Easter Playboy bunnies, Roomba burglar, Taylor Swift: News from around our 50 states

From staff and wire reports

Animatronic animals for auction in Ohio, a festival for cheese and ice cream in South Dakota, and more

Montgomery
Locals will likely have some “Nice Things” to say about Thursday night’s episode of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” The musical guest is Tank and the Bangas, a band that features Montgomery native saxophone and flute player Albert Allenback, a graduate of Booker T. Washington Magnet High School. While this will be the second visit on NBC’s “Tonight Show” for Tarriona “Tank” Ball and Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, it’s a first for Allenback and the rest of the band. “(Ball and Joseph) sang background with Norah Jones on there,” Allenback says. He doesn’t know exactly what the band will perform on the show but says it’s likely to be their new single, “Nice Things,” the video for which should be out in May – about the same time their upcoming LP “Green Balloon” comes out May 3.

Juneau
The state Senate has passed legislation intended to allow the Alaska State Fair to continue selling alcohol. The bill, which passed 19-0 Monday, creates several new liquor license types, including a fair license. Soldotna Sen. Peter Micciche, the bill’s sponsor, says it comes in response to a more stringent reading of state law by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. The board’s actions followed audits that found the board approved recreational site licenses that didn’t strictly meet the definition for such licenses. The measure also would explicitly allow skiing and snowboarding under the definition of recreational sites, which Micciche said had been traditionally permissible previously. The bill, which Micciche characterized as friendly to small businesses, next goes to the House.

Grand Canyon National Park
Officials at the Grand Canyon say they’re expanding programming at a historic watchtower where visitors can learn about Native American culture. The National Park Service’s Intermountain Region signed off on the plan last month. The Desert View Watchtower near the east entrance of Grand Canyon gives visitors expansive views of the painted desert and the Little Colorado River Gorge. It had housed a gift shop up until 2015, when the Park Service turned it into a cultural heritage site. The Grand Canyon is planning to add demonstrations, exhibits, and opportunities for visitors to interact with tribal members and artists there. The 70-foot watchtower was built in the early 1930s by famed architect Mary Colter. Stone covering the National Historic Landmark hides the building’s steel frame.

Texarkana
With the Texarkana Regional Airport possessing a historic Cold War site, the likes of which only seven still exist in the country, some recognition may be in order, according to at least two city officials during a recent Airport Authority Board meeting. Arkansas-side City Planner Mary Beck and Assistant City Planner Kayla Flovin approached the board about the possibility of placing the airport’s former Air Force radar dome on the National Register of Historic Places, the Texarkana Gazette reports. The 64-year-old, gigantic fiberglass-and-steel structure resembling a golf ball – vacated by the Air Force more than 50 years ago – stands on airport property, abandoned, as it has been since 1983, when the Federal Aviation Administration vacated it. Prior to that, the Air Force used the radar station to monitor potential Soviet military air activity from 1955 to 1968. By 1968, military satellite tracking had rendered the dome obsolete.

Los Angeles
Officials have voted unanimously to approve a $650 million renovation of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The Los Angeles Times reports the LA County Board of Supervisors approved the project Tuesday following a hearing at which Brad Pitt, Diane Keaton and other arts patrons spoke in favor of the project. The board also voted to provide $117.5 million toward the work’s completion. The renovation calls for demolishing four existing buildings on the museum’s sprawling campus west of downtown Los Angeles. The buildings would be replaced by a futuristic-looking structure designed by architect Peter Zumthor. Pitt called Zumthor “one of the great architects of our time.” Critics say the project is too costly and will reduce gallery space by 10%.

Eagle
A man has been sentenced to three years in a community corrections program for stealing a Sno-Cat fitted out to look like the “General Lee,” the famous car featured in the classic television series “The Dukes of Hazzard.” Jason Cuervo, of Grand Junction, was sentenced Tuesday after previously pleading guilty to aggravated motor vehicle theft. The 28-year-old stole the Sno-Cat and its trailer March 11, 2018, in Minturn. Authorities say Cuervo hitched it to the back of his pickup and hauled it to Grand Junction. The Sno-Cat was recovered after a woman followed it and called the sheriff’s office because she was curious why it was being towed by a small pickup.

