Around the nation
News from every state.
ALABAMA Priceville: The police department jokingly announced Tuesday that all crime has been canceled until further notice due to the possibility of snow.
ALASKA Juneau: Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed cutting the extra $20 million for schools that lawmakers approved during last year’s legislative session.
ARIZONA Sedona: Affordable housing has long been an issue here, but city leaders say that exacerbating the problem is a state law prohibiting cities and towns from regulating short-term home rentals, largely via websites such as Airbnb or VRBO.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: A state lawmaker has proposed tapping into tax revenue from car sales and imposing a new tax on motor fuels to raise money for the state’s highways.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: A judge on Monday upheld protection for gray wolves under the state’s Endangered Species Act, rejecting a legal challenge from ranchers and farmers who fear the predators will threaten their livestock.
COLORADO Denver: Brick Bar, a pop-up bar built using more than 1 million Legos, is coming to the Mile High City this June for one weekend.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Health officials say the number of cases of human immunodeficiency virus in the state increased 4 percent in 2017.
DELAWARE Newport: The MEDAL Air Liquide manufacturing plant is facing an $80,000 fine after state environmental regulators say the company that owns the facility dumped nearly 2 tons of excess pollution in the air in the past two years.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washing
ton: Mayor Muriel Bowser has announced that all rides on the DC Circulator bus will be free through the end of February.
FLORIDA Daytona Beach: A man has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for attacking another man who was dressed as one of the short yellow characters from the “Minions” film.
GEORGIA Savannah: Officials say the Port of Savannah set a record for cargo volume in 2018.
HAWAII Honolulu: A lawmaker is pushing to add the mineral fluoride to the state’s public water systems in an effort to promote better dental health.
IDAHO Lewiston: An early forecast by state fisheries managers suggests a poor outlook for the upcoming chinook salmon season.
ILLINOIS Chicago: Police are reporting gunpoint robberies targeting people wearing pricey Canada Goose jackets as temperatures plunge.
INDIANA Indianapolis: More than 3,000 babies born in the state during the month of February will receive reds hats courtesy of the American Heart Association’s “Little Hats, Big Hearts” program.
IOWA Des Moines: Des Moines Area Regional Transit is giving free rides to local shelters and warming centers through Thursday for those in need.
KANSAS Wichita: A federal judge cleared the way Monday for a lawsuit to proceed against a school district accused of violating students’ free speech and free press rights last year during a nationwide walkout protesting gun violence. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ruled the stu- dents have presented a plausible claim that the Shawnee Mission School District violated their First Amendment rights by stopping speakers from talking about gun control or gun violence.
KENTUCKY Golden Pond: A bison auction is being held Saturday at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. A statement from the Friends of Land Between the Lakes says the auction will be held Feb. 2 at Land Between the Lakes Elk & Bison Prairie Corral.
LOUISIANA Natchitoches: A special exhibit produced by the National WWII Museum in New Orleans will go on view at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum on Friday. The exhibition highlights the state’s contributions to the war effort.
MAINE Augusta: The Bureau of Maine State Parks will open the state’s reservations system and call center starting Friday, but only for the popular Sebago Lake State Park campground.
MARYLAND Baltimore: The state’s attorney in the city will no longer prosecute any marijuana possession cases, regardless of the quantity of the drug or an individual’s prior criminal record, authorities say.
MASSACHUSETTS Cambridge: Actor/producer/director Bryce Dallas Howard has been named 2019 Woman of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
MICHIGAN Detroit: Poet and activist Gloria House has been selected as the 2019 Kresge Eminent Artist for her achievement in the arts and contribution to the growth and vibrancy of the city’s culture.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: A “bipawtisan” group of lawmakers has introduced a bill to designate the Labrador retriever as the state’s official dog breed.
MISSISSIPPI Natchez: The city is working to protect a wall that stabilizes steep bluffs by the Mississippi River.
MISSOURI Jefferson City: State lawmakers have introduced at least six separate proposals since last month to restrict the use of cellphones while driving.
