Icees, ice castles, zamboni math: News from around our 50 states

From staff and wire reports

A loyal dog takes an oath in Maryland, an exhibit takes on reality of mental health in Iowa, and more

Auburn
Auburn University is receiving $43 million in federal financing for a new agricultural science facility aimed at improving food production in the state. WSFA-TV reports the money, approved by Congress, will help establish a new USDA Agricultural Research Soil Dynamics Laboratory on campus. Auburn spokesman Preston Sparks says the facility’s research will focus on improving the sustainable use of soil and water resources for crop and livestock production. Paul Patterson, dean of the College of Agriculture and director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment station, says the funding will help “transform agricultural production and farm profitability.”

Anchorage
Kitchen workers pushed a soup cart down the halls at the Alaska Native Medical Center on a recent Tuesday, stopping outside a room belonging to Jean Hull. Recovering in bed, Hull (above) took a cup of broth with two hands and let the steam warm her face. “Oh my God,” she said. “It smells just like the village type.” The soup, which has been served on Tuesdays at the hospital for about a year, is made from harbor seal bones and meat. Changes in federal food rules in 2014 allowed the hospital to begin serving donated subsistence foods, including caribou, seaweed, wild berries, moose, white fish and herring eggs. But seal soup, prepared in a simple, generations-old style, is likely the only food service preparation of marine mammal in America. Servers say elders, many who are away from their villages for medical treatment, frequently become emotional when they eat it.

Phoenix
Arizona will install 40 highway signs around the state commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Grand Canyon’s designation as a national park. Gov. Doug Ducey unveiled the signs at the state Capitol on Wednesday. He says they’re a chance to celebrate the Grand Canyon as a treasure to the nation and to Arizona. He says it’s a boon to the state’s tourism economy. Arizona Office of Tourism Director Debbie Johnson says the signs will help promote the national park to visitors and to people who live in Arizona but have never visited. She says the $30,000 cost is funded by the tourism office and Arizona Public Service, the electric utility. The signs will replace some of the dozens commemorating Arizona’s centennial in 2012.

Little Rock
State legislators have rejected a proposal to change the meaning of one of the stars on the Arkansas flag from honoring the Confederacy to honoring the contributions Native Americans have made to the state, including the Quapaw, Osage and Caddo tribes. The majority-Republican House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee defeated the measure, which wouldn’t have changed the flag’s design but would have changed the legal meaning of the blue star above Arkansas’ name. The state has four blue stars on its flag; three are for France, Spain and the United States, and the one honoring the Confederacy was added in 1923. Democratic state Rep. Charles Blake, who proposed removing the Confederate link, said it was added at the height of the Ku Klux Klan’s rise.

Sacramento
Consumers in the state are losing out on at least $308 million in nickel deposits on cans and bottles, largely because it’s increasingly difficult to find a recycling center, according to a report by advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. The report says more than 40 percent of the state’s recycling centers closed in the past five years, and many grocery stores won’t take back the empties. More than 100 centers closed in Los Angeles County alone. The report faults state regulators for not doing more. It recommends increasing the amount of deposits to encourage more recycling. It puts the cost to consumers even higher, saying consumers get back less than half their deposit on average. The yearslong problem also is prompting calls for reform by a state senator.

Denver
The U.S. Forest Service has approved construction of a road across public land to reach private property where a developer plans to build condos and restaurants at a remote ski area. The decision was the latest milestone in a three-decade battle between the developer and environmentalists over the proposed Village at Wolf Creek in the southwestern corner of the state. Opponents said they were considering a challenge. The developer, Texas-based Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture, plans to build 1,700 to 2,000 housing units along with stores and restaurants at the base of the Wolf Creek Ski Area, 175 miles southwest of Denver and 85 miles east of Durango. Environmentalists say the development would interfere with the migration of endangered lynx and damage wetlands and other sensitive habitat.

Waterbury
The Environmental Protection Agency has fined a Connecticut company $6,100 for an oil spill that left the Naugatuck River covered in a sheen for days last year. The Republican-American reports Global Brass and Copper agreed to pay the fine and take measures to prevent another spill. The January 2018 spill came from the company’s Somers Thin Strip plant in Waterbury. EPA spokesman John Senn says a valve on an external cooling tank ruptured, likely from extreme cold. He says the company has since remodeled so the valve is no longer outside and updated its spill prevention plan. A company attorney says the ruptured valve was noticed within 30 minutes, and workers took “immediate action” to address the problem.

