Around the nation
News from every state.
ALABAMA state Christmas Montgomery: tree has arrived The official at the aglow Alabama in lights. Capitol Gov. Kay and Ivey’s will soon office be says will be the held annual Friday lighting at 5:30 ceremony p.m.
vy ALASKA was sworn Juneau: into Gov. office Mike Monday, Dunleataking western his Alaska oath in city a school of Kotzebue gym in after the poor weather and a recent earthquake forced a change in plans.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Local leaders are backing an American Indian tribe’s plan to apply for a casino license. Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington and Jefferson County Judge Booker Clemons say they exclusively support the Downstream Development Authority of the Quapaw Tribe’s casino application.
CALIFORNIA Sacramento: A report says the state is seeing a historic drop in arrests that still leaves blacks far more likely to wind up in handcuffs.
COLORADO Denver: Warmer, drier conditions brought about by climate change could imperil a wildflower once common in the Colorado high country. Scientists spent 25 years tracking the northern rock jasmine, also known as fairy candelabra, and concluded that a 3 degree Fahrenheit rise in temperature could cause the wildflower to go extinct in that area.
CONNECTICUT New London: Coast Guard Academy cadets soon will be able to communicate with satellites in space from classrooms on campus, The Day reports.
DELAWARE Newark: Land at the site of Delaware’s lone Revolutionary War battlefield will get new archaeological scrutiny and preservation. More details will be revealed Friday at the site of the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washing
ton: There are plans to build a new hospital in town, but students and staff at Howard University are curious how they fit into the project.
FLORIDA Milton: Free to a good home: one rooster, “mean as the devil,” who will attack everything you know and love. He’s great with the lady chickens, though. A Milton woman drew laughs last month for her straight-to-the-point Craigslist ad trying to rehome Steven. Jennifer Barrow was surprised that it took less than a day to find him a new home. But John Sablan says he “was looking for a mean rooster.”
GEORGIA Atlanta: New parking changes could be headed Atlanta’s way after the city council voted unanimously to put more restrictions on the booting industry.
HAWAII Hilo: Officials are looking for solutions for feral pig problems at some Big Island state parks.
IDAHO Coeur d’Alene: Continuous Composites got its start with a stab wound. When a strand of fiberglass punctured Ken Tyler’s skin, the inventor started thinking about the strength of the lightweight material. The result was the 3-year-old startup company that its owners say could revolutionize manufacturing.
ILLINOIS Springfield: A display from a Satanic Temple has been placed in the Illinois Statehouse. The State Journal-Register reports that the display from the Satanic TempleChicago is a sculpture called “Knowledge is the Greatest Gift” and depicts the forearm of a woman who is holding an apple.
INDIANA Indianapolis: A group of arts organizations has received $50,000 to build a floating stage in the White River.
IOWA Indianola: If you’re in the market for a witness stand, a jail cell bunk or a stainless steel urinal, you’re in luck. Those and other unique items are now up for auction thanks to the looming demolition of the Warren County Courthouse.
KANSAS Wichita: The prince in the “Nutcracker” had a special present for his favorite ballerina. The Wichita Eagle reports that Allison Evans was playing the Dewdrop Fairy in the Metropolitan Ballet production Sunday when her boyfriend, Dalton Rupp-Meinert, dropped to one knee and proposed.
KENTUCKY Fort Mitchell: The city is set to become a hub for a new task force to combat the opioid epidemic, acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker announced recently.
LOUISIANA Lettsworth: Blues legend Buddy Guy will be honored in his hometown Saturday.
MAINE Kennebunkport: A man who worked as an electrician for the Bush family says he’s been invited to former President George H.W. Bush’s funeral. Mike Lovejoy worked at his summer estate since the 1990s.
MARYLAND Baltimore: The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland is concerned about the toll smoking has taken on the African-American community and is leading an effort to impose restrictions on access to tobacco products.
MASSACHUSETTS Nantucket: The federal government has extended a protective zone off Massachusetts’ coast to try to keep endangered right whales safe from collisions with boats.
MICHIGAN East Tawas: The state is accepting applications from people who want to be temporary lighthouse keepers next spring and summer at the Tawas Point Lighthouse.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: State health officials are adding Alzheimer’s
disease as a qualifying condition to get medical marijuana.
MISSISSIPPI Bay St. Louis: Sealevel rise is already hurting home prices in certain communities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a new analysis finds.
MISSOURI Jefferson City: Three state lawmakers have resigned before a new constitutional amendment takes effect forcing legislators to wait longer to become lobbyists.
MONTANA Great Falls: Final numbers from the 2018 general deer and elk season put mule deer and elk taken by hunters on a portion of the Rocky Mountain Front west of Augusta lower than long-term averages, according to a state wildlife biologist.
NEBRASKA Columbus: The state’s largest utility is encouraging homeowners to use LED Christmas lights because they require less energy.
NEVADA Elko: Local residents and visitors have been allowed back into Lamoille Canyon two months after a wildfire swept through.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Manchester: Tracy K. Smith, the nation’s poet laureate, will receive the Hall-Kenyon Prize in American Poetry at the Currier Museum of Art on Dec. 12.
NEW JERSEY Asbury Park: A cherished cat cafe is bringing its Catsbury Park Cat Convention back to town April 13-14.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: Mayor Tim Keller’s administration will focus on public safety, children’s issues, addressing homelessness and creating jobs during the 2019 New Mexico legislation session.
NEW YORK New York: The New York Police Department has shown off its first fleet of drones. NYPD says they won’t be used for routine patrol or traffic enforcement.
NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: An animal rescue group says a donkey and an emu who’ve bonded can stay together, thanks to actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays the villainous Negan on the TV zombie thriller “The Walking Dead,” The Charlotte Observer reports.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A downtown business association is seeking a neighborhood market analysis to provide insight into how to better utilize the area.
OHIO Cincinnati: The Cincinnati Zoo, which is suing a conservatory in California for the return of a gorilla, has asked a judge to rule in the zoo’s favor without going to trial.
OKLAHOMA Garber: The remains of a U.S. sailor from Oklahoma unaccounted for since the USS Oklahoma was sunk at Pearl Harbor almost 77 years ago have been identified. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced this week that the remains of 21-year-old Navy Fireman 1st Class Leonard R. Geller of Garber were accounted for.
OREGON Portland: The state’s attorney general has approved language for a ballot measure to make psychedelic mushrooms legal.
PENNSYLVANIA Nazareth: C.F. Martin & Co. says the guitar maker’s original factory has been named a National Historical Landmark.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: With winter approaching, state environmental officials say now is the time to find snow collection sites.
SOUTH CAROLINA Florence: Authorities say a historical re-enactment in which blanks were fired sent dozens of police officers and panicked parents to Delmae Heights Elementary School.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pine Ridge: The cause of a fire at a trading post in town is under investigation.
TENNESSEE Memphis: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital says a $50 million donation from a research-based pharmaceutical company is its largest-ever one-time gift.
TEXAS El Paso: A new film by DC and Warner Bros. will focus on the Blue Beetle superhero, a Mexican-American teenager named Jaime Reyes who happens to live in El Paso.
UTAH Salt Lake City: Utah patients can use medical marijuana legally after a compromise agreement was signed into law, but they won’t likely be able to buy it legally inside the state until at least 2020, officials say.
VERMONT Westford: A man says he built a massive sculpture of a middle finger to encourage others to take a long look at who is running the town.
VIRGINIA Arlington: A high school that is removing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s name could be renamed for an interracial couple. A committee is recommending that Washington-Lee High School be renamed as Washington-Loving.
WASHINGTON Seattle: A stretch of riverfront along the Skagit River near Rockport has been permanently protected for fish and wildlife habitat.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The former site of a company that spilled chemicals into the Elk River in 2014 is going up for auction.
WISCONSIN Oshkosh: All-Star Championship Wrestling Wisconsin’s third Water City WrestlingCon will be at Menominee Nation Arena on April 27.
WYOMING Casper: Prices for natural gas have shot up recently, with the Opal trading hub in southwest Wyoming climbing to near $7 per million British thermal unit.