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South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, accepting the resignation of Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom after a $3.5 billion error in the year-end financial report he oversaw. Eckstrom has held the position for 20 years; his resignation will be effective April 30. (NPR — March 23, 2023)
Record rain and snowfall are easing drought pressures, but California can’t overcome long-term water challenges if infrastructure is neglected.
Last year the city’s hotel occupancy rate reached 66.2 percent, up almost 13 percent from the year prior but still below pre-pandemic levels. Experts agree that sometimes the best mayors are simply the best cheerleaders.
At 14 of 16 executive branch agencies, the percentage of non-white employees is less than the share of the state’s minority population. A 2010 diversity requirement is now at odds with growing GOP suspicion of DEI efforts.
Construction on the $1.5 billion, 25.3-mile stretch of dedicated bus lanes could begin late next year or early 2025 if approved. Yet residents are concerned that a planned overpass will undermine the local community.
Two dozen states have active online sports betting and, while those states have reported record levels of wagering and revenues, they have questions about how to keep gambling responsible and get help to those who need it.
North Dakota state Rep. SuAnn Olson, regarding a bill that would prohibit public schools and state agencies across the state from referring to students and employees by any pronouns that don’t reflect their sex assigned at birth. The House approved the bill 60-32 with both Democrats and Republicans voting against the bill. (Associated Press — March 23, 2023)
If Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas wins, he may owe it all to his law-and-order message. Meanwhile, the North Carolina Supreme Court and promoting partisan gerrymandering, Doug La Follette steps down and more.
Kansas City tenants have formed a power base and are seeking equal footing with the forces that have traditionally defined how the city is governed.
Fecklessness with limited water. Big land hustles. A lack of rootedness. The state has long been a geography of personal reinvention, ambitious schemes and glowing hype.
Newcomers from liberal states don’t always tilt their new homes to the left. It’s the reason why migration politics is more complex than people give it credit for.
The Department of Children and Families has suffered from high turnover and vacancy rates for years but will soon take on the child protection investigations in the seven remaining counties the agency doesn’t already oversee.
The proposal would bar governments from being able to mandate a COVID-19 vaccine or future potential medical technologies and it would require private employers, health facilities to provide vaccine exemptions for religious beliefs.
People ages 15 to 24 account for more than half of people who are affected by sexually transmitted diseases in California and about 20 percent of California high schools’ students were sexually active in 2019.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, regarding reports of car wash businesses, largely in predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, raising prices by as much as 50 percent for Jewish customers ahead of Passover. As part of the holiday, Jews traditionally avoid eating foods made from leavened grain and many partake in cleaning their homes, cars and other spaces of all “chametz.” (NPR — March 22, 2023)
The Army Corps of Engineers has proposed building 12 separate storm surge gates across the mouths of canals and waterways of the city's harbor. But environmentalist Tracy Brown questions the soundness of the plan.
An alliance of state lawmakers deserves credit for a collective effort to fight disenfranchisement of minority and Democratic voters. But they will need a lot more support to win the fight to protect the sacred right to vote.
Data suggests that nearly 60 percent of youth with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment. States are looking to use their federal funds to create programs to foster well-being among youth.
To meet his goal of 500,000 new homes in the next decade, the New York City mayor has proposed new approaches to address the housing crisis, including creating incentives, single-room occupancies and more.
While improvements could take a decade to complete and cost more than $200 million, officials are hopeful that the city’s downtown transit system can improve its broken and run-down stations to boost ridership.
Missouri state Sen. Mike Moon, regarding efforts to block gender-affirming care for minors throughout the state. Republican lawmakers have struggled to get proposed legislation passed and the GOP-led Senate ultimately failed to get anything passed before the Legislature left for their annual spring break. However, on Monday, March 20, Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that he will sidestep the legislative struggles and file an emergency rule to limit access to the care. (Associated Press — March 20, 2023)
Some center cities are coming back from the pandemic, with residential populations increasing even as many continue to work from home. While restaurants and retail are still suffering, it seems fair to speculate that something meaningful is happening.
Louisiana's comprehensive 50-year master plan for mitigating the impact of extreme weather on vulnerable coastal communities can provide guiding principles for every region.
The majority of the nation’s firearm deaths – 57 percent – are gun suicides. To help curb these fatalities, some states have passed legislation that enables residents to limit their own gun purchases.
The legislation that awaits Gov. Beshear’s signature would increase the starting pay of security workers at juvenile detention centers, with the hopes of retaining staff, and require better mental health services for the youths.
Ridership levels on the system’s Gold and Red lines were only 30 and 56 percent of pre-pandemic levels, respectively. Meanwhile, 22 people have died on Metro buses and trains since January and serious crime increased 24 percent last year.
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