50 ★ States

ALABAMA Montgomery: Mayor Steven Reed alleged an attempted “shakedown or extortion” after audio snippets from 2020 surfaced online that feature Reed delivering a series of profanity-filled, incendiary statements about race, investment in the city and other topics.

ALASKA Juneau: Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom defended as fair and impartial her pick to lead the state’s elections office, a longtime state employee who has supported Republican candidates and groups. Carol Beecher, who was named to the post by Dahlstrom, told reporters her “political leanings and philosophies don’t play into the decisions that I make.”

ARIZONA Chandler: The person killed over the weekend at a microprocessor manufacturing facility was a 49-year-old man who worked at the plant, authorities said.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: The Supreme Court refused to step into a legal fight over state laws that require contractors to pledge not to boycott Israel. The justices rejected an appeal on behalf of an alternative weekly newspaper in Little Rock that objected to a state law that reduces fees paid to contractors that refuse to sign the pledge.

CALIFORNIA Compton: Dominguez High School was closed Tuesday after a fire ripped through the cafeteria, collapsing the roof. No injuries were reported. The school was closed Monday for Presidents Day.

COLORADO Boulder: A man was arrested after shots were fired at a hotel near the University of Colorado Boulder campus, police said Monday. No injuries were reported.

CONNECTICUT Southington: Police said they found marijuana, cocaine, Ecstasy and a “ghost gun” during a traffic stop, the Hartford Courant reports.

DELAWARE Milford: Longtime political candidate Scott Walker is arguing in a federal lawsuit that his alcoholism classifies him as disabled and that he should not have been cited with drunk driving by police. Walker argues police should have heeded his request to be left alone in order to sober up after being found semi-nude and sleeping behind the wheel of his running car in a restaurant drivethru. Having not followed his request, police violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, he claims.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington:

Police are searching for the suspects accused of stealing more than $4,000 of merchandise from a Lululemon store in Northwest D.C, WUSATV reports.

FLORIDA Fort Pierce: An 85-year-old woman was killed by an alligator while walking her dog in a senior living community, officials said. The woman was walking her dog beside a canal in Spanish Lakes Fairway near Fort Pierce when the nearly 11-foot gator attacked the dog, St. Lucie Sheriff Ken Mascara said.

GEORGIA Atlanta: Senators want to spend less on subsidizing local school district health costs than the House, seeking a more rapid phase-in of a big health insurance premium increase that districts would pay.

HAWAII Honolulu: The city received thousands of dollars in fines after an investigation determined that workers at Koko Head Shooting Complex weren’t provided with the proper personal protective equipment while cleaning the gun range, Hawaii News Now reports. Authorities have been looking into worker safety at the facility; tests last year revealed that workers had above-normal lead levels, according to the news outlet.

IDAHO Boise: A House committee voted to introduce legislation that would ban TikTok from state government-issued devices, the Idaho Press reports, and violation would be a misdemeanor crime.

ILLINOIS Toulon: Illinois State Police have identified a man who was fatally shot last weekend by officers he had tried to attack with a machete as they were serving an arrest warrant. State police said that Rodney G. Williams, 66, died following Saturday morning’s shooting at his apartment.

INDIANA Indianapolis: Teachers in public schools could be required to tell parents if a student changes their gender identity or preferred name under a bill House committee members approved Monday.

IOWA Des Moines: A teen will likely spend decades in prison after being the first to plead guilty to murder in a fatal drive-by shooting outside East High School. Romeo Perdomo, now 17, is one of 10 youths charged in the 2022 shooting.

KANSAS Burlington: The state is pursuing federal funding for a second microchip plant, this time at a location an hour south of Topeka dubbed “silicon prairie,” with the aid of about $371 million taxpayer-funded subsidies.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: The House Education Committee advanced a measure that was touted as a “good first step” to attract and retain more educators. The measure would allow interim certificates to be granted to people wanting to teach their subjects of expertise. The bill also calls for the creation of a marketing plan to recruit students into teaching and a statewide job posting system for teacher vacancies, if funding becomes available for both initiatives.

MAINE Augusta: The Senate acted swiftly to confirm to the state supreme court a judge who was responsible for innovations in drug treatment and mental health cases. The Senate voted 26-1 to confirm Justice Wayne Douglas to the Supreme Judicial Court in the first floor session since his nomination was advanced by the Judiciary Committee.

MARYLAND Salisbury: Police Chief Barbara Duncan has announced that she will retire at the end of June, bringing an end to her 13-year career with the Salisbury Police Department.

MASSACHUSETTS Nantucket: An intact lower human jawbone, believed to be less than 100 years old, was found on Wauwinet Beach along the east side of the island, according to authorities. The bone was brought to the state medical examiner.

MICHIGAN Sault Ste. Marie: For the first time at Lake Superior State University, LGBTQ students will have a scholarship available to them. President of LSSU, Dr. Rodney Hanley, and first lady Sara Gunhus-Hanley created the scholarship to promote diversity, equity and inclusion within the university.

MINNESOTA St. Cloud: A winter storm warning is expected to turn over to a blizzard warning by Wednesday evening. The National Weather Service in St. Cloud says to expect widespread blowing snow, with a low around 5 degrees and wind chill values as low as -15. New snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches is possible.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Gov. Tate Reeves has proposed a plan to submit to the legislature that would use $1.3 billion on as many as 49 infrastructure and economic development projects throughout the state.