MONTANA Great Falls: Montana State Fair officials say Motown quartet the Four Tops will take the stage Sunday, July 28.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: Officials say the online Plow Tracker interactive map can now provide winter travelers with information about Nebraska road conditions from the perspective of snowplow drivers.
NEVADA Reno: Jamie Lee Curtis stopped by the Nevada Museum of Art last week. The star of “True Lies” and the “Halloween” film franchise flew to Reno to visit the museum’s Anne Brigman photography exhibition Thursday, taking museum officials by surprise. NEW HAMPSHIRE Portsmouth: Federal fishing managers are beginning the process of determining how the nation’s harvest of wild fish has been affected by the government shutdown. The New England Fishery Management Council is meeting this week in Portsmouth.
NEW JERSEY Seaside Heights: It’s big, it’s free, and it’s coming back. The Jersey Shore Festival, which will feature more than 150 bands, is set for May 17-18.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: A park official is expressing his gratitude for a “mystery person” who cleaned the bathrooms at Petroglyph National Monument during the federal government shutdown and kept them stocked with toilet paper.
NEW YORK New York: The New York Yankees are going green, hiring an environmental science adviser.
NORTH CAROLINA Harkers Island: The just-ended government shutdown created a windfall for seashell lovers on the coast. Staff at Cape Lookout National Seashore said on the park’s Facebook page that the shelling is excellent right now.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The state Senate has endorsed legislation that would charge owners of electric and hybrid vehicles an annual fee.
OHIO Youngstown: An art museum board that was offered $130 million worth of Norman Rockwell paintings from Boy Scouts of America has voted to wait a year before deciding whether to accept the works because of a recent report detailing the Scouting organization’s problems involving child sex abuse allegations.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: A hotel that bills itself as the largest gay resort in the Southwest has new outof-state owners. The Journal Record reports Los Angeles-based Alternatives Resorts bought the Habana Inn.
OREGON Salem: Senate Bill 448 would study the creation of an “Oregon Outdoors Pass,” bringing the state’s myriad of passes, permits and licenses under one simplified system.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The state Senate is resuming a push to make the Eastern hellbender Pennsylvania’s official amphibian.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: It appears Hasbro is the true winner of The Game of Life. The Providence Journal reports a federal judge ruled in favor of the toy company in a lawsuit over who owns the rights to the popular board game.
SOUTH CAROLINA Charleston: The city is now testing out GPS technology to track waste left on city streets by carriage horses and mules.
SOUTH DAKOTA Parker: The Parker School District certainly announced its school closures in a unique way. “Mr. Hot Dog” appeared late Monday on the district’s Facebook page and said after speaking with Superintendent Donavan DeBoer, the decision was made to cancel classes due to the cold – after all, he’s not a cold dog.
TENNESSEE Nashville: The state plans to invest $1 million in an upcoming Ken Burns documentary on country music.
TEXAS Houston: The top official in Harris County is raising questions about a $105 million redevelopment plan for the Astrodome after learning that funding didn’t include money to upgrade the air-conditioning system, the Houston Chronicle reports.
UTAH Salt Lake City: Mormons will account for nearly 90 percent of the state Legislature this session.
VERMONT Tunbridge: Officials say the Tunbridge World’s Fair fairgroundstook a beating from ice buildup flooding, the Valley News reports.
VIRGINIA Gloucester Point: Researchers are trying to figure out how to reduce the number of abandoned crab pots in the Chesapeake Bay. The Daily Press reports that researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science are surveying watermen for ideas for solutions.
WASHINGTON Olympia: A bill under consideration would restrict the weight of package-delivery robots, limit them to sidewalks and crosswalks, and require both insurance and active monitoring by a human.
WEST VIRGINIA Morgantown: A rescue owl named Jeff now has a home of his own thanks to volunteers with the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia and AmeriCorps.
WYOMING Cheyenne: A bill introduced in the Legislature would have the state take over operating national parks and other federal facilities within its borders if the federal government ever shuts down again.