News from across the USA

ALABAMA Montgomery: The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a more than $1 million grant to convert Alabama’s diesel-powered Gee’s Bend Ferry into a battery-powered electric vessel. Officials say it’ll be the first zero-emission passenger/vehicle ferry of its type in the U.S. ALASKA Anchorage: Alaska wildlife officials have launched a study of urban moose. KTUU-TV reports that biologists are taking DNA samples to determine relationships in the Anchorage-area population. ARIZONA Phoenix: The Arizona Senate has given initial approval to a proposal that would allow concealed-carry permit holders to carry guns into public buildings that don’t have security guards and metal detectors at entrances. ARKANSAS Little Rock: An Arkansas state senator wants to remove the names of Bill and Hillary Clinton from Little Rock’s airport. But GOP Sen. Jason Rapert is OK with keeping former Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee’s name on a state wildlife center. CALIFORNIA San Francisco: The California Supreme Court has expanded the scope of petitions seeking to remove an animal from the state’s endangered species list. In a unanimous ruling Monday, the court allowed new evidence of a species being wrongly listed. COLORADO Lakewood: Federal wildlife managers say more than 30 ducks and geese died after they came in contact with cooking oil waste in a Colorado flood retention pond. Officials say the birds ingested the oil or absorbed it through their skin. CONNECTICUT Newtown: The principal cellist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra is organizing a June 4 concert to benefit a foundation set up by the family of a Sandy Hook school shooting victim, 7-year-old Chase Kowalski. DELAWARE Dover: Nearly 100 people gathered in Dover last weekend to show support for Delaware’s correctional officers. The rally came a little more than three weeks after a prison guard was found dead following an inmate uprising, The News Jour

nal of Wilmington reports. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The annual prediction for the peak blooming period for this year’s cherry blossom season in Washington will be announced Wednesday. Last year’s peak bloom was March 25. FLORIDA Jacksonville: University of North Florida President John Delaney says he plans to retire when his contract expires in May 2018. Delaney has been UNF president since 2003. GEORGIA Brunswick: An air show along Georgia’s coast that was canceled because of Hurricane Matthew is being rescheduled for March 24-26 with an expanded lineup including the Navy’s Blue Angels, The Florida

Times-Union reports. HAWAII Honolulu: Hawaiian Airlines says it’s the first U.S. airline to join an international research project on climate change and air quality. Technicians installed equipment on an Airbus A330 to collect atmospheric samples from takeoff to landing. IDAHO Nampa: Authorities say some of the 50 or so crows found dead in Nampa last month may have been poisoned. KTVB-TV reports that several of the birds tested positive for a common ingredient found in rat poison. ILLINOIS Downers Grove: The large plastic buckets that Illinois Tollway drivers toss change into will be eliminated soon, The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reports. They’ll be replaced by $76,000 machines with touch screens that can accept credit cards or bills as well as coins. INDIANA Indianapolis: Indianapolis International Airport is planning to update its 9-year-old passenger terminal and campus, the Indianapolis Business Journal reports. Updates may include more gate-area retail options and fewer moving walkways. IOWA Waterloo: Crews have moved a statue that honors Waterloo’s Sullivan brothers to Columbus High School, ensuring a long future for a memorial that honors the five siblings killed while serving in the Navy during World War II, The Courier reports. KANSAS Wichita: A filmmaker’s drone video of the Kansas wheat harvest will premiere next month at the New York City Drone Film Festival. “Beauty & Bounty” shows a 2016 harvest in Osborne County, The Wichita Eagle reports. KENTUCKY Corbin: Police say a woman is charged with indecent exposure after allegedly running naked with the Corbin High School boy’s track team at their practice. The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment. LOUISIANA New Orleans: The criminal courthouse in New Orleans will be closed until March 6 as crews remove dangerous lead-based paint from the building ’s first floor, NOLA.com/

The Times-Picayune reports. MAINE Belfast: Authorities are urging customers of the Down East Credit Union in Belfast to check their accounts. Hundreds of dollars were stolen, apparently from a skimming device installed in an ATM. MARYLAND Salisbury: Four women who say they were forced into prostitution are suing the owners of a Salisbury hotel, arguing that staff either knew or should have known that it was a site for human trafficking, The

Daily Times reports. MASSACHUSETTS Grafton: A weekend fire at the Massachusetts State Police museum in Grafton heavily damaged a second-floor conference room. Authorities say the cause was a spontaneous combustion of rags left in a plastic bag.