Dover
State lawmakers are proposing to raise the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21. A bill introduced Wednesday would apply to all tobacco products and tobacco substitutes, including e-cigarettes and vaping devices. The legislation also eliminates an existing provision allowing a parent or guardian to buy tobacco for an underage person. Retailers caught selling tobacco to a person under 18 would be slapped with criminal fines ranging from $250 to $1,000. Those caught selling to people over 18 but under 21 would be subject to similar civil penalties. While targeting sellers, the bill eliminates punishments for minors who try to buy tobacco. Currently, a minor can be found delinquent in such cases, be fined $50 and ordered to perform community service.

Washington
The city has stopped suspending driver licenses for failure to appear in court or pay some traffic fines, leading the city DMV to restore more than 65,000 licenses. A report released last month by the city DMV says some of the drivers had their licenses suspended as early as 1969, according to The Washington Post. The licenses were restored in November after the district passed a law ending suspensions for drivers who fail to pay moving violation fines or appear at related court hearings. Advocates said the practice unfairly punished poor people. The report says about 2,200 residents still have their licenses suspended due to civil judgments, a practice outlawed in January. It says those residents can apply for license reinstatement beginning in March.

Key Largo
The Florida Keys will likely face a deluge of lawsuits when it stops issuing new building permits in 2023. A decades-old mandate was aimed at controlling development in the environmentally sensitive island chain and ensuring tourists and residents could quickly evacuate during a hurricane. But Monroe County has 6,000 to 10,000 undeveloped lots. The Miami Herald reports that property owners are likely to sue the state when they either can’t build what they want or don’t receive what they consider fair compensation from the state. A bill was filed in the Legislature this week that would make counties and municipalities equally as liable as the state if the property owners win.

Savannah
Officials in the state’s oldest city have called attention to areas settled by freed slaves in the 19th century. Savannah city officials unveiled four new historical markers in the White Bluff and Coffee Bluff areas as part of the Savannah Black Heritage Festival. Both areas are south of Savannah’s downtown historic district. Their earliest settlers were former slaves from St. Catherines (above), Ossabaw and Sapelo Islands off the Georgia coast. A news release says Savannah City Council members approved a petition by the local Crusaders Club to install the four markers. Each marker is near a waterway to show how the black settlers relied on access to the water to survive.

Honolulu
Officials say visitor access to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor won’t be restored by the end of March as previously planned. The National Park Service suspended access to one of the state’s most popular sites in early May after damage was found on the floating dock where visitors disembark. Memorial superintendent Jacqueline Ashwell says officials have taken an “aggressive approach” to form and implement a repair plan, but a contract for repairs is expected be awarded sometime this month. The park service says the dock was damaged by a failure in the system that anchors it in place. Harbor tours that pass near the memorial are being offered to visitors in the meantime.

Boise
Legislation identifying post-traumatic stress disorder as an occupational injury sustained by emergency responders is heading to Gov. Brad Little. The House voted 59-10 on Thursday to approve the legislation that will allow such injuries to be handled through worker’s compensation. The Senate has already passed the bill. The legislation is different from current law that only allows post-traumatic stress disorder to be treated through worker’s compensation if a physical injury has also occurred. Backers say the legislation will help emergency responders stay on the job or return to work. Arguments against the legislation included financial concerns to entities paying for coverage. Dispatchers, firefighters, peace officers and other emergency responders would be covered.

Springfield
More than 50 food producers, wineries and agricultural groups will showcase their made-in-the-state products at the Illinois Products Expo this weekend. The 21st annual affair will be Saturday and Sunday at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Food offerings may be sampled for free as well as purchased. They include fresh meat, pizza, sauces, honey, cakes, cheeses, seasonings and more. There are soy candles, agricultural-based soaps and lotions and other non-food items as well. Officials say Illinois ranks first nationally for food processing sales at $186 billion a year. It is among the state’s top manufacturing activities. Admission is $5 per person. Children 10 and younger get in free. Beverage tastings come with a charge, too.

