Mobile art gallery, ‘Masked Moose,’ football push: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Montgomery: A judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the legality of Gov. Kay Ivey’s statewide order to wear face coverings in public places to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin entered the order following a hearing. Real estate agent Debbie Mathis and retired sheriff’s Deputies Larry Lewis and Barry Munza, all of Jackson County, filed the lawsuit against Ivey, State Health Officer Scott Harris and the State Board of Health. The lawsuit contends that the mask order was illegally adopted and that the plaintiffs face deprivation of liberty anytime they interact with others. On July 15, Ivey announced a requirement for face coverings to be worn by anyone older than age 6 who’s in public and within 6 feet of someone who’s not a relative. The rule makes exceptions for people who have certain medical conditions, are exercising or are performing certain types of jobs.

Alaska

Juneau: A crew member on a state ferry tested positive for the coronavirus, which caused a cancellation of the service in Southeast Alaska. The Alaska Marine Highway System said the planned run of the ferry M/V LeConte in Lynn Canal near Juneau was canceled Sunday after the diagnosis was obtained. The highway system, which is part of the state Department of Transportation, said the crew member recently returned home after a two-week rotation on the LeConte. It was not immediately clear when the crew member was tested. Ferries spokesman Sam Dapcevich said state transportation officials were notified Saturday that a ferry worker had the coronavirus. No close contacts with the infected crew member were identified in Juneau or on the ferry, and no specific testing or quarantine recommendations were made for crew or passengers, the marine highway service said.

Arizona

Yuma: A massive testing blitz is underway in Yuma County, with elected leaders and health officials aiming to administer up to 10,000 free COVID-19 tests by the end of the week. The county remains a hot spot for the new coronavirus in Arizona, with infection rates double the state average, even as the number of reported daily cases has decreased significantly. Yuma County teamed up with Yuma city officials and the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs to set up the testing blitz, which started Tuesday. The blitz goes until Saturday and will take place at the parking lot of the Yuma Civic Center, one of the larger venues in the region that is able to accommodate the massive drive-in project. “Our numbers are going in the right direction. Now is the time to move forward even harder so we can get a strong foothold, as opposed to starting to let up because the numbers are starting to go our way,” Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls said.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The state on Tuesday reported 383 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 11 more deaths from COVID-19, the illness it causes. The Department of Health said at least 50,411 people have tested positive for the virus. Of those, 6,847 cases are now active, meaning they do not include those who have died or recovered. The Arkansas COVID-19 death toll has risen to 566, but the number of people hospitalized with the illness has decreased by one to 507. Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key also announced that the state will begin releasing numbers of total and active cases within a school district’s population. Key said the numbers will help districts as they prepare to reopen schools later this month. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has stood by plans to reopen schools for in-person instruction, despite opposition from teachers’ and pediatricians’ groups.

California

San Diego: The state’s second-largest school district has announced stricter reopening guidelines than California at large, and officials say that “it will be a matter of months – not weeks, not days” – before students can return to campus. San Diego Unified School District made the decision Monday after health experts from the University of California, San Diego wrote in a report this week that the district should adopt stricter measures than those being enforced by the state, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. “We’ve seen the mistakes that have been made in other places … because they made an arbitrary decision that wasn’t really based on science,” School Board President John Lee Evans said in a virtual news conference. San Diego Unified now says schools won’t reopen until there are fewer than seven community outbreaks over a weeklong period. Currently, there are 24.

Colorado

Denver: Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has extended an executive order requiring property owners in the state to give tenants a 30-day notice before pursuing evictions as individuals struggle to make payments during the pandemic. Previously, property owners would only give 10 days’ notice. Polis announced the extension Monday, hours before it was set to expire, The Denver Post reports. It is now set to expire in a month. Many residents “continue to experience substantial loss of income as a result of business closures and layoffs, hindering their ability to keep up with their rent payments through no fault of their own,” Polis said. Several studies have shown hundreds of thousands of Colorado residents could be at risk of eviction as unemployment remains near-record levels. Associations representing property owners have insisted evictions won’t happen on a major scale because there are strong incentives to keep tenants housed.

