Archive
Police officers killed by firearms accounted for 50 deaths in the last 12 months.
Vermont Yankee nuclear power station moves to full retirement amid growing competition from cheap natural gas.
Developers say the future of what was once an industrial hub is finally under way, with half-a-dozen downtown residential developments having received financing, broken ground or been completed in the New Jersey city in the past year.
The Arizona senator’s team has been ridding the state’s GOP apparatus of his tea party foes.
The bill would have offered a two-year “safety net” to teachers and principals who were given one of the two lowest ratings on the state’s new evaluation system. But Cuomo indicated he wanted to make the teacher evaluation system more rigorous.
Prosecutors have found that one law firm has made substantial payments to the State Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, over roughly a decade, but that he did not list that income on his annual financial disclosure forms, as required.
The success of the state's health plan comes with new obstacles.
Prices have surged after heavy snowfalls last winter depleted salt reserves.
Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo rejected legislation passed in their states and instead threw their support behind a string of reforms to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey proposed by a bi-state panel.
Some responded negatively to New York City's mayor at an event inside Madison Square Garden to honor 884 cadets who were graduating from the New York Police Department’s academy.
After more than a decade writing about the states, Louis Jacobson reflects on what he has discovered.
Scandal tarnished the master of constituent services. Over 16 years, Graham reshaped Ward 1. Did anyone notice?
In North Dakota, a tale of oil, corruption and death.
The parents of Antonio Martin say his fatal shooting "doesn't make any sense."
With the nation's share of Asians and Hispanics expected to double in 40 years, the changes these rising minority groups are making to politics and society are only beginning.
The price of oil has dropped by 40 percent over the past few months. Most oil states have money saved in permanent funds, but the drop in revenues is causing shortfalls already.
For the city's first director of sustainability, it's one tree at a time.
How the Deep South is trying to game the Republican primary.
In a state with no income tax, the revenues from luxury homes fund infrastructure to keep the sea at bay.
Bill de Blasio called for a suspension of the demonstrations and asked the public to report any possible threats against police officers.
A federal judge ruled that the use of the sedative midazolam did not amount to an experiment on human subjects.
From state health exchanges to specialty drugs and the collapse of Vermont's single-payer initiative.
Officials in many of the counties hoped to lease mineral rights beneath county roads and rights of way to energy companies. But a 54-year-old opinion from the attorney general’s office gives leasing rights, and the revenue, to the state.
What the state can teach the rest of the country.
Portland, Maine, is ignoring state instructions that could discourage people from seeking shelter beds.
New York City and Asheville, N.C., have both adopted private clouds to provide disaster recovery services, with promising results.
So far there is no evidence of any spontaneous activity on the former Florida governor's behalf in the New England state.
Rain-catching is generally a seasonal hobby and not practical enough to eliminate dependency on snowmelt, reservoirs and groundwater but a growing number find rainwater systems are enough to weaken drought's fierce grip.
The city weighs an annexation plan that could add 200,000 people.
The lawsuit claims that for 18 months, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has threatened to prosecute Google if the company doesn’t block certain content on its websites.
The shootings of the two officers likely would inflame those who have organized responses against the protesters, and could make it politically difficult for elected officials to engage with demonstrators.
It just looked too expensive. Can any state make it happen?
George Steinbrenner’s Silver Shield Foundation will provide money for the children of murdered NYPD officer Rafael Ramos.
Activists try to rile up the governor in order to pile up some YouTube hits.
American Public Transportation Association says that despite cheaper gas, public transit ridership is up.
A widening rift between Bill de Blasio and the New York City Police is savagely ripped open.
Uncertainty is facing Central Florida gay, lesbian couples preparing for Jan. weddings.
The town hopes to shame residents into better behavior.
A proposal to build a park over the Anacostia River would add a new landmark to the nation's capital and maybe help unite a long-divided city.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
For now, Carla Chavarria plans to keep taking the bus. And Julio Zuniga will remain cautious every time he drives past a police car.
Sue Rahr, who steered Washington state's police academy away from traditional military training, was named Thursday to President Obama's task force on building trust between police and communities throughout the country.
The St. Louis area first faced outrage in the streets after the police shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown. Now, discontent has moved to the courts -- and the issues have little to do with the police use of force.
Just 10 days after the city of Portland, Ore., sued ride-sharing giant Uber, saying it was illegally operating in the city, the San Francisco company has agreed to cease operations there until the spring.
