Purple potatoes, suffragette mountain, pig your pardon?: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban will help fund a new children’s center with gifts totaling $1.25 million, officials announced Friday. The Tuscaloosa News reports Saban and his wife, Terry, are making a $1 million donation for what will become the Saban Center, and Saban’s private foundation, Nick’s Kids, will donate another $250,000. The more than 100,000-square-foot complex will be located in the existing Tuscaloosa News building near downtown. It will be updated as a home to the Tuscaloosa Public Library, a hands-on children’s museum and the Tuscaloosa Children’s Theater. The center, Saban said at a luncheon, will become “a hub for a lot of educational matters.” City leaders voted to buy the newspaper building, located downtown above the Black Warrior River, for nearly $8 million in October.

Alaska

Fairbanks: The state Department of Environmental Conservation has submitted its required final air quality improvement plan to the Environmental Protection Agency to reach compliance with the Clean Air Act. KTVF-TV reports the department released the Serious State Implementation Plan for Fairbanks North Star Borough allowing the public to see changes and their effective dates. Officials say this plan reflects revisions made after the department received public feedback. Department officials say the plan would prohibit the use of wood as the only heating source in homes, require EPA-certified wood burning devices in homes and prohibit commercial sellers from selling anything other than dry wood. Officials say some of the changes have delayed effective dates, but most of the regulations are expected to go into effect Jan. 8.

Arizona

Phoenix: After six weeks of parts of the Central Arizona Project canal being dry in order to do $6 million in repairs, Colorado River water will be flowing again Tuesday. The repairs were made to the canal where it tunnels beneath the Salt River in north Mesa. Water was still delivered to customers west of that point, but about 75% of CAP water is normally delivered beyond there. Several cities, tribes and irrigation districts rely on CAP water deliveries to supplement water supplies they get from the Salt and Verde rivers and from groundwater pumping. CAP general manager Ted Cook says plans for the repairs took about three years so that all of the customers who would have to go without Colorado River water for the duration could prepare. The inside of a 21-foot-diameter steel pipe needed recoating to protect against rust, officials say.

Arkansas

Lowell: A 24-year-old man drowned in a lake after driving a truck into the water during a police chase, authorities say. Late Saturday, Lowell police pulled over the truck, which initially stopped but took off as the officer was exiting his patrol vehicle, the police department said in a press release. Officers pursued the truck onto a highway that dead-ended at a boat ramp. Lowell police said Carlos Martinez then drove the truck into Beaver Lake. Martinez and two female passengers began swimming, but police said Martinez submerged and did not resurface. One passenger made it to the shore, where she was taken into custody, and the other was apprehended in the water, police said. Both women were treated for hypothermia, and police said they will face charges. Martinez’s body was recovered from the water shortly after the pursuit, police said.

California

San Francisco: Recent heavy storms have wiped out much of the state’s abnormally dry conditions. Two months ago, the U.S. Drought Monitor categorized more 81% of the state as abnormally dry because of above-normal temperatures and a lack of precipitation six weeks into the water year that started Oct. 1. The percentage climbed to 85% as recently as last week. But heavy rains throughout the state have shrunk the percentage to a sliver along the Oregon-California border. This was the 10th driest October since record-keeping began in 1895, says David Simeral, a research scientist at the Western Regional Climate Center in Reno. The category put most of the state one step above moderate drought level and indicates the soil is dry, snow pack is minimal, and fire danger is high. California had seven years of drought that ended March 2019.

Colorado

Denver: A federal appeals court has ruled that officials at a supermax prison in the state sufficiently changed their policies and corrected their mistakes after refusing to distribute a magazine that provides legal information to inmates. The three-judge panel of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday rejected an argument by the magazine’s publisher, Prison Legal News, that a court order was warranted to prevent future censorship. “The Warden has declared that PLN’s future publications substantially similar to the previously rejected publications will not be rejected,” said the opinion written by Judge Scott Matheson Jr. The facility is the highest-security prison in the U.S., housing inmates such as Unabomber Theodore Kaczyinski, Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and, more recently, drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Connecticut

Hartford: Public utilities regulators have asked the state’s two largest electricity providers to increase efforts to reach out to customers who might qualify for hardship status. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, in response to a surge in shutoffs over the past few years, asked Eversource and United Illuminating last week to prepare a script that call centers would use when talking to customers to determine and recognize hardship eligibility, according to the Hartford Courant. The board also asked the utilities to prepare single-page, straightforward explanations on hardship criteria and to hold meetings in neighborhoods where the people who need the information and assistance the most are located. The move was hailed by advocates. “It’s a extraordinary decision. They heard us,” says lawyer Bonnie Roswig of the Center for Children’s Advocacy in Hartford.

