Sandy landfill, 6-foot baby, climbing quest: News from around our 50 states

Montgomery

In 1961, Alabama marked the 100th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War with white women dressed in hoop skirts parading through a coliseum and a re-enactment of the inauguration of the Confederate president at the Capitol. The state’s 2019 bicentennial celebration is very different, with a frank discussion of the horrors of slavery sharing space on a schedule with a Civil War re-enactment promoted by a Confederate heritage group and scores of other events, many focused on civil rights. The departure from years past is intentional, organizers say. Although Alabama license plates still carry the words “Heart of Dixie” and the state even today has three holidays linked to the Confederacy, organizers say they wanted to present a balanced view of history for the bicentennial.

Anchorage

Spring may have arrived in Alaska – less than 1 inch of snow was measured at the Anchorage airport for the first time in 102 days. National Weather Service forecasters don’t expect more accumulation in the city, making this year’s snowmelt the fourth earliest on record. Meteorologist Rebecca Anderson says the earliest was March 22, 2016. The mark of less than 1 inch of snow isn’t usually reached until mid-April. Anderson says the city broke or reached record highs on seven days during the last two weeks of March.

Phoenix

It’s a girl! A nearly 6-foot tall, long-necked beauty has been born to a pair of Masai giraffes at the Phoenix zoo. Zoo officials say the 150-pound calf doesn’t have a name yet. Since she was born on March 22, she’s been bonding with her mom in the zoo’s giraffe barn, out of public sight. The calf is the second born to Sunshine, 5, and the third sired by giraffe baby daddy Miguu, 10. She will join her sisters Siku, born in September 2017, and Rafiki, born in June 2018, in the zoo’s public Savanna exhibit when she’s ready.

Little Rock

Democratic state lawmakers have filed a bill that would require Arkansas to immediately reinstate thousands of people kicked off the Medicaid expansion program because of a work requirement that’s been halted by a federal judge. More than 18,000 state residents lost coverage last year because of the requirement, but were eligible to reapply for coverage in January. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said 2,000 of them have re-enrolled. Hutchinson says the rest are most likely making more money or don’t qualify, and that the bill would do more harm than good.

Los Angeles

Area prosecutors are joining other district attorneys to use technology to wipe out or reduce as many as 50,000 old marijuana convictions years after California voters broadly legalized the drug. The county is working with the Code for America nonprofit tech organization, which uses computer algorithms to find eligible cases that are otherwise hard to identify in decades-old court documents. It comes after San Francisco found success clearing convictions, which other cities and states nationwide say they will try to do. “This collaboration will improve people’s lives by erasing the mistakes of their past and hopefully lead them on a path to a better future,” says LA County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, above.

Colorado Springs

An aging elephant at a Colorado zoo is recovering after being hoisted back to her feet with help from firefighters. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo says a 33-year-old African elephant named Malaika was found lying on her side early Monday and unable to stand up, putting her in danger because of stress to her organs. The zoo says a team of about 20 workers and firefighters used a crane-and-hoist system to lift her up. A video posted on Facebook shows rescuers cheering and applauding as she stood up. The zoo has other older elephants and holds drills to practice lifting up the animals.

New Haven

Thirteen faculty members at Yale University say they are withdrawing from its Ethnicity, Race and Migration program to protest what they call a lack of support from the administration. The professors say their departure leaves the program founded in 1997 without any tenured faculty or professional leadership, and that they were effectively asked to volunteer their labor for the program in addition to their obligations to other departments. Yale President Peter Salovey says the university will make sure affected students receive the support they need.

Wilmington

The Cape May-Lewes Ferry was stranded after leaving New Jersey because of engine failure, the Delaware River and Bay Authority says. It was only 3 miles into the 1 p.m. ride to Lewes when one of the two engines broke down at the mouth of the canal into Delaware Bay. The 143 passengers had to wait two hours for a tugboat to help pull the ferry back to the Cape May, New Jersey, dock, authority spokesman James Salmon says. They were given a voucher for a free trip. Marine mechanics are investigating the engine failure’s cause.