The state stands to lose billions in revenue if oil prices continue to slip, Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley said Tuesday at a meeting of the Highway 2 West Manufacturers' Association in Grand Forks.
Conservative groups are opening a new front in their effort to reshape American law, arguing that local governments have the power to write their own rules on a key labor issue that has, up to now, been the prerogative of states.
Questions loom about who will pay for the fallout of a national health crisis and what kind of impact it could have on credit ratings.
Nebraska and Oklahoma say legalization undermines their own marijuana bans and costs them public money.
As data-driven services and programs have grown, so has the data disparity between the rich and the poor.
Tight budgets, declining oil prices and pension scares are some key finance topics that state and local governments will face in 2015.
An impromptu survey reveals what public officials worry most about and what makes them optimistic about the future.
In the last few years allegiance to political parties may have gotten stronger, making the work of governing much harder.
John McNesby, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police lodge, said protests are an example of "media-fueled mob rule."
A new report shows signs of progress, particularly in public health funding, but many states face difficulties quickly responding to outbreaks.
Students are receiving more attention under a new state law and initiatives by Los Angeles Unified and other school districts. The law requires the state to define and identify a "long-term English learner," the first effort in the nation to do so.
Despite regional and local differences, officials from around the country see eye to eye on some important concerns.
After two years of watching gas-tax increases tank in the Legislature, Gov. Jay Inslee proposed Tuesday to take a new approach: Charge major polluters for the right to emit carbon.
The death penalty is on the decline in the United States in every conceivable category. Fewer states execute inmates, fewer executions are carried out and fewer people are sentenced to death in the first place.
With a 14-year drought in the Colorado River basin showing few signs of breaking, states along the river’s path are taking new steps this month to ensure that Lake Mead — the Colorado River reservoir that is the water source for much of the Southwest — does not fail them.
Uber, recently sued for allegedly making false claims about the safety of its ride-hailing service, Wednesday announced it had started a "global review" of its safety measures in November and says it plans to roll out new safety programs in 2015. But it's unclear what those programs will be.
Gov. Peter Shumlin has abandoned his plan to institute a single-payer health system in Vermont.
The governor of Oklahoma has the authority to withhold the release of certain documents from the public because of executive privilege, but that power is not absolute, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The city’s changes to one of its most dangerous streets follows an urban trend of making streets safer for pedestrians and bikers.
The media attention on Ferguson, Mo., one of the 90 jurisdictions in St. Louis County, has also brought attention to consolidation -- a touted solution to government ills.
Republicans not only swept the states in the fall, they’ve been building up a team of candidates to climb the political ranks.
With practically no legislation moving through Congress, the Washington press corps is beginning to focus on action in states and localities.
The midterm elections marked the return of divided government, with more than a third of states in split-power situations.
South Pittsburg, Tenn., passed a resolution on Dec. 9 that basically prohibits negative comments on social media, raising immediate First Amendment concerns.
A look back at four of this year's trends in public finance.
The state has had a de facto ban on the procedure for more than five years, predating Andrew Cuomo’s first term, but now it's official.
A big earthquake on the San Andreas Fault could destroy key sections of the aqueducts, cutting off the water supply for more than 22 million people in Southern California.
Miami, the heart of the Cuban exile community, reacted with a collective shock. Hardline opponents of the Castro regime lambasted the president for what they called a betrayal.
The blurred governance of Portland's streetcar system makes it hard to judge its success or failure.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced a package of proposed gun control measures Monday, saying Virginia should reinstate its one-handgun-a-month rule and tighten restrictions on who can carry a gun to target domestic abusers.
They have lobbied state attorneys general. They have hired former state attorneys general. They have even helped draft a menacing letter for one state attorney general.
The Sixth Amendment guarantees a right to counsel in criminal cases, but the Constitution does not provide a similar right in civil cases.
A federal appeals court has overturned a ruling ordering Massachusetts prison officials to provide taxpayer-funded sex-reassignment surgery for an inmate convicted of murder.
A court-appointed panel will now be asked to monitor the use of force by sheriff's deputies in Los Angeles County jails, part of a far-reaching settlement to a lawsuit alleging brutal beatings of inmates.
Los Angeles will purchase 7,000 cameras for police officers to wear while on patrol, making the city a laboratory in the use of devices that bring the promise of more transparent policing but also concerns about civilian privacy.
If history proves correct, then losing the presidency would help Democrats regain Congressional, gubernatorial and state legislative seats.
The Iowa Department of Transportation expects to have a working prototype within six months.
Plus more public-sector management news you need to know.
A look back at how state and local government workers fared this year in terms of pensions, health care and jobs.
Prosecutors in Alabama and Texas have been jailing pregnant women who have tested positive for drug use. Now Wisconsin is doing it too, even if the women have stopped using drugs.
Almost 40 percent of pension plans examined, even those that have been well-funded, have yet to reach their pre-recession peaks.
Renewable energy industry has used its growing clout to push back against efforts to repeal laws that require utilities to generate more electricity from wind, solar and other renewables.
In Navajo country, coal gives life — and takes it, some say.
With police videos increasingly becoming subject to public disclosure, Seattle police are anxious to develop a fast _ and inexpensive _ way to go through a growing mountain of material and redact sensitive images. They're getting help from local talent.
The refusals by the religious merchants — bakers, florists and photographers, for example — have been taking place for several years.
Tennesseans who make too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to afford their own health insurance could be eligible for a new health-coverage plan proposed by Gov. Bill Haslam, if the state legislature approves it in early 2015.
The powerful storm lashing Sacramento kept many people home last Thursday, but Rosario Aguilar was not among them. After eight years of living and driving unlawfully in California, the chance to get a legitimate license led him through sheets of rain to an information session held at a community services center tucked behind an Autozone on Fruitridge Road.
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a North Carolina car search, in an 8-1 decision that provides more wiggle room for law enforcement officers who make a "reasonable" mistake about the law.
Gov. Bill Walker submitted a proposed $106 million capital budget to the Legislature on Monday, a spending plan designed to help the state weather a $3.5 billion deficit and one that's a fraction of what the state has spent on capital projects in recent years.
Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana and signals a major shift in drug policy.
Plunging oil prices have industry analysts questioning whether the plan to link Canadian tar sands with Gulf Coast refineries still makes economic sense.
Safety officials say rising speed limits in Utah and beyond will bring more, and more ghastly, fatal accidents.
The justices in an unsigned order dismissed an appeal from Arizona state lawyers and let stand a lower court ruling that blocked the abortion regulation from taking effect.
How Irish nationalism in Syracuse, N.Y., resulted in a world-renowned upside-down traffic light.
Thanks to changes in the market, bond ratings don’t mean what they used to.
Fixing a failing school may require a complete change in culture. That’s not an easy thing to achieve, but Memphis is trying.
The state's legislature has one of the most extensive page programs still running in the country, paying teens to assist and live like lawmakers.
Republicans haven’t had this much power at the state level in almost a century. But budget constraints may temper their appetite for extreme policies in 2015.
Every state that’s tried to repeal renewable energy standards has failed, but attacks may resurface in several states this year.
Children in several states are missing their free checkups, a trend that could impact the development and long-term health of millions of low-income children.
In the city’s upcoming election, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his critics both paint a portrait of the “two Chicagos” but with dueling interpretations.
Another 14 cities are about to build their own "i-teams." No longer an experimental approach, it's a proven route to cross-cutting accomplishments.
Rhode Island is streamlining its existing and underused program to allow parents to sign their children up for college savings accounts the day they’re born.
Bernadette Gregory was getting out of prison in eight months and planning her wedding when she was found hanging in a cell at Florida's Lowell Correctional Institution.
Philadelphia's transit system is taking on Gilead Sciences Inc. over its sky-high pricing of the breakthrough hepatitis C drug Sovaldi.
Over the past four years, the men who ran the Republican and Democratic governors’ associations competed fiercely. Now, they’re going into business together.
From Richmond’s New Kingdom Christian Ministries on Sunday morning, Virginia state Del. Joseph D. Morrissey (D-Henrico) announced that he will soon decide whether or not to resign in the wake of a conviction that would see him serving in the legislature during the day and reporting to jail at night.
California has received congressional funding to begin rolling out an earthquake early-warning system next year, capping nearly a decade of planning, setbacks and technological breakthroughs, officials said Sunday.
Seven more states signed on to a lawsuit challenging President Obama's executive action halting the deportation of as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants, bringing the total to 24 states, Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday.
A new report breaks down how much states funded mental health in 2014 and the laws they passed to improve care and strengthen gun restrictions for people with mental illnesses.
To get a P3 proposal to the finish line, public officials need to keep some important principles in mind.
In the end, it's usually better to define what a service should be before deciding who should deliver it.
Three months into the school year, standards are challenging. As parents and educators question whether the rigor of the new curriculum is developmentally appropriate, school officials say they lack the resources to help teachers learn new material.
U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia of San Antonio won't lift a stay to allow gay marriages to go into effect immediately.
