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A reporter requested a keyword search of emails as part of an investigation into nitrates in the state’s drinking water from the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy. What she got was a $44,103 bill for the state to begin the search.
Sally Hudson, a University of Virginia professor and former member of the House of Delegates, on the way that the state’s legislative sessions are structured. The General Assembly considers thousands of bills in sessions scheduled for, at most, 60 days and lawmakers don’t meet on the weekends, which often results in public commentary and legislators being cut off or encouraged to “make it quick!” (Associated Press — Feb. 9, 2024)
A new bridge over the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge has been talked about for years. Louisiana is moving ahead with the project, which could cost around $3 billion.
There are some delightful, lively small towns, but let the numbers do the talking: In Illinois, downstaters and their city “cousins” live in different worlds of expectations and aspirations.
The arguments over border sovereignty have never died away in more than two centuries of American life. Now they are coming to the forefront again.
The county has hired a company to redact racially restrictive covenant language from millions of county records, dating back to 1850. It will take at least seven years to complete the process of reviewing 130 million documents.
A report finds that more than half of Americans have had their personal data leaked on at least one of their accounts; 44 percent have had it happen to them multiple times.
About 41,700 speeding citations were issued in 10 of the city’s school zones during the first three months of the program, which started in September. In one South Atlanta zone alone, more than 15,800 citations were issued.
Kim Callinan, CEO of the advocacy group Compassion & Choices, regarding the growing support for physician-assisted death. Two-thirds of voters in Virginia support allowing mentally capable adults with terminal disease the right to request and obtain medication to end their life. Ten states and Washington, D.C., allow patients with terminal illness to request life-ending medication from their doctor. (NPR — Feb. 8, 2024)
So far this year in Michigan, Democrats have done practically nothing. Also, let's not call it the Texas GOP Civil War and the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that 10 Republican senators are not eligible to run this year.
Even with the lessons from 2020, election administrators find themselves in unknown territory this time around.
The moniker may have been popularized in the last few years, but the concept has its roots in the 19th century, going back to the redevelopment of Paris, and in the “garden city” theory of the 1890s and early 1900s.
State budgets are on track for modest growth even as federal fiscal recovery funds wane, pension underfunding persists and AI promises (or threatens) to change everything.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law directed billions toward public transit in New York, but the state is choosing to spend billions more on highways.
At least 19 states are directing money from Medicaid into housing aid and addressing the nation’s growing homelessness epidemic. Homelessness jumped last year to 12 percent nationally.
A new report studied 197 Category 5 tropical cyclones between 1980 and 2021 and it identified five storms that hypothetically could be classified as Category 6, including a cyclone that had wind speeds up to 215 mph.
Trenace Dorsey-Hollins, the parent of a 5-year-old in Fort Worth, Texas, regarding the mixed messages parents have received about when they should or should not keep their children home from school when they are sick. During the pandemic, schools urged parents to keep their children home at any sign of illness. Now, some advocates, school systems and states are changing their guidelines to encourage students to return to class even if they have sniffles or other nuisance illnesses, like lice or pinkeye. (Associated Press — Feb. 7, 2024)
The Biden administration wants to help remove all lead service lines in the U.S. within the next decade. A new report from the Center for American Progress highlights progress in states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
As the nation’s housing crisis continues, many cities are altering their policies for affordable housing developments. But some states are trying to rein in the incentives.
In places as varied as Tucson and Bangkok, ways are being found to replenish shrinking aquifers. It’s a matter of “water consciousness.”
The nation currently has more than 1,000 federally designated primary care shortage areas. More than 180 areas have had a primary care shortage for at least 40 years.
The top finance official in Massachusetts announced that the administration does not plan to downgrade revenue expectations through June or implement budget cuts, despite a recent drop in tax collections.
The city is scaling down its spending for sheltering immigrants to save money. But the move will force hundreds of people out of their temporary housing.
The initiative will run in eight schools and hopes to boost performance, especially among Black and economically disadvantaged students. More than 40 percent of Atlanta third graders were reading below grade level last year.
North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, regarding his opposition to an industry request to raise homeowners’ insurance premiums by an average of 42 percent. Causey said that he and his department received more than 25,000 emails, phone calls and letters about the proposal and “almost nobody was in favor of it.” (Associated Press — Feb. 6, 2024)
An analytic tool known as a long-term budget assessment can help states anticipate the fiscal challenges that lie ahead and change course in time to avoid them. Unfortunately, only a minority of states do this.
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