Connecticut

Hartford: The state’s acting public health commissioner was asked Tuesday to consider significantly expanding visitation rules at nursing homes and chronic disease hospitals. In a letter sent to Dr. Deirdre Gifford, a coalition of 12 advocacy groups said guidance from the Department of Public Health issued June 22 that allowed only outdoor visits “unduly excludes people with disabilities” and those with mobility issues. Also, they said the order has been implemented “restrictively,” allowing only 20-minute maximum visits. “Life in a nursing home is isolating. When residents are further isolated by losing contact with those they love and depend on for their social and emotional needs, the results can be fatal,” the organizations warned. The advocates agreed that nursing homes could impose “a reasonable COVID-19 testing requirement on visitors” wanting to see loved ones.

Delaware

Wilmington: The state will not regularly announce positive COVID-19 cases in schools and will instead do so on a case-by-case basis, public health officials said Tuesday. It will also not require teachers and staff to undergo testing before the school year begins. “There may be times when there’s really no need for the public to know,” said Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the state Division of Public Health. “For example, if a person was positive, but no one else would have been considered exposed, that’s unlikely to be made public.” The state announced last week its intent to test all teachers and staff before the start of the school year. But the state can’t force school staff to get tested. That will be up to districts, said A.J. Schall, director of the Delaware Emergency Management Agency. “It’s highly encouraged, we’ll put it that way,” Schall said. “The districts are the ones that employ the teachers.”

District of Columbia

Washington: Amid widespread protests and unrest over the police killings of Black Americans, a national commemoration of the 1963 civil rights March on Washington is being reconfigured to comply with coronavirus protocols in D.C. Although many marchers will arrive via charter buses from surrounding communities Aug. 28, the Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the organizers, will ask some to join satellite marches planned in states that are considered hot spots for COVID-19. “We’re following protocol,” Sharpton told the Associated Press. All participants will be required to wear masks, Sharpton said. Organizers also will provide hand sanitizing stations and conduct temperature checks throughout the event. The revised plan appears to avoid a potentially awkward face-off with Mayor Muriel Bowser’s government over COVID-19 restrictions in the nation’s capital.

Florida

Tallahassee: Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing for college football to be played as scheduled this fall, saying Tuesday that canceling the season as some conferences are doing because of the coronavirus will put the players at more risk outside the protective bubble provided by their teams. DeSantis made his remarks shortly after the state announced 277 more deaths, a one-day record that is likely misleading. Because of reporting lags, the state health department figures do not necessarily represent deaths in a 24-hour period. Tuesday numbers often include deaths not reported over the weekend. Dr. Cindy Prins, a University of Florida epidemiologist, said Tuesday’s total is not a reflection of what happened the previous day. “You have deaths that may be going back more than a month that are just getting reported now,” she said, but the number does reflect the deadliness of the disease during its surge in the state in late June and July.

Georgia

Atlanta: A federal judge on Tuesday rejected an argument that requiring voters to provide their own stamps for mail-in ballots and ballot applications amounts to an unconstitutional poll tax. A lawsuit filed in April by the American Civil Liberties Union and its Georgia chapter alleged the postage requirement is an unjustifiable burden on the right to vote. While voters can still cast ballots in person early or on Election Day, the lawsuit argued that the option of in-person voting “does not really exist because of the pandemic” and is also nearly impossible for some elderly or disabled voters. Some voters don’t have stamps on hand and can’t get to the post office or don’t want to go there and risk exposure to coronavirus, the lawsuit said. U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg in Atlanta acknowledged the potential difficulties of in-person voting, particularly during a pandemic, but said its availability means the requirement is not tantamount to a poll tax.

Hawaii

Honolulu: While Pacific Islanders make up just 4% of the state’s population, they represent 27% of the state’s newly confirmed coronavirus cases, according to state Department of Health data. White people have 20% of the newly confirmed cases and make up a quarter of the state’s population. The next highest rates are people of Filipino heritage, at 18%, and Native Hawaiians, with 14% of the state’s cases. No other ethnic group had double-digit figures, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. Lt. Gov. Josh Green said the “Pacific Islander community has some unique challenges, particularly while living in very large, committed, multigenerational families – a lot of them in Kalihi.” State Health Director Bruce Anderson said the disproportionate number of cases in the Pacific Islander community is rooted in socioeconomics, and state officials must help combat those inequities.

Idaho

Boise: The state could finish the fiscal year with $405 million in surplus tax revenue in spite of the pandemic’s economic toll, according to a new revenue forecast. The state’s legislative budget office late Monday released its revised general fund revenue forecast for fiscal year 2021, which started July 1. Revenue comes in at $4.1 billion, according to the new forecast – only $6.5 million below what lawmakers used in March when setting the budget and just before Republican Gov. Brad Little issued a stay-at-home order due to surging coronavirus infections. The surplus is being boosted by a nearly $100 million cut to state agencies and another nearly $100 million cut to public schools enacted earlier this year amid possible budget shortfall concerns due to the pandemic. The cuts came amid a steep economic downturn when thousands of Idaho workers lost their jobs.