New London
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy has named an athletic field house after the school’s first African American head coach. The New London school says the facility will now be known as the Dr. Hallie Gregory Field House. Gregory, a professor at the academy from 1971 until 1989, became head track coach in 1980. He was also head men’s basketball coach from 1984 until 1989 and served as assistant athletics director in 1989. He was inducted into the academy’s athletic hall of fame in 2001. He died in 2017. The school says Gregory embodied the words “strive to excel, foster unity, instill respect.” Gregory, a native of Rockford, Illinois, was also the first black teacher at Guilford High School in Rockford and first black coach at Moorhead State in Minnesota.

Dover
The state Senate has approved legislation imposing a new tax on drug manufacturers who sell opioid painkillers in Delaware. The bill cleared the Senate on a 17-4 vote Tuesday and now goes to the House. The legislation imposes a per-pill tax on prescription opioids ranging from a few cents to a dollar or more, based on their strength and whether they are brand-name or generic. The tax would be used to create a fund for drug treatment and substance abuse prevention programs. Officials estimate that the tax would raise about $8 million over three years. Critics say the cost will be passed on by the manufacturers to insurers, pharmacies and ultimately patients, who will end up paying more for their medicine.

Washington
The Watergate Office Building is up for sale, WTOP reports, about two years after the infamous site’s last turnaround. The outlet reports that Newmark Knight Frank is marketing the property for Rockwood Capital, which bought the building for $75 million in January 2017, after a recent $14 million renovation. The site is famous for a break-in that ultimately led to the end of Richard Nixon’s presidency.

Melbourne
One of the state’s famed black bears is now available for viewing at the Brevard Zoo. Located in the Wild Florida section of the zoo, this 2-year-old female had been brought in from Tallahassee after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission responded to a report of a woman providing dog food and water to a bear. According to the Brevard Zoo, that could have resulted in a tragic incident, as the bear did not know how to care for herself without interacting with humans. The 5,000-square-foot space for her at the zoo features pools, trees, boulders and other elements that encourage natural behavior. The as-yet-unnamed bear represents the beginning of the zoo’s commitment to providing a permanent home for rescued bears, and the habitat can accommodate an additional two to three more should the need arise.

Savannah
A historic restaurant has reopened months after a fire caused extensive damage. Savannah’s Olde Pink House reopened its first-floor dining rooms, bar and tavern on Monday. Local news outlets report the restaurant has been closed for renovations since a Christmas tree caught fire in an upstairs ballroom in late December and caused extensive damage. No one was seriously injured in the fire. One woman had cuts on her hands after kicking out a window to escape the flames. The second floor of the restaurant will remain closed for now. The restaurant is located in a Savannah house built in 1771.

Honolulu
Lawmakers eager to gather tax revenue from the state’s flourishing, yet mostly unpermitted, vacation rental sector passed legislation Tuesday that would require websites like Airbnb to collect and pay taxes on behalf of short-term rental hosts. The state House and Senate both approved separate bills Tuesday. Senators and representatives are expected to meet later this month to discuss differences. Attempts to enact similar measures have failed in Hawaii in past years, but lawmakers said they believe they have a better chance of succeeding this time. Many Hawaii vacation rentals are operated illegally, making tax collection more challenging. The transient accommodations and general excise taxes the short-term rental operators must pay are levied by the state.

Boise
Gov. Brad Little on Tuesday signed into law a bill approving Medicaid expansion for about 90,000 low-income residents that adds work and other requirements to a voter-approved measure. The law provides Medicaid to people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level – $12,500 annually for one person or about $26,000 for a family of four. The compromise bill that emerged from the Legislature after months of negotiations also requires the state to seek a federal waiver for the work requirement that would kick people off Medicaid if they don’t find employment. The bill also requires a federal waiver to let people stay on the state health insurance exchange rather than go on Medicaid, a move backers say could save the state millions of dollars. It’s not clear if the federal government will approve the waivers.

Chicago
The city’s iconic Johnson Publishing Co., the owner for decades of Ebony and Jet magazines that helped change the image of black people portrayed by U.S. media, has filed for bankruptcy liquidation in federal court. In announcing the petition filed Tuesday, the company said it was “caught in a tidal wave of marketplace changes and business issues which, despite exhaustive efforts, could not be overcome.” The company was founded in 1942 by John H. Johnson (above) in Chicago when he launched Negro Digest with a $500 loan secured by his mother’s furniture. He later went on to found Ebony magazine in 1945 and Jet magazine in 1951. Johnson Publishing at one time also owned a top-rated Chicago radio station and Fashion Fair Cosmetics. In 2016, Ebony and Jet were sold to Texas equity firm Clear View Group.

West Lafayette
NASA has chosen Purdue University as the site of a new research institute that will design deep space habitats for humans. The Resilient ExtraTerrestrial Habitats institute, or RETHi, will be located in West Lafayette and is set to receive as much as $15 million over five years from the space agency. The new institute is a partnership with the University of Connecticut, Harvard University and the University of Texas at San Antonio. NASA says RETHi will be led by Purdue engineering professor Shirley Dyke, who says it will help shape “smart space habitats.” The institute aims to design and operate resilient deep space habitats that can adapt and quickly recover from unexpected disruptions. The goal is to develop “mature space habitats” that can operate in both crewed and un-crewed configurations.

Des Moines
Concerns about the spread of Africa swine fever to the U.S. have led organizers to cancel the World Pork Expo scheduled for June at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The National Pork Producers Council’s board of directors announced its decision Wednesday. The annual event brings about 20,000 visitors to Des Moines, including people and exhibitors from regions of the world where the disease has been diagnosed and is spreading. The council says African swine fever affects only pigs and presents no human health or food safety risks. There is no vaccine to treat the swine disease. There is a swine show during the event, but no pigs from other countries were expected to participate. Council spokesman Jim Monroe says a foreign visitor could still unwittingly bring the virus along, perhaps on their shoes.

Lawrence
More than three dozen people got their kicks from a different kind of ink at the town’s public library this week. In celebration of National Library Week, the Lawrence Public Library on Tuesday hosted “Get Inked for the Library,” featuring tattoo artists Jarod and Holly Hackney. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that 40 people signed up to get a permanent tattoo on an arm or a leg. They chose from eight different tattoos designed by the Hackneys, including some that were book-related. Each paid $100, which was donated to the Lawrence Public Library Foundation.

Louisville
The main airport here has a new name – Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, formerly Standiford Field – but its appearance is heavy on gray concrete and other institutional touches that hardly shine the best light on the city’s front door. That’s set to change dramatically if a huge makeover of more than $100 million gets the green light. At a recent meeting, the Louisville Regional Airport Authority reviewed draft concept renderings by Alliiance, a Minneapolis-based firm that previously led an $8 million terminal upgrade. The images depict a more modern, upscale look, with more natural light and brighter finishes. Projections are that passenger traffic will break a record this year after a 12% increase in 2018.

New Orleans
Illness is forcing Fleetwood Mac to cancel a number of appearances, including at the Jazz Fest, where the band had been scheduled as a last-minute replacement for the Rolling Stones. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival tweeted Monday that Fleetwood Mac is postponing four upcoming North American tour dates and can’t make its May 2 Jazz Fest performance because Stevie Nicks is ill. Festival organizers had announced last week that Fleetwood Mac would replace the Stones, which is postponing its No Filter Tour because Mick Jagger needed medical treatment. That tour was scheduled for April 20. Jazz Fest organizers announced later Monday that Widespread Panic would replace Fleetwood Mac.