Delaware

Wilmington: In a city that is almost 70% African American and Latino, the diversity of the police charged to serve and protect residents does not reflect that number. But more than half of the City Council says it should. The council voted 6-5 recently to postpone the forming of a new class of cadets until more is done to ensure that class’s diversity. Opposing them were council members who said diversity matters, but violent crime in the city is more important, and a class should be started immediately. Those who voted to postpone argued that Police Chief Robert Tracy has not given the council a plan about how he would make sure the next class of cadets was more diverse. They questioned his seriousness about doing so. “I’m surprised that this is on the agenda because, as it was said, we had a meeting about this,” Councilman Trippi Congo said.

District of Columbia

Washington: Four former D.C. police officers are suing their old department, saying it regularly violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and forced them to retire over mental or physical illnesses. The federal lawsuit filed Thursday against the district, the department and its chief alleges the department pushed out disabled officers without trying to accommodate them by providing extended leave or changing their responsibilities, WTOP-FM reports. The suit seeks a jury trial. Department policy forced employees into disability retirement if they were on less than full-duty status for 172 cumulative work days over a two-year period for an injury or disability suffered outside work, the lawsuit alleges. One of the former officers says the department also made improper medical inquiries and imposed improper medical examinations on him.

Florida

Miami: The city has a different take on the presidential turkey pardoning for the holidays. Mayor Carlos Gimenez is adding some caliente to the tradition by pardoning a pig. Roasted pig, or lechon, is the centerpiece of many South Florida Christmas feasts. The annual pig pardoning ceremony took place Monday at Latin Cafe 2000 Brickell. The two lucky pigs, Peppa and Petra, were rescued from a local slaughterhouse by the Aguacate Sanctuary of Love. The rescue group says the pigs will have ample space to run free. The ceremony was open to the public, with pork-free light bites served along with, of course, Cuban Cafecito.

Georgia

Atlanta: An economic forecast predicts fewer jobs will be created in the state next year as its economy continues to grow, but at a slower pace. The unemployment rate is forecast to rise to 4.2% in 2020, compared to an estimated 3.7% for all of 2019, according to the Georgia Economic Outlook. The report was presented Wednesday in Atlanta by University of Georgia Terry College of Business dean Benjamin Ayers, according to a news release from the school. Nonfarm employment is expected to rise by 21,000 jobs statewide. That’s more than a third less than the 69,000 jobs the state is expecting to add in 2019, the report produced by UGA’s Selig Center for Economic Growth found. The “guiding light” of the 2020 economy will be consumers, Ayers said. Consumer spending, low interest rates and rising home values are expected to spur growth. But international trade tensions are the main recession risk, according to Ayers.

Hawaii

Honolulu: While a taste for its flavors may continue, a Hawaii ice cream company is facing an unsavory blow to its business after a supply partner declared bankruptcy. Dave’s Ice Cream Inc. may have to reduce its supply after last month’s bankruptcy of national food and beverage firm Dean Foods, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. Dave’s sells about 15,000 gallons of ice cream made in Pearl City on Oahu to eateries and stores, owner Dave Leong says. The company distributes its desserts under a wholesale arrangement with Dean Foods subsidiary Meadow Gold Dairies-Hawaii. Meadow Gold plans to import ice cream from Utah to supply Hawaii restaurant customers beginning next month, Leong says. The move would cut off a third of Dave’s business, amounting to more than $1 million annually, Leong says.

Idaho

Boise: The Idaho Press Club and four Boise-area journalists have won a lawsuit they filed against Ada County officials under the Idaho Public Records Act. In Friday’s ruling, 4th District Judge Deborah Bail wrote that the county’s approach to the public records requests it had received from the journalists was so far removed from the requirements of the state law that it was as though the county were doing the opposite of what the Idaho Public Records Act required. All of the documents requested by the journalists, with the exception of just a few, must be turned over to them, Bail said. She also ordered Ada County to pay the Idaho Press Club’s attorneys fees. “Ada County’s approach to handling the Idaho Public Records Act requests in this case was troubling,” the judge wrote in Friday’s ruling.

Illinois

Oregon: The restoration project for a northern Illinois landmark known as the Black Hawk statue is near completion after funding and weather-related delays. The 108-year-old monument at Lowden State Park has spent most of the past five years beneath plastic covering to protect it from harsh weather. Standing at 48 feet tall, the statue overlooks the Rock River in the city of Oregon. It is one of the tallest concrete monolith statues in the world. Lorado Taft, the sculptor who designed it, dedicated the statue as a tribute to Native Americans in 1911 and named it The Eternal Indian. The statue’s arms had to be fully replaced, WLS-TV reports. The head needed to be repaired, and most of the decayed exterior concrete has been chipped away and replaced with a new, less permeable concrete mix. The project is expected to be completed at the end of December.

Indiana

Gary: The city is renaming a street to honor controversial 1960s civil rights leader Malcolm X. Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said one of her last acts in office will be issuing an executive order to rename Virginia Street as Malcolm X Boulevard. She said Malcolm X emphasized, particularly toward the end of his life, “how much those who struggled and those who were underserved and underprivileged had in common.” Malcolm X, a Muslim minister who broke away from the Nation of Islam in 1964, was assassinated Feb. 21, 1965, at the age of 39 by three Nation members during a speaking engagement in Manhattan. Freeman-Wilson said she will issue the Malcolm X order Dec. 20. It will take effect July 1 because street signs and addresses will need to be changed.

Iowa

Iowa City: The state auditor on Monday criticized $40,000 in relocation benefits that helped a veteran Iowa State Patrol supervisor move his family to a home farther away from his new assignment in western Iowa. State Auditor Rob Sand concluded there was no “public benefit” for taxpayers to cover closing costs and other expenses on the sale of Lt. Joel Ehler’s home in Adel. Sand wrote in a report that the sale was more related to Ehler’s purchase of a new home in West Des Moines than to his relocation to become the patrol’s district commander of Council Bluffs. Sand’s office investigated the matter after the Associated Press reported on the allocation of benefits in May. Its findings contrast with those of an internal investigation by the Iowa Department of Public Safety, which found that the benefits were appropriate and that Ehler did nothing wrong.

Kansas

Topeka: Kansas prisons have exceeded their operating capacity, and it will cost the state millions of dollars to send hundreds of prisoners to a privately owned and operated prison in Arizona. The Kansas Department of Corrections this month announced a contract with CoreCivic to move inmates to Saguaro Correctional Center, KCUR-FM reports. Plans call for 360 male prisoners to be moved starting this summer, and up to 600 inmates could be moved. CoreCivic plans to fly the first group of 120 inmates to the prison in Eloy, Arizona, and others will be driven to the facility. The prison is roughly a 12-hour drive from the southwestern corner of Kansas. State Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, said the rise in prison population is due to decades of policies in which more people are being sent to jail and for longer periods of time.

Kentucky

Frankfort: Days after his administration was questioned for not having the POW/MIA flag on top of the state Capitol, Gov. Andy Beshear has announced the flag will return and remain through his time in office. “Every day we honor the sacrifices of Kentuckians and Americans who are still prisoners, missing or unaccounted for,” Beshear said in a Sunday evening news release. “To show our daily commitment to these heroes and their families, the POW/MIA flag will be flown permanently at the Capitol.” He signed a proclamation to that effect Monday. On Dec. 9, the POW/MIA flag was flown as part of a POW/MIA ceremony held at the Capitol before Beshear took office, according to the release, but outgoing Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration did not issue an order for it to remain. The next day, Beshear was inaugurated, and all flags were removed and new flags put up, but a POW/MIA flag was not put back up.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: State education leaders are pushing for all high school graduates within a decade to leave school with college credit or an industry-based credential, a target in line with the state’s new higher education master plan. The Advocate reports that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, which oversees K-12 public education, and the Board of Regents, which oversees public colleges, adopted the goal for 2029 graduates during a joint meeting last week. The goal, if accomplished, would double the current achievement level through courses known as dual-enrollment, in which students take college-level classes for both high school and college credit. Half of the high school graduating class of 2018 earned college credit for at least one course or a marketable industry credential, according to the state Department of Education.

Maine

Bar Harbor: A National Park Service effort to improve dozens of miles of historic carriage roads in Acadia National Park is scheduled to reach completion next year. The park service says next year Eagle Lake Carriage Road will be rehabilitated with a goal of stabilizing and improving the road surface. Partial road closures from one intersection to another should be anticipated from April 15 to Nov. 15, the service says. The improvements to Acadia’s carriage roads are designed to preserve the roads for future generations, the park service says. Acadia “contains nationally significant cultural resources including the best and most extensive example of a historic carriage road system in the United States,” the service said in a statement.

Maryland

Annapolis: Some construction projects in the state are costing tens of millions of dollars more than original estimates, in large measure because of a lack of skilled trades in the region. The increase in price for just two large projects at the University of Maryland was about $64 million. Maryland Center for Construction Education & Innovation President Bob Ayudkovic says the labor shortages in Maryland and nationally can be traced back to the Great Recession of 2008 to 2009. Issues include a high demand for and low supply of skilled workers, which result in higher wages, adjustments to the scope of projects and rebidding trade packages. Documentation for the University of Maryland projects also indicated that multiple large mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractors are no longer in business.

Massachusetts

Boston: City officials are expected to consider renaming the square in a historically black neighborhood to Nubian Square. Sadiki Kambon, chair of Nubian Square Coalition, says his group’s proposal is expected to go before the Public Improvement Commission on Thursday. Democratic Mayor Marty Walsh supports the effort. A citywide ballot referendum on the idea failed in November, but the vote tally showed that residents in the Roxbury neighborhood, where the name change is being proposed, overwhelmingly favored it. Supporters say the commercial center should be renamed because Roxbury resident Thomas Dudley was a leading politician when Massachusetts legally sanctioned slavery in the 1600s. But opponents counter that slavery was also part of the ancient Nubian empire, which ruled over swaths of modern-day Egypt and Sudan thousands of years ago.

Michigan

East Lansing: Michigan State University researchers have reached their goal of breeding a purple potato, and now it’s being made into purple, kettle-cooked potato chips. Dave Douches, director for the MSU Potato Breeding and Genetics program, and other researchers spent 20 years crossing potato varieties and testing to develop what they call the Blackberry potato. The MSU potato program and Traverse City-based Great Lakes Potato Chip Co. partnered to produce the chips as a way to capitalize on the Blackberry potato and to celebrate the chip company’s 10th anniversary. It does not taste sweet like a blackberry, but Douches says it makes a tasty potato chip. Douches began developing the potato after he found a hole in the potato market. There were other purple potatoes, but none of them had a deep purple color like the Blackberry potato.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: The state government will continue to consent to refugee resettlement, Gov. Tim Walz said Friday, in response to a recent presidential executive order that requires consent from states and counties. “The inn is not full in Minnesota,” the Democratic governor said in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just ahead of the Christmas holiday. Walz also said he rejects the intent of the executive order and reserves the state’s right to challenge its requirements. Minnesota has the country’s largest Somali and Karen populations, the second-largest Hmong population and one of the largest Liberian populations – all made up of people who fled their war-torn homelands and their descendants. The city of Minneapolis also responded to Trump’s order Friday when its mayor and City Council approved a resolution affirming a pledge to be a welcoming city that strongly supports the resettlement of refugees.

Mississippi

Vicksburg: A board working to build an arts pavilion is hoping to raise awareness for the plan by selling a princess – or at least a replica of one. The board of directors of the proposed Mississippi International Arts Pavilion in Vicksburg is selling reproductions of the Porcelain Princess, a statue featured in the Porcelain Room of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, Spain. The limited number of statues is being sold for $2,000 each to raise money and awareness for the art pavilion, board member Kendra Reed told the Port City Kiwanis Club on Thursday, according to The Vicksburg Post. “Jackson has the catfish, Hattiesburg has swans, and Meridian has the carousel horse,” Reed said. “Our ambassador will be the Porcelain Princess. There are only 30 of them (available), and we’re going to have them placed around town so that people will see what we are trying to do and create conversation.”

Missouri

St. Louis: City officials have voted to ban local veterinarians from declawing cats, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The St. Louis Board of Aldermen voted 21-1 on Friday for an ordinance to end the practice. Declawing a cat involves slicing through bone to amputate the first segment of a cat’s toes. The operation was once commonly performed to protect furniture and human skin from feline scratching but has in recent years come under scrutiny by animal welfare advocates, cat owners and many vets. Democratic Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia has said the procedure can be painful. She said cat owners sometimes declaw cats to prevent them from scratching, but Ingrassia said there are alternatives to address those issues. The bill includes an exception for medically necessary procedures.

Montana

Helena: The state’s health department will begin enforcing its emergency ban on the sale of flavored vaping products beginning Wednesday, state officials say. A temporary restraining order preventing the ban from taking effect expired Oct. 28, the Department of Public Health and Human Services says. The judge who heard arguments on a motion by vaping shop owners seeking a preliminary injunction to block the ban has not made a ruling six weeks after hearing arguments. The restrictions include the sale of all flavored e-cigarette products including flavored nicotine, THC and CBD e-cigarette products, both in store and online. The rules do not require businesses to destroy their inventory. The health department issued emergency rules Oct. 8, citing reports of lung injury and deaths by people who had used vaping products and concerns that the flavored products were enticing minors to become addicted to nicotine.

Nebraska

Omaha: An $18 million homeless shelter, the largest in the state, opened last week with beds for as many as 450 people. The new Siena Francis House shelter was built on the site of a former salvage yard in north downtown Omaha. Officials say the new, 43,000-square-foot building will be better able to meet the community’s needs without having people sleeping on mattresses on the floor. The facility is also equipped with a commercial kitchen and larger space for people to gather while waiting for case management and other services. The Siena Francis House’s executive director, Linda Twomey, told the Omaha World-Herald the new facility that opened Thursday will allow the organization to provide a variety of services all in one location. The City of Omaha provided $2.5 million for demolition and cleanup of a salvage yard that had occupied the location. Private donations covered most of the rest of the cost.

Nevada

Las Vegas: Cluck Norris, a cowboy pigeon in a tiny orange hat, has been captured. Lofty Hopes, the Las Vegas pigeon rescue tracking a pair of hat-wearing birds for more than a week, found Cluck in a trap Monday near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus. The fashionable bird’s counterpart, Coolamity Jane, is still on the lam more than a week after a video showing the pigeons strutting down the street in tiny hats went viral and captured the country’s attention. Intrigue surrounding the travels of Coolamity Jane and Cluck Norris made them social media sensations and even inspired a parody country song. The tiny cowboy hats appear to be glued on the pigeons, Lofty Hopes co-founder Mariah Hillman says. When the rescue first encountered Cluck Norris, there were feathers stuck to his tiny red hat. Who made a joke at the expense of the birds’ well-being remains a mystery.

New Hampshire

North Woodstock: Organizers of an annual display of hand-crafted ice castle sculptures are looking for some help as they prepare for the upcoming season. The frozen attraction is located in six places across North America, including in North Woodstock. The castles include LED-lit sculptures, frozen thrones, ice-carved tunnels, slides and fountains. So far, the New Hampshire attraction is slated to open late December or early January, depending on the weather. Some jobs are advertised on its website. The winter wonderland is built from scratch when the cold conditions allow the ice to sprout from the barren ground.

New Jersey

Paterson: This car-packed state may be more bicycle-friendly than you think. A new report has named it the 12th-most bicycle-friendly state in the country. The 2019 report card from the League of American Bicyclists ranked the state between Pennsylvania and New York, mainly backed on the strength of its policies and planning. However, state officials need to convert those plans into action, says Ken McLeod, the league’s policy director. The league’s top recommendation is increasing its use of federal transportation funds for biking and walking projects. Over the past five fiscal years, New Jersey has the nation’s lowest use of federal funds on biking and walking per person, at 63 cents on average, records show. New Jersey’s outlay is roughly 5.5 times less per person than New York’s.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: Samples of a street photography project that is more than a half-century in the making are set to go on display in the city, and organizers want residents to visit and help find family members. The exhibit called “Let the Sunshine In” is scheduled to start Saturday at the Albuquerque Museum and will feature 100 images from the street photography project, KRQE-TV reports. In 1967, the museum hired street photographers to capture the city’s ongoing urban renewal, a mass exodus from downtown to the suburbs and a time of social change. The museum’s current Digital Archivist Jill Hartke narrowed down roughly 8,000 35-millimeter slides taken between 1967 and 1972 to best tell the Duke City’s story. No one featured in the exhibit has been identified because the photographers practiced authentic street photography.

New York

Lewis: An Adirondack mountain has been renamed in honor of Inez Milholland, a human rights activist known for leading a suffrage parade astride a white horse on the eve of President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration in 1913. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Board on Geographic Names approved naming a peak in the town of Lewis Mount Inez, according to the National Women’s Law Center in Washington. The old name was Mount Discovery. Milholland died in 1916 at the age of 30 during a cross-country trip promoting national candidates supporting women’s voting rights. She was buried near her family home in Lewis, not far from the mountain now bearing her name. The town of Lewis renamed Mount Discovery as Mount Inez soon after her death, but a lack of follow-through at the federal level left the name unofficial.

North Carolina

Raleigh: The state’s superintendent of public instruction is alleging that more than 70,000 third grade students have been wrongly promoted since 2014 even though they did not meet mandated reading requirements. News outlets report State Superintendent Mark Johnson in a memo criticized the State Board of Education and former staff members of the Department of Public Instruction for “aggressive work-arounds” that he claims have “gutted” a program meant to ensure students can read proficiently before advancing to fourth grade. Lawmakers approved the Read to Achieve program in 2012. Under the program, students are to be promoted based on their academic abilities, not their age. State Board Chairman Eric Davis denies Johnson’s allegations, saying that if the board had enacted policies that were not in accordance with the law, the General Assembly would have already taken action.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Gov. Doug Burgum has sent a letter to President Donald Trump requesting a presidential disaster declaration after an October storm dumped heavy rain and snow on a large part of the state. The letter was sent to Trump on Friday through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Burgum’s office said preliminary assessments show the rainfall and blizzard caused up to $9.7 million in damage to public infrastructure. Burgum asked that the declaration cover the period from Oct. 9 through Oct. 26 and include 15 counties. If granted, a presidential disaster declaration would unlock FEMA public assistance to help cities, counties and townships pay for the costs of repairing roads and other infrastructure. North Dakota experienced weather extremes this year ranging from spring flooding to a severe summer drought to the wettest August-to-October period in 125 years of record keeping.

Ohio

Columbus: The state is expanding an online check-in program aimed at reducing the time people spend waiting in line at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Ohio officials say the “Get In Line, Online” program will expand statewide over the next six months to benefit customers waiting for services such as license renewal and vehicle registration. With the virtual queuing system, customers check in online, then arrive at their deputy registrar location within a four-hour window and claim their spot in line. A pilot project was launched in June in Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hancock counties. Officials say it helped shave nearly 15 minutes off those customers’ average in-person wait times.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: Two women have launched an initiative petition for a public vote on whether to legalize the use of marijuana in the state by adults 21 and older. A proposed ballot title was submitted for review last week with little fanfare by Oklahoma City residents Amy Young and Vanessa Avery. Once it’s been reviewed, supporters will have 90 days to gather nearly 178,000 signatures to qualify the question for the ballot. If approved, it would amend the Oklahoma Constitution to allow for adult use of marijuana. The proposal also would impose a 15% tax on the sale of marijuana, in addition to state and local taxes. Oklahoma’s medical marijuana program launched last year and has been wildly successful, with more than 220,000 patient and 1,500 dispensary licenses issued so far.

Oregon

Astoria: Fishing for fall chinook is now banned in multiple rivers on the state’s north coast because extremely dry conditions have fueled a widespread die-off of the species. After two months of low rainfall, hundreds of adult fish on multiple coastal streams are dying from an unusual outbreak of a naturally occurring parasite before they get a chance to spawn, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Extended periods of low water levels mean that salmon waiting to swim upstream to spawn are spending extra time in shallow water where conditions are more conducive to the cryptobia parasite, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said. The parasite doesn’t pose a risk to humans and only affects certain species of fish.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: The state’s top prosecutor said Monday that he has told state police to treat unassembled “ghost guns” as firearms under state law, meaning felons may not legally possess them. Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro issued a legal opinion to the Pennsylvania State Police that the gun frames, also known as “80% receivers,” qualify as firearms. The guns can be quickly assembled and lack serial numbers, so they cannot be traced. Purchases have not been subject to mandatory background checks. Shapiro’s opinion, in the form of a letter issued Monday to the state police commissioner, Col. Robert Evanchick, says the ghost guns are firearms if they are designed to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive, or if they can be readily converted to do so.

Rhode Island

Central Falls: A post office will be renamed in honor of a 19th-century abolitionist and suffragist. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, R-D.I., said President Donald Trump signed a bill late last week to honor Elizabeth Buffum Chace by naming the Central Falls post office after her. Rhode Island’s congressional delegation introduced the bill, which passed both chambers. Chace dedicated her life to advocating for women’s rights and the abolition of slavery. She married Samuel Chace, and their home in Valley Falls, Rhode Island, became a way station for escaped slaves and abolitionist speakers in the 1850s, according to the Rhode Island Historical Society. They built their Central Falls home in 1858. Chace led the Rhode Island Women’s Suffrage Association from 1870 until her death in 1899.

South Carolina

Charleston: A peaceful revolution 300 years ago in what would become South Carolina is getting its own exhibition at the state Department of Archives and History. The exhibit is called “ ‘To preserve us from utter ruine’: The Revolution of 1719” – named after one of the hundreds of thousands of critical and historic documents stored at the archives headquarters in north Columbia. The exhibit highlights the period when South Carolina transitioned under the rule of Great Britain from a proprietary colony run by a businessman or other leader to a royal colony with more involvement from the king. Organizers said the exhibit will link the 1719 revolution in what was then called Charles Town to the American Revolution in 1776 and South Carolina’s decision to leave the Union and help form the Confederacy in 1860. The free exhibit opens Wednesday and runs through September.

South Dakota

Rapid City: Higher gold prices are generating new interest in drilling in the state’s Black Hills. At least five companies are currently drilling for gold in the mountainous region, which extends from western South Dakota into Wyoming. After being under $1,400 per ounce for several years, the price for gold has climbed above that level in recent months. F3 Gold, of Minneapolis, is funding an environmental assessment it hopes will lead to the approval of its plan to drill on Black Hills Forest Service land near Silver City, about 15 miles west of the state’s second-largest city, Rapid City. Another factor driving exploration interest in the Black Hills is its well-known history as a gold-producing region, the Rapid City Journal reports. The former Homestake Mine near Lead became the largest and deepest gold mine in North America and generated 40 million ounces of gold during its 126-year life.

Tennessee

Memphis: Two African penguins have been born at the city’s zoo, bringing the total number of the birds housed there to 20. The penguin chicks were born at the end of October, but they are not yet on exhibit because they are currently being hand-raised, Memphis Zoo officials said in a news release. Zookeepers should be able to determine the sex of the chicks in the next few weeks, the release said. The chicks’ mother is named Tulip, and the dad is named Cameron. The African black-footed penguin can be found in large colonies in southern Africa. They are one of 17 species of penguins found in the world and are considered the most endangered type of penguins, the zoo said. Forty-two penguin chicks have been hatched and reared at the Memphis zoo, officials said.

Texas

San Antonio: The remains of three people were found at the Alamo amid an archaeological exploration ahead of planned renovations at the site of one of the most famous battles in American history, state officials say. The remains of an infant, a teenager or young adult, and an adult were found during archaeological exploration in Alamo church’s monks burial room and nave, the Texas General Land Office said in a news release Friday. An on-site tribal monitor was notified, and excavation was halted in the area of the discovery, according to the office, which operates the Alamo. The announcement comes after the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation filed a federal lawsuit in September seeking to halt the $450 million makeover of the sacred shrine on track to be completed by 2024. The group wants a say in what happens to unearthed human remains because many of its citizens are descendants of people who lived near the site.

