KFC hot tubs, eyeball tattoos, shelter dogs: News from around our 50 states

Welder Samuel Evans unexpectedly became a medical celebrity after he was bitten on his right thumb by a rattlesnake while hiking Sunday in White Tank Mountain Regional Park. Outside of clinical trials, Evans is the first patient in the U.S. to be treated with a new rattlesnake anti-venom that hit the market in October, when rattlesnakes were not in season. Banner-University Medical Center Phoenix, where Evans was treated this week, usually sees between 55 and 70 patients with rattlesnake bites per year. Though April is usually the beginning of the season, the hospital has already treated a few bites this year. Doctors now have a choice of two anti-venoms when treating patients bitten by rattlesnakes: the drug CroFab, and now Anavip, which was used to treat Evans.

The state might get a new tail-wagging mascot. Rep. Bryan Shupe, R-Milford, is leading a bill that names shelter dogs the official dog of the First State. “Delaware is full of shelter dogs looking for a forever home,” the bill says. “Many dogs from shelters and rescues are already house-trained, which means not only is a dog’s life being saved, but your rug could be saved as well.” Shupe hopes the proposed law will create a buzz around dog rescue and adoption. “It’s a fun bill, but it’s also a serious bill,” the former Milford mayor said. “We have animals that are in shelters. We want to create awareness.” The bill would crown the adoptable dogs as the official state canine for one year. The golden retriever earned the yearlong title in 2016, but no pup appeared to succeed it.

About 1.5 million people visit the Tidal Basin each spring to view one of D.C.’s most beloved signs of spring, the cherry blossoms. On Wednesday, the National Park Service issued its first “peak bloom forecast” range of dates of April 3-6, WUSA-TV reports. Over a century ago, Japan gave the U.S. 3,000 Yoshino cherry trees to commemorate the friendship between the two countries. Cherry blossoms are Japan’s national flower, symbolizing hope and peace. Only a handful of those original trees remain, but the blossoms remain iconic in the nation’s capital. Over the years, the peak bloom – defined as when 70 percent of the area’s trees are blossoming – has come as early as March 15 and as late as April 18.

The state is launching a website aimed at helping people affected by gambling addictions. The Illinois Department of Human Services on Monday announced the website WeKnowtheFeeling.org. The move comes as Gov. J.B. Pritzker is looking to expanded sports betting to help close a multibillion-dollar state budget hole. The Legislature would first have to legalize expanded wagering. Illinois already operates a hotline for people with gambling problems. Deputy Governor Sol Flores says Illinois’ 24-hour hotline, 1-800-GAMBLER, receives thousands of calls each month. Flores says that “we hope to see a large number of people utilize our website the same way.” The website connects people to treatment and provides a place to share their stories.

The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is seeking to raise $1.5 million to acquire and begin renovations on a building to serve as its permanent home. The museum announced Wednesday that it has a 90-day deadline for the fundraising effort. The museum’s founder and CEO, Julia Whitehead, says the museum signed a purchase agreement for a building to display a new exhibition about Indianapolis-born Vonnegut’s book “Slaughterhouse-Five.” It will also display other exhibitions and the organization’s large collection of Vonnegut artifacts and memorabilia. Whitehead says the museum is “ready for the next phase.” The museum says its lease on its previous site expired Feb. 1, and the museum is closed to the public after eight years of operation.

Republicans in the state House are moving forward with a plan to expand Iowa’s medical marijuana program, in part by partially lifting a cap on use of the chemical that makes recreational pot users high. A three-person panel on Wednesday approved a bill that would remove a percentage cap on the amount of THC that can be in medical cannabis, the oil derived from the cannabis plant. Iowa law prohibits smoking medical marijuana. The issue over the THC cap – currently set at 3 percent – has been the ire of businesses in the state that manufacture and sell medical marijuana. Patients also say the limitation makes their medication less effective. Rep. Jared Klein, R-Keota, said his legislation is in response to feedback from the medical community and patients.

What’s sizzlin’, warm and comes in a large white bucket? It could be you. KFC, the famous chicken maker from the Bluegrass State, has started a campaign for bubbling, branded hot tubs on crowdfunding website Indiegogo. The tub – which features a wood-fired furnace, a vinyl liner with molded seating and 360 degrees of Kentucky Fried Chicken branding – fits five “fried chicken-loving people,” according to the page. You can also back a smart cane remote, a picnic with the Colonel, a little Colonel locator and the “Colonel on ICE” ice-skating show. It’s all part of a larger branding campaign launched by KFC Innovations Lab, started this year. The lab has created exclusive products like the KFC limited clothing line, the Colonel Sanders cat climber and the Colonel Sanders floatie, according to its Indiegogo page.

The state’s medical marijuana market is growing beyond expectations, generating more than $42 million in sales since the first dispensary opened Nov. 1. That translates into more than $2.3 million sent to the state from the 6 percent sales tax and $1.2 million from the 3 percent excise tax. David Harns, spokesman for the state Department of Licensing and Regulation, noted that Michigan has the nation’s second-largest medical marijuana market. Michigan’s numbers are fairly extraordinary because the state has only licensed 54 medical marijuana dispensaries, and many of those have been open a relatively short time. The excise tax ended Wednesday, on a provision in the ballot measure that legalized medical pot in the state.

