USA TODAY International Edition
50 ★ States
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Montgomery: Mayor Randall Woodfin is criticizing a state law forbidding the majority- black city from removing or altering a Confederate monument as well as a new proposal to fine cities $ 10,000 a day for violations.
ALASKA Anchorage: Brent Sass, a veteran long- distance musher, has won the 2020 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.
ARIZONA Phoenix: A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a 2016 state law barring anyone but a family member or caregiver from returning another person’s early ballot will remain in effect while the state appeals to the U. S. Supreme Court.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: A black state lawmaker plans to introduce legislation next year aimed at changing police tactics after officers drew guns on her and another black politician who had called 911 to report they were being harrassed.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Zoo says its staff have determined a Western lowland gorilla born Jan. 18 is a girl.
COLORADO Denver: U. S. immigration officials are asking a federal judge to force the city to turn over information about three men accused of crimes who are subject to deportation after Denver refused to comply.
CONNECTICUT New Haven: Police will soon begin distributing clean syringes and glass pipes in what are being called “harm reduction kits” to residents who use drugs.
DELAWARE Wilmington: Federal authorities have filed a lawsuit seeking judgment against an Italian shipping line for damage allegedly caused by one of its ships to a jetty along the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The U. S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform passed Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s bill on D. C. statehood Tuesday, WUSA- TV reports.
FLORIDA St. Petersburg: Two dolphins were found with gruesome, life- ending injuries along the Gulf Coast in recent weeks, and federal authorities are offering a reward of up to $ 20,000 to help solve the case.
GEORGIA Atlanta: A firefighter is set to be suspended next week for entering a burning home by himself while trying to save a 95- year- old woman.
HAWAII Honolulu: The city has requested proposals from private organizations interested in providing managed, fee- based access to its famed Haiku Stairs.
IDAHO Boise: Two men who combined spent nearly 40 years in prisons for crimes they didn’t commit testified to state lawmakers Tuesday in favor of legislation that would compensate the wrongly convicted.
ILLINOIS Springfield: A report from the Illinois Education Association shows Illinoisans do not have high regard for public schools outside their own communities.
INDIANA Bristol: A Smithsonian Institution exhibit on life in rural America is on display at the Elkhart County Historical Museum.
IOWA Des Moines: A bill advanced by a Senate subcommittee would add show choir to the list of extracurricular activities that could excuse high school students from PE class.
KANSAS Wichita: A study reveals that universities in Kansas pay their instructors an average of nearly $ 14,000 less than comparable schools in other states.
KENTUCKY Fort Knox: The Army has selected Fort Knox for a new corps headquarters, which will bring 635 additional soldiers to the post, federal officials announced.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: A lawsuit seeking to return federal protection to Louisiana black bears has been thrown out by a federal judge.
MAINE Portland: Federal regulators don’t believe a state plan to reduce risk to right whales goes far enough, and that means lobster fishermen could face more restrictions.
MARYLAND Salisbury: Police have recovered a statue of a great blue heron that was taken from the Salisbury Zoo, with a canine’s help. Ghost, the pooch who found the statue, was honored by the mayor and City Council for his valiance.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A ballot question that would let convenience stores and other food stores in the state sell beer and wine is drawing criticism from some researchers and substance abuse coordinators who say it could result in more crime and alcohol consumption.
MICHIGAN Grand Rapids: A white woman who used racial slurs as she attacked a black car salesman has avoided a jail sentence despite an appeal from the victim for jail time.
MINNESOTA Collegeville: The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is launching a new program to encourage anglers to switch to lead- free fishing equipment as a way to save the state bird, the loon.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: State senators clashed Tuesday before passing a bill to let the state auditor see tax returns to verify the income of people enrolled in Medicaid or other public assistance programs.
MISSOURI Jefferson: Legislators debated a measure Tuesday that would ban public colleges and universities from offering in- state tuition to students in the U. S. illegally.
MONTANA Missoula: The state has revoked 85 specialty license plates that have not been chosen or renewed by at least 400 drivers in the previous year, the state Motor Vehicles Division said.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: The LincolnLancaster County Genealogical Society is looking for a new home for its 8,000- piece collection.
NEVADA Reno: The Nevada Air National Guard Base has proposed replacing its 25- year- old fleet of big turboprop planes that can carry troops or cargo with newer aircraft that are better for their firefighting capabilities.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Claremont: A deer stranded on a chunk of ice on a river that caused bystanders a lot of anxiety made it across the water, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said Tuesday.
NEW JERSEY Fort Lee: The state’s political scene needs, among other things, better sexual misconduct prevention training to stop widespread misogyny, according to nearly a dozen witnesses who spoke Tuesday at the first public meeting of a roving panel addressing the mistreatment of women.
NEW YORK Albany: The governor is proposing to allow counties to opt into regional lockups instead of solely operating their own jails.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The fate of Silent Sam, a Confederate statue torn down by protesters, was thrown back into uncertainty Wednesday when a judge overturned a settlement by the University of North Carolina’s governing board that gave the monument to a Confederate heritage group along with money to preserve it.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The U. S. Commercial Service says that excluding oil, the state exported more than $ 2.2 billion worth of products last year, nearly an 11% decrease from 2018.
OHIO Columbus: A fiscal analyst has warned lawmakers that a proposal to make it harder to raise the state income tax could harm Ohio’s bond rating.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Gov. Kevin Stitt and Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell unveiled the state’s new brand Wednesday. The colorful new logo and “Imagine that” tagline will appear on state agency websites, tourism efforts and new “Welcome to Oklahoma” signs.
OREGON Portland: Ecola State Park near Cannon Beach has been closed indefinitely after a large section of the Crescent Beach trail slid over a cliff, damaged the entrance road and disconnected the park’s main waterline over the weekend.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: A court will consider a legal challenge Thursday by three transgender women to a two- decade- old state law that prohibits people who have committed serious felonies from ever changing their names.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Most of the state’s municipalities have websites that do not use the . gov domain name for government entities, WJARTV reports.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Gov. Henry McMaster has tapped a retired U. S. Army major general, William Grimsley, to run the state’s new Department of Veteran’s Affairs.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: Native American groups opposed to the Keystone XL oil pipeline say Gov. Kristi Noem’s plan to restore criminal penalties for allegedly encouraging riots would result in peaceful protesters being silenced.
TENNESSEE Nashville: A proposal to include feminine hygiene products during the state’s annual sales- tax holiday faced resistance Tuesday from lawmakers concerned about the lack of limit on such purchases.
TEXAS El Paso: Lawyers for the suspect in a shooting at a Walmart that left 22 people dead waived a federal bond hearing and the reading of the indictment Wednesday, as survivors of the attack teared up and consoled one another.
UTAH Salt Lake City: State lawmakers say they won’t consider proposals that could censure or recall U. S. Sen. Mitt Romney following his vote to convict in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
VERMONT Montpelier: Gov. Phil Scott has vetoed a bill that would have increased the minimum wage.
VIRGINIA Richmond: The state House and Senate passed sweeping energy legislation Tuesday that would overhaul how utilities generate electricity and, supporters say, move the state from the back of the pack to the forefront of renewable energy policy in the United States.
WASHINGTON Olympia: The state House has passed a measure that would ban race- based discrimination against hair texture and hairstyles.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Educators would have to teach students about suicide prevention under a bill passed by the state Senate.
WISCONSIN Madison: The state Assembly approved a bill Tuesday that would make bestiality a felony.
WYOMING Jackson: State officials plan a series of public meetings to help them determine how to protect the last bighorn sheep in the Teton Range. The issue could lead to closing off more areas to backcountry skiing.