Across the nation
News from every state.
ALASKA Anchorage: The Anchorage Assembly approved funds to study how the city would build a waste-toenergy incineration plant to contend with its landfill limits, officials said. The assembly approved $100,000 from its Solid Waste Services budget Tuesday to fund a plan to be completed in 90 days,
ARIZONA Phoenix: Three tornadoes touched down in the metro Phoenix area early Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service. “I can tell you that even getting one (in Phoenix) is pretty rare and getting one from this type of weather system is not too common,” said Andrew Deemer, a meteorologist with the weather service.
ARKANSAS Mountain Home: Sgt. Ken Grayham of the Baxter County Sheriff ’s Office rescued an adult barred owl that had been hit by a vehicle on state highway 5 a few miles north of Midway. Grayham responded to the call because there were no Game & Fish Commission officers nearby.
CALIFORNIA Oxnard: Authorities said a garage fire has displaced three people and a large number of reptiles. The Ventura County Star reported Sunday that firefighters found a dozen or two dozen reptiles after battling an electric fire in a detached garage on Saturday.
COLORADO Fort Collins: Housing Catalyst, an agency that helps provide affordable housing, will be able to provide housing for 34 more nonelderly residents with disabilities through a $300,000 grant from U.S. Housing and Urban Development. Housing Catalyst is one of seven public housing agencies in Colorado and 325 across the country to share in a $131.3 million grant.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: It’s unknown whether efforts next year to make the seasonal flu vaccine more accessible to children will get any traction.
DELAWARE New Castle: Firefighters worked Thursday to control a blaze that tore through a home near New Castle. Multiple fire companies responded to a one-story house on the 20 block of Jay Drive.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: An annual event that features some of the district’s top chefs is back to help support a local foundation's commitment to empowering communities in rural India. The Vicente Ferrer Foundation USA is holding its annual Recipe for Empowerment Gala on Dec. 7.
FLORIDA Jacksonville: Glenn Pitts lived a quiet life after World War II as a laundry manager, building contractor and landlord, but a friend’s tip led to the 94-year-old to receive the Legion of Honor for his part in liberating France.
GEORGIA Lawrenceville: One of Georgia’s largest counties has created a special jail unit just for military veterans. “The Barracks” is aimed at giving veterans behind bars a better chance of success when they’re released.
HAWAII Hilo: Officials said they plan to expand the Big Island’s only jail by adding a $12.8 million medium-security building amid concerns about overcrowding.
IDAHO Boise: A Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in downtown Boise has been delayed because the tree fell over. The Idaho Statesman reported that the 45-year-old evergreen toppled sometime Thursday night. The Downtown Boise Association said it will reschedule the event and that more information will be available next week. It’s not clear why the tree fell.
ILLINOIS Savoy: More than $20 million in construction is planned at Willard Airport in central Illinois during the next two years. The NewsGazette reported that the work includes reconstruction of a runway, an added taxiway and a redone entrance road to the University of Illinoisowned airport in Savoy.
INDIANA Gary: Blast furnace operations are expected to be restored at U.S. Steel’s Gary Works mill several days after flooding at the facility.
IOWA Amana: State officials are hoping to reduce water pollution by addressing problems in the small waterways that zigzag throughout the state, and they believe something as simple as name awareness can help.
KANSAS Topeka: The toll of massive flooding in Kansas is proving to be high for the agency that operates state parks. KCUR reported that the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism will lose millions of dollars as the result of park closures, property damage and washed out park roads.
KENTUCKY Richmond: Fort Boonesborough State Park is offering a glimpse of Christmas past with an event this week. The “18th Century Christmas at the Fort” is set for Dec. 6 and 7.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Anglers can now fish for red snapper seven days a week. State Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Jack Montoucet signed a declaration of emergency this week to expand the season from weekends-only.
MAINE Portland: Two studies by Maine-based scientists suggest the U.S. lobster industry is heading for a period of decline, but likely not a crash.
MARYLAND Allegany County: A State Police helicopter hoisted an injured hiker to safety. Police said the helicopter was used Friday to rescue a hiker with a leg injury from a ravine in Allegany County.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The Boston Pops Brass Ensemble will entertain travelers for free at Logan International Airport this week. The ensemble is scheduled to perform holiday hits at Logan’s Terminal B on Monday.
MICHIGAN Hannahville: An Upper Peninsula nonprofit organization is supporting a program that educates young people in the Hannahville Indian Community about the dangers of e-cigarettes.
MINNESOTA Bloomington: Recently released data from Syracuse University showed that pending immigration cases have increased 70% since last year in Minnesota’s Bloomington federal immigration court.
MISSISSIPPI Hattiesburg: During a university course about the civil rights movement, Mississippi streets became classrooms where civil rights activists and local historians were teachers. University of Southern Mississippi Associate Professor Rebecca Tuuri said Mississippi was ground-zero for the movement.
MISSOURI St. Louis: The longtime leader of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis has died. Relatives of James Buford said he died Friday at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis after a brief, undisclosed illness. He was 75.
