• Michigan Teachers Opt to Work for Rest of Year -- Even Without Pay
• Source: Detroit Free Press   |   Saginaw, Mich.   |   May 7, 2013
• The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) recently decided to freeze the district’s April, May and June state aid payments after state officials discovered the district had received $580,000 in state aid for a program for incarcerated youths that the district no longer ran.

• Solitary Confinement Under New Scrutiny
• Source: Boston Globe   |   Massachusetts   |   May 7, 2013
• Over the last year, state and federal court rulings have limited the use of solitary units, which prison officials defend. State legislators, meanwhile, have proposed regulating them further.

• Freedom of '3 Strikes' Law Prisoners Varies by County in California
• Source: AP/Sacramento Bee   |   California   |   May 7, 2013
• Majorities in every California county voted last fall to scale back the state's Three Strikes law so thousands of inmates serving life sentences for relatively minor third offenses would have the chance to be set free. Five months later, there is no such unanimity among counties when it comes to carrying out the voters' wishes.

• Lottery Privatization Can Happen Without New Jersey Legislature's Approval Now
• Source: Newark Star-Ledger   |   New Jersey   |   May 7, 2013
• Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have required his administration to get the state Legislature's approval to go ahead with a plan to privatize parts of the New Jersey Lottery.

• GAO: Nashville Spent Millions on Courthouse it Doesn't Need
• Source: Tennessean   |   Tennessee   |   May 7, 2013
• A GAO report found that 10 of the 12 planned courthouses, including Nashville’s, were not justified.

• Georgia Doled Out Economic Incentives Despite Red Flags
• Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution   |   Georgia   |   May 7, 2013
• State officials who awarded hundreds of millions of dollars to lure jobs here sometimes missed critical red flags in vetting the grant recipients.

• Christie Underwent Weight-Loss Surgery
• Source: Newark Star-Ledger   |   New Jersey   |   May 7, 2013
• Gov. Chris Christie — whose weight has long been the subject of public worry and late-night talk show jokes — said he underwent lap-band stomach surgery in February.

• States' Seek Limits on Undisclosed Political Donations
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Nation   |   May 6, 2013
• States are trying to figure out ways to stem the tide of the secret money that played an unprecedented role in the 2012 election cycle. The first step is to force tax-exempt advocacy organizations and trade associations out of the shadows.

• States Make Needed Upgrades to Capitol Buildings
• BY: Stateline   |   Nation   |   May 6, 2013
• At least ten states are considering renovations to their capitol building. Though repairs and upgrades are expensive and can take years, more than two-thirds of the states have carried them out since 2000.

• U.S. Forest Service Asks States to Return Funds Due to Sequestration
• BY: Stateline   |   Nation   |   May 6, 2013
• The U.S. Forest Service has asked a dozen states to return $17.9 million in federal revenue-sharing funds, so the agency can meet its sequestration budget cut obligations.
• 2 Comments

• Texas Gov. Perry: NRA is Voice of Reason
• Source: Texas Tribune   |   Texas   |   May 6, 2013
• As members of the National Rifle Association gathered with a wide array of national figures in Houston, Rick Perry talked up Texas' gun-friendly nature and again called for weapons manufacturers to come to his state.
• 1 Comments

• Former Indiana Gov. Bowen Dies
• Source: Indianapolis Star   |   Indiana   |   May 6, 2013
• Otis “Doc” Bowen, the small-town doctor who succeeded in providing property tax relief as Indiana governor in the 1970s and then became one of the first federal officials to seek funds to battle the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, has died.

• New Jersey Seizes Affordable Housing Funds from Municipalities
• Source: Philadelphia Inquirer   |   New Jersey   |   May 6, 2013
• Amid objections from municipal officials and housing activists, the Christie administration has begun the process of seizing $150 million or more in subsidized housing money from municipalities around the state and is keeping a tight lid on its policy objectives.

• Prisons Test Crisis Intervention for Dealing with Mentally Ill
• Source: Raleigh News & Observer   |   North Carolina   |   May 6, 2013
• Over the past 25 years, crisis intervention team training has spread among law enforcement agencies across the country. Now it is being tested in the nation’s prisons, which have become the largest repositories for people with mental health problems.

• States Take Lead Regulating Compounding Pharmacies
• Source: Politico   |   Nation   |   May 6, 2013
• After a lack of congressional action after last fall's deadly meningitis outbreak, 15 states have taken up bills to step up the regulation of facilities like the one linked to the outbreak.

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Comments

• U.S. AG Holder, Gov. Brownback Spar over Kansas' New Gun Law
  
  "RE: your response to me - I understand your confusion. Our tendency to devalue historical..."
• Felons' Voting Rights Could Impact 2012 Election
  
  "well that exulated quickly......"
• Motorcycle Deaths Rise as States Rethink Helmet Laws
  
  "How many more lives would be saved if automobile riders would wear helmets. We are talking..."
• Colorado Becomes 14th State to Offer Undocumented Immigrants In-State Tuition
  
  "Finally, while I do agree with you that people who cheat the system should not be given..."
• Surveillance Cameras Key to Solving Crimes in Boston, Elsewhere
  
  "By the way joe read this;
  
  
  http://www.eejournal.com/archives/fresh-bytes/a-fingerprint-scanner-that-can-capture-prints-from-20-feet-away/..."

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