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Lindsey Miller, director of strategic research at Informing Democracy, a nonprofit that focuses on vote counting and certification, on a plan by five Pennsylvania Republicans who joined an alternate slate of electors for Donald Trump in 2020 to serve as presidential electors in this year’s contest. (Vote Beat — Aug. 16, 2024)
Minneapolis just unveiled a $60 million water tunnel to help the city manage runoff. But what about the state’s small rural communities?
They personify the misinformation inundating the political system, targeting Democrats and Republicans alike and reaching tens of millions of people. There doesn’t seem to be much that can be done about them.
Getting a driver’s license used to be a huge teenage milestone. But just under 40 percent of teenagers aged 16 to 19 had their license in 2021, a 24 percent decline since 1995.
After the state took over management of the district in June 2023, some parents became concerned about stringent reforms, plummeting morale and cookie-cutter lessons that didn’t account for individual students’ needs.
The Los Angeles Superior Court system has more than 125 court reporter vacancies, which raises due process concerns for people in child custody disputes, divorces, conservatorships and other proceedings.
A Florida startup has installed about 7,500 lights, at least half of which are in Tampa Bay neighborhoods, and estimates they have prevented around 2.6 million pounds of carbon emissions.
Sheep farmer JR Howard has a booming business selling sheep to do “lawn maintenance” at solar farms in Texas. His biggest sale yet is 6,000 sheep for a single “agrivoltaics” project. (Canary Media — Aug. 16, 2024)
Heath Grimes won national recognition for serving the growing Hispanic student population in Russellville, Ala. Then the district showed him the door.
Automated external defibrillators are safe and easy for just about anyone to use, and they could save the lives of thousands of cardiac arrest victims every year. Making them available in public spaces is a job for state and local policymakers.
The “top-down” system will unify and streamline the state’s voter registration lists and allow for real-time checks on Election Day. If someone tries to vote in two counties, “we’re going to know right away,” says Elko County Clerk Rebecca Plunkett.
The record-breaking 2023-24 investment in small diverse businesses and veteran businesses increased by $129 million from the year prior.
Tribes in the Lower 48 states need about $1.9 billion over the next 50 years for climate-related infrastructure needs. But as oceans warm, rise and acidify, Indigenous communities across the coast are especially vulnerable.
Palo Alto County, Iowa, has 83 new cases of cancer on average each year. For the community of 8,996, the impact is outsized, especially as national concerns grow about the connection between farm pollutants and cancer.
A resident of Cheyenne, Wyo., at a mayoral campaign meet-and-greet, asking a question of “VIC,” an artificial-intelligence-powered chatbot that mayoral candidate Victor Miller vows he would use exclusively to run the city, making use of what he sees as the untapped potential of AI in government. AI experts say Miller’s pledge is a first for U.S. political campaigns. (Washington Post — Aug. 19, 2024)
Americans used to split their votes between parties a lot more than they do now. There are a lot of reasons things have changed, particularly growing cultural tribalism. Can we ever regain a bipartisan consensus?
The Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations and other federal commodity food programs have faced shortages due to reliance on a single provider. For many Native American households, FDPIR is their only food source.
On July 19, the Los Angeles Superior Court detected a security breach that forced it to temporarily close for two days, postponing trials and other essential courtroom work. The public deserves a thorough report on what happened.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has put pressure onto the University of Florida’s Board of Governors to investigate President Ben Sasse’s spending of $17.3 million during his first year in office, a $5.6 million increase from the year prior.
The recall notices issued last week involve 135,000 marijuana products, and have left companies scrambling. Some dispensaries and facilities are still quarantining recalled products from last year.
The state’s ballot measures are just two of nearly a dozen from across the nation that aim to reduce taxes for some or all property owners. One Colorado initiative would cap annual state property tax revenue growth at 4 percent.
Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, regarding the power that names, like Scattered Spider and Midnight Blizzard, can give to threat groups and criminals, while simultaneously undermining strategic priorities. Bad actors don’t have superpowers, Easterly told attendees. “Most of the time they are using the same old vulnerabilities, and sometimes they just get lucky.” (Cybersecurity Drive — Aug. 15, 2024)
The Inflation Reduction Act includes tax credits that reimburse governments for clean energy investments. New online resources make the program more understandable and accessible.
The databases are fraught with problems from due process to privacy rights to racial and ethnic disparities, raising the question of whether they really make cities safer.
Groups of renters in five cities have formed a Tenant Union Federation to build power locally and advocate for changes to federal housing policy.
Each year, more trees fall in cities than are harvested from national forests, putting infrastructure at risk. Researchers estimate that urban trees could replace about 10 percent of the nation’s annual lumber consumption.
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