NEWS: April 1, 2016
Service Delivery | The Nation
New Council Will Push Better Customer Service
White House budget director Shaun Donovan announced the establishment of an interagency council to coordinate customer service, saying it will as a "vehicle to improve the public's experience with federal services." The council will consist of representatives of the 28 agencies that interact directly with the public.
>> Government Executive
Kentucky Governor: Fixes Sought for Benefits System
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and his top human-services officials acknowledged widespread problems in the state's new public-benefit system and said they are working furiously to correct the errors that have disrupted lives of thousands of Kentuckians.
>> Louisville Courier-Journal
New Seattle Utility Billing System Late, Over Budget
Seattle's new billing system for public-utilities customers, originally budgeted to cost $66 million, will launch a year or more behind schedule and cost at least $34 million more than initially projected.
>> Seattle Times
Law Enforcement | Ferguson, Mo.
Miami Cop to Head Ferguson Force
Major Delrish Moss, a popular and respected former Miami homicide detective who serves as spokesman for that city's police department, was named to one of the most challenging posts in law enforcement: chief of the Ferguson police department. Moss was one of four finalists to replace Thomas Jackson, who resigned after a Justice Department report growing out of the Michael Brown shooting strongly criticized the city's police and municipal-court practices.
>> St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Miami Herald
Oklahoma Sheriff Indicted on Bribery Charges
A multicounty grand jury indicted Wagoner County, Okla., Sheriff Bob Colbert and a Sheriff's Office captain on charges of conspiring to take $10,000 in bribes for not pursuing drug charges against two people. The jury recommended Colbert's removal from office.
>> Tulsa World
Chicago Union Hires Officer Charged with Killing Teen
Drawing protests, the Chicago police union has hired as a janitor Jason Van Dyke, the white officer charged with killing black teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014, as a way of helping Van Dyke financially.
>> Reuters, Chicago Tribune
Public Workforce | The Nation
IG Slams GSA for Lax ID-Card Safeguards
The General Services Administration has neglected its tracking of building-entry badges and identity-verification cards used by employees and contractors at the 8,603 facilities the agency manages, according to a pair of inspector general's reports saying security-control weakness "increases the risk of a security event."
>> Government Executive
Feds' Health Plans to Add Coverage for Autism
Federal employee health-care plans will have to cover applied-behavior analysis for children on the autism spectrum starting next year, and the plans are being encouraged by federal officials to step up the incentives for enrollees to participate in wellness programs.
>> Washington Post
K-12 Education | The Nation
Director of Indian Education Ousted
Charles "Monty" Roessel, the director of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education, has been stripped of his duties and demoted after the Interior Department's inspector general reported that he had used his influence to get jobs for a relative and a woman with whom he was romantically involved. The BIE, which oversees more than 180 schools on or near American Indian reservations, has been plagued by staff turnover and financial mismanagement for decades.
>> Education Week
No Discipline Planned for Absent Chicago Teachers
Chicago schoolteachers who don't report to work today during a union-pushed wildcat strike will not be disciplined beyond losing the day's pay, according to a top Chicago Public Schools official.
>> Chicago Sun-Times
Governmental Operations | Pontiac, Mich.
Most Powers Restored to Mayor, City Council
A board appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to oversee Pontiac's finances voted to return much of the city's decision-making to the mayor and city council. City Administrator Joe Sobota--who some viewed as the city's fourth emergency manager--will step down.
>> Detroit Free Press, Detroit News
Higher Education | Arlington, Va.
Law School to Bear Scalia's Name
George Mason University will rename its law school in honor of the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia. The public university announced that it was making the move to recognize $30 million in pledges to the university foundation, including a $10 million grant from the Charles Koch Foundation, that will be used to finance three scholarship programs.
>> Chronicle of Higher Education
N.C.'s Community Colleges Get New President
James C. "Jimmie" Williamson, head of the South Carolina Technical College System, was named to be the next president of North Carolina's community college system, starting July 1.
>> Raleigh News & Observer
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>> Share this edition: | QUOTABLE
“I was one of the uneducated adults.”
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who just turned 86 and says that until a few years ago she had never watched or played a video game but whose nonprofit civics education group, iCivics, has since 2009 released 19 free online games and whose latest offering, Win the White House, is barnstorming its way through middle schools where students take on the role of imaginary presidential candidates who must learn how to compete civilly against opponents who hold divergent views on issues such as immigration and gun control
>> New York Times | More quotes
VIEWPOINT
Higher Education | Glenn Harlan Reynolds
PC Culture's Disastrous Consequences
If I were to offer one piece of advice to university presidents, it would be to watch the scene from The Social Network in which Harvard President Larry Summers tells the Winklevoss twins to grow up and stop complaining about the actions of other students. That's precisely the response that university presidents should give to students who come, claiming fear and trembling, to see them because they're unhappy with the speech of other students. All too often, these students are indulged in a way that the Winklevoss twins were not, with consequences for the university, for higher education--and actually for the complaining students themselves--that are likely to prove disastrous.
>> USA Today
PLUS: Howard Gillman and Erwin Chemerinsky on teaching college students the importance of free speech.
>> Los Angeles Times | More commentaries
DATAPOINT
63%
Percentage of Americans who think torture is "often" or "sometimes" justified to extract information from suspected terrorists, while only 15 percent say torture should never be used, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that found a level of support for the use of torture similar to that in countries where militant attacks are common
>> Reuters | More data
UPCOMING EVENTS
American Planning Association
National Conference
April 2-5, Phoenix
International City/County Management Association
Senior Executive Leadership Institute
April 2-9, Charlottesville, Va.
International Economic Development Council
FED Forum
April 3-5, Arlington, Va.
Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education
Program on Leadership in Crises: Preparation and Performance
April 3-8, Cambridge, Mass.
National Emergency Management Association
Mid-Year Forum
April 3-7, Alexandria, Va.
Solid Waste Association of North America
SWANApalooza Conference
April 4-7, Charleston, S.C.
American Enterprise Institute, Center for American Progress and Markle Foundation
Discussion: "A Labor Market for the Digital Age: Pathways and Opportunities"
April 4, 1:30-3 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C.
National Association of Development Organizations
Washington Policy Conference
April 5-6, Arlington, Va.
>> Full events listings |
