STATE-BY-STATE

ALASKA Anchorage: One of the state’s leading cable, internet and phone companies says some of its services were down for a time after a cable was intentionally damaged. GCI General Communications Inc. spokeswoman Heather Handyside said the outage Sunday occurred after someone damaged the cable. ARIZONA Phoenix: City officials will hold a groundbreaking Thursday for a downtown development project. KTAR-FM reported that the Block 23 project will feature a Fry’s grocery store, 330 apartments and 200,000 square feet of office space and restaurant and retail uses. The city has given $18.3 million to the project.

ARKANSAS Fort Smith: Sales of Bridging Borders and Time: A Bicentennial Portrait of Fort

Smith begin this week through mid-July. U.S. Army troops landed at Belle Point on Christmas Day 1817. A yearlong series of bicentennial events will recognize the city’s arts and culture, western heritage and future. CALIFORNIA San Francisco: Authorities have plugged the leaking fuel vent on a 112-footlong barge that capsized last week. The East Bay Times reported there were no new signs of fuel leaking into San Francisco Bay as divers conducted an underwater assessment of the barge that sank south of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. COLORADO Denver: After nearly a year, the commuter rail line from downtown to the airport still is struggling with computer problems at street crossings. The

Denver Post reported state and federal regulators require the Regional Transportation District to keep flaggers at 11 street crossings 24 hours a day. CONNECTICUT Hartford: The Hartford Parking Authority says as of April 17, motorists who park can pay by entering their license plate information at the city’s kiosks. DELAWARE Dover: Lawmakers are seeking to promote agritourism by expanding the definition of the word. A new bill expands the list to include microbreweries, distilleries, rural weddings, farm-oriented miniature golf, petting zoos, mazes and rodeos. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Pay no attention to the people behind the curtain: Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz are going in for some conservation work. April 23 will be the last day to see the iconic footwear, which normally is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. The shoes will be shelved through next year. FLORIDA Cocoa: The Green Marketplace is set to receive more than 100 baby chicks this week. You can rent two chicks for two weeks for $30. GEORGIA Atlanta: Three metro Atlanta school districts in Cobb, Fulton and Gwinnett county have been recognized for its music education by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. HAWAII Honolulu: An ironweed plant that grows wild in Hawaii may offer new ways to combat deadly brain and breast cancers, and a University of Hawaii Cancer Center biologist has received $3 million in federal funds for further study, the Star Advertiser reported. IDAHO Boise: A proposed forprofit osteopathic medical school may have to delay its opening date a year if a national accreditation agency does not sign off on its plans. Robert Hasty, dean of the proposed Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, said the school still plans to open its doors to students in fall 2018. ILLINOIS Springfield: The Old State Capitol plaza may be getting a $30,000 face lift. The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reported that there are plans to revitalize the publicly-owned plaza with features such as a walking path, flowerbeds and sitting areas. INDIANA Evansville: An Evansville firefighter who died on duty nearly 90 years ago finally has a headstone. Firefighters honored Andrew Gordon in a ceremony at Oak Hill Cemetery. IOWA Cedar Falls: The city is halting its removal of healthy ash trees to consider treatment alternatives in the aftermath of destruction by the invasive emerald ash borer, the Waterloo-Cedar

Falls Courier reported. KANSAS Wichita: More than 100 Vietnam War-era veterans are expected to receive congressional lapel pins April 21 at 7 p.m. at the Plaza West Shopping Plaza parking lot. KENTUCKY Louisville: The University of Louisville is setting up a scholarship to honor Savannah Walker, a student who was fatally shot at a concert last month. LOUISIANA New Orleans : More than 1,000 people turned out to hear the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra perform Yotam Haber’s New Water Music on a barge on Lake Ponchartrain, the Times-Picayune reported. MAINE Augusta : A program of the Maine Forest Service is giving more than $115,000 in grants to local governments, educational groups and non-profit organizations to support community forests. Project Canopy is s funded by the U.S. Forest Service. MARYLAND Baltimore: Justice Department records show that state authorities are not taking advantage of federal funding to help states address backlogs of untested rape kits. The Baltimore

Sun reported that Maryland has 3,700 untested kits, but many agencies say they haven’t applied for funds because they said testing was unnecessary. MASSACHUSETTS Lowell: “Space Exploration in the Upcoming Decade: The Domestication of Space,” will bring industry leaders from around the world. The conference will be held at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell from April 21 and April 22. MICHIGAN Detroit: Detroit Public Theater’s Shakespeare in Prison program says it has received a grant to expand. The program works with female prisoners at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti. The Michigan Humanities Council grant will allow it to conduct a 12-week workshop with young people. MINNESOTA Red Wing: Goodhue County commissioners have approved new zoning and a permit for an Olympic-level ski jump. The jump is expected to bring as many as 80,000 new visitors to the area each year. MISSISSIPPI Tupelo: Renal Care Group has received approval to expand kidney dialysis treatment here, the Mississippi State Department of Health announced. The medical group will add 30 end-stage kidney disease stations and 1,656 square feet. MISSOURI Kansas City: Volunteers are going through intense training to become certified members of the city’s Community Emergency Response Team, a nationwide program, the Kansas

