STATE-BY-STATE
ALABAMA Montgomery: The state prison system is asking for an additional $80 million over the next two years to boost staffing and comply with a court order to improve mental health care to inmates.
ALASKA Ketchikan: State Sen. Berta Gardner plans to introduce legislation that would raise the legal age of marriage from 14 to 18.
ARIZONA Phoenix: Health officials say emergency rooms across the state are seeing longer wait times than normal because of a record number of flu cases.
ARKANSAS Armorel: Eighth-grade science students at Armorel High School used a 3-D printer to create a prosthetic leg for a duck found without a foot shortly after it hatched.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: Michelle King, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, is retiring after two years on the job because she’s battling cancer.
COLORADO Colorado Springs: The state Court of Appeals has ruled that a man who acknowledges killing three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in 2015 can be medicated against his will.
CONNECTICUT Milford: Police say a man accused of killing 20 chickens by ripping off their heads during in a drunken rage faces animal cruelty charges, Hartford Courant reports.
DELAWARE Wilmington: Authorities say a woman’s car with her two children inside was stolen while she went inside a Wawa to make a quick purchase. But the children were found safe, The News Journal reports.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A former George Washington University lecturer has accused the university in a lawsuit of mishandling a sexual harassment complaint filed against her by a male student, The Washington Post reports.
FLORIDA West Palm Beach: A man accused of impersonating a doctor and stealing from a patient was sentenced to 3½ years in prison. Authorities say Malachi Love-Robinson, 20, illegally operated a medical practice.
GEORGIA Snellville: Authorities say a meet-up for a Craigslist sale turned into a shootout in Gwinnett County. The man who posted the ad to sell a phone became the victim of an armed robbery, WSB-TV reports.
HAWAII Kailua-Kona: State officials instituted a ban on commercial aquarium fishing in West Hawaii pending an environmental review ordered by the state Supreme Court, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports.
IDAHO Boise: A federal agency doesn’t need to do a new environmental study before being allowed to kill more wolves in Idaho, a federal judge has ruled.
ILLINOIS Chicago: A Chicago police officer fighting for his job after he fatally shot two people in 2015 is under investigation for his role in a restaurant fight last month.
INDIANA Terre Haute: A community initiative has revamped the city’s website in an effort to polish the area’s image.
IOWA Des Moines: A new report says Iowa’s controversial shift to privately managed Medicaid will save $47.1 million this fiscal year — 80% less than predicted.
KANSAS Wichita: A baby Jesus statue in an outdoor Nativity scene was stolen just before Epiphany from the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, The Wichita Eagle reports.
KENTUCKY Louisville: The state’s two largest electric utilities are planning to install 1.3 million upgraded meters in homes across Kentucky in a three-year project.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: A court order blocking the state from carrying out executions was extended indefinitely when the judge who issued it died last month. The order had been due to expire last week.
MAINE Bangor: Sears will close its store in Bangor Mall in April, The Bangor Daily News reports. That will leave the mall with two anchor stores — JC Penney and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
MARYLAND Baltimore: Frigid temperatures combined with unusually low tides during the winter storm last week could pose a problem for state oyster farmers, The Baltimore
Sun reports.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston: A new effort is underway to award the Medal of Honor to a Civil War soldier from Massachusetts who was widely credited with capturing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s eldest son.
MICHIGAN Detroit: A father and his 21-year-old son face charges after the younger man was wounded as the two fired shots at each other while driving separate vehicles along a Detroit freeway.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Census Bureau estimates say more people moved to Minnesota than moved out of the state last year, breaking a 15-year streak of net declines.
MISSISSIPPI Vicksburg: Police are investigating the reported theft of equipment from the hosts of a Sportsman’s Channel hunting show.
MISSOURI Branson: Two men pleaded guilty to animal abuse after dragging a cat behind a vehicle. Prosecutors say one of them killed the cat and posted the death on Facebook in an effort to get his audience to buy him pizza.
MONTANA Helena: The state may have to call another special legislative session to address a possible $46 million budget shortfall caused by federal tax law changes.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: Businesses are being encouraged to file their annual and biennial reports online. The Nebraska Secretary of State’s office plans to relocate its business ser
vices division this month. NEVADA Carson City: A state lawmaker plans to appeal a judge’s rejection of his petition for a state constitutional ban on so-called sanctuary cities, The Nevada Appeal says.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Springfield: A fire last week destroyed the Durgin and Crowell lumber mill in Springfield, WMUR-TV reports. Authorities are working to determine the cause.
NEW JERSEY Perth Amboy: Police say a 13-year-old girl died and at least 35 people were treated for carbon monoxide exposure at a 12-unit building here last week.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: Two state lawmakers are proposing a special tax on pet food to raise money to cover spay and neuter fees for dogs and cats. The measure would raise more than $800,000.
NEW YORK New York: New York City ended 2017 with 290 murders, the fewest in the modern era. Authorities say other crimes were down in most categories.
NORTH CAROLINA Greensboro: A
federal judge is considering whether to expand a radiology professor’s anti-trust lawsuit alleging that Duke University conspired to hold down salaries of doctors and nurses.
NORTH DAKOTA Portal: Customs officials seized more than 1,200 stainless steel sinks headed from Canada to North Dakota because of an alleged trademark infringement, The Daily News reports.
OHIO Toledo: State records show that school district checks of drinking fountains and faucets in older buildings found that about 10% had elevated levels of lead. Authorities say about half were replaced, while others were shut off.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: State environmental officials want the public’s help in selecting a design for new environmentally-themed license plates, The Oklahoman reports. Voting opened this week on three possible designs and will continue through Jan. 19.
OREGON Corvallis: Oregon State University was awarded a $27,000 grant to reduce food waste on campus, The Gazette-Times reports.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The 102nd Pennsylvania Farm Show will wrap up this weekend. The show boasts nearly 6,000 animals and 300 commercial exhibits.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: A portrait of former Mayor Angel Taveras will be unveiled April 7 in City Hall, WPRI-TV reports. Taveras was the first Latino to be elected mayor.
SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: State health officials have rejected plans for a new psychiatric hospital to be operated by Greenville Health System, The Greenville News reports.
SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: State game officials say the restocking of lake trout at Deerfield reservoir is going well, the Rapid City Journal reports.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Emma is out and Ava is in as the most popular name for girls born in Tennessee last year, state health officials say. William was the top pick for boys.
TEXAS Goliad: A state panel has warned Goliad County Judge Pat Calhoun about making controversial statements, including that he should get a human hunting permit so he could shoot a county official, The Victoria Advocate reports.
UTAH Salt Lake City: State lawmakers are considering ways to push cities into creating more multifamily housing zones to help alleviate a lack of affordable housing, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. VERMONT White River Junction: The iconic Polka Dot Restaurant that closed in 2015 may be revived with its sale to a developer, The Valley News reports.
VIRGINIA Charlottesville: The city of last year’s white nationalist rallies where violence erupted has its first black female mayor. Nikuyah Walker, an independent, was an outspoken critic of the response by local leaders to the rallies.
WASHINGTON Spokane: Officials are searching for a name for a new pedestrian bridge under construction in the city, The Spokesman-Review says. Among suggestions: Children of the Sun Footway, the Mother Joseph Bridge, and Bell Curve Bridge.
WEST VIRGINIA Huntington: Cabell County led the state in 2017 overdose deaths for the second year in a row with 152, The Herald-Dispatch says.
WISCONSIN Madison: The state is seeing a drop in the number of dairy farms despite higher milk production, Wisconsin Public Radio reports. The state lost 500 dairy farms last year. WYOMING Casper: The state Supreme Court says a contested case between a coal company and an oil and gas firm over mining and drilling rights should go to federal court.