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The proportion of Americans who live in areas with only 15 percent of ICU beds available.
With ridership at just 8 percent of its pre-pandemic levels, Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority has been paying some of its workers massive overtime. The MBTA is projecting a budget gap of up to $79 million this fiscal year.
Kern County officials are turning the local fairgrounds into a mass vaccination site that will eventually administer 5,000 COVID vaccines a day. On the site’s first day, it vaccinated 330 people.
Garfield County, Okla., has made a free transit service available for those who need rides to the coronavirus vaccine clinic. But only three residents have utilized the service since it began two weeks ago.
New York counties face spending cuts totalling $163 million from school districts, libraries, nonprofits and human services for low-income families if the multibillion federal aid that Gov. Cuomo is expecting doesn’t happen.
As states begin prioritizing senior citizens for the COVID-19 vaccine, many essential workers are concerned their vaccinations will be delayed, possibly as late as summer.
As the COVID-19 pandemic grabbed 2020 headlines, the list of data breaches in government and the private sector quietly grew. And then came SolarWinds. What’s next?
State legislatures introduced more than 560 LGBTQ rights bills in 2020. An analysis by the Human Rights Campaign finds barriers remain to equal access to housing, employment and health care for the LGBTQ community.
Supply isn't the only issue. Big logistical problems require federal leadership. How quickly can the Biden administration execute a 180-degree turnaround?
Minneapolis City Council member Steve Fletcher, commenting on a proposal to ban city police and department use of facial recognition technology. The measure to prohibit the technology has advanced and will go to the full council on Feb. 12. (Associated Press — Jan. 22, 2021)
The number of states in which Walmart will begin providing COVID-19 inoculations starting next week. The retailer was already providing vaccinations in New Mexico and Arkansas, but will now expand into Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina and Texas. Walmart will also begin distributing vaccines in Chicago and Puerto Rico.
The current bus terminal will be replaced with a commuter hub that will hold 40 percent more passengers and charging stations for an all-electric bus fleet. The project could cost up to $10 billion and will be completed by 2030.
The Legal Aid Society has denounced the district attorney’s use of Clearview AI, the surveillance database, and has demanded the D.A. disclose how his office has used and is using the technology.
Top state police officials have downloaded encryption applications on their state-issued phones which keep no record of deleted text messages. Some are concerned that these practices break the Freedom of Information Act.
Most states set a mandatory retirement age for their judges, typically 70. Does that still make sense in this day and time? The wisdom and stability of longevity are worth something.
Michael Madigan and Mike Miller are the most prominent among a host of legislators who held office for decades and have recently been ousted from leadership, retired or passed away.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, regarding the Republican party’s decision about whether or not to redirect some of their values now that President Trump is out of office. This is also the first time in over 10 years that the GOP has been the minority in Washington. (Associated Press — Jan. 21, 2021)
The number of jobs that Minnesota lost last month as new restrictions were placed on restaurants, bars and gyms. The state’s hospitality industry accounted for the majority of the loss, declining by 41,100 jobs.
Vaccines arrived more than a month before the state’s immunization system was ready, forcing health-care providers to create makeshift systems to record patient data that required hours of administrative work.
In November, officials estimated a budget shortfall of $86 million, but it turns out the actual numbers are much worse. Now the city must find areas to cut spending to adjust for the 10 percent gap.
States and localities tried for years to figure out ways to tax online sales, without success. The Supreme Court gave them a green light in 2018, which has proven key to surviving the pandemic financially.
A new book by a founding member of Boston’s Urban Mechanics calls for changing how government addresses its problems and provides an operating manual for generating new ideas and putting them into practice.
Hispanics are almost 19 percent of the U.S. population, but account for only 6 percent of state legislators. Thirteen percent of these officials are Republicans.
The New England First Amendment Coalition, in a letter to Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, who has been tapped by President Joe Biden to serve as commerce secretary, regarding complaints that Raimondo has not made herself available for questions from the press since her nomination to the Biden administration. (Associated Press — Jan. 20, 2021)
The proportion of Americans who want lawmakers to pass legislation regarding social media companies’ content moderation policies, according to a new survey. Additionally, 65 percent of respondents believed that social media platforms had too much influence over U.S. politics and society.
Butler County is bolstering cybersecurity for its IT systems after the sheriff’s department was hit by a malware attack over the holidays. Officials say no sensitive information was compromised.
The city will try to enroll 5,000 young adults in college this spring and connect over 2,000 high school students with internships and other opportunities to earn college credit.
State officials worry possible labor shortages could occur if too many dock workers get sick, which would create a severe slowdown of the multibillion-dollar industry, and are urging workers to get vaccinated.
Public transit authorities will split the federal funds, which will be used to maintain service line operations as well as avoid worker layoffs. Ridership has dropped significantly since the pandemic started.
One of the first actions of the Biden Administration will be the proposed U.S. Citizenship Act, which would provide an 8-year road map to citizenship for approximately 11 million immigrants currently in the U.S.
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