50★ States
ALABAMA Montgomery: Summer school teachers in Montgomery Public Schools are getting a bump in pay. The district has increased teacher wages from $25 to $50 an hour to get more teachers in the classrooms to handle an increase of students this summer, WSFA-TV reported. ALASKA Anchorage: A nonprofit advocacy group for African Americans will use a roughly $1.2 million federal grant to conduct the first statewide report on the health status of Black Alaskans.
ARIZONA Phoenix: State Senate Republicans voted to further shield some of the state’s wealthiest taxpayers from a tax increase approved by voters last year to boost education funding.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Arkansas might be headed into a third surge of the coronavirus, a top hospital official warned Tuesday as the state’s virus cases continued to rise. CALIFORNIA Oakland: A television news crew was held at gunpoint Monday in Oakland as they were interviewing the city’s director of violence prevention, authorities said. COLORADO Glenwood Springs: A portion of Interstate 70 in western Colorado closed by a series of mudslides near where a wildfire burned last year reopened Monday. CONNECTICUT Hartford: Gov. Ned Lamont said he’s not ready to lift the state’s mandate requiring face masks in schools for the upcoming school year, saying he wants to hear more from federal health officials given the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus in the U.S. and elsewhere.
DELAWARE Dover: Lawmakers approved a $1.3 billion budget for construction, transportation and economic development projects, almost double the current year’s budget. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The D.C. Council voted 8-5 on a bill that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products within city limits, WUSA-TV reported.
FLORIDA Winter Park: A 4-monthold baby boy from Florida is the new “spokesbaby” for the Gerber baby food company. Zane Kahin of Winter Park was chosen for the role, and given the title of chief growing officer, after winning a baby photo contest sponsored by Gerber Products Company.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Emory University will remove the name of an antebellum slavery supporter from a dormitory and add the name of a Black judge to a classroom building as it confronts what its president calls “a legacy of racism.”
HAWAII Honolulu: The entrance fee for a popular Hawaii snorkeling spot will more than double for tourists starting this week. Beginning Thursday, out-of-state visitors to the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve in east Oahu will have to pay $25, up from $12.
IDAHO Boise: The state Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a case that pits the rights of voters to enact and repeal laws against the power of the state Legislature to shape how ballot initiative efforts are carried out.
ILLINOIS Chicago: United Airlines is making one of the largest orders ever for commercial airplanes in an aggressive bet that air travel will rebound strongly from the pandemic. INDIANA Indianapolis: Officials are lifting all the city’s local COVID-19 restrictions as of Thursday, a move that will allow full capacity at restaurants, bars, sports venues and other businesses.
IOWA Des Moines: The Iowa Supreme Court ruled the state can refuse to allow Planned Parenthood to conduct sex education programs funded by federal grants, reversing a judge’s ruling last year that found the law unconstitutional.
KANSAS Topeka: Gov. Laura Kelly and Laura Howard, her top welfare official, moved to keep thousands of families from losing extra food aid because Kansas is no longer under a state of emergency for the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement that Kelly plans to continue the extra $14.5 million a month in aid came two weeks after top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature ended the state of emergency.
KENTUCKY Frankfort: The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is starting a program that will offer boaters free access to life jackets they can borrow. The department is working with local groups and other public agencies to build stations for the life jackets, with the first five to be installed in Anderson, Madison, Monroe and Warren counties.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Dozens of ducks – estimated to be as many as 60 – have taken over a neighborhood in Baton Rouge, WBRZ-TV reported. Residents said they are multiplying and becoming a nuisance.
MAINE Portland: A coronavirus pandemic emergency order was set to end Wednesday for one of the most vaccinated states in the country.
MARYLAND Ocean City: Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset counties will receive millions of dollars in state funding to improve public boating access, facilities and navigation. Gov. Larry Hogan announced the funding as part of $13.5 million in Waterway Improvement Fund grants for fiscal year 2022 for jurisdictions throughout the state.
MASSACHUSETTS Westport: State officials are warning beachgoers that the venomous Portuguese man-of-war has been spotted in the waters off Horseneck Beach. MICHIGAN Detroit: Most water from a weekend storm finally disappeared Tuesday on Interstate 94 in Detroit, a crucial step to reopening a 4-mile stretch of the major urban highway.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Board of Regents agreed to raise tuition for the first time in two years, over objections from some students who believe it’s wrong to charge more after the COVID-19 pandemic. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: A new law which goes into effect this week allows people who move to Mississippi from out-of-state to maintain their professional licenses. House Bill 1263 becomes law Thursday.
MISSOURI Jefferson City: Gov. Mike Parson said Missouri wants to increase its lagging vaccination rate for COVID-19 as it deals with a big spike in cases and hospitalizations. The state health department on Wednesday reported 854 newly confirmed cases – one of the largest one-day totals since February – and nine new deaths.
