NEWS: Oct. 14, 2016
Defense | The Nation
Former Missileers: Keep Trump
Away from Nuclear Weapons
Ten former nuclear launch-control officers who once held the keys to fire missiles on the president's order have signed an open letter saying Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump should not be entrusted with the nuclear codes. The letter says the decision to use nuclear weapons requires "composure, judgment, restraint and diplomatic skill"--qualities the former Air Force officers say Trump lacks.
>> Washington Post
Law Enforcement | The Nation
Justice Dept. to Track Police Shootings Nationwide
The Justice Department said it will start collecting nationwide data early next year on police shootings and other violent law-enforcement encounters with the public. The effort to create a comprehensive national use-of-force database follows a number of high-profile police shootings in the past two years of unarmed African-Americans.
>> New York Times, Washington Post
Public Officials | New Jersey
Governor Faces Official-Misconduct
Complaint over Bridge Lane Closures
A citizen's complaint accusing Gov. Chris Christie of official misconduct in the closing of traffic lanes at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 can proceed, a municipal court judge ruled, raising the possibility that Christie could face a criminal indictment. A Christie spokesman said the governor is appealing the ruling immediately and that the former firefighter who filed the complaint is "a political activist with a history of abusing the judicial system."
>> New York Times, The Record of Bergen County
New Executive Director for NJ Transit Named
Steven H. Santoro was named executive director of NJ Transit and was immediately given an assignment: Report on where the agency stands on implementing a train-control system that some experts say might have prevented last month's fatal train crash in Hoboken.
>> NJ.com
North Dakota Sheriff's Removal from Office Sought
The McKenzie County, N.D., Commission voted unanimously to petition the governor to remove Sheriff Gary Schwartzenberger from office after an investigation into workplace bullying and retaliation.
>> Fargo Forum
Public Workforce | The Nation
GAO: Pentagon Not Tracking Savings
from Cutting 40,000 Civilian Workers
The Defense Department has shed 5.2 percent of its civilian workforce since 2012, cutting about 40,000 employees while reducing military personnel by 4.8 percent, but is still not tracking the cost savings from cutting civilian workers, according to a new Government Accountability Office audit.
>> Government Executive
Number of Hispanics in Federal Workforce Up Slightly
Hispanics represented 8.5 percent of the federal workforce in fiscal 2015, another 0.1 percent bump over the previous year and the sixth consecutive year agencies have made modest increases in Hispanic representation within the permanent federal workforce.
>> Federal News Radio
Virginia Governor to Cancel Planned Pay Raises
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, facing a $1.5 billion budget shortfall, plans to cancel planned pay raises for state employees and teachers, cut 26 existing jobs and eliminate 300 vacant positions.
>> Washington Post
No Charges Planned for EPA Workers in Toxic Mine Spill
Federal prosecutors have decided not to bring criminal charges against Environmental Protection Agency employees involved with the 2015 leak of toxic wastewater at an abandoned Colorado mine.
>> Government Executive
Higher Education | Louisville, Ky.
Acting University President Rejects
Bonuses, Deferred Compensation
Acting University of Louisville President Neville Pinto is being paid $655,000 a year but at his request won't receive the controversial bonuses and deferred compensation from the university foundation that made former President James Ramsey one of the nation's highest-paid university presidents. Board of Trustees Chairman Larry Benz said Pinto's "straightforward" compensation "sends a strong message" of accountability.
>> Louisville Courier-Journal
Trump Promises to Cap Student-Loan Repayments at 12.5%
Donald Trump is promising the most liberal student-loan repayment plan since the inception of the federal financial aid program, capping repayment at 12.5 percent of a borrower's income.
>> Washington Post
Education Dept. Settles Job-Placement Case with DeVry
The U.S. Department of Education announced that it has settled with DeVry University after the for-profit institution put unsubstantiated job-placement claims in its recruitment materials
>> Chronicle of Higher Education
K-12 Education | Chicago
Proposed Teachers' Contract to Cost $8.9 Billion
The cost of the proposed teachers' contract with Chicago's public school system amounts to about $8.9 billion over four years, a deal that would cost city taxpayers at least $100 million more than the one that the Chicago Teachers Union rejected in January.
>> Chicago Sun-Times
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DATAPOINT
$14.1 million
Amount that a Spanish energy developer, Iberdrola Renewables, is offering to pay over the next 25 years to 815 registered voters in Windham, Vt., who will vote Nov. 8 on whether to approve a wind-energy project on a tract that spans Windham and an adjacent town, an offer many residents call an attempt at undue influence if not an outright bribe but which the state attorney general's office says does not appear to violate state law
>> New York Times | More data
QUOTABLE
“His Majesty Grant Strobl, I salute thee for thine clever wit. Thou hast brought to light the folly of thine liberal overlords.”
A tweet congratulating Grant Strobl, a student at the University of Michigan and the national chairman of the conservative student group Young Americans for Freedom, who took advantage of a new university policy allowing students to change their personal pronouns to whatever they wanted by selecting "his majesty"
>> Detroit Free Press | More quotes
VIEWPOINT
Public Workforce | Howard Risher
What Empowered Public
Workers Could Accomplish
Through all but the last years of the 20th century, management theorists relied on the metaphor of organizations as machines. It's not surprising that that model was adopted by those working to improve government. It describes the classic bureaucracy. But that mindset is entirely wrong where problem solving and innovation are important to success, as is so true of the public sector in this era of ever-more-limited resources. Where employees are empowered to address problems, those organizations perform at higher levels.
>> Governing | More commentaries
UPCOMING EVENTS
Brookings Institution
Book discussion: "An Accident of Geography: Compassion, Innovation and the Fight Against Poverty"
Today, noon-1:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C.
Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education
Program on Creating Collaborative Solutions: Innovations in Governance
Oct. 15-21, Cambridge, Mass.
National Association of Development Organizations
Annual Training Conference
Oct. 15-18, San Antonio, Texas
National Academy for State Health Policy
Annual Conference
Oct. 17-19, Pittsburgh
Governing
Pennsylvania Leadership Forum
Oct. 18, Camp Hill, Pa.
Heritage Foundation
Discussions: "The Cybersecurity Challenge Facing the Next Administration"
Oct. 18, 8-11:30 a.m. ET, Washington, D.C.
American Enterprise Institute
Address by NSA Deputy National Manager for National Security Systems Curt Dukes and discussion: "Defending Cyberspace: a Report from the Front"
Oct. 18, 9-10:30 a.m. ET, Washington, D.C.
>> Full events listings
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