MONTANA Missoula: The University of Montana has announced a new course entitled “The Art and Science of Happiness,” joining other universities in adding the emotion to the curriculum.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: Eight months after massive floods washed out chunks of one of the nation’s longest stretches of trail, crews are still trying to repair the scenic pathway used by hikers, bikers and horse riders. The 195-mile-long Cowboy Trail through northern Nebraska was severely damaged during the March floods, and repair costs are estimated to top $7.7 million.
NEVADA Las Vegas: Southern Nevada water officials said six trees and a dozen other plants commonly found in Las Vegas-area landscaping could see extreme heat stress in the warming climate.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Holiday shoppers paying with $100 bills in downtown Concord should be prepared for some extra scrutiny after a spate of transactions involving counterfeit money. The Concord Monitor reported that at least two store owners have stopped accepting $100 bills, and others will be taking a closer look or only accepting newer versions that have more security features.
NEW JERSEY Wall Township: Officials said a clown sign that has smiled on motorists at a now-demolished drive-in for two-thirds of a century will be preserved. NJ.com reported that developers of a strip mall at the Wall Township site said they will donate the Circus Drive-In sign for preservation and display elsewhere.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: The city’s airport is getting international attention for its display of art. The Sunport’s Lowriders and Hot Rods Car Culture exhibit has landed a spot on the latest list of top airport exhibits in the world by the quarterly publication ArtDesk.
NEW YORK Saranac Lake: An Adirondack Mountain village that was put on the map as a cure center for tuberculosis is honoring its novel legacy. Saranac Lake, was once a mini-metropolis of medical care, but the boom ended with the rise of antibiotics. Now, a local history group has purchased the old home and medical office of TB treatment pioneer Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau for museum space.
NORTH CAROLINA McAdenville: A longtime yarn manufacturer is getting out of the textile business. Pharr announced last week it’s selling three of its five divisions early next year. News outlets reported Pharr Fibers & Yarns and Phenix Flooring will go to Mannington Mills, based in Salem, New Jersey.
NORTH DAKOTA Fargo: A bill meant to help law enforcement investigate cold cases of murdered and missing indigenous women that has floundered in Congress for two years might have the missing ingredients to become law – money and muscle.
OHIO Powell: The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said a polar bear cub was born early Thursday morning to 13year-old Aurora. The zoo said polar bear newborns have a low survival rate in their early weeks. Employees are monitoring the cub’s care using cameras in a private den area.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The nation has a high demand for skilled workers, and industry experts and employers in Oklahoma said a worker shortage has made it difficult to find qualified employees, the Oklahoman reported. Over the next 10 years, it’s expected Oklahoma’s economy will have nearly 7,000 annual openings in construction and extraction occupations, according to an Oklahoma Works study.
OREGON Port Orford: A small earthquake hit Port Orford on the southern Oregon coast, shaking the small community. The U.S. Geological Survey sid the 4.5-magnitude earthquake struck at about 5:45 p.m. Friday, with its epicenter about two miles inland.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Municipalities that are paying to clean up water contaminated with toxic industrial compounds from military installations such as Willow Grove Naval Air Station will get more state help.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Student musicians from across the state will again be featured in a series of concerts at the Statehouse to celebrate the holiday season. The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts announced that the concerts begin Monday and will run through Dec. 20.
SOUTH CAROLINA Greenwood: A second school district in South Carolina wants to change to a year-round calendar. The Greenwood County District 50 School Board approved the calendar change last month to start at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.
SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: Police are raising money along with a radio station to buy Christmas gifts for homeless and at-risk children. The Cops ‘N Kids program aims to raise $11,500 to give $100 each to 115 children, and they’re halfway to their goal.
TENNESSEE Nashville: The state is projected to have between $345 million and $408 million in new general fund revenue when lawmakers begin setting the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
TEXAS Houston: Five of the seven people who died in a small plane crash in Kingston, Ontario, were members of a Houston-area family, according to friends of the family. A spokeswoman for the Ontario chief coroner’s office said the victims’ names likely won’t be released for several days. Mehmet Basti, a Toronto college instructor, told local news outlets that five of those killed were his friend Otabek Oblokulov of Missouri City, Texas, his wife and his three children, ages 3, 11 and 15.
UTAH Lehi: A tractor-trailer rig carrying butane was leaking the flammable gas from a tank after overturning on a freeway Saturday, causing evacuations in the area.
VERMONT Colchester: Workers at a hospital have again reported a mysterious odor, a month after more than a dozen got sick on the job.
VIRGINIA Charlottesville: A Confederate statue in Charlottesville that became a rallying point for white nationalists has been vandalized again, this time with graffiti that read, “Impeach Trump.”
WASHINGTON Olympia: Two small areas of northwest Washington likely will be sprayed with an insecticide to stop an outbreak of gypsy moths, including a type native to Asia never before detected in the U.S.
WEST VIRGINIA Beckley: Raleigh County’s only animal shelter has launched a fundraising effort to save it from closing at the end of the year.
WISCONSIN Hartford: A woman who sent care packages to her two sons deployed in the Middle East is doing the same for hundreds of troops overseas in time for Christmas.
WYOMING Cheyenne: A wild horse facility is looking to make its home in eastern Laramie County, but residents near the proposed site have some major concerns.