Utah

Draper: Inmates are learning to tell their stories through a speech club, bolstering communication skills that help them navigate life after release and teach others to avoid their mistakes. About 50 men are part of the New Visions Speech Club, which serves the Promontory state prison facility where inmates have demonstrated good behavior and want counseling and therapy, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The club uses a similar method as Toastmasters International, the public speaking club that teaches participants to express their points by telling a story. The techniques allow inmates to do things like ask a parole board for a release date. It can also help in job interviews as they work to rebuild their lives, says Frank Lewis, a prison volunteer who helped bring the speech club to the facility.

Vermont

Montpelier: Sixty-nine public, private and independent schools across the state have been awarded $1.4 million in grants that will be used to complete 150 projects, Gov. Phil Scott’s office announced Monday. The Legislature approved the funds during the 2019 session to enable eligible schools to plan for and install equipment to enhance building security. Priority was given to exterior and interior door locking mechanisms and public address systems to ensure all those in and outside school buildings can be informed of an emergency. Other improvements include security cameras and window shading. “Supporting security improvements in our schools helps ensure all Vermont kids have the safest possible learning environment, and these funds fill gaps left by the first round of grants,” Scott said in a statement.

Virginia

Richmond: An effort is being made to honor unheralded black soldiers who fought in the Civil War. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports a group called the Honor the 14 Foundation is behind the push, which aims to memorialize 14 Medal of Honor recipients from a black regiment of the Union Army. Donald E. King, a senior partner at the McGuireWoods law firm and board member of the American Civil War Museum, initiated the push. King said the foundation plans to privately raise millions to erect the statue in Richmond. Black troops in the Union army defeated Confederate forces at the Battle of New Market Heights in 1864 after two previous attempts failed. Fourteen of the black soldiers who fought received the Medal of Honor.

Washington

Federal Way: Authorities are calling a Christmas tree thief a real-life Grinch after arresting a man they say stole dozens of evergreens from a family-owned farm. The Seattle Times reports that police in Federal Way made the arrest Friday after getting reports that about 78 trees had vanished from the Snowshoe Evergreen Christmas Tree Farm the previous weekend. The trees were valued at more than $6,000. Police say the suspect, whose name was not released, also stole a truck and cargo trailer and planned to sell the trees at a pop-up tree stand. He had chopped down the trees one by one and dragged them from the business.

West Virginia

Charleston: Gov. Jim Justice’s attorneys asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to dismiss a legal challenge seeking to force him to live in the capital, saying it’s a “nebulous” requirement that would entail “court-supervised monitoring” of the governor’s whereabouts. The Republican’s filing comes amid lawsuits by Democratic state Del. Isaac Sponaugle that have accused Justice of violating a passage of the state Constitution stating the governor “shall reside at the seat of government.” Justice is hoping that the state’s high court will rule in his favor amid a legal back-and-forth over the definition of the word “reside.” The billionaire has drawn criticism from Democratic and Republican members for being absent at the Capitol in Charleston amid litigation facing his expansive business holdings.

Wisconsin

Madison: The state recorded its wettest year ever in 2019 since record-keeping began in 1895, climatologists say. Climatologist Mike Timlin told Wisconsin Public Radio it’s been wet all year. Wisconsin received 41.75 inches of precipitation through last month. The amount of rain and snow so far this year broke the previous record of 40.09 inches set in 1938, according to Steve Vavrus, senior scientist with the Nelson Institute’s Center for Climatic Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “One of the remarkable things about this year is that it hasn’t just been one part of the state that’s been socked. It’s been everywhere,” Vavrus said. Four of Wisconsin’s top five wettest years have taken place in the last decade – three of them in the past five years (2019, 2018 and 2016).

Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park: The park opened its gates Sunday to tourists riding snowcoaches and snowmobiles. Visitors may now travel the park’s interior roads on commercially guided snowmobiles and snowcoaches from the North, West and South Entrances. Visitors who have proper permits can also take snowmobile trips without a commercial guide. The East Entrance Road over Sylvan Pass will open for oversnow travel Dec. 22. During the winter season, Yellowstone also offers a variety of activities, such as ranger-led programs, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The National Park Service reminds winter visitors that weather in the park is extremely unpredictable, and road closures or delays can occur with little or no warning. People are reminded to have personal emergency survival equipment and appropriate outdoor gear for the cold weather. Lodging and services are limited during winter.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Purple potatoes, suffragette mountain: News from around our 50 states