Archive
Who knew? Bail bondsmen are illegal almost everywhere except U.S. NYT
Ohio judge sentences man to spend a night homeless. AP
At airport, West ...
Illinois is the rare state that is holding legislative voting at the same time as its presidential primary. (It was always an early-primary state). On ...
Didja ever hear the one about the state legislator who was a stand-up comedian?
Meet Vermont state Rep. Jason Lorber, who "does standup gigs, ...
Governor Arnold will endorse McCain shortly, which seems about right. Both are pro-business Republicans who have been able to find common cause with Democrats from ...
I covered the big tobacco bill that John McCain carried in the U.S. Senate back in 1998. Does anyone even remember that one?
At any ...
Not surprisingly in tough budget times, the Michigan legislature is highly unpopular with the public. Voters there will decide on a ballot initiative this year ...
One of the major ongoing political stories over the past couple of years, and certainly this year, is renewed two-party competition in the Mountain West. ...
Marijuana vending machines introduced in LA. ABC News
Duke Energy to build its (last?) coal plant in NC. Charlotte Observer
Is global warming an infrastructure ...
Rick Perry of Texas, a former Giuliani backer, has become the latest in the sudden series of Republican governors to endorse John McCain. This is ...
Strom Thurmond (Jr.) is on the ballot in South Carolina. Augusta Chronicle
Same song, verse 943: Bloomberg denies running for prez. AP
Strippers get legit in ...
Here's an election reform proposal that has me intrigued. From Farhad Manjoo at Salon.com: But as many voting-reform experts have argued, manually counting the ...
Lou Jacobson has a column at Stateline.org about the political comebacks of two governors, Alabama's Bob Riley and California's Arnold Schwarzenegger. To me, the ...
GA billboards will broadcast Super Tuesday results. Atlanta Journal Constitution
TN bill would ban teachers from even mentioning homosexuality. Memphis Flyer
Mass transit advocates try ...
To paraphrase the famous introduction of an old black-and-white crime drama, there are a thousand stories in the Naked City -- and nowadays there's a ...
With Super Tuesday finally here, I'm willing to make the barely controversial suggestion that neither party's presidential nomination will hinge on endorsements and the completely ...
If you're wondering why San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom endorsed Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama, the SF Chronicle reports that it's because Obama snubbed the ...
OMG, does Miss USA (Rachel Smith, duh) get to vote twice ? "...I'll be voting, you can be sure of that. As a citizen of ...
MD bill: If gays can't get married, ain't nobody getting married. WaPo
Midwestern farms are killing the Gulf. Indy Star
Texans get to vote on ...
By definition, a blog about state and local government really has no place talking about religion. And a blog about state and local government in ...
Josh Goodman and Alan Greenblatt have been writing great 13th Floor posts about politics and elections for a long time.
Now, they're getting their very ...
Colorado lawmaker: Shame on "sluts." Rocky Mountain News
Nevada state senator's son held for attempted murder. LVRJ
"Euros Accepted" signs start ...
Like a lot of cities, Los Angeles saw a housing boom over the past few years. And like a lot of cities, the boom didn't ...
When you think of charming sidewalk cafes and bistros, adorable patisseries and streets lined with colorful awnings and pots overflowing with flowers, you're thinking of ...
Streetsblog has an interesting comparison of recent developments in bike laws in Chicago and L.A.
In Chicago, an extremely bike-friendly city (which we've written ...
The war over water in the Southeast is reaching new levels of absurdity time-wasting hostility.
Two Georgia lawmakers have introduced a bill to move their ...
Last week, the Nebraska Supreme Court abolished electrocution, the state's sole method of execution. "Condemned prisoners must not be tortured to death, regardless of ...
Building the 30-mpg city bus. Seattle P-I blog
Milwaukee Co., Wisc.: Bike racks on buses cancel out asbestos. Journal-Sentinel
Got a Heads Up for us? ...
Walking home during yesterday afternoon's fierce 30-mph winds, I had a moment of excitement. I had my first opportunity to use DC's newly revamped 311 system!
Rudy Giuliani still hasn't posed for his mayoral portrait. NYDN
Boston T chief says system is "broke," despite recent fare hikes. Globe
TX ...
Do you live in the nation's "Disaster Belt"? USA Today
VA delegate's obit: In lieu of flowers, give to Obama. AP
Yeah, somehow ...
Happy Abraham Lincoln's Birthday, everybody!
If you're a state employee in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Illinois or Missouri, today's a state holiday for you! ...
Mexico City has launched a new experiment aimed at reducing physical harrassment of women on its crowded transit system: women-only buses and trains.
Single-gender transit ...
Just how transformative can greenspace be in revitalizing a blighted urban area? The Onion offers its take: Notorious for its abandoned buildings, industrial warehouses, and ...
Excited about that federal stimulus package putting $600 in your pocket?
State governments aren't so thrilled. Turns out the package includes a couple of nasty surprises ...
As you can see, we've spiffed up the joint. Hope you like it!
And by the way, if there are features you'd like to see ...
MA Gov. Deval Patrick loves his newly shaven head. AP
Does that voice on the airport PA system sound familiar? USA Today
Copper thieves' new ...
Not sure this is new, but I just heard about it. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has compiled all of its coverage from last summer's 35W bridge ...
In honor of Valentine's Day, public health officials have redesigned the New York City-brand condom, and they're promoting the prophylactic's new look with an ad ...
Sure, the City of Steel is romantic (almost as romantic as Paris!), but did you know it's also equipped to ward off the living dead?
...
The nation embraces railways. WSJ
North Carolina goes for plug-in electric cars. Raleigh News-Observer
Got a Heads Up for us? Email 13thfloor@governing.com
When it comes to airport security lines, what's your style? Do you struggle to pile all your bags onto the conveyor belt while trying ...
Remember Richard Foster, that Alaska legislator who couldn't receive a kidney donation because it violated the state's new get-tough ethics law?
Well, he's gonna get ...
San Diego might dissolve its port district. Voice of San Diego
KY House approves bill to fight highway fund abuse in election years. Courier-Journal
OR ...
Zach's post about TSA's latest experiments in crowd control reminds me that the other day, while flying through Denver, I noticed that the plastic bins ...
A friend of mine once interrupted a presentation to his company's board of directors to run outside and move his car because he was running ...
It's still OK to say "gay" in TN schools. Knoxville News
The $14 million personalized license plate. NYT Wheels blog
Balloons: The secret to ...
Is it buzzworthy anymore if a state legislator comes out of the closet?
Connecticut Rep. Jason Bartlett has announced that he's gay, but the Hartford ...
Remember Jason West, the young mayor of New Paltz, NY, who made waves in 2004 for performing same-sex marriages (which later were determined to be illegal)?
...
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon hosted a chat Tuesday on washingtonpost.com. The policy stuff isn't terribly compelling ("Diversity is among our many strengths"), ...
GA moves forward in border dispute with TN over water rights. AJC
States compete for $30 mil in passenger railroad upgrades. Chicago Trib
Grand Slam for ...
Rocky start for universal healthcare in Mass. NPR
In defense of urban skywalks. NY Sun
MN bridge chief rebuts critics. St. Paul Pioneer Press
Study: ...
If you've got 30 seconds and an Internet connection, you can become an ordained minister online. It doesn't even cost money.
For that reason, a county ...
Pedestrians killed in DC are disproportionately minorities. Examiner
What will the cab of the future look like? Wired's Autopia blog
Deloitte racks up half a ...
The New York Times Sunday magazine had an interview with Perry this week. (Wonder if Perry did the interview before the Times' hit piece on ...
The Super Bowl ended more than 520 hours ago, and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has STILL not made good on his bet with New York Gov. ...
Remember that board game that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' son made? The one set in prison with not-too-subtle jokes about inmate rape?
Well, Kansas state ...
You get in the airport security line, throw away your bottle of water, unpack everything in your carry-on, pull off your shoes, your jacket, your ...
If you find yourself traveling to the San Francisco Bay area, here's a way to save some money. Who needs to spend 15 bucks a person ...
With the Supreme Court ready to hear a gun rights case for the first time in decades, Brad Johnson, Montana's secretary of state, sends a ...
A marijuana trade school opens in CA. [Insert "higher education" joke]. AP
Fewer youths jumping behind the wheel at 16. NYT
Is there no ...
Georgia's quirky plan to move its border with Tennessee seems to be getting, well, less quirky.
The House and Senate in the state have each ...
The nation's governors skipped the Academy Awards on Sunday night to attend a red-carpet event of their own: a State Dinner at the White House.
When Rob Gurwitt isn't writing for Governing , he's trying to get more people involved in local government. Rob lives in Norwich, Vermont, a little burg ...
You've likely heard of shows like BODIES: The Exhibition or Body Worlds -- traveling exhibits that present actual human bodies preserved through plastination.
Maybe you've ...
Most state fleets not rushing to switch to ethanol. Stateline
Arkansas Gov. Beebe: Rural states won't support toll roads. AP
CA mayor found passed out ...
Los Angeles tap water wins national taste test. LA Times
Minnesota's got its first poet laureate. Minneapolis Star-Tribune
King County (WA) Fair shrinks to 3 days, ...
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants his tank back.
Apparently, he bought an M47 tank from the Austrian army and then lent it to an Ohio ...
You know what's hilarious? Killing kittens.
At least, that's what a couple Associated Press editors thought last week, when they changed a word ...
If you're a young Japanese hipster -- and really, who isn't? -- chances are, you're not all that interested in having a car.
According to ...
I'm not about to run through all our previous posts about official state products. Suffice it to say, if there's anything out there you can ...
All right, first off: It's not really a padded cell.
But last week's This American Life on NPR includes a story about New York City's &...
According to the Tennesseean , "troubled" Tennessee state Rep. Rob Briley, "who was captured on videotape screaming for police officers to shoot him ...
IL Gov. Blagojevich gives $1 mil -- to the wrong church. Sun-Times
Pay soars for some CA state workers. Sacramento Bee
Philly mayor hosting party for &...
The South Carolina State House will stand in for the Capitol in D.C. in an upcoming movie, "Nailed", starring Jake Gyllenhaal and ...
Conventional wisdom is that daylight-saving time saves energy. It stays lighter an extra hour in the evenings, so you don't need as much electricity to ...
"Shockwave" traffic jam recreated for first time. New Scientist
IL bill would allow 14-year-olds to drive. St Louis Post-Dispatch
Former Pittsburgh councilwoman sent ...
French mayor: "Don't die in my town." Agence France Presse
Schwarzenegger's daily jet commute draws ire. LA Times
Network apologizes for mocking town's ...
The Sacramento Bee is learning what several other news organizations already knew: The salaries of government employees may be public information, but the employees really hate it when you make it public.
That fat check you're about to receive from the federal government might not be the only cash coming your way. Some states are considering offering ...
Check out this video of the Grand Canyon being flooded in an experiment designed to mimic natural floods and recharge the ecosystem.
The amount of ...
Who's got the time to lose weight the old-fashioned way? Not New Hampshire State Sen. Bob Clegg. He had weight-loss surgery last September, and now ...
Everyone's in a tizzy over this breathless AP story about all the drugs in your drinking water: A vast array of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, ...
LA City Hall's turf warfare over turf warfare. LA Times
NYC's unscripted mayoral radio chats end -- for now. NYT
Median ad kiosks raise driver ...
Today marks a significant milestone for the 13th Floor -- it's our 2,000th post!
Obviously, a blog without readers is like a tree falling in ...
Hey, heard anything about Eliot Spitzer this afternoon?
Well he just finished the world's shortest press conference, in which he issued what was, in the ...
An anti-gay speech made by Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern has hit YouTube, and the lawmaker is getting a lot of flak for it.
Kern ...
Republicans traveling to Minneapolis [Ed. note: and St. Paul!] for the GOP national convention this summer will face the same last call everybody else does.
...
Wondering what New York First Lady Silda Spitzer was up to, uh, you know, before yesterday?
In a bit of good timing, Domino magazine interviewed ...
Josh Goodman and Alan Greenblatt are double-teaming the Spitzer story over at Ballot Box.
