Politics and Elections
The City Council has passed a law that requires a 300-foot buffer around private residences during protests and bans mace, knives and similar items from city facilities. But some worry the new law is overreaching.
Election officials used to be able to sink into the background but as disinformation spreads officials now must become proactive and transparent about election security and processes, despite zero evidence of fraud.
The Biden administration’s mandate will require state workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing. Some may decide to leave their job and state to avoid the vaccine.
Despite the hundreds of attempts to break up the state since its founding, none have been successful. The best attempt gained real traction before it got obscured by the Civil War; the most recent was over three years ago.
Mayor Libby Schaaf promised to house 1,500 homeless residents and build permanent affordable housing as well. The city will receive $11.3 million in federal funds for the development.
A new report found four tolling sites had problems correctly counting vehicle axles, billing customers twice and overbilling others with commuter payment plans. The problems could be larger than MDTA wants to admit.
In 2020, 86 percent of the nation’s police departments reported staffing shortages, including the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. But the lack of officers isn’t due to the pandemic; numbers have been down since 2013.
For many parishes in the Acadiana region, getting adequate Internet speeds is a challenge that has impacted business and residential growth. In some parishes, 1 in 3 homes do not have any broadband access.
One proposal suggests installing a high-voltage AC transmission lines facility near the Bronx Terminal Market, but studies suggest these high-voltage currents could cause greater incidences of childhood leukemia.
Farms across the Midwest are struggling to hire domestic employees. In Illinois, the number of foreign agricultural workers has increased more than 250 percent in the past five years.
