STATE- BY- STATE

ALABAMA Florence: Two men face charges of desecration of a burial ground after they were allegedly caught by a surveillance camera urinating on a veterans memorial, AL. com reported.

ALASKA Fairbanks: It’s a crime for people to allow their pets to roam unsupervised on their own unfenced property. North Star Borough Assemblyman Lance Roberts wants to change that by redefining “at large.” Animal control manager Sandy Besser said that if the assembly approves the ordinance, it will result in more people getting bit and more dogs getting hit by cars, newsminer.com reported.

ARIZONA Williams: Forest officials will go ahead with a project to reduce the risk of wildfire on more than 15,000 acres near here. The project surrounding the Bill Williams Mountain includes mechanized forest thinning, prescribed fires by ground and air, road construction and trail improvements.

ARKANSAS North Little Rock: After his arrest on accusations he stole hard drives containing more than $ 364,000 worth of unique photographs, sports memorabilia collector and photo archivist John Rogers pleaded innocent, Arkansas-Online reported.

CALIFORNIA San Diego: A new purple pedestrian bridge links Tijuana International Airport and San Diego over the U.S.-Mexican border. The Cross Border Xpress is the first project to join a site in the USA with a foreign airport terminal, the Los Angeles Times reported.

COLORADO Fort Collins: A local man who shot a former friend and roommate eight times last summer was sentenced to 41 years in prison, the Coloradoan reported. Andrew Watkins, 26, pleaded guilty in the July 21 death of 25- year- old Randy Cargill, who was shot near a coffeehouse across the street from the Colorado State University campus.

CONNECTICUT Milford: Swastikas were found on a tree and the back of a sign, WFSB- TV reported. Investigators say there is no synagogue or Jewish cemetery in either location.

DELAWARE Dover: A white police officer who was criminally charged with assault after kicking a black man in the head during an arrest in 2013 was found not guilty, The News Journal reported.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A few months after protests greeted her plan to fight crime by expanding police power, Mayor Muriel Bowser highlighted the softer aspects of her strategy, including job training and community grants, The Washington Post reported.

FLORIDA Indiatlantic: Thousands of cans and bricks of Cuban coffee that washed up along a nearly 2- mile stretch of shore are gone, apparently picked up by curious beachcombers, Florida Today reported. The U. S. Coast Guard suspects the coffee fell from a Puerto Rico- bound cargo ship that lost as many as 25 containers to the sea.

GEORGIA Atlanta: The city’s top pie bakers shared tips with The Atlanta Journal- Constitution to help make holiday desserts memorable for all the right reasons. Perfect crust requires the right equipment, the right butter and the right moisture content.

HAWAII Honolulu: The Hawaii Tourism Authority hired a contractor to promote the state in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. No airline current-- ly operates direct flights to Hawaii from Southeast Asia.

IDAHO Post Falls: A local man will spend at least one year in jail for a BB gun shooting rampage that caused an estimated $ 18,000 in damages, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported.

ILLINOIS Chicago: Hamilton, Lin- Manuel Miranda’s hot, hiphop- fueled Broadway musical about the face on the $ 10 bill, will launch its first national tour here in an extended run beginning next September, the Chicago Tribune reported.

INDIANA Indianapolis: A new initiative called Film Indy, funded with $ 300,000 in city and private money, will aim to market the city to producers, while promoting the city’s small but growing film and video production sector, The Indianapolis Star reported.

IOWA Neola: The Neola Volunteer Fire Department is unable to cover calls after 12 members resigned Monday night, the Daily Nonpareil reported. The western Iowa city will be covered temporarily by fire departments in Minden and Underwood.

KANSAS Topeka: Doug Stucky, a farm economist with the Kansas Farm Management Association, says gross income for farms is down by at least 20% in the state. The Hutchinson News reported that last year southwest Kansas farmers averaged about $ 56,000 in accrual net farm income, a $ 50,000 drop from 2013.

KENTUCKY Bowling Green: General Motors says it will spend $ 44 million to increase engine-building capacity at its local plant that makes Corvette sports cars. LOUISIANA New Orleans: The gunshot death of actor Shade Sanguis, 39, was classified as a suicide, Coroner Jeffrey Rouse said, according to the Times-Picayune.

MAINE Lewiston: Republican Robert Macdonald will return for a third term as mayor of Maine’s second- largest city, the Sun Journal reported. Macdonald defeated Democratic challenger Ben Chin in the runoff election here.

MARYLAND Crisfield: Matthew Holbrook, 23, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter death of his infant daughter after he struck her in the head with a video game controller, The Daily Times reported. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A Good Samaritan has been hanging coats and scarves for the needy on trees in Boston Common, The Boston Globe reported. Mittens, gloves, socks and earmuffs also have been draped on trees downtown.

MICHIGAN Detroit: Dozens of Detroit police officers are challenging each other to drop pounds and lower their blood pressure as part of a 90- day weight- loss challenge. The competition began Tuesday and so far involves 185 officers and staff members, the Detroit Free Press reported.

MINNESOTA St. Paul: Police say a 16- year- old student attacked a science teacher and the student’s 15- year- old brother punched the assistant principal during a fight in the lunchroom at Central High School.

MISSISSIPPI Gulfport: A Texas woman was ordered to repay about $ 10,500 in a federal case of stolen mail and identity theft, The Sun Herald reported.

