Archive
There's been renewed talk lately of something that's been a perennial topic of discussion on the 13th Floor for years: a vote in Congress for ...
Okay, that's an overstatement.
But the Washington Post has an interesting story about the booming 'burbs and their effect on Christmas tree farms.
Here's the ...
Software predicts who might kill. Philly Inquirer
SEC goes light on San Diego. WSJ (subs. req'd)
90210 wants the subway to the sea. LA Times
Cities ...
Back in January, we mentioned the Jail WebCam in Anderson County, TN, which showed a live video feed from the county jail there. What a ...
Congressman calls Miami "third world." Herald
New pitch for mag-lev trains: clean air. LA Times
NJ's Ex-Gov. Codey is governor again -- for ...
The IA Legislature is a lot younger than it used to be. Des Moines Register
Gettysburg: Pickett's charge and slot machines? Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Dog food ...
I'm pretty keen on the marketing power of public transportation. Here in D.C. lately, brown-wrapped city buses have been turned into massive candy bars, ...
The Oakland Public Library is making available online historic images from its collection -- 200 to start.
Most are of local buildings and bridges as they ...
There's a new player on the health policy scene, one with enough muscle to change the way things get done. It isn't a federal agency, ...
ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" costs UT town thousands of taxpayer dollars. SL Tribune
Lobbying over NYC's proposed trans-fat ban gets fierce. WSJ (...
Should California increase its number of state legislators? Steve Wiegand, of the Sacramento Bee, has an amusing column about this idea.
Because of California's population, ...
There's nothing better than a city with a sense of humor. The new electronic fare cards for the "T," or the transit system, ...
Twenty years ago, the municipal bond market was -- believe it or not -- a wild and crazy kind of place. At least, that was ...
You might recall that the attorneys general of Kansas and Indiana received national attention for their efforts to examine medical records from abortion clinics. They ...
Can a city be led based on the best ideas of mayors in other cities? Adrian Fenty, the incoming mayor of Washington, seems intent on ...
Texas' "top 10 percent" law is under fire. Dallas Morning News
Florida could ban stem cell research -- and require it! St. Pete Times
...
Nation's healthiest state? MN (again). AP
But IL's the most improved. AP
Are there some drunken sailors in Massachusetts? Boston Globe
Just how much ...
Here's a fun little game for us -- a holiday Mad Libs!
Write a blog entry by filling in these blanks with one of the ...
I'm not in the habit of posting press releases, but thought this was interesting news for this audience: Philadelphia, PA, December 5, 2006: The Alliance for Regional ...
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco isn't generally known for political savvy, but she showed some smarts last week. That's when, to my knowledge, she was the ...
Otis White, over on our "Urban Notebook" page, makes a point about units of local government in St. Louis that is worth highlighting: &...
Michael Guido, the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, died Tuesday after battling cancer for months. Although just 52, he had served for 21 years as the city's mayor.
...
When I was calling people after the elections last month, trying to figure out what they meant for states, the point that was generally made ...
Everyone knows that South Dakota voters overturned a ban on abortion approved by lawmakers earlier this year. That doesn't make the procedure popular in the ...
There's been nothing but bad news about New Orleans in recent days. Louisiana's largest commercial property insurer has announced that it's pulling out of the ...
Getting white-collar workers to ride the bus. NPR
Want naming rights for AR Gov. Huckabee's after-party? Got $15k? AR Times blog
KY's U.S. Senators ...
TSA might let non-passengers go to airport gates again. USA Today
AZ creates an honor roll for charter schools. AZ Republic
CA gets its first ...
The contrarian essay is a staple of magazine journalism. There's one such essay in the December Atlantic that's of interest to this readership.
Virginia Postrel ...
Within minutes of arriving at the National League of Cities conference in Reno last week, I was out the door on a bus tour of ...
Over the past couple of weeks, Sen. Barack Obama's middle name, "Hussein," has generated a minor stir, with analysts wondering whether it's a ...
