Around the nation
News from every state.
ALABAMA Montgomery: Lawmakers have voted to place statues of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller on the grounds of the state Capitol.
ALASKA Kodiak: An eagle grabbed a piece of freezer-burned halibut that someone had thrown out and apparently misjudged its climb up a cliff with the 4-pound piece of fish, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reports. The wrong trajectory led the eagle to smash through a front window of Stacy Studebaker’s home Saturday.
ARIZONA Phoenix: Tonto National Monument has been designated an International Dark Sky Park.
ARKANSAS Fayetteville: Local leaders are considering a measure that would prevent the city from using public money to buy disposable products made with Styrofoam.
CALIFORNIA Beverly Hills: A fiery debate is breaking out on whether the city of the rich and famous should become the first in the U.S. to outlaw the sale of tobacco products everywhere but a few cigar lounges. The City Council decided Tuesday to make some changes to the proposal, such as allowing guests in luxury hotels to acquire cigarettes through their concierge or room service.
COLORADO Denver: Voters on Tuesday appeared to reject an attempt to make the city the first to decriminalize psilocybin – the psychoactive substance in “magic mushrooms.”
CONNECTICUT Hartford: The House of Representatives on Tuesday voted for a bill aiming to update the state’s marketing strategy.
DELAWARE Dover: In an effort to better identify victims of human trafficking, hospitals across the state will start to use techniques recommended by the Delaware Healthcare Association, making the First State likely the first in the U.S. to adopt a coordinated approach, officials say.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Comedian and city native Dave Chappelle has been chosen to receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
FLORIDA Gainesville: The lovebugs driving Floridians crazy right now aren’t good for the finish on cars, but they are good for the environment, especially the soil, according to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
GEORGIA Atlanta: The state is seeking proposals to develop a Medicaid waiver that Gov. Brian Kemp says will make care more affordable and accessible. If approved by the federal government, it would allow Georgia to expand Medicaid more conservatively than federal rules typically allow.
HAWAII Honolulu: The State Department of Health has launched a new website that provides near real-time data on the air quality, following last summer’s Kilauea eruption.
IDAHO Boise: A planned hiking-andbiking trail connecting the popular tourist destinations of Redfish Lake and Stanley is being challenged in federal court by the owners of Sawtooth Mountain Ranch.
ILLINOIS Chicago: Community and environmental activists are pushing for the opening of Lake Calumet to public access for recreation.
INDIANA Franklin: Researchers at Franklin College have received a grant to study behavior and management of Canada geese in the state.
IOWA Onawa: A report from 24/7 Wall Street names this small town, known for its wide main street and its claim to the invention of the Eskimo Pie, the poorest in the state.
KANSAS Kansas City: A water park where a boy was decapitated isn’t hiring lifeguards or selling tickets just weeks before its typical opening date, underlining speculation that Schlitterbahn could be sold.
KENTUCKY Walton: A high school senior who went to court over a restriction tied to chickenpox vaccinations at his school has contracted the illness, his lawyer says.
LOUISIANA Shreveport: The FriendsWithYou artist group will install a vivid public park called Rainbow City downtown this fall.
MAINE Portland: Baby eel fishermen are enjoying a steady harvest and strong prices during the first season in which regulators are using new controls to stop poaching.
MARYLAND Baltimore: Police arrested seven people Wednesday as they ended a monthlong sit-in in at Johns Hopkins University, where protesters demonstrated against the creation of a campus police force and contracts with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: America’s oldest performing arts group is looking for a child who was literally wowed by a recent classical concert. The Handel & Haydn Society had just finished its rendition of Mozart’s “Masonic Funeral”on Sunday when a youngster blurted out loudly: “WOW!” The crowd burst first into laughter and then applause.
MICHIGAN Detroit: A 17-foot bronze sculpture that arrived downtown last year got people talking. This week, the conversation sparked by “Waiting,” by internationally acclaimed artist Kaws, will get some fresh context, thanks to the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. “Kaws: Alone Again” opens Friday.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Mississippi River flooding in the capital this spring swamped the record for the longest period of flooding ever measured in the city at 42 days straight.
