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“California's new handwriting law takes effect in January because the governor knew how to sign it.”
NPR Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep, commenting on the new California mandate to teach cursive handwriting in elementary schools, reversing a decision to phase it out more than a decade ago. (NPR, October 23, 2023)
Cities harness shared data to provide a necessary escape from governing silos as cities and counties face complex problems affecting their regions.
Pollution-control laws were never intended to block residential and transportation development. But that’s how they’re being misused all over the country.
August was the state’s second-hottest month on record in Dallas-Fort Worth, with the average temperature of 92.9 degrees. The heat’s impact on the state’s GDP is twice as pronounced as the change for the rest of the country.
Emelle, a community in the state’s Black Belt, hosts one of the nation’s largest hazardous waste landfills that brings with it pronounced environmental, racial and health impacts. Here are six things to know.
The deadly wildfires in August forced up the island’s unemployment by four percentage points to 8.4 percent in September. For the week ending Oct. 14, claims were up 217 percent from the same week a year prior.
Approximately 34 million Americans above the age of 16 have some kind of disability. By 2020, the participation rate of those with disabilities had increased to 20.4 percent, a 2.2 percent increase from 2014.
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, regarding a new program – the Alabama Voter Integrity Database, or AVID - that will use federal data and voting lists from five other states to monitor when voters move, die or illegally vote in two different states in the same election. AVID appears to mimic the bipartisan, cross-state partnership, Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, that the state was a member of until Allen took office. Nine states in all, all of which are Republican-led, have withdrawn from ERIC without a plan to replace the program. (NPR — Oct. 20, 2023)
Experts explore how AI could be used to create and spread election-related falsehoods that disrupt democratic processes.
Too often, the data that states collect is inaccessible to those who need it to make decisions about education and careers. It’s encouraging that policymakers are moving toward cross-agency policies that ensure robust data access.
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The shift to electronic working papers in the audit community fosters collaboration but inadvertently generates dark data. Audit management software offers solutions to access, analyze and maximize audit data's value.
In all, 26 states are concerned about a proposed National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rule that would push automakers from a fleet average of 44.2 miles per gallon for passenger vehicles to a 57.8 mpg average model by 2032.
Even as state officials continue opposition against the newly drawn maps, the document will be used in next year’s elections, state Attorney General Steve Marshall explained on Wednesday.
School officials in both Meridian and Nampa, Idaho, have seen their students increasingly use artificial intelligence in their work, which has prompted some school districts to create a task force to propose new policies.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials predict that the El Nino conditions will extend the state’s current drought well into next year. Some are concerned about increased fire risk.
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, regarding the death threats against Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks after she voted against Jordan for speaker of the House. (Reuters — Oct. 18, 2023)
Faced with a seven-figure gap in its operating budget and unable to find a corporate sponsor, Houston BCycle, the city’s 10-year-old bike-share network, could soon shut down entirely. But the local public transit authority may step in to replace it.
One effective way is to work with providers, payers and other stakeholders to set statewide cost growth targets. The approach is having an impact.
Effingham County, Ill., has approved new voter registration software, which has the ability to upload election results on election night. Officials also approved the disbursement of $32,780 from the contingency fund for the purchase.
Since federal protections keeping the medical insurance intact during the pandemic ended in April, approximately 3 in 4 patients have lost coverage due to “procedural reasons.” At least one-third of those patients are children.
The county commissioners will likely file a lawsuit if a bill that would make it a state crime to illegally cross the border becomes law. Officials are concerned that the financial burdens of the law would fall on localities.
Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the watchdog group Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, regarding New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ use of artificial intelligence to make robocalls that contort his voice into several languages he doesn’t actually speak. The calls have gone out in languages such as Mandarin and Yiddish and haven’t included any disclosure that Adams only speaks English or that the calls were generated using AI. Some are concerned about the ethics of these robocalls. (Associated Press — Oct. 17, 2023)
Data-driven decisions, support from the state and a dedicated, collaborative team are helping Hennepin County get a handle on an intractable problem.
States and city governments are rethinking job requirements, replacing four-year degrees with proven skill applications to bring in new applicants.
Oakland, Calif., Mayor Sheng Thao gave her first State of the City address on Tuesday, marking the first opportunity to present her vision for how best to tackle the city’s major issues, including crime, homelessness and sports.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $4.7 billion for plugging abandoned oil and gas wells, but new standards, a workforce shortage and less visible leaks may mean that the money will only make a small dent in fixing the problem.
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