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Agencies are spending new money — lots of it, in some cases — to crack down on fare evasion, with new fare gates, updated collection systems and beefed-up policing. But some experts question the cost.
COVID is far from the only explanation for the United States’ dismal trend line. Other diseases, along with drug overdoses, were also contributors, along with politics, policies and inequality.
In 2021, the share of manufacturing employees across the state who were younger than 45 years old was at its highest level in at least a decade, at more than 52 percent. Some hope the negative stereotypes about the industry are changing.
With more than 80 nonwhite members, this year’s General Assembly is the state’s most diverse ever. The Legislature is beginning to reflect the state’s population, which narrowly remained majority white in 2020.
Fifteen states have considered adding measures to their constitutions to preserve the fundamental right to clean air, water, soil and other environmental priorities. Montana, Pennsylvania and New York already have established green amendments.
Shiva Rajbhandari, an 18-year-old senior at Boise High School and first-year Boise School District Trustee, in part of a tweet from his personal account, critiquing Gov. Brad Little for signing a law that bans gender-affirming care for Idaho youths who identify as transgender and nonbinary. Rajbhandari agreed to step down from the governance committee, and has since deleted the profane tweet and released a formal apology. (Idaho Statesman – April 10, 2023)
The sheriff’s office in Washington County is tackling concerns about equity in policing by partnering with an advisory committee of Latino community members.
Culture wars over environmental, social and governance factors used by pension fiduciaries are in the spotlight, but it’s the municipal bond arena where long-term analysis must trump short-term symbolic politics. Sustainability actually matters to investors.
As the work-from-home revolution shows signs of creating a “two-tiered system” of public employment, government employees who can’t do their jobs remotely are going to expect to be paid a premium.
Laws that were enacted to provide community-based alternatives to the state’s youth prisons may actually be fostering a new “shadow” juvenile system in which officials are circumventing transparency laws behind closed doors.
Sixteen cities are meeting to exchange ideas and plan urban forests to provide shade, absorb stormwater runoff and filter air pollution. Urban forestry can mitigate the health risks of a warming climate.
Gov. Jay Inslee proposed a plan to “transform the state’s mental health system” by 2023, but the state has failed to meet its deadline and the repercussions are frustrating families, advocates and law enforcement.
New Mexico and Minnesota are the two most recent states to allow people previously convicted of felonies to vote upon leaving prison, following 21 other states. Ten more states are considering similar legislation.
Nashville City Council Member Bob Mendes, regarding his pledge to reappoint state Rep. Justin Jones after he and Rep. Justin Pearson were expelled by Republican state legislators for staging a protest on the House floor that called for gun law reform. A third lawmaker, Rep. Gloria Johnson, also led the protest, but she survived expulsion by one vote; Johnson is white whereas Jones and Pearson are Black. The majority of Nashville’s 40-member council have vowed to reappoint Jones. (NPR — April 10, 2023)
Water intelligence supports a shared approach to solving water challenges.
A new report from the Urban Institute attempts to measure the impact of a broad array of zoning reforms on housing supply and cost. The effects are significant, but very small, researchers found.
Millennial and Gen Z Americans will be the majority of the electorate in 2028. But predicting which party will benefit will be challenging. These young voters care more about policy than party, according to experts.
The ability of the new generation of generative artificial intelligence systems to create convincing but fictional text and images is setting off alarms about fraud and misinformation.
Trains are getting longer. Railroads are getting richer. But these “monster trains” are jumping off of tracks across America and regulators are doing little to curb the risk.
Catholic Church doctrine was used to justify the world’s largest land grab and the resulting colonialism. It had an outsized role in shaping the United States and other countries of the New World.
More than 14 percent of homes in Mecklenburg County do not have Internet access, which means many residents cannot accomplish daily tasks, like pay bills, check public bus times or schedule health appointments.
A new law that will go into effect on July 1 will allow permitless concealed carry, which means no training will be required. Many instructors hope that gun owners will seek training anyway.
The Tulare Lake Basin has been converting sewage sludge into organic fertilizer since 2016, but an immense snowpack could overwhelm the lake bed and contaminate groundwater that landowners and farmers rely on.
The Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine and Alquist 3D will soon begin construction on Iowa’s first 3D-printed homes. The initial four builds will just have the external walls printed with traditional wood framing interiors.
Denise Lajimodiere, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain band of Chippewa Indians in Belcourt, N.D., following the bipartisan confirmation of her two-year term as the state’s poet laureate. Lajimodiere is the first Native American to hold this position in the state. (Associated Press — April 7, 2023)
But first, researchers need to figure out a good, consistent way to extract the minerals used in electronic devices and develop a supply chain that supports the operation. That's going to take time and money.
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