If states were students, Massachusetts would apparently be the star pupil.

US News created a stir when it published its list of best and worst states to live in. The rankings were based on an array of factors in seven categories: healthcare, education, crime and corrections, infrastructure, opportunity, economy and government.

Top 10 on the list were:

Massachusetts New Hampshire Minnesota North Dakota Washington Iowa Utah Maryland Colorado Vermont

And now for the opposite end of the spectrum, here's the bottom 10:

41. West Virginia

42. Kentucky

43. Alaska

44. Oklahoma

45. South Carolina

46. New Mexico

47. Alabama

48. Arkansas

49. Mississippi

50. Louisiana

Alabama failed to crack the top 30 in any of the major categories, ranking 31st in the quality of health care; 31st in infrastructure; 40th in opportunity; 42nd in crime and corrections; 42nd in government; 45th in economy; 47th in access to healthcare; 47th in education; and 50th in public health.

Alabama also ranked:

50

50

48

47

47

47

And on that happy note...

Welcome to Wednesday's Wake Up Call. Let's see what's going on today:

No snow Chicago

For the first time in 146 years, Chicago has weathered January and February with no snow.

The Windy City is typically the snowy city, averaging 40 inches of the white stuff every winter. This year, however, temperatures in the city have been balmy, despite forecasts of a particularly brutal winter.

The city's last measurable day of snow came on Christmas Day.

NASA returns bag of moon dust

NASA has returned a bag of moon dust to a Chicago woman who sued the space agency to get it back.

The priceless bag of moon particles was collected during the Apollo 11 mission. Nancy Lee Carlson had purchased the item from a government auction in 2015 for $995. After she took the bag to NASA to be analyzed, federal officials seized it, saying it was government property.

A legal fight ensued with Carlson eventually coming out on top.

Bush daughter to speak at Planned Parenthood event

Barbara Pierce Bush, one of former President George W. Bush's two daughters, will be the headliner for a Planner Parenthood fundraiser set for next week in Texas.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas's annual Fort Worth fundraising luncheon will include Bush, CEO and co-founder of Global Health Corp. Bush has praised Planned Parenthood's work in the past.

Planned Parenthood has been a target of Republicans who have sought to defund it due to its abortion services.

Target had a terrible holiday

It looks like Target had a terrible Christmas.

The retailer announced below-forecast earnings for the final quarter of 2016, even as digital sales were up 34 percent, higher than Amazon or online growth experienced by Walmart.

In-store sales were not enough to make up the difference, however, with overall revenue falling more than 4 percent from a year ago. Target officials said earnings for the first quarter of 2017 and the full year will likely be lagging, too.

Until tomorrow.