Ohio County Crippled by Computer Virus; New Background Checks for Colo. Teachers
Connecting state and local government leaders
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Pa. mayor arrested in cemetery incident; New Mexico’s organic farm program withers; and Wisconsin gov.’s tax credit plan.
CYBERSECURITY | In Ohio, the Licking County government shut down its computer and phone systems indefinitely due to a virus, the source of which remains unknown. County offices will reopen without them, although 9-1-1 remains in operation. The county expects it could be 24 to 48 hours before systems are fully functional again. After the virus was detected Tuesday night, the county’s IT staff “quickly shut down all nonessential servers to preserve county data and keep the problem from spreading.” [The Columbus Dispatch; 10tv]
BACKGROUND CHECKS | About 3,000 Colorado school district employees have to undergo new criminal background checks after a routine FBI audit found incomplete records in a state database. [Chalkbeat]
JUVENILE JUSTICE | Legislation to overhaul juvenile justice in the state of Utah, recently introduced by state Rep. V. Lowry Snow, is based on reforms recommended by the Utah Juvenile Justice Working Group, a cross-sector working group that studied the issue last year and recommended changes. Snow explained that the package of reforms will create better outcomes for youth that enter the justice system and improve public safety, all while having a secondary effect of reducing costs to the state. [The Salt Lake Tribune]
CITY HALLS | The mayor of Shamokin, a small central Pennsylvania coal mining town has been arrested in his position as the president of a private cemetery’s operating board and is accused of disturbing 14 gravesites to construct a cellphone tower on the cemetery property. [Fayette Tribune]
The mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts, issued an apology on Wednesday after a Tuesday night incident during a city council meeting where a microphone caught him describing city hall protesters as “morons” and “not educated at all.” [Telegram & Gazette]
REAL ESTATE | A package of 21 construction safety bills New York City Hall is considering have some in the local real estate industry concerned over a proposed apprenticeship program for workers. Housing Authority tenants argue the program will disadvantage minorities seeking employment, particularly on capital improvement projects, in favor of union workers. Proponents argue frequent construction deaths necessitate the program. [Curbed New York]
TAXES | Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will seek to expand a tax credit he once cut for lower income families in the state. The Republican governor planned to unveil the proposal on Wednesday as part of broader budget measures meant to strengthen families and marriage. Walker said in a statement: "While we are taking steps to make public assistance programs a trampoline, not a hammock, a second vital component to move children out of poverty is to ensure families and work are rewarded, not penalized." [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
AGRICULTURE | The New Mexico state government’s program that inspects and certifies organic farms “is withering financially” with a $100,000 annual deficit and the state agriculture department is looking at ways to save it. “My feeling is if we had a better governor and a better Legislature, they would have been fully funding the program,” according to one local organic farm manager. [Santa Fe New Mexican]
ACCOUNTABILITY | Renewed activism and the circulation of how-to guides on contacting legislators have relentlessly tied up the phones of Arizona legislators like U.S. Sen. John McCain—leading to answering machine redirects to an email and then a web form. Gov. Doug Ducey has proven equally hard to engage on false statements about who’s prosecuting the state’s driver’s license case against DREAMERs. [The State Press]
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