Illinois

Waukegan: Social distancing is becoming a problem at local beaches as large crowds flock there during the pandemic, officials said. Visitation guidelines have been changed at some Lake County beaches to accommodate visitors, some of whom are from Chicago, where beaches remain closed. Bob Feffer, who has been a site manager at Illinois Beach State Park for 32 years, said he has not seen crowds like the ones during the weekends in July. The state park had about 15,000 visitors July 25-26, the Lake County News-Sun reports. “There were just too many people for social distancing to take place,” Feffer said. The beach is no longer open on the weekends. David Motley, Waukegan’s director of marketing and public relations, said that “there was a lot of pent-up demand for people looking to get out and do something in the area. ... We already knew we could accommodate a large number.”

Indiana

Muncie: A school district that sent 228 students home to quarantine to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 has shuttered its middle and high schools for 14 days and switched to remote learning. Delaware Community Schools announced Tuesday night that it was closing Delta High School and Middle School for the period. “Our secondary schools seem to keep ramping up with exposure/symptom related issues that increase the number of quarantined students being excluded from school,” Superintendent Reece Mann said in a message to the school community. Parents of elementary students “appear to be doing an incredible job of self-screening their children and keeping them home when they are exhibiting symptoms,” Mann said. Only seven students from the district’s three elementary schools had been sent home as of Tuesday morning, compared to 68 middle school and 153 high school students.

Iowa

Des Moines: Nearly 600,000 masks, 109,085 face shields, 22,527 gallon-sized bottles of bleach, 63,074 bottles of hand sanitizer, 233,303 pairs of gloves and 12,398 thermometers. That’s what Iowa school districts have told the state they need to help protect students, teachers and staff from the coronavirus during the first 30 days of the school year – even after they’ve spent federal money and large sums from their own budgets to acquire supplies. They made the requests after Gov. Kim Reynolds pledged to provide up to a 30-day supply of personal protective equipment as part of Iowa’s Return to Learn plan. The Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management will begin distributing “as many of the requested supplies as possible” beginning next week, Department of Education Director Ann Lebo said during a news conference with Reynolds last Thursday.

Kansas

Topeka: Public health officials in three counties say a new state law is hurting their efforts to trace the contacts of people infected with COVID-19 by making it easier for them to refuse to cooperate. Public health departments often rely on employers to find out who has been in close contact with those infected, but the coronavirus law that was approved in June says “third parties,” such as employers and event hosts, must get consent from those who tested positive and close contacts to share their information to public health agencies. “Our disease investigators hold confidentiality to the utmost importance,” said Adrienne Byrne, director of the Sedgwick County Health Department in Wichita. “So I’m not sure what all went behind that bill, but it has not been good for public health because being able to do contact tracing helps us identify people that might turn positive.” Officials in Wyandotte and Johnson counties have also raised concerns about the law.

Kentucky

Frankfort: Kentucky’s secretary of state has offered a preliminary election plan that calls for expanded early voting but excludes no-excuse absentee voting by mail for all voters amid the coronavirus. His proposal would allow Kentuckians to cast mail-in ballots if they decide their age or health condition makes it too risky to vote in-person, Secretary of State Michael Adams said. That option also would apply to people living with them or caring for them, he said. “But I don’t think that we can do universal absentee (voting) because I think the system will crash,” Adams said. Adams’ proposals on how to conduct the general election amid the global pandemic were submitted this week to Gov. Andy Beshear, who has said he supports no-excuse absentee voting for November. The state’s June primary, which included widespread absentee voting by mail, resulted in the highest turnout for a Bluegrass State primary since 2008 and won praise.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: The state’s education department has set up an email for parents, teachers and others to report violations of coronavirus safety standards for schools, Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley told the state’s top school board Tuesday. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in mid-July adopted statewide rules for schools holding in-person instruction amid the virus outbreak, such as a mask mandate for school staff and students in grades three through 12; distancing standards; temperature checks to enter school premises; and school bus capacity limits. Brumley told the education board that anyone worried a school isn’t following the rules can email ldoecovid19support@la.gov. The person will receive a survey to fill out, and the information is sent to the school system’s leaders to respond. “We have received a few concerns already,” Brumley said. Complaints reported to the department are posted online.

