Around the nation
News from every state.
ALABAMA Birmingham: The state has already exceeded its yearly average for tornadoes, with 53 verified so far in 2019.
ALASKA Fairbanks: The city will allow people to recreationally use marijuana inside authorized stores.
ARIZONA Phoenix: Ozone pollution in Maricopa County has declined in the past two decades, but not enough to escape an “F” rating from the American Lung Association.
ARKANSAS West Memphis: An animal shelter has rescued dozens of turtles from a wastewater treatment facility after they became trapped in sewage pond filters.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: The city will officially unveil Obama Boulevard, renaming Rodeo Road, on May 4 with a daylong festival.
COLORADO Denver: The state Supreme Court says it will decide whether a large-capacity magazine ban is constitutional.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Lawmakers who support legislation giving certain ex-offenders a “clean slate” say they need help getting it passed. Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, urged advocates to keep calling lawmakers.
DELAWARE Wilmington: The “kissing bug” – which bites people around their mouths and can pass along the fatal disease Chagas – has made it to the state. A Kent County family reports their child’s face was bitten by a bug last summer, and a subsequent investigation identified the culprit.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Middle school students gathered downtown Tuesday night to share their ideas on how to reduce gun violence in the city, WUSA-TV reports. Aliyah Harrison and Michelle Marshall were named ambassadors in the D.C. division of this year’s “Do the Write Thing Challenge,” part of a larger national essay contest.
FLORIDA Tampa: The city’s openly gay former police chief has been elected mayor in a landslide victory. Voters elected Jane Castor in a runoff against retired banker and philanthropist David Stratz.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Some students at Spelman College aren’t happy about the selection of the mayor as this year’s commencement speaker. The students at the historically black women’s college told WSB-TV they believe Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is in favor of gentrification.
HAWAII Wailuku: A high school in Ho’olehua has been recognized with an award in its first appearance at an international robotics competition. The Maui News reports the Molokai High School robotics team won the Hopper-Turing Division Rookie Inspiration Award at the FIRST Robotics Championship in Houston.
IDAHO Boise: A federal appeals court has overturned a U.S. District Court’s dismissal of a lawsuit by environmental groups challenging a federal agency’s killing of wolves in the state.
ILLINOIS Chicago: The owner of famed local business Garrett Popcorn Shops has sued a former employee, accusing her of stealing thousands of files including information about its secret recipes.
INDIANA Indianapolis: State auditors have found that a veterans affairs agency may have misspent nearly $775,000 in federal welfare funds, including on couple’s retreats.
IOWA Des Moines: Most players for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs live in hotels or apartments during the season, but one of the team’s pitchers has chosen to live in a 104-square-foot house this summer. Trevor Clifton and his father built the tiny home.
KANSAS Kansas City: The Quindaro ruins, a Civil War-era port of entry to the state and Underground Railroad stop, have been designated a National Commemorative Site.
KENTUCKY Monticello: Two day care workers face charges over a video that shows one scaring a toddler with a doll despite knowing the child was afraid of dolls.
LOUISIANA Montegut: An artificial reef has been created near the coast to protect several historic Native American mounds from erosion and rising sea levels.
MAINE Portland: More than 4,000 students – nearly a quarter of undergraduates – are attending the state’s public universities without paying tuition or fees.
MARYLAND Baltimore: Acting Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young appears to be settling in for a lengthy stint, with embattled Mayor Catherine Pugh now on indefinite leave for more than three weeks.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A survey finds many commuters in the state are so fed up with traffic congestion and transit delays that they’re thinking about changing jobs or even moving out of the region.
MICHIGAN Springfield: Officials say 10 fruit tree saplings meant to be planted by students to celebrate Earth Day were stolen. Parents and businesses have donated money and replacement trees to Battle Creek Montessori Academy.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: The state Department of Education says about 83% of high school seniors graduated last year – a record high.
MISSISSIPPI Tupelo: The city is trying to quiet its many trains. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports completing safety upgrades including crossing arms would allow trains to avoid sounding horns.
