50 ★ States

ALABAMA Montgomery: Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth said he returned to work Wednesday after being diagnosed with COVID-19 last week. Ainsworth said he completed a quarantine after a positive test last Wednesday for the coronavirus.

ALASKA Anchorage: The city is on a “dangerous path” as coronavirus cases rise, its health director said Wednesday as officials implored people to avoid gatherings and follow orders to wear masks in public.

ARIZONA Phoenix: State health officials on Thursday reported more than 1,300 additional known COVID-19 cases as seven-day rolling averages for new cases, new deaths and testing positivity in the state all rose over the past two weeks.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: A tenth state lawmaker, Rep. Marcus Richmond, tested positive for the coronavirus Wednesday in what has become the second-largest outbreak of the virus in a state legislature.

CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: The city is again considering a proposal to greatly restrict where homeless people may camp in public places around the city – rules that opponents say would criminalize homelessness.

COLORADO Denver: The state attorney general’s office has issued a cease-and-desist letter to the coowner of a Fort Morgan mobile home park who distributed a notice to tenants saying their rent could double if Democrat Joe Biden wins the presidential election.

CONNECTICUT Storrs: The University of Connecticut is suspending a new free-tuition program for lowerincome students as it struggles to raise private funds amid a pandemic.

DELAWARE Dover: The state attorney general’s office has backed away from a suggestion that anyone handing out literature at polling places that accurately cites state law on voter fraud could be charged with voter intimidation and has confirmed that Delawareans are not prohibited by state law from carrying firearms while voting.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washing

ton: Capital One Arena, Nationals Park, and the Wizards Sports and Entertainment Arena are among D.C. sports venues that have been turned into voting centers amid efforts to maintain social distancing during the pandemic, WUSA-TV reports.

FLORIDA Tallahassee: Gov. Ron DeSantis couldn’t initially cast his ballot this week because someone illegally changed his address online, a complication that resulted in a suspect’s arrest on felony charges and raised questions about the security of the state’s online registration system.

GEORGIA Rome: The school system sent all its students home to take classes virtually for 10 days because of coronavirus infections and quarantines. The Rome system said Tuesday that the district of 6,400 students would switch to all-online instruction Wednesday through Nov. 6.

HAWAII Honolulu: Oahu’s short-term vacation rental industry can operate again after the lifting of coronavirus restrictions that hammered business. The island’s vacation rental occupancy for September fell to 14.5%, a 59% decrease from 2019, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports.

IDAHO Coeur d’Alene: It is legal to wear T-shirts or buttons supporting candidates or issues to the polls, as long there is no overt politicking done by that person, an opinion from the Idaho attorney general’s office states.

ILLINOIS Springfield: Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that his administration is collecting and will make public the data to justify his COVID-19 restrictions on indoor dining after Senate Republicans urged him to release the numbers.

INDIANA Indianapolis: Jonathan Weinzapfel, the Democratic candidate for state attorney general, is calling on Indiana to legalize marijuana, saying doing so would reduce the state’s prison and jail populations and generate millions of dollars for public education.

IOWA Des Moines: The state’s numbers of coronavirus cases, deaths and hospitalizations continued to surge higher Wednesday as medical professionals have begun to express concern that hospitals could be overwhelmed with patients if no action is taken to slow the virus’s spread.

KANSAS Wichita: A retired firefighter charged with threatening to kidnap and kill the mayor because he was upset about the city’s mask ordinance had been texting an acquaintance on the City Council for more than a month before his arrest, newly released court records show in the case against Meredith Dowty, who was charged last week with three counts of criminal threat.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: Facing its worst coronavirus outbreak since the pandemic began, the state surged past 100,000 total COVID-19 cases Wednesday as Gov. Andy Beshear bluntly warned that people are putting themselves at risk if they fail to wear masks in public.

LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: The state’s chief elections officer said he is assessing how Hurricane Zeta may affect the ability to cast ballots Tuesday after the storm caused widespread power and structure damage. Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin said emergency polling stations will be set up if needed.

MAINE Portland: Absentee ballots continue to flood into clerk’s offices, and the processing has started. Clerks normally cannot begin processing absentee ballots until the Friday before Election Day, but an executive order by Gov. Janet Mills allowed local election officials to begin processing them Tuesday.

MARYLAND Annapolis: As health officials face skepticism about rushed COVID-19 vaccines, the state will conduct outreach efforts to promote trust in a vaccine when a safe one becomes available, Maryland’s deputy health secretary said Wednesday.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The first coronavirus testing site at Logan International Airport opened Wednesday. The site will be for airport and airline employees at first but will start testing travelers in mid-November, health and wellness company XpresSpa Group said.

MICHIGAN Lansing: The Democratic governor and top state elections official on Wednesday defended the integrity of the election amid continued attacks from President Donald Trump, saying that results may take longer in close contests because of the surge in absentee voting but that every valid ballot would be counted.

MINNESOTA Minneapolis: State health officials warned Wednesday against traditional Halloween festivities. Their guidance describes lower-risk activities as carving pumpkins and decorating homes, virtual gatherings, and in-home activities with household members like watching a movie.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Having enough poll workers, securing ballots, and ensuring election workers and voters are safe from COVID-19 are challenges local election officials say they have to face for Tuesday’s election. Officials say they’re using plexiglass barriers, recruiting poll workers online and supplying personal protection equipment at precincts, and voters in some counties will be given disposable pens to sign poll books and mark ballots.

