Around the nation

News from every state.

ALABAMA Anniston: Federal officials are putting a fish whose habitat is threatened by development in Southern states on the endangered species list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is adding the trispot darter fish to the list. The fish can be found in the Coosa River watershed.

ALASKA Anchorage: Winter tourism is growing in Alaska. The state known as a popular summer destination has increasingly attracted visitors in the colder months for the past decade. The Anchorage Daily News reports visitor volume grew 33 percent for the fall and winter season in the past 10 years.

ARIZONA Tucson: A team of University of Arizona researchers is getting a $2 million military grant for its work on bone regrowth technology. The Arizona Daily Star reports the five-year grant comes from the Department of Defense with the hope it could benefit wounded soldiers.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: An unusually rainy year for most counties in the state has left roadways marked with potholes.

CALIFORNIA Joshua Tree National

Park: The park’s gates have remained open despite the partial federal government shutdown, and crowds of visitors have been rolling in without having to pay $30 per vehicle. Ranger Dylan Moe says it’s a little disorderly, but rangers haven’t seen any blatant disregard for law and order.

COLORADO Denver: The Budweiser Clydesdales were on hand this week to welcome full-strength beer hitting the shelves of the state’s grocery stores. Eight of the famous mascot horses visited the Colorado Capitol on Monday afternoon to celebrate the state’s largest liquor code changes since prohibition.

CONNECTICUT New London: The U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s ability to serve cadets returning from winter break will be affected by the forced furlough of administrative staff and other nonessential civilians as part of the partial government shutdown, the school says.

DELAWARE Wilmington: The Delaware Children’s Museum once again held its New Year’s Rockin’ Noon, a New Year’s Eve countdown offered during the day so young children can participate. The event is so popular, marketing manager Joe Valenti says, that the museum decided for the first time this year to reload the confetti launchers and do another countdown at 2 p.m. Monday.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washing

ton: The Metro system in the nation’s capital is ringing in 2019 with some weekend shutdowns, WUSA-TV reports. On Jan. 12-13, no trains will run from Reagan National to L’Enfant Plaza and Arlington Cemetery. And Jan. 26-27, there will be no trains south of Braddock Road.

After about a month of rehabilitation at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, known as CROW, an adult male bald eagle who was found injured in November flexed his recovered wing as he took flight Sunday.

Cape Coral:

GEORGIA Atlanta: Former President Jimmy Carter, former first lady Rosalynn Carter and dozens of members of their family attended worship service at the church where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached. News outlets report more than 40 members of the Carter family joined the congregation for the last Sunday morning service of the year at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.

HAWAII Wailuku: A steep trail to the Kalaupapa leprosy settlement has been closed indefinitely after a landslide took out a bridge along one of the switchbacks.

IDAHO Lava Hot Springs: The housing market in southeastern Idaho is booming. Nowhere is this more true than in Lava Hot Springs, where houses are being bought up before they’re even listed, sometimes for well above asking price.

ILLINOIS Urbana: As part of a new initiative to showcase local art, more than 30 pieces now hang in the public spaces of Busey Wealth Management’s corporate headquarters in downtown Urbana.

INDIANA Lawrence: This Indianapolis suburb is hoping to boost its profile and attract new visitors with a cultural district promoting the arts and the area’s military history. The Indianapolis Business Journal reports that Lilly Endowment Inc. awarded the city of Lawrence and the nonprofit Arts for Lawrence $5.85 million to build the Fort Harrison Cultural Campus.

IOWA Des Moines: The Varsity Theatre – Des Moines’ beloved onescreen movie theater that opened on Christmas Day in 1938 – hosted its final screenings Sunday.

KANSAS Baldwin City: A minister from a private Christian university has been selected for a two-month deployment as a chaplain at a research center in Antarctica. Baker University campus minister Kevin Hopkins was heading out Wednesday for the assignment at McMurdo Station, The Lawrence JournalWorld reports.

KENTUCKY Louisville: Billions of gallons of water soaked the city in 2018, making it the wettest year on record in Louisville.

LOUISIANA Lake Charles: A boating club has organized a privatepublic partnership to put up channel markers along a bayou where water often hides cypress stumps and knees. Ben Garber of the Lake Charles Sail and Power Squadron says that because Contraband Bayou isn’t used for commerce, the Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers can’t install markers.

MAINE Somerville: Lights, camera, scat. That’s the premise of a potential new reality series featuring a woman who is locally famous for making creations out of moose droppings. The Portland Press Herald reports Mary Winchenbach and her wife, Deb Nicholls, are in discussions with TNT about bringing their art to cable television.

MARYLAND Baltimore: Since 1950, Baltimore has dropped from America’s sixth most populous city to the country’s 30th largest. And there’s no end in sight to the population drain. Baltimore has led all U.S. cities in population loss for the past two years running.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Federal fishing managers are holding the line on the quota for an important commercial species of crab. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the quota for Atlantic deep-sea red crab will be about 3.9 million pounds, the same as it has been since 2011.

MICHIGAN Lansing: Outgoing Gov. Rick Snyder says he and wife Sue plan to take an Upper Peninsula “whirlwind waterfall” tour at some point this year. He says he owes his wife “some vacations” and “another honeymoon period” after eight years as governor. He left office Tuesday.

MINNESOTA St. Cloud: Nori Cafe & Creamery hosted its grand opening Saturday. Husband-and-wife duo Muhsin Abdulkadir and Farhiya Iman, both 29, manage the familyowned cafe. Iman said the idea sparked when she and Abdulkadir noticed St. Cloud’s changing demographics and saw a need for a common meeting ground for people of all backgrounds.

MISSISSIPPI Olive Branch: A man says he ordered his wife a $2,000 diamond bracelet for Christmas and was shocked to see 48 of the bracelets when he opened the box. WATN-TV reports Olive Branch Alderman Dale Dickerson ordered the bracelet from a company called Jewelry Unlimited. Dickerson called the company and sent the extras back. The company sent a pair of diamond earrings as a thank-you.

MISSOURI Springfield: A year after Greene County began using trailers to house inmates amid jail overcrowding, officials in other areas of the country are eyeing the program. But some legal experts argue the program has raised major red flags.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: Even as construction continues on four new fire stations, city officials are beginning to plan for two more.

NEVADA Reno: Washoe County is using blockchain technology to create digital versions of its marriage certificates. The initiative’s success is causing the county to look at ways it could use the technology with other records.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Hanover: Construction is getting underway on a $200 million project to integrate engineering, computer science and entrepreneurship at Dartmouth College.

NEW JERSEY Prospect Park: Most people his age are just figuring out how to handle their personal finances. Intashan Chowdhury has to reconcile a $6.5 million municipal budget. Chowdhury, 22, the borough’s new administrator, is believed to be one of the youngest town managers in New Jersey history, if not the youngest, and the first of Bengali descent.

NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico is offering a new course that’s generating a lot of buzz on campus – a class on cannabis and communication.

NEW YORK Bethel: Finding a place to stay for the 50th anniversary Woodstock concert in August may not be a groovy experience. The Times Herald-Record of Middletown reports that many motels, bed and breakfasts, and Airbnb rentals are already sold out in Sullivan County.

NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The fatal mauling of a zoo intern by a lion that escaped from a locked pen Sunday at the Conservators Center near Burlington illustrates the need for state regulators to crack down on unaccredited exhibitors of dangerous animals, animal welfare advocates say.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A state lawmaker wants to charge owners of electric and hybrid vehicles an annual fee to help offset lost motor fuel taxes that fund road work.

OHIO Toledo: A researcher at Ohio State University has come up with a new app that has tips on spotting bed bugs and getting rid of them. The app works on Android and iOS devices and can be found by searching “bed bug field guide.”

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The

state’s overall health ranking fell in

2018, though it did see an uptick in infant health. The Oklahoman reports the state ranked 47th in overall health in 2018, down from 43rd in

2017, according to the America’s Health Rankings annual report.

OREGON Salem: Marijuana could take the next step toward joining pinot noir, craft beer and hazelnuts on Oregon’s list of famous exports, under a proposal likely to go before state lawmakers this year.

PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: One of the city’s classic diners is ending its overnight shift, reflecting changes in the way people eat and socialize. The Penrose Diner went to a 6 a.m.-tomidnight schedule starting Monday.

RHODE ISLAND Pawtucket: The city is adopting traffic cameras to crack down on speeding. Mayor Donald Grebien says the effort aims to address problem speeding in school zones, as police department resources are limited.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: State wildlife officials are recommending people use their old, live Christmas trees to help animals. The state Department of Natural Resources says old trees can be used for erosion control or as cover for small animals like quails and rabbits. The agency also has a program that takes old trees and sinks them in lakes to become artificial reefs for fish.

SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: The two most popular dog breeds in the city in 2018 were the Labrador retriever and the Shih Tzu.

TENNESSEE Franklin: After a successful inaugural year, “BreakFEST” – a pop-punk music festival starting on a Sunday morning – will return to the Factory on June 2. New Found Glory will once again headline – guitarist and Franklin resident Chad Gilbert is the brains behind the event.

TEXAS Fort Worth: A 27-mile rail system extending from downtown Fort Worth to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is scheduled to launch Saturday. TEXRail trains, operated by the Trinity Metro transit agency, will make nine stops along the route, including in the suburbs of North Richland Hills and Grapevine. Trinity Metro, in an effort to jumpstart ridership, will not charge fares in January. Come Feb. 1, a one-way ticket will cost $2.50.

UTAH Salt Lake City: A woman who helped kidnap Elizabeth Smart is living several blocks from an elementary school following her release from prison in September, according to Utah’s sex-offender registry. Wanda Barzee, 73, is listed in the registry as living in an apartment near Parkview Elementary School.

VERMONT Montpelier: The state is hoping to attract new residents and boost its population and workforce by paying folks to relocate. The state is accepting applications for the program, which pays people who work remotely for an out-of-state company to move to Vermont.

VIRGINIA Charlottesville: Officials in this city that endured a deadly white nationalist rally in 2017 say people are cursing police officers, and it’s thinning the department’s ranks.

WASHINGTON Yakima: A homeless encampment has returned to its former location after temporarily relocating. The Yakima Herald-Republic reports the operators of Camp Hope are required to move the encampment every six months so it can be deemed a temporary camp as part of a deal with the city.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: State health officials say flu cases are on the rise in West Virginia.

WISCONSIN Dodgeville: Residents in a rural county are split over a plan to build a solar farm that would include more than 1 million solar panels. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the Badger Hollow Solar Farm proposed by Invenergy would cover 2,700 acres in Iowa County and could power more than 70,000 homes.

WYOMING Jackson: Officials will allow a metal music festival to take place again east of Grand Teton National Park. The Jackson Hole News and Guide reports the Teton County administrator granted a special event permit for the Fire in the Mountains festival scheduled for July 13-14 at Heart Six Ranch in Moran.