Across the nation

News from every state.

ALABAMA Auburn:

A program to help spread healthy eating habits in rural parts of the state has established or supported nearly 40 community gardens so far. The ALProHealth program, being led by Alabama Extension officials in Auburn, has worked on 16 school-based gardens and 22 more in communities.

ALASKA Anchorage:

A moose used the doorbell to awaken a couple early Wednesday. Kyle Stultz tells KTVATV he looked out the door and found nothing. He decided to check his security camera. The video showed a large moose backing its caboose right into the doorbell.

ARIZONA Lake Havasu City:

The $3.3 million projected price tag for an erosion-control project may grow by

$100,000 because of expenses largely resulting from a need to remove an underground nesting area of a protected species of owls.

ARKANSAS Little Rock:

Some pediatricians are going beyond immunizations and checkups, passing out books to their tiny patients. Dr. Chad Rodgers is co-founder, along with Bentonville-based Dr. James Scherer, of the Arkansas coalition of Reach Out and Read, a national organization founded nearly 30 years ago to help pediatricians get books into the hands of children and families.

CALIFORNIA San Francisco:

State regulators say marijuana deliveries can be made anywhere in the state, even in locales that ban cannabis.

COLORADO Fort Collins:

Bridger Fry, an Eagle Scout candidate with Boy Scout Troop 90, was inspired to take on the task of building medical training tools after participating in “stop the bleed” training. Fry made silicone rubber molds to be used for training others in medical wound treatment. The kits put together by Fry and other Boy Scouts will be sent to rural Colorado hospitals.

CONNECTICUT Newtown:

An organization formed by the parents of children killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School is coming out with a public service announcement designed to help identify individuals planning mass shootings. Officials with Sandy Hook Promise say many such shootings followed warning signs that were missed.

DELAWARE Dover:

Now it’s official. Delaware State University formally elevated Wilma Mishoe to the school’s presidency in an investiture ceremony Saturday. Mishoe was named interim president in January and became its 11th president – and first woman to hold the job – July 1.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washing

ton:

Christmas is coming early for the more than 1,700 children and family members of fallen U.S. military heroes. Gary Sinise Foundation’s Snowball Express provides charter flights to pick up the families as they head to an all-expense-paid retreat to “the most magical place on Earth,” Walt Disney World. Before D.C.-area families took off Saturday, they enjoyed an “Incredibles”-themed send-off.

FLORIDA Sanford:

A lemur surprised a Florida Highway Patrol trooper when it crawled from a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck that had been stopped for driving erratically.

GEORGIA Savannah:

Some of the suggestions were serious, and some were silly. In the end, the Savannah City Council decided to go with a straightforward name for a new public building: The Savannah Cultural Arts Center. The Savannah Morning News reports that the council had received a variety of suggestions from the community. Among the sillier suggestions was the “Googly Eyed Center for the Arts.”

HAWAII Honolulu:

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii has filed a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of two female high school athletes, claiming they’re being unequally treated based on their gender.

IDAHO Boise:

Guitar case slung over his shoulder, Tanner Faris tapes up his cardboard signs: “Not homeless. Just a high school teacher.” Faris, 25, is a math teacher helping refugee kids in Centennial High School’s English as a New Language department. He is a brand-new teacher, and his salary is at the bottom of the pay grade. “(Busking) has become an awesome source of extra income for me. But my heart really is with the kids. I wouldn’t be (busking) if it wasn’t for them,” he says.

ILLINOIS Chicago:

The National Rifle Association says it will remove an image of Chicago’s famous beanshaped Cloud Gate sculpture from a video advertisement, ending a legal dispute after the artist sued for copyright infringement.

INDIANA Gary:

A plan to turn the ruins of a historic church into a tourist attraction can’t move forward until asbestos and other potential health hazards are removed from the property.

IOWA Des Moines:

Hoyt Sherman Place leadership launched a $3.5 million capital fundraising campaign this fall to build a 9,000 square-foot, three-story addition to the theater’s north side.

KANSAS Roeland Park:

Officers in suburban Kansas City have made a gift of the work boots that a teen was attempting to steal. Police Chief John Morris says the responding officers to a shoplifting call at a Walmart learned the teen was a displaced juvenile and wanted the boots so he could get work, KMBCTV reports. Instead of punishment, the officers headed to the cash register. After some words of encouragement with the gift, the teen had tears in his eyes, Morris says.

KENTUCKY Mammoth Cave National Park:

Scientists at the park are taking part in two studies regarding white-nose syndrome, known to have killed millions of bats across the country.

LOUISIANA New Orleans:

Not too many lawyers really know what their clients behind bars are going through, but Theo Shaw does. In 2006 he was one of six black students arrested in the small Louisiana town of Jena in the beating of a white high school student. Unable to post bond, Shaw spent about seven months in jail. He’s always maintained his innocence. He’s since made the law and helping marginalized people his life’s work.

MAINE Freeport:

The new owners of a “desert” attraction on the coast say they are planning big changes. Mela and Doug Heestand say they want to continue the legacy of the Desert of Maine, reopening May 15.

MARYLAND Baltimore:

There’s a potentially powerful new tool to help reunite pet owners with their lost cats and dogs – facial recognition technology. The Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter says it’s the first organization locally to use sophisticated computer algorithms that can let pet owners know almost instantly whether their missing friend is at the shelter or in its network of foster homes.

MASSACHUSETTS Cambridge:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been chosen to give Harvard University’s commencement speech May 30.

MICHIGAN Detroit:

A 12-year-old boy is working odd jobs to raise money for a special Christmas gift: a gravestone for his best friend. Kaleb Klakulak and Kenneth “K.J.” Gross had been friends since second grade before K.J. died in May after years of chemotherapy to fight leukemia, The Detroit News reports.

MINNESOTA Bemidji:

A man who is an expert in European mount taxidermy says demand is increasing. Minnesota Public Radio reports Tony Petrie works as a sergeant in the Beltrami County Sheriff ’s Office but practices taxidermy in his spare time. He says despite the higher demand, he remains the only taxidermist within a few hundred miles.

MISSISSIPPI Canton:

People in this town say for years they’ve heard tales of dirty politics worthy of a movie script. But it wasn’t until this past week that they realized how deep the problems might go. Seven people – including the former fire and police chiefs – have been arrested on voter fraud charges.

MISSOURI Uranus:

The Uranus Examiner, a small newspaper whose name inspired chuckles and groans when it launched a few months ago, is closing. Its editors announced the end of publication Friday.

MONTANA Missoula:

A paw print in the snow contains enough genetic clues to identify the animal that made it, even if the track has been buried for five months. That discovery may revolutionize and simplify wildlife monitoring in remote places. Now anyone with a sharp eye, a little training and a clean water jug can confirm the presence of a wolverine or Canada lynx.

NEBRASKA Lincoln:

The Denman and Mary Mallory Kountze Memorial Theatre at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park is hosting two magic shows running through February, “Winter Wonderland” and “Midwinter’s Night Dream.”

NEVADA Tonopah:

Gregory Hafen II, general manager of Pahrump Utility Co. Inc., has been appointed to fill a district seat on the Nevada State Assembly won posthumously by a well-known brothel owner.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Atkinson:

Police say two elementary school students came to the rescue after their bus driver collapsed behind the wheel. The boys, 8 and 9 years old, tell WCVB-TV they feel like heroes but “not Superman-like heroes.”

NEW JERSEY Cedar Grove:

Millions of real Christmas trees are sold every holiday season. But what happens to ones that never find a home after they’ve been chopped down? Rocco Malanga, owner of Cedar Grove Chrismas Trees, says some take a trip to the beach. In coastal areas ravaged by hurricanes and erosion, leftover Christmas trees can be fastened together, staked down and used to trap sand.

NEW MEXICO Carlsbad:

One of the state’s last drive-in theaters has closed. The owner of the Fiesta Drive-In Theater in Carlsbad announced last week that he was shutting down the decades-old landmark Sunday.

NEW YORK New York:

The private treasures of Frank Sinatra and his wife, Barbara, were a multimilliondollar hit at auction. Sotheby’s reported Friday that the couple’s entertainment memorabilia, art, jewelry, books and other personal items sold for $9.2 million – about twice their pre-sale estimates.

NORTH CAROLINA Asheville:

Western North Carolina will see more hiking trails, added land for the Blue Ridge Parkway and state natural areas, and better water quality thanks to $20.7 million in grants awarded recently through the state’s Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck:

When tourism spokesmen for two top ice fishing destinations in the Upper Midwest go head to head in January, there could be a lot on the line – their fishing lines, anyway. Tanner Cherney at North Dakota’s Devils Lake and Joe Henry at Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods are facing off in a walleye fishing competition Jan. 3 that will be carried live on Facebook.

OHIO Powell:

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has announced the birth of a baby elephant. The zoo says the Asian elephant appears strong.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City:

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality is investigating how more than a dozen barrels were illegally dumped and what’s in them.

OREGON Salem:

Gov. Kate Brown’s proposed budget includes more than $247 million for rural infrastructure projects in Oregon and other increased spending to benefit rural residents.

PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia:

Alexander Hamilton’s tax records, the blueprints for the largest municipal building in the United States and police logs of horse thieves all have a new home now that the Philadelphia City Archives has opened its state-ofthe art facility.

RHODE ISLAND Wakefield:

A piece of a battleship destroyed during the Pearl Harbor attack is coming to Rhode Island. The Providence Journal reports the World War II Foundation is set to receive salvaged steel from the USS Arizona.

SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville:

A parking lot in the city is being used to test a new type of concrete infused with microscopic particles of wood.

SOUTH DAKOTA Spearfish:

A South Dakota man received a grant to further research his alternative method of preserving beer. Spearfish native Steve Polley obtained a $15,000 grant from the U.S. Agriculture Department to examine the effect of quick-freezing hops as an alternative method to extend an ale’s lifespan, the Rapid City Journal reports.

TENNESSEE Nashville:

If you have been meaning to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, your lucky day is coming up. Thanks to the Ford Motor Company Fund, admission will be free Sunday.

TEXAS Austin:

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has denied a Confederate group’s latest attempt to create a specialty license plate celebrating Confederate soldiers.

VERMONT Burlington:

Police have arrested two people in the vandalism of a downtown mural that critics say doesn’t properly represent the city’s diversity.

VIRGINIA Virginia Beach:

The Virginian-Pilot reports Virginia Beach Councilwoman Barbara Henley is leading an effort to examine how forests could help prevent flooding and where those trees would provide the most benefits.

WASHINGTON Seattle:

Prospective homebuyers in the city as late as last year faced the prospect of entering bidding wars or getting edged out by competitors with cash. That’s not the case anymore. Seattle now has the lowest rate of bidding wars among cities tracked by Redfin, the company says.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston:

Teachers are watching closely as a task force studying fixes to a health insurance program for West Virginia public employees prepares to finalize its recommendations by Tuesday.

WISCONSIN Madison:

Great Dane brewpubs will launch CBD-infused beer, cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages starting Thursday at all five of the brewpub’s locations.

WYOMING Jackson:

An environmental group wants federal wildlife managers to quickly produce an overdue plan to reduce the amount of supplemental feed given to wild elk on the National Elk Refuge in northwest Wyoming.