50 ★ States
ALABAMA Montgomery: A program to aid families with students who are limited to distance learning this fall will provide $100 million in vouchers for increased internet service, according to the state.
ALASKA Anchorage: Health officials reported 159 new COVID-19 cases in the state Sunday, including 111 within the Municipality of Anchorage. Cases have sharply climbed in the past few months since Alaska began reopening businesses and public facilities.
ARIZONA Window Rock: Lawmakers on the Navajo Nation have approved a massive spending bill to respond to the coronavirus pandemic that includes money for water projects, power lines, broadband and casino employees who have been laid off.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: The state reported 637 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday but no deaths.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: Demonstrators who gathered again Sunday outside the home of Mayor Eric Garcetti called on the city to cancel rent for people finding it hard to make ends meet as the coronavirus pandemic ravages the state’s economy.
COLORADO Colorado Springs: An argument over social distancing led to a fistfight in a Walmart between two women Friday, police said.
CONNECTICUT Greenwich: A flareup of coronavirus cases is being partly blamed on a series of parties involving young people, whose families are not cooperating with contact tracing efforts, local officials said.
DELAWARE Wilmington: State officials and housing advocates concerned about a wave of homelessness as federal unemployment benefits expire are rushing to set up a new way to hear eviction cases in hopes of settling as many landlord-tenant disputes out of court as possible. The goal, court officials said, is to create a slowed-down, mostly virtual track for landlord-tenant cases to “flatten the curve” of potential evictions.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Thirty children and their families in D.C.’s most underserved communities are learning how to eat and live healthily thanks to the Virtual Foodprints program, WUSA-TV reports. In light of the pandemic, the nonprofit Freshfarm has a virtual seven-week course that delivers free groceries and garden supplies weekly.
FLORIDA Tallahassee: State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Monday unveiled a public awareness campaign urging Floridians to keep their distance and wear masks in the latest pressure tactic aimed at Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ resistance to a mandatory mask order.
GEORGIA Atlanta: The state’s 26 public universities could lose nearly $500 million in room, board and student fees if no students return to campus this fall, according to information obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The University System of Georgia made the estimates as some faculty, staff and students pressure administrators to conduct all classes online, or at least offer that as an option.
HAWAII Honolulu: The lieutenant governor has warned that the state’s current rate of increase in coronavirus infections could result in a significant public health impact in the next month. Democratic Lt. Gov. Josh Green said hospitals could soon be filled with COVID-19 patients, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports.
IDAHO Boise: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an Idaho group must stop collecting online signatures for an education funding initiative for the November ballot. The ruling ends for now Reclaim Idaho’s attempt to collect enough signatures during the coronavirus pandemic for the initiative seeking to raise $170 million for K-12 education.
ILLINOIS Springfield: There were 1,467 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state and 14 more confirmed deaths, the Illinois Department of Public Health said Sunday.
INDIANA Indianapolis: More than half of the state’s nonprofit groups that provide services to those in need have cut back on programs or reduced their capacity in recent months due to the impact of the pandemic, according to a report from the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University and Indiana United Ways.
IOWA Des Moines: Multiple religious leaders on Monday called on Gov. Kim Reynolds to issue a public mask mandate. Iowa and South Dakota are the only states that do not have some type of public mask requirement, according to Masks4All, a volunteer group that advocates for more mask-wearing.
KANSAS Hays: Officials in this college town in conservative western Kansas are embracing a mask ordinance in hopes of making residents and incoming students feel safe, even as surrounding communities have balked at such efforts.
KENTUCKY Louisville: Sharing “good news for today,” Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday announced 323 new coronavirus cases and only two new deaths. But he also said people should expect more deaths in August after high numbers in July.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: The state Department of Health is accusing some rural parish officials of misusing lists of patients who tested positive for the coronavirus, violating privacy laws and misinterpreting the data to claim the virus outbreak is less severe than it is.
MAINE Portland: A meeting of governors from around the country that had been scheduled to take place in the city Wednesday has been moved online to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
MARYLAND Annapolis: Gov. Larry Hogan on Saturday criticized an order by the health officer for Montgomery County that requires private schools to remain closed for inperson instruction through Oct. 1 and to conduct online-only classes due to the coronavirus.
MASSACHUSETTS Provincetown: Health officials in the city are asking the state to make it possible to get results for coronavirus tests within 48 hours to help contain its spread. The population of Provincetown has increased in the busy summer tourist season even during the pandemic and amid an increase in owners of second homes working remotely.
MICHIGAN Houghton: Michigan Tech University students want to help other students who didn’t qualify for federal financial help related to the coronavirus. Michigan Tech set up the Husky Emergency Assistance Fund months ago. The graduate student government organization now is pledging to match up to $10,000 in donations from other students. Students received $350 federal grants from the university, but some students might not need the money. Others might not have qualified, especially if they’re from outside the U.S.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: The state faces a potential $4.7 billion deficit in its next two-year budget due to continued economic fallout from the pandemic, according to a new planning estimate from the Minnesota Management and Budget office.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Belhaven University is trying to attract and retain students during the coronavirus pandemic by providing full-tuition scholarships to earn graduate degrees online.
