50 States From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

ALABAMA Montgomery: State health officials are encouraged by a decline in COVID-19 cases about a month after a statewide mask order took effect but are cautioning that people should not abandon precautions as the state heads to Labor Day gatherings and school openings.

ALASKA Anchorage: Multiple churches have recently defied the city’s emergency order limiting the size of gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

ARIZONA Phoenix: A school district that had planned to resume in-person classes against the advice of public health officials is now backing off after teachers refused to show up. The J.O. Combs Unified School District in Pinal County announced classes will be canceled Monday.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: The state’s high school football stadiums will be limited to two-thirds capacity because of the coronavirus, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Friday.

CALIFORNIA Fresno: Students at a private school attended their second day of in-person classes Friday despite state and county orders to close the campus. Fresno County will seek a restraining order to close Immanuel Schools in Reedley, county Director of Public Health David Pomaville said.

COLORADO Fort Collins: As bars and restaurants closed at the start of the state’s COVID-19 outbreak, sales at liquor, convenience and grocery stores soared – the one bright spot in an otherwise dreary retail picture. And it’s been a welcome boon to the city’s coffers. For June sales reported in July, city tax collections were down just 3.8% from a year earlier, a negative trend for the past three months but much improved from the start of the pandemic.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: State education officials, concerned about the emotional trauma children have faced during the pandemic, are making social and emotional learning a priority. Gov. Ned Lamont on Friday announced a partnership between the state and Yale University for a program designed to train teachers in how to deal with the stress they and their students are experiencing.

DELAWARE Wilmington: The State Board of Education has approved a delayed start of middle and high school sports until December, with fall sports being played in March and April, sandwiched between abbreviated winter and spring seasons.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Metro trains resumed their normal schedules Sunday, following months of limited service during the pandemic, WUSA-TV reports.

FLORIDA Fort Lauderdale: The state’s high school athletic board voted Friday to begin practices for football and other fall sports Aug. 24 and games less than two weeks later, pushing aside the advice of its medical experts who said competition should not resume for at least six weeks because of the health crisis.

GEORGIA Atlanta: Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration says numbers show the state is making progress in its fight against COVID-19, despite a leaked federal report urging the state to take stronger steps, a per capita infection rate that is the third-worst in the country over the past two weeks, and soaring death totals after weeks of high illness levels.

HAWAII Honolulu: Days before the first day for public school students across the islands, the statewide teachers union filed a complaint with the state Labor Relations Board over working conditions from increasing COVID-19 infections.

IDAHO Boise: A wildland firefighter who was working with about 270 other people on a small fire has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said. The Idaho Department of Lands said the person who tested positive and those who were working with the individual were isolated.

ILLINOIS Chicago: The state reported Saturday that 1,828 more people had tested positive for the coronavirus, and five more people had died as a result of the virus. Data shows the state’s seven-day positivity rate dropped to 3.98%, falling below 4% for the first time since Aug. 5.

INDIANA Indianapolis: The Indiana Election Commission deadlocked Friday on whether to let all residents vote by mail due to the pandemic.

IOWA Ames: Another 75 students have tested positive for COVID-19 as they move back to campus at Iowa State University, the university said.

KANSAS Kansas City: President Donald Trump’s top coronavirus adviser used a visit to the state to urge people to wear masks regardless of where they live. “What’s really important for every Kansan to understand is that this epidemic that we have been seeing this summer is both urban and rural,” said Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: Voters concerned about being at risk of contracting COVID-19 will be able to cast mail-in ballots under a bipartisan agreement reached by the state’s governor and secretary of state. Rules for the November general election also include three weeks of in-person early voting, including Saturdays.

LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Authorities have arrested three women accused of assaulting a teenage restaurant hostess because they were upset their party of 11 couldn’t all be seated together due to coronavirus distancing rules.

MAINE Portland: The state has spent more than $33 million on masks, gowns and other supplies meant to keep health care workers safe during the pandemic.

MARYLAND Baltimore: Hundreds of thousands of people in the state do not have access to high-speed internet. The Baltimore Sun reports the long-standing problem has become more acute as school and work move online as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

MASSACHUSETTS Hull: State officials are reducing capacity limits at Nantasket Beach State Reservation over concerns of overcrowding as coronavirus cases surge in this coastal community south of Boston.

MICHIGAN Lansing: Schools that deem it safe to provide in-person classes would have to prioritize the option for K-5 students under legislation that would also largely base districts’ state funding on last year’s pupil count to account for enrollment uncertainty in coming weeks. The bills were approved by the Senate in a rare Saturday session. The House will vote Monday.

MINNESOTA Minneapolis: As students prepare to return to colleges and universities, state health officials made a plea Friday for them to stay home and avoid crowded bars, house parties and road trips during what’s left of their summer vacation so they don’t bring the coronavirus to campus with them.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Gov. Tate Reeves issued a new rule Friday limiting spectators at K-12 sports games, band concerts and other extracurricular activities. No more than two people per student participating will be able to attend any school extracurricular event.

MISSOURI Branson: Coronavirus infections increased at a higher rate in several rural counties over the past two weeks compared to the state’s major metropolitan areas.

MONTANA Helena: The ongoing dispute between Gov. Steve Bullock and the state’s schools chief deepened Thursday when Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen blasted Bullock for announcing a school mask requirement without consulting her. A spokesperson for the governor said that when consulted, Arntzen refused to give guidance on mask use.