City Star reported. MONTANA Helena: Eight veterans who live in a Helena facility won’t be left homeless if the facility shuts down, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said. The Montana Veterans Foundation is planning to close its Willis Cruse Transitional Facility because the VA reduced its funding. NEBRASKA Omaha: Construction is expected to start soon on an addition for Omaha Central High School. The Omaha World

Herald reported that the addition will house a new library, a black box theater, and instrumental and vocal music and drama classes. NEVADA Elko: A report from the University of Nevada-Reno shows Elko County is struggling to meet the health care needs of its residents. The Elko Daily Free

Press reported that John Packham, a physician, presented the findings to the county’s Health Board. NEW HAMPSHIRE Portsmouth: The average number of people waiting to gain access to a mental health bed in New Hampshire is now 46, up from nine in 2013.

NEW JERSEY Middle Town

ship: Kristen Conner, who authorities say was texting and driving when she caused a crash that killed her 11-year-old daughter, will have to serve a jail sentence. Authorities say Conner recently received a 200-day term and four years of probation for the July 2014 crash that killed Morgan Avery Ferguson. NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: A six-part television series covering the deadly 1993 standoff between the federal government and the Branch Davidians sect in Waco, Texas, will be filming in New Mexico starting this month. NEW YORK Ballston Spa: A teenage boy fell into an open New York sewer main and was dragged along by the sewage for about half a mile but was rescued. The Alba

ny Times Union reported the 14-year-old was out with friends over the weekend when they came across the open main, which authorities say should have been covered. NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: Police say they have found a woman stabbed to death in the driveway of a home. Police say a man at the home is being questioned, but has not been charged. NORTH DAKOTA Minot: A committee looking into changes to Minot’s snow plan says more equipment might be the only way to speed up snow removal. OHIO Akron: Now that the City Council approved a rezoning request to allow construction, a project to turn shipping containers into homes for traveling artists is moving ahead. The plan is for the first artists to move in this summer, the Akron Beacon Jour

nal reported. OKLAHOMA Tishomingo: Ryman Hospitality Properties CEO Colin Reed joined singer Blake Shelton and others to start construction on Ole Red, an entertainment venue based on Shelton’s song, Ol’ Red, The Okla

homan reported. The 5,000square-foot project in two adjacent buildings will include food, a bar, live music and retail. OREGON Cave Junction: The Rough & Ready Lumber mill that operated in southern Oregon for 73 years is being taken apart to make way for a new owner, The

Daily Courier reported. PENNSYLVANIA Altoona: A group fo Juniata College students, led by Professor Ryan Mathur, gathered last week looking for the possible sites of longabandoned lead mines, perhaps going back to the 1770s. Fort Roberdeau was built in 1778 to protect strategically important lead supplies in Sinking Valley. RHODE ISLAND Providence: State environmental officials are working with the Arbor Day Foundation once again to give away 1,000 trees this spring to help homeowners conserve energy, reduce utility costs and beautify their neighborhoods. SOUTH CAROLINA Rock Hill: Winthrop University is preparing for a costly dorm repair. The school’s trustees last week agreed to put aside as much as $700,000 to fix the roof of Wofford residence hall, according to the Rock Hill Herald. SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: South Dakota’s Game, Fish and Parks Department is limiting access to infrastructure on more than 20 lakes in the state following a recent state Supreme Court decision. TENNESSEE Nashville: Cassidy Bentley, who is married to country star Dierks Bentley, is running the Boston Marathon to raise money for a Nashville shelter for homeless families. TEXAS Austin: A statue of Jefferson Davis removed from the University of Texas in 2015 amid growing criticism of Confederate symbols is back on display as part of a campus history exhibit at the renovated Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. UTAH Salt Lake City: The University of Utah is launching the African-American Doctoral Scholars Initiative this fall, providing eligible students with scholarships of up to $5,000 each year and access to a host of other resources, The Deseret News reported.

VERMONT Montpelier: On April 25, state biologists will reveal the results of a seven-year study of an experimental catchand-release trout fishing water on the Dog River. Surveys in the 1990s found high wild trout densities, but in the early 2000s there was a significant decline. VIRGINIA Richmond: Virginia’s Department of Corrections is changing visitation and mail policies after inmate overdose deaths. The Richmond TimesDispatch reported that inmates will change into specially issued clothes for visits and be searched before and after visits. WASHINGTON Spokane: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories will expand its operation after buying an office building. WEST VIRGINIA Beckley: Beckley police officers are receiving defensive training that could help save their lives and the lives of suspects. Every officer will receive the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu training by the end of April at Family Martial Arts. WISCONSIN Milwaukee: A fire has caused $1 million in damage to an arts complex at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. WYOMING Laramie: A University of Wyoming official says the school’s strategic plan could be in place by July 1. The Laramie

Boomerang reported a draft sets goals that include increasing student recruitment, improving collaboration with community colleges and K-12 schools and boosting research funding.