Washington

The district’s attorney general says a teacher exchange program in the district lied to foreign recruits and threatened them with deportation if they didn’t sign annual contracts. The Washington Post reports the office of Karl A. Racine, right, on Monday sued Earl Francisco Lopez, the owner of D.C.-based Bilingual Teacher Exchange and other companies. The lawsuit says the program recruited teachers who wanted to work in a multiyear state department exchange program. It alleges the program pretended to be affiliated with the district public schools and said it could sponsor recruits, who it then charged thousands of dollars and offered predatory loans. It says the program didn’t provide promised services like school placement and didn’t pay teachers for some work. Lopez didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

Key West

A man accused of abusing a pelican has returned to the Florida Keys to face charges. William Hunter Hardesty, 31, of Riva, Maryland, was arrested March 15 in Ocean City, Maryland, after a video posted on his Facebook a week earlier went viral, showing him leaping onto the federally protected pelican as it floated next to the Key West Historic Seaport. He can be seen resurfacing holding the bird, which snaps at his face. He then loosens his grip and the bird flies away. Hardesty is accused of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He was jailed on $80,000 bond.

Atlanta

A bill raising Georgia’s minimum marriage age to 17 is headed to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk. The legislation was given final approval by the state House on 155-14 vote Tuesday. Under current Georgia law, 16-year-olds can get married with parental permission. Under the bill, a 17-year olds that want to marry would have to be legally emancipated from their parents by a judge and undergo pre-marriage counseling. A 17-year old would also not be allowed to marry someone more than four years older.

Kailua-Kona

Hawaii’s Kona crab fishery is healthy enough to expand the catch brought to market, according to an assessment by a federal marine science agency. Hawaii waters remain well populated with Kona crab and the crustacean is not overfished, according to the assessment published by the agency’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu.

Boise

Legislation requiring motorists to slow down and move over when approaching tow trucks and maintenance vehicles parked along roadways with lights flashing has been signed into law by Gov. Brad Little. The law that also requires motorists to slow down and move over when approaching a parked passenger vehicle with emergency hazard lights activated. The law already applied to police vehicles and other emergency responders’ vehicles.

Carbondale

Geologists at Southern Illinois University are asking Illinois elementary and high school students to name its three baby dinosaurs. The university has three protoceratops hatchling casts in a glass case along with an adult that SIU students named Nanu in 2017. The four dinosaurs are high-end reproductions of real 70 million-year-old fossils found in Mongolia. Professor Ken Anderson says the dinosaurs are painstakingly accurate down to “grains of sand that are stuck on them.” Anderson says SIU will contact schools around Illinois to invite classrooms to submit names for the three hatchlings, and teachers will be encouraged to plan curriculum around the activity. The deadline is Sept. 13. SIU geology faculty will pick finalists and SIU students will choose the three winning names.

Evansville

A lawyer for a contractor blamed for mistakenly cutting down an oak tree planted for the nation’s bicentennial says the company was following approved plans. Evansville officials earlier said American Eagle Tree Service mistakenly felled the 42-year-old tree on Dec. 26, leaving behind a plaque stating that it was planted in 1976 in honor of the nation’s 200th birthday. The tree stood in Evansville’s downtown across from the Old National Events Plaza. Kevin Moyer, a lawyer for the contractor, says the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Building Authority was using his client as a “scapegoat.” The Authority Director Dave Rector said in January that the tree service “acted without our knowledge or direction.”

Marquette

A 66-year-old eastern Iowa man says only Alaska’s Denali thwarted his goal, set in 2016, of scaling the highest peaks in all 50 U.S. states. “What’s really cool is when you get to a point and you can look out, and everything you see is below you,” Don Smalley says. The Marquette resident achieved his 49th summit in February by driving to the top of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea. Last summer, he failed in his attempt to summit Denali, the highest peak in North America at 20,310 feet. Smalley says a series of storms left him and other hikers trapped at camp for nine days, and that he won’t try to scale Denali again due to the expense, his age and doubts over whether a follow-up effort would result in the same issues.

Hays

A Kansas woman donated 204 pairs of shoes to Nebraska flood victims after buying all the remaining shoes at a Payless store that was closing. The shoes were part of a flood relief shipment taken to farmers by Fort Hays State’s agriculture sorority, Sigma Alpha. Addy Tritt, a Fort Hays State graduate, said she wanted to help others because so many people have helped her in the past. When the price at a Hays store dropped to $1 per pair, Tritt negotiated to buy the remaining shoes for $100. They included 162 pairs of baby shoes and two pairs of men’s shoes. The rest were women’s shoes.

