Aretha Franklin dies at 76, transformed American music

Aretha Franklin, whose impassioned, riveting voice made her a titan of American music, died of pancreatic cancer on Thursday, her niece Sabrina Owens confirmed. She was 76.

She died at 9:50 a.m. ET surrounded by family at her home in Detroit.

A family statement released by her publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn, said "Franklin's official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin's oncologist, Dr. Philip Philip of Karmanos Cancer Institute" in Detroit.

The family added: "In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family."

Franklin was one of the transcendent cultural figures of the 20th century. Raised on an eclectic musical diet of gospel, R&B, classical and jazz, she blossomed out of her father's Detroit church to become the most distinguished female black artist of all time, breaking boundaries while placing nearly 100 hits on Billboard’s R&B chart – 20 of them reaching No. 1.

The Queen of Soul, as she was crowned in the 1960s, leaves a sprawling legacy of classic songs that includes "Respect," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," "Chain of Fools," "Baby I Love You," "Angel," "Think," "Rock Steady," "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Freeway of Love," along with a best-selling gospel catalog.

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Her death follows several years of painstakingly concealed medical issues, which led to regular show cancellations and extended absences from the public eye.

In March, Franklin canceled two concerts scheduled in New Jersey. According to a statement from her management team, she was following doctors' orders to stay off the road and rest for two months, and she was "extremely disappointed she cannot perform as she had expected and hoped to."

Franklin's last performance was on Nov. 2, for the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New York. The previous June, visibly feeble but still summoning magic, Franklin played her final hometown Detroit show, an emotion-packed concert for thousands at an outdoor festival downtown.

She ended the performance with a then-cryptic appeal to her the crowd: "Please keep me in your prayers."

The Queen of Soul sang for presidents and royalty, and befriended high-profile leaders such as the Revs. Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesse Jackson. Amid the global glitter and acclaim, she remained loyal to her adopted home, living in the Detroit area for decades, including the Bloomfield Hills house where she moved in the late ’80s.

“My roots are there. The church is there. My family is there,” she told the Detroit Free Press in 2011. “I like the camaraderie in Detroit, how we’ll rally behind something that’s really worthy and come to each other’s assistance.”

Franklin’s voice was a singular force, earning her a multitude of laurels through the decades, including 18 Grammy Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and honorary doctorates from a host of institutions. In 1987, she became the first female artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and seven years later, at age 52, the youngest recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor.

Franklin topped Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Singers of All Time list, and her signature hit, “Respect,” ranked No. 4 on “Songs of the Century,” a 1999 project by the National Endowment for the Arts. She performed at the inaugurations of U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, garnering global attention at the latter for her big fur hat with its crystal-studded bow – a piece now in the Smithsonian Institution.

Franklin's influence is vast and indelible. It's most obviously heard in the myriad voices that followed her, from Mary J. Blige to Adele, and even male singers such as Luther Vandross.

But just as important is Franklin's broader social impact: She embodied American black culture, emphatically and without apology, and through sheer force of talent, thrust it onto the global stage.

Franklin revolutionized black music and the way it was absorbed and perceived, helping create a world where we take for granted that a Beyonce can reign atop mainstream popular culture.

Franklin was emotionally complex, a woman who relished her diva status but whose vulnerabilities and insecurities always seemed to lurk just beneath. Her public success masked a private life of turbulence and loss, making for an intriguing character driven by conflicting forces: Franklin was sassy but naturally shy, urbane but down-home, confident but reckless.

That deep, complicated humanity imbued her music with authenticity. Franklin’s singing, soaked in feeling and executed with virtuoso skill, moved seamlessly among styles: gospel, soul, pop, blues, R&B, jazz, even opera. She belted, purred, seduced, testified. Even as the propulsive power left her voice in later years, she remained as expressive as ever, and her live performances continued to earn critical acclaim.

“I must do what is real in me in all ways,” she told Ebony magazine in 1967, the year when a string of hit singles – “Respect,” "Baby I Love You," "Chain of Fools" – gave Franklin her first major crossover success.

Franklin's early life

Born in Memphis on March 25, 1942, Franklin moved at age 4 to Detroit when her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, took over duties at New Bethel Baptist Church.

Turmoil set in early: Her mother left Detroit for Buffalo, New York, when Aretha was 6, and died four years later.

Still, Franklin grew up in an environment ideal for nurturing her skills. Her charismatic father was a preacher and singer with a national reputation, with sermons that became top-selling records and a gospel revue that toured the country. That brought important musical figures into the young singer’s orbit, including household guests such as James Cleveland, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King and Sam Cooke. Growing up on Detroit’s northwest side, she was a childhood friend of Smokey Robinson.

She became a singing prodigy at New Bethel, and her sisters, Carolyn and Erma, also honed their gospel skills. But it was Aretha who emerged as the standout, and by age 14 she was accompanying her father on his gospel travels.

Gospel was the main focus, but the Franklin household was teeming with all manner of music.

“I heard classical music from the beginning. It was always in our home,” Franklin told the Free Press in 2011. “As a teenager I took more to the R&B, but I always loved classical.”

R&B music, frowned upon by many in the traditional gospel world, was also welcome in the house. The Rev. Franklin, progressive in politics and disposition, put up little resistance to the secular sounds exemplified by artists such as Cooke.

The young Aretha absorbed the emotional power of music in its many forms, whether in the throes of an ecstatic congregation or the intimacy of close listening.

“(My older sister) Erma was a big fan of ‘Be My Love’ by Mario Lanza,” she recalled. “How many times did we hear that in our house?! Sylvia Robinson, Smokey’s sister, used to visit Erma and play ‘Be My Love,’ pressing their ears against the speakers, just crying.

"I was quite young at the time, and I thought it was very funny that these girls were crying with their ears against the speaker. I didn’t do that with the artists I heard (then) – Frankie Lymon, the Clovers, LaVern Baker, Ray Charles. As an adult I began to perfectly understand it. When I heard someone knocking me out, I thought, ‘OK, so this is what that was about.’ ”

In 1960, at age 18, Franklin spurned a hometown offer from Berry Gordy’s fledgling Motown label and opted to sign with New York’s Columbia Records, where her demo tape had caught the ear of iconic talent scout John Hammond. A year later – shortly after Franklin married her manager, Ted White – her Columbia debut was released.

That record set the tone for her five-year, nine-album tenure at Columbia, where she was groomed as an interpreter of jazz and pop standards, presented as a chanteuse at the piano.

Franklin was quietly masterful at the keyboard. Throughout her career, it was a skill overshadowed by her voice – although she played piano on most of the work for which she's now remembered.

The Columbia period proved fruitful but frustrating for the young singer, helping expand her talent while sticking a bridle on the gospel-honed voice behind it. Even as her critical reputation and live draw grew, she managed only a handful of minor hits.

“It’s a fast track to the top if you’ve really got it going on. But I like the way I came up in the industry,” she told the Free Press in 2014. “It wasn’t too fast. It wasn’t overnight, but (rather) little by little. And gradually I grew in the industry. I like that more than the overnight sensation, as one might put it. I was able to learn along the way and grow at a very, very nice pace. My pace, really. I wasn’t thrust into anything I wasn’t ready for.”

Real success blossomed in 1967, when the 24-year-old Franklin declined to renew her Columbia contract and signed with Atlantic Records, where executives Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler saw a chance to unleash the raw power of Franklin’s vocals. Her first Atlantic single – “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” – was cut at the burgeoning soul-music hotbed FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Within weeks it was Franklin’s first No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B chart, cracking the pop Top 10 as well. She was on her way to mainstream success.

As with so much of her coming work, the performance on "I Never Loved a Man" was fueled by a deep intensity but with an intimate, welcoming feel that helped Franklin connect with listeners across the board.

“She has never learned how to be pretentious enough to build a false image, and deeply identifies with people on all levels,” Ebony wrote that year, going on to quote Franklin:

“Everybody who’s living has problems and desires just as I do,” she told the magazine. “When the fellow on the corner has somethin’ botherin’ him, he feels the same way I do. When we cry, we all gonna cry tears, and when we laugh, we all have to smile.”

'Respect' and the ascension to fame

Franklin’s career quickly skyrocketed: With Wexler overseeing sessions and many of the Muscle Shoals players recruited to Atlantic's New York studio, Franklin recorded a flurry of hits in the ensuing months, all of them enduring for decades as staples of her repertoire: “Respect,” “Baby I Love You,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Chain of Fools, “Ain’t No Way.” She was backed on many by sisters Carolyn and Erma, who enjoyed modest solo success of their own.

Franklin was no one's puppet in the studio: Even in her earliest years, she was assertive during record sessions, crafting arrangements and dictating commands to seasoned musicians many decades her senior.

By '68, Franklin was an iconic figure in the African-American community – “the Queen of Soul,” as she was christened by the black press. She was now inescapably important: Franklin's status was seconded by mainstream America that summer when she graced the cover of Time magazine.

While Franklin was not often explicitly political in public, she embraced her anointed role just as the black-pride movement was flowering. “Respect,” in particular, took on anthem-like stature, hailed as a bold feminist and civil-rights statement – though Franklin long insisted she had no grand designs when she recorded the Otis Redding tune about household relationships.

On Feb. 16, 1968 – declared “Aretha Franklin Day” by Detroit Mayor Jerome P. Cavanagh – she performed a celebratory hometown show for 12,000. In attendance was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., two months before his assassination, and he took the stage to present Franklin with an award on behalf of his Southern Christian Leadership Council.

As would become typical of Franklin’s story, the outward success masked drama behind the scenes. The marriage to White, in particular, had become fraught, marked by domestic violence. By 1969, they were divorced. She would go on to wed actor Glynn Turman in 1978, a marriage that lasted six years.

The hits continued to pile up. By the end of the 1960s she had placed 28 songs in the R&B Top 40, a mix of original material and eclectic cover songs, including work by the Beatles (“Eleanor Rigby”) and the Band (“The Weight”). The momentum carried into the following decade, with a string of hit records and a 1972 gospel album, “Amazing Grace,” that became one of the genre’s all-time best sellers.

Success on the R&B side continued in the ’70s even as the pop hits tapered off, though 1976’s “Sparkle” soundtrack produced one of Franklin’s abiding crossover classics, the Curtis Mayfield-penned “Something He Can Feel.” A scene-stealing appearance in the 1980 comedy “The Blues Brothers,” where Franklin performed as a waitress belting out “Think,” was a colorful introduction for a younger generation.

That same year, searching for a new musical direction, Franklin signed with Arista Records, where mogul Clive Davis helped groom a fresh career path for the singer, now approaching 40.

After several tries, the 1985 album “Who’s Zoomin’ Who” became the mainstream smash they sought, producing the hit “Freeway of Love” and placing Franklin in front of the MTV audience. A duet with George Michael, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),” topped the global charts two years later.

