• Yelp, San Francisco Partner to Publicize Health Inspection Data
• BY: Government Technology   |   San Francisco   |   January 18, 2013
• San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced on a partnership with Yelp, a popular restaurant review website, to link the city's restaurant health score data and to standardize health score data nationwide.

• Social Media Bills to Protect Online Privacy Filed in Texas
• BY: The Texas Tribune   |   Texas   |   January 18, 2013
• With the emergence of new technology, legislators have filed a bevy of bills that could change the way some Texans use social media.
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• Fracking Ban in New Jersey Expires
• Source: NorthJersey.com   |   New Jersey   |   January 18, 2013
• The state’s one-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, imposed last year by Gov. Christie, expired, and environmental groups lamented that the state is now exposed to the potential pollution that many critics say can be caused by the The controversial drilling practice.

• Obama's Gun Reforms Depend on States' Mental Health Efforts
• Source: Washington Post   |   Nation   |   January 17, 2013
• President Obama, in trying to curb gun violence, is pushing for improved mental-health serv­ices, a revival of gun-related research and beefed-up reporting about potentially dangerous people who shouldn’t own guns — efforts that are likely to rely heavily on the states and the public health sector.

• Utah Medicaid Patient Records at Risk, Again
• Source: Salt Lake Tribune   |   Utah   |   January 17, 2013
• The Utah Department of Health has begun notifying 6,000 Utahns on Medicaid that some of their personal information was misplaced by a third-party contractor.

• Gov. Jerry Brown Challenges California Universities to Make Big Money-Saving Changes
• BY: McClatchy News   |   California   |   January 16, 2013
• Gov. Jerry Brown hopes to use state purse strings to force down the state university system's expenses, hold the line on tuition and fees, and graduate more students more quickly.

• Collaboration, Technology and the Lessons of Election Day
• BY: Susan K. Urahn   |   January 16, 2013
• Last year's elections demonstrated how teamwork between governments and the technology sector can make voting information more accessible, save taxpayer dollars and improve the efficiency of the voting process.

• Space Satellite Connects Rural Health Clinics to Broadband
• BY: Dylan Scott   |   Nation   |   January 15, 2013
• To connect mobile health units in the hills of rural New England with broadband access, policymakers are looking up -- all the way to space.

• Washington, D.C., Tops List of Top 10 Cities for Tech Growth
• BY: Liz Farmer   |   January 11, 2013
• Silicon Valley? That is so 1995. As it turns out, other metropolitan areas across the country are kicking some Bay Area rear when it comes to tech job growth since the millennium.

• Cloud Computing Taxes at Issue in Idaho and Elsewhere
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Idaho   |   January 11, 2013
• Fast-changing technology has created gray areas in tax laws across the country. Businesses and lawmakers are sparring over whether commercial use of remote computer software and servers should be taxed.

• Government and the Micro-Data Economy
• BY: Beth Blauer   |   January 11, 2013
• Making the vast stores of information that governments collect open to all will have a profound effect on business and on our quality of life.
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• On 2nd Look, Digital Health Records Produce Few Savings
• Source: New York Times   |   Nation   |   January 11, 2013
• Optimistic predictions by RAND in 2005 helped drive explosive growth in the electronic records industry and encouraged the federal government to give billions of dollars in financial incentives to hospitals and doctors that put the systems in place.

• Silent Panic Alarms Proposed for All New Jersey Schools
• Source: Newark Star-Ledger   |   New Jersey   |   January 11, 2013
• An Essex County lawmaker introduced a bill to install silent panic alarms in New Jersey public schools that would immediately alert authorities to emergencies.

• Feds Give States More Time to Comply with REAL ID Law
• BY: Stateline   |   Nation   |   January 9, 2013
• Only 13 states issue driver’s licenses that comply with the federal Real ID law, but states that do not will have at least six months to bring their licenses up to those standards.

• Technology's Real Value for Government
• BY: Jerry Mechling   |   January 9, 2013
• IT investments bring their own direct productivity improvements, but the big payoff is in the much larger productivity boost that digital tools can give to government services.
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