STATE-BY-STATE

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Uniontown: An Alabama landfill owner has dropped a defamation lawsuit against residents who used social media to fight coal ash disposal at the site. Green Group Holdings sued four Unionville residents, claiming it was defamed by Facebook posts that said it used its landfill to “leak toxins.”

ALASKA Petersburg: Ocean Beauty Seafoods will stop canning salmon at its Petersburg facility this year in response to a growing demand for frozen salmon, KFSK-FM reports. The decision affects about 200 cannery workers.

ARIZONA Phoenix: For three days this week, history is riding across Arizona. The Hashknife Pony Express re-enactment puts horseback relay riders toting mail bags on several state highways.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has signed a bill giving a tax break to retired military veterans. The $13 million exemption is intended to boost economic development.

CALIFORNIA Davis: Researchers are warning some medical marijuana users about potentially lethal bacteria and mold on cannabis samples from 20 dispensaries in northern California. Those with weakened immune systems should avoid vaping or smoking marijuana, The Sacramento Bee reports.

COLORADO Fort Collins: A man shot by a Fort Collins police officer while holding a pellet gun was attempting “suicide by cop,” the Larimer County prosecutor’s office says. The Coloradoan reports that Austin Snodgrass, who is recovering, admitted luring police to his home with a false report.

CONNECTICUT Norwalk: Police are investigating white supremacist fliers found in Connecticut’s Norwalk community. The hundreds of fliers found on driveways and in mailboxes said “Make America White Again,” among other things.

DELAWARE Dover: Gov. John Carney is promising an independent review of an uprising at a Delaware prison where four Department of Correction staffers were held hostage and one was killed.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: District of Columbia lawmakers have rejected a proposal to double police officers’ salaries to keep them from retiring.

FLORIDA Jack

sonville: An ex-Florida lawmaker accused of using more than $65,000 in campaign contributions on personal expenses has been sentenced to six months of home detention.

The Florida Times-Union reports that campaign funds were spent at jewelry stores, liquor stores and other locations.

GEORGIA Atlanta: A native of Guyana who lives in Georgia was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to smuggling guns to the South American country. Federal prosecutors say the guns were sold on the street.

HAWAII Honolulu: A popular mule tour that’s operated in Hawaii for more than 40 years could be forced to shut down over a rent dispute. Hawaii News Now reports that the companies that own part of the land where the tour is held also are demanding 20% of the tour business’ profits.

IDAHO Boise: Officials say Ida- ho’s logging rules intended to protect water quality in streams inhabited by fish are effective. Overall compliance by loggers was pegged at 96%.

ILLINOIS Kewanee: The Illinois Department of Corrections is opening its first facility for offenders nearing the end of their sentences where they can learn important life skills. The facility will teach inmates skills such as how to manage a bank account or use the latest technology.

INDIANA Crown Point: The Lake County Government Center resumed normal operations Wednesday, a day after being evacuated following an unspecified threat received by the prosecutor’s office.

IOWA Iowa City: Marathon dancers raised nearly $2.6 million for the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, The Iowa City

Press-Citizen reports. The new record topped the $2.4 million raised last year.

KANSAS Emporia: The BNSF Railway Co. has announced plans to invest $125 million in Kansas this year to improve its railways in the state, The Emporia Gazette reports.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: The economic potency of bourbon, like the drink itself, is getting stronger with age. Bourbon’s impact on Kentucky climbed by $1 billion in the past two years.

LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Louisiana’s insurance commissioner says six state universities will divide more than $2.7 million with the dissolution of AmCare, a failed health maintenance organization. AmCare was ordered into liquidation in 2011.

MAINE Palmyra: Fire marshals say two bodies were found in the rubble left by a farmhouse fire Tuesday. The building in Palmyra had been converted into apartments. Six residents escaped without injury.

MARYLAND Baltimore: Johns Hopkins has been awarded a $16 million contract to improve outcomes and experiences for surgery patients across the U.S. The

Baltimore Sun reports that Johns Hopkins doctors will share with 750 other hospitals how they provide care.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Boston is moving from football season to baseball season. As dozens of fans gathered outside Fenway Park this week, the Red Sox equipment truck left the city for the 1,480-mile trip to the team’s spring training home in Fort Myers, Florida.

MICHIGAN Ann Arbor: Officials say 96 deer were killed this year as part of Ann Arbor’s deer management effort. The Ann Arbor

News reports that all parks and nature areas that were closed during the hunt that started Jan. 30 are now back to normal operating hours.

MINNESOTA Minneapolis: Automated security lanes are expected to make it easier for air travelers at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. The lanes can increase the capacity of passenger screening by as much as 40%, Minnesota Public Radio reports.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: A plan by Gov. Phil Bryant for an advisory council on faith-based initiatives is advancing in the Mississippi legislature. The council is intended to open lines of communication between religious groups and the governor’s office on social problems that might need nongovernment resources.

MISSOURI St. Joseph: Two Missouri lawmakers want to remove former Gov. Jay Nixon’s name from a new state park, The

St. Joseph News-Press reports. Instead, they want to change the name to Proffitt Mountain State Park, in honor of the family who pioneered the area.

MONTANA Helena: State lawmakers are considering a bill to stop Montana State Hospital from “dumping” homeless mentally ill patients into shelters. Sometimes patients get only their hospital garb and a week of medication.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: Some educators and disability rights advocates oppose a bill that would make Nebraska teachers who physically restrain disruptive students immune from legal action and administrative discipline. But the Nebraska State Education Association supports the measure.

NEVADA Las Vegas: Nevada’s Clark County School District is struggling to find special education teachers. The Las Vegas

Review-Journal reports that state lawmakers are considering up to $5,000 in stipends for new special ed teachers.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Nashua: The New Hampshire attorney general’s office says an auto dealership refunded about $12,000 to consumers who bought used cars sold in violation of the Consumer Protection Act.

NEW JERSEY Englewood Cliffs: LG Electronics broke ground this week on its new North American headquarters in Englewood Cliffs. The project initially was opposed because its 143-foot tower would alter the view of the Palisades. But the project was redesigned, cutting its height.

NEW MEXICO Farmington: A federal appeals court says it won’t review a lower court ruling requiring the removal of a Ten Commandments monument in New Mexico. The Daily Times reports that Bloomfield officials are left with either removing the monument or asking the Supreme Court to take the case.

NEW YORK Albany: State lawmakers have voted to delay New York City’s pending fee on plastic bags until at least next year. The fee of at least a nickel was set to begin later this month.

NORTH CAROLINA Gastonia: Police in North Carolina managed to block an ambulance that was hijacked by a combative patient while traveling along Interstate 85 in Gaston County. The patient was taken into custody.

NORTH DAKOTA Bottineau: The North Dakota National Guard unit in Bottineau is leaving town after 75 years, The Minot

Daily News reports. A decommissioning ceremony is set for Feb. 20.

OHIO Cincinnati: Three Malayan tiger cubs are being cared for in the Cincinnati Zoo’s nursery. The zoo says the first-time mother’s maternal instincts didn’t kick in, so nursery staffers are keeping the cubs warm and feeding them.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Police are investigating the discovery of body parts in a bale of trash at an Oklahoma City waste recycling facility. An employee at the site found the human remains on Tuesday.

OREGON Salem: A lawsuit filed by an Oregon farm claims a loss of $2.8 million after animal feed tainted with botulism killed 11,000 of its mink, The Capital

Press reports.

PENNSYLVANIA State College: Police say a Penn State University fraternity didn’t summon paramedics for a student who fell down a stairwell until about 12 hours after the incident. Timothy Piazza, 19, later died.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: The Providence Police Department faces accusations that white officers who patrol the city’s poor South Side at night beat and harass blacks and Latinos. One lawyer calls the officers “the third-shift terror squad.”

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Two men accused of fraud and conspiracy in a South Carolina project to turn warheads into nuclear reactor fuel are due in federal court Feb. 27. Prosecutors say Phillip Thompson and Aaron Vennefron created more than $4 million in fake invoices.

SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: South Dakota lawmakers are debating a series of bills that would change rules on ballot initiatives. One measure would limit out-of-state contributions.

TENNESSEE Chattanooga: The Tennessee Highway Patrol and police in the Chattanooga area plan to follow and ride Hamilton County school buses at random until the end of the school year after a November bus crash killed six students, The Times Free Press reports.

TEXAS Houston: The Texas Railroad Commission is requesting nearly $45 million to hire more inspectors, upgrade technology and reduce an inspections backlog, The Houston Chronicle reports. The commission intends to inspect every Texas well at least once every five years.

UTAH Salt Lake City: A renewable energy group says Utah has more than 4,400 jobs in the solar industry. The Solar Foundation says Utah added 1,729 solar industry jobs in 2016, a 65% increase from the previous year.

VERMONT Montpelier: Gov. Phil Scott has declared February as Vermont African American Heritage Trail Month. Scott says Vermont’s history is multicultural, from African heritage members of Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys to the state’s Constitution, the first to prohibit slavery.

VIRGINIA Charlottesville: The City Council has voted to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Charlottesville’s Lee Park and to re-name the park. One council member cited a feeling in the community that the statue is culturally offensive and a symbol of white supremacy.

WASHINGTON Tacoma: A Tacoma man is charged with trying to trade marijuana for food stamps through a Craigslist ad while on work-release from prison, The News Tribune reports.

WEST VIRGINIA Elkview: A West Virginia woman is charged with animal cruelty after a humane officer reported finding several dozen animals lacking food, water, shelter and adequate medical treatment. The complaint says Melissa Bailes Anderson failed to properly care for 17 rabbits, 15 dogs, six guinea pigs, nine birds and two pigs.

WISCONSIN Madison: Madison’s Common Council has passed a ordinance that bans panhandling at dozens of busy traffic spots across the city, WKOW-TV reports. Mayor Paul Soglin says it’s unsafe to ask for money at intersections. Alderwoman Amanda Hall says the ordinance discriminates against those most in need.

WYOMING Jackson: The National Park Service is supporting an initiative to move sage grouse away from the Jackson Hole Airport runway. The Jackson

Hole News & Guide reports that the FAA counts 32 collisions between sage grouse and aircraft from 1990 to 2013.