Augusta
The state could end nonmedical exemptions for routine childhood vaccines required by schools and certain health care facilities by September 2021. The Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee voted 8-5 on a Democrat’s bill Wednesday. Multiple studies have debunked claims that measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations increase the risk for autism. Maine has one of the nation’s highest rates of pertussis, also known as whooping cough. But opponents say Maine parents should remain able to opt out on religious or philosophical grounds. Republican Rep. Heidi Sampson says the state is stigmatizing thousands of kids who could face removal from school. Federal data shows Maine had among the highest rates of non-medical vaccine exemptions in 2017-2018.

Baltimore
Close advisers to the embattled mayor say she’s staying out of public view because of a serious case of pneumonia, not the mounting scandal involving her sale of her children’s books. The Baltimore Sun reports that Catherine Pugh continues to convalesce at home and is under doctors’ supervision. She abruptly took leave April 1. Pugh was admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital in late March, before she took leave and just as the scandal began to grow over her sales of her “Healthy Holly” children’s books to the University of Maryland Medical System, where she sat on the board. Details also emerged that she had collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for her books from entities doing business with the city of Baltimore. Gov. Larry Hogan has asked a state prosecutor to begin a criminal investigation.

Quincy
The number of sea turtles washing up on New England beaches has spiked significantly, many stunned and unable to escape the region’s cooling winter waters. The Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary says the number of beached Kemp’s ridley, loggerhead and green sea turtles on Cape Cod has nearly doubled since 2016 to 818 and is 10 times higher than a decade ago. Unlike those off Texas and Florida, where a cold snap is to blame, the turtles in Cape Cod are attracted to the warming waters and get trapped because they are unable to move south when the waters cool in the fall. Many rescued turtles suffer from compromised immune systems and pneumonia due to “cold stunning,” a hypothermic reaction that occurs when turtles are exposed to cold water for prolonged periods.

Detroit
Instead of packing lunches, many high school students now pack their cellphones, ordering food delivered to their school with apps like Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats. The deliveries have become so frequent and disruptive that many schools have banned them. All say the practice has exploded with cellphone use and the proliferation of delivery services. And high-schoolers aren’t the only ones getting food delivered to schools, says Jeff Hueter (above), assistant manager of the Jet’s Pizza near West Bloomfield High. Some students in elementary school get pizza delivered for lunch, he says. “The parents will call and say, ‘My kid’s lunch is at noon; can you deliver a pizza to the office and maybe throw in a bottle of water?’ ” Hueter says.

St. Paul
Gov. Tim Walz and Commerce Commissioner Steve Kelley said Monday that economics suggest nuclear power won’t be part of the state’s energy mix if the state adopts the governor’s goal of getting 100 percent of its energy from carbon-free sources by 2050. Walz (above center) and Kelley (above right) made the remarks at a news conference they held to celebrate the growth in clean energy jobs in Minnesota. “We are outpacing other states,” the governor said. “Now is the time for Minnesota to seize the momentum.” The governor set the ambitious carbon-free goal last month, and the standard is part of a broad energy and climate policy bill that passed a committee Friday in the Democratic-controlled Minnesota House. But the idea is stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Jackson
A Republican candidate for state attorney general wants to change Mississippi’s flag. Too many young people are leaving the state, Andy Taggart says, and that’s because Mississippi is stuck looking to its past. It may be a symbolic change, he says, but designing a new state flag – one that does not include the Confederate battle flag – will show people Mississippi is looking ahead, toward the future. He says the flag acts like a “snapshot” of Mississippi, and the current snapshot is about the Civil War, which was driven by slavery. “That is not an accurate snapshot of our state,” Taggart says, “but that is exactly what some people conclude when they see the snapshot.” The attorney general has no power to change the state flag. Taggart says he believes it’s up to the Legislature to make the change.

St. Louis
State conservation officials have worked for four decades to increase the number of prairie chickens, but the population continues to drop. The state now has fewer than 100, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. The prairie chicken was added to Missouri’s endangered species list in 1999. The conservation department is about to start a new count, St. Louis Public Radio reports. Hundreds of thousands of prairie chickens roamed Missouri in the 1800s. But over the decades, the grasslands on which prairie chickens depend have shrunk to less than 1% of the area they once covered in Missouri. Prairie chickens are members of the grouse family. The distinctive orange pouches on their throats play a role in their mating rituals.

Missoula
A newly formed watchdog group says the state’s aquatic invasive species prevention program has serious flaws. The Missoulian reports Watershed Protection Advocates released a report that gave Montana a C- grade for its watercraft inspection station management, saying Montana waters are often completely or partially unprotected from invasive mussels. In recent years, Montana has spent millions of dollars to inspect boats for invasive zebra and quagga mussels, which could devastate the Columbia River Basin. Last year, the state had 47 boat inspection and decontamination stations. But Watershed Protection Advocates says improvements are urgently needed, such as additional training and specifying minimum hours and seasons of operation for inspection stations at the state’s borders.

Lincoln
Nebraskans whose homes were destroyed by last month’s historic flood could get a property tax break under a bill advanced by lawmakers, who gave first-round approval Tuesday to a bill that would require county officials to adjust the assessed value of homes that were destroyed by fires or natural disasters, such as floods and tornadoes. The proposal’s sponsor, Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, says it’s designed to help flood victims who are likely suffering financial hardships. Some lawmakers questioned what would happen to local government budgets in the event of a widespread natural disaster. Sen. Ernie Chambers, of Omaha, criticized the measure as vague and blasted lawmakers for their unwillingness to pass other bills intended to help people, including a minimum wage increase for tipped workers.

Reno
The state is resuming a fertility control project for a herd of free-roaming horses south and east of Reno in a new agreement with the same mustang protection group that filed suit last year when the state pulled out of a similar deal. Nevada Department of Agriculture Director Jennifer Ott announced the new agreement Tuesday with the American Wild Horse Campaign. Ott says she looks forward to working with the group in their shared goal of a sustainable, long-term solution for managing the more than 2,000 state-owned, estray horses in the Virginia Range. The California-based group and Cynthia Ashe of Silver Springs filed suit last April to block what they said would be “a giveaway of a valuable and cherished Nevada asset” after the state canceled their existing agreement and tried unsuccessfully to sell the animals.

Hanover
Dartmouth College has hit a milestone with its latest fundraising campaign. President Philip Hanlon announced this week that supporters have committed more than $2 billion to the campaign called The Call to Lead, which was launched last year and is set to end in 2022. More than half the donations have been for $1,000 or less. More than 83,000 individuals have contributed so far, significantly more than the 65,000 who donated during the college’s last major fundraising campaign. The current effort seeks $3 billion. Major building projects funded so far include the expansion of the Hood Museum of Art, construction of a new Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, and a new engineering and computer science building being built at the west end of campus.

Clifton
A dentist who created a racy Easter display is vowing to put it back up after a female neighbor used gardening shears to damage it. The display at a dental office in Clifton featured five mannequins dressed in lingerie, fishnet stockings and colorful wigs, all holding Easter baskets and surrounded by Easter eggs. It had drawn mixed reviews from neighbors, as well as passersby who stopped to take photos. A television news crew was filming the decorations about 1 p.m. Tuesday when the woman – who lives across the street from the dental office and identified herself as Desire Mozek – took it down. “I think I did something right,” she said. “That’s disgusting already.” The owner of the display, Wayne Gangi, called it a “spoof.” He said he liked Playboy bunnies when he was a child and thought the display would be funny.

Albuquerque
The state is hosting the fifth season of AMC’s “Better Call Saul.” The New Mexico State Film Office announced Monday that the AMC-TV series will begin principal photography on another season this month in Albuquerque. Officials say the production will employ approximately 375 New Mexico crew members and 200 actors from the state. Starring Bob Odenkirk, the series follows Jimmy McGill, who eventually becomes meth lord Walter White’s lawyer Saul Goodman on “Breaking Bad.”

New York
A civil rights attorney says opponents are planning a lawsuit this week over New York City’s order requiring everyone in a heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood to be vaccinated for measles. Lawyer Michael Sussman said Wednesday that the city overreached its authority by threatening to fine residents of four Brooklyn ZIP codes if they refuse to have their children vaccinated. Sussman also represented a group of parents in suburban Rockland County who challenged the county executive’s order barring unvaccinated children from indoor public spaces. A state judge sided with the parents and issued a preliminary injunction against the emergency order. Mayor Bill de Blasio says he’s confident that New York City’s vaccination order would survive any legal challenge.

Raleigh
Some lawmakers want to “spring forward” for good by making daylight saving time permanent in the state. A state House committee voted Wednesday for legislation that would avoid the twice-annual time shift and have later sunsets for good – but only if Congress passes a federal law allowing states to observe daylight saving year-round. Other states are considering similar conditional legislation. North Carolina bill sponsor Rep. Jason Saine of Lincolnton cited studies in suggesting a permanent shift could result in fewer health-related and transportation deaths and decrease energy consumption in the winter. But it also would mean children wait in the dark more for morning school buses. The measure now goes to another House panel.

Bismarck
Gov. Doug Burgum has signed legislation that exempts military retirement pay from state income tax. The first-term Republican governor signed the legislation Monday. The deduction is available to individuals or their survivors who receive military retirement pay. The exemption is effective for the 2019 tax year. Burgum says the legislation honors veterans and promotes “workforce participation by military personnel in North Dakota after retirement.” Military members generally may retire after 20 years, leaving many of them in their late 30s or early 40s in search of a new career. The state Tax Department says there are about 5,100 active duty military, armed forces reserves and National Guard members who would qualify for the pay exemption, at a cost of about $2.8 million every two years.

Cincinnati
Great Parks of Hamilton County is hosting its annual auction this month, and the items up for sale range from useful to downright weird. Up for grabs are some “worn and dusty” animatronic barn animals, Halloween decorations, trucks, power tools and picnic tables. The barn animals appear to be a set, featuring a pair of mice, two large raccoons, a duck, a car, and a pig with a bandana and a jug. The animals were originally inside the playbarn at Parky’s Farm in Winton Woods, a spokeswoman with Great Parks says. The auction will take place April 27 at the Winton Woods Maintenance Complex. Other offbeat items for sale include a waving skeleton light sculpture, an inflatable obstacle course and a deposit door with bulletproof glass. More information is available on the Great Parks of Hamilton County website.

Norman
Charges were filed this week against a woman suspected of spray-painting racist, anti-gay and anti-Semitic graffiti on Democratic Party offices in Norman and Oklahoma City. Allison Christine Johnson, 45, of Norman, was charged in Cleveland County with one felony and three misdemeanor counts of malicious injury to property and one misdemeanor count of malicious intimidation or harassment, according to court records. Records indicated she was being held on $25,000 bond. Johnson was arrested April 4 after she turned herself in to the Norman Police Department. Johnson, who is white, told police her intention was to scare Jewish people and people of different races other than white, according to documents filed in the case. She also spoke at length about her racist beliefs and her efforts to “wake people up,” the report says.

Portland
Deputies responded to a possible home invasion, but the intruder they found wasn’t human or even alive – it was a robotic vacuum cleaner. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports a house sitter in Cedar Hills called 911 on Monday, saying someone was inside the bathroom. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says deputies entered the home and ordered the burglar out, but nothing happened. Deputies then opened the bathroom door with guns drawn and discovered the automatic vacuum cleaner. Sgt. Danny DiPietro says this encounter was his first “Roomba burglar” in 13 years on the job. He says the office is still “having a good laugh about it.”

Harrisburg
Drivers like that they don’t have to stick a registration sticker on their license plates anymore, and the elimination of them has saved money and improved customer service, according to the state Department of Transportation. The response comes after state Rep. Barry J. Jozwiak, a Republican from Berks County, said he wants to see them return. He plans to introduce legislation to create a two-in-one sticker for vehicles that would combine the inspection and registration. Pennsylvania stopped issuing stickers with vehicle registration renewals at the end of 2016, and it has saved PennDOT about $6 million since that time, said Melanie Baldwin, a spokeswoman for the agency. The decision to do away with the stickers was not taken lightly, she said in an email.

Providence
The state House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed two bills mandating overtime for firefighters, despite protests from municipal leaders. The bills passed Tuesday night, advancing to the Senate. One measure would strike from state law an exemption that shields municipalities from having to pay firefighters overtime after 42 hours. The other bill would mandate overtime pay after 42 hours in Tiverton, Central Coventry and North Kingstown. These communities haven’t already adopted a lower overtime threshold than the federal standard of 53 hours. The Providence Journal reports that retired firefighter Michael Morin, a Woonsocket Democrat, led the floor fight for the overtime, arguing municipalities don’t negotiate with firefighters fairly.

Charleston
An acclaimed restaurant that built its reputation by elevating simple Southern food is closing at the end of the month, with the owner saying he’s ready for something new. Hominy Grill owner Robert Stehling, who won a James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef Southeast in 2008, announced the news Monday, the Post and Courier of Charleston reports. Stehling was the first of three Charleston chefs to win the prestigious prize in the span of three years, cementing the city’s reputation as a culinary destination. He says he doesn’t have any big plans for the restaurant’s last month, in part because he doesn’t know if his longtime employees will stay until the end, but he expects a crush of farewell visits, including from devotees of the restaurant’s signature chicken biscuit.

Renner
If you love dairy products, or at least two specific types of dairy products, you’re in luck. The inaugural Great Plains Cheese & Ice Cream Festival will be held this summer at Strawbale Winery just west of Renner. The event will include local cheese and ice cream from a variety of vendors, live music and beverages for all ages. A variety of kid-friendly activities are planned, including vendors, face painting, games, a bouncy house, the Great Plains Zoo’s Zoomobile and farm animals for a petting zoo. Proceeds will benefit the Family Visitation Center. South Dakota’s dairy industry continues its strong growth, and the event will both celebrate the industry and provide a fun and unique fundraiser for the Family Visitation Center, says Don South, who with his wife Susie owns Strawbale Winery.

Nashville
Music superstar Taylor Swift says the efforts of an LGBTQ advocacy group to fight a handful of contentious bills moving inside the state’s Republican-controlled General Assembly inspired her to make a sizeable donation. According to the Tennessee Equality Project, Swift donated $113,000 to the organization Monday. The group posted a handwritten letter from Swift, who cited a recent petition of Tennessee faith leaders who oppose a series of bills they say target LGBTQ individuals. Swift praised the religious leaders for giving all people a place to worship and for “standing up against the ‘Slate of Hate’ in our state legislature.” The bills include allowing adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples and preventing government agencies from considering a business’s nondiscrimination policies when selecting a contract.

Waxahatchie
A field here has become home this spring to over a million tulips, tended by budding gardeners who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Dallas Morning News reports each day, Michael Poston and Riley Niesen, both 23, work at Poston Gardens, a farm next to Daymark Living, an upscale, resort-style community for adults with Down syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy. Niesen, who has autism, patrols the parking lot with a walkie-talkie, greeting visitors and helping with tours. In the process, he’s “fallen in love with the gardens,” says his mother, Davila Niesen. Michael’s father, John Poston (above together), founded Daymark Living and started the tulip farm after he grew frustrated with companies that wouldn’t hire people like his son, who has Down syndrome.

Salt Lake City
Officials plan to construct a 28-story glass skyscraper to hold a new convention center hotel downtown. The Salt Lake Tribune reports preliminary plans show the $337 million hotel will have about 725 guest rooms and will be built into the southeast corner of the Salt Lake Palace Convention Center. The design of the 616,000-square-foot tower aims to complement the center with rounded edges and a glass and textured aluminum exterior. The building will feature a ballroom, meeting rooms, a rooftop garden area, and a restaurant and corner market. The main entrance will be sandwiched between massive digital billboards. The hotel is scheduled to open in spring 2022.

Poultney
Green Mountain College officials, staff and students, as well as community members and state officials, are discussing what will happen to the campus after the college closes. College President Robert Allen told attendees at a meeting last week that he’s received two proposals from groups seeking to occupy the campus. He says one is a group of alumni, students and college community members who want to keep the school open. The Rutland Herald reports that Allen said the other organization is a sustainability-focused group with multiple revenue sources. Community members also brainstormed ideas ranging from creating a new correctional facility to developing a multi-use business park. The college announced in January that it would be closing for good in May, citing declining enrollment.

Fredericksburg
A study by Virginia Tech has found that state parks contributed about $267 million to the economy in 2018. The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg reported Sunday that Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business had focused on the economic impact of visitors to the state’s 38 parks. The study found the economic activity supported nearly 4,000 jobs in Virginia. It was also responsible for about $133.2 million in wages and salary income in 2018. The report looked at money spent on things such as hotels, campgrounds and restaurants. Tim Kennell, president of the Virginia Association For Parks, said he hopes the report will shore up support for more funding for the parks.

Spokane
Cold and snowy weather in February has pushed back the state’s wheat crop by about one month. Normally, farmers would be weeks into planting the spring wheat or spraying the winter wheat that was planted last year. The Spokesman-Review reports that while the cold has stunted winter wheat growth, the snow did add some needed moisture to the ground. Meanwhile, wheat farmers continue to face many of the same market uncertainties as last year. U.S. officials have a verbal agreement to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada, but nothing has been ratified. Also, the United States has no new agreements to replace those vacated when President Donald Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which includes several important wheat customers.

Charleston
An Easter Carnival is set for the West Virginia Capitol Complex grounds this weekend. The office of first lady Cathy Justice says the carnival will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday on the Capitol’s north plaza in Charleston. Games, prizes, crafts and food will be offered, along with an appearance by the Easter Bunny. Door prizes for children ages 12 and under will be handed out. The event is free and open to the public. Justice says in a statement that she hopes “as many West Virginians as possible come out to the Easter Carnival and make great memories with their families.”

Madison
A new poll shows residents support key portions of Gov. Tony Evers’ agenda, including raising the minimum wage, spending more on special education and legalizing medical marijuana. But the Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday also shows there is not majority support for Evers’ proposals to increase the gas tax to pay for roads and freeze enrollment in voucher schools. The mixed results are consistent with the last poll taken just as the Democrat began his term as governor in January. His approval rating is at 47%, with 37% disapproving of the job he’s doing four months into his term. The Republican-controlled Legislature was doing better. Its approval rating was 50% with 38% opposed. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Cody
A group of conservation organizations is calling on wildlife officials in the state to require hunters to carry bear spray. The Cody Enterprise reports the proposal comes after an uptick in encounters during the fall hunting season as grizzly bears are drawn to gut piles left by hunters. Nicholas Arrivo, an attorney for the Humane Society of the United States, says that “the evidence that bear spray works is overwhelming.” Meanwhile, attorney Andrea Santarsiere with the Center for Biological Diversity says that “a mandate requiring hunters to carry bear spray would save the lives of people and bears.” The groups say hunters represent the leading human cause of grizzly bear mortality in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and most human injuries caused by grizzlies happen during encounters with hunters.