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Though body cameras are most commonly associated with police, they have now extended into other industries for worker accountability. Body cams are now being used for product tracking, de-escalation and home security.
The state has been inundated with more than 600,000 residents filing for unemployment benefits. Even with hundreds of workers helping, approximately 40,000 phone calls each week go unanswered.
The state’s approved budget protects teachers from layoffs for now. But the state also approved a law that hopes to ensure high educational standards as many school districts consider remote learning for the fall.
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Unemployment claims and pandemic-related concerns pushed federal, state and local government agencies to a breaking point. So how can citizen experience leaders address top contact center priorities facing government agencies? Read more…
A scholar who's been studying the place for half a century thinks so, and it does seem to be ahead of other cities in some respects. But there also are some ways it's behind the curve.
Neema Singh Guliani, senior legislative counsel at the ACLU, speaking on police use of facial recognition technology. The ACLU is one of 40 civil rights, privacy and technology groups that composed a letter to members of Congress, advocating for a federal ban of facial recognition technology. (The Hill — July 2, 2020)
The estimated proportion of American workers who are now working remotely, according to a recent study by MIT economists. They concluded that 35.2 percent of workers switched to working remotely in response to the pandemic while 15 percent reported they were already working from home.
The Employment Development Department announced last week that unemployment applicants will now be able to receive benefits for a total of 59 weeks as a part of the Federal-State Extended Duration benefits program.
A hack against the Maine Information and Analysis Center revealed personal information about crime victims and suspects, but also raised concerns about the information being collected by the agency.
More than 30 percent of students in Columbus, Ohio, don’t have access to broadband. But even if they have access, they may not have the tech literacy to use it, which concerns educators as the school year approaches.
Plume is the first telehealth company that is dedicated to the health of the trans community. The app offers a staff that is almost entirely trans and allows patients to communicate through text or video-chat.
A collaboration between tech companies and several states got off the ground early in the pandemic using emergency contracts for testing. After a rocky start, the programs have entered their next phase.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, speaking about the Supreme Court's decision to allow taxpayer money to be put toward religious schools. (Reuters — June 30, 2020)
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases that Florida’s Department of Health reported on Thursday, breaking the previous state record of 9,585 cases that was reported last Saturday. New York is the only other state to break 10,000 daily cases, recording 12,847 cases on April 10.
Thousands of Alabama residents have taken to sleeping outside of the makeshift unemployment claims help center, to hopefully get assistance in person. But the state’s unemployment fund is quickly running out of money.
The $1.5 trillion plan aims to fix roads and bridges, upgrade transit systems and expand railways and ports. The bill will also give $100 billion to broadband expansion and $25 billion to the U.S. Postal Service.
Several Bay Area cities have cut millions from their police budgets, but the plans don’t stop there. They’re looking to remove police from schools and put money toward mental health services.
We need to invest more in physical education and access to youth sports. For children of color, it's a way to tackle obesity and other health disparities while building their self-esteem.
Legal experts are questioning our current system of “law and order” based on punishment. They are calling for restorative justice programs that can demonstrate how investments in accountability yield rewards.
As they rebuild their education, health-care and tax systems after the devastation of COVID-19, they can take important steps that can significantly narrow income and wealth disparities.
Despite federal scaremongering about state and local pensions, the problem for now isn't their balance sheets. It's the budget vise that is likely to tempt some public employers to cut funding corners.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, commenting on contact tracing’s role in coronavirus response. (AP News — June 29, 2020)
The number of jobs that American companies added to the economy in June as states continued with their reopening plans. Three industries, leisure and hospitality, trade and transportation and construction, accounted for nearly 70 percent of all of the jobs added last month.
Sacramento has proposed changes to its police system, which could include social workers, mental health services in the city’s 911 response as well as having an inspector general provide impartial reviews of the department.
A new report suggests focusing on training opportunities, expanding broadband access and creating equitable inclusion in the workforce as important pieces when rebuilding Wisconsin’s economy.
Thomas Jefferson was not the first choice to write the Declaration of Independence. He accepted the assignment reluctantly, but he brought genius to the project, including the 35 most important words in the English language.
In April, Gov. Newsom launched an initiative to increase COVID-19 testing accessibility for rural towns and disadvantaged neighborhoods. The state will no longer fund new testing sites, even as infections increase.
Governors are battling with local leaders over mask requirements. Some state executives have enacted a statewide mask requirement while others are leaving it up to local leaders to decide.
James Henson, the director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, addressing the pushback that states are receiving after implementing statewide blanketed orders, like California’s mask requirement and Texas’ restaurant capacity reduction. (PEW — June 29, 2020)
As COVID-19 cases surge, there could be growing interest in the technology. But states planning to roll them out need to vet them rigorously for privacy protections and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
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