There’s an oh-so-very chic urban salvage yard in Oakland that the wife and I are fond of browsing through on occasion. One recent trip turned up something I had never seen before: a cabinet with hundreds of slots labeled with the name of every imaginable...
If you've got something bad to say about someone or something connected to the city government of South Pittsburgh, Tennessee...keep it to yourself! As the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports, the city Commission recently approved an "all-inclusive"...
The United States Supreme Court allows to stand an order from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals barring ARIZONA from denying driver's licenses to young immigrants authorized to stay in the U.S. and work under President Obama's deferred-deportation...
Most state budgets are continuing their “modest, slow” recovery from the Great Recession, with most states expecting to meet revenue projections and have balanced budgets, according to a new report from the National Conference of State Legislatures...
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard became the latest GOP governor to propose expanding Medicaid as laid out under the Affordable Care Act. Daugaard pitched the expansion as part of his $4.8 billion 2016 budget proposal, noting it would provide health care...
Last month Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed SB 181, giving cities and towns more control over the regulation of oil and gas drilling. Local governments have wasted little time exercising their new power. Hours after the governor signed the bill...
Don’t like the high cost of burials? Against cremation? Not down with mummification? Well, Washington state lawmakers may have just given you another good option. Yes, as the Washington Post reports , Evergreen State pols have endorsed a measure...
CO Governor Signs SB 9 COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signs SB 9 , which allows Centennial State residents to store energy gleaned from renewable sources like solar power without discrimination in rates or excessive barriers in connecting to the...
In the two decades from 1991 to 2010, over 100 new stadiums opened across the country. Most of them were financed at least in part with public money. The boom was fueled by demand from sports teams and their fans for a more elevated spectator experience...
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) unveiled a proposal last week to bolster and expand the state’s $4 billion automotive industry. The four bills in the package include legislation that would: - Supply financial aid to adult learners pursuing education...
With buzz building that Indiana Gov. Mike Spence (R) is considering a run at the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, a new bill was submitted in the Hoosier State last week that would let him simultaneously seek both the presidency and re-election as governor...
The University of VIRGINIA imposes several new rules on fraternities and sororities, including a ban on kegs of beer and pre-mixed alcohol drinks at all social functions. Other mandates include a requirement that at least three members of the organization...
A whopping 84 GOP freshmen were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, many of them part of the historic Tea Party wave that promised to change how things were done in stodgy old, gridlocked D.C. Well, a little over five years down the...
It's normal for pols to dislike dealing with the media, but most accept it as part of the job and just try to be professional about it. And then there is Frederick County, Maryland Council member Kirby Delauter. As the Frederick News-Post reports...
For 45 states, the fiscal year begins on July l, by which they’re required to have a budget in place. But disagreements about how to close budget holes or expand Medicaid have already forced special sessions in Alaska, Florida, Illinois and Washington...
The MASSACHUSETTS House approves SB 2021, a bill that would repeal a Bay State law that automatically suspends the driver’s licenses of drug offenders whose crimes had nothing to do with operating a motor vehicle. The measure returns to the Senate...
CALIFORNIA passes a measure setting ambitious clean energy goals, calling for relying solely on clean sources of energy like solar, wind and geothermal by 2045, and sends it to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown (D), who is expected to sign it. The proposal...
The California Capitol community lost a classic old school Republican last week, as former Gov. George Deukmejian passed away at age 89. Most rightly recall him as being representative of what Claremont McKenna College professor Jack Pitney called “the...
A proposed constitutional amendment that would permanently limit state spending in Iowa was unanimously approved by a Senate subcommittee last week. The bill - SJR 9 , which would limit spending to “the lesser of 99 percent of the adjusted revenue...
OH Attorney General Announces New Online Site OHIO Attorney General Mike DeWine (R) announces the creation of a free, online system will allow victims to anonymously check the status of their rape kits from the time they are collected at a medical...
After much tussling back and forth, California regulators have decided once and for all that coffee does not pose a major risk of causing cancer. This is very good news to coffee giants like Starbucks, which contended that the benefits of drinking a cup...
Amidst widespread speculation that a GOP plan in the U.S. Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act depends on his support, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) reiterated last week his staunch opposition to the proposal. U.S. Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nevada) has...
NJ Governor Signs SB 3554 NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs SB 3554 , legislation that requires all workers hired to supervise people with developmental disabilities to undergo state and federal criminal background checks (NJ.COM).
Public pensions are relying more than ever on high-risk investments like real estate and hedge funds to boost their returns. But that approach doesn’t appear to be working. In 2007 alternative investments comprised 9 percent of state and local...
MA HIGH COURT UPHOLDS PRE-ELECTION DAY VOTER REGISTRATION BLACKOUT MASSACHUSETTS’ Supreme Judicial Court, the state’s highest court, has upheld a state law barring voters who haven’t registered at least 20 days before Election Day...