Thursday, July 30, 2015
Walker’s Philadelphia cheesesteak mockery
Several Philly tourists not amused with Scott Walker crashing their lunch. Overheard: “Stand in line with the rest of us.” “Who is that?” — Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) July 28, 2015 This is silly but sometimes you just gotta stop, smell the roses, and indulge in some mockery of Scott Walker’s cheesesteak choices. It’s the standard more »
Walker’s Philadelphia cheesesteak mockery
Several Philly tourists not amused with Scott Walker crashing their lunch. Overheard: “Stand in line with the rest of us.” “Who is that?” — Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) July 28, 2015 This is silly but sometimes you just gotta stop, smell the roses, and indulge in some mockery of Scott Walker’s cheesesteak choices. It’s the standard more »
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
House, Senate move toward passage of short-term transportation bill
Congress must act this week to meet a Friday deadline, when authority for the Department of Transportation to process aid payments to states expire. Photo by Bret Hartman/Reuters
WASHINGTON — The House and Senate are moving toward passage of a three-month patch to keep federal highway and transit aid flowing to states while lawmakers seek the right mix of policy and revenue to achieve a long-term transportation deal.
The House is expected to take up the short-term, $8 billion bill on Wednesday before leaving town for Congress’ August recess. The Senate plans to take up the House bill later in the week, but before a midnight Friday deadline when authority for the Department of Transportation to process aid payments to states will expire.
Lawmakers said they were loath to take up yet another short-term transportation funding extension — this will be the 34th extension since 2009. But Republicans and Democrats don’t want to see transportation aid cut off, and they are eager to pass an amendment attached to the extension bill that fills a $3.4 billion hole in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ budget. The money gap threatens to force the closure of hospitals and clinics nationwide.
Before taking up the short-term extension, Senate GOP leaders say they are determined to first pass their own sweeping, six-year transportation bill. The $350 billion bill would make changes to highway, transit, railroad and auto safety programs, but only provides enough funds for the first three years.
The bill also renews the Export-Import Bank, which makes low-interest loans to help U.S. companies sell their products overseas. The bank’s charter expired on June 30 in the face of opposition from conservatives, who call it corporate welfare.
Senate GOP leaders have been struggling to complete work on their long-term transportation bill before the August recess in the hope that the House would pass it and send it to the White House. But their Republican counterparts in the House have made it clear they won’t be hurried into accepting the Senate measure.
“The House also needs to make its voice heard and put forth its own priorities for such a significant piece of legislation,” Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said in a statement.
It has been a decade since Congress last passed a 6-year transportation bill even though lawmakers in both parties generally support highway and transit aid. The difficulty has been finding the money to pay for programs in a way that doesn’t increase the federal deficit.
For decades, highway and transit programs were paid for with gas tax revenues and other transportation taxes and fees. But the federal 18.4 cents a gallon gas tax hasn’t been raised since 1993 while the cost of construction has risen. The gas tax brings in about $35 billion a year for highway programs, but the government is spending about $50 billion. President Barack Obama and many lawmakers say even $50 billion is far too little.
Congress could raise the gas tax, but lawmakers fear a voter backlash. Obama and House Republican leaders want to change corporate tax laws that encourage U.S. companies to park profits overseas and use the resulting revenue to fully pay for a 6-year transportation bill.
But there is no consensus on the details of the corporate tax changes, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he’s skeptical they “can be shoehorned into a multiyear highway bill by the end of the year.”
Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed to this report.
The post House, Senate move toward passage of short-term transportation bill appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
WI Supreme Court “went well beyond what any court has ever held in opening the floodgates to secret money in politics”
Brendan Fischer of PRWatch was recently interviewed by Janine Jackson of Fair.org. A couple of exerpts: JJ: Well, it sounds as though the charge was that Walker actively sought to skirt finance laws and that the ruling is: Yes, he did, but it’s OK? I mean, help us to understand exactly what happened here. BF: That’s about right. more »
Monday, July 27, 2015
Republican presidential candidates cluster accounts at bank with only 1 branch in McLean, Virginia
Hmmmmm. From Bloomberg: “According to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings, Chain Bridge is the sole bank serving Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, which reported raising $11.4 million as of June 30, and his allied super-PAC, Right to Rise, which says it’s raised $103 million so far. Donald Trump’s campaign banks at Chain Bridge, and it’s more »
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Trump nails Walker on crumbling roads, deficit, underfunded education, Common Core flip-flops
Times are strange when you’re pleased to hear from Donald Trump, eh? What’s really wild is not only do I enjoy hearing Trump slam Walker, I have to admit that Trump is essentially telling the truth about the state of affairs in Wisconsin and about Walker’s flip-flops on Common Core. Donald Trump says he wasn’t more »
Wisconsinite dissents in chalk: “WEASEL WHORE HOUSE”
The dissent: The chalker, who prefers to remain anonymous, gave me permission to upload this photo here. If you have questions about the use of the word “whore” in Wisconsin see this. You just finished reading Wisconsinite dissents in chalk: "WEASEL WHORE HOUSE"! Consider leaving a comment!Visit bluecheddar.net for more news and opinion. You can more »
Saturday, July 25, 2015
“Scott Walker is not Joe McCarthy, but his technique is similar”
This is a bit from an opinion piece by Dana Milbank in the Washington Post: “Scott Walker is not Joe McCarthy, but his technique is similar: He suggests that the nation’s ills can be cured by fighting labor unions (foremost among the “big government special interests” hurting America), even though unions represent just 11 percent more »
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
One of the shady recipients of Walker’s WEDC welfare faces criminal investigation (finally)
As blogger lufthase puts it, “If WEDC had done a simple search on Green Box chairman Ronald Van Den Heuvel before making this loan, they’d have found at least 8 six-figure judgements from 2008 to 2011 against him or the many, many companies he has registered at the same address as Green Box.” Basically, Scott more »
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Round-up of Wisco news: Walker puzzled by gayness, Walker v. G.A.B., 20 wk. abortion ban, MORE
These seem like the key WI political stories from the last 3 or 4 days. If I missed something, please do leave it in a comment. WALKER AND GAYNESS This is how conservative blog NewsMax frames it: Gay marriage opponent and Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker said in a CNN interview broadcast on Sunday he more »
Monday, July 20, 2015
“Governor Walker, why are you trying to break my family apart?” – Leslie Flores
Because a new poll shows that Donald Trump polls nationally at 24% among Republican registered voters while Walker polls 13% I have to admit that I have no idea whether Walker’s comments to this family have an impact positive or negative within the Republican Party base. This guy’s tweet sums up their bigoted wingnuttery: "Obama's more »
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Iowa is smelling the BS around Walker’s Kohls speech
Iowans are learning that Scott Walker doled out over $68 million to Kohls. It’s undermining his “brown bag government” schtick. Excellent! If they keep pulling at loose threads on his stories they’re going to turn up tales of unaccountable millions in corporate welfare he gave out through WEDC. Des Moines Register has the story: Some more »
Friday, July 17, 2015
Looks like my governor is cruisin’ through Iowa in a big gay RV
I sent this to George Takei Dear George: This is a photo of Scott Walker’s new RV. I must say, all I can see is an equal sign with those two red bars on the right. And when I see a red equal sign I am reminded of the red equal sign which you encouraged more »
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Appeal of John Doe decision to SCOTUS unlikely according to Hasen
This is from Hasen’s “Analysis of Wisconsin John Doe Ruling: Bad News for Campaign Finance Laws” U.S. Supreme Court review? The dissent notes that under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Caperton decision, the failure to recuse in this case could be a due process violation. At least theoretically, that’s an issue which could go to the more »
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
How to Fire an Employee Without Being Sued
Firing an employee is never pleasant, even if you think he or she deserves it. Bringing a wrongful termination lawsuit can only add to the unpleasantness. No doubt you'd rather be focusing on your business than going to court....