Maine

Portland: Dozens of cities, towns and tribal governments around the state will receive $4 million in grants to improve their response to the coronavirus pandemic, the administration of Gov. Janet Mills said Tuesday. The grants are designed to help fund projects that support public education campaigns, physical distancing projects and local businesses. Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said the money has supported “innovative responses on the front lines of this pandemic.” One of the proposed projects is a campaign featuring a “Masked Moose” character in the town of Bethel. The campaign would include a costumed character who will visit schools and businesses to demonstrate the importance of coronavirus prevention. The round of grants is the second of its kind. The state announced nearly $9 million in grants to almost 100 municipalities in June.

Maryland

Annapolis: A municipal government in China has donated 40,000 medical-grade face masks to Maryland’s capital city amid the coronavirus pandemic. The donations from Changsha, China, were first offered to Annapolis officials in April, when the need for the masks among public safety workers was high in the beginning days of the pandemic, Annapolis City Manager David Jarrell said in a news release Tuesday. They arrived this month, with one of the boxes featuring stickers of American and Chinese flags with a message that read: “Go, City of Annapolis! Best Wishes from Changsha! True unity inspires people to work as one to overcome adversity,” The Capital Gazette reports. Annapolis’ relationship with Changsha began under a former city administrator, according to the release. The two municipalities are now sister cities.

Massachusetts

Boston: State officials on Tuesday urged residents in nearly three dozen communities with concerning rates of COVID-19 infection to step up their efforts to slow the spread of the disease. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker said 33 communities across the state are seeing more than four COVID-19 cases per 100,000. The four hardest-hit communities are Chelsea, Everett, Lynn and Revere, said Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders. Baker said his administration is reaching out to local leaders in moderate- and high-risk communities to offer state support in combating the virus. State officials are encouraging residents in those communities to be sure to wear masks, keep their distance from others and avoid large gatherings. “We’re asking everyone to recognize that this virus continue to infect, injure and kill people every single day,” Baker said.

Michigan

Detroit: The pandemic has temporarily shut down the Red Children’s Art Museum in the city’s North End, so founder Yvette Rock is bringing art to Detroiters through a mobile art gallery. Most recently, Rock has been coaxing people out of their pandemic shells to enjoy children’s art through socially distanced exhibitions that are part of Live Coal Arts Mobile, a mobile gallery in an 18-foot trailer. Most recently, the gallery has featured art made of popsicle sticks and other recycled objects, as well as an exhibition where a young Detroiter can have their drawing built out of Lego blocks. Rock, 44 of Detroit, won’t let the pandemic or any other challenges distract her from her mission: to transform lives through art, education and community. Before there was the Live Coal Arts Mobile and RED, there was the Live Coal Gallery, created by Rock in 2012 in Detroit’s Woodbridge neighborhood with a goal of being inclusive.

Minnesota

Mankato: The Legislature was called into session Wednesday, but lawmakers don’t expect much to happen. Some legislators expected this month’s special session to last a day or less. Gov. Tim Walz called the session to extend Minnesota’s peacetime emergency order by another 30 days. The Legislature likely won’t address any financial bills this week as the state plans to sell $1.2 billion in bonds this month. The bond sale requires the state to have a steady financial outlook for a set period of time, state officials say. “The logic is, it would be like taking out a big car loan three days before you take out a mortgage,” said Sen. Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato. “The people you’re taking out your mortgage from wouldn’t look kindly on a big loan.” As a result, DFLers and Republicans likely won’t consider a supplemental budget bill, a tax bill or a public works bill until late September at the earliest.

Mississippi

Jackson: Gov. Tate Reeves described college football – even amid the coronavirus pandemic – as “essential” Tuesday, his comments echoing a tweet President Donald Trump posted the day before. “What do opponents of football think, these kids will end up in a bubble without it? You can get COVID anywhere,” Reeves tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “There are forces who want to cancel everything to avoid risk at all societal costs. It’s foolish. We have to balance risk & costs.” He said many players have been practicing for months over the summer and have built careers on football. Some have college scholarships riding on athletics. There is a way to let teams play while managing crowds, he said. “There is risk in all of life. There are things we can do to manage it without destroying society,” he said. “Limit crowds and let ’em play!” Conferences are not canceling football because of safety, he asserted, but out of fear of lawsuits and “bad press.”

Missouri

Springfield: Drury University announced Tuesday that neck gaiters will no longer be considered acceptable face coverings on its campus. The university said in a tweet that it made the decision in consultation with the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. The announcement comes after a study released by Duke University analyzed more than a dozen different facial coverings ranging from hospital-grade N95 respirators to bandannas. Of the 14 masks and other coverings tested, the study found that popular alternatives such as neck gaiters, made of thin material, may be worse than not wearing a mask at all. The Washington Post brought the Duke study to attention through an article it posted Tuesday. The study used cameras and lasers to see the number of water droplets that come through each mask and found that a breathable neck gaiter ranked worse than the no-mask control group.

Montana

Helena: The state is allocating $50 million to increase the availability of child care in response to COVID-19, Gov. Steve Bullock said Tuesday. The funding was allocated from the state’s $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus relief money. The majority of the funding, $30 million, will be distributed in grants to providers who care for school-age children out of school time, officials said. An additional $10 million will be distributed to families with health needs and special needs requiring in-home care. Another $8 million will be divided among all licensed and registered child care facilities in the state to maintain and expand child care slots, cover increased staff costs, cover recruitment, address health and safety, and meet sanitation needs. The health department’s Child Care Resource and Referral Agency will receive $2 million for administration and outreach.

Nebraska

Omaha: The City Council on Tuesday approved an emergency mask mandate in indoor public places to prevent the coronavirus from spreading. The measure passed 7-0 after four hours of testimony from a divided public. The proposal had received support from many of the city’s biggest companies, including Union Pacific, TD Ameritrade, Mutual of Omaha and First National Bank. The proposed ordinance would require masks in places such as schools, businesses and churches. Eating and drinking in restaurants and bars, exercising in gyms, and visiting government offices would be excluded. Douglas County, which includes Omaha, has confirmed 11,449 coronavirus cases and 138 deaths since the pandemic began, according to the county’s tracking portal. The number of new daily cases has trended down over the past week. The number of cases in Lincoln has trended downward since the city began requiring masks July 20.

Nevada

Reno: Dozens of teachers and parents gathered outside a high school Tuesday to argue against the Washoe County School District’s decision to reopen schools during the coronavirus pandemic. The demonstration was held outside Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, north of Reno, where the district met in person a few days before students are expected to return Monday. The demonstration came after the district released a new reopening plan to help families prepare. But many teachers and parents have raised concerns about the safety of the plan and how to implement it. “Too many of the answers that we’re getting from the district are we don’t know yet, we don’t know yet, and that’s not acceptable,” said Robert Munson, a Washoe County teacher. The district meeting started at 4 p.m. and ended after 1 a.m. Wednesday. Most of the speakers were teachers who said they were frustrated with the decision.

New Hampshire

Concord: Gov. Chris Sununu issued an executive order Tuesday requiring masks to be worn at scheduled gatherings of more than 100 people. Sununu, a Republican, has resisted calls to mandate the use of face coverings to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, and the new requirement falls far short of the mandates in the other five New England states, which generally require masks to be worn in public when social distancing isn’t possible. The order will be put to the test Aug. 22-30 at the annual Laconia Motorcycle Week, which typically attracts thousands of people to the state. It’s a smaller version of the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a 10-day event that began Friday in South Dakota. The mandate won’t apply to large workplaces or to schools, unless students gather for an assembly or other large event, Sununu said.

New Jersey

Trenton: Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday that schools that cannot meet health and safety guidelines for an in-person start to the academic year can go with an all-remote option. The first-term Democratic governor said he will also soon sign an executive order that paves the way for the state’s roughly 600 schools to begin in-person instruction in September. The ability for some schools to start entirely remotely is a change from the governor’s June guidance, which required all schools to have in-person instruction. Then, in July, Murphy approved an option for parents to request all-remote learning for their children. Murphy said the change stemmed from “our willingness to listen” to stakeholders. The disruption stems from the COVID-19 outbreak, which led to three months of remote learning in the previous academic year. The health and safety guidelines include maintaining social distance and mask-wearing for staff and students.

New Mexico

Santa Fe: The school year is getting underway at some of the state’s largest public school districts as teachers, students and parents deal with remote learning amid the coronavirus pandemic. Albuquerque Public Schools started Wednesday. Schools in the district have been distributing technology to students, making virtual home visits, and providing guidance to staff, students and families. The Las Cruces district has outlined protocols for instruction, technology and nutrition services for that district’s all-online start. “We have prepared, and we are ready,” Las Cruces Superintendent Karen Trujillo said in a statement. She said educators participated in more than 350 professional development webinars to prepare for the start of virtual classes, and laptops and tablets were ordered at the beginning of the summer with the aim of every student having access to a device. Some students are still waiting, though, due to shipping delays.

