current issue
April 2008
Features
Mission: green
Landfill space is cheap and plentiful in Texas. But, with Austin officials concerned with environmental conservation and sustainability, they set a goal...
Helping residents help themselves
Service requests move to Web-based 311/CRM systems....
Winter blues
Unusual storms prompt road agencies to rethink salt use and storage. ...
Issues & Trends
Just passing through? Drive safe, or pay up
Because the stretch of Interstate 71/75 that runs through Erlanger, Ky., on the main corridor from Michigan to Florida is one of the busiest in the country,...
Toll officials crack down on violators
Electronic toll collection systems help ease highway traffic, improve safety and reduce costs for toll road operators. But, because drivers using electronic...
Locals want to help residents turn on DTV
By Feb. 17, 2009, TV broadcasters will begin sending programming only as digital signals, which means TV sets that use antennas to receive over-the-air...
Tulsa, Okla., extends help to veterans
With 36,000 veterans representing 14 percent of Tulsa, Okla.'s population, Mayor Kathy Taylor has been marshalling community resources to better address...
Accruing e-waste
A New York ordinance requires electronics manufacturers to collect and dispose of old devices, such as computers and portable music players, that would...
N.M. limits tickets
The New Mexico legislature has set a $75 cap on tickets issued by Albuquerque from its automated stoplight and speed enforcement camera system. Previously,...
State expands domestic partnerships
Washington has expanded its domestic partnership registry, established in 2007, giving homosexual couples most of the protections of heterosexual married...
Dotted Line
Plugged in
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has purchased fleet management software from San Diego-based Networkcar. The Oconee County, Ga., Sheriff's...
Etc.
Solano County, Calif., has purchased a 746-kilowatt solar panel array for the county's detention center from Morris Township, N.J.-based Honeywell International....
Roll Call
Ohio Department of Transportation Jolene Molitoris has been named assistant director. Previously, she was chairwoman of the Ohio Rail Development Commission....
Extra, Extra
City of roses gets gold for going green
The Pasadena, Calif., City Hall has been certified at the Gold level by the Washington-based U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental...
Software computes disaster destruction
Orange County, Calif., recently completed a pilot project to build a computer model to help estimate potential losses from disasters. Using GIS-based...
Education increases city's recycling rate
Since Baton Rouge, La., launched a recycling education campaign in November, the city's recycling rate has increased 16.4 percent, by more than 3.5 pounds...
Columns
The unexamined life
Negative themes often surface during political campaigns, but for the first time, the leading presidential candidates have found it impossible to avoid...
Fail-proofing telecom
Government employees rely so heavily on communications systems that many assume they will be available whenever they need them, even in an emergency....
Homeward bound
Foreclosure affects more than individual families; it also can diminish the quality of life for entire neighborhoods, disrupt the local market for ownership...
Feds to the rescue?
Already faced with budget shortfalls, local governments continue to reel from the consequences of the sharp rise in home foreclosures. As of March, more...
Ways & Means
Steering transit progress
In 2000, Albuquerque's transit department had earned a bad reputation with problems that included safety issues, drivers who had gone years without a...
New life for old gadgets
Since Will County, Ill., began collecting electronic waste at one-day annual events in 2000, demand continued to grow. So, in July, the county, along...
Fresh island perspective
Although it is hard to dispute the beauty of the Florida Keys' lush vegetation and vibrant colors, the coastal nature of the region presents challenges...
Buyer's Index
Fleets Toolbox DiamondBack Truck Covers The Side Toolboxes are open tool bins that are mounted to the underside of the company's truck bed covers for...
Across America
Splashing in the sun
By 2001, the 1960s-era swimming pool at La Mirada Regional Park in La Mirada, Calif., was beginning to outlive its purpose. Owned by Los Angeles County,...
On the dock of the bay
In the early 1900s, parcels of St. Petersburg, Fla.'s 33-mile waterfront were little more than blighted properties lined with shacks and deteriorating...
Postcards
Raising a stink To determine the intensity of odors emanating from a Northampton, Mass., landfill, officials commissioned what is being dubbed a sniff...