Franklin, who had spent much of the 1970s in Los Angeles, was now permanently resettled in metro Detroit, with several area properties including the Bloomfield Hills residence that would remain her primary home for the next three decades. Her father had died in 1984 after a five-year coma; he’d been shot during an attempted robbery at his Detroit home.

The 1990s saw Franklin growing into the role of elder soul stateswoman, satisfied with her status as one of pop history’s greats and playing up the diva role that had become an integral facet of her persona. While the studio pace slowed – she released just five albums from 1998 through her death – her latter-day music was generally well received, with Grammy nominations for “A Rose Is Still a Rose” (1998) and “So Damn Happy” (2003).

“I’m comfortable in my own skin, and my six-inch heels,” she told the Free Press in 2011.

Though Franklin still performed regularly in the ’90s and ’00s, her touring work was hampered by her fear of flying, which set in after a frightening small-plane trip in the early ’80s. She insisted on bus travel, trekking across the U.S. to play for adoring crowds at theaters and summer amphitheaters.

"I've definitely evolved to a greater maturity onstage, a savoir faire, I think," she told the Free Press. "It's just about relaxing more, really, and having fun with it. That comes with time, to evolve to that level and find that it's really very simple ... that it's really about having fun and communicating with your audience."

Franklin was long dogged by weight issues and struggled with alcohol abuse in the late 1960s. But the first glaring sign of health problems came in 2010, when she canceled six months of concert commitments while hospitalized for undisclosed reasons.

She re-emerged the next summer visibly slimmer and seemingly healthy, returning with a glowing show at the Chicago Theatre: "Six months after the world was braced for the worst, Aretha Franklin gave it her best," as the Free Press reported at the time.

"Her voice was velvety and potent as she rolled into her set, still finding new curves and corners in the notes of songs such as 'Think,' 'Sparkle' and 'Baby I Love You,' " read the review.

Nevertheless, Franklin's concert activity became hit-and-miss during her final years, and show cancellations became par for the course, often chalked up to unnamed health problems. She increasingly spoke of winding things down, performing fewer shows by the year, and in February 2017 finally raised the prospect of retirement, saying she was recording a final album.

Two missions loomed large during the final decade of Franklin's life, and both were still in the works when she died: She was in ongoing talks to produce a film about her life, frequently talking up potential lead actresses such as Jennifer Hudson, Halle Berry and Audra McDonald. And she was enchanted by the idea of opening a soul-food restaurant in downtown Detroit.

Reclusive by nature, Franklin liked being at home and enjoying “the small things,” as she said in 2011 – polishing the silver, buying a tea set, washing and ironing. She was a reader drawn to biographies and an avid media consumer who looked forward to her daily newspapers.

“I enjoy the comfort of home very much,” she said. “I’m very domestic when I’m at home. I can stay in the house for the longest kind of time and not get out.”

From Obama to Pavarotti, always grand

It was always BIG with Aretha Franklin. The public situations skewed to the larger-than-life, the supersize, the majestic. She was an immense presence, physically and psychologically, and could take over rooms simply by sweeping into them.

She had a knack for finding herself at the center of grand moments, whether stealing the show at the Obama inaugural or filling in for the ailing Luciano Pavarotti with an impromptu “Nessun Dorma” at the 1998 Grammys.

“She could get a U.S. president on the phone with two calls,” said Brian Pastoria, who co-engineered some of Franklin's studio work.

Indeed, it was the little stuff that seemed to vex Franklin most. She struggled with personal finances, and was frequently forced into small-claims court by mom-and-pop operations around metro Detroit – limo services, caterers, contractors. Her home was often cluttered and unkempt, and while experts on creative genius might say that comes with the territory, it was enough to frustrate neighbors and leave visitors puzzled why she had so little help around her.

For years Franklin talked about plans to tackle her flying phobia, but never followed through. It kept her grounded for the final 35 years of her life, plausibly costing her millions in touring revenue.

Franklin was scrupulously private; her personal life was shielded by a tight cadre of family members and friends. When writer Mark Bego set out to pen the first authorized Aretha Franklin biography, 1989’s “The Queen of Soul,” he was struck by the array of unknowns that still surrounded her – basic details about her two marriages and divorces, her upbringing, even her musical inspirations.

“I felt as if I had just encountered one of the great unsolved mysteries of the show-business world,” he wrote.

Franklin cautiously traipsed into some of those topics with her 1999 autobiography, “Aretha: From These Roots.” But she remained elusive enough that her handpicked co-author, David Ritz, was compelled to write his own uninhibited Franklin biography 15 years later.

That book provoked the singer’s wrath – the sort of eruption familiar to those in Aretha's world. Franklin continually churned through support staff, hiring and firing lawyers, publicists and producers. She feuded with other female singers and knew how to hold a grudge, including a beef with Dionne Warwick that became public only when Franklin alerted the press out of the blue – five years after it happened.

But when it came to the music, few were more disciplined than Franklin. She was serious about her voice and exacting about her concert conditions: big on honey and hot tea before a show and insistent on rooms without air conditioning, aware it could dry out her throat.

Many who worked closely with her also glimpsed the humanity at the heart of the superstar singer who came up in the church.

"She (was) very compassionate," the late Darryl Houston said in 2010. Houston was Franklin's accompanying pianist for more than two decades. "When I was dealing with the sickness and eventual death of my father in Mississippi, she was very encouraging in thought and deed. I remember a few times I would get a call from a travel agent saying: 'When do you want to go see your dad? Ms. Franklin has taken care of the ticket.' "

Brian Pastoria was part of a studio team that worked with Franklin in the 1990s and 2000s, including recording sessions at her home.

"Before the vocal sessions, she'd be in the kitchen making chili. After recording a couple of hours, she'd say, 'OK, time to eat!' " Pastoria recalled. "Even though she was the greatest of all time, the Muhammad Ali of vocals, it was still always her calling on the phone for business, not her lawyer. You'd hear, 'Hi, honey, how are you!' It was nice. It was real. You never felt like you were dealing with a major superstar."

For all the public gowns, glitz and diva references – she was famously portrayed in a Snickers commercial as a crabby prima donna – Franklin was a homegirl at heart. She was a connoisseur of old-school Southern soul food, proud of her knack with homemade dishes like fried chicken and ham with black-eyed peas.

"I think I rank with the best when it comes to the stove," she told the Free Press in 1996.

That sort of organic realness coursed through her work.

"She paints a picture with a song," said Houston. "Outside of being vocally astute, you can feel what she's singing. You can tell when someone is just singing a song, and when the song is a part of their inner being. With Aretha, what leaves the heart reaches the heart."

"It seems she never, ever forgot those roots of the church, and she really believed that we need to look above the things of this world, to a more spiritual level," said social activist Rocky Twyman. "You felt like she wanted to bless humanity with her music."

Franklin made her final hometown appearance in Detroit on June 10, 2017, headlining the Detroit Music Weekend festival for thousands gathered in the streets. Down the block two days earlier, tears had streamed down her face as she was honored by the city with the unveiling of Aretha Franklin Way.

For nearly two hours on the festival stage that weekend, she performed a spirited, feisty set while clearly struggling through pain, at one point singing from a plush chair.

Franklin did it her way that night, foregoing many of her biggest hits for a deeper dive into her catalog and a stirring, 11-minute gospel workout of "Precious Memories."

The old, soaring power may have been missing, but the passion was intact. For one last time in front of her hometown community, there was Aretha Franklin, and there was that voice.

That voice – still captivating, but now comforting in its decades-long familiarity. A sound still melding urban vitality with the warmth of Southern soul. Still joy, pain, ecstasy, liberation. Still strength and femininity. And still offering, as it always will, the promise of transcendence.

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.

News from around our 50 states

From staff and wire reports

Alabama

Montgomery: A legislative committee has voted to make it a hate crime to target someone because of their sexual orientation or their employment as a law enforcement officer. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday took up a bill to add police officers to the groups covered by Alabama’s hate crime law. Current law allows heightened penalties if crimes were motivated by the victim’s race, religion, national origin, ethnicity or disability. State Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, a Mobile Democrat, added an amendment to include crimes that target someone because of their sexual orientation. Some Democrats have unsuccessfully pushed for years to add sexual orientation to the law. Figures said the bill was a good vehicle for the needed change. The committee approved the amendment and bill, which now moves to the full Senate.

Alaska

Juneau: The oldest original lighthouse in the state is in dire need of repairs. The Juneau Empire reports the paint on the 114-year-old Eldred Rock Lighthouse atop a cliff in the middle of Lynn Canal is peeling. But Eldred Rock Lighthouse Preservation Association board member Justin Fantasia says the greater concern is the chunks of concrete falling from the building. Fantasia was part of a team that went out to the lighthouse Monday to take stock of what needs to be repaired. The Eldred Rock Lighthouse Preservation Association, with the help of the Marine Exchange of Alaska, is starting the process of taking over the lighthouse to better preserve it. The U.S. Coast Guard currently owns it, but ERLPA Executive Director Sue York says she’s hoping to work out a lease where ERLPA can take over the lighthouse.

Arizona

Phoenix: The state may lift the legal restrictions around owning nunchucks. The House voted Thursday to remove nunchucks from the list of deadly weapons that are illegal to own in most circumstances. The weapons used in martial arts are made from two sticks or rods connected by a rope or chain. Arizona allows people to carry nunchucks to prepare for competition. But supporters say those who practice martial arts shouldn’t have to worry they’ll face charges. They say it’s highly unlikely someone would use nunchucks to commit a crime. Critics say that nunchucks can cause serious harm and that lawmakers should be focused on reducing gun violence. The measure now goes to Gov. Doug Ducey.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The first cultivator in the state to begin growing medical marijuana says it has finished harvesting its initial crop. BOLD Team spokesman Robert Lercher says the cultivator still expects to have the drug delivered to available dispensaries by May 12. The facility has previously estimated it would have about 200 pounds of product once the cannabis was dried and cured. The Department of Health said last month that it would automatically reissue its yearlong medical marijuana cards to the more than 10,500 qualifying patients who’d received them in the months before the plant could be sold. Department of Finance and Administration spokesman Scott Hardin says two other cultivators are growing and expect to harvest by summer.

California

Sacramento: Officials say the state had its slowest recorded growth rate ever last year as the country prepares for the 2020 census. The state is spending millions preparing for the all-important head count that distributes federal tax dollars and influences congressional boundaries. But new estimates released Wednesday by state officials say California grew by 0.47% in 2018, the slowest rate on record dating back to 1900. The sluggish growth rate comes as California and other states worry a new question on the census forms asking for people’s citizenship status could make it harder to count the country’s Hispanic population. It’s a concern in California, which has the largest Hispanic population in the country. The state’s population has been creeping toward 40 million people.