MICHIGAN St. Ig

nace: The Mackinac Bridge that connects Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas was temporarily closed by falling ice earlier this week. The ice was crashing down from cables and towers along the five-mile span. MINNESOTA St. Paul: Beginning in July, Minnesota residents may be allowed to buy liquor on Sundays. The state House and Senate have voted to scrap the Sunday liquor sales ban, but differences in the two bills still must be reconciled. MISSISSIPPI Tylertown: The Walthall County Sheriff ’s Department says a burglary suspect faces a felony escape charge after she busted out the back window of a patrol car and ran, WJTV-TV reports. MISSOURI St. Louis: A recent Sunday newspaper brought $3.5 million worth of good news to a St. Louis woman — a win in the Missouri Lotto Draw Game. State lottery officials said Dorothy Moore selected all six correct numbers in the Feb. 11 drawing. MONTANA Billings: The Montana Department of Justice wants the state to open a morgue in Billings to improve medical examiner services. The state has a morgue at the state crime lab in Missoula, but has contracted with St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings to use its morgue facilities. NEBRASKA Broken Bow: A prisoner who stole a court transport van when it stopped in Broken Bow has been caught. Officials say the van driver stopped at a fast-food restaurant and went inside, leaving the van running, when the prisoner got into the driver’s seat and pulled off. NEVADA Reno: Search crews rescued a couple who got lost while snowshoeing in white-out conditions at Mt. Rose in Nevada.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that the pair called 911 from a ski area on Sunday after realizing they were lost. NEW HAMPSHIRE Holderness: An ice jam caused the Pemigewasset River to flood near Plymouth State University, submerging about 50 vehicles in a parking lot under several feet of water, WMUR-TV reports. NEW JERSEY Newark: Police arrested two men and seized 45 roosters at the El Cacique Social Club. Police say officers observed a large cockfight last weekend at the Newark business.

NEW MEXICO

Las Vegas: Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales will be the commencement speaker at New Mexico Highlands University. The ceremony is set for May 13.

NEW YORK New

York: Police are looking for the owner of a drone that crashed through a 27th-floor window of a Manhattan apartment building. The woman who lives there wasn’t injured. Police recovered the drone.

NORTH CAROLINA Roanoke

Rapids: Northampton County authorities say the remains of two people were found in a burned car wrecked in the woods. Firefighters say the rear of the car was crushed, causing the fuel tank to split, likely causing the fire. NORTH DAKOTA Minot: A military contractor that designs intercontinental ballistic missiles met last week with leaders in Minot. Northrop Grumman is one of three contractors bidding for a program to replace the Minuteman III ICBMs at Minot Air Force Base. OHIO Fayette: Fayette schools have started work on two campus expansions. The Blade reports that the projects will involve the agricultural education program and athletic facilities. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Oklahoma County commissioners have agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a man killed in a traffic crash involving a sheriff ’s deputy,

The Oklahoman reports. As a result, the county will see an increase in property taxes for the next three years. OREGON Eugene: A proposed dog ban in downtown Eugene is being criticized as discriminatory against homeless people and impossible to enforce. The Regis

ter-Guard reports that exceptions would be made for dog owners who live and work in the area, K-9 police dogs and service dogs.

PENNSYLVANIA University

Park: Nearly 600 faculty and staff have taken a voluntary retirement package from Penn State University, including more than 400 employees on the main campus, The Centre Daily Times reports. RHODE ISLAND Johnston: A sixth grader has won Rhode Island’s Google doodle contest. The

Providence Journal reports that Wilson El Hage will compete against students nationwide for a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 grant for his school. SOUTH CAROLINA York: When York County deputies noticed something unusual going on in a parking lot just outside the sheriff ’s office, they went to investigate. Then they called in a canine unit, and the dog detected something on the driver’s side door. As a result, a man in the car was charged with felony methamphetamine possession. SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: Some popular bike races aren’t getting needed permits this year from Black Hills National Forest rangers. The Rapid City Journal reports that some events overlap with timber work and may be canceled. TENNESSEE Nashville: Former Nashville mayor Karl Dean says he’ll run for Tennessee governor next year. Dean is the first Democrat to enter the governor’s race,

The Tennessean reports. TEXAS Georgetown: The new Williamson County district attorney says his staff has discovered paperwork showing that more than 200 criminal cases dating back to 2014 had never been examined by prosecutors, the Austin American-Statesman reports. UTAH Salt Lake City: A conference call recorded last month about Utah’s Outdoor Retailer show reveals that Gov. Gary Herbert refused to acquiesce to industry demands to drop his push to have the Bears Ears National Monument rescinded, The Salt

Lake Tribune reports. The show has said it will leave Utah after two decades. VERMONT Montpelier: The Montpelier City Council expects have extensive road and sidewalk projects underway in the Vermont city this spring and summer. The Times Argus reports that residents were told to expect construction noise at night. VIRGINIA Williamsburg: The College of William & Mary says no one was injured in gunfire near the school’s stadium. The school says about four shots were fired early Sunday, and police detained five suspects. WASHINGTON Seattle: A taco truck that was stranded in a Seattle traffic jam came to the rescue of hungry drivers Monday. Taco El Tajin owner Thomas Lopez tells The Seattle Times that he’s “ready to serve food anywhere.” The road was closed about eight hours after a tanker truck carrying propane rolled over. WEST VIRGINIA Huntington: Panelists will discuss longtime West Virginia Sen. Robert C. Byrd at Marshall University on April 10. Byrd was the longest-serving senator in history. WISCONSIN Madison: A former exotic dancer at Wisconsin Dells’ Cruisin’ Chubbys Gentleman’s Club says in a lawsuit that dancers are paid essentially nothing. WYOMING Cheyenne: Wyoming is a step closer raising sage grouse in captivity. Legislation would allow licensed breeders to collect up to 250 eggs from the wild a year to raise the birds.