50 ★ States
ALABAMA Birmingham: Gayle Manchin, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s wife, who leads an economic development partnership of the federal government and 13 state governments, and a colleague of hers have both been hospitalized following a car crash in Alabama.
ALASKA Juneau: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy urged lawmakers to pass his pilot program that would pay teachers bonuses of up to $15,000 a year, pitching it as an investment in the classroom, even as education leaders say a more significant investment in the state’s K-12 public school system is needed.
ARIZONA Phoenix: A woman was sentenced to 37 years in prison for the 2013 death of her baby daughter from malnutrition and medical neglect, authorities said.
CALIFORNIA Phillips Station: The water content of California’s mountain snowpack was just over half of the normal average on Tuesday, a modest increase from Jan. 1 but still far below the usual, officials said.
COLORADO Ouray: A southwestern Colorado police chief has been placed on paid administrative leave after charges were filed against three men in the case of a 17-year-old girl who reported being raped by more than one person during a party at the chief’s house.
CONNECTICUT Norwich: While Connecticut has had the Connecticut Foundations Solutions Indemnity Company for awhile now, it doesn’t fund all the costs associated with a foundation repair. However, there’s a new program to help fill the gap. The Crumbling Foundation Remediation and Restoration Program is designed to help fund ancillary costs for lowand medium-income households for their foundation repairs.
DELAWARE Wilmington: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and Red Clay school district came to an agreement this week, closing the investigation into a 2023 student-filed case detailing repeated harassment of a Jewish student.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The Environmental Protection Agency will assign artists to treasured bodies of water in the United States under a new program announced at a White House-sponsored conference on exploring ways to use the arts and humanities as another instrument for problem-solving. Leaders from government, the arts, academia and philanthropy gathered in Washington for “Healing, Bridging, Thriving: A Summit on Arts and Culture in our Communities.”
FLORIDA Tallahassee: Floridians could soon be able to kill bears threatening them on their property with no consequences – if they don’t bait or provoke them first or turn them into meals or rugs later. A measure approved in its final House committee stop would allow people without a hunting permit to use fatal force against a bear that’s threatening a human, a pet or a home.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Officials said court and other systems in Georgia’s most populous county were hacked over the weekend, interrupting routine operations, but the district attorney’s office said the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump is unaffected.
HAWAII Honolulu: A family-owned egg farm announced that it will be closing at the end of February after 114 years in Wahiawa, Hawaii News Now reported.
IDAHO Boise: A man has been arrested in the 2023 death of a high school coach, the Idaho Press reported.
ILLINOIS Chicago: The mothers of two teenage boys killed as they left a Chicago high school last week say they’re struggling to believe their sons are really gone.
INDIANA Indianapolis: An 85-yearold Indianapolis man died after being attacked by two dogs, police said.
IOWA Des Moines: Nearly 80 years after his death, a federal agency has identified a pilot who was killed in World War II as a man from Muscatine.
KANSAS Topeka: Fire crews found the burned remnants Tuesday of a prized bronze statue of Jackie Robinson that was stolen last week from a public park in Kansas, authorities said.
KENTUCKY Frankfort: Legislation allowing school districts to expand fleets transporting students to school and home was promoted Monday as a way to fix bus systems hampered by long routes and too few bus drivers.
LOUISIANA Gretna: A Louisiana man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2021 shooting death of another man during a dispute in a line at a suburban New Orleans gas station after Hurricane Ida.
MAINE Augusta: Maine Gov. Janet Mills called for strengthening the state’s yellow flag law, boosting background checks for private sales of weapons and bolstering mental crisis care, telling lawmakers that there’s broad support for action to prevent future tragedies following the deadliest mass shooting in state history.
MARYLAND Salisbury: The Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Fall Oyster Survey recorded a remarkable year for juvenile oysters in Maryland waters, finding prolific numbers throughout the Chesapeake Bay.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Two current and two former Massachusetts State Police troopers were among six people charged Tuesday in a scheme to allegedly take bribes including a new snowblower and driveway in exchange for giving passing scores on commercial driving tests, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
MICHIGAN Detroit: Federal prosecutors have charged a Michigan man with threatening President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Dakota leaders in Minnesota say they were disappointed that a treasure hunt medallion was hidden in a sanctuary they consider to be sacred grounds. The St. Paul Pioneer Press hosts the annual Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt. This year, hunters found the medallion Saturday at Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary in St. Paul. Though the sanctuary is designated as a public park, a nonprofit has partnered with the city to have the area recognized as a sacred space.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: A bill advancing in Mississippi’s Legislature would legalize online sports betting in the state, where analysts say consumer demand continues to fuel a thriving black market.
MISSOURI St. Louis: A jury found a St. Louis rapper not guilty of murder after the 19-year-old claimed he was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed the driver of the Jeep that was following him on his minibike.
MONTANA Sidney: A girl who was reported missing earlier this week has been found Tuesday after a two-day search, the Billings Gazette reported.