NEBRASKA Plainview: The start of the school year has been delayed in the town after the public school superintendent tested positive for COVID-19.

NEVADA Las Vegas: State officials said Friday that they are developing plans to lower the possibility of contracting the coronavirus in six high-risk counties that include the cities of Las Vegas and Reno.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: A group of notables from the Granite State has recorded public service announcements to get the word out to residents that they can vote absentee during the pandemic. Filmmaker Ken Burns and comedian Seth Meyers are among those participating.

NEW JERSEY Trenton: The Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey is giving a thumbsdown to some of the state’s plans to restart criminal trials next month using a combination of remote and in-person proceedings.

NEW MEXICO Carlsbad: Managers of the federal government’s underground nuclear waste repository here say operations are ongoing despite a rise in COVID-19 cases. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has seen cases among workers more than double in the past week.

NEW YORK Albany: Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that low-risk, indoor cultural activities – including museums – can reopen in New York City starting Aug. 24. And bowling alleys can reopen statewide starting Monday, as long as they stick to a 50% occupancy limit and establish disinfection protocols. The governor said bowling alley staff must close every other lane and bring food and alcohol to customers.

NORTH CAROLINA Chapel Hill:

Fraternity members living in offcampus student housing for the state’s flagship public university have tested positive for COVID-19, school officials said Saturday. The cases at the Sigma Nu house marked the third reported cluster since the semester began Monday.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A local hospital has turned to a Mandan nursing home to help care for some coronavirus patients as cases continue to rise in the region. COVID-19 patients who have been discharged from Sanford Health but still need medical care will go to Sunset Drive Prospera Community. The COVID-19 unit at Sunset will operate with separate entrances, designated staff and personal protective equipment.

OHIO Columbus: State health officials say school districts will not be allowed to use face shields rather than facial coverings or masks in most cases as a means of curbing coronavirus transmission.

OKLAHOMA Okmulgee: The oldest continuously held Black rodeo in the U.S. rode on despite months of uncertainty because of the pandemic, though this year some cowboys wore face masks along with boots. The 65th annual Roy LeBlanc Invitational Rodeo took place Aug. 7-8 with a crowd of about 1,000 and some 200 Black cowboys competing, according to co-owner Kenneth LeBlanc.

OREGON Salem: The state’s total confirmed coronavirus case count surpassed 22,600 Friday, Malheur County was sent back to Phase 1, and Gov. Kate Brown expanded mask requirements to office spaces.

PENNSYLVANIA Lebanon: Lebanon County, which has tangled with Gov. Tom Wolf over his pandemic restrictions, agreed Friday to spend $2.8 million on a universal maskwearing campaign.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: Officials on Block Island have suspended all outdoor entertainment until the end of summer as Gov. Gina Raimondo has singled out the popular vacation destination as “not doing well” amid the coronavirus pandemic.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The city is considering imposing a nightly curfew to slow the spread of COVID-19 as college students return. The proposal is on the agenda for Tuesday’s City Council meeting, The State newspaper reports.

SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: The Department of Health has warned of possible COVID-19 exposure at several businesses across the state, including at the Sioux Empire Fair. The department issued alerts Friday that people may have been exposed to the coronavirus at Bumpin’ Buffalo Bar and Grill in Hill City, 9 Bar and Nightclub in Brookings, and a Big and Rich concert in Sioux Falls.

TENNESSEE Nashville: Gov. Bill Lee on Friday announced $168 million more in COVID-19 relief for small businesses, agriculture, tourism and workforce development through federal coronavirus relief funding.

UTAH Salt Lake City: Sen. Mitt Romney said Friday at a virtual event hosted by the conservative Utahbased Sutherland Institute that politicians attacking the vote-by-mail system are threatening global democracy but stopped short of criticizing President Donald Trump, who has suggested increased mail-in voting because of the pandemic could result in fraud and cost him reelection.

VERMONT Montpelier: Gov. Phil Scott on Friday extended Vermont’s State of Emergency during the coronavirus pandemic for another month, allowing cities and towns with colleges the ability to lower the limits on gatherings and hours to sell alcohol.

VIRGINIA Richmond: Gov. Ralph Northam is looking to block evictions until next spring, boost spending on high-speed internet access for students learning virtually and set aside $1 million for removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The Northam administration released details Friday of the governor’s priorities for this week’s special session.

WASHINGTON Vancouver: A longterm care facility has recorded 40 COVID-19 cases. The outbreak at Avamere Rehabilitation of Cascade Park is Clark County’s largest at a long-term care facility since the county’s first case was discovered in March, The Columbian reports.

WEST VIRGINIA White Sulphur

Springs: Vice President Mike Pence visited Gov. Jim Justice’s resort, The Greenbrier, on Saturday to congratulate the fellow Republican on his coronavirus response, and he pledged to make sure West Virginia continues to have the resources it needs.

WISCONSIN Madison: The body that governs high school sports in the state approved a major overhaul Friday to season structures heading into the new school year, including lengthening games and extending seasons beyond state championship tournaments.

WYOMING Laramie: The University of Wyoming approved a revised reopening plan less than two weeks before classes are due to resume. When the semester starts Aug. 24, all courses will be online, officials said. Students who are not on campus will be encouraged not to come.