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| NEWS: March 4, 2016 Public Workforce | The Nation A Record-Shattering Year for Federal Appeals The Merit Systems Protection Board processed a record number of appeals filed by federal employees this past fiscal year--28,509, a 63 percent increase from 2014--according to an MSPB report noting that employee surveys show that the agency continued to maintain high levels of customer service and workforce morale. >> Federal News Radio Bill Would Codify Gay, Transgender Protections for Feds Gay and transgender federal employees would be protected by law from workplace discrimination under a bipartisan bill introduced in the House that would codify protections under current policies. >> Government Executive Chicago Schools' Furlough Plans Prompt Strike Threat Chicago Public Schools announced that all of its employees will take three unpaid furlough days this year, prompting the teachers' union to warn that its members will all but certainly strike in April. >> Chicago Sun-Times
Transit Chief Orders Frugality The regional transit system's budget squeeze is measured in tens of millions of dollars, but every nickel counts, as General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld sees it. In a memo this week, he ordered Metro's top executive leadership team to cut non-essential spending--covering everything from business travel and overtime to buying pencils and paper clips--for the next four months. >> Washington Post California Bullet Train May Face 3-Year Delay California will need to double down on support of its high-speed rail project by digging deeper into the state's wallet and accepting a three-year delay in completing the bullet train's initial leg, according to a new business plan for the 220-mph system. >> Los Angeles Times The Military | The Nation Pentagon: 18.9% of Facilities in 'Failing' Shape The number of military facilities that are so poorly maintained that they now meet the Pentagon's definition of "failing" has more than doubled in the past year, to 18.9 percent, reflecting decisions to make building upkeep a low priority during a period of constrained budgets. >> Federal News Radio Google's Schmidt to Head Pentagon Innovation Panel The Defense Department announced that Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google's parent company, will head a new Innovation Advisory Board aiming to make the Pentagon more like Silicon Valley. >> Nextgov
Security Logs for Clinton Emails Show No Evidence of Foreign Hacking A former aide to Hillary Clinton has turned over to the FBI computer security logs from Clinton's private email server that showed no evidence of foreign hacking, according to people close to a federal investigation. The logs bolster Clinton's assertion that her use of personal email to conduct State Department business while she was the secretary of state did not put U.S. secrets into the hands of hackers or foreign governments. >> New York Times Effort to Recall Indicted Washington Auditor Tossed Washington state's Supreme Court unanimously upheld a lower court's decision throwing out an effort to recall indicted state Auditor Troy Kelley, who faces charges stemming from his operation of a real-estate services firm before his election as auditor in 2012. >> Seattle Times Pennsylvania AG's Ex-Security Chief Gets Jail Sentence Patrick Reese, the former security chief for Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane, was sentenced to three to six months in jail for surreptitiously reading colleagues' emails in an effort to learn about the criminal investigation of the attorney general. >> Philly.com Human Services | Flint, Mich. Feds Expand Medicaid for Kids, Pregnant Women Federal officials said they will expand Medicaid coverage for Flint families to make additional health care and other services available to thousands of children up to age 21, as well as pregnant women, who have received water from the city's lead-contaminated system. >> Detroit News Minnesota Auditor Slams Jailing of Mentally Ill Hundreds of Minnesotans with mental illnesses are being confined in county jails--in some cases, illegally--because of a severe shortage of psychiatric services and long-standing gaps in state law, according to a report from the state's legislative auditor, Jim Nobles. >> Minneapolis Star Tribune
Feds Seek to Lift Protections for Yellowstone-Area Grizzlies The federal government is proposing to lift threatened-species protections for hundreds of Yellowstone-area grizzlies, opening the door to future hunts for the fearsome bears across parts of three states for the first time since the 1970s. Hunting within Yellowstone National Park would still be prohibited, but the proposal could allow animals to be taken in surrounding parts of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Since grizzlies in the lower 48 states were added to the endangered and threatened species list in 1975, the Yellowstone population has increased from 136 animals to an estimated 700 to 1,000. >> AP/Billings Gazette Energy/Environment | The Nation Chief Justice Rejects Effort to Block Emissions Rule In a significant victory for the Obama administration, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. refused Thursday to block an Environmental Protection Agency regulation limiting emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants. >> New York Times >> Follow GovManagement on Twitter >> Share this edition:
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VIEWPOINT Public Records | Abbe David Lowell A Saner System for Classified Information Every few years, a news event demonstrates how dysfunctional, arbitrary and counterproductive the country's system of classifying information really is. Hillary Clinton, along with others accused of mishandling classified information, argues that government information is "overclassified" and that it is poorly labeled, making it impossible to know what is actually top secret. They are right. This debate might prove useful if it forces the federal government to deal with the need for a saner system for classified information. >> New York Times | More commentaries
“Transferring someone in the middle of high school--tough.” President Obama, saying he and his family plan to remain in Washington for a couple of years after his presidency so that Sasha, the younger of his two daughters, can finish high school, making Obama the first former president since Woodrow Wilson, nearly a century ago, to remain in the nation's capital after leaving the White House >> Washington Post | More quotes DATAPOINT 18% Decrease in evictions in New York City last year, from 26,857 in 2014 to 21,988 in 2015, the lowest number of evictions since 2005 and a decrease that came amid efforts by Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration to prevent more New Yorkers from becoming homeless >> New York Times | More data UPCOMING EVENTS
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Reuters Webcast: "The Zika Crisis: Latest Findings" Today, 12:30 p.m. ET National League of Cities Congressional City Conference March 5-9, Washington, D.C. American Society for Quality Collaboration on Quality in the Space and Defense Industries Forum March 7-8, Cape Canaveral, Fla. Association for Talent Development Telling Ain't Training Conference March 7-8, Atlanta Public-Private Partnership Conference Conference and Expo March 7-9, Dallas Air Traffic Control Association World ATM Congress March 8-10, Madrid, Spain GovLoop Interactive training: "How to Understand Gov Data Analytics" March 8, 8:30-11:30 a.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Center for American Progress Discussion: "Strategies for Women's Economic Empowerment" March 8, 10:30 a.m.-noon ET, Washington, D.C. Brookings Institution Discussion: "State Parties: a Neglected Path to Healthier Politics" March 8, 2-3:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. >> Full events listings |
