50 ★ States

ALABAMA Tuscaloosa: Alabama football coach Nick Saban, former NBA star Charles Barkley and other sports figures have taped a public service announcement encouraging residents to get COVID-19 shots, saying that’s the way to ensure stadiums are filled and “loud again” this fall.

ALASKA Anchorage: A coronavirus outbreak at an April high school wrestling tournament has been linked to more than 20 infections in five communities, health officials say.

ARIZONA Phoenix: A woman who became a national figure after her father died of COVID-19 has teamed up with a congressman to urge increased efforts to bring more vaccine doses into Latino neighborhoods. Kristin Urquiza joined Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego at a vaccine information stand in a south Phoenix shopping center Friday to underscore the need to bring more doses into areas the congressman represents.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: The state is ending its participation in the federal unemployment program that gives workers an additional $300 a week, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Friday, citing a shortage of workers.

CALIFORNIA Sacramento: The state’s population fell for the first time on record last year, halting a growth streak dating to its founding in 1850 on the heels of a gold rush. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration said the decline is an outlier, blaming it on the pandemic that turned everything upside down in 2020.

COLORADO Denver: A Democratbacked bill designed to curb health insurance costs for individuals and small businesses hit hard by the pandemic advanced in the state House.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: In a virtual commencement speech Saturday, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona praised new University of Connecticut graduates for their work in helping to respond to the pandemic. He touted student efforts including contact tracing, administering vaccines, helping monitor patients with severe COVID-19, designing ventilators, and distributing thousands of gallons of milk and other dairy goods to food pantries around the state.

DELAWARE Wilmington: Oddity Bar, the city’s last remaining rock club, has changed owners and will officially reopen May 21, the date the state’s restaurant restrictions will be relaxed, requiring only 3 feet of social distancing with no capacity limits.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The National Gallery of Art will reemerge from a six-month hibernation, reopening the West Building’s doors Friday, WUSA-TV reports. FLORIDA Key West: After skipping a year because of the pandemic, organizers say the annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest is set to return to the Florida Keys on July 22-24 with a reduced entry field.

GEORGIA Tybee Island: Movie crews are returning to the beach for the first time since the coronavirus forced a long pause between productions.

HAWAII Honolulu: Lawmakers’ efforts to steer federal coronavirus relief funds earmarked for education toward teacher bonuses and air conditioning upgrades have raised legal issues and fairness questions, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports.

IDAHO Boise: Lawmakers are waiting to see whether Republican Gov. Brad Little vetoes any of the more than 30 bills that remained unsigned when the state House and Senate went into recess late Wednesday. By the time lawmakers return next Wednesday, Little’s deadline to decide on most or all those bills will have passed.

ILLINOIS Springfield: Outdoor dining tents have been popping up like spring flowers at eateries, even with 50% capacity now allowed for dine-in service. The city and Downtown Springfield Inc. are working on how to help more dining establishments set up “parklets,” or seasonal spaces with the use of temporary decks installed over existing parking lanes.

INDIANA Whiting: The city is bringing back its annual Pierogi Fest this July, a year after the festival built around the Polish delicacy was canceled because of the pandemic.

IOWA Des Moines: Nearly 90% of counties have turned down some or all of the doses the state offered their local health departments this week.

KANSAS Topeka: Republican lawmakers have passed proposals to ban COVID-19 vaccine passports, limit efforts to track down the close contacts of people with the coronavirus, and give up to $500 million to businesses that closed or faced pandemic restrictions.

KENTUCKY Louisville: Starting May 28, outdoor events and gatherings with fewer than 1,000 people can be held at 75% capacity, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. Retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and hair salons that cater to fewer than 1,000 people may also operate at 75% capacity beginning May 28.

LOUISIANA New Orleans: The state is adding utility payment assistance to a federally funded program established to help renters and landlords affected by the pandemic, the governor’s office announced Friday.

MAINE Portland: The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital intensive care units has reached alarming levels despite progress vaccinating residents, officials say.

MARYLAND Annapolis: Gov. Larry Hogan has announced a $25 million initiative aimed at helping students recover from the pandemic’s destructive effects on mental and emotional health. Project Bounce Back will include the creation of six regional crisis teams.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Under relaxed restrictions starting Monday, amusement parks, theme parks and outdoor water parks will be permitted to operate at 50% capacity after submitting safety plans to the state Department of Public Health. Road races and other large, outdoor organized athletic events will be permitted with staggered starts and other safety measures.

MICHIGAN Lansing: Three public universities have announced COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The University of Michigan’s Dearborn location will require everyone on campus to provide proof of vaccination or weekly negative coronavirus tests. The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Oakland University both will require vaccines for students who want to live on campus.

MINNESOTA St. Paul: Residents can now walk in for a COVID-19 shot without an appointment at the state’s Community Vaccination Program locations, the governor’s office announced Friday.

MISSISSIPPI Ocean Springs: Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College says it’s broken the Guinness World Record for the largestever jambalaya. WXXV25-TV reports the roughly 3,700-pound dish, part of a May 1 fundraiser for campus food pantries, fed over 2,000 people in need during the event. MISSOURI Point Lookout: The College of the Ozarks will reopen parts of its campus to visitors Monday.

MONTANA Helena: Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law Friday a bill that prohibits actions – like many taken amid the pandemic – that would affect the bottom line for businesses. Lewis and Clark and Gallatin counties said it meant they couldn’t enforce mask mandates.