MISSOURI Sullivan: Three Texas residents are facing charges after allegedly being found with marijuana valued at more than $ 150,000, KMOV- TV reported.

MONTANA Billings: The state Supreme Court ruled that the city, Yellowstone County and the state of Montana are not liable in a fatal 2009 crash, The Billings Gazette reported.

NEBRASKA Omaha: The Omaha World- Herald reported that a Chicago man filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the Millard School District over the name “Singsation.”

NEVADA Reno: Southwest Airlines announced the launch of three daily non- stop flights from Reno- Tahoe International Airport to Oakland, beginning June 5. The non- stop flight service between the two cities was cancelled in 2013.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Newport: Officials say a local cemetery will need about $ 30,000 in repairs after dozens of gravestones were damaged or destroyed, the Eagle Times reported.

NEW JERSEY Camden: Thirteen former Camden City police officers have sued the Camden County Police Department, alleg-- ing they were denied jobs with the county agency because of racial bias and age discrimination, the Courier- Post reported. The ex- cops assert the county force violated the state’s Law Against Discrimination when it “hired a slew of younger, Caucasian police officers while overlooking” longtime veterans of the city force.

NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: A local man wanted this mother’s traditional New Mexican stew so much he broke into her home and stole it, the Albuquerque Journal reported. Jonathan Ray, 23, was arrested after he ignored his mother’s commands to stay away from her posole and ran off with the holiday dish.

NEW YORK Syracuse: A father and son are accused of stealing $ 41,000 worth of chicken wings from the restaurant where both were employed, the Press & Sun- Bulletin reported.

NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Forty residents and an equal number of police officers gathered in a conference room at the Hilton Garden hotel to participate in “Face to Face,” a series of conversations about law enforcement. Two more events will be held Dec. 15 and Jan. 5, The News & Observer reported.

NORTH DAKOTA Grand Forks: Residents are showing their support for a Somali restaurant that was heavily damaged by what authorities have called a suspicious fire, WDAZ- TV reported. A crowdfunding effort has raised about $ 12,000 and dozens of people of different faiths showed up for a candlelight ceremony outside the Juba Coffee House on Tuesday night. OHIO Sycamore Township: A gas station cashier is accused of stealing a winning lottery ticket worth $ 10,000, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

OKLAHOMA Tahlequah: The Cherokee Nation is publishing a red letter edition of the New Testament in the Cherokee language for the first time. OREGON Eugene: A mother and son are facing charges after police recovered eight guns stolen in a gun store burglary, The Register-Guard reported.

PENNSYLVANIA Johnstown: Concurrent Technologies, a defense contractor, plans to lay off up to 30 people by year’s end because of to federal budget cuts, the Tribune- Democrat reported. RHODE ISLAND Westerly: A fire that damaged a local building likely began in a coffee roasting facility, The Westerly Sun reported.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The University of South Carolina was recently recognized by The Education Trust as one of 26 universities that have made the largest gains in the past decade to close the graduation gap between minority and white students. The USC minority graduation rate rose from 55.1% in 2003 to 67.4% in 2013, The Greenville News reported.

SOUTH DAKOTA Mitchell: Residents approved an $ 8 million indoor pool, The Daily Republic reported.

TENNESSEE Nashville: Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has fired officer Matthew Nelms, 26, who shot into a Chevrolet Tahoe during a burglary manhunt in Madison Nov. 30. Nelms was relieved of his duties for violating the department’s use of deadly force, The Tennessean reported.

TEXAS Austin: Six people have been taken to hospitals following a four- vehicle wreck that sent a local school bus into a light pole. The bus carried 31 students from Kealing Middle School.

UTAH Salt Lake City: West Valley City will pay $ 50,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming that police swept into West High School, detained students, interrogated them and took pictures for a police database with no evidence of a crime.

VERMONT Burlington: The leader of Hunger Free Vermont says an employee embezzled thousands of dollars from the organization’s reserve fund, deceiving fellow employees and auditors for about a decade. The employee has been fired, but no criminal charges have been filed, Burlington Free Press reported.

VIRGINIA Rocky Mount: Jack Turner, 52, who was convicted of hanging a noose in his front yard, was sentenced to six months in jail. Turner was arrested in June after he used a piece of rope to hang a dark- colored, life- size dummy from a tree, The Roanoke Times reported.

WASHINGTON Tumwater: Regulators fined the Chehalis Inn & Suites nearly $ 98,000 for violating worker safety and health laws. The Department of Labor and Industries said that the hotel exposed employees to infectious diseases, corrosive chemicals and asbestos.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The City Council passed a resolution banning smoking in all city parks and playgrounds, the Charleston Gazette- Mail reported. Mayor Danny Jones cast the lone dissenting vote. Jones said enforcing the new policy will be nearly impossible.

WISCONSIN Marshfield: School board member Mary Carney, who fears a children’s book about the Muppets is too graphic for small children, is trying to get the book removed from kindergarten curriculum, the Wausau Daily Herald reported. Carney objected to use of the book For Every Child a Better World by Jim Henson.

WYOMING Jackson: A snowboarder was killed in an accident at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, The Jackson Hole News and Guide reported. Callagy Fahey Ross, 23, died after ski patrollers received a report of an accident on one of the trails.

Compiled by Tim Wendel, Nicole Gill and Jonathan Briggs, with Carolyn Cerbin, Mike Gottschamer, Ben Sheffler and Nichelle Smith. Design by Mallory Redinger. Graphics by Frank Pompa.