Governing: State and local government news and analysis
With the help of city school kids, an organization is restoring long-depleted oyster beds that once flourished in the waters that surround New York City. The bivalves are cleaning the water and protecting shorelines.
Water pressure is back in Mississippi's capital but it's still not safe to drink. Residents have been through this so many times that they've learned how to cope. That doesn't mean they're happy.
In a brave new world of hybrid work — or not — IT leaders rethink what it means to work for the public sector and what investments are needed to keep everyone connected.
The Williams sisters’ story is about more than glory, grit and power. Among other things, it shows how investments in public parks and recreational programs can help many reach their potential.
Rules that mandate excess parking in new development projects have added to the overlapping crises of housing affordability, urban sprawl and climate change, advocates say. California could soon bar cities from imposing them.
It deals with very different urban issues than the West. Its population is exploding, with all 20 of the world’s fastest-growing cities based in Africa or Asia. I’m taking a long trip through the region to find out more.
As historic floods beset several states, a new study finds that warming could make a California “megaflood” more dangerous, and likely, than previously thought.
From call records to sensors, your phone may reveal more about you than you think. Even a burner phone paid for with cash can reveal your identity and where you’ve been.
Thomas Jefferson thought that each generation should rewrite its own founding document. A constitutional scholar talks about the changes that could have happened if Americans had taken Jefferson up on his challenge.
COVID led to historic high enrollments. But as the emergency comes to an end, millions are expected to lose their insurance, including people who meet the requirements for Medicaid but get lost in its labyrinthine bureaucracy.
A monthlong shutdown of the Orange Line in Boston has riders scrambling for other transportation options. And many are choosing Bluebikes.
Democrats shouldn't count their chickens yet; what happens when election deniers run elections; and what the courts have to say.
Since the country’s founding, the federal government has had its fair share of scandals often followed by a congressional hearing to find out what went wrong and why. Some are famous, others less so.
Access to broadband Internet can dramatically alter quality of life and economic prospects in rural areas, including long-neglected tribal nations. New federal funding is helping to fill some of the gaps in the high-speed network.
San Francisco has a brand-new park overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay. Its history is rooted in an attempt to make road traffic safer.
As with pension fund divestment policies, it’s tempting for states and local governments to blacklist companies over their public policy stances. But it’s the taxpayers who are likely to be the collateral damage losers.
It seems logical that we would be rushing to turn vacant office buildings into apartments and condos. So far it’s not happening on a large scale, but there are reasons to think it’s in our urban future.
Community-based organizations know how to register voters and increase census participation. Reaching out block by block, even door to door, they can be just as effective in boosting vaccination rates.
The 33-year ordeal of Salman Rushdie came to head with a knife attack at a venerable cultural venue in upstate New York. That the onstage stabbing took place in America is a grim reminder of the need for eternal vigilance in defending the First Amendment.
The vast majority of ghost guns recovered by law enforcement nationwide are built from parts made by Polymer80, which has managed to evade laws forbidding the manufacture of unserialized gun parts.
Diesel-powered school buses produce more than 5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. EV school buses eliminate harmful pollutants and cost less to maintain than diesel buses. But they aren’t cheap.
Grace Rink, who does the job for the city of Denver using a taxpayer-supported fund specifically for climate action, explains why it’s vital.
The biggest federal climate, clean energy and environmental justice commitment in history is an unprecedented opportunity. The ideas contained in cities’ and companies’ environmental disclosures are a treasure trove to guide policymakers.
They’ve outlived their usefulness and stand in the way of getting anything done for Americans. We should turn to electoral approaches that diminish their impact and influence.
The Chicago Transit Authority is hoping to finally make good on a promise to expand a subway line to the southern edge of the city. First it needs the City Council to agree to a plan for raising billions of dollars to support the project.
In the 1940s, Black Georgians elected the second woman in the state to Congress. Her political rise and fall reveal the lengths that state officials would go to disenfranchise Black voters.
Most of the states we live in appear to be solidly Republican or Democrat. These maps offer a chance to look beneath the surface at the shades of partisan control.
With 36 governorships at stake, more women from both parties are running this year, and more are winning their primaries. That’s happening despite the fact that women must overcome barriers that few men face.
Firearms researchers have tied gun shows to illegal purchases and ghost guns. California is the first state to end the shows on state property. Officials hope the ban helps lay the groundwork for other states.
Steve Nichols, chief technology officer at Georgia Technology Authority, offers his observations and predictions for what's trending and what's to come with regard to cyber incident notification laws.