NEBRASKA Omaha: State lawmakers on Thursday gave initial approval to watered-down coronavirus protections for meatpacking workers, but the measure faced significant opposition even though many plants are already following the proposed requirements.

NEVADA Las Vegas: The state’s higher education system is moving toward generally requiring students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to return to campus in the fall. The system said its possible mandate is contingent on full authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 vaccines and approval by the state Board of Regents and the State Board of Health.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Masks are no longer mandatory at the Statehouse, which remains closed to everyone but lawmakers and staff, after the Republican-led Joint Facilities Committee voted 8-4 along party lines Friday to remove the requirement.

NEW JERSEY Trenton: Restrictions put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 reversed a decade’s worth of tourism growth in the Garden State, an analysis released Thursday found. The number of people visiting New Jersey in 2020 dropped 27% from 2019 to 86.4 million visitors, according to the New Jersey Department of Travel and Tourism. And spending was $29.4 billion, down 37% from 2019.

NEW MEXICO Las Cruces: Many municipal employees who have worked remotely during the pandemic are back at their regular work sites. Most city workers were deemed essential and worked on site, but up to 40% of the work force had been working remotely.

NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Health officials are examining ideas from other states to see what incentives might boost vaccine participation. Among the proposals being actively discussed are savings account payments to younger adults – a group that has been less willing to get the vaccine, according to Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Gov. Doug Burgum has partially vetoed a bill aimed at penalizing the state’s 11 colleges and universities for funneling federal grant money to individuals or organizations that promote or perform abortions.

OHIO Cincinnati: GOP Gov. Mike DeWine has gotten criticism from within his own party for his aggressive anti-coronavirus measures, but the state’s Democratic U.S. senator had praise for him Friday. “I think the governor has had a steady hand in this,” Sen. Sherrod Brown said while visiting the Cincinnati Health Department to promote vaccinations. “I wish I could say the same about the Legislature and the way the Legislature has politicized this.” OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The state has secured a $2.6 million refund for the purchase of a malaria drug once touted by President Donald Trump as an effective treatment for COVID-19, Attorney General Mike Hunter said Friday.

OREGON Salem: A Republican lawmaker who authorities say let violent protesters into the state Capitol in December says he is ill with COVID19. “I have a really bad case of COVID, and I’m kind of on the mend a little bit,” Rep. Mike Nearman said on a conservative radio talk show. He faces a hearing in Marion County Circuit Court on Tuesday on charges of official misconduct in the first degree and criminal trespass in the second degree for the Dec. 21 breach of the Oregon Capitol by people protesting coronavirus restrictions. Despite having gotten sick, Nearman said mask-wearing, shutdowns and other edicts should be voluntary.

PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The state is doing away with its own map of vaccine providers and says people looking for a COVID-19 shot should go to the federal government’s provider map at vaccines.gov.

RHODE ISLAND Pawtucket: The Chinese Dragon Boat Races & Taiwan Day Festival scheduled for this summer has been canceled over coronavirus concerns. The event is confined to a pier along the Pawtucket River, curbing options for distancing.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: A proviso in the state Senate’s version of the state budget would cut funding for school districts where more than 5% of students opt for virtual programs in the fall.

SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Child protection advocates are worried that the COVID-19 pandemic led to a spike in child-abuse cases and that the abuse was more severe than in the past. They are also concerned the pandemic led to an increase in childon-child abuse that was more rare prior to the arrival of the coronavirus.

TENNESSEE Nashville: Officials are moving forward with a plan to map out just where hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans without access to high-speed internet live, following the lead of other states that no longer rely on federal maps that overstate coverage in some communities.

TEXAS Austin: A district judge has tossed out a lawsuit by state Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who argued that his constitutional rights were violated by a Texas Senate rule that requires visitors to take a coronavirus test before gaining access to the Senate gallery and hearing rooms.

UTAH Salt Lake City: Gov. Spencer Cox said Thursday that the state has no plans to require masks for K-12 students i next fall, following months of mounting pressure from parents calling for the mandate’s end.

VERMONT Montpelier: The state could ask the federal government for vaccine in excess of the 25,000 doses a week it currently receives, officials said Friday. Unlike some states that aren’t using all the doses they are allocated and are even declining to accept some of what they are offered, Vermont is keeping up with its vaccination schedule.

VIRGINIA Annandale: Tens of thousands of Republicans, some waiting in long lines of cars, cast ballots Saturday to choose nominees for governor and other statewide offices at a drive-thru nominating convention. Because pandemic restrictions ban mass gatherings, delegates cast ballots at nearly 40 polling sites.

WASHINGTON Seattle: The University of Washington will require all students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before fall classes start.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The state will lift its mask mandate June 20 after officials projected more than two-thirds of eligible residents will be vaccinated against COVID-19 by then, Gov. Jim Justice announced Friday. And even if that target isn’t met, Justice said the mandate will still end on that date, also known as West Virginia Day, which marks the state’s admission into the union. “We’ll be close enough,” he said.

WISCONSIN Madison: The Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed a lawsuit Friday demanding that state corrections officials relax coronavirus protocols and allow ministers to visit inmates.

WYOMING Cheyenne: Gov. Mark Gordon is barring state officials from requiring people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before they may access state property or services.