Across the nation

News from every state.

ALABAMA Auburn: A $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation Research will help fund climate change education at Auburn University.

ALASKA Fairbanks: U.S. Census Bureau workers in the Last Frontier will still approach properties and homes where signs warning against trespassing are posted, officials say.

ARIZONA Phoenix: Using a $3 million National Institutes of Health grant, researchers at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University plan to study whether the Safer Bars Alliance initiative – through which bar employees are trained to stop sexual assault before it happens – is making a significant impact.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: John Walker, a lawmaker and civil rights attorney who represented black students in a long-running court fight over the desegregation of Little Rock area schools, has died. He was 82.

CALIFORNIA Santa Ana: A man who admitted stealing a ring-tailed lemur from a zoo has been sentenced to three months in federal prison.

COLORADO Pueblo: IndieDwell, a company that builds energy-efficient modular homes aimed at providing more affordable housing, plans to open a factory in the city.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: The state is receiving a seven-year, $25.8 million federal grant to help increase the number of low-income students prepared to enter and succeed in college.

DELAWARE Milton: First State-based brewery Dogfish Head has teamed up for a third time with iconic jam band the Grateful Dead on a new beer, American Beauty Hazy Ripple IPA.

FLORIDA Tallahassee: Gov. Ron DeSantis wants the state to set up a system requiring employers to verify the immigration status of job applicants, but it’s unclear if the effort will get traction among lawmakers.

GEORGIA Atlanta: A man’s fight to save a downtown building where the first country hit song is believed to have been recorded has gotten it another chance at survival. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker granted Kyle Kessler a temporary restraining order Friday.

HAWAII Honolulu: Government researchers say social media posts indicate the public is often getting too close to Hawaiian monk seals, a critically endangered species.

IDAHO Boise: Backers of a proposed ballot initiative to raise $170 million for K-12 public schools by increasing taxes on the wealthy and corporations have started collecting signatures to get the measure on the November 2020 ballot.

ILLINOIS Chicago: The state is providing almost $3 million in state funds to help crime victims deal with their trauma.

INDIANA South Haven: An 8-yearold boy has made a “blessing box” to collect food. The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports Jeremiah “Jay” Dawson used birthday money to put a neighborhood food pantry in his front yard.

IOWA Des Moines: A new specialty license plate with white lettering over a black background is now the state’s most popular. KCCI reports the Iowa Department of Transportation has issued more than 46,000 “Blackout” plates since July 1.

KANSAS Lawrence: Prosecutors are dropping all charges against a University of Kansas student accused of falsely reporting a rape, saying they feared the case could discourage victims from coming forward.

KENTUCKY Frankfort: The number of college and university students receiving undergraduate degrees and certificates is continuing to climb in the state, but preliminary enrollment figures are falling.

LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: A legislative audit says the Department of Public Safety and Corrections is failing to properly track inmate release dates.

MAINE Camden: The Maine Press Association is auctioning off a signed copy of Stephen King’s latest book, “The Institute,” to help fund a scholarship for students seeking a career in print journalism.

MARYLAND Annapolis: The state’s Department of Agriculture has issued a quarantine in an attempt to contain the spotted lanternfly in Cecil and Harford counties.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston is highlighting how artists are responding to global migration in its latest exhibit, “When Home Won’t Let You Stay: Migration through Contemporary Art.”

MICHIGAN Fowlerville: An auto shop has replaced a Halloween display depicting a scowling President Donald Trump holding the severed head of former President Barack Obama by a black rope. Quality Coatings owner Dave Huff removed the rope and Obama mask but added yellow tape saying: “PC-POLICE.”

MINNESOTA St. Paul: The state’s legislative auditor says “troubling dysfunction” at the Department of Human Services yielded $29 million in overpayments to two tribes for opioid treatment programs.

MISSISSIPPI Natchez: The Natchez National Cemetery for veterans says a bronze marker was stolen from the entrance of the memorial.

MISSOURI St. Louis: Issues preventing regulators from renewing the license for the state’s only abortion clinic are “imminently fixable,” the state’s health director says.

MONTANA Libby: A grizzly bear that attacked a wildlife biologist last year has been trapped and relocated after trying to get into a barn.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: Authorities are making an aggressive new push to remove contraband from the state’s largest prisons.

NEVADA Reno: The state’s health insurance exchange has announced plans focusing on enrollee retention following its split from the federal HealthCare.gov website.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Gov. Chris Sununu is supportive of a bill that enhances penalties for people who exploit trafficked children.

NEW JERSEY Hoboken: On the seventh anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order committing the state to a far-reaching plan to deal with climate change and protect itself from future storms.

NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: State education officials want public schools to become more attuned to the culture and linguistics of a heavily Hispanic and Native American population as they outline priorities for the next school year.

NEW YORK New York: A set of outdoor steps in the Bronx has become a tourist attraction since the release of the movie “Joker.” In the movie, actor Joaquin Phoenix dances as he goes down the steps.

NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Judges have blocked the state’s congressional map from use in the 2020 elections, ruling voters had a strong likelihood of winning a lawsuit that argued Republicans manipulated district lines for partisan gain.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: State health officials say three people have been diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis in recent months.

OHIO Columbus: Only 14% of the state’s licensed drivers and identification card holders have opted to get a new federally compliant REAL ID.

OKLAHOMA Shawnee: The state’s attorney general is beginning casino gambling negotiations with more than two dozen tribal nations, but the sides remain locked in a stalemate over whether existing compacts automatically renew at the year’s end.

OREGON Portland: The U.S. Forest Service installed two new footbridges on the fire-ravaged Eagle Creek Trail last week, The Oregonian/OregonLive reports, but it could be months before it reopens to the public.

PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The state will provide millions of dollars in grants to protect houses of worship and other community organizations from hate crimes.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: Officials broke ground Monday on a new housing development that will provide homes for five families and address affordability, climate change and workforce development.

SOUTH CAROLINA Charleston: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is introducing a Chinese lantern festival starting in mid-November.

SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: Gov. Kristi Noem is requesting a presidential disaster declaration for damage from tornadoes and floods that struck the state’s southeast in September.

TENNESSEE Nashville: Former Vice President Al Gore will speak at Vanderbilt on climate change as part of a Nov. 20 worldwide event called “24 Hours of Reality: Truth in Action.”

TEXAS El Paso: U.S. immigration authorities are testing a program to speed up reviews of asylum claims at a Texas Border Patrol station.

UTAH Salt Lake City: A report shows the state has seen considerable growth in its television and film productions since 2015.

VERMONT Ascutney: The state Agency of Transportation is asking the public for ideas for a permanent memorial to a local farmer who took his life after his farm was seized to make way for highway construction.

VIRGINIA Alexandria: A federal judge has ordered the state to stop asking marriage applicants to identify themselves by race.

WASHINGTON Seattle: Seven of the nine City Council seats are up for grabs next month, and Amazon sees a big opportunity. The online retail giant has donated $1.5 million to a political action committee backing candidates seen as business-friendly.

WEST VIRGINIA Morgantown: Country singer Kathy Mattea will coach music students at West Virginia Universityas a distinguished artist in residence in the School of Music for the 2019-20 academic year.

WISCONSIN Stevens Point: A historic theater appears headed for the wrecking ball. A nonprofit has been trying to turn the vacant Fox Theater into a community arts center. But CREATE Portage County says demolition “appears inevitable at this point.”

WYOMING Jackson: State wildlife officials say a plan to shift bison and elk feeding for the first time in more than a century has not triggered much public reaction.