Free lunch for all students is ending. What are Iowa districts doing?

School districts in Iowa and across the country are up against a federal deadline that will end a pandemic-era free meals program for students next month.

While many school officials are waiting to see if federal or state lawmakers will extend the program, at least one district, Des Moines Public Schools, is working to continue offering most of its students free meals next school year.

'Queen of the Prairie,' sports bubble bursts: News from around our ...

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Montgomery: Plaintiffs in lawsuits challenging the state’s law criminalizing medical treatment for transgender youth plan to file a new suit after withdrawing two actions Friday. Melody Eagan, an attorney with Birmingham-based Lightfoot, Franklin and White, which represented two families and two physicians in a lawsuit titled Ladinsky v. Ivey, wrote in an email Monday that they planned to “file a new case in the immediate future” against SB 184. Gov. Kay Ivey signed the law April 8; it will take effect in early May. “We promptly filed a lawsuit on behalf of two families and two doctors on the day Governor Ivey signed the bill,” Eagan wrote. “After filing that case, we are hearing from numerous Alabama families, including patients facing loss of critical medical care and parents facing potential criminal penalties. We also are hearing from numerous medical providers and others who care for transgender youth.” The law subjects doctors who prescribe puberty blockers and hormones to transgender youth to a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. It also forbids public and private school personnel from withholding information about a student’s confusion over their gender identity and bans genital surgeries (except circumcisions) on minors. Health professionals have said surgeons don’t perform those procedures on youth in Alabama.

Alaska

Juneau: Officials have purchased a gondola in Austria for a city-owned ski area in Alaska’s capital city, but questions remain about the installation and long-term plans for the gondola. City officials have expressed interest in working with an Alaska Native corporation on the project. Eaglecrest Ski Area’s general manager and a city project manager recently visited a ski area in Austria to examine the lift and sign a sale agreement for $1.33 million, the Juneau Empire reports. Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said the city is seeking bids from transport companies to bring the gondola to Juneau. Eaglecrest has said its leaders have been looking for ways to expand summer operations and create opportunities for a more sustainable year-round model. The ski area, on its website, said it would work with planners, engineers and contractors on the best placement for the new infrastructure. Eaglecrest is on Douglas Island. City leaders last week authorized City Manager Rorie Watt to negotiate an agreement with Goldbelt Inc., an Alaska Native corporation that operates a tram near downtown Juneau and owns land near Eaglecrest. Watt, in a memo to the city’s Assembly, said Goldbelt has expressed interest in providing funding for up to $10 million for the installation of the gondola and “other related improvements.”

Arizona

Phoenix: Metro-area eviction filings are climbing back to pre-pandemic levels despite hundreds of millions of dollars in rental aid going to landlords. Moratoriums helped keep many Valley renters in their homes, but those are over. Now tenants, some still trying to pay back rent after struggling during COVID-19, are also facing skyrocketing rents and wages that aren’t keeping up. And Maricopa County renters who had evictions filed against them during the pandemic are facing record judgments despite all that relief money funneled to landlords. Housing researchers and tenant advocates say the rent-income gap, the lightning speed of Arizona’s eviction process and a lack of legal support for renters led to an eviction crisis in the Phoenix area that started even before the pandemic. An Arizona Republic analysis found eviction filings in Maricopa County hit a five-year high in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic. In January, February and March of this year, Valley evictions reached about 91% of filings from the first three months of 2019. About 65,000 Arizona renters believe they will likely be evicted in the next two months, according to the latest Census Pulse Survey. State law allows a landlord to initiate an eviction as soon as five days after a tenant misses rent, and the tenant is typically locked out within three weeks of filing.

Arkansas

Little Rock: Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders continues to far outpace her rivals in fundraising and spending for her bid for governor, the latest campaign finance reports show. Sanders, the daughter of former Gov. Mike Huckabee, reported raising more than $680,000 last month in her bid for Arkansas governor by Friday’s deadline for monthly campaign finance reports. She faces former talk radio host and podcaster Doc Washburn in next month’s Republican primary. Sanders spent more than $834,000 during the month and reported having nearly $7.4 million on hand. Sanders has raised more than $14 million since announcing her candidacy last year, a record for a governor’s race in the state. Sanders’ closest rival among the Democrats, Chris Jones, raised more than $120,000 in March and spent more than $213,000. Jones’ campaign reported having nearly $94,000 on hand. Jones faces Anthony Bland, Jay Martin, James “Rus” Russell and Supha Xayprasith-Mays in next month’s Democratic primary. Term limits bar Republican incumbent Asa Hutchinson from seeking reelection.

California

Los Angeles: A $1.8 billion facility intended to connect Metro light-rail lines under downtown Los Angeles is 90% complete, and test runs of trains are underway, officials said Monday. The Regional Connector Project was designed to save commuters’ time by eliminating transfers between trains, allowing one-seat rides across Los Angeles County. “The trackwork, the rail guideways, the platform areas are now complete,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told a press conference. “We’ve been waiting for like 10 years.” County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, board chair of the Los Angeles County Transportation Authority, said the connector will open later this year. The overall project is a 1.9-mile underground light-rail extension connecting the A, E and L lines and three new stations, including the Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill Station about 100 feet beneath ground level.

Colorado

Fort Collins: The state is expecting the birth of another litter of wolf pups any day now, creating both excitement and concern over the natural rebirth of a predator with a long, human-induced absence from the state. The breeding pair of wolves that naturally migrated into the state last year formed the pack north of Walden in Jackson County with the birth of six pups. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials had watched the pups for some time before announcing their birth in early June as the first litter of wolf pups born in the state in several decades. And soon that pack could grow, as wolves typically have pups from mid-April through mid-May. State wildlife officials said staff have not seen evidence of denning behavior or any sign of a new litter from the pack this year. “How could it get any better that soon we will see more pups,” said Dale Baker, a wolf advocate from Fort Collins who volunteered to watch North Park rancher Don Gittleson’s cattle herd after Gittleson lost three cows to the wolfpack. “The folks in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming had a big outcry when they brought wolves there, but now that this is naturally happening here, it seems like there should be less of an outcry.” Gittleson said the pack’s adult female was observed in heat, ready to mate in a pasture on his property in February.

Connecticut

Norwich: The city’s aging housing is creating public health concerns on top of squeezing a tight market. Shiela Hayes, president of the NAACP Norwich Branch, said the pandemic laid bare the importance of having the city address housing quality. “We can no longer act like that neighborhood, or that section, or that backstreet (can) continue to be underperforming housing stock; we don’t have that kind of luxury,” Hayes said. The majority of resident-owned homes in the state are 60 years or older, said Sam Giffin, a policy and data analyst for the Hartford-based Open Communities Alliance, as housing production has fallen since the baby boom – more so in Connecticut than in other parts of New England. Some of the risks that come from older houses include paint and other sources of lead. “There’s concern across the state that our old housing stock is a concern to both health and safety,” Giffin said. Hayes said Norwich has a lot of older housing, especially in Greenville, Taftville and downtown, where there are cheaper, privately held, multi-rental units converted from single-family homes. “They’re old, and they take a lot of maintenance,” Hayes said. Maintenance is usually not a matter of upgrading a single unit but multiple units at the same time, which means more money must be spent to get them up to code.

Delaware

Newark: President Joe Biden will return to his alma mater to give the commencement speech at the University of Delaware graduation in May, the university announced Tuesday. It’s the first time a sitting president will speak at a UD graduation ceremony. Biden is no stranger to visiting UD or giving graduation speeches there. May’s ceremony will be his fifth time speaking at commencement at the school – last in 2014, while serving as vice president. “(Biden’s) commitment to a lifetime of public service is an inspiring example for our graduates, as well as all our students and alumni, of what they can accomplish with a UD education, whatever path they may choose in life,” University President Dennis Assanis said in a statement. Students and their guests should expect heightened security at the graduation ceremony, UD spokeswoman Andrea Boyle Tippett said. Secret Service members will also likely visit campus to prepare with UD Police Department officers prior to the president’s arrival. The ceremony to honor this year’s 4,000-student graduating class is slated to start at 9:30 a.m. at Delaware Stadium on May 28. The event will also be livestreamed.

District of Columbia

Washington: The National Museum of American History is opening a permanent entertainment exhibit in December, WUSA-TV reports. “Through the National Museum of American History’s extraordinary collection of theater, music, sports, movie and television objects, the exhibition Entertainment Nation will feature a powerful, ever-changing selection of objects and interactive experiences,” the museum said in a press release. “Through the objects and their stories, the exhibition will explore how, for over 150 years, entertainment has provided a forum for important national conversations about who we are, and who we want to be.” Some of the items set to go on display can be previewed online, including pop culture relics like Prince’s yellow “cloud” guitar, Muhammad Ali’s boxing robe, and Tejana singer Selena’s leather jacket and pants. The goal is to highlight how entertainment has shaped the nation’s society and shine a light on entertainers who have broken barriers. The permanent bilingual exhibit is set to open Dec. 9.

Florida

Tallahassee: The state Department of Education rejected more than 50 mathematics textbooks – about 40% of those submitted – for failing to meet Florida’s new learning standards or because they “contained prohibited topics” that included references to critical race theory. Now, the only publisher approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the department for K-5 mathematics is Houston, Texas-based Accelerate Learning. “In the subject area as large as mathematics for grades K through five, it is unusual for there only to be one publisher to choose from,” said Billy Epting, assistant superintendent for academic services for Leon County Schools. DOE said more than half the textbooks being disallowed incorporated “prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including CRT,” which is an academic framework that is rarely seen outside of higher education. The term has become a highly charged catch-all buzzword for discussion of diversity of inclusion. Other books were not allowed because publishers “rebranded” Common Core Standards. DeSantis has taken a lead role nationally in Republican efforts to aggressively push back against liberal cultural values and what he calls “woke indoctrination.”

Georgia

Atlanta: Students at Druid Hills High School put together a short documentary video, shot on iPhones, to show the troubling conditions inside their learning environment. The video opens with a student explaining how human waste flows up from the ground and floods an area where he and his friends eat lunch. The high schoolers’ footage shows the classrooms, hallways and bathrooms crumbling around them. Plaster falls off walls, and water drips around electrical outlets. So much water has leaked into the weight room that it oozes up from the floor when a student steps on it. Another student demonstrates how one of the holes in a ceiling is so large that he can put his entire hand through it. “You can tell someone about the conditions, but when you visually see it, it’s a lot more impactful,” sophomore Harley Martz, one of the video’s producers, told the Associated Press in an interview. “Some of the things we pointed out in the video are very undeniable.” In the video, Druid Hills junior Montrice Berry describes the assault on the senses: “As you walk through the school now, you can smell the mold, and it’s kind of really nasty. So I tend to walk outside just so I can avoid the smell.” The video, which has garnered more than 40,000 views since it was posted on YouTube this month, has prompted outrage among some parents in the suburban area just east of Atlanta who want repairs made. It was produced after the DeKalb County School Board in February removed Druid Hills from a list of schools in need of priority renovations.

Hawaii

Honolulu: Federal authorities have begun monitoring the state’s wastewater for COVID-19, while Hawaii expects its own monitoring program to be fully operational this summer, officials said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been testing in the islands as part of its National Wastewater Surveillance System, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. The agency posts wastewater data on its COVID Data Tracker website, denoted by dots on a U.S. map. Data from Hawaii hasn’t been included yet due to “a technical glitch being resolved with how the points are displayed on the map,” said CDC spokesperson Nick Spinelli. The agency said it would also display data from the Hawaii Department of Health once the state is able to submit its own figures. More than 30 states have been funded to participate in the CDC program, but some are still getting their collection efforts up and running. Several issues delayed Hawaii’s early plans to set up its own statewide monitoring program. The state faced a six-month wait for shipment of sample-collection machines, which were back-ordered due to high demand. Federal funds paid for the the monitoring equipment at a cost of about $100,000. The equipment is now in place, as are protocols.

Idaho

Boise: Scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory have completed a rare overhaul of one of the world’s most powerful nuclear test reactors, and normal operations are expected to resume later this spring, officials said Monday. The 11-month outage at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Test Reactor in eastern Idaho allowed a core overhaul that’s done, on average, about every 10 years. The change-out was the sixth since the reactor started operating in 1967 and the first in 17 years. “Overall, I’m very pleased with the ATR workforce and teamwork they demonstrated during the longest and most complex outage in our history,” said Sean O’Kelly, associate lab director for the Idaho National Laboratory’s Advanced Test Reactor Complex. He said the coronavirus pandemic and supply chain issues caused some delays beyond the best-case scenario of completing the work in nine months. Experiments at the reactor help the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered war fleet stay at sea longer, bolster NASA’s space exploration, and advance lifesaving medical treatments. The reactor also plays a key role in the effort to keep commercial nuclear power plants running longer and creating new and safer reactors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The reactor is now going through readiness assessments, instrument calibrations and low-power system checks.

Illinois

Chicago: Federal authorities on Monday said they will not criminally charge Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer convicted of murder in the 2014 shooting death of Black teenager Laquan McDonald. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago said in a news release that the decision was made after consulting with the McDonald family and that the “family was in agreement not to pursue a second prosecution.” According to the release, prosecuting Van Dyke on federal charges would have been much more difficult than it was to prosecute him in state court because the burden of proof is far higher. Federal prosecutors “would have to prove not only that Mr. Van Dyke acted with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids, but also that his actions were not the result of mistake, fear, negligence, or bad judgment,” the office said in the release. “It requires federal prosecutors to prove beyond a reasonable doubt what Mr. Van Dyke was thinking when he used deadly force, and that he knew such force was excessive.” Van Dyke, who was captured on video shooting the teenager 16 times, was convicted in Chicago in 2018 of second-degree murder and aggravated battery and sentenced to 81 months in state prison. The former officer served less than half that sentence before he was released from prison in February.

Indiana

Carmel: A priest who was “suspended from public ministry” last month is suing a man who came forward with allegations about the priest’s behavior. James De Oreo, who was an associate pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, was suspended March 11 after allegations of “inappropriate conduct with a minor.” The priest filed a lawsuit April 4 against the man who wrote two letters in 2021 to the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana about De Oreo’s behavior toward him when he was a teen attending St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church in Zionsville. The man said he was considering becoming a priest, and De Oreo used his position of power to emotionally abuse, sexually harass and groom him for sexual abuse. This led to an eating disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder as well as “extreme emotional distress” from acts that his lawyer said were intentional and preventable. In the lawsuit, De Oreo disputed the man’s claims and said there was no “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” He said the man’s allegations could lead to “irreparable harm” that would prevent him from participating in parish ministry and doing his job. Diocese spokesperson Gabby Hlavek confirmed the diocese was aware of the De Oreo’s lawsuit but didn’t comment further.

Iowa

Des Moines: A ride at an amusement park where an 11-year-old boy died last summer will not reopen this year, the park’s new owners said. Bill Lentz, general manager of Adventureland in Altoona, said officials have not determined if the Raging River ride will ever reopen. Michael Jaramillo died and his brother and father were injured July 3, 2021, after their raft overturned and trapped them in the water. Park owner Palace Entertainment has hired the ride’s original maker, Intamin Amusement Rides, to determine what would be needed to make the ride safe, Lentz said. That project could take several months, he said. Palace Entertainment, the U.S. subsidiary of Madrid-based Parques Reunidos, bought the almost 48-year-old theme park in December. Ryan Best, the attorney representing the Jaramillo family, of Marion, Iowa, said recently that his clients believe the ride should never be reopened. The Iowa Division of Labor, which licenses amusement park rides, required Adventureland to make several changes and receive approval from the ride’s manufacturer or a certified engineer to reopen the ride.

Kansas

Hutchinson: Under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Laura Kelly, fairgoers will be able to more widely consume adult beverages at the Kansas State Fair. The proposal, Senate Bill 2, will allow beer and wine to be consumed outside designated areas. The fairground’s current liquor policy confines drinking to the grandstands and certain beer gardens throughout the property. It will also pave the way for the sale of hard liquor. Fair officials have not yet determined if the policies will be in place for the 2022 edition of the fair, scheduled to take place Sept. 9-18, or if they will instead roll out next year. The policy was intended to help the fair recoup revenue lost after the 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19. Legislative proponents of the bill also argued it was in line with what consumers were demanding from the event. “People wanted to have more wine and more outlets at the state fairground. They also wanted spirits,” Rep. Louis Ruiz, D-Kansas City, said on the floor of the Kansas House. “They wanted to walk around to look at animals ...with a daiquiri.” But the move was not without its critics, some of whom argued making liquor more readily accessible would harm the fair’s family-friendly nature. Some Wichita-area lawmakers pointed to the city’s vaunted Riverfest festival, which opted to expand liquor sales, dividing residents.

Kentucky

Bowling Green: The National Corvette Museum says it’s adding an education gallery that will feature artifacts and interactive technology to share the brand’s story. Construction of the 2,000-square-foot gallery is set to begin in late May, museum officials said. The gallery is scheduled to open late this year or in early 2023 at the Bowling Green-based museum. “This new gallery will educate, engage and entertain our guests,” said Sharon Brawner, the museum’s president and CEO. The gallery will provide a state-of-the-art educational experience geared toward the next generation of Corvette enthusiasts, the museum said. “The new education gallery will be designed for both children and adults to enjoy, featuring artifacts and interactive technology celebrating the unique story of Corvette,” said museum educator Deb Howard. The project was made possible through the generosity of donors Tim and Melanie McMichael of Gypsum, Colorado, the museum said.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: A proposal to let New Orleans adopt a set of gun control measures than are stronger than the state currently allows was overwhelmingly rejected Tuesday by a state House panel. The Criminal Justice Committee voted 9-1 against the measure by state Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, despite calls for passage from a City Council member, a deputy chief of the police department and District Attorney Jason Williams. Among the specified laws the city would have been allowed to pass were the bill to become law: a requirement that loss or theft of firearms be reported to police, prohibition against openly carrying firearms at public events requiring government permits, and prohibition on carrying firearms where alcohol is being served. Backers of the bill said it would help fight increasing violent crime by helping prevent gun trafficking or the use of guns at large events where alcohol is consumed, in a city known for festivals and Bourbon Street nightlife. “At the end of the day, we’re asking this committee and the Legislature to allow New Orleans to carve out legislation that affects the unique problems that we have,” said City Council member Eugene Green. Gun control advocates said the laws the city sought to pass would be ineffective and slammed the bill as an attack on Second Amendment rights.

Maine

Bar Harbor: The arrival of the first large cruise ship in two and a half years in Maine is another signal tourism is getting closer to pre-pandemic normalcy. Last year, more than 15.6 million visitors came to the state – a third more than made the trip the year before, at the start of the pandemic, officials said. But there were no large cruise ships until the arrival of the Norwegian Pearl in the waters off Bar Harbor. The ship dropped anchor in Frenchman Bay, and visitors were ferried to shore on tenders. “It’s exciting to see these ships and their passengers coming back to Maine,” said Sarah Flink, executive director of CruiseMaine. Cruise ships could restore some visitation. The number of visitors last year remained about a million below 2019, before the pandemic. Cruise ships made 409 port calls and brought 450,000 passengers in 2019. One positive sign from the 2021 tourism numbers is that spending soared. Spending grew 63.7% from 2020 and 20.3% from 2019.

Maryland

Annapolis: A former small-city mayor who admitted to posting nude photos of his ex-girlfriend on Reddit will not have to spend time behind bars under a plea deal announced by the state prosecutor’s office on Monday. Former Cambridge Mayor Andrew Bradshaw pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing revenge porn online and was sentenced to a year and a day for each of the five counts, with all the incarceration time suspended. He also was sentenced to three years of supervised probation and fined $1,000 for each count. Bradshaw was ordered to pay $750 in restitution to the victim and to perform 100 hours of community service. The ex-mayor had faced a maximum penalty of two years’ incarceration and a $5,000 fine for each count. Bradshaw pleaded guilty to posting nude photos of a woman with whom he was once in a relationship after the relationship had ended. The woman contacted authorities in May after learning the photos were posted on Reddit. She told authorities she had sent the photos only to Bradshaw while they were in an intimate relationship, and she didn’t give him permission to redistribute them. Investigators discovered Bradshaw had made numerous separate public posts that contained at least 10 unique visual representations of the victim, many with language related to humiliation and degradation, the state prosecutor’s office said.

Massachusetts

Boston: A shooting at an MBTA station in the city left one person injured Monday, according to transit police. Officers were called to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Ruggles Station shortly after 6 p.m. on reports of shots fired. At an area where buses stop for passengers, officers found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The man was taken to a hospital with injuries that were considered serious but not life-threatening, police said. No arrests had been made in the shooting. Police said they were investigating and would continue to look for suspects. Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden denounced the shooting and said gun violence “is something that we’ve really got to lay a hold of and take care of.” “Every time there’s a shooting, there are multiple victims,” Hayden said, according to WCVB-TV. “There’s obviously the victim that’s shot, but there’s also the community at large.”

Michigan

Lansing: The state has reached a 19.3% recycling rate, an increase of 35.4% from prior to 2019, according to an analysis the state of Michigan released Monday ahead of Earth Day on Friday. Before 2019, the state estimated Michigan’s recycling rate, the rate at which recyclable materials are recycled from waste, was 14.25%. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy estimates the state now has a 35.4% recycling rate. Increasing access to recycling services has helped the state to increase recycling, EGLE Director Liesl Clark said at a news conference Monday. More than 75% of the state’s households have access to either curbside recycling bins or drop-off sites in their communities. The increase in recycling equals out to Michigan recycling 500,000 more tons of recyclable materials a year, according to EGLE. Since 2019, more than $460 million has been invested into technology for recycling and maintaining existing recycling infrastructure, Clark said, all in an effort to help Michigan reach its goals to fight climate change and reach a 45% recycling rate by 2030. This Thursday, the state will release a plan outlining a 30-year strategy to make Michigan a carbon neutral state by 2050. A rough draft of the plan was released earlier this year.

Minnesota

St. Paul: The Roseville School District has settled two federal lawsuits accusing a former second grade teacher of discriminating against Black students. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports the district settled the cases privately, and terms were not disclosed. One case was settled last week and the other in January, according to court records. The lawsuits accused Geraldine Cook of making the Black students in her class sit apart from their peers in 2019. She allegedly grabbed a girl’s arm, tearing her shirt, and choked a boy after he gargled water and made him walk to the principal’s office with his hands behind his back. The mothers of the girl whose shirt was torn and the boy who was choked filed the lawsuits. Cook taught at Harambee Elementary, a year-round racial integration school. She resigned in December 2019.

Mississippi

Jackson: An assistant chief says the city’s police department is short-staffed, and recruitment and retention are big challenges. Joseph Wade of Jackson Police Department discussed staffing levels Monday during the City Council’s Public Safety Committee meeting, WLBT-TV reports. He said JPD is budgeted for 356 sworn officers but has 258. On the civilian side, JPD is budgeted for 199 employees and has 132. “I went to a leadership class in Ohio, and guess what? They’re having (retention issues),” he said. “It’s not a popular job right now.” JPD loses officers to smaller departments, where officers can earn comparable salaries but answer fewer calls, Wade said. He said the city needs to enforce a state law that would require departments to reimburse JPD for training costs of any officer it hires who has been with Jackson less than three years. Wade said JPD leaders appreciate the premium pay that the City Council approved for police department employees earlier this year. The assistant chief also suggested a signing bonus and a tuition reimbursement program for new officers. Capitol police officers, who work for the state Department of Public Safety, also patrol in parts of Jackson where state government buildings are located.

Missouri

Springfield: Regal fritillary butterflies, which subsist on violets and stick to prairie habitats, are disappearing. “They’ve almost been entirely lost from the eastern U.S.,” Chris Barnhart, distinguished professor of biology at Missouri State University, said of the vulnerable insect species. One-third of Missouri used to be covered in tallgrass prairie. Where there’s a decent patch of prairie, regal fritillary butterflies can be seen in good numbers, Barnhart said. However, without extra help, Missouri may lose the “Queen of the Prairie” altogether. MSU and the Missouri Department of Conservation are two years deep into a project to examine the reproduction and survival of the butterflies, developing methods to raise them in captivity and reintroducing them to suitable sites. Missouri has some of the highest numbers of these butterflies, Barnhart said during a tour of MSU’s Temple Hall greenhouse. Fifteen million acres of tallgrass prairie once covered Missouri, said Francis Skalicky, MDC spokesman. “Today, 99% of Missouri’s tallgrass prairie habitat has disappeared, and a number of species that depend on plants found in this habitat have been negatively impacted by the state’s dwindling prairie acreage,” Skalicky said. The regal fritillary butterflies are considered “a species of concern” and at a S3 level of endangerment, Skalicky said.

Montana

Billings: The board of trustees of the state’s largest school district has voted to allow students additional time to graduate after a public campaign by the family of a student with Down syndrome who otherwise would not have been allowed to attend her senior year with her classmates. Under the policy passed Monday by a 5-3 vote, any student who does not turn 20 before Sept. 10 will be able to enroll in classes at Billings high schools. For students receiving special education services, enrollment will continue as long as the student hasn’t turned 21 before the Sept. 10 deadline, The Billings Gazette reports. The family of Emily Pennington had urged the school district to take advantage of a law passed by the Legislature in 2021 that offered some state funding for students who are receiving special education services to continue attending school as long as they had not turned 21 before Sept. 10 and had not graduated. Schools are not required to participate. Emily repeated kindergarten because she had been dealing with numerous medical issues. She will turn 19 in July, which would have made her ineligible to attend school this fall under the old policy. After the school board declined to hear Emily’s request for a change in the age-out policy, Billings West students staged a brief walk-out in support.

Nebraska

Omaha: Former U.S. Rep. Brad Ashford, a Democrat who served one term representing the state’s Omaha-centered district, died Tuesday morning. He was 72. Ashford’s family announced his death in a Facebook post, saying that “his death was peaceful though much too premature.” Just two months earlier, Ashford had revealed he was undergoing treatment for brain cancer. Ashford was a state senator from Omaha when he unseated longtime Republican incumbent Lee Terry to represent Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District. Ashford lost the seat two years later to current GOP Rep. Don Bacon. He sought the seat again in 2018 but lost the Democratic primary to Kara Eastman. In 2020, his wife, Ann Ferlic Ashford, announced her candidacy for the seat, but she also lost the primary to Eastman. Brad Ashford shook up the general election race by endorsing Bacon over Eastman. An attorney and lifelong Omaha resident, he began his political career in the 1980s as a Democrat but switched parties several times over the years and pitched himself as an independent-minded moderate. Ashford earned his bachelor’s degree from Colgate University in 1971 and his law degree from Creighton University in Omaha in 1974. He worked as an attorney for the Federal Highway Administration in 1974 before opening a private practice the next year. In the 1990s, he became co-owner of the Nebraska Clothing Company.

Nevada

Las Vegas: The Nevada office of the FBI has a new special agent in charge, with the announcement Monday that Spencer Evans will head the bureau’s Las Vegas field office. Evans has held various investigative and leadership positions since joining the FBI in 2004 as an agent in New Haven, Connecticut. His most recent post was as deputy assistant director in human resources at FBI Headquarters in Washington. In Las Vegas, Evans replaces Special Agent in Charge Aaron Rouse, who retired in February after 25 years with the bureau. Rouse arrived in the city in 2016 and headed the Nevada field office during the 2017 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip that killed 58 people and became the deadliest in modern U.S. history. Two additional deaths later were attributed to the shooting.

New Hampshire

Merrimack: A chemical company agreed Monday to providing drinking water to about 1,000 properties in the state that showed elevated levels of toxic industrial compounds associated with serious health conditions. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics announced the agreement for properties in the towns of Bedford, Hudson, Litchfield, Londonderry and Merrimack. It also provides a framework should additional properties be affected. “Ensuring safe drinking water is something we take very seriously,” state Attorney General John Formella said in a statement. “This agreement is an important step forward in a continuing, multi-faceted effort to ensure impacted New Hampshire residents have access to clean drinking water.” A spokesperson for Saint-Gobain didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company, which bought the Merrimack plant from ChemFAB in 2000, initially believed it wasn’t emitting anything harmful. But the state said that changed in 2004 after the company installed more sophisticated technology and realized it was emitting the chemical. After the company alerted the state, DES determined Saint-Gobain was exceeding state air limits for the chemical, and the company agreed to significantly reduce emissions.

New Jersey

Atlantic City: The state’s robust sports betting market broke the $1 billion mark for the sixth time last month in terms of the amount of bets taken. But the news was bad in March for seven of the nine casinos that continued to lag behind their in-person gambling revenue levels from before the coronavirus pandemic hit, according to figures released Monday by state gambling regulators. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported the state’s casinos and three horse tracks that take sports bets handled over $1.12 billion worth of such wagers in March, aided by the March Madness college basketball tournament. Yet out of that total, only $66.4 million was kept as sports betting revenue by the casinos and tracks after paying off winning bets, third-party partners and other expenses. The casinos and tracks made $423.6 million in gambling and sports betting revenue in March, up nearly 18% from a year earlier. However, that comparison is flawed because in March 2021, Atlantic City’s casinos were still operating under state-imposed pandemic-related restrictions. Going back two years is also an invalid comparison because the casinos shut down in the middle of March 2020 as the pandemic originally surged.

New Mexico

Santa Fe: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is getting married, and Vice President Kamala Harris has been picked to officiate. The first-term Democratic governor made the announcement through her personal spokesman Tuesday, saying a small ceremony will be held May 21 in Washington, D.C. No other details about the upcoming ceremony were released. Lujan Grisham, who is running for reelection, will be tying the knot with fiancé Manny Cordova. The couple have been together about 10 years, and Cordova was at her side during an inaugural Mass in Santa Fe before her public swearing-in ceremony Jan. 1, 2019. “We’re delighted to celebrate our wedding in front of family and close friends,” Lujan Grisham and Cordova said in a joint statement. “Like so many New Mexicans, we’ve postponed family celebrations over the past two years during this pandemic. We feel fortunate to be with our loved ones in celebration of our marriage.” The couple initially planned to get married in 2021 but had not set a date, said Jared Leopold, a spokesman for Lujan Grisham. Both Lujan Grisham, 62, and Cordova, 66, were previously married and have adult children and grandchildren. Lujan Grisham was married to her first husband, Gregory Grisham, for more than 20 years until his death in 2004. The son of ranchers, Cordova grew up in a rural community south of Albuquerque. He owns an auto repair shop in Santa Fe.

New York

Binghamton: About 100,000 customers were without power Tuesday morning in upstate New York as a late-season storm dumped a foot or more of heavy, wet snow on some high-elevation areas. In the Binghamton area, Broome County Executive Jason Garnar declared a state of emergency and issued a travel ban for nonessential workers. Gov. Kathy Hochul said in an interview on Binghamton radio station WNBF that listeners in the area should stay home if they could. “It was a very heavy snow. And as a result, the weight … is snapping these limbs, which is sad when you see your beautiful trees harmed like that,” Hochul said. “But it also can be dangerous for people walking on the streets or walking under power lines or if people are getting into their cars.” Some higher-elevation areas of the Southern Tier had up to 14 inches of snow, though accumulations were less for lower elevations, according to the National Weather Service in Binghamton. “That is pretty typical for a for a late-season storm; you’re going to have quite a bit of elevation dependency,” said meteorologist Bryan Greenblatt. Power outages stretched from the Southern Tier to the Adirondack Mountains, which was forecast to get up to a foot of snow by Tuesday night.

North Carolina

Asheville: Buncombe County jail detainees have spent up to a week in group holding areas with no blankets, constant light, cold temperatures, and nowhere to sleep but hard surfaces, such as concrete floors, according to several people who spent time behind bars in the local facility. “There’s no cots; they don’t give you a blanket. Everyone is in flip-flops without socks. And all the drunk tanks were full. There’s 10 of you in there. And it’s all concrete,” said Eric Stimson, who said he spent five days trying to find ways to sleep and stay warm in a group cell with an overflowing toilet before being moved to a regular cell for the remainder of his 16-day DUI sentence in January. The harsh conditions were detailed by three detainees and confirmed by the Buncombe County chief public defender. They appear to represent direct violations of state rules meant to protect those in the custody of the jail, most of whom have not been convicted of crimes of which they are charged and are awaiting their day in court. Spokespeople for Sheriff Quentin Miller, who is responsible for managing the jail, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. In an attempt to block out light to sleep and find some comfort, detainees took to stuffing their court papers behind COVID-19 masks to use as eye shields, Stimson said, adding that they would stack their slippers to create something like a pillow. As far as COVID-19 infection concerns go, “if you didn’t have COVID coming in, you’ve got it now,” he said.

North Dakota

Minot: The future of Minot State University’s sports bubble is up in the air after a blizzard last week caused it to collapse. The university was forced to cancel all the activities that were scheduled in the bubble, which is on the grounds of the athletic facility. The bubble has been used as a fallback location for softball games when weather is poor, Minot Daily News reports. And MSU planned to hold a spring football game in the bubble, which is also used for various sports practices. The athletic staff is meeting this week to begin rescheduling and searching for other places to practice. Athletic director Andy Carter said the university is waiting for the company that supplied the bubble in 2016 to send representatives to assess the damage and how much it would cost to repair it. “It’s covered in snow now,” he said. “You can’t even really get to it right now.” He said a considerable amount of sporting equipment had been stored in the bubble. “It could be a big issue. We don’t even know because we can’t see it. So we don’t know if it’s damaged or it’s just sitting there under the tarp,” he said.

Ohio

Columbus: A judge has blocked early enforcement of an abortion law signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in December that included additional licensing requirements challenged by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood as unnecessarily onerous. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Alison Hatheway’s ruling Friday blocked restrictions imposed on two southwest Ohio clinics by the Ohio Department of Health that came before June 21. That date ends a 90-period for compliance that followed its original effective date of March 23. Hatheway issued a temporary restraining order against the law March 2, before it could take effect. The stated goal of the bill was to impose criminal penalties on doctors who fail to give medical care in the extremely rare circumstance of a baby born alive following an abortion attempt. However, provisions were added to the legislation that prevented abortion providers from contracting with backup physicians who teach at or contract with public medical schools. Abortion rights groups said eliminating such a broad swath of physicians to serve as their backups could lead to two clinics in southwest Ohio being closed. The lawsuit argued the requirements would almost certainly have shuttered Women’s Med in Dayton and Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio in suburban Cincinnati.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: Gov. Kevin Stitt signed legislation Monday to allow law enforcement to keep from the public audio or video recordings showing an officer’s line-of-duty death. The measure was drafted after Tulsa police were required under Oklahoma law to release a video of a suspect shooting two officers, one of whom later died. A jury trial began Monday for the man accused of the killing. “This bill is about protecting the dignity not only of our fallen heroes but their fellow officers and surviving family members who can be retraumatized by these recordings,” state Sen. John Haste, R-Broken Arrow, said in a statement. “It can also make it more difficult to seat a jury in such cases.” The bill prohibits the public release of such videos unless a judge determines the public interest outweighs the reason for denial. It also authorizes a deceased officer’s family members to view the audio or video. Prosecutors and defense attorneys retain the right to use such videos in legal proceedings under the new law.

Oregon

Salem: Gov. Kate Brown has signed a bill into law that phases out the state’s agricultural overtime pay exemption. The Capital Press reports Brown wrote in a letter Friday to Senate President Peter Courtney and Speaker of the House Dan Rayfield that she views the bill as an important step in the right direction to correct a historic wrong. “This policy will make a significant difference in the lives of farmworkers and their families,” Brown wrote. The new law establishes overtime pay requirements for agricultural workers in Oregon after 40 hours per week, with the requirements phased in over five years starting in 2023. Under the law, farmworkers will be owed time-and-a-half overtime wages after 55 weekly hours of work next year, after 48 hours of work in 2025-2026 and then after 40 hours per week beginning in 2027. Most farmers will be eligible for one of three tiers of tax credits, depending on how many people they employ. Tax credits will incrementally decline between 2023 and 2028 and then will end or be reevaluated by lawmakers. Brown wrote that the law may need to be changed and improved over time, so she said it’s important that conversation about the issue continue.

Pennsylvania

Dents Run: The FBI might not have found any Civil War-era gold at a remote woodland site, but it definitely has records of the agency’s 2018 dig and will soon have to turn them over to a father-son pair of treasure hunters. A federal judge has ordered the FBI to speed up the release of records about the search for the legendary gold, ruling Monday in favor of Finders Keepers, the treasure hunting outfit that led FBI agents to the remote site. The group accuses the Justice Department of slow-walking their request for information. The FBI must turn over 1,000 pages of records per month, starting in 30 days, and the first batch of records must include a key report sought by Finders Keepers, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered. The ruling came four months after Finders Keepers sued the Justice Department over its failure to produce records on the FBI’s search. The FBI has long insisted its March 2018 dig came up empty, but Finders Keepers says the government has acted suspiciously throughout the four-year saga. Finders Keepers’ owners, the father-son duo of Dennis and Kem Parada, spent years looking for the fabled 1863 shipment of Union gold that was supposedly lost or stolen on its way to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. The pair eventually led the FBI to the remote site, where the agency took over.

Rhode Island

Providence: The city’s newly formed reparations commission is considering what form payments might take and looking to other cities for inspiration. In a meeting Monday, Silas Pinto, who is serving as Providence’s first-ever director of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, noted that reparations are being considered and implemented in a dozen other cities, including Boston and Amherst, Massachusetts. So far, housing and land ownership comprise one of the largest spending categories for cities investing in reparations. Those funds are not paid to individuals but toward renovations and down payments, for example. Direct cash payments, tuition and scholarships have also been popular investments. Pinto said it’s evident that cities are “viewing reparations work really through the lens of closing the racial wealth gap,” and “it’s going to come down to issues around land ownership, around how are we supporting our minority-owned businesses, and how are we helping individuals?” However, as Providence is aiming to use $15 million in federal pandemic relief, it will need to comply with rules on how those funds should be spent.

South Carolina

Columbia: Five University of South Carolina trustees won’t be allowed to run for reelection next month after some powerful lawmakers felt they were responsible for hiring a president who crudely criticized the school, interfered in daily school affairs and left in less than two years. The legislative board that screens university trustees is refusing to send them to a May 4 election by the General Assembly at which more than a dozen other trustees for universities across the state will be elected. The decision comes as the state Senate prepares to review a bill that passed the House earlier this month, the day after it was proposed, that would fire all current trustees at the end of June 2023 and redraw their districts, cutting the board from 20 members to 13. Trustees kicked off the board could run for the new seats. The University of South Carolina trustees the College and University Trustee Screening Commission refused to allow to run for reelection to a new four-year term are board chairman C. Dorn Smith as well as trustees Thad Westbrook, C. Edward Floyd, John von Lehe and Charles Williams. The trustees will be allowed to remain until either the board is restructured or the screening board takes further action.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: A deadline for Gov. Kristi Noem to respond to a pair of ethics complaints levied again her last year has passed. But neither Noem nor the panel of retired judges vetting whether the Republican governor misused state airplanes for personal use and improperly interfered in a state certification program in which her daughter was enrolled will say whether a response was submitted by Friday’s deadline. The South Dakota Government Accountability Board is scheduled to revisit both complaints during its next meeting at 10 a.m. May 2 in Sioux Falls. But because the confidential nature of the board and the complaints it examines, few other details are known. Assistant Attorney General Katie Mallery, who serves as the board’s liaison, said Tuesday that the April 15 deadline for the subject of the complaints to respond remained in place, though she declined to say whether any response or responses were received by the board. Created in 2017 by the Legislature, the South Dakota Government Accountability investigates complaints against state officials. The majority of its work is done behind closed doors. Considering complaints in secret, GAB is by law required to keep any complaints and related information it receives confidential throughout its proceedings.

Tennessee

Nashville: Republican legislators passed legislation Monday to make camping on public property a misdemeanor crime, which critics say effectively criminalizes homelessness. Under HB978, a person who camps on the shoulder, right-of-way, bridge, overpass or underpass of a state or interstate highway could face a misdemeanor offense and a $50 fine or community service requirement. The legislation cleared the state Senate last week after a lengthy debate and now goes to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk. Sponsors Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, and Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, have defended the bill as a tool local law enforcement could use to address homelessness. Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, said he experienced homelessness multiple times as a child and criticized the legislation, calling for a more “compassionate” approach. Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, drew widespread criticism last week for meandering comments tenuously connecting Adolf Hitler to the legislation. Niceley said Hitler at one point lived on the streets and used the experience as a “way to connect with the masses.” “People can come out of these camps and have a very productive life, or in Hitler’s case, a very unproductive life,” Niceley said. Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Nashville, called the comments “embarrassing” to Tennessee.

Texas

Austin: Some Republicans are pushing state leaders to declare an “invasion” at the Mexican border in response to an increase in migrant border crossings, allowing Texas to enforce federal immigration policies, according to some interpretations of the U.S. Constitution. Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, chair of the House Committee on General Investigating, has asked state Attorney General Ken Paxton for a legal opinion on “whether the federal government has failed to uphold its obligations to protect Texas from invasion under article IV section 4 of the United States Constitution, and whether Texas has the sovereign power to defend itself from invasion.” Paxton’s opinion would be nonbinding, but his answer could add ammunition to a push from conservative groups for states bordering Mexico to use a formal declaration of an “invasion” to justify allowing state authorities to deport migrants suspected of crossing the border illegally. The effort comes as Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have continued to criticize the Biden administration for not doing enough to stem the flow of illegal immigration and as federal authorities prepare to end a Trump-era public health mandate that allowed for the immediate expulsion of migrants.