MISSOURI Willard: Authorities said at least one person broke into Willard High School early Sunday, though it was not immediately clear if there was any damage or missing items.

MONTANA Great Falls: A 15-yearold boy was shot while walking to school, and he suffered life-threatening injuries, police said. Two suspects are in custody.

NEBRASKA Omaha: The city’s Public Works Department shut down part of 14th Street downtown on Monday ahead of construction of Mutual of Omaha’s new $600 million office tower, a road closure expected to last up to three years, the Omaha World-Herald reports.

NEVADA Thacker Pass: Two tribes are seeking to have Thacker Pass added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Thacker Pass region, located in northern Humboldt County, is a sacred and culturally important site used for gathering edible and medicinal plants, hunting and fishing and conducting ceremonies for Paiute and Shoshone people.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Portsmouth: Police are investigating after numerous city businesses and institutions were hit overnight by spray-painted swastikas and other symbols. The latest targets of hate in the community included Temple Israel and a coffee shop owned by the city’s assistant mayor, who is Black.

NEW JERSEY Paterson: Paterson Public Schools authorities have announced new measures aimed at stemming violence following a stabbing outside a high school last week that killed one teenager and wounded another. They said that police had agreed to provide walking police patrols on streets around Paterson’s Eastside High School from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed to use zero-interest loans to help local governments in the arid, Southwest state repair or replace public infrastructure damaged by wildfires or subsequent flooding. The law follows last year’s historic Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon blaze that exploded into the largest wildfire in the state’s recorded history.

NEW YORK Queens: A 25-foot minke whale that washed ashore on Rockaway Beach had injuries that were consistent with being struck by a vessel, according to a conservation group.

NORTH CAROLINA Asheville: Police body camera footage from Dec. 25, 2021, in Aston Park, a night when officers made multiple arrests, including that of two reporters, will likely soon be available on the city YouTube page, following a hearing in Buncombe County Superior Court.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The House passed a bill that would allow dairy farmers to sell raw milk at their farms, Forum News Service reports. Some state health and agriculture officials opposed the measure, according to the news outlet.

OHIO Oakwood Village: A maintenance worker was killed in explosion at a metals plant that sparked a large fire and sent more than a dozen people to hospitals, with at least two in critical condition, authorities said.

OKLAHOMA Norman: More than 30 years after becoming the youngest gamer in the inaugural Nintendo World Championships, a resident is putting memorabilia from the event up for auction.

OREGON Portland: The drivers of two vehicles drag racing over the weekend lost control and crashed, killing one of the drivers, authorities said. Police responded late Saturday to the two-vehicle crash, involving one vehicle that caught fire.

PENNSYLVANIA State College: Hundreds of Penn State students have raised more than $15 million for pediatric cancer patients in the annual 46-hour dance marathon known as Thon. The $15,006,132.46 total was announced Sunday at the conclusion of the Penn State Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, billed as the world’s largest student-run philanthropy.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: Rhode Island congressman David Cicilline said he will step down to lead his home state’s largest funder of nonprofits. The Democrat, who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Committee on the Judiciary, was named president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, effective June. 1.

SOUTH CAROLINA Latta: A trooper and a driver running from a traffic stop fired at each other, authorities said. No injuries were reported in the gun battle, state Public Safety Department spokesperson Kyle McGahee said in a statement.

SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: Authorities are searching for a suspect they say burglarized Grandview Elementary School, the Rapid City Journal reports. Police say they have not found evidence that any items were taken, but papers and files were strewn about the main office, according to the news outlet.

TENNESSEE Memphis: A second man has been charged in connection with a shooting at a nightclub that left one person dead and 10 others injured.

TEXAS El Paso: A juvenile was arrested in connection with a hoax bomb threat received on Friday by passengers aboard an airliner departing from El Paso to Chicago, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

UTAH Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its investment arm have been fined $5 million for using shell companies to obscure the size of the portfolio under church control, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced.

VERMONT South Burlington: The Ho-Hum Motel on Williston Road, which was converted in 2020 to an isolation and quarantine residence for anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, will undergo another transformation, becoming long-term apartments for the homeless.

VIRGINIA Richmond: A bill that would have given cities and counties the option to ask local voters to approve a sales tax surcharge to finance school construction has died in the General Assembly. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the bill would have broadened the special permission the legislature has already given eight counties and the city of Danville.

WASHINGTON Bremerton: Two people were killed and two others seriously injured in a stabbing incident at a home for people who are recovering from addiction, authorities said.

WEST VIRGINIA Beckley: Children can bring two-dimensional characters to life as part of an exhibit called Animationland at the Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia. Beckley Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Baker said the new exhibit incorporates science, technology, engineering, art and math.

WISCONSIN Milwaukee: Five vehicles were vandalized in the visitor and staff parking lot of Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital, including one that is part of the Horizon Hospice fleet, according to Milwaukee Police.

WYOMING Cheyenne: The Senate passed a bill that would restore civil rights, such as owning a gun and serving on a jury, to nonviolent felons, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. The bill has to pass several more votes before becoming law.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports