Around the nation

News from every state.

ALABAMA Montgomery: Gov. Kay Ivey has called a meeting over a proposed coastal toll bridge. Ivey asked the Alabama Toll Road, Bridge and Tunnel Authority to meet Sept. 17 to discuss a bridge that would cross the Mobile River and Mobile Bay.

ALASKA Fairbanks: An event billed as the world’s longest snowmobile race plans to change its course. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the Iron Dog is expected to begin at Pikes Landing in Fairbanks and finish in Willow next year.

ARIZONA Flagstaff: Officials hope to use a drone to make it easier to get vote tallies from Havasupai tribal land deep within the Grand Canyon during next year’s election.

ARKANSAS Helena: The nonprofit Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science plans a series of Saturday events this fall featuring hands-on learning activities to help high school students prepare for Advanced Placement exams, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

A man who accidentally tossed $23,000 into the recycling bin reunited with his life savings Saturday after a worker at a recycling facility spotted the shoebox.

COLORADO Denver: State officials say the Great Colorado Payback program is not working as intended.

CONNECTICUT Hamden: Growers and gardeners from across the state plan to gather in the city Wednesday for the 109th Plant Science Day.

DELAWARE Dover: State regulators have fined Bloom Energy $40,000 for operating dozens of gas-powered fuel cells without a permit.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: At least two terminally ill residents ended their lives last year through the district’s aid-in-dying law, The Washington Post reports.

FLORIDA Gainesville: Tom Petty is getting his place in state history. The Florida Historical Marker Council voted Friday to erect one at a city park named after the late rocker.

GEORGIA Cumming: New Police Chief David Marsh had to do more than promise to protect and serve. He also had to swear off all allegiance to his alma mater, Auburn University, and take a new side in a famous football rivalry with Georgia.

HAWAII Honolulu: A small pond of water has been discovered inside the summit crater of the Kilauea volcano for the first time in recorded history, possibly signaling a shift to a more explosive phase of future eruptions.

IDAHO Lewiston: Fisheries managers for the Department of Fish and Game say they expect another poor return of steelhead to the Snake River.

ILLINOIS Springfield: Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White says a state license plate featuring the St. Louis Cardinals will be sold in support of public schools.

INDIANA Linton: The state’s first property for off-road vehicles is reopening Friday after several months for upgrades. The Redbird State Recreation Area has been closed to the public since March 11.

IOWA Des Moines: A state board has approved a measure that expands the number of medical conditions that can legally be treated by medical marijuana, adding chronic pain to the list, but it rejected several others.

KANSAS Lawrence: A University of Kansas study says many treatment centers for addiction in the Kansas City area will not accept or have restrictions on accepting patients who have been prescribed medications to fight their addiction.

KENTUCKY Louisville: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is recovering at home after suffering a shoulder fracture in a fall on his patio Sunday, a spokesman said.

LOUISIANA New Orleans: A local aquarium says its big new touch pool will open Oct. 5, with nine kinds of sharks and rays. The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas says the 13,000-gallon pool will be about six times the size of the current one.

MAINE Portland: One of the most beloved birds in the state, the Atlantic puffin, is having one of its most productive seasons in years for mating pairs on remote islands.

MARYLAND Baltimore: A van that was stolen from a center that donates free books to children has been returned covered in spray paint, adorned with reproductions of Vincent Van Gogh’s artwork and the phrase “van go” on the hood.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Wednesday is the deadline for sponsors of initiative petitions to file their ballot questions with Attorney General Maura Healey’s office.

MICHIGAN Lansing: The director of Michigan State University’s $765 million nuclear research facility says it should open in 2021. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams will be used to study the short-lived particles produced as charged beams collide with a target.

MINNESOTA Duluth: Rapidly rising water levels in the Great Lakes are damaging shorelines and creating uncertainty for lakeshore residents. Duluth has dealt with three major storms on Lake Superior in less than two years.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The Magnolia State can take part in big multistate lottery games starting early next year. The Mississippi Lottery Corp. says the state’s been approved for Powerball and Mega Millions.