MISSOURI Columbia: A federal judge refused to intervene Wednesday to keep open a lab that handled coronavirus tests for about 2,500 nursing homes in 11 states after the federal government suspended the lab for what it alleged were serious violations that put patients’ health at risk. U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool said Gamma Healthcare was in effect asking him to step into a role that belongs to regulators.

MONTANA Helena: A staff member in Gov. Steve Bullock’s office tested positive for the coronavirus, a spokesperson for the governor said Wednesday, but Bullock and Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney have tested negative.

NEBRASKA Omaha: A former TV weatherman and spokesman for a former mayor has been sentenced to two years of probation for emailing death threats to a local health department director over her handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Ronald Penzkowski, 58, was sentenced Tuesday, the Omaha World-Herald reports.

NEVADA Carson City: Businesses may close, and hospitals may need to adopt “crisis standards” that include care rationing, if the coronavirus continues to spread at current rates, state leaders said Wednesday. “I don’t care who says it: We are not rounding the corner,” Gov. Steve Sisolak said.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Penny Dean, an attorney arguing against allowing the 400-member state House to hold remote sessions during the coronavirus pandemic, falsely claimed Thursday that the flu usually kills more people than COVID-19.

NEW JERSEY Trenton: The state’s ballot question on legalizing recreational marijuana has led to more than $2 million in campaign fundraising, mostly by groups in favor of cannabis, the state’s Election Law Enforcement Commission said Thursday. The campaign already ranks in the top 10 costliest ballot questions in state history, according to the commission.

NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: As many as 4 in 5 public school students are failing at least one class in some of the state’s school districts, according to data made public Wednesday by legislative analysts. State lawmakers are considering the impact of school closures, educational challenges posed by remote learning and learning losses attributed to far less in-person schooling because of the pandemic.

NEW YORK New York: The U.S. Justice Department vastly expanded an inquiry Wednesday that could determine whether the state is undercounting coronavirus deaths among nursing home residents, demanding detailed data from hundreds of private facilities.

NORTH CAROLINA Durham: Two restaurant owners in the city have won a lawsuit they filed accusing their insurance company of not honoring its contract when they had to close their businesses due to the coronavirus, according to a spokesperson for a company run by one of the owners.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The state’s death toll from COVID-19 neared 500 on Thursday, with health officials reporting 11 more deaths.

OHIO Columbus: Employers will receive a record $5 billion in repayments from the state insurance fund for injured workers to help with the financial impact of the pandemic, Gov. Mike DeWine and the fund’s administrator said Wednesday.

OREGON Salem: With less than a week to go until Election Day, more than 57% of registered voters in the state have already cast their ballots. At this point during the past three presidential elections, fewer than 44% of Oregonians had returned their ballots.

PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: State liquor regulators on Wednesday waived nearly $28 million in 2021 fees for bars, restaurants, hotels and other retail licensees that have been hit hard by the pandemic and stateimposed restrictions.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: The state attorney general’s office on Thursday issued a warning to landlords to remind them that evicting a tenant without a court order is illegal and may result in prosecution.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: More than 1 million votes have already been cast in November’s election in the state. The millionth vote – all by absentee ballot so far – was recorded sometime Wednesday, according to data from the South Carolina Election Commission.

SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: The state reported a record number of daily COVID-19 deaths Thursday, with 19. The number of hospitalizations also inched up to 413 – the fifth day in a row it has hit a new high.

TENNESSEE Nashville: The state is considering independently reviewing the safety and efficacy of a coronavirus vaccine once it is eventually approved by the federal government before distributing it to the public, Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey said Wednesday.

TEXAS Austin: The state’s surge in coronavirus cases has raised COVID-19 hospitalizations by almost 2,500 since Oct. 1. The 5,650 hospitalizations reported Wednesday were also the most since Aug. 19.

UTAH Salt Lake City: Republican Burgess Owens is refunding and reallocating illegal campaign donations that went above contribution limits. The former football player challenging U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams collected about $135,000 in excess contributions, the New York Times reports.

VERMONT Thetford: Two state lawmakers from districts near the New Hampshire border are asking Vermont officials for flexibility after new virus rules restrict nonessential travel between the two states.

VIRGINIA Richmond: Southwest Virginia is seeing a sustained, troubling increase in cases of COVID-19 driven partly by small family gatherings, the governor and top health officials said Wednesday, as one area health system warned that its resources were being stretched thin.

WASHINGTON Seattle: State health officials say a new COVID-19 report shows an increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations throughout Washington. If not brought under control, officials said the spike could jeopardize progress toward reopening schools, strain the health care system and increase risks during the holiday season.

WEST VIRGINIA Huntington: Marshall University plans to continue a combination of in-person, virtual and online classes for the spring semester due to the coronavirus pandemic.

WISCONSIN Madison: The University of Wisconsin-Madison will resume enrolling patients for a coronavirus vaccine trial next week. Thirty-six people had received the first of two shots before the study at the School of Medicine and Public Health was paused in September.

WYOMING Laramie: Nearly 80 positions will be eliminated, the operations budget will be cut, and the athletic department will cut travel costs and reduce salaries as the University of Wyoming addresses a $42 million budget deficit exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.