Federal Program Bans North Carolina; N.Y.C.’s Elmo Legislation
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Also in our state and local roundup: Detroit’s water deal, Russian fears in Texas, and Maine’s powerful notary public provision.
Here are some state and local stories you may have missed around the country ...
North Carolina, Minnesota and Alabama are the three states that are banned from the federal government’s controversial Defense Logistics Agency military equipment surplus program for local law enforcement. The reason North Carolina's on the list? Tyler Dukes of WRAL-TV’s @NCCapitol reports that the state couldn’t meet stronger new federal reporting requirements to track equipment. The ban “affects North Carolina police and sheriff’s departments as well as state-run agencies such as the State Highway Patrol,” according to Dukes.
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Leaders in Detroit have come to a regional agreement with two adjacent counties in Southeast Michigan to create a regional water authority. Matt Helms and Nathan Bomey of the Detroit Free Press report that the “historic accord comes after months of feverish negotiations between political officials.”
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On Monday, town selectmen in York, Maine, voted against putting a marijuana decriminalization measure on the Nov. 4 ballot—again. But that won’t necessarily stop the referendum. Maine law stipulates that a notary public can simply confirm the validity of ballot signatures on a petition and the measure can then go to local voters. “It’s a state law,” said Selectman Ronald Nowell, according to Dennis Hoey of the Portland Press Herald. “If the selectmen refuse to put it on the ballot, then state law gives them that option.”
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Another Texas railroad commissioner has suggested that there may be a Russian misinformation campaign to discredit the practice of hydraulic fracturing in the United States, Jim Malewitz of the Texas Tribune reports. Why? Russia is looking “to bolster its share of the global natural gas market.”
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Watch out Times Square Elmos! Citing safety issues, a New York City councilman has proposed “costumed individuals” legislation that “requires people dressed as characters such as Elmo and Mickey Mouse to wear a city-issued identification card somewhere visible, with an up-to-date photo,” according to Capital New York’s Clifford Michel.