USA TODAY International Edition
50★States
ALABAMA Atmore:
A lawyer for a condemned inmate says he hoped Gov. Kay Ivey might block his client’s execution after she talked about her pro-life beliefs in signing a bill to virtually outlaw abortion. It wasn’t to be. Michael Brandon Samra was put to death by lethal injection Thursday, the day after Ivey signed the restrictive abortion bill while talking about her belief that “life is precious.”
ALASKA North Pole:
Travelers visited the city this past week to show their Christmas spirit at the Santa Claus House, and some used the visit to renew their wedding vows. Princess Cruises has offered an annual “Santa Cruise” trip to North Pole for the past three years, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports.
ARIZONA Mesa:
The metro Phoenix light rail line’s latest extension opened Saturday, along with two new stations and a park-and-ride transit center. Valley Metro Rail opened the 2-mile extension of the line in Mesa, lengthening the system to 28 miles.
ARKANSAS Bentonville:
Walmart has released plans for its new 350acre campus that will include four quadrants connected by bike and walking paths, an on-campus child care facility and a fitness center.
CALIFORNIA San Francisco:
A growing number of shipping companies are slowing down as they approach ports along the state’s coast so they are less likely to injure or kill whales. Marine experts say four of the 10 gray whales found dead near San Francisco this year were killed by ships, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
COLORADO Denver:
Gov. Jared Polis has signed legislation aimed at lowering prescription costs by importing drugs from Canada.
CONNECTICUT New Haven:
Women who lost children to gun violence were among a crowd that gathered to break ground over the weekend on a new garden that will honor hundreds of victims killed by firearms dating back more than 50 years. The New Haven Register reports nearly 100 people took part in the ceremony Saturday at the New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence.
DELAWARE Dover:
Prison officials are investigating allegations that a group of correctional employees including a warden verbally and physically harassed a woman overseeing a group of preschool children at a park.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington:
Four demonstrators arrested after a weekslong protest inside the Venezuelan Embassy have been formally charged in federal court.
FLORIDA Tallahassee:
The state will build three new major toll highways through mostly rural areas under a bill signed Friday by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, despite objections raised by environmentalists.
GEORGIA Atlanta:
A billionaire technology investor and philanthropist says his family is providing grants to wipe out the student debt of the entire 2019 class at Morehouse College. Robert F. Smith made the announcement Sunday morning in front of nearly 400 graduating seniors.
HAWAII Kailua-Kona:
A CT scan performed on a Hawaiian monk seal at a hospital has shown the animal is suffering from muscle inflammation and infection, officials say.
IDAHO Boise:
Federal officials plan to release 45 wild horses May 29 in an event that’s open to the public. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says the horses will be released in three different locations south of Marsing, in southwestern Idaho.
ILLINOIS Chicago:
Metra, the suburban commuter rail agency, says kids may ride for free this summer when accompanied by a parent.
INDIANA Ellettsville:
Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve is reopening with a new boardwalk for visitors to cross through a marsh area.
IOWA Dubuque:
The top prosecutor in Dubuque County says he has no immediate plans to file charges against a group that’s been violating state law by distributing sterile needles to intravenous drug users. The group Dubuque Harm Reduction has been open about its activities, sending a letter to county supervisors earlier this month that detailed the group’s services and included an offer to be a resource to the county.
KANSAS Topeka:
Abused and neglected children are again sleeping overnight in the offices of foster care contractors in the state because homes cannot be found for them quickly enough. According to the Department for Children and Families, more than 70 children have been kept overnight in the offices of two nonprofits providing foster care services since January.
KENTUCKY Louisville:
A former Miss America is among 19 candidates running in down-ballot state races. Heather French Henry has said her experience running the Department of Veterans Affairs has given her the experience she needs to run the secretary of state’s office.
LOUISIANA New Orleans:
A new lion exhibit is opening at the Audubon Zoo. Visitors will be able to see critically endangered lions in an environment resembling the African savanna, from the safety of a fictional train station.
MAINE Vinalhaven:
The foundation dedicated to turning pop artist Robert Indiana’s island home into a museum is ready to engage with locals about the details of the project. Star of Hope Foundation Chairman Larry Sterrs says the process gets underway with a visit to Vinalhaven on Monday.
MARYLAND Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins Hospital has filed thousands of lawsuits since 2009 against patients with unpaid medical bills. The Baltimore Sun reports The Coalition for a Humane Hopkins says a large portion of the lawsuits target residents of low-income neighborhoods around the hospital.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston:
State marijuana regulators have approved of a plan to slowly roll out “cannabis cafes” where adults could use pot in a social setting.
MICHIGAN Brooks Township:
The Michigan Nature Association says 40 acres have been purchased in Newaygo County for the Brooks Oak-Pine Barrens Nature Sanctuary, part of a Karner blue butterfly mitigation project. The nonprofit says the endangered butterfly, one of the state’s rarest, requires dry-sand prairie and oak-barren habitats that can support wild lupine flowers.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis:
A new report shows the price of housing in the seven-county Twin Cities region is more expensive than cities such as Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee. Minnesota Public Radio News reports the Family Housing Fund study indicated the region is on a path to becoming as costly as Denver or Seattle.
MISSISSIPPI Ocean Springs:
This Gulf Coast city is moving ahead with plans to build a new sidewalk by a beach, after homeowners lost a legal battle to block the project.
MISSOURI Jefferson City:
Lawmakers have passed a measure that could send former President Harry Truman back to the U.S. Capitol. The measure given final approval Thursday would put Truman’s statue in place of one of former Sen. Thomas Hart Benton, instrumental in the nation’s westward expansion.
