News from across the USA

ALABAMA Auburn: A new vehicle license plate will benefit the Alabama parks system, The Tuscaloosa News reports. The plate costs an additional $ 50. ALASKA Juneau: The Kennicott ferry, out of operation since January for its annual overhaul, will return to service later than expected because it needs additional repair work, CoastAlaska News reports. The ferry is now expected to start running again on March 30. ARIZONA Prescott: Residents are trying to come up with a plan to save a fire station that housed 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters who died in a 2013 wildfire. The Daily Courier reports that the Prescott City Council might sell the fire station for revenue. ARKANSAS Little Rock: Arkansas comes in 10th in the latest national ranking of suicides per capita, The Arkansas DemocratGazette reports. Arkansas is one of only two states without a suicide hotline call center. The other is Wyoming.

CALIFORNIA Oakland: A grassroots effort enlisting nail- salon workers and owners is reducing toxic manicure and pedicure exposures. The California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, created 12 years ago, lets local governments certify salons that swear off hazards and provide proper ventilation, gloves and masks for workers.

COLORADO Denver: Denver International Airport has set another record for passenger traffic. Nearly 58.3 million travelers passed through the airport in 2016, an increase of more than 4 million people from 2015, The

Denver Post reports.

CONNECTICUT Greenwich: A 4- year- old Connecticut boy eager for a gumball during a barbershop visit got his finger stuck in the machine. The Greenwich

Times reports that a 911 call Saturday brought numerous firefighters and police officers to Palms Barbershop to break the plastic case around the gumballs.

DELAWARE Georgetown: During a weekend traffic stop, authorities in Delaware found a man with more than $ 145,000 worth of untaxed cigarettes. Police say the haul in Sussex County totaled just over 500 cartons.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: One of the busiest fire stations in downtown Washington reopened this week. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser was on hand Monday to unveil the $ 9 million renovation of Engine Company 16.

FLORIDA Ocala: A jury awarded a family nearly $ 52 million for a 2013 car crash that left a woman and her four children with lifealtering injuries. The Ocala Star

Banner reports that Yolanda Aldana was stopped at a red light when her vehicle was hit from behind. Aldana suffered a brain injury.

GEORGIA Atlanta: Gov. Nathan Deal was one of the onlookers for an implosion of an Atlanta building known as the “White Ice Cube.” The former Georgia Archives building, found to be sinking in 1993, collapsed in a cloud of dust Sunday.

HAWAII Honolulu: Fifteen black- footed albatross chicks have been moved from Midway Atoll to establish a breeding colony on Oahu’s north shore, The Honolulu Star- Advertiser reports. IDAHO Lewiston: The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will have to release more water than normal this year from the Dworshak Dam in Idaho because of snowpack. But The Lewiston Tribune reports that may harm fish because of the high dissolved gas levels created in spillways.

ILLINOIS Chicago: Nine children left unattended in a dirty Chicago home were taken to a hospital for evaluation. Police responded to a weekend call that the children ranging in age from infant to teenager were left alone. .

INDIANA Indianapolis: Officials overseeing endowments at some of Indiana’s smaller colleges have cut back on spending, or are considering doing so, after struggling to increase their funding, the Indianapolis Business Journal reports. IOWA Cedar Falls: An Iowa hospitality company is proposing a 1,000- person events center and 140- room hotel in Cedar Falls, The Courier reports.

KANSAS Manhattan: A drop in enrollment and uncertain state funding mean a $ 6 million budget reduction at Kansas State University, The Manhattan Mercury reports.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services says Dr. Jonathan Ballard has been appointed as the state public health epidemiologist. Ballard is an assistant professor in the Colleges of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Kentucky.

LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: A report prepared for the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education urges school districts to use “extreme caution” in enacting student fees. The report says fees range from $ 10 for lockers to $ 95 for school supplies.

MAINE Portland: U. S. Sen. Susan Collins’ meatloaf recipe is included in a humorous cookbook by former New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni and correspondent Jennifer Steinhauer. Collins’ recipe from her mother, Pat, in Caribou, Maine, has dry mustard, horseradish and a barbecue sauce topping instead of ketchup.

MARYLAND Sharpsburg: The National Park Service is wrapping up a monthslong sharpshooting program that’s been culling the overpopulated deer population at Antietam National Battlefield.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Boston Medical Center has received a $ 25 million gift to combat the growing public health crisis of opioid drug addiction, The Boston

Globe reports. The hospital serves more low- income patients than any other medical facility in New England. MICHIGAN Detroit: Wayne State University in Detroit is having an accreditation review. The Detroit News reports that the school is being evaluated this week by the Higher Learning Commission. MINNESOTA Minne

apolis: University of Minnesota researchers are developing a way to better foresee how drugs break down in wastewater, The Minnesota Daily reports. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant says he’s willing to discuss changing the statues that represent the state at the U. S. Capitol. Mississippi is represented now by statues of two Confederate leaders. MISSOURI Jefferson City: The state auditor says the University of Missouri System approved $ 1.2 million in performance incentives for top administrators over the last three years without clear criteria. Auditor Nicole Galloway found that several administrators were paid much more than what’s reflected in their public salaries. MONTANA Great Falls: About 50 members of the Montana Air National Guard are back home from a four- month deployment to Southwest Asia, The Great Falls Tribune reports. The wing recently converted from F- 15 fighter missions to C- 130 airlift missions. NEBRASKA Omaha: Nebraska officials are looking for an innovative approach to student assessment. The Omaha WorldHerald reports that state officials are poring over six contract proposals to find assessments that test state standards “at higher depth of knowledge.” NEVADA Las Vegas: Union membership in Nevada dropped last year to its lowest level since the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics began collecting data in 1989. Members of unions accounted for 12.1% of wage and salary workers, The Las Vegas Sun reports. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: One of Orford’s seven stately “Ridge Houses” has been sold to a couple who bought the property sight unseen. The buyers plan extensive renovations to revive the federalist- style, 200- year- old Rogers House. NEW JERSEY Asbury Park: A gay rights advocacy group says its office was vandalized while its executive director was inside. Authorities say two people smashed the glass front door of Garden State Equality’s office in Asbury Park. NEW MEXICO Farmington: Organizers of the Connie Mack World Series are revamping the amateur baseball tournament. The Daily Times of Farmington reports that the Connie Mack World Series will see the addition of pool play and an expanded field of 17 teams this year.

NEW YORK New York: U. S. Sen. Charles Schumer has asked the National Transportation Safety Board to conduct an in- depth investigation of small plane crashes, following two incidents last month and at least 18 crashes in New York last year. NORTH CAROLINA Wilming

ton: A Carolina Beach woman is accused of fleecing a dozen people hoping to adopt a child. Authorities say Wendy George is charged with four counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. NORTH DAKOTA Hazen: A former Hazen church is being transformed by Basin Electric Power Cooperative into a daycare facility, The Bismarck Tribune reports. The daycare is expected to open by April with space for about 60 children. OHIO Dayton: Wright State University has selected its first woman president. Cheryl Schrader has served as chancellor of the Missouri University of Science and Technology since 2012. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Oklahoma’s top auditor says legislation to let county officials select who audits them and what type of audit they get could lead to corruption. State Auditor Gary Jones says his office has uncovered embezzlements at cities that previously received clean audits, The Oklahoman reports. OREGON Ashland: The Bureau of Land Management is opening an artist- in- residency program at the Cascade- Siskiyou National Monument this summer, The Mail- Tribune reports. Three artists will each get two weeks to capture images of the area.

PENNSYLVANIA Scranton: The Greater Scranton YMCA has pulled the plug on political TV. That means no more CNN, MSNBC or Fox News. YMCA CEO Trish Fisher says the policy was put in place last month because of the “boisterous conversations” sprouting up about America’s political scene. RHODE ISLAND Providence: Gov. Gina Raimondo wants to know what young girls would do if they were Rhode Island’s governor for a day. The deadline for Raimondo’s annual Governor for a Day essay contest is March 15. SOUTH CAROLINA York: York County is requesting an opinion from the South Carolina attorney general about whether it has to return a Confederate flag to the county’s renovated courtroom. The courthouse will reopen April 3. SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: A drop- in center for homeless veterans in Sioux Falls is running despite low funding. The Argus Leader reports that the Veteran’s Outreach Center offers showers, laundry, food and help looking for work. TENNESSEE Clarksville: A Korean War soldier whose remains were found 66 years after he went missing has been laid to rest with full military honors. The Leaf Chronicle reports that the remains of 20- year- old Sgt. Robert Roy Cummings were found in November. TEXAS Houston: The new owners of a Houston bungalow discovered human remains in an attic wall. The remains may be those of a previous owner who went missing at least two years ago, the Houston Chronicle reports. UTAH Salt Lake City: Utah officials are warning residents about phone scams targeting people with solar panels on their homes and businesses. Rocky Mountain Power says callers use scare tactics to convince customers that their power will be shut off if they don’t pay immediately. VERMONT Jericho: More than 120 soldiers and airmen from around the country are competing this week in a National Guard biathlon championship in Vermont. Biathlon combines crosscountry skiing and target shooting. VIRGINIA Richmond: A man whose clothes caught fire after he was shot with a Taser in Chesterfield County in February 2015 has filed a $ 95 million lawsuit against the county’s police department. WASHINGTON Tacoma: Tacoma will pay a $ 50,000 fine and legal fees for violating the Public Records Act. The News Tribune reports that the city withheld most of a nondisclosure agreement it signed to obtain cellphone surveillance equipment known as Stingray. The penalty is the maximum allowable under state law. WEST VIRGINIA Wheeling: State funding to pay for indigent burials has run out five months before the end of the fiscal year, an official for a West Virginia funeral directors group said. An increase in drug overdose deaths is blamed. WISCONSIN Madison: Borrowing by Wisconsin public school districts is at its highest levels in at least 20 years, the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance says. WYOMING Gillette: The longrunning Antiques Roadshow on PBS has canceled its summer stop in Gillette, The Gillette Record reports. The network says planning is underway to reschedule a Wyoming stop as part of a future tour.