Across the nation
News from every state.
ALABAMA Mobile: The mayor says the city is taking corrective action after a police officer’s “inappropriate” social media post that appeared to ridicule homeless people. The Facebook post showed two Mobile Police Department officers holding what was referred to as a “homeless quilt” made of cardboard signs that apparently had been confiscated from panhandlers around the city, according to media outlet al.com.
ALASKA Anchorage: Gov. Mike Dunleavy has established an eight-member oversight committee to monitor the sale of BP Plc assets in Alaska, officials say.
ARIZONA Phoenix: Police shootings in the city plunged over the past year amid increased scrutiny of the department and new policies aimed at controlling use of force. Phoenix officers shot 15 people, 13 fatally, through Dec. 30 – a dramatic drop from 2018, when police were involved in 44 shootings, half of them fatal.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: The American Civil Liberties Union and others on Monday asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to continue a ban temporarily blocking three state abortion restrictions.
CALIFORNIA Sacramento: State regulators said Tuesday that they have streamlined the state’s permit process to make it faster to approve treethinning projects designed to slow massive wildfires that have devastated communities in recent years.
COLORADO Denver: The city is appealing a court ruling that found its urban camping ban unconstitutional. It filed its notice of appeal Monday in Denver District Court following the Friday ruling by County Judge Johnny C. Barajas.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: The state’s foster care system plans to restructure its evaluation process for complaints of abuse or neglect involving school employees, dedicating two units to the effort, according to department officials.
DELAWARE Dover: The newest member of the state’s Supreme Court is also the first black justice in its history. Delaware State News reports Tamika Montgomery-Reeves is also believed to be the youngest member of the Supreme Court since it was officially established in 1951.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The principal of a D.C. elementary school says a lesson about the Civil War and Reconstruction era went wrong when some fifth graders asked their black classmates to portray slaves. Lafayette Elementary School principal Carrie Broquard detailed the mistake in a letter to parents that explained the learning exercise won’t be offered in the future, The Washington Post reports.
FLORIDA Tallahassee: On the sixth day of Christmas, Baby Jesus vanished from his manger in a popular nativity scene at Dorothy B. Oven Park – right under the noses of Mary, Joseph and bowing kings.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Although there was no Peach Drop in downtown Atlanta this New Year’s Eve for the first time in decades, fans can still see the famous peach on display in the atrium of the Fulton County Government Center through the end of January.
HAWAII Wailuku: Officials want to deploy a wasp throughout the state to combat another type of wasp that threatens native wiliwili trees. A biological control plan issued by the state Department of Agriculture and Department of Land & Natural Resources calls for the use of wasps named Aprostocetus nitens, The Maui News reports.
IDAHO Twin Falls: The state has become the latest to signal its willingness to keep accepting refugees for resettlement despite a presidential order giving state and local governments the ability to refuse them.
ILLINOIS Springfield: A drivethrough car-washing business that opened when Eisenhower was in the White House and tail fins were on stylish coupes has closed its doors after 64 years. Henry Grebler opened Drive-In Car Wash just south of downtown Springfield in 1955.
INDIANA Terre Haute: Indiana State University’s Dreiser Hall is set to undergo an $18.4 million renovation that will replace much of the 70-yearold building’s aging infrastructure.
IOWA Eldon: This tiny town has been losing population, jobs and business for nearly five decades, but one woman is trying to turn things around with a focus on tourism centered around the community’s famous landmark – the house that served as the backdrop for Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” painting. Donna Jeffrey, 70, is leading a nonprofit that seeks to reinvigorate the town by giving visitors a reason to spend more time and money there after seeing the structure.
KANSAS Scandia: Authorities say a young bull moose has been spotted twice in north-central Kansas, where such sightings are considered “very rare.”
KENTUCKY Louisville: The city may get a village of about 25 tiny homes meant to house homeless veterans as they undergo a 12-month support program. The founder and president of Veteran’s Club Kentucky expects the $3.5 million project to break ground this spring. Plans include a community center, offices and a spiritual wellness center.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: The family of legendary chef Leah Chase, who died last year, is holding a memorial event at the restaurant she once led featuring many of the dishes she made famous. The event will be held at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant on Monday, which would have been her 97th birthday. Chase was a civil rights icon and groundbreaking chef who created the city’s first white-tablecloth restaurant for black patrons, broke segregation laws by seating both white and black customers, and introduced countless tourists to Louisiana Creole cooking.
MAINE Augusta: The state’s minimum wage has gone up from $11 to $12 per hour, giving a wage boost to thousands of workers. It marks the fourth annual increase in Maine under a 2016 ballot measure.
MARYLAND Cumberland: A zoo where five endangered animals died was ordered by a judge to send its remaining big cats to a sanctuary. Tri-State Zoological Park has seen two tigers, a lion and a lemur die within a three-year span.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A famous seafood restaurant with an odd moniker – No Name, on South Boston’s Fish Pier – is closing after more than a century in business.
MICHIGAN Grand Rapids: Three businesses that sell recreational marijuana have won the right to begin making home deliveries. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs says it’s approved home pot deliveries by Lit Provisionary in Evart, Battle Creek Provisioning in Battle Creek and Nature’s Releaf Burton in Burton. The three are the first approved for adult-use delivery in Michigan, which on Dec. 1 began recreational pot sales, WOOD-TV reports.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: New estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show the state’s population growth slowed down slightly in 2019, leaving some concerned Minnesota could lose a congressional seat after the 2020 census.