MISSOURI Springfield: At Fordland School District, officials are taking a different approach when it comes to substitute teachers, employing a permanent, full-time sub who fills in as needed and helps with other duties even if no teachers are absent. Superintendent Chris Ford, who suggested the idea about two years ago, said it’s “going to become much more vital for us” in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
MONTANA Billings: Health officials have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases in several inmates at the Big Horn County jail.
NEBRASKA Omaha: Gov. Pete Ricketts said Monday that he remains confident the benefits of reopening schools this fall outweigh the risks posed by the coronavirus and that he thinks students can return to the classroom safely. Ricketts said it’s important to reopen schools because of the academic, social, behavioral and nutritional benefits.
NEVADA Las Vegas: The Electric Daisy Carnival will not be happening this year. Organizers of the electronic dance music festival announced Sunday that the event, which had been postponed to October, will be pushed to May 2021.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department says the pandemic is contributing to an increase in problems with bears. More people are staying home, which means more garbage bins full of food waste. And bird watchers kept their feeders up longer into the summer.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday that he’s reducing the limit on indoor gatherings to 25% percent capacity, with a cap of 25 people down from 100. Too many indoor house parties have led to trends creeping in the wrong direction, Murphy said. “The actions of a few knuckleheads leave us no choice,” he said.
NEW MEXICO Rio Rancho: The leader of the New Mexico group Cowboys for Trump has been barred from in-person visits with his son following social media posts that have generated threats and for refusing to abide by COVID-19 mask requirements, a state district judge ruled. District Judge Mary Rosner ruled that Couy Griffin can only see his son on FaceTime calls after he ignored orders to remove social media photos of his son at Cowboys for Trump events, without a mask.
NEW YORK Albany: Democratic and Republican lawmakers grilled the state’s top health official Monday about the steep, though ultimately unknown, death toll at the state’s nursing homes amid the coronavirus pandemic. Members of the Democratic-led Legislature are holding hearings geared at understanding why and how the pandemic took root in nursing homes.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Wake County officials have set aside money to help families who are late in paying their utility bills due to COVID-19. The county will give up to $500 per household to help residents pay their overdue bill, The News & Observer of Raleigh reports.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Health officials reported Monday that the number of active coronavirus cases in the state remains above 1,000.
OHIO Cincinnati: The Ohio Department of Health reported 932 new cases of coronavirus Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 93,963. There were 10 new deaths reported Monday, increasing the state’s virus death toll to 3,539. Hospitalizations increased by 92, bringing the total number to 10,992.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The state’s reported coronavirus cases rose by 377 on Monday, with another death due to the illness caused by the virus, the Oklahoma State Department of Health said.
OREGON Salem: A rapid increase in bottle and can redemption since the COVID-19 pandemic began suggests people are buying more beverages to drink at home.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: State health officials on Monday reported no new deaths attributed to COVID-19 for the first time in over four months.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: The state’s largest hospital group has eased some restrictions on visitors so more people can see their loved ones during hospital stays.
SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: Culinary schools in the state changed quickly in light of the pandemic to add online and virtual elements to their classes, and they have spent the past few months honing and reframing everything from how they teach new health and safety protocols to how they prepare students for a culinary world that will likely require equal ability to create a perfectly plated dish and a meal that holds up to delivery.
SOUTH DAKOTA Brandon: Thousands of fans packed the stands of Huset’s Speedway on Sunday night despite a rising number of coronavirus cases in the state. The 9,000-seat race track was at near-capacity, with face masks almost nonexistent.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Most of the state’s new reported COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are now outside the Nashville and Memphis metro areas, according to a Vanderbilt University report that says Tennessee’s outbreak began concentrated in large urban areas but has moved into more rural communities with fewer health care resources.
UTAH Salt Lake City: A Utah Department of Health report of a coronavirus death Sunday brought the state’s number of deaths for a seven-day period, at 37, to the highest mark since the outbreak began in March.
VERMONT Montpelier: Vermonters who are voting by mail in next week’s statewide primary should get their ballots in the mailbox by Tuesday at the very latest, Secretary of State Jim Condos said. Voters may also return ballots to their town clerk during operating hours up to the close of business Aug. 10, he said.
VIRGINIA Richmond: American Airlines says a flight out of Virginia was delayed after a passenger refused to comply with its policy requiring a face mask.
WASHINGTON Olympia: Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine said Monday that an initial backlog of claims of people who had not received payment for unemployment benefits between March and June has been resolved, and the state agency has been working through about 30,000 other cases of people who have applied since mid-June and haven’t received payment or had previously been paid and had their payments halted.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The state set a record last week for newly confirmed coronavirus cases as infections, deaths and hospitalizations surge, according to health data released Friday.
WISCONSIN Madison: The Legislature should act as quickly as this week or next to strike down Gov. Tony Evers’ mask mandate, Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Monday.
WYOMING Jackson Hole: Three sightseeing balloons crashed Monday in a popular tourist destination, injuring between 16 and 20 people, officials said.