NEWS: Oct. 19, 2016 Higher Education | Pennsylvania State Universities' Faculty Launch Strike After Bargaining Collapses Faculty at Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities went on strike today and began taking up picket lines on campuses statewide after bargaining to prevent the first classroom walkout in the system's 34 years collapsed. The strike by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties affects 105,000 students and more than 5,000 faculty members. >> Pittsburgh Post-Gazette University of Oregon Gets Record-Setting $500 Million Gift The University of Oregon announced that it had received a $500 million commitment from former Nike chairman Phil Knight and his wife Penny to build a new science complex in Eugene. It was the largest donation to a public flagship university in the nation's history. >> The Oregonian The Presidency | The Nation Campaign Manager: Trump Will Accept Outcome of Election As President Obama scolded Donald Trump for his repeated allegations that the presidential election is "rigged" and told him to "stop whining," Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, insisted that the Republican nominee would accept the results of the election "absent evidence of widespread fraud or irregularities and a close election." Meanwhile, state election officials around the country were rushing to reassure the public, and some were taking subtle steps to boost security at polling places. >> Los Angeles Times, Yahoo News, AP/Minneapolis Star Tribune Trump's Support Still Strong Among Military Voters The recent scandals surrounding Trump haven't hurt his support among military members, according to the latest Military Times/Institute for Veterans and Military Families poll. In fact, Trump appears to be the clear favorite among military voters now. >> Military Times OPM to Agencies: Excuse Feds So They Can Vote The Office of Personnel Management has instructed federal agencies to offer excused absences whenever necessary to allow government workers to reach their polling places for the upcoming elections. >> Federal News Radio Efficiency/Oversight | The Nation Senators: Agencies Wasting $87 Billion By Ignoring 15,000 Recommendations from IGs Federal agencies are wasting $87 billion by failing to implement more than 15,000 recommendations issued by inspectors general over more than 10 years, according to a new report by two Republican senators who used the report to push for their legislation to give the inspectors general more access to agency documentation. >> Government Executive Technology Management | The Nation IRS Wasted $12 Million on Unusable Email System, IG Says In a bid to comply with requirements for preservation of staff emails, the Internal Revenue Service spent $12 million subscribing to an enterprise-wide cloud-based email system that turned out not to work with the agency's existing IT setup, according to an audit by the Treasury Department's inspector general. >> Government Executive Public Workforce | The Nation Federal Retirees to Get 0.3% COLA Next Year Retired federal employees' benefits will increase by 0.3 percent in January, a cost-of-living adjustment that translates into a monthly boost averaging around $10. The adjustment for more than 2.5 million retirees and survivor beneficiaries mirrors Social Security's. >> Washington Post Public Health | Chicago 459 Park Drinking Fountains Shut Off over Lead Chicago Park District officials said the agency has taken 459 of the city parks' 2,435 drinking fountains out of service after testing during the summer revealed high levels of brain-damaging lead in the water and is still investigating where the lead is coming from. >> Chicago Tribune Public Finance | Massachusetts State Drops Wells Fargo as Bond Underwriter The state of Massachusetts will stop using Wells Fargo & Co. as a bond underwriter for a year, joining a growing list of state and local governments suspending doing business with the bank after disclosures that it opened millions of unauthorized accounts in customers' names, a revelation that led to a $190 million settlement and federal and state investigations. >> Reuters Transparency | The Nation Report: Many Federal Documents Remain Hidden Despite President Obama's transparency pledges, agencies are still keeping a considerable amount of policy and legal interpretations under wraps, according to a report by the Brennan Center for Justice. At the State Department, 807 international agreements signed between 2004 and 2014 have not been published. >> Washington Post >> Follow GovManagement on Twitter >> Share this edition: | VIEWPOINT The Presidency An Unprecedented Threat to a Peaceful Transition of Power What has allowed the United States to last for so long as a democracy when so many other countries have failed? There are many factors, but none is more fundamental than this: When we hold elections, the losing party acknowledges the legitimacy of the winner and the winner allows the loser to survive to fight another day. Now, for the first time in modern history, a major-party candidate rejects both sides of that equation. Many Americans may not have given much thought to what a breathtaking departure this represents. A voter's first obligation should be to preserve the republic which has been, for so long, the envy of the world. >> Washington Post PLUS: Jason Sattler on why Republicans need a "designated conceder." >> USA Today | More commentaries DATAPOINT $43,436 Amount that the city of Detroit reimbursed its chief financial officer, John Hill, between March and August for living expenses including a $4,000-a-month downtown apartment and weekly flights to his home in Washington, D.C., while Hill's chief of staff, Chicago resident John Hageman, was reimbursed $25,215 >> Detroit Free Press | More data QUOTABLE “You start looking ahead and wonder, who will the future small-town leaders be?” Connie Holmes, mayor of Waverly, Minn. (population 1,357), on the fact that two-thirds of statewide local offices--mayor, council member, clerk--have either no candidates or just one running in the upcoming election >> Minneapolis Star Tribune | More quotes UPCOMING EVENTS Center for American Progress Conversation with Gen. Joseph L. Votel: "U.S. Strategy in the Middle East" Today, noon-2 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Heritage Foundation Discussion: "The Right to Arms and the War on Guns" Today, noon-1 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Brookings Institution Book discussion: "'War with Russia': Is Armed Conflict with Russia a Real Possibility?" Today, 2-3:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Governing Webinar: "Electronic Payment Cards: Leveraging a Simple Solution to Better Serve Recipients and Employees while Reducing Costs" Today, 2 p.m. ET Government Technology Webinar: "The Open Source Revolution--Is It Time to Join?" Today, 2 p.m. ET Route Fifty Viewcast: "Communicate to Convince: Prioritizing Cybersecurity in State and Local Governments" Today, 2 p.m. ET American Enterprise Institute Conversation with Superintendent Chris Cerf: "Education Reform in Newark" Today, 4-5:15 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Woman's National Democratic Club Debate Watch Party featuring Eleanor Smeal of Feminist Majority Fund Today, 7-10:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Engaging Local Government Leaders Technology Efficiency Webinar Oct. 20, 1 p.m. ET >> Full events listings
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