50 States

ALABAMA Montgomery: A nonprofit group has been formed to support the state’s parks. Officials say the Alabama State Parks Foundation will raise money through donations to improve park facilities and programs.

ALASKA Anchorage: Residents of the Aleutian Islands are planning to bring home indigenous remains removed from burial sites nearly a century ago. The Anchorage Daily News reports officials are working on a three-year plan to recover the remains, held by the Smithsonian Institution.

ARIZONA Phoenix: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport set a new passenger-traffic record in March.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: Lawmakers are sending voters a proposal that would rework the term limits on House and Senate members. It’s a pre-emptive strike against another proposal that would impose the strictest term limits in the U.S.

CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: Former first lady Michelle Obama and a host of celebrities including Conan O’Brien, Kelly Rowland, Usher and Don Cheadle will join thousands of students to celebrate college signing day at UCLA on Wednesday.

COLORADO Granada: A University of Denver team is using drone images to create a 3D reconstruction of a World War II-era Japanese internment camp in southern Colorado.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: The entity overseeing distribution of state funds to help homeowners with crumbling foundations has ceased authorizing new foundation construction work until it receives a payment from the state Department of Housing.

DELAWARE Wilmington: Actor Aubrey Plaza served lunch to those in need at Emmanuel Dining Room on Monday. The “Parks and Rec” star, who was in town visiting her family, is the national Service Ambassador for youth organization 4-H.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the district and a police officer over the search of a yard belonging to a woman who made negative comments about police.

FLORIDA Tallahassee: The Legislature has sent a bill that expands state anti-hazing law to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

GEORGIA Savannah: A new historic marker honors a woman who helped maintain peace and trade between the Creek Indian nation and the colony of Georgia. The Savannah Morning News reports the marker describes Mary Musgrove, interpreter for Gen. James Oglethorpe from 1733 to 1743.

HAWAII Kahului: Hybrid electric planes will be put to the test on Mokulele Airlines’ Maui route this fall.

IDAHO Boise: The state is seeking to intervene on the side of the federal government after four conservation groups asked a judge to immediately halt drilling, mining and other activities to protect sage grouse habitat.

ILLINOIS Chicago: About 160 flowering cherry trees planted near the Museum of Science and Industry are mature enough to put on a show this spring, the Chicago Tribune reports.

INDIANA Indianapolis: The recent certification of a veterans’ treatment court in Pulaski County means the state now has 100 courts that specialize in handling issues that include drug treatment, veterans, mental health and domestic violence.

IOWA Des Moines: Half a dozen people dressed as penguins to ask Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang about climate change Sunday at a town hall event. They were there on behalf of Bold Iowa, in response to Yang saying at another event that “people with financial struggles have the attitude that the penguins can wait in line.”

KANSAS Topeka: Lawmakers have tightened financial requirements for a license to operate nursing homes.

KENTUCKY Louisville: All eyes are on the racehorses for Kentucky Derby Week. But in barns behind Churchill Downs, you might find a different animal. Goats, their owners say, can serve as companions for a nervous thoroughbred, making for a soothing presence in the stall.

LOUISIANA New Orleans: The Army Corps of Engineers says the rising Mississippi River could result in the unprecedented reopening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway.

MAINE Portland: Fishing managers are beginning the daunting process of implementing new restrictions on lobster fishing that are designed to protect North Atlantic right whales.

MARYLAND Salisbury: Taylor Dumpson, the first black woman to be American University’s student government president, is seeking over $1.5 million in court-ordered damages against a neo-Nazi website operator who orchestrated an online harassment campaign against her. MASSACHUSETTS Cambridge: Student pranksters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology draped the university’s signature Great Dome with a giant cloth version of Captain America’s red, white and blue shield over the weekend.

MICHIGAN Traverse City: Moose are thriving at Isle Royale National Park, but the trees on which they feast are paying a heavy price, scientists say.