MISSISSIPPI Meridian: Some military veterans and their caregivers are getting more access to a Navy base. A policy change at Naval Air Station Meridian that’s new for 2020 means approved veterans can apply for authorization to shop at base commissaries and Navy Exchange stores, as well as take part in some programs, The Meridian Star reports.
MISSOURI St. Louis: The city has sold just four properties under a program launched last year that allows people to buy homes for just $1. St. Louis developed the Dollar House Pilot Program in hopes of selling tax-delinquent properties that the city’s Land Reutilization Authority has received and of revitalizing struggling neighborhoods.
MONTANA Helena: Nearly 30 years after losing its second seat in the U.S. House, the state could regain it after the 2020 U.S. census, officials with the Brookings Institution forecast. Montana’s resident population has grown from 989,400 in 2010 to an estimated 1.069 million in July 2019, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: The state’s roads saw a 9% rise in fatal crashes in 2019, and leaders say the failure to buckle up was a major factor.
NEVADA Las Vegas: A Nevada Army Guard soldier serving in Afghanistan has received a uniform religious exception to sport a beard based upon his Norse pagan beliefs. The Nevada Army Guard says Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Hopper is the first guard soldier to receive a religious accommodation approval for a beard.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: State authorities are urging hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts to start the year off with a fresh Hike Safe card. Valid for the calendar year, Hike Safe cards exempt holders from certain liability for repaying search-and-rescue costs.
NEW JERSEY Elmwood Park: An iconic paper plant that was destroyed in a massive fire last year will soon reopen, according to a top official for Marcal Paper.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: The U.S. Interior Department has decided not to extend a deadline involving a proposal to divert the Gila River to aid rural communities, a move that cuts off access to more than $50 million in construction funds.
NEW YORK New York: 2020 began in frigid fanfare for hundreds of people who splashed through the Atlantic Ocean during the annual Coney Island Polar Bear Club Plunge. Swimmers wearing Santa hats and other costumes braved 40-degree temperatures to partake in the New York City tradition.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The new year brings new training requirements for reporting and preventing child sexual abuse and sex trafficking in the state’s schools. The News & Observer reports that the training requirements are part of an overhaul of state sexual assault laws.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The state’s population has reached a record level, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. About 762,000 people live in North Dakota, an increase of approximately 4,000 compared to 2018.
OHIO Columbus: A bipartisan bill introduced Friday would allow judicial candidates in the state to determine whether to list their party affiliation on general election ballots.
OKLAHOMA Vinita: The community held a candlelight vigil Monday night to remember the lives of two girls who went missing more than two decades ago. Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman were 16 years old when they disappeared.
OREGON Portland: The city is working to clean up and contain an oil sheen on the Columbia Slough caused by illegal dumping.
PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh: Homicides in the city hit a 20-year low in 2019, with 37 killings, according to data from police and the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Police say a new red flag law has likely helped to prevent tragedies. Since the red flag law took effect in June 2018, police across the state have invoked it 33 times as of Oct. 31, according to the Providence Journal’s analysis.
SOUTH CAROLINA Clemson: Three fraternities at Clemson University were placed on disciplinary probation for violating the university’s code of conduct, according to a university report. Delta Chi, Phi Delta Theta and Chi Phi were investigated following accusations of harsh new member processes.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Gov. Kristi Noem says the storms, tornadoes and flooding that devastated communities across the state provided one of the biggest challenges she faced in her first year in office, in an interview in which she also promised to focus on growing the economy and improving her working relationship with lawmakers in the new year.
TENNESSEE Nashville: A new passport will let tourists check off their visits to 22 of the state’s iconic country music destinations. The state Department of Tourist Development will be including the County Music Passport in an insert in the 2020 Tennessee Vacation Guide.
TEXAS Goliad: Benny Martinez, a Mexican American civil rights leader who helped organize the historic Latino meeting with President John F. Kennedy, died Sunday. He was 85.
UTAH Salt Lake City: The state issued 780 permits in 2019, which officials say made for a busy year. Nearly two dozen productions received film incentives, including for feature films, television series and documentaries, the Utah Film Commission said. Productions across the state created more than 1,500 local jobs.
VERMONT St. Johnsbury: Work is set to begin in earnest this year with the renovation of a downtown housing project. The Depot Square apartment building will be reborn as the New Avenue Apartments.
VIRGINIA Suffolk: Online retail giant Amazon has bought 87 acres of land in southeastern Virginia, but the company isn’t revealing why. The city is near the Port of Virginia and already home to many warehouses that store coffee from other countries.
WEST VIRGINIA Morgantown: West Virginia University’s chief of obesity medicine is investigating how best to help the state’s primary care providers treat their obese patients. Dr. Laura Davisson is developing a survey to assess the needs of providers.
WISCONSIN Madison: Some of the state’s fire departments have stopped using firefighting foam that contains a group of man-made chemicals tied to increased cholesterol and cancer risk, among other health hazards. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances contaminate Wisconsin’s groundwater and waterways and are also found in products like nonstick pans, Wisconsin Public Radio reports.
WYOMING Cheyenne: The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is opening hunting applications Thursday for elk, deer, antelope, spring turkey, moose, sheep and mountain goat, the Rocket-Miner reports.