Utah

St. George: Huge numbers of Washington County students started eating breakfast and lunch at school last year when pandemic-related federal waivers made it possible for schools to offer free meals to all students. Now, the program that made those free meals possible is ending, and some hunger advocates are worried that children who benefited from the program could go back to being hungry. The Seamless Summer Option program had allowed any Washington County School District student to receive two free meals per day, regardless of status. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, school officials in Washington County and across the U.S. were concerned for students’ well-being and whether they would find enough food to eat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture set aside money to help schools offer free meals on a temporary basis. With the expiration of the federal waivers, as well as the SSO program, local schools will go back to offering free or reduced-price meals only to students who qualify under household income guidelines. With no limits on who could get their meals for free, the district saw large increases in the number of students who ate at school. In September 2020, the district provided 1,842 breakfasts and 10,712 lunches a day on average. By March 2022, those figures had jumped to 4,531 and 16,166.

Vermont

Burlington: After a failed attempt to pass a plan to regulate short-term rentals, city councilors have decided to begin the process again in an attempt to reach a compromise. City officials and councilors agree that short-term rentals are contributing to the housing shortage. The ongoing argument lies in how to regulate the housing that is commonly rented through sites like Airbnb and VRBO. A new version of the ordinance that will be considered in the City Council’s ordinance committee would allow for short-term rentals to be located in detached homes, accessory dwelling units, duplexes and homes with three to four units as long as they are on the same lot as the host’s primary residence. Hosts could also rent their own home out to guests. The exceptions to the necessity for owner-occupancy would be seasonal homes and units in a multi-unit building where one unit is rented out at an affordable rate to a long-term tenant. A previous version of the ordinance that Mayor Miro Weinberger vetoed would have limited short-term rentals to bedrooms within a host’s home with few exceptions. The prior proposal would have stopped people from creating short-term rentals out of independent units on their property such as detached houses, carriage houses and units in an owner-occupied multi-unit home.The ordinance committee will bring a new proposal for regulating short-term rentals to council by June 1.

Virginia

Richmond: The father of a journalist fatally shot during a live broadcast in 2015 has conceded that he failed to make the ballot in the Democratic nomination contest for the 5th Congressional District. Andy Parker, who announced in January that he would seek to unseat incumbent GOP Rep. Bob Good, said in a statement Monday that he would instead throw his support to Democratic nominee Josh Throneburg. “I was looking forward to a spirited primary and campaign against Good this fall, but to my great disappointment our campaign did not meet the technical requirements to be on the primary ballot. I want to thank the thousands of Virginians and supporters across America who stood with me,” Parker said. Since the death of daughter Alison, a 24-year-old reporter at Roanoke’s WDBJ-TV who was killed by a former colleague during an interview, Parker has pushed for gun-control measures. He’s also battled with Facebook over its allowing the video of his daughter’s slaying to circulate. Parker’s campaign told WDBJ last week that it was reviewing its petition signatures after being informed that the 5th District Committee was able to verify only 937 of the 1,000 required. Alison Parker’s death also prompted her boyfriend, WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst, to run for the General Assembly in 2017. The Democrat served two terms in the House of Delegates before being unseated by a Republican last November.

Washington

Spokane: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Klickitat County’s claim to a portion of the Yakama Indian Reservation, likely ending a dispute that has raged for more than a century. The court denied the county’s appeal without comment. Klickitat County had argued that 121,465 acres in the southwestern portion of the reservation, including the eastern half of Mount Adams and the Glenwood Valley, were not actually included when the reservation was created. “The Supreme Court’s decision once again validates the continuing strength of our treaty rights under the United States Constitution,” said Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Delano Saluskin. “The Yakama Nation will never compromise when our treaty is at stake.” The dispute involved ambiguous language in the tribe’s Treaty of 1855 with the U.S. government. Territorial Gov. Isaac Stevens, who drafted the treaty, wrote that the reservation’s southwestern border passed “south and east of Mount Adams, to the spur whence flows the waters of the Klickatat and Pisco rivers.” The tribe said that no such spur existed and that the Yakama Nation had always understood that Mount Adams and land known as Tract D was reservation land. That position was affirmed by the Indian Claims Commission in 1966, by an executive order by President Richard Nixon in 1972, by federal surveyors in 1982 and by numerous earlier court cases.

West Virginia

Glen Jean: New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is offering special events this week to celebrate National Park Week. The park is uploading its museum collection online. Information and images give details about the prehistoric and industrial past of the communities in the area. Some of the more than 5,000 items include a miner’s belt designed for self-rescue, a fossil from a time when the entire gorge was an underwater home to marine life and a Native American hammerstone used to prepare food hundreds of years ago. On Wednesday, the public can watch Cultural Resource Program Manager David Fuerst clean a 1942 mural that depicts early 20th-century coal miners. The park hopes to restore the painting to its appearance 80 years ago. The mural demonstration leads up to the opening Friday of the Smithsonian Institution’s “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” exhibit at the historic Cottle Mountainair Hotel in Mount Hope. The exhibit runs through May 30. Winning art for the Youth Arts in the Parks Appalachian Spring Wildflower Art Contest will continue to be displayed at Tamarack Marketplace and online at nps.gov/neri/youth-arts-in-the-parks.htm.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee: The brother of former first lady Michelle Obama and his wife are suing a private school alleging it refused to allow their two sons to reenroll after they voiced concerns that racism and inappropriate conduct at the school had not been satisfactorily addressed. In a civil lawsuit filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Craig and Kelly Robinson accuse University School of Milwaukee of terminating their 9- and 11-year-old sons’ reenrollment contracts for the 2021-2022 school year after the couple complained that teachers treated students of color and socioeconomically underrepresented students unfairly. According to the lawsuit filed Monday, the school failed to provide the supportive and inclusive learning environment it had promised in its enrollment contracts with the Robinsons. The boys had attended the pre-K-12 school for about five years, the Robinsons said Tuesday in an interview with the Associated Press. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and a trial by jury. USM said in a statement that the enrollment decision had nothing to do with their complaints of inequity or discrimination. The independent school, with a campus that stretches from Milwaukee to the nearby suburb of River Hills, enrolls about 1,100 students every year.

Wyoming

Casper: Federal officials are including only about two-thirds the previously expected number of Wyoming sites for lease for oil and gas exploration this summer, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. The first such lease sale of President Joe Biden’s administration will list 129 tracts across the state, covering more than 130,000 acres, according to the paper.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Opinion: The culture wars have come to the classroom. Now what ...

Editor’s Note: This roundup is part of the CNN Opinion series “America’s Future Starts Now,” in which people share how they have been affected by the biggest issues facing the nation and experts offer their proposed solutions. The views expressed in these commentaries are the authors’ own. Read more opinion at CNN.

CNN —

There are many problems roiling America’s public schools, including culture wars that have found their way into the classroom, school libraries and school board meetings over the past several months. But some challenges are more endemic, the product of decades of low pay and lack of appreciation for the service that administrators and teachers perform. CNN Opinion gathered the views of nine experts in the field of education about the problems they feel should be most urgently addressed in the classroom – and what solutions might be viable in our tumultuous political times.

Shaun Harper: Conservatives reject any mention of race in the classroom. We must counter by teaching truth

Shaun Harper Bradford Rogne

Last year, Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe lost his reelection campaign, at least in part because his Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin, repeatedly declared that McAuliffe’s reelection would lead to the widespread teaching of critical race theory in schools across the Commonwealth. Simply put, attacking critical race theory helped the now-governor of Virginia secure his win.

Critical race theory is a set of concepts seeking to explain the structural underpinnings of inequality and racism in the United States. But the term has been attacked by its critics as unfairly pinning blame on White Americans for some of society’s most pernicious ills.

Classroom discussions about race, and what I like to call “truth teaching,” haven’t been as much of a talking point as they were a year ago, and critical race theory isn’t being debated as much in this year’s midterm campaigns. It doesn’t have to be. For the most part, conservatives have already succeeded in banishing talk about racism from the classroom.

After a campaign of intentional misinformation and fear mongering, critical race theory quickly became one of our nation’s most contested and misunderstood education issues. Conservative strategists successfully convinced millions of Americans, including concerned parents of school-aged children, that it was being taught in K-12 districts across the country. No evidence exists to confirm that this was actually the case.

As of last month, elected officials in 42 states have introduced legislation that broadly aims to ban the teaching of racial and social justice topics in public schools, according to data compiled by Education Week. Similar bills have passed in 17 of those states. Many more school boards have enacted local bans. In addition, books about race have been banned in numerous districts.

The campaign to eliminate critical race theory succeeded mostly because White parents and state lawmakers were led to believe that White school children were being made to feel badly about being White. Where’s the proof that teachers, nearly 80% of whom are White, were doing this? They weren’t, certainly not in any widespread fashion.

With no credible evidence of an actual problem and no opportunity to vote on the issue, citizens who recognize the value of teaching our children the truth about America’s racial past and present won’t have a voice in the upcoming election.

There’s at least one state where voters will decide this fall what gets taught in the classroom. West Virginians will consider a ballot question known as the Education Accountability Amendment, which if passed, would amend the state constitution to give the majority-Republican legislature more control over just about every aspect of public schooling.

Until bans on truth teaching are lifted, our democracy will become increasingly susceptible to the exacerbation of the racial tensions, inequities, injustices and violent acts of racism that have always kept America from reaching its full potential. Educators, meanwhile, will have unchecked authority to lie to school children about race. One recent example of this is educators’ failed attempt to change slavery to “involuntary relocation” in Texas schools.

Those who truly care about the advancement of our democracy must insist that its full truth be taught. Unfortunately, we may have to wait a while before that discussion resumes in our public schools.

Shaun Harper is a professor at the Rossier School of Education and the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. His research focuses primarily on race, gender and equity in the classroom and in the workplace. He tweets @DrShaunHarper.

Valerie Wolfson: Teachers deserve trust and respect

Valerie Wolfson Courtesy Valerie Wolfson

I’m a middle school social studies teacher in New Hampshire and an avid supporter of public education. Having taught for over 20 years, my greatest joy is participating in a democratic institution that is for everyone.

I stand for all my students by committing myself to perpetual learning and growth. I continue to update instructional strategies, let go of old projects that no longer serve my current students and adapt my curriculum and language to ensure my approaches are culturally sensitive.

I teach well-rounded history to the best of my ability as I continually strive to keep my background knowledge robust. I am here to hold space for all my students regardless of their identity, political positions or other affiliations. To do this, I must rigorously and regularly examine my biases, consider what and whom I am centering and why.

That’s why it was so disheartening to see laws like House Bill 2 (sometimes referred to as the “divisive concepts” law) pass in New Hampshire. The disrespect and lack of trust it communicates to the hundreds of honorable educators I know and work with cannot be overstated.

The measure, formally known as the Right to Freedom from Discrimination in Public Workplaces and Education bill, was written with the mistaken idea that discrimination is somehow endorsed or practiced in public spaces and classrooms.

The new law bars educators from teaching that any particular group is inherently racist, sexist or otherwise oppressive. It purports to promote teaching about people without regards to their race, gender, disability or other differences. But the language is so vague that it discourages teachers from having classroom conversations about race, racism and discrimination.

Legislation like HB2 and similar laws in other states are obstacles to growth, student well-being and compassionate practices. HB2 prohibits schools in New Hampshire from creating mandatory equity training for faculty because someone might “feel bad.”

Because I teach social studies, I’ve developed a healthy resilience around complex conversations and divergent opinions. My entire career has been centered around navigating one tricky topic or another. I’ve mediated dialogues around presidential elections, the events of September 11, different wars and conflicts, and facilitated a variety of debates.

Through it all, I’ve dedicated myself to building a foundation of trust, joy, understanding, respectful discourse, care and acceptance in my classroom. Some of us are finding that harder to achieve under the new legislation. For example, a colleague who teaches in a nearby school district was told that if she openly said slavery was a “bad practice,” she must make it clear to her students that she is expressing an “opinion.” It’s an experience other teachers in my state have spoken about as well.

At what point did we decide it’s divisive to take a stance on cruel and dehumanizing activities? Who are we harming by taking a hardline on the concept of slavery? Our silence is an endorsement. That is our ethical crisis. That is what fear-mongering yields.

Teachers deserve better: Shame and blame have been imposed upon a profession that is filled with loving, kind, compassionate and principled people. Choosing a career in education is almost always driven by a heart-centered desire to make a positive difference. I have never encountered a teacher in four districts, two states and 22 years who displayed devious political intentions.

The conflation of equity and inclusion work with “critical race theory” has led to wildly inaccurate and unfounded accusations. This “threat” has taken seed in the imaginations of some legislators and families.

Future voters must understand that disagreement is normal and healthy. Changing your mind in light of new evidence is logical and admirable. Nothing could be more American, patriotic or democratic than striving for a more just society.

Feeling discomfort and dissonance often accompanies growth and learning; this is something I strive to normalize for my students. Teachers teach critical thinking and analysis by asking students to wrestle with challenging ideas and evidence. At some point, we have confused feeling uneasy with a lack of safety. There is a crucial difference.

Poorly constructed laws were drafted to stop good, productive work under the guise of being “anti-critical race theory” and have resulted in the oppression of free thought, critical thinking and children. I know we can do better.

My message to lawmakers? Trust teachers. Asking them to be thoughtful, sensitive and inclusive is always reasonable. You’ll find that’s what they generally already are.

Valerie Wolfson, a middle school social studies teacher, was named the 2020 New Hampshire Social Studies Teacher of the year.

Neal McCluskey: American schools have a diversity problem

Neal McCluskey Neal McCluskey

Public schooling struggles with diversity. From early battles over the Bible to current fights over race, gender identity, prayer and more, public schooling – in which all must fund a single system of government schools – inevitably pits people with diverse values, needs and backgrounds against each other.

But why are conflicts burning especially hot now?

Covid-19 set the conditions, creating clashes over in-person instruction and masking that many saw as having literally life-and-death stakes.

The murder of George Floyd added fuel, prompting many public school officials to target systemic racism – discrimination built into American institutions – and conservatives to demand colorblindness and an emphasis on America’s basic goodness. Graphic novels, such as “Gender Queer,” with graphic depictions of sexual activity, and other books on hot-button topics sparked dueling accusations of “hate” and “indoctrination.”

This all happened amid rapid demographic and social change.

In 2000, the US population was 71% non-Hispanic white. By 2020, that was down to about 58%. Gay marriage support skyrocketed from 27% of Americans in 1996 to 77% in 2021, while the share of people belonging to a church, synagogue or mosque plummeted from 70% in 1999 to 47% in 2020.

What can deescalate education politics?

Not “parents’ rights,” a term that can encompass useful things like requirements that districts share curriculum information, but sometimes seems invoked so that just one group of parents will get what it wants.

Giving parents more say does nothing to change a system that forces diverse people, including parents, to fund – and fight to control – government-run schools.

Freedom is the answer: Attach money to students – as many other countries do – and let families choose among diverse options. This can be accomplished through universal education savings accounts, such as Arizona recently enacted, scholarship tax credits and other choice vehicles.

Regardless of how it is done, the goal of choice is to enable diverse families to access education they think is right rather than forcing neighbor to defeat neighbor to control public schools.

Neal McCluskey directs the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute and is the author of “The Fractured Schoolhouse: Reimagining Education for a Free, Equal, and Harmonious Society.”

Denise Forte and Randi Weingarten: How we can recover ground lost to Covid-19 closures

Denise Forte Courtesy Denise Forte

Randi Weingarten AFT

American students’ steady progress in reading and math has become the latest casualty of the Covid-19 era.

In the first results since the pandemic began, the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) showed steep declines in the math and reading scores of fourth- and eighth-grade students. It’s not hard to see why. The pandemic has disrupted three years of students’ lives.

More than 200,000 children in the United States are grieving the loss of at least one parent to Covid-19. The economic fallout of the pandemic exacerbated food and housing insecurity. People were, and still are, stressed and scared. And remote learning has always been an inadequate substitute for in-person instruction, although NAEP results show comparable drops in student performance in school systems that were quicker to reopen.

Some critics see this as a chance to point fingers and to use kids as political pawns. We see it as an urgent call to institute short-term and long-term investments and proven strategies to support students’ emotional development and to accelerate learning, especially for Black and Latino students and students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who were underserved and behind their peers prior to the pandemic.

What we must not allow is for students and educators to be dragged into bad-faith battles over bathroom access and participation on sports teams as an unwelcome distraction from ensuring that every student receives a great education and the supports needed to thrive academically and socially.

The good news is that we know what works from research and experience, and there is historic federal funding to accelerate learning and to start to remedy long-standing inequities. Resources from the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund can be directed so students have better access to experienced, diverse and certified teachers, high-quality summer and after-school programs, engaging and relevant curriculums and mental health supports.

Both our organizations are engaged in longer-term strategies to address the needs of kids, families and communities, but there are interventions that can help students right now.

In the short term, targeted, intensive tutoring has large positive effects on both math and reading achievement. Teachers tend to be the most consistently effective tutors; however, recent studies have found that paraprofessionals (teaching assistants), AmeriCorps volunteers and others who are trained to support student learning can be just as effective when tutoring one-on-one or in small groups.

Many states are using state and federal funds to invest in strategies to increase the diversity of the workforce. Access to a racially and culturally diverse teacher workforce is beneficial for all pre-K-12 students, particularly for students of color, who often thrive in classrooms led by teachers who share their racial and cultural background.

The pandemic’s impact on children cannot be measured by assessments alone. But we hope that the alarm over the steep drop in NAEP scores creates urgency to address the conditions that contributed to the decline, many of which far predate the pandemic.

Educators didn’t need to see declines in test scores to know what to do right now: focus like a laser on helping our kids recover and thrive.

Safety was required to return to in-person teaching and learning. Now is the time to double down on proven strategies, using the resources we are fortunate to have, to deliver on a promise the US has not yet fulfilled—providing every child access to a high quality public education, without exception.

Denise Forte is the CEO at The Education Trust. Randi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Jay Richards: The battle over parents’ rights in education is just getting started

Jay Richards The Heritage Foundation

It should come as no surprise that parents have been fighting for their rights so vociferously when it comes to public education. They’re fighting because they sense that those rights are under attack.

It started with the lockdowns in 2020. For the first time, many parents suddenly saw, courtesy of online conferencing apps like Zoom, what their kids were being taught. And they didn’t like it: Toxic and divisive ideas about race – disguised as lessons on slavery and racism – contradicted the belief in racial equality that most Americans – whatever their politics – shared with civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

But critical race theory is far less shocking than the radical gender ideology that seems to have overtaken our nation’s schools. It teaches children that “some people are boys, some people are girls, some people are both, neither, or somewhere in between”’ – as one popular children’s book puts it.

Schools are promoting the notion that some kids – perhaps many kids if recent trends continue – are born in the wrong body. Suddenly, from Florida to Texas to Wyoming, parents are discovering that schools are teaching, seemingly across the curriculum, that an internal sense of gender trumps biological sex. Worse, some schools are changing, at their students’ request – but without their parents’ knowledge or consent – their students’ names and pronouns to conform to a child’s surprising new “gender identity.”

When parents come to school board meetings to complain, far too many are met with silence or risible accusations that they are politicizing education. Parents have the primary right and responsibility to raise and teach their children.

Many parents delegate part of the teaching task to schools, in an act of trust. Rather than acting as faithful stewards of that trust, too many schools have decided that it’s their job to alienate kids from “regressive” views of their parents.

Is it any wonder that this has proved controversial?

We could dissipate some of the heat by increasing the rights of parents over their children’s schooling. States should connect school money to children, rather than to school buildings. Universal school choice for everyone – rich and poor, conservative and liberal – would not just make schools better and more competitive. It would make them less of an arena for the culture war that is otherwise roiling our culture.

Jay Richards is the William E. Simon Senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, where he is also director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family.

Akilah Alleyne: The education investments we need to make

Akilah Alleyne Akilah Alleyne

Book bans and censorship debates have always existed, but America’s children are facing an unprecedented moment in history. Today, school resources are stretched thin, schools are facing teacher and staff shortages and districts are still grappling with the long-term effects of the pandemic on student learning, as individuals’ rights to quality education are under increasing threat.

Important investments toward providing more supports for teachers, classroom aid and salary increases – such as by passing the RAISE Act – are needed now more than ever. That measure would provide teachers tax credits totaling as much as $15,000 each year.

Rather than addressing the real challenges facing teachers, many MAGA extremists have taken aim at books, racial and gender inclusion and more. Defunding the Department of Education, an ongoing federal level tactic among other changes in public school funding, should not be a topic of debate. However, it has also been central to MAGA Republicans’ federal policy agenda and could have devastating consequences for students nationwide.

While parents are working with teachers and librarians to ensure that every child is acknowledged in school curricula and has a chance to thrive in school, regardless of who they are or where they live, far-right MAGA extremists are increasingly running for vacant school board seats or for reelection to gain control and power over decision-making at all levels of government.

Students and teachers want safer schools that reflect the diversity of their families and teach truthful history. They can be best supported through policy making that increases equity and understanding in our school systems by supporting their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, not denying them.

Akilah Alleyne is the director for K-12 Education at the Center for American Progress, a think tank in Washington, DC.

Ross Wiener: Restoring trust in public schools should be a national priority

Ross Wiener Courtesy Ross Wiener

Public schools educate approximately 90% of young Americans. The society we are, and the one we will become, is profoundly shaped by public education.

It has made America more inclusive, improving outcomes across lines of race, gender and ability status. The result has been overwhelming bipartisan support for public schools over generations.

But the evidence of a crisis in our public schools is overwhelming: Hundreds of thousands of students have disappeared from school rolls, derailing their futures and foreshadowing budget woes when emergency Covid-19 relief funds expire. The Nation’s Report Card reported historic declines in reading and math scores, not surprising given pandemic disruptions.

What’s more, educator morale is low, exacerbating staff shortages. Classrooms are targets in the culture wars, leading to book bans and speech codes that never end well. Young people report epidemic levels of anxiety and depression.

The pandemic and broader turmoil afflicting the nation have left public education in peril. Every one of us has a stake in reversing this decline because, whether we’re talking about growing the economy or strengthening democracy, every path to redeeming the promise of America runs through public schools. Addressing lost learning is important, and so is addressing the lack of trust in public education.

Public education has played an enormous societal role: In the 19th century, common schools forged shared identity when government of the people, by the people, for the people was a novel idea. In the 20th century, universal high school fueled the growth of the middle class.

Over the last several decades, the broad vision that propelled America’s public schools has dwindled into a narrow, technocratic policy frame.

“A Nation at Risk,” a major report on education released by the Reagan administration in 1983, used fear-based arguments to argue that reading and math test scores were essential for national security. This logic eventually transformed test scores from one critical indicator (which they are) to the very purpose of public schools (which they are not).

Early accountability reforms led to gains among low-income students and students of color, but progress plateaued a decade ago. Test-and-accountability reforms over-promised and under-delivered and no longer command broad bipartisan support.

Renewing the promise of public education starts by rebuilding trust. Local education leaders were left holding the bag on school closings that should have been shared with health officials and political leaders.

Schools were expected to arrange meals, computers and broadband access – burdens they often shouldered alone. This was thrust on school systems where teachers already felt beleaguered and disrespected; in truth, our schools have operated in a low-trust environment for years. This led to schools being closed for far too long with continuing consequences, not only in diminished learning but also in diminished public support.

We must recommit to the mission of public education.

The Aspen Institute recently convened a bipartisan group of state policymakers to ask: What do we want to be true about the opportunities our public schools offer? After reflecting on values and reviewing research, these policymakers authored “Opportunity to Learn, Responsibility to Lead.” The principles they developed refocus attention on the core purposes of education in a diverse democracy and market-driven economy. It presents an evidence-informed vision for schools as engines of opportunity, which could galvanize the political middle to coalesce around a more positive approach.

State leaders should call for a public conversation about the future of their state and the role of public education in realizing that future. Unspent federal Covid-19 relief can be a perfect catalyst for this work. Grants to community-based organizations and PTAs, after-school providers, 4-H Clubs and faith-based youth groups can support stakeholders in articulating what they want to be true about their public schools and identifying opportunities in their communities. Universities, chambers of commerce and other civic organizations can use their own resources to sponsor similar inquiries.

Experience demonstrates there is much common ground to be found in efforts to strengthen public schools. Channeling Americans’ shared commitment to opportunity is the ideal antidote to the cynicism and division currently plaguing the policy and politics of public education.

Ross Wiener is executive director of the Education & Society Program at the Aspen Institute and the author of “We Are What We Teach.”

Elisa Villanueva Beard: We can fix America’s teacher shortage

Elisa Villanueva Beard Teach for America

Teacher shortages are not new, especially in schools serving predominantly students from low-income backgrounds, who are disproportionately young people of color. Yet cracks in the system before the pandemic have become gaping crevasses: In February 2022, there were nearly 600,000 fewer educators in public schools than there were in January 2020, and National Center for Education data showed less than half of schools serving majority Black and brown students were fully staffed.

The organization I lead, Teach For America, has 33 years of experience attracting talented individuals early in their careers to teach in rural and urban classrooms. Our research into the priorities of current college students finds that they want to have an impact on what matters most in the world, and the issue of quality education for all children is in their top five.

However, they also want to preserve their mental health and have financial stability, and the teaching profession’s low pay and structures that challenge work-life balance are deterrents – especially when the average student-loan debt is nearly $30,000 and many other professions offer flexible schedules and remote work options. This disconnect affects the profession at large, which has been struggling for years. Between 2008 and 2019, the number of graduates from traditional teacher education programs fell by more than a third.

We can tackle these issues in a number of ways: by increasing teacher pay; creating financial incentives for effective educators to teach in schools serving low-income communities; expanding student loan forgiveness for teachers, especially in hard-to-staff schools and subjects; ensuring teachers’ have sufficient resources and planning time, proper administrative help and the support of counselors and nurses; and fostering educator wellbeing by offering mental health supports and addressing sources of occupation-related stress.

These policies and practices will make teaching more desirable and accessible and will work to increase the racial, ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of the teaching workforce, a move that research shows has a positive impact for students.

As essential as these efforts are, they are not sufficient to address teacher shortages in the long term. Our country must think boldly at this moment about another problem that needs solving: What if the real issue is not that young adults don’t want to teach, but that the purpose of education has changed drastically and our education system has not kept up? What if we’ve reached the limits of this outmoded system and the conventional role of the teacher?

It’s time to expand the traditional definition of learning to include all the skills and mindsets that students want and need to thrive in our 21st century world and careers of the future: qualities like developing empathy, sustaining mental health and wellbeing, building relationships and applying learning to solve real-world problems.

Redefining learning opens the door to a more diverse set of adult leaders to work alongside educators and students: professionals in various fields who can support the development of students’ workplace skills; college students who can support digital literacy and serve as tutors and mentors; and any number of community leaders who can support students’ sense of belonging.

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For example, technology could allow expert educators to teach multiple classes virtually while a colleague who is expert in creating productive learning spaces – where every student is valued and feels they belong – focuses there. Many teachers excel at both roles – we just don’t have enough of them to staff every classroom in our country. This shift is not only about making teachers’ jobs more sustainable, but also about positioning teachers to further develop their areas of greatest expertise.

Fundamental changes of this magnitude don’t happen quickly. But, for too long, we’ve expected teachers to carry the weight of an outmoded education system. We can’t just replenish this system. We must redefine what and how students learn and reimagine the role of the teacher to inspire a new generation of purpose-driven young people to get involved and reinvent the system for a stronger, more equitable future.

Elisa Villanueva Beard is the CEO of Teach For America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving educational access, opportunity and outcomes for young people in low-income communities. She tweets @VillanuevaBeard.

Maryland Primary Election 2018: 9 Democrats are running for ...

Delmarva Now Staff Report

Maryland's primary election is June 26.

Nine democrats are running for state governor.

The winner of the primary will face Gov. Larry Hogan.

Delmarva Now and The Daily Times asked all candidates in contested primary races to complete a questionnaire on their candidacy. All answers have been published unedited. Should a candidate’s answers exceed the allotted word count, their response will appear with an ellipsis marking the maximum number of words. Maryland’s primary election is June 26, 2018.

The following people did not return candidate questionnaires after multiple requests: Valerie Ervin and James Hugh Jones II. On Wednesday, June 13, Ervin withdrew as a candidate.

Rushern Baker

Age: 59

Occupation: Prince George’s County Executive

Why are you running for office?

I’ve seen firsthand how education can save lives. I've learned as a caregiver for my wife why having affordable healthcare is so important for every Marylander. I've seen what transforming neighborhoods and finding a good job means to families that are struggling.

When I became County Executive, Prince George's County was leading the state in foreclosures, homicides had increased, there was no Economic Development going on and we we in the midst of a major ethics scandal. Eight years later, we lead the state in job creation, we have the fastest rising home values in the state, we have attracted $9 billion in private investment, and homicide rates have been cut by more than half to 50-year lows.

To me, these issues are personal. I'm the one candidate with experience passing laws at the state level and running one of the most complex governments in the state. I have a proven record of delivering results.

Top 3 issues? What is your stance on each, and how would you address it?

1. Education: As governor, my top funding priority will be to fully fund education. I know that education can change lives because it changed mine. If it weren't for my loving parents and dedicated teachers, I would not have had the opportunity to be the first in my family to graduate college.

As County Executive, I have consistently fought for increases in school funding for higher teacher salaries; dual-enrollment programs; expanded universal pre-k and full-day kindergarten.

I know that fully funding schools is the first step to ensuring that every student in our state has the same opportunities I had. Our public schools are the heart of our communities -- they have the ability to provide students with a lifetime of opportunity and are a signal to families and businesses that this is a place they should move to and invest.

2. Transportation: If you want to bring jobs and economic development to Maryland, you start by investing in mass transit projects. Baltimore, which has been historically underserved with transit options, deserves the kind of economic prosperity and improved quality of life that mass transit projects like the Red Line can provide.

We need 21st century solutions to our transit problems that will not only connect more people to jobs and take cars off the road, but also spur economic development in the communities they serve.

3. Criminal Justice Reform: In the County, we were able to achieve historic reductions in crime in part because we had a partner in Governor O'Malley. That support is no longer there for counties.

The recidivism rate in Baltimore City is staggering - estimates by DPSCS place it at 70%. Public Safety Compact, an innovative public-private partnership, has worked in Maryland. The recidivism rate for the program after three years was less than 10 percent and saved $2.5 million. Governor Hogan stopped the program. I would reinstate immediately. Investing in these programs not only saves money, it makes communities safer.

We will look at ways to address the systemic issues that perpetuate crime including poverty, lack of jobs and poor education. We will work to reduce prison populations, address racial disparity, and eliminate barriers for formerly incarcerated individuals to return to their communities. Investing in long term solutions that address the root causes of crime and reforming our criminal justice system will be a top funding priority of mine.

Closing argument:

As County executive, I ran the second largest county in the state. I faced tough challenges - corruption, crime, failing schools, foreclosures - but I never did what was best for my political career – I did what was best for my community.

As a result, we created the fastest growing economy in Maryland, cut crime in half and raised home values without displacing people. We did it by proactively transforming neighborhoods, implementing mandatory bias training for police officers, lowering dropout rates, and getting more jobs for returning citizens.

I have been endorsed by the Washington Post, Senator Chris Van Hollen, Congressman Steny Hoyer, Attorney General Brian Frosh and dozens of other Maryland elected officials because of my record of success and progressive ideas for the state. I believe we have the vision and experience necessary to make our plans for Maryland a reality. It would be an honor to serve as your next governor.

More:Larry Hogan campaign reports raising more than $1.2 million in 35 days

Ralph Jaffe

Age: 76

Occupation: Teacher

Why are you running for office?

I have been a political science teacher since 1964.

Since 2002, I have been leading the movement to try to put a stop to the moral bankruptcy that has pervaded Maryland government and replace it with real ethical reform.

As a teacher, I believe the best way to teach is not by words, but by actions. Therefore I use these political campaigns as a teaching methodology to point out the corruption in government.

This is my 6th campaign for political office. I am not a politician, but if elected, I will serve.

My platform consists of 5 principles.

Refuse campaign contributions - they are disguised bribes. Pursue the truth Keep away from paid political lobbyists Serve one term only Serve free

Top 3 issues? What is your stance on each, and how would you address it?

Crime

The size of Police Departments in metropolitan areas in Maryland needs to be increased, especially in Baltimore City because currently there’s a severe shortage of police officers. We need at least 1200 more foot patrol officers on Baltimore City streets.

We need to restore public trust in the police force. This calls for a two way operation where we are able to trust the people whose job is to protect us while we give police officers the support they require in order to do their job properly.

We also need police commissioners who know how to lead and can be trusted.

Education

We need an educational system that gives students hope instead of hopelessness. My TUTOR-MENTOR TEAM PROGRAM is designed to keep students on the right path to a life of success rather than despair. Students are given an opportunity to connect with a TUTOR-MENTOR TEAM who will stay with them from the moment of linking up until the student graduates from high school and/or college and is gainfully employed.

Additionally, I believe that teachers are overworked and underpaid.

Nursing Homes

The treatment of the elderly in nursing homes can be labeled as disgraceful. Unless the resident has tons of money to pay for special service, it comes as no surprise that the residents are often victims of negligence and mistreatment. I have expressed concerns about understaffing and safety in these facilities for the last 20 years.

Better treatment of citizens living in nursing homes will be a major priority. Currently, one nurse’s assistant can be assigned 30 patients at one time on his/her shift. This is unacceptable. I will try to get the state legislature to pass legislation calling for no more than 6 patients to one nurse’s assistant.

Closing argument:

The most important issue is TRUST. Which candidate can be trusted?

Since the movement started in 2002 I have kept my word. I do not take campaign contributions, because they are disguised bribes. I will serve free. I do pursue the truth.

I will put the salary in a trust fund to be distributed to the needy in our state. I do not deal with lobbyists; I teach my students to be their own lobbyists. I will serve one term only so I can really serve the people rather than worry about getting re-elected and gaining money, power, and fame.

I believe my track record demonstrates I can be trusted.

Right now, I believe we do not have any ethical politician in our state. That’s why our state is so messed up.

Ben Jealous

Age: 45

Occupation: Former National President & CEO of the NAACP; Partner at Kapor Capital

Why are you running for office?

I’m running for governor, not because I need a job, but because I have a vision. A vision where we fully fund our schools, ensure universal healthcare and stop rising premiums, and invest in communities across the state to ensure economic opportunity for all. I’m a civil rights leader and community organizer who was named the youngest ever National President and CEO of the NAACP. In 2012, I was named Marylander of The Year by The Baltimore Sun for leading the effort to pass the Maryland DREAM Act, ensure marriage equality, abolish the death penalty, and expand voting rights -- all in one year. Many people may tell you the things I want to do are big, well, I’ve specialized in doing big things my entire life and Marylanders are ready for a governor able to actually solve their problems.

Top 3 issues? What is your stance on each, and how would you address it?

1. Education is my top priority and what I see in Maryland is chronic underfunding of our public school system. Well-funded public schools are the surest ticket to the middle class and the best way to make sure we have a dynamic, well-educated, productive workforce. Our own state’s consultants have found that we are underfunding our kids by $2.9 billion annually. That’s unacceptable. I have two kids in our public schools, so this is personal to me. I’ve been endorsed by the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) which represents 74,000 educators across our state because they know that I am committed to fully funding our schools. I’ve come out with two education plans highlighting how we’ll fully fund our schools, provide full-day universal Pre-K, and ensure free-tuition for all Marylanders to attend community college. I’m the only candidate with two plans for education. One which outlines how we will fund full-day universal Pre-K and raise teacher pay and the other which outlines how we will expand tuition-free community college to every Marylander. You can read both on my website at benjealous.com.

2. Marylanders have faced annual double-digit increases in premiums for several years, we’ve seen prescription drug costs continue to cripple families, and even those who have “good insurance” have to spend thousands of dollars out of pocket before they can use it. The only real solution is a Medicare-for-All system which can lower prescription drug costs, stop rising premiums, and ensure quality care for every Marylander. The greatest obstacle to enacting a Medicare-for-All type system in Maryland is a governor who lacks the courage to take on big challenges or one who can’t bring together diverse coalitions committed to progressive change. I was named Marylander of the Year in 2013 because I lead the efforts to abolish the death penalty, pass the DREAM Act, pass marriage equality, and expand voting rights all in one year. Traditional politicians warned us that we couldn’t get even one of these things done, but we pulled together our coalitions and fought for all four at once. When I’m governor, we will have a Medicare-for-All system in this state and we will do it by building a grand coalition of working families committed to getting the priorities of our government back in order. I’ve been endorsed by Maryland’s nurses from the Service Employees International Union, National Nurses Union, and the Maryland nurses represented by the DC Nurses Association because they trust me to make our healthcare system better for everyone. I’m the only candidate with a plan for Medicare-for-All which you can read on my website at benjealous.com.

3. As governor, I will also work to reform our criminal justice system and improve public safety. If we are serious about keeping Marylanders safe, we have to invest in proven programs like Safe Streets which has reduced violence significantly in neighborhoods where it has been deployed. I’m the only candidate in this race with comprehensive plans for both criminal justice reform and police reform. My grandfather was a probation officer in Baltimore for decades and I have family members across Maryland who wake up every day and pull on a uniform, badge, and gun. It’s because of my close, personal relationships with law enforcement that I am committed to making sure they are given the proper training and tools to protect our communities. Making sure our officers are well-prepared includes keeping them accountable to the public and making sure that communities trust officers. As governor, I’ll invest in proven programs that reduce crime, invest in communities where there is little hope, and give police the training and resources to do their jobs.

Closing argument:

I’ve been endorsed by the Maryland State Education Association which represents 74,000 educators across our state, organizations that represent tens of thousands of nurses, and the lions share of progressive groups. That’s because I have a track record of getting big things done in our state, the experience of running a large, complex organization, and because I’m a lifelong community organizer and civil rights leader. As governor, I’ll fully fund our schools, ensure that every Marylander has quality, reliable healthcare, and enact comprehensive criminal justice reform. Join our movement of working families at benjealous.com!

Rich Madaleno

Age: 52

Occupation: State Senator/public servant

Why are you running for office?

On the critical issues facing the people of our state we need a bold, tireless governor who can set an agenda of progress for all Marylanders. I will be that governor. From education to transportation, from economic development to economic justice, from sustainable healthcare to environmental sustainability, Larry Hogan has not served the people of Maryland. I will. I will advance the rights and address the needs of ALL Marylanders. From jobs, wages and tax fairness t o education and the environment, I will ensure that our great state is ready and prepared not just for the next four years, but for the next forty years, to ensure Maryland will be a beacon for the future. We need a governor who fights for Marylanders and for progress, who says Maryland is open to the future and ready to lead again. Maryland can be a great, diverse, prosperous, welcoming community working together.

Top 3 issues? What is your stance on each, and how would you address it?

1. Education. My commitment to education is demonstrated by my leadership on the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education (Kirwan Commission), charged with establishing the future direction for Maryland’s education system. It released preliminary recommendations, which provide a blueprint for improving education and opportunity for all children, especially those with significant challenges. A key recommendation, which I fully support, is investing in high-quality early childhood education. As Vice-Chair of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee I was a leader in this year’s budget which includes $200 million for future investments in education and funds for school safety.

2. Healthcare. Healthcare is a human right. Yet Larry Hogan refused to speak out against Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and their repeal of the individual mandate. I will find solutions to protect affordable, high quality health care for Marylanders by supporting an individual down payment plan so that all Marylanders have health care coverage. When the Republicans threatened to cut off reimbursements for Planned Parenthood, I successfully championed a new law guaranteeing continued state funding for these health care services. I will make prescription drugs affordable by establishing a new drug review commission.

3. Economy. Under my leadership Maryland will be “Open to the Future”. I will vigorously pursue opportunities for greater economic development and family-supporting jobs. Strong partnerships between employers and our educational institutions will provide the trained, skilled workers that businesses need. I fought for career and technical education programs and tax credits for businesses that grow jobs in our state. I support construction of the East Coast’s largest offshore wind energy project off Ocean City to create thousands of jobs in construction and support services. Salisbury is the perfect location for the manufacture of vessels needed to construct and service offshore wind turbines worldwide.

Closing argument:

I urge you to support my campaign for governor because I will provide real results and proven progressive leadership on the issues of importance to Maryland families. I will be the education governor who will invest in our children and our educators to build a 21st century system of education. I will fight to enact the $15 per hour minimum wage, indexed for inflation, so that our growing economy will be a just economy. I am the only candidate with the experience and a proven record of accomplishments -- in areas critical to Maryland families such as education, civil rights, and labor -- and a true progressive vision for our future. There is no other candidate in the race - including the incumbent - who brings a track record of leadership and real results for the people of Maryland. For more information go to www.MadalenoForMaryland.com.

Alec Ross

Age: 46

Occupation: Author and Technology Expert

Why are you running for office?

I am running for governor of Maryland because I believe that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not; and that needs to change. I have spent my entire career in public service and believe that our state and country are at an inflection point in our politics. We need to elect leaders who can help us move into an ever-changing future.

