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NEWS: March 16, 2016
Electric-Cable Fears Shut Down Metro's Rail System for a Day The entire Metrorail system shut down at midnight for at least a full day--paralyzing the core of the region's transportation network--in an unprecedented move by transit officials, who said they acted because they feared for the safety of passengers. The new general manager, Paul J. Wiedefeld, and the Metro board decided to suspend operations all day today to conduct emergency inspections of electric cables after an electrical fire erupted early Monday. >> Washington Post D.C.-Area Agencies to Open Despite Metro Shutdown Despite the Metrorail shutdown, D.C.-area federal agencies will be open and workers will have the option of taking unscheduled leave or teleworking, the Office of Personnel Management announced. >> Government Executive
Supreme Court Justice Steps Down Amid Pornographic Email Scandal State Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin resigned from his court seat, announcing his retirement months after being charged with judicial ethics lapses for his involvement in a pornographic email scandal. He is the state's the second top jurist to step down amid revelations that prosecutors, judges and law-enforcement officials for years exchanged pornographic and otherwise offensive emails, often using state computers. >> Philly.com Veterans' Services | The Nation VA Backpedals on Overhaul of Hiring and Firing for All Senior Executives The Department of Veterans Affairs publicly backed away from pursuing legislation that would move all VA senior executives into a different personnel system, making it easier to hire and fire them. VA Secretary Bob McDonald outlined a new proposal that would not include all department senior executives, as previously suggested. >> Government Executive VA Moves to Fire Three Phoenix Hospital Executives The Department of Veterans Affairs said it will seek the firing of three top executives of the Phoenix VA Health Care System amid fallout from the hospital's wait-list scandal and patient deaths. >> Arizona Republic
Challenger Unseats County Prosecutor Challenger Kim Foxx won the Democratic primary to unseat Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez Tuesday night, riding a wave of discontent over Alvarez's handling of Chicago's Laquan McDonald police-shooting case. Foxx, a former prosecutor and protege of County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, won 58 percent of the vote after campaigning on a promise to restore trust in the justice system. >> Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune Group Seeks to Depose 7 Clinton Aides over Private Email A conservative legal-advocacy group submitted plans to question under oath seven current and former top State Department officials and aides to Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton about her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. >> Washington Post Executive Protection | The Nation Secret Service: More Personnel Needed The Secret Service, tasked with simultaneously protecting President Obama and some of the Republican and Democratic candidates now running to replace him, is facing a personnel shortfall at a time of peak demand, agency Director Joseph Clancy told a House panel. >> Reuters
Melissa Click's Appeal of Her Firing Rejected University of Missouri curators rejected the appeal of Melissa Click, the assistant professor of communications who was fired after two videos surfaced of her behavior during student protests on campus. One video caught Click calling for "muscle" to remove a student journalist. In a second video, Click was seen clashing with Columbia police and was heard cursing a police officer. >> Kansas City Star Foundation to Invest $47 Million in Principal Training The Wallace Foundation, which has been investing millions of dollars in research into what makes a school principal effective, announced that it will spend another $47 million during the next five years to redesign as many as six university principal-training programs. >> Washington Post Technology Management | Hawaii State, University to Co-Locate Data The state of Hawaii is collaborating with its academic partners to reduce risks to their IT systems and save money. Gov. David Ige and University of Hawaii President David Lassner signed an agreement to co-locate Office of Enterprise Services data at the university's data center, providing a resilient backup for the systems. >> Government Technology >> Follow GovManagement on Twitter >> Share this edition:
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VIEWPOINT Technology | Paul Cook, Stephen Elkins and Marc Ott The Zombies on Our Desktops Like zombies, there are technologies that stagger on, slowly, relentlessly consuming the minds and productivity of the living. They were once living, cutting-edge innovations that brought new productivity to our city staff and new services to our citizens. Desktop technologies allowed new levels of communications and collaboration. But now they trap us behind a desk or in an office and limit communications and collaboration by slowing us down with infrastructure having little to do with the core mission of a city. They must die! >> Brookings Institution | More commentaries
“Mama's is in the business of tacos, not politics” Susan O'Brien, one of the owners of the Mama Margie's Mexican Café restaurant chain, which was the object of a prank involving a note placed on the door of a San Antonio Mama Margie's, printed on paper with the company logo, saying that "due to his consistent disparaging comments directed towards Mexicans" the restaurant would not serve supporters of Donald Trump >> San Antonio Express-News | More quotes DATAPOINT 70% Percentage of the damage to roads in Rhode Island that the state attributes to tractor-trailers, while the state has the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges in the country, 23 percent, leading lawmakers to adopt a plan to impose truck-only tolls on major bridges throughout the state that, along with $420 million in bond funds, will go toward repairing or replacing 650 bridges >> Governing | More data UPCOMING EVENTS
Brookings Institution Conversation with U.S. Ambassador Kevin Whitaker: "U.S.-Colombia Relations" Today, 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. American Enterprise Institute Discussion: "Do Randomized Control Trials in Education Meet the 'Gold Standard'?" Today, 4-5:15 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. National Council for Public-Private Partnerships Federal P3 Summit March 17-18, Washington, D.C. Engaging Local Government Leaders Technology Efficiency Webinar March 17, 1 p.m. ET Heritage Foundation and Federalist Society Discussion: "Should the Chevron Doctrine Be Abandoned or Modified?" March 17, 1-2:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. American Academy of Certified Public Managers Annual Professional Development Conference March 18-19, Seattle American Society for Public Administration Annual Conference March 18-22, Seattle >> Full events listings |