MONTANA Red Lodge:
Highway crews have been working for more than a month to clear snow from the Beartooth Highway south of Red Lodge. Crews hope to have the seasonal road open by Friday – the start of Memorial Day weekend.
NEBRASKA Grand Island:
A technologically advanced van is helping the city determine how to keep its streets in good shape and save taxpayer money in the process. The street assessment van going up and down the more than 300 miles of Grand Island streets is equipped with high-resolution cameras, ground-penetrating radar, global positioning systems and onboard computers. The survey information helps determine which sections of pavement to overlay.
NEVADA Las Vegas:
Elected officials in rural Nye County say they support moving forward with a long-studied but mothballed national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, unlike their counterparts in urban Las Vegas.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Manchester:
The family of a video game pioneer from the city has started a scholarship fund. The Ralph H. and Dena W. Baer Scholarship Fund at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation will help students from Manchester Central High School who want to study in technology-related fields. Ralph Baer created both the precursor to “Pong” and the electronic memory game Simon, and he led the team that developed the first home video game console.
NEW JERSEY Teaneck:
A small migratory bird has found an unusual place to make her nest – an artificial turf soccer field in the township’s busiest park. The killdeer, a brown bird with bands of white and black, laid its eggs about two weeks ago on a patch of synthetic grass at Votee Park. Although the killdeer is not a threatened species, the birds are protected under the American Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Canadian Migratory Birds Convention Act, so teams are staying away from the field for now.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe:
More than 101,000 public school students will gain access to a variety of extended learning opportunities beyond the traditional school year starting this summer, Public Education Secretary Karen Trujillo announced Friday.
NEW YORK Watkins Glen:
Organizers of the Woodstock 50 festival are signaling progress toward resolving a financial crunch after a falling-out with backer Amplifi Live. The festival announced Friday that investment bank Oppenheimer & Co. has signed on as a financial adviser to pull money together.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh:
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is asking the public to report any sightings of nine-banded armadillos to the agency.
NORTH DAKOTA Fargo:
A red panda who escaped his compound at a zoo has been found, grooming himself in a tree outside the facility. Sheffield the red panda was reported missing from the Red River Zoo in Fargo on Thursday.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City:
The state House, Senate and governor’s office each received huge funding boosts under the state’s new spending plan, including a more than doubling of the governor’s budget.
OREGON Salem:
The state Capitol’s famous flowering cherry trees are safe. A study to determine whether the trees’ roots might be causing damage to the roof of the state’s underground parking structure found other causes were to blame.
PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh:
The University of Pittsburgh is getting a spooky addition – the archives of late iconic horror filmmaker George A. Romero. The archives include the original annotated “Night of the Living Dead” script and a zombie head.
RHODE ISLAND East Providence:
A skate park has been dedicated to a former professional BMX rider who set a world record for the longest power-assisted bicycle backflip. The Providence Journal reports a skate park in East Providence has been christened the Kevin “K-Rob” Robinson Memorial Skate Park.
SOUTH CAROLINA Charleston:
The College of Charleston has rebranded its former plantation to reaffirm its “commitment to diversity, inclusion and community.” The college’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to support interim President Steve Osborne’s recommendation to rename Dixie Plantation as the College of Charleston at Stono Preserve.
SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City:
A local man who wrote a book about Congressional Medal of Honor recipients is now opening a museum to honor them. The Rapid City Journal reports John L. Johnson’s museum is slated to open Aug. 1 at the Rushmore Mall.
TENNESSEE Memphis:
Cult-favorite musician Tav Falco, who came to Memphis four decades ago to materialize a blues-infused, rockabillycharged, punk-simpatico and socalled art-damaged brand of musical “conjuration,” returns to the city for a Tuesday night performance at Lafayette’s Music Room in Overton Square. The show will go on despite some recent bad luck: Two weeks ago, a thief or thieves stole Falco’s IDs, passport, stage wardrobe, filmmaking equipment and signature 1966 Höfner electric guitar. Local business owners have helped to replace some of the gear and duds.
TEXAS Longview:
Actor Matthew McConaughey has finally received his high school diploma, more than 30 years after graduating. McConaughey was given his original diploma Friday night when he returned to his alma mater, Longview High School, to address the class of 2019.
UTAH Lehi:
A teen’s Eagle Scout project will provide a safe trail for kids to get to school. Ethan Blood is working to connect a subdivision in Traverse Mountain, Lehi, to the Ignite Entrepreneurship Academy. The school is only accessible to kids in nearby neighborhoods who walk or whose parents drive them a mile and a half around to the school entrance. The other option is scaling a 50-foot cliff.
VERMONT Montpelier:
The Vermont Department of Corrections says composting of food scraps in the state’s prisons keeps 572,000 pounds of food waste out of landfills every year.
VIRGINIA Richmond:
More than 200 women attended a town hall meeting to promote women of color running for local and statewide office. The event Saturday at Virginia Union University was hosted by She the People, a national progressive group.
WASHINGTON Mount Rainier National Park:
The 79-room annex at Mount Rainier National Park’s Paradise Inn reopened Friday after a 19month, $25 million renovation, The News Tribune reports.
WEST VIRGINIA Wheeling:
Officials say major repairs are planned for the state’s oldest bridge. The Intelligencer reports the Division of Highways plans to rehabilitate the Elm Grove Stone Arch Bridge in a $5.8 million project that begins early next year.
WISCONSIN Milwaukee:
The Great American Lobster Fest is coming to the city for the first time Aug. 16-18.
WYOMING Casper:
The Wyoming Democratic Party has requested for a prosecutor to investigate allegations of voting difficulties on the Wind River Reservation last year.