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Many state, local governments must adjust their budgets as the coronavirus pandemic has choked off much of their revenue streams. Budgets in larger communities will likely rebound faster, but smaller ones will feel the impact for months to come.
Social distancing has inspired people to turn to social media for support and connection, especially when it comes to health updates. But this also allows researchers to track the spread and predict hospitalizations.
Gov. Whitmer has defended her “stay home” order by saying it prioritizes Michigan’s “health and safety.” Others claim that it’s devastating the state’s economy beyond repair, thereby “ruining our livelihoods.”
As Congress considers further financial help for victims of the coronavirus pandemic, the magnitude of the fiscal crisis that governors and their states will have to face is just starting to emerge.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is pursuing a goal of 100 percent renewable energy by including the world’s first utility-scale hydrogen power plant in its energy mix.
Schools need to be better positioned for the next crisis. That means making technology available, preparing students and teachers for online learning, and bringing an equity focus to assessment tools.
Every work system has its point of constraint, and that's the place to focus on to increase the organization's capacity. You're only as good as your weakest link.
Spending vast amounts on a crash program now won't help those who've lost their livelihoods to the coronavirus pandemic. We need to take the time for sensible planning to do it right.
The Ann Arbor, Mich., company, Voxel51, is using data from street cameras to measure social distancing across the world. The company hopes the data gets put to good use, “even if it's only public awareness.”
California acts on its own in many ways but the state is still limited legally, administratively and financially by the federal government. Combatting the coronavirus seems like a tug-of-war between the two.
The current public health crisis has complicated the relationship between an employer’s need to know and an employee’s patient privacy. “I’m sure that in some of these cases, we’ll see litigation out of this crisis.”
Self-quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus, Miami’s mayor kept a daily video journal on Twitter, setting a standard of transparency while creating a sense of social media intimacy in a time of social distancing.
Gig workers are largely ineligible for company unemployment assistance and health care which means many continue working despite virus-like symptoms. Some sick workers keep going because, “what would these people do if I didn’t do it?”
In California, a Berkeley man “nude bombed” a Zoom session, exposing himself to students, and an Oakland school district inadvertently released access codes, passwords and student info online. “A lot of schools are struggling.”
New Jersey’s system was written in a software language created in the 1950s and it can’t handle the large influx of unemployment claims. The problems heighten calls for a complete system rewrite.
Last month Ohio had a last-minute switch to a vote-by-mail election due to coronavirus fears and officials want to avoid that happening again in the fall. Assuring a smooth November election requires planning now.
We have a loose consensus in America on factors that drive costs and time up and quality down. What we don't have is consensus on how to get those factors under control.
The order to stay at home puts a special burden on the homeless. Residents in one shelter in northern Virginia are doing what they can to keep their distance in a pandemic.
Unemployment threatens to rise to levels not seen since the Great Depression. A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of that era thinks most of the economy will recover much more quickly than it did back then.
State lawmakers continue to address wide-ranging consequences of the pandemic with bills that focus on various remedies to the financial burden on workers and their families placed by government work restrictions.
When the coronavirus pandemic begins to subside, communities should use a nuanced, calibrated approach to allowing businesses to reopen and residents to return to work and school.
Ann Arbor’s virtual city council meeting discussed concerns about spending money on large city projects with an uncertain economic future. “I don’t want to see us putting good money on top of a dumpster fire.”
Many want Minnesota’s Corrections Department to release non-violent, elderly and medically compromised prisoners as a way to protect them from the coronavirus. None of the state prisons have an ICU or any ventilators.
The state only has tests for every 362 per 100,000 people and fewer test results means less information to help public health officials understand the virus. “It’s really important for us to know if they’re positive.”
Work to bridge the digital divide has gained momentum in recent years in state and local government, and the case to close the gap may get a further boost by the novel coronavirus reinforcing the importance of having the Internet at home.
Federal fiscal assistance could avert budget-balancing cutbacks at the state and municipal level as the coronavirus devastates the economy. Here are some of the strategies and policies that are likely to be — or ought to be — considered.
The information they collect for operational purposes can be leveraged in numerous ways to help them deal more effectively with the economic devastation of the coronavirus.
The revenue drop from COVID-19 is barely starting to show up in official figures, but already furloughs and major shortfalls are common in state and local governments around the country. The pain may be sudden, but it could last for years.
Throughout the ages, writers and historians who have witnessed pandemics have chronicled their impact and provided us with a valuable history lesson on how not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Masks are commonplace due to COVID-19 so companies are expanding their facial recognition capacity to recognize the masked faces. Privacy concerns are more pressing than ever as the pandemic could increase society surveillance.
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