NEBRASKA Gering: Authorities said an 18-year-old woman was found dead in a home with high levels of carbon monoxide, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.
NEVADA Las Vegas: When the Tropicana Las Vegas opened in 1957, Nevada’s lieutenant governor unlocked the door to what would become a Sin City landmark for more than a half-century. Then he threw away the key. Six decades later, the storied hotel-casino that once had ties to the mob and was nicknamed the “Tiffany of the Strip,” is set to shut its doors for good to make room for a $1.5 billion Major League Baseball stadium that will be home to the relocating Oakland Athletics.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: State lawmakers considering whether to ban transgender athletes from competing in school sports that align with their gender identities heard from two former athletes who took opposite positions on the bill.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: New Jersey’s public transit agency said it is scrapping plans for a backup power plant that would have been fueled by natural gas, heartening environmental justice advocates who targeted it and several other power plants in largely minority areas.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: A Democratic-backed bill to ban firearms at polling places and near ballot drop boxes won the endorsement of New Mexico’s state Senate in response to concerns about intimidation and fears among poll workers in the run-up to the 2024 election.
NEW YORK Albany: New York will expand its legal definition of rape to include various forms of nonconsensual sexual contact, under a bill signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The No. 2 elected leader in the North Carolina House said that she has been receiving treatment for breast cancer, with the likelihood of a full recovery deemed extremely high. House Speaker Pro Tempore Sarah Stevens said she was diagnosed in August and had a tumor removed. She said she is wrapping up chemotherapy and is about to begin radiation.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A security guard and Democrat is running for governor, a long-shot bid in the Republican-led state.
OHIO Columbus: Ohio’s Republican attorney general put his weight behind a legislative effort to bring nitrogen gas executions to the state, joining what could be a national movement in pro-death penalty states to expand capital punishment on the heels of Alabama’s first use of the method last week.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Watch reported that at least nine teachers were asked to return bonuses ranging from $15,000 to $50,000. A total of $185,000 went to teachers who didn’t qualify for the program at all, and $105,000 was overpaid to teachers who qualified for a lesser amount, the outlet reported. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters suggested in a memo to legislative leaders that some of the errant bonuses were because teachers had “misrepresented their experience and qualifications.”
OREGON Portland: Several elected leaders in Oregon declared a state of emergency for downtown Portland over the public health and public safety crisis fueled by fentanyl. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson made the declaration for a 90-day period during which collaboration and response will come from a command center downtown.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to devote millions of dollars to creating a 10-year economic development plan, including developing commercial and industrial sites, revitalizing an aging workforce and better competing with neighboring states to entice big businesses to choose Pennsylvania.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Despite chronic absenteeism in Rhode Island schools, a new report says the state has been a national leader in keeping youth and young adults connected to education and employment.
SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: A former Greenville County Sheriff ’s deputy was acquitted after a unanimous jury found him not guilty on charges of assault and misconduct in office.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: Sixteen- and 17-year-olds call still wed in South Dakota after a legislative committee shot down an effort to raise the age of marriage to 18.
TENNESSEE Memphis: About
21 hours of newly released video and audio are revealing more about what first responders including the five fired police officers charged in the violent beating death of Tyre Nichols did and said the night Nichols was pulled over and mortally injured. The dozens of recordings were made public by Memphis city officials based on a state judge’s order, which came down the same day that former officer Desmond Mills Jr. pleaded guilty in November to federal charges in the case that sparked outrage around the world and intensified calls for police reform.
TEXAS Austin: The Texas Supreme Court agreed to temporarily halt state Attorney General Ken Paxton’s scheduled testimony in a whistleblower lawsuit that was at the heart of the impeachment charges brought against him in 2023, delaying what could have been the Republican’s first sworn statements on corruption allegations.
UTAH Salt Lake City: Utah became the latest state to regulate bathroom access for transgender people after Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed a law that requires people to use bathrooms and locker rooms in public schools and government-owned buildings that match their sex assigned at birth.
VERMONT Middlesex: Since catastrophic flooding hit Vermont in July and waterlogged crops, some farmers are trying to figure out how to get through the next season.
VIRGINIA Richmond: A Democratcontrolled committee in the Virginia Senate voted against approving Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s pick to lead the state’s parole board, Patricia West.
WASHINGTON Seattle: A Seattle police officer violated policing standards when he made callous remarks about the death of a graduate student from India who was struck by another officer’s vehicle in a crosswalk last year, the city’s Office of Police Accountability said last week.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: People in West Virginia would need to present some form of state-sponsored identification before accessing internet pornography under a bill that advanced in the Republican-dominated state House of Delegates.
WISCONSIN Madison: A Wisconsin judge ruled that state regulators can force factory farms to obtain permits before they discharge pollutants, ensuring protections continue to apply preemptively for lakes, streams and drinking water.
WYOMING Cheyenne: The Wyoming State Treasurer’s Office said that the state’s Unclaimed Property Fund has increased to more than $110 million, the Jackson Hole News and Guide reported.