STATE-BY-STATE
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Montgomery: State lawmakers are working on a measure to extend the “Stand Your Ground” law to specify that church members can use deadly force to defend themselves and fellow parishioners.
ALASKA Juneau: State Rep. Zach Fansler is resigning after being accused of hitting a woman during a night of drinking last month, the second House Democrat to leave office under a cloud recently.
ARIZONA Lake Havasu City: Officials warn that the planned release of water from Alamo Dam in March could disrupt an off-road trail during its peak season. Today’s News-Herald reports that the Army Corps of Engineers is planning to flood an area about 33 miles east of Parker where the Arizona Peace Trail crosses.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Pharmacists are complaining that Arkansas-managed insurance plans have them struggling for survival. Scott Pace, head of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association, said some pharmacists get reimbursed less than what they spend on drugs.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: Police said a driver was arrested after officers found that 14 packages wrapped in foil to look like burritos contained methamphetamine. KABC-TV reports the meth burritos were found in the car when officers conducted a traffic stop on Saturday.
COLORADO Frisco: Summit County issued a record 852 building permits last year with a total value of $244 million, the Summit Daily News reports. The county issued 710 permits in 2016 and 644 in 2015.
CONNECTICUT Seymour: Students at a Connecticut high school are reporting higher grades and more focus in the classroom since the school instituted a ban on cellphone use.
DELAWARE Wilmington: A free online game, Girls Go CyberStart, offers high schoolers a chance to learn basic cybersecurity skills while competing for such prizes as Chromebooks, gift cards, and wireless headphones.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Councilmember Mary Cheh, a Democrat, said she wants D.C. judges to have the authority to remove guns from anyone served with a protective order and to restrict them from buying firearms.
FLORIDA Bradenton: A grenade launcher loaded with a live grenade was left with other donated items at a Florida Goodwill store, The Bradenton Herald reports. Manatee County deputies disposed of the grenade.
GEORGIA Valdosta: Authorities said a silo used to store pecan shells exploded last week, shattering windows at businesses blocks away. The Valdosta Daily Times said twisted metal littered a parking lot, but no injuries were reported.
HAWAII Hilo: An autopsy has been ordered for a man who collapsed and died while viewing lava on the Big Island. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports. He died at the scene.
IDAHO Boise: Businessman Tommy Ahlquist’s campaign for governor will submit an amended campaign financial disclosure report after it showed he paid his son-in-law Matthew Rabe $20,000.
ILLINOIS Springfield: Mayor Jim Langfelder is lobbying legislators to let the city annex the State Fairgrounds and use some sales tax revenue to repair its buildings.
INDIANA Terre Haute: A man who was ticketed after making a crude gesture at a state police trooper has filed a federal lawsuit, alleging his constitutional rights were violated, the Tribune-Star reports.
IOWA Iowa City: Journalist Tom Brokaw has given the University of Iowa thousands of documents span- ning his career, and they’re now available to the public, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reports.
KANSAS Larned: The remains of Jack Krieger, a Kansas Marine killed in World War II, have been recovered more than 74 years after his death, The Great Bend Tribune reports.
KENTUCKY Frankfort: The state’s top election official said a record number of women are running for seats in the legislature this year.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: A news conference by city officials touting Mardi Gras renovations had to compete with protests by strip club workers over recent vice raids.
MAINE Bangor: Eastern Maine Medical Center lost track of a hard drive containing personal information of 660 patients.
MARYLAND Baltimore: Baltimore has filed suit against opioid manufacturers and distributors over the marketing of pain pills, The Baltimore Sun reports.
MASSACHUSETTS Wareham: Firefighters used a ladder truck to rescue a cat, which had been stuck in a pine tree for four days, the Boston Globe reports.
MICHIGAN Saugatuck Township: The state Department of Environmental Quality has granted a key permit to a development near Saugatuck Dunes State Park.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Ellie and Alan Geisenkoetter Sr., whose son Alan Jr., 8, was killed by a snowmobiler on a Minnesota lake, want lawmakers to review laws for operating the vehicles.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: State lawmakers are working on a bill to let Mississippians buy alcohol at dis- tilleries and carry unopened booze through dry counties.
MISSOURI Brentwood: About 400 students at a suburban St. Louis school got part of the day off Friday after a 9-foot-long boa constrictor wriggled out of its tank, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
MONTANA Hamilton: Chris Christensen, a doctor convicted of prescribing drugs to two patients who died of overdoses, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
NEBRASKA Omaha: City police officers will undergo cultural sensitivity training after Zachary Bearheels, a mentally ill Native American man, died in custody.
NEVADA Reno: Northern Nevada had one of the warmest Januarys on record and the same looks to be in store for February.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Lebanon: Hospital radiologists used a CT scanner and 3-D printer to view and recreate what’s inside of molds by 19th century sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the Valley News reports.
NEW JERSEY Freehold: Richard Thompson, a former municipal judge, has admitted falsifying rec- ords as part of a scheme that funneled more than $500,000 to the municipalities he served.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero is sponsoring a bill that would provide $250,000 for an early-college program with the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department at the University of New Mexico.
NEW YORK Albany: The hundreds of tourism signs the Cuomo administration installed along New York’s highways could cost the state $14 million in federal funds.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Top administrators at the Pasquotank Correctional Institution where four employees were killed during a breakout attempt in October are suspended with pay.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The North Dakota Petroleum Council has invited Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Miss America Cara Mund to speak at a conference in May.
OHIO Columbus: The Power of One, a Black History Month exhibit at the Statehouse, has student artwork describing what they would do if asked to take on something courageous such as Rosa Parks did.
OKLAHOMA Enid: Flights involving training aircraft at an Oklahoma air base have been grounded for the second time in three months as officials investigate several incidents involving a lack of oxygen onboard.
OREGON Springfield: A heat lamp used to keep baby chicks warm sparked a house fire, the Eugene Springfield Fire Department said.
PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania will remove casino mogul Steve Wynn’s name from a plaza and revoke honorary degrees to him and Bill Cosby.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Nicholas Mattiello, speaker of the House, said the Pawtucket Red Sox need to put more money into their proposed stadium.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Gov. Henry McMaster wants State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel to serve another six-year term.
SOUTH DAKOTA Aberdeen: A co-op formed by the merger of North Central Farmers Elevator and Wheat Growers is now Agtegra Cooperative.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Gov. Bill Haslam has introduced the Complete College Tennessee Act that requires credit-hours for scholarships.
TEXAS Houston: Damage from Hurricane Harvey to The John Biggers mural prompted the National Endowment for the Humanities to announce an infrastructure grant program.
UTAH Salt Lake City: Utah is getting its first state park in 15 years at Echo Reservoir, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
VERMONT Montpelier: Montpelier High School marked Black History Month by flying a Black Lives Matter flag. Of 350 students, 18 are black.
VIRGINIA Richmond: Richmond International Airport served more 3.6 million passengers in 2017.
WASHINGTON Olympia: Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz has canceled a lease with Cooke Aquaculture Pacific at the site where salmon net pens collapsed.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Applications are available for the Governor’s Honors Academy at Marshall University this summer.
WISCONSIN Madison: The state Claims Board has postponed consideration of a former University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee dean’s claim that the state owes him nearly $800,000.
WYOMING Cheyenne: The Veterans Affairs Department downgraded the complexity level of its Cheyenne hospital to its lowest level, The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports.