Around the nation

News from every state.

ALABAMA Birmingham: A lawmaker wants to separate the state holiday that jointly honors slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Confederate General Robert E. Lee. State Rep. John Rogers, a Birmingham Democrat, plans to introduce legislation to split the two. Lee’s holiday would move to Confederate Memorial Day in April.

ALASKA Juneau: The Juneau Arts and Humanities Council has changed the theme of its annual fashion show following a complaint by Alaska Airlines, a sponsor of the event. The Wearable Art show scheduled for mid-February changed its theme of turbulence to tailwind, the Juneau Empire reports.

ARIZONA Phoenix: A federal judge has found four women guilty of entering a national wildlife refuge without a permit as they sought to place food and water in the Arizona desert for migrants – the first conviction against humanitarian aid volunteers in a decade.

ARKANSAS Bella Vista: Gov. Asa Hutchinson says it could cost millions more than first estimated to extinguish an underground fire at a landfill containing wood waste.

CALIFORNIA Vanderberg Air Force Base: A powerful Delta 4 Heavy rocket carrying a U.S. spy satellite lifted off Saturday from California. The rocket propelled the National Reconnaissance Office satellite over the Pacific Ocean west of Los Angeles.

COLORADO Boulder: The University of Colorado has announced its most ambitious fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $4 billion. Money from the new campaign will support academic, research and public service activities on the four campuses.

CONNECTICUT Torrington: Students at Torrington’s St. Peter/St. Francis School are leaving out bright yellow scarves and hats for people experiencing homelessness or in need. Dylan Bird, 12, says the campaign for caring is a good way to teach empathy for those around them.

DELAWARE Wilmington: The Brandywine Zoo is closed through the end of February for construction and improvement projects.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The district has another new museum in town, and it focuses on one of America’s most treasured art forms, WUSA reports. The Hip-Hop Museum has popped up at the Blind Whino SW Arts Club and will be around until Feb. 18.

FLORIDA Boca Raton: A man is reaching out to the comic-collecting community, hoping to reclaim nearly 450 valuable comic books that were recently stolen. The Sun Sentinel reports Randy Lawrence posted on social media that his registered Batman and Detective Comics collection valued at $1.4 million was stolen from an air-conditioned storage unit.

GEORGIA Atlanta: A collection of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s papers on display provides insight into the slain civil rights leader’s thought processes as he drafted some of his most well-known speeches and notable sermons. “The Meaning of Hope: The Best of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection” opened Saturday at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

IDAHO Boise: Legislation has been introduced to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from employment and housing discrimination. The bill from Democratic state Sen. Maryanne Jordan of Boise would add the words “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” to the Idaho Human Rights Act.

ILLINOIS Chicago: A local nonprofit is leading an effort to match retiring manufacturers whose families aren’t interested in continuing the business with entrepreneurs who want to keep the companies running locally. The Chicago Tribune reports Manufacturing Renaissance is reviving a program from the 1980s known as the Ownership Conversion Project.

INDIANA Wakarusa: Elkhart County, which has a large Amish population, is moving ahead with plans to add lanes along local roads just for horsedrawn buggies.

IOWA Altoona: Ted Williams, 93, a World War II veteran, finally got his second-place Drake Relays medal last week after earning it at age 18. Due to wartime metal rationing, he wasn’t given a medal for his prowess with the discus. Instead, he received a certificate he could redeem after the war was over. On his birthday Thursday, he at long last received the medal in a surprise ceremony staged by friends.

KANSAS Wichita: Kansas State University’s horticulture center near the city might not be closing after all. The John C. Pair Horticulture Center in Haysville is considering plans to raise revenue, including a foray into industrial hemp.

KENTUCKY Williamstown: A theme park depicting an ark as described in the Bible is battling with an advocacy group over whether public school field trips to the attraction are legal.

LOUISIANA New Orleans: The legendary Diana Ross has been added to this year’s lineup for the 50th anniversary of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

MAINE Millinocket: The massive ice disk that formed on a river in the state has a baby brother. Officials at Baxter State Park shared a photo of an ice disk about 30 or 40 feet wide. Ranger Dave Loome said the perfect circle of ice stood out Wednesday when he cruised by Nesowdnehunk Stream on a snowmobile. The first ice disk, about 100 yards wide, elsewhere in the state attracted international attention.

MARYLAND Ellicott City: In response to an increase of sexually transmitted infections, Howard County’s school system is partnering with health officials to offer condoms at the nurse’s offices in all its high schools starting this month.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The Boston Symphony Orchestra is offering complimentary tickets to furloughed federal workers for performances this month.

MICHIGAN Detroit: Some of the city’s artists will gather to celebrate the music and memory of Aretha Franklin. “A Celebration of the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin in Song and Dance” is scheduled for Feb. 1 at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

MINNESOTA Lake City: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is moving forward with a proposal to build islands near the head of Lake Pepin by using sand and sediment removed from the Mississippi River.

MISSISSIPPI Brooksville: At Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee Wildlife Refuge, which remains open but virtually unstaffed amid a federal government shutdown, conditions are as pristine as usual thanks, in part, to volunteers taking the initiative to pick up litter.

MISSOURI Kansas City: Now that the state is entering the medical marijuana industry, two Democratic lawmakers want to give businesses owned by women and minorities a slight edge in entering the market. Advocates of two similar bills say affirmative action is appropriate because studies have shown that marijuana-related arrests have typically fallen disproportionately on black and Latino users, even though white people use marijuana at about the same rate.

MONTANA Kalispell: The University of Montana says fewer people visited the state in 2018 than the year before, but they spent more money.

NEBRASKA Fremont: Ken Eldridge, a stained glass artist for St. Patrick’s Catholic Church who for years has donated his time to the parish, began work last year on the Divine Mercy windows project, and installation will take place the week between Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday.

NEVADA Reno: Photos and video taken by animal welfare activists at a trophy hunting convention show an array of products crafted from the body parts of threatened biggame animals. Vendors at the Safari Club International event this month in Reno also were recorded hawking African vacations to shoot captivebred lions raised in pens. Nevada’s chief game warden confirmed an investigation is underway.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Lola Giannelli, a fifth-grader from Nashua, was sworn in as the state’s first “Kid Governor” on Friday, promising to work hard to protect animals from abuse and urging the Legislature to do the same.

NEW JERSEY North Hanover Township: Although an Army veteran had no family with him as he died last month, hundreds of strangers came together Friday for his funeral with military honors thanks to the work of a volunteer. Peter Turnpu, 77, died at his New Jersey home from natural causes.

NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: The state is offering furloughed federal employees and their families free admission to state-run museums and historic sites.

NEW YORK Albany: The Department of Environmental Conservation is taking applications from people interested in raising and releasing pheasants.

NORTH CAROLINA Manteo: Cape Hatteras National Seashore on the Outer Banks is being vandalized while park staffers are furloughed during the ongoing partial federal government shutdown.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A lawmaker is introducing legislation to pursue a new state logo as part of efforts to revamp state tourism.

OHIO Columbus: A Great Dane known for making mischief has a permanent home in the city, the Columbus Dispatch reports. The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum has acquired more than 16,000 Marmaduke cartoons from 1954 to 2010. The cartoons are part of a collection that includes strip’s creator Brad Anderson’s original art, correspondence, fan mail, memorabilia and more.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Officials anticipate problems with funding the state’s rural firefighting services if the partial federal government shutdown persists.

OREGON Salem: A federal bankruptcy judge has allowed the proposed sale of the troubled Lost Valley Farm to proceed despite ob- jections by state agencies over who will clean up the dairy’s wastewater and manure.

PENNSYLVANIA Reading: Wyndridge Farm near Dallastown will act as an exclusive grower and provider of industrial hemp to Albright College this spring.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: An offshore wind farm project is offering to pay more than $6 million to compensate Rhode Island commercial fishermen who will lose access to fishing grounds. Vineyard Wind is also offering to create a $23 million fund to research new fishing gear and technology to support safe fishing around wind turbines.

SOUTH CAROLINA Walhalla: A school district is considering adopting a modified calendar for the 202021 school year that would move it closer to year-round education. The Post and Courier reports the Oconee County School District’s possible calendar would shorten summer break by a month and create twoweek breaks every nine weeks.

SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: University researchers and a local water development board are collaborating to survey the prospect of channeling Missouri River water to Rapid City and western Pennington County.

TENNESSEE Nashville: Guitarist Reggie Young, who played on hundreds of hit records backing up Elvis, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and many more, has died at 82. Friend and session musician David Briggs said Young died Thursday at his home in Nashville.

TEXAS Abilene: Havar, the white Bengal tiger that has been one of the Abilene Zoo’s star attractions for 91⁄ years, has died at an age estimat2 ed between 18 and 20 years. An Abilene Zoo statement says that “although Havar was considered geriatric, his death has come unexpectedly.” Bengal tigers are an endangered species, with as few as 4,000 left in the wild.

UTAH Salt Lake City: A driverless public shuttle is expected to make its Utah debut this year as state officials test the possibilities of autonomous vehicles. The Salt Lake Tribune reports the shuttle that holds about a dozen people is expected to operate in February at the state Capitol. It will initially travel the sidewalks because autonomous cars aren’t street legal, though a state lawmaker is hoping to change that.

VERMONT Montpelier: Approximately $200,000 is available in federal grant funding for specialty crop industries in the state. The Agency of Agriculture says the money will go to projects that improve the competitiveness of specialty crops.

VIRGINIA Richmond: This tobaccofriendly state is preparing to put new limits on who can buy tobacco products. Citing the rapid growth of teenage vaping, GOP leaders in the General Assembly announced Thursday they are backing legislation to raise the age limit from 18 to 21. Virginiabased Altria, one of the biggest tobacco companies in the world, said it supports the proposal.

WASHINGTON Seattle: Over the years, scientists have identified dams, pollution and vessel noise as causes of the troubling decline of the Pacific Northwest’s resident killer whales. Now, they may have found a new and more surprising culprit: pink salmon. Researchers suspect huge runs of pink salmon in alternate years interfere with the whales’ ability to hunt their preferred prey, Chinook salmon.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Since elk were stocked in southwestern West Virginia in 2016, not one has been killed illegally. Capt. Terry Ballard of the state Natural Resources Police said regular law-enforcement patrols, real-time electronic surveillance and a vigilant public have combined to keep the elk safe.

WISCONSIN Madison: Livestock owners and feed suppliers in the state are growing concerned about hay shortages this winter, which some say could be causing a spike in prices.

WYOMING Cheyenne: University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols is opposing proposed legislation that would authorize community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees. From staff and wire reports