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The DonorsChoose Grant Program, a popular crowdfunding platform, allows teachers to list what they want for their classrooms and will fulfill up to $500 for each wish list upon approval from the state. The funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The attorney general’s office is ending its pursuit of criminal prosecution over the Flint water crisis after seven years of no convictions, following the state Supreme Court’s rejection of efforts to revive charges against former Gov. Rick Snyder.
Twenty bank branches closed across the city this year through Oct. 28, which is more than the previous two years combined and the most in a single year since at least 2000. Across the state, 277 bank branches have closed this year.
City officials have until Nov. 1, 2024 to submit a plan to the state as to how they will close the $3 billion shortfall and have the system fully funded by 2055, but it remains unclear how officials will do so.
Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, regarding his plan to pay teachers $10,000 a year to encourage them to carry guns in schools as a proactive way to prevent shootings. The state has 180 school districts and more than 2,300 public schools with 1.75 million students. (Associated Press — Oct. 25, 2023)
More public transit agencies are offering low-fare, on-demand shuttle service as a way to connect people to existing transit services and serve far-flung communities. But many transit advocates are wary of the trend.
In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will make child sex trafficking a serious felony starting on Jan. 1, marking the first time the state has added to the strikable offenses list in more than 20 years.
Work is expected to begin on the $30.59 million all-electric collection system in late 2024 or early 2025, though the ceremonial start began on Monday. Approximately 88 percent of Atlantic City Expressway customers use E-ZPass.
The Department of Higher Education waited eight weeks to notify the attorney general’s office of a data breach that affected thousands of personal records from the last two decades, despite state law requiring a 30-day notice.
In 2020, lawn equipment across the county emitted approximately 245 tons of fine particulates, which is equivalent to 2.6 million cars on the road for one year and is the fifth-highest in the nation.
Josh Hutchinson, the leader of the Massachusetts Witch-Hunt Justice Project, regarding the group’s efforts to persuade the state to take a fuller reckoning of its early history. The group is made up of history buffs and descendants and they are dedicated to clearing the names of all of those accused, arrested or indicted for witchcraft across the state, whether or not the accusations ended in hanging. Hutchinson and his peers have been collecting signatures for a petition but hope to take their case to the statehouse. (Associated Press — Oct. 31, 2023)
Halloween seems an apt metaphor for what state and local financiers will encounter over the next year and beyond: plenty of tricks but a modest supply of treats.
The rule sets new standards on security and privacy protections for AI, with far-reaching impacts on companies. It is also designed to vet technology with potential national or economic security risks, along with health and safety.
The great dams of the early 20th century have outlasted their questionable usefulness, declining in their power output, providing unpredictable sources of water and doing massive environmental damage.
Questions linger about the city's other public health crises as federal pandemic dollars begin to dry up. But Brandon Johnson is boosting mental health spending by $15 million.
But researchers found plummeting inmate totals had no consistent impact on violent or property crime. Local police leaders have pushed back against the findings.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zient, commenting on President Biden's sweeping executive action to try to establish oversight of the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence sector, setting new standards for safety tests for AI products — as well as a system for federal "pressure tests" of major systems. (NPR — Oct. 30, 2023)
The Carter Center is leading an effort to turn down anti-democratic noise around elections, neighbor by neighbor. Arizona is one of the first stops for their campaign.
They make up the smallest percentage of workers in state and local government. Despite being sought after, efforts to hire and retain them aren’t increasing those numbers.
Three state-level officials demonstrate the characteristics of good governance, without the chaos playing out in the nation’s capital.
The state grid operator ERCOT had 18,364 megawatts of solar power capacity on its electric grid at the end of September, which is enough to power almost 3.7 million homes during peak demand periods.
A coalition of six nonpartisan voting rights groups sent a letter to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber calling upon her office to monitor the elections in Shasta County due to concerns about safety and misinformation.
A working group formed three months ago to create possible emergency shelter options for the city’s unhoused population during the days of the winter months. A storm rolled across Montana this week and the group still has no plans.
Minnesota DFL Party Chair Ken Martin, regarding U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips’ plans to run for president in next year’s election as a Democratic challenger to Joe Biden. As of Thursday, Oct. 26, Phillips had not yet formally announced his candidacy. (MPR News — Oct. 26, 2023)
Election officials brace for surge in AI-generated misinformation, and lawmakers face complex challenges in containing it.
Fifty years ago, Atlanta’s Maynard Jackson was elected as the first Black mayor of a major city in the Deep South. His legacy is one that today’s mayors and other public officials would serve themselves well to know about.
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