USA TODAY International Edition
50 ★ States
ALABAMA Parrish: Alabama Power Company has agreed to pay about $ 222,000 to settle a chemical spill and fish kill. News outlets reported the amount includes a civil penalty and compensation.
ALASKA Fairbanks: A rule change will allow electronically assisted bikes anywhere that traditional bicycles are permitted in Denali National Park and Reserve.
ARKANSAS Mountain Home: Underage vaping was the topic Monday at a roundtable talk held by state Attorney General Leslie Rutledge at the Donald W. Reynolds Library.
CALIFORNIA El Centro: The Imperial County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to declare a local state of emergency at the Salton Sea.
COLORADO Denver: A giraffe has died unexpectedly at the Denver Zoo because of complications following a routine medical procedure.
CONNECTICUT Middletown: The president of Wesleyan University said the school has decided not to pursue the proposed idea of opening a college in China.
DELAWARE Townsend: A crash Wednesday night on Del. 1 near the U. S. 13 overpass shut down the highway overnight, an official said. The crash involved two tractor- trailers, said an official with the Delaware State Police. One driver sustained nonlife- threatening injuries.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: A judge has denied an injunction request that would have blocked the District of Columbia from moving forward on its $ 215 million no- bid sports gambling contract.
FLORIDA Hollywood: It looks like a rock ’ n’ roll guitar. But this one is 450 feet tall and is a light- beam hotel that the Seminole Tribe wants to become South Florida’s latest tourist destination. The Guitar Hotel’s grand opening was Thursday on the tribe’s land in Hollywood.
GEORGIA Cordele: A Canadian company said it will lay off 45 workers at a south Georgia wood panel mill as it cuts production.
HAWAII Lahaina: Roads and an airport have reopened as firefighters continue to fight a west Maui brush fire.
IDAHO Boise: A black bear cub that was illegally taken from the wild by a Boise man is heading to a rehabilitation sanctuary.
ILLINOIS Chicago: The city’s police oversight agency has recommended only a 30- day suspension for an officer who fatally shot a fleeing teenager in 2011, concluding it missed the fiveyear deadline for firing him under state law.
INDIANA Indianapolis: Authorities said the man and woman who died when their SUV plunged from the fourth floor of a downtown parking garage came from Illinois.
IOWA Mason City: Members of a veterans group will dedicate monuments Saturday depicting male and female soldiers.
KANSAS Topeka: A wayward squirrel is being blamed for a power outage in Topeka. KSNT- TV reported that about 3,000 Evergy customers were without electricity when the power went out around 9: 30 a. m. Wednesday.
KENTUCKY Paducah: The McCracken County Humane Society is struggling after taking in 65 dogs in two days.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: State farmers could start growing industrial hemp by the spring if federal and state agriculture agencies keep their regulatory work on track.
MAINE Augusta: The University of Maine is getting more federal funding for a floating platform to support up to a 12- megawatt wind turbine.
MARYLAND Ocean City: After a 10- month investigation, Cameron Coke of Towson, has been charged with theft and fourth- degree burglary in connection with the taking of a baby Jesus statue from an Ocean City church's outdoor nativity, according to police.
MASSACHUSETTS Framingham: The North Hall dormitory at Framingham State University will soon be renamed in honor of abolitionist and journalist Mary Miles Bibb, the school’s first African American woman to graduate.
MICHIGAN Detroit: A 100- year- old World War II veteran from Michigan has been honored for guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Jack Eaton is the oldest living sentinel of the monument, which he protected from January 1938 to December 1939.
MINNESOTA Rochester: The History Center of Olmsted County has posted photos and videos of its miniature dolls on social media, taking votes for the most nightmarish one.
MISSISSIPPI Pascagoula: A retired police chief appointed to act as the temporary city manager of Pascagoula has announced he’s leaving the role after less than a month.
MISSOURI St. Louis: The St. Louis Zoo said that Rani, a 23- year- old Asian elephant, is pregnant and due to give birth next summer. The zoo’s bull elephant, 26- year- old Raja, is the father.
MONTANA Helena: The state Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a Missoula city ordinance requiring background checks on all gun sales in the city.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: The name of the top candidate for the University of Nebraska system presidency could be publicly disclosed at the Board of Regents’ meeting Friday.
NEVADA Boulder City: State officials have ordered a quarantine on a Boulder City horse facility after multiple horses contracted a contagious virus before being euthanized.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Landaff: A group of friends, family and fellow soldiers recently gathered at the Landaff Cemetery to mark the 15th anniversary of the death of Army Spc. Alan Burgess.
NEW JERSEY Atlantic Highlands: A man said he and his hiking companion were rescued after they fell off a cliff because the impact spurred his smart watch to call 911.
NEW MEXICO Roswell: City officials have announced plans to sell a $ 150,000 property the city acquired from the federal government.
NEW YORK New York City: An immersive, 8,000- square- foot museum dedicated to all things slime opens Friday for a nearly six- month celebration.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: A state House panel supports a $ 660 million fix for cash- flow problems at the Department of Transportation attributed to disaster recovery spending and litigation losses.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Gov. Doug Burgum has announced his plans to seek reelection in 2020.
OHIO Columbus: Legislation dubbed Tyler’s Law would place a professional engineer on the Ohio Advisory Council on Amusement Ride Safety. The panel makes recommendations to the state’s agriculture director about safety matters, including monitoring and inspecting rides.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: One of the nation’s top rating agencies is upgrading the state’s economic outlook from “stable” to “positive” in large part because of the 2018 passage of tax hikes that have resulted in budget surpluses and increased reserves.
OREGON Newport: An invasion of purple sea urchins that destroyed underwater kelp forests off the California coast is now hitting Oregon. Numbers released by Oregon’s wildlife agency show 350 million of the urchins on one reef in southern Oregon alone – a 10,450% increase since 2014.
PENNSYLVANIA Jonestown: The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it rescued 83 cats and 10 dogs from unsafe conditions at a self- proclaimed rescue facility.
RHODE ISLAND East Providence: Construction of an artificial reef off the coast of East Providence is expected to take place this week.
SOUTH CAROLINA Charleston: An Atlanta- based timber company is ending production at two rural South Carolina wood product plants that employ 240 workers.
SOUTH DAKOTA Hot Springs: Some bison cows at Wind Cave National Park are being monitored with collars that communicate with satellites.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Nashville’s sheriff said there’s proof that Johnny Cash was granted law enforcement authority four decades ago.
TEXAS Doma: Work crews in South Texas are laying steel along the U. S.Mexico border in preparation for the installation of new segments of border wall.
UTAH Salt Lake City: Zions Bancorporation, a Utah- based bank, has announced plans to lay off hundreds of employees and close branches across multiple states in the coming months.
VERMONT Essex Junction: A haunted house in Chittenden County garnered attention for a plot line that some Vermonters considered offensive. Nightmare Vermont changed programming that referenced a school shooting after community members spoke out in protest.
VIRGINIA Roanoke: Roanoke County has reversed a ban on sleeping in cars overnight.
WASHINGTON Olympia: A divided state Supreme Court ruled that birthdates of state employees are public records that are subject to disclosure.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Gov. Jim Justice wants to expand the state’s wine- making industry.
WISCONSIN Madison: A group from Wisconsin is in South Burlington, Vermont, to learn more about how the area is dealing with the arrival of the F- 35 fighter planes being flown by the Vermont Air National Guard.
WYOMING Gillette: A pizzeria in Gillette is stocking up ahead of a jump in the cost of Parmesan cheese from Italy. Pizza Carrello usually orders one big wheel of Parmesan at a time but recently bought five. Restaurant co- owner Ariane Jimison told the Gillette News- Record she expects the price of Parmesan to go up because of a 25% tariff on European Union products.