted 125 times this week but couldn’t break the deadlock between Lou Ann Goding and Marque Snow. So board members set aside a decision until Jan. 23, when they’ll try again. NEVADA Las Vegas: A national advocacy group ranks the Las Vegas metro area 21st worst in the nation for danger to pedestrians, and it puts Nevada 12th on the list of deadliest states for walkers, The Las Vegas Review

Journal reports. NEW HAMPSHIRE Wolfeboro: Officials in this New Hampshire town say they’re satisfied with just one state representative after the other one took a job in Gov. Chris Sununu’s administration.

The Concord Monitor reports that the board of selectmen voted not to hold a special election, saying it would cost too much.

NEW JERSEY Hopatcong: Prosecutors dropped most charges against two New Jersey brothers stemming from an incident in which one of them wore a bunny costume and repeatedly blew an air horn in a police station, The

New Jersey Herald reports. NEW MEXICO Albuquerque The outgoing Bernalillo County District Attorney compares the Albuquerque Police Department to a criminal enterprise. In one of her final acts in office, Kari Brandenburg writes that the New Mexico city’s police department is affected by widespread corruption. Police Chief Gorden Eden says Brandenburg’s allegations are baseless. NEW YORK New York: The hottest Broadway show is shining its spotlight on a collection of historic American documents: Alexander Hamilton’s letters being auctioned at Sotheby’s. Dozens of his letters will go on the block Jan. 18. NORTH CAROLINA Apex: Police say an Apex woman accidentally drove her SUV through her garage and landed in the middle of her backyard swimming pool. No one was hurt in the crash. NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A state lawmaker wants to change a North Dakota law that prevents retail stores from opening before noon on Sundays. In times past, the so-called Blue Law prohibited sales at any time on Sunday, but in the 1990s it was changed to allow sales after noon. OHIO Columbus: Three of Ohio’s four casinos took a hit in revenue last year. The Ohio Casino Control Commission says total gambling revenues were down 2% in 2016. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Oklahoma’s state schools superintendent says school districts can choose between the ACT and the SAT college entrance exams for high school juniors this spring, The Tulsa World reports.

OREGON

Monmouth: A cow that was stranded on a frozen Oregon pond is back in its barn after a coordinated rescue. A Polk County Sheriff ’s deputy, the cow’s owner and a friend of the owner combined rope and lassoing skills last week to winch the cow across the ice on its belly. PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: Philadelphia police say a school bus driver faces charges for leaving a 7-year-old boy on a running bus while he went grocery shopping. WPVI-TV reports that a passerby noticed the child in the parked bus and called police. RHODE ISLAND Providence: A Charlestown police officer filed federal lawsuits against the town and its police department claiming discrimination for his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The Providence Journal reports that the town says Evan Speck missed work due to his “alleged disability” but participated in multiple bodybuilding competitions. SOUTH CAROLINA Greer: BMW’s South Carolina plant in Greer has set another record for production, making more than 410,000 vehicles in 2016. The

Herald-Journal of Spartanburg reports that the X5 was top of the production list. SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Officials have broken ground on a $22 million city administration building in downtown Sioux Falls.

The Argus Leader reports that the project divided the City Council, which voted at one point to defund it, and sparked an unsuccessful lawsuit by a citizens group to require a public vote. TENNESSEE Memphis: A new entertainment complex featuring exhibits and restaurants focused on the life of Elvis Presley is scheduled to open in March in Memphis. The complex will be across the street from Graceland, Presley’s longtime home. TEXAS Dallas: A federal judge who declared Texas’ foster care system unconstitutionally flawed has ordered a plan to give youths the life skills needed upon their release. UTAH Salt Lake City: The first Filipino-American bishop ordained in the United States has been named leader of Salt Lake City’s Catholic diocese. Bishop Oscar Azarcon Solis’ official installation is set for March 7. VERMONT Northfield: A 324square-foot house built by Norwich University students has won Vermont’s American Institute of Architecture People’s Choice Award, The Burlington Free Press reports. VIRGINIA Richmond: The much-maligned General Assembly Building next to the Virginia Capitol in Richmond is nearing its end. The Richmond Times

Dispatch reports that the office facility for state lawmakers and their staff will be demolished later this year. WASHINGTON Olympia: Wine drinkers in Washington state are one step closer to being able to purchase and refill their favorite pours in reusable growlers closer to home instead of making a trip to the winery. A bill would let consumers bring or buy refillable growlers at any business that has a license to sell wine. WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Two major prescription drug distributors have agreed to pay $36 million to settle a West Virginia lawsuit alleging they fueled an opioid epidemic in the state with excessively large shipments of painkillers. Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen deny any wrongdoing. WISCONSIN Oshkosh: Visitors are once again allowed to see inmates at the Wisconsin state prison in Oshkosh. Visitations were halted in late December because so many inmates were sick, WLUK-TV reports. WYOMING Cheyenne: Wyoming couples will no longer need to get a marriage license to get hitched if lawmakers pass Rep.

Tyler Lindholm’s bill, The Casper Star-Tri

bune reports. Instead, couples would just have to notify the county when they marry.