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The state is boosting pay for about 147,000 of its 235,000 employees through contracts, giving raises of about 3 percent per year to most while increasing salaries for some hard-to-fill jobs by as much as 25 percent.
Facing an $838 million budget hole, Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants the state to come through with a graduated real estate transfer tax for sales of high-end residential and commercial properties.
The police department of Huntington Park, Calif., began patrolling a city part with a camera-laden droid dubbed Robocop in June. The Huntington Park PD says it could help lower crime rates while greeting passers-by with short phrases like, "Good day to you." It even has its own Twitter page — @HPRoboCop. The Jetsons-styled egg-shaped robot drew a decidedly dystopian reaction from Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who compared it on Twitter to another tech-heavy cop movie — Terminator.
Amid announcing that Uber is laying off 400 workers, the ride-hailing company is also applying for hundreds of H-1B visas. Some believe it may be a way to hire cheaper foreign workers “to please Wall Street.”
As parts are imported, car assembly simplified and plug-in vehicles on the rise, United Automobile Workers are worried that the tech-turning industry will phase out the need for union employees.
With access to so much personal information, officials are beginning to question whether Facebook’s cryptocurrency is a good idea. “There is a growing concern about the role technology plays in our lives.”
District Attorney Jeri Yenne called Bonnen's behavior "offensive, lacking in integrity" and "demeaning to other human beings."
With society rapidly digitizing and high-speed Internet access fast becoming a vital utility, government must work to balance the needs of underserved populations with financial realities.
Comparing the time it took to achieve a breakthrough in quantum computing to the length of the inaugural Wright Brothers flight, Google, in the scientific journal Nature, claims its experimental quantum processor has completed a calculation in just a few minutes that would take a traditional supercomputer 10,000 years. IBM researchers quibbled with Google’s claim, however, saying that Google underestimated IBM’s supercomputer and said it could actually do the calculation in 2.5 days.
Massachusetts’ ACLU tested the accuracy of Amazon’s facial recognition technology called “Rekognition.” Out of 188 New England pro athletes, the software misidentified 28, growing concerns over its efficacy and ethics.
With 3.4% and 6.3% spikes in pedestrian and cyclist deaths, respectively, transportation experts are seeking any solution: “A combination of engineering, enforcement and educational approaches are needed.”
Tech companies are growing their involvement in health fields, but Google’s hiring of Dr. Karen DeSalvo as the first chief health officer emboldens the company’s top-tier footing in the health industry.
New Mexico lost $780 million in the last census due to nonrespondents. The state wants to get a complete count in 2020, but that requires maneuvering “hard-to-count” areas that may not have Internet or telephone access.
The California utility company warns that more outages may occur in response to red flag warnings that began Wednesday night while Gov. Gavin Newsom warns “of decades of PG&E prioritizing profit over public safety.”
Described by CIO Nelson Moe as “groundbreaking” in 2005, the commonwealth has severed its relationship with its former mega-contractor that limited Virginia’s agility in meeting today’s IT needs.
More than half the world’s banks are too weak to survive a global recession, according to a new report from McKinsey and Company, A 58-page report from the consultancy says the banks are not making enough money to withstand the high costs of operating while competing against fintech startups and the long shadow of companies such as Apple, Amazon and Google poised to increase their presence in the financial services industry. McKinsey says banks have three choices to survive the stress — innovate their existing practices, buy innovation or merge together.
With proposals for drones to become the new delivery staff, questions about privacy, trespassing and noise arise. “Little of the existing law is based specifically on drones,” so the path forward is unclear.
The U.S. Department of Energy is preparing to award an extension for Mission Support Alliance at Hanford’s services contract. The extension allows services to continue “while the department completes the acquisition process.”
Kansas government is in a dispute with the Legislature over $3.8M nonpayment, which could result in a $1.1M federal penalty, minimum. But the Legislature says a “gentleman’s agreement” might mean $3M doesn’t have to be paid.
With a formidable list of credentials, Marybel Batjer was recently appointed the president of the California Public Utilities Commission. She says PG&E to “be judged by outcomes and not by plans.”
60,000 of San Jose’s residents were affected by PG&E’s recent “preventive” power outages. Mayor Sam Liccardo is open to any alternative, including forming its own utility or one that is “a customer-owned co-op."
By Tuesday morning, more than 30 House Republicans had either called for the speaker's resignation or had stated that they no longer supported him.
It’s a complicated story involving Russians, Ukrainians, pot cultivation facilities in the area, campaign funds, the feds and lots of money.
The disconnect highlights one of the many hurdles facing the city as it tries to crack down on blight and bad landlords while county taxpayers are padding those landlords’ wallets and allowing low-income people to live in shoddy conditions.
The subpoena suggests the commission is targeting potential revenue diversion and the accuracy of the city’s financial reports to investors. Any diversion of airport money is a violation of federal law that requires disclosure.
The plan covers spending on road, bridges and other transportation projects over a six-year period. The total includes federal matching funds, but the state will now be picking up a larger part of a project's cost.
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