New York

Albany: Evictions are still on hold in the state’s courts as housing advocates worry about the fate of an estimated 14,000 renters who faced eviction before the declaration of a COVID-19 emergency. Courts spokeswoman Lucian Chalfen said Friday that the state’s stay of evictions is still in effect through a March 16 order signed by the state’s chief administrative judge. The announcement comes as housing advocates including the Legal Aid Society hope New York courts will heed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s call for “no evictions” amid the pandemic. Last week Cuomo said a new state law makes clear that no evictions are allowed while New York is in a pandemic. “I signed the law, and the law is clear,” Cuomo said. “Until when? Until I say COVID is over. And you know, we’ll figure out when that is.” Still, an attorney for the Legal Aid Society said the law alone doesn’t offer enough certainty to tenants.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Gov. Roy Cooper won another legal victory defending his COVID-19 executive orders Tuesday, this time when a judge rejected Lt. Gov. Dan Forest’s demand that they be blocked by declaring his lawsuit is unlikely to succeed. The Republican lieutenant governor sued Cooper last month, alleging the Democrat’s orders limiting business activities and mass gatherings and mandating face coverings were unlawful because he failed to first get support from the Council of State. The 10-member council includes both of them, Attorney General Josh Stein and other statewide elected officials. Cooper’s state attorneys argued in a virtual hearing last week that the governor acted properly under portions of the Emergency Management Act that don’t require the concurrence of the council. They said the law lets him act unilaterally when he determines local governments are unable to respond effectively in the emergency.

North Dakota

Minot: North Dakota Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said Wednesday that a new partnership with Minot State University will help ease the state’s shortage of special education teachers. Minot State will receive a $750,000 grant to pay for scholarships for 20 paraprofessionals who work with special education students, Baesler said. The grant money will help the paraprofessionals earn bachelor of science degrees with a major in special education. The $750,000 comes from federal coronavirus relief aid approved by Congress in March, which included emergency assistance to schools. Minot State special education department chairwoman Holly Pedersen said the university is excited to have an opportunity to partner with the state and find solutions to address the special education teacher shortage that’s happening nationwide.

Ohio

Columbus: Nearly 600,000 Ohio schoolchildren in 325 districts will return to school this fall for in-person classes, according to figures released by Gov. Mike DeWine. Almost 400,000 students in 55 districts will be attending online, while about 380,000 students in 154 districts will be doing some combination of in-person and online classes, the governor said. The state didn’t have information for 78 additional districts. DeWine said he believes schools are doing a good job of getting ready for all options. But children’s well-being as they return to classes, as well as their ability to do activities ranging from sports to band to theater, will be influenced by community efforts to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, the governor emphasized in Tuesday remarks. That includes continued mask-wearing, social distancing and avoiding mass gatherings.

Oklahoma

Tulsa: The Tulsa State Fair has been canceled this year amid concerns about the coronavirus, joining the previous cancellation of the Oklahoma State Fair in Oklahoma City. The Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority voted 5-0 to cancel the fair scheduled for Oct. 1-11 but said the Junior Livestock Show will continue. “I know for us it is a huge hit in the loss of money, but for me the greater concern has to be the health of our community and those who come here and then go home,” Tulsa County Commissioner and TCPFA Chair Karen Keith said during Tuesday’s meeting. Oklahoma State Fair officials announced in June the cancellation the Oklahoma City event scheduled for late September. The Oklahoma State Health Department on Wednesday reported 45,398 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 627 deaths due to COVID-19, an increase of 670 cases and nine more deaths than reported Tuesday.

Oregon

Portland: The state’s tallest waterfall, one of its most popular attractions, has reopened to the public with new guidelines in place amid the coronavirus pandemic. Multnomah Falls opened in the Columbia River Gorge on Tuesday, the U.S. Forest Service announced. New social distancing and face mask mandates were also announced, in addition to other strategies to keep crowds down and visitors separated from one another, The Oregonian/OregonLive reports. There will be two phases to the reopening, the forest service said. The first, effective now, is first-come, first served and allows up to 300 visitors at a time between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to check in and wait in a socially distanced queue to the viewing platform at the bottom of the waterfall. The second phase, expected to be implemented in the next few weeks, will involve an online ticketing system allowing 300 people to visit the waterfall each hour.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: Mayors are challenging the state’s members of Congress to help them get direct budget aid from the federal government, warning that cities of all sizes face steep deficits and deep service cuts as a result of the coronavirus’ impact on the economy. With Washington in a stalemate over a new round of funding, mayors warned of severe consequences on services and the economy without an injection of federal aid to cover slackening tax collections. They also pointed out that they received little in trickle-down from a prior round of aid to cover coronavirus costs that went to states and the most heavily populated counties. Pennsylvania’s 20-member congressional delegation is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, with nearly every Republican balking at another round of federal aid.

Rhode Island

Providence: The state will delay the reopening of public schools by two weeks, to Sept. 14, to give educators more time to prepare to welcome returning students during the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Gina Raimondo announced her decision to give schools extra time Wednesday, saying that while she is eager for schools to resume in-person classes, it must be done responsibly. “It gives schools a little more time to be ready,” said Raimondo, a Democrat. “So you can have confidence that when we reopen school we’ll be in good shape. We owe it to the children.” Under Raimondo’s plan, local schools will be allowed to resume full-time in-person instruction only if they meet certain safety benchmarks. A final decision is expected the week of Aug. 31. Raimondo said local districts must put in place detailed plans dealing with details such as student transportation, in-school traffic flow, class size and mask use.

South Carolina

Columbia: Most school districts in the state will not open their doors to students all five days a week when they start the new academic year during the COVID-19 pandemic, even though the governor demanded all schools offer a five-day per week in-person option. The state Education Department approved the last of the reopening plans for all 81 districts in the state Monday. Just 1 out of every 5 school districts will open its doors to students five days a week, and four plans start without any in-person option for classes, although those districts promised to bring in students whose parents want them to be in a school building as soon as it is safe. On July 15, Gov. Henry McMaster said he wanted to see all schools offer a five-day per week in-person option, saying that “we must have our schools available” and that “parents must have a choice.” Many school boards resisted.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: A local company that is developing a COVID-19 therapeutic announced Tuesday that it has embarked on human trials. SAB Biotherapeutics said 28 healthy volunteers were participating in the company’s phase-one trial of its antibody treatment known as SAB-185. The phase-one study will evaluate the safety of treating patients with the therapeutic, which is a human antibody that can be produced at large scale using genetically modified cattle. The 28 healthy volunteers will be given single and multiple ascending doses of SAB-185 to demonstrate its safety. A second part of the phase-one study to evaluate the safety and pharmacological activity in SAB-185 in COVID-19 patients is slated to begin later this month. Besides treating ill patients, SAB-185 is being developed for use by first responders and others as a protective treatment.

Tennessee

Nashville: Legislation designed to provide sweeping liability protections against coronavirus lawsuits to schools, health care providers and businesses advanced Tuesday. The Republican-dominated Statehouse is convening for a special legislative session to address not only COVID-19 liability but also telemedicine coverage and penalties against protesters. Gov. Bill Lee announced last week that he was convening a special legislative session to address a handful of bills lawmakers failed to advance earlier this year before adjourning in mid-June. Back then, the main dividing line over the liability bill was whether to make its protections retroactive to early March, which the Senate supported and the House opposed. The telemedicine bill was spiked as a response to the failure to pass the liability bill.

Texas

Austin: The state surpassed 500,000 confirmed coronavirus cases Tuesday as Republican Gov. Greg Abbott suggested family and neighborhood gatherings are behind a sharp rise in the rate of positive tests, which has climbed to record levels just as schools are beginning to reopen across the state. He also continued to say more testing in Texas is likely after dropping off in recent weeks, a trend seen across the U.S. even as deaths mount. Texas has reported more than 1,400 new deaths over the past week, including 220 on Tuesday. Although health officials say there are encouraging signs in Texas – particularly hospitalization levels that have dropped more than 30% since July’s peak – infection rates have been on a steady increase. On Tuesday, the rolling average of positive cases over the past seven days jumped to 24%, by far the highest of the pandemic, according to figures from the state Department of Health Services.