Where to Find Up-To-Date Legal Forms
While we recommend that you have an attorney help you with legal filings, we do recognize that there are times when you may be able to complete some legal forms yourself. For most motions, complaints, and pleadings, you no...
More Options for Senior Mobility
For June – a very independent person – making the difficult decision to give up her own car after driving for over 60 years felt like “a huge setback.” Sprightly, active, and in her 80s, she was determined not to let transportation limitations deter her for long. After hearing about Uber from her grandchildren, June downloaded the app on her smartphone. Soon, she was riding all over Miami-Dade County, running errands, and visiting with family and friends — all with Uber.
“Uber gave me my wheels back.”– June, 86-year-old grandmother, Miami resident, and Uber rider
June’s story is a familiar one for many aging Americans: transportation is often one of the greatest challenges for older adults and for community organizations trying to meet their needs. In fact, the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) estimates 26 million older Americans depend on others for their mobility.1 Research has shown that seniors who are unable to drive or have limited mobility choices often experience a loss of self-esteem and feelings of helplessness. Over the next 20 years, as the number of Americans ages 65 and older grows to more than 71 million people — or 20% of the total population2 — we are likely to see senior mobility issues magnified.
Today, Uber will participate in the White House Conference on Aging and discuss Uber’s efforts to engage the senior community. At the event, we will announce the launch of a pilot program for community-based senior outreach. In cities across the country, Uber will offer free technology tutorials and free rides at select retirement communities and senior centers. Alongside public and private sector representatives, we hope to further the conversation about the way technology adoption can improve older adults’ day-to-day lives.
Senior riders find Uber to be an easy-to-use, safe, and affordable way to get around. To further meet this need, Uber is establishing partnerships with local senior advocates, organizations, and municipalities around the country.
For example, Uber is working with the City of Gainesville to offer on-demand transportation for residents of two senior centers as part of a six month program. Anytime a resident at a participating senior center needs a ride, he or she can request one at an even more affordable rate because of support from the city. Free technology tutorials will be available throughout, so residents of the participating centers can feel comfortable and at ease using Uber. Uber is also piloting a similar senior ride program in partnership with the Town of Miami Lakes.
In addition to these two programs already underway, several other Uber cities — Columbus, Austin, Tucson, Phoenix, and Ventura County, California — are running pilot programs with local senior organizations, alongside educational product tutorials and free or discounted rides.
You can hear June’s and other stories here, and learn more about why seniors are choosing Uber.
1http://www.agingcare.com/Articles/Questions-to-Ask-About-Transportation-for-Elders-104572.htm
2 http://t4america.org/docs/SeniorsMobilityCrisis.pdf
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Man Dies After Police Use Pepper Spray During Arrest In Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — A man in Alabama collapsed and died after officers sprayed him with pepper spray while arresting him after a chase, Tuscaloosa police said Saturday.
Anthony Dewayne Ware, 35, was pronounced dead on Friday at a Tuscaloosa hospital, according to police.
Tuscaloosa Police Sgt. Brent Blankeley said Saturday that officers responded to a call that a suspect wanted on charges of attempting to elude police was on the front porch of an apartment.
Police said Ware ran into nearby woods and struggled with officers when they caught up with him. Officers sprayed him with oleoresin capsicum, more commonly known as pepper spray, according to police. The chemical agent debilitates a person by causing temporary blindness and irritating a person's nose and throat.
Ware began having troubled breathing and collapsed as they were walking out of the woods, authorities said.
Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Lyn Head said that compassion was shown to Ware and that an officer began CPR as soon as it was evident he was in physical distress.
The six officers who were involved in Ware's case will remain on duty during an investigation, according to police. Officials said police car dash cam and body camera footage of the incident would be released after that investigation.
"Video is being reviewed and will be released to the public as soon as investigators say it can be released without hindering the ongoing investigation," Assistant Chief Ronnie Dunn told The Tuscaloosa News.
Tuscaloosa police said, under standard procedure, the incident is under investigation by a team of investigators from both inside and outside the Tuscaloosa Police Department.
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Video: Close call at Detroit fire leaves two firefighters injured
Raw video above from 1st Due Media of a two-alarm fire early Wednesday at Lawton Street and Richton Street in Detroit that left two firefighters suffering from smoke inhalation. The fire spread from a vacant home to a vacant apartment building. The evacuation is ordered at 1:15 into the video above. Water pressure was a significant problem with this fire.
Here’s part of the description with the video:
While crews were working inside the 4-family, the intensity of the fire grew quickly and the order was given by the Battalion Chief to get all crews out of the building and air horns were sounded. Some firefighters became lost and temporarily trapped trying to locate the exit.
“Two fire fighters were overcome by smoke after running into the burning apartment,” said Senior Fire Chief James Houseworth. “This went south quick. The building was dark, it was hard to see. Things started falling, people got lost.”
The firefighters were being treated at Henry Ford Hospital.
“These men are Detroit Fire Fighters, I know they’ll be ok,” Houseworth said.
Because the structures are unstable, firefighters worked to extinguish the fire from the outside. They also had difficultly because of low water pressure in the area.
GOP primary candidates compete for anti-abortion vote
Thousands participate in the anti-abortion March for Life past the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court, January 22, 2015. GOP presidential hopefuls convened in New Orleans Friday to try to distinguish their anti-abortion credentials. Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
NEW ORLEANS — Trying to distinguish themselves in front of an important group of social conservative activists, Republican White House hopefuls on Friday used the National Right to Life Convention to share personal stories and detail the abortion restrictions they’ve helped write into law.
The question now is whether the scramble helps or hinders an anti-abortion movement seeking unity as Republicans look to win back the presidency next November.
National Right to Life Political Director Karen Cross urged the assembly to “make a decision right now that the issue of life trumps all else.”
“There is no such thing as the perfect candidate,” she warned.
Carol Tobias, the group’s president, argued in an interview that President Barack Obama benefited in both of his national victories from social conservatives who didn’t back John McCain in 2008 or Mitt Romney in 2012.
“The quickest way to defeat a pro-lifer,” Tobias said, “is to fall in love with your candidate and then get your feelings hurt when they don’t win the nomination.”
The candidates gave repeated nods to those sentiments, praising each other and hammering Democratic favorite Hillary Rodham Clinton, who supports abortion rights. Still, they spent most of their energy asserting their own conservative supremacy on the issue.
Santorum boasted of how he sponsored the federal law that bans certain late-term abortion procedures after initially soft-pedaling his abortion stance because of Pennsylvania’s closely divided electorate.
“You know me; there’s no quit in this dog,” he said. “Go ahead and nominate somebody who’s just going to go along. Then try to convince yourself you’ll make a difference.”
Rick Perry predicted the next president will nominate as many as four Supreme Court justices – who could presumably overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationally. “If I have the opportunity to put justices on the Supreme Court, they will not be squishy,” the former Texas governor said.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio explained his abortion opposition as “inseparable from the effort to reclaim the American dream … for every child,” and recalled abortion restrictions he helped pass as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
Jeb Bush, whose tenure as Florida governor overlapped Rubio’s speakership, mentioned some of the same laws in a video presentation. He did not physically attend the convention.
Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, has never held elected office, but he blasted abortion providers as “evil.”