West Lafayette
The days scrolling through Netflix and queuing up a movie in a lecture hall are coming to an end at Purdue University. A pair of experiments during the fall and spring semesters – both of which blocked the most popular streaming sites from Purdue’s broadband connections in Purdue’s biggest lecture halls – worked so well that filtering out streaming video and gaming platforms will be the new standard for all classrooms across the campus. By the time students return from spring break, on March 18, access in classrooms will be blocked for bandwidth-eating movie and TV services Netflix and Hulu, the Steam gaming site, music services iTunes, Pandora and iHeartRadio, and Apple updates.

Des Moines
The most surprising thing about the Science Center of Iowa’s new exhibit on mental illness is that it’s uplifting, visitors say. “We’re so used to mental health being something on the down-low, something we don’t want to talk about – but this exhibit is proud to talk about it,” says Paige Kirschner, a Waukee High School student who toured it this week. Kirschner, 16, helped organize a youth summit on mental health at the Science Center this week. The “Mind Matters” exhibit, which runs through April 28, helps visitors understand what it’s like to have mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In one area, pairs of participants sit in a booth, trying to ask each other basic questions while harsh voices bark nonsense at them out of nearby speakers. The point is to illustrate the challenge of living everyday life while having such hallucinations.

Topeka
A bill that would allow landowners to resell their permits to hunt white-tail deer to non-Kansas residents has barely passed the state House. The 63-60 vote Wednesday sent the measure to the Senate. Some rural legislators see the bill as an economic-development measure. Republican Rep. Ken Corbet of Topeka has said it could bring 4,500 tourists a year to Kansas to hunt. Republican Rep. Joe Seiwert of Pretty Prairie said the additional hunting would decrease the number of vehicle crashes involving deer. But some state officials have worried the bill would increase poaching by trophy hunters while limiting access to Kansas residents. The Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism opposed the measure.

Frankfort
Public schools in the state would have to display “In God We Trust” in a prominent location next school year under a bill that has cleared the state House of Representatives. The Republican-dominated chamber approved House Bill 46 on Wednesday by a vote of 72-25. It would require public schools to display the national motto in a prominent location beginning with the 2019-’20 school year. There are no penalties if schools don’t comply, but someone could sue to force them to do it. Bill sponsor Republican Rep. Brandon Reed said the motto reflects an essential part of what it means to be an American. But Democratic Rep. Kelly Flood voted against the bill, saying lawmakers should practice tolerance.

Gray
The state is presenting a series of four workshops on documenting local traditions for people in a southeast Louisiana area where land loss is affecting traditional knowledge. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said in a news release that sustaining local culture is the object. One Terrebonne Parish island has lost so much land that residents are being relocated. The Bayou Culture Collaborative will hold the workshops every other Saturday at the Terrebonne Parish Library in Gray. The dates are March 30, April 13 and 27, and May 11. The first session’s about exploring local folklife and choosing what to document. Other topics are techniques for documenting local stories and knowledge; documentary photography and videography; and presenting, archiving, and funding.

Augusta
Lawmakers are split over which chickadee should be named the official state bird. The chickadee was designated as the state bird in 1927, but there are two types found in Maine. The boreal chickadee is native to northern Maine, and the black-capped chickadee (above) is native to southern Maine. State Rep. Betty Austin has submitted a bill to settle which is the official bird once and for all. Nick Lund with the Maine Audubon says there are differences between the two birds. The black-capped chickadee has a signature song, while the boreal does not. The black-capped is also already on state license plates. The Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government will review the bill in the coming weeks.

Bethesda
Sully, the service dog who symbolized devotion lying by former President George H.W. Bush’s flag-draped casket, has a new mission. The 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever on Wednesday joined Walter Reed National Military Medical Center’s dog program to help wounded veterans. Sully offered his paw as he was administered an oath streamed on Facebook to “support, comfort and cheer warriors and their families.” Sully received a new vest and is considered a Navy hospital corpsman second class. Sully’s Instagram account posted that he looks forward to continuing his mission “as my best friend wanted me to.” The service dog was named for famed airline pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III and served Bush for six months until the former president died in November.

Boston
The Boston Pops is gearing up for a new season, and it’s a musical grab bag with something for everyone. Bernadette Peters opens the 2019 spring season May 8, and conductor Keith Lockhart will lead four performances of a special film presentation of the original “Star Wars: A New Hope” with John Williams’ Academy Award-winning score May 10, 11 and 14. Arlo Guthrie stars in a “Summer of ’69” program commemorating the 50th anniversary of Woodstock on May 15-16. And “Hamilton” star Leslie Odom Jr. returns June 5-6 for a centenary tribute to Nat King Cole. Travel guru Rick Steves will appear in a special program called “Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey,” on June 13-14.