Following an election, it's always good to check in with Rhodes Cook, my old coworker at CQ and author of an important political newsletter. We ...
This is outside our normal scope, but fans of French-style protectionism will enjoy this passage from 1491 , Charles Mann's fascinating and unusually well-written book about North ...
Whatever a "rolling mortuary" is, AL's the only state that's got one. Birmingham News
Will Bill Frist run for TN gov??? Tennessean
TX ...
There's often newsroom debate about how to refer to members of various subgroups of Americans. Some editors think that "Native Americans" is still ...
I received this familiar-sounding message from Colorado Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff the other day: "Our agenda is ambitious: to build the best ...
Is Palm Springs a "hate-free city"? Desert Sun
Does wi-fi cause health problems? Wired
AK gov's jet to be sold on eBay. Anchorage ...
Here's a neat Web site: Santa Monica, California has a real-time map of where parking spaces are available in its downtown and at the beach. ...
The last thing I want to get involved in is speculation about the next presidential election, but I think some of the initial reaction to ...
We've written a lot about Arnold Schwarzenegger's tendency to veer in policy approach -- conciliatory in even-numbered years, confrontational in the odd ones. Now that's ...
U.S. urban dwellers are getting richer, but the racial gap's growing too. Baltimore Sun
1,000 dead ducks in Idaho. (Could it be bird flu??) Chicago ...
When it comes to gay marriage, most people tend to view the issue in starkly moral terms. Same-sex marriage is usually either seen as an ...
The Washington Post ran a soft as mush profile of incoming D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in one of its Sunday lifestyle sections. It does ...
The news that the Army and Marine Corps are requesting permanent increases in personnel doesn't sound like the type of thing that would impact state ...
L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa's 18-month report card. LA Times
Katrina inspires pet-evacuation laws. AP
Why is crime going up again? Time
Mike Bloomberg, a "...
The Christmas card sent out this year by TN Gov. Phil Bredesen is befuddling some people in the Volunteer State.
The cover of the card ...
Philly heads explode with excitement over new Rocky flick. Inquirer
Ding! St. Charles streetcar rides again in New Orleans. Times Picayune
Will India follow U....
Yeah, yeah, he's running for Prez. But Tom Vilsack is still a Guv for now. Here he is on the Daily Show last night.
We've gotten emails from the office of Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, encouraging us to give more coverage to the city-county police merger set to happen ...
Still stumped on what gifts to get your loved ones? Alabama Governor Bob Riley has some suggestions.
"Show your family and friends how much ...
I've held my fire long enough: It's time to revisit how governors are traversing the minefield that is the Christmas/holiday season. Like last year, ...
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne points to an important statistic from this fall's elections: Sixty percent of voters under the age of thirty supported ...
So these two guys walk into a Virginia DMV office...
Seriously, have you seen this? These two guys painted their faces in disguise and ...
Merry Christmas!! (Yeah, we said it.)
Hope you have a great holiday! We'll be back later next week.
Do you live in the Windy City, but long for some velvety-smooth duck-liver pâté?
You may think that the city's ban on foie gras ...
Nothing's stirring in the political world this week, except in the Texas House.
When Texas Republicans retained their majority in the state House of Representatives ...
What do Angelina Jolie, Madonna and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman have in common?
Transcontinental love.
Even in the realm of state and local government, there's a blog for everyone and every subject. (Like this one on court performance measures, which ...
Wooster and Sharp Top and Dewy Rose and Hemp.
Santa's forgotten reindeer? Lip gloss flavors?
Nope, they're towns in Georgia that were unceremoniously wiped off ...
Here's a statistic that surprised me: Once all the new legislators are sworn in, Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown could have counted every state senator ...
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush handed the reins over to Charlie Crist at noon today.
But there's one piece of Bushiana we didn't want to leave ...
Arizona: America's Marijuana (And Meth) Gateway. AZ Republic
Coup might topple TX House Speaker. Texas Politics blog
More Speakership drama, in PA. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
LA ...
Flu Crisis 2007: Too much vaccine. Austin American-Statesman
Why transportation planners need Uncle Ben's. Seattle Times
Texans: Pay up for tolls, even if they're just pennies. ...
Speaking of gubernatorial portraits, New Jersey finally got around to hanging a portrait of former Gov. James McGreevey, who in 2004 resigned in disgrace after admitting ...
Which party, Democratic or Republican, has more power in our brand-new state governments? That simple-sounding question is actually much more complicated than at first blush, ...
Last year, the Georgia DOT cleaned up its map of the state by deleting nearly 500 tiny communities from the map. The cities, predictably, were up ...
I guess I shouldn't be surprised when Adrian Fenty says his first priority as mayor of DC will be fixing ...
After reading my article on how state and local governments are selling off their toll roads, parking garages and other assets, Governing Correspondent Jonathan Walters ...
Romney's housewarming gift to Patrick: A slew of GOP appointees. Globe
Non-Hispanic governor is named to top Latino list. Texas Politics blog
New FL Gov. ...
It's looking increasingly likely that Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is set to win a sixth term this year. The Chicago Sun-Times has this story ...
SF's urban success story. SF Chronicle
At the Sundance Film Fest, without a hired escort. Salt Lake Trib
FL prisons chief's new fitness goals have ...
Ah, January. When a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of legislative agendas.
Yes, it's a new year full of new legislative sessions in ...
New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward is ready for recovery, according to a new report released this weekend. The structures in the flood-damaged neighborhood are structurally ...
Why won't Arnold talk about his skiing accident? LA Times
NYC unveils city-brand condoms with a subway-line theme. NY Post
Wanna know how to live &...
The University of Virginia's Larry Sabato has been called a lot of things, from "the Mark McGwire of political analysts," to "America's ...
Overcrowding in California's prisons has become a huge issue -- so much so that Ted Koppel is apparently planning to produce a TV documentary about ...
Phew! What's that smell? NYC blames Jersey. Newsday
In IL, pick which town your house is in. Chicago Trib
What do the GEICO gecko ...
Our friends at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program have put out a study looking at where poor people live. It looks at growth in poverty ...
Here's a plea to all government officials: Come up with a better reason to justify high public-sector salaries and benefits.
The Sacramento Bee today reports ...
From the Daily Show, here's an extremely funny clip about Wisconsin Rep. Frank Lasee's proposal to ensure school safety by providing teachers with firearms.
The ...
This Old House it's not. But this video and others on YouTube, posted by preservation activists in Houston, does represent something of a breakthrough. The ...
Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson has put forward a crime-fighting plan that he says will cost an additional $85 million per year. Putting aside the merits of ...
Obama's got nothing on the vote for TX House Speaker. In the Pink blog
Plate tectonics are really gonna cut down on the SF-LA commute. ...
I read outgoing Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's book about weight loss when I was writing a story for Congressional Quarterly about his having shed 110 pounds. ...
I've been trading e-mails with Bill Gentes, the "Blogging Mayor of Round Lake" in Illinois. Hizzoner has been keeping a blog for about ...
I'm sure all the city manager types among you have seen this NYT story by now. If you haven't, get reading. According to the Times, ...
Everyone's glad to hear that South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson is feeling better, but a few people are probably especially relieved: his family, his fellow ...
To promote his new book, From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 STOPs to Restoring America's Greatness, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee went on The Daily Show ...
You've probably seen the headlines about Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's website typo, in which his staff accidentally labeled the governor's leadership group as "The ...
New MD Gov. O'Malley kicked a field goal. Balto Sun blog
New IA Gov. Culver kissed his wife. Cedar Rapids Gazette
ID Gov. Otter wants ...
Residents of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and other states have been known to remark, "Thank goodness for Mississippi," when presented with a 50-state ranking. ...
Many cities are trying to attract college campuses -- or at least parts of them -- to their downtowns. I've written in Governing about how ...
Virginia House Del. Frank Hargrove is certainly efficient with his insults. He was able to offend blacks and Jews in pretty much the same ...
It wasn't so long ago -- what, 2005? -- when Google would blow my mind, week after week, with new web toys. Just when I'd get ...
Last fall, my colleague Chris Swope reported on the Texas State Fair's bid to see how far culinary invention could stoop. You'd think the Lone ...
It's a newsy day! Here are a few more headlines, served up fresh.
Nashville cops trade bikes for motorscooters. Tennessean
No eating behind the wheel? ...
Only once every three or four blue moons do we receive an interesting press release through our fax machine here on the 13th Floor, but ...
There are musical groups that seem to have been around forever -- the Platters, the Orioles, the Drifters. One reason for their longevity, which we've ...
Crime-fighting in New York City just got a whole lot tech-ier: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who built his fortune on innovations in information technology, announced ...
There's fantasy baseball, fantasy football and fantasy basketball. And if you scrape around the internet a bit, you'll find that there's even fantasy lacrosse, fantasy ...
Drug tests for elected officials? Portland Oregonian
Can Scientologists reform NM's prisoners? WSJ (subs req'd)
Can you make ethanol from trash? MIT Tech Review
McGreevey's ...
A California lawmaker made headlines last week when she announced plans to introduce a bill banning spanking of children younger than four: "It would ...
The city clerk of Evansville, Indiana, is urging residents to send in money for a worthy cause: shipping golf balls to soldiers in Iraq. Apparently, ...
Oh Wikipedia, when will you grow up?
The latest victim of wiki-vandalism is Philly Mayor John Street. A couple of days ago, it seems, Hizzoner's ...
One of the states where the legislature has spent recent years arguing about social issues, arguably to the detriment of other policies such as budgeting ...
What to use for currency in a post-tobacco prison? Tennessean
FL's parking spaces for disabled can't meet demand. Orlando Sentinel
What's wrong with the Chicago ...
So President Bush now wants to cut gasoline use by 20 percent. What's not to love about that?
Here's one thing, if you're in the state ...
Is MA-style health care reform illegal? WSJ (subs req'd)
WA gov wants two more toll projects. Tacoma News Tribune
NJ/NY port execs say threat ...
Here's a hot issue in states: college tuition freezes.
Governors O'Malley of Maryland, Gregoire of Washington, Rell of Connecticut, Pawlenty of Minnesota and Schweitzer of ...
This is either a testament to UNC business professor John Kasarda's awesome PR machine, the staying power of a good urban-planning concept, the laziness flattery ...
Sorry Vegas: Macao is now the world's biggest gambling center. NYT
MN town bans ultimate fighting. Red Wind Republican Eagle
MS Gov. Barbour's insider status ...
posted by Zach Patton
We here on the 13th Floor embrace the fact that our offices are located thirteen stories above the ground. We love ...
The public schools in Oakland, California, have decided to drop their zero-tolerance policy against lice. Kids with itchy nits will be welcome to stay in ...
Most states have lousy looking or ineffective home pages for their tourism web sites, in one cat's opinion.
Smiley Cat's to be exact. Smiley Cat ...
Forget all those legislative issues to watch we told you about. The big issue in legislatures this year is going to be YouTube, or more ...
Have you every thought about who's in charge of intercity train service in the United States? Hopefully not, because if you did, you'd probably end ...
Study: Kids who live near freeways plagued with lung problems. LA Times
Dueling economists agree: Corporate kicker does almost zilch for OR. Oregonian
The Guvernator's ...
I've been to Underground Atlanta, the "premier retail entertainment center" that occupies six subterranean blocks of downtown Atlanta, twice in my life.
The ...
Joining the ranks of former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has taken part in an interview in Second Life, the 3D ...
posted by Alan Greenblatt
San Francisco is an expensive city to park in. Even if you can find a space on the street with a ...
"Grills Bill" would outlaw renegade tooth-bejewelers. Memphis Commercial Appeal
48% of jobless pay in error? Sort of. Wichita Eagle
MN lawmakers wonder, do biz ...
Chicago's privatize-happy mayor hits a wall on Midway plans. Crain's
Los Angeles transit authority might create its own court. LA Times
Britain ponders giving local ...
My son is too young as yet for school, but I already have the sense that kids are pretty heavily propagandized when it comes to ...
From SFist comes this interesting tidbit about the commenting habits of San Franciso Mayor Gavin Newsom's communications director, Peter Ragone.
Apparently, SFist found some indications ...
Robin Williams, Jerry Seinfeld, Dane Cook. Sure those guys are funny, but can they run a city?
Joey Novick can.
Novick is a professional ...
Governing gave William Glaberson of the New York Times our annual journalism award yesterday. There's lots that we liked about his series on New York's ...
Today's big topic in privatization is infrastructure: toll roads, parking garages and airports. Tomorrow's, though, seems to be lottery privatization, something Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels ...
In the new issue of Governing, I write (6th item) about the potential opposition to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. I resisted the urge to ...
Texas Observer remembers Molly Ivins. Observer
In an OR city, the cops are riding school buses to spot traffic violations. AP
Nailing metal thieves in ...
With state and local governments facing, by some estimates, $1 trillion in unfunded liabilities for retiree health care and other post-employment benefits over the next thirty ...
Here are a couple videos that might interest you.
First, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Lite Brite guerilla marketing campaign that shut ...
Damage from Exxon Valdez endures. USA Today
Sorry, OH kids! Law bans light-up shoes and blinking balls. Dayton Daily News
Macon, GA, mayor converts to ...
Have you heard? Meth use is down. Both in terms of overal use and the number of new users.
So says a National Survey on ...
Mixed report cards for Chicago school reforms. Tribune
12-hour days for D.C. schoolkids? Washington Post
States: Call 911 on drunken drivers. AP
For Vegas visitors, ...
Pop Quiz: You're a public figure who's just had a very public fall from grace. You're flailing. Your PR people are scrambling to manage the ...
Here's a classic example of reactive law-making. The Chicago City Council's transportation committee has approved an ordinance that would significantly increase fines for motorists who ...
OR GOPers grumble over gov's "private" media event. Oregonian
MIA delegate in WV might lose his seat. Charlston Gazette
Frosh NV delegate's "...
Remember how Levar Burton always used to say, "But you don't have to take my word for it," when recommending a book on ...
John Cochran, at our sister publication CQ Weekly, has written an article suggesting that cities have reasons to believe that they will get more help ...
Leo McCarthy, a former lieutentant governor of California and speaker of the state Assembly, died on Monday. If you read the obituaries (Chronicle; Bee; LA ...
This is from a 13th Floor field operative (okay, "reader"), Chris: I have no idea if this rises to the level of outside ...
We've been thinking a lot about the Pennsylvania legislature, wondering whether ethics reform will remain a priority. As you may know, legislators gave themselves a ...
Ark. bill will mandate cleaner grocery store carts. NYT
Kansas City mayoral candidate wants to build a 50-story wheel. KC Star's Buzz Blog
Apartment smoking ...
Here's what may be the ultimate "nanny state" legislative proposal.
A New York State senator wants to impose $100 fines on anyone who crosses ...
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is losing her touch. Two years ago, in her state of the state address she mentioned "jobs" 52 times. Last ...
Governing staff writer -- and consummate 13th Floor blogger -- Josh Goodman has been nominated as a Rising Star journalist on FishbowlDC, medibistro's Washington journo ...
Bush Admin pushes "congestion pricing" for cities. CS Monitor
Cook County, IL takes a shot at 10-cent-a-bullet tax. Sun-Times
TX's Perry is sent ...