Check it out for updates. We'll post anything Earth-shattering here, too.
...
The Chicago Transit Authority is launching a mystery-shopper program: It's looking for riders on bus and L trains willing to report back on transit troubles ...
This could be considered tooting my own horn, except I had nothing to do with this.
Governing's textbook, Governing States and Localities, has won a 2008 ...
North Carolina OKs use of "gray water." News & Observer
U.S. Bowling Congress leaves Milwaukee area for Arlington, TX. Journal Sentinel
Got ...
First, we find out that daylight-saving time might actually waste energy.
Now comes word of another study that upends conventional wisdom: Red-light cameras may actually ...
The Journal-Register Co. in Connecticut has axed its last full-time Capitol reporter, veteran New Haven Register political writer Greg Hladky.
NV Gov's aide gets cozy with "The Hills." Las Vegas Review-Journal
Hey, Seattle-ites! City wants you to help redesign Seattle Center. Times
Got ...
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will appear in an upcoming episode of the NBC show "30 Rock" (which, if I may eschew journalistic objectivity ...
You would think there's nothing left to reveal in the long-running break-up of Jim "Gay American" McGreevey and his wife, Dina Matos McGreevey ...
"SUPERDELL" makes "totally awesome" bid for Utah gov. Deseret Morning News
Sisters in VA selling Illinois-shaped cornflake online. Virginian-Pilot
How mechanization ...
Dina Matos McGreevey denies sex claims from former driver. ABC News
Spitzer's "Kristin" linked to Charlie Sheen. Daily Record
No Big Dig copycats: ...
A slowing economy may be the answer to global warming.
Okay, that may be a bit of a stretch. But Mesa, Arizona, has found that ...
In a lot of offices, betting on the March Madness brackets is an entrenched celebration of Spring. It's as much a part of office life ...
The BBC has filed this grim report on the tent cities that have sprung up outside Los Angeles, as more and more people have lost ...
The hotel that made "Kristin" famous. NYT
Two state senators make the case for national prison reform. WaPo
College gossip site targeted by ...
There's a national shortage of kidneys, and thousands of people die each year waiting for donors.
One possible (though, to some, unpalatable) option would be ...
If you're a prisoner in the Vermont corrections system and you misbehave, you're likely to find something unappetizing at the next mealtime -- "...
Sara Gonzalez, recently appointed by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to a lucrative state post, withdrew in the face of adverse publicity, the Miami Herald reports. ...
Florida state employees rank last in pay. AP
Fed court throws out NY's Airline Passenger Bill of Rights. NYT
Got a Heads Up for us? ...
Seattle's $6.6 million experiment with automated, self-cleaning public toilets may be coming to an end: Citing drug use and prostitution in the silver pods, Seattle Public ...
This story in the Washington Post is about federal employment, but I'd be surprised if the same dynamics didn't apply in the states, which will ...
In the wake of Florida Sen. Evelyn Lynn's decision to forego a big salary from a university she'd sent earmarks toward, Mike Haridopolos is coming ...
To the dismay of Hoosier booksellers, Gov. Mitch Daniels has signed into law a bill to fine businesses that sell sexually explicit material. Their concern ...
Silk-pajamas-wearing agency official cleared of harrassment charges. Chicago Sun-Times
TX officials want state pension funds to invest in new toll roads. San Antonio Express News
...
Do you enjoy going to the movies but think they're just too darn affordable?
The state of Alabama hopes so. The Retirement Systems of ...
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has signed legislation allowing heated sidewalks, stairs, entryways and pedestrian walkways.
Wisconsin had the nation's only prohibition against such devices, passed ...
Here's a wrinkle to the same-sex marriage debate I admit I hadn't thought of before reading about it in the Hartford Courant's Capitol Watch blog. ...
How is Eliot Spitzer like Henry VIII? NY Magazine
Foreclosed homeowners trash their homes on the way out. WSJ
MA gov skipped casino debate to ...
If it seems like there's something odd about this WrestleMania billboard in Orlando, that's because there is: The guys don't have nipples.
Yep, in ...
Plenty of committee chairs have killed legislation that they didn't like, but few have done so as publicly and boldy as Kathy Stein. Despite enormous ...
As this U.S. News story says, "The good news, ridership is up; the bad news, ridership is up."
Mass transit systems all ...
Toddlers take Manhattan -- and other cities. WaPo
Chicago cops told to cut the deep-dish and hot dogs. NYT
L.A., in search of density. ...
The Washington Nationals opened their season in their brand spankin' new stadium yesterday. (It's a new era in baseball! The greatest stadium for the bestest ...
Remember the policy set up in Iowa to ban those with addiction problems from casinos? The Des Moines Register has a fascinating story about a ...
The ever-escalating war of words between state Sen. Carole Migden and California's Fair Political Practices Commission will move formally into the judicial realm today, with ...
Pittsburgh transit station has museum-worthy Sol LeWitt mural. Tribune-Review
Maple syrup producers worry its rising prices will sap demand. Boston Globe
Got a Heads Up ...
Think you can avoid cellphone bans by walking instead of driving? Maybe not for long.
Illinois lawmakers are considering a bill that would prohibit ...
New York City has a lot of nicknames, but no official one. But one elected official is trying to change that.
Queens Councilman Hiram Monserrate ...
Supreme Court to hear Ten Commandments vs. 'Seven Aphorisms.' LA Times
Two-time forest fire victims rebuilding house underground. San Diego Union Tribune
LA city ...
A convicted killer serving time "for one of the most heinous murders in Nebraska history" is working in the state governor's mansion, "...
Telemarketers lose access to TX crash victims' phone numbers. Dallas Morning News
Cricket comes to NYC schools. NYT
Fossilized poop shows evidence of earliest Americans. ...
Back in 1992, the state of Florida was looking to attract ostrich farmers. So the legislature passed a tax exemption on ostrich feed. Turns out, though, ...
DC Mayor Fenty using city ads to hawk his family's business? DCist
CA bill would tax iTunes to ease budget shortfall. San Jose Mercury News
...
Last year Texas lawmakers implemented a $5 tax on admission into strip clubs, explaining the extra fee would raise more than $40 million for anti-sexual assult programs ...
Here is a story that demonstrates the triumph of governmental hope over experience as well as anything I've come across in a long while.
Louisiana senate nixes state cocktail. NYT
Blind people, take heart! Congress takes up bill on silent hybrid cars. Examiner
NV Gov. forced to surrender his ...
The Wyoming state capitol has been through a lot since Casper Star-Tribune reporter Joan Barron first started covering the legislature 37 years ago, including an earthquake, ...
All the anxiety about the Olympic torch passing through San Francisco today -- will it elicit the same kind of disruptive protests seen in London ...
ID's are totally required to board a plane. Except when they're not. Kansas City Star
Wash, DC, metro pulls ads with Pope bobblehead doll. WaPo
...
Prince William County, Virginia, is our region's hotbed of immigration policy as enacted at the local level. Immigration was a particularly hot issue in political ...
I've been meaning to post about this all week, but I'm just now getting a chance.
The New York Times on Sunday had the most ...
Judging by the success of the Seattle Police Department's unconventional campaign to recruit officers from New York City, the cops in New York are itchin' ...
Think city streets are must be either driving lanes or pedestrian malls? Think again, grandpa.
The New York Times has this round-up of some ...
North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley looooves his three-day weekends: Easley's schedules for 2007 show only 10 Fridays over the course of the year with even a single ...
OR Gov. Ted Kulongoski might get the measles. Oregonian
Chicago: "City of Children"? Sun-Times
AZ gov's office not amused by April Fools prank. ...
Mike Huckabee's vision of Utopia: "Hucktown." Albany Times-Union
NC Personnel Office accidentally tolerant of gays; fixes "mistake." Citizen Times
Workers can't ...
The May issue of Popular Mechanics includes a special report on "Rebuilding America," what it's going to take to get our country's infrastructure ...
Los Angeles Supervisor Gloria Molina is attempting to put in place new restrictions on street vendors to quiet complaints from local restaurant owners, who claim ...
I wrote a couple weeks ago about overcrowing on U.S. cities' transit systems.
But let's all take a moment to give thanks that our ...