Detroit
Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, covers more than 31,000 square miles. How long would it take to resurface the entire thing with a Zamboni? A study conducted by the Upper Peninsula Supply Co. says it’d take many lifetimes. The retailer decide to calculate the math, using Lake Superior’s surface area, the standard surface area of a North American ice rink and the speed of a single Zamboni. It says Lake Superior equates to 52,020,513 ice rinks. At about 7 minutes per rink, it would take 364,143,591 minutes to resurface all of Lake Superior – that’s 252,877 days, or about 693 years. The ice resurfacer would have driven approximately 39,015,384 miles. And that’s without bathroom breaks or time to gas up the machine.

Duluth
The U.S. Forest Service plans to relaunch a balky new Boundary Waters Canoe Area reservation system Monday. The system crashed when it first went live Jan. 30 on the first day to apply for permits. Only a few people were able to reserve permits before the system failed. Outfitters use the system to obtain permits for customers for popular entry points and dates. They warned officials that the crush of first-come, first-served online reservations would overwhelm its capacity. The service previously awarded scare permits by lottery. Permits for an area where motors are allowed are especially coveted. The Forest Service says it’s confident the system will work now. People who reserved permits earlier will have to reapply.

Jackson
Republicans and Democrats in this state can agree on one thing – don’t call it meat unless it’s real meat. With the rise of engineered products and plant-based products, such as the Impossible Burger, the Mississippi House passed Senate Bill 2922 by a 117-0 vote Thursday to prohibit the labeling of animal cultures, plants and insects as meat. The bill now goes to the governor for his signature. Rep. Vince Mangold, R-Brookhaven, said the bill won’t prohibit anyone from producing the products but will prohibit labeling it as meat in Mississippi. Sen. Jenifer Branning, R-Philadelphia, said on the Senate floor that she didn’t know of any of the products being produced or made in Mississippi, but the legislation is a pre-emptive strike.

Jefferson City
Missourians age 25 and older would be eligible for a new full-ride college scholarship to study high-demand fields under a bill passed by the state House. House members voted 101-49 Thursday to send the measure to the Senate. Republican Gov. Mike Parson is calling for the scholarship. The goal is to help older adults become more skilled in the hopes of getting higher-paying jobs. The scholarship would cover the full cost of tuition to earn a bachelor’s degree or for four semesters, whichever is less. Applicants with household adjusted gross incomes of less than $80,000 would be eligible.

Great Falls
Amid ongoing international trade wars, 6,459 agricultural producers in the state signed up for tariff relief from the federal government. That’s $13,944,965 in payments coming to the state. Farmers and ranchers had until Valentine’s Day to sign up for the USDA’s Market Facilitation Program through their local Farm Service Agency office. Statewide, the average payment per producer was $2,141. Nationwide, 864,000 producers applied for the program, totaling $8 billion in payments, with applications still to process, according to the USDA. The crops eligible for the program are soybeans, sorghum, wheat, cotton, corn, shelled almonds and fresh sweet cherries. Dairy and hogs also are included.

Omaha
The state is the only one in the Midwest that will be participating in a national project to develop registries to help people who need psychiatric care get into inpatient treatment more quickly. The Omaha World-Herald reports Nebraska is among 23 states that will receive a $150,000 grant to participate. The project aims to give providers one centralized resource to find available inpatient beds. The program is funded by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. Sheri Dawson, who leads the behavioral health division at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, says the state’s registry is scheduled for testing this summer in Cass, Dodge, Douglas, Sarpy and Washington counties.

Las Vegas
The half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower on the Las Vegas Strip is debuting a new light show. The landmark at the Paris Las Vegas casino-resort unveiled the new show featuring synchronized twinkling and colored lights Wednesday. Casino operator Caesars Entertainment says 6,000 strobe and programmable, colored LED lights were installed on the tower’s exterior. Chef Guy Savoy and legendary singer and actress Line Renaud, both French, participated in the unveiling of the five-minute show. The 541-foot-tall tower opened in September 1999. It features a restaurant and an observation deck that allows for 360-degree views of Las Vegas.

