USA TODAY International Edition
HIGHLIGHT: UTAH
ALABAMA Huntsville: Aerospace investment appears poised to blast off in the state, as companies such as Blue Origin and Aeroject Rocketdyne plan new jobs and new facilities.
ALASKA Kodiak: Wildlife biologists say there have been increased sightings around the city of mink, a species not native to the area.
ARIZONA Phoenix: When Arizonans buy a license plate displaying the words “In God We Trust,” the money supports Alliance Defending Freedom, designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its anti-LGBT views. A Democratic lawmaker now is proposing to get rid of the specialty plates.
ARKANSAS Malvern: The College of the Ouachitas is trying to join the Arkansas State University System.
CALIFORNIA Rancho Mirage: The city is amending a municipal code that bans backyard beehives, in an effort to help rebuild dying colonies.
COLORADO Fort Collins: If you want to honor your love of craft beer this Valentine’s Day, there’s a festival for that. The Summit at Block One returns for its second straight year, from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Peanuts and Cracker Jack are no longer available at Dunkin’ Donuts Park to make the venue safer for people with nut allergies.
DELAWARE Dover: The organizers of a dormant pumpkin-launching competition want to revive the annual event, which stopped after a cannon malfunctioned in 2016 and critically injured a woman. Organizers for the annual Punkin Chunkin made the announcement Friday on Facebook.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Arizona State University is adding more space to its operations in the city as school officials say enrollment in the nation’s capital has grown faster than expected.
FLORIDA Naples: This town full of transplants from up north really loves pastrami on rye. A list from national food delivery service Goldbelly confirms that customers in Naples ordered the most of the iconic New York sandwiches in 2018 of any U.S. city it serves.
GEORGIA Quitman: A proposal has emerged in the General Assembly that could bring broadband service to rural areas via electric cooperatives, The Valdosta Daily Times reports.
HAWAII Hilo: Opponents of a proposed spaceport on the Big Island attended an open house last week. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports some protesters sang songs, played the ukulele and circulated with a microphone seeking to put project representatives on the spot. Concerns included noise and air pollution, along with safety.
IDAHO Twin Falls: Most of the state’s youth who took part in a national survey of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer teenagers say they regularly hear homophobic remarks at school.
ILLINOIS Chicago: Planned Parenthood of Illinois says its clinics are providing free birth control for one year to eligible patients who can’t afford it.
INDIANA Greenwood: A new play tower at the Old City Park will put the city on the national map. Kids will be able to balance inside a three-tiered stack of blocks with slatted walls overlooking pingpong tables, shaded chairs and a grassy meadow. The 20-foot tower expected to open in 2020 will be just the third of its kind in the country.
IOWA Clear Lake: Police are investigating a possible theft of “priceless heirlooms” connected to 1950s rock ’n’ roll star Ritchie Valens and “the day the music died.” A 4-foot-tall “La Bamba” movie poster and two photo collages were last seen Feb. 2 during an annual luncheon hosted by the Valens family at the Best Western Motor Lodge in Clear Lake.
KANSAS Lawrence: A Kansas screenwriter who co-wrote Spike Lee’s latest film, the Oscar-nominated “BlacKkKlansman,” is setting his sights on his next project – a documentary about poet Langston Hughes. Kevin Willmott, who is also a University of Kansas film professor, tells the Lawrence Journal-World he’s making a two-part documentary on the American literary icon.
Kentucky KENTUCKY Shakespeare Louisville: Festival The free will deliver productions 58 performances this summer. of seven LOUISIANA created interactive New Orleans: map lets A recently people waterway know if in pollution the state has unsafe made for a swimming it’s safe to eat and their tells catch. anglers whether
using MAINE DNA Portland: to try to Scientists preserve are the remaining lives in 14 lakes populations and ponds of a in fish the that state and U.S. nowhere The scientists else in are the turning continental species their of eyes landlocked to the Arctic fish that charr, has a lived in the state for millennia. The charr faces threats such as invasive predators and a warming climate.
MARYLAND Baltimore: As the city’s troubled police department awaits a new commissioner, its interim leader says the agency is “understaffed across the board.” Gary Tuggle’s remarks come on the heels of data obtained by The Baltimore Sun showing the department has failed to fill about 500 vacancies.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A Boston Marathon bombing survivor who had planned to run this year’s race says she can’t physically do it after being struck by a car last month. Professional dancer Adrianne Haslet, who lost a leg in the 2013 bombing, told “CBS This Morning” on Friday that she can’t properly train because she has too little mobility in her left arm.
MICHIGAN Onaway: Imagine launching a kayak from a tour boat rather than from shore to take in one of the Upper Peninsula’s most iconic scenic wonders. The firstever kayak launching vessel, designed to take 72 passengers and 36 kayaks around the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, is set to launch later this year, says its manufacturer, Moran Iron Works Inc.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Many farmers who have suffered years of low crop prices are taking on more debt to begin spring planting. Minnesota Public Radio News reports that the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found poor crop prices and trade woes “dealt a financial blow to farmers from July to September.”
MISSISSIPPI Oxford: A college-town staple, the banner spray-painted on a bedsheet, is being furled in this town. The Oxford Eagle reports aldermen voted to ban the use of bedsheets as banners. They started considering changes last year because of concerns about banners during the University of Mississippi football season that directed vulgarities at opposing football coaches.
MISSOURI Kansas City: The country’s top child abuse hotline recently launched its first text line, and now the nonprofit is looking to this state for help determining the efficiency of the service. The new text line is part of national child advocacy nonprofit Childhelp’s efforts to reach more young people, who may be less comfortable or unable to report abuse over the phone. Childhelp officials plan to study what works for text line counselors in Missouri.