MINNESOTA St. Paul: A proposal to rename a state park on the St. Croix River after former Vice President Walter Mondale has again been dropped after strong opposition from local residents.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: A study by The Senior List ranks the Magnolia State dead last on “The Best States for Finding Love After 50” list using data from the U.S. Census Bureau on marital status and income.

MISSOURI Jefferson City: Responding to a social media hoax, the state Department of Conservation says it is not planning to ban mushroom hunting on public lands or considering requiring a license.

MONTANA Great Falls: This year’s state paddlefish season kicks off Wednesday with the opening of the Upper Missouri River section from Fort Benton to Fort Peck Dam.

NEBRASKA Omaha: Native American education advocates say the state’s proposed social studies standards fall short of a comprehensive history of Native Americans.

NEVADA Carson City: Some Clark County commissioners have voiced support for considering firearm restrictions on the Las Vegas Strip if state lawmakers give them the power to create stricter gun laws.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Hopkinton: The 130-year-old Contoocook Covered Railroad Bridge, believed to be the oldest surviving bridge of its type, is getting a face-lift.

NEW JERSEY Millburn: The Millburn High School robotics team took the top prize in this year’s VEX Robotics World Championship.

NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard has halted further oil and natural gas development on New Mexico trust lands near the Chaco Cultural National Historic Park.

NEW YORK New York: Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a ban of alcohol advertising on city property.

NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: A bill heading to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk makes clear charities aren’t breaking the law by holding occasional casino “game nights” as fundraisers as long as they follow new rules.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Gov. Doug Burgum has signed a complex energy bill dealing with empty pockets in underground rock formations, though property rights advocates are likely to keep fighting. The cavities known as “pore space” belong to the surface owner, not the mineral owner. The Bismarck Tribune reports certain landowners will no longer get compensated for the injection of oil-field wastewater into their pore spaces.

OHIO Columbus: The state’s Department of Natural Resources says land it’s buying to expand a nature preserve near Lake Erie will help protect more than 700,000 plants of the endangered Lakeside daisy species.

OKLAHOMA Eagletown: The Oklahoman reports agents with Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission and the McCurtain County sheriff’s deputies busted a moonshine operation after flying a drone over a wooded area.

OREGON Salem: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in the city is plagued with long wait times for new patients.

PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Internet sales tax revenues are coming in nearly four times above what was projected for the current fiscal year.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: A report by the general treasurer finds the state’s 35 locally run pension plans have close to $2.5 billion in unfunded obligations.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: More than 4,000 educators and their supporters plan to rally at the Statehouse on Wednesday under the banner of education reform. Some school districts have canceled classes.

SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: Students at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology have won two awards totaling $10,000 for an invention they say may improve vehicle fuel efficiency by up to 10%.

TENNESSEE Nashville: Kid Rock is quite literally raising a middle finger in Music City. Rock commissioned an artist to install a giant middle finger sculpture on his property, Taste of Country reports.

TEXAS Austin: State prison officials say the last written words of condemned inmates will no longer be shared publicly.

UTAH Duchesne: Starvation State Park has been renamed in honor of Fred Hayes, a former director of the Division of Parks and Recreation. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held May 7.

VERMONT Montpelier: It appears unlikely that lead-testing of water at the state’s schools and day care centers will happen this academic year.

WASHINGTON Seattle: The state budget approved this week includes $750,000 to study the impacts of the possible breaching of four Snake River dams to help salmon recovery.

WEST VIRGINIA Huntington: An annual Empty Bowls fundraiser involving Marshall University ceramics students has raised a record $18,000 to help feed needy families.

WISCONSIN Milwaukee: This Is It! is the longest-running gay bar in the state, and it’s paying homage to the role it’s played by becoming home to the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project’s first permanent public display.

WYOMING Casper: A U.S. Department of Justice report shows the state’s prison population grew the third fastest in the country in 2017. From staff and wire reports