Do Americans love their mamas? According to media monitoring and new analysis , you bet your sweet bippy they do. Between April 24 and May 10, Mom was more popular than any of the U.S. presidential candidates and general election coverage – combined...
In recent years, the traditional media landscape has been rapidly transforming with the rise of digital media. Could 2016 be the year media companies begin deploying new business models and improved content distribution strategies to help them get to...
No industry is impervious to bribery and corruption risk, but companies linked to energy industries, in particular, face elevated risks in order to reap the equally high rewards. The PWC Global Crime Survey found that energy, utilities and mining saw...
Topics that you hear along the campaign trail fluctuate frequently. With Donald Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee and a hotly-contested race between Democrats Bernie Sanders and front-runner Hillary Clinton, Libya has entered the hot topics...
Bypassing seven years of congressional inaction and accelerating a national trend, state legislatures in California and New York have passed laws that will gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. In separate legislation these states have also...
As of last month, 29 states had a minimum wage that was higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Two of those states, California and New York, have also passed laws that will gradually...
The Texas Supreme Court ruled this month that the state’s “Robin Hood” school funding system, under which wealthy districts share property tax revenues with poorer districts, while not perfect, is not unconstitutional. “Our...
In 1969 Kentucky voters approved a tax break for agricultural land with the aim of protecting family farms from encroaching development. But according to a series of reports by the Lexington Herald-Leader , $36.6 billion worth of property in the state...
It could cost over $3.3 trillion over the next decade to keep up with repairs on America’s roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure, according to the latest “report card” from the American Society of Civil Engineers. The engineers...
$1B Budget Shortfall in NJ NEW JERSEY Treasurer Ford Scudder announced last week that the state is facing a budget deficit of close to $1 billion for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 combined. But he said the state would be able to manage the shortfall with...
A federal judge struck down parts of Kentucky’s judicial code intended to keep judges out of politics. Specifically U.S. District Judge Amul R. Thapar voided judicial conduct rules prohibiting judges and judicial candidates from publicly declaring...
U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell struck down Montana’s limits on political campaign contributions last Tuesday, just three weeks ahead of the state’s presidential primary. Lovell ruled those campaign limits, approved by voters in 1994, unconstitutional...
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed a bill last week ( HB 2537 ) that will expand the state’s Supreme Court from five justices to seven. Earlier this month Chief Justice Scott Bales asked Ducey to veto that bill, saying in a letter that expansion...
Judge Orders Acceptance of 18,000 Pending Voter Registrations A federal judge has ordered KANSAS officials to register thousands of prospective voters whose applications at the state’s motor vehicle offices have been derailed by the state’s...
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) appears to be softening his once rigid stance against legalized marijuana. Speaking at a panel held at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles last week, the governor who once said he wished he could “wave...
Hogan Signs Justice, Police Reforms MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signed 144 bills last Thursday, including several police and criminal justice reforms. Among the bills was SB 945 , which will require anyone convicted of drunk driving in the Old Line...
Business In the Workplace The Obama administration announces new rules that raise the threshold for full-time salaried workers to be paid overtime to those making $47,476 per year, up from the current standard of $23,660. The change, which would impact...
AZ, OH, OK Delay Executions Pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer announces it will enact protocols to ensure states are no longer able to use drugs it provides as part of carrying out a lethal injection execution. At least 20 other U.S. and European...
PA Approves HB 1574 The PENNSYLVANIA House gives final approval to HB 1574 , which would broaden the Keystone State’s anti-hazing law to include public and private high schools. The bill, which makes it a third-degree misdemeanor when a student...
Environment In CA Water officials in CALIFORNIA suspend a mandatory statewide 25 percent reduction in urban water use, allowing local communities to set their own conservation standards. The change came after the Golden State received a relatively...
NC Approves SB 734 The NORTH CAROLINA Senate approves SB 734 , which allows the state’s Health Director to issue a statewide standing order making the anti-overdose drug Naloxone and other “opiod antagonists” available in drug stores...
OK Approves SB 1552 The OKLAHOMA Senate approves SB 1552 , legislation that would outlaw all abortions and subject providers to a loss of license and jail time. It moves to Gov. Mary Fallin (R) for consideration (OKLAHOMAN [OKLAHOMA CITY]). KS Gov...
MD Gov Signs SB 663 MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signs SB 663 , which among several things bars Old Line State pet stores from selling dogs or cats obtained from so-called “puppy mills” and requires they provide buyers with a written record...
Elected leaders get their share of nice gifts, most of which are fairly generic . But some can be downright quirky. As CBS News reports , Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has had his share of both. Some of the more interesting include a pair of sea otter fur mittens...
Oh, it’s tough times in the Heart of Dixie these days. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley done got caught stepping out, so to speak, with his top adviser and now his fellow Reeps want to impeach him. Meanwhile, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore...