Strained Gas Supplies in Southeastern U.S.; Aerial Vaccine Drops in Alabama
A sign informs customers of a gas outage at a station in Smyrna, Georgia. David Goldman / AP Photo
Connecting state and local government leaders
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Average farmland value dips in Iowa; Bozeman’s town-growth tensions; and Gov. Rauner’s legal fight over expanded patronage reviews in Illinois.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
PIPELINE BREACH | A broken fuel pipeline in Alabama, which has put a squeeze on gasoline supplies in some southeast states, should be back in service tomorrow, according to company officials. Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina noted that it could be a few days before for gas supplies at filling stations to return to normal. “This morning I came and now I have like 200 gallons,” one gas station manager said Monday morning, referring to the amount of gasoline in his station’s fuel tanks. That level of gasoline was down from about 3,000 gallons on Sunday. “I called the company, and they told me that they don’t have any more. I don’t know if I’m going to get any or not. I’ll know by the evening.” [The News & Observer]
JACKSON COUNTY, ALABAMA
PUBLIC HEALTH | With the rabies virus already throughout Georgia and Appalachian states, federal and state authorities working with the National Rabies Management Program are hoping to contain its spread westward in Alabama by dropping vaccine-laden baits from helicopters next month. The primary targets are wildlife carriers of rabies: raccoons, foxes and coyotes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has used the vaccine in some areas of Alabama for a decade. Jackson County, northeast of Huntsville, has seen rabies outbreaks in animals, but a dog contracted a raccoon strain from rabies in DeKalb County, along the Georgia border. [Times Free Press]
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
PATRONAGE | Gov. Bruce Rauner’s lawyers are working to block a federal court monitor’s expanded review of all state administration jobs for evidence of patronage. The governor touted the the fact he eliminated the staff assistant position at the Illinois Department of Transportation, resulting in the termination of 29 people hired as political favors. But he doesn’t want the monitor, appointed in 2014, running a premature, costly investigation his Office of the Executive Inspector General can perform. "We want to expand the work of the executive inspector general, continuing to look in every department for positions that should not be in existence and for the existence of people who were hired ... for patronage or political reasons, not to provide high-quality government services," Rauner said. [Sun-Times; The Associated Press via Pantagraph]
DES MOINES, IOWA
AGRICULTURE | Lower commodities prices are hurting property values for Iowa farmers. That’s according to a new survey from the Iowa Realtors Land Institute, which showed that a nearly 9 percent drop in farmland values—the average is currently around $6,500 an acre. In 2013, the average was $8,750 an acre. Projections show that the average will continue to dip for the next year or so. [Radio Iowa]
BOZEMAN, MONTANA
HOUSING | With rent prices on the rise in this growing city, Mayor Carson Taylor suggested last week that Montana State University should limit student enrollment to match the amount of available local housing. “I would love to have an agreement that we’re not going to admit more students, increase the enrollment, without having a place for them to live,” he said. A university spokesperson noted: “If people are saying MSU should cap enrollment, they’re also saying that not everyone should have access to the public university.” More broadly, Taylor believes public entities in and around Bozeman, including county government, the local school district and MSU, need to end the lack of coordination and cooperation sometimes exhibited in the past. “As the population grows here, we can’t do that any more,” he said. “The days of siloed government have to end, and they have to end now.” [Bozeman Daily Chronicle]
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
PRISON | Architects of a new state prison want to take the best ideas from 100 to 200 modern, international correctional facilities to focus on the rehabilitation of inmates and reduce recidivism. The 4,000-bed prison is expected to cost $550 million and be finished by fall 2020, several miles west of Salt Lake International Airport. Lower threat inmates will receive more comfortable living situations and be allowed to schedule haircut appointments. "We're trying to change the way these guys think about their lives," said Kevin Miller, GSBS Architects president. "The object here is to really challenge the way we do it now." [KUER-FM / NPR Utah; Daily Herald]
NEXT STORY: Moving budgets out of spreadsheets and into the cloud