Colorado

Denver: Riders in the city will soon be able to buy tickets for public transportation using the Uber app, the latest step on the ride-hailing company’s mission to become a one-stop shop for transportation. Potential Uber riders will see a transit option alongside UberX and Black, along with the price and trip duration, and will be able to purchase a ticket for the bus or train instead of hailing an Uber. Uber announced Thursday that it will be rolling out the feature to Denver customers over the next few weeks. Uber and its U.S. rival Lyft have been working with cities to include information about public transportation options in their apps. But this is the first time either company has made it possible for customers to actually buy tickets for public transportation on the app.

Connecticut

Storrs: UConn students will no longer need to buy a ticket to attend most of the school’s home athletic events. The school announced Thursday that beginning in the fall, students will simply need to swipe their Student ID for admission to football, basketball, soccer and hockey games. The school says their student sections will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. UConn says there will be an exception for some high-demand basketball games, where free student tickets will be distributed in advance. Athletic Director David Benedict says students already contribute to the athletic department through fees and it was important to the department to eliminate any additional costs. The school says details of the policy will be announced in the summer.

Delaware

Rehoboth: The garbage dumped on the state’s roadways, waterways, parks and other public areas has state officials talking trash. Gov. John Carney joined environmentalists and other elected officials Tuesday in Rehoboth to launch a statewide campaign encouraging Delawareans not to litter and to help clean up outdoor spaces. The campaign comes after a state Anti-Dumping and Anti-Littering Task Force issued a report last year with several recommendations to get residents to clean up their act. Those recommendations including enhancing penalties for unlawful dumping and substantial littering, considering legislation to make Delaware “plastic free,” and supporting public education and awareness campaigns.

District of Columbia

Washington: The people of the district are pretty dirty, according to a Quality Logo Products study of 2,732 Americans’ hygiene habits across 25 locations. D.C. follows closely behind Seattle and Denver as America’s No. 3 grungiest city, WUSA-TV reports. Some Washington residents said they shower every four to five days – 6.8% of them, according to the study. More D.C. residents, 12.6%, said they brush their teeth every two to three days or less. And Washington residents apparently change their underwear the least often, with 18.4% of those surveyed saying they wear the same pair for four days or more. But according to the survey, people in the capital are the worst about washing their hands – 25.7% of those surveyed skip hand-washing “often” or “all the time.”

Florida

Palm Bay: A toddler stumbled upon a woolly mammoth tooth last weekend alongside a retention pond, uncovering evidence of the tusked beasts that roamed the Space Coast thousands of years ago. Monte Brigance, a retired offshore electrician from Livingston, Texas, was babysitting his grandson Colt Couch, who turns 3 on Wednesday, during the unexpected discovery. “He was throwing rocks into the pond. That’s his favorite thing to do: throw rocks in the pond that he picks up out of the bank. About half of this was sticking out of the soil, and he couldn’t pull it up,” Brigance said, holding the mammoth tooth. “Out of all the places my wife and I have been, looking for fossils – and yet we come to Florida and go to a pond, and there it is sticking out of the ground. It was a nice little find.” Ice Age creatures were common in Florida, particularly along the Atlantic Coastal Ridge.

Georgia

Atlanta: Former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson says she’s officially running for the U.S. Senate in 2020, after fellow Democrat Stacey Abrams announced she wouldn’t run. Tomlinson announced her candidacy this week for the seat now held by incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue, who in his first term has emerged as a close ally of President Donald Trump. Tomlinson had previously signaled that she’d run only if Abrams, who grabbed national attention during her unsuccessful run for Georgia governor last year, was out. In her announcement, Tomlinson took aim at Republican leaders, saying she wants to see a government in Washington “without all the crazy and the mean.”

Hawaii

Honolulu: An investment firm that helps educators buy homes in high-cost communities has brought its services to the state. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports business executive organization Hawaii Executive Conference announced Landed’s Hawaii expansion Tuesday at Hawaii Community Foundation’s downtown headquarters. The San Francisco-based company invests in home purchases with educators by providing up to half of a standard down payment on a home, with a limit of $120,000, in return for repayment of that contribution in the future along with a sum totaling 25% of any gain or loss in value. Landed’s co-founder Alex Lofton calls it a “shared investment in the home.” Lofton says Landed has helped almost 200 educators buy homes since 2015.

Idaho

Boise: A federally run sheep research facility long targeted by environmental groups concerned about potential harm to wildlife is facing another legal challenge. The U.S. Department of Justice in court documents filed Monday in response to a lawsuit says the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Sheep Experiment Station in eastern Idaho correctly followed environmental laws in authorizing sheep grazing. Western Watersheds Project and two other groups in a lawsuit filed in February are challenging a decision allowing sheep owned by the University of Idaho to graze in the Centennial Mountains of Idaho and Montana this year. The groups say the areas contain essential wildlife habitat that’s a corridor for grizzly bears between Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho. The groups also say bighorn sheep and greater sage grouse use the area.

Illinois

Chicago: Four pups of a critically endangered species of wolf have been born at Lincoln Park Zoo. A news release from the zoo says the two male and two female red wolf pups were born April 13 – the first new litter of red wolf pups at the zoo in nearly a decade. Curator Dan Boehm says the arrival of the pups comes at a time when scientists estimate there are fewer than 30 red wolves left in their native habitat of North Carolina. The wolves – named for their red-tinged fur – have over the years been driven to the brink of extinction by hunting. The zoo is taking part with other zoos in a Red Wolf Species Survival plan to increase the animals’ population.

Indiana

Gary: City officials are hoping to attract a developer to turn a plot of land along Lake Michigan into a lakefront destination. The northwestern Indiana city is seeking bids from developers interested in building hotels, restaurants, tourist-oriented retail, pedestrian-friendly commerce or unique attractions like a science center on the 21-acre site. The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports the city aims to sell the property and its beachside parking to a private enterprise for at least $4.25 million. The site in Gary’s Miller neighborhood is near the Indiana Dunes National Park’s western gateway. Gary officials will accept redevelopment proposals and sealed bids through June 19.

Iowa

Urbandale: Tuition increases of 3.9% have been recommended to the Iowa Board of Regents. The regents are expected to vote on the proposal Wednesday at their meeting in Urbandale. The increases would take effect next fall at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and Iowa State University in Ames. But no increase was recommended for the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Officials say Northern Iowa has a different competitive landscape and student body makeup. The tuition increases are being sought because the Legislature has approved an education budget that includes $6 million less than university officials had sought.

Kansas

Topeka: The state Senate has approved a bill that would prevent judges from lowering sentences for child sex offenders if they think the victims were willing participants in the crime. The bill approved Wednesday comes after a Leavenworth County judge in February reduced the sentence for 67-year-old Raymond Soden because he thought the 13- and 14-year-old girls involved in the case were “aggressors.” The Kansas City Star reports current state law allows judges discretion in sentencing for “substantial or compelling” reasons. The new bill prohibits judges from reducing sentences if a victim is a participant or aggressor in a sexually violent crime or electronic solicitation when the victim is under 14 and the offender is 18 or older. The bill now goes to Gov. Laura Kelly.

Kentucky

Louisville: A website is taking Derby keepsakes to a stinky new level with preserved equine excrement. Yes, it’s 100% real horse poop in a jar. And it costs $200. Lexington-based Kentucky for Kentucky is selling preserved horse turds from 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Silver Charm. The 16-ounce mason jar contains a Derby dropping preserved and suspended in clear epoxy resin. “Introducing Derby Turds,” its website says. “The first in a Dixieland Preserves line of bizarro Southern resin encapsulations by Kentucky artist Coleman Larkin.” The website describes the product as “equal parts art and novelty, these gorgeous nuggets of digested Kentucky bluegrass and whatever else horses eat were daringly harvested by the artist himself.” A portion of the proceeds will go to Old Friends Farm in Georgetown, where Silver Charm lives.

Louisiana

Port Fourchon: The Trump administration on Thursday moved to ease safety regulations adopted after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon blowout, the worst offshore oil disaster in U.S. history. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said in a statement that the administration was acting to eliminate “unnecessary regulatory burdens while maintaining safety and environmental protection offshore.” The oil industry has been challenging the Obama-era rules, which govern the operation of offshore wells. Officials announced the final revisions at Port Fourchon, a hub of offshore drilling on the Gulf of Mexico. The audience included oil port workers in hard hats and reflective safety vests. Eleven people died in April 2010 when the Deepwater Horizon exploded, ultimately releasing more than 3 million barrels of crude.

Maine

Lewiston: For the second consecutive year, an asylum-seeker from the state has made it to the final round of a national spoken poetry competition. The road to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals on Wednesday night was less bumpy for 18-year-old Joao Victor than for his predecessor. Last year, Deering High School junior Allan Monga of Portland had to sue as a noncitizen to participate in the event hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts. The Sun Journal newspaper reports that Victor came to the U.S. three years ago from Angola and speaks seven languages. He’s also fluent in the language of poetry. Victor said he was inspired by Monga, who fled Zambia. Monga recited Lord Byron’s poem “She Walks in Beauty.” He made the finals but did not win.

Maryland

Annapolis: A great horned owl and at least seven bald eagles have been found dead along the state’s Eastern Shore this year, reminding officials of the eagles found fatally poisoned in the area in 2016. The Baltimore Sun reports state and federal wildlife officials are investigating the deaths, saying the Delmarva Peninsula has a “systemic” illegal poisoning problem. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information that furthers the investigation. This year’s first known poisoning happened in March. Authorities believe the birds were killed with the pesticide carbofuran, which was essentially banned from the nation’s market partly due to it being lethal to birds. Authorities say the birds may have eaten bait laced with the pesticide, sometimes sold under the name Furadan.

Massachusetts

Boston: Legal marijuana has reached a milestone of sorts in the state as sales of recreational pot climb over the $100 million mark. According to the latest data from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission, retail pot shops have sold $104 million worth of product since the first stores opened last November. Nearly $7 million in total sales were reported last week, with customers spending an average of $41 per transaction. The increases reflect the steadily growing number of pot shops in the state, with 21 having now been awarded final licenses. The first recreational store in Worcester, the state’s second-largest city, opened Wednesday. But Massachusetts is still likely to miss its forecast of $63 million in marijuana taxes in the current fiscal year due to the initially slower-than-expected rollout of retail stores.

Michigan

Lansing: The state’s schools would not have to reschedule up to four snow days that occurred during an arctic deep freeze under legislation sent Thursday to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her expected signature. The bill won final approval when Senate Democrats agreed to ensure it would take effect immediately. That was a reversal after they had effectively stalled the measure earlier in the week because majority Republicans stripped a House-passed provision that would have ensured some hourly school employees were paid for days canceled due to the weather – if their labor contract or employment agreement is silent on the issue. “It’s all for the kids and giving schools plenty of notice so they can do their proper planning,” said Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, a Clarklake Republican.

Minnesota

St. Paul: Gov. Tim Walz says he supports legislation to ban the recreational hunting of wolves in the state if the federal government succeeds in removing them from the threatened list. An amendment to prohibit sport wolf hunting was added to a House environmental bill Tuesday. On Wednesday, the governor said that when he was in Congress he supported “delisting” wolves where populations had recovered, but not nationwide. And while he said he supports managing wolf populations, he doesn’t think sport hunting is appropriate. Minnesota held three wolf seasons before a judge restored federal protections 2014. Lt. Gov Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, says the issue is personal for her because she’s from the Wolf clan, and there’s a rule against hunting your own clan.

Mississippi

Jackson: The state will start allowing people with felony drug convictions to apply for federal food assistance. The new policy takes effect July 1 and could affect as many as 67,000 people. Lawmakers approved the change in a bill aimed at reducing recidivism and shrinking the prison population. A 1996 federal law put a lifetime ban on people convicted of state or federal drug felonies from receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. However, state legislatures could opt out of the ban. Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia were the only states that had not opted out. Republican Sen. Sally Doty of Brookhaven pushed for the change, saying she saw “no reason to treat drug felons differently than those with violent offenses.”

Missouri

Kansas City: The city is preparing to restore the building where the Negro National League was founded. The Kansas City Star reports the effort to upgrade the building near the 18th and Vine Jazz District comes just months before the 100th anniversary of the league’s founding. The Kansas City Council on Thursday fast-tracked an ordinance to take over the Buck O’Neil Research and Education Center. The building was known as the Paseo YMCA when independent baseball team owners met there in 1920 to establish what became the Negro Leagues. Under the ordinance, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum will donate the building to the city, which will spend $1 million from its one-cent sales tax for public improvements and more than $283,000 in state tax credits to restore the basement and ground level.

Montana

Helena: Gov. Steve Bullock has signed a bill that would allow emergency care providers to offer non-emergency medical assistance in an effort to reduce the number of 911 calls, especially in rural areas. Supporters say providers could fill gaps in the medical system by helping people manage their medicine or chronic illnesses, giving them a ride to their doctor’s office, or connecting them with other medical or mental health services. The bill, which Bullock signed Wednesday, allows the Board of Medical Examiners to create rules detailing the scope of the changes and a training program for paramedics and emergency medical technicians. Supporters say the measure could also help recruit volunteers who would be willing to do scheduled visits but don’t want to be on call for emergencies.

Nebraska

Omaha: Eight middle-school confirmation class members have decided against joining a Methodist church in protest of the denomination’s renewed ban on same-sex marriage and gay clergy. The Omaha World-Herald reports the eight were scheduled to become part of the congregation Sunday at First United Methodist Church. But the seventh- and eighth-graders declined and issued a written statement instead. It says that if they were to join now, that would send the inaccurate message that they approve of the United Methodist Church’s “immoral” policies on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage. Last Friday the denomination’s judicial council upheld key portions of a plan adopted in February by the church’s legislative assembly and designed to strengthen the bans on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ pastors.

Nevada

Reno: The Nevada Museum of Art’s $1.5 million space balloon is officially lost in space. Museum officials said Wednesday that the “Orbital Reflector” installation, more than three years in the making, cannot be located after a series of technical difficulties and complications from the government shutdown in January. Museum officials believe the piece, as planned, is orbiting Earth, but it will probably be a few years – rather than a few months – before it burns up in the atmosphere. In early December, the Reno-based museum celebrated as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched into space carrying a shoebox-sized package with the museum’s 100-foot-long, diamond-shaped balloon. Museum officials promoted it as the first-ever satellite sent into space strictly for art’s sake.

New Hampshire

Concord: Supporters of a bill to repeal the death penalty are starting daily candlelight vigils outside of the Statehouse to express their hope that Gov. Chris Sununu will sign it or allow it to become law. Both the House and Senate have voted with veto-proof majorities to repeal the state’s capital punishment law. Sununu, a Republican, vetoed a death penalty repeal bill last June and is expected to do the same this year. The vigils, which started Thursday, are being led by the New Hampshire Council of Churches. The Rev. Jason Wells, the group’s executive director, says the people of New Hampshire have spoken clearly that the state can live without the death penalty.

New Jersey

Ocean City: The operators of a Jersey shore amusement park say a roller coaster there is safe after a pair of water-filled test dummies fell off during a recent test ride. The GaleForce coaster at Playland’s Castaway Cove was undergoing a routine safety check April 20 when the dummies plummeted into a hotel next door, damaging the building’s shingles and plywood. Park officials say the dummies had undetected leaks that made them lose their mass and shape, causing them to fall. They say that the same thing wouldn’t happen to humans and that nothing on the ride failed during the test, including the lap bar that secures riders. Officials say the coaster has run problem-free since the mishap and is tested daily for about two hours.

New Mexico

Silver City: Officials with the Gila National Forest are investigating vandalism at prehistoric rock art sites within the boundaries of the forest. They pointed Wednesday to damage done at Chloride Creek on the Black Range Ranger District. The damage includes names that have been scrawled onto rocks that are laden with prehistoric petroglyphs and pictographs. Officials say the southern New Mexico forest is home to more than 200 recorded rock art sites that, once damaged, can never be repaired to their original condition. They’re asking visitors to be respectful. That includes not touching the rock art, as oils from a single handprint can chemically affect the rock’s surface. It’s also illegal to collect or disturb archaeological materials on public land without a permit.

New York

Albany: More than 2,000 volunteers are expected to help clean up the shores of the Hudson River this weekend. The eighth annual Riverkeeper Sweep will be held Saturday, with volunteers cleaning up shorelines and fostering native plants up and down the river. There are more than 120 projects scheduled, including a cleanup of Iona Island off of Rockland County and cleanup by kayak near Glens Falls. Teams of volunteers are organized by local schools, businesses and organizations. People interested in volunteering can search locations and register at Riverkeeper.org/sweep.

North Carolina

Charlotte: A college student slain while confronting a gunman in his University of North Carolina-Charlotte classroom was given a hero’s send-off Thursday as his body was returned to his hometown with a police escort. Police motorcycles and other vehicles with blue lights flashing quickly left a funeral home and started their 150-mile journey west from Riley Howell’s college home in Charlotte to his mountain hometown of Waynesville. Traffic stopped along busy four-lane Charlotte streets as the procession went by. Howell died in his classroom Tuesday after charging and tackling the gunman who opened fire with a legally obtained pistol, authorities said. Howell’s decision to fight for the lives of others fit his character, said friend David Belnap, who attended a candlelight vigil Wednesday with a homemade T-shirt with “Riley Howell is a hero” written on the back.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Deer hunting licenses in the state are taking a big jump this year. The Game and Fish Department is issuing 65,500 licenses for white-tailed deer and mule deer, up 19% from 2018. It’s the fourth consecutive year of an increase. Game and Fish this year is also fully lifting restrictions on mule deer doe hunting in the west that were implemented eight years ago following a string of harsh winters. State Wildlife Chief Jeb Williams says it’s “shaping up for a pretty decent fall.” Hunters have through June 5 to apply for a 2019 license. This year’s regular gun season opens at noon Nov. 8 and runs through Nov. 24. State Tourism Division data shows that deer hunting contributes tens of millions of dollars to the state economy.

Ohio

Cincinnati: A class at the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College has helped out a fellow student by raising money to enable her to see color for the first time in her life. Savannah Allen’s dental hygiene program classmates say they were inspired to take action after learning that Allen’s participation in the program was in jeopardy due to her colorblindness. Being able to properly view a patient’s teeth and gums for indications of decay or disease is an important part of a hygienist’s job. As a first-year student, Allen’s inability to see colors didn’t pose a challenge until she began treating patients in the Dental Hygiene Clinic, according to the college. The students researched treatment options and started a GoFundMe page to raise the money for special glasses to help Allen see colors.

Oklahoma

Tulsa: The city might introduce a minimum age requirement for electric scooters following the death last month of a 5-year-old scooter passenger. The Tulsa World reports the city’s community development and policy chief, Nick Doctor, presented to city councilors on Wednesday the Mayor’s Office’s proposal that would require the minimum age to either 16 or 18. Doctor says the proposal is one of several that aim to increase electric scooter awareness and ensure they’re being safely used ahead of the summer, when ridership is expected to jump substantially. A 5-year-old child was fatally struck by a car after falling off a Lime rental scooter operated by his mother in the city last month.

Oregon

Salem: Lawmakers in the House have approved an extra $2 billion in funding for the state’s struggling school system. The chamber voted 37-21 Wednesday following hours of floor debate. Democrats championed the package, saying it’s a necessary investment in Oregon’s public schools, which struggle with the lowest graduation rates in the nation. The vote comes a week before teachers across the state are planning a day of action in protest of decades of disinvestment in the public education system. But Republicans took issue with the proposed business tax to fund the measure, saying it would be passed onto consumers through higher prices. The tax package now moves to the Senate, where it needs a two-thirds vote. Even if it passes through the legislative process, opponents may move to put it to the ballot.

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh: With their bulging red eyes and deafening mating song, the 17-year cicadas are about to emerge. The insects have been waiting underground for nearly two decades, and millions are about to make their debut around western Pennsylvania, as well as parts of eastern Ohio and a small swath of West Virginia. Penn State Extension horticulture educator Sandy Feather tells the Tribune Review it takes several days of temperatures above 60 degrees Fahrenheit for them to emerge. Temperatures around Pittsburgh are forecast to be in the high 60s and low 70s next week. Feather says they’ll be loud, but they don’t pose a threat to anything except very young trees. Adult cicadas don’t eat or bite and exist only to mate. They’ll all be dead by the end of June.

Rhode Island

Providence: A Republican activist has sued lottery officials over the state’s legalization and launch of sports betting without first seeking voter approval. Daniel Harrop said Thursday that sports betting should stop pending a statewide referendum. Former Rhode Island Republican Party Chairman Brandon Bell and attorney Joe Larisa filed a lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of Harrop, a member of the party’s central committee. Democratic Senate President Dominick Ruggerio has said the legal advice he has seen states that voters approved sports betting when they approved casino gambling, and he’s confident Rhode Island would prevail in any challenge. Harrop says he’s not opposed to gambling, but the state must follow its constitution and ask voters whether gambling should expand.

South Carolina

Moncks Corner: A school district will invest in student accessibility with a portion of funds recovered from a former district official’s $1.3 million embezzlement scheme. The Post and Courier reports Berkeley County School District officials agreed this week to use $300,000 to make playgrounds more accessible and help students with mobility issues. Former district CFO Brantley Thomas stole district money over 16 years in a variety ways, including taking funds from grants for special education students. He was sentenced this year to just over five years in prison on federal embezzlement charges. He was later convicted of related state charges and sentenced to 11 years in prison. The school district is now getting more than $2.2 million in legal settlements and restitution. It will also be getting Thomas’ pension.

South Dakota

Springfield: About 150 inmates took the opportunity to prepare for life after prison at a job fair this week. Ernesto DiFabio was among the men who met with roughly 20 employers at Mike Durfee State Prison on Monday. DiFabio says he’s a graduate of the prison’s automotive vocational program, where he learned how to change oil and replace car parts. The 43-year-old earned an Occupational Safety and Health Administration certification while behind bars. DiFabio says he can’t wait to earn a paycheck. Prison official Monica Wepking says more than 90% of vocational program graduates find a job after being released. She says roughly 8% of program graduates return to prison, well below the general prison population’s recidivism rate of 30%.

Tennessee

Gatlinburg: The nearly 700-foot-long, 150-foot-high Gatlinburg SkyBridge, the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in North America, opens May 17. Gatlinburg SkyLift, which runs the year-round chairlift that runs from downtown Gatlinburg to the top of Crockett Mountain, plans to open the new attraction. The SkyBridge stretches 680 feet across a valley and features glass floor panels to let visitors look down. “Guests will be able to walk across at their own pace, taking in the views and enjoying the spectacular setting before walking back when they’re ready,” says a post on Gatlinburg SkyLift Park’s Facebook page. The Gatlinburg SkyLift is currently operating, but guests have been unable to get off and enjoy the landscape since devastating November 2016 wildfires.

Texas

Austin: A 14-year-old boy is raising money to wipe out lunch debt in district schools. The Austin American-Statesman reports Ben Hofer, an eighth grader at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, decided to tackle the lunch debt for three Austin district campuses for a school service project, Project Citizen. The original goal for his semester-long “LunchCounts!” project was to raise $3,200 to pay off the lunch debts at Akins High, Parades Middle School and Blazier Elementary because the campuses had among the highest balances in the district. But Ben exceeded the amount and now is trying to reach $7,000 to help pay off the debts at more schools. “I can see how having money some days and not having money some days can be very stressful for the kids and their parents,” Ben said. “Lunch is essential for your day. And the school loses money because of it. It’s just bad all around.”

Utah

Salt Lake City: At least one lawmaker thinks people should have beer with their karaoke – even in this conservative state. A new liquor law has come under scrutiny by legislators and business owners after beer licenses were denied to a karaoke lounge and an ax-throwing venue. Democratic Rep. Angela Romero said Wednesday that she plans to introduce an amendment to include karaoke venues among the new sites approved for beer sales. She hasn’t decided whether ax-throwing venues should be added. “When I’m out for a night of fun with friends and go to karaoke, I’d hope I could have a beer,” Romero said. The law represents a tightening of already strict liquor laws in Utah, where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints instructs members to avoid drinking alcohol.

Vermont

Burlington: The city is planting a variety of young trees to offset expected damage from an ash-tree killing pest. The emerald ash borer has already been detected in Colchester, Milton and South Hero, and foresters estimate 150 million ash trees around the state are at risk. Last weekend, City Arborist V.J. Comai, other professionals, and volunteers planted about 60 trees among dominant stands of ash. Comai estimates that it would cost about $1.1 million to remove and replace the city’s 1,249 ash trees. The beetle has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in North America.

Virginia

Roanoke: The city has officially renamed its courthouse after civil rights leader Oliver Hill. The Roanoke Times reports that more than 100 people attended a naming ceremony Wednesday at now-named Oliver W. Hill Justice Center. Hill spent much of his childhood in Roanoke and went on to have a lengthy career as a civil rights lawyer. In 1954, he was part of a series of lawsuits against racially segregated public schools that became the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, which changed American society by setting the foundation for integrated education. He died at age 100 in 2007.

Washington

Seattle: The state faces a federal court order to fix under-roadway pipes that block migrating fish by 2030, but a budget passed by lawmakers shortchanges the work. That puts the state at risk of missing the deadline and could delay salmon recovery even as the Pacific Northwest’s orcas are starving. The Legislature’s two-year transportation budget, approved last weekend, devotes $100 million to fixing the pipes. That’s only about one-third of what Gov. Jay Inslee requested, but lawmakers said they couldn’t come up with any more. Lorraine Loomis, chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, says underfunding culvert removal now will make it almost impossible to meet the court’s deadline.

West Virginia

Bluefield: A “Bridge to Nowhere” will have a destination in a few years. Gov. Jim Justice held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for the start of work on a 3.8-mile addition to the King Coal Highway in southern West Virginia. The addition will make use of a bridge that was built a decade ago and dubbed the “Bridge to Nowhere” because the road stopped at the end of it. The governor’s office says the project will give motorists easier access to the Mercer County Airport. Justice says they’re “going to turn this into the ‘Bridge to Somewhere,’ and that somewhere is going to be your airport.” First, crews must cut through a mountain between the bridge and airport. The $57.5 million project is being funded through West Virginia Turnpike Authority bonds. It’s expected to be completed by November 2021.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee: The city plans to extend its streetcar route to the Wisconsin Center District convention hall just in time for the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Mayor Tom Barrett on Wednesday unveiled plans to extend The Hop to Wisconsin Avenue by next summer. He also announced engineering plans for two additional legs that would stretch the streetcar route north past Fiserv Forum into Bronzeville and south into Walker’s Point. The extension plans would amount to a major expansion of the 2.1-mile streetcar loop, adding about 2.4 miles of additional route. The plans must first be approved by the Common Council.

Wyoming

Cody: The east gate to Yellowstone National Park is opening for the season. The Cody Enterprise reports the entrance will be open Friday morning, but motorists can expect delays because of construction and possibly deteriorating weather conditions. The road between Canyon Village and Lake Village also is scheduled to open Friday. Roads from the west gate to Madison Junction, Mammoth Hot Springs to Old Faithful, and Norris to Canyon Village, opened in mid-April. Yellowstone officials say visitors should check road conditions before venturing into the park.

From staff and wire reports

Tombstone gunfight, sparkler spoiler: News from around our 50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Columbiana: A proposed toll bridge over Lay Lake that could spur economic development in central Alabama is drawing concerns from some residents and environmentalists. Some who live near the site on the Shelby-Talladega county line are worried about noise and traffic should the bridge be built, and the Alabama Rivers Alliance has raised questions about issues with construction and the long-term impact of quality of life in the area. Businessman Tim James proposed the bridge, which would link the counties across the Coosa River. He told WIAT-TV some noise is a small trade-off for the historic economic development a toll bridge would bring. A public involvement meeting is scheduled for Tuesday on the bridge, which has become a topic of discussion for state lawmakers as well. Last Wednesday, a bill was introduced that would require voter approval in counties considering toll bridges.

Alaska

Juneau: More than 200 federally recognized tribes would also be officially recognized in the state under a bill that is gaining momentum with bipartisan support. The bill is largely symbolic and would not change how tribal governments already operate, as each of the 229 Native Alaska tribes is already federally recognized, lawmakers said. The legislation would instead enshrine in state law what has been the status of these tribes for years and formally recognize tribal sovereignty. “Just a simple act of recognition can heal decades of hurt,” said Richard Chalyee Eesh Peterson, president of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. “One of the things that will happen for the larger community of Alaska, this will normalize the thought of tribes as sovereigns.”

Arizona

Tombstone: Doc Holliday’s Saloon has challenged the state liquor department’s ruling that the saloon didn’t adequately control firearms within its establishment. That claim, historians will note, was the also the chief concern of the bar’s namesake, John Henry “Doc” Holliday, when he lived in Tombstone in the late 1800s. That dispute, in which Holliday and three other lawmen looked to disarm a group of cowboys by the OK Corral, ended badly. In the current case, the liquor department ordered Doc Holliday’s to temporarily close its swinging doors for two weeks because of four incidents that it asserted violated liquor laws. Three involved weapons; two ended with someone being shot. After one shooting incident, the department’s report noted, the saloon seemed to celebrate with a sign outside that suggested beer was a necessity following a shooting. Doc Holliday remains open for business while it appeals the order.

Arkansas

Mountain Home: The city will hold a public meeting at 6p.m. Tuesday at City Hall to discuss a proposed community center. Under a proposal presented to the City Council earlier this month, the facility would include an indoor aquatic center and an outdoor water park in addition to the community center. It would be built at McCabe Park along U.S. Highway 62 West. The plan includes upgrades or renovations – some big, some small – to almost every park under the City of Mountain Home umbrella and carries an estimated $38 million price tag. The proposed indoor aquatic center would be 22,300 square feet and include a competition lap pool, a heated therapy pool and a kids’ play pool. The proposed outdoor water park would feature a diving pool, a shallow play area for small children, water slides and a lazy river.

California

Lake Elsinore: Southern California’s dry winter isn’t good for wildflowers – and that’s OK with officials in this city where last spring’s “superbloom” of poppies drew huge crowds. Riverside County parks official Dustin McLain said the chances of a superbloom in Walker Canyon this year are small because January was dry, and February has started off the same way, The Press-Enterprise reports. Lake Elsinore Mayor Brian Tisdale is hoping the big bloom doesn’t occur. “That kind of attention – even though it’s probably the most beautiful thing in Southern California – has an overwhelming impact on the local community,” he told the newspaper. Last March, after a very wet winter, throngs of people flocked to Walker Canyon. Interstate 15 was jammed for miles in both directions, and streets of the small city were gridlocked. At one point, the city closed the canyon and then barred cars from the area, requiring visitors to pay for shuttle rides to the floral extravaganza.

Colorado

Denver: A ban prohibiting pit bulls in the city is expected to remain in place after the mayor announced plans to veto legislation that would have lifted the dog breed restriction. Mayor Michael Hancock said Friday that he expects to veto a repeal on the ban, citing concerns that the ordinance does not fully address the risk of injury resulting from attacks from these particular dog breeds, the Denver Post reports. “The reality is that irresponsible pet owners continue to be a problem, and it is the irresponsible owners and their dogs I must consider in evaluating the overall impact of this ordinance,” Hancock said. City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday and must acquire nine votes to override the veto, but the repeal measure only passed the council with seven votes when first introduced, city officials said.

Connecticut

New Haven: A female high school student defeated a transgender female athlete in a state championship race, just two days after a lawsuit was filed in an effort to block transgender athletes from participating in girls sports in the state. Chelsea Mitchell, of Canton High School, won the Class S 55-meter dash title Friday night with a time of 7.18 seconds, edging Terry Miller of Bloomfield High School. Miller, a transgender athlete, finished at 7.20 seconds. The families of Mitchell and two other female high school runners filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday, arguing that allowing athletes with male anatomy to compete has deprived them of track titles and scholarship opportunities. The Hartford Courant reports Miller and Mitchell did not interact before or after the race. “I clapped because, for me, I’m not a hater,” Miller said. “When you take a win, you take the win. And even if you don’t respect me, I’ll respect you.”

