Source: Washington Post | Virginia |
June 14, 2013
A complex legal dispute over mineral rights in Virginia’s coal country has become the latest battleground in the state’s bitterly fought gubernatorial race, with Democrats accusing Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II of improperly siding with out-of-state energy companies against Virginians who say the firms cheated them out of natural gas royalties.
Rich Harvey, the commander of the federal incident-management team that took over firefighting duties early Thursday, estimated containment at 5 percent.
The trend — coming at a time of heightened privacy concerns after recent revelations of secret federal surveillance of telephone calls and Internet traffic — is expected only to accelerate after the Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding a Maryland statute allowing the authorities to collect DNA samples from those arrested for serious crimes.
Source: New York Times | New York City |
June 13, 2013
The projects will have to pass through an array of government agencies, billions of dollars in financing must be secured; and of course the mayor is leaving office at the end of the year, and there is no guarantee that his successors will embrace all of the components.
Source: Newark Star-Ledger | New Jersey |
June 13, 2013
In the first of what is likely to be a string of national endorsements, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said he is endorsing Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s candidacy to replace U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
Officials across Texas are scrambling to reverse the federal government’s decision not to free up more funds to help rebuild the town, where a fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 and destroyed schools and homes.
Occupy protests spread around the country in 2011, mostly by citizens who were taking aim at the country’s income disparities and what they saw as an overly cozy relationship between federal politicians and Wall Street financiers.
Source: Press of Atlantic City | Wildwood, N.J. |
June 13, 2013
The Wildwood City Commission on Wednesday adopted new "decency standards" for the Boardwalk to outlaw sagging pants and to require shirts during the evening hours.
The law, signed by Gov. Robert Bentley in April and set to take effect next month, requires every doctor who performs an abortion at a clinic to have staff privileges at a local hospital.
Source: AP/Kansas City Star | Kansas |
June 12, 2013
The Kansas school board has approved new multistate science standards for public schools that treat evolution and climate change as key concepts to be taught from kindergarten through the 12th grade.
The long-term plan is the first of its kind since Mayor Rahm Emanuel took office and aligns the entire district with the rigorous Common Core Curriculum by the 2014-15 school year.
Nationally, six straight years of revenue declines have put enormous pressure on state and local governments, nevertheless, some are thriving. Standard & Poor's, the credit-rating agency, reports that it issued more bond upgrades than downgrades in 2012.
The Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act are in full swing. With the influx of people who will be applying for benefits and the ACA requirement for online enrollment, it is more important than ever to verify the identities of those accessing benefits up front.