STATE-BY-STATE

ALABAMA Birmingham: The city wants a judge to dismiss Alabama’s lawsuit challenging a plywood screen hiding a Confederate monument in downtown Birmingham. The state contends that the structure violates a new state law prohibiting removal or alteration of historic monuments.

ALASKA Haines: Students at Haines High School thought dressing in camouflage last week was just a part of spirit week. But the hunter’s attire was fitting when a moose carcass was donated to the school’s lunch program, KTUU-TV reports. Juniors and seniors processed the meat under supervision of the district’s food service coordinator.

ARIZONA Marana: Authorities say about 20 people were stung by a bee swarm that kept up aggressive attacks for almost two hours, even after fire crews sprayed them with foam. An 80-year-old man was hospitalized after being stung about 100 times.

ARKANSAS Walnut Ridge: A private, four-year Arkansas school is changing its name to include “university” in place of “college.” Williams Baptist College will become Williams Baptist University starting in fall 2018. Officials say the change will help dispel misconceptions that the school is a junior college.

CALIFORNIA San Francisco: The Port of San Francisco’s plan to allow the sale of fresh, whole fish from boats at Fisherman’s Wharf was put on hold to resolve an insurance issue, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

COLORADO Denver: Two men face charges of conspiracy, theft of firearms and possession of stolen firearms after their plan to come to Colorado to buy marijuana fell through, and they stole guns and drove back to Missouri and sold most of them, federal prosecutors say.

CONNECTICUT Mystic: The Mystic Aquarium has released three seals that were apparently abandoned by their parents after birth. Officials say the seals are healthy enough to survive on their own in their new home in waters off Rhode Island. Each weighs about 50 pounds.

DELAWARE Dover: The American Civil Liberties Union says it reached a settlement with Milton officials in a lawsuit challenging sign restrictions. Retired teacher Penny Nickerson posted signs after the November election such as “Love Trumps Hate” but was told they violated the town code.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: To celebrate its first anniversary, the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture extended it hours last weekend so more people could get inside.

FLORIDA Cocoa: Police say a gas station owner fired a warning shot while chasing a beer thief, and got the beer back. WESH-TV reports that it’s the fourth time store owner Sowann Suy, called “Clint Eastwood” by friends, has used his gun to defend his store.

GEORGIA Forsyth: A woman is accused of exploiting and neglecting at least 14 elderly and disabled people in unlicensed personal care homes. Authorities say tenants of Michelle Oliver were “begging for food.”

HAWAII Hilo: A ban on foam food containers goes into effect in July 2019 on the Big Island, West Hawaii Today reports. Maui County also has a ban coming up on Dec. 31, 2018. The delays allow vendors to deplete inventories.

IDAHO Boise: The state fire marshal says an explosion in a fireplace caused a blaze that consumed a house and killed four people June 30 at the Tamarack

Resort. Officials say the fireplaces was converted from propane to wood-burning in 2015 but the propane line was left in place.

ILLINOIS Bloomington: The Miller Park Zoo has two new exhibits featuring six species, including a 17-foot-long snake. The additions include the colorful Fairy Bluebird and the Crested Wood Partridge.

INDIANA Terre Haute: A woman was convicted of nine counts of neglect in the death of a 9year-old blind boy with cerebral palsy who weighed just 15 pounds when he died Feb. 21, The Tribune-Star reports. Robin Kraemer, the boy’s guardian, faces up to 40 years in prison.

IOWA Sioux City: The Touchstone Healthcare Community nursing home plans to challenge a $5,000 fine and potential loss of federal funding after the state issued a negative report about the quality of its dietary program.

KANSAS Lawrence: A new $20 million methane plant at the Hamm landfill is turning trash into fuel for natural gas-powered vehicles, The Lawrence JournalWorld reports. It has extraction wells, a gas-processing facility and a 7-mile gas pipeline.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: A panel recommends removing a plaque from a statue of Jefferson Davis that identifies the Confederate president and state native as a “patriot, hero, statesman.” The statue is at the Kentucky Capitol.

LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: A woman accused of using stolen IDs to apply for $150,000 in disaster unemployment aid after floods last year was indicted by a federal grand jury on six counts. Authorities say Renata Foreman used three stolen IDs to submit about 55 fraudulent claims.

MAINE Bar Harbor: A laboratory that breeds medical research mice has accused Nanjing University in China of breeding and selling descendants of one of its strains, The Portland Press Herald reports. Jackson Laborator filed a federal lawsuit last week.

MARYLAND Annapolis: Gov. Larry Hogan announced a $9 billion plan to widen Interstate 270, the Capital Beltway and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. It includes new express toll lanes in an effort to reduce congestion.

MASSACHUSETTS Pittsfield: The Massachusetts Cultural Council is objecting to the Berk-

shire Museum’s plan to sell 40 works, including two by Norman Rockwell. Leaders of the museum in Pittsfield say it risks closing unless it bolsters its endowment.

MICHIGAN Cass City: A dairy farm operator was placed on probation for not checking the backgrounds of workers who were in the U.S. illegally. Madeline Burke, whose husband pleaded guilty earlier, must pay $187,500 to the government.

MINNESOTA Maple Grove: Health officials are investigating two cases of Legionnaires’ disease at the SilverCreek on Main senior center in suburban Minneapolis. Both are recovering in a hospital.

MISSISSIPPI Starkville: Aldermen in this college town have voted to let bars and restaurants sell alcohol as close as 100 feet to churches, schools and funeral homes. Also, beer up to 8% alcohol can be sold, up from 5%.

MISSOURI Kansas City: A private Catholic school for girls says it disciplined a group of students who posed at a party with a swastika made from plastic cups. Administrators at St. Teresa’s Academy notified parents but declined to specify the discipline, The Kansas City Star reports.

MONTANA Great Falls: A critic of Montana’s child protection agency is charged with stalking a caseworker in violation of a 2015 restraining order, The Great Falls Tribune reports. Authorities say John “Jay” Walton took photos from the caseworker’s Facebook page and posted them on his own page with derogatory comments.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: The state treasurer is auctioning on eBay items abandoned in safe deposit boxes and turned over to the state between 2006 and 2011. The auction began Monday and runs for 10 days. Items include sterling silver, diamonds, sports trading cards and collectible coins.

NEVADA Las Vegas: A Clark County program that provides attorneys to foster children in civil cases involving abuse or neglect will get an additional $1.4 million. The money will come from higher court fees. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: A state legislative panel has relaxed qualifications for school nurses, WMUR-TV reports. State law requires school nurses to have a bachelor’s degree and three years of pediatrics experience. The panel eased the standard to allow schools to hire nurses with associate degrees.

NEW JERSEY River Edge: Police are searching for six thieves who broke into a River Edge liquor store and stole high-end scotch worth tens of thousands of dollars, WABC-TV reports.

NEW MEXICO Las Cruces: The Fort Sill Apache Tribe has been awarded $800,000 from the federal government to help build a $2.5 million convenience store and gas station on its property in southern New Mexico, the Las Cruces Sun-News reports.

NEW YORK Lockport: Officials with the SPCA removed hundreds of reptiles, birds, rats and mice from a home in Lockport, The Niagara Gazette reports. Investigators found 31 snakes, 30 quail, 13 rabbits, 10 cats, five ferrets, two parakeets and about 250 rats and mice.

NORTH CAROLINA Clayton: It was an unhappy hour for a trucker whose vodka load overturned on a North Carolina road last week. Authorities say the 40,000 pounds of spirits were so heavy that the truck’s metal exterior bent when a tow truck tried to turn it right side up. Workers had to remove boxes one at a time.

NORTH DAKOTA Jamestown: Two locomotives and four freight cars derailed last week west of the city. Burlington Northern Santa Fe said it occurred on industry track, so the main line wasn’t affected. All cars stayed upright and no one was hurt.

OHIO Columbus: The city health agency is investigating two unconnected Legionnaire’s disease cases with ties to Ohio State University, The Dispatch reports. One case involves a Drackett Tower dorm student. The other involves a city resident employed at the Newark campus.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The state Court of Civil Appeals says a killer must have a chance to respond to efforts to dismiss his suit seeking to overturn his 1994 plea agreement. Stephen Craig Burnett, serving a life sentence with possibility of parole, says changes in parole and pardon rules breach the agreement.

OREGON Eugene: A scenic highway that connects the towns of Sisters and Belknap Springs will likely remain closed until spring. Officials tell The RegisterGuard that dead and dying trees in forests scorched by wildfires make Route 242 unsafe.

PENNSYLVANIA Mount Pleasant: Wedding DJ Edward McCarty must stand trial or work out a plea deal on charges of stealing at least $600 in gift money at a wedding he worked July 29.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: The Navy has awarded a $5 billion contract to Electric Boat to finish designing a new ballisticmissile submarine class. The 12 Columbia-class ballistic-missile subs will replace the current fleet of 14 aging Ohio-class subs. The first delivery is expected in 2028.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Officials say at least 1.6 million people traveled to or within South Carolina for last month’s solar eclipse, making it the state’s largest single tourism event in history, The State reports.

SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: The state Supreme Court says city officials must disclose a contract over repairs of warped metal panels at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. The city refused to release details of the contract, which reimbursed it $1 million, The Argus Leader reports.

TENNESSEE Clarksville: An Army report says an improperly installed part caused a December 2015 helicopter crash in rural Tennessee, killing two 101st Airborne Division pilots. The report says the Apache helicopter essentially came apart in midair.

TEXAS Galveston: Authorities say two workers were killed last week and a third was hurt when a crane fell on a marine dock at Galveston’s Pelican Island.

UTAH Ogden: Insurance rates aren’t expected to go up in an Ogden neighborhood where a wildfire destroyed three homes and caused the evacuations of hundreds. But authorities warn of potential landslides because the land is unstable.

VERMONT Randolph: The Brunswick School, a private Connecticut boys school, has purchased the Three Stallion Inn in Vermont and 650 surrounding acres to create a satellite campus for wilderness education. The price was $2.1 million.

VIRGINIA Stuart: Pioneer Health Services, the only hospital in Patrick County, is closing, and the next-closest in Martinsville is about a half-hour away, The Roanoke Times reports. Pioneer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection about 18 months ago.

WASHINGTON Federal Way: Police recovered a stolen motor home and reunited its owner with about 10 dogs that were inside, KING-TV reports.

WEST VIRGINIA West Liberty: West Liberty University is reviving its marching band next fall after state budget cuts put the band on hiatus in March 2016. The school is now searching for a new band director.

WISCONSIN Madison: The state Supreme Court is considering whether a mother’s profane tirade against her 14-year-old son for burning popcorn amounts to free speech. Ginger Breitzman, who was charged with disorderly conduct, says her language was protected since it wasn’t threatening or inciting violence.

WYOMING Laramie: Several University of Wyoming residency professorships in the arts are in limbo after state revenue fell.