My specific experience working as an executive in government managing massive programs across many departments and agencies uniquely equips me for the role. Throughout my career, I have been a progressive leader and policy maker on a number of important issues - be it education, broadband internet access, environmental issues, transparency and openness in government, or economic development, to name a few. When I am governor of Maryland, it will be no different.

Top 3 issues? What is your stance on each, and how would you address it?

Education - We must fundamentally reset how we fund education in our state, and that will be my number one priority as governor. I came to Baltimore 24 years ago to be a public school teacher in Baltimore City, and my wife continues to teach in our public schools. We have a tremendous opportunity with the Kirwan Commission, and I believe we must do everything we can to implement new funding models that help us take bold steps to improve our education system. Education is the starting point for addressing nearly every societal need, and we must prioritize equitable, innovative educational programs for our children.

Environmental policy and the Green Economy - The Chesapeake Bay is a treasure, providing economic and recreational benefits estimated at $33 billion a year. Protecting it will be one of my primary priorities. Additionally, we will make Maryland the center of the Green Economy and create jobs for people across the state. We need to invest in solutions to help clean up the bay that harness advances in technology, innovation, and citizen engagement and establish a statewide Maryland Green Bank.

Economic development - Our current governor likes to claim that Maryland is “open for business,” when in reality, we are not doing enough to support our state’s innovators and business owners. Maryland is the only state in the country that’s projected to see its economy get worse in 2018. We need to focus on supporting the small and medium-sized businesses that form the backbone of our economy. My running mate Julie Verratti is a small business owner herself and is acutely aware of the challenges that face business owners. Together, we are focused on supporting and growing homegrown innovators. This will increase the amount of good jobs in our state and attract the kind of investment that will lead to many more.

Closing argument:

I believe that we are at an inflection point in both our politics and economic future as a country, and it is more important than ever that we elect leaders who can help us navigate the years to come. There are many choices in this crowded primary, and when November’s primary elections come around, voters will have a hard choice to make. I am a leader who can be counted on for transparency, innovation, and compassionate policy. I have spent my career looking at what’s next and helping prepare people and organizations to compete and succeed in a changing world. I don’t think the same-old, same-old politicians and policies are going to best serve Marylanders, and I promise that as your governor, I will work every day on behalf of the diverse communities and individuals that call our great state home. Together, we can face the future with confidence.

Jim Shea

Age: 65

Occupation: Chair Emeritus, Venable LLP

Why are you running for office?

I have deep and varied experience in issue areas that Marylanders care about most, including education, transportation, and job creation. I have led the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, and economic development zones in Baltimore, all while building my own business into a global enterprise.

Since Larry Hogan has been governor, Maryland’s schools are slipping, we sit in some of the worst traffic in the nation, and our economy lags behind neighboring states. Together with my running mate, Baltimore City Councilman Brandon Scott, we will make wise investments to get Maryland back on track and build a better future for our children.

Top 3 issues? What is your stance on each, and how would you address it?

1. Education - Education is the surest ladder of opportunity as it provides children the tools they need to succeed in life and realize their full potential. Maryland needs a world-class education system, from pre-k through higher education, that will improve lives, broaden opportunity, and drive economic development. My bold and comprehensive plan includes universal pre-k, increased support for economically disadvantaged areas, a curriculum benchmarked against international standards, better compensation and career tracks for teachers, increased vocational training, and an equitable funding formula that properly accounts for relative wealth.

2. Transportation – Marylanders need to be able to get to school and work quickly and reliably, but traffic congestion is currently harming both quality of life and the environment. We cannot fully step into the 21st century and compete in today’s economy unless we commit to developing a statewide first-class public transit system. As Governor, I will implement an integrated statewide plan that focuses on public transportation. I will invest in infrastructure in Western and Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore that combats traffic congestion, and I will integrate multi-county transit services such as Shore Transit and Maryland Upper Shore Transit. We need to make public transit more attractive than driving.

3. Economic Development - As Governor, I will foster an environment that promotes economic growth and creates good-paying jobs, expanding opportunity and giving hard-working Marylanders the raise they deserve. I will build our economy from the middle out to create a dynamic and growing middle-class. I will work with private and public-sector employers to expand economic opportunity across the state. My administration will attract the jobs of today and prepare Marylanders for the jobs of tomorrow. I have significant economic development experience, including supporting the creation of small businesses and start-ups, and I will use it grow our economy.

Closing argument:

In the Democratic primary on June 26 and the general election in November, Marylanders must choose the candidate with the vision and experience to invest in our state’s future. Larry Hogan has failed our state’s children and economy. I am the only Democratic candidate who has delivered a statewide education system. I have fought for mass transit, including expanding the MARC service. And I have supported the creation of small businesses in disadvantaged areas and hundreds of startups. I have comprehensive statewide plans that will improve education, transportation, job creation, and public safety across the state, as well as ways to fund them. My running mate, Baltimore City Councilman Brandon Scott, and I will bridge the generational, geographic, and ideological divides in our state to expand opportunity for all Marylanders.

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah

Age: 38

Occupation: Former Policy Director for First Lady Michelle Obama, who has worked at the highest levels of law and business. Proud mom of my 10-month-old daughter, Alana.

Why are you running for office?

I am running for Governor, because I couldn’t sit on the sidelines as our children’s schools decline, our friends die from opioid overdoses, our neighbors cannot afford to pay their healthcare bills, and our economy remains stuck in traffic. As Governor, I will focus on what matters most—fully funding our schools, increasing wages, reducing crime, treating drug addiction, alleviating traffic, investing in infrastructure, and protecting our sacred environment. To accomplish all this, we need a new generation of leadership.

It was not long ago that Maryland led the nation in school performance, job creation, and conservation. But today too many of the students who can least afford to be left behind have been forgotten altogether. Too many workers have been left out. And under the Trump administration, our precious environment faces its greatest threats in decades. A deficit in leadership from the Governor could not come at a worse time.

Top 3 issues? What is your stance on each, and how would you address it?

Expanding Educational Opportunity from Cradle to Career

Both of my parents were Baltimore City school educators, and I am the only gubernatorial candidate who attended Maryland public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. Improving the public education system in Maryland remains my top priority, and my administration will close the multi-billion dollar funding gap and attack systemic inequity by (1) offering tuition free community college, (2) universal access to pre-kindergarten, and (3) 21st century STEM education in every Maryland school -- all while improving free-and-reduced lunch programs. No matter your age, income, or address, you should always have access to educational opportunity in Maryland.

Building a Resilient Economy

If Maryland didn't have over 300,000 federal jobs, our state would have the highest unemployment rate in the country, and for those who do find work, most new jobs today pay less than a living wage. My administration will invest in 21st century infrastructure projects to bring low-cost, high-speed internet to every Maryland resident; in transit projects that both alleviate traffic and accelerate the movement of commercial goods in our economy; and in the translation of taxpayer-funded research into new, well-paid jobs for Maryland resident. My administration will create 250,000 new jobs for working families over 4 years because Maryland needs an economy that's both strong and, more importantly, accessible to everyone.

Protecting the Environment

Under my administration, Maryland would lead the nation in climate action: cutting emissions, improving our resilience to flooding and sea-level rise, and leading in energy efficiency, offshore wind, solar, and other clean energy industries — all of which will create well-paying jobs. Government at the local, state, and federal level has subsidized the energy industry. It is time to direct those resources away from fossil fuels and towards 21st century energy solutions.

Closing argument:

It’s time to put everyday working people over partisan politics. My campaign is driven by a desire to focus on the policy, issues, and ideals that will improve the lives of everyday Marylanders. From high-speed internet access to 3 months of paid family leave and investments in mobile health clinics for rural areas, the Eastern Shore needs support from the state to thrive and evolve into an economic engine for Maryland. Maryland also needs a Governor who will stand against the Trump administration for working families. Every Marylander must have the chance to reach their fullest potential, regardless of their age, race, or zip code.

Last, Maryland has had 62 governors — none of them were women —and out of 14 positions, there are no women who hold statewide or federal elected office in Maryland. This is about more than representation, it’s about policy. When women lead, better policies follow.

More:Maryland Primary Election 2018: Meet the candidates for District 37A House of Delegates

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Transcript of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds 2021 Condition of the State ...

Des Moines Register staff

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is giving her 2021 Condition of the State speech. This is the transcript of the speech as prepared for delivery:

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Lieutenant Governor, legislative leaders and members, justices and judges, my fellow Iowans:

Our state constitution says that, every year, the governor must communicate to the general assembly the condition of the state. That usually happens in the morning on the second day of the legislative session, but tonight I’m breaking with that tradition so that I may speak directly to Iowans.

It’s been a year — and I’ll let you fill in whatever adjective you want. Covid-19. Civil Unrest. A drought. A derecho. We’ve been beaten and battered in about every way imaginable and some unimaginable. But together, we’ve met every challenge with bravery and outright grit.

We’re told that “tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance, character.” From what I’ve seen, there’s no shortage of character in the people of Iowa. And despite what we’ve been through—or maybe because of it—the condition of our state has never been stronger.

We live in a place where 82-year-old Blanche Chizek from Britt sewed over 1,000 masks and baked dozens of pastries for healthcare workers. Where 17-year-old Tanner Kenin recruited his friends to start a grocery delivery company for the elderly. Where an anonymous donor gave out more than $80,000 in gift cards from local businesses to every resident of Earlham. And where countless other Iowans donated food, time, and resources.

Thousands of Iowans—truck drivers, manufacturers, grocery store clerks, meat-processing workers, and so many others—showed up to work everyday to make sure that the people of this state, and the world, were fed. Police officers, social workers, and government employees worked around the clock to deliver PPE and make sure Iowans continued to receive the services they depend on. Small businesses adjusted their hours and often how they operate to protect their employees and customers.

And nowhere was the dedication and commitment to others more evident than in our healthcare system.

Nurses, doctors, technicians, janitors, pharmacists, EMTs, social workers, and the thousands of direct care workers in our senior living communities: In 2020, you worked some of the longest hours, in the most uncertain conditions. Your actions saved lives. Your spirit inspired us.

And you didn’t just provide medical care. Your patients often couldn’t be with their loved ones, so you also provided them comfort and company. You sat with them when no one else could. You held their hand, facilitated calls to family, and in some cases stood by them while they took their last breath. While many of us were shielded from the worst of the pandemic, you were on the front lines everyday.

We cannot sufficiently express our gratitude, but we will try. Please join me in thanking these heroic Iowans.

Iowans are well-accustomed to the extremes of Mother Nature’s temper, but the derecho in August was unlike anything we’ve seen. Hurricane-force winds recorded as high as 140 miles an hour raged across our state. Over one-third of our counties impacted; 584,000 households left without power; thousands of homes damaged. Millions of acres of crops were flattened, and as grain bins crumpled, we lost over 100 million bushels of grain storage. It was a disaster of unprecedented scope.

In Marshalltown, the derecho left behind three times as much debris as the F3 tornado that ripped through the city’s downtown in 2018. And the scars will be evident for generations to come in places like Cedar Rapids and Marion, where they lost more than half of their tree canopy.

We praise the dedication of the more than 200 National Guard members who deployed to help remove debris; the local police, fire, public works departments, and emergency managers, who stepped up and served their neighbors tirelessly; and the dedicated staff of state agencies like DHS, DNR and DOT, who pressed ahead where their state needed them.

We thank the thousands of line workers who came from across the country to supplement the crews from Alliant, MidAmerican, and our other utilities to restore electricity with astonishing speed, often to the applause of Iowans.

I spoke with some of the line workers from out of state, and heard not only that our disaster was as bad as the aftermath of hurricanes whose names have been retired, but also that Iowans showed more hope, more patience, and more gratitude than people from anywhere else.

Good corporate citizenship was put on display not only by our power companies, but by essential suppliers like Hy-Vee and Fareway that donated food, water, and supplies. It was shown by small-business owners like Willie Ray Fairley, whose Willie Ray’s Q Shack gave away hundreds of meals a day to people whose own refrigerators and stoves weren’t working. Willie Ray didn’t just fill hungry stomachs, he fed a sense of community. And that’s what makes a disaster bearable.

What happened this year went beyond Iowa nice. You showed a humanity that rivals what most of us have seen in our lifetime.

Our job now is to hold on to that humanity. 2020 left its mark on everyone, but not evenly. There are people across this state who are still hurting. Many lost their job or their business or even their home.

And many lost loved ones to this horrible pandemic. For them, and for anyone who lost someone this year, whatever the cause, saying goodbye was even harder than it usually is. You may not have been able to be with them while they were sick, to hold their hand one last time, or to fully celebrate their life at a funeral with all of those they loved.

Whether you’re in the chamber or watching at home, please take a moment, bow your head, and remember all of those we lost this year and the loved ones they leave behind.

Thank you.

When I stood here last year, our fiscal health was strong. We had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, incomes were going up, and our economy was roaring. Then 2020 happened.

We took a hit like everyone else, but we didn’t falter long. Because of conservative budgeting practices, Iowa’s diverse economy, the decision to keep over 80% of our businesses open, and the tenacity of our people, Iowa isn’t facing a massive budget shortfall like many states.

As I stand here tonight, our unemployment rate has returned to 3.6%, one of the lowest in the country, and our GDP grew over 36% in the third quarter of 2020, outpacing the nation. Iowa’s coming back, and we’re coming back strong.

Iowa’s success has always been about turning obstacles into opportunities and overcoming adversity together. The post-Covid world won't be the same as the pre-Covid world. And it shouldn’t.

Watch live:Gov. Kim Reynolds calls on Iowa Legislature to ‘immediately’ send in-person education bill to her desk

Be bold to solve the 'challenges facing our economy'

We’ve learned a lot. Entire sectors of our economy were forced to innovate overnight and adapt to survive. We can approach Iowa’s economic recovery in a number of ways. We can return to where we were, which is a realistic but still ambitious goal. Or we can take what we’ve learned and the innovation that’s been applied over the past ten months and capitalize on the opportunity to reimagine, modernize, and possibly restructure everything from healthcare and education, to our workforce and quality of life.

It’s about ensuring our future prosperity is widespread and reaches all people and all parts of Iowa, including those that too often feel left out when times are good.

That’s why I formed the Economic Recovery Advisory Board this summer. Chaired by Ruan Transportation CEO Ben McLean, the 15-member board and 350 working group members volunteered their time and talents to meet my charge to be bold, innovative and direct about the challenges facing our economy. I want to thank them for their diligent work to make sure that we support every part of Iowa and every Iowan.

The report will be released soon, but there are a few big issues that we can begin to address tonight.

The need for universal broadband is one of them. As we’ve seen during the pandemic, high-speed internet is as vital to our communities as running water and electricity; if they don’t have it, they can’t grow.

Every year I’ve been governor, I’ve focused on expanding broadband to every Iowa community, and we’re making progress. But not enough.

About a third of our counties are still broadband deserts, where high-speed internet is rarely offered. And for many Iowans, it’s just not affordable. Iowa also has the second lowest broadband speeds in the country.

I’m done taking small steps and hoping for big change. This is the time for bold action and leadership. Let’s plant a stake in the ground and declare that every part of Iowa will have affordable, high-speed broadband by 2025.

We’ll get there by committing $450 million over that time period, which will leverage millions more in private investment, giving Iowa the biggest buildout of high-speed internet in the country.

Iowa has more households with all parents working than any other state, yet we’ve lost one-third of our childcare spots over the last five years. When schools abruptly closed last spring, a system already under stress was pushed even harder.

Some families were able to adapt by working from home. Others leaned on grandparents, aunts and uncles, and family friends for support. In Pottawattamie County, a group of daycare providers and other partners teamed up to provide free daycare for essential workers.

But many parents weren’t so lucky and struggled to find ways to care for their children and still show up for work—often in roles that are essential to all of us. Even when the coronavirus is a distant memory, Iowa will still need an abundance of high-quality child care so that families can prosper and children can grow.

Many of our communities and businesses are working together to address this issue. In Stuart, seventeen local businesses joined together to purchase an empty building, with plans to renovate and lease it to a childcare provider.

It’s in our state’s interests to encourage these types of public-private partnerships, which is why we created the Child Care Challenge Fund last year. It’s an innovative program that encourages employers, community leaders, and others to collaborate in developing child care facilities.

This year, we need to fund that program, so I’m allocating $3 million to jump-start these public-private partnerships. I’m also using $25 million of child care development block grants to further promote child care startups. Every community has different needs and different resources. Just as the leaders in Stuart found a solution that fits their hometown, we want to facilitate local solutions in other places, too.

Let’s remove the obstacles to high-quality, affordable child care so that Iowa families can nurture their kids while parents maintain the maximum freedom to enter and remain in the workforce.

As our economy comes back, we’re facing a familiar problem: more job openings than there are people who have skills to fill them. That’s why we need to continue the work we started with Future Ready Iowa, a program that is designed to increase the number of Iowans with education or training beyond high school.

Education or training. That’s worth repeating. We have exceptional universities, colleges, and community colleges in this state. But not all skills are learned in a classroom. On-the-job training and reskilling are some of the most valuable ways to advance our workforce and increase Iowan’s wages. We need to continue to find ways to recognize this type of experience.

We took a big step in June by passing a significant licensing reform package. It didn’t get a lot of attention at the time, but at the beginning of this session we should stop to recognize how important it was: Iowa now has the most flexible licensing reciprocity and recognition laws in the nation, which sends a signal to the country that Iowa is open for business.

And we’re not done. This year, we’ll begin the task of reviewing each of our licensing boards and commissions to make sure they are serving their purpose.

We must also continue the great strides we’ve made by integrating work-based learning into the K-12 curriculum. We know that many kids think of education differently when it involves real-life experience. They see why education matters and it can be key in helping them choose and prepare for a career that fits them.

Many schools across the state are offering these work-based learning experiences. Let’s make sure that every high-school student gets that same chance. I’m calling on the legislature to make that an expectation of all our schools.

When Iowa families come together after work and school, they need a place to call home. Unfortunately, we have a growing mismatch between where job opportunities are thriving and where people can find affordable places to live.

Some communities have rallied to buck this trend. Forest City hadn’t seen a new affordable apartment complex in more than 25 years, so community leaders raised $4 million in financing by leveraging local and state resources. And a new apartment complex was built in 2017.

In Davenport, leaders used the same public-private partnership to convert an old, vacant school building into 41 affordable apartments, which were rented within two months. This project brought new housing to the historic riverfront and served as a catalyst for redevelopment.

Forest City and Davenport exemplify the spirit of Iowa communities. But the reality is, there aren’t enough resources to go around. Last year alone, Iowa communities requested more than three times what was available.

We must expand initiatives like these that address pent-up demand for affordable housing, helping our communities thrive and our families move where opportunities await them.

There’s a lot to do this year, but if we tackle issues like broadband, childcare, workforce training, and affordable housing, we’ll set Iowa on a solid path for economic prosperity for years to come.

And remember, that unlike many states we’re starting from a good financial position. We aren’t looking at tough budget cuts and we’re certainly not looking at raising taxes. If anything, we need to continue the conversation about cutting taxes, and we can start by getting rid of the unnecessary triggers that were put in place in 2018. Let’s make Iowa more competitive and guarantee our taxpayers that they can keep more of their hard earned money.

Kids should be in schools; 'School choice shouldn’t be limited'

A high-quality education system is the foundation of our state. Historically, we’ve had some of the best schools in the nation. And I believe we still do. What many of our teachers and administrators did this last year was nothing short of amazing.

In Clear Creek Amana, Barb Hunt’s special-education students were struggling with virtual learning, so she worked with transportation director Denny Schreckengast to convert a camper into a classroom. Since the kids couldn’t come to the classroom, they brought the classroom to them.

In Hinton, when the school went to a hybrid model for a few weeks, teachers spent hours holding individual Zoom calls with students, sometimes going into the evening, to make sure they weren’t falling behind.

At West Sioux, teachers personally went to the homes of Spanish-speaking families who needed help setting up internet service.

In Clarinda, the district was short on bus drivers so Josh Porter, a school administrator with a CDL, jumped behind the wheel to make sure his kids could be in the classroom.

And in Cedar Rapids, Noreen Bush, Superintendent of the second largest school district in the state, and her team, made heroic efforts to get her kids back into the classroom just weeks after many of their schools were ripped apart by the derecho, and she did it while receiving chemotherapy.

There are stories like this from all across the state. Teachers and administrators put their students first in uncertain and difficult times, especially as they implemented plans to safely and responsibly reopen schools.

But that hasn’t been the case everywhere. Over the last few months, I’ve heard the frustration from many parents, students and teachers who didn’t have the opportunity to go back to school. Let me give you just a sample of those frustrations.

I talked to a passionate teacher whose student hasn’t logged in for class in nine weeks, and there is nothing she can do about it.

I visited with the parent of a child with special needs who is devastated by seeing her daughter’s education and social progress fade because a computer screen isn’t a substitute.

I spoke to a middle-school student who has to watch her younger siblings during the day and complete her own school work at night.

And I heard from numerous parents whose kids’ school day consisted of just 60 to 90 minutes of online instruction per day, at most.

Nicole, a mother of three elementary students who, since March, have spent less than a week in the classroom, told me she’s struggling to facilitate her children’s online learning while keeping up with her job. She said she feels like she’s failing as a parent, a spouse, and an employee.

These stories are heartbreaking. And let me assure you Nicole, it’s not you who’s failing.

The vast majority of our schools found a way to safely and responsibly reopen, all day, Monday through Friday. It’s past time that every district makes that happen. As one parent told me: “Options are good. But if some parents get the option to go 100% online, why don’t my kids get the option to be 100% in the classroom?”

I agree, so tonight I am asking the legislature to immediately send a bill to my desk that gives parents the choice to send their child back to school full time. We can’t wait any longer. Our kids can’t wait any longer.

If there’s one thing the pandemic has taught us about education, it’s that our parents need choice. And it’s not just in-person versus virtual. Sometimes it’s about which school to attend altogether.

When some schools remained closed or went part-time this fall, a lot of parents sent their kids to private school or open enrolled. But not everyone had that option. Many parents can’t afford private school. And because some of our larger districts prohibit open enrollment, they won’t let you transfer to another public school.

One parent I talked to said that a school administrator actually recommended that she buy a house in the neighboring district if she wanted her son to go to school in-person.

We need to fix that. School choice shouldn’t be limited to those who have the financial means or are lucky to live in a district that’s confident enough to allow open enrollment. So let’s make choice an option for everyone.

We can do that by making open enrollment available in all districts and by allowing our communities more flexibility to create public charter schools where there is a need for an alternative. And we should create education savings accounts for students who are trapped in a failing school; let’s give them another choice by making sure money isn’t their barrier.

Make no mistake, it’s imperative that we have a strong public school system—which is why we have and will continue to prioritize school funding while many other states are cutting their education budgets. But school choice isn’t a zero sum game. It has the potential to raise the quality for all schools. And for those schools that do fall behind, it ensures our children don’t fall with them. Let’s work together to make sure every child receives a quality education, regardless of income, and no matter their zip code.

Reynolds: Protect law enforcement, march toward racial justice.

In 2020, we saw an overwhelming call for racial justice in Iowa and across the nation.

We heard that call and, with a bipartisan effort, passed the More Perfect Union Act to improve police work in Iowa. I’m proud of that legislation, and we’re continuing to make criminal justice reform a priority.

I’m also very proud of our law enforcement. They put their lives on the line every day—something we should never forget. And if we needed a reminder, last year’s civil unrest and last week’s attack on the Capitol provided it. Violence and anarchy is not acceptable. Period.

Our prayers are with the families of the Capitol Police Officers, who sacrificed their lives to defend the beacon of our democracy and the people in it. And our prayers are with every other officer who defends us against those who are intent on violence.

This summer, when protests gave way to rioting and looting in the Quad Cities, three Davenport police officers were ambushed. Thirty-two rounds of gunfire were pumped into the truck that Sgt. Lansing, Lt. Behning, and Detective Sievert were in.

The truck windows were shattered, Sgt. Lansing was shot in the leg, and multiple bullets struck his headrest. The truck took so much fire that it could barely accelerate, but Sgt. Lansing navigated it to safety.

In her Quad-City Times column, Barb Ickes eloquently wrote that this nightmare scene is “precisely what police train for,” but that “the resulting courage cannot be taught.” “Their escape is astonishing,” she said. “Most of us can’t even imagine it.”

I couldn’t agree more; please join me in thanking these brave officers, who are with us tonight.

We should never take this bravery for granted, but in cities like Minneapolis, Portland, and New York, they have. They’ve embraced the attacks on law enforcement, and now their violent crime rates are rising for the first time in a generation.

That’s not going to happen in Iowa; not on my watch. We should never be afraid to talk about ways to improve policing, but there will be no talk of defunding the police here. Our men and women in blue will always have my respect, and I will always have their back.

To that end, I’ll be introducing a bill that protects law enforcement and continues our march toward racial justice.

The bill will make clear that if you riot or attack our men and women in uniform, you will be punished. We won’t stand for it.

The bill will also ban racial profiling and other forms of disparate treatment. Because no actions should ever be taken based upon the color of someone’s skin. As Martin Luther King Jr. recognized, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Let’s come together again, like we did last year, to support our law enforcement and racial justice. Let’s make Iowa a safer place for everyone.

When Iowans come together, we do big things. We’ve grown our economy, protected life and our second amendment, lowered the tax burden on Iowans, supported our farmers and producers by increasing demand for biofuels, protected our environment by promoting renewable energy, and so much more.

Like this past year, when we watched healthcare in Iowa transform from a collection of competing hospitals and clinics to a single statewide healthcare system committed to collaborating for the sake of all Iowans.

As we move forward, let’s build on this collaborative and innovative spirit. In my budget, I’m proposing $1 million to encourage hospitals and clinics to start what’s called a Center of Excellence. It’s a program that aligns rural physicians with specialists, creating regional hubs that provide highly-skilled care closer to where patients and their primary-care providers live.

Whether you’re dealing with the trauma of an accident or the joy of childbirth, it’s not just the quality of the team that matters—it’s the proximity. I want a better system of care for all Iowans, regardless of where they live.

I also want to be sure that when Iowans call 911 for an emergency, there’s a quick response. I know members in this chamber are already working on a bill to improve rural EMS services; I look forward to working with you this session.

We must also continue our focus on mental health. While the virus threatened our physical wellbeing, the realities of last year placed unimaginable stress on so many Iowans. Seniors were isolated from friends and loved ones; kids were kept out of the classroom and away from the stability it provides; and thousands of Iowans had their livelihoods turned upside down.

In the last three years, we have reformed our mental health system and we’re continuing to make it better. I’m proposing to increase mental health funding by $15 million this year, and another $15 million next year, to fully fund those reform efforts. And I know that our mental health regions are working on innovative solutions to address the unique needs of children who have been affected by the pandemic.

And because of the legislation we passed last year, which allows schools to host behavioral health sessions by using telehealth services, kids no longer have to leave school for hours to receive quality treatment.

That’s a lesson many of us learned over the last ten months: telehealth is a powerful tool that we should continue to encourage and expand. And it’s not just for mental health. Thousands of Iowans experienced it first-hand this year, receiving treatment and check-ups from their own home.

In 2020, we asked so much of our healthcare providers. And they’ve met those expectations at every step of the way. Many of our hospitals were at the forefront of developing treatments for Covid-19, and the University of Iowa has been key in the development of vaccines.

The availability of vaccines marks the most significant turning point since the pandemic began. And I’m proud to say that Iowa is one of the states leading the nation in administering the vaccine.

To date, nearly 100,000 Iowans, including our healthcare workers, have received their first dose, and several thousand have now received their second. By the end of the week, everyone at the Iowa Veterans Home, our largest nursing facility in the state, will be vaccinated. And by January 25, all 90,000 nursing-home residents and staff will have received the vaccine, ensuring that Iowans most at risk are among the first to have this protection.

I know we are all eager to be vaccinated and turn the corner, and wider distribution to more Iowans is imminent.

But as we begin to put 2020 behind us, I have two requests for my fellow Iowans.

First, let’s not forget those neighbors who are still hurting. Reach out. Keep volunteering; continue to stock food banks. Continue to show the country that it doesn’t take a pandemic or a derecho to lend a helping hand.

Second, let’s not return to normal. Let’s be better. Let’s think bigger. Be bolder.

If anything, this year has shown us what we can accomplish, and how fast we can do it. Hold onto that spirit. To that ingenuity and collaboration. To the feeling that we’re working for the greater good, and not ourselves.

If we can do that—if we can work with and for each other—then we will do great things.

I believe in this State, because I believe in you. I’ve seen what you’ve done; I’ve watched, sometimes with tears of pride in my eyes. And that’s how I know that the condition of our State is strong. Because you are strong—stronger than you ever imagined.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the great state of Iowa.

Tidal Basin flooding, 'rally raccoon': News from around our 50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Mobile: A man convicted of murder more than a decade ago was captured Monday a day after escaping from a minimum-security corrections center near Mobile, prison officials said. Jeffery Strugg, 31, was discovered missing from community-based facility in Prichard on Sunday, according to a notice from the Alabama Department of Corrections. The agency didn’t release any information about how Strugg got out. He surrendered without any violence in Mobile County, corrections officials said. Strugg was 18 when he was sentenced to 29 years in prison after being convicted in the 2007 killing of Dewone Smiley, 15, in Selma, court records show. Strugg was accused of entering an apartment and shooting Smiley, a student at Selma High School, to death in front of two witnesses. Strugg is eligible for parole consideration Dec. 1, prison records show.

Alaska

Juneau: The state House on Saturday voted against accepting a spending package passed by the Senate that included payments of about $5,500 to residents. The vote to concur with the Senate package failed, with 18 members in favor of accepting the Senate plan and 22 against. The vote sets the stage for a conference committee, with the regular legislative session set to end by Wednesday. In a conference committee, House and Senate negotiators are tasked with hashing out differences between the state budgets that passed each chamber. The House, in its version of the budget, included a dividend of about $1,250 plus a $1,300 “energy relief” check. The Senate plan called for a dividend of about $4,200 from Alaska’s oil wealth fund, an amount in line with a long-standing formula last used in 2015. The Senate plan also included a $1,300 energy check. Some lawmakers have argued the state is benefitting from high oil prices and can afford to help Alaskans who are struggling. But critics of the higher payments to residents say oil prices are volatile, and the oil price in the state revenue forecast can’t be assured.

Arizona

Tucson: A federal appeals court has upheld a judge’s ruling overturning a federal agency’s approval of Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc.’s plan for a new open-pit copper mine in southeastern Arizona. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the U.S. Forest Service’s approval of a permit for the Rosemont Mine project in a valley on the eastern flank of the Santa Rita Mountains near Tucson went beyond what is allowed under a federal mining law. The appellate court cited the planned use of Coronado National Forest land for long-term storage of waste rock, not actual mining, and the lack of valuable minerals on that property. Hudbay Minerals officials said in a statement Thursday that they were reviewing the ruling and would continue to pursue alternative plans for mining part of the Rosemont copper deposit on nearby private lands. A coalition of environmental and tribal groups challenging the mining hailed the appellate court’s decision, the latest in a series of legal obstacles to the project. “This momentous decision makes it clear that Hudbay’s plan to destroy the beautiful Rosemont Valley is not only a terrible idea, it’s illegal,” said Allison Melton, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. Hudbay has another mine project in the works on the western flank of the Santa Ritas.

Arkansas

Fayetteville: A raccoon ran loose in the stands during Arkansas baseball’s Friday matchup with Vanderbilt, but a fan came to the rescue. Fayetteville native Grant Harmon grabbed the raccoon with his bare hands and held it up to cheers from the crowd at Baum-Walker Stadium as members of the Commodores’ bullpen looked on from left field. The incident was dubbed by fans on social media as the “rally raccoon,” as the Hogs came back to tie the game after being down 5-0 and then 6-5. Despite that, the rallies ultimately fell short as Vanderbilt won 9-6 in 10 innings. After grabbing the raccoon, Harmon continued to carry it out of the stadium. “The opportunity just came about, and I guess I just took action and grabbed it,” he said. “That was a first. I have no prior experience grabbing raccoons.”

California

Modesto: The state will acquire a sprawling former farm property in the San Joaquin Valley and create a new state park for the first time in 13 years. Dos Rios Ranch, where the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers meet southwest of Modesto, will become California’s 280th state park and the first new one since Fort Ord Dunes near Monterey in 2009, the Modesto Bee reports. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday earmarked $5 million for the new park as part of his revised budget proposal for the fiscal year starting July 1. The nearly 4-square-mile expanse featuring willows and valley oaks will be donated by River Partners, a conservation group that’s spent the past decade restoring the site. State Parks Director Armando Quintero said Friday that the property will serve “a park-poor region” – the San Joaquin Valley – and help address inequities in access to state recreation sites. “Everyone deserves to have close access to vibrant parks, and this opportunity is an exciting one,” Quintero said. Dos Rios could get trails, picnic areas, restrooms and other basics within five years, state parks officials said. Campgrounds could follow within another five years, the Bee reports.

Colorado

Colorado Springs: The city is enacting a fire ban after a series of blazes have spread quickly in hot and dry conditions, including a fatal one caused by smoking. Under the ban taking effect Monday, smoking and grilling will be banned in parks in Colorado’s second-largest city. People grilling at home will only be able to use gas or liquid fuel, not charcoal or wood, and chain saws must have spark arresters. Welding or torching work may still be allowed but only with a permit, the Colorado Springs Fire Department said. A woman died in a fire Thursday at a mobile home park that was blamed on “the improper disposal of smoking materials,” city spokesperson Natashia Kerr said. Eight homes were destroyed. Under the ban, smoking materials must be disposed of in a non-combustible container with a lid. Meanwhile, a wildfire in the foothills southwest of the city that also started Thursday has burned 2.4 square miles. The fire near the former mining town of Cripple Creek was 27% contained Monday.

Connecticut

Bridgeport: A former assistant police chief’s lawsuit claiming he was defrauded out of the police chief’s job can go forward, a state appeals court has ruled. James Nardozzi’s lawsuit stemmed from the hiring scandal that landed the city’s police chief and personnel director in prison last year. Nardozzi claimed former Chief Armando Perez and former personnel director David Dunn conspired with Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim to fix the selection process so Perez would be selected as chief, the Connecticut Post reports. Prosecutors said Perez, 65, received confidential information about the police chief’s examination that was stolen by Dunn, including the questions for an oral examination and the scoring guide for written essays. Perez, who was the acting chief at the time, also admitted that he had two officers complete his essays, passed the work off as his own and lied to federal authorities in an effort to cover up his actions. Last April, Perez was sentenced to a year in prison, and Dunn received a four-month term. Both have since been released, according to the Courant. The appeals court ruled Friday that Nardozzi’s suit can proceed even though the city had paid him to settle a previous lawsuit after he was fired by Ganim in 2016. The case could go to trial later this year.

Delaware

Dover: State lawmakers have introduced bipartisan legislation that would put state law enforcement officials in charge of background checks for gun purchases. A bill filed Friday would resurrect Delaware’s Firearm Transaction Approval Program, which was eliminated more than a decade ago when lawmakers voted to rely on the federal government’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. That vote came amid concerns then that Delaware’s background check system was not providing the federal NICS with information about mentally ill individuals prohibited from buying or possessing firearms. The bill authorized state agencies to provide such information to NICS, created a federally mandated program allowing individuals previously deemed mentally ill to reestablish eligibility for gun ownership, and abolished the state’s existing background check system. Lawmakers now want to return responsibility for firearm transactions background checks in Delaware to the State Bureau of Identification. The SBI would be the point of contact between gun dealers and the federal databases checked by the FBI. The SBI would thus become responsible for determining whether a person is prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm and would be able to search other databases other than NICS in making that determination.

District of Columbia

Washington: In 100 years, if nothing is done, the historic Tidal Basin may be underwater, WUSA-TV reports. In 500, the Jefferson Memorial will be accessible only by boat. A combination of rising waters and a sinking human-made Tidal Basin puts the entire area – cherry blossoms, memorials, walking paths – at risk. But it’s not inevitable. The Trust for the National Mall and the National Trust for Historic Preservation have teamed up to create the Tidal Basin Ideas Lab, an initiative to plan out what the reservoir could become in the next century. It was once just a part of the Potomac River, but after the great flood of 1881, city planners got to work dredging up the river and Washington Channel to build the Tidal Basin. Teresa Durkin, executive vice president for the Trust for the National Mall, said the gates that engineers installed to control the water flow are no longer doing their job. “The gates have actually silted shut. So the water keeps coming through, but with it, it’s bringing all this silt and debris. So over time, it literally cannot open and close anymore. It doesn’t function as it was designed to,” Durkin said. “A lot of that sediment, because it’s not flushing out of the out gates, is also settling in the Tidal Basin itself. So it has likely raised the water.”

Florida

Vero Beach: A food truck exploded during a seafood festival Saturday, sending one person to the hospital with severe burns, according to authorities. The Vero Beach police said state and local fire officials are investigating the cause of the explosion. The department posted photos of the scene on Facebook that showed the sides and roof of the truck blown off the vehicle. One person was flown to a hospital burn unit in Orlando. There were no other injuries, and the festival continued as authorities secured the scene of the explosion, police said.

Georgia

Atlanta: A group of voters who challenged U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s eligibility to run for reelection said Monday that they have filed an appeal of the Georgia secretary of state’s decision that she can appear on the ballot. The five voters from Greene’s district in March filed a complaint with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger alleging that the Republican congresswoman played a significant role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that disrupted Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. They argued that puts her in violation of a seldom-invoked part of the 14th Amendment having to do with insurrection and makes her ineligible to run for reelection. Georgia Administrative Law Judge Charles Beaudrot last month held a daylong hearing that included arguments from lawyers for the voters and for Greene, as well as extensive questioning of Greene herself. He then sent his decision to Raffensperger on May 6. Beaudrot found that the voters hadn’t produced sufficient evidence to back their claims. Raffensperger affirmed that decision, writing that whether Greene’s political statements and actions disqualify her from office “is rightfully a question for the voters of Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.” Under state law, the voters are allowed to appeal that decision in Fulton County Superior Court.

Hawaii

Honolulu: Hawaiian Airlines is exploring electric aircraft technology with an eye toward using the vehicles for interisland travel, Hawaii News Now reports. A Boston-based company called REGENT is designing “seagliders” that would each carry up to 100 people. Hawaiian hasn’t committed to purchasing any of the aircraft but is exploring the possibility. A news release from REGENT said Hawaiian agreed to strategically invest to support the initial design of the company’s next-generation seaglider. Hawaiian is the first airline to partner with the company, which hopes to have its Monarch seagliders in the air by 2028. “We look forward to working with REGENT to explore the technology and infrastructure needed to fulfill our vision for convenient, comfortable and environmentally sustainable interisland transportation,” said Avi Mannis, chief marketing and communications officer at Hawaiian Airlines. REGENT’s seagliders fly through the air close to the water’s surface. The company said the aircraft will service routes up to 180 miles with existing battery technology and routes up to 500 miles with next-generation batteries. The company said the seagliders will move at the speed of an airplane but have the operating cost of boats and will use existing dock infrastructure.

Idaho

Boise: State officials have agreed to a $119 million settlement with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three major distributors over their role in the opioid addiction crisis. Republican Gov. Brad Little and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said in an announcement Friday that it’s the second-largest consumer settlement in state history, trailing only the 1998 national tobacco settlement. An Ada County judge on Wednesday approved the settlement that includes all 44 Idaho counties, 24 cities and the state’s seven health districts. The money will address damage wrought by opioids, which the federal government declared a public health emergency in 2017. Johnson & Johnson and the three distributors agreed to a national $26 billion settlement in February. “Idaho has made significant strides in recent years in combatting the opioid crisis, and the culmination of our legal action against opioid manufacturers – led by Attorney General Wasden and his team – now offers additional resources,” Little said in a statement. Wasden is continuing legal action against other opioid makers as well as the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma. “This settlement holds some of those most responsible for the opioid crisis accountable and provides significant funding for treatment, recovery and prevention in Idaho,” he said.

Illinois

Chicago: Mayor Lori Lightfoot tightened a citywide curfew for young people Monday, a day after she restricted access by unaccompanied minors to downtown’s Millennium Park following the weekend shooting death of a 16-year-old boy near “The Bean” sculpture at the park. The citywide weekend curfew for minors now will begin each night at 10 p.m., instead of the 11 p.m. curfew in place since the 1990s, Lightfoot said. At Millennium Park, which is a popular stop for tourists and Chicago residents, minors will not be allowed in the park after 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays without an adult. “We need to make sure they are safe and importantly that our young people understand and respect basic community norms, respect for themselves, respect for each other, and we must ensure that every one of our residents and visitors – no matter who they are or where they come from or how old they are – are able to safely enjoy our public spaces,” the mayor said at a news conference. Lightfoot said she hoped and expected that people would abide by the restrictions and that it would not lead to widespread arrests. She said officials “don’t want to arrest children,” but those who break the law will be.

