Washington town considers truck impact fees
Saying one large gravel truck can cause as much damage as 2,500 cars, officials in Auburn, Wash., are considering levying a truck impact fee against new businesses...
Louisiana parish joins nationwide environmental courts movement
Jefferson Parish, La., has joined the limited number of communities that have created environmental courts to enforce quality-of-life ordinances...
Applications requested for ‘Leaders in Learning Awards.’
Washington-based Cable in the Classroom is accepting applications for its “Cable’s Leaders in Learning Awards...
Company wins parking contract despite alleged tie to slavery
A Chicago alderwoman failed to stop a $563 million deal to lease four parking garages to a company she says failed to disclose its past connection to slavery...
Report says California’s sex offender ballot proposal could be costly
A report from the California Department of Corrections says a ballot proposal that would prohibit convicted sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a park ...
Utah town’s mayor, police chief cleared of wrongdoing in pay protest investigation
The county attorney in Weber County, Utah, has cleared the mayor and police chief of Ogden, Utah, of criminal wrongdoing in the suspension of a police officer who had been ...
Georgia plans to build a bus terminal over a highway
Georgia transportation officials plan to build a $93 million, 75,000-square-foot bus station 25 feet over a busy interstate...
Los Angeles sues former Housing Authority official
Los Angeles officials are suing the former head of the city’s Housing Authority over missing funds. The lawsuit alleges that Donald Smith, the authority’s former ...
Truth or Consequences, N.M., betting on becoming gateway to the stars
Officials in the frontier town of Truth or Consequences, N.M., consider themselves to be on the cusp of becoming the gateway to the final frontier. They are hoping that the construction of the privately owned Spaceport ...
Illinois town avoids lawsuit over cross on car sticker
A woman in Burbank, Ill., has agreed to settle her lawsuit against the city that she filed over a requirement to put what she called a Christian-themed sticker on her car...
Model municipal illegal immigration law blocked
A federal judge has temporarily restrained the Hazleton, Pa., City Council from enforcing an illegal immigration law that has been a model for other towns across the nation...
Colorado town plans cuts in ride program for disabled, elderly
Several elderly and disabled residents of Fort Collins, Colo., are outraged at the city’s plan to cut back its “Dial-A-Ride” service, saying they rely on it for rides to the doctor and to friends....
Wind farm benefits Maine community
Mars Hill, Maine, expects to reap several benefits from the $55 million wind farm under construction on Mars Hill Mountain. Bangor, Maine-based Evergreen Wind Power already has constructed several ...
Federal government worsens Washington’s sprawl, local officials say
Local government officials around Washington are concerned that the federal government is moving too many of its facilities out of town, weakening efforts to battle sprawl...
Rail does not necessarily mean growth, report says
A study by a Harvard grad student says the installation of light rail lines causes only limited growth. ...
New York may ask restaurants to display calories
The New York City Board of Health is considering requiring about 10 percent of the city’s restaurants, including several fast-food chains, to display their products’ calories on menus and signs in the restaurant...
Unregulated ‘527s’ spend millions to influence election
Unregulated organizations, financed by rich individuals and special interest groups, are flooding the pre-election airwaves with rhetoric. Named after the section of the IRS code that defines them...
Hoax in Washington offers free rides to those who report late buses
There are no free rides on Washington’s Metrobuses, even if a rider does report a late bus. Metro officials are saying that flyers left at several bus stops, printed on what looks like Metro stationary ...
Texas town still considering anti-immigration laws
A city councilman in Farmers Branch, Texas, is still pushing for his proposed illegal immigration laws despite concern by a group he helped form to promote the city’s economic revitalization...
Orange County, Calif., may still do business with broker from its bankruptcy
Orange County, Calif., may soon renew business ties with Merrill Lynch, the company that was partly blamed for the county’s 1994 bankruptcy. On Thursday, the county’s finance committee voted to add Merrill Lynch to a list of 23 available underwriters, according to the...
Atlanta can’t meet deadline to fix sewers
Atlanta officials are asking the Environmental Protection Agency for more time to finish part of a $3.9 billion sewer overflow tunnel that is part of a settlement to a lawsuit filed by an environmental group...
Court lifts oversight of Los Angeles transit system
The U.S. District Court in Los Angeles has lifted its oversight of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority that had been in place since 1996 to assure that the authority improved its service...
Massachusetts retains consultants from controversial Big Dig firm
Engineers with the company that designed Boston’s troubled Big Dig project continue to work as consultants for the state, despite Gov. Mitt Romney’s attack on the company following a fatal ceiling collapse in a Big Dig tunnel. Romney’s ...
North Carolina county tears down old newspaper building
The Cabarrus County, N.C., Commission has decided to tear down an old newspaper building despite spending $50,000 to study how to save it...
Maui landfill has problem with flying bags
Officials in Maui County, Hawaii, are asking residents who use the new Central Maui Landfill to secure and recycle their plastic bags when disposing of them. ...
