50 States
ALABAMA Montgomery: Lawmakers postponed a vote on a proposed abortion ban Thursday after anger erupted when some Republicans stripped an exception for rape and incest from the bill without a roll call vote. Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh suggested lawmakers go home to cool off and resume debate Tuesday.
ALASKA Anchorage: Eight conservation groups have sued to stop the sale of a huge amount of old growth timber in the Tongass National Forest.
ARKANSAS Batesville: A juvenile detention facility synonymous with neglect and abuse is to be shuttered and the building transformed into a treatment center for sex trafficking survivors, officials say. White River Regional Juvenile Detention Center will close by this summer, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
CALIFORNIA San Diego: The San Diego Zoo has two new arrivals – a pair of endangered African penguin chicks, Doug and Barbara.
COLORADO Fort Collins: Colorado State University is putting its foot down, saying it “will not allow” the end-of-semester Undie Run to take place. It’s typically held on the last day of classes before finals week, which for this semester is Friday.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: The state’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has voted to incrementally increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2023.
DELAWARE Milford: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, one of the state’s bestknown businesses, says it’s merging with Boston Beer Co., the maker of Sam Adams beer.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The chair of the City Council has proposed an amendment to the city’s 2020 budget that would severely limit access to public records.
FLORIDA Stuart: The wacky, wild world of “Florida Man” is getting its own show. Oxygen Media says a series based on “America’s most notorious, outrageous, craftiest killers from the Sunshine State” has been added to its projects.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Law enforcement will have to preserve rape kits for far longer than was previously required under a bill signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp this week.
HAWAII Honolulu: Federal officials are asking the public to give adequate space to a monk seal that has been resting on a Waikiki beach.
IDAHO Boise: State agencies are racing to beat a Friday deadline to keep alive thousands of administrative rules after the Legislature’s House of Representatives in April killed a bill reauthorizing them.
ILLINOIS Rockford: Plans are in the works to open a visitors’ center for the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Laurent House.
INDIANA Indianapolis: Sports betting will become legal and construction of two new casinos will be allowed in the state under a bill signed by the governor Wednesday.
IOWA Iowa City: In an effort to help the environment, the University of Iowa Pentacrest Museums are offering to digitally alter students’ graduation photos to add confetti.
KANSAS Wichita: A new report says the state’s winter wheat crop is maturing more slowly than usual.
KENTUCKY Louisville: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s re-election campaign is capitalizing on a fellow Republican’s attack, selling “Cocaine Mitch” shirts and stickers to “cartel members” on his campaign’s website.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: A proposal to exempt diapers and tampons from the state sales tax stalled in the Senate, only to be revived later in a different form and successfully sent to the House for debate.
MAINE Augusta: Gov. Janet Mills is bringing back the state’s Children’s Cabinet in hopes of reducing youth drop-out, recidivism and incarceration rates.
MARYLAND Annapolis: Some residents are at risk of having their driver’s licenses or identification cards recalled next month if they don’t soon satisfy document requirements that are part of the federally mandated Real ID process.
MASSACHUSETTS Dartmouth: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a program that sells scallops to pay for marine science will include a study of how shellfish harvesting affects sea turtles in this year’s projects.
MICHIGAN Detroit: Workers have taken down the Chene Park sign outside a riverfront concert venue and put up one reflecting a name change to honor Aretha Franklin.
MINNESOTA St. Paul: Bills are moving to tackle the problem of skyrocketing drug costs, and Minnesota Public Radio reports nearly all those measures are heading into final negotiations.
MISSISSIPPI Biloxi: A police officer helped a driver out of a wrecked sports car and told the man he was “lucky to be alive.” Less than an hour later, Patrolman Robert McKeithen was killed by another person who walked up and shot him outside the police station.
MISSOURI Jefferson City: Republicans in the state House are backing away from a budget compromise that would allow colleges and universities to charge in-state tuition to students in the country illegally.
MONTANA Helena: Gov. Steve Bullock has signed a bill to continue the state’s Medicaid expansion program for another six years, as long as federal funding continues.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: A judge is considering his verdict in a lawsuit that says six convenience stores along Interstate 80 posted misleading signs about prices. It accuses North Platte-based Wilkinson Development of advertising low prices but then selling gas at those prices only at a limited number of pumps.
NEVADA Las Vegas: An unusually wet stretch of showers and thunderstorms may help Sin City surpass its yearly average for rainfall this week.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Portsmouth: The voices, cultures and histories of the Abenaki and Wabanaki peoples are being given a home in the oldest “neighborhood” settled by Europeans in the state. “People of the Dawnland,” an exhibit at the Jones House Family Discover Center in the 1600s Puddle Dock neighborhood, opens this month.
NEW JERSEY Atlantic City: The state’s beaches, casinos, forests and cities attracted tourists who spent nearly $45 billion last year.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: Worldpremiere operas derived from the gender-bending Broadway hit “M. Butterfly” and from meditations on Victorian-era repression in Bram Stroker’s “Dracula” are coming to the Santa Fe Opera and its open-air stage in the high desert next year.
NEW YORK New York: Anna Sorokin, the German con artist who passed herself off as a wealthy heiress to swindle banks, hotels and friends, was sentenced Thursday to four to 12 years behind bars.
NORTH CAROLINA Murphy: The U.S. Forest Service is proposing one of the largest timber sales in the nearly 100-year history of the Nantahala National Forest, and the public comment period ends Friday.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner says lawmakers may be called back into session over legislation that limits the powers of the state auditor.
OHIO Columbus: Voters have agreed to let the city take on up to $1 billion more in debt for infrastructure.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: A former U.S. soldier who was pardoned this week for his 2009 conviction for killing an Iraqi prisoner says he initially didn’t answer the White House’s phone call. Former Army 1st Lt. Michael Behenna says he didn’t recognize the number and thought it might be a telemarketer. After checking his messages, he returned the call and was told President Donald Trump was granting him a pardon.
OREGON Portland: A bill to allow dentists to administer vaccines to patients has been signed into law.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The State Board of Education is giving its support to proposals by Gov. Tom Wolf to require students start schooling by age 6 and continue until 18.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has sued the state on behalf of nonfiction writers, saying a sales tax exemption for authors is unconstitutional because it only applies to works of fiction.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The state Senate has OK’d $120 million in tax breaks to the Carolina Panthers to move their practice fields and team headquarters out of North Carolina.
SOUTH DAKOTA Aberdeen: The latest federal census of agriculture finds the state has fewer farms.
TENNESSEE Memphis: The National Civil Rights Museum is one of 10 recipients of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.
TEXAS Dallas: Electricity demand is expected to hit record levels this summer, and the operator of the state’s grid says it may have to ask customers to conserve power.
UTAH Salt Lake City: The popular Bonanza Campout music festival has been canceled after state officials refused to grant a liquor license.
VERMONT Montpelier: Lawmakers are considering steps to make it easier for prison inmates to reduce the length of their sentences through good behavior or acts of heroism.
VIRGINIA Richmond: Gov. Ralph Northam has proclaimed May “Second Chance Month” in a bid to focus attention on criminal justice reform.
WASHINGTON Spokane: State Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind says a proposal to remove wolves from the federal endangered species list in the Lower 48 states is “appropriate and timely.”
WEST VIRGINIA Clay: Gov. Jim Justice says the state has signed a letter of intent to purchase land for what could become the second-longest rail trail east of the Mississippi.
WISCONSIN West Allis: A plate of eggs stole the attention of social media this week when “Fox and Friends” broadcast from a local diner. Johnny V’s says the plate of a whopping 10 sunny side up eggs that appeared in front of a man deriding “free this, free that” was part of its King of Johnny V’s challenge meal.
WYOMING Jackson: National forest managers expect to see large numbers of mushroom hunters in the weeks ahead. Forests that have recently burned are prime places to look for morels.