Indiana

Noblesville: A tiny community garden that provided 1,500 pounds of free food over five years to people in need was bulldozed by city crews after a nuisance call about overgrown grass. City officials said the lease with the nonprofit that managed the garden expired more than a year ago, and there was no sign that the land had been maintained since. The overgrown six parcels next to Southside Park posed a safety risk, officials said. Garden caretakers said they were in talks with the city about entering a new contract and weren’t given a warning the plot would be flattened and its furniture removed. Hidden underneath the pollinators and overgrowth were viable shrubs and plants, said Renee Rule, coordinator of the garden since its founding. The plot is messy when it’s not growing season but was a little more scraggly this year because bad weather had delayed volunteers who were to prepare it for planting, Rule said. “I wish they would have given us a call, and we could have saved some of the plants,” Rule said. The garden has provided free tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, onions and lettuces to neighborhood families and served as an instructional farm for college students and Girl Scouts alike. Families rented plots so they could grow vegetables to eat. Schoolchildren were given pumpkins in the fall. A beekeeper gave demonstrations at a beehive.

Iowa

Des Moines: School districts across the state are up against a federal deadline that will end a pandemic-era free meals program for students next month. While many school officials are waiting to see if federal or state lawmakers will extend the program, at least one district, Des Moines Public Schools, is working to continue offering most of its students free meals next school year. Students have faced repeated upheavals since March 2020, when schools across the country closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to help districts feed students during the health crisis – whether they were at school or home – the U.S. Department of Agriculture temporarily relaxed rules that tied who received free lunch to family income and neighborhood poverty levels. As the June 30 deadline draws near, school district officials and school nutrition advocates are asking state and federal lawmakers to intervene by either extending the relaxed rules or offering free meals to all students permanently. If no legislation is passed, students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals will still receive those services. Educators and advocates stress that studies show students do better academically when they are not hungry. School meals reduce both hunger and anxiety about it.

Kansas

Topeka: A federal judge is blocking a public school’s policy preventing teachers from outing transgender students to their parents after a teacher raised religious objections. Fort Riley Middle School math teacher Pamela Ricard sued USD 475 Geary County Schools over LGBTQ anti-discrimination policies that conflicted with her Christian beliefs. District Judge Holly Teeter issued a preliminary injunction Monday blocking the school from disciplining Ricard if she reveals preferred names and pronouns of her transgender students when communicating with their parents. “The Court relies on Plaintiff’s statements that she does not intend to communicate with a parent for the sole purpose of disclosing a student’s preferred name and pronouns,” Teeter wrote. Ricard has two transgender students in her class, the judge wrote, neither of whom has authorized the district to disclose a preferred name and pronouns to parents. While Ricard uses their preferred names in class and avoids pronouns, she has emailed parents using a student’s legal name and biological pronouns. “Plaintiff believes that addressing students one way at school and a different way when speaking to their parents is dishonest,” the opinion said. “Being dishonest violates her sincere religious beliefs.” Teeter was appointed by then-President Donald Trump.

Kentucky

Richmond: A judge entered a not guilty plea Monday for a man accused of fatally shooting the daughter of a former state lawmaker during a home invasion. Shannon Gilday, 23, appeared in Madison Circuit Court for a continued arraignment on charges of murder, attempted murder, assault, burglary and criminal mischief, news outlets report. His attorney tried to enter a plea of guilty but mentally ill on his behalf last week, but the prosecution argued against it, and the judge continued the hearing. Meanwhile, prosecutors filed a notice of aggravating circumstances seeking enhanced penalties upon a conviction, which stopped defense attorney Tom Griffiths from trying to enter a plea of guilty but mentally ill, news outlets report. Gilday allegedly broke into a multimillion-dollar Madison County home owned by former lawmaker C. Wesley Morgan and shot Jordan Morgan while she was asleep, according to court records and statements from Morgan. Gilday also exchanged shots with Morgan during the Feb. 22 break-in. State police investigators said Gilday told them he was determined to get access to a bunker in the home. He was arrested in Madison County about a week after the shooting.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: Child drownings are on the rise in Louisiana, according to the state Department of Health, which says inability to swim, lack of supervision, and unfenced pools, spas and water bodies are top causes of drownings among babies and children under 15 years old. “As temperatures heat up and families return to water activities, it is important for parents and families to stay aware of the precautions they can take to prevent child drownings,” the department said in a news release. The agency said the number of drownings among children had fallen steadily for years, from 26 in 2015 and 2016 to 15 in 2019. But the total rose 60% in 2020, to 24. And preliminary data indicates that last year’s total was 25, it said. The department’s most recent Louisiana Child Death Review Report, covering 2017 through 2019, found that an average of 17 children drowned each year. That made drowning the No. 3 cause of injury-related death in children up through age 14, behind vehicle crashes and homicide. It found that 96% of them could not swim, 72% were unsupervised, and 54% died in water that hadn’t been fenced off. It found that 60% drowned in a pool, hot tub or spa. Looking at all drownings including adults, Louisiana had the nation’s third-highest rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Maine

Portland: A proposed order from the state’s Board of Environmental Protection would let stand a permit issued for a $1 billion electric transmission corridor to serve as a conduit for Canadian hydropower. The draft order was written by environmental agency staff ahead of a hearing this week that was postponed because of COVID-19 illnesses. The board was supposed to meet Tuesday to decide whether to hold a public hearing or to begin deliberations the following day. The permit was suspended by Maine Environmental Commissioner Melanie Loyzim after voters rebuked the project in a statewide referendum. Because the permit was not permanently revoked, the Board of Environmental Protection was required to issue a final decision on consolidated appeals. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court, meanwhile, is weighing a lawsuit aimed at overturning the referendum on constitutional grounds, as well questions about the legality of a state lease for a small portion of land. Funded by Massachusetts ratepayers, the New England Clean Energy Connect would supply up to 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower – enough electricity for 1 million homes – to the regional power grid. Supporters say bold projects are necessary to battle climate change. Critics say the benefits are overstated, and it would destroy woodlands.

Maryland

Annapolis: U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen says he has suffered a minor stroke and is being treated at George Washington University Hospital. The Maryland Democrat said he has been told there are no long-term effects or damage. In a statement Sunday night, Van Hollen said he has been advised by doctors to remain under observation at the Washington, D.C., hospital for a few days out of an abundance of caution. Van Hollen, 63, was elected to the Senate in 2016 after serving seven terms in the U.S. House. The senator said he experienced lightheadedness and acute neck pain while delivering a speech in western Maryland. On the advice of a physician, he sought medical attention upon his return home. An angiogram indicated a minor stroke in the form of a small venous tear at the back of his head, Van Hollen said. “I look forward to returning to work in the Senate later this week and thank the medical team for their excellent care,” he said.

Massachusetts

Boston: Chelsea Millsap, 32, who can trace her ancestry to the Pilgrims, is the first woman named sexton in the nearly 300-year history of Boston’s Old North Church. The critical job involves caring for and maintaining the parish buildings and equipment, including an 18th-century clock, the 75-piece chandeliers and the crypt where more than 1,100 people have been laid to rest. One of her first tasks will be managing a major renovation and restoration of the crypt. The church, still home to an active Episcopal congregation, is famous as the place where in 1775, two lanterns in the steeple signaled British soldiers were heading to Concord and Lexington, sending Paul Revere on the ride that sparked the American Revolution. One of the people who hung the lanterns was Robert Newman, the sexton at that time. “What an incredible opportunity to be able to sit in the very same pew as Robert Newman and in a world that is so divided to work in a place that welcomes all people from Bostonians to world dignitaries, like the Queen,” Millsap, a Detroit native and former firefighter with experience in fire prevention, security technology and project management, said in a statement. “I could have been the one to hang the lanterns 247 years ago. It is such an honor to show women that they too can hold these sorts of jobs.” Millsap is a descendant of teenage Mayflower passenger Mary Chilton, buried at nearby King’s Chapel.

Michigan

Detroit: A man walking on a footbridge to a Detroit Tigers game said he fell 15 feet to the ground when part of the concrete collapsed. Ely Hydes said the incident occurred May 9, but the bridge still was open until the Detroit News reached out to the state Transportation Department on Sunday. The Spruce Street pedestrian bridge is above M-10, also known as the Lodge Freeway. Hydes said he was walking to Comerica Park with a friend when “the bridge just collapsed under my feet.” “I remember thinking, ‘I hope I’m not over the freeway.’ I landed about 6 feet from the traffic. … After I hit the ground, I got the wind knocked out of me pretty good,” Hydes, 36, told the newspaper. He informed police, then resumed his walk to the Tigers game, a 2-0 loss to Oakland. Hydes went to a hospital a few days later. “I’m a giant walking bruise right now,” he said. The Transportation Department said it wasn’t aware of the hole in the bridge until notified by the newspaper. “The Spruce pedestrian bridge was built in 1953, and based on its age and condition, it is on a yearly detailed bridge inspection that is due this month,” spokeswoman Diane Cross said.

Minnesota

Lutsen: Communities in northeastern Minnesota are preparing to deal with more flooding and are calling for volunteers to help with sandbagging. Near Voyageurs National Park, most docks are underwater at area lakes, and some 200 homes and resorts are at risk. Kabetogama Township Supervisor John Stegmeir said his area is bracing for a record-breaking flood. Stegmeir said more volunteers are needed, especially since the average age of volunteers sandbagging right now is 65. The volunteers, along with some staff from Voyageurs National Park, have been working since last Tuesday, Minnesota Public Radio News reports. “I think we’ve filled 8,000 bags this week, which isn’t big when you talk about the flooding on the Red River – they’re talking millions of bags – No. 1, we couldn’t do that, and the people who have been coming out to bag are older, you know,” he said. Volunteers are asked to check in at the town hall and to bring a shovel if possible. A flood warning is in effect for many communities in the Rainy River Basin of far northern Minnesota. In Cook County, the owner of Lutsen Resort on Lake Superior is hoping the iconic bridges on the property can be saved. Recent high water levels sent debris rushing down the Poplar River, damaging the bridges.

Mississippi

Jackson: The state has revised its landlord-tenant law to give renters time to gather their belongings from a home before being forced to leave, after a federal judge ruled that the previous law was unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills wrote in his Nov. 30 order that the old law was “unpredictable and absurd,” saying it went further than eviction laws in any other state. He wrote that it violated an occupant’s right to due process. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed the new law April 21, and it took effect immediately. It passed with broad bipartisan support. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports the new law gives a tenant seven days to gather belongings and vacate a home after an eviction notice. An exception is made for emergencies. If the occupant does not leave during the initial order, a judge could issue a separate one authorizing law enforcement to remove a tenant. That would give the person another 72 hours to gather their belongings. The previous law allowed landlords to immediately seize and dispose of a delinquent occupant’s personal property. The impetus for his order was a lawsuit by Samantha Conner, a Columbus woman who sued her landlord after he took nearly everything she owned when she was evicted in 2019.

Missouri

Springfield: The state has retained a dubious distinction for the 10th time, topping the Humane Society’s list of the worst puppy mill problem. In their annual list of worst dog breeders in the country, the advocacy group listed Missouri as having 26 of the most abusive puppy mills. Since the “Horrible Hundred” list was first published 10 years ago, Missouri has topped the list each year. This year the Show-Me State garnered 26 spots on the list, compared to just 17 in Iowa, 12 in New York, and seven each in Kansas and Wisconsin. That Missouri has so many puppy mills is no surprise, according to Humane Society Stop Puppy Mills campaign senior director John Goodwin. “Missouri has always been at the heart of the puppy mill industry since the beginning,” Goodwin said. “The post-World War II era was a time period where there was a lot of consolidation in agriculture, and a lot of small farms closed. This industry was seen as a solution in Midwestern states, and Missouri became the epicenter of large-scale puppy mills.” That evolution was aided by state regulations allowing the mills to flourish, Goodwin said. That would have changed in a 2010 proposition approved by voters that would have required large-scale breeders to provide “sufficient food, clean water, housing and space” to the dogs under their care, along with “necessary veterinary care; regular exercise and adequate rest between breeding cycles.” After the initiative was passed, the Legislature changed the language of the regulations.

Montana

Crow Agency: Little Big Horn College, a tribal college on the Crow Reservation, in partnership with the Crow Language Consortium, will host the 10th annual Crow Summer Institute on June6-24. The three-week program offers free Crow language and culture classes. Participants must be at least 18 years old, and registration is now open, according to a news release. The institute offers two options, one for beginners and one for intermediate learners. Learners will have access to resources developed by Crow elders, speakers and knowledge keepers, including textbooks, flashcards, dictionaries and multimedia apps. The Crow Summer Institute is offering $100 gas cards to some early registrants and Crow dictionaries for those who complete the program. Participants may also earn college credit through Little Big Horn College. Ishkoochìia Chiiakaamnáah (Jacob Brien), a Crow language learner who attended past Crow Summer Institutes, said the program helped him “realize different connections and patterns within the language.” “It really helped me understand Crow jokes and, by extension, Crow culture, which of course usually doesn’t translate, as many subtleties of the language don’t work in English,” he said in a statement. For more information, visit summer.crowlanguage.org.

Nebraska

Lincoln: The state has agreed to pay $479,000 to the family of a “talkative” Scottsbluff man who was strangled to death in 2017 by a fellow inmate who didn’t want a cellmate. The lawsuit, filed by Terry Berry Jr.’s family against prison officials they argued were responsible for the 22-year-old’s death because they put him in the same cell as Patrick Schroeder, was dismissed last week after both sides agreed to the settlement. Berry was nearing parole on a sentence for forgery and assault when he was placed with Schroeder, who was serving a life sentence for killing a 75-year-old man and dumping his body in a well. The Lincoln Journal Star reports Schroeder later pleaded guilty to killing Berry and was sentenced to death. Berry’s family argued in the lawsuit that prison officials should have known there would be problems if they placed the two men together, and a caseworker at the prison even warned co-workers involved in the decision that Schroeder didn’t want a cellmate and wouldn’t likely tolerate Berry well because he was known to be “very talkative and bothersome.” Back in 2019, a federal judge dismissed the head of the state Department of Correctional Services and the prison’s warden as defendants, but the case had been allowed to move forward against several prison employees involved.

Nevada

Las Vegas: A proposed ballot initiative seeks to amend the state constitution to establish open top-five primaries and ranked-choice voting for general elections, though it isn’t without its critics. The Nevada Voters First political action committee is spearheading the initiative and must collect 140,777 signatures from registered Nevada voters by June 29 to qualify the measure for the 2022 general election ballot. Approval in November would call on the Legislature to institute the changes to the Nevada Constitution by July 1, 2025. In ranked-choice balloting, voters are directed to mark candidates in order of preference and to mark as many choices as they want. A voter may also choose only one candidate. The proposal would establish open primary elections, including all candidates regardless of party affiliation, squaring off in ranked-choice fashion. The top five finishers would advance to the general election, which would also be conducted using ranked-choice voting. About 30% of registered voters in Nevada list themselves as nonpartisan, and about 40% aren’t registered as Republican or Democrat, said Sondra Cosgrove, a representative with Nevada Voters First and a past president of the League of Women Voters of Nevada. “That’s a lot of people who are being shut out of important races,” she said.

New Hampshire

Concord: A former Trump administration official running for Congress did not violate state law by voting twice during the 2016 primary election season, the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said Thursday without taking a position on whether federal law was broken. The Associated Press reported in April that Matt Mowers cast ballots in both the Feb. 9, 2016, New Hampshire presidential primary and the New Jersey primary four months later. Legal experts said Mowers could have a violated federal law that prohibits “voting more than once” in “any general, special, or primary election.” That includes casting a ballot in separate jurisdictions “for an election to the same candidacy or office.” Though the article did not allege violation of state law, the attorney general’s office investigated based on the report and complaints from voters. After reviewing Mowers’ voting history, rental and property records, driver’s license documents and other material, it concluded he did not violate New Hampshire’s law against double voting. Mowers is a leading candidate for the GOP nomination in the state’s 1st Congressional District, though New Hampshire has yet to complete its redistricting process and finalize the congressional map. He was the nominee in 2020 but lost to Democratic incumbent Rep. Chris Pappas.

New Jersey

Toms River: The Ocean County Board of Commissioners plans this week to wade into the contentious debate over the state’s new health and sex education curriculum. While the five-member, all-Republican board has no legal authority to determine what is taught in schools, its bully pulpit is seen as influential in a county that is a bastion of conservatism in an otherwise progressive state. Commissioner Virginia E. Haines, who is also a Republican National Committee member, circulated a draft resolution among her colleagues last Wednesday to establish a “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” If approved as expected, the resolution would put the full weight of the county government behind a grassroots effort to establish such a bill of rights by providing political, administrative and legal support. The text of the draft resolution authorizes and directs the county commission director, the county administrator and county general counsel to organize parents, community leaders and unspecified professionals to develop the framework for such a document. The framework for such a declaration would then be used to marshal local school districts and county schools into adopting their own bills of rights.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: The city’s Asian American community is testing a new way to bolster security for Asian-owned businesses in the wake of two deadly shootings. KOAT-TV reports an Albuquerque startup is trying out an online service that connects armed security guards with Asian-owned businesses. Businesses would report suspicious activity to toServo. The service would utilize GPS-enabled mobile technology to put them in touch with a private security team, and the security on call would respond within minutes. It is part of an initiative established by the Asian Business Collaborative. The nonprofit started a Good Neighbor Program to check up on shops and restaurants. For now, four businesses will be chosen for the service. But there are hopes to expand its use by the end of the year. Collaborative organizers say the city’s Asian community has been on edge since shootings at two Asian-owned spas. In January, the female owner of one spa was shot and killed during an attempted robbery. Two men have been charged in her killing. Less than a month later, another woman of Asian descent was killed inside another massage business during a robbery. The suspect was killed in a police pursuit 10 days later.

New York

New York: City health officials issued an advisory Monday urging New Yorkers to wear masks in all indoor public settings as the city approaches “high risk” COVID-19 alert status. Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said everyone “regardless of vaccination status or past COVID-19 infection” should wear face coverings at all times in settings such as grocery stores, offices and building lobbies. People at high risk of severe illness from the virus, such as those over 65 years old, should avoid crowded settings and nonessential gatherings, he said. Vasan said he was issuing the guidance as the city approaches the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “high” level of COVID-19 alert, representing high community spread and increasing pressure on the health care system. New York City has been averaging about 3,600 reported new cases of COVID-19 per day over the past week – a number that is likely an undercount because it doesn’t include positive tests done at home. The daily case counts have been rising slowly since March but have leveled off somewhat recently. The CDC risk level for Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island is currently “medium,” while the Bronx is still “low.” But much of the surrounding metropolitan area has already moved into the CDC’s “high risk” category.

North Carolina

Raleigh: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction in the shooting death of an endangered red wolf in North Carolina. The wolf was found in a muddy field in Tyrrell County on April 15, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The News & Observer reports it had been shot in the spine and collapsed in the mud – some of which was found in its lungs. Killing a red wolf is illegal, except under special circumstances. Red wolves once ranged across the Southeast, but after decades of habitat loss and killing by humans, they were nearly extinct by 1980. The Fish and Wildlife Service gathered up the remaining wild wolves and began a captive breeding program. The first captive wolves were reintroduced to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in eastern North Carolina in 1987. By 2006, as many as 120 red wolves were thought to be living in the wild. Since then, wolf populations have declined again. Last year, the Biden administration abandoned a proposal made under President Donald Trump to scale back the areas where red wolves are protected and allow the killing of wolves found outside federal land.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Hoping to head off an explosion of electronic pull tab machines at gas stations and liquor, grocery and convenience stores, state regulators want to change the definition of a bar to make clear where the wildly popular Las Vegas-style games that mimic slot machines will be allowed. The state attorney general’s office, which oversees gambling in North Dakota, has identified a handful of gas stations and convenience stores that have begun selling and serving booze and are now “masquerading” as bars so that they can put the machines in their businesses, Attorney General Drew Wrigley said. Wrigley and Deb McDaniel, North Dakota’s top gambling regulator, said the idea for the rule change is to clarify and preserve what they believe the intent of the Legislature was when it defined a bar as a “retail alcoholic beverage establishment where alcoholic beverages are dispensed and consumed.” The amended language specifies that a bar does not include gas stations or liquor, grocery and convenience stores. A bar in a hotel, bowling alley or restaurant could still have the machines, under the new definition. The North Dakota Gaming Commission scheduled a Thursday meeting at the state Capitol to discuss the proposed changes and to take public comments.

Ohio

Columbus: The state took the formal step of signaling interest in expanding Amtrak passenger rail in Ohio, though it is far from saying yes to the idea. Gov. Mike DeWine has asked the Ohio Rail Development Commission to work with Amtrak to study potential new routes, according to Dan Tierney, a spokesperson for the governor’s office. The move was first reported by Cleveland.com. “It’s not to the point where we’re ready to go jump up and ‘yippee,’ but it’s significant, and we’re optimistic,” said Stu Nicholson with All Aboard Ohio, an advocacy group for rail. Amtrak wants to build a line connecting Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton and Cincinnati. The company agreed to cover the cost of construction, track upgrades and operating costs for at least five years, then split the estimated $17 million to $20 million annual operating costs with the state. The roughly $100 million cost to build the line would come from a massive infrastructure package Congress passed into law. The approach could better entice Ohio to expand rail given much of the upfront cost will be covered, advocates said. Nicholson said recent guidance allows the state to use other sources outside its general revenue, such as private grants, to go toward its share.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: New laws signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt will increase funding for local enforcement of the medical marijuana industry and target illicit sales of cannabis. Each of the bills moved through the Legislature last week, and as a result county sheriffs are now able to receive grant funding to dedicate a full-time deputy to assist with compliance visits conducted by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority. The intent of the law is to allow enforcement officers to help the medical marijuana authority in situations where licensed cannabis businesses are not willing to allow inspections of their property. According to the bill’s authors, compliance inspectors were denied access 181 times between April 2021 and February of this year. “This bill is not meant to threaten anyone. We just want to make sure our compliance inspectors can safely do their jobs,” said state Rep. David Hardin, R-Stilwell, the House author. “This is a very important piece of legislation that will help rein in illegal marijuana operations and give Oklahomans the safe, fair, free market for medical marijuana that they voted for in 2018.” Logistics of the bill create a revolving fund, provided by the medical marijuana authority, that sets aside an annual $5 million for county sheriffs to dedicate an officer for one year to the medical marijuana authority.

Oregon

Portland: Criminal defendants who have gone without legal representation for long periods of time amid a critical shortage of public defense attorneys filed a lawsuit Monday that alleges the state violated their constitutional right to legal counsel and a speedy trial. The complaint, which seeks class-action status, was filed as state lawmakers and the Oregon Office of Public Defense Services struggle to address the huge shortage of public defenders statewide. The crisis has led to the dismissal of dozens of cases and left an estimated 500 defendants statewide – including several dozen in custody on serious felonies – without legal representation. Crime victims are also affected because cases are taking longer to reach resolution, a delay that experts say extends their trauma, weakens evidence and erodes confidence in the justice system, especially among low-income and minority groups. “There is a public defense crisis raging across this country,” said Jason D. Williamson, executive director of the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at New York University School of Law, who helped prepare the filing. “But Oregon is among only a handful of states that is now entirely depriving people of their constitutional right to counsel on a daily basis, leaving countless indigent defendants without access to an attorney for months at a time.”

Pennsylvania

Carlisle: Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Mehmet Oz is stepping up his criticism of far-right candidates gaining traction ahead of Tuesday’s primary election. After spending much of the campaign steering clear of fellow Republican Senate contender Kathy Barnette, Oz on Saturday said she was out of step with the GOP and would be unable to win the general election in November. In an interview, he took issue with a 2015 tweet from Barnette in which she wrote that “Pedophilia is a Cornerstone of Islam.” Oz, who would be the nation’s first Muslim senator, described the comments as “disqualifying.” “It’s reprehensible that she would tweet out something that is defamatory to an entire religion,” Oz told the Associated Press. “This state was based on religious freedom. I’m proud as a Pennsylvanian to uphold those founding beliefs that every faith has its merits.” The Barnette campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Earlier in the week, Barnette told NBC News that she did not make the statement, which was still live on her Twitter feed Monday.

Rhode Island

Providence: A congressional candidate recently arrested on a menacing charge in another state has dropped out of the race. Michael Neary said in a statement Friday that he was seeking medical treatment for non-epileptic seizures following his arrest in Ohio in March. He said the decision followed “careful consultation and prayer.” Neary, 28, was among a large field of candidates seeking the Democratic nomination in Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District following incumbent Democrat Jim Langevin’s announcement in January that he’s retiring. Neary has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of menacing by stalking March 23, as well as drug counts after marijuana and drug paraphernalia were allegedly found in his car. He’s previously said he’d remain in the race despite the charges. The Columbus, Ohio, resident, who grew up in Rhode Island, was stopped by police after another driver reported having been followed from Columbus to Troy, more than 60 miles away. Police said the driver reported that Neary’s car mimicked their every move, matching speed and lane changes and even stopping at a rest area after they did. Authorities said Neary told them he had recently returned from Rhode Island, was very stressed and had been focusing on the vehicle’s Ohio registration.

South Carolina

Greenville: Grace Church has purchased a dormitory building from Greenville Technical College to convert into affordable housing as part of a special program to address the local housing crisis. The church will serve as the landlord for the property, and rent will be adjusted to fit families’ income. Rent prices will range from $450 for a single room to $1,000 for a three-bedroom unit. The goal, according to Grace Church’s care and recovery ministry director LeeAnne Cavin, is that the average family will pay in the $900 range for a unit. “We do have a crisis of housing,” Cavin said. “Our whole community is really starting to desire collaboration.” The units are expected to open for rent the first week of June, and the church already has almost 40 families ready to move in. The program will accept emergency housing vouchers through the Greenville Housing Authority but not Section 8 vouchers or extra subsidy from the federal government that goes directly toward rent. To sign a lease in one of the units, families agree to be a part of a Grace Church housing program that offers medical coverage, dental care, a savings matching program, mental health support, car maintenance, financial education, cooking classes, self-defense classes, and job and interview preparation.

South Dakota

Pierre: The ongoing drought in South Dakota has been hard on the state’s wildlife. The U.S. Forest Service says the grouse population in the Fort Pierre National Grassland has declined by 15% in 2022, largely because of the dry conditions. The total grouse population has averaged about 300 since the mid-1980s. Over the past twenty years, both greater prairie chicken and sharp-tailed grouse populations have primarily remained stable or have grown. “The thing that I think was really damaging to us last year was we had record-high and record-dry conditions in early June, right when those birds started incubation or, for the earlier semester, to hatch. And, boy, that’s just so tough on a chick to thermoregulate and be able to find sufficient moisture,” District Ranger Dan Svingen said. Greater prairie chickens and sharp-tailed grouse both nest on the ground and require tall grass to hide their nests, the Capital Journal reports. Because they start laying eggs as early as April, before sufficient grass growth, they’re dependent on dead grass from the previous year as cover. However, the drought prevented extensive grass growth in 2021, leaving them more exposed to predators in 2022. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a little more than 76% of South Dakota is experiencing some kind of drought.

Tennessee

Knoxville: In its quest to redefine tourism at the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has inked a deal to bring an international entertainment company to the United States for the first time. Tribal Council and international theme park company Puy du Fou have signed a letter of intent to develop a new “spectacular immersive show” as part of a 200-acre development located at Exit 407 south of Interstate 40 on the way to the Smokies. The Tribal Council approved $75 million May 4 for phase one development of “The 407: Gateway to Adventure.” Its leaders are seeking world-class attractions to appeal to the record-breaking crowds flocking to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. The 407 partners have estimated the development could attract 6.7 million visitors in the first year after phase one is complete. That’s expected sometime in 2024. “We are excited to take the first steps towards developing this world-class attraction that will help support our nation economically while creating a new platform to share dimensions of Cherokee history many have never heard,” said Chairman of the Tribal Council Richard French. Puy du Fou is known worldwide for its immersive experiences inspired by history.

Texas

Houston: Two people were killed and three more taken to a hospital with injuries after a shooting Sunday at a bustling flea market, authorities said. The shooting at the open-air market arose from an “altercation” that involved at least two guns and all five of the people, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. He said no “innocent bystanders” were injured. Investigators believe one of the people hospitalized was among those who opened fire, and two more suspected shooters were detained at the scene, a sheriff’s deputy told KTRK-TV. Thousands of people were shopping at the market 14 miles north of Houston’s downtown when the shooting began around 1 p.m. Sunday, Gonzalez said on Twitter. The sheriff said multiple shots were fired, and deputies recovered two pistols from the scene. Authorities did not immediately provide further information about what led to the shooting but said all the people involved were men in there 20s who appeared to know each other.

Utah

Salt Lake City: A copper mining company will begin manufacturing a rare mineral used in solar panels that used to be discarded along with the other mine tailings. Rio Tinto officials and Gov. Spencer Cox unveiled the plan Wednesday at the Kennecott refinery west of Salt Lake City where the tellurium will be produced, FOX-13 news reports. The company says it is one of two in the U.S. to produce tellurium, which is listed as a “critical mineral” by the U.S. government. Most of the tellurium produced comes from China and other countries. Rio Tinto is working with the U.S. Department of Energy on ideas to produce more tellurium. The company said it hopes to produce 20 tons of the tellurium each year. “If we can produce it here, we are all going to be better off,” said Cox, a Republican. “We desperately need more of it.”

Vermont

Montpelier: Gov. Phil Scott signed legislation into law Monday that creates an advisory committee to make recommendations on how to spend the state’s share of settlement money with drug manufacturers and distribution companies over the toll of prescription opioids. The number of opioid-related overdose deaths in Vermont jumped 33% in 2021 to a record 210 fatalities, the Vermont Health Department reported last month. The committee will be made up of the state’s health commissioner; a member each from the state Senate and House; health care providers; two people who lived through the experience of opioid use disorder; an assistant judge; and representatives from municipalities. Each year, the committee will make recommendations to the Vermont Department of Health and legislative committees for expenditures from a special opioid abatement fund. The health commissioner is expected to call the first meeting of the panel to occur on or before June 30.

Virginia

Norfolk: A professor whose research on pedophilia created a stir at Old Dominion University has landed a new job with Johns Hopkins University’s Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. Allyn Walker stepped down from ODU in November after using the phrase “minor-attracted person” instead of “pedophile” in research, leading to an outcry on campus and social media, as well as threats of violence. The Virginian-Pilot reports the Moore Center announced last week that Walker, who uses the pronoun they, would be joining the center as a postdoctoral fellow. The center said in a series of tweets that it was excited to welcome Walker and that they would be working on research and new projects to develop a “comprehensive public health approach to addressing child sexual abuse and effective prevention programs.” On its website, the center says it works “to change the way the world thinks about child sexual abuse, from inevitable to preventable.” In the series of tweets, the center referred to Walker as “a leader in the field of perpetration prevention research.” Walker was an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice before more than 15,500 people signed an online petition calling for their removal from ODU in the fall. That came after a controversial interview about “A Long, Dark Shadow: Minor-Attracted People and Their Pursuit of Dignity,” a book focused on people who do not act on their sexual attraction to children and strategies to prevent them from acting on the attraction.

Washington

Seattle: Amtrak will postpone restoring its Cascades passenger-train service between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., until possibly December because of a lack of personnel. The service gap occurred despite the Biden administration’s much-hyped $66 billion allotted in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to catch up on maintenance and spread Amtrak’s national railway service to new cities, The Seattle Times reports. Janet Matkin, rail spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Transportation, said transportation officials in the state hoped the trains would roll again by summer or even late spring. Amtrak doesn’t have enough conductors, mechanics and onboard service staff yet to operate the trains, though new classes of conductors are in training, according to a letter to Washington and Oregon rail directors from Ray Lang, an Amtrak vice president. Pre-pandemic, about 159,000 people per year rode between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., or 290,000 when including stations between the cities, Matkin said. Passenger fares traditionally cover about two-thirds of operation costs, while states cover the rest.

West Virginia

Welch: Gov. Jim Justice visited the site of a planned $147 million highway project that will connect Welch to the Coalfields Expressway. The 5-mile stretch of highway is expected to be completed in 2026. “This announcement today means we are one step closer to bringing this area of West Virginia to the world once and for all,” Justice said in a media release. “We have waited and waited in southern West Virginia for way too long.” Justice announced Friday that Bizzack Construction of Lexington, Kentucky, won the bid to build the new highway. The governor’s office said plans are in the works to build a 5-mile stretch of the Coalfields Expressway from Mullens to Twin Falls State Park and a 3-mile link from Twin Falls toward Pineville. The four-lane Coalfields Expressway that runs from Raleigh County to Wyoming County opened in 2020.

Wisconsin

Sparta: The popular Elroy-Sparta State Trail officially reopened over the weekend following several years of flood-related repairs. Summer flood damage in 2018 closed the 32-mile-long trail which had about 60,000 visitors a year. The state Department of Natural Resources said the western Wisconsin trail needed two complete bridge replacements and landslide repairs, among other work. According to the DNR, $2.3 million needed for repairs came from the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the state. State Sen. Howard Marklein, of Spring Green, and state Rep. Tony Kurtz, of Wonewoc, spearheaded efforts in the Legislature to secure funds for the trail’s repairs, Wisconsin Public Radio reports. “The easy part was the funding,” the DNR’s Missy VanLanduyt said. “The more difficult part was just the sheer amount of infrastructure that needed to be replaced, and designing all of that, and then going through the bidding process and then finally a very long construction period as well.” While repair work is largely complete, a 1-mile section of the trail was closed as of Friday because of bridge safety concerns. VanLanduyt said it’s set to reopen after Memorial Day weekend, with a permanent bridge replacement coming in late 2023 or early 2024.

Wyoming

Cheyenne: U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis apologized Monday after getting booed and heckled for remarks she made on sexual identity during a University of Wyoming graduation speech. A first-term Republican from deep-red Wyoming, Lummis said in Saturday’s speech in Laramie that human rights are derived from God but that government seeks to redefine many of them. “Even fundamental, scientific truths such as the existence of two sexes, male and female, are subject to challenge these days,” Lummis said. She paused and smiled while many in the crowd responded with boos and heckling. “And I challenge those of you,” she said, without completing that thought, saying: “I’m not making a comment on the fact that there are people who transition between sexes.” Lummis is a former congresswoman, state treasurer and University of Wyoming graduate who’s been prominent in Wyoming politics for decades. Until now, at least, she has been less outspoken than many Republicans who’ve made a major issue of gender and sex identity. The stir happened in a community known for the murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in 1998, a watershed event in LGBTQ activism. A college town of about 32,000 people, Laramie leans left compared to the vast majority of Wyoming.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Chef initiative, ice fishing trash: News from around our 50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Montgomery: A spokeswoman for Gov. Kay Ivey said Monday that the state’s mask mandate will end April 9 despite the president’s request for states to reinstate or maintain restrictions. “We have made progress, and we are moving towards personal responsibility and common sense, not endless government mandates,” Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola said in a statement. President Joe Biden and a top health official on Monday appealed for mask requirements and other restrictions to be maintained or restored to stave off a “fourth surge” of COVID-19. Alabama has kept a mask mandate in place longer than surrounding states, but Ivey has made clear it will not be extended past the end of next week. The Republican governor has urged Alabamians to keep wearing face coverings as a matter of personal responsibility. “After April 9, masks will no longer be a mandate, but they remain one of the most successful tools we have to keep folks safe from COVID-19,” Ivey said last week. Her office released sign templates that businesses could use to request that their patrons wear masks.

Alaska

Anchorage: Eight youths from the state have developed a serious inflammatory syndrome from previous coronavirus infections, health officials said in a report. The report released Friday said some of the eight children ended up in the pediatric intensive care unit with severe complications. The condition they developed is called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. MIS-C can lead to inflamed organs, including the heart, lungs, kidneys and brain, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since May 2020, the CDC has reported 2,617 cases of the syndrome and 33 deaths from MIS-C across the nation. Most cases were in children and adolescents between ages 1 and 14, with the median age being 9. Cases have occurred in children and adolescents less than 1 year old and up to 20. About 66% of the reported cases have occurred in children who are Hispanic, Latino or Black – a total of 1,586 cases, according to the CDC. Roughly 99% of those who developed the syndrome had previously tested positive for the coronavirus. The remaining 1% were around someone who had the virus, the CDC said. “This happens to kids after COVID,” said Dr. Benjamin Westley, an infectious disease specialist who treated six of the eight Alaska minors and contributed to the report.

Arizona

Phoenix: Corrections officials cited staffing and resource demands of the pandemic in trying to fend off a contempt-of-court fine against the state that could reach as high as $17 million for failing to follow through on promises in a legal settlement to improve health care for inmates. Lawyers for corrections officials said in a court filing Friday that the pandemic forced people working in prisons to take on more duties, caused infection employees to miss work and required resources to be spent on trying to guard against the coronavirus. They said the focus on protecting prisoners and staff members from the virus came at the expense of compliance with the 6-year-old settlement. While acknowledging their clients’ noncompliance on many provisions of the settlement, the lawyers said corrections officials still made their best efforts to comply in a challenging situation. Compliance declined during periods when the state experienced spikes, when mass testing was done inside prisons and when providing care to inmates with the virus, the attorneys said. The state has already been the subject of two contempt fines totaling $2.5 million for noncompliance with the settlement. U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver, who had threatened the third round of fines, has warned the state against offering any of its past excuses for noncompliance. In an order earlier this month, Silver wrote that coronavirus restrictions may provide a valid basis for noncompliance but emphasized that the virus can’t be used as a complete shield.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The state will open up COVID-19 vaccinations to anyone 16 and older and is dropping its mask mandate immediately, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Tuesday. The Republican governor announced the moves as Arkansas saw its coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to decline. The state had previously made the vaccine available to people 65 and older as well as several other categories, including teachers, health care workers and food service employees. Hutchinson last month lifted most of the state’s virus restrictions, including restaurant and bar capacity limits, and had said the mask mandate would expire at the end of March if the state met goals for test positivity and hospitalizations. Hutchinson is lifting the mask mandate despite President Joe Biden urging states to reinstate or maintain such restrictions to stave off another surge of the virus. “Last year, the urgent COVID message was ‘wear a mask,’ ” Hutchinson said Saturday in a tweet. “Masks remain important, but today’s urgent message is ‘get vaccinated’ … but if we are going to win, we must increase the count. Roll up your sleeve for Arkansas!”

California

Los Angeles: Massive Los Angeles County can reopen even more businesses – including outdoor bars that don’t serve food – while expanding how many people are allowed to dine indoors and catch a movie, but it won’t do so until next week, officials said Tuesday. The county of 10 million people was one of several, including neighboring Orange, that moved into the state’s second-least-restrictive orange tier amid low coronavirus case rates and increased vaccinations. Half of the state’s population is now in that tier, where the virus rates are “moderate.” The new rules allow for expanded activities the following day, but counties can opt to maintain more restrictions. LA County’s public health director, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, said Tuesday that reopenings and expansions will go into effect Monday, as she wanted to take a more cautious approach given the mix of new variants of the virus. The county, home to a quarter of California’s residents, was reporting well over 10,000 new cases and a couple hundred deaths a day during the winter surge. On Tuesday, Ferrer reported 26 additional deaths and 386 new cases as she implored people to continue wearing masks. “If we wish to maintain these low numbers, it will be essential that each of us not get sloppy,” she said.

Colorado

Denver: Students will only take one state standardized test this year in either math or English following a year of challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The federal government has approved a request from Colorado that allows students in fourth, sixth and eighth grades to take the math assessment and students in third, fifth and seventh grades to take the English or language arts assessment, Colorado Public Radio reports. Parents can choose to have their child take both tests, which are intended to measure students’ academic progress at the end of each year in multiple subjects. “This is the answer we’ve been waiting for,” said Democratic state Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, who sponsored the waiver bill. “I appreciate the quick response from the federal government that will allow our schools to plan and prepare.” State officials made the request to give students, parents and educators some relief after a year both in and out of the classroom during the pandemic. The tests this year won’t be used to evaluate teacher performance or rate schools, but officials hope the results will help evaluate the effects of the pandemic. Parents and teachers have argued that students’ learning and mental health must take priority over standardized tests during the pandemic.

Connecticut

Hartford: With everyone age 16 and older eligible Thursday to begin signing up for COVID-19 vaccination appointments, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that people with certain medical conditions that put that put them at high risk, including people with intellectual disabilities, will have “priority access” for shots. Some hospitals are planning to hold dedicated vaccine clinics, and others are reaching out to patients with reserved appointments, while some patients will likely get vaccinated during their normal medical appointments at the hospital, said Josh Geballe, Lamont’s chief operating officer, who expects the group will include about 10,000 people. The list of conditions includes sickle cell disease, end-stage renal disease on dialysis, active cancer treatment and solid organ transplant. “These are the conditions that the chief medical officers at the hospitals felt were most worthy of prioritization,” Geballe said. He urged families to hold off on signing up their older teens in the early days of this final phase of the rollout. “I think if you’re the parent of an older teenager, about 16, or if you’re in your 20s, you’re perfectly healthy, please give it a week. You’re going to get in your turn very soon. But let’s let people in their 40s or people in these other conditions get appointments first,” he said. “That’s good advice.”

Delaware

Wilmington: The state is easing restrictions on outdoor gatherings starting Thursday and will make all residents 16 and older eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine next Tuesday. The loosened gathering limits will allow up to 150 people at certain venues for events including weddings, funerals, sporting events and concerts. It’s the second set of changes Delaware has made this year to loosen restrictions, but many are still in place, including a public mask mandate and a 10-person limit for private indoor gatherings. In a statement, Gov. John Carney said the state is comfortable easing some outdoor restrictions because the coronavirus is less likely to spread outdoors, especially in warm weather. Under the revisions, the state can also issue an additional 1,000 surf fishing tags for the 2021 season. But restaurants, retail locations, gyms, houses of worship, arts venues and other businesses remain limited to the lesser of 50% of their stated fire capacity or 25 people. Almost 1 in 3 Delawareans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 15.7% of the population fully vaccinated, according to federal data. Coronavirus cases have started increasing again in the state and throughout the region. In the past two weeks, the seven-day average for new cases in Delaware has increased by 44% to 284.6.

District of Columbia

Washington: A coalition of chefs in D.C. is stepping up to spread awareness and raise money to end anti-Asian racism, WUSA-TV reports. Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate is launching a series of dining experiences throughout April to get people talking about violence against the Asian American community that’s widely seen as being amplified by the coronavirus pandemic. “A lot of people are trying to fight for what’s right,” said chef Kevin Tien, a co-organizer with Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate. He said he’s sick of seeing attacks on Asian people in America but turning that sadness and anger into action with the monthlong takeout dinner series to fight racism. “I always cook whenever I’m having times of self-doubt or trouble,” said Tien, who is partnering with 45 chefs in the area to prepare five-course to-go meals every Sunday in April. Tien is Vietnamese-American and said, culturally, many elders within his community chose to ignore and stay silent on racism against them for years. The xenophobia is now amplified, many believe, because of rhetoric related to where the virus first took hold. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration announced it is donating $10,000 to support the effort. Others in the area can back what the group is doing by ordering meals online from Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate.

Florida

Tallahassee: Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that he would issue an executive order forbidding local governments and businesses from requiring so-called vaccine passports to show proof that customers have been inoculated against COVID-19. He made the announcement during a ceremony he convened at the state Capitol to sign into law a bill approved by the Legislature on Friday that would bar coronavirus-related lawsuits against businesses that have made good-faith efforts to comply with guidelines meant to stop the spread of the virus. A plaintiff would also need a signed affidavit from a doctor stating with reasonable certainty that injury or death caused by COVID-19 was a result of the defendant’s actions. “We don’t want to be in a situation where people are scared of being sued just for doing normal things,” the Republican governor said. DeSantis had a live band playing a cover version of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends” in the Cabinet meeting room before he signed the bill. Of the order to bar businesses from refusing to serve people who can’t prove they have been vaccinated, he called it “completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply participate in normal society.”

Georgia

Atlanta: Diners could permanently get mixed alcoholic drinks to go when ordering food under a measure that passed the General Assembly on Monday. The House voted 120-48 for the bill, sending it to Gov. Brian Kemp. Georgia lawmakers already agreed to allow restaurants to sell takeout beer or wine. Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton, who owns a restaurant, said the measure is needed to reflect a change in dining habits spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. “Moving forward, Georgians will eat out differently,” said Carpenter, who said his business does not sell mixed drinks. “This bill seeks to give our industry the flexibility to address those needs.” The drinks would have to be packaged in tamper-proof containers with no straw holes and would have to be transported in a vehicle’s trunk, in a glove compartment or behind the last seats. Only two drinks per entree could be ordered. Local governments could still prohibit such sales, but they would be legal if a city or county does not act. The measure would take effect as soon as the governor signs it. The Distilled Spirits Council, which lobbies for alcohol makers, says to-go cocktails are currently allowed in more than 30 states.

Hawaii

Honolulu: A recent surge of tourists has driven up the price of rental cars after fleets were thinned out during the pandemic. Some companies in Honolulu have recently had only large vans for $500 a day and convertibles for $1,000 a day or more, Hawaii News Now reports. Timo Lee, a part-time Honolulu resident, said some vendors she checked with were “completely out of stock.” The pandemic resulted in limited inventory, which meant rental companies “had to get rid of them,” said Jerry Agrusa, a professor in the School of Travel Industry Management at the University of Hawaii. “They had to sell them.” Uncertainty about when tourism would return is another factor for the high prices, he said. Like Oahu, Maui has also seen a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, and the island’s mayor is warning visitors to follow local mandates. “You see these people on the beach back here – they’re visitors, and they’re not wearing masks,” Mayor Mike Victorino said. “If you can’t obey our rules, don’t come if you can’t wear a mask or do what is right.” The mayor said he is considering more options to help curb the spread of COVID-19, including a post-travel coronavirus test for all travelers and tighter local restrictions.

Idaho

Boise: Gov. Brad Little has issued his first veto of the 2021 legislative session, refusing to sign a bill involving the responsibilities of the chairman of the Idaho State Tax Commission. Following Friday’s veto, the Republican governor said the legislation would add red tape that goes against his core belief of good government. “The legislation adds a burdensome level of bureaucracy and uncertainty, which I fear will only complicate and slow the Tax Commission’s ability to accomplish its important mission,” Little wrote in his veto letter. “In the last year, we witnessed firsthand during the pandemic the incredible ability of the Tax Commission staff to step up and adapt quickly in changing environments to successfully implement initiatives and programs that support Idaho citizens and businesses.” The Legislature is recessed until April 6 due to a COVID-19 outbreak among lawmakers in the House. Last year, as the coronavirus pandemic took hold, Little signed a proclamation extending the tax filing deadline from April 15 to June 15. The commission also played a role in many other financial areas, including handling applications for small businesses so they could receive federal coronavirus emergency funding.

Illinois

Chicago: A hospital CEO has been suspended for two weeks following a series of COVID-19 vaccination events involving alleged favoritism, including one in which ineligible Trump Tower workers were vaccinated. The unpaid suspension of Loretto Hospital’s president and CEO, George Miller, is on hold until the hospital finds a new chief operating officer and chief financial officer, a hospital spokeswoman said late Monday. Dr. Anosh Ahmed, who had been Loretto’s COO and CFO, resigned last week, days after he and Miller were reprimanded by the board of directors following news reports that hospital executives provided vaccines to some people who weren’t yet eligible. Loretto Hospital is located on Chicago’s West Side and largely serves Black and Latino people. It was chosen last year to administer the city’s ceremonial first COVID-19 vaccination as part of efforts to encourage residents in West Side neighborhoods to get vaccinated. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday that Loretto is a “safety net hospital” that is pivotal to Chicago and that she is “committed to helping Loretto get it right because they’re so important to the West Side community.” She said it was clear that officials “deviated from what I think is their core mission and what should have been the focus during this critical time period.”

Indiana

South Bend: University of Notre Dame officials say they will be able to vaccinate all students on campus by the end of the spring semester. The school will receive enough Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for every student to be fully inoculated with both doses before the end of May, the university’s president, the Rev. John Jenkins, said in a letter to students, faculty and staff Thursday night. A vaccination clinic is anticipated to open by mid-April, but students are only being encouraged – not required – to receive the shots. “Needless to say, we are delighted to receive this positive news,” Jenkins said, noting that Notre Dame will continue enforcing its current campus health and safety protocols. The Notre Dame vaccination clinic will also have shots available for faculty and staff, he said, although university officials have asked non-students to first seek out vaccine at local community sites. The announcement follows Gov. Eric Holcomb’s confirmation in a statewide address last week that all Hoosiers ages 16 and up will qualify for the vaccine starting Thursday. The Republican governor said he would also lift the statewide mask mandate and remaining COVID-19 business restrictions next Tuesday.

Iowa

Des Moines: A week before Gov. Kim Reynolds officially makes all adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations, public health officials acknowledged Monday that some counties have already started providing the shots to anyone over age 16. In northwest Iowa’s Humboldt County, for example, public health officials announced they would hold mass vaccination clinics Wednesday and Thursday for anyone 16 and up. Public health officials said they have 650 doses of the Pfizer vaccine available. Appointments were required and confirmed on a first-come-first-served basis for the clinics to be held at the county fairgrounds. Reynolds has said she anticipates opening up availability to all adults Monday as national supplies and the allocation of doses to states increase. As of Monday, Iowa was eighth in the nation for the percentage of the entire population fully vaccinated at 19%. Nationally, 15.8% of the U.S. population is vaccinated. Iowa, like many states, is seeing a recent increase in coronavirus activity. The state on Monday reported 110 new confirmed cases and seven additional deaths. The seven-day rate of positive coronavirus tests increased to 4.7%. State public health officials reported 196 people in hospitals and 44 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units.

Kansas

Topeka: Legislators are working on a plan for setting aside potentially several hundred million dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds to pay businesses harmed by state and local restrictions imposed last year to check the coronavirus’ spread. The state Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a proposal to set up a fund to pay claims from businesses that either were shut down or had their operations curtailed by state restrictions. The measure also would require counties and cities that imposed restrictions to set up similar funds. The state, cities and counties would be required to set aside 25% of their federal COVID-19 relief funds that aren’t dedicated to a specific purpose. The committee had hoped to vote on the proposal Monday, but Chair Kellie Warren, R-Leawood, said lawmakers and interested parties were still trying to hash out some details. The measure is designed to end the threat that the state, counties and cities could face a larger total payout from lawsuits from business owners. A Wichita fitness studio’s owner and his business sued the state in December, and his attorneys and Attorney General Derek Schmidt agreed to put the lawsuit on hold to allow lawmakers to consider a plan for compensating businesses.

Kentucky

Louisville: The mass vaccination site at Cardinal Stadium, set to open April 12, will start accepting appointments for everyone 16 and older Wednesday. The site, which will include 24 lanes in the parking lots outside the stadium, has set a goal of inoculating at least 4,000 people a day through May 28 – 200,000 total. Dr. Jason Smith, chief medical officer for University of Louisville Health, said Tuesday that he hopes the site can administer 24,000 vaccines in its first week. U of L Health is providing fourth-year medical students, nurses and physicians to run the site, as well as “a huge pool of volunteers that are willing to help out,” Smith said. There will also be an AmeriCorps presence and a National Guard presence to help with traffic. Smith said the site will have the Pfizer vaccine and, later, the Johnson & Johnson one-dose version. People can sign up at UofLHealth.org or call 502-681-1435 starting Wednesday. Meanwhile, the University of Kentucky has also announced an expansion of its vaccine and coronavirus testing services to new locations around the state.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: The state will end many of its coronavirus restrictions for businesses but will keep its mask mandate in place, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Tuesday. Customer limits on bars, restaurants, salons, gyms, malls, casinos and other nonessential businesses will be removed, though they’ll be required to use social distancing. They had previously been capped at 50% or 75% of their occupancy limits. Direct table service still will be required at bars, but an 11 p.m. alcohol curfew will end. The changes mean businesses face the fewest restrictions since the pandemic began. The new rules start Wednesday, though local officials could choose to enact tougher limits than those put in place by the Democratic governor. “Today marks a big step forward, but we’re all going to have a role to play,” Edwards said. He urged people to continue to “mask, vaccinate and distance.” But the lightened limits diverge from some of the recommendations of President Joe Biden’s administration, which has urged restrictions to be maintained or tightened to avoid another surge of COVID-19. Edwards said he won’t loosen the rules for face coverings, which have been in place since July, arguing that mask-wearing is among the most effective ways to lessen the spread of COVID-19.

Maine

Augusta: The Augusta Civic Center is slated to pull double duty this week as the host of the Legislature and a COVID-19 vaccination clinic. The Legislature, which has been using the civic center to facilitate easier social distancing, was slated to convene at the venue Tuesday and expected to take up the biennial budget proposal. MaineGeneral Medical Center was also scheduled to hold a continuing vaccination clinic at the facility. Maine Senate President Troy Jackson of Allagash and Chuck Hays, president and chief executive officer of MaineGeneral Health, said they were confident the civic center could accommodate the two events simultaneously. “We’ve been working with legislative leadership and the state of Maine to ensure that both the legislative session and the community vaccination clinics can occur at the same time in the same building,” Hays said. MaineGeneral said it has provided more than 16,300 COVID-19 vaccinations, and 14,700 of those have been provided at the civic center.

Maryland

Annapolis: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to open a community vaccination center in Prince George’s County, officials announced Tuesday. The center will open at the Greenbelt Metro Station on April 7, with its daily schedule to be announced. Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration said as more vaccine doses become available, the center’s capacity is expected to be up to 3,000 shots per day. This will be the first federally operated site in Maryland, using direct vaccine allocations from the federal government. Prince George’s County has had the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the state. Local officials have criticized a lack of equitable distribution of vaccine doses to the county, which is the state’s second-largest jurisdiction. Meanwhile, Maryland entered the next phase of its COVID-19 vaccination eligibility Tuesday. Phase 2B expands eligibility to Marylanders age 16 and older with underlying medical conditions that increase the risk for severe COVID-19 illness, as well as to residents with disabilities.

Massachusetts

Brimfield: A small town known for its outdoor summer antiques shows has given the go-ahead for them to resume this year, but not everyone is on board. The Brimfield Select Board voted Monday to allow this year’s Brimfield Outdoor Antiques Shows and Flea Markets to go on after the town’s Health Board met last week with state officials to discuss the logistics of the shows, which bring tens of thousands of people to town to shop a milelong stretch of markets. This year’s three shows are scheduled for May 11-16, July 13-18 and Sept. 7-12. Last year’s shows were canceled because of the pandemic. Some of the promoters who provide the space for vendors said they will opt out of the May show, citing COVID-19 safety concerns. “It would be impossible to conduct a successful show for either our vendors or our shoppers under the current regulations,” said Klia Ververidis, spokesperson for the Brimfield Show Promoters Association, according to Masslive.com. Those who do open will be asked to provide a safety plan to the town’s health agent, who will review plans with the state Department of Labor Standards.

Michigan

Lansing: A barber who defied Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and reopened his shop last spring amid the pandemic was fined $9,000 for violating licensing rules, including joining a protest where hairstylists cut hair on the state Capitol lawn. Karl Manke will appeal the penalties in court, his lawyer said. The Board of Barber Examiners on Monday accepted an administrative law judge’s findings and issued the fines for violations – including barbering on the Capitol steps, where he was not licensed to operate. He also allowed used neck strips and piles of hair to accumulate on the floor in his Owosso barbershop and stored a comb in his shirt pocket instead of a covered container, according to the board, whose membership consists primarily of barbers. The fines were levied against both Manke and his business, and $6,000 stemmed from his participation in the Capitol demonstration last May. “It shows their pettiness; it shows their vindictiveness. The lack of proportionality here is almost breathtaking, really,” said David Kallman, Manke’s attorney. In a March 1 report, Administrative Law Judge Stephen Goldstein said Manke’s argument that he had a right to free speech “may have merit,” but the tribunal had no jurisdiction to address constitutional issues. “Respondent had the option of protesting without cutting hair,” Goldstein wrote. “He chose a different path and in so doing has violated the Code.”

Minnesota

Minneapolis: The coronavirus pandemic drove many residents outdoors to go ice fishing, and authorities say it led to an increase of an unwanted byproduct as some anglers left behind litter and trash. “In some places, it was a little more than usual,” said Joe Albert, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources spokesman. “And that’s likely kind of reflective of the fact that there (were) more people out this year ice fishing.” Discarded items ran the gamut from cigarette butts to bait to plastic bottles to slabs of wood used to prop up fish houses, Minnesota Public Radio News reports. On a visit to Medicine Lake in early March, conservation officer Brent Grewe filled the back end of an all-terrain vehicle with trash he collected, including beer cans, pieces of Styrofoam, plastic bags and even a tip-up flag that alerts anglers when they’ve caught a fish. “It’s just kind of disgusting,” Grewe said. There was a silver lining: Grewe noticed more anglers cleaning up other people’s messes, which he called “a breath of fresh air.”

Mississippi

Jackson: Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday signed a bill authorizing a $1,000 pay raise for most teachers, and lawmakers worked to adopt final parts of state spending and borrowing plans for the year that begins July 1. Approving a teacher pay raise is a two-part process. First, it must be authorized. Then, money must be budgeted to pay for it. Reeves, a Republican, signed the legislation that sets a $1,000 raise for most teachers and a $1,100 raise for those in the early years of the career. “It’s hard to imagine how difficult 2020/21 have been on our state’s educators,” Reeves wrote on Twitter as he announced the bill signing. “But so many have stepped up and done what Mississippians do – whatever it took to help MS kids!” Mississippi has long had some of the lowest teacher salaries in the nation. According to the Southern Regional Education Board, the average teacher salary in the U.S. for 2018-19 was $62,304. For Mississippi, the average was $45,105. The state-funded portion of the state government budget will be nearly $6.6 billion. It includes an increase in funding for early learning collaboratives. Those preschool programs are partnerships between public school districts and Head Start centers, child care centers or private or parochial schools. “This is a real good year for education, as far as money going into it,” said House Education Committee Chairman Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach.

Missouri

Springfield: Federal prosecutors unveiled new charges in the case against state Rep. Tricia Derges last week, this time accusing her of misleading Greene County officials to secure a pandemic grant worth nearly $300,000. According to the latest from a grand jury, Derges, who operates multiple medical clinics in the area, effectively got the county to reimburse her for providing coronavirus tests for which patients had already paid her. The new filing says Derges applied for the grant saying she needed the money to cover the cost of free tests for the poor provided by her nonprofit, Lift Up Someone Today. She included invoices totaling $296,574 from Dynamic DNA for more than 3,000 tests. But the indictment says those tests were actually provided by her for-profit company, Ozark Valley Medical Clinic, where patients had already paid roughly $517,000 for the service. When the check came to her nonprofit’s account, the filing says, she transferred the funds to the company’s account. The new charges add to a February indictment that also accuses her of duping patients with a fake stem cell treatment, illegally distributing prescription drugs and lying to federal agents as they investigated her. Republican leaders have barred her from serving on House committees that review legislation and called for her resignation. When she refused to leave, they kicked her out of Republican caucus meetings and moved her office to a closet.

Montana

Helena: The state’s House Appropriations Committee has moved forward with a bill to allocate about $2 billion in federal stimulus money, including financial penalties for local governments, tribes and schools that have stricter COVID-19 guidelines than the state. Gov. Greg Gianforte lifted the statewide mask mandate Feb. 12. State law allows cities and counties to have stricter guidelines, and several still have mask mandates, while some continue to limit the sizes of gatherings and business operating hours. The appropriation bill, sponsored by Rep. Frank Garner, R-Kalispell, calls for a 20% reduction in grants awarded to cities, counties, tribes and schools that are still enforcing mask mandates or other health guidelines. Rep. Sharon Stewart Peregoy, D-Crow Agency, argued Monday that “cities and counties are being extorted” to lift their regulations when they want to protect their people and wait until more people are vaccinated. Republican Rep. Matt Regier said he finds it ironic that local governments can impose strict COVID-19 protocols that hurt the economy but then ask for tax money to bail them out. The measure passed the appropriations committee 16-8 on Monday. Most of those voting “no” opposed the deficit spending.

Nebraska

Omaha: Now that vaccines are becoming more widely available, many residents are scouring the internet in search of an appointment to get a COVID-19 shot. Michael Nollett of Lincoln said he hopes to land an appointment soon, after pharmacies participating in a federal program in the state opened up vaccine eligibility to all adults Monday. Local health officials remain focused on vaccinating people 50 and older, although some public health districts in rural areas are also offering the shots to all adults. Officials have said they expect to make the vaccines available to the general public statewide by late April or early May. “There’s a lot of imperfect things about the way it’s being done,” Nollett told the Omaha World-Herald. “I’m hopeful with this new thing opening up (Monday) that I’ll be able to make some headway somewhere.” More than 325,000 Nebraskans have registered with the state online to get a vaccine. That system notifies people when they are eligible to get the shots at their local health department, which Nollett doesn’t quite qualify for yet in Lancaster County at age 47. Pharmacies participating in the federal program are offering appointments to anyone online, but they fill up quickly.

Nevada

Las Vegas: Health officials say they’re hopeful about the direction of the state’s coronavirus outbreak as reported cases, deaths and hospitalization trends remain favorable and as the state gradually reopens following a winter surge. State biostatistician Kyra Morgan said during a telephone news conference Monday that Nevada did not see any significant increase in reported virus cases after allowing businesses to increase capacity to 35% up from 25% in mid-February, nor from allowing another increase up to 50% capacity March 15. State COVID-19 Response Director Caleb Cage said officials are watching closely but hoping that the statewide mask mandate, along with other measures aimed to stop spread of the virus, will help keep cases low and businesses open. Nationally, cases of the virus are up about 10% over the past week from the previous week, to about 60,000 cases per day, with both hospitalizations and deaths ticking up. Nevada, however, has seen consistent declines in cases, hospitalizations and deaths since mid-January. The state’s 14-day rate of coronavirus tests coming back positive fell slightly to 4.2% Monday, down from 4.3% a day earlier.

New Hampshire

Concord: U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has helped introduce a bill that would increase funding to fight the opioid epidemic, which has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. The bill increases funding authorization levels and sets out new policy reforms in the Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act, which was enacted in 2016. Policy changes include new research into non-opioid pain management alternatives and long-term treatment outcomes to sustain recovery from addiction. The bill establishes a commission to improve the quality and safety of care for drug overdoses and substance use disorders. The bill also authorizes $300 million to expand evidence-based medication-assisted treatment and $200 million to build a national infrastructure for recovery support services to help individuals move successfully from treatment into long-term recovery. “Over the last year, we’ve witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbate the substance use disorder epidemic in New Hampshire. Essentially, we’ve experienced one public health crisis exacerbate another. It has taken a devastating toll on our communities and it demands Congress’ attention and action,” Shaheen said in a news release.

New Jersey

Trenton: State officials on Monday warned about another public health consequence begat by the COVID-19 pandemic, this one disproportionately harming young children: a significant decrease in testing for the toxic metal lead. The number of children tested for lead last year dropped about 35,000 – or 20% – from 2019, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. Meanwhile, the percentage of children who had lead levels that warrant intervention increased somewhat from about 2.2% in 2019 to 2.8% of children tested last year. In 2019, three children were hospitalized for lead above 45 micrograms per deciliter in their blood, but 11 were hospitalized last year, according to the Health Department. The government requires action when a child’s tests show just 5 micrograms per deciliter in their blood, though no level of lead is safe. “This data seems to confirm that the pandemic is exacerbating New Jersey’s childhood lead poisoning epidemic, which continues to disproportionately impact lower-income children and children of color,” said Staci Berger, president and CEO of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. Before the pandemic eclipsed the attention of public health professionals, a lead water crisis that started in Newark brought the issue to the forefront.

New Mexico

Santa Fe: The state’s public schools have a long way to go to meet goals for returning students to the classroom set by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the administration of President Joe Biden. An analysis by the Associated Press shows 5% of New Mexico students from kindergarten through eighth grade can walk through school doors full time. The national average for a similar age group was about 45% in February. The governor has urged schools to open their doors to in-person learning for all students next Monday. On Thursday, Biden reiterated his goal to have over half of K-8 schools open by April 30, his 100th day in office. The state and federal government are dedicating enormous resources to rebooting in-person education and making up for learning loss. State officials haven’t estimated the toll on learning for the entire pandemic, but a legislative analysis found learning loss of between four and 12 months as a result of last spring’s closures alone. An increased percentage of New Mexico students were failing at least one class last fall, and some rural districts still hadn’t connected students to the internet. On the bright side, roughly 85% of all the state’s educators, including those who work in pre-K and universities, have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, and a third are fully inoculated.

New York

New York: The Tribeca Film Festival said Monday that it plans to hold its 20th edition in person this June and with outdoor screenings spread throughout the city’s five boroughs. The springtime festival – canceled last year due to the pandemic – will instead turn to the summer for its next edition, spanning 12 days beginning June 9. Tribeca will screen films at outdoor venues around New York, including the Battery, Hudson Yards, Pier 57 Rooftop, Brookfield Place, the MetroTech Commons in Brooklyn and Empire Outlets in Staten Island. The festival will also use a traveling 40-foot HD screen in other areas. “The Tribeca Film Festival was born out of our mission to bring people together in the aftermath of 9/11. We’re still doing it,” said Tribeca co-founder Robert De Niro. “And as New York emerges from the shadow of COVID-19, it seems just right to bring people together again in-person for our 20th anniversary festival.” Tribeca has gradually broadened the footprint of its annual festival, stretching beyond its downtown namesake. It has regularly hosted outdoor “drive-in” screenings on city streets, something it expanded nationwide last year in a series of drive-ins held around the country showing classic films.

North Carolina

Asheville: More than veterans can now get vaccinated against COVID-19 through the Western North Carolina VA Health Care system thanks to a new law that expands the VA’s eligibility to veterans’ spouses and caregivers. In an announcement Monday, the WNC VA Health Care system said it has already begun providing vaccinations to all veterans, their spouses and caregivers participating in the VA’s Program and General Caregiver Support Services and more. The announcement came after eligibility was opened to all veterans regardless of age, profession or medical status March 19 and after a mass vaccination event Saturday at the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville. WNC VA Public Affairs Officer Vance Janes said 608 doses were given, 77 of which were to those eligible under the SAVE LIVES Act. “Overall, we viewed it as a success,” Janes said, as those 608 doses were in addition to the VA’s normal vaccination efforts, when it uses all 1,170 of its normal weekly allotment of doses. The new law opens eligibility for any spouses and caregivers of the roughly 46,000 veterans enrolled for health care with the WNC VA system, he said, as well as any area veterans not enrolled.

North Dakota

Bismarck: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved $19.4million in additional funding for pandemic response efforts in the state. To date, FEMA has paid more than $77.1 million in public assistance funding for COVID-19 response in North Dakota. About $18.3 million was provided to the North Dakota Department of Health to add temporary nursing staff and couriers to administer and distribute coronavirus tests and materials to testing sites throughout the state. And $1.1 million was provided to the McKenzie Healthcare System Inc. to convert an abandoned medical clinic into a fully functioning Alternate Care Site, temporarily expanding hospital capacity and providing the needed care to patients living in the city of Watford and surrounding areas.

Ohio

Cincinnati: City Councilman David Mann is calling on the city administration to evaluate compliance with basic COVID-19 precautions following the opening of the outdoor drinking area at The Banks last weekend. Hundreds of people gathered at The Banks on Saturday to bask in the good weather and enjoy the 85-acre open-container drinking district. Long lines packed with mostly unmasked people formed outside bars and restaurants for hours. Mann is asking what additional enforcement or education may be appropriate to minimize the risk that the Dora district will become a major source of new coronavirus cases. Tracy Schwegmann, spokesperson for The Banks, could not give officials numbers about how many people visited the Dora on Saturday. “If you went to any public park or space anywhere downtown, you saw it was packed. People clearly had spring fever,” Schwegmann said. There are signs posted throughout the Dora reminding guests to social distance and wear masks. “I think at this point people understand what the risks are and what measures they can and should be taking.” The Dora district is not planning any specific celebrations for Thursday’s Opening Day for Major League Baseball, but crowds may once again gather throughout the district.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: Gov. Kevin Stitt received a COVID-19 vaccine Monday as state health officials opened eligibility to everyone over age 16. Stitt, a Republican who in July became the first U.S. governor to announce testing positive for the coronavirus, received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and said he hopes that receiving his shot publicly will encourage Oklahomans who may be hesitant to get vaccinated. “I wanted to wait until our most vulnerable had the choice, but now that we’re in Phase 4, I’m going to lead by example, and I’m going to do it,” said Stitt, who flashed a thumbs-up to reporters after getting his shot. Deputy Health Commissioner Keith Reed said surveys have shown about 66% of Oklahomans have indicated a willingness to receive the vaccine, a number he said he hopes continues to increase as more doses are distributed. “The vaccine is free to all Oklahomans,” Reed said. “There are appointments available across the state, including in our metro areas, so if you haven’t enrolled in the state portal yet, I highly encourage you to do so.” The state currently ranks 16th nationally with 30.4% of its population having received at least one dose, compared to a national average of 28.6%, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Oregon

Salem: Gov. Kate Brown and education officials marked the return to in-person learning for the state’s schoolkids in a virtual address Monday morning, saying parents should be confident they will be able to keep students safe. “Today, Oregon officially returns to in-person instruction,” Brown said. “It’s truly a moment worth celebrating. I know students, parents, educators, all of us, have been looking forward to this for months.” The most enriching learning environment for school kids is the classroom, Brown said, for both educational and socialization needs. However, the Democratic governor cautioned that a return to classrooms doesn’t signify a return to pre-pandemic normal. Distance learning days will still be needed, she said, as the state continues to work toward complete in-person learning. Colt Gill, director of the Oregon Department of Education, said parents should be confident their children will be safe when returning to in-person learning in Oregon’s schools. He praised the state’s reopening guidance as among the best in the country. These same protocols will also protect educators and staff from contracting COVID-19, he said. “It is time to go back to our school buildings,” Gill said. Oregon schoolchildren have largely been studying at home since March 12, 2020.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: The state’s schools will get nearly $5 billion from the federal pandemic aid package, the Wolf administration announced Monday. School districts must use at least 20% of the money to address learning loss from the pandemic and to support the “social, emotional and academic needs of underrepresented students,” including students from low-income families, those with disabilities and English language learners, according to the governor’s office. Schools may use the rest of the money for professional training, technology, cleaning supplies, summer and after-school programs, and mental health services and other expenses. About $4.5 billion will go directly to public school districts and charter schools. The Education Department itself will get about $500 million for various initiatives and to assist career and technical schools, intermediate units and other education entities that do not get a direct allocation. “This extra funding is critical to help schools meet the unique needs of educating students at this time while keeping school buildings safe when students return to the classroom,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement.

Rhode Island

Providence: The state is on track to meet Gov. Dan McKee’s target of making all residents 16 and older eligible to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine by April 19, health officials said Tuesday. Federal allocations of vaccines will make that possible. “We have a pretty good sense of what our allocations are going to look like, by beginning of June, mid-June, getting 100,000 doses per week in the state,” Tom McCarthy, executive director of the COVID-19 Response Team, said at a virtual meeting of the state COVID-19 Vaccine Subcommittee. About 70% of the population should be fully vaccinated at that point, he said. “So, in order to reach herd immunity, getting as many people vaccinated that are 16-plus is critically important,” McCarthy said. The state is also stepping up efforts to vaccinate more people of color, who have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. The age-adjusted hospitalization rate among Hispanic or Latino Rhode Islanders is 4.6 times higher than the rate among white, non-Hispanic Rhode Islanders, while the age-adjusted rate among Black or African American Rhode Islanders is 2.6 times higher, according to the state Health Department.

South Carolina

Columbia: Gov. Henry McMaster said Tuesday that he will spend $6 million in discretionary COVID-19 relief funds on free community computer labs near broadband deserts statewide. Schoolchildren, teachers and others in need of computer access will soon be able to use Apple computers at eight sites across the state, McMaster announced in a news conference at Benedict College, a historically Black liberal arts school in the capital city. “The pandemic has made it abundantly clear that internet access is not a luxury but a necessity for millions of South Carolinians,” McMaster said in a statement. The announcement comes as officials push to expand broadband access across the state. Hundreds of thousands of people in its rural areas have struggled to get online, a problem underscored after the coronavirus pandemic pushed many functions of life onto the internet. The eight computer labs will be strategically located so local school districts, historically Black colleges and universities, and technical colleges can use them, officials said. Two hubs will be centered in Columbia’s Bull Street District and at Benedict College, with some others located at University of South Carolina campuses.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: The opening of the city’s new triage and addiction center has been long-awaited by many as a central location that can provide help for substance abuse and mental health patients. City Councilor Marshall Selberg said that’s why he’s pushing to appropriate $500,000 of Sioux Falls’ COVID-19 relief funds toward the center, known as The Link. “There’s a bigger issue out there than we realize about people who need some help,” Selberg said. Operation Hope Fund would be part of the Sioux Falls for All funding package that will head to a council vote in April. The fund would be available for a broad number of uses, he said, such as paying for treatments, assisting with housing or transportation that would improve access to care, or helping to buy medication or medical supplies. “We’re trying to use it to be as open as possible,” Selberg said. He said with the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating many issues around mental health, he doesn’t want anyone who could benefit from The Link’s help to refrain from reaching out for financial reasons. Selberg said there’s not a hard limit on how much could be spent per person, but officials have spoken generally about $500, which would enable them to help 1,000 people.

Tennessee

Nashville: Businesses would be able to decide whether to follow health guidelines issued by state or local authorities during a pandemic under legislation approved by state House lawmakers Monday. Businesses would still be required to follow public health guidelines. But under the bill, titled “Business Fairness Act,” they could decide whether to adhere to less stringent state guidelines over ones put in place by local authorities. The legislation cleared the House on a 90-0 vote and the Senate 28-0 last week and is expected to arrive on Gov. Bill Lee’s desk. Sen. Bill Powers, R-Clarksville, said the bill protects small businesses that suffered economic loss due to mandated closures during the pandemic. Under the bill, businesses could choose to comply with any executive orders, rules or guidelines issued by the governor, state agencies or local authorities to curb the spread of a health crisis. As case numbers climbed in spring 2020, Lee temporarily closed nonessential businesses, and similar restrictions were put in place in cities such as Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville. Even as Lee lifted the statewide orders, local governments in metropolitan areas kept more restrictive measures in place. Davidson and Shelby counties have both faced lawsuits from businesses protesting the mandated closures last summer.

Texas

Houston: A federal appeals court has struck down a lawsuit brought by elderly inmates who alleged the state did not implement adequate measures to shield them from COVID-19. Two male inmates of the Wallace Pack Unit near Houston filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the conditions there violated their constitutional rights by endangering their health and safety. A federal judge in Houston had agreed and ordered the state to equip inmates with protective equipment. Last June, the appeals court panel overturned the order, saying the state was in substantial compliance. The three-judge appeals court panel on Friday ruled in favor of the state. Brandon Duke, one of the inmates’ attorneys, said the decision was disappointing, “but we do agree with the court that the suit, as stated in the opinion, ‘played a role in motivating the prison officials into action and saved countless lives.’ That was the ultimate goal of the case.” It’s unclear whether further appeals are planned.

Utah

St. George: With vaccines rolling out and a long buildup of cabin fever, visitors are already flocking to Utah’s national parks by the thousands. Zion National Park, the nation’s third most popular national park, saw more than 300,000 visitors in January and February alone this year, breaking records for the winter months. Capitol Reef also broke records, and Canyonlands National Park saw double its January-February 2020 visitation this year, according to official data. A fall surge to Utah national parks last year followed months of drops related to pandemic restrictions. But now, it’s all on the up-and-up. “The forecast looks like it’s going to be a really busy year; there’s a lot of pent-up energy around the country and the world. Because we have open space and we’re accessible, the demand is high,” Greater Zion Office of Tourism Director Kevin Lewis said. For Utah’s tourism economy, this means nothing but profit to make up for last year’s pandemic losses. However, for locals, this means the effects of overtourism could be coming back again with crowding, graffiti and litter beyond control. To help with that, the Utah Office of Tourism is shifting how it does business, with a “Forever Mighty” initiative it hopes will encourage visitors to leave no trace and mindfully spend time on Utah land.

Vermont

Montpelier: State officials are urging eligible residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but they are also asking people to keep up with the measures designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The Tuesday call came as Vermont continues to set or approach records for new cases of the virus. But deaths and hospitalizations are down because many older Vermonters, those most vulnerable to death and serious consequences of COVID-19, have been vaccinated, with the state leading the nation in inoculation rates among those 65 and older. Many of the new cases are among young people who are less likely to suffer serious consequences or death from COVID-19. “The key to ending the pandemic is for all of us to get vaccinated,” said Mike Pieciak, the Vermont commissioner of financial regulation who has been monitoring COVID-19 statistics during the pandemic. “This individual action will have a significant collective impact.” But it will be some time before all Vermonters can be vaccinated. “People are sick of life in a pandemic, plain and simple,” Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said Tuesday. “That’s been true for awhile, of course, but our strides in vaccination, the beginning of spring and hope for the future may be enticing us to take increasing risks.”

Virginia

Richmond: Evictions are continuing in the state despite a nationwide moratorium by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Washington Post reports loopholes and misinformation are the likely culprits. Palmer Heenan, an attorney with the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, said more than 11,000 eviction judgments were made in the state between September and December of last year. The CDC eviction moratorium applies only to failure-to-pay-rent cases. And it requires tenants to fill out a declaration form. That puts the onus on a tenant who might be uninformed about the options. “Part of the problem with the protection as it currently exists is that they require an invocation by the tenant,” Heenan said. “The tenant has to know about the protections. They have to print out and sign a declaration. And they have to bring it to the landlord.” Another problem is that the moratorium applies only to failure-to-pay-rent cases and not other causes of eviction. Housing experts say more landlords are finding other reasons to evict someone, such as a noise complaint or a lease expiring.

Washington

Olympia: As of Wednesday, about 5 million of the state’s more than 7.6 million residents will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. The latest tier expansion was announced by Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this month. Starting Wednesday, eligibility will be extended to those those 16 and older with two or more comorbidities, anyone between the ages of 60 and 64, and workers 16 and older employed by restaurants, manufacturing and construction. Those living in congregate settings like correctional facilities or group homes for disabilities, plus those experiencing homelessness, will also be eligible for a vaccine. That leaves about 1.2 million more Washingtonians who are not yet eligible, excluding kids under age 16. Inslee has said that the remainder will be eligible by May 1, a federal deadline set by President Joe Biden. Many states have moved to lift eligibility requirements sooner, but Inslee has said he wants to ensure the most vulnerable receive the shot before eligibility opens to everyone. More than 3.2 million doses of vaccine have been administered to date, and more than 16% of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated, including those vaccinated by the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

West Virginia

Charleston: Schools in the capital city and surrounding Kanawha County reported the most coronavirus outbreaks since the start of the pandemic Monday. A total of 41 students and three staff members have been affected by outbreaks across seven schools, according to the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department. And in northern West Virginia, officials at East Fairmont High School announced that classes will be conducted remotely until next Tuesday due to a virus outbreak there, prompting all sports competitions to be called off. Less than a week after Republican Gov. Jim Justice announced the state’s color-coded map of outbreak severity would no longer determine in-person school attendance, some counties are struggling to keep classroom doors open. Justice has left it up to local health and school officials to determine when outbreaks are severe enough to cancel activities. The outbreaks come amid a bump in hospitalizations and cases statewide. Justice lifted capacity limits on businesses earlier this month and loosened restrictions on schools, keeping in place a mask mandate. Positive coronavirus cases grew for the third consecutive week in West Virginia. Confirmed cases hit 1,924 last week, up 16% from the previous week, according to state health records.

Wisconsin

Madison: State health officials have decided to make COVID-19 vaccinations available for the general public starting next week, accelerating the timetable by a month, Gov. Tony Evers said Tuesday. The move comes as Evers’ administration braces for another surge in infections and a court order that could wipe out the governor’s statewide mask mandate. Currently, health care workers, people over 65, nursing home residents and staff, educators and people with existing health conditions are eligible for vaccines. That will expand to everyone 16 and older starting Monday, Evers announced. “We still have a heck of a long way to go to get everyone vaccinated,” Evers said during a news conference. “But every day we are closer than yesterday in getting back to our Wisconsin way of life. I know I’m not alone in feeling the hope, excitement and relief. … We are this close to the finish line.” State health officials had planned to open up vaccinations to the general public May 1. But case rates in Wisconsin have been rising over the past two weeks, mirroring a national rise in infections. Meanwhile, the state’s conservative-leaning Supreme Court is scheduled to rule Wednesday on whether Evers’ mask mandate is legal.

Wyoming

Cheyenne: Lawmakers plan to wrestle with state spending as they meet a couple of days longer than expected due to a snowstorm that shut down operations in the capital. This year’s legislative session – one already divided into virtual and in-person segments and scheduled to go a few weeks later than usual due to the coronavirus pandemic – was due to end this Friday. A storm that dumped 31 inches of snow shut down state government and prevented lawmakers from meeting March 15-16. The session is now scheduled to conclude April 7, two days after lawmakers take Monday off in observance of the Easter holiday, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. Tasks remaining for legislators include agreeing on a supplemental budget and finding a solution to Wyoming’s education funding model. The budget is especially important after the coronavirus and a downturn in fossil fuel markets caused Gov. Mark Gordon to slash state spending last year. Legislators, meanwhile, are trying to find a way to sustainably fund public education, which is running at a deficit.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

News from around our 50 states

From staff and wire reports

Alabama

Birmingham: The funeral for one of the first black members of the state Legislature will be held in the same church where his daughter died in a racist bombing in 1963. A service for Chris McNair will be held Friday at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. McNair’s daughter, Denise McNair, was among four black girls killed when Ku Klux Klansmen bombed the church Sept. 15, 1963. A surviving daughter, Lisa McNair, said Friday that her father planned his funeral and wanted it held at the church. She says he appreciated the historical significance of the church. Chris McNair became one of the first African-American members of Alabama’s Legislature since Reconstruction when he was elected in 1973. He died Wednesday at age 93.

Alaska

Anchorage: The mysterious animal people say they see in Iliamna Lake is dark, longer than 15 feet, with a long head and tail and distinct fins. It isn’t a whale or a seal, and it often vanishes quickly. Fishermen have tried hooking it. The Anchorage Daily News once offered $100,000 for proof of its existence. But so far, nobody has photographed the creature some call the Iliamna Lake monster. Palmer resident Bruce Wright, a former marine ecologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, hopes to solve the riddle once and for all this summer by sinking an underwater video camera to the bottom of the sprawling, sparsely lake, the largest and one of the deepest in the state. People call Iliamna Lake an inland sea. It’s 80 miles long, with a rare population of freshwater harbor seals that scientists believe moved in from the ocean long ago, and an old legend that something large lives in its 1,000-foot depths.