A lawmaker is trying to put a stop to laws banning specific dog breeds. Rep. Ron Hicks, R-Dardenne Prairie, says breed-specific legislation discriminates against pit bulls and infringes on their owners’ basic rights. “I own my home,” he told a House committee this week. “I own the land that my home sits on. I don’t think that I should be told that I cannot own a certain type of domesticated animal.” He said cities should focus on enforcing existing laws on dangerous dogs instead. “We need to start punishing the individual for the crimes that they do,” he said. “It’s no longer OK to push it off toward someone else or some breed we don’t like.” Hicks was joined by a number of backers who told the committee breed-specific legislation has been a failure.

The U.S. Forest Service has tentatively approved a plan to build two chairlifts and a snow bridge across a state highway southwest of Reno to allow skiers at the Mount Rose Ski resort to access 11 new trails proposed farther down the mountain. Officials for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest released a draft record of decision Monday approving the resort’s expansion planned across 112 acres north of the Mount Rose Highway. The plan includes a new restroom, water pipeline and 5 million-gallon water tank to support snowmaking operations in the Atoma Area. It would prohibit future development of commercial uses across all but about 180 of the 3,446 acres on bordering national forest land. It’s subject to a 45-day public comment.

The state is about to be home to the world’s last Blockbuster video rental store. The company, once one of the largest retailers in the world, was ultimately buried by Netflix and other startups that offered DVDs via mail, and then by the emergence of streaming video. Two Blockbuster stores survived as of this week, but the one in Perth, Australia, has announced it will close later this month, leaving only the one in Bend. The management of the Oregon store found out the one Down Under would close when it received a call from an Australian radio station, which broke the news. According to the Bend Bulletin, Sandi Harding, the store’s general manager said, “I had no idea. I wondered which one of us was going to hold out the longest.”

A local brewery is celebrating International Women’s Day with a beer project made entirely by women, with ingredients sourced from women, that will be used to raise awareness about a local organization that benefits women and girls. Birds Fly South Ale Project will release Sonita, a community-focused beer named for Afghan rapper and activist Sonita Alizadeh. The beer builds on the brewery’s long partnership with local nonprofit The Homeless Period Project, which collects and donates feminine hygiene products to women and girls in need throughout the state. Sonita draws on Afghan-inspired flavors to create a light, refreshing but flavorful wheat beer, with ingredients including lemongrass, turmeric and honey. It will be released at noon Friday.

The movie “Tater Tot & Patton” was filmed in the state, financially supported by South Dakotans, and written and directed by native son Andrew Kightlinger. The Pierre native and Augustana graduate says the film is “both a love letter to the state and a homegrown piece of art.” It’ll begin showing in cities across South Dakota beginning Friday. “Tater Tot & Patton” follows Andie, a wayward millennial who escapes to her uncle’s South Dakota ranch, shaking up his placid boozer’s existence. Andie is played by Jessica Rothe, best known for her roles in “La La Land” and the “Happy Death Day” series. The movie explores isolation and healing using the state’s harsh landscape as a backdrop in the characters’ search for identity.

The city is hoping to set a Guinness World Record this spring for the world’s largest picnic table. The Bluff City’s effort to construct a 1,060-foot-plus table is part of the Memphis in May International Festival and the city’s 200th anniversary. The special Celebrate Memphis event will be held May 25. Volunteers have begun cutting lumber and drilling bolt holes ahead of construction of the table at Tom Lee Park the day before the event, weather permitting, says Robert Griffin, Memphis in May director of marketing. Guinness World Records representatives will be available to verify the results. The free event will include four stages with performing artists, an airshow over the Mississippi River, a parachute team, a fireworks show and more.

Texas State Aquarium officials say they are actively trying to raise funds to build a $25 million wildlife research center. The aquarium in Corpus Christi has operated a research center at Rincon Channel on a lease with the Port of Corpus Christi since 1995. The lease expires in the first quarter of 2021. The planned 25,000-square-foot facility would be located on aquarium-owned property between the aquarium and the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay that for now is used to offload tour buses, Aquarium CEO Tom Schmid says. The aquarium’s wildlife rehabilitation center is one of only a few in the nation with the expertise and authorization to care for manatees, dolphins, shorebirds, raptors and sea turtles.

Kitsap Humane Society staff has turned a dog training space into a shelter for scores of rabbits taken from a Poulsbo homeowner who became overwhelmed by their prolific breeding. Animal control officers were called to the home by authorities doing a welfare check. Kitsap Humane Society officials say authorities found an estimated 300 rabbits around the home, and the homeowner decided to surrender the animals. Kitsap Animal Control Supervisor Chase Connolly says people at the house were trying to start a rescue for rabbits, but it got out of hand. Officials are looking for temporary and permanent homes for the animals ranging in age from newborns to 5 years. Director of shelter medicine Jen Stonequist says most of the bunnies are in good shape.

The revolutionary motorcycle movie “Easy Rider” is marking its 50th anniversary this year, and the Harley-Davidson Museum is celebrating by screening it with one of the original Easy Riders on hand. Peter Fonda (above right), who played Harley-riding Wyatt in the movie, will take part in a moderated discussion of “Easy Rider” as part of a screening at 7 p.m. April 5. In addition to his status as a biker-movie icon, the 79-year-old Fonda – who co-wrote “Easy Rider” with co-star and director Dennis Hopper, and starred in the 1966 motorcycle cult favorite “The Wild Angels” – has been known to ride a Harley himself. He even took part in the parade at the 95th Harley-Davidson anniversary celebration in 1998. Tickets go on sale at 8 a.m. Friday.