Tobias said her group doesn’t wade into primaries in part because it’s hard to find meaningful distinctions between candidates, though she acknowledged the campaigns will find them.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie supported abortion rights earlier in his career, something he generally avoids talking about now.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker celebrated passage of a new state ban on most abortions beyond the 20th week of pregnancy. Yet late in his 2014 re-election campaign, he aired an ad in which he affirmed his abortion opposition while emphasizing that Wisconsin law “leaves the final decision to a woman and her doctor.”
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has sponsored a ban on abortions after 20 weeks. But some conservatives blast him for voting to confirm Obama’s two Supreme Court nominees.
Tobias said those details sometimes matter to abortion opponents, but she maintained that nitpicking is counter-productive.
For many anti-abortion voters, she said, choosing a primary candidate is about “trust” and “personal feel” rather than policy. The candidates’ approaches here suggest they understand that.
Rubio and Perry talked about seeing their children on ultrasounds during pregnancy. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, talked about how he gravitated to pediatric surgery because of how much he values children.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal talked Thursday night about having to defend his anti-abortion stance in his interviews for medical school.
Santorum tells the story of doctors advising that his daughter, Bella, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder, would not have a good quality of life and could die as an infant. “There is no better way to preach the gospel of life,” Santorum said Friday, than to have school-age Bella “in the White House.”
Public opinion, meanwhile, remains divided.
An Associated Press-GfK poll conducted in January and February found that 51 percent of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 45 percent think it should be illegal in most or all cases.
At NARAL Pro-Choice America, a leading abortion rights advocacy group, Sasha Bruce said that means Republicans “are fighting over a slice of the minority,” putting them at a disadvantage in November.
Tobias countered that among voters who rank abortion as a key issue in deciding on a candidate, “we win a majority of them.” Her movement’s job, she said, is to increase the share of voters who cast their vote “based on the life issue. If we do, we win.”
Bruce said her organization is focused on educating general election voters about the success abortion opponents have had limiting abortion access through state-by-state restrictions. “They aren’t overturning Roe v. Wade, but they’re just chipping away,” she said.
The post GOP primary candidates compete for anti-abortion vote appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Friday, July 10, 2015
The I-81 “Dead Zone” Is Stifling Downtown Syracuse
New York state officials are expected to decide soon whether to rebuild and widen I-81 through downtown Syracuse or tear it down and replace it with surface streets.
I-81 is a “dead zone” in downtown Syracuse. Photo: CNU
Mayor Stephanie Miner has called the I-81 corridor a “dead zone” that separates Syracuse University and its environs from downtown. University officials have said it stands in the way of school expansion. The Congress for the New Urbanism named the 1960s relic as one of its “Freeways Without Futures.” Even the former New York State DOT commissioner expressed support for removing the highway. But suburban business interests and politicos are opposed to removal.
Writing for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s Mobilizing the Region blog, Sandy Johnston says that to boost the local economy, taking I-81 down is the clear choice.
ReThink81, a coalition of planners, residents and other local stakeholders based in Syracuse, found that replacing I-81 with a boulevard would open up at least seven acres of land for potential development with almost $140 million in market value and $5.3 million in annual taxes. In contrast, rebuilding the viaduct ultimately could cause Syracuse to lose $85 million between increased taxes, significant takings of private land and buildings and depressed property values — as well as a reduction of more than $3.2 million in yearly tax receipts. The opportunity cost of rebuilding would amount to nearly $225 million in capital lost, independent of construction costs, while the city would forgo almost $8.7 million in annual taxes.
For decades, the I-81 viaduct has hindered the region’s overall economic growth by cutting off downtown Syracuse from University Hill and preventing development in a high-value area. The economic benefits are neither fuzzy nor hard to understand.
Elsewhere on the Network today: Greater Greater Washington on the fixes needed to get the H Street streetcar running, and Broken Sidewalk says Louisville planners should brush up on their Jane Jacobs.
Federal judge says government must release video of a Guantanamo detainee’s force-feeding
A feeding tube and other items used in the forced feeding of detainees is seen at the detainee hospital at Guantanamo Bay. Doctors say that the method of rectal feeding and hydrating described in the Senate’s report on the CIA’s interrogation practices is not practiced in modern medicine. 2013 file photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Months after ordering the public release of more than two dozen videos that show the force-feeding of a Guantanamo Bay detainee, a federal judge on Friday directed the government to move the process forward by getting eight of the recordings ready by next month.
The judge in October had directed the Justice Department to publicly release videotapes showing the feeding of Syrian hunger-striking prisoner Abu Wa’el Dhiab. But she said at the time that the tapes would remain sealed until some of the information on them — such as voices and faces of prison workers — could be redacted.
In a five-page order Friday, she told the government to complete by August 31 the redaction of 8 of 32 videos that are being released. She also ordered redactions by September of a separate compilation, a roughly 75-minute video that was prepared by Dhiab’s attorneys.
Media organizations including The Associated Press had asked the judge to unseal the videos, saying the public has a significant interest in how the government is treating terror suspects held at the detention facility.
“We want to get all of the tapes, and we want to get all of them as quickly as we can,” David Schulz, a lawyer for the media groups, said at a hearing Thursday.
Justice Department lawyers have fought those demands, and in December asked a federal appeals court to overturn Kessler’s decision and to extend the delay in releasing the tapes until the appeal is resolved.
U.S. officials had argued that the release of the videos would inflame anti-American sentiment, but Kessler has appeared skeptical of that argument. She also criticized the government for what she said has been a monthslong delay in complying with her order and for filing an appeal of her decision that she said was as “frivolous” as she had ever seen.
“The only thing consistent about the government’s position has been its constant plea for more time,” Kessler wrote.
She added: “In the months since the court ordered redaction and release of the 32 videotapes, the government has made almost no progress in completing its redactions.”
The post Federal judge says government must release video of a Guantanamo detainee’s force-feeding appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Taking 1 Million Cars Off the Road in New York City
With more than 2.7 million vehicles entering the city each day—most carrying just a single passenger—it’s no wonder New York City has a congestion problem. We’ve all experienced the frustration of bumper-to-bumper traffic, delaying us from getting to where we need to be. And while New York’s traffic problem predates Uber’s arrival in New York just four years ago, we believe that technologies like Uber will be part of the solution to congestion.
At Uber, our vision for the future is one of many fewer cars on the road. We believe traditional car ownership can be a thing of the past. Why own an extremely expensive asset, worth tens of thousands of dollars, that sits unused most of the time?
As demand for Uber grew, we noticed an interesting phenomenon: more than half of all Uber trips had a look-a-like trip, or a ride occurring along a similar route at around the same time. That’s when we thought, why not match those riders, let them ride together and split the fare? Enter uberPOOL: share the ride, share the cost, share the #UberLove.
Since its launch in December, hundreds of thousands of riders have tried uberPOOL in NYC, not only making their ride more affordable but also negating the need for another car to make that same trip. Occasionally, the ride even takes a turn for the magical: uberPOOL trips have resulted in job offers, hilarious tweets, and at least one happily ever after.
With uberPOOL, our goal is simple: take 1 million cars off the road in New York City and help eliminate our city’s congestion problem for good. We want to do our part and invest in creating a less congested, greener future for New York City. So, for a limited time, all uberPOOL rides South of 96th Street in Manhattan will be a $10 flat rate. As long as your ride begins and ends in Manhattan (south of 96th)—and regardless of whether or not you’re matched with another rider—the trip will be just $10.
Ride uberPOOL for $10 flat and help reduce congestion in Manhattan
Together, we can demonstrate that innovative technology—not regressive policies—can actually transform our city and fix congestion. Let’s uberPOOL together.