MISSOURI Kansas City: An artist-driven nonprofit, Rabbit Hole, says it plans to open a museum that celebrates children’s literature in a local warehouse next year.

MONTANA Helena: A half-dozen organizations are suing state Attorney General Tim Fox to change the wording of a ballot referendum that would limit local governments’ ability to enact gun restrictions.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: State officials have issued new health alerts for two lakes, Rockford and Wagon Train, tainted by toxic algae.

NEVADA Sparks: For devoted attendees of the Burning Man festival, the mutant vehicles and massive art pieces that are so stunning in the desert can pose a storage problem for the other 111⁄2 months of the year. The nonprofit community art space The Generator is on the verge of acquiring a warehouse dedicated to storage and working space for the larger-than-life items.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: State Congresswoman Annie Kuster has reintroduced a bill to repeal a provision that strips health coverage for Medicaid enrollees who are involved in the criminal justice system.

NEW MEXICO Carlsbad: A federal report says habitat for the dunes sagebrush lizard has shrunk to about 655 square miles in the Mescalero Sands area. Environmentalist groups are looking at suing the government to protect the lizard.

NEW YORK Geneva: Work has begun on creating the nation’s only hemp seed bank, in the Finger Lakes region. The Industrial Hemp Germplasm Repository will be established at Cornell’s agricultural research facility in Geneva.

NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: Preparation failed to pay off for thousands of Boy Scouts leaving a worldwide jamboree who overwhelmed the city’s airport over the weekend. Passengers reported security lines 500 deep Friday.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: North Dakotans are now allowed to shop on Sunday mornings for the first time since statehood.

OHIO Dayton: Officials say the city will no longer hire people who flunk pre-employment tests for tobacco and nicotine.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The city is using a tactic seen in other locales – the use of goats as organic lawnmowers – and raising the stakes by having donkeys supervise.

OREGON Salem: A program serving children with mothers in prison is in jeopardy after the Legislature ended its funding. The Family Preservation Project connects over 400 women at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility with their kids, providing supervised visits, parent coaching, resource centers and post-prison support.

PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh: The mayor says he has beefed up his own security amid threats after the city approved gun control measures.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: Cities and towns in the state are participating in a national community-building and crime prevention campaign. The 36th annual National Night Out is scheduled for Tuesday.

SOUTH CAROLINA Hilton Head Island: Clumps of hotel towels dot the island’s shores. The Island Packet reports activists say the towels invade the shores each year, but this season’s piles gained so much attention that town officials intervened.

SOUTH DAKOTA Sturgis: The annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is underway in the Black Hills, and communities have beefed up law enforcement.

TENNESSEE Lebanon: Restoration plans for the original Cracker Barrel Old Country Store have been chopped. The company says the building is too deteriorated.

TEXAS Texarkana: Twins and other twosomes are invited to a photo shoot Wednesday to promote both cities named Texarkana. The Texarkana Gazette reports it’s an effort by the neighboring Texas and Arkansas sites to encourage development.

UTAH Escalante: A geologist is spending his retirement hunting and documenting arch formations across the state. The Deseret News reports Jens Munthe has discovered more than 700 of the formations himself.

VERMONT Burlington: Ben & Jerry’s co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have released an unofficial, limited-edition flavor called “Bernie’s Back!” to scoop up support for Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid.

VIRGINIA Richmond: The state’s attorney general has decided not to appeal a ruling that struck down a law allowing police to arrest people designated as “habitual drunkards.”

WASHINGTON Olympia: Gov. Jay Inslee has spent more than half his days out of state on the campaign trail in the five months since declaring his presidential candidacy.

WEST VIRGINIA Huntington: Research has found that the state’s mobile voting app for overseas residents has increased voter turnout.

WISCONSIN Madison: Researchers in Wisconsin and Spain have developed a “virtual camera” that can see around corners.

WYOMING Jackson: An interim legislative committee has rejected a proposal to prohibit killing coyotes by hitting them with snowmobiles.