50 ★ States
ALASKA Anchorage: Authorities said a commercial building partially collapsed Sunday, the city’s second building collapse in less than 24 hours, Alaska Public Media reports. No one was injured.
ARIZONA Phoenix: Democrats in the state Senate have settled on new leadership after the minority leader departed to run for Congress. The Arizona State Senate Democratic Caucus announced that Sen. Mitzi Epstein has been chosen as Senate minority leader after an organizational meeting.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Authorities say they are cracking down on mail theft after several incidents of mail being reported stolen, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
CALIFORNIA San Francisco: A man has been charged with blowing up two Pacific Gas & Electric transformers, causing blasts that knocked out power to thousands of utility customers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Investigators used surveillance camera footage and cell phone tracking to link Peter Karasev to the explosions in December and January, according to the San Jose Police Department.
COLORADO Greeley: A police officer accused of putting a handcuffed woman in a parked police car that was hit by a freight train pleaded not guilty. Jordan Steinke’s lawyer entered the plea on her behalf during a brief court hearing that came a week after prosecutors dropped the most serious charge she had faced – second-degree felony assault.
CONNECTICUT Vernon: A construction company owner and an employee were charged with manslaughter in connection with a trench collapse last year that killed a 56-year-old worker. No trench collapse safety devices were being used July 22 when a section of the 8-feet deep trench collapsed onto Botticello Inc. worker Dennis Slater, police and workplace safety officials said.
DELAWARE Newark: The mother of Trayvon Martin will speak at a University of Delaware event Tuesday called “Black Mothers and Police Violence.” Martin was fatally shot in 2012, a killing that sparked protests and rallies across the country.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The head of the D.C. Council said he is withdrawing the capital city’s new criminal code from consideration, just before a U.S. Senate vote that seemed likely to overturn the measure. But it’s unclear if the action will prevent the vote or spare President Joe Biden a politically charged decision on whether to endorse the congressional action.
FLORIDA Daytona Beach: A 76-yearold woman accused of fatally shooting her terminally ill husband in a hospital was released on $150,000 bond.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Lawmakers in the House voted to raise the age limit to 17 for prosecuting young defendants in juvenile court, sending it to the Senate for further debate. Georgia is one of just three states, along with Texas and Wisconsin, in which 17year-olds accused of crimes are routinely charged as adults, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
HAWAII Maui: More than 13,000 customers lost power Monday, and officials were investigating the cause of the outage, Hawaii News Now reports.
IDAHO Boise: Former Gov. Phil Batt, a Republican known for signing an agreement with the federal government to remove nuclear waste from his state, has died at age 96. In a statement announcing Batt’s death, Gov. Brad Little called him “the epitome of a public servant.”
ILLINOIS Bolingbrook: Three people were dead and a fourth was hospitalized after a shooting during a suspected home invasion, police said.
INDIANA Indianapolis: A 16-year-old African elephant is pregnant and due in October, the Indianapolis Zoo announced on its Facebook page. The calf will complete the third generation in the zoo’s herd.
IOWA Des Moines: Hundreds rallied at the Iowa State Capitol over the weekend to protest legislation targeting the rights of LGBTQ citizens. The rally comes after hundreds of students in the state walked out of class last week to protest legislation.
KANSAS Topeka: Legislators are considering a proposal that many disability rights advocates say would encourage employers to keep paying disabled workers less than the minimum wage, bucking a national trend. A House bill would expand a state income tax credit for goods and services purchased from vendors employing disabled workers, doubling the total allowed to $10 million annually.
KENTUCKY Louisville: Thirty-eight years after the completion of the city’s Humana building, the company alleges there are structural defects in the 27-story tower, and it has sued three firms that designed and built it.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Exxon Mobil Corp. violated federal law for failing to take sufficient action as five hangman’s nooses were displayed at its facility in Baton Rouge, the U.S. government said in a lawsuit. According to the government, in January 2020, a Black employee found a hangman’s noose at his worksite and reported it. At the time, the company knew of three other nooses that had been found at the complex, but it failed to investigate all the complaints and take action to prevent such harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said.
MAINE Kittery: With an eye toward supporting the mental health of its youth, the town has formed an ad hoc committee tasked with exploring the possibility of adding recreational amenities around the town.
MARYLAND Frederick: Police fatally shot a knife-wielding man after he ignored officers’ commands to drop the weapon, according to the city’s police chief and the office of the state attorney general.
MASSACHUSETTS Amherst: The University of Massachusetts is warning about a TikTok drinking trend after 28 ambulances were summoned to off-campus parties.
MICHIGAN Hancock: Finlandia University, a school founded in 1896 by Finnish immigrants in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, said it is closing after the spring term. Finlandia has less than 400 students. The school cited demographics and an “unbearable debt load.”
MINNESOTA Fish Lake Township: Authorities were investigating after deputies found three people shot to death at the small township north of Minneapolis.
MISSISSIPPI Gulfport: The Singing River Gulfport hospital will suspend labor and delivery services April 1 because of a shortage of obstetricians, further decreasing health care access in a state that has seen other hospitals shut down birthing centers or intensive care for newborn babies.
MISSOURI Jefferson City: Patients won’t be charged a copay for a second mammogram to diagnose breast cancer or another illness under a bill the House approved. The GOP-led chamber voted 126-29 to send the measure to the Senate. Some female lawmakers noted that most of those opposed are men.
MONTANA Helena: The Wildlife Ecology Institute has received a $236,000 federal grant to work with other agencies on Sierra Nevada red fox recovery efforts, the Independent Record reports.
NEBRASKA Omaha: Authorities are investigating the deaths of two people in a house fire. The two-story house was deemed a total loss. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
NEVADA Las Vegas: A state lawmaker is planning another attempt to raise the reporting threshold for slot machine winnings. Rep. Dina Titus told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the landscape has changed dramatically since 1977 when Nevada was the only state offering legal casino gambling.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Rochester: The Rochester Police Commission adopted a policy clearing the way for city police to begin wearing body cameras. Police Chief Gary Boudreau said he hopes to have officers equipped with cameras by the end of this month.
NEW JERSEY Lakewood: A state appeals court has ruled that Lakewood public schools do not receive adequate state funding to meet their needs, declaring it is “severely strained” by its obligation to provide transportation and special education to tens of thousands of nonpublic school students.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: The state House has endorsed a plan to ask voters to end New Mexico’s status as the only state without a salaried Legislature. The Albuquerque Journal reports the plan won approval over the weekend, largely along party lines with Democrats in favor.
NEW YORK Lindenhurst: A small plane trying to return to a suburban Long Island airport after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit crashed, killing one person and critically injuring the two others aboard, officials said. No injuries were reported on the ground.
NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: A business magnate remains free after he was indicted on charges he conspired to conduct a massive scheme to deceive insurance regulators and policyholders related to insurance companies that he controlled.
NORTH DAKOTA Hettinger: Officials are investigating a fire at a deputy’s home that they suspect was intentionally set, the Bismarck Tribune reports.
OHIO Columbus: A police officer who shot and killed a Black man as he lay in bed in his home last summer is no longer on the force. Police said that the officer “retired in bad standing due to the ongoing criminal and administrative investigations into the death of Donovan Lewis.”
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Citing a slow process for transferring inmates out of local jails and into treatment centers, representatives of four people with mental illness are suing the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the Oklahoma Forensic Center.
OREGON Bend: Despite being equipped with backcountry safety gear, a skier was killed in an avalanche in the Central Cascades, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Norfolk Southern has pledged several million dollars to cover the cost of the response and recovery in Pennsylvania after last month’s derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals just across the border in Ohio, Gov. Josh Shapiro said.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Outreach workers are hoping to open a site for people to safely consume illicit substances with professional oversight early next year, cementing the state’s standing as the first in the nation to embrace harm-reduction centers as a way to save lives and interrupt the opioid overdose crisis.
SOUTH CAROLINA Spartanburg: The National Weather Service determined that a tornado touched down in northern Laurens County and traveled about 21 miles into southern Spartanburg County before ending Friday evening.
SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: A man convicted for murdering his wife and mother-in-law in 1983 has been granted a new trial based on DNA testing, according to a memorandum signed by Seventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge Matt Brown.
TENNESSEE Nashville: After powerful winds caused damages, deaths and power outages throughout Middle Tennessee, an around-the-clock effort returned power to many areas.
TEXAS Austin: Hundreds rallied outside the Capitol to call for the end of Operation Lone Star, a multiagency effort initiated by Gov. Greg Abbott that deployed thousands of Department of Public Safety officers and Texas National Guard troops to the border after an increase in illegal crossings by immigrants and asylumseekers. Texas has spent more than $4 billion on Operation Lone Star, and funding might increase during the current legislative session.
UTAH Zion National Park: Nesting peregrine falcons inside Zion National Park prompted officials to announce they would close some of the park’s rock-climbing routes, including popular spots like Angels Landing and Cable Mountain. If disturbed, nesting pairs may abandon their nest sites and not nest again until the following year.
VERMONT Montpelier: The Roman Catholic Church’s rite of confession must remain confidential, the bishop who leads Vermont’s diocese testified. Bishop Christopher Coyne told the state Senate Judiciary Committee that the church is opposed to a bill that would remove an exemption from the state’s child abuse and neglect reporting laws. Clergy are currently not required to report potential evidence of such crimes if they learn of it in confidence while acting as a spiritual advisor.
VIRGINIA Hopewell: A hot-air balloon was forced to make an emergency landing Sunday at a middle school, but no one was reported injured and the scene was quickly cleared. The reason for the landing was not immediately made known.
WASHINGTON Auburn: A woman who won the fifth-largest jackpot in Powerball history is a longtime Boeing worker who was inspired to buy the lucky ticket when she saw the jackpot hit $747 million – just days after the company delivered its final 747 jumbo jet.
WEST VIRGINIA Leon: A body found along the Ohio River in West Virginia has been identified as a California woman missing since December, authorities said.
WISCONSIN Madison: Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman said he will run for a sixth term next year representing east-central Wisconsin, despite promising when he first ran not to serve more than a decade in Congress. Grothman, 67, said in a telephone interview that he is campaigning and raising money for a sixth term.
WYOMING Cheyenne: Over $21 million in construction projects, including ones for crosswalk safety, are planned in the city this year, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports.