‘Car Choir,’ bear boom, festival changes: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Birmingham: The director of the Alabama Board of Funeral Service says businesses have been reaching out for advice on how to handle the large volume of deaths due to COVID-19 and other causes. “Funeral homes don’t always operate on regular business hours,” Charles Perine told AL.com. “However, to the point that you are having to run the crematorium around the clock, that is unique.” Some funeral businesses report adding cremation shifts to handle the extra load. Already this month, the state’s death toll from the pandemic has hit 5,000 and kept climbing to pass 6,000. Homicides and drug overdoses also surged last year, adding to an unprecedented death toll. The Patterson-Forest Grove Funeral Home in Pleasant Grove typically ran its crematory from about 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. prior to the pandemic, manager Glennis Points said. “Now we are working until 3 a.m. most nights and starting back up again around 8 in the morning,” Points said. The funeral home also has struggled to obtain the concrete vaults that hold and protect buried caskets. Arlillian Kate Bushelon, manager of Bushelon Funeral Home in Birmingham, said casket companies have reported shortages.

Alaska

Juneau: State lawmakers convene Tuesday amid economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 sent lawmakers home early last year. Now, some have gotten the vaccine, the Capitol remains closed to the public, and other protections have been taken against the virus. That includes a testing program and an effort to send lawmakers who refuse to wear masks to their offices and deny Capitol access to those who won’t get temperature checks and answer screening questions. Lawmakers could change those policies, said Jessica Geary, Legislative Affairs Agency executive director. Some lawmakers say restricting public access is excessive. “We work for the public, and excluding them from the process, it makes it look like the very thing that the public fears about Juneau: that we’re already in a bubble, and now we’ve formally sealed off that bubble,” said Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna. Legislative hearings will be broadcast on a public affairs network and online, and there are options for public comment. Sen. Tom Begich, D-Anchorage, said he’s seen more constituents during the “Zoom era” than before the pandemic, and he’d like to see masks enforced as rigorously as dress requirements. He said he’s been sent to get a tie to attend floor sessions.

Arizona

Phoenix: State prison officials started offering COVID-19 vaccinations Friday to corrections officers at the Perryville prison in Goodyear, with other prisons to follow in the future. State corrections officers can get vaccinated either through the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry or through the counties where they live. Some counties have already made vaccines available to officers. Centurion of Arizona, the company that provides health care for state prisoners, also has received vaccines and plans to begin offering them to its employees Monday at the Perryville prison, though many of Centurion’s providers have already received it, officials said. It’s unknown exactly when vaccines will be offered to the 37,000 state prisoners. Corrections officials say the timeline for inmate vaccinations depends on the amount of vaccine doses the department receives and when it gets them. In county jails across Arizona, several sheriff’s offices said they have already begun offering the vaccine to jail officers. It’s unknown exactly when county jail inmates will get vaccinations.

Arkansas

Little Rock: Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Secretary of Health Dr. Joe R. Romero received their first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine during a televised event Monday. Hutchinson, a 70-year-old Republican, said he was being vaccinated in public to show Arkansans that the shot is a safe and effective way to curb the coronavirus, which has caused more than 4,300 deaths in the state. “We can get though this COVID pandemic by everyone taking the vaccine when it is their turn,” Hutchinson said. He asked residents to be patient as the state works to speed up vaccine distribution. Hutchinson was vaccinated in Little Rock along with his wife and four teachers. The state began making the vaccine available to teachers and people age 70 or older Monday. As of Sunday, 137,307 doses of the vaccine have been given in Arkansas, according to the state Department of Health. There were 1,271 Arkansas residents hospitalized with the coronavirus Sunday.

California

Los Angeles: The state is closing in on 3 million coronavirus cases as it tries to smooth the rocky rollout of vaccines amid a continuing spike in COVID-19 deaths. The state reported 432 deaths Sunday, a day after recording the second-highest daily count of 669, according to the Department of Public Health. California’s death toll since the start of the pandemic rose to 33,392, while total cases reached 2.94 million. Hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions remained on a slight downward trend, but officials have warned that could reverse when the full impact from transmissions during Christmas and New Year’s Eve gatherings is felt. “As case numbers continue to rise in California, the total number of individuals who will have serious outcomes will also increase,” the health department said in a statement Sunday. There have been about 500 deaths and 40,000 new cases daily for the past two weeks. Lawmakers and public health officials have said the surge won’t be flattened without mass vaccinations, but California has trailed the rest of the country on inoculating its residents. So far the state has vaccinated just 2,468 people per 100,000, well below the national average of about 3,300, according to federal data cited Saturday by the Sacramento Bee.

Colorado

Denver: The state’s public health department sent notices Sunday to hundreds of providers directing them not to require government IDs or other documentation for people getting inoculated against COVID-19. The directive is aimed at ensuring noncitizens and others who might not have an ID are included in the vaccination drive. Ignoring it could cause medical facilities and local health agencies to lose access to vaccines, Scott Bookman, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s COVID-19 incident commander, warned in the letter to the state’s 459 providers. “Whether you are a U.S. citizen or not, we are all in this together. If you would like a vaccine, you will be able to get one according to what vaccine phase you are in,” Bookman wrote, the Denver Post reports. Bookman said requiring IDs could also be a barrier for people who are experiencing homelessness, have a disability, or are on the margins of society and unable to get an ID. Health care providers are now authorized to vaccinate people 70 and older. They can ask a person’s name, date of birth and address, but officials recommend they operate on an “honor system” with regard to age rather than asking to see an ID.

Connecticut

Hartford: A state Department of Health employee says he was fired after questioning the department’s authority to fine a bar that allegedly flouted state rules about crowd size. The New Haven Register reports Av Harris, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, was abruptly terminated Dec. 31. His attorney, Irene Bassock, wrote in a letter to a department attorney that Harris raised concerns about interfering with a pending criminal investigation and the health department’s legal authority to levy the $10,000 fine against a Bridgeport sports bar. “The facts demonstrate that his abrupt termination is illegal retaliation for speaking up about potentially unlawful activity,” Bassock told the newspaper. “Instead of terminating him, Mr. Harris should be commended for how ethically he performed his job.” A request for comment was sent to Gov. Ned Lamont’s office.

Delaware

Dover: People who are not currently eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine nevertheless received it at a mass vaccination event attended by Gov. John Carney, according to state officials. The Division of Public Health said after Saturday’s event that screening would be “tightened” for vaccination efforts Sunday and Monday, and those not in the state’s top-priority phase 1A, which is limited to health care workers and long-term care residents and staff, might be turned away. It’s unclear how ineligible people were allowed to get the vaccine at Saturday’s drive-thru event at the Division of Motor Vehicles in Dover. “We are still in Group 1a and the vaccines today were supposed to be given to health workers and first responders,” House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf said in a Facebook post Saturday. “A few people went through and should have been challenged but weren’t primarily because the staff doing the vaccination is made up of volunteers and they didn’t have access to a database to verify that they were first responders. Others arrived and got vaccinated because friends … called them or posted online and told them to come get vaccinated because they had gotten theirs.”

District of Columbia

Washington: D.C. residents over 65 years old are now eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine along with health care workers in Phase 1B, WUSA-TV reports. Phase 1B also includes people of all ages with comorbid and underlying conditions “that put them at significantly higher risk” and older adults living in congregate or overcrowded settings. Critical government personnel, law enforcement, nursing home staff and residents, grocery store workers, homeless and transitional housing residents, teachers and school staff are part of the stage, too. Additional essential workers will be brought into the vaccine fold starting Jan. 25. The district has a webpage dedicated to making appointments and an alert system to let residents know when it’s time to get their shot.

Florida

Tallahassee: Florida A&M University’s on-campus curfew, reinstated in mid-November, has been lifted – but that doesn’t mean students are off the hook. Noting the increase nationwide and in Florida of positive coronavirus tests, Vice President for Student Affairs William E. Hudson Jr. said last week that the university “is encouraging” students to stay away from large gatherings, such as parties, that could expose them to the virus. Those who insist on taking chances by organizing or participating in such events will have their university status addressed through the Student Code of Conduct. FAMU’s COVID-19 dashboard shows 11 students and 10 employees self-reporting positive results for the week ending Jan. 8. On Monday, five students were housed in on-campus isolation. FAMU opened its own coronavirus testing site in the Alumni Clubhouse on Monday. In addition, as part of its COVID-19 protocol for the spring semester, biweekly testing is being required. Undergraduates will begin testing Jan. 25, with faculty, staff and graduate students beginning Feb. 1.

Georgia

Atlanta: Some juniors and seniors at Georgia’s public universities and colleges are in line for a little financial boost to help them reach their degree. Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday in his State of the State speech that he would use $5 million in federal coronavirus relief that he controls to provide small grants to help students with unmet financial need pay their college bills. “These hardworking Georgians have nearly crossed the finish line of their higher education journey, and I believe the least we can do is ensure financial hardship at the hands of COVID-19 does not stand in the way of achieving their dreams,” Kemp said in the speech, saying the money would provide a boost for up to 10,000 students. Because it’s federal money, the Republican governor won’t need legislative approval to spend the money. Other details remain fuzzy. Kemp’s office didn’t answer questions Friday about who exactly would be eligible or for how much money.

Hawaii

Honolulu: More than 6,000 appointments for Maui residents waiting to receive doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been postponed by state delivery delays that will cause a temporary service disruption at the island’s sole community vaccine clinic. Maui Health, which oversees Maui Memorial Medical Center’s vaccination clinic, announced Saturday that it would be unable to provide doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that were scheduled to be administered beginning Sunday and lasting through Feb. 7. Maui Health CEO Michael Rembis said the clinic would delay between 300 and 400 slots daily over the next three weeks after the state notified the company Friday that it would not receive expected shipments over the weekend and throughout this week. The company said in a statement that the state holdup was intended “to ensure that we have enough vaccine to provide the second dose to those who will require them over the next few weeks.” The state Department of Health said Maui Health’s clinic should receive nearly 2,000 doses this week. The Maui clinic will not take new appointments and will only administer second doses.

Idaho

Boise: Gov. Brad Little and officials with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare have updated distribution plans for COVID-19 vaccines, with the state straying from federal guidelines. The vaccine rollout began in December with front-line health care workers, care providers, and long-term care facility staff and residents. Starting last Tuesday, vaccinations expanded to first responders, teachers and staff at K-12 schools and day care and child care facilities, and correctional and detention facility staff. Starting in early February, vaccinations will be available to adults 65 and older. In mid-February, doses are set to become available to food and agriculture workers; USDA processing plant inspectors; grocery, convenience store and food pantry workers; Idaho National Guard members; manufacturing workers; public transit workers; and U.S. Postal Service workers. March will see shots expand to people ages 16 to 64 with medical conditions that increase the risk for severe COVID-19 and to essential workers not included in previous groups. In May, vaccinations will be made available to the general public, ages 16 and up.

Illinois

Chicago: A man who told police that the coronavirus pandemic left him afraid to fly has been arrested on charges that he hid in a secured area at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for three months. Aditya Singh, 36, is charged with felony criminal trespass to a restricted area of an airport and misdemeanor theft after he was arrested Saturday. At a court hearing Sunday, a judge ruled that the Orange, California, man could be released if he paid $1,000 but said Singh was prohibited from setting foot in the airport. Assistant Public Defender Courtney Smallwood said Singh does not have a criminal record. She also said it was unclear why Singh, who is unemployed, came to Chicago or if he has ties to the area. During the hearing, Assistant States Attorney Kathleen Hagerty said Singh was spotted by two United Airlines employees, who asked him for identification, the Chicago Tribune reports. Singh lowered his mask and showed a badge that actually belonged to an operations manager at the airport who had reported it missing in late October, Hagerty said. The employees called police, who took Singh into custody. Singh was “scared to go home due to COVID,” Hagerty said, and told authorities that he’d found the badge and that other passengers at the airport had given him food.

Indiana

Indianapolis: The state health department reported 2,548 new coronavirus cases and 30 additional deaths Monday. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the state has seen 592,709 total cases and 8,966 deaths. Both new cases and hospitalizations have been decreasing in the past week. Hospitals across the state on average still have capacity to admit patients to intensive care units. A reported 25.9% of intensive care unit beds across the state are in use by COVID-19 patients, and 29.8% of beds are available. Nearly three-quarters of the state’s ventilators are available, with 10.1% used by coronavirus patients. The seven-day average of unique coronavirus tests that come back positive is 22.5% as of Jan. 11, the latest date with available data. State officials also reported nearly 303,000 Hoosiers have received their first dose of vaccine, and nearly 64,000 have been fully vaccinated.

Iowa

Des Moines: The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus across the state rose over a 24-hour period during the weekend but remained below the threshold of 500 that plagued the state since October. The Iowa Department of Public Health said 484 people were being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals Sunday, up 10 from Saturday but down from 505 on Friday. Saturday’s number of 474 marked the first time since Oct. 18 that the number of people hospitalized fell below 500. The state reported 730 new cases and two deaths Sunday for a total of 304,852 cases and 4,323 deaths since the pandemic began. Over the past two weeks, Iowa has seen the number of cases decrease from 938 new cases per day Jan. 3 to just more than 885 new cases per day Sunday. Iowa reported a 14-day positivity rate of 13% on Sunday. No new reporting was issued on the state’s virus-tracking website Monday, when the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed.

Kansas

Topeka: Lawmakers have been moving quickly on legislation that would extend the state’s COVID-19 emergency declaration before it expires Jan. 26. “I’ve not seen, and I don’t think we’ve seen before, a bill that moved with such expediency,” said Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City. “I daresay it is abnormal, and it lends a certain question as to how fairly it can be deliberated and considered. This is a very crucial issue in terms of the public health.” The temporary bills moving in the state Senate and House deal with COVID-19-related provisions that affect the coronavirus response. Both have had public hearings and passed out of committee in the first week of the session. The bills extend legislation passed last year outlining temporary changes in law in response to the pandemic. Those include allowing establishments to offer to-go alcohol, expanding the use of telemedicine and adding flexibility in health care licensing. They aim to ensure continuity until lawmakers decide later in the session what exactly should be implemented in response to COVID-19 and how to oversee the governor during a long-term emergency like the pandemic.

Kentucky

Frankfort: The Official Kentucky Visitor’s Guide for 2021 highlights outdoor recreation opportunities for travelers in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The guide notes outdoor adventures, Kentucky State Parks, racetracks, distilleries and wineries as opportunities that allow for safe travel and social distancing, a statement from the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet said. Tourism is an $11.8 billion industry in the state, and the visitor’s guide is distributed worldwide. “Promoting Kentucky as a diverse travel destination is part of our ongoing efforts to position Kentucky’s travel and tourism industry to be able to withstand the challenges that the industry has faced as a result of COVID-19,” said Tourism Cabinet Secretary Mike Berry. Kentucky is home to 45 state parks that offer 300 miles of hiking trails and a variety of outdoor recreational activities, including golf, biking and horseback riding.

Louisiana

New Orleans: A free annual music festival that celebrates the city’s historic French Quarter returns in the fall after last year’s event became a casualty to COVID-19. The 2021 French Quarter Festival, traditionally held in April, will take place Sept. 30-Oct. 3, organizers said. It will return to its usual dates in 2022. “As one of the largest free music and food festivals in the United States, we always want to ensure our impact is in the best interest of the city and our French Quarter neighbors and businesses,” said Emily Madero, chief executive of French Quarter Festival Inc. The festival, presented by Chevron, usually has more than 20 stages throughout the French Quarter celebrating local music and representing a range of genres, from traditional and contemporary jazz to R&B, New Orleans funk, brass bands, folk, gospel, Latin, Zydeco, classical, cabaret and international. The 2021 event will have a modified layout that adheres to coronavirus protocols and guidelines, organizers said. In 2019, the festival drew an estimated 825,000 people.

Maine

Portland: State officials paid tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday as they said the country grapples with racial inequity and injustice, made worse by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. “From the continued inequities in our criminal justice system that harm Black Americans to the widespread disparities that have made Black Americans far more likely to suffer the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, it is clear that the dream Dr. King shared nearly 60 years ago has not been fulfilled,” Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King said in a statement. He said that on Aug. 28, 1963, he was perched in a tree on the National Mall listening to the civil rights leader’s famous speech. In Maine’s largest city, the traditional Martin Luther King Day event went virtual during the pandemic. The Portland chapter of the NAACP was holding a daylong schedule of events, all of which could be viewed remotely.

Maryland

Annapolis: The state is allocating $30 million in emergency relief for music and entertainment venues, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Friday. The aid is for venues that have been hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s part of more than $700 million in emergency economic relief provided by the state. The relief has been set aside for more than 90 live music and performance venues, entertainment promoters, and independently owned local movie theaters, whose operations have felt the impact of the pandemic. The administration says the relief will help preserve more than 800 jobs.

Massachusetts

New Bedford: Some community leaders are expressing concern about long distances that residents will have to travel to get a COVID-19 vaccine. In southeastern Massachusetts, more than 50 municipalities are deemed at “high risk” for COVID-19 spread, according to data released by the state’s Department of Public Health, but there are no local vaccination sites for those residents, MassLive reports. New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said the city and surrounding communities comprising 250,000 people have no state-run vaccination site. “My God, why should folks here, where the per-capita caseload is higher than the rest of the state, have to drive some 50 minutes to Gillette Stadium? That includes the elderly, who are the most vulnerable and probably the most reluctant to drive. It didn’t make much sense to me,” Mitchell said. The Department of Public Health said it has a virus command center that makes decisions about vaccination sites. The command center didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from MassLive. On Friday, Gillette Stadium opened in Foxborough as a vaccination site. It was set to expand its vaccination capacity Monday.

Michigan

Traverse City: One of the world’s longest-running wildlife field studies has fallen prey to the coronavirus pandemic. Since 1959, a research team has spent most of the winter observing the interplay between wolves and moose at Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. But this year’s mission has been scrapped to protect the scientists and support personnel from possible exposure to the virus, Superintendent Denice Swanke said Friday. Experts from several universities, the park service and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa had planned to assess how an effort to rebuild the wolf population is affecting the ecosystem. The remote park is closed from Nov. 1 to April 15. The winter researchers use a single cabin, which wouldn’t allow for social distancing. Also factoring into the decision to cancel the expedition were the border closure between the United States and Canada and a shortage of flight resources to bring supplies, Swanke said. The park service and partners will try to document wolf population changes this summer using remote cameras and other techniques, Swanke said. But they won’t have the benefit of aerial observations.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: Gov. Tim Walz announced a pilot program Monday to vaccinate teachers, child care workers and people over 65 as the state aims to expand its COVID-19 vaccine rollout amid concerns of a limited supply of doses from the federal government. State officials will open nine community sites this week to vaccinate adults over 65, pre-kindergarten through 12th grade educators, school staff and child care workers. The program expands distribution efforts beyond the first high-priority group that includes health care workers and long-term care residents and staff, who began receiving doses last month. “It’s a step in the right direction on this long road to recovery,” Walz said in a release. “The federal government has been giving mixed messages on vaccine availability and guidance, and we need them to step up and get more vaccine to the state. When they do, we will be ready. The end of this pandemic is closer today than it was yesterday.” The nine sites, which will begin administering doses Thursday, are appointment-only due to the small number of doses that are available.

Mississippi

Jackson: Some Jackson Public Schools students will be returning to the classroom Tuesday for the first time in months. The entire district was learning from home last semester because of the COVID-19 pandemic. WAPT-TV reports the district’s Smart Restart plan for the spring semester will allow students to transition from virtual to in-person and hybrid learning. Virtual students have already started their semester. “It has taught us that we have to be flexible and resilient. Everyone was a first-year teacher because we were all learning it together,” said Dr. Sara Harper, principal of McWillie Elementary School. Elementary students who return to traditional in-person learning will attend school Monday through Friday. Middle and high school students will be on a hybrid schedule. Teachers and students returning to in-person learning will use an online app to help track attendance, temperature checks and contact tracing. The data provided will help inform administrators to make decisions about quarantines if community members become exposed to the virus.

Missouri

St. Louis: More than 172,000 people in St. Louis County have registered for the COVID-19 vaccine, but the local health department so far has only received 975 doses, county Executive Sam Page said Monday. The county expects more doses to arrive Tuesday, but the number it will receive was unclear, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Page also urged residents to be honest about the information they use to register for vaccinations, saying some have falsely claimed to be health care workers or brought along family members who aren’t eligible. “This has not been a huge problem, but as the availability of the vaccine increases, (this) ultimately slows down the process, elevates tensions and deprives the vaccine to our most vulnerable – those most likely to have severe outcomes if infected by the virus,” he said. A new phase of vaccinations began Monday in Missouri that allows older people and those with certain preexisting conditions to be vaccinated. Missouri health officials on Monday reported at least 11,983 COVID-19 cases in the past week. That’s about 1,712 newly reported cases per day. At least 6,256 deaths in Missouri have been attributed to the virus.

Montana

Great Falls: The state added 178 new coronavirus cases Monday, bringing the total to 89,576. One new death brought the COVID-19 toll in Montana to 1,093 since the pandemic began. Benefis Health System, Great Falls Clinic and Alluvion Health are working with the Cascade City-County Health Department to offer COVID-19 vaccines to community members age 70 and older. On Thursday at 9 a.m., Benefis will open 1,500 appointment slots for vaccines to be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. Seniors can visit Benefis.org/COVIDvaccine or call 406-455-2500 between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday. People will be required to submit a valid email address when making an appointment to receive the vaccine. The available appointments will be on Jan. 25, Jan. 27 and Jan. 29 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Nebraska

Lincoln: All University of Nebraska men’s basketball team activities will remain on hold for at least another week after 12 people associated with the program, including head coach Fred Hoiberg and seven players, tested positive for the coronavirus. Nebraska officials said Sunday that this week’s games against Minnesota and Iowa have been postponed, and the schools will try to reschedule them. Officials haven’t decided whether additional games after Jan. 24 will be affected. Hoiberg said he has been isolating at home since testing positive Friday. He said he is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, but his condition has improved since Saturday. “Our program has been hit hard over the last 10 days, and we are all trying to manage it and get through it. We are very fortunate to have a great medical team around us that is here to ensure the collective health and safety of our program,” Hoiberg said.

Nevada

Las Vegas: The pandemic brought conventions to a jarring stop last year, but city tourism officials hope trade shows gradually return in 2021. The World of Concrete gathering in June will likely be a good measuring stick for a comeback, Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, told the Las Vegas Sun. It is also the first large-scale trade show planned for the Las Vegas Convention Center’s new $980 million expansion. The show featuring everything from drill bits to concrete pumping trucks was originally scheduled for this month but was pushed back to June because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A condensed virtual version will also happen in coming weeks. More than 50,000 people attended the show last February. Organizers are expecting close the same turnout this year, show spokesman Steve Pomerantz said. He didn’t offer specifics about how World of Concrete plans to get around state-mandated attendance caps if coronavirus restrictions aren’t relaxed. Gov. Steve Sisolak in September raised the attendance cap for conventions to 1,000 people spread out in groups of no more than 250.

New Hampshire

Concord: More than 300 residents have filed a formal request asking the Legislature to repeal the powers granted to the governor during an emergency such as the coronavirus pandemic. The remonstrance received by the state House clerk Thursday argues that the law granting the governor emergency management powers is unconstitutional, though it has been upheld in court. “The experience and feeling of your Memorialists too dearly prove that some ruinous exercise of undelegated powers of issuing emergency orders and public policy guidelines enforced as law has been lately adopted in New Hampshire,” the group wrote. “Such acts could have been devised to bring the good people of this State into the deepest distress.” Several lawmakers have filed bills limiting the governor’s powers. But polls have shown Republican Gov. Chris Sununu enjoying bipartisan support for his handling of the pandemic, and he easily won reelection to a third term in November. He has faced opposition from some members of his own party, as well as protests outside his home, however, from people who disagree with the restrictions.

New Jersey

Paterson: Gov. Phil Murphy repeated his call for more federal aid to help states as coronavirus cases and deaths continue to mount and a bumpy vaccine rollout has led to uncertainty about a return to normalcy. On a tour of a Paterson food pantry, where he helped workers box up groceries for needy families, Murphy said another federal stimulus bill would be a “game changer.” New Jersey received $3.4 billion in federal COVID-19 relief last spring. Murphy said the state needs up to $20 billion. He and his wife, Tammy, toured Paterson’s CUMAC pantry as a nod to Martin Luther King Day, an official day of service since 1996. The largest food pantry in Pasaic County, CUMAC has helped feed families for three decades. It has seen the number of people it serves skyrocket after the pandemic began, said its executive director, Mark Dinglasan. “The worst month for us was… probably May,” he said. “We had a 232% increase in just new families signing up for services.” More federal funding would allow food pantries to help more families, and it would help New Jersey keep its police officers, firefighters, teachers and other essential workers employed, Murphy said.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: Classrooms in some schools were scheduled to allow in-person education Monday for the first time this semester. In-person classes were temporarily suspended by the state for two weeks earlier this month to prevent a feared increase in COVID-19 cases, the Albuquerque Journal reports. New Mexico Public Education Department was unable to immediately provide a count of schools planning to reopen in-person classes Monday. Schools are now able to restart schedules that were planned before the pause, including those mixing in-person and remote lessons. Small groups of students with disabilities were allowed to attend classes, but schools offering other in-person classes had to shut their doors and teach remotely. The temporary ban on in-person learning was prudent, state Secretary of Education Ryan Stewart said. “We are, by doing it, positioning ourselves to be better able to expand in-person learning hopefully here in the near future,” Stewart said.

New York

Albany: At the current rate, the state’s vaccine rollout won’t come close to achieving herd immunity this year despite dire efforts to get more shots into arms. The number of New Yorkers now eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, 7.1 million, far outpaced supply, about 1.9 million doses, creating a chaotic scramble among essential workers and people over 65 to secure coveted vaccination appointments, which are currently booked solid over the next 14 weeks. Ongoing efforts to boost vaccine supply, however, remain shrouded in secrecy and politically charged rhetoric, raising questions about when states could have enough doses to vaccinate between 70% and 90% of the population and defeat the coronavirus. At the most recent weekly rate of doses the federal government has promised New York – downgraded Friday from 300,000 to 250,000 – it would take seven months to complete vaccinations just of the 7.1 million New Yorkers currently eligible for shots, including those over 65, as well as police, firefighters, teachers and other essential workers.

North Carolina

Waynesville: Six workers at a police department have tested positive for the coronavirus days after a vaccination event, according to local officials. Haywood County officials said Friday that six people in the Waynesville Police Department received positive test results two days after several police department workers received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The health department didn’t say whether those who participated in the clinic were among those who tested positive. The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that officials say the police department has taken the necessary steps to identify those affected and exposed.

North Dakota

Bismarck: The pandemic cut the number of passengers using the state’s eight commercial-service airports in half last year. The airports in Bismarck, Minot, Williston, Dickinson, Grand Forks, Fargo, Devils Lake and Jamestown finished 2020 with a total of 572,093 airline passenger boardings. The state Aeronautics Commission said that’s a 52% drop from the previous year and the lowest passenger count since 2003. After COVID-19 arrived in North Dakota in March, passenger numbers in April plummeted by 95%, to the lowest monthly count since record-keeping began 40 years ago, the Bismarck Tribune reports. But since then, boardings have been on the upward swing and last month were 55% below the December 2019 level. The commission said increased recent demand has encouraged airlines to begin slowly adding back flights and seat capacity. The state’s airports still provide nonstop flights to 10 destinations, three of them seasonal. The Federal Aviation Administration last year awarded more than $85 million in aid to 53 North Dakota airports through the federal coronavirus economic rescue package passed in the spring.

Ohio

Cincinnati: Bunbury Music Festival has decided to cancel its 2021 installment, officials announced this month. The music festival that takes place along the banks of the Ohio River has now been canceled twice because of the coronavirus pandemic. The 2020 iteration was supposed to feature Twenty One Pilots, the Avett Brothers, Marshmello, Melanie Martinez and a dozen other artists. “Bunbarians, it was our hope that the big picture would look very differently by this stage, but unfortunately it is with the safety and wellbeing of our fans, artists and staff in mind that we have chosen to postpone our plans for the next installment of Bunbury Music Festival,” officials announced on Twitter. They said based on projections, it would not be safe to host the music festival in June. “Canceling once, let alone twice, is the last thing we want to do,” officials said. “We’ll continue to look for guidance from health officials at all levels and we ask all of you to stay safe and healthy.”

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: As COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations continue to surge, Gov. Kevin Stitt won’t say if he plans to impose new restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus. Although some of the governor’s mitigation efforts remain in place, a legal battle over an 11 p.m. curfew for bars and restaurants led Stitt to roll back perhaps the most stringent COVID-19 limitation he has imposed in months. He retracted his statewide bar and restaurant curfew after an Oklahoma District Court judge hobbled the restriction as a result of a legal challenge brought by bar owners. But from Nov. 17, the day after Stitt imposed the inconsistently enforced curfew, to Wednesday, the day he rescinded the order, new coronavirus infections in Oklahoma increased by 60%, and hospitalizations for COVID-19 were up nearly 30%. Stitt cited rising hospitalizations as the reason for limiting bar and restaurant hours in the first place. Hospitalizations have come down a tad from the record high of 1,926 on Jan. 9. Asked about possible next steps to curb the spread, the governor’s office did not give specifics and leaned on Stitt’s oft-used mantra of “personal responsibility.”

Oregon

Salem: Seven cars lined up in a half-circle, with the sound of piano and a chorus of voices singing, as Chemeketa Community College singers joined together in a “Car Choir.” Dr. Kerry Burtis, the college’s director of music, came up with the concept after experiencing the frustration of virtual classes. “With virtual choir you’ll see the conductor air conducting, but there’s no choir there,” Burtis said. “He’s just recording himself like they’re recording themselves, so it is a real disconnect.” After months of research and preparing equipment, Burtis held his first “Car Choir” class last Tuesday. With the setup, singers are able to sing into microphones from the comfort of their cars and tune into a radio station that allows them to hear Burtis, a piano player and their fellow classmates. Burtis has room for 64 singers in four different time slots and hopes to build the classes up over the next few weeks. “There have been people almost in tears that they get to sing again and hear other people singing,” Burtis said. “And so it’s been really rewarding in that way.”

Pennsylvania

Warrington: Bucks County’s largest nursing home is warning employees they must get vaccinated against COVID-19 or face losing their job. County spokesman Larry King on Thursday confirmed the ultimatum given to Neshaminy Manor employees. They have until the end of March to comply before they could be laid off, he said. But the administrator for the 360-bed nursing home, in an email earlier this month, reportedly gave employees until Feb. 4 to start the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine process or be terminated. Walgreens, which is handling the inoculations, has planned additional visits to Neshaminy Manor after Feb. 4 and into March, according to King. “We know the virus was brought in, unintentionally, through our employees despite their best efforts to wear proper (personal protective equipment),” he said. “We must ‘do no harm,’ and the most effective way to prevent more cases of COVID in our facility is to have our employees vaccinated.” Employers can require workers to take the COVID-19 vaccine under guidance the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued in December.

Rhode Island

Providence: A state House of Representatives session scheduled for Tuesday was canceled after multiple coronavirus cases among “senior and operational staffs,” Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi announced. “As you know, my highest priority is to protect the health and safety of all House members,” Shekarchi, D-Warwick, wrote in a note to colleagues that was made public Monday morning. The number of staff members who have tested positive wasn’t available. The tests came back “early last week,” Shekarchi said. He said the House was still scheduled to meet in session Thursday afternoon at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence. A spokesman for the Rhode Island Senate said the chamber was still scheduled to meet Tuesday at Rhode Island College. “There are no positive cases of COVID in the Senate that we are aware of at this time,” Greg Pare said in an email.

South Carolina

Columbia: State parks are offering virtual field trips to students who can’t travel in person. Videos and other supplemental activities are available to teach science and history to elementary school students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The Discover Carolina program started with in-person field trips. Lessons offered online now include learning about the plants and animals at Jones Gap State Park in the mountains, Sesquicentennial State Park in Columbia and Myrtle Beach State Park. There is also a program about the hardships of plantation life before the Civil War at Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site in Beech Island. The state Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism said it plans to expand its offering of virtual field trips soon.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: A man who battled COVID-19 for nearly two months needs a double lung transplant to save his life. Nathan Foote, 42, is running out of time after an October diagnosis for COVID-19 hospitalized him and left his lung tissue scarred, according to his wife of 14 years, Angie Foote. After being hospitalized, Nathan contracted pneumonia. He recovered after a few weeks, but his lungs were severely damaged by scarring. Doctors informed the couple they had two options: Nathan would need to get on a lung transplant list or go into hospice and remain there until he dies. “For me it was no doubt I had to take the option of the transplant,” Nathan said from his hospital room at Sanford. “I wasn’t going to give up and just let myself die. I had to give myself that chance, my wife that chance, my kids that chance.” The father of five remains optimistic that if he were to get on the transplant list, his situation would put him toward the top of the eligible donor recipients, but a lot of factors could stand in the way. The first obstacle for Nathan is getting on the list, already long due to COVID-19. Once he is on the list, an eligible donor match needs to come from someone who dies.

Tennessee

Nashville: The state is receiving about 80,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government per week, and health officials say they expect the supply to remain steady until at least the end of January. At that rate, it will take another three years and five months to vaccinate everyone in Tennessee. The estimate, which would have the vaccination drive wrapping up in the summer of 2024, does not account for future increases in vaccine production or additional vaccines being approved for circulation, and it also assumes every single Tennessean will get vaccinated. As of Friday, the state had received 657,550 doses of coronavirus vaccine and distributed 303,338 to priority populations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 0.5% of Tennesseans are fully vaccinated. Vaccinations are largely focused on teachers, child care workers and residents age 75 or older. As of Friday, no county had yet progressed to vaccinating residents between 65 and 74, the next age bracket up in the priority list.

Texas

El Paso: Most El Paso County school districts are preparing to open doors to face-to-face instruction this week, though some districts tread more cautiously toward reopening. The El Paso, Socorro and Canutillo districts are set to reopen Tuesday. At the El Paso Independent School District, about 50% of students in all grade levels are expected to return to campuses. “Most of our schools have the capacity to welcome them,” EPISD spokesperson Gustavo Reveles said. “And teachers will be doing in-person instruction while also conducting virtual instruction to kids at home, when applicable.” Everyone on school campuses will be required to wear a face covering, maintain 6 feet of distance when encountering others and avoid congregating. Temperatures will be taken at campus entrances before students and staff are allowed to enter, according to EPISD’s reopening plan. District facilities will undergo frequent sanitization. Hand sanitizer dispensers will be placed at all main entrances, and students up to fifth grade will have plastic school dividers on their desks or workspaces, where they’ll also eat breakfast and lunch.