Get details about these $10 uberPOOL flat rates here.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Disneyland: 60 Years of Lawsuits
This year, Disneyland is going all out for its Diamond celebration. While Disney was busy making kids' dreams come true for the past 60 years, it was also spending much of that time defending itself against one lawsuit after...
Twitter Chat: How do we achieve the ideal work-life balance?
Illustration by Getty Images
In June, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development released a survey on work-life balance in advanced nations. The results? The United States ranked 29th out of the 36 countries polled.
Despite U.S. residents saying that work-life balance was very important to them (it ranked fourth out of eleven priorities) they were not able to prioritize it. While the U.S. ranks very high in on scales measuring income and wealth they spent an average of only 14 hours a day on themselves, and that was including sleep.
So why are Americans so bad at establishing a work-life balance? Is this a recent development, a product of social media and the “lean in” culture? Can we establish a better work-life balance in America? Should we?
To address these questions and more, join PBS NewsHour for a Twitter chat at 1 p.m. EDT Thursday. We will be joined by Brigid Schulte (@BrigidSchulte), who covers social issues for the Washington Post, as well as Liana Sayer (@LCHSayer) and John Robinson of the University of Maryland, who both study how people use their time. Additionally, many of the PBS NewsHour staff who participated in the great work-life balance experiment will participate.
We will use the hashtag #NewsHourChats.
The post Twitter Chat: How do we achieve the ideal work-life balance? appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
States Still Differ Dramatically In Their Academic Expectations, Study Finds
What does it mean to be passing math class?
The answer to this question varies from state to state, according to a new report released by the research arm of the Education Department, the National Center for Education Statistics. These differences are crucial as America's population becomes more mobile, moving between states.
As some parents, teachers and politicians fight the Common Core State Standards, an effort to make sure the bar for learning in math and reading is consistent nationally, the new report shows that as recently as 2013, this metric varied widely. For example, it’s possible for a fourth-grader to be passing reading in New Jersey, but as soon as he or she moves across the Hudson River to New York, to be suddenly considered failing -- despite not knowing any less.
“Policymakers ... want to be able to compare state progress and state performance standards, but because they are all different, a common yardstick is necessary to make comparisons,” said Peggy Carr, NCES’s acting commissioner. The study defined that yardstick as the standards set for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a low-stakes yet demanding nationally representative test considered to be the gold standard for measuring student learning. The study converted states' cutoff points on 2012-2013 tests to where those points would fall on the NAEP scale, and the results are jarring.
Graphic by Alissa Scheller for The Huffington Post.
Most states set their standards within NAEP’s “basic” range, and very few state standards measured up to NAEP’s aspirational proficiency standard, which measures “mastery over challenging subject matter.” In fourth-grade reading, though, most states set their cutoff for proficiency below NAEP’s “basic” level. In that subject and grade level, states’ cutoff points spanned a range of 76 points on NAEP, a 500-point test. Overall, New York, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Texas had the highest standards. Ohio, Georgia and Alabama fell toward the bottom. In eighth-grade reading, Georgia lagged particularly behind: Its standard for proficiency was 199, a full 18 points below the second-to-lowest state, Idaho.
Over time, though, the number of states demanding higher performance for passing grades has increased, likely a result of the adoption of the Common Core. Though some states have repealed the Common Core, several of those have replaced it with similar standards. Between 2009 and 2013, the number of states that set fourth-grade reading standards at or above “basic” on NAEP increased from 15 to 25; in fourth-grade math, that number increased from 44 to 47. In eighth grade, the number of states setting their reading standards at the NAEP basic level increased from 35 in 2009 to 41 in 2013, and in math, the number increased from 39 to 49.
The disparities can be revealing. For example, in 2011, 71 percent of students in both Arizona and Kentucky were said to have scored at or above proficiency in eighth-grade reading -- but when converted to NAEP scores, 28 percent of Arizona students were at or above proficient, and 36 percent scored at that level in Kentucky. “If we just used the state standards, it would look like the performance in both states is similar,” Carr said.
In 2001, Congress debated the No Child Left Behind Act, a law that attached punishments to states’ performance on standardized tests. The law set a goal for total proficiency by 2014. That’s why NCES started creating the study in 2003 under its then-director Mark Schneider, now a vice president at the American Institutes for Research. “The political compromise to get that part of the law [accountability] through was that states were allowed to set their own standards," Schneider said. "The point of the first report was a shame game, to show which states were cooking the books by setting their proficiency standards so low.”
That first release caused an outcry, leading U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to admonish states for “setting the bar too low” and “lying to our children” about how much they know.
This time around, Duncan responded with optimism. “This report shows that leaders and educators throughout the country continue to do the hard but vitally important work of raising expectations,” Duncan said in a statement, noting that over 40 states are currently increasing their standards. “The report is also a reminder that much work remains."
Now, as Congress tries its hand at overhauling NCLB, the setting of standards is likely to be a focus yet again. The bipartisan bill currently under consideration by the Senate explicitly prohibits the government from using waivers to encourage states to adapt any set of standards. (The Obama administration’s waivers that let states wiggle out from some of NCLB’s strictures asked states for several things in return, including the use of common standards.) Late Wednesday, the House passed a Republican-sponsored bill that also contains language on preventing the federal government from influencing learning standards.
Only New York State had standards within the NAEP proficiency range for both grades and subjects. Recently, New York faced a dramatic outcry for making its Regents tests significantly harder, a move that resulted in only 31.1 percent of students being deemed proficient in English Language Arts in the 2012-2013 school year. While officials celebrated this moment as a dose of honesty, some parents bemoaned the fact that they suddenly had to tell their children they had failed.
The answer to this question varies from state to state, according to a new report released by the research arm of the Education Department, the National Center for Education Statistics. These differences are crucial as America's population becomes more mobile, moving between states.
As some parents, teachers and politicians fight the Common Core State Standards, an effort to make sure the bar for learning in math and reading is consistent nationally, the new report shows that as recently as 2013, this metric varied widely. For example, it’s possible for a fourth-grader to be passing reading in New Jersey, but as soon as he or she moves across the Hudson River to New York, to be suddenly considered failing -- despite not knowing any less.
“Policymakers ... want to be able to compare state progress and state performance standards, but because they are all different, a common yardstick is necessary to make comparisons,” said Peggy Carr, NCES’s acting commissioner. The study defined that yardstick as the standards set for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a low-stakes yet demanding nationally representative test considered to be the gold standard for measuring student learning. The study converted states' cutoff points on 2012-2013 tests to where those points would fall on the NAEP scale, and the results are jarring.
Graphic by Alissa Scheller for The Huffington Post.
Most states set their standards within NAEP’s “basic” range, and very few state standards measured up to NAEP’s aspirational proficiency standard, which measures “mastery over challenging subject matter.” In fourth-grade reading, though, most states set their cutoff for proficiency below NAEP’s “basic” level. In that subject and grade level, states’ cutoff points spanned a range of 76 points on NAEP, a 500-point test. Overall, New York, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Texas had the highest standards. Ohio, Georgia and Alabama fell toward the bottom. In eighth-grade reading, Georgia lagged particularly behind: Its standard for proficiency was 199, a full 18 points below the second-to-lowest state, Idaho.
Over time, though, the number of states demanding higher performance for passing grades has increased, likely a result of the adoption of the Common Core. Though some states have repealed the Common Core, several of those have replaced it with similar standards. Between 2009 and 2013, the number of states that set fourth-grade reading standards at or above “basic” on NAEP increased from 15 to 25; in fourth-grade math, that number increased from 44 to 47. In eighth grade, the number of states setting their reading standards at the NAEP basic level increased from 35 in 2009 to 41 in 2013, and in math, the number increased from 39 to 49.