Utah

St. George: For the first time in more than 43 years, the St. George Marathon is off. The city announced in a statement Tuesday that this year’s marathon, scheduled to take place Oct. 3, will be canceled “due to concerns related to the potential spread of COVID-19 and the challenge of providing adequate health and safety protections for race participants and volunteers.” One of the largest marathons in the country, the annual St. George Marathon traditionally sees about 7,000 runners take part. Meanwhile, organizers have officially canceled the 2020 St. George IRONMAN Triathlon, also citing concerns about the pandemic. One of St. George’s biggest draws, the annual event typically draws athletes from around the world, bringing an average of $7 million in economic impact to Southern Utah. Initially scheduled for May 2, the event had earlier been postponed until September.

Vermont

Montpelier: With the start of school less than a month away, state officials on Tuesday announced some revisions to the school restart guidance, and Republican Gov. Phil Scott reiterated how important he thinks reopening schools is. Scott said he worries about the children of parents who don’t have time to teach their kids and struggle to pay for child care and the negative effect not reopening schools would have on them and children of more vulnerable families. “I truly believe that if we don’t provide a way to get those kids back into school, we’ll see the ramifications for years to come,” said Scott, who acknowledged the anxiety of some parents and teachers. The state will likely see some cases and clusters connected to schools, even though it has the lowest number of coronavirus cases in the country, he said. But the state has worked hard to build up its testing and tracing capacity, Scott and State Epidemiologist Patsy Kelso said.

Virginia

Virginia Beach: Renovations have been delayed at the municipal building where a mass shooting happened last year. The Virginian-Pilot reports city officials don’t have enough money to pay for it now because of the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter last week, the mayor of Virginia Beach asked the Legislature to consider allocating $10 million toward the renovations. Employees who worked in the building where 12 people were killed have been working at home and in offices across the city. The city plans to turn Building 2 into the headquarters for the police department. Plans also call for renovating several other buildings to bring former Building 2 employees back to the municipal center so that the Departments of Public Works, Public Utilities and Planning can again offer citizens services in one place.

Washington

Seattle: State residents applied for relief funds as the coronavirus pandemic diminished their incomes and savings. But for undocumented workers, that wasn’t an option. After months of pressure from immigration activists and organizations, Gov. Jay Inslee is launching a $40 million state fund for undocumented workers, the Northwest News Network reports. “We’re excited to have a good chunk of money allocated to our community,” said Alejandra Perez, an immigration activist from the Seattle area who’s been working with the governor’s staff, Initially, the fund was a grassroots effort among several organizations to raise $100,000, but it raised $5 million over the past several months. Washington has an estimated 240,000 residents without legal authorization, according to the Pew Research Center, and they pay an estimated $368 million in state and local taxes.

West Virginia

Charleston: The number of reported deaths from the new coronavirus in the state has jumped 23% in the past week, with six more fatalities announced Wednesday, pushing the total to at least 153. The state of 1.8 million residents has seen a smaller amount of cases and deaths compared to other places since the pandemic began. Lately, though, the numbers have been alarming. Confirmed cases have tripled in the past seven weeks, surpassing the 8,000 mark total Wednesday, while the numbers of deaths have shot up 66%. Officials have blamed the recent surge in part on vacation trips to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a popular destination for West Virginians. Gov. Jim Justice has constantly urged residents to wear masks but has resisted reimposing additional restrictions.

Wisconsin

Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank delivered a sobering message Wednesday about the state’s flagship campus as the fall semester looms, saying that “we’re in a real financial crisis” due to the coronavirus pandemic. How bad the crisis will be depends on several factors, Blank said in an online presentation at the Rotary Club of Madison. Those include whether students who are enrolled for the fall semester actually show up, how deep state budget cuts are and whether the Legislature gives the university the authority to borrow money. Blank projected the loss to UW-Madison to be about $150 million with a full student body this fall. The loss will be greater if fewer students return who have committed and if state budget cuts worsen, she said. For now, the university is on track to have its target of about 7,400 freshmen on campus, she said.

Wyoming

Casper: Wyoming is no longer the only state without its own suicide prevention call center. The Central Wyoming Counseling Center launched the state’s first and only service Tuesday, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. Wyoming has one of the highest suicide rates in the U.S. Residents previously were able to call national hotlines, but those answering don’t have important knowledge about the state, counseling center CEO Kevin Hazucha said. Hazucha and Bernice Hazucha came to Wyoming from New York in 2018 and spent a year meeting with various officials on starting a suicide call line. Wyoming eventually issued a request for proposals, and the Central Wyoming Counseling Center responded. Wyoming has allocated $400,000 for the hotline for two years. The suicide hotline will be staffed 40 hours a week, but organizers hope to expand that to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mobile art gallery, ‘Masked Moose’: News from around our 50 states