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50 States

News from around our 50 States

From staff and wire reports

A blown-up bridge in New York, a groin crusher in Pennsylvania, and more

  • Birmingham
    A judge has overturned an Alabama law that prevents the removal of Confederate monuments from public property. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Graffeo says a 2017 state law barring the removal or alteration of historical monuments violates the free speech rights of local communities. Graffeo says the law can’t be enforced, but the state could still appeal. The state sued the city of Birmingham two years ago after officials tried to remove a 52-foot-tall obelisk that was erected to honor Confederate veterans in a downtown park in 1905. Birmingham’s population is mostly black, and the judge says it’s indisputable that most citizens there are “repulsed” by the memorial.
  • Sitka
    An eagle is recovering after it became stranded on a power pole in downtown Sitka. The Daily Sitka Sentinel reports the male eagle, now named Zappa, was taken to the Alaska Raptor Center after electric department linemen rescued it from the pole. Center avian director Jen Cedarleaf says it’s too early to tell whether Zappa was injured from contact with the power line.
  • Window Rock

    Alfred K. Newman, one of the last of the Navajo Code Talkers, has died at 94. Newman was among 400 Navajos who helped defeat the Japanese during World War II by developing an unbreakable code for military transmissions using the Dine language. The Code Talkers have been celebrated in books, movies and poems for their vital role in the war, their courage in combat and the unusual encryption system that stymied enemy intelligence. Just eight remain alive.

  • Bentonville
    Plans for a proposed limestone quarry have been tabled indefinitely because it would be only 900 feet from the Trail of Tears. The trail commemorates the forced 19th-century relocation of the Cherokee Nation from the Southeast to Oklahoma. More than 4,000 Cherokee died during the more than 1,000-mile walk.
  • Palm Springs

    In the era of streaming movies on phones, more than 800 students from across the Coachella Valley filled seats to see two films on a big screen, the Palm Springs Desert Sun reports. They were “Supa Modo” from Kenya, which follows a terminally ill and film-obsessed 9-year-old as she produces a superhero film in her last days; and “Inventing Tomorrow,” an American-made documentary that tells the story of six teen inventors competing in the International Science and Engineering Fair. “We’re creating a communal cinema experience,” says Zachary Solomon of the Palm Springs International Film Society. “I think it’s important to expose them to films they’re not used to.”

  • Rocky Mountain National Park

    Rocky Mountain National Park is tapping into revenue from recreation fees to reopen parts of the park that were closed during the federal government shutdown. Federal Land and Recreation Enhancement funds are being used to provide limited access to the park. But most facilities, including Beaver Meadows Visitor Center on the east side and Kawuneeche Visitor Center on the west side, will remain closed.

  • New London

    A coalition of Coast Guard-related nonprofit groups has opened a pop-up food pantry at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to help Coast Guard and academy workers affected by the partial government shutdown. About 160 of the 260 government-funded nonessential employees at the New London, Connecticut-based academy are furloughed. Most others, including faculty and active-duty Coast Guard personnel, are working without pay.

  • Wilmington

    A 13-year-old boy who disobeyed his mom and stayed up late to watch “The Flash” saved them both from a devastating fire. Damir Carter says he heard noises and roused his mother, Angela Marie Borden, and they ran outside. “I don’t know where we (would) be if he listened,” Borden said on Facebook. Damir got a reward, the Delaware News Journal reports: A care package from the staff of “The Flash,” stuffed with DVDs, posters, action figures and other memorabilia. “Thanks for watching and being a hero,” said an accompanying note. “We hope you and your family are well. We’re all thinking of you!”

  • Washington
    Chef Jose Andres, founder of the nonprofit World Central Kitchen and a 2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, will open a kitchen to feed furloughed federal workers in his hometown, WTOP radio reports. “We believe that no person should have to go through the pain of not knowing what to feed their children,” said Andres, who owns several restaurants in the D.C. area. His organization, World Center Kitchen, will open the relief kitchen between the White House and the Capitol.
  • Miami
    Wildlife officials have removed the population of ospreys in the Florida Keys from the state’s list of imperiled species. The birds’ numbers are rising in the Keys after plummeting three decades ago after a seagrass die-off created a dead zone across Florida Bay. The change in designation means there are fewer rules for developers, but it’s still illegal to kill ospreys.
  • Atlanta
    The chicken was extra crispy Monday when a tractor-trailer loaded with 20 tons of frozen birds caught fire in a highway tunnel under a Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport runway, closing both runway and tunnel. The driver wasn’t hurt, and both road and runway soon reopened.
  • Lanai City
    Thanks to a rival school, Lanai High and Elementary School has its own bus for the first time. Hana High and Elementary School donated the bus, The Maui News reported. The school will use it for the first time when Hana’s basketball teams visit. “We’re not going to change the ‘Hana’ paint right away,” said Lanai Principal Elton Kinoshita. “We will leave it up for a little while.” He added: “The fact that our sister school would help us like this is amazing.” In the past, Lanaik rented vehicles from Dollar Rental Car to take teams to the ferry for off-island games and to bring visiting teams to the school. But Dollar closed on Lanai in November, triggering what some called a “mini-crisis” for student-athletes.
  • Homedale
    A veteran hopes to return a military burial flag to its owners, but first he has to find them. David Slawson Sr. found the flag while cleaning out a home in Nampa. Slawson cleaned and restored the flag, found the presentation case that went with it and started reaching out to friends and distant connections on Facebook, to no avail. He says the flag once belonged to a man named Argo Buchanan, and he hopes to track down Buchanan’s family to give it to them.
  • Chicago
    A report by the American Civil Liberties Union says African-American and Hispanic motorists in Illinois are more likely than others to be stopped and searched for routine traffic violations. The rate for blacks was nearly twice that of whites; Latinos were stopped and searched 1.4 times as often, according to state Department of Transportation data. Police made about 6.5 million traffic stops and performed more than 283,000 searches between 2015 and 2017. In Chicago, African-American drivers accounted for 61 percent of all traffic stops in 2017 while making up 31 percent of the city’s population.
  • Indianapolis
    Coming soon to the city’s trendy Mass Ave.: A one-stop shop for all of your rock-climbing, socializing and eating needs. Oh, and beer-drinking. “What we find with millennials is that they want to get a workout in and have a beer and socialize, but they don’t have time to do both,” CEO Elliott Steward tells the Indianapolis Star. North Mass Boulder will have 20,000 square feet of climbing area, weightlifting and cardio equipment, a seating area and a casual-fare cafe with an espresso machine and 14 craft beers. Steward expects it to open by the end of the year.
  • Iowa City

    A LinkedIn account that impersonated the University of Iowa’s president and privately asked people for money and financial information has been shut down. University spokeswoman Jeneane Beck says the account purporting to belong to unversity President Bruce Harreld was a scam. She says the school was alerted to it Sunday. Beck says the university isn’t aware of anyone actually falling for the scam.

  • Dodge City
    Ford County says it plans to announce two new polling locations within Dodge City for this year’s elections amid mounting legal fees in a lawsuit over voting access. The county will mail notices to voters informing them of their new polling place after arrangements are finalized. The county does not plan to use the former Civic Center location, nor the single polling site outside town that sparked a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas. The ACLU says opening more polling places would have cost the county less than the $71,000 it has spent so far in legal fees.
  • Frankfort
    The Kentucky Department of Tourism has released a new visitors guide that features stories by Kentuckians telling of their own experiences. The 2019 Official Kentucky Visitor’s Guide focuses on some of the highlights of the state’s tourism industry, including bourbon, food, horses, outdoors, history, music, arts and events, as well as regional features. The guide is available at the state’s seven staffed welcome centers and the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea. It can also be requested online.
  • DeRidder
    Netflix has bought the rights to a movie that is set in a century-old southwest Louisiana landmark called the Gothic Hanging Jail, though it was filmed in New Orleans. Charlie Shotwell plays the title role in “Eli,” about a boy being treated for a rare disease at a clinic in a haunted prison. The film crew made a 3-D digital scan of the jail and grounds in DeRidder, to be added during editing. DeRidder’s jail, built in 1914 in what’s called the Collegiate Gothic style, became known as the “Hanging Jail” in the 1950s after a song was written about the 1928 execution of two convicted murderers.
  • Portland
    There’s no question Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy is a Maine icon, but its status as the state’s best-selling liquor is over. New state data say Fireball Cinnamon Whisky is now the most popular brand of liquor in the state. The Bangor Daily News reports Fireball outsold Allen’s by half a million dollars last year. Fireball is well known for being available in 50-milliliter bottles called “nips.” The wee bottles made up $4 million of its more than $10 million in sales last year.
  • College Park
    State Trooper Esai Cunningham was at the scene of a crash about 11 p.m. Sunday when another vehicle pulled up and told the trooper that a 21-year-old woman was in labor. Cunningham called for EMS assistance. But before medical crews could arrive, Cunningham helped the woman deliver a baby boy alongside a busy highway. State police say the mother and baby are doing well.
  • Amherst
    Hampshire College hopes to merge with another institution before it reaches a financial crisis. The college of 1,300 says it has a balanced budget and a healthy endowment, but it faces the same pressures that have forced other small schools to close. To avoid that fate, the school says it’s looking for a “strategic partnership” to support its future. Administrators are weighing whether to enroll a new class for next fall. They will decide before Feb. 1, the planned date to issue admission decisions.
  • Grand Rapids

    Michigan-based bar and restaurant chain HopCat has figured out a new name for it’s “Crack Fries,” a term it’s ditching to distance itself from the USA’s drug epidemic. HopCat founder Mark Sellers says the new name, “Cosmik Fries,” is a nod to the song “Cosmik Debris” by Frank Zappa, one of his favorite artists. BarFly Ventures CEO Mark Gray has said HopCat picked the “Crack Fries” name more than a decade ago as a reference to the addictive quality of the fries and their cracked pepper seasoning, without consideration for those the drug negatively affected.

  • Mankato
    Authorities say a 2-year-old child is OK after tumbling from the back seat of a moving vehicle while still strapped in a car seat. Dash camera video captured the car seat and toddler rolling out of the vehicle as it turned a corner on a Mankato street. Witness Chad Mock stopped his vehicle and ran to the child’s aid. Police say the child was properly strapped into the car seat, but that the car seat wasn’t fastened to the seat in the vehicle.
  • Natchez

    A historic southwest Mississippi home and inn will be auctioned after a bank foreclosed. The Natchez Democrat reports the Dunleith Historic Inn will be auctioned Feb. 1. Owner Michael Worley filed for personal bankruptcy last year, citing $107 million in debts and $80 million in assets. The house is among the most recognized antebellum structures in Natchez. Dunleith, built in 1856, has been a bed and breakfast since 1976.

  • St. Louis
    Democratic former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill has a new job as a network political analyst for MSNBC and NBC News. MSNBC “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mike Brzezinski made the announcement Tuesday during an interview with McCaskill. KSDK-TV reports that McCaskill says she would bring her experience from the Senate and “won’t hold back.” The two-term senator lost to Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley in her re-election bid in November.
  • Billings
    Wildlife advocates are asking state officials to ban trapping along much of the state line with Idaho to protect the Northern Rockies fisher, a cat-sized predator that lives in old-growth forests. The fanged predators that feed on porcupines once ranged at least five states. They’re now limited to an area straddling the state line. Federal wildlife officials say at least 100 of the animals were killed in Montana between 2002 and 2016. Idaho prohibits trapping fishers, but 86 were killed by trappers accidentally in that time period.
  • Lincoln
    Nebraska is more than just a place to fly over. It’s a stopping point for sandhill cranes and, the state hopes, more tourists. The Nebraska Tourism Office’s first campaign of 2019 is promoting the yearly migration of hundreds of thousands of cranes to the Platte River Valley every March. Tourism Commission Executive Director John Ricks calls it “truly one of the most outstanding migrations in the world.”
  • Las Vegas
    The Las Vegas home of Chicago mob enforcer Tony “The Ant” Spilotro is for sale. Spilotro, who was portrayed by Joe Pesci in the 1995 film “Casino,” and his wife, Nancy, were the original owners of the single-story ranch-style home east of the Las Vegas Strip. Built in 1974, the property is considered modest today, with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a two-car garage. It’s offered for $419,900. Spilotro and his brother, Michael Spilotro, were killed in 1986. Their bodies were found in an Indiana cornfield.
  • Concord
    Inexperienced leadership, billing and cash-flow problems, and rapid growth contributed to the failure and eventual takeover of one of New Hampshire’s largest drug recovery centers, according to a report from the state attorney general’s office. Serenity Place in Manchester, which had been operating at a deficit of hundreds of thousands of dollars, went into receivership in December 2017. It is in liquidation proceedings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
  • Newark

    “Jersey Shore” cast member Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is trading life on the beach for time behind prison bars. The 36-year-old was scheduled to report to Otisville Federal Correctional Institution in upstate New York to begin serving an eight-month sentence for tax fraud. He posted details on his Facebook page. Sorrentino appeared on all six seasons of the reality show that ran from 2009 to 2012 and followed the lives of rowdy housemates in Seaside Heights.

  • Albuquerque
    New Mexico Albuquerque: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe has announced temporary changes at Mass amid widespread flu outbreaks and high influenza-like illnesses. The archdiocese is encouraging parishioners to nod and avoid shaking hands or hugging during the Sign of Peace; not to hold hands when praying the Our Father; and if they’re sick, sneezing or coughing, to watch Sunday Mass at home on TV.
  • Tarrytown
    A big chunk of the Tappan Zee Bridge went down in history – and the Hudson – on Tuesday after a detonation that thrilled onlookers who played hooky from work and school to watch the spectacle. Acrid black smoke filled the air as the structure dropped straight into the river. It remained about half submerged; the remnants will be salvaged and recycled. “The fact that you can feel the concussion against your legs was crazy,” said Kathleen Staab, who watched from about a half-mile away.The structure has already been replaced by the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, which links Westchester and Rockland counties.
  • Asheville
    The records keep falling at Asheville Regional Airport. Officials say the airport served the most passengers in its history in 2018, totaling 1.13 million passengers across its six airlines. Passenger numbers were up about 19 percent from 2017. Helping boost the count: new routes to Denver, Dallas and Orlando, among others.
  • Mandan
    The city may have smelled bad Monday, but owners of the Mandan refinery say the foul odor that drifted over the community wasn’t a health hazard. Refinery spokesman Ron Day says the odor was the result of a chemical called ammonium disulfide that was being transferred from tanks into a processing sewer. Day says they use a deodorizer, but it wasn’t enough to counteract the smell.
  • Toledo
    The Blade says it will stop publishing its print edition two days a week. The newspaper didn’t specify which two they would be; it said it will be distributed only by e-delivery on those days starting Feb. 24. Toledo-based Block Communications Inc., the owners, say The Blade is focusing on growing its digital news operations.
  • Oklahoma City
    Your Facebook friends might be livestreaming videos, but your Oklahoma state representatives won’t be – at least not on the job. The Oklahoma House voted along party lines to ban its own members from making videos on the House floor. Republican House Majority Whip Terry O’Donnell says the ban protects members from being recorded against their will and noted that House media staff livestreams and records video and audio of discussions. Democrats objected; Rep. Meloyde Blancett says members use their own livestreams to talk with constituents when the official video feed crashes.
  • Salem
    The partial federal government shutdown has forced the cancellation this week of training for state lawmakers on workplace harassment, just as the state Capitol is grappling with the issue and days before the Legislature convenes. All Equal Employment Opportunity Commission /Respectful Workplace Training sessions scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday will be rescheduled. Sen. Jeff Kruse resigned last year amid accusations he inappropriately touched women. A state investigation found Oregon lawmakers didn’t do enough to stop sexual harassment.
  • Philadelphia

    Nobody ever warns the patients at Pennsylvania Hospital about Pete Schiavo, “The Groin Crusher.” Most people meet Schiavo, 52, after they’ve just come out of a coronary procedure and he’s explaining that after the catheters are pulled out of their femoral artery, he’s going to apply pressure to their groin for 20 to 40 minutes to aid in clotting. Awkward! Or it would be, if it were anyone else but Schiavo, a gregarious, emotional, wisecracking guy who is all South Philly, even if he lives in Jersey now. Reader Sandy Kuritzky, wife of a former patient, suggested the Philadelphia Inquirer tell Schiavo’s story. “I know he doesn’t remember me or my husband because he has his hands on so many groins,” Kuritzky said. “But Pete’s attitude with his patients and their caregivers is so upbeat and friendly and caring and funny that it makes a stressful time less stressful and difficult.”

  • Providence
    Rhode Island’s attorney general and leaders of the General Assembly are reacting with caution to Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo’s proposal to legalize recreational marijuana. Attorney General Peter Neronha says the proposal will require strong regulations to protect public health and safety. The Providence Journal reports the proposal would prohibit home-growing recreational marijuana and would ban high-potency products from retail stores.
  • Greenville
    Three prison guards have been charged in separate alleged incidents around the state. Tiffany Rochelle Chandler-Starks, 30, a Perry Correctional Institution officer, gave inmates sexual pictures and video of herself, according to an arrest warrant. Cheryl Huggins is accused of sexual intercourse with an inmate at Evans Correctional Institution. Lester Charles Smith II is accused of trying to bring about 700 grams of tobacco to an inmate in Ridgeland Correctional Institution.
  • Sioux Falls

    The mayor is among those tweeting words of support to a waitress who was left with a $1 tip and a vulgar message from a group of customers. Shenanigan’s Sports Bar and Grill posted the bill on social media showing the $1 tip on a $55.50 bill and the expletive on the signature line. The Argus Leader reports the server, Brooke Heinen, 19, says the diners came in to watch the NFL playoff game Saturday night. Heinen says they seemed nice and joked around with her for being a Minnesota Vikings fan, so she was surprised when she picked up the tab receipt. Heinen says supportive comments on Twitter have helped, but in the end she says things happen and you just have to shrug it off.

  • Nashville

    For 38 years, Jed DeKalb has traveled from the Smoky Mountains to Memphis, chronicling history — all with exclusive, behind-the-scenes access. The tall, affable 66-year-old has taken hundreds of thousands of photographs, capturing images for the last five governors. And when Gov. Bill Haslam hands off the keys to state government to his successor, Gov.-elect Bill Lee, on Jan. 19, DeKalb will be there taking a photographs for the state one last time. DeKalb is retiring, and he’ll spend time with his wife and two adult-aged daughters, go on vacation and organize photos he took during a recent family trip to the Grand Canyon. And, The Tennessean reports, he’ll continue to take photos.

  • Austin
    A woman faces manslaughter charges after accidentally shooting her boyfriend when she pointed a rifle at him while posing for a photo. Autumn King, 20, was being held Tuesday on a $200,000 bond. Austin police say the shooting occurred at the couple’s home on Dec. 23. According to investigators, King said she aimed the rifle at her boyfriend, Eric Charles Allen, 26 as he held her cellphone and prepared to take a photo to post online. King says she accidentally fired.
  • Price
    A 3-year-old boy and his mother are ecstatic about a new prosthetic arm that a family friend made for them on a 3D printer after extensive research, practice and more than 80 hours of printing. Prosthetic arms for people like Robert, who was born without half a left arm, can cost up to $12,000, even after insurance, mother Brandi Noyes says. Noyes found Ray Buckland, who owns a 3-D printer and has used it to create things like a spatula, an ice cream scooper and a handle for a broken can opener. The boy tried on the arm shortly before Christmas. “The first thing he wants when he wakes up in the morning is his arm,” Noyes says. “And he gets disappointed when I have to take it off of him at night. It has to be where he can see it.”
  • Burlington
    Two police officers are accused of drinking beer that they confiscated from minors. Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo says the officers issued tickets to the minors last month for underage possession of alcohol, then allegedly kept the beer and drank some of it on duty, instead of disposing of it. The chief assigned them to administrative duty at headquarters as the department investigates.
  • Chesapeake
    A basketball league has blown the whistle on a referee who singled out a 10-year-old girl wearing a typical African American hairstyle. The girl wore braids with blue weave during a game. Erica Guerrier, who coaches her daughter’s team, says the ref made an unnecessary spectacle of her daughter – and that the rules permit hair weaves. The ref won’t be working any more games in Chesapeake.
  • Spokane
    Washington State University is creating the Steve Gleason Institute for Neuroscience to develop care and cures for brain disease. The Gleason Institute, named for a former Cougars star who went on to the NFL, is expected to open in Spokane later this year. Daryll DeWald, chancellor of WSU Health Sciences Spokane, says university researchers will work with health care providers to bridge the gaps between care and potential treatments of neuro-degenerative diseases such as ALS and Parkinson’s disease. Gleason, a Spokane native, was diagnosed with ALS in 2011.
  • Charleston
    UnitedHealthcare is donating thousands of kits to help West Virginians dispose of unused opioids and other drugs, Gov. Jim Justice has announced. Each disposal kit deactivates up to 45 tablets or six opioid patches. The governor’s office says the kits contain activated carbon and are not a threat to the water supply or environment. West Virginia’s rate of overdose deaths leads the nation by far.
  • Madison
    Two farmers who rent out their barns for weddings have filed a lawsuit seeking to ensure that they don’t need to obtain liquor licenses to hold private parties where alcohol is served. The lawsuit filed against Gov. Tony Evers’ administration in Dunn County Circuit Court comes after the future of wedding barns was thrown into question by former Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel. He issued an informal legal opinion in November, 10 days after he lost re-election, saying that private events held in public spaces require liquor licenses. State law prohibits owners of public places from allowing liquor without a license but does not define what a public place is.
  • Cheyenne
    What’s good new for motorists is bad news for the state’s economy, as a drop in oil prices has dragged down revenue forecasts. New estimates reduce expected state revenue for 2019-20 by $125.1 million from October predictions. In 2021-22, an additional reduction of $145.4 million is anticipated. The report did note an increase in sales and use taxes mainly because of activity in the oil and gas sector.