The disparities can be revealing. For example, in 2011, 71 percent of students in both Arizona and Kentucky were said to have scored at or above proficiency in eighth-grade reading -- but when converted to NAEP scores, 28 percent of Arizona students were at or above proficient, and 36 percent scored at that level in Kentucky. “If we just used the state standards, it would look like the performance in both states is similar,” Carr said.
In 2001, Congress debated the No Child Left Behind Act, a law that attached punishments to states’ performance on standardized tests. The law set a goal for total proficiency by 2014. That’s why NCES started creating the study in 2003 under its then-director Mark Schneider, now a vice president at the American Institutes for Research. “The political compromise to get that part of the law [accountability] through was that states were allowed to set their own standards," Schneider said. "The point of the first report was a shame game, to show which states were cooking the books by setting their proficiency standards so low.”
That first release caused an outcry, leading U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to admonish states for “setting the bar too low” and “lying to our children” about how much they know.
This time around, Duncan responded with optimism. “This report shows that leaders and educators throughout the country continue to do the hard but vitally important work of raising expectations,” Duncan said in a statement, noting that over 40 states are currently increasing their standards. “The report is also a reminder that much work remains."
Now, as Congress tries its hand at overhauling NCLB, the setting of standards is likely to be a focus yet again. The bipartisan bill currently under consideration by the Senate explicitly prohibits the government from using waivers to encourage states to adapt any set of standards. (The Obama administration’s waivers that let states wiggle out from some of NCLB’s strictures asked states for several things in return, including the use of common standards.) Late Wednesday, the House passed a Republican-sponsored bill that also contains language on preventing the federal government from influencing learning standards.
Only New York State had standards within the NAEP proficiency range for both grades and subjects. Recently, New York faced a dramatic outcry for making its Regents tests significantly harder, a move that resulted in only 31.1 percent of students being deemed proficient in English Language Arts in the 2012-2013 school year. While officials celebrated this moment as a dose of honesty, some parents bemoaned the fact that they suddenly had to tell their children they had failed.
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Video from Chicago house fire
Video from James Nelson of a house fire early Monday at 8548 South Buffalo Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.
Learn From Whole Foods: Don't Overcharge Customers
How much do you charge your customers? Be careful. Don't make Whole Foods' mistake and overcharge or you might run into legal trouble. Whole Foods is currently in damage control mode after it was investigated by several cities for...
Shark Week: What Makes Your Lawyer a Shark?
As we noted yesterday, lawyers have long been associated with sharks. From Herman Melville to CBS, referring to attorneys as sharks has a long and storied tradition. In honor of shark week, let's take a look at how you can...
Big Day for mREITS as Sector Gets Upgrade
Shares of real estate investment trusts that invest in mortgages and mortgage-backed securities had a banner day Tuesday. The iShares Mortgage Real Estate Capped ETF (REM) was up 2%. Many residential mREITs gained more than 3%. Thanks go mainly to Wells Fargo analysts, who upgraded the sector. It may have also helped that the Greek [...]
Helmet-cam video from Virginia house fire
This is helmet-cam video showing interior and exterior at a house fire in Smithfield, Virginia Sunday night caused by a lightning strike.
Under health law, women save hundreds each year on birth control, study finds
Most health insurance plans began offering free birth control on Aug. 1, 2012, or Jan. 1, 2013. Photo by Getty Images
Women are saving a lot of money as a result of a health law requirement that insurance cover most forms of prescription contraceptives with no additional out-of-pocket costs, according to a study released Tuesday. But the amount of those savings and the speed with which those savings occurred surprised researchers.
The study, in the July issue of the policy journal Health Affairs, found that the average birth control pill user saved $255 in the year after the requirement took effect. The average user of an intrauterine device (IUD) saved $248. Those savings represented a significant percentage of average out-of-pocket costs.
“These are healthy women and this on average is their No. 1 need from the health care system,” said Nora Becker, an MD-PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania and lead author of the study. “On average, these women were spending about 30 to 44 percent of their total out of pocket (health) spending just on birth control.”
The study looked at out-of-pocket spending from nearly 800,000 women between the ages of 13 and 45 from January 2008 through June 2013. For most plans, the requirement began Aug. 1, 2012, or Jan. 1, 2013. So-called “grandfathered” health plans, those that have not substantially changed their benefits since the health law was passed in 2010, are exempt from the mandate, as are a small subset of religious-based plans.
Becker said that while making birth control substantially cheaper may not increase the number of women who use it, the new requirements could well shift the type of birth control they use to longer-acting, more effective methods like the IUD. “If prior to the ACA a woman was facing $10 to $30 a month for the pill but hundreds of dollars upfront for an IUD and now both are free, we might see a different choice,” she said.
Researchers also found that while out-of-pocket spending dropped dramatically for most types of prescription contraceptive methods — “the majority of women were paying nothing by June 2013” –spending barely budged for the vaginal ring or hormonal patch.
That could be because under the original rules, many insurers declined to make the ring or patch free, since, like pills, they are essentially hormone delivery methods. Earlier this year, the Obama administration issued a clarification saying that while insurers do not have to offer every brand of every method, they do have to cover at least one product in each category, including rings and patches.
Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
The post Under health law, women save hundreds each year on birth control, study finds appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Fitz says Walker was involved in attempted ax of open records law
I’ll keep this brief. Here’s the headline: Scott Fitzgerald: Scott Walker’s office was involved with open records changes The most important thing to take away is that Fitz and the boys will make another effort to cut you and the world off from legislative records: “I think it’s something that there are many different entities more »
Iowa DOT Chief Says Overbuilt Road System Will Have to Shrink
Here’s something you don’t see every day. Or ever.
Charles Marohn at Strong Towns reports that the director of the Iowa DOT, Paul Trombino, said his state’s transportation system is overbuilt and unsustainable. Trombino said Iowans will have to decide what to maintain and what they are willing to let go.
State DOT director Paul Trombino says Iowa has excess and unsustainable road capacity. Photo: Streets.mn
Marohn quotes from Trombino’s remarks:
I said the numbers before. 114,000 lane miles, 25,000 bridges, 4,000 miles of rail. I said this a lot in my conversation when we were talking about fuel tax increases. It’s not affordable. Nobody’s going to pay.
We are. We’re the ones. Look in the mirror. We’re not going to pay to rebuild that entire system.
And my personal belief is that the entire system is unneeded. And so the reality is, the system is going to shrink.
There’s nothing I have to do. Bridges close themselves. Roads deteriorate and go away. That’s what happens.
And reality is, for us, let’s not let the system degrade and then we’re left with sorta whatever’s left. Let’s try to make a conscious choice — it’s not going to be perfect, I would agree it’s going to be complex and messy — but let’s figure out which ones we really want to keep.
And quite honestly, it’s not everything that we have, which means some changes.
“This is a big deal,” says Marohn. “Most DOT directors understand that we’ve overbuilt, that there will never be the money to maintain everything they are asked to maintain. I’ve not heard another DOT chief admit this problem publicly. They need to.”
Elsewhere on the Network today: Streets.mn examines how sprawl development cheapens land values, Mobilizing the Region reports on positive signs for transportation policy in Connecticut, and Biking Toronto celebrates news of a pending bike-share expansion.
Commercial mREITs Poised for Growth
Analysts at Fitch Ratings issued some positive comments about companies in the commercial mortgage real estate investment trust sector, which generally offer current yields of 6% to 8%. Essentially they think that banks, wary of taking on too much commercial real estate debt, are leaving an opportunity for mREITS. Existing players in the space include Blackstone Mortgage [...]
Bernie Sanders Draws Huge Crowd In Maine
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Calling income inequality "the great moral issue of our time," Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders urged a boisterous crowd of thousands in Maine on Monday to help him transform America by restoring a thriving middle class.
In a wide-ranging speech before more than 7,500 in Portland, Sanders stressed the need to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, reform the criminal justice system and give workers at least two weeks of paid vacation time.
The Vermont senator, who hopes to defeat front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary, called the level of economic inequality across the country "grotesque" and "immoral."
But the self-described socialist said he cannot bring about change alone and called on the boisterous crowd to stand behind him as he tries to take on the "greed" of Wall Street and corporate America.
"When the people stand together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish," he said.
While Clinton remains the favorite, Sanders has been drawing large crowds across the country. He said that people voters understand that "establishment politics and establishment economics isn't working for the middle class."
"All over America, people are becoming involved in this campaign because they want change," he said.
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Why it Matters that the Service Sector Expansion is Slowing
Following on last week’s lackluster June jobs report, Monday’s read on the service sector also came in a bit weaker than expected. The Institute for Supply Management’s report was slightly better than May, but not by much. Thomas Simons of Jefferies notes that 85% of the U.S. labor force is in the service sector, so [...]
Obama: Fight against IS progressing, but still a long slog
President Obama spoke this afternoon from the Pentagon.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama concedes that confronting and destroying the Islamic State group will be a long-term effort, but he says the U.S. and its allies are making progress and have reduced the militants’ foothold in Iraq.
Obama made his remarks after a rare visit to the Pentagon Monday to get an update on the campaign against Islamic State fighters.
He says the United States is doing a better job of preventing large-scale attacks on the U.S. homeland. But he says so-called lone-wolf terrorists or small terrorism cells are harder to detect and U.S. national security must remain vigilant.
He met with more than 30 Pentagon officials and national security advisers, including Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The post Obama: Fight against IS progressing, but still a long slog appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Iran pushes for end to arms embargo in nuke deal
Iran’s foreign minister said on Monday some differences still remained between Iran and six powers over the country’s disputed nuclear program ahead of Tuesday’s deadline for a final agreement to end a 12-year-old dispute. Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters
VIENNA — As negotiators braced for yet another possible extension of nuclear talks, Iran demanded on Monday that any deal should include the end to a U.N. arms embargo as well — a condition backed by Russia but opposed by the United States as it seeks to limit Tehran’s Mideast influence.
Late last month, Iran and six world powers gave themselves an extra week past June 30 after it became clear that that original deadline could not be met. The sides now are trying to work out a deal that would limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the easing of tens of billions of dollars in economic penalties on the Islamic Republic.
But disagreements persisted as the sides moved close to the new Tuesday deadline, and White House spokesman Josh Earnest said another extension was “certainly possible.”
Negotiators had previously mentioned the mechanics of curbing Iran’s nuclear programs and the time and pacing of economic sanctions relief as the most contentious problems. But an Iranian official — briefing reporters on condition of anonymity — said Monday that ending the arms embargo was an important part of the deal.
The Iranian decision to publicly bring that issue into the mix suggested that disputes ran deeper than just over the most widely aired issues.
A preliminary nuclear deal reached in April did not specifically name the arms embargo on Iran as part of the long-term accord. But a U.S. fact-sheet issued at the time said that the deal now being worked on would result in “the comprehensive lifting of all U.N. Security Council sanctions” on the Islamic Republic, which could be interpreted to include the arms embargo.
Still, the U.S. also said at the time that “important restrictions on conventional arms and ballistic missiles” would be incorporated in any new U.N. guidelines for Iran.
Both Russia and China have expressed support for at least a partial lifting of the arms embargo. Moscow, in particular, is interested in military cooperation and in Russian arms sales to Tehran, including the long-delayed transfer of S-300 advanced air defense systems — something long opposed by Washington.
The U.S. doesn’t want the arms ban ended because it fears Tehran could expand its military assistance for Syrian President Bashar Assad, for Houthi rebels in Yemen fighting a U.S. backed Arab coalition and for Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which opposes Israel. Lifting the embargo also would increase already strong opposition to the deal in Congress and in Israel.
With the arms embargo prohibiting both exports of weapons to Iran and exports by Iran — and Russia wanting to sell arms to Tehran — one possible solution would be lifting the ban only on importing weapons to the Islamic Republic and not on exports.
Iran also wants to have a hand in shaping any Security Council resolution that would endorse a comprehensive nuclear deal, if one is reached, the Iranian official said.
He offered no details but told reporters that Iran and Security Council members at the nuclear talks are drafting language for a proposed U.N. resolution and that Tehran is seeking a shift from the critical tone of previous resolutions on its nuclear program. All five Security Council members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — are at the table with Iran, along with Germany.
A U.S. official confirmed that a resolution text was being discussed at the talks. Both the Iranian and the U.S. officials demanded anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
The Iranian official spoke of good progress on some previously divisive topics. At the same time, he said some disputes may have to be resolved by the foreign ministers of the nations at the talks. All seven were either in Vienna or arriving by day’s end.
Over the weekend, diplomats reported tentative agreement on the speed and scope of sanctions relief for Iran in the potential accord, even as issues such as inspection guidelines and limits on Iran’s nuclear research and development remained contentious.
Iran says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful, but the U.S. and its allies fear the program could be turned toward making weapons.
With the deadline nearing, negotiators prepared Monday for a late-night session that diplomats said could extend into early Tuesday.
It’s in the Obama administration’s interest to have a deal by Thursday — if one is to be had. After Thursday, Congress’ time to review the deal grows from 30 to 60 days. President Barack Obama would have to await that review before being able to ease sanctions agreed to in a deal. Also in that period, lawmakers could try to build a veto-proof majority behind new legislation that could impose new sanctions on Iran or prevent Obama from suspending existing ones.
AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
The post Iran pushes for end to arms embargo in nuke deal appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Monday, July 6, 2015
I have to ask: Are the Old Boys down at M.J.Sentinel shitting their pants right now?
Plenty of facebook commenters and at least two bloggers have proposed that the JFC’s attack on WI open records law is actually a set-up to eventually make Walker look the hero. As in, they think that the “dirty dozen” on the Joint Finance Committee conspired to nuke open records law with the budget add-on called more »
Firefighter suspended for flying Confederate flag on fire engine during holiday parade
A Minnesota volunteer firefighter says he’s been suspended for flying a confederate flag from an engine during a holiday parade, and that he expects to be asked to resign.
Brian Nielsen drove a Hartland Fire Department truck in the Third of July Parade in the southern Minnesota city of Albert Lea. He flew both the Confederate and American flags from the back – a move that’s drawn community and social media criticism.
Nielsen, who’s been with the department for about 10 years, flew both the Confederate and American flags from the back of the truck. He said neither his town nor his department had anything to do with it.
Nielsen said he’s not for slavery, but did it because he was fed up with political correctness.
“It was my decision and I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal, but boy was I wrong,” Nielsen told The Associated Press.
Hartland, MN Volunteer Fire Dept major fail in Albert Lea Independence Day parade July 3. #ConfederateFlag #wrongside http://t.co/ajGtrvsKX1
— Dale Moerke (@demoerke) July 4, 2015
Nielsen says he may attend this week’s Albert Lea chamber of commerce meeting to make a formal apology.
Randy Kehr, the chamber’s executive director, called the incident unfortunate, but said he understands that Nielsen, who alone chose to fly the Confederate flag next to the Stars and Stripes, has freedom of speech.
Nielsen says he’s not for slavery or a racist, but feels political correctness is effectively changing the country’s history.
