Illinois is utilizing more federal funds to keep unemployed and underemployed residents in their homes. Approximately 15,000 homeowners in the state are under the threat of foreclosure due to employment conditions and the Governor is using $345 million in federal funds to help them cover their mortgage payments. The program gives 10-year low cost loansRead… Read more »
IBM’s jeopardy playing supercomputer Watson is moving out of the game show circuit and into healthcare, it may even have a future in politics. IBM has partnered with WellPoint the nation’s largest insurer to look at ways the technology that powers Watson can be used to make health care more manageable. CivSource spoke with Dr.Read… Read more »
Michigan is taking new steps to understand how transportation issues impact the state. Yesterday, the Michigan Municipal League held its first ever twitter event with local officials and researchers to examine the reality of transportation statewide and how to plan for the future. The event was held in advance of Governor Rick Snyder’s planned transportationRead… Read more »
After a series of fits and starts, the Portland City Council will hear a proposal for the city’s broadband plan today. The highly anticipated plan comes after the city backed away from an earlier version that would’ve cost nearly a half billion dollars. City officials want to create a high-speed, city administered broadband network toRead… Read more »
South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard is looking to make government more transparent. At an event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota yesterday, the Governor announced his “Better Government Initiative,” which aims to provide more information to the public about the activities of the state government and also seeks to eliminate what the governor calls unnecessary rulesRead… Read more »
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is making a big investment in electric cars nationwide. The investment is part of DOE’s Clean Cities initiative which is supporting the growth of energy efficient and renewable energy measures in America’s cities. Awards were given to 16 electric vehicle projects in 24 states and Washington DC. The projectsRead… Read more »
Despite a public pledge stating that public workers will not be laid off to close budget gaps, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is moving to layoff some 1,900 state workers citing budget shortfalls. The move has reignited a bitter dispute between the Governor and the state workers union. The Governor says that job cuts are theRead… Read more »
After spending a year teaching English at elementary schools in Tanzania and Peru, my niece is college bound in the fall. As she heads off to school, I was shocked to learn that her annual room, board and tuition would be around $55,000 a year. This made me think about the value of higher educationRead… Read more »
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed a tighter limit on how long residents can draw welfare benefits into law yesterday. The bill signed yesterday places a strict 48 month lifetime limit on welfare cash assistance. Another bill moving through the state legislature would further limit where and when people can use that cash assistance – prohibitingRead… Read more »
New Orleans and San Francisco are looking at ways to increase transparency. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, announced yesterday that the city will be implementing two new measures BottomLineStat and ReqtoCheckStat designed to increase budget transparency and improve the efficiency of the city’s contracting system. San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu also announcedRead… Read more »