Across the nation
News from every state.
Richmond: As much of central Appalachia looks to reinvent itself amid coal’s decline, community leaders in mountainous southwest Virginia say they’re seeing some early success by focusing on another natural resource: the Clinch River. The Clinch is the centerpiece of what will be one of Virginia’s newest state parks, thanks to a yearslong grassroots effort. Advocates say the park will help protect the biodiversity hot spot and support a growing outdoor recreation and tourism industry. The river has the highest concentration of rare aquatic species of any river in the U.S., says Brad Kreps, an employee of The Nature Conservancy. ALABAMA Auburn: Auburn University is launching a partnership with city schools to offer dual-enrollment classes to high school students. ALASKA Juneau: A mapping project seeks to show the importance of the Tongass National Forest in terms of carbon, the Juneau Empire reports. The Oregon-based Geos Institute published an analysis this month that highlights the importance of the national forest as a “carbon sink” with global climate implications. ARIZONA Fort Huachuca: Conservation activists are pushing the federal government to reexamine the effects of groundwater pumping at Fort Huachuca on the San Pedro River. ARKANSAS Mountain Home: Visitors to Clysta Willett Park will soon be able to enjoy some improved amenities. The city received a $96,500 grant from the state this month. CALIFORNIA Oakland: Authorities have confirmed a fire chased eight people out of a condemned building, injuring one person, in a blaze that officials compared to a 2016 fire at an illegal artist dwelling in a warehouse. COLORADO Estes Park: Something new will be on tap at the Stanley Hotel in 2020. The Post Brewing Co. will open a new location in the historic hotel’s carriage house.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Public and private institutions across the state may begin applying to become sponsors of a federally funded program that provides nutritious meals and snacks to needy children and adults. DELAWARE Wilmington: The downtown public library will crack down on the kinds of bags allowed inside, a policy the city’s homeless say could keep them out of one of the few warm, free places to go in the winter. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: A small, brown, endangered bat would become the “official state mammal” of America’s capital city under a proposed ordinance that will get a public hearing in January. The idea was proposed by Girl Scouts. FLORIDA New Smyrna Beach: A big red navigation buoy that some describe as “the size of a truck” and that bounced along Atlantic waves for two years has beached along the state’s coast, drawing attention. GEORGIA Savannah: The city is delaying a plan to swap its current police headquarters for a new building farther from downtown. HAWAII Honolulu: Protesters at the Mauna Kea Access Road removed barricades for the first time since July on Saturday. IDAHO Rexburg: Police say they’ve made no progress despite receiving hundreds of tips about two missing children whose parents aren’t cooperating with authorities. ILLINOIS Chicago: Officials say $11.5 million in city vehicle sticker debt has been forgiven in three months from a program started by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
INDIANA Bloomington: Indiana University has started a yearlong test of using license plate reading cameras for parking regulation enforcement. IOWA Rockwell City: The town learned last week that Heartland Market, formerly known as South Side Grocery, will soon close, leaving most of Calhoun County without a grocery store. KANSAS Neodesha: This small town hopes a new program offering free college tuition to graduates of the local high school will help attract new residents.
KENTUCKY Louisville: A partnership between Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Habitat for Humanity aims to lower families’ utility bills by giving them shares in a solar project. LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: The state will be stocking rainbow trout in 13 ponds statewide during January for kids and grown-ups to catch as part of the Get Out and Fish! program. MAINE Orono: The state wants to find a way to keep more of the plastic used by greenhouses out of landfills with a new recycling program. MARYLAND Middletown: Farmer Drew Haines has yielded over 422 bushels of corn per acre, beating Maryland’s state corn yield record and winning first place in the National Corn Yield Contest in the no-till, non-irrigated corn category, the Frederick News-Post reports.
MASSACHUSETTS Gloucester: Hundreds of people plunged into the chilly ocean Saturday to honor Peter Frates, the former college baseball player whose battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease helped spread the ALS ice bucket challenge. MICHIGAN Ann Arbor: A company that makes self-driving food delivery vehicles will begin testing them out in the city this week.
MINNESOTA Bloomington: Police were called to remove a group of 50 rowdy juveniles from the Mall of America over the weekend. MISSISSIPPI Oxford: A bar will be opening inside a hotel on campus at the University of Mississippi. The university has state approval for resort status for the Inn at Ole Miss. MISSOURI Jefferson City: A family that saw its application to grow medical marijuana rejected by the state is now suing, demanding a license to participate in Missouri’s fledgling medical cannabis industry after already having paid a nonrefundable $10,000 application fee. MONTANA Kalispell: Glacier Guide and Montana Raft Co. is taking reservations for electric bike rentals and tours on Going-to-the-Sun Road, The Flathead Beacon reports. NEBRASKA Wayne: Students may receive two bachelor’s degrees from two colleges after four years in a new biology and agriculture program. Students can earn a life sciences degree with a concentration in biology from Wayne State College and an applied science degree with concentrations in agriculture and natural resources from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. NEVADA Reno: A nonprofit promoting vaccinations canceled two events this month in Reno and Las Vegas after it said anti-vaccination activists harassed its hired vendors. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: A bill up for consideration before the Legislature in 2020 would require school districts to offer lessons on climate change.
NEW JERSEY East Rutherford: Organizers bill it as the largest gathering MetLife Stadium has ever hosted. But the throng of more than 92,000 expected to pack the venue Wednesday aren’t gathering for a playoff game or New Year’s gala. They’ll celebrate having read the Talmud from cover to cover in an event called Siyum HaShas.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: Creators of the popular video “Baby Shark” have released a Navajo version of the tune after holding singing auditions on the Navajo Nation. NEW YORK New York: This year’s New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square will spotlight efforts to combat climate change when high school science teachers and students press the button that begins the famous 60-second ball drop. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The deadline to comment on how the state Wildlife Commission should manage over 1,700 acres of new public game land is Wednesday. NORTH DAKOTA Mandan: A man is accused of threatening to “shoot up” a state agency. Christopher Chase, 46, faces a felony terrorizing charge. OHIO Columbus: The U.S. Census Bureau is looking for thousands of temporary workers in the state. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The Department of Commerce is seeking $14 million for an economic development fund dedicated to attracting businesses and jobs to the state. OREGON Salem: A plan that would require purchasing a permit before entering three of the state’s most popular wilderness areas has received a largely negative response. PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: The city has appointed a new police chief to lead a department plagued by sexual harassment lawsuits and racial discrimination – issues she will be suited to tackle with “conviction,” Mayor Jim Kenney said Monday in naming Danielle Outlaw to the post. RHODE ISLAND Providence: Firefighters aim to keep city streets drunken-driver free by offering free rides home on New Year’s Eve. SOUTH CAROLINA St. Phillips Island: Guests will soon be able to rent a beach house that once belonged to billionaire Ted Turner’s family on a private island, state officials say. SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: The rain and snow that hit the city over the year’s final weekend was enough to make 2019 its wettest year on record. TENNESSEE Nashville: All 56 state parks are offering free, guided hikes on New Year’s Day. TEXAS Austin: Beginning in the new year, wage and workforce statistics will have a higher profile during the application process for Texas colleges and universities under a measure approved by lawmakers. UTAH Salt Lake City: The state is known for its high birth rate, but an ongoing lag has researchers wondering if it’s in a new era of lower fertility. The state’s demographers expected people to start having more children as they recovered from the Great Recession, but the rate has continued to drop, the Deseret News reports. VERMONT Montpelier: Thirty-four people took advantage of the state’s aid-in-dying law in the most recent two-year period studied, according to a report released by the Vermont Department of Health. WASHINGTON Seattle: The state’s age for legally purchasing tobacco was set to increase from 18 to 21 beginning Jan. 1, but a change in federal law has already effectively raised the age. The state Liquor and Cannabis Board said that prior to Jan. 1, state officers encountering retailers selling to people under 21 were to provide education instead of pursuing enforcement, The Seattle Times reports. WEST VIRGINIA Charles Town: A historic house that played an important role in the area’s African American history is changing hands as a way of continuing to preserve it. The group Friends of Webb-Blessing House officially took over Friday. WISCONSIN Madison: The Wisconsin Elections Commission deadlocked Monday along party lines over whether to remove the voter registrations of more than 200,000 people in response to a judge’s order. WYOMING Casper: A new state rule seeks to reduce a record number of applications for permits to drill oil and gas wells.