Around the nation
News from every state.
ALABAMA Montgomery: Cotton farmers in the state will face threats to their crops this year in the form of cotton leafroll dwarf virus, which has no known cure. WSFA-TV reports it’s a new strain of cotton blue disease.
ALASKA Anchorage: The Legislature failed to override budget vetoes by Gov. Mike Dunleavy that will prompt a massive 41% cut of state funding to the University of Alaska and lay waste to other programs the governor deemed unaffordable. More than a third of lawmakers missed the vote – many because of a dispute about where the special session was held.
ARIZONA Supai: For those hoping to score notoriously hard-to-get permits to visit Havasupai Falls, Beyonce may make it even tougher. The singer shot a music video Wednesday at the foot of Havasu Falls, TMZ reports, likely making the site at the base of the Grand Canyon even more popular.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: The Drug Policy Education Group plans to begin gathering signatures to put a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana on state ballots next year.
CALIFORNIA Pasadena: A statue capturing Brandi Chastain’s iconic reaction to scoring the U.S. team’s winning goal in the 1999 Women’s World Cup has been unveiled outside the Rose Bowl.
COLORADO Walden: Photos of what appears to be a black-colored wolf captured north of the town this week could be the first credible wolf sighting in the state in four years.
CONNECTICUT New Haven: Renowned forensic scientist Henry Lee is defending work he did three decades ago after the state Supreme Court criticized him when it overturned convictions in a 1985 murder.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The D.C. Council is considering legislation that would allow minors to run small-scale businesses such as lemonade stands without a permit.
FLORIDA Miami: There’s a baby boom at Zoo Miami, which says six animals were born within a sevenday period to six different mothers.
GEORGIA Atlanta: A federal judge has ordered state election officials to allow computer experts and lawyers to review the databases used to create ballots and count votes.
HAWAII Honolulu: Construction on a giant telescope will start again next week after lengthy court battles and passionate protests from those who say building it on the state’s tallest mountain will desecrate land sacred to some Native Hawaiians.
IDAHO Boise: Officials say the city is installing facial recognition technology at its city halls to keep “banned people” out of the buildings.
ILLINOIS DuQuoin: Country rock band Confederate Railroad has been barred from performing at a state fair because of its use of the Confederate flag, setting off a firestorm by southern Illinois fans who believe they’re under Chicago liberals’ thumb of political correctness.
INDIANA West Lafayette: Twitter has been abuzz with Boilermakers’ pride over the feature of a Purdue University sweatshirt in the new season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” The Purdue Trademarks and Licensing department is now working with the Purdue Team Store to produce and sell a replica of the shirt.
IOWA Des Moines: The state Department of Human Services says it will pay an extra $386 million to two insurance companies for Medicaid services for the 2020 fiscal year.
KANSAS Mulvane: Some drivers got a windfall when a malfunctioning toll machine spat out coins instead of accepting money near a casino.
KENTUCKY Clermont: Louisville Gas and Electric Co. wants to build a natural gas pipeline to serve Bullitt County, but property owners including Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest are pushing back. LG&E is trying to get control of the land, which includes rare animal habitats, through eminent domain.
LOUISIANA Shreveport: The 113th State Fair, “Gumbo of Fun,” will be held Oct. 24 through Nov. 10.
MAINE Raymond: A summer camp has brought together dozens of children with a rare disease. Camp Sunshine says only about 1,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with Diamond-Blackfan Anemia, and 59 affected families are at the camp.
MARYLAND Baltimore: The Federal Aviation Administration will reconsider its position challenging the state over new flight patterns and the noise they bring residents near the city’s airport.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Health officials say mosquito-borne West Nile virus has returned to the state.
MICHIGAN Detroit: Water levels in parts of the Great Lakes system hit record highs last month and are expected to keep climbing, prompting concern from state officials for waterfront communities.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Taxpayers helped foot the bill when Jimmy Fallon broadcast “The Tonight Show” from Minneapolis during last year’s Super Bowl festivities. Minnesota Public Radio News reports the state paid the show $267,000.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: A Mississippi Writers Trail marker honoring novelist and poet Margaret Walker has been unveiled at Jackson State University, where she was an English professor from 1949 to 1979.