MISSISSIPPI Oxford: Mayor Robyn Tannehill is apologizing about confusion over parking meters and says drivers won’t be ticketed for parking at a malfunctioning meter.
MISSOURI Springfield: An Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals panel has upheld a ruling on a city ordinance that prohibits women from showing their nipples and areolas in public.
MONTANA Billings: Law enforcement officials say they’ve managed to slow an increase in violent crime rates in Yellowstone County that’s being driven largely by methamphetamine trafficking and abuse.
NEBRASKA Niobrara: People who suffered losses when the Spencer Dam failed have gotten more bad news: State law limits the liability of the dam’s owner.
NEVADA Sparks: The Forest Service’s rejection of a proposal to drill for oil or gas in the Ruby Mountains is official after no one complained during the 45-day objection period.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Durham: University of New Hampshire researchers say they’ve discovered a new strain of canine distemper virus in wild animals in the region.
NEW JERSEY Newark: Gov. Phil Murphy has signed four bills into law aimed at improving maternal health care, particularly for residents using Medicaid.
NEW MEXICO Las Vegas: A group of college students is helping redesign the Jemez Historic Site visitor center using multimedia tools. New Mexico Highlands University says 15 media arts students are creating floor-to-ceiling video projections of historic images and oral histories at the Native American site.
NEW YORK Albany: A new exhibit chronicling the end of one of the most turbulent decades in American history has opened to the public at the Empire State Plaza. The “1969” exhibit opened Wednesday.
NORTH CAROLINA Durham: Duke University has received a $5 million grant to improve the 55-acre Sarah P. Duke Gardens site, which attracts about 400,000 visitors each year.
NORTH DAKOTA Medora: Part of the scenic drive and some trails are being temporarily closed Thursday at Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s North Unit for prescribed fire projects.
OHIO Cincinnati: The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden is expecting two new baby giraffes this year.
OKLAHOMA Tulsa: Fines, dues and court expenses assessed to defendants in the state have spiked since 2007, and some criminal justice reform advocates say state and local government agencies are increasingly relying on them as an income source.
OREGON Salem: The Legislature is considering a bill that would let farmers sue companies that hold patents on genetically engineered seeds if crops grown from those seeds contaminate other plants.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Three Mile Island, site of the nation’s worst nuclear power accident, will begin a planned shutdown starting June 1 now that it is clear that it will not get a financial rescue from the state, owner Exelon Corp. said Wednesday.
RHODE ISLAND Warwick: The school district will begin serving cold sandwiches instead of hot lunches to students who owe lunch money.
SOUTH CAROLINA Charleston: The state’s largest detention center is facing a serious staffing shortage. WCIV-TV reports there are about 90 vacancies at the Al Cannon Detention Center. The sheriff’s office is holding a Career Day on Saturday.
SOUTH DAKOTA Keystone: Fireworks will return to Mount Rushmore National Memorial for the Fourth of July celebration in 2020.
TEXAS Austin: Removal of Confederate and other historical markers would need approval from voters or lawmakers under a bill that has won initial approval from the state Senate.
UTAH Cedar City: Southern Utah University has secured funding for a new child development center.
VERMONT Derby Line: U.S. officials have marked the completion of a new U.S.-Canada border crossing facility.
VIRGINIA Richmond: A police officer who cursed at a group of black middle schoolers and later promised to publicly apologize has rescinded the offer, saying he no longer feels he can handle the school assembly.
WASHINGTON Olympia: Gov. Jay Inslee signed a measure Tuesday that establishes a mandate to provide carbon-free electricity by 2030.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The U.S. government sued nearly two dozen of Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies Tuesday to get them to pay about $4.8 million in unpaid safety fines.
WISCONSIN Madison: Assembly Republicans with prisons in their districts are complaining about Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ decision to grant raises at only six institutions.
WYOMING Laramie: If Thomas Foulke has his way, some of the oldest domesticated crops in the world will help grow a new industry in the state. Foulke, a senior research scientist at the University of Wyoming in the Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics, is leading the Wyoming First-Grains Project, aiming to develop a niche industry around growing cereal crops such as Emmer wheat, spelt, barley and einkorn.