MISSOURI Cape Girardeau: Scott County is trying to recruit new firefighters and getting real with its sales pitch, saying in signs posted outside its stations that the job offers “Hard Labor, Odd Hours, Low Pay (and) Cool Helmets!!”
MONTANA Helena: A House panel has passed a bill that would raise the state bed tax to provide funding for museums.
NEBRASKA Omaha: The zoo is asking for the public’s help in naming a giraffe born last week. Name suggestions are accepted on the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium’s Facebook page beginning Friday.
NEVADA Las Vegas: The state is joining a handful of its counterparts in offering gender-neutral driver’s licenses and ID cards.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Portsmouth: The city’s police department is launching a drone program.
NEW JERSEY Newark: The producers of “The Many Saints of Newark,” the much-anticipated bigscreen prequel to “The Sopranos” TV series, are looking for extras of all ages. The casting call is 6-9 p.m. Thursday at Express Newark.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: A man says he is getting his classic 1970 Chevy returned to him a decade after officers seized it and said earlier this year that they were going to turn it into a show car. KOB-TV reports Leo Martinez’s 1970 SS Chevy Chevelle 454 was seized in 2009 under a once widely used law enforcement tactic that has since been ruled unconstitutional.
NEW YORK Albany: The recently approved state budget has $110 million for the state’s parks system, including millions for a new park to be built in Brooklyn.
NORTH CAROLINA Durham: For the third straight year, the Museum of Life and Science is announcing the birth of red wolf pups.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The Legislature has voted to commit public money for a Theodore Roosevelt presidential library in the western part of the state.
OHIO Columbus: A historic 36-star flag that flew over the Statehouse’s grounds during the repose of President Abraham Lincoln is returning for this year’s commemoration.
OKLAHOMA Muskogee: A lawsuit filed on behalf of a Muslim U.S. Army reservist asked to leave a gun range has been dropped, with both sides declaring victory in the case.
OREGON Salem: A black lawmaker who had the police called on her while she campaigned is now sponsoring a bill that would allow people in similar situations to sue the caller.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: A new state law is now in effect, ending the practice of suspending driver’s licenses for those convicted of certain non-highway safety violations, including drug offenses.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Two legal organizations are standing behind a recent guidance document from the state Department of Education that bars school districts from charging students for school-sponsored field trips.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Aging fat men who fish or swim on the coast this summer should be aware that a nasty microbe lurks in the water. Vibrio has grown more prevalent in brackish coastal waters in the past 20 years as the climate changes, and University of South Carolina researchers say the group most at risk is overweight men over 40.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: Legislators have set some priorities for attention in the 2020 session, including hemp’s potential impact on the state, the fiscal and human impact of drug laws, and access to mental health treatment.
TENNESSEE Gatlinburg: Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials predict peak dates for viewing the park’s synchronous fireflies this year will be May 30 through June 6.
TEXAS Corpus Christi: A docked replica of a Christopher Columbus ship that sank in 2017 days after Hurricane Harvey has swamped again.
UTAH Jensen: Officials at Dinosaur National Monument say the landmark has been designated an International Dark Sky Park for its “exceptional quality of natural darkness.”
VERMONT Montpelier: The state House gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill that would raise the age to buy or possess cigarettes – including electronic cigarettes – and other tobacco products from 18 to 21.
WASHINGTON Olympia: The Legislature has approved a measure to make daylight saving time permanent in the state if federal law changes to allow it.
WEST VIRGINIA Huntington: Marshall University’s summer journalism workshop for high school students will use a health and wellness theme to look at opioid recovery efforts in the region.
WISCONSIN Milwaukee: Milwaukee County Zoo’s elephants are settling into their new exhibit, which opens to the public May 4.
WYOMING Cheyenne: A former gold and copper mining area could get a new lease on life with help from former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who recently joined the board of directors at U.S. Gold Corp.