MONTANA Helena: The Montana Supreme Court said it will decide whether lawmakers had the power to subpoena the emails of the court’s administrator. The justices unanimously denied the Legislature’s request to dismiss a motion from court administrator Beth McLaughlin asking if lawmakers had the right to subpoena her emails.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: A feud between neighbors in an apartment building led to one of them tossing a homemade explosive into the hallway between the neighbors’ doors, blasting a hole in the floor and shattering windows, police said. NEVADA Las Vegas: University Medical Center confirmed its data servers had been breached after a hacking group posted images of personal information online it apparently acquired in a cyber theft. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: New Hampshire is a step closer to getting back to pre-pandemic life with the closing of its emergency and information centers, and its state-run vaccination sites on Wednesday. The State Emergency Operations Center, which was activated on March 13, 2020, procured and distributed 42 million items of personal protective equipment; supported testing and vaccination missions; coordinated quarantine and isolation for first responders and health care workers; and analyzed data, among other functions.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: Calling New Jersey’s history of of suspending or revoking liquor licenses at bars that served LGBTQ patrons an “ugly moment” in the state’s past, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal formally apologized Tuesday.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: It’s legal for people in New Mexico to possess recreational marijuana and grow those plants at home as of Tuesday, the same day regulators opened discussions on rules for the launch of pot sales next year.
NEW YORK Rochester: A family has filed a lawsuit against a sports memorabilia auction house, accusing the company of losing a rare and valuable Babe Ruth photo they had consigned for auction. The item in question was a team photo of the 1914 Baltimore Orioles that had belonged to longtime Rochesterian James “Wickey” McAvoy, who was a teammate of Ruth’s that season. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The General Assembly’s annual farm bill received final legislative approval on Tuesday, a measure whose debate centered on a proposed simplified permitting process for hog farms that also want to collect methane gas from waste ponds for energy. NORTH DAKOTA Fargo: North Dakota State University President Dean Bresciani signed an agreement with the state Board of Higher Education to stay on the job for 18 more months, following a harsh performance review. The contract called for Bresciani to serve out his term through the end of 2022. After that, he would be a tenured professor in health sciences and education. OKLAHOMA Tulsa: The annual Oklahoma Future Farmers of America convention is moving to Tulsa after 15 years in Oklahoma City because Oklahoma City officials could not provide a long-term guarantee to the FFA for the space needed in late April each year.
OREGON Redmond: A fire has ignited in Redmond, prompting evacuations and the closing of Redmond Airport and a highway. The fire was reported Tuesday afternoon near the Redmond Air Center and was estimated at 200 acres by 4 p.m., The Bulletin reported. However, later in the evening, that estimate decreased to between 50 and 100 acres, according to fire officials.
PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: The city’s prisons are operating at below needed staffing levels, creating a dangerous situation for staff and prisoners, according to a report released by the city controller.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: The future of a historic Rhode Island drawbridge that has been stuck in the up position for decades is in doubt after an overnight fire, state transportation officials said Wednesday. SOUTH CAROLINA Seneca: The utility that runs three nuclear reactors in northwestern South Carolina is asking the federal government to allow them to keep making power for at least 30 more years.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: A state of emergency order signed Tuesday by Gov. Kristi Noem will allow producers to begin mowing ditches for hay. A Department of Transportation rule prohibits mowing ditches in eastern South Dakota until midsummer primarily to provide cover for pheasant chicks. Noem said the mild winter and early spring has put most of the pheasant hatch “well behind us.” TENNESSEE Nashville: The extra federal unemployment aid offered amid the COVID-19 pandemic will end in Tennessee on Saturday, including the end of $300 weekly additional payments.
TEXAS Houston: A grand jury on Wednesday declined to indict a former Houston-area health department doctor who was accused of stealing nine doses of coronavirus vaccine from a damaged vial and administering them to family and friends. UTAH Springdale: The torrential rain has slowed, but the cleanup from a flash flood-caused mudslide at Zion National Park on Tuesday has just begun. Park officials said Wednesday that State Route 9 and both entrances to the park were open, but “motorists should exercise caution.”
VERMONT Montpelier: Vermont Legal Aid filed a class-action lawsuit against the state over the end of the emergency program set up to help the homeless during the pandemic. VIRGINIA Williamsburg: Fire crews helped more than two dozen people get to safety after a roller coaster at an amusement park stopped unexpectedly, officials said. News outlets reported that 28 people were riding the Griffon roller coaster Tuesday night at Busch Gardens Williamsburg when it stopped.
WASHINGTON Olympia: Fifteen months after the state’s first “stay at home” order was issued in response to the coronavirus, businesses across the state were allowed to return to pre-pandemic operations.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Eight West Virginia middle schools will receive grants to support their music programs. Gov. Jim Justice, state arts curator Randall Reid-Smith and Chiho Feindler, senior director of programs and policy for the Save The Music Foundation, announced the grants Tuesday.
WISCONSIN Madison: Teen drivers will have to take road tests again to obtain their licenses after changes Assembly Republicans made to the state late Tuesday night. The state Department of Transportation waived road tests for teen drivers last year as the COVID-19 pandemic was taking hold. The department made the change as part of a temporary pilot program.
WYOMING Cheyenne: An intercontinental ballistic missile force based in southeastern Wyoming has a new commander. Col. Catherine Barrrington took command of the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne in a ceremony Monday. Barrington took over from Col. Peter Bonetti, who was base commander for two years, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported. Barrington began her career as a missileer at the base in 1997.