Sarah Stultz, Albert Lea Tribune:
Nielsen said he wasn’t looking to get a lot of attention from his decision to fly the flag, and he didn’t think it would spur as much discussion as it has. He, himself, has a family member who is black, he said.
Nielsen said he talked with a few of the other firefighters on the department, and they supported him standing up for his rights.
U.S. Women’s soccer team gets $2 million for World Cup win; German men got $35 million in 2014
The U.S. Women’s soccer team won the World Cup, 5-2. Photo by Michael Chow/USA Today Sports.
In a record-shattering World Cup final, the U.S. Women’s soccer team beat Japan 5-2. For their win, the U.S. team will earn $2 million.
By comparison, Germany received $35 million in 2014 after winning the Men’s World Cup Final in Brazil. And the U.S. Men’s team won $8 million after losing in Round 16. Last year, $576 million was set aside for Men’s World Cup rewards. This year, a total of $15 million in prizes was available for the Women’s World Cup.
Why the paltry sum for FIFA’s female champions?
There should be an embedded item here. Please visit the original post to view it.
FIFA has argued that the the Women’s World Cup doesn’t pull in as much revenue as the Men’s World Cup. In December, the soccer organization’s secretary general Jerome Valcke told The Guardian:
“We played the [20th] men’s World Cup in 2014, when we are now playing the seventh women’s World Cup. We have still another [13] World Cups before potentially women should receive the same amount as men. The men waited until 2014 to receive as much money as they received.”
But this reality comes on the heels of several reports of gender disparities within FIFA. Most widely covered was that the women’s teams played on artificial turf during the World Cup, despite the fact that the grass seed exported to Brazil for the Men’s World Cup final came from Canada. And as PBS NewsHour’s Vanessa Dennis pointed out, it was nearly impossible to figure out the Women’s World Cup schedule ahead of its start. Days before, FIFA featured information about the 2018 Men’s World Cup in Russia, rather than highlighting the Women’s World Cup.
According to preliminary numbers from FOX, Sunday’s night game broke soccer viewing records in the U.S.
Watch tonight’s PBS NewsHour for more.
The post U.S. Women’s soccer team gets $2 million for World Cup win; German men got $35 million in 2014 appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Raw video of strip mall fire in Los Angeles County
Raw video from firelensman of Los Angeles County FD early Sunday at a strip mall fire in Huntington Park. Here’s some of the description with the video:
Firefighters advanced handlines and attacked the fire on the roof and inside the involved units. There were no reported injures. There was a heavy use of fireworks in the neighborhood at the time of the late night blaze.
When Transit Goes Down at the Polls, Here’s Some Advice on How to Regroup
Last week, voters in the Vancouver region rejected a half-cent sales tax to pay for a package of transit infrastructure and service expansions necessary to handle growing demand. Even in the city of Vancouver, the measure fell shy of a majority. Polling revealed that most “No” voters didn’t trust the regional transit agency, TransLink, to make good use of the additional revenue.
Vancouver won’t be getting more SkyTrain service after a regional referendum on a sales tax to support transit garnered less than 40 percent of the vote. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
In a postmortem, Jarrett Walker at Human Transit says public perception of TransLink is at odds with its cost-effective performance. Regional transit agencies, he writes, are generally in a difficult political position, susceptible to blame-shifting from elected leaders with more power than the agency wields itself.
Here’s his advice about how to move past a stinging rejection like Vancouver’s referendum (the full post is definitely worth your time):
Hating your transit agency is easy and fun. You don’t have to understand your regional politics, in which the real power to fix transit is usually not held by the transit agency. You can also have the thrill of blowing up a big institutional edifice, as Metro Vancouver voters may now have done.
But a lot that’s good will also be destroyed. In Metro Vancouver, amid all the recriminations, TransLink has lost the credibility it needs to lead reality-based conversations about transit. Maybe some other agency will step into that role. (Indeed, core cities for whom transit is an existential issue must develop that capability.) Or maybe there will just be many more years of blame shifting among the elected officials who really control transit in the region.
If you look at transit from the point of view of a state or province leader, you can understand why so many politicians are terrified of the issue. Everyone is screaming at them about it, pushing simplistic solutions, and the issue is polarizing on urban-suburban lines. Some huge problems, like equipment failures due to deferred maintenance, are curses laid upon us all by our parents’ generation. What’s more, most elite leaders are motorists, and need help finding their feet in the geometric facts of transit where a motorists’ assumptions lead them astray. So they panic, shift blame, and leave transit agencies appearing to have more power to solve problems than they actually have. If you’ve never been a political leader, don’t be sure you wouldn’t do the same in their place.
Be patient. Breathe. Resist the desire to see your transit agency in smoldering ruins. Then, demand leadership. Demand state/provincial leadership that looks for solutions instead of pointlessly stoking urban-suburban conflict. (One possible solution is to spend more time on regional transportation debates instead of just transit debates, because regional transportation plans can look more balanced than transit plans can.) And yes, if your transit agency is being given dysfunctional direction by the region’s leaders, demand a better system with more accountability to an elected official who will have to answer for outcomes.
Elsewhere on the Network: The Transport Politic looks at the potential for American cities to turn downtown commuter rail terminals into stations with through-running service. And the editor of the Toronto Star’s automotive section has called for the city to blanket downtown streets with protected bike lanes, reports Biking Toronto.
Your attention please, Independence Day-celebrating Wisconsinites. Still LOTS of alarming BS in that last minute add-on to the WI budget.
Wisconsin’s Governor has released yet another Orwellian decree. It asserts that despite the fact that a radical stripping of open records law was tucked into Thursday’s “motion 999″ that the changes were “never intended to inhibit transparent gov’t in any way“. That’s special. Let’s assume I can pretend that Scott Walker and associated Republican legislators more »
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Must see pre-arrival video of Sacramento house fire
This is very interesting pre-arrival video from deriantsu that includes citizen commentary and the initial attack of a fire last (Friday) night on Simcoe Court in Sacramento, California. People heard on the video claim this started with fireworks that ignited an outbuilding and trees before damaging the house. Below is what this looked like before the fire.
UPDATE:25+ FFs worked to stop a fast moving brush fire that damaged an outbuilding and possibly a home. No report of injuries. Simcoe Ct.
— SacFire PIO (@SacFirePIO) July 4, 2015
Your City Has a Complete Streets Policy. But Does It Have Complete Streets?
Is this a complete street? Image: Google Maps via Urban Indy
Indianapolis passed a Complete Streets ordinance in 2012 to much fanfare. Three years later, how well is the city designing streets for walking and biking?
Mayor Greg Ballard shepherded the fantastic Indianapolis Cultural Trail through to completion in 2013, but Emily Neitzel at Urban Indy says recent street revamps outside the downtown area are hit and miss.
The Emerson Avenue project between Shelbyville Road and I-65 brought a sidewalk to the east side of the road where there previously was no sidewalk, and in this case a strip of grass if not a tree well was added to separate the sidewalk.
However, sidewalks are still lacking on the west side of the street. Furthermore, at the intersections where major businesses like Target, Aldi, and Home Depot are located on both the east and west sides of Emerson, there is no crosswalk to go from east to west. The intersection at Emerson and Southport Road, where more businesses are located on both sides of the street, also lacks an east-west pedestrian crosswalk.
The project document from DPW notes that traffic along this corridor has increased by 600% in two decades, and the project’s increase from two lanes for automobile traffic to five makes this a priority. In fact, the summary of the benefits listed in the document does not even include benefits for pedestrians or bikers; instead highlighting “reduced traffic congestion and better driving conditions” in addition to a longer life for the roadway.
Neitzel notes that, per Smart Growth America, a complete street corridor should “make it easy to cross the street” and “walk to shops.” Indianapolis’s Emerson Avenue project doesn’t do that.
Writes Neitzel: “A sidewalk on one side of a major auto thoroughfare without a safe way to cross the street or a safe destination for pedestrians once they reach the other side really does not a complete street make.”
Elsewhere on the Network today: Citizens for Modern Transit reports that Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner plans to decimate funding for the state’s Amtrak service, Greater Greater Washington explains why Baltimore’s Red Line needs to go underground, and City Parks Blog says parks shouldn’t be scapegoated for gentrification.
Uber + MADD Partner to Keep Drunk Drivers off the Road This Holiday Weekend
Meet Janet, an ambulance medic for over 20 years. During that time, she responded to thousands of incidents, many of which involved drunk driving. Today, Janet drives with Uber to prevent those crashes before they happen.
“In the 20 years that I was a paramedic I saw more drunk-driving tragedies than anybody should ever have to see. Driving with Uber makes me proud that I can get people home safe.”
—Janet Weiser, Portland, Oregon Uber Driver-Partner
This Fourth of July weekend, we are partnering with Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD) to thank Janet—and thousands of other Uber driver-partners—for making sure revelers have access to a safe ride home. As part of this nationwide public service campaign, we are asking our riders to help us support this important mission by taking the MADD pledge to not drink and drive.
“We are proud to work with Uber on this important awareness campaign to highlight the dangers of drunk driving and to remind individuals nationwide to always designate a non-drinking driver. Thank you to the Uber driver-partners who are ensuring that riders have access to a reliable ride and for helping keep our streets safe this Fourth of July weekend.”
—Colleen Sheehey-Church, MADD National President
Riders will also have an opportunity to donate to MADD, with Uber matching donations made during the holiday. We’re making it easy for people to leave their keys at home this weekend so they can just enjoy the fireworks — along with the knowledge that they’re helping to keep our streets and cities safe.
DETAILS
MADD’s mission is to end drunk driving, help fight drugged driving, support the victims of these violent crimes and prevent underage drinking. If you or someone you love has been impacted by drunk or drugged driving, MADD is here to help. Call MADD’s 24-Hour Victim Help Line at 877.MADD.HELP. Uber will match the total amount of MADD donations made through madd.org/uber between 7/1/2015 and 7/5/2015 up to $25,000.
Independent TV network Reelz to air Miss USA pageant
Erin Brady poses with Donald Trump, co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization, at a news conference after being crowned Miss USA 2013 at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada June 16, 2013. NBC dropped its contract with Trump and will no longer air the Miss USA pageant after Trump’s recent comments regarding Mexican immigrants that are being described as ‘bigoted’ and ‘racist.’ Photo by Steve Marcus
LOS ANGELES — The Miss USA pageant, left without a TV home following blowback against co-owner Donald Trump over his comments on Mexican immigrants, has been rescued by the Reelz channel.
Reelz CEO Stan E. Hubbard said in a statement Thursday that the cable and satellite channel acquired the rights because of a belief that the pageant and the women who compete in it “are an integral part of American tradition.”
“As one of only a few independent networks, we decided to exercise our own voice and committed ourselves to bringing this pageant to American viewers everywhere,” Hubbard said.
While Reelz, which reaches 70 million homes, said it considered the interests of Miss USA contestants, the host city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and viewers in making its decision, it made no mention of Trump or the hot water he’s found himself in since he announced his presidential bid in June.
In an interview, Hubbard said the pageant is the issue, not Trump. He said the billionaire won’t make any money off the telecast.
“I completely understand why millions of people were offended by what Donald Trump said. I think his comments were incredibly insensitive and wrong. I disagree with them completely and totally,” Hubbard said, adding, “I also believe this pageant is as nonpolitical” as an event can be.
In his June presidential campaign announcement, Trump said that some Mexican immigrants to the U.S. bring drugs and crime, and some are rapists. NBC, Trump’s partner in the Miss USA pageant, cited his comments when it cut business ties with him and dropped its pageant telecast.
That left Miss USA adrift and created an opening for Reelz.
Hubbard said the license fee negotiated with the pageant was well below market value for such events and so small that it “won’t put even a dent in the production costs” shouldered by the pageant. He declined to specify the amount.
“The point is that people who were offended want to make sure he’s (Trump) not going to profit from our decision,” and that won’t happen, Hubbard said.
Trump declined to comment on the Reelz acquisition.
The pageant also won’t make money from commercial spots; any revenue will go to Reelz. Hubbard said it will be a scramble to sign advertisers both because of timing and the controversy surrounding the pageant.
This isn’t the first time Reelz has gone its own way. When the History channel dropped “The Kennedys” miniseries that had been made for it, saying it didn’t fit its brand, Reelz aired it in 2011 and was rewarded with record channel ratings and awards attention.
Reelz said the Miss USA pageant will be televised July 12, its originally scheduled date on NBC. The pageant will have to scramble after a mass exodus of performers, hosts and judges who cited opposition to Trump’s views as the reason.
Hubbard said he’s optimistic the telecast will be “loaded with talent and heavy entertainment value,” and said he’d prefer to see a Hispanic host.
Rapper Flo Rida had been the highest profile performer scheduled for Miss USA, and his representative confirmed Wednesday that he wouldn’t perform. Country singer Craig Wayne Boyd, winner of “The Voice” last year, and pop singer Natalie La Rose also dropped out. There were no more announced performers.
In a Miss USA news release last month, the judges were listed as HGTV star Jonathan Scott, country singer Jessie James Decker, E! News anchor Terrence Jenkins, TV host and former Miss Universe winner Zuleyka Rivera and Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith.
Of that quintet, only Decker’s name was listed as a judge by Miss USA on its website Wednesday. That’s the day Smith dropped out.
The pageant lost both of its co-hosts, Cheryl Burke of “Dancing With the Stars” and MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts, on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Jeannie Mai, who hosted a show on the Style Network, was listed as a show host.
Last week, the hosts of the now-abandoned Univision Spanish-language simulcast, Roselyn Sanchez and Cristian de la Fuente, said they wouldn’t take part in it.
Trump’s campaign comments struck many Latinos as insensitive, and Univision’s decision last week to back out of televising Miss USA and break off its business ties with Trump led to a cascade of others following suit. Trump responded by suing Univision on Tuesday.
Aside from the pageant world, there has growing fallout on other fronts for the GOP presidential hopeful and businessman.
On Wednesday, the Macy’s department store chain, which carried a Donald Trump menswear line, said it was “distressed” by Trump’s remarks and was ending its relationship with him.
Trump said in a statement that he had decided to end his relationship with Macy’s because of pressure on them by outside sources.
“Both Macy’s and NBC totally caved at the first sight of potential difficulty with special interest groups who are nothing more than professional agitators,” Trump said.
Also on Wednesday, New York City officials said they were reviewing the city’s contracts with Trump in light of his comments, and Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a statement calling them “disgusting and offensive,” adding that “this hateful language has no place in our city.”
The Trump Organization currently operates several city concessions, including a golf course, ice skating rink and carousel.
Representatives for Trump did not respond Wednesday to an email seeking comment on the city’s review.
The PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, USGA and PGA of America also on Wednesday distanced themselves from Trump in a statement and said his remarks were “inconsistent with our strong commitment to an inclusive and welcoming environment in the game of golf.”
Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico, the nation’s only Latina governor and a rising star in the Republican party, added her voice Wednesday to criticism of the GOP presidential hopeful, denouncing his comments as “horrible.”
This article was written by Lynn Elber of the Associated Press.
The post Independent TV network Reelz to air Miss USA pageant appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
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