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Texas flooding brings new urgency to Houston home buyout program
This story was originally published by Grist. Read the original here. As a series of monster rainstorms lashed southeast Texas last week, thousands of homes flooded in low-lying neighborhoods around Houston. The storms dropped multiple months’ worth of rainfall on Houston in the span of a few days, overtopping rivers and creeks that wind through the city and forcing officials to divert millions of gallons of water from reservoirs. Elsewhere in the state, the rain and winds killed at least three people, including a 4-year-old boy who was swept away by flooding water.
Medical residents are increasingly avoiding states with abortion restrictions
This article was first published on KFF Health News. Read the original here. Isabella Rosario Blum was wrapping up medical school and considering residency programs to become a family practice physician when she got some frank advice: If she wanted to be trained to provide abortions, she shouldn’t stay in Arizona.
What's the poop? Wastewater data predicts overdoses
One person’s bathroom business could be key to a public health worker tackling the opioid crisis. In the millions of gallons of water that Americans flush down their toilets every day, lie valuable insights on what’s happening in communities. Wastewater data can reveal, for example, the presence of viruses like COVID-19 or contaminants like PFAS. And now, sewage could play a critical role in combating the opioid crisis.
Celebrating Public Service—and Public Servants
This week is Public Service Recognition Week. Since 1985, the first full week in May has been the annual celebration of the contributions of public servants in federal, state, local and tribal government. Across the nation, more than 21 million dedicated people serve in government, including in our public schools and universities.
A glimpse at the ‘human-machine partnership’
When Tempe, Arizona, released its policy last year on the ethical use of artificial intelligence, a striking sentence within its pages turned heads. The policy said that the city of Tempe would “encourage collaboration between humans and AI systems, leveraging the strengths of both to enhance decision-making processes and ensure that ultimate control remains with humans.”
The key to filling IT talent gaps? Invest in your current workforce.
State and local government agencies have grappled with IT talent gaps for more than a decade. For these organizations, insufficient IT talent doesn't just hinder daily operations—it also jeopardizes their ability to serve their constituents. According to new data from Ensono, 97% of IT decision-makers in state and local...
Skateboarding’s latest trick: Reviving cities
This story was first published by Reasons to Be Cheerful. Read the original here. Rosa Chang and her husband and son live on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge, in an extremely densely-populated urban area—roughly 47,000 people living within a half-mile radius—sandwiched between downtown Manhattan and the Lower East Side.
‘Invisible’ no more: States move to hire people with disabilities
“Obviously, the public sector in general has had a difficult time attracting and retaining people over the last few years,” says Leslie Scott, executive director of the National Association of State Personnel Executives. “There’s a pool of people out there with disabilities, who can help to deal with that problem, but who over the years have found that there were impediments to joining the public sector workforce.”
Amid campus protests nationwide, DC’s response stands out
Police in Washington, D.C., ended a two-week standoff with administrators from George Washington University Tuesday night, clearing an encampment of protesters on the private school’s campus just hours before congressional Republicans planned to confront city officials about the delay in taking action. The chairman of the U.S. House Oversight...
The surging demand for data is guzzling Virginia’s water
This story was originally published by Grist. Read the original here. Every email you send has a home. Every uploaded file, web search, and social media post does, too. In massive buildings erected from miles of concrete, stacked servers hum with the electricity required to process and store every byte of information that modern lives rely on.
FCC poised to require calls to the 988 suicide hotline be geolocated
Two stories shared during a recent Federal Communications Commission meeting on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline showed how important it is to know where people are calling from. Ann Mazur, CEO of Maryland-based mental health services and support nonprofit EveryMind, shared one instance where a crisis counselor was quickly...
Montana could be a model as more GOP states weigh Medicaid work requirements
Two decades ago, Jeff Beisecker and his family returned to Great Falls, Montana, from a religious mission to the Philippines. Beisecker had no health insurance and no steady source of income, and neither did his wife. Fearful of being without coverage, Beisecker enrolled himself, his wife and their four children in Medicaid for nearly a decade while he worked his way to a steady, full-time job.
‘Extremely dangerous’: Governors criticize ‘federalization’ of National Guard
Governors from around the country are united in opposition to a proposal from the U.S. Department of Defense that would transfer certain National Guard units away from state control and move them under the Air Force. It’s what Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a...
How local governments can respond to the housing crisis
Charles Marohn, a longtime critic of suburban real estate development and the founder of the nonprofit media group Strong Towns, wants local governments to take matters into their own hands to encourage small-scale housing projects and make homes more affordable. Marohn and Daniel Herriges (a former editor-in-chief for Strong Towns)...
With only three weeks to go, lawmakers weigh ways to save federal internet subsidy
The start of what could be the final month of a popular federal internet subsidy has set off a scramble as legislators weigh a possible extension amid warnings of dire consequences should the program be allowed to expire. Beginning May 1, the subsidy dropped from $30 to $14 a month...
HUD warns on AI-fueled housing discrimination
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is monitoring how artificial intelligence applications can violate protective provisions within the Fair Housing Act, with two new documents outlining how the emerging tech can potentially discriminate against individuals seeking housing. The documents tackle the misuse of AI algorithmic capabilities in two different...
As a critical deadline approaches, the Biden administration issues a flurry of regulations
You're reading Route Fifty's State and Local Roundup. To get the week’s news to use from around the country, you can subscribe here to get this update in your inbox every Saturday. In the meantime, be sure to read to the end as we've rounded up headlines from the week.
Don’t pull the plug on internet access for 23M families
It’s easy to take the internet for granted. Many of us use it for work, others for school. We use it to schedule, or even attend, doctors’ appointments. It helps us stay up to date with what's going on in our communities and communicate with loved ones. It’s an integral part of our lives. It’s not a luxury; it’s an essential utility, like water or electricity.
As cities ban them from public spaces, homeless people scatter in search of refuge
This story was first published by Investigate West. Read the original here. John Parke, known as “Cowboy,” is always ready to pack up and move. He stacks his black and blue tent, foam sleeping pad, and flannel-lined sleeping bag on top of a wagon that he hauls away every day at 7 a.m. before police arrive and order him and the other unhoused people of “camp town” to leave.
States get streamlined access to Treasury’s Do Not Pay system for unemployment
The Departments of Labor and Treasury announced on Thursday that state unemployment agencies will now be able to access Treasury’s Do Not Pay system as they deliver jobless aid benefits. The Do Not Pay system is a no-cost service for government agencies to verify claim eligibility before issuing loans,...
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