MISSOURI St. Louis: The brewery that makes Kraftig beer, operated by an heir to the family that founded Anheuser-Busch, is going out of business. The William K. Busch Brewing Co. announced the decision Wednesday, citing market demand.
MONTANA Whitefish: The Under the Big Sky music and arts festival is coming to Big Mountain Ranch this weekend.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: State corrections officials are exploring options to combat drone delivery of drugs and other contraband to inmates.
NEVADA Reno: Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., has called for Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s resignation after the department acknowledged multiple shipments of low-level radioactive waste to the state may have been mislabeled and out of compliance with safety regulations.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Gov. Chris Sununu let a bill become law without his signature that would allow a nonbinary gender option on driver’s licenses and ID cards.
NEW JERSEY Freehold: A highstakes trial about beach access has stalled after the judge made clear that she was less than impressed with arguments by both sides. The American Littoral Society, a coastal environmental group, is suing the borough of Deal to nullify an ordinance that would vacate the end of an oceanfront street in return for $1 million from a landowner.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: The long-simmering battle over chile between the state and its neighbor to the north is heating up. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham went on the offensive Wednesday after Colorado Gov. Jared Polis proclaimed on Twitter that hot peppers from Pueblo were the best. Lujan Grisham says she’s ready for a chile duel.
NEW YORK Albany: Dozens of plaintiffs, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have filed a class-action lawsuit in state Supreme Court arguing that a newly enacted law that ended the religious exemption for vaccinations violates their religious beliefs.
NORTH CAROLINA Asheville: A unanimous vote by the state House has passed a bill authorizing the creation of Pisgah View State Park.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The state’s pardon advisory board has unanimously backed a policy change that will allow many people with low-level marijuana convictions to have their records wiped clean.
OHIO Toledo: Heavy rains that inundated the Great Lakes region this spring will fuel another massive algae bloom across parts of western Lake Erie this summer, researchers say.
OKLAHOMA Guthrie: Police say they found a rattlesnake, a canister of radioactive powdered uranium and an open bottle of Kentucky Deluxe whiskey during a traffic stop of a vehicle that had been reported stolen.
OREGON Roseburg: Federal officials have formally declared a disaster in Douglas, Linn and four other counties for severe storms in the area in April.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The state attorney general’s office launched an effort Thursday to improve the use of firearms databases so that law enforcement can better track guns used in crimes.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: The governor has signed a bill to deregulate African-style hair braiding.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The state’s moved its death row inmates for the second time in two years, to Broad River Correctional Institution.
SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology will work with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center on environmental stewardship goals.
TENNESSEE Murfreesboro: Country singer Chris Young’s alma mater is honoring him by naming a new live music venue after him on the Middle Tennessee State University campus.
TEXAS Houston: Harris County has earmarked $60 million to speed up flood protection projects in 105 Hurricane Harvey-battered subdivisions outside mapped flood plains.
UTAH Provo: Brigham Young University has updated its honor code process after widespread student criticism. Officials say changes include an “innocent until proven guilty” policy.
VERMONT Montpelier: The state wants to increase the number of electric vehicles on its roads by more than 16 times by 2025.
VIRGINIA Richmond: State transportation officials are asking the public for ideas on how to improve the Interstate 95 corridor.
WASHINGTON Olympic National
Park: For the second straight summer, mountain goats are flying as officials round up and relocate the mammals to the Cascade Mountains.
WEST VIRGINIA Holden: State wildlife officials are hoping to bring back the bobwhite quail at the Tomblin Wildlife Management Area.
WISCONSIN Milwaukee: A man may receive $7.5 million from the city after he was wrongly imprisoned for 24 years based on what he says was bogus bite-mark evidence.
WYOMING Cheyenne: After more than three years and $300 million, the Capitol has reopened following a ribbon-cutting Wednesday.