North Woodstock
Thousands of people are flocking to a winter wonderland constructed from ice. Ice Castles in North Woodstock features a collection of ice tunnels, caverns and a 97-foot ice slide that cover an acre of farmland. Some have said the scene is like something out of the movie “Frozen.” The winter wonderland is one of six in North America. It starts small in December, when a team sets up icicle farms – metal racks that are sprayed with water to allow icicles to grow on them overnight. The team then harvests the icicles and continually sprays them with water. The attraction moved this year from neighboring Lincoln.

Wanaque
A high school has banned students from taking limousines and luxury cars to prom. Lakeland Regional High School administrators sent a letter to parents this week stating that prom attendees must take school-provided, chaperoned coach buses to and from the venue in June. Schools Superintendent Hugh Beattie says the change is about the safety and equity for all students. He says it will cost $15 to ride the buses. But some parents and students are not happy with the change. Senior Alex Barna tells WCBS-TV that riding in a limo or party bus was “the best part of the night.” Parent Holly Bosland says taking a limo to prom is a tradition, and school officials are taking that away.

Santa Fe
Dolores Huerta (above), the Mexican-American social activist who formed a farmworkers union with Cesar Chavez, was honored Wednesday by state lawmakers, some of whom vowed to work to save her birthplace that now sits abandoned. The 88-year-old advocate and one of the most recognizable Latina activists in U.S. history stood quietly on the House floor as lawmakers took turns praising her for helping shape their views on union activism and fighting poverty. Democratic Rep. Angelica Rubio said Huerta’s decades of advocacy led to a new generation of Latina elected officials like herself. She said Huerta also was a key to getting Mexican-American history taught in public schools. “As some of you have the George Washingtons and Abraham Lincolns, we have Dolores Huerta,” Rubio said.

New York
If two New York City lawmakers get their way, the long, droning siren from police cars, fire trucks and ambulances that has been part of the city’s soundtrack for generations – WAAAAAhhhhhhh – would be replaced by a high-low wail similar to what’s heard on the streets of London and Paris – WEE-oww-WEE-oww-WEE-oww. Their reasons for the switch: The European-style siren is less shrill and annoying and contributes less to noise pollution. Noise is consistently among the most frequent complaints to the city’s hotline, with many calls about the loud sirens that blare 24/7, wake people from their slumber and cause dogs to howl in unison. “Europeanizing” New York sirens would not change the decibel level – but would lower the frequency and make the sirens less shrill.

Asheville
Leaders of this city with a tight housing market have approved more than $1 million to help teachers, municipal workers and the poorest residents buy homes. This week the Asheville City Council approved the policy that will provide $1.4 million for down payment assistance. Of that amount, $500,000 will go to people earning $25,763 or less a year. That figure could change annually. The minimum loan amount is $5,000. The maximum is 20 percent of the home’s value. Recipients must provide $1,000 that isn’t borrowed for a down payment from their own assets. The plan is funded by $1 million in bond money and $400,000 from the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.

Bismarck
The Native American tribe leading the fight against the Dakota Access oil pipeline says an Army Corps of Engineers document shows the agency concluded the pipeline wouldn’t unfairly affect tribes before it ever consulted them. The February 2018 draft memo says the Corps performed additional study ordered by a federal judge and “identified no new information.” The memo came three months before the Corps met with tribes. The Standing Rock Sioux says it shows the Corps didn’t seriously seek tribal input. The Corps has said the tribes have been difficult to work with. And the agency didn’t present its study findings to the judge until after meeting with tribes. Its final memo says it considered tribal concerns, but its overall review didn’t uncover significant new information.

Cleveland
A state report details numerous problems at a troubled and overcrowded county jail that had previously received satisfactory ratings from state inspectors. The Cuyahoga County Corrections Center in downtown Cleveland has been under scrutiny since the deaths of seven prisoners over a four-month period last year and a scathing report by the U.S. Marshals Service that called conditions at the jail “inhumane” and unsafe for prisoners and staff. The latest inspection, which occurred after the U.S. Marshals’, found nearly two-thirds of 135 standards out of compliance. State prison spokeswoman JoEllen Smith says while minimum standards for local jails are “significantly different” from those of the Marshals Service, inspectors carefully reviewed its report.