Delaware

Wilmington: The air temperature was hanging around freezing when 130 people stepped out of the The Queen Wilmington over the weekend for the second annual Cupid’s Undie Run, most only in their skivvies. The outdoor portion of the event, the namesake run, took panty- or boxer-clad participants on a jog from 5th Street to 10th Street and back to the warm Queen on Saturday. “It’s a fun run, so people run in their underwear or a costume,” organizer Caroline Mouldsdale said, adding that the pre-run partying inside The Queen made the cold a little easier to handle. “It’s a little chilly, but we’ve been dancing and having fun.” The run is in its 10th year nationwide, Mouldsdale said. It’s earned $18 million for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, which is seeking a cure for neurofibromatosis. “The founders who came up with the Cupid’s Undie Run decided if these children (with neurofibromatosis) were going to uncomfortable in their skin every day, then we can go out and be uncomfortable in our skin,” she said.

District of Columbia

Washington: Momentum is building in the nation’s capital for the creation of a museum dedicated to American women’s history, WUSA-TV reports. The House has passed a bill to establish the museum inside the Smithsonian network and take steps toward funding and construction. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.C., was the main sponsor of the Smithsonian Women’s History Museum Act. 374 Congress members voted for the House bill, while only 37 voted against it. A similar bill is working its way through the Senate. If approved, it could take a decade or more to finalize funding, design and construction of the museum.

Florida

Fort Lauderdale: Officials say 211.6 million gallons of sewage has spilled into city waterways in the past few months. The Sun-Sentinel reports that’s enough to fill 320 Olympic-sized pools. The city’s aging sewer pipes broke six times in December and spewed 126.9 million gallons of sewage – ranking as one of South Florida’s biggest spills ever. The spills fouled the Tarpon River, the Himmarshee Canal and streets in three neighborhoods. According to what officials told the state Department of Environmental Protection, 79.3 million gallons spilled into George English Lake over a 10-day period that began Jan. 30 and ended Feb. 8. Then an additional 5.4 million gallons flooded streets near a park right across from a popular mall. In recent weeks, crews also have rushed to fix another string of water main breaks, forcing the city to warn residents to boil their tap water before drinking, brushing their teeth or washing dishes.

Georgia

Atlanta: The demand for parking at the nation’s busiest airport has declined with the rise of Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services, airport officials say. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is shelving plans to demolish and rebuild its parking decks at the domestic terminal. The airport developed plans several years ago to double the size of the Terminal South and Terminal North decks, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. But airport officials eventually downscaled those plans. Airport parking revenue had begun to decline in 2019, Hartsfield-Jackson General Manager John Selden said at the time. Last week, Selden told a City Council committee that revenue has continued to decrease. Airport car rentals also have declined, he said. “People are just not parking,” he said.

Hawaii

Honolulu: Possession of small amounts of drugs that are considered dangerous would be decriminalized in the state under a proposed bill, potentially reducing the amount of money spent on enforcement. The legislation would make it a misdemeanor instead of a felony offense to possess less than 2 grams of dangerous drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, morphine and cocaine. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Friday, after which the bill was amended to increase the amount of drugs from one-sixteenth of an ounce to 2 grams, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. “Enforcement of the offense of promotion of a dangerous drug in the third-degree costs state taxpayers over $13 million each year to incarcerate low-level, non-violent offenders,” the bill says. “Hawaii’s experience corroborates mounting national data demonstrating that incarceration has no effect on rates of drug use or overdose deaths, but actually increases recidivism among those at low risk to reoffend.”

Idaho

Boise: An Idaho Transportation Department employee died as he worked along U.S. Highway 20 in southeast Idaho. Mark Reinke, 56, was killed Thursday when his backhoe was struck from behind by a semitractor about 5 miles outside Arco, the Idaho Statesman reports. The semi was traveling west. Reinke was wearing a seat belt but was fatally injured. He died about 7 a.m., the department announced in a press release. Reinke began working for the Idaho Transportation Department last summer. He is the 40th employee to die on the job since 1960.

Illinois

Chicago: Nearly a dozen public housing authorities in the area will receive $75 million in federal funding for development, financing and modernization, federal officials said. The money is coming through a capital program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Development. The bulk of the funding, nearly $65 million, will go to the Chicago Housing Authority. Other recipients including housing authorities in Joliet, Aurora, North Chicago, Waukegan, Kankakee and Oak Park. “This federal funding gives local agencies in the Chicagoland region the ability to offer safe and affordable housing to those who need it most,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said in a joint news release with U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth. “In addition, the local economy stands to benefit from this investment in infrastructure projects that will bring safety and modernization to the area’s public housing.”

Indiana

Indianapolis: Road crews are getting a new weapon in their endless task of filling potholes: special heaters that should make their road-patching chores easier, especially in cold weather. The city’s Department of Public Works recently acquired two infrared P200 asphalt heaters to assist with road repairs. The new machinery essentially heats up the asphalt, making it easier for crews to fix segments of pavement that are falling apart. The department says the machinery will heat dry pavement to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing crews to remove buckled or decaying asphalt and smooth it over more effortlessly. Workers will pull the heaters behind their trucks so they can cover long swaths at a time. “We’re excited to continue putting tools in the hands of our street maintenance crews that go above and beyond simple filling operations,” DPW Director Dan Parker said in a news release. The machinery is being tested and will be used on roads in the coming weeks.

Iowa

Clayton: A northeast Iowa company that wanted to withdraw 2billion gallons of water annually from the Jordan aquifer to send to drought-stricken western states has pulled its permit request. Pattison Sand Co. notified the state Department of Natural Resources on Feb. 12 that it was pulling its permit request, which had garnered significant concern from lawmakers and environmental groups. Before the Pattison proposal, the agency had never received a request to move so much water outside of the state, the Iowa DNR said, although it has allowed rural water groups to serve communities across the border in neighboring states. The Iowa DNR wrote Pattison in a Feb. 4 letter that the agency planned to reject the request, saying it would have “a negative impact on the long-term availability of Iowa’s water resources.”

Kansas

Topeka: The state’s elections chief is pushing to make Kansas’ central voter registration database more secure by changing how counties tap into it, but some officials are nervous about what they see as a big project in a busy election year. Secretary of State Scott Schwab has told county election officials he wants them to use dedicated tablets, laptops or computers not linked to their counties’ networks to access the state’s voter registration database. He says Kansas is getting $8 million in federal election security funds that could be used to cover the costs. Schwab, a Republican and former Kansas House member from the Kansas City area who became the state’s top elections official last year, contends such a setup will decrease the likelihood of foreign nationals, foreign governments or domestic hackers gaining access to voter registration records. His idea has bipartisan support. But even some county election officials who agree Schwab’s initiative would make voter registration records more secure see it as a huge undertaking.

Kentucky

Frankfort: State transportation officials will be out more than $150,000 after losing a legal battle to a man who wanted to put “IM GOD” on his license plate. In November, a federal judge in Frankfort gave Ben Hart the OK to get the controversial license plate after a three-year legal battle against the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Hart applied for the license in 2016 but was denied because it didn’t “meet requirements.” Kentucky statute allows for personalized license plates as long as the letters do not discriminate against anyone because of their sex, race, color, religion or nationality. In Hart’s case, the court ruled that vanity plates were private speech and therefore protected by the First Amendment. On Monday, a judge ordered the defendants in Hart’s case to pay out $150,715.50 in lawyer fees and another $491.24 for additional court costs.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow has a new honor to add to his long list of awards and achievements: He inspired the name of the newest male giraffe at the capital city’s zoo. A public naming competition selected the name Burreaux – a Cajun-inspired spelling of Burrow’s last name – for the giraffe calf born Dec. 26. The Baton Rouge Zoo announced the selection Friday, saying the public chose the winning name from three options: Romeo, Burreaux and Kiume, a Swahili word meaning masculine and strong. Zoo staff took nominations for the names and narrowed them to the finalists. The public voted with donations, which the zoo said raised more than $2,000 that will go to its conservation efforts. Burrow is LSU’s most decorated quarterback, leading the Tigers to a national championship victory earlier this year. He’s widely expected to be the top player taken in the 2020 NFL draft.

Maine

Bar Harbor: The new executive director of a museum dedicated to the indigenous people of Maine is a professional educator and member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe. The Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor will be led by Christopher Newell, the museum’s trustees announced last week. The museum documents Wabanaki culture, history and art. Newell was born and raised in Indian Township, Maine, and worked for five years as education supervisor for the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center in Connecticut. He also served as senior adviser on the documentary “Dawnland,” which focused on the Maine-Wabanaki State Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Abbe Museum was founded in 1926 and is also the site of the annual Abbe Museum Indian Market in Bar Harbor.

Maryland

Glen Burnie: Police have arrested a woman suspected of throwing a Molotov cocktail into a place of worship for Jehovah’s Witnesses, according to court records. Heather Meisel, 43, was charged Friday after she told investigators she damaged the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Glen Burnie to “send a message,” the Capital Gazette reports. Meisel, a Baltimore County resident, was arrested on charges including attempted murder and defacement of religious property. Anne Arundel County fire investigators found a door with broken glass and a Molotov cocktail made from an apple cider vinegar bottle inside the building Thursday morning. Police estimated the incident caused more than $1,000 in damage to the building’s front door and more than $1,000 in damage to property inside the building. Meisel resisted arrest and told officers she was “royalty,” charging documents said.

Massachusetts

Boston: A bill making its way through the Statehouse would require schools to provide free disposable menstrual products to students. Under the proposal, all “elementary and secondary public schools in the commonwealth serving students in any grade from grade six through grade twelve shall provide disposable menstrual products in the restrooms” of school buildings. The products would be provided at no charge. The bill also requires school districts to make sure the products “shall be available in a convenient manner that does not stigmatize any student seeking such product.” The bill has received the backing of the Legislature’s Education Committee but has yet to come up for a vote in either the Massachusetts House or Senate. Advocates say the availability of free pads and tampons in schools helps chip away at any stigma surrounding the products and makes the products available to students who may not be able to afford them.

Michigan

Lansing: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is urging businesses to give their workers the day off on Election Day by making it a company holiday. Benson said she’s encouraging companies to give employees the day off work Nov. 3 so they can vote and work as poll workers. She praised Wayne State University for recently announcing such a move, MLive.com reports. “That’s the direction we should be moving in,” Benson said. State Rep. Darrin Camilleri, D-Brownstown, has a bill pending before the Legislature that would make regularly scheduled election days in May, August and November state holidays. When the state makes days like Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day state holidays, he said, “many other businesses end up following suit.” “I think that we want to make it as broad as possible, as easy as possible for people to participate in our elections,” Camilleri said.

Minnesota

St. Paul: The GOP minority in the state House announced a slate of bills Monday aimed at reducing violent crime in Minneapolis and St. Paul and on the Metro Transit system, drawing a sharp retort from Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. The proposals include higher penalties for gang members who use guns in crimes, boosting funding against gangs and drug trafficking, requiring major sports and entertainment venues to have sufficient police nearby, and increased enforcement on the light rail system. House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, of Crown, and other Republican leaders said at a news conference that their constituents from greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities suburbs worry about their safety when attending sporting and entertainment events in the cities. Frey accused the Republican lawmakers of trying to make public safety a partisan issue and of spreading misinformation while providing too little financial assistance.