Chief First District Judge Raymond Ortiz says the Public Regulation Commission's authority is unclear here.
Nineteen states have "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" laws on the books and 10 states have contemplated similar legislation in the past two years.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed 32 incidents of fatal panther attacks on animals such as goats, sheep, calves, dogs and cats, with more than 50 animals killed.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
An innovative project inside the solitary confinement wing of Oregon's biggest prison has been named one of Time magazine's "25 Best Inventions of 2014," the state prison system announced Tuesday.
The state Supreme Court has sided with lawmakers who revamped the state retirement system in 2011, requiring public employees to increase their retirement contributions.
The California Highway Patrol detective who aimed his firearm at a crowd of Bay Area protesters on Wednesday night was protecting another plainclothes officer who had been attacked only seconds earlier, and was trying to stop an advancing crowd of at least 30 people, a CHP commander said Thursday afternoon.
A Department of Justice study released Thursday found that student victims of sexual assault are far less likely to report instances of rape to police than nonstudents and that one in five victims fear reprisal if they report the attack.
Spurred by the Ferguson shooting and other recent cases of deadly encounters involving police, Congress in its final hours of work for the year passed legislation requiring states to report deaths of people arrested or detained by police to the attorney general.
Opening the door for what could be a lucrative and controversial new industry on some Native American reservations, the Justice Department on Thursday will tell U.S. attorneys to not prevent tribes from growing or selling marijuana on the sovereign lands, even in states that ban the practice.
States and cities are looking for new strategies to combat injuries and deaths among walkers distracted by their cell phones.
A new report indicates that although California will grow hotter with global warming _ turning more mountain snow to rain _ most of the state will not be appreciably worse off.
Mayor Ed Murray says he wants to shut down businesses that delivery marijuana to customers.
An annual report shows Washington, D.C., led the nation this year in increases in emergency food assistance requests and homelessness. See how your city compares.
Will Congress be swayed by the entry of a Chinese e-commerce competitor?
Now Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is warning insurance companies that they will no longer be allowed to deny gender reassignment surgery or other treatment to change a person’s gender, like hormone therapy, if a doctor has deemed that treatment medically necessary.
Backers of Oregon's Measure 92 to require labeling of genetically altered foods filed a lawsuit Monday claiming that the failure to count about 4,600 ballots disenfranchised voters.
With Detroit officially out of bankruptcy, now-former emergency manager Kevyn Orr said it's not the next couple of years he's worried about for the city, or even five years out.
Trustees of New Jersey's largest pension funds filed a lawsuit today against Gov. Chris Christie for slashing $2.4 billion in pension fund payments he promised to pay as part of a 2011 pension reform deal.
Amid the nationwide tumult over recent instances of police officers using deadly force against unarmed people, Bay Area cities like Berkeley and Oakland have been rived by impassioned protests that have at times turned violent.
Declaring early childhood education "one of the best investments we can make," President Barack Obama on Wednesday followed up on a promise to expand early education opportunities for tens of thousands of children by announcing $1 billion in public-private spending on programs for young learners.
The heads of Live Oak Brewing in Austin, Peticolas Brewing Company in Dallas and Revolver Brewing in Granbury, say Senate Bill 639 is unconstitutional.
All states have a stake in how trillions in federal dollars are spent, but it matters more to some states than to others.
A new report highlights just how bad things are, but some proposed federal rules are a step in the right direction.
A look back at the longtime Washington, D.C. mayor's battles with Congress.
While the latest weather should be good news for a state starved for water, experts say that one storm will just not offer enough rain relief.
A Tallahassee judge opened the door Monday for a new complaint against Gov. Rick Scott that alleges the governor intentionally withheld public records in violation of state law.
State lawmakers have launched a nationwide non-partisan coalition to combat gun violence, in part because the Congress has failed to reform gun laws, members of the group said on Monday.
Faced with a series of scandals that have roiled the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to create a civilian oversight system to provide greater accountability for the agency.
Gov. Rick Snyder has signed off on ending Detroit's emergency status, signaling the end of the city's financial crisis and positioning it to officially come out of bankruptcy as early as this week.
Los Angeles and San Francisco district attorneys filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Uber on Tuesday, alleging that the popular ride-hailing company misleads consumers about the service's safety, overcharges them and thumbs its nose at the law.
The District will be prohibited from legalizing marijuana for the much of the coming year under a spending deal reached Tuesday between top Senate Democrats and House Republicans to fund the federal government through next September.