Oklahoma City
Lawmakers are considering legislation that would regulate how some license plate information is retained and distributed. The proposal aims to establish guidelines for the automated license plate readers that capture photos of vehicles entering the state. The bill requires that individual data collected by the Corporation Commission be exempt from the Open Records Act, which grants citizens unrestricted access to public records. Other agencies would be allowed to use the information for law enforcement and regulatory activities. The measure would allow the collected data to be published and released, but it would not authorize revealing the activities or identifying specific vehicles or carriers.

Salem
Gov. Kate Brown has signed the first mandatory statewide rent control bill for the U.S. as the economically booming state struggles to control a spiraling housing crisis. The Democratic governor said at a signing ceremony Thursday that the measure will “provide some immediate relief to Oregonians struggling to keep up with rising rents.” The law will limit rent increases to 7 percent each year plus inflation. Landlords must also provide just cause before evicting tenants after the first year of occupancy. The law takes effect immediately because Democrats who control the Legislature say the housing crisis is an emergency. New York has a statewide rent control law, but cities can choose whether to participate.

York
Police have captured an emu that’s been on the run. Northern York County Regional Police say the large bird was caught Tuesday after residents spotted it walking through backyards and on roadways. Police say animal wranglers with Ellis Animal Services walked the bird to a local emu farm, where it has been corralled with other emus. The bird was first spotted walking down the middle of a road Feb. 18, scaring a man who was working in his yard. Police have yet to locate the bird’s owner. The emu farm’s owner has volunteered to take the bird if the owner never comes forward. Anyone missing an emu is asked to contact police.

South Kingstown
A shark researcher at the University of Rhode Island has named a newly discovered species of shark after his 17-year-old daughter. Bradley Wetherbee, of Lincoln, says he named the Laila’s lantern shark after daughter Laila. The Providence Journal reports the shark specimens were first offered to Wetherbee for research after they were inadvertently captured off the Hawaiian Islands nearly 30 years ago. Wetherbee was able to ship some specimens to a California lab, which determined the sharks did not belong to any previously discovered species of lantern shark. Wetherbee says the Laila’s lantern shark is his new favorite species of shark. The bioluminescent species grows to about 3 feet long.

Columbia
South Carolina Chief Justice Donald Beatty says keeping diversity in the judicial system is critical to maintain the fairness and integrity of the courts. Beatty spoke Wednesday to a joint session of the General Assembly, giving the annual State of the Judiciary report. Beatty opened his speech talking about diversity, saying it is at its core a state of mind more than a collection of different things. He also pointed out that only 9 percent of the state’s judges are African-American women. Black lawmakers objected at a judicial election earlier this year when a white man who had never been a judge won a state Appeals Court seat over an African-American woman with 20 years on the bench. Beatty, who is black, has been chief justice since the start of 2017.

Sioux Falls
Police say drug seizures in the city hit record levels in 2018, with collections of meth leading the way. KELO-TV reports that Sioux Falls Police Chief Matt Burns says drug prices have never been lower, and supplies have never been greater. Police say property and violent crimes in the city typically involve drugs. The drug task force seized as much as 56 pounds of meth last year, compared to just over 11 pounds in 2017. Heroin seizures are also up. The agency took almost 8.5 pounds of heroin off the streets in 2018 after seizing less than a pound the year before. Burns stresses his department will continue to make drug seizures a top priority.

La Vergne
A national frozen beverage company is moving its corporate office here. Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe announced Wednesday that ICEE Co. will establish its headquarters in this middle Tennessee city. The project is estimated to bring 200 jobs to the region over the next five years. Lee says every kid and parent in America has craved an ICEE at one point, and he’s excited the “iconic” company will call Tennessee home. ICEE, founded in 1967, has been headquartered in Ontario, California, for nearly 30 years. The company is known for selling frozen drinks with spoon straws and dome lids. CEO and President Dan Fachner says he is looking forward to building new memories in Tennessee.

Midland
Enel Green Power North America Inc. kicked off construction this week of what will be the largest solar farm in the state. The company’s 497-megawatt-hour Roadrunner solar project in Upton County, near Midland, will be built in two phases and is expected to generate about 1.2 terawatt hours annually when it’s fully operational. Officials for the company anticipate the 2,770-acre project will create more than 500 jobs in the Permian Basin and contribute more than $60 million in property taxes over the next 30 years. Enel Green Power North America is a subsidiary of Enel Green Power, an Italian multinational that owns or operates about 100 renewable energy plants throughout the United States and Canada.