Louisville

The city has uprooted a homeless camp weeks before the Kentucky Derby, leading some residents to just move to another camp. The tent city underneath an Interstate 65 overpass was deemed unsafe by city officials several weeks ago and cleared Monday. Some residents remained that day, hurriedly packing as they explained they didn’t know where to go. Volunteers helped some move to a well-known but less visible camp that has seen its population spike as the cleanup approached. City Resilience and Community Services Director Eric Friedlander says the cleanup is because of warming weather and new homeless services, not the derby.

New Orleans

Mayor LaToya Cantrell plans an April 12 apology to Italian Americans for what’s considered the nation’s most deadly lynching. Eleven Italian immigrants were killed in 1891 after acquittals in a police chief’s murder. “This has been a longstanding wound,” said Michael Santo of the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy. The lynching and responses to it prompted both nations to close their embassies, he said. Correspondence among Italian, U.S., and state officials shows that the lynching “occurred with the connivance of the New Orleans local authorities,” Patricia Fama Stahle wrote in a 2016 book.

Castine

An environmental advocacy group in rural Maine is looking for volunteers to collect data about smelts, which are tiny fish that have been subject to new protections in the state in recent years. Maine has tightened fishing restrictions on smelts in an attempt to boost their numbers. The Downeast Salmon Federation wants citizen scientists to help monitor sea-run smelt populations and identify smelt habitat. The organization says the project will extend from the Bagaduce watershed, in the area of Penobscot and Castine, to the Canadian border. Smelt runs typically happen from early April to May. The group will hold a smelt monitor training session April 13 at a fish hatchery in Columbia Falls.

Baltimore

Prosecutors offered a plea deal to the man whose murder conviction has been chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial” and an HBO documentary series. The Baltimore Sun reports that the finale of HBO’s “The Case Against Adnan Syed” reveals that a deal offered four months ago would have brought Syed’s release in 2022. Syed, who has maintained his innocence, is serving a life sentence for strangling his ex-girlfriend and burying her body in a Baltimore park in 1999. He turned down the deal, since he’d have to admit to Hae Min Lee’s murder.

Boston

A group representing supermarkets and other food stores is offering qualified support for a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags. Stores could charge customers for purchasing recyclable or reusable bags. The Massachusetts Food Association supports the ban but is asking for a longer phase-in period than the Aug. 1 implementation date in the legislation. The group says it would prefer a single, uniform statewide regulation to the patchwork of plastic bag ordinances in nearly 100 cities and towns.

Elkton

Crowds gawked and took photos Monday as a wind turbine fire sent black smoke billowing into the air and flaming debris crashing to the ground. Jared Schuette, who owns property where the turbine is located near the village of Elkton, about 100 miles north of Detroit, tells WNEM-TV it’s “a small town and everyone was coming from everywhere to record it and take pictures.” Crews couldn’t reach the fire at the turbine’s top, so it was left to burn itself out. Exelon Generation says the turbine is part of its Harvest Wind II project and that operators de-energized other Harvest Wind II turbines as a precaution.

St. Paul

Gov. Tim Walz has helped kick off a yearlong drive to try to ensure that all residents are counted in the high-stakes 2020 census, with the state again on the bubble for losing one of its eight seats in the U.S. House. “The ability to have a fair democracy is incumbent on every single person being counted,” the Democratic governor told a rally in the Capitol Rotunda to launch the “We Count” campaign, organized by a partnership of nonprofit groups. But there’s more at risk than a congressional seat. The federal government uses census data to parcel out aid to the states. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said each missed person could cost the state $28,000 in federal funding over 10 years. However, a bill that would provide $2.5 million for state census initiatives has yet to get a hearing in the GOP-controlled state Senate.

Tupelo

Contour Airlines has begun service with a 30-seat Embraer ERJ-135 jet between Tupelo Regional Airport and Nashville, Tennessee. The Embraer ERJ-135, a twin-engine jet with 30 seats, replaces a twin-engine turboprop with 19 seats. The regional airline will provide 18 weekly flights to and from Tupelo. That’s down from 30 flights now, but capacity will increase because the jet has more seats. Among passengers on the first jet flight Monday was U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly. The Tupelo Republican says he’s a frequent Contour flyer.

St. Joseph

Missouri Western State University has held a listening session in an effort to calm tensions after a video began circulating online of a black student shouting at someone wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. About 50 people attended the session to discuss what happened Friday. A video of the incident posted by the student newspaper shows the woman saying that the hat is “a symbol of white supremacy.” When a police officer tries to quiet the student, she asks, “Do you know what that hat symbolizes?” The school also talked to the woman and the student who wore the hat while helping decorate for a prom his high school was holding at Missouri Western. He wasn’t seen on the video.

Helena

Owners, staff and residents of Montana retirement communities are asking the Legislature to allow their facilities to be licensed to serve alcohol to residents. Supporters told the House Business and Labor Committee that serving alcohol with meals and at other times increases socialization and a sense of community among residents. The Montana Tavern Association opposes the bill, arguing that residents can already have alcohol in their rooms and bring it to dining areas.

Omaha

What looks like a coffee shop at the University of Nebraska at Omaha is actually a laboratory of sorts for business students. Stedman’s Cafe has operated on the university’s south campus for more than three years, providing part-time jobs for students and supervisory challenges and experience for some of them. A faculty member in the College of Business Administration, Ben Smith, uses the cafe as a laboratory. Students use data he’s gathered to make recommendations on prices and staffing. Stedman’s is part of professor Dale Eesley’s Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Franchising. A private company had run a coffee shop where Stedman’s now sits, but business apparently wasn’t good enough to stay. One of Eesley’s students subsequently wrote a business plan, presented it to the dean of business administration, Louis Pol, and sold him on the concept.

Reno

Forget baseball. When it comes to audience participation, complaining about work is arguably the bigger national pastime. But there’s apparently less of that going on in The Biggest Little City. A nationwide survey by Apartment List, which measures renter satisfaction annually, just pegged Reno as No. 10 in the nation for job satisfaction. Of Reno renters surveyed, 65.63% indicated that they were satisfied with job opportunities in their market. Las Vegas ranked 49th, with a career satisfaction rate of 53.45%. About 16,000 renters took part in the survey nationwide. Tech job-heavy Madison, Wisconsin, topped the list with a job satisfaction rate of 77.08%.

Marlborough

Police say they cited a driver who had a kid in her lap – the baby goat kind. Marlborough police say they pulled the woman over on April Fool’s Day when they saw her using her cellphone. Then they realized she was driving without a valid license, and with a goat. The driver, a 60-year-old woman from Sullivan, was released on a citation for operating without a valid license. She also was counseled about distracted driving.

Sandy Hook

Volunteers cleaning up New Jersey beaches last year found everything but the kitchen sink. Oh wait, they found one of those, too. Unsurprisingly, nearly 82% of 454,365 pieces of trash removed during Clean Ocean Action’s beach sweeps last spring and fall was plastic, including beverage bottles, shopping bags, straws and stirrers, and foam pieces. The number of cigarette butts picked up – 22,000 – was down by nearly a quarter from a year earlier. Balloons reached an all-time high: 5,470 were found. They are particularly hazardous to marine life, including sea turtles that mistake them for jellyfish and eat them. Stout-hearted volunteers also picked up 565 condoms, an increase of more than 56% from 2017, and 267 baby diapers, up 78%.

Santa Fe

U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján – the No. 4-ranked Democrat in Congress – is running for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2020. Democrats hope to keep their hold on the seat held by Sen. Tom Udall, who won’t seek a third term. Lujan announced his Senate bid on Twitter, touting his record on voting rights and consumer protection while criticizing the Senate’s Republican majority leader. “To move forward, we’ve got to fix the Senate where Mitch McConnell stands in the way of progress,” Luján said. He is the first politician to declare his candidacy for the Senate seat.

Rochester

A former city judge standing trial in Syracuse on a felony gun charge is running for Rochester City Council. Leticia Astacio filed paperwork Monday afternoon to run. Earlier in the day, a jury was seated for her trial on a charge of attempted criminal purchase of a firearm. Prosecutors allege Astacio tried to buy a shotgun in violation of her probation stemming from a 2016 drunken driving conviction. Astacio was stripped of her judgeship last year after a series of incidents including the DWI conviction and being jailed for skipping a court appearance.

Asheville

Whether or not it’s potable, the city’s sediment-filled water is simply not a good foundation for a glass of beer. Water customers began reporting brown water March 27, caused by a break in a waterline. Separately, contract work in the River Arts District caused a waterline blowout, resulting in low pressure – or no pressure – to areas of the city Monday. This comes during prime beer production season, with Asheville Beer Week and the Beer City Festival on the horizon. “We cannot make beer without good water, and we will not compromise on quality,” said Leah Ashburn, president of Highland Brewing Co. “In the larger scope, this outage affects the city of Asheville as a brand.”

Bismarck

The Republican-led state Senate has killed a House resolution that seeks to rescind the state’s 1975 support of the Equal Rights Amendment. The resolution sponsored by seven male GOP House members says Congress’ deadline for ratification of the gender-equality amendment came and went 40 years ago and is no longer valid. North Dakota is believed to be the first state to seek to withdraw its ratification since the 1970s.

Cleveland

A federal judge has dismissed Infowars radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and two of his associates from a lawsuit filed by a man who claims his rights were violated when police arrested him for trying to burn an American flag during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. The lawsuit was filed in 2018 by Gregory Lee Johnson, whose arrest for flag burning at the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling invalidating state flag-burning laws. Johnson’s suit claims Cleveland police officers lied when they said Johnson set himself on fire and that Jones’ associates lied about being injured during the flag-burning attempt. Judge Solomon Oliver ruled that statements Jones’ associates gave to police are protected and can’t be used in the lawsuit.

Edmond

Turnout appeared to be light Tuesday as voters in this Oklahoma City suburb choose a mayor from two men who held the job before, except that one of them is now dead. Edmond city rules require that the name of Mayor Charles Lamb, who died Dec. 11 while in office, must appear on the ballot against Dan O’Neil. The deadline to remove his name from the ballot or to add anyone else had passed, Casey Moore says. Michelle Schaefer of Edmond organized a Facebook campaign backing Lamb, above, because she wants City Councilman Nick Massey to be appointed and carry on the late mayor’s policies.

Salem

City shoppers are giving mixed reviews to a ban on plastic shopping bags that took effect Monday, with some praising it and others saying the plastic bags were useful around the house. John Meissner, carrying drinks purchased from a Salem Fred Meyer without a bag, calls the ban “a bit of an imposition. I use plastic bags for so many other things at home after I bring them from the store,” Meissner says. “It would be nice to continue having the option of paper or plastic.” For businesses affected by the ban, which also include department stores such as Kohl’s but not restaurants and other businesses that sell prepared food, paper sacks now cost at least 5 cents a pop.

York

It’s common to see new signage, new seats or some new fermenting tanks popping up in formerly empty storefronts in downtown York. Cam McMillion, 29, and Jesse McCarley, 34, are probably the only ones with a guillotine. “When you’re young and you see a magic trick and experience wonder for the first time there are two roads ... do you want to see how it is done or do you want to keep wondering,” McMillion says. The two chose the former and hope D&L Magic can offer some guidance for fellow magic enthusiasts. The two met nearly a decade ago at Denny & Lee Magic Shop in Rosedale, Maryland, a famous shop among musicians. The business was owned and run by Denny Haney, who died in January after a battle with cancer. “Cam and Jesse helped run the shop when he was getting treatment,” Dawn Campbell, Haney’s daughter, says. “They became family to me.”

Pawtucket

State officials are asking for proposals to redevelop and operate a stadium when the Pawtucket Red Sox leave for Worcester, Massachusetts, after the 2020 season. The Rhode Island Commerce Corp. is looking for individuals and organizations who want to use McCoy Stadium to potentially secure a professional sports team for the 77-year-old ballpark. Worcester is planning for a new stadium for the team.

Columbia

A Republican state lawmaker has stopped blocking one of his frequent critics on Facebook after the man threatened to file a lawsuit claiming the legislator had limited his freedom of speech. Third-term Rep. Neal Collins of Pickens issued a letter saying he had lifted his block on Allan Quinn. However, Collins described Quinn as an “idiot” and said he will again block Quinn or anyone else whose criticism turns into threats, harassment or profanity.

Rapid City

Some landowners are outraged over liens hitting their property related to the Keystone XL crude-oil pipeline. Iowa-based Brandenburg Drainage filed 23 liens totaling more than $1 million against Meade County landowners last month. The lien amounts ranged from about $3,600 to nearly $244,000. Brandenburg Drainage is a subcontractor of a company that developer TransCanada hired to improve county roads during the construction phase of the Keystone XL pipeline project. Mechanic’s liens are usually placed on property owned by the person who ordered the work. The liens are unusual because the affected landowners aren’t involved in the projects.

Nashville

Citing health challenges, Vanderbilt University Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos plans to resign on Aug. 15 after more than a decade in the role. Zeppos said he will take a yearlong sabbatical and then return to Vanderbilt as a law professor. “I truly love Vanderbilt and serving you has been a privilege. Yet my health is presenting challenges that demand my focus, with the love and support of my family,” Zeppos wrote in a message to the Vanderbilt community. Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan Wente will begin serving as interim chancellor on Aug. 15.

Austin

State education officials say at least 220 teachers left their jobs in the middle of this school year, breaking their contracts. State rules require teachers to terminate their contracts at least 45 days before the school year begins. Violators could have their licenses to teach suspended for up to one year. The Houston Chronicle reports that educators at a recent rally at the Texas Capitol cited poor school management and an emphasis on standardized testing as two chief complaints that spur teachers to leave. State records show one in 10 teachers resigns after their first year.

Salt Lake City

City officials are putting out the call for artists as work continues on a massive redevelopment project at Utah’s busiest airport. The city is modernizing the international airport, and plans calls for an installation that will span 30 feet near the security screening area. More than 25 million passengers pass through the area every year, and they will see the new “SLC Art Wall.” Officials want the artwork to speak to the spirit and people of Utah. Artists have until April 17 to express interest and outline their qualifications. The first phase of the redevelopment project is scheduled to open in 2020.

Jay

As dairy farms continue to go out of business around the country, about 150 farmers are meeting with industry experts for a two-day summit to discuss steps they can take to improve business. Farmers are in the midst of their fourth straight year of low milk prices. The number of dairy farms in Vermont has dropped from 1,100 in 2008 to 694 last month. Wisconsin lost 691 dairy farms last year alone.

Richmond

Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning is seeking her immediate release from a Virginia jail. A federal judge sent Manning to jail March 6 for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. On Monday, Manning’s lawyers filed a motion with the federal appeals court in Richmond seeking her release on bail while that order is appealed. Manning’s lawyers cited her medical needs related to her transgender status. They also say she was illegally electronically surveilled by the government before her grand jury appearance and that Manning can legally refuse to answer questions derived from such surveillance.

Spokane

Former television anchorwoman Nadine Woodward is running for mayor of Spokane. Woodward spent nearly 30 years as an anchor at KXLY and KREM in Spokane. She is the second well-known candidate to enter the race, joining Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart. Mayor David Condon is barred by term limits from seeking a third term. Woodward says she wants to recapture the ambition that brought the 1974 World’s Fair to Spokane, and use it to solve problems like homelessness. The office is nonpartisan and the primary election is Aug. 6.

Bluefield

The makers of TurboTax and QuickBooks are bringing 200 to 500 jobs to West Virginia as part of Intuit Inc.’s planned “prosperity hub” in Bluefield. The Mountain View, California-based information technology company produces the consumer tax preparation application, the accounting program and other products. Intuit says the hub will have a customer success center for product support and an innovation lab to help entrepreneurs and small businesses with financial literacy and other skills. The company considered 935 communities that have struggled economically for the hub.

Green Bay

The city is cracking down on teen vaping, joining other Wisconsin cities such as Stevens Point and Neenah. The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance prohibiting anyone younger than 18 from using, buying or possessing vape products. It also bans people from selling these products to minors, including through a vending machine. Violators could be fined up to $500. The state Department of Health Services says e-cigarette use among Wisconsin high-schoolers increased 154% from 2014 to 2018. Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith said vaping among teens has increased in part because it’s so new. “There’s no upside to teens vaping,” he says. “They’re not trying to quit cigarettes at that age.”

Cheyenne

Wyoming’s unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in February, down from 4.0% in January. The national rate is 3.8%. From January to February, most county unemployment rates followed their normal seasonal pattern and decreased. The largest decreases occurred in Lincoln, Hot Springs and Johnson counties. Park County posted the highest unemployment rate in the state at 5.2% in February. It was followed by Fremont County at 5.1% and Big Horn County at 4.7%. The lowest rates were found in Teton County at 2.2%, Niobrara County at 2.3%, and Albany County at 2.7%