Features

• Charter Changeover
• By: Rob Gurwitt
• After Katrina wiped out one of the worst school systems in the country, New Orleans has seized the chance to redesign its whole approach to public education.

• Mississippl's Urbanist Odyssey
• By: Christopher Swope
• The ravaged Gulf Coast has a rare opportunity to recreate itself. But it has to decide what it wants to look like.

• A Dose of Transparency
• By: Penelope Lemov
• State-sponsored Web sites are enabling consumers to compare hospital and physician prices and performance.

• Prozac in the Water
• By: Tom Arrandale
• Sophisticated new tests reveal small amounts of steroids and other drugs in drinking water. How big a threat are these contaminants?

• The Clean-Coal Contest
• By: Christopher Swope
• Illinois and Texas are competing to host a demonstration project they hope will ignite a whole new industry.

• Pumping Corn
• By: Josh Goodman
• It looks like farmers can turn almost any crop into fuel. But can they make money at it without government help?

Up Front

• Fiscal Candor
• By: Jonathan Walters
• A new report tells governments something they need to know--but would rather not hear.

• 100-Proof Zoning
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Telling people not to drink is usually futile. Telling them where to drink may serve a public purpose.

• Cleanup Man
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Miami built some reform momentum, then squandered it. Pete Hernandez will try to bring it back.

• Sudan Squeeze
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Disinvestment remains a powerful human-rights weapon--as long as it's done carefully.

• Read Their Lips
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Congress hates to raise taxes--unless it can force other levels of government to collect them.

• A Smarter Dig
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Huge cost overruns are the rule on major public works projects. But they aren't inevitable.

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• By: Alan Greenblatt

• How Rail Impacts Retail
• By: Alan Ehrenhalt
• A successful transit line means a more intense commercial life around the stations, and that means higher property values, higher rents and the invasion of chain stores.

The Business of Government

• Boosting a Biotech Future
• By: Ellen Perlman
• Arizona plans to lure high school students to the biology lab and beyond.

• Blacktop Blues: Road Repair is a Pain in the Gas
• By: Ellen Perlman

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• By: Ellen Perlman

• Storm Stracking: Texas to Scan ID Bracelets for Evacuees
• By: Elizabeth Daigneau

• The Persistence of Paper
• By: Mark Stencel
• Despite all the advances in online services, e-governments are still stuck in the paper chase.

• Carbon Copy: A Boost for the Business of Buying Pollution Credits
• By: Zach Patton

• When Boomers Retire
• By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
• A number of states are looking to career-building programs to grow their workforces of the future.

• Guess Who's Coming to the ER?
• By: Penelope Lemov
• It turns out that lower-income people are not the ones clogging up emergency rooms.

• Bouncing Down the Block
• By: Ellen Perlman
• Some cities have sidewalks made of recycled tires.

• Seat-Belt Budgeting
• By: John E. Petersen
• There's economic turbulence ahead that state budget and fiscal systems may not weather well.

• Seat-Belt Budgeting
• By: John E. Petersen
• There's economic turbulence ahead that state budget and fiscal systems may not weather well.

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• By: John E. Petersen

• A Film Star is Born
• By: Ellen Perlman
• New Mexico reaps rewards from its Hollywood "give-aways"

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• By: Ellen Perlman

• Leadership's Challenge
• By: Zach Patton
• It's turf, not technology.

Training Opportunities

• Accelerating Economic Growth and Vitality
• This white paper describes how developing competencies in five key area can help public safety agencies more effectively do their jobs in the face of extremely important and difficult sets of issues.
• Crime Prediction and Prevention


• FutureStructure: A New Framework