Salt Lake City
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is donating $2 million to the future International African American Museum for the creation of a family history center. Church Elder David A. Bednar presented the donation Wednesday in Salt Lake City to Michael Boulware Moore, president and CEO of the museum planned in Charleston, South Carolina. Bednar says the museum will help visitors “discover and connect with ancestors.” The museum says in a statement that the facility will be built on the former Gadsden’s Wharf, where nearly half of all enslaved Africans first entered America. The museum plans to begin construction later this year and open in 2021. The Mormon church operates the genealogy organization and website FamilySearch.

Montpelier
Officials are considering an electric vehicle tax to help fund road repairs. The Times Argus reports the state Agency of Transportation says it is bringing in about two-thirds of the funding it needs for infrastructure. The agency attributes the decrease to a drop in gas usage, and data show residents used 45 million gallons less gas in 2018 than in 2005. Michele Boomhower, division of the agency’s Policy, Planning and Intermodal Development Division, says residents cannot afford an increase in the gas tax. She says the Public Utilities Commission is in the ratemaking process for electric vehicle charging and grid modernization. Details of how the electric vehicle tax would work have not been finalized.

Richmond
Virginia first lady Pam Northam (above left) has expressed regret after the mother of an African-American teenager complained that a tour of the governor’s mansion was racially insensitive. Northam said she’s working to make sure the stories of slaves who worked in the mansion’s kitchen pre-Civil War are told properly. Northam’s statement comes amid heightened racial tension as Gov. Ralph Northam apologized recently for wearing blackface decades ago. State employee Leah Walker made the complaint. Her eighth-grade daughter toured the mansion as a part of the Senate page program. Walker says Pam Northam singled out African-American students when passing out cotton and discussing the horrors of slavery. Northam’s office said the first lady didn’t single anyone out.

Seattle
Amazon is abandoning a prominent downtown office project 10 months after it threatened to do so if the city imposed a new business tax. The Seattle Times reports that while the Seattle City Council eventually reversed itself on the tax that would have raised money for affordable housing, Amazon confirmed Wednesday it will not occupy the space it leased in the Rainier Square tower under construction. In a statement, Amazon said it is always evaluating its space requirements and intends to sublease Rainier Square based on current plans. Amazon added that the company has more than 9,000 open jobs in Seattle and “will continue to evaluate future growth.” The Rainier Square will be the second-tallest building in the Pacific Northwest, at 58 stories.

Charleston
One student called it a “hot mess.” Another said it’s a recipe for drunken college parties to turn deadly. A third argued that spirited classroom debates could end in shootouts. College students in the state sounded off Thursday following a House vote to allow people with concealed weapons permits to bring guns onto campuses, and many pupils are not happy. The proposal has drawn the ire of students and professors since its introduction, but after lawmakers approved the measure Wednesday, a refreshed wave of questions and anger emerged. “Just trying to work through this logically, there’s not a real good argument I can make on why this makes sense,” said Roark Sizemore, 21, a political science major and president pro-tempore of the West Virginia University Student Assembly.

Milwaukee
Milwaukee Public Museum’s new exhibit, “The Power of Poison,” opens Saturday and runs through July 7. Organized by the American Museum of Natural History, “The Power of Poison” highlights the complex role of venom and poisons in nature, popular culture, medicine and history. A section of the exhibit includes items people thought would keep them from harm – opal rings Europeans believed would warn the wearer by turning pale in the presence of poison; silver spoons thought to change color around poison in Asia; glass made in Venice, Italy, that was believed to shiver or explode when poisoned wine was poured in. There’s a section on poison in myths and legends, such as critical plot points in the Harry Potter series, “Alice in Wonderland,” comic books, Sherlock Holmes stories and Agatha Christie novels.

Yellowstone National Park
Park roads will begin to close to over-snow travel Friday so crews can start to plow in preparation for the coming spring and summer tourist season. The stretch of road from the East Entrance to Sylvan Pass will be the first to close, followed by the stretch from Mammoth Hot Springs to Norris on Sunday. All over-snow travel will end for the winter season in the park at 9 p.m. March 15. Weather permitting, some park roads will reopen to automobile traffic at 8 a.m. April 19. At Mammoth Hot Springs, the gift shop, ski shop and food services will close for the winter season Sunday. At Old Faithful, Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Cabins also will close Sunday.