USA TODAY International Edition
50 States News from across the USA
ALABAMA Montgomery: A local nonprofit is partnering with police to help the needy during a March event at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex. HateLess Foundation founder Jarvis Provitt says in addition to free food, experts will be on hand to help with everything from substance abuse problems to financial problems to veterans’ issues.
ALASKA Anchorage: A study says steep tariff hikes could be on the way at the Port of Alaska.
ARIZONA Phoenix: State lawmakers who want to keep their get-out-ofjail-free cards might not have to worry after all. House Speaker Rusty Bowers has blocked a measure that seeks to repeal a law preventing police from arresting lawmakers while the Legislature is in session.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: The state Senate has voted to name the Bowie knife Arkansas’ official knife.
CALIFORNIA Paradise: A dog named Kingston is back with his family 101 days after he jumped out of their truck as they fled a devastating wildfire. The Akita was reunited Monday with the Ballejos family, who think he survived by eating skunks.
COLORADO Fort Collins: The City Council has approved rules governing the use of e-scooters, which could be on the streets as soon as midsummer.
CONNECTICUT Waterbury: The school district has acknowledged students have the right not to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance.
DELAWARE Wilmington: Backlashes have erupted against a peculiar electoral practice that, in certain circumstances, grants large property owners multiple votes in city elections.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Georgetown University has rescinded an honorary degree it bestowed in 2004 on then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked last week after being convicted by the Vatican of sexually abusing minors and adult seminarians.
FLORIDA Miami: Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he’s impressed with the city’s efforts to cope with rising sea levels.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms says the city is no longer asking job applicants about pay history.
HAWAII Honolulu: Transportation officials are assessing an unstable slope above a busy highway on Oahu after a landslide injured three people.
IDAHO Boise: Legislation to keep operating a state board that pays a federal agency to kill wolves that attack livestock and elk is on its way to Gov. Brad Little.
ILLINOIS Chicago: A federal judge has given the green light to a parksadvocacy group’s lawsuit that aims to stop for good the delayed construction of former President Barack Obama’s $500 million presidential center in a park beside Lake Michigan.
INDIANA Indianapolis: The state Senate has removed sexual orientation, gender identity, race and a list of other characteristics from a hate crimes bill.
IOWA Iowa City: University of Iowa senior Hanna Kinney is a viral video sensation after brushing past presidential hopeful Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., while “just going to get some ranch” dressing at a restaurant.
KANSAS Hutchinson: The Kansas Department of Agriculture will take applications until March 1 for growers who want to be part of the state’s hemp research program.
KENTUCKY Louisville: You could share a bottle of bourbon with hometown hero and Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence – or at least own a bottle she’s autographed. The bottle of Woodford Reserve, poured from Lawrence’s private barrel, will take center stage at the Louisville Film Society’s Oscar Watch Party silent auction Sunday at Copper & Kings American Brandy Company.
LOUISIANA White Castle: A New Orleans hotel owner has purchased Nottoway Plantation, which has the South’s largest existing antebellum mansion.
MAINE Augusta: Juror pay in the state could more than triple under a new bill lawmakers are taking into consideration. The legislation would raise pay for jurors in state courts from $15 per day to $50 per day.
MARYLAND Annapolis: A measure to enable residents to select an unspecified gender on their driver’s licenses has advanced in the state Senate. Senators gave the measure preliminary approval Wednesday.
MASSACHUSETTS Pittsfield: Olan Horne, a survivor of clergy sex abuse, says he will stop eating until the Vatican acknowledges receipt of messages from several families of victims he was assured would be sent to Pope Francis.
MICHIGAN Detroit: Officials say Cobo Center will change its name, removing the surname of a former mayor known for his racist policies.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Gov. Tim Walz proposed a $49 billion “Budget for One Minnesota” on Tuesday that raises the state gas tax 20 cents to pay for road and bridge improvements and includes significant increases in spending on education.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: A Mississippi National Guard unit is coming home from a deployment to the Middle East, with the first 300 members of the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team returning this week.
MISSOURI Springfield: Big Brothers Big Sisters announced a cellophanewrapped marijuana brick with a street value of $3,000 was found in a donation bin.
