Latest News
With the COVID-19 pandemic raging across much of America, a return to full-scale classroom instruction poses too grave a risk to students, teachers, school staff, parents and their communities.
After months of delay, the Portland city council voted unanimously to ban use of facial recognition technology. The ordinance will begin in 30 days. The police say they have no intention of using it.
The focus has been on ensuring hard-to-count neighborhoods are included in the 2020 Census. But now wealthy neighborhoods aren’t responding due to COVID-19. Census workers have until Sept. 30 to get the full count.
Latest unemployment figures show the state has recovered about 500,000 jobs so far. While some industries have mostly rebounded, others, like government, travel and education, still struggle.
Which states have shed the most public employees? Which have added the most? And what types of jobs are leading the pack? New numbers from the Census Bureau help to illustrate the big picture.
As president and CEO of the New York YMCA, Sharon Greenberger is constantly working to make New York a healthier, happier community. Now she uses her decades of experience to transform The Y into a place of hope amid COVID-19.
The Legislature has approved an IT bond bill that aims to improve cybersecurity and technology use in several sectors. The bill includes $50 million for remote learning technology and $20 million for police body cameras.
Courts across the state made major hardware and software upgrades as the pandemic forced people to stay home and socially distance. After seeing the benefits, many courts will keep the improvements after the pandemic.
As voters stay home to avoid COVID-19 risks, the amount of absentee ballots has greatly increased. But election clerks must also prepare in-person precautions for the Tuesday primary. “You have to be prepared for the unknown.”
Last February, Stockton, Calif., began providing 125 of its residents with a monthly payment of $500 as an economic experiment. Now the idea is gaining national traction as lawmakers see the benefits of stimulus payments.
Over a half-century in office — and running for office — this man of paradox broke virtually every rule in the politico's rulebook. Californians loved him for it.
Gov. David Ige vetoed a spending plan that would have added $100 in state weekly unemployment benefits, and hopes Congress comes up with a compromise to continue the $600-a-week federal benefit or something close to it.
Following a whistleblower lawsuit alleging illegal spying on citizens and a data breach that exposed thousands of confidential intelligence reports, state police showcased to the media how the center provides assistance.
The fired former director of the unemployment office told lawmakers officials did nothing about a data breach that allowed some people who logged onto the system to see other people’s sensitive information for at least a day.
In the wake of George Floyd’s death, California proposed a law that would punish police who fail to intervene while witnessing a situation possibly involving excessive force. Law enforcement thinks the bill is unfair.
The city’s school district superintendent has pledged Internet connections for thousands of students by September. The current plan will continue virtual learning at least through Nov. 17.
Gov. Newsom announced the formation of a team that will focus on resolving nearly 1 million backlogged unemployment benefit claims and then will work to streamline the process for future claim processing.
COVID-19 cases are on the rise, and citizens can't shelter in place if they're evicted. Legislators in some states are proposing moratoriums on evictions for as long as a year after the end of the health emergency.
Europe is heading in that direction. If the idea begins to catch on here, states and localities will need to be at the federalism policymaking table to share in the revenues.
Federal money and innovative housing-first programs have provided much needed support for the nation’s half-million homeless. But with the pandemic continuing, helping this vulnerable population will remain a challenge.
Some states have put millions of relief dollars into unemployment insurance trust funds to keep business taxes as bay. But some think the money would be better spent directly assisting workers and local governments.
Voter-mobilization groups are utilizing the pandemic and the protests following the death of George Floyd to encourage voter registration, and it’s working. In June, one nonprofit registered nearly 15,000 new voters.
The U.S. lacks a uniform response to COVID-19, resulting in incomplete and patch-worked data reporting. For many states, deciding what to do next is even harder when they only have bits and pieces of the nation’s data.
Phillip Yellow makes the treacherous drive every day, carrying 500 gallons of water up the mountain to a plot of land that’s been in the family for years. “We’ve been here quite a while.”
We're stuck in a 19th-century model that costs too much and doesn't serve anybody well. Rather than cut, cut, cut, we need to redefine the way we deliver services to bring them into the 21st century.
In New Mexico’s deaf schools, e-learning loses the immersive environment that helps students learn American Sign Language. But even for in-person lessons, masks hide many of the facial expressions that ASL relies on.
As workers are asked to return to their physical workplaces, many are nervous about COVID-19 risks. Some workplaces don’t enforce masks or social distancing and won’t pay for sick leave or COVID-19 tests.
For many health officials, the percentage of positive tests reveals a lot about how the pandemic is being managed. But others prefer to look at all of the available data to determine the efficacy of the response.
Private investors want to build bullet trains across America, but in too many cases they're having trouble finding right-of-way. There's a lot that state and local governments could do to help them along.
Created in 1892 by the state of New York, the park was preserved just when it was on the brink of widespread deforestation. Today, its 6 million acres encompass 105 towns and villages, making it a unique mix of conservation and civilization.
Sponsored
Most Read