Utah

St. George: Dixie State University has loosened the rules it used in the fall to attempt to curtail the transmission of COVID-19, leaving it up to faculty members to decide for themselves this spring semester whether their classes will be held in person, online or some combination of the two. Jyl Hall, director of public relations at DSU, said most classes were on the HyFlex model during the fall 2020 semester, meaning students attended class in person half the time and via livestream for the other half. But during the new semester, which began Jan. 11, the instructors are responsible for picking a model. Hall said the idea was to give faculty, department chairs and deans more flexibility “to ensure classes can be offered in a format that both mitigates the spread of COVID-19 and facilitates effective teaching and learning of the specific curriculum.”

Vermont

Montpelier: Preliminary numbers show hunters had a record bear season last year, in part because of a surge in the number of hunters brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, state officials said. Hunters took 914 bears during the early and late bear seasons, with most taken in the early season, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department said. That beats the record of 750 bears taken in 2019. “It was a poor year for natural bear foods, and we saw a surge in hunter numbers brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and perhaps a corresponding increase in the number of hunters spending more time in the outdoors hunting than in past years,” Forrest Hammond, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department’s bear biologist, said in a statement. The average number of bears taken over the past 10 years was 608. The 2020 results are consistent with the goal of maintaining the bear population to within 3,500 to 5,500 bears, Hammond said.

Virginia

Richmond: State lawmakers met under heightened security Monday amid concerns about possible civil unrest. Several gun-rights advocates came to Richmond on Monday, some heavily armed. The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is typically a chance for citizens to use a day off work to meet with their legislators in what’s informally known as “Lobby Day.” Gun-rights activists typically make a large, organized appearance each year. Last year, tens of thousands of gun-rights activists from around the country flooded the Virginia Capitol and surrounding area in protest of a new Democratic majority’s push to enact new gun restrictions. This year they organized a series of caravans through the city decked out in pro-gun messages amid the coronavirus pandemic. In comments to gun-control advocates Monday, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam urged them to stay “vigilant” and to continue working to elect lawmakers who support what the governor said were common-sense gun restrictions. Because of the pandemic, the state Senate is convening for this year’s legislative session at a science museum event center that allows for greater social distancing. House lawmakers are meeting virtually.

Washington

Spokane: Witnesses told deputies a man became “irate” over grocery store employees’ requests that he wear a mask, ultimately attacking a worker with a glass bottle, according to a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office news release. Once he is arrested, deputies will recommend felony charges of robbery and second-degree assault, the Spokesman-Review reports. An employee of the Grocery Outlet told deputies that employees asked the man several times to put on a mask. After he ignored the requests, an employee at the checkout stand refused to sell to him. He “became irate,” and the two argued, the release said. The man walked out without paying for the items, and an employee confronted him, the release said. The suspect threw a coffee bottle at the employee that struck him in the head before shattering on the ground, officials said. The customer then picked up a piece of the broken bottle, “holding it as a weapon,” and threatened the employee, the release said. The suspect fled before police arrived. Witnesses described the man as white, in his 20s, with long hair and wearing a white sweatshirt and blue jeans, the release said.

West Virginia

Charleston: Gov. Jim Justice and other state officials will take the oath of office later this week. Justice’s office announced Monday that the inauguration ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. Friday on the north side of the Capitol. Besides the Republican governor being sworn in to his second term, others taking the oath of office will be the agriculture commissioner, attorney general, state auditor, secretary of state, state treasurer, and members of the Supreme Court. Justice’s inaugural address will follow. Attendance will be limited because of the coronavirus pandemic. The event will be shown online.

Wisconsin

Madison: The state’s top health official, who has led Wisconsin throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, is leaving for a job with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under President-elect Joe Biden. Andrea Palm, secretary-designee of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, has been nominated as deputy secretary of the federal agency. Palm is expected to work to fulfill Biden’s pledge to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines and speed up the rate of vaccinations. “Andrea Palm is a public servant through and through – she’s been a critical part of our administration and a consummate professional who has done an extraordinary job helping lead our state during an unprecedented public health crisis,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement Monday. “I know she will continue to serve our country just as she has our state – with empathy, kindness, and tenacity.” Palm had a high public profile throughout the pandemic, joining the Democratic governor at news conferences, sometimes more than once a week, to discuss the fight against COVID-19. Republicans objected to Evers and Palm enacting orders that closed businesses early in the pandemic and subsequent directives mandating the wearing of masks and limiting indoor gatherings.

Wyoming

Casper: As COVID-19 vaccines roll out across the state, health officials are tasked with getting as many people inoculated as possible with the available doses. Anna Kinder, executive director of the Casper-Natrona County Health Department, said last week that 50% of people offered the vaccine in the first phase of Tier 1, which began in mid-December, turned it down. After months of fighting both COVID-19 and the misinformation around it, the county health department now faces the unique challenge of marketing a vaccine that could be the difference between life or death, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. Hailey Bloom, the department’s spokesperson, said with the huge volume of information being released during the pandemic, officials needed some outside help. The Casper-based advertising agency Adbay has been the department’s mouthpiece for coronavirus-related information for months now, first focusing on promoting testing before making the recent pivot to vaccines. It’s been an all-hands-on-deck effort, a representative said, with videographers, graphic designers, copy writers and the web team all working closely with the health department.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports