Fear and confusion in the aftermath of disasters create fertile ground for misinformation. Social media and AI can amplify it, but there are ways to weather the storm.
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Stresses on urban communities continue to affect housing, food security, child services, homelessness, business development and crime. Coverage includes stories about new solutions to how cities are run, how they develop as urban centers and about the people who live there.
Polarized politics has changed the dynamics of legislation and policymaking at the state and local level. Political parties with supermajorities are increasingly in control in many states and cities. These stories explain what that means for legislators, governors and mayors and how politicians can navigate this new political landscape.
State and local governments face a tight labor market and a competitive disadvantage with the private sector. But salaries aren’t the only issue, with cities, counties and states all grappling with training, retention, remote work and increased union activity.
This coverage will look at how public leaders establish new policies in a range of crucial areas of government – health, education, public safety, for example – and how these policies impact people’s lives through better services, effective regulations and new programs. This will include stories examining how state and local government approaches policymaking around emerging areas, including artificial intelligence.
Fiscal and ridership changes are impacting transportation policies at the state and local levels. These articles focus on innovative and successful transit planning, funding and upkeep for intercity and commuter rail, electric vehicles, mass transit and more.
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At least 11 states have enacted laws to restrict the use of PFAs in apparel, cleaning products, cookware, cosmetics and menstrual products. Since 2007, 30 states have approved 155 PFA policies.
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority has a $3.3 billion list of projects to achieve ahead of the 2028 Games that is only 5.2 percent funded so far.
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John Suthers, a former U.S. attorney and Colorado attorney general who is now representing the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Boulder, Colo. Suthers responded to the NonHuman Rights Project’s (NhRP) claim that five elephants in the zoo should be able to dispute their detention. The NhRP unsuccessfully tried to have an elephant at the Bronx Zoo named Happy legally considered a person with the ability to pursue a petition seeking release. The New York ruling said giving such rights to an elephant “would have an enormous destabilizing impact on modern society.” Now, the NhRP is again arguing that the five elephants, Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo, are such intelligent and social creatures that they are, essentially, being held prisoner in the zoo. The Colorado court will issue a ruling in the coming weeks or months. (Associated Press — Oct. 24, 2024)