MONTANA Helena: A state lawmaker wants to make sure that meat produced in a laboratory isn’t labeled the same as meat from livestock and poultry. Republican Rep. Alan Redfield of Livingston says he wants to make sure consumers know what they’re buying.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: Lawmakers and conservationists who have seen a major drought, historic flooding and gigantic wildfires in the past decade are pushing to prepare the state for climate change, but legislators may not warm to the idea anytime soon. Nebraska is one of seven Plains states that haven’t created a plan to deal with the local impact of more extreme weather.
NEVADA Reno: A snow day is still a snow day in the eyes of the state Department of Education, which reiterated to the Washoe County School District on Friday that its digital learning plan doesn’t count as a school day. The district had said its “digital days” wouldn’t have to be made up at the end of the school year.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Nashua: The city is offering free tests on Valentine’s Day to ensure that the only thing couples are sharing is love. The Telegraph reports that the Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services is offering free testing for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and hepatitis C.
NEW JERSEY Woodbine: Wildlife officials say they caught three would-be poachers with the help of a stuffed “robotic” deer in December amid a hunting enforcement effort.
NEW MEXICO Roswell: The site of an alleged 1947 UFO crash site is under new management. The Roswell Daily Record reports Bogle Ltd. Co. of Dexter has sold the Lincoln County ranching property about 75 miles northwest of Roswell to Dinwiddie Cattle Co. LLC.
NEW YORK Sackets Harbor: The state has acquired an island off Lake Ontario’s eastern shore that was the scene of a War of 1812 battle between British and American forces. The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation recently announced it has purchased 24-acre Horse Island, which will become part of Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Scores of people attended an annual civil rights rally in the capital city. WRAL reports Saturday’s march focused on raising awareness about racial and social justice. The 13th annual “Moral March on Raleigh” was led by the state NAACP chapter.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The state’s House is considering GOPsponsored legislation that would prohibit local governments and law enforcement agencies from conducting firearm buyback programs.
OHIO Cincinnati: If drinking beer is good, and so is taking a long soak in a hot tub, then doing both at the same time is at least twice as good. That’s the principle of the Bier Spa, which is coming to the ColumbiaTusculum neighborhood this summer. And it adds one more element:
The tub is not filled with beer itself but with hops, both pellets and flowers, and other ingredients like essential oils to heighten the experience.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The Oklahoma City Museum of Art has acquired a painting by the artist who created President Barack Obama’s official portrait. Kehinde Wiley’s painting titled “Jacob de Graeff” features a contemporary person in a style modeled on 17th-century Dutch artist Gerard ter Borch’s portrait of Jacob de Graeff, a Dutch regent.
OREGON Salem: A bill that would create the possibility of Oregon exporting marijuana to adjacent states where cannabis is also legal has had its first public hearing, where advocates said it would give the state a way to relieve its oversupply and grow its brand. Separately, the U.S. attorney for Oregon warned against it, noting it would violate federal law.
PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: The Philadelphia 76ers paid tribute to the late Moses Malone, a three-time NBA MVP and one of basketball’s most ferocious rebounders, with a sculpture and a jersey retirement ceremony Friday.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Residents are getting a chance to revisit how the civil rights movement played out in the state. The Rhode Island African Heritage Civil Rights History exhibition opens Wednesday at Aldrich House in Providence.
SOUTH CAROLINA BatesburgLeesville: Nearly 73 years after a racially fueled beating at the hands of a white police chief left a black World War II veteran blind, the town has honored his memory. Distinguished guests and members of Sgt. Isaac Woodard’s family gathered Saturday for a private ceremony before unveiling the historic marker.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: A state Senate panel has endorsed a bill that would recognize the official indigenous language of South Dakota as that of the Oceti Sakowin, or Great Sioux Nation. The language is made up of three dialects: Dakota, Lakota and Nakota.
TENNESSEE Memphis: With construction set to wrap up this week, developers for a new Midtown apartment building have plans to erect a life-size statue of Johnny Cash just outside the front doors. The building is next to Galloway House, formerly the Galloway Methodist Church, where Cash performed with Marshall Grant and Luther Perkins of the Tennessee Two for the first time.
TEXAS Austin: Something new is keeping Austin weird – stinky tap water traced to rotting zebra mussels.
VERMONT Burlington: Students are taking to heart a survey showing that 1 in 5 undergraduates at the University of Vermont is not getting adequate nutrition. They’re now pressing for a food pantry on campus.
VIRGINIA Williamsburg: The College of William & Mary has formally inaugurated its first female president, who had already served more than six months in the role. The Daily Press reported the college’s 326th Charter Day on Friday included the inauguration of President Katherine A. Rowe.
WASHINGTON Seattle: Federal officials are attempting to find the people who are killing sea lions near the city, offering a $20,000 reward for information to find the perpetrators.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The state attorney general’s office is sponsoring a contest among schoolchildren to promote awareness of prescription painkiller abuse. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says in a news release that the “Kids Kick Opioids” contest is open to elementary and middle school students. It can include poems, drawings, letters or anything that promotes awareness of painkiller abuse.
WISCONSIN Madison: A ban on employees of an obscure state board that prevented them from addressing climate change has been lifted. The state Board of Commissioners of Public Lands instituted the ban in 2015, driven by concerns from two Republican officeholders.
WYOMING Cheyenne: A legislative committee has endorsed a bill that would allow microbrewers in the state to sell their product at local events.