MONTANA Great Falls: Some members of the Legislature are working on a bill taking the bold stand of opposing the sale of Montana to Canada. A Change.org petition that proposes selling Big Sky Country for $1 trillion has over 11,000 signers.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: Police accuse a University of Nebraska-Lincoln assistant professor of defacing campaign signs for U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry last fall. They say fingerprints from Patricia Wonch Hill were found on stickers used to vandalize signs. The vandalism included giving his picture big, googly eyes. One of the signs was also defaced with a strip of tape that turned his name into a flatulence reference.
NEVADA Reno: The University of Nevada, Reno’s new University Arts Building opens Friday.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The state’s Cold Case Unit says it’s solved its oldest crime, the 52-yearold shooting death of an auto repair shop worker, and says the man who did it killed himself years later.
NEW MEXICO Taos: This year’s U.S. Capitol Christmas tree will hail from the state. U.S. Forest Service officials say a tree will be cut from Carson National Forest outside Taos.
NEW YORK Albany: The governor doesn’t want state police to routinely release mug shots of criminal suspects or booking records about what they’re being arrested for.
NORTH CAROLINA Asheville: Local drag queens plan to don some of their sparkliest attire in an effort to fight homelessness. Asheville Drag Brunch, a group that raises money for charities, will host its first Local Celebrity Drag Brunch on March 10. Tickets are $20, with 80 percent of profits benefiting homeless aid group BeLoved Asheville.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The state House has killed a bill that would make Central time the entire state’s official time zone.
OHIO Cincinnati: Taft’s Brewing Company is teaming with Gold Star Chili for National Chili Day next Thursday to offer a beer inspired by the city’s cinnamon-tinged icon.
OKLAHOMA Tulsa: Authorities say a man stole a Pepsi truck as the driver was unloading soda. A trail of sodas spilled out as the truck drove off. Police say Steven Hart told them he was trying to get to the airport after an argument with his girlfriend.
OREGON Salem: A major public lands package that would create a new wilderness area in the state, protect 250 miles of state waterways and safeguard a small community from wildfire has passed the U.S. Senate.
PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh: The Pittsburgh International Airport’s $1.1 billion revamp design was unveiled Wednesday.
RHODE ISLAND West Warwick: The state marked the 16th anniversary Wednesday of a nightclub fire that killed 100 people and injured more than 200.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is traveling Thursday to an area known as the “Corridor of Shame” for its underperforming schools.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: A panel of lawmakers voted in favor of allowing 16-year-olds to drop out of school.
TENNESSEE Memphis: The owner of the house where Aretha Franklin was born has been given another 60 days to provide the Environmental Court with a plan to stabilize the property and remove it from court oversight.
TEXAS Austin: A warehouse fire has wiped out one-fifth of the city’s pedicabs just weeks before the annual South by Southwest festival.
UTAH Salt Lake City: State lawmakers pressed pause Wednesday on two gun measures, including a proposal inspired by the death of University of Utah student Lauren McCluskey that would hold gun owners civilly liable if they lend a firearm used in a crime.
VERMONT Montpelier: A proposed bill aims to make sure health care providers follow guidelines for prescribing opioid pain medications.
VIRGINIA Union Hill: Former Vice President Al Gore is urging residents to continue their fight against a plan to build a natural gas pipeline compressor station in their neighborhood. Gore and the Rev. William Barber II met Tuesday with residents of Union Hill, founded by emancipated slaves. Gore said Gov. Ralph Northam, rocked by a blackface scandal, should fulfill his promise for racial reconciliation by opposing the project.
WASHINGTON Sunnyside: Officials say the more than 1,800 dairy cows that died in a blizzard this month were a nearly $4 million loss, not including the lost milk production.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Lawmakers have passed a bill that will allow retail outlets to sell liquor on Sundays except Christmas or Easter.
WISCONSIN Milwaukee: The Milwaukee Children’s Choir is honoring African-American composers in a concert Saturday.
WYOMING Cheyenne: People who collect antlers and horns shed by big-game animals could have to comply with new rules under a measure close to passing the Legislature.