News
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, in his appointment of acting police chief Edward Caban as the city’s first Hispanic police commissioner. Caban will step in following Keechant Sewell’s surprise resignation after 18 months on the job; Sewell, the first woman to lead the department, gave no reason for her resignation. (Reuters — July 17, 2023)
Greyhound recently left its Philadelphia station to join other intercity bus services on the curb, creating headaches for riders, businesses and local officials. Other cities are in a similar position — or will be soon.
The District of Columbia’s approach isn’t perfect, but overall it’s a balanced and well-thought-out effort that protects individuals and doesn't overly burden businesses. It could serve as a model for other governments.
A University of Idaho-led team, one of 34 semi-finalists for the largest ever grant program from the National Science Foundation, hopes to improve communication across sectors to better address climate change.
To decrease dispatch wait times, the city’s police board wants to implement an auto-attendant to sort calls for police, fire, EMS or non-emergency assistance. But Motorola says the implementation could stretch into next year.
The California city will use the state funds over the next three years for outreach, case management, rapid-rehousing assistance, meal vouchers, health-care coordination, hiring a new city social worker and more.
The city spends roughly $1 of every $5 on pensions while more than 80 percent of property tax dollars go towards retirement payouts. In November, the city had no junk ratings for the first time since 2015.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, regarding the relocation of residents living near a contaminated Union Pacific railyard in Northeast Houston. The site has significantly higher than normal cancer rates for both adults and children. Turner says the city is still working out the details but that the process is estimated to cost at least $24 million and the removal will address 110 lots centered around the cancer cluster. (Houston Public Media — July 13, 2023)
Arresting people who have no options left is just adding another tier of disenfranchisement. At best, it’s a dehumanizing shell game.
County administrators realized too late that they needed to renew the local gas tax for another 30 years. Once the current law expires on Aug. 31 the tax won’t be renewed until Jan. 1, costing the county about $18 million.
Six of the state agency’s regional units, including the North Bay area, are testing new video technology that will utilize AI to speed response to fires and other natural disasters as they happen.
A new state law caps class sizes from kindergarten through third grade at 20 students, fourth through eighth grade at 23 and high school classes at 25. To implement the law, the city will need to employ an additional 17,700 teachers.
A survey found that the average Texas employee working remotely would expect a bonus of more than $11,000 if forced to return to the office full time. Nationally, workers expect a $12,188 payment to return to an office.
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, a free speech group that has filed a lawsuit against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others for the state’s TikTok ban on official government devices, which includes public universities, alleging the ban is unconstitutional and impedes academic freedom. (Associated Press — July 13, 2023)
Despite Americans’ pessimism about the state of our democracy, Democrats and Republicans agree on policies to protect election workers, expand voting access and strengthen election integrity.
The law goes into effect on Sept. 1 but it’s still unclear how officials will respond or how many local government laws will become illegal. Dallas has declined to say whether the city is preparing a lawsuit against the state.
Fourteen organizations across the state will receive part of $2.5 million in grant funding to help former inmates get back into the workforce. Two of the organizations are based in Lowell.
The provision went into effect on July 1 and prohibits those attempting to sell consumer goods and services by phone and text from calling numbers on the list. But there are several exceptions to the law.
The study of more than 6 million cases found that 46 percent of traffic stops were of Black or Hispanic motorists, far more than their share of the state’s population. Officials called the findings “deeply troubling.”
North Carolina state Sen. Mike Woodard, regarding his filing on Wednesday, July 12, to become a candidate for mayor of Durham. At least three candidates have formally joined the mayoral race since filing opened last week. (Associated Press — July 12, 2023)
Sometimes they work, producing public revenue and neighborhood development. But some of them turn out to be civic disasters. Is there a formula for mixed-use magic?
Court officials are slowly moving away from the belief that abstinence is the only path to addiction recovery. However, a study found that while more than 90 percent of drug courts allowed medication treatments, 1 in 4 still overruled medication decisions.
Black people and other minorities already fare far worse than white people across a range of health measures and some medical professionals are worried that the court’s decision will only further widen the health equity gap.
Despite low-wage workers receiving the largest pay increases in most states between 2019 and last year, more than 40 percent of U.S. households still struggle to afford basic expenses, such as health care and housing.
A mineral exploration company hopes to discover lithium, a necessary component of rechargeable batteries, on a small patch of land in Nye County, Nev. But the operation could decimate a neighboring wildlife refuge with one miscalculation.
Karyn Lewis, director of the Center for School and Student Progress at NWEA, regarding the findings of a new study that highlights how students across the U.S. are falling behind academically even further last year despite extensive efforts to catch students up to pre-pandemic levels. The report found that students are making gains at rates below pre-pandemic levels, which is further widening achievement gaps. The average student will need the equivalent of 4.1 additional months of schooling to catch up their reading levels and 4.5 months for math; the gap is even greater for Black and Hispanic students. (Associated Press — July 10, 2023)
Most Read
