STATE-BY-STATE ALASKA
ALABAMA Mobile:
The remains of a wooden vessel found near Mobile may be the last slave-carrying ship to land in the U.S. Experts say the wreckage could be the Clotilda, which was burned after delivering captives in 1860.
Kenai:
A beluga whale calf found stranded on the Cook Inlet mud flats won’t be released back into the wild. NOAA officials say the whale isn’t capable of surviving on his own, the Peninsula Clarion reports.
ARIZONA Phoenix:
A civil rights group has sued Motel 6, alleging it discriminated against some Latino customers by giving their whereabouts and personal information to U.S. immigration agents.
ARKANSAS Little Rock:
Pulaski County has been awarded $50,000 to secure housing as part of federal homelessness programs, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
CALIFORNIA Monterey:
Eight beaches on California’s Central Coast reopened this week after nearly 5 million gallons of sewage spilled into the ocean last weekend. Health officials say tests show that the area popular with surfers is safe.
COLORADO Denver:
The National Western Stock Show drew more than
700,000 people this year during its
15-day run that ended last weekend, The Denver Post reports.
CONNECTICUT Westport:
Four Staples High School students say administrators failed to act when they reported another student for sexual assault, The Connecticut Post reports.
DELAWARE Dover:
State lawmakers are working on protecting students and teachers with new construction and renovation standards for schools, including bulletproof glass on doors and windows and intruder alerts.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA:
A suburban Washington school district removed top staff from a high school where investigators found violations of grading and graduation procedures, The Washington Post reports.
FLORIDA Boynton Beach:
The company that operates Florida’s new Brightline high-speed train is putting up electronic signs at several crossings following recent fatal accidents, The Palm Beach Post reports.
GEORGIA Atlanta:
At least 11 people in metro Atlanta have died from hypothermia since the beginning of December, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Medical examiner records say at least eight were homeless.
HAWAII Kailua-Kona:
Authorities say an hourslong Big Island standoff with an armed woman being evicted by her landlord was resolved peacefully, West Hawaii Today reports.
IDAHO Boise:
Federal officials are proposing approval of Idaho’s request to loosen field burning rules. But health advocates warn of breathing problems for some residents.
ILLINOIS Springfield:
Officials say Illinois hunters harvested a preliminary total of more than 147,500 deer during the 2017-18 archery and firearm seasons.
INDIANA Munster:
Authorities say Indiana’s union membership fell 12.5% last year to 8.9% of the state’s workforce, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports.
IOWA Burlington:
State lawmakers are considering a 500 million-yearold species known as crinoid as Iowa’s officially recognized fossil. Crinoids are similar to starfish or sea urchins, the Hawk Eye reports.
KANSAS Lawrence:
Investigators say it’s too dangerous and too expensive to determine the cause of a Jan. 15 fire that destroyed an Americas Best Value Inn. No one was injured.
KENTUCKY Frankfort:
State lawmakers are considering ending a program that lets students work from home on snow days so the school doesn’t have to make up the day.
LOUISIANA Ouachita Parish:
A man is accused of attacking his wife with a machete when she refused sex. Officials say the dispute erupted as the couple traveled in a car with their children in the back seat.
MAINE Portland:
The state’s top court says food stamps should be provided to unemployed asylum seekers who’ve obtained proper work documentation.
MARYLAND Baltimore:
Former Baltimore County schools superintendent Dallas Dance faces charges of perjury over financial disclosure forms and ties to a company that had contracts with the district.
MASSACHUSETTS Harwich:
A man was sentenced to 18 months in jail for stealing and intentionally crashing a police cruiser, The Cape Cod Times reports. An officer had left the car running to go into a store.
MICHIGAN Lansing:
Legislation to let charter schools get revenue from voter-approved property tax hikes is headed to Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk.
MINNESOTA Rochester:
A man who was robbed by a suspect with a knife while clearing snow off his car used an ice scraper to fend off the attack, The Post-Bulletin reports.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson:
The head of the state Department of Child Protection Services says the agency is about $44 million short but can get by with only about $12 million.
MISSOURI Jefferson City:
The state Supreme Court is considering whether some of Missouri’s abortion restrictions violate the religious beliefs of a Satanic Temple member.
MONTANA Helena:
Montana State Prison Warden Michael Fletcher was fired before the end of his 12-month probation. No reason was given.
NEBRASKA Omaha:
Officials say they’ve cleaned up the majority of the almost 300 eastern Omaha homes found to be highly contaminated with lead, The Omaha WorldHerald reports.
NEVADA Las Vegas:
Attorneys for death row inmate Scott Raymond Dozier say his execution using a never-before-tried lethal injection protocol would be less humane than a pet euthanasia. None of the three drugs involved has been used in an execution in any state.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Boscawen:
A man is charged with resisting arrest and biting a police dog that ruined his effort to hide from officers in a pile of clothes. Authorities say the suspect put the dog in a chokehold and bit it on the head.
NEW JERSEY Newark:
A man who tried to distribute more than $2.5 million of counterfeit UGG boots shipped from overseas to the Port of Newark was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
NEW MEXICO Farmington:
A San Juan County woman faces over 140 drug offenses and other crimes. She is accused of fraudulently obtaining prescription medications at pharmacies, The Daily Times reports.
NEW YORK New York:
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism has a new center dedicated to civil rights news coverage.
NORTH CAROLINA Boone:
Lawyers say the family of a boy who died of carbon monoxide poisoning at a Best Western hotel in 2013 has agreed to settle wrongful death and injury claims for $12 million, The Charlotte Observer reports.
NORTH DAKOTA Colfax:
Richland County sheriff ’s investigators are looking into claims of “harassment, bullying or hazing” involving junior and senior high school students.
OHIO Cleveland:
The superintendent of the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center has retired after a riot by teenagers caused an estimated $200,000 in damage in a housing unit, Cleveland.com reports.
OKLAHOMA Quinton:
Authorities say the remains of five workers killed in a fiery natural gas drilling rig explosion were recovered Tuesday.
OREGON Portland:
Public health officials are requiring Washington County firefighters and paramedics to wear flu masks during all patientcare calls and in-hospital visits in response to flu threats.
PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia:
An 86-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to charges in a bank robbery was given a year’s probation, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
RHODE ISLAND Providence:
The Rhode Island House speaker says a deal to provide public funding for a new stadium for the Pawtucket Red Sox is “dead.”
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia:
State lottery officials say they may have to pay out $35 million, nearly twice as much as planned, because of a Christmas Day two-hour glitch that made every Holiday Cash Add-A-Play buyer a winner.
SOUTH DAKOTA Aberdeen:
A businessman who admitted to keeping methamphetamine in the basement of his downtown pawn shop will be sentenced March 7, The American News reports.
TENNESSEE Sewanee:
Rivendell Writers’ Colony, a residency program for authors, will close at the end of March, the organization says. The plan is to transform the property into a center for spiritual healing and exploration.
TEXAS Galveston:
The city resumed regular water operations this week after freezing weather caused some pipes to break and led to a short-term conservation effort.
UTAH Salt Lake City:
State health officials say hospitalizations for the flu more than doubled in less than three weeks, KSL-TV reports.
VERMONT Montpelier:
After a year of talks between school officials and the student-led Racial Justice Alliance, Montpelier High School will fly a Black Lives Matter flag outside the school during February, Black History Month.
VIRGINIA Tangier:
The National Guard mounted a “cat lift” amid flying groceries to a frozen-in Tangier Island last month, The Baltimore Sun reports. The Chesapeake Bay island is home to an estimated 500 felines, more than the human population.
WASHINGTON Spanaway:
A man who suffered burns while using a gardening tool in his yard is suing the retailer that sold the device.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston:
State lawmakers narrowly advanced a 20hour weekly work requirement for many food stamp recipients.
WISCONSIN Madison:
State analysts say tax breaks that targeted manufacturers and farmers cost the state more than $260 million in revenue during the last fiscal year.
WYOMING Cheyenne:
Firearms maker Weatherby is relocating its manufacturing operations and corporate headquarters to Sheridan. The move is expected to create up to 90 jobs and more than $5 million in annual payroll over five years.
Compiled from staff, wire reports