Arizona

Flagstaff: The public is sending mixed messages to the U.S. Forest Service about the future of a popular but primitive recreation area in central Arizona. Some people are calling for more infrastructure improvements at Fossil Creek near Camp Verde, while others want more solitude. The Arizona Daily Sun reports Forest Service officials are analyzing the nearly 220 public comments submitted for the development of a long-term management plan. It’s expected to be complete early next year. Fossil Creek project manager Marcos Roybal says some people want more parking, restrooms and other infrastructure projects, while others are concerned about the possible negative effects of increasing visitor numbers. According to agency data, Fossil Creek averages nearly 8,000 visitors a month between May and October when permits are required.

Arkansas

Hot Springs: The state’s first dispensary has opened two and a half years after voters approved a measure legalizing medical marijuana for certain qualifying conditions. About 100 people lined up in the rain outside Doctor’s Orders RX in Hot Springs on its first official day of business Saturday, as wait times and confusion about the dispensary’s hours frustrated some people. Despite reports that the dispensary was scheduled to open at 8 a.m., employees said they didn’t plan on opening until 10 a.m. One employee also said he expected to process no more than six patients an hour through the state-required electronic tracking system. Some people said they’d been in line since before dawn. On Friday, the state approved another dispensary, Green Springs Medical, and owner Dragan Vicentic has said he plans to open Monday morning.

California

Ojai: This artsy Southern California city is so safe that a single attempt by teens to steal beer accounted for the majority of its violent crimes last year. Sheriff’s Capt. James Fryhoff says that “a beer run that went bad” accounted for four of the six crimes. The teens allegedly went into a gas station mart to steal beer and used a skateboard to beat an employee who confronted them and hit a witness who called 911. That tallied up as two robberies and two assaults with a deadly weapon. Fryhoff serves as police chief of Ojai, a community of just under 7,700 residents in a scenic valley northwest of Los Angeles. It’s best known for galleries, boutiques and outdoor recreation that draw tourists.

Colorado

Alamosa: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve has been recognized for its unpolluted views of the night sky. KOAA-TV reports the International Dark-Sky Association announced Thursday that it has designated the southern Colorado park as an International Dark Sky Park. Park Superintendent Pamela Rice says the park is an ideal place to view the stars because of its dry air, high elevation and lack of light pollution. The park is planning to hold a celebration of the recognition this summer.

Connecticut

Newtown: A school violence prevention program started by parents whose children were killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre is receiving a $25,000 donation. The gift from the Wireless Zone Foundation will be presented to Sandy Hook Promise on Monday. The donation is earmarked to support the training of youth and adults in Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs program, which is designed to help decrease violence, bullying and other forms of victimization, while strengthening school communities. More than 7.5 million people in more than 14,000 schools and youth organizations have gone through the training, learning techniques to reduce bullying and cyberbullying and help identify those as risk to commit violence, including school shootings.

Delaware

Lewes Beach: Residents of this beach community have the usual concerns about parking and littering as the summer tourism season begins. But the residents of Lewes Beach are also concerned that beach visitors will continue using the dunes as an outhouse. Lifelong resident JuneRose Futcher says residents are “very worried about the public toileting.” She says the city of Lewes needs to look after residents first. When residents confront people going to the bathroom in the dunes, Futcher says they don’t care. Town officials say there’s no room for more parking or public bathrooms. Resident Mark Schaeffer says a comprehensive land use plan would help Lewes Beach, which has homes ranging from quaint coastal cottages to waterfront villas that list for about $2 million.

District of Columbia

Washington: A Jordanian American writer is facing a backlash after she posted a picture on Twitter of a public transit worker eating on a Washington Metro train and reported details about the employee to her bosses. Natasha Tynes apologized a day later on Twitter and deleted her post before making her account private. But people online were upset that someone who calls herself a “minority writer” would shame a black woman and possibly cause her to lose her job. The Washington Post reports the publishing house distributing her debut novel dropped her, and her publisher delayed the book’s planned release. Union officials say the woman was on the train to get to another assignment and had just 20 minutes to eat. Tynes told the Associated Press on Sunday that she didn’t want to talk.

Florida

Tallahassee: Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetoed a bill that would have prevented local governments from banning plastic straws. DeSantis rejected the environmental regulation bill Friday, marking his first veto since taking office this year. The legislation originally addressed issues with contaminated recyclable materials but was amended to include a moratorium on local regulations of single-use plastic straws until 2024. A legislative analysis of the bill lists 10 Florida cities with straw bans, including Miami Beach, St. Petersburg and Fort Lauderdale. DeSantis wrote in the veto that the bans hadn’t frustrated any state policy or harmed state interests. He said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is encouraging residents to reduce plastic straw use, and residents who oppose the bans should elect new city commissioners.

Georgia

Atlanta: Executives from three production companies say they won’t film in the state because of its “heartbeat” abortion ban. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports they include David Simon of Blown Deadline, Christine Vachon of Killer Films and Mark Duplass of Duplass Brothers Productions. The boycotts aren’t likely to have an immediate effect because the companies don’t regularly work in Georgia. Killer Films and Duplass Brothers Productions specialize in independent films. Simon’s company has produced HBO series such as “The Wire.” The Georgia law will ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually about six weeks into a pregnancy. Critics say it’s unconstitutional and have vowed to sue. The Motion Picture Association of America represents major studios and is taking a wait-and-see approach.

Hawaii

Kailua-Kona: Legislation meant to protect the state’s shark population was altered at the 11th hour to remove the apex predators from the bill amid concerns from the scientific community. West Hawaii Today reports the bill was intended to extend protections already in place for manta rays to include all rays and sharks. It would have made it illegal to “capture, take, possess, abuse, or entangle any shark, whether alive or dead, or kill any shark, within state marine waters,” the measure says. There were exceptions for academic research, but the scientific community found them inadequate. University of Hawaii shark researcher Kim Holland said that researchers would be forced to apply for state permits from personnel without scientific expertise and that the bill was too ambiguous in defining terms like “harassment.”

Idaho

Boise: It’s the perfect time of year for morel mushrooms to start springing up in the state as soil temperatures warm, and already competition to find the tasty, coveted fungi is heating up. Members of online Idaho morel-hunting groups have been posting their finds for a few weeks, the Idaho Statesman reports. Excited commenters will ask at what elevation the honeycomb-capped mushrooms were found and perhaps what region of the state. But there’s one question you’d better not bother asking: Where’d you find them? “If you have to ask … you will never know,” one commenter wrote in a Facebook group for Idaho morel hunters. In the world of morels, much like in fishing, game hunting or even huckleberry picking, the whereabouts of fruitful caches are kept secret.

Illinois

Evanston: An escaped pet snake that apparently slithered into a suburban Chicago family’s washing machine ended up smelling like fabric softener after going through the wash. Sanela Kamencic tells WMAQ-TV she was “totally creeped out” when the snake turned up Wednesday in the washing machine in Evanston. Police Officer Pedro Carrasco and Animal Control Warden Jason Pound brought the reptile to the Chicago Exotics Animal Hospital. Carrasco says it was “peeking its head out of the washing machine” when it was found. Pound says it “smelled like Downy” after surviving the wash cycle. Veterinarian Melissa Giese tells radio station WBBM the snake was “in pretty good shape” and “really feisty.” The animal hospital says the corn snake, named Penelope, belonged to a 12-year-old boy who lives nearby. They were reunited afterward.

Indiana

Indianapolis: An elephant at the Indianapolis Zoo has tested positive for a virus that killed two other elephants at the zoo in March. Kedar, a 13-year-old male African elephant, tested negative for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus until May 6, the zoo said. Zoo staff had been testing elephants twice a week for the virus since the deaths of Kalina and Nyah. “Kedar is receiving aggressive treatment to help him fight the virus,” said Dr. Rob Shumaker, president of the zoo, which is now conducting daily blood tests on all the elephants in its herd. The virus causes fatal hemorrhagic disease in elephants, mainly Asian elephants. It is one of the most devastating viral diseases in elephants. There is no vaccine for it, and it is not preventable. It has an 85% mortality rate.

Iowa

Des Moines: A new building in the East Village neighborhood is the first in the U.S. built using a unique type of mass timber – an eco-friendly material becoming more popular as developers look to reduce their carbon footprints. Mass timber is made by pressing smaller planks of wood together. It can be glued or nailed. In this case, the timber was pressed together using dowels. There are about 200 mass timber buildings across 36 states, but the Des Moines building was the first to use the dowel-laminated product. About 11% of global carbon emissions each year come from concrete and steel manufacturing, says Mark Wishnie, director of forestry and wood products for The Nature Conservancy, and “you also create a new carbon storage pool” with mass timber. During photosynthesis, trees absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The carbon stays in the wood, even after the tree is cut down.

Kansas

Wichita: A government report forecasts a bountiful winter wheat harvest in the state. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Friday that this year’s wheat crop is expected to be up 17% from a year ago. It predicted Kansas growers would bring in 323 million bushels. The agency forecast the state’s average yield at 49 bushels per acre, up 11 bushels from last year. It also anticipated that grain would be harvested from 6.6 million acres in Kansas, down 700,000 acres from a year ago. The government’s estimate is a bit more optimistic than the one put out by participants in last week’s winter wheat tour who estimated the size of the Kansas crop at 306.5 million bushels.

Kentucky

Louisville: A historic commission says a Confederate statue can be removed from a prominent location. The Louisville Metro Landmarks Commission voted 5-3 on Thursday to allow removal of John B. Castleman’s monument from a neighborhood traffic circle. Hours later, the statue was vandalized with paint for the fifth time since a 2017 deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The commission’s decision is final unless it’s appealed to a Circuit Court within 30 days. Castleman was a Confederate soldier and later a U.S. general. He helped found Louisville’s park system. Mayor Greg Fischer’s administration has pushed to relocate the statue because of Castleman’s ties to the Confederacy and support of slavery. The city is working to move the statue to Cave Hill Cemetery, where Castleman is buried.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: Hank Williams’ iconic “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” won’t become one of the state’s official songs. Republican Sen. Norby Chabert, of Terrebonne Parish, told The Advocate he’s shelving the proposal for this legislative session. Louisiana already has two official state songs: “Give Me Louisiana” and “You Are My Sunshine.” Chabert’s proposal chafed some who objected to adding another song, particularly those who love “You Are My Sunshine.” It was sung by Jimmie Davis, a country singer from Jackson Parish who served two terms as governor. Williams released “Jambalaya” in 1952, and it was the best-selling record for 14 weeks. It’s often played at Louisiana functions, particularly in southern parishes, because of its celebration of the region’s culture.

Maine

Augusta: The state is turning 200, and officials want to make sure the Pine Tree State celebrates the big birthday with the best flag possible. Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap is asking the public for input on three proposed designs for the commemorative flag, which will be on display around the state in 2020. Maine became a state in 1820. Dunlap is charged with presenting a final decision about the flags to the Legislature and Maine Bicentennial Commission. The state says the result of the public vote will play a major role in Dunlap’s decision. Dunlap says the voting has begun, and it is scheduled to end at 5 p.m. Friday.

Maryland

Annapolis: Ever since a townhome developer in the 1980s dug up a cemetery on the former grounds of the county’s first African-American church, two skeletons have been sitting in boxes archived in a museum. After searching for decades, historian Janice Hayes-Williams’ new mission is to get the remains back to their proper resting place in Annapolis and restore dignity for black families whose neighborhood was destroyed by gentrification. The plan for the return relies on extracting DNA and matching it with the living ancestors of those buried on the property that is now home to City Gate Lane townhouses. County Executive Steuart Pittman and Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley plan to ask Gov. Larry Hogan to put Maryland State Highway Administration Chief Archaeologist Julie Schablitsky on the case.

Massachusetts

Boston: A performing arts group has found the child who was literally wowed by a recent classical music concert. The Handel & Haydn Society had just finished a rendition of Mozart’s “Masonic Funeral” at Symphony Hall when a youngster blurted out: “WOW!” The group was so charmed that it launched a search for the “Wow Child” with the help of audio of the moment captured by WCRB-FM. The child is 9-year-old Ronan Mattin, of New Hampshire, WGBH-FM reports. He attended the concert with his grandfather Stephen, who saw a report on TV about the society looking for the child. Stephen Mattin said Ronan is on the autism spectrum and expresses himself differently from how other people do. He said his grandson is a huge music fan. The society will invite Ronan and his family back to the venue in October, when the 2019-2020 season opens, for another Mozart performance.

Michigan

Muskegon: A museum housed on a World War II-era warship is bringing a massive anti-aircraft gun aboard. The USS LST 393 Veterans Museum in Muskegon is adding an 18,000-pound anti-aircraft cannon to its landing ship tank this summer. The Muskegon Chronicle reports that the Bofors twin-barreled anti-aircraft cannon is currently being restored. The museum aims to have the gun lifted onto the ship ahead of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of D-Day, which will be held June 1-2. Board member John Stephenson says the museum has searched for a Bofors cannon since 2005. The warship would’ve carried multiple Bofors when entering battle during World War II. It was part of the Allied Forces’ D-Day invasion in Normandy, France, that weakened the Nazi’s hold on Western Europe in 1944.

Minnesota

St. Paul: The top Republican in the state Senate, who helped defeat a proposed ban on so-called gay conversion therapy for minors, sent his daughter to a therapist opposed to gay relationships after suspecting she had a same-sex attraction when she was a teenager, the Star Tribune reports. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, a conservative Christian from Nisswa, led his caucus in voting down a Democratic proposal May 1 against the practice of trying to turn gay people straight. Genna Gazelka, 30, who uses the pronoun “they” and now identifies as bi-gender, recalled being sent to a therapist who decried same-sex relations. The therapist was Marcus Bachmann, the husband of former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, a fiery conservative Christian who ran for president in 2012. “This is harassment, and it is tantamount to what could be said of torture or sexual torture,” Genna Gazelka said of conversion therapy.

Mississippi

Tupelo: A total of 28 counties and cities in northeast Mississippi have criminalized the possession and sale of kratom, a legal but unregulated herbal product. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports the governments are being urged to action by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and a Columbus-area anti-Kratom group. Bills to ban the substance statewide failed this year in the Legislature. Kratom is produced from the leaves of a tropical tree and consumed as a powder, a liquid or capsules. Supporters of kratom say it provides safe, non-addictive pain relief and can also combat anxiety disorders. Some kratom users also say it manages the withdrawal symptoms of potent opiate drugs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said the substance may be addictive and prone to abuse.

Missouri

Kansas City: The city’s school district has found its public and charter schools are increasingly racially segregated, expensive to operate and losing high school students. KCUR-FM reports the district released a new analysis showing that 78% of schools in the Kansas City system were racially segregated by 2017, well over the 32% of schools in 1999. The report says it’s in part due to white families opting out of the system. Only 10% of the city’s public school students are white. The analysis also says Kansas City spends $80 million more on administration, transportation and overhead than the comparably sized Springfield district. The report attributes high costs to inefficiencies from operating 83 schools, compared to Springfield’s 53. Public schools have been losing nearly half of all students between kindergarten and 12th grade.

Montana

Helena: Gov. Steve Bullock signed a series of bills Friday that allow for spending nearly $400 million on buildings, bridges and water systems across the state – an effort aimed at creating jobs, boosting the state’s economy and clearing up a backlog of needed work. The bills include money to repair or replace 14 bridges and 51 water, wastewater and sewer projects. Overall, the 2019 Legislature passed $2.7 billion in infrastructure projects, including highway projects. Other projects include $25 million for long-sought renovations to Romney Hall at Montana State University; a dental hygiene lab at Great Falls College; and backlogged maintenance at state buildings, including $2 million for the state Capitol complex.

Nebraska

Omaha: A new report says a nearly $200 million decline in the state’s agricultural exports in 2017 was driven by President Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on U.S. trading partners. The Nebraska Farm Bureau report attributes the drop to decreases in soybean and corn exports, while beef and pork exports both increased in 2017. The bureau’s senior economist, Jay Rempe, says Trump’s talks of tariffs in January 2017 caused a decline in soybean and other commodity prices. Rempe points out that China’s retaliatory tariffs didn’t occur until May 2018. Rempe says Nebraska’s agricultural community will continue to face pressure unless the administration resolves its trade disputes with China, Mexico and other countries.

Nevada

Carson City: The governor signed a law Friday opening the books on those awarded lucrative licenses to sell recreational marijuana, prompting the state tax department to reveal that just 16 applicants won all 61 new pot dispensary licenses awarded last year. Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak said the measure ushers in a “new era of transparency that will benefit the industry and the public alike.” The new law makes public the identity of marijuana license applicants and the method the state uses to score and rank bids. The licensing process has faced complaints from companies who say it is not clear what criteria officials used to award licenses. In lawsuits, the companies accuse the state of unconstitutionally picking winners and losers for the marijuana licenses. Sisolak declined Friday to comment on specifics of the pending litigation.

New Hampshire

Hampton: The Department of Environmental Services has closed the state’s ocean coastline and Hampton-Seabrook Harbor to shellfish harvesting because of a toxin that comes from what’s known as red tide. New Hampshire Public Radio reports the DES found high levels of the toxin, which causes paralytic shellfish poisoning. It was recently found in mussel samples. Chris Nash, shellfish program manager at the department, says it comes from toxic algae. The waters will be closed for the rest of May, which will affect soft shell clamming season. Some oyster harvesting areas remain open in Great Bay and Little Bay. The DES says paralytic shellfish poisoning is a life-threatening syndrome. It says the onset of symptoms is rapid, usually within two hours of consumption. Symptoms include tingling, burning, numbness, drowsiness, incoherent speech and respiratory paralysis.

New Jersey

Trenton: A microorganism that played a role in treating tuberculosis is now officially recognized as the state microbe. Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill Friday giving the distinction to Streptomyces griseus. The microbe was discovered in New Jersey soil in 1916. In 1943, researchers from Rutgers University used the microbe to create the antibiotic streptomycin. Tuberculosis death rates in the U.S. plummeted. They fell from about 194 deaths per 100,000 people in 1900 to about 9 deaths per 100,000 people in 1955. Rutgers researcher Selman Waksman was awarded the 1952 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discovering the microbe and creating the antibiotic.

New Mexico

Rio Grande del Norte National Monument: Rafting and angler guides are predicting a good season for Rio Grande tourism in the state thanks to strong runoff generated by a good snowmelt this year. A healthy snow patch this winter is feeding the Rio Grande with much-needed water after long dry spells stemming from drought, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. This year, the National Weather Service in Albuquerque predicts runoff to be at least 148% of normal through June. Water levels were 50% of normal in 2018. Parts of rivers were bone dry or only inches high. Fish – such as trout in the Pecos River – died off, and long sandbars formed along once-wet areas. In addition to tourism, strong runoff is predicted to help the ecosystem around the river and its banks. University of New Mexico biology researcher Rebecca Bixby says the increased flow will help the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow lay eggs and spawn.

New York

New York: The workers who spent their time helping with recovery efforts at ground zero are being commemorated on special-issue transit system MetroCards. The cards will be available starting Wednesday at 10 subway stations, mostly in the area of the World Trade Center site, the Daily News reports. The special MetroCards are connected to the upcoming opening of a glade at the national Sept. 11 memorial that pays tribute to the rescue and recovery workers. The 9/11 Memorial Glade is scheduled to formally open May 30, the anniversary of the day in 2002 when the recovery effort was officially ended. The MetroCards include images of four different people who worked at the site.

North Carolina

New Bern: Almost 2,000 students will receive scholarships to take a field trip to Tryon Palace, the state’s first permanent capitol. Tryon Palace officials say 1,775 students at 16 Title I schools will receive scholarships to visit the historic site. Title I schools meet certain guidelines for the number of students who are economically disadvantaged. The Tryon Palace Foundation raised the money for the field trips with donations from individuals. The foundation president says the field trips are important because experiencing history is different from merely reading about it. Most of the schools receiving the scholarships are in eastern North Carolina. Applications to attend a field trip next year will be accepted Aug. 15 through Sept. 30.

North Dakota

Minot: An imitation B-52 bomber and an oil derrick will be showcased in the proposed Magic City Discovery Center, according to recently unveiled concept plans. The Minot Daily News reports that the children’s museum’s board president, Mark Lyman, says the project has raised nearly two-thirds of the $7 million needed for the three-story, 22,000-square-foot facility. Lyman says groundbreaking will happen on a gill just south of the Minot airport once the project has raised 75% to 80% of the intended funding target. Paul Orselli, chief instigator with POW!, detailed a 35-foot climbing structure with a B-52 at the top that will be viewed through the multi-story, glassed-in atrium.

Ohio

Dayton: French and American teams are working together again on a D-Day project, this time to allow some virtual time travel back to that decisive moment in world history. Visitors to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton can use French-developed tablet technology when the museum begins its commemorations of D-Day on Monday. Events include paratroopers dropping from a vintage plane flying overhead and showings of movies about the June 6, 1944, assault that helped end World War II. Tablets called HistoPads let users contrast current views of historic sites with detailed re-creations of them, enhanced in this case with video footage, photos and maps from 1944. This will be the first U.S. site for HistoPads.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: The state Department of Corrections is asking federal lawmakers to authorize the use of cellphone signal jamming technology after being bombarded by an overflow of smuggled cellular devices they say gangs use to commit crimes inside and outside prison. The Oklahoman reports that since 2011, the Corrections Department has seized over 48,500 prohibited cellphones, including almost 1,800 since January. In 2016, correctional officers removed a record high of 9,766 cellphones. Corrections officials across the U.S. have cited cellphones as a reason for violent crimes behind bars and on the streets.

Oregon

Portland: The state Supreme Court disagreed with more than 50 years of state case law by ruling that Oregonians retain a privacy interest in the garbage they leave on the curb for pickup. That means police can’t simply rummage through it even after a truck hauls it away. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the court wrote Thursday that the state’s residents have a reasonable expectation that after they leave their trash in opaque bins covered with a lid, no one will inspect it without a warrant. The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Tracy Lynn Lien and Travis Allen Wilverding, who shared a home and were convicted of methamphetamine dealing after police from Lebanon asked the community’s garbage hauling company, Republic Services, to pick up and set aside the contents of the pair’s garbage on collection day in 2014.

Pennsylvania

Latrobe: Residents of Fred Rogers’ home state will be encouraged to exhibit acts of kindness in honor of the beloved PBS children’s show host. Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday that the state’s website will share stories of good deeds and kind gestures May 23 for “1-4-3 Day,” named for Mister Rogers’ favorite number. Rogers used the number 143 to say “I love you,” as each digit reflects the number of letters in each word in the phrase. May 23 is the 143rd day of the year. The Fred Rogers Trail highlights locations in his hometown of Latrobe and in Pittsburgh, where “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” was produced. The show aired from 1968 to 2001. Rogers, an ordained minister, is buried at Latrobe Presbyterian Church. He died in 2003 at age 74.

Rhode Island

Warwick: The yogurt company Chobani plans to pay the school lunch debts of low-income families with students attending a district that made headlines by announcing children who owe money would get cold sunflower butter and jelly sandwiches instead of a hot meal, the mayor’s office confirmed Friday. Mayor Joseph Solomon’s office said it’s coordinating with Chobani to accept nearly $50,000, the amount owed by low-income families with children in Warwick Public Schools. Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya tweeted Thursday that as a parent, the news broke his heart. Access to nutritious food should be a right, not a privilege, he said. Chobani was but one of the businesses and organizations that offered to donate money to the district, officials said. After a public backlash, Warwick Public Schools reversed the cold-lunch decision last week.

South Carolina

Columbia: The city’s police agency says it is using technology to combat and reduce gun violence. During a news conference Friday, the Columbia Police Department announced it’s using ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection technology that uses acoustics to detect, locate and alert law enforcement about gunfire in real time. Officials say data is transmitted wirelessly and verified, triangulated and reported to police within approximately 45 seconds. Police Chief Skip Holbrook says the city council approved the department’s acquisition of the technology in September 2018, and it has been implementing the system north of the capital city. He says it’s currently the only agency using the technology. Holbrook says police have received 131 alerts, detected 339 shots and seized 11 firearms since deploying the technology April 18.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: An animal rights group is asking Gov. Kristi Noem to reconsider her decision to shoot off fireworks at Mount Rushmore for the Fourth of July celebration in 2020. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Friday that its president sent a letter to Noem suggesting she consider replacing the fireworks with a drone show. The letter from Ingrid Newkirk said fireworks can scare animals and start wildfires, among other hazards. Newkirk said drone shows are safer and don’t cause pollution. Noem spokesman Joshua Shields called PETA’s suggestion “puzzling” and said forest animals might not react well to “hundreds of drones buzzing and blinking” around the monument at night.

Tennessee

Nashville: The state Supreme Court has ruled that city school districts don’t have to share money they receive from liquor taxes with county governments. News outlets report the opinion this week settles five lawsuits filed by Blount, Bradley, Sullivan, Washington and Coffee counties. State law calls for the Department of Revenue to keep half the proceeds from liquor-by-the-drink taxes for general education funds and return the other half to the originating city or county. The counties argued that the state law required cities to share the revenue with counties. The Supreme Court disagreed. Justice Holly Kirby wrote that since cities make the money, they are entitled to the proceeds. The ruling applies to all 95 counties and 43 cities that operate independent school districts.

Texas

Houston: The Federal Aviation Administration has not passed a new safety regulation that legislators say would fortify supervision of the hot-air balloon industry and help avoid fatal crashes similar to a crash that killed 16 people in the state almost three years ago. The agency’s indecision triggered an irritated response from Texas U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who sent a letter to the FAA’s acting administrator asking what was causing the extended delay, the Houston Chronicle reports. Doggett helped create bipartisan legislation that requires medical exams for commercial balloon pilots, who have been exempt from health screenings since the 1930s. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the balloon’s pilot was as impaired by prescription medications as a drunk driver when he ignored weather warnings and flew the ride into a power line.

Utah

Promontory: Music, bells and cannon fire rang out Friday at a remote spot in the desert where the final spikes of the Transcontinental Railroad were hammered 150 years ago, uniting a nation long separated by vast expanses of desert, mountains and forests. An estimated 20,000 people swarmed to the celebration at Golden Spike National Historic Park northwest of Salt Lake City – the signature event of several days of festivities marking the railroad’s anniversary. Visitors came from as far as China, many decked out in old-fashioned dresses, top hats, bonnets and scarves. The event included a re-enactment of an iconic “champagne toast” photo of railroad workers perched atop facing stream locomotives giving cheers to the epic feat. The festivities also highlighted the vital contribution of the Chinese workers who put in long hours in brutal conditions and haven’t always received their proper due throughout history.

Vermont

Burlington: The Queen City doesn’t get a lot of sunlight but makes up for it in other ways. The city is nestled in Chittenden County, which gets some of the lowest average levels of sunlight per day, according to AccuWeather. However, Burlington manages to take advantage of as many sun rays as possible using solar panels. The city takes the fourth spot on a list by AccuWeather of solar energy per capita. Honolulu took the highest place. AccuWeather points out that the city managed to earn the title of “America’s First All-Renewable-Energy,” according to Politico.

Virginia

Richmond: The Hershey Company has picked the state for a major expansion of its manufacturing operation. Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday that the candy maker plans a $104 million expansion at its facility in Augusta County. The expanded facility will manufacture a type of fudge and peanut cream. The new project is expected to create 65 new jobs. Northam approved $1 million in state grants for the project. Hershey brands include Reese’s, Kit Kat and Jolly Rancher.

Washington

Seattle: The state is set to become the first to enter the private health insurance market with a universally available public option. A set of tiered public plans will cover standard services and are anticipated to be up to 10% cheaper than comparable private insurance, thanks in part to savings from a cap on rates paid to providers. Unlike existing government-managed plans, the Washington plans are set to be available to all residents regardless of income by 2021. The Legislature approved the measure creating the plans last month, and Gov. Jay Inslee is scheduled to sign it into law Monday. The move also thrusts the state into the national debate over the role of government in health care, with a hybrid model that puts it to the left of market-only approaches but stops short of a completely public system.

West Virginia

Charleston: He’s a billionaire who owns mines, farms and a resort. But how Jim Justice spends his time as the state’s 36th governor has largely been a mystery. Since taking office in 2017, critics have said Justice is rarely at the Statehouse and called his business portfolio distracting. He’s pushed back on those claims. His schedule for the past seven months was recently released to the Associated Press through an open-records-law request. It shows he rarely meets with his Cabinet, rarely is at the Statehouse and was largely missing at one of the legislative session’s most critical points. His office said Justice wasn’t available for an interview but released a statement. Justice says his calendar doesn’t reflect the time and work he puts in as governor. His lawyer says Justice doesn’t log most of his office time.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee: The Medical College of Wisconsin is looking for ways to fight racial disparity in cancer deaths in the state. The National Cancer Institute reports that black residents in Wisconsin get cancer at a 22% higher rate than do white residents. Factors leading to cancer disparities for African Americans include stress, income, lifestyle and poor diet. Biological differences and medical access also contribute. Lauren Matthews has focused on the problem for three years as a community program coordinator at the college. Wisconsin Public Radio reports that the college has launched a program offering free prostate screenings for black men. The program also provides community education about cancer screening. The college also is studying breast cancer, colorectal cancer and smoking with funding help from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

Wyoming

Laramie: Volunteers are clearing dead trees and repairing fences along a former railroad right of way that’s been converted to a trail in southern Wyoming. The Laramie Boomerang reports the Friends of the Medicine Bow Rail Trail group is working with the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest to maintain the route, which winds 21 miles from Lake Owen to the Colorado border. The lake is 40 miles southwest of Laramie. Friends of the Medicine Bow Rail Trail President Dave Nelson says he and other cyclists frequently encountered dead trees on the trail, many killed by beetles. Members have been volunteering on the trail for years, and last year they formed a nonprofit that can accept donations and apply for grants. Forest Service spokesman Aaron Voos says such groups do invaluable work for the agency.

From staff and wire reports

School food shortages, elk sheds tire: News from around our 50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Alexander City: Schools across the state have been facing food shortages, education officials say. Disruptions in the workforce needed to serve and deliver meals – along with supplies of food and packaging materials – are behind the shortages, Al.com reports. State education officials say every school district in Alabama is facing shortages to some degree. Alexander City Schools recently warned parents that it’s experiencing supply chain issues with its food vendors. In recent weeks, the school system hasn’t received food deliveries because suppliers are short on supplies, drivers and warehouse employees. The school system asked parents to feed breakfast to their students at home if possible. In southeast Alabama, Dothan City Schools asked parents last month to prepare for a possible shift to remote learning due to the district’s food supply issues.

Alaska

Anchorage: Several Republican state lawmakers are urging easier access to ivermectin amid the pandemic, though that drug is not authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for preventing or treating COVID-19. Senate Majority Leader Shelley Hughes of Palmer said she urged Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the state health commissioner to consider supplying Alaskans with vitamins and drugs, including ivermectin, “that some Alaskan physicians are prescribing but pharmacies aren’t filling.” Three Republican House members testified about ivermectin at a recent state pharmacy board meeting, Alaska Public Media reports. “Maybe the pharmacists could be directed – or directed’s the wrong word – suggested that they allow the doctors to actually be doctors and do their jobs,” said Rep. Kevin McCabe of Big Lake. In a letter to the House members after the meeting, the board’s chair, Justin Ruffridge, a Kenai Peninsula pharmacist, noted potential legal liability for pharmacists for drugs they dispense and said pharmacists were free to use their “professional judgment” when deciding whether to fill prescriptions. He said the board has not threatened pharmacists’ licenses around the issue but said reports of misuse of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 “should give most prescribers and pharmacists reason to pause.”

Arizona

Phoenix: A judge has blocked the state from collecting $1.1 million from the city of Flagstaff to compensate for its minimum wage that is higher than the state’s rate, ruling that the state missed a deadline for the assessment and was stretching a law targeting higher voter-approved city wages to collect its indirect costs. But the ruling from Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Smith released Monday sidestepped the question of whether the assessments are unconstitutional. The state minimum wage reached $12 an hour in 2020 with inflation adjustments after that and now stands at $12.15 an hour. Flagstaff voters in 2016 phased in higher city minimum wages, which hit $15 per hour this year with annual increases thereafter. Smith’s ruling said a law enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2019 targeting higher local minimum wages set a July 31 deadline for setting the yearly assessment. The state missed that deadline. The judge also said the state can’t charge for the indirect costs of Flagstaff’s higher minimum wage, which is what it did in coming up with the $1.1 million figure. The state is exempt from paying the higher minimum wage Flagstaff voters approved in 2016, and the law authorizing assessments does not specifically say the state can calculate the indirect costs of paying contractors.

Arkansas

Little Rock: Lawmakers sent the governor a congressional redistricting plan that critics say weakens the influence of minority voters in the Little Rock area by splitting the state’s most populous county among three U.S. House districts. The measure splits portions of Pulaski County, a heavily Democratic county that includes Little Rock, among the 1st, 2nd and 4th congressional districts. The county is currently in the 2nd District, which Democrats have tried unsuccessfully to flip in recent years. Republicans hold all four of the state’s U.S. House seats and a majority of both chambers of the Legislature. Democrats have criticized the plan for moving predominantly Black and Hispanic precincts out of the 2nd District and accused Republicans of trying make a GOP district even redder. Arkansas is the only former Confederate state that has not elected a Black representative to the U.S. House. “It’s going to disenfranchise African American communities, regardless of the intent,” state Rep. Fred Love, D-Little Rock, said before the House approved the measure last week. Supporters of the plan say splitting Pulaski County makes sense given its location in the middle of the state. They also say it helps limits the number of counties split up. Opponents of splitting up counties have said it divides up communities and their interests.

California

Santee: Recordings indicate the pilot of a twin-engine plane nose-dived into a San Diego suburb despite a growingly concerned air traffic controller who repeatedly warned the pilot to climb in altitude – information that will be examined by investigators who arrived at the crash scene Tuesday. The Cessna 340 smashed into a UPS van, killing the driver, and then hit two houses to ignite just after 12 p.m. Monday in Santee, a suburb of 50,000 people east of San Diego. United Parcel Service of America Inc. held a moment of silence Tuesday for van driver Steve Krueger, who was remembered for making work better with his laugh, the company said in a statement. The plane’s owner, an Arizona physician, also died, and an elderly couple whose home went up in flames after it was hit suffered burns. It was unclear whether others were on board the plane. An investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the crash scene Tuesday morning, according to agency spokeswoman Jennifer Gabris. Investigators will review radar data, weather information, air traffic control communication, airplane maintenance records and the pilot’s medical records, she said. The plane had planned to land at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego when it crashed.

Colorado

Pine: Wildlife officials say an elusive elk that has been wandering the hills with a car tire around its neck for at least two years has finally been freed of the obstruction. The 41/ 2 -year-old, 600-pound bull elk was spotted near Pine Junction, southwest of Denver, on Saturday evening and tranquilized, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Officers with the agency had to cut off the elk’s five-point antlers to remove the encumbrance because they couldn’t slice through the steel in the bead of the tire. “We would have preferred to cut the tire and leave the antlers for his rutting activity, but the situation was dynamic, and we had to just get the tire off in any way possible,” Officer Scott Murdoch said. Murdoch and fellow officer Dawson Swanson estimated the elk shed about 35 pounds with the removal of the tire, the antlers and debris inside the tire. Wildlife officers first spotted the elk with the tire around its neck in July 2019 while conducting a population survey for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the Mount Evans Wilderness. They said they have seen deer, elk, moose, bears and other wildlife become entangled in a number of items, including swingsets, hammocks, clotheslines, decorative or holiday lighting, furniture, tomato cages, chicken feeders, laundry baskets, soccer goals and volleyball nets.

Connecticut

Simsbury: A plot of land that was once a thriving tobacco farm where Martin Luther King Jr. worked as a college student in the 1940s will be protected for its historic and cultural significance to the state’s civil rights history. Last month’s finalized sale of the 288-acre parcel of land was announced Friday. The nonprofit Trust for Public Land and the town of Simsbury plan to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday for the Meadowood site. Nearly 130 acres will be set aside for recreational access and roughly 120 acres for working farmland. The rest will be saved for future needs of the town of Simsbury, while 2 acres will be kept for historic preservation purposes. Simsbury voters in May overwhelmingly authorized $2.5 million to purchase the property. Various state agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the George Dudley Seymour Trust, individuals and foundations have provided an additional $4 million. Historians believe King’s experiences in Connecticut influenced his decision to become a minister and civil rights leader. He was among a group of students from Atlanta’s Morehouse College recruited by tobacco growers to work in the fields to earn money for tuition. “On our way here we saw some things I had never anticipated to see,” King wrote his father in June 1944. “After we passed Washington there was no discrimination at all. The white people here are very nice. We go to any place we want to and sit any where we want to.”

Delaware

Dover: The state auditor, who is responsible for rooting out government fraud, waste and abuse, was indicted Monday on public corruption charges. An indictment issued by a New Castle County grand jury charges Kathleen McGuiness, 58, with felony counts of theft and witness intimidation, plus misdemeanor charges of official misconduct, conflict of interest and noncompliance with state procurement laws. Prosecutors said the charges include allegations that McGuiness hired her daughter and one of her daughter’s friends, both high school seniors at the time, as temporary employees in May 2020, even though other temporary employees had to leave their positions because of the lack of available work amid the coronavirus pandemic. Authorities said Elizabeth McGuiness, who has not been charged, continued to be paid even after enrolling at a college in South Carolina last August, and she was still listed as an employee as recently as Aug. 28 of this year. She was initially listed as a “public information officer” and later as an “intern.” McGuiness also is charged with orchestrating a 2019 no-bid “communications services” contract for a company she had used as a campaign consultant when running for lieutenant governor in 2016.

District of Columbia

Washington: Howard University and Netflix have announced a $5.4 million endowed scholarship to honor the late actor, writer, producer and Howard alumnus Chadwick Boseman, WUSA-TV reports. The Chadwick A. Boseman Memorial Scholarship will provide incoming students in the College of Fine Arts, recently named for Boseman, with a four-year scholarship to cover the full cost of tuition, the university said. “This scholarship embodies Chadwick’s love for Howard, his passion for storytelling, and his willingness to support future generations of Howard students,” Howard University President Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick said in a release. “I am thankful for the continuous support and partnership of Chadwick’s wife, Mrs. Simone Ledward-Boseman, and to Netflix for this important gift.” The scholarship was established with the support of Ledward-Boseman, with Netflix as the inaugural donor. The first four scholarships were earmarked for one recipient in each class beginning this fall, and they’ll continue to be distributed to an incoming freshman every year. The university said the scholarship will focus on students who exemplify exceptional skills in the arts, reminiscent of Boseman, and who demonstrate financial need.

Florida

Orlando: The state is investigating dozens of local governments, performing arts centers, the Miami Marlins, a law enforcement counterterrorism unit and a concert by singer Harry Styles for violating a law prohibiting businesses and governments from requiring people to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. About 120 cases are being reviewed for violations of Florida’s “vaccine passport” law, which took effect last month and can result in a $5,000 fine per violation, according to a public records request from the Orlando Sentinel. The law is being challenged in court and conflicts with a Biden administration order that companies with over 100 employees require them to be vaccinated or face weekly coronavirus testing. In central Florida, the list includes Orange County government; the Orange County Convention Center; AdventHealth, one of the state’s largest health care systems; several performing arts venues; and the Amway Center, which is home to the Orlando Magic and recently hosted a concert by Styles whose tour mandated attendees either be vaccinated or have a negative test. “At this point … the courts have not reached the final decision, but the indication is that the Florida law flies in the face of our Florida Constitution and perhaps in the face of common sense,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings told the newspaper.

Georgia

Atlanta: Officials in Fulton County, where election operations are already under review by the state, have fired two workers accused of shredding paper voter registration applications, according to a county statement released Monday. Preliminary information indicates the employees checked out batches of applications for processing, and they are alleged to have shredded some of the forms, the Fulton County statement said. Fellow employees reported the alleged actions to their supervisor Friday morning, and the two employees were fired that day. The county statement said the applications were received in the past two weeks. Fulton County includes most of the city of Atlanta, where voters are set to go to the polls Nov. 2 to elect a mayor, City Council members and other municipal officials. The deadline to register to vote in that election was Oct. 4. It’s not immediately clear whether the 300 voter registration records in question were lost, county spokeswoman Jessica Corbitt said. “Normally, processing a voter registration application involves entering them in the state system, updating them, verifying their information,” she said. “That is the matter that’s under investigation – was that process completed.” Voters don’t register by party in Georgia, so the applications had no party affiliation.

Hawaii

Wailuku: The median sales price of a single-family home in Maui County dropped below $1 million last month as people priced out of the market have chosen to pause their homebuying. The Maui News reports the median sales price for a single-family home in the county stood at $996,500 in September. That’s up 27.3% from the same month last year. But it’s below levels from May through August, when the median topped $1 million for four straight months. Median sales prices for single-family homes in Kauai and Honolulu counties have also topped $1 million this year. The September report from the Realtors Association of Maui said declining affordability has had “a significant impact” on homebuyers who have been priced out of the market. Association President Keone Ball said Sunday that he believes prices will go back up. “The problem is the volume – you know, there isn’t enough for sale,” he said, noting that low inventory combined with high demand for affordable housing is also a nationwide problem. Pending sales decreased 4.3% for single-family homes in Maui County but increased 5.7% for condominiums. Ball said investment in condos may have spiked due to the settling of the COVID-19 pandemic, affordability and condominiums being “the only option.”

Idaho

Boise: State officials will make available up to $200,000 to be divided into payments for hunters and trappers who kill wolves in the state through next summer. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game late last month entered into an agreement with a nonprofit hunting group to reimburse the expenses for a proven kill. The agreement follows a change in Idaho law aimed at killing more wolves that are blamed for attacking livestock and reducing deer and elk herds. Montana this year also expanded when, where and how wolves can be killed. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, at the request of environmental groups concerned about the expanded wolf killing in the two states, last month announced a yearlong review to see if wolves in the U.S. West should be relisted under the Endangered Species Act. Idaho has managed wolves since they were taken off the list in 2011. State wildlife managers had been incrementally increasing wolf harvest during that time – but not fast enough for lawmakers, who earlier this year passed the law backed by some trappers and the powerful ranching sector. Republican Gov. Brad Little signed the measure lawmakers said could lead to killing 90% of the state’s 1,500 wolves before federal authorities would take over management.

Illinois

Chicago: Al Capone died nearly 75 years ago, but it’s clear interest in the infamous Chicago gangster is very much alive after some of his prized possessions were auctioned off over the weekend for at least $3 million. The Chicago Tribune reports Capone’s family sold several of his belongings, including what was billed as his favorite gun, at auction in California, where his three surviving granddaughters live. The event, called “A Century of Notoriety: The Estate of Al Capone,” was held at a private club in Sacramento and attracted nearly 1,000 registered bidders, including 150 who attended the nearly four-hour-long event in person. Among the items up for auction was a bear-shaped humidor as well as diamond jewelry and some family photographs. The most popular item proved to be Capone’s favorite Colt .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, which went for $860,000. The story of Capone, the original “Scarface,” is a familiar one, thanks in large part to a host of movies, television shows and books about the mobster. Called Public Enemy No. 1 after the 1929 “Valentine’s Day Massacre” in which seven members of a rival bootlegger gang were gunned down in a Lincoln Park parking garage, Capone was convicted of income tax evasion in 1934. He spent 11 years locked up in Alcatraz and died of a heart attack in 1947.

Indiana

Indianapolis: More than 6,600 Afghan refugees who began arriving at the Indiana National Guard’s Camp Atterbury training post nearly six weeks ago are awaiting resettlement. Additional evacuees are expected to arrive in the coming weeks, although it’s unclear how many, said Mark Howell, regional spokesman for the federal Transportation Security Administration overseeing Operation Allies Welcome. Officials said they’re also uncertain if the refugees will be permanently resettled by early November, as hoped. Howell said Friday that many Afghans are still completing medical and security screening checks. Once cleared, they’ll work with nongovernmental organizations to determine housing assignments, sponsor families and work authorizations before they can leave the post. Camp Atterbury, about 25 miles south of Indianapolis, is one of eight sites in the U.S. that the Department of Defense is using for Afghan special immigrant visa applicants, their families and other Afghan personnel. Exodus Refugee Immigration, an Indianapolis agency, has helped at least four Afghan families resettle in the city in the past month, Executive Director Cole Varga said. They were all U.S. citizens or had visas and family ties to the area. It’s unclear how many Afghans have resettled in Indiana, but the state is projected to take 490, according to U.S. officials.

Iowa

Des Moines: A judge has found a local activist guilty of a felony theft count for taking a police flyer used to identify protesters from an officer’s back pocket during a protest last year. Alexandria Dea, 27, was found guilty of first-degree theft Monday by Judge David Porter after she waived her right to a jury trial and consented to allow the judge to base his decision on facts already on the record. Dea is expected to seek a deferred judgment when she’s sentenced Dec. 7. Prosecutors have said Dea picked up and threw a police radio that fell to the ground as the officer scuffled with a protester July 1, 2020. She was also accused of taking the intelligence bulletin from an officer’s back pocket during the confrontation, then giving it to another Black Lives Matter activist who gave it to a television reporter. Dea and the other activist had also initially been charged with a rarely used count of leaking intelligence data, but the charge was dismissed in July after a judge ruled that the bulletin did not count as “intelligence data.”

Kansas

Kansas City: An organization run by rapper Jay-Z has facilitated donations totaling $1 million for an effort to investigate wrongful convictions in Wyandotte County. The money was raised by Team Roc, which is the criminal justice division of Jay-Z’s entertainment organization, Roc Nation, the Kansas City Star reports. Tricia Rojo Bushnell, executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project, called it “a huge investment,” adding that the ability to look at these cases is going to shine a light on what the group needs to do to provide a just criminal legal system in Wyandotte County. Among those injustices is the wrongful conviction of Lamonte McIntyre, who spent 23 years in prison for two murders he did not commit in Kansas City, Kansas. Another is the case of Olin “Pete” Coones Jr., who spent 12 years in prison before he was exonerated of a Wyandotte County murder – only to die from cancer that went undiagnosed 108 days after he was freed. About 40 others have asked the innocence project to investigate their convictions in Wyandotte County, Rojo Bushnell said Monday. In September, Team Roc filed a petition seeking records from the Kansas City, Kansas, police department related to what it calls a history of officer misconduct within the agency.

Kentucky

Louisville: The city has agreed to pay $75,000 to a couple who say police removed them from their car and frisked them because they were Black and driving a nice vehicle. But in an unusual condition of the payment, the couple and their lawyers are forbidden from criticizing the Louisville Metro Government or the police officers involved. The prohibition includes criticisms in statements to the media or on social media, according to a copy of the settlement obtained under open records laws. Michael Abate, a lawyer for the Louisville Courier Journal and the Kentucky Press Association, said the stipulations are “totally improper.” “The city is paying to silence its critics,” he said. “It is paying them off. And it seems designed to impede reform. It is bad policy and really troubling.” In a statement, First Assistant County Attorney Ingrid Geiser said the couple “are not prohibited from talking truthfully about what happened during their traffic stop,” though she said the language “should have more accurately reflected the agreement of the parties.” In their federal lawsuit, Anthony Parker Sr. and Demetria Firman, who are now married, say they were pulled over in 2018 for failing to use a turn signal, but body camera footage from one of the officers showed their turn signal was on.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: The state’s problem of wasted COVID-19 vaccine shots continues to balloon, with about 224,000 doses thrown out across Louisiana as health providers can’t find enough residents willing to roll up their sleeves. The number of trashed doses has nearly tripled since the end of July, even as the state grappled with a fourth, deadly surge of the coronavirus pandemic during that time that led to increased interest in the vaccines. The latest data provided by the Louisiana Department of Health showed 223,918 doses of the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been thrown out. That’s relatively small compared to the 4.4 million vaccine doses administered around the state. But while waste is not uncommon in mass immunization efforts, the throwing away of doses in the United States comes as millions of people around the globe still are waiting for the opportunity to get inoculated against COVID-19. Most of Louisiana’s wasted vaccine doses happened because vials containing the shots were opened, but hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and other providers couldn’t find someone to take the doses, health department spokesperson Kevin Litten said. More than 21,500 shots simply weren’t used before their expiration dates. Louisiana has one of the nation’s lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates.

Maine

Augusta: Environmental regulators will soon undertake a statewide investigation to find concentrations of long-lasting environmental pollutants. The investigation stems from the state’s efforts to mitigate a class of chemicals known as PFAS, also called “forever chemicals.” The substances are a problem in some parts of Maine because of the long-standing use of municipal sludge and paper mill waste as farm fertilizer, the Portland Press Herald reports. The state set aside $30 million to test for the chemicals and install filtration systems in areas with contaminated water. Maine officials also plan to help farmers and start cleaning up sites, the Press Herald reports. Maine is hiring and training 17 new staff members for the effort. The state needs to decide which of more than 500 sludge application sites should be prioritized for testing. Sewage sludge as farm fertilizer has caused environmental problems in other parts of the country as well. The chemicals also carry human health risks.

Maryland

Gaithersburg: Four police officers will not be charged for fatally shooting a Black man they said fired first during a late-night foot chase in January. A grand jury declined to charge the officers from the Gaithersburg Police Department due to lack of evidence in a decision announced last week. The officers, members of a plainclothes street crimes unit, told investigators they saw a “muzzle flash” from a gun aimed at them by Kwamena Ocran, 24, according to their recorded statements released by Montgomery County prosecutors. One officer said he heard a round pass by his head. All four fired on Ocran, who was running away from them. He was hit eight times, according to a report from prosecutors. The shooting happened outside an apartment complex after officers said they received a tip that Ocran was illegally carrying a gun he intended to sell, according to the report. The incident was not recorded on video. Another officer arrived at the scene moments later and recorded footage of a gun next to Ocran’s body, but investigators could not find evidence he had fired it. Crime scene technicians failed to find shell casings from Ocran’s gun – only the 23 shell casings from the officers’ guns, prosecutors said. Howard County Deputy State’s Attorney Christopher Sandmann told The Washington Post that investigators had prepped Ocran’s hands for gunshot reside analysis, but there was a “mistake or miscommunication,” and his hands were never swabbed.

Massachusetts

Boston: A letter written by founding father Alexander Hamilton during the Revolutionary War and believed stolen decades ago from the state archives has been returned following a federal appeals court decision, officials said Tuesday. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin hailed the homecoming, after last week’s decision by the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a previous ruling by a district court judge. The letter was reputedly stolen between 1938 and 1945 by a “kleptomaniacal cataloguer” who worked at the archives, according to the court decision. Hamilton wrote the letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat who served as a general in the Continental Army. Dated July 21, 1780, the letter resulted in Massachusetts sending troops to Rhode Island “to bolster the embattled French forces,” the appeals court wrote. Galvin, whose office oversees the archives and the Commonwealth Museum, said he was pleased the court ruled “that this historical treasure belongs to the people.” The letter is expected to be put on display at the museum for special events, including the annual Independence Day celebration, Galvin said.

Michigan

Center Line: An employee at a suburban Detroit nursing home filled out absentee ballot applications for two dozen residents without consulting them before the 2020 election, authorities said Monday. The case was one of three cases of alleged fraud announced by the state. “Our election system is secure, and today’s charges demonstrate that in the rare circumstances when fraud occurs, we catch it and hold the perpetrators accountable,” Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said. A woman who worked at the Father Murray home in Center Line was charged with election forgery and signature forgery. In another case, a Detroit woman was accused of signing her grandson’s name on an absentee ballot and returning it, even though he had decided to vote at a polling place. In a third investigation, a woman who served as a guardian was charged in several communities after authorities said she fraudulently submitted 26 absentee ballot applications and sought to have ballots mailed directly to her. Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel praised local election officials for noticing irregularities. “We will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who attempts to undermine our elections,” Nessel said.

Minnesota

Beaver Bay: A Lake Superior lighthouse plans to welcome visitors back for an annual memorial honoring the sailors who died when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. Every Nov. 10, the day the ship sank in a gale in 1975, the Split Rock Lighthouse just south of Beaver Bay holds a beacon lighting. Lighthouse officials announce the names of all 29 sailors who died as a bell tolls, Minnesota Public Radio reports. The lighthouse didn’t allow visitors to attend last year’s ceremony because of COVID-19 concerns. People had to listen through an online livestream. Lighthouse officials say this year’s ceremony will be a hybrid, with the lighthouse grounds open to the public and a livestream on the Minnesota Historical Society’s Facebook and YouTube pages for those who can’t attend. The ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m. “There’s something about being here on site and hearing the bell ring and the names being read off and then seeing the beacon turned on right after that. There’s just something very special about that,” said Hayes Scriven, the lighthouse site manager. “It’s just a way to connect with the past and remember that Lake Superior is a fickle animal, and you’ve got to respect the power and not take it for granted.”

Mississippi

Jackson: The Mississippi Book Festival is being shown online after the in-person event was canceled because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. Organizers say videos of 31 panel discussions have been recorded in the past month. Those became available Tuesday on the festival’s website, msbookfestival.com. “We’ve got an amazing group of authors and moderators who have rallied to record more than 35 hours of great conversations about books and writing,” Executive Director Ellen Daniels said in a news release. “Honoring these writers and continuing to engage our loyal and growing community of book lovers is what the festival is all about.” Among the authors speaking are Curtis Wilkie, Kiese Laymon, Nic Stone, W. Ralph Eubanks, Jerry Mitchell, Catherine Pierce, Beth Ann Fennelly, Mitch Landrieu, William Ferris, Angie Thomas, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Robert Khayat and Kai Bird. The festival originally was scheduled for Aug. 21 at the Mississippi Capitol and nearby Galloway United Methodist Church in downtown Jackson. Organizers switched to the online format because the state was experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases at the time.

Missouri

Kansas City: Data shows that most of the people who participated in the state’s COVID-19 vaccine lottery were already immunized before the program started. The incentive program was started in July as Missouri struggled to control a surge of coronavirus cases driven by the more transmissible delta variant in less-vaccinated communities. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services conducted the last of the drawings in the program Friday. Among the participants, 57,117 adults got the shot after the program was announced, while nearly 600,000 got the shot beforehand, The Kansas City Star reports. The program also had more than 39,000 entries from children 12 and up. In total, the state will pay out $9 million to 900 prizewinners, who will each receive $10,000 in either cash or, for the youth winners, scholarship accounts. Anyone who had gotten at least one dose of a vaccine was eligible to enter, but separate drawings were conducted for those who had already gotten a shot, making the odds of winning higher for the newly vaccinated. Just over 48% of Missouri’s total population is fully vaccinated now, up from about 40% when the incentive program was announced.

Montana

Helena: All local calls in the state must be dialed with the 406 area code to connect beginning Oct. 24 due to changing federal regulations. Montana’s 406 area code currently allows seven-digit dialing to complete local calls. That will change this month due to a Federal Communications Commission order designating 988 as the new nationwide number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Some seven-digit phone numbers in Montana’s 406 area code begin with 988. To prevent misdialing the 988 Lifeline, all local calls in Montana must be dialed with the area code. Calls that are currently considered local for billing purposes will continue to be billed as local calls. Existing seven-digit phone numbers will not change but will require the 406 area code to connect. Three-digit dialing services, such as the 911 emergency number, will continue to work as a three-digit number with no need to dial an area code. Along with manually dialed calls, all services that use automated dialing will need to be updated to include 10-digit phone numbers. The 988 number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline will be available beginning July 16, 2022.

Nebraska

Omaha: Police are investigating after downtown pedestrians were forced to dodge deck chairs, tables and bricks thrown from a rooftop. The Omaha World-Herald reports the incident happened Saturday night when items were thrown from the roof of the nine-story Old Market Lofts apartments. Omaha resident Lisa Brauer told the newspaper she was nearly struck by several objects. Brauer, who works for Park Omaha, was checking parking meters when she was nearly hit by a rock. That was followed by a metal table, a metal chair and a grill rack, all landing within inches of her. A police report said a pickup truck was hit by something and sustained $2,000 in damage. No arrests have been made.

Nevada

Reno: Two historic locomotives that were part of the pioneering shift from steam-powered to diesel-electric trains in the mid-1900s are coming back to their home in a northeast Nevada railyard. Built in 1951, Locomotive 201 is the last survivor among 38 experimental models manufactured by the American Locomotive Company. It is scheduled to be loaded onto a truck Nov. 2 at the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, Washington, where it still sometimes pulls excursion trains on the museum’s Snoqualmie Valley Railroad. The truck hauling the 286,000-pound engine will take four or five days at a top speed of about 35 mph to make the 900-mile trip back to Ely at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum near the Nevada-Utah line, railway President Mark Bassett said. Details are still pending for the return from Delta, Utah, of the No. 401, the first special-duty model General Motors built in 1952 in its Electro-Motive Division. It was the only one painted in the “Desert War Bonnet” scheme, a cream, scarlet and black design that remains on it today. It became known as the “Last Empress of Ely.” “These both are one-of-a-kind locomotives,” Bassett said. “Both have a story to tell, and they are both tied into the early days of dieselization of the Nevada Northern Railway.” The museum plans to restore each and eventually return them to operation for tour rides.

New Hampshire

Concord: For the first time, New Hampshire’s only state-run psychiatric treatment facility has negotiated contracts with all major insurance carriers in the state. Carriers now under contract with New Hampshire Hospital include Aetna, Ambetter, Anthem, Cigna, Harvard Pilgrim and United Health Care, state officials said. “Over the past few years, we have made significant strides to rebuild New Hampshire’s mental health system, and those critical efforts will continue,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement. “Having insurer contracts in place is an important step and will help alleviate the financial uncertainty that has been a challenge for patients at New Hampshire Hospital for decades.” Previously, special case agreements were negotiated on a patient-by-patient basis. However, some care was uncompensated. The practice of New Hampshire Hospital is to accept all patients regardless of insurance coverage. New Hampshire Hospital is currently the only inpatient institute for adults with serious mental illnesses in the state.

New Jersey

Trenton: No one understands the stress a nurse faces on the job better than another nurse. And nothing has caused more stress for nurses than the COVID pandemic, as front-line caregivers guard against exposure to the coronavirus, witness patient deaths, and worry about family members and friends becoming infected. A confidential mental health help line, staffed by current and retired nurses, was launched Monday for nurses and their family members in the state. The Nurse2Nurse help line – at 844-687-7301 – is based at Rutgers Behavioral Health Services and available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. “It’s in our hearts to help the healers,” said Barbara Brilliantine, one of the nurses staffing the help line. “We’ve walked in their shoes.” The counselors include active and retired nurses who receive training in reciprocal peer support and wellness principles and are mental health and peer support specialists. Services are also available through virtual support groups, wellness webinars and other resources at nurse2nursenj.com. Information provided on the calls is confidential, the sponsors say. The website says the project is not affiliated with any health care system or nursing organization, and no information from the calls will be shared with employers, co-workers or peers.

New Mexico

Santa Fe: The final price tag for a settlement reached by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and a former campaign spokesman to settle accusations of harassment is now $150,000. The latest round of payments was disclosed in a mandatory campaign finance report that the Democrat’s campaign filed Monday. The twice-annual report on spending and contributions shows the incumbent has raised $2.5 million since April for her reelection bid as several Republicans are vying to take back the office. GOP state Rep. Rebecca Dow raised more than $440,500 since announcing her candidacy in early July. Her campaign said she has received contributions from more than 1,300 donors. In the settlement involving Lujan Grisham, former campaign staffer James Hallinan had accused Lujan Grisham of dropping water on his crotch and then grabbing his crotch in the midst of a campaign staff meeting prior to the election – accusations that the governor denies. Lujan Grisham said earlier this year that she decided to resolve the matter because she wanted to focus her attention on the pandemic. At the time, the governor said there hadn’t been any other financial settlements and nondisclosure agreements of a similar nature.

New York

Albany: Recreational marijuana legalization is moving into a new phase. After stifling staff delays brought on by political infighting, newly minted members of the state Cannabis Control Board are now interpreting and shaping the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, the cannabis law approved by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers last spring. Much of what the redefined medical cannabis program and the implementation of the potentially lucrative legal market will look like in the Empire State is in the purview of the five-person panel, which had its first meeting last week. The board must do that work while putting particular emphasis on social equity and repairing the harms done during the substance’s prohibition. Already, language in the law has legalized possession of 3 ounces of cannabis for people 21 and over. However, some of the regulations for localities, as well as the licensing process and social equity provisions, have yet to materialize. Kristin Jordan of Park Jordan, a commercial real estate brokerage and cannabis industry advisory firm, said the cannabis regulators don’t have a model in other states in how to legalize while accentuating social equity. “So I think more than anything we’ve got a roadmap of what didn’t work,” said Jordan, the firm’s founder and CEO.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is facing calls to resign from elected officials and LGBTQ advocacy groups over comments he made criticizing sexual education and likening gay and transgender people to “filth.” “There’s no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth,” Robinson said at Asbury Baptist Church in Seagrove. The state’s highest Republican executive officeholder, already the focus of criticism for trying to influence how racism can be discussed in public schools, is getting more pushback since Right Wing Watch, a project of the progressive advocacy group People for the American Way, posted the video on social media last week. The Human Rights Campaign, Equality North Carolina, prominent Democratic lawmakers and the White House have condemned the remarks, with some demanding the lieutenant governor’s resignation. In a video posted on his Facebook page Saturday, Robinson narrated over images depicting gay sex that were taken from “Gender Queer,” an illustrated book he claimed “is currently in North Carolina schools,” though it wasn’t mentioned in the 831-page report he released in August highlighting cases of alleged “indoctrination.” In 2017, Robinson wrote: “You CAN NOT love God and support the homosexual agenda.”

North Dakota

Bismarck: State wildlife officials are urging people to keep an eye out for migrating whooping cranes. The North Dakota Fish and Game Department says a portion of a population of 500 cranes is crossing the state on a 2,500-mile migration from nesting grounds at Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada to wintering grounds in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. The agency says anyone who spots cranes should leave them alone but record the date, time and location along with the birds’ activities and report the sighting to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The reports help biologists locate crane habitat areas, monitor marked birds, and determine population numbers and migration routes.

Ohio

Nelsonville: Thanks to a long-forgotten state law from 1953 and a community dinner, the city has challenged the results of the 2020 U.S. census. The results of last year’s count had downgraded the Athens County community from a city to a village after counting 4,612 residents – a 780-person drop from the 2010 census. Under Ohio law, the 5,000-resident level demarcates the difference between a city and a village. “We knew it was wrong,” City Auditor Taylor Sappington said. On Tuesday morning, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose agreed, restoring Nelsonville’s city status. Sappington set out to prove the city’s case by collecting census information and signatures from the town’s 5,373 residents. After a preliminary federal census report demotes a city to a village, state law gives a city auditor the authority to conduct a re-enumeration if the municipality’s governing body passes a resolution directing the auditor to do so, according to a statute in the Ohio Revised Code. After the City Council took that action, Sappington appointed five enumerators, who canvassed each block of Nelsonville over 10 days. Last week, volunteers served ham, green beans, cheesy potatoes, salad and rolls donated by Texas Roadhouse at a free community dinner where residents could come down to the town square to be counted, Sappington told council members Monday night. “I’m so proud of this community,” he said.

Oklahoma

Tulsa: The city and Tulsa County have each announced they will officially recognize Juneteenth as a holiday. June 19 will be an additional paid holiday for city and county employees beginning in 2022. June 19, 1865, is the day Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas – some 21/ 2 years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had freed slaves in Southern states. “Juneteenth is an important day in our country’s history, and I’m glad we are able to celebrate freedom for all Americans in this way by joining Tulsa County in adding Juneteenth to our official holiday schedule,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said in a statement Monday announcing the holiday. A 1921 massacre in Tulsa left an estimated 300 Black people dead at the hands of white mobs. Then-President Donald Trump scheduled his first campaign rally amid the coronavirus pandemic for June 19, 2020, in Tulsa but later rescheduled the rally for the following day amid widespread criticism from Black leaders. In June, President Joe Biden signed legislation officially recognizing the day as a federal holiday.

Oregon

Salem: Former Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno and three other Republicans have filed a lawsuit to challenge new congressional districts recently passed by state lawmakers. They say the new maps are partisan gerrymandering, unconstitutional and contrary to state law. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the suit, filed Monday in Marion County Circuit Court, is the first such attempt to alter the six-district map that Democrats pushed through during a contentious special legislative session last month. That session nearly ended in a Republican walkout after House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, reneged on a deal to grant the GOP an equal say in new congressional and legislative maps. Instead, Republican lawmakers showed up on the last possible day and allowed Democrats to pass a map that could lead to Democratic control of five of the state’s now-six seats in Congress. Oregon picked up an additional U.S. House seat because of population gains recorded by the recent U.S. census. The suit notes that four of the state’s six new congressional districts include part of the Portland metro area, which the Republicans say is a sign Democrats improperly stocked the districts with left-leaning voters. They have asked the court to block the plan and draw its own.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: Total enrollment at Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities has declined to the lowest level in decades, according to data released Monday. The State System of Higher Education figures indicate loss of another 5,000-plus students this fall, dropping the universities’ total enrollment below 89,000 students – a level not seen in more than three decades, dating nearly to the system’s founding, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. PennLive.com reports the percentage drop in enrollment was the highest in well over two decades. System officials earlier warned state lawmakers and others that the 2021-22 year would be a “very challenging” one for enrollment, citing factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The system, founded in 1983, saw its enrollment peak at about 119,500 students in 2010 but saw the total drop to 94,000 last year. A review of system data indicates that the current total below 89,000 is lower than in any year since 1989, the Post-Gazette reports. Chancellor Dan Greenstein said the drop likely stems from the pandemic finally catching up with the system, which had avoided the declines other institutions saw last year. He said anecdotal accounts point to the pandemic’s impact on family incomes and students taking advantage of $15 and $20 per hour wages some firms are offering.

Rhode Island

Providence: Mayor Jorge Elorza wants to spend up to $1.6 million in federal coronavirus relief funding to establish nonviolence training and youth mentorship programs to address an increase in violence in the city. Providence recently opened requests for proposals for both initiatives, planning to allocate up to $500,000 in American Rescue Plan funds for training and up to $1.1 million for mentorship. Elorza said the idea began taking shape in May when nine people were injured in a shooting. “I reached out to some community leaders, sort of on the front line of things, and I asked them to put me in contact with families, mothers who had lost children, people who were either on parole or on probation, but were trying to turn their life around, and other folks who are on the front lines of living and working with these issues,” Elorza said. It became clear that the city was in need of more opportunities for youth, he said. There have been 20 homicides in the city this year. The five-year average for this point in the year is 11.

South Carolina

Columbia: The South Carolina State Fair returns Wednesday after a hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Last year’s event was drive-thru only due to a high number of COVID-19 cases. On Tuesday, Department of Health and Environmental Control officials reported that such cases have dropped below 1,000 for the first time since July. More than 50% of South Carolinians are fully vaccinated against the disease caused by the virus. State fair officials have instituted new protocols to prevent the virus’s spread, including increased cleaning, hygiene signage, hand sanitizer stations and reminding guests that in Columbia they must wear a face covering, WIS-TV reports. Guests are also encouraged to socially distance, use card and touchless methods for payments, and not come to the fair if they aren’t feeling well. The event, which runs through Oct. 24, includes rides, food, agriculture and livestock shows, crafts, art and a cookie kitchen.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: Lawmakers redrawing the state’s political boundaries kicked off a three-day tour of public input meetings Monday amid intraparty Republican bickering and competing proposals for new legislative districts. The House and Senate committees, both dominated by Republicans, had previously sought accord in the once-in-a-decade process. But at a public input meeting in Box Elder, the schism between the House and Senate was on full display during the tour, dubbed “the redistricting roadshow” by lawmakers. The Legislature will convene Nov. 8 to consider new political boundaries, which must also be approved by Gov. Kristi Noem. If they can’t reach a consensus by Dec. 1, redistricting would be determined by the state Supreme Court. As Republicans accused each other of gerrymandering and “D.C. political tactics,” members of Native American communities used the meetings to press for greater representation in the Legislature. At the first meeting Monday, advocates pushed for compact political boundaries around northern Rapid City, which has a large number of Native Americans, that would allow the community to elect someone who represents its interests. The lawmakers are making seven stops this week, culminating with two meetings in Sioux Falls on Wednesday.

Tennessee

Nashville: A federal judge on Tuesday slightly tweaked his order requiring Knox County schools to implement a school mask mandate, saying officials would be allowed to approve exemptions on a case-by-case basis. In his 14-page ruling, however, U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer warned school officials – who had previously refused to adopt a mask mandate amid the COVID-19 outbreak – that the new mask exemption policy must not be abused. “The court reminds the Knox County Board of Education that its school system is no longer under a voluntary mask mandate; rather, it is under a court-ordered mask mandate,” Greer wrote. “The record evidence supports the need for – and the court ordered – a universal mask mandate, and the court fully expects its mask mandate to be exactly that: universal, to every possible extent, with ‘very few’ medical exemptions.” The Knox County Board of Education must file monthly status reports that identify not only the number of exemptions for students, employees and visitors but also the specific reasons for the exemptions. Greer said he would impose “considerable sanctions” if the education board did not comply with his latest order.

Texas

Houston: The state’s child welfare agency is being accused of removing a webpage that provided information about a suicide prevention hotline and other resources for young LGBTQ people, following criticism by one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s primary challengers. The Houston Chronicle reports Abbott challenger Don Huffines posted a video on Twitter in August accusing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services of “promoting transgender sexual policies to Texas youth.” Within hours of the video being posted, the webpage was removed. The page appeared in a section of the agency’s website called “Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation.” Also gone was the entire website for the Texas Youth Connection, a division of Family and Protective Services that steers young people in foster care to various resources, including education, housing and those on its LGBTQ page. “These are not Texas values, these are not Republican Party values, but these are obviously Greg Abbott’s values,” Huffines said in his video. Abbott, who appoints the department’s commissioner and nine-member council, didn’t respond to the newspaper’s request for comment. Agency communications obtained through a public records request show that employees discussed removing the page in response to Huffines’ tweet.

Utah

Salt Lake City: Lawyers for Gov. Spencer Cox’s former campaign manager, who resigned last week after an investigation substantiated claims of sexual misconduct made against him by a female campaign employee, are calling the accusations baseless. In a statement Friday, lawyers representing Austin Cox said the relationship in question was a long-term one between two young adults that he ended earlier this year, KUTV reports. “Our client unequivocally and emphatically denies any allegations to the contrary,” the statement said. The Republican governor said Thursday that an independent investigation found cause to terminate Austin Cox, his 2020 campaign manager, but he resigned before its completion. The investigation also revealed previously unreported “hostile conduct” toward other members of the team. Austin Cox’s attorneys on Friday additionally criticized a joint statement from the governor and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson on Thursday that condemned the former campaign manager’s behavior. KUTV requested to speak with Austin Cox on Friday, but his attorney declined their request for an interview. The governor and former campaign manager are not related.

Vermont

Bennington: An Abraham Lincoln statue at a museum was vandalized with the number “38,” which police say they believe is a reference to the execution of 38 Native Americans ordered by the former president in 1862. Police said an employee at the Bennington Museum arrived Sunday morning to find a large “LAND BACK” banner had been put up between two light poles at the entrance to the museum’s courtyard. The Lincoln statue in the courtyard had reddish spray paint on its face and hands, along with the number “38” painted on its chest, police said. Officials said it is expected to cost several thousand dollars to repair the statue and remove the paint. Police said they believe the vandalism is a reference to the Dakota 38, who were executed after the 1862 Dakota War, also known as the Sioux Uprising of 1862. A military commission sentenced 303 Sioux fighters to be executed. Lincoln reviewed the cases and decided there was evidence that 39 Sioux were guilty of murder or rape during the uprising and ordered their execution. The remaining 264 sentences were commuted. One of those sentenced to be executed received a reprieve. The Bennington Museum describes itself as a museum of art, history and innovation.

Virginia

Richmond: Former President Barack Obama will campaign with fellow Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the final stretch of the gubernatorial race. “The stakes could not be greater,” McAuliffe said as he announced the news Tuesday morning on MSNBC. McAuliffe’s race against the GOP nominee, first-time political candidate Glenn Youngkin, is tightening, according to the latest polls. His effort to win a second, nonconsecutive term in office is one of only two regularly scheduled governor’s races in the country this year and is being closely watched for indications of voter sentiment ahead of next year’s midterms. McAuliffe’s campaign announced that Obama will join him in Richmond on Oct. 23 to mobilize Virginians during early voting, which began weeks ago and runs in person through Oct. 30. Obama rallied Democrats in Virginia’s capital city in 2017 before Ralph Northam beat Republican gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie by nearly 9 percentage points. He’ll follow other high-profile Democrats visiting the commonwealth to support McAuliffe. First lady Jill Biden is set to visit on Friday. Stacey Abrams, the voting rights activist, grassroots organizer and former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, will campaign with McAuliffe in Norfolk and northern Virginia on Sunday.

Washington

Seattle: Rewards totaling $2.5 million are now being offered for information that helps solve the killing of federal prosecutor Thomas C. Wales in Seattle 20 years ago. Nicholas Brown, newly sworn in as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, announced Monday at a ceremony marking the anniversary of Wales’ death that the Justice Department had doubled its reward to $2 million, in addition to about $500,000 being offered by the National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys. Brown also said his office – long recused from the case – is taking on leadership of the investigation, as there are few remaining assistant U.S. attorneys in Seattle who worked with Wales. The investigation had been overseen by a special prosecutor in New York, Steve Clymer; transferring the oversight to Seattle will allow for fresh eyes and additional resources, Brown said. “Twenty years is far too long for this crime – this attack on the American justice system – to go unresolved,” Brown said. Wales was an 18-year veteran of the U.S. attorney’s office who focused on white-collar crime and also served as president of a gun-control group called Washington CeaseFire. A gunman shot him through a basement window of his home Oct. 11, 2001.

West Virginia

Charleston: Lawmakers endorsed proposed maps of congressional and state legislative districts during a special session on redistricting Monday, setting up a potential fight between two of the state’s current members of Congress. West Virginia lost one of its three U.S. House seats after the 2020 census, and lawmakers are trying to redraw the state into two congressional districts. In the proposed map, Rep. David McKinley and Rep. Alex Mooney would be in the same district. All three current U.S. House members from West Virginia are Republicans. The state Senate redistricting committee forwarded its versions of congressional and state Senate maps Monday. Earlier in the day, a map that reconfigures all 100 House of Delegates seats into separate, single-member districts was endorsed by a House committee. The maps now go before the committees’ respective full chambers. The congressional redistricting map endorsed by the House committee would split the state roughly into north and south sections. The 1st District would include both panhandles and much of the northern part of the state along with Wood County on the western edge. The 2nd District would include the southern coalfields and the Greenbrier Valley, extending north into Ritchie County.

Wisconsin

Madison: The state’s Democratic attorney general, who represents the state elections commission, on Monday called for a Republican-ordered investigation into the 2020 presidential election to be shut down, saying it is a partisan political effort that lacks credibility, wastes taxpayer money and is not serious. “This investigation suffers from glaring flaws that destroy any credibility its results could have had,” Attorney General Josh Kaul said at a news conference. “Shut this fake investigation down.” Kaul’s comments came after the Republican leader of the Assembly election committee said she’s been kept out of the loop and doesn’t agree with moves being made by the leader of the probe. The latest twists comes after Michael Gableman, the retired Wisconsin Supreme Court justice leading the investigation, issued a video over the weekend taking aim at Gov. Tony Evers. The Democratic governor told local election officials they should be “lawyered up” and called the taxpayer-funded investigation a “$700,000 boondoggle.” Gableman called that “an incomplete and misguided view” of the probe. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos ordered the investigation under pressure from Donald Trump, who has falsely claimed he won Wisconsin last year.

Wyoming

Cody: Rapper, music producer and clothing entrepreneur Kanye West has put his ranch and business properties in northwestern Wyoming up for sale. The West Ranch, formerly known as Monster Lake Ranch, went on the market Monday for $11 million. The property sprawls across 6 square miles of open land and tree-studded hills and outcrops about 6 miles south of Cody. The property features lakes, a lodge, a commercial kitchen, equipment sheds, a horse facility, corrals and a go-kart track, according to the DBW Realty listing. The listing came days after West listed his seven commercial properties in Cody for more than $3.2 million, the Cody Enterprise reports. The ranch, which leases additional land owned by the U.S. government, was listed for $13.3 million before West bought it in 2019, though it’s unknown how much he paid for the property. Wyoming law does not provide for public disclosure of real estate sale amounts. West moved from California to Wyoming in 2019 and set about basing at least some of his clothing business in Cody, a city of about 10,000 on the eastern approach to Yellowstone National Park. It wasn’t clear if the property sales mean West is leaving Wyoming or just reorganizing his business there.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Lifeguard death, traffic ticket scam: News from around our 50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Montgomery: Rural school districts are leading the state in reported COVID-19 case rates. When the Alabama Department of Public Health updated its COVID-19 school dashboard for the first time this school year Friday, three districts stood out with the highest percentage of confirmed cases: Covington, Greene and Marion county schools. All three are rural districts, and about 5% of students in each district have tested positive for the coronavirus. These schools were among only 52 of Alabama’s 137 school districts with available data on the state dashboard. In Marion, most of the 160 reported cases were concentrated in three schools, resulting in temporary closures, said Marion County Superintendent Ann West. “We’re just trying to operate with what’s best for each school,” West said. “I don’t like to send children home because for some of our students, what they get to eat is at school.” Masks are not required in Marion County Schools, but West said the district strongly encourages them. “Certainly, if I were not vaccinated, I would be wearing a mask,” she said. Meanwhile, masks are required in Greene County Schools, which reported 47 COVID-19 cases Friday. Covington County Schools reported 140 cases. According to district protocols, masks are “recommended for all individuals while indoors” and required on school buses.

Alaska

Sitka: The Sitka Assembly has authorized a 20-year lease of land to an Alaska Native corporation for development for cruise ship passengers. The Assembly, voting 5-2, approved leasing 17 acres to Shee Atika Inc., which plans to work with another company, Adventure Sitka, to develop the land with attractions such as zip lines, a salmon bake and a canoe launch, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reports. The land is between the ferry terminal and Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal. Chris McGraw, who owns the terminal and manages Adventure Sitka, said development of the property will be an important part of handling an expected large number of tourists. “The key to over-tourism is good distribution of guests,” McGraw said at an Assembly meeting. Karl Potts, CEO of Shee Atika Inc., said the lease would generate $300,000 to $400,000 a year for the city. Assembly member Kevin Knox raised questions about staffing at the site, citing difficulties businesses are having this year with hiring staff. But he said he would vote “yes” because of an expected influx of passengers next year. “We don’t have a lot of options here,” he said.

Arizona

Phoenix: The FBI’s Public Corruption unit is investigating efforts by Gov. Doug Ducey’s past and current staffers – including one who is now a federal judge – to push for a closed-door deal to issue tax refunds worth as much as $100million to aid one of Ducey’s campaign supporters. Grant Nulle, former deputy director at the Department of Revenue, said an FBI agent contacted him in mid-July, shortly after an Arizona Republic investigation uncovered how the Ducey administration had pushed the department to agree to refund sales taxes on fuel for mining companies, even though that tax had been in place for decades. The companies that stood to benefit were represented by Texas tax firm Ryan LLC, founded by Ducey supporter G. Brint Ryan. The top three deputies in Ducey’s administration left their government jobs and went to work for Ryan to push for the tax refund. The men and others working for Ducey met with Revenue officials at least 16 times to insist that the department – which was under their oversight in the governor’s office – agree to stop opposing Ryan and issue a tax refund to one fuel company. That, officials said, would have triggered refunds in all other similar cases, costing the state’s general fund more than $100 million.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The number of COVID-19 patients on a ventilator climbed to a new high Monday as the state reported 33 new coronavirus deaths amid the summer surge driven by the highly contagious delta variant. The Department of Health reported the state’s COVID-19 patients on ventilators rose by 17 to 361, surpassing the high the state had set last week. The state’s virus hospitalizations remained unchanged from a day earlier at 1,257. There are 533 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units around the state. The department reported there are 21 available ICU beds in Arkansas, though it’s not clear how many of those are equipped for COVID-19 patients. Last week the state ran out of ICU beds for virus patients, though availability has slightly eased since then. The state’s COVID-19 death toll rose Monday to 6,912 since the pandemic began. It also added 882 new virus cases. Arkansas ranks fifth in the country for new cases per capita, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers. The Department of Health reported that the number of active cases among students and staff in the state’s public schools has grown to 3,684. Cabot, Fort Smith, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville schools each reported more than 100 active cases.

California

Sacramento: The Legislature on Monday voted to guarantee people can call out their bosses publicly in most harassment and discrimination cases. When companies settle complaints filed by their employees, the agreements often include a provision barring the employee from disparaging the company or talking publicly about what happened. These agreements came under fire during the #MeToo movement, criticized as shielding public figures and companies from responsibility in sexual harassment cases. California passed a law in 2018 that bans these nondisclosure agreements in cases involving sexual harassment, discrimination or assault. The Democratic-dominated Legislature voted Monday to expand that law to include other types of harassment and discrimination, including claims based on race, religion, gender identity and sexual orientation. The bill now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who must decide whether to sign it into law. “No worker should ever be silenced from speaking out about their own experience of harassment or discrimination in the workplace,” said Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, author of the bill. “For far too long, these secret settlements and agreements have reinforced a culture of secrecy that prevents accountability, respect and justice.”

Colorado

Loveland: A former police officer involved in the rough arrest of an elderly woman with dementia should stand trial for assault, a judge ruled Monday. District Judge Michelle Brinegar said there is probable cause for the charge against former Loveland police Officer Austin Hopp, who will be arraigned in late September, the Loveland Reporter-Herald reports. Hopp arrested Karen Garner in June 2020 after she left a store without paying for about $14 worth of items. His body camera footage shows him catching up to the woman as she walks through a field along a road. Gardner, now 74, shrugs and turns away from him, and he quickly grabs her arm and pushes her 80-pound body to the ground. A federal lawsuit filed on Garner’s behalf, which included images from the body camera footage, claims that Hopp dislocated her shoulder by shoving her handcuffed left arm forward onto the hood of his patrol car and that she was denied medical treatment for about six hours. Former Loveland police Officer Daria Jalali is facing several charges stemming from the arrest, including failing to intervene in the use of excessive force.