Mississippi

Biloxi: The first part of the state’s recreational red snapper season will run from May 22 through July 12. A midseason closure will let the Department of Marine Resources and the related commission analyze data and decide how to manage the remaining quota, officials said in a news release Wednesday. Mississippi is allocating 151,500 pounds of the popular sport and table fish – about 3.5% of the total quota for private anglers in the Gulf of Mexico, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries. Private anglers with the appropriate Mississippi licenses can fish in federal waters off the state’s coast. Recreational charter boats with Mississippi licenses are restricted to state waters because federal authorities still regulate for-hire boats in federal waters.

Missouri

Springfield: The Missouri Pork Association and Missouri Farm Bureau say they support the state conservation department’s approach to trying to eradicate feral hogs. Don Nikodim, director of Missouri Pork Association, said Friday that the association backs the Missouri Department of Conservation’s emphasis on trapping feral hogs rather than opening MDC lands for hunting the destructive animals. MDC banned feral hog hunting on its properties in 2016, a controversial move that’s been opposed by many hunters and landowners. Nikodim said he believes MDC is making good progress with its trapping efforts, although the agency could use more trapping teams to be even more effective. In its 2020 policy statement, the Missouri Farm Bureau also says it supports federal and state feral hog eradication efforts in Missouri. “We believe feral hogs are an unacceptable risk to humans, livestock, crops, and property. We believe eradication of all feral hogs is the ultimate goal,” the Farm Bureau says on its website.

Montana

Great Falls: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials have been confronted over the past several months by a recurring problem of graffiti at numerous parks and recreational facilities around Cascade County. The department is now seeking the public’s help in identifying who’s responsible for the vandalism. Spray-painted blue and red hearts began appearing last August at six locations, including Giant Springs, Sluice Boxes and the First Peoples’ Buffalo Jump state parks. The damage has now been cataloged in 10 areas and has expanded to include an image of a palmetto tree and a crescent, similar to the South Carolina state flag. “It’s been pretty consistent with the blue hearts and the red hearts,” said FWP Game Warden Kqyn Kuka. “Then recently there’s been this new image. We don’t know if they’re related or not, but it’s the same color paint, so I’m assuming they’re connected.” The graffiti is typically located in high, remote locations – difficult to access but clearly visible to the general public.

Nebraska

Ericson: State banking officials have closed Ericson State Bank in north-central Nebraska, declaring it insolvent. The Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance announced the closure in a news release Friday night, saying it had named the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver of the bank. To protect depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Farmers and Merchants Bank in Milford to assume all of the deposits of Ericson State Bank. Ericson bank will be open for business Tuesday under the name Farmers and Merchants Bank, the release says. Ericson State Bank account holders can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards, the department said. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed, and loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

Nevada

Las Vegas: Officials say the number of weddings in Clark County has been declining. The county had 73,000 weddings last year – more than a 40% drop from 2004, when 128,000 ceremonies occurred. County Clerk Lynn Goya cites an overall decline in advertising to push the industry and available options for consumers. Authorities tell Las Vegas TV station KVVU that some initiatives to push wedding tourism in the county include the possible creation of a “Wedding Way” from the Neon Museum to the Strat, allocating development funds to historic chapels for renovations, and a Wedding Walk of Fame to showcase famous celebrity weddings. Other campaigns include wedding photography contests, personal testimonies from married couples and a dive into the history of Vegas weddings.

New Hampshire

Concord: It’s time to count the turkeys again. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is asking the public to report sightings of wild turkeys through March 31 for its annual winter flock survey. Last year, the department got 486 reports totaling 9,833 birds. Officials say that was fewer than the previous year, likely because turkeys were on the move. With relatively little snow, turkeys were able to move around more and weren’t staying in one place to be counted. Participants are asked to report the number of turkeys in the flock, their location, the type of habitat in which the birds were observed and on what the turkeys were feeding. Officials also are interested in any signs of two viruses that have appeared in turkeys in recent years, with symptoms including warty protuberances in the head and eye area. Wild turkeys had disappeared from the state after over-hunting and habitat loss in the 1800s but have rebounded to an estimated population of 40,000.

New Jersey

Elizabeth: Officials say they are “trying to rebuild” following a fire that ripped through a church that dates back almost a century and a half. Robert Ingram, who organized a GoFundMe campaign, said everything had been lost in the “devastating and tragic” blaze early Sunday at Shiloh Baptist Church. “Instead of waking up and being able to go to church, we woke up to this,” Ingram said. “Now we’re trying to rebuild.” Chief Thomas McNamara of the city’s fire department said the church was “pretty much destroyed.” Arriving fire crews reported the church fully engulfed in flames, and the back of the structure collapsed as crews worked to try to protect nearby buildings, officials said. The church’s Facebook page lists its founding date as November 1879. Gov. Phil Murphy said in a message on Twitter that he was “devastated” by the fire and expressed thanks to first responders. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: Statistics show accidental shootings are on the rise in the city. The Albuquerque Journal reports 37 accidental shootings reported last year compared to 14 recorded in 2018. The figure doesn’t include three suspected accidental shootings in which someone died. Two of those cases have been handed over to the District Attorney’s Office for a final determination, and the third ended in prison time for a young man. The rise in accidental shootings comes at a time when the topic of gun access and availability looms large in the eyes of local politicians and the community as a whole as homicide numbers in Albuquerque hit a record high last year. Local concerns have sparked initiatives aimed at stemming gun violence, such as the so-called red flag bill that is awaiting the governor’s signature. Local gun shop owners say there has been an increase in the purchase of guns in the past year, especially over the internet.

New York

New York: A judge has ordered the developers of an under-construction condo tower to remove several floors from the top of the building because it is too tall. State Supreme Court Justice W. Franc Perry’s ruling last week instructs the Department of Buildings to revoke the building permit for the nearly completed tower on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and remove floors that exceed the zoning limit, The New York Times reports. The number of floors to be removed from the 52-story tower is not yet known, but the newspaper said it could be 20 or more. A lawyer representing the project said the developers would appeal the Feb. 13 decision. The building’s 112 luxury apartments are now being marketed, including a $21 million penthouse, which would likely be removed if the decision stands, the Times reports.

North Carolina

Ocracoke: This island on North Carolina’s Outer Banks that was ravaged by a hurricane last year is getting $2 million in grants to help it rebuild. The Virginian-Pilot reports Ocracoke received the grant money from the Golden Leaf Foundation, a nonprofit that was established from a tobacco settlement to help the state’s rural and economically distressed communities. Hurricane Dorian pummeled Ocracoke in September with the worst flooding on record. Most of the buildings on the island were damaged. The island’s only school received $900,000 to help rebuild and elevate buildings. The foundation also provided half a million dollars to build a new emergency medical building that was flooded. And Hyde County received $277,400 to repair the Ocracoke Seafood Co. building. The Ocracoke Seafood Co. is owned by a nonprofit organization that serves as the base for more than 30 watermen.

North Dakota

Fargo: A freshman congressman who spent much of his first term defending President Donald Trump during impeachment hearings said Monday that he wants to return to Washington and begin working on practical issues. Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong formally announced his reelection bid Monday by telling supporters he’ll work with Democrats on bills involving prescription drug prices, immigration and criminal justice reform. The state’s lone House member said he won’t budge on support for gun rights and opposition to abortion and federal regulations that would stifle North Dakota’s energy and agriculture sectors. Armstrong predicted that voters will opt for Republican majorities in the House and Senate and give Trump another four years.

Ohio

Kent: Jane Fonda is among the speakers tapped to mark the 50th anniversary of the Kent State shootings. The 82-year-old actress and activist will highlight four days of events the university has planned to explore the lasting impacts of the events of May 4, 1970, which were considered pivotal in turning public sentiment against the Vietnam War. On that day, the Ohio National Guard fired on students during an anti-war protest, killing four and injuring nine others. Fonda was one of the most prominent figures of the anti-war movement, though also one of the most divisive. Fonda plans to reflect on that era, her life in social activism and the legacy of the Kent State shootings during her speech May 3. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets must be reserved in advance. The commemoration marks the first time students, faculty, university staff and leadership, and May 4 survivors and family members have united around the idea that the date should be forever honored, planners said.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: The venerable Red Earth Festival is leaving the city even as organizers plan to launch a new event downtown, as well as a series of statewide collaborative celebrations of Native American art and culture. Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell and Mayor David Holt joined members of the staff and board of directors of the nonprofit Red Earth Inc. on Monday morning to reveal the changes. The organization’s marquee event – the long-running Red Earth Festival, an intertribal celebration of Native American visual art, dance and culture – will move from its longtime home in downtown Oklahoma City to the Grand Event Center at the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in Shawnee for its 2020 edition, scheduled for June 13-14. A favorite aspect of the summer festival, the popular Red Earth Parade, will be staying in Oklahoma City but shifting to autumn, as Red Earth Inc. will launch a significant new event to mark Oklahoma City’s Indigenous Peoples Day.

Oregon

Salem: Officials at the Oregon Department of Forestry say just seven months into the state’s two-year budget cycle, they’ve spent most of the money lawmakers approved for the entire biennium and now need an emergency cash infusion. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports agency officials say they need between $52 million and $132 million, or they’ll have exhausted their budget by March. The request comes as lawmakers and the governor are looking to expand the agency even further, sponsoring bills that would bolster the agency’s firefighting capabilities and forest restoration work – above and beyond the immediate budget requests. In the near term, agency leaders are looking for a minimum of $52 million and as much as $132 million, money they say is needed to keep keep regular programs running; to pay a consultant hired to help them get their financial house in order; and to cover firefighting costs in the upcoming 2020 fire season.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: Outdoorsy Pennsylvanians can soon keep their fishing license in a pocket rather than having to attach it to an outer garment. The regulation amendment approved recently by the board of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission adjusts a long-standing rule on license display. The new policy goes into effect once it is published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The executive director of the commission, Tim Schaeffer, said the change will make things more convenient for anglers and decrease the number of lost licenses and the personal cost that goes into replacing them. The change also aligns fishing display regulations with those of hunting licenses.

Rhode Island

Providence: British actor and comedian John Cleese, who once portrayed an inept hotel manager in the series “Fawlty Towers,” has complained about his treatment at a Rhode Island hotel. Cleese, 80, tweeted Sunday to his 5.7 million followers that he was cold inside his room at the Omni Providence Hotel and that the hotel staff could do nothing to help him. He later posted that his tweeting had worked and that the hotel had fixed the problem. The hotel told the Providence Journal its engineering staff was dispatched to resolve the issue shortly after receiving Cleese’s complaint. In “Fawlty Towers,” Cleese played the manager of a substandard English hotel who was known to express disdain toward “that annoying section of the general public who insist on staying at hotels.” Cleese, who also is a founding member of the comedy troupe Monty Python, tweeted that he believed his problem in Providence, where he performed Sunday, was resolved because “I have the power to tweet. But NOT, of course, because I am a member of the public. So much for corporate America.”

South Carolina

Union: The Union County Council voted to ask its sheriff to step down after a state police report said he requested employees to buy him alcohol while on duty and made sexually inappropriate comments. But the council has no power to fire Sheriff David Taylor, who released a statement after the vote saying he plans to serve until the end of his term in December. “I was elected by the majority of the voters to serve out my four-year term, and that is my intent,” Taylor said in a statement sent to the Herald-Journal of Spartanburg. A prosecutor who reviewed the report by the State Law Enforcement Division didn’t recommend criminal charges, saying Taylor didn’t get any personal financial benefit from his office mismanagement. Taylor said while some of the allegations in the report were true, many others weren’t. He asked for the state investigation after reports of financial problems emerged in 2018.

South Dakota

Pierre: State lawmakers said they would turn their focus to the state budget this week as they hit the halfway mark in the 2020 session, though Republicans and Democrats laid out different visions of how to use that money. Legislators settled on roughly $1.74 billion in revenue to use in setting the state budget – an increase of $19 million from Gov. Kristi Noem’s projection in December. Once combined with federal funding and other state funds, the budget will likely total more than $5 billion. But Democrats, who hold just three spots on the committee that decides the size of the budget, were not pleased with the final projections, saying Republicans were being too cautious with the estimates. Democrats want the state to fund inflationary pay increases for teachers, state employees and service care providers.

Tennessee

Chattanooga: The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga plans to offer discounted tuition starting this fall to students from nine surrounding states. University officials said the goal of the new regional tuition program is to attract and retain diverse talent in the area as well as reach enrollment goals laid out for the University of Tennessee system, The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Under the program, students from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia would pay about $18,000 a year instead of about $26,000 a year as out-of-state students. An existing program that offers tuition discounts to residents of neighboring counties in Georgia and Alabama would remain in effect. The university has an enrollment of nearly 11,700 students. About 10% of those are from outside Tennessee.

Texas

Corpus Christi: A Monday morning fire at a Citgo refinery in the city was extinguished with no injuries, according to the petroleum company. The fire began in a pipeline owned by a third party shortly after 8:30 a.m. and was put out shortly before 11 a.m. with “no threat to the surrounding community,” Citgo said in a statement. The owner of the pipeline has not been identified. Corpus Christi Fire Chief Robert Rocha said the fire forced the closure of Interstate 37 in the south Texas city, but it had since reopened. People in nearby homes and businesses were ordered to shelter in place until air-quality monitoring found the air to be safe. “We’re still trying to figure out what happened,” Rocha said. “We encountered heavy fire conditions coming from a buried pipeline” after responding to the blaze. Rocha said no one was injured as a result of the fire.

Utah

Salt Lake City: An important dinosaur site that has fallen into neglect would be protected as Utah’s 45th state park under a measure being proposed in the Legislature. The bill would create Utahraptor State Park in the Dalton Wells Quarry, about 15 miles north of Moab, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The quarry is where the first fossils of Utahraptor, the state’s official dinosaur, and other unique species were found. State Paleontologist Jim Kirkland said the site, west of Arches National Park, has massive deposits of dinosaur bones from at least 10 species found nowhere else in North America. “It’s a gold mine of new dinosaurs,” Kirkland said. “There are 30 that we know are only in Moab Valley.” Grand County leaders have long wanted to safeguard the quarry. There is now unregulated recreational use in Dalton Wells, and the site has been subjected to litter and vandalism. It’s also the site of a Civilian Conservation Corps work camp that was used as an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II.

Vermont

Montpelier: A legislative committee has approved major changes to the state’s development review law known as Act 250. The House Natural Resources Committee voted 6-3 with two members absent to approve the overhaul after more than a year of work, Vermont Public Radio reports. The bill would exempt developments in designated downtowns from Act 250 review and boost protections to wildlife connector areas. It also would require projects above 2,000 feet to undergo Act 250 review. The legislation stems from an agreement reached between Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s administration and Vermont Natural Resources Council, an environmental group. The bill is better because it will limit dividing Vermont’s forest through piecemeal development, said Brian Shupe, VNRC’s executive director.

Virginia

Chesapeake: This southeastern Virginia city has surpassed Norfolk to become the state’s second-most-populous city. The Virginian-Pilot reports Chesapeake has reached an estimated population of 245,745 people, according to the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Norfolk’s population is just over 245,000 residents. Chesapeake’s population has grown by more than 10% in the past decade. Norfolk’s has ticked up by less than 1%. The center estimates Richmond will also likely overtake Norfolk. Hamilton Lombard, a demographer with the Cooper Center, said one reason behind Chesapeake’s growth is that the city has lots of space for new homes, while Norfolk does not. Virginia Beach is still the state’s most populous city with an estimated 452,643 residents. The populations of the seven Hampton Roads cities constitute nearly a fifth of the state’s population.

Washington

Tacoma: An Asian elephant that spent more than 20 years at Tacoma’s Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium was euthanized Saturday night after a “severe decline in her health,” zoo officials announced. Hanoko the elephant was 56, the Tacoma News Tribune reports. Veterinarians in 2018 diagnosed Hanoko with cancer and with tuberculosis in 2019. She suffered from advanced joint disease and had stopped eating her regular diet, zoo officials said. She showed signs of “significant discomfort” despite pain medication, officials said. The median life expectancy is 47 for female Asian elephants in human care, zoo officials said in the announcement, citing statistics from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. “With Hanako’s advanced age, significant and chronic medical conditions, and severe decline in health, euthanasia was the humane decision,” said Dr. Karen Wolf, the zoo’s head veterinarian.

West Virginia

Charleston: Women and lawmakers on Monday commemorated the 100th anniversary of the state’s ratification of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. Hundreds of women attended various ceremonies at the state Capitol in Charleston. In the Rotunda, a reenactor portrayed Susan B. Anthony in a speech given during Anthony’s trial in New York for voting in an 1872 presidential election. An evening reception was planned at the state Culture Center to recognize female lawmakers. On March 10, 1920, West Virginia became the 34th state to ratify the amendment. Later that year, Tennessee provided the necessary three-fourths majority by becoming the 36th state to ratify women’s suffrage.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee: Miller Park has generated $2.5billion for the economies of the city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin, according to a new study commissioned by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. The study, conducted by Conventions, Sports & Leisure International, was released Monday by the MMAC. It comes as the original Miller Park lease is in its 20th and final year, and the five-county sales tax that helped build and maintain the stadium is about to reach its sunset, long after originally expected. The study says the construction and continued operation of Miller Park generated $1.6 billion in direct spending, a total of 1,835 in annual jobs and $1.2 billion in personal earnings. The $2.5 billion overall impact represents “cumulative net new impacts” that would not have been realized without the existence of the Milwaukee Brewers and Miller Park, the report says.

Wyoming

Gillette: An attempt to break a world record for the most sparklers lit simultaneously failed on a technicality. Guinness World Records officials ruled each participant was required to light their own sparkler during the attempt in Gillette, The Gillette News Record reports. The August effort was part of the Pyrotechnics Guild International’s 50th annual convention. The event had an apparatus for lighting multiple sparklers, which was built by students and instructors at Gillette College. Volunteers with torches lit sparklers and distributed them to participants. More than 1,700 people attended, and 2,500 sparklers were lit. The current record is 1,713. Basic guidelines are listed on the Guinness website, but the specific guidelines were not received prior to the attempt. “It’s a bummer, but that just means we have to do it again,” says Christen Burdette of the the Campbell County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Tailgate: Tips for a great tailgating experience

Cheryl V. Jackson

Special for USA TODAY

No matter what a team’s performance is on the field, one way to make sure hordes of folks rolling up to stadiums feel like winners is a solid tailgating experience.

Avid tailgaters like Tim Shanley have these parking-lot parties down to a science. His commitment to the pastime has earned him some serious recognition, including membership in the Tailgating Hall of Fame.

Born and raised in Chicago as a Bears fan, Shanley has missed only a handful of home games since 1984 — all the more impressive when you consider he moved to Austin, Texas, 11 years ago. He flies to Chicago for every home game and keeps his star tailgating status in peak form.

“It’s more than just going out to the parking lot and firing up a grill for me,” says Shanley, 59, a plumbing contractor.. “It becomes a lifestyle when you take it as seriously as I do,” he says, adding that “It's family, it's friends and it's bonding.”

To help the rest of us reach his Pro Bowl level, Shanley offers these tips for a rocking tailgate.

Have a theme

Keep your team colors prominent on canopies, chairs, tablecloths and paper plates; and get opposing teams in the mix.

Is your team playing the Ravens? Grill up chicken wings and call them raven wings.

Think quick and convenient

Shanley strongly recommends finger foods for the party so that guests can stand, hold drinks and munch at the same time.

And keep the food coming in waves, making sure eats are on the table as soon as possible. That’s particularly important for guests who’ve already started drinking.

Be clean

Use rubber gloves when preparing food, and change them after handling raw meats, he urges.

To avoid cross-contamination, cooked foods should be kept on tables separate from raw food. Foods and drinks need their own separate coolers, as well.

“The last thing you want to have is your cans and your bottles in the cooler where the meat is, because if those bags start to leak, you're going to have that raw blood or whatever is in that cooler splashing around on those cans and those bottles,” he says.

Plan for early set-up and break-down

Arrive at the lot before it opens for the best chance of claiming a prime spot. There’s typically only a few hours of tailgating time, from gate opening to kickoff, so unload and set up expeditiously.

The grill should be the last thing packed so that it’s the first thing out of the vehicle and available to be fired up upon arrival. Put it at the front of the party, because the grilling is part of the show.

Canopies and chairs need to be further back to avoid the smoke.

Keep the sounds coming, Shanley advises. Be it music, or sports TV or radio, have something for guests to listen to.

“It just adds a little interesting layer to your party by having some entertainment out there,” he says. “And you never know. It might be so much fun, you'll have dancing out there as well.”

Allow for plenty of time to break down the party and get to the game before kickoff.

Leave the grill out of the car to cool off. Meanwhile, pack your drink cooler in the back so that it’s easily accessible for quick drinks after the game.

Don't overserve

Keep an eye out for guests who have consumed too much alcohol.

“Tell them you're going to take the liquor away and give them water and let them chill out for a little bit,” Shanley says.

Overall, the day should be about hospitality and having fun.

“You're going to do a lot of work. It's a lot of hours,” he says. “But enjoy every moment of it. It's all going to come together for you.”

For more tips on hosting a great tailgate, check out the video.

Follow Cheryl V. Jackson on Twitter: @cherylvjackson.