FEATURES

• North Dakota's Oil Boom is a Blessing and a Curse
• By: Ryan Holeywell
• The state's oil boom is bringing unmatched growth and unanticipated problems.

• State Parks Seek Corporate Donors to Stay Open
• By: Linda Baker
• One of the few remaining commercial-free zones in the country may need corporations to close budget gaps.

• Fighting to Save the MPA
• By: Heather Kerrigan
• Some publicly funded universities may eliminate their Master of Public Administration programs, but schools are getting creative to avoid that.

• A Small Town Hosts the Nation's Largest Concert
• By: Zach Patton
• Handling the onslaught of traffic, crime and health needs of the 80,000 people who attend Bonnaroo every year is an art form for local officials.

DEPARTMENTS

• Even the Sun Needs an Advocate
• By: Paul W. Taylor
• The success of New York City’s solar efforts wouldn’t have been possible without its on-the-ground ombudsmen.

POLITICS + POLICY

• Light at the End of a Scandal
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• After six were indicted for underfunding San Diego’s pension system, the city made some changes to close its deficits with the unions on their side.

• Kansas City Businesses Want to End the ‘Economic Border War’
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Businesses are tired of jumping across state lines for wasted tax incentives.

• Will Education Cuts Lead to More Lawsuits?
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• States that are cutting their K-12 budgets by billions of dollars can expect more lawsuits, but they may not have an immediate impact.

• Is a Four-Day Workweek Desirable?
• By: Jessica Mulholland
• Utah’s 2008 decision to shorten its workweek inspired many cities and states to consider the same, but few actually did.

• China Looks West for Performance Management
• By: Donald F. Kettl
• China embraces performance management in an effort to wring out greater productivity and transparency.

• Federal Spending May Become More Transparent
• By: Ryan Holeywell
• Congress is calling for USASpending.gov to be replaced with a site that allows states and localities to report their earnings themselves.

• Will Community Health Centers Survive Budget Cuts?
• By: David Levine
• This year, more than half of the states decreased or eliminated funding for health centers, which provide an alternative to costly emergency rooms.

• Cities Encourage Green Building through Disclosure
• By: Elizabeth Daigneau
• Hoping to inspire energy-efficient upgrades, more cities are requiring large buildings to publicly disclose their energy ratings online.

• Intercity Bus Travel Roars Back
• By: Alex Marshall
• Bus travel between major cities is popular, but operators need strict regulation to avoid a race to the bottom.

• Urban Areas Defy Crime Trends
• By: Tod Newcombe
• Despite the recession, which usually spurs a rise in law-breaking, violent and property crimes have dropped for the fourth year in a row. How can this be?

PROBLEM SOLVER

• Providing Work Opportunities and Food to the Hungry
• By: Caroline Cournoyer
• A county in North Carolina created a community garden so the unemployed can work for benefits, training and food.

• Measuring the Efficiency of Courts
• By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
• Municipalities in more than a dozen states are using tools to gauge their courts’ speed, accessibility and reliability in administering justice.

• State CIOs Fear the Future as Their Federal Counterpart Resigns
• By: Steve Towns
• Vivek Kundra brought state IT leaders into policy discussions at an unprecedented level. They’re nervous about who might take his place.

• Sharing More Pension Data with Investors
• By: Girard Miller
• Public employers will think twice about future benefit increases if laws require more disclosure.

• Director of D.C. Lottery Attempts to Go Online
• By: Tina Trenkner
• Washington, D.C., hopes to roll out the nation’s first online intrastate casino. Buddy Roogow is leading the way.

Training Opportunities

• Health Care Reform After the Decision
• In this Mercer Report, you’ll learn how different organizations plan to tackle the new requirements of ACA and discover where most employer concerns are focused, who expects to be hardest hit, and how different health plans and Medicaid may impact overall costs.
• Crime Prediction and Prevention


• Accelerating Economic Growth and Vitality