Connecticut

Hartford: More than 1,500 long-term unemployed residents who recently found jobs are being awarded $1,000 bonuses under the first round of the Back to Work CT program, an initiative funded with federal COVID-19 relief funds. Approximately $10 million has been allocated for the program, which will provide bonus payments for up to 10,000 eligible applicants through Dec. 31. “Many workers who were displaced during the early months in the pandemic and faced long-term unemployment are now transitioning back into the workforce and starting to rebuild,” Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday in a statement. “This one-time bonus payment will help some of those workers pay for the critical things they need to get back to work, including childcare.” To be eligible for the program, applicants must obtain and maintain a full-time job for eight consecutive weeks between May 30 and Dec. 31. Applicants must complete and submit an application electronically to the Department of Revenue Services.

Delaware

Wilmington: A state trooper who received several traffic commendations has been indicted for a fraudulent traffic warning scheme in which at least two of his victims were fellow law enforcement officers, the Delaware Department of Justice announced Tuesday. Cpl. Edwin Ramirez, who was stationed at Troop 9, was charged with misdemeanor and felony tampering with public records; issuing a false certificate, a felony; and official misconduct, a misdemeanor. If convicted, he faces up to nine years in prison. Delaware State Police contacted prosecutors in May, according to the justice department, after an internal review found “a serious pattern of fraudulent E-Warnings” by Ramirez. The review began April 30 after one of his supervisors found discrepancies in an accident report, prosecutors said. Ramirez was immediately suspended. According to the indictment, after finding the discrepancy, the supervisor began looking at Ramirez’s activity and compared instances in which E-Warnings and E-Tickets were issued to dashcam footage to determine whether the stop had occurred and if so, what had been issued. In April alone, Ramirez issued more than 30 fraudulent warnings, according to the justice department. In some cases, motorists were not informed of the warnings. In other instances, a traffic stop never happened.

District of Columbia

Washington: Landon Collins, safety for the Washington Football Team, took some time away from the field Monday to bring joy to young football players, WUSA-TV reports. Collins surprised players at the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation’s Woodbridge Warriors Youth Football Team at a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Northeast D.C. Each member of the team got a $150 Dick’s Sporting Goods gift card to use however they wanted. Collins served as their personal shopping consultant. The kids, surprised and excited to spend time with the star player, grabbed new shoes and other football gear. “It just feels great for him to come down here and spend his time with us, just so we can have a surprise and get us ready,” one player said Collins said the opportunity to spend time with the kids was a blessing. “Being around these kids to give them a smile on their face and to put something on their shoulders that they can use on and off the football field is amazing,” Collins said.

Florida

Tallahassee: State education officials on Monday began to make good on threats to withhold funding from school districts that defied Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on mask mandates, despite a circuit judge last week ruling the ban unconstitutional. Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran announced that the Florida Department of Education has withheld an amount equal to monthly school board member salaries in Alachua and Broward counties, as directed by the State Board of Education. Funds will continue to be withheld until the districts comply, Corcoran said. Broward County Interim Superintendent Vickie Cartwright said in a statement that Broward County School Board believes it is in compliance with the law. “The health and safety of our students, teachers and staff continue to be our main priorities,” Cartwright said. “As such, BCPS (Broward County Public Schools) will continue to mandate masks, knowing the data shows they help minimize the spread of COVID-19 in our schools.” DeSantis, a Republican who is eyeing a possible presidential run in 2024, had been threatening to impose financial penalties on school boards for weeks. Democratic President Joe Biden has said if that happened, federal money would be used to cover any costs.

Georgia

Atlanta: State lawmakers will use the same guidelines as in 2010 to redraw congressional, legislative and other electoral districts, meaning lawmakers are not required to give members of the public an advance look at the plans, nor consider whether districts give candidates from different political parties a meaningful chance to win. Identical guidelines were presented to both House and Senate redistricting committees Monday. The House voted to adopt the guidelines, while senators gave preliminary agreement, with a final vote likely on the first day of a special session expected in October or November. Asked about whether maps would be released in advance, Senate Majority Leader John Kennedy emphasized the shortened time period because of delays in U.S. census data stemming from COVID-19. In 2010, state legislative maps were unveiled the Friday before the redistricting special session began. “We’re obviously operating under a very short period of time compared to what they had to this previously,” said Kennedy, R-Macon. Advance notice of maps is one of the key objectives for which outside groups have been lobbying. “Georgians need to have access to the maps and know how and when the maps will be presented,” said Jerry Gonzalez, CEO of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.

Hawaii

Honolulu: Health care officials are concerned about a shortage of oxygen as the state’s coronavirus surge continues to grow. Hospital officials are canceling nonemergency procedures that require oxygen in an attempt to conserve supplies, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. There is a global shortage of oxygen containers that are needed for transport to the islands, said Hilton Raethel, president and CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, a trade group for the state’s hospitals and nursing homes. “The combined demand has increased to the point where we are concerned about whether we can generate enough oxygen in Hawaii to meet all the needs of our health care facilities,” Raethel said. Hawaii’s two oxygen plants have switched to producing medical gas only. Raethel said mainland tank orders are backlogged for months. Hawaii Pacific Health, which oversees several hospitals in the state, directed staff to cancel elective procedures where oxygen is needed. “We do not plan to defer any emergency surgery, and we will need to have careful consideration of cases that are urgent but not emergent,” Hawaii Pacific Health President and CEO Ray Vara said in a staff memo. “Any cases that can be deferred safely should be deferred until the oxygen supply solutions are clearer.”

Idaho

Boise: An environmental group that wants to end public-land grazing has outbid a rancher for a grazing lease on state land that includes habitat for bull trout and steelhead. Western Watersheds Project’s bid of $8,200 won the 20-year grazing lease on 620 acres in central Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley in Custer County. The group and the Idaho Cattle Association say it’s possible other state grazing leases could be sought by other environmental groups. Western Watersheds will also have to pay an annual $800 fee based on the number of sheep or cattle authorized for the allotment. “That’s still a screaming deal,” said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, noting that private-land grazing fees are about three times that much. “Certainly, at those prices, the parcel is a lot more valuable for conservation than it is for grazing livestock.” Molvar said the group will not graze livestock but instead convert the grazing lease into a conservation lease and allow the area to be used by wildlife, notably a herd of 50 pronghorn that frequent the area. Elk and bighorn sheep are also in the region. He also said sections of two streams running through the parcel, Fourth of July Creek and Champion Creek, will be protected. The new lease takes effect Jan. 1.

Illinois

Chicago: A white police officer has been placed on administrative duty as the city’s police oversight agency investigates his struggle with a Black woman who was walking her dog in a lakefront park. Police Superintendent David Brown on Monday directed that the officer be placed on paid desk duty while what happened over the weekend is investigated, the department said. Attorneys for the woman allege the encounter became violent and was an “obvious case of racial profiling.” The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said Monday that it reviewed the officer’s body camera video and recommended he either be placed on administrative duty or be relieved of his police power while it investigates. “If violations did occur, COPA will hold the officer accountable,” interim chief Andrea Kersten said. A law office representing Nikkita Brown said she was near the lakefront with her dog about 12:10 a.m. Saturday when a police officer approached her for being in the area after the park was closed. In a video recorded by a bystander, the woman and her dog appear to be walking away from the officer as he follows closely, and at one point she turns around with her phone in her hand and stops. Moments later, the officer appears to reach for her phone and then grabs Brown.

Indiana

Indianapolis: The state’s health commissioner defended herself Monday against criticism arising from a photograph circulating on social media showing her not wearing a face mask during a wedding reception. Dr. Kristina Box said in a statement that she “made an informed decision” to take off her mask while dancing or talking at a recent family wedding with guests fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Box said all but five people at the wedding were fully vaccinated. Several social media comments called Box’s actions hypocritical, as she said Friday that Indiana had reached “the darkest time in the pandemic” amid a surge in infections and hospitalizations and urged more people to get COVID-19 shots and wear masks. The photo shows Box standing amid several people, none of whom are wearing masks. Box said in her statement that federal guidelines call for people to wear masks at indoor public places when in areas of “high or sustained transmission.” “I continue to wear my mask in these settings and encourage Hoosiers to do the same,” Box said. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb apologized in May 2020 after posing for a photo with two people in which none of the three wore masks inside a Brown County restaurant, a day after recommending mask-wearing.

Iowa

Iowa City: A man was sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday in the abduction and killing of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, three years after she disappeared while out for an evening run. Judge Joel Yates’ sentence for Cristhian Bahena Rivera was mandatory for a first-degree murder conviction in Iowa, which does not have the death penalty. The 27-year-old former farmhand, who testified that he came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico as a teenager, has been jailed since his arrest in August 2018. Yates pointedly rejected defense claims that others were responsible for the crime. “Mr. Bahena Rivera, you and you alone forever changed the lives of those who loved Mollie Tibbetts,” he said. The sentence caps a case that inflamed anger over illegal immigration, fueled fears about violence against solo female runners, and took several noteworthy twists during and after Bahena Rivera’s trial in May. Tibbetts’ mother, Laura Calderwood, addressed Bahena Rivera in a victim impact statement read to the court. “Mollie was a young woman who simply wanted to go for a quiet run on the evening of July 18 and you chose to violently and sadistically end that life,” she wrote.

Kansas

Mission: Former Gov. Jeff Colyer announced Monday that he is dropping out of the 2022 race for governor after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. “While I have always focused on helping others, for the next few weeks I am going to focus on my health,” said Colyer, a physician who served as governor for a little less than a year in 2018. In his announcement, Colyer said he was endorsing Attorney General Derek Schmidt in the governor’s race. Colyer had been Schmidt’s main rival for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s reelection. Schmidt wished Colyer “all the best in overcoming his current health challenges” in a statement and said that “now is the time to come together to elect a Republican governor for Kansas next year.” In a tweet, Kelly wished Colyer “a quick recovery.” “Colyer and I may have our disagreements. But one thing we can all agree on: the need to defeat cancer,” she wrote on Twitter. Colyer was elevated from lieutenant governor in January 2018, when GOP Gov. Sam Brownback resigned to become U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom. Colyer narrowly lost the 2018 Republican primary to polarizing conservative Kris Kobach, who alienated moderate GOP and independent voters and lost to Kelly that November.

Kentucky

Frankfort: The governor signaled Monday that he wants to convene a special legislative session to deal with COVID-19 issues once a “general consensus” is reached on what can be achieved. Gov. Andy Beshear said the special session needs to happen soon in part to maintain the state of emergency he declared at the outset of the pandemic in Kentucky. And there are pressing coronavirus-related issues stemming from school closures due to surging outbreaks, he said. The governor has the authority to call lawmakers into special session and to set the agenda. Beshear, a Democrat, has had discussions with leaders of the Republican-led Legislature over what actions could be taken if lawmakers are brought back to the statehouse. Those negotiations come as Kentucky suffers its worst surge of virus cases and hospitalizations since the pandemic began. Various emergency measures previously issued by Beshear are set to expire as a result of a recent landmark court decision. It’s up to lawmakers to decide whether to keep them in place. Kentucky had more new cases of COVID-19 last week than any other week in the pandemi, and on Monday reported another record number of hospitalized coronavirus patients. The highly contagious delta variant is spreading fastest among school-age Kentuckians, the governor said.

Louisiana

New Orleans: A storied jazz site where a young Louis Armstrong once worked toppled when Ida blew through the state as one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. The Karnofsky Tailor Shop, where a Jewish family employed Armstrong, collapsed Sunday during the storm. Armstrong would play a small tin horn as he worked on the coal and junk wagons, according to the National Park Service. The business opened downtown in 1913 and had a residence above it where the late jazz legend would often eat meals. The family, who provided Armstrong a “second home,” lent him money to buy his first cornet. “Louis said it was the Karnofskys that instilled the love of singing in his heart,” jazz historian and retired photojournalist John McCusker said, according to WWL-TV. Morris Karnofsky, the family’s son and Armstrong’s childhood friend, opened the city’s first jazz record shop on that same street, according to the park service. Armstrong would visit Morris Music when he returned to New Orleans after moving away. When daylight came Monday morning, all that was left was a pile of bricks and other remnants of the historic site.

Maine

Portland: The lobster fishing industry will face a host of new harvesting restrictions amid a new push from the federal government to try to save a vanishing species of whale. The new rules, which have loomed over the profitable lobster industry for years and were announced Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are designed to protect the North Atlantic right whale. The whales number only about 360 and are vulnerable to lethal entanglement in fishing gear. NOAA said it expects the new rules will result in a nearly 70% reduction of the risk of death and serious injuries the whales can suffer from entanglement. The rules had long been expected to focus on reducing the number of vertical ropes in the water, and they will. The rules reduce the number of rope lines that link buoys to lobster and crab traps, NOAA said. The rules will also require the use of weaker ropes so whales can more easily break free if they do become entangled, the agency said. NOAA said the rules also expand the areas of ocean where fishing with trap rope is prohibited or limited. Members of the lobster fishing industry have said strict new rules could make it difficult to get lobsters to consumers.

Maryland

Salisbury: Organizers of the 80th National Folk Festival say they’re adding a fourth stage at this year’s festival, the Maryland Traditions Family Folklife Stage. The festival is slated to return to downtown Salisbury on Sept. 10-12 for the third year of its residency in the Eastern Shore city. Supported by Maryland Traditions, the traditional arts program of the Maryland State Arts Council, the Maryland Traditions Family Folklife Area & Stage at the 80th National Folk Festival celebrates and showcases the rich, living traditions of Maryland. The area shines a spotlight on the distinctive music, rituals, crafts, occupations, foodways and other traditions at the heart of Maryland heritage, expressing both the state’s deep history and its evolving character. Performances, demonstrations, displays, exhibits, and narrative presentations by Maryland master artisans and performers explore a wide range of cultural traditions, including those of its First Peoples, the cultural legacies of European settlers, and the expressions of the newest Maryland residents whose cultural roots come from around the globe.

Massachusetts

Boston: Hundreds of students at Amherst College are pushing back against what they call the school’s overly restrictive coronavirus protocols that include double-masking indoors, restrictions on off-campus activities, and no in-person campus dining. In a letter sent to President Carolyn “Biddy” Martin a week ago, the students said that “the guidelines are not based on any given data, have been developed without student input, are significantly stricter than our peer institutions, and are in conflict with (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines.” The restrictions originally announced Aug. 24 and designed in response to the spread of the delta variant apply to the first two weeks of the fall semester, which began Monday. The prestigious private liberal arts college celebrating its 200th anniversary this year had already mandated COVID-19 vaccinations. In response to the pushback, Martin wrote another campuswide email Aug. 27. “We are in the midst of a surge, and you are arriving on campus from all over the country and the world, including from delta hotspots,” she said, adding later: “Now is not yet the time to relax key restrictions.” She did, however, amend a near-universal outdoor mask mandate, calling it “unworkable.”

Michigan

Royal Oak: Some animals are rolling up their fur for COVID-19 shots at the Detroit Zoo. The zoo in suburban Detroit said its gorillas, chimpanzees, tigers and lions are getting a vaccine developed by Zoetis, a veterinary drug company, and authorized by the U.S. Agriculture Department. Other animals will follow. “We’re both thankful and relieved a special vaccine is now available to protect against COVID-19,” said Scott Carter, the zoo’s chief life sciences officer. “The animals routinely get other vaccinations.” The zoo said no COVID-19 infections have been found in its animals. Anti-vaccine advocates have aggressively criticized other zoos nationwide that have administered the shots to their animals. But the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has said it supports the animal vaccines, which “have been clinically tested and administered to animals only after deep consideration by veterinary professionals.”

Minnesota

Minneapolis: The state has reached 300 traffic accident deaths before Labor Day for the first time in more than a decade, prompting state public safety officials on Monday to issue a plea for people to slow down. The state reported its 300th fatality Saturday – the earliest the state has eclipsed that threshold since 2007, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety. There were 240 traffic deaths in the state at this time last year, and the state did not reach 300 until October. Officials attributed 103 of the deaths, or about 40%, to speeding, compared to 78 at this time last year. “This many preventable deaths on Minnesota roads before Labor Day is completely unacceptable,” said Office of Traffic Safety Director Mike Hanson. “It’s not a homework assignment; you don’t get a do-over. We all need to drive smart to keep our family, friends and neighbors alive.” Nearly three-fourths of all victims were male, with the majority between 21 and 30 years old. Alcohol-related deaths stand at 74, which is down from 88 at this time last year and 136 in 2011. Drunken driving-related deaths comprised 20% of all traffic fatalities in 2020 compared to more than half in the 1960s. State officials say the lower numbers are due in large part to extra impaired driving enforcement.

Mississippi

Jackson: Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker said Tuesday that he is feeling well, less than two weeks after being diagnosed with COVID-19. “To everyone who has asked, I have recovered fully from my bout with COVID-19, and I have a clean bill of health,” Wicker posted on Twitter. “I am looking forward to resuming my travel in the state this week.” Wicker, 70, is one of three senators who announced Aug. 19 that they had tested positive for the coronavirus. Wicker, independent Sen. Angus King, 77, of Maine, and Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper, 69, of Colorado, had all been fully vaccinated. All three have recommended that people get their shots. Wicker wrote Tuesday: “Being fully vaccinated greatly reduced my risk of developing severe complications from the virus. Getting the shot is safe, easy, and free, and it could save your life.”

Missouri

Jefferson City: A judge on Tuesday refused to reinstate federal unemployment benefits that were cut in June when Gov. Mike Parson pulled out of several programs, saying the court “would not substitute its judgment” for that of the governor. The ruling by Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem came a day after lawyers representing Missouri residents who lost the jobless benefits asked for reinstatement with back pay that, for some people, could have amounted to $1,500. The enhanced benefits from several federal programs added money to the unemployment checks for out-of-work Americans to help ease the crunch caused by shutdowns for the COVID-19 pandemic. But some Republican governors, including Parson, ended the benefits, saying they wanted to prod people to rejoin the workforce. In his four-page ruling denying a preliminary injunction, Beteem wrote that “the balancing of harms and the public interest strongly favor the Governor’s decision to promote economic recovery and encourage workers’ re-entry into Missouri’s critically understaffed labor force.” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a statement that the ruling “affirmed the legality of Governor Parson’s decision to terminate these temporary benefits and will hopefully lead to the hiring of workers for businesses that desperately need the help.”

Montana

Helena: Gov. Greg Gianforte has announced a rule encouraging schools to give parents final say on whether children should wear masks in schools, after several large school districts implemented mask requirements for all students. Gianforte, a Republican, made the announcement Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Education on Monday opened civil rights investigations into five Republican-led states that have banned or limited mask requirements in schools, saying the policies could amount to discrimination against students with disabilities or health conditions. Gianforte said in a statement that masking in schools, which is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, is “based on inconclusive research.” He also said masking could have adverse impacts on children’s “health, wellbeing and development.” The CDC issued its guidance in light of the rapid spread of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. The rule says schools should consider “parental concerns” when adopting mask mandates and provide parents the ability to opt out of health-related mandates for a wide array of reasons including physical and mental health, developmental needs, religious beliefs and moral convictions.

Nebraska

Omaha: The number of COVID-19 cases in the state has increased in each of the past ten weeks, and the total nearly doubled over the past two weeks as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread. Nebraska reported 5,006 new cases for the week ending Friday, according to an Omaha World-Herald analysis of data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 3,755 the previous week and nearly double the 2,668 cases recorded the week before. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska has also risen over the past two weeks from 190 new cases per day Aug. 15 to 715.14 new cases per day Sunday. “Those numbers speak for themselves,” said Dr. James Lawler, a co-executive director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security. “We’re going up, and we’re following in the footsteps of the Southern states that saw increasing cases before us. And we’ll continue that way unless something dramatic happens.” The state said 323 people were hospitalized with the virus in the state as of Thursday. Last week, Gov. Pete Ricketts ordered all the state’s hospitals to delay elective surgeries, if possible, to help free up capacity, but he resisted taking other measures to slow the spread of the virus.

Nevada

Las Vegas: City officials say they’ll use a $50,000 grant from the National Park Service to fund research about five decades of segregation, civil rights activism and advocacy in the historic West Las Vegas neighborhood. An announcement Monday said the project aims to focus on the years 1930 through 1979 in what amounted to the city’s segregated Black community. The goal is to determine what buildings and properties could be included on the National Register of Historic Places and listed on the city’s Historic Property Register. The funds to Las Vegas are part of nearly $750,000 nationwide allocated under the park service’s Underrepresented Community Grant Program, the city statement said. The city Historic Preservation Office submitted the grant request, and the city will issue a request for proposals for contracts with experienced cultural resources consultants to prepare the survey and inventory.

New Hampshire

Portsmouth: A milestone anniversary for the New Hampshire Film Festival is again being pushed back a year due to COVID-19. Announced Monday, the 20th annual NHFF will have to wait another year because of the pandemic. The celebration was originally scheduled for October 2020, then delayed to October 2021. Now it’s planned for 2022. An autumn tradition in Portsmouth, which has hosted the festival since 2004 after its debut in Derry three years before, the festival said it would be unable to keep up with new health and safety protocols seen in art venues and community events across the country “due to the scale and scope” of an event spread across several days and multiple venues. “We are upset to find ourselves in this extremely difficult position, but our deeper concern lies with the filmmakers, attendees, supporters, partners and sponsors who continue to struggle with the ongoing pandemic,” NHFF executive director Nicole Gregg said in a statement. Celebrating newer filmmakers and directors, as well as more experienced screenwriters and actors, the NHFF is a four-day fall event that typically draws crowds for film showings, question-and-answer sessions with film producers and actors, and receptions and parties at downtown restaurants.

New Jersey

Berkeley Township: A young lifeguard was killed, and seven other people, including three other lifeguards, were injured when lightning struck a Jersey Shore beach Monday afternoon, authorities said. It marked the second death of a young lifeguard at the Jersey Shore in a little over a week. Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said the others were taken to hospitals with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. “Our hearts are with the family and friends of the young lifeguard killed by today’s horrific lightning strike on the beach in Berkeley Township, and we pray for a full recovery for those injured,” Gov. Phil Murphy wrote on Twitter. “I’ve spoken to Mayor Carmen Amato and offered the full support and assistance of our administration during this difficult time.” Amato said his township’s beaches will be closed Tuesday through Thursday as crisis counselors are made available to beach staff and lifeguards. Four of those struck were lifeguards, and four others were beachgoers. “This is a tragic and heartbreaking day for our town and the entire Jersey Shore,” Amato said in a statement. “This young person was out there every day protecting the lives of others. Our lifeguard teams, like so many along the shore, develop special connections with our community throughout the summer, which makes this loss even greater.”

New Mexico

Albuquerque: The state’s largest electric provider wants to transfer its share of a coal-fired power plant to an energy company backed by the Navajo Nation, but environmentalists argue that approving the deal would prolong the life of the plant and run counter to New Mexico’s renewable energy goals. The state Public Regulation Commission will determine whether Public Service Co. of New Mexico’s plan for Four Corners Power Plant is in the public interest during a two-week hearing that began Tuesday. It heard from the public Monday. Some of those who spoke at the virtual meeting Monday choked back tears when talking about pollution emitted by the plant over the decades, while others spoke about how their jobs at the power plant and coal mine helped to put their children through college. Some tribal members told regulators that all levels of Navajo leadership are behind the proposal. They said allowing the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. to take over the utility’s stake in Four Corners would provide more time for the tribe to find ways to deal with significant economic consequences that will come when the plant closes in 2031. If regulators don’t approve PNM’s plan, the Navajo Nation could lose up to $60 million annually, said LoRenzo Bates, former speaker of the Navajo Nation Council.

New York

Albany: Resigning from office probably didn’t end former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s legal problems, and no matter what happens next, taxpayers are likely to wind up with a hefty bill. The state has already agreed to pay up to $9.5 million to lawyers representing and investigating Cuomo and his administration over sexual harassment allegations and other matters, according to a review of available contracts. That figure represents the maximum amount that could be spent, not actual bills submitted so far. It doesn’t include the legal fees of Cuomo’s private attorney, whose bills are being paid by his campaign committee. His successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, can decide whether the state will continue to pay lawyers to defend Cuomo and his administration going forward. Cuomo and the administration face the possibility of civil lawsuits from women who have accused the Democrat of sexual harassment. The state attorney general is looking into Cuomo’s use of state employees to help with a book he wrote. Federal prosecutors are investigating his administration’s handling of nursing home death data. He’s also facing a state ethics commission inquiry.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill Monday that would do away with the permit someone must obtain from a county sheriff before buying a pistol, turning back a key agenda item of conservative gun rights supporters. Cooper’s veto was expected, and an override will be difficult for Republicans who control the General Assembly, since they lack veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate. Only two Democrats – both in the House – voted for doing away with the pistol purchase permitting system, which goes back more than 100 years. Cooper supports more gun-sale restrictions, not less, and his office expressed his opposition to the bill the day after the final legislative vote this month. “Gun permit laws reduce gun homicides and suicides and reduce the availability of guns for criminal activity,” Cooper said in a news release Monday. “At a time of rising gun violence, we cannot afford to repeal a system that works to save lives. The legislature should focus on combating gun violence instead of making it easier for guns to end up in the wrong hands.” Bill supporters said the current process has become duplicative with the comprehensive national checks that licensed gun dealers must conduct. The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association backed the repeal this year after opposing it previously.

North Dakota

Bismarck: A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit by the state of Missouri seeking to stop a project that would supply Missouri River water to central North Dakota. The Bismarck Tribune reports the ruling will enable the federal Bureau of Reclamation to move ahead with a water service contract for the Central North Dakota Water Supply Project. The project will receive water from the McClusky Canal for systems in Burleigh, Sheridan, Wells, Foster, Kidder, McLean and Stutsman counties. The Missouri suit alleged violations of federal policy, including failure by project developers to properly study the project’s environmental impacts and its alternatives. U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey ruled against Missouri on all counts. The state of Missouri “doesn’t like any depletion from the Missouri River,” said Merri Mooridian, deputy manager of the Red River Valley Water Supply Program, which will move Missouri River water by underground pipeline from Washburn east to supply systems in the east and central parts of the state. The Central North Dakota Water Supply Project will use the same pipeline, taking nearly 13 million gallons a day. “The state of North Dakota has the right to flows of the Missouri River in the state of North Dakota,” Mooridian said.

Ohio

Cincinnati: A Common Pleas judge has rescinded his order that a man sentenced for a felony drug charge get vaccinated against COVID-19 within two months as a condition of his probation. Speaking at a hearing Tuesday, Judge Christopher Wagner told Brandon Rutherford that it’s not a judge’s role to make decisions for him or “teach you to be a better person.” The reversal came nearly a month after Wagner had sentenced Rutherford. At the time, Wagner told Rutherford he presumed he hadn’t been vaccinated because he was wearing a mask in court, which Rutherford confirmed, telling the judge he wasn’t worried about the vaccine. Neither Rutherford nor his attorney, Carl Lewis, objected to the vaccination order during the sentencing, but soon afterward Rutherford expressed concerns about the directive. Lewis said Tuesday that his 21-year-old client has concerns about the vaccine and will not get it within two months. Lewis had argued that a judge doesn’t have the power or authority to order someone to be inoculated.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: A bill approved by the Republican-led Legislature this year that seeks to crack down on protesters is unconstitutional and would chill the ability of groups to mobilize people to advocate for racial justice, a civil rights group argues in a federal lawsuit filed Monday. The Oklahoma chapter of the NAACP filed the lawsuit in federal court in Oklahoma City, along with the national NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center. The lawsuit argues the law, which takes effect Nov. 1, was written to discourage peaceful demonstrations and violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantee the right of the public to peacefully assemble and give citizens equal protection under the law. The new law increases the penalties for blocking roadways, grants motorists civil and criminal immunity if they kill or injure someone while fleeing from a riot, and authorizes hefty fines for national organizations that coordinate with those found guilty of committing crimes under the state’s rioting statutes.

Oregon

Portland: City employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 – or obtain a medical or religious exemption – by the middle of October, or they will be fired. “With COVID-19 filling hospitals and claiming lives, we must do everything within our power to end this pandemic and restore our community’s health,” Mayor Ted Wheeler and all four City Commissioners wrote Monday in a letter to municipal workers. The city will require its approximately 6,800 employees to submit proof of vaccination, show they are in the process of being vaccinated, or apply for an exemption by Sept. 10 and be fully vaccinated or granted an exemption by Oct. 18. Those who fail to meet the deadline “will be put on a list for separation from employment,” according to the letter. The city plans to provide a comprehensive outline of the new policy later this week and to answer whatever questions municipal workers might have. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that earlier this month, Multnomah County imposed a vaccine mandate on its employees, and Gov. Kate Brown has announced similar requirements for all teachers, health care workers and state employees across Oregon.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: Masks will be required in all public and private schools, as well as child care facilities, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday, reversing course amid a statewide COVID-19 resurgence that is filling hospital beds just as students return to class. The Department of Health order will take effect Tuesday, Sept. 7 – a week or more after the start of school in many districts – and will require students, teachers and staff to wear masks when inside, regardless of vaccination status, the Wolf administration said. The order will not apply to student-athletes while they’re playing, nor to outdoor activities. “Wearing a mask in school is necessary to keep our children in the classroom and to keep COVID out of that classroom,” Wolf said at a news conference Tuesday. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association said the decision on masking should have been left to local school officials, but it would nevertheless remind school districts “of their legal obligation related to the directive.” Less than a month ago, Wolf had ruled out a statewide mask mandate for schools after requiring them last year. But the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus has changed the administration’s calculus about what is needed to keep students in class.

Rhode Island

Providence: The union that represents nurses at the state’s only Level 1 trauma hospital is calling on its parent company to increase the pay of nurses who have been on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. The United Nurses and Allied Professionals union on Tuesday delivered a petition with more than 2,000 signatures to Lifespan Corp., which operates Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. Lifespan, the state’s largest health care organization, has already increased compensation for nurses at some of its other hospitals. “We provide a critical component of patient care in Rhode Island, yet during this unprecedented health crisis, Lifespan seems to have forgotten about us,” Frank Sims, a Rhode Island Hospital nurse and union president, said in a statement. “While the nurses at Miriam Hospital and Newport Hospital are being recognized for their front line service with appropriate compensation increases during this crisis, Lifespan has refused to do the same for Rhode Island Hospital nurses.” A Lifespan spokesperson said the system provides nurses with “highly competitive wage and benefits packages.”

South Carolina

Columbia: A private college is allowing men to live on campus for the first time since it was founded 167 years ago. About 45 men moved into a dorm set aside for them at Columbia College this month, media outlets report. College officials said last year that they decided to bring men to what had been an all-women college because enrollment had fallen 25% in the past decade. “Most women now are looking for a co-educational experience. Also, we really believe the opportunity that we provide and the environment we have is a good one for men to grow. And so it’s expanding our outreach to men of course but also to a broader group of women,” said Columbia College President Tom Bogart, who took over as leader of the school in October. Jordan Wright was one of the first men to move into the Columbia College dorms. “I feel like it’s a good experience,” Wright said. “It’s a new beginning and new blessings. I know it’s a little different now, but I feel like everything is still going to go good with the boys and girls, even though it’s a new thing.”

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: Gov. Kristi Noem said Tuesday that she has activated nine soldiers from the state National Guard to help with coronavirus testing in the western part of the state amid a surge of infections. “This past week, I had conversations with all three South Dakota hospital systems and asked them what they needed as cases start to rise again,” she said in a statement. “Monument asked for the National Guard to assist them in their testing efforts, and we are happy to help.” Over the past two weeks, the average number of infections has tripled statewide. The western part of the state has been the hardest-hit, with Meade County, which hosted the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally earlier this month, leading the state in new cases per capita. The Department of Health reported last week that it had traced 63 cases among rallygoers. Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide reached 216 – the largest number since January. Two deaths were also reported Tuesday, bringing the total death toll of people with COVID-19 in the state to 2,069. The health department said Pennington County had more than twice as many new COVID-19 cases in the prior day than any other county in the state. Noem activated the National Guard last year to prepare field hospitals for a surge in patients, but the hospitals were not utilized.

Tennessee

Nashville: The snail darter, a tiny fish that notoriously blocked a federal dam project in the state decades ago, should no longer be on the endangered species list, federal officials announced Tuesday. Arguing that the fish is no longer in danger of extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has begun the process to delist the species, a move backed by the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that has favored lifting protections for the fish since 2019. “Thanks to the persistence of many people, the extinction of the snail darter was ultimately avoided, and today we can celebrate its recovery,” said Zygmunt Plater, the attorney who wrote the citizens’ petition to save the snail darter in 1975. Snail darters, a member of the perch family, grow up to 3.5 inches long and mostly eat freshwater snails. Shortly after the passage of the landmark 1973 Endangered Species Act, construction of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Tellico Dam in eastern Tennessee threatened the habitat of the newly discovered fish, located just above the site of the project. The case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, marking the first time the nation’s highest court took up an ESA case. In 1978, the court ruled in favor of protections for the fish and halted work on the nearly completed dam. Congress later exempted the dam from the law to allow the project to be completed. But the TVA worked to transplant the snail darter to other rivers and streams.

Texas

Austin: The GOP-controlled Legislature passed a broad overhaul of the state’s election laws Tuesday, tightening already strict voting rules and dealing a bruising defeat to Democrats who waged a monthslong fight over what they argued was a brazen attempt to disenfranchise minorities and other Democratic-leaning voters. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said he will sign the bill, the latest in a national GOP campaign to add new hurdles to voting in the name of security, spurred in part by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election. Texas Democrats fought the legislation for months, arguing the bill was tailored to make it harder for young people, racial and ethnic minorities and people with disabilities – all Democratic-leaning voters – to cast ballots, just as they see the demographics shifting to favor their party. The bill specifically targets Democratic strongholds, including Houston’s Harris County, further tightening rules in a state already considered among the hardest places to cast a ballot. The legislation set off a heated summer in Texas of walkouts by Democrats, Republicans threatening them with arrest, Abbott vetoing the paychecks of thousands of rank-and-file staffers when the bill failed to reach him sooner, and accusations of racism and voter suppression. Even the final vote did not escape a parting round of confrontation after Senate Republicans, at the last minute, scuttled one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement: efforts to shield voters with felony convictions from prosecution if they did not realize they were ineligible to cast a ballot. It had been included following backlash over the arrests of two Texas voters, both of whom are Black.

Utah

Salt Lake City: Gov. Spencer Cox cast doubt on the efficacy of mask-wearing Tuesday as health leaders made some of their most impassioned pleas yet for Utahns to mask up and get vaccinated. Cox, a Republican, said his administration is encouraging people to wear masks but said it is unclear whether they are effective against the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. “Masks are not as effective as most of the pro-mask crowd are arguing,” Cox told reporters at a news conference. “We know that they’re just not.” Cox offered no specific evidence to support his assertion, and his comments contradicted public health experts, as well as statements Utah’s state epidemiologist Dr. Michelle Hofmann made a few minutes earlier at the same news conference. State hospital leaders made emotional pleas for vaccinations and universal masking to prevent the state’s ongoing COVID-19 surge. “There will be enduring harm to our children and generations to come if we do not stop the divisiveness around the things we know work like masks and vaccines,” Hofmann said. “We know the path to healing is the end of this pandemic, and it hasn’t ended yet even if we want to pretend it has.”

Vermont

Burlington: Nearly all arriving students at the University of Vermont have been vaccinated against COVID-19. UVM spokesman Enrique Corredera said officials are still working with fewer than 100 students to bring them into compliance with the school’s inoculation requirement. Earlier this month UVM reinstituted an indoor mask mandate for all faculty, staff, students and visitors on the Burlington campus. The exact size of this year’s school enrollment won’t be known for several weeks, but it’s expected to be more than 13,000. The incoming freshman class is expected to have about 3,000 students. “In wonderful news for the years ahead, an extraordinary new class of Catamounts have joined us this fall – with more than 25,000 applications for admission, the incoming class is on track to being the best academically prepared and the largest we’ve ever welcomed!” President Suresh Garimella said in a message to the student body. Students at colleges and universities across Vermont are returning for the fall semester amid the latest surge in COVID-19 cases, this time driven by the more transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus.

Virginia

Richmond: Gov. Ralph Northam granted posthumous pardons Tuesday to seven Black men who were executed in 1951 for the rape of a white woman, in a case that attracted pleas for mercy from around the world and in recent years has been denounced as an example of racial disparity in the use of the death penalty. Northam announced the pardons after meeting with about a dozen descendants of the men and their advocates. Cries and sobs could be heard from some of the descendants after Northam’s announcement. The “Martinsville Seven,” as the men became known, were all convicted of raping 32-year-old Ruby Stroud Floyd, a white woman who had gone to a predominantly black neighborhood in Martinsville, Virginia, on Jan. 8, 1949, to collect money for clothes she had sold. Four of the men were executed in Virginia’s electric chair Feb. 2, 1951. Three days later, the remaining three were also electrocuted. All of them were tried by all-white juries. It was the largest group of people executed for a single-victim crime in Virginia’s history. At the time, rape was a capital offense. But Northam said Tuesday that the death penalty for rape was applied almost exclusively to Black people. Northam said the pardons are an acknowledgement that the men did not receive due process and faced racial bias.

Washington

Seattle: The coronavirus pandemic is filling hospitals at an “alarming” rate and continuing to strain health care workers, state health officials said Monday. And for the first time during the pandemic, hospitals are also seeing large numbers of sick pregnant patients, said Dr. Tanya Sorensen, the executive medical director of women’s health at Swedish Health Services. She noted pregnant patients are generally less likely to be inoculated against COVID-19. “We’re seeing ICU admissions, maternal deaths, babies born prematurely either to help the mother breathe or rescue the baby,” she said. “It’s really heartbreaking. … Pregnant women need to be vaccinated.” As of Monday morning, the state’s hospitals and health care centers were treating 1,570 COVID-19 patients, Washington State Hospital Association CEO Cassie Sauer said. Of those, 188 were on ventilators. Eleven days ago, the hospital association had counted 1,240 patients with 152 on ventilators. “It’s an enormous stress on a health care system to have this many patients with a single diagnosis,” she said. “This doesn’t happen. … It’s very, very alarming.”

West Virginia

Wheeling: A historic suspension bridge will be undergoing major repairs, but it’s not clear whether the span will reopen to traffic. The West Virginia Division of Highways and Gov. Jim Justice announced Monday that a $17.9 million contract had been awarded to repair and rehabilitate the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register reports. The project will make repairs on the span’s superstructure and substructure as well as clean, paint, replace damaged suspension cables and renovate lighting, officials said. “It is absolutely fantastic news for the city of Wheeling to know that its most iconic structure, the suspension bridge, is going to be fully repaired and rehabilitated,” Mayor Glenn Elliott said Monday. The future of the historic 1849 bridge was in question after officials closed the span to vehicle traffic in 2019 since motorists repeatedly ignored Division of Highways weight restrictions and warnings on the structure. Multiple overweight vehicles tried to cross it, leading to damage, and it’s unclear whether the repairs will allow the bridge to reopen to traffic. After the contractor begins work on the bridge, crews will determine the extent of the damage, and officials will then determine how the bridge will be used going forward.

Wisconsin

Waukesha: A school district has reversed a decision to leave a federal free meals program following widespread criticism and loud protests from parents and others. Waukesha school board members said they received threats in the wake of national attention after voting to opt out of the program that was providing free breakfast and lunch to all students in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The board voted 5-4 on Monday to reverse course, with parents and others packing the meeting room and two overflow rooms. Board member Karin Rajnicek said after the board’s previous vote to end the free program that it made it easy for families to “become spoiled.” Darren Clark, assistant superintendent for business services, said he feared there would be a “slow addiction” to the service. Even without the program, Waukesha students from low-income families still would have been able to apply for free or reduced-price meals under the traditional National School Lunch Program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to extend the Seamless Summer Option during the pandemic to offer free meals year-round has allowed for more coronavirus-safe practices by eliminating the need to collect payments and allowing meals to be served more easily in classrooms or outside.

Wyoming

Casper: More staff than inmates at the state’s men’s prisons have tested positive for the coronavirus in the past month, the Department of Corrections said late last week. Since July 23, the state has reported 43 cases of COVID-19 among staff at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins and the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington. A total of 20 inmates in those two facilities tested positive for the virus over the same period of time. “Historically, we’ve had far more positives in our inmate population, as a percentage of the population, than we’ve had for staff,” Wyoming Department of Corrections spokesperson Paul Martin said Wednesday. “I think that trend is changing now.” About 35% of prison employees report being fully vaccinated, compared to 64% of inmates, the agency said. Vaccinations are not required for anyone, Martin told the Casper Star-Tribune, but are offered to employees and inmates. Inmates are still wearing face coverings and social distancing, Martin said. The only facility that did not experience an outbreak during the peak of the pandemic was the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk. This month, the women’s prison has reported five cases among staff and 11 among inmates.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports