50 ★ States

ALABAMA Mobile: An animal expert says fencing is helping to protect an endangered species. University of South Alabama herpetologist David Nelson tells AL.com the number of Alabama red-bellied turtles killed on the Mobile Bay Causeway dropped by more than 80% after fencing went up alongside it in 2008.

ALASKA Anchorage: Opponents of petroleum drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are preparing for a response to a possible petroleum lease sale. More than 30 groups have joined the Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign.

ARIZONA Tucson: A new report by an Arizona State University think tank questions whether the state can find enough water to replenish aquifers for pumping to new homes in fast-growing suburban areas without access to Colorado River water. ARKANSAS Little Rock: A woman woke up to find that her trailer filled with rare and ancient fossils, including dinosaur eggs that are 70 millionyear-old dinosaur eggs, was gone. The trailer was taken late last month after Rodger Perkins, Gwynn Shafer and Paul Yumlu packed fossils in it for this month’s Greater Little Rock Gem, Mineral and Jewelry Show, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. CALIFORNIA Santa Clarita: Freshman U.S. Rep. Katie Hill, a rising Democratic star, has announced her resignation amid an ethics probe, saying private photos of her with a staffer had been “weaponized” by her husband and political operatives. COLORADO Loveland: Planning is in the works to build a new Veterans Affairs clinic in the city that’s expected to open by the winter of 2022. CONNECTICUT East Haddam: Hundreds of acres are in the process of being acquired by the state to expand existing parks and wildlife conservation areas, but thousands more need to be attained in order to meet a goal of protecting 21% of Connecticut land as open space by 2023. DELAWARE Dover: The state’s only NASCAR racetrack continues to shrink. Dover International Speedway, also known as the Monster Mile, will reduce seating at its grandstands to 54,000 from 83,000.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The Smithsonian’s National Zoo has announced the birth of one lesser kudu and the death of another. The Washington Post reports the male calf was born Oct. 14, just weeks after his grandmother died. FLORIDA Miami: Homeless people living with HIV now have secure lockers in the city where they can store their expensive medications. GEORGIA Savannah: The National Park Service says crews will spend several months cleaning out years of accumulating storm debris around Fort Pulaski National Monument. HAWAII Honolulu: Researchers have found the majority of plastic marine debris washing up on the state’s shores is from abroad. IDAHO Boise: State officials have made it more difficult for young transgender people to change the sex listed on their birth certificates despite a U.S. court ruling. ILLINOIS Chicago: Gov. J.B. Pritzker is endorsing legislation that would allow college athletes in the state to make money from endorsements.

INDIANA Indianapolis: The state will change the vendor of its teacher licensing exams following complaints about low pass rates. IOWA Iowa City: The local school district has secured federal grant funding to monitor students’ social media accounts for possible warning signs that they might harm themselves or their peers. KANSAS Topeka: Former Secretary of State Kris Kobach has acknowledged in a diversion agreement that he failed to properly supervise his staff while representing himself during federal court proceedings. KENTUCKY Paducah: The state has launched a marketing campaign to coax Illinois companies to move across the border with promises of lower taxes and better weather. LOUISIANA Cameron: The Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge is celebrating its centennial.

MAINE Georgetown: An environmental group is working with shellfish farmers to grow more quahogs, a clam species it thinks can better stand up to predators that have plagued the state’s bivalve harvest. MARYLAND Baltimore: The State Department of Education has announced plans to enhance and expand how the Holocaust is taught.

MASSACHUSETTS Worcester: Worcester Polytechnic Institute has received a nearly $1.9 million grant to develop a robotic system to detect and monitor prostate cancer. MICHIGAN Detroit: The Detroit Historical Museum will begin charging patrons from outside the Motor City area an admission fee for the first time in seven years.

MINNESOTA Minneapolis: Clergy and immigration activists are trying to remove the name of a revered bishop, Henry Whipple, from a federal building where hundreds of deportation orders are issued every year. They call the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown an affront to his memory. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Gov. Phil Bryant says the state’s cash reserves are at their highest level ever.

MISSOURI Jefferson City: A state panel wants a test track for an ultra-high-speed Hyperloop system to be built in the state. The group made the recommendation Monday as part of a study commissioned by the House speaker.

MONTANA Great Falls: National Weather Service meteorologists say snowfall in the state in the second half of this year so far has broken a 35-year-old record.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers have launched a university-backed startup company to help prevent and fight wildfires with drones that intentionally spark small fires. NEVADA Las Vegas: A developer is poised to get city approval to buy the shuttered Huntridge Theater and convert it to an arts hub. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: State Attorney General Gordon MacDonald is telling residents to be aware of scammers using phone-based word games, such as Words with Friends. NEW JERSEY Asbury Park: Jersey rock royalty was onstage Sunday as rocker Jon Bon Jovi brought crooner Southside Johnny Lyon with him into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Pop rock band The Smithereens was also inducted, along with entertainers including actor Jason Alexander. NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: State wildlife officials are rejoining direct efforts to manage endangered Mexican gray wolf populations in cooperation with the federal government and counterparts including Arizona. NEW YORK Albany: The eastern hellbender will get more protection and the bald eagle and peregrine falcon will get less under proposed changes to the state’s list of endangered and threatened species. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Parts of the state’s textile, agricultural and railroad past have been recognized as national historic places, a designation that can help preserve them. NORTH DAKOTA Willow City: Wildlife officials say a state game warden escaped serious injuries when he was attacked by a bull moose.

OHIO Columbus: Some state lawmakers say they hope to prevent numerous vehicle crashes by installing rumble strips down the center of many undivided, two-way highways. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: A group trying to prevent gerrymandering of the state’s legislative and congressional districts is seeking a public vote on whether to create a bipartisan commission to redraw districts. OREGON Eugene: Wine industry interests have formed a new trade group. The Eugene Register-Guard reports the Oregon Wine Council has an agenda that differs from the Oregon Wine Association.

PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh: The front of a city bus was up in the air Monday after a sinkhole opened under it during rush hour downtown. The Port Authority of Allegheny County says only the driver and one passenger were aboard.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: The governor and school superintendents are trying to raise awareness about the importance of regularly reading to children. “SUPERS Read,” a statewide reading event, began Monday and continues through Nov. 8. SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The director of the state’s prisons says his agency will begin classifying inmates for maximum-security status by their behavior behind bars, not the crime they committed.

SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission has approved fee increases for state parks for 2020. TENNESSEE Memphis: A psychiatrist whose license was suspended last year for using riding crops on patients may now lose her license again over allegations that she violated her professional probation. TEXAS Houston: The Houston Police Department has unveiled a new crime lab in a move to accelerate service and shed its scandal-ridden past linked to a backlog of rape kits. VERMONT South Burlington: The Vermont National Guard has received 14 noise complaints since the first two F-35 jets arrived at Burlington International Airport last month. VIRGINIA Richmond: State health regulators are asking lawmakers to greenlight a licensing system for music therapy.

WASHINGTON Seattle: An anti-tax activist is again bringing a $30 cartab initiative to voters that would cut a major source of funding for transportation projects across the state. WEST VIRGINIA Bluefield: Officials have rescued a malnourished German shepherd stuck in a dam. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports officials used a rope to lower a trap baited with food into the spillway. WISCONSIN Janesville: Former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan has launched a new nonprofit he says will be focused on fighting poverty, increasing economic opportunities and advancing evidence-based public policies. Ryan announced the launch of the American Idea Foundation, to be based in Janesville, on Monday. WYOMING Cheyenne: The Federal Communications Commission is expected to provide $12.1 million to expand broadband coverage to rural parts of the state in the next decade.