NEW YORK (AP) — Why let New York City have all the fun with its Times Square ball drop on New Year’s Eve?

Dozens of places across the U.S. will ring in 2026 by dropping a quirky assortment of fruits, vegetables, sea creatures and balls of all shapes and sizes.

Many have a hometown flair.

There’s the giant cheese wedge in Plymouth, Wisconsin, a chile pepper in Las Cruces, New Mexico, a pinecone in Flagstaff, Arizona, and a conch shell in Key West, Florida.

Pennsylvania is home to a bonanza of bizarre New Year’s Eve events — the bologna drop in Lebanon, the pickle drop in Dillsburg and the potato chip drop in Lewistown.

It’s a New Year’s tradition that goes back to 1907 when a 700-pound (318-kilogram) ball measuring five feet (1.5 meters) in diameter debuted in Times Square. Copycat celebrations have surged coast to coast over the past few decades and around the beginning of the new millennium.

Here’s a look at some of those events around the nation:

Fruity traditions on New Year’s Eve

It’s said in some cultures that eating fruit on New Year’s Eve brings luck and wealth. Perhaps that’s why many cities mix fruit into their celebrations. Miami has its “Big Orange” drop, while Sarasota, Florida, features a pineapple. There are cherry drops in Milwaukie, Oregon, and Traverse City, Michigan. Brightly lit grapes plunge from above in Temecula, California. Atlanta this year is replacing its peach drop with a “digital drone peach in the sky.”

Beach balls and flip-flops

It’s tough to beat ringing in the year while watching a pair of sparkly flip-flops diving into Folly Beach, South Carolina. In Panama City Beach, Florida, there’s an evening-long bash where 15,000 beach balls are dropped above revelers just hours before a giant beach ball descends a tower at midnight.

MoonPies and a giant Peep

What could be better than seeing a 600-pound (272 kilograms) MoonPie make a 60-second descent in Mobile, Alabama? How about getting a slice of MoonPie cake at the city’s biggest event of the year? Not sweet enough? Check out the 400-pound (181 kilograms) yellow Peep chick that drops into Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Seafood smorgasbord

Waterfront cities celebrate the sea on New Year’s Eve. Brunswick, Georgia, has the shrimp drop, while Easton, Maryland, serves up its annual crab drop. The oyster drop is the main event in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The biggest catch might be in Port Clinton, Ohio, along Lake Erie, home to a 600-pound (272-kilogram) walleye named Wylie. The original papier-mache version debuted 30 years ago and has given way to a menacing fiberglass fish.

Potatoes and pierogies

There’s definitely a food theme to these New Year’s drops. Just outside Chicago, watch out for a 10-foot (3 meters) pierogi in Whiting, Indiana. The Idaho Potato Drop in Boise has been going for more than a decade, and Mt. Olive, North Carolina, celebrates its hometown pickle brand by dropping a glittery green pickle that’s close to 6 feet (1.8 meters) long.

Possum drop lives on

All of these events are meant to be fun, boost civic pride and attract tourists. But one created such a stir that it ended up in court. Residents in western North Carolina no longer lower a live possum inside a glass box at midnight, calling off the event in 2019 after years of protests and legal challenges. There is still a possum drop in Tallapoosa, Georgia, which was long ago known as Possum Snout. That one, though, stars a stuffed possum named Spencer.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah judge on Monday ordered the release of a transcript from a closed-door hearing in October over whether the man charged with killing Charlie Kirk must be shackled during court proceedings.

State District Judge Tony Graf said public transparency was “foundational” to the judicial system before ordering the release of details from the Oct. 24 closed hearing. Attorneys for media outlets including The Associated Press had argued for access because they said it was also the first time defense attorneys suggested a ban on cameras in the courtroom.

Prosecutors have charged Tyler Robinson with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem. They plan to seek the death penalty. Robinson has not yet entered a plea.

In a 97-page transcript released later Monday, attorneys for Robinson argued that widespread videos and photos of him shackled and in jail clothing could create bias against him among potential jurors. Defense attorney Richard Novak said prohibiting cameras would be “very easy” for the court to enforce and could help curb visual prejudice.

“We’re not litigating this case in the press,” Novak said during the Oct. 24 hearing.

The transcript contained limited redactions to remove discussions of security protocols in the closely watched case. Graf also ordered the release of an audio recording of the hearing, again with redactions.

Robinson was not present in court Monday and appeared via audio feed from the Utah County Jail.

Graf has not ruled on the defense’s suggestion to ban cameras, but he has implemented other limitations.

Days after the closed-door hearing, Graf ruled that Robinson could wear civilian clothes in pretrial hearings but must also wear restraints to ensure the safety of court staff and Robinson himself. Utah court rules require defendants who are in custody to be restrained or supervised at all times unless otherwise ordered.

Graf also prohibited media outlets from publishing photos, videos and live broadcasts that show Robinson’s restraints to help protect his presumption of innocence before a trial.

The judge briefly stopped a media livestream of a hearing earlier this month and ordered the camera be moved after Robinson’s attorneys said the stream showed the defendant’s shackles. Graf said he would terminate future broadcasts if there were further violations.

Lawyers for the media wrote in recent filings that an open court “safeguards the integrity of the fact-finding process” while fostering public confidence in judicial proceedings. Criminal cases in the U.S. have long been open to the public, which the attorneys argued is proof that trials can be conducted fairly without restricting reporters.

In a separate ruling Monday, Graf denied a request from attorneys for the media who sought to intervene in the case. The judge said members of the press do not need to be formal parties in the proceedings to access court records.

Still, Graf said the involved publications must be notified of future requests to close hearings or restrict access to court filings.

Prosecutors are expected to lay out their case against Robinson at a preliminary hearing scheduled to begin May 18.

DES MOINES (AP) — A Christmas Eve Powerball drawing could add new meaning to holiday cheer as millions of players hope to cash in on the $1.7 billion prize, which comes after months without a jackpot winner.

The United States’ 4th-largest jackpot on record comes after 46 consecutive draws without someone claiming to have all six numbers. The last contest with a jackpot winner was on Sept. 6. The game’s long odds have people decking the halls and doling out $2 — and sometimes more — for tickets ahead of Wednesday night’s live drawing.

It’s a sign the game is operating as intended. Lottery officials made the odds tougher in 2015 as a mechanism for snowballing jackpots, all the while making it easier to win smaller prizes.

The Christmas holiday is not expected to impact the drawing process should there be a winning ticket, a Powerball spokesperson said.

Here is what to know about Wednesday’s drawing:

Christmas Eve cha-ching

That ticket placed in a stocking or under the tree could be worth a billion bucks — but with some caveats.

Powerball is played in 45 states, along with Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Most of those areas require players to be 18 or older, though some states have steeper requirements. In Nebraska, players have to be at least 19 years old, and in Louisiana and Arizona, people can’t buy tickets until they are 21.

Winning tickets also must be cashed in the states where they were bought. And players can’t buy tickets in Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada or Utah.

Other than that, lottery officials argue there is a chance a lucky Powerball ticket could be a gift that keeps on giving.

Charlie McIntyre, the New Hampshire Lottery’s executive director, said Tuesday: “Just think of the stories you can tell for generations to come about the year you woke up a billionaire on Christmas.”

A range of prizes can be presents

Wednesday’s $1.7 billion jackpot has a cash value of $781.3 million.

A winner can choose to be paid the whole amount through an annuity, with an immediate payment and then annual payments over 29 years that increase by 5% each time. Most winners, however, usually choose the cash value for a lump sum.

The odds are high for the top prize, but there are smaller prizes players can reap.

At the last drawing, players in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin each won $1 million. There are also prizes outside the jackpot, ranging from a few dollars to $2 million.

One woman told Powerball officials that she already made plans for her $1 million win: “We’re going to pay off our cars and credit cards and get a bigger house!”

And Thomas Anderson of Burlington, North Carolina, said he intended to use his $100,000 Powerball win from earlier this month to go back to school, according to Powerball.

Long odds for the billion-dollar jackpots

Lottery officials set the odds at 1 in 292.2 million in hopes that jackpots will roll over with each of the three weekly drawings until the pool balloons so much that more people take notice and play.

The odds used to be notably better, at 1 in 175 million. But the game was made tougher in 2015 to create the out-of-this-world bounties. The tougher odds partly helped set the stage for back-to-back record-breaking sweepstakes this year.

The last time someone won the Powerball pot was on Sept. 6, when players in Missouri and Texas won $1.787 billion, which was the second-highest top prize in U.S. history.

The U.S. has seen more than a dozen lottery jackpot prizes exceed $1 billion since 2016. The biggest U.S. jackpot ever was $2.04 billion back in 2022.

More about those unfavorable odds

It’s hard to explain what odds of 1 in 292.2 million mean. Even if halved, they remain difficult to digest.

In the past, one math professor described the odds of flipping a coin and getting heads 28 straight times.

Tim Chartier, a Davidson College math professor in North Carolina, on Monday compared the odds of a winning lottery ticket to selecting one marked dollar bill from a stack 19 miles (31 kilometers) high.

“It’s true that if you buy 100 tickets, you are 100 times more likely to win. But in this case, ‘100 times more likely’ barely moves the probability needle,” Chartier said. “Using the time analogy, buying 100 tickets is like getting 100 guesses to name that one chosen second over nine years. Possible — but wildly improbable.”