Around the nation

News from every state.

ALABAMA Africatown: There’s a new recreational program for young people in this community formed by freed slaves after the Civil War. Organizers say the Africatown Swim-to-Scuba Diving Program launched Saturday at a YMCA in Mobile.

ALASKA Anchorage: A 50-year-old letter in a bottle has connected a man with the Russian Navy. KTUU reports Tyler Ivanoff found the handwritten Russian letter while gathering firewood near Shishmaref. Officials say Russian reporters located the writer, Capt. Anatoliy Botsanenko.

ARIZONA Phoenix: The city’s police officers must undergo training on dealing with people with mental health issues under the latest reform rolled out to improve accountability and trust, the agency’s chief says.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: This spring’s heavy rainfall and flooding in the state left 1.3 million acres unplanted.

CALIFORNIA Sacramento: State fire officials say acreage burned so far this year is down 90% compared to the average over the past five years.

COLORADO Denver: A proposed federal rule could end food assistance for about 33,000 people in the state, including 11,000 children. Officials say it would make it difficult for families to build a financial cushion and end reliance on assistance programs.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: After coming close this year, state lawmakers have yet to decide when to make another attempt at legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana.

DELAWARE Wilmington: Young students at Odyssey Charter School will come back from summer to find bathroom stalls painted with inspirational messages, rocket ships, flowers, rainbows and more. School counselor Abby Robinson says she wanted the murals to uplift spirits.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Ex-Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Bill Starrels is accused of threatening to shoot up a Middle Eastern restaurant and “the Muslims standing outside.” WTOPFM reports he pleaded not guilty to attempted threats to do bodily harm.

FLORIDA Fort Myers: The governor says when he visited the Western Wall in Israel in May, he followed tradition by sticking a slip of paper with a written prayer in between its crevices. Gov. Ron DeSantis revealed Monday that his prayer said, “Good Lord, spare us hurricanes this year.”

GEORGIA Macon: Fans of Duane Allman in this town where he lived and died say they didn’t expect the late musician’s old guitar to sell for $1.25 million at a recent auction. The gold-topped guitar is the one Allman played in the hit song “Layla” with Eric Clapton, The Telegraph reports. Until recently, it had been on display at the Allman Brothers Band Museum at the Big House in Macon.

HAWAII Hilo: Southwest Airlines has announced plans to offer new flights between major Hawaiian islands.

IDAHO Boise: A city councilwoman has proposed placing restrictions on rental application fees after residents have complained of high cost.

ILLINOIS Springfield: Gov. J.B. Pritzker says the state will not use federal family planning funds as long as the Trump administration prohibits women’s health clinics from referring patients for abortions.

INDIANA Garrett: John Bowersox, a Hoosier who became one of Hollywood’s top silent movie actors, will be honored with a historical marker.

IOWA Sioux City: Some fields are getting sprayed to get rid of very hungry caterpillars – painted lady butterflies, or thistle caterpillars – that have ravaged soybean crops.

KANSAS Wichita: Towns along the new Flint Hills Trail park are working to draw visitors as a way to improve the rural economy. The Wichita Eagle reports towns including Osawatomie, Ottawa and Council Grove are planning music festivals, opening breweries and bike shops, and offering Airbnbs to trail visitors.

KENTUCKY Louisville: Minors entering the Kentucky State Fair at night now must have a parent or guardian 21 or older with them after a disturbance over the weekend.

LOUISIANA New Orleans: A doctor’s office associated with Children’s Hospital New Orleans will provide telehealth services to some of the city’s charter schools.

MAINE Bar Harbor: This coastal town wants the cruise ship industry to fund local air quality monitoring.

MARYLAND Annapolis: Attorneys for the city are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit that contends the city has discriminated against people in public housing.

MASSACHUSETTS Mansfield: Catherine Fitzgerald, 18, is among three finalists for the 2019 Oticon Focus on People Award. The Sun Chronicle reports Fitzgerald developed a guide to help local police assist people like her with hearing loss.

MICHIGAN Suttons Bay: A beer company is ensuring a school district starts the new year with no student lunch debt. A foundation affiliated with Mitten Brewing paid $2,700 to erase unpaid meals and snacks in the Suttons Bay district, near Traverse City.

MINNESOTA St. Paul: A court defeat in a case over the way Minnesota taxed trust accounts in other states could end up costing about $130 million this budget cycle.

MISSISSIPPI Meridian: A recording studio is now open at a museum called The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience.

MISSOURI Jefferson City: The Missouri Public Defender’s office plans to experiment with sending text messages to defendants reminding them of their court dates.

MONTANA Missoula: Missoula County is seeking a $200,000 grant to start a farm staffed by inmates.

NEVADA Las Vegas: Fearing they could be overwhelmed with visitors, officials in the remote county that’s home to the Area 51 military base have drafted an emergency declaration and a plan to team resources ahead of events next month tied to the “Storm Area 51” internet drive.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The state is getting a $5 million federal grant to analyze efforts to reduce children’s blood-lead levels and identify human health impacts from flooding, among other projects.

NEW JERSEY Secaucus: A man fell out of a New Jersey Transit train car Monday night when the doors opened on the wrong side of the tracks, an official confirms.

NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: Organizers say they’re bringing back a reenactment of a 17th-century conquistador reclaiming the city after a Native American revolt. The Caballeros de Vargas says it will hold an event at this year’s Fiesta de Santa Fe that will include Hispanics and Native Americans, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.

NEW YORK New York: The state has a new law banning floating digital billboards in navigable waters.

NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: An omnibus wildlife regulation bill sent to Gov. Roy Cooper would create new fees and raise others, some for the first time in decades, for activities related to hunting and fishing.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Regulators say the volume of natural gas flared in the state in June reached an unprecedented level due to shutdowns of several natural gas processing facilities and pipelines.

OHIO Akron: Officials say the I Promise School that basketball superstar LeBron James helped create in his hometown eventually will expand to serve middle schoolers but won’t add first and second grades as expected.

OKLAHOMA Tulsa: A police officer has been suspended following his arrest on a gun charge. Tulsa County court records show Jeffrey Shane Statum was charged Friday with carrying a weapon where alcohol is sold.

OREGON Portland: Health officials say 23 measles cases have been confirmed, the most reported in the state in a single year since 1991.

PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: Loved ones propped photos of more than a dozen young people lost to the opioid crisis against the outside of the federal courthouse Monday as a judge heard arguments on whether the city could become the nation’s first to open a supervised injection center.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: Federal fishing managers are restricting the fishery for commercially important illex squid for the rest of the year.

SOUTH CAROLINA Beaufort: News outlets report the school district decided to open Okatie Elementary as scheduled Monday. The district says a sensor at the school shows the air is safe, despite an ongoing blaze less than a mile away at a site known locally as Trash Mountain.

SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: The percentage of inmates serving time for drug crimes in the state has increased significantly over five years.

TENNESSEE Memphis: The Plough Foundation says it will grant its remaining assets to local nonprofits as the charity works to close down operations within the next four years.

TEXAS Waco: A restaurant called George’s that features a mural honoring famous men with the same name has been changed to avoid a dispute with the city. The Waco Tribune-Herald reports owner Sammy Citrano discovered an alphabet letter on the mural is a Waco trademark.

UTAH Provo: Brigham Young University will no longer hold a homecoming parade, citing low participation.

VERMONT Springfield: Officials say a Meals on Wheels driver rescued an elderly woman from a burning home.

VIRGINIA Alexandria: A teen volunteering at Alexandria National Cemetery three years ago noticed a rundown plot nearby. Griffin Burchard says the cemetery named for abolitionist Frederick Douglass was covered in leaves and had signs of flooding. He soon got his Boy Scout troop to help restore the site. They unveiled a new historic marker Thursday.

WASHINGTON Seattle: To honor the National Parks System’s 103rd birthday, it and the state parks system are giving free admission Sunday.

WEST VIRGINIA Wheeling: The state’s new Roman Catholic bishop, the Most Rev. Mark Brennan, is set to be installed Thursday.

WISCONSIN Madison: Republican legislators are introducing legislation designed to combat elder abuse.

WYOMING Cheyenne: A legislative committee has rejected a proposal that would let people be prosecuted for trespassing even if they didn’t know they were on private land.