Atlanta’s 311 Debut; Oklahoma Capitol’s Ten Commandments Attack
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed Skolkovo Foundation via Flickr / CC by SA
Also in our State & Local news roundup: Five more years of federal delays in Harrisburg; 30-plus groups gathering for Chicago's Challenge Cup.
Here’s our State & Local news roundup for Monday, October 27, 2014 ...
SAN DIEGO, California: The City Council “is making a late push to neuter Civic San Diego in its new role as a commercial real estate investor,” Andrew Keatts reports for Voice of San Diego, noting that a council committee will meet this week to consider legislation that would give the Council the responsibility to OK to “any move the organization makes to buy property, invest in a project or issue debt.” And that could end up in a veto from Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma: The man accused of driving onto the grounds of the State Capitol and urinating on the state’s Ten Commandments monument before destroying the controversial marker late last week told law enforcement that Satan told him to carry out the act, according to David Lee for Courthouse News. The suspect was taken to a local hospital for mental evaluation. The suspect’s mother told KOCO-TV that her son has been dealing with mental health issues.
ATLANTA, Georgia: Georgia’s largest city launched its 311 non-emergency city customer service system last week consolidating hundreds of Atlanta city government phone numbers into a one-stop point for residents needing to contact the city either by telephone or online. The ATL311 system will “modernize the customer service experience and make the city of Atlanta more accountable, responsive, and efficient,” Mayor Kasim Reed said, according to Katie Leslie of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
PORT HURON, Michigan: Technology- and innovation-focused “SmartZones” are being planned for this city northeast of Detroit which sits at an important U.S.-Canada border crossing. As Nicole Hayden of The Times Herald reports, the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County is in the process of applying for grants that would help fund the zones, which would encourage tech and innovation businesses to cluster together and provide job training and small-business services.
CHICAGO, Illinois: Tech incubator 1871’s Chicago Challenge Cup will bring more than 30 teams together this week to make pitches to a panel of investors. Lizzie Schiffman Tufano reports for DNAInfo Chicago that one of the groups participating has developed “a magic tablet white board that lets students and teachers work collaboratively and smart window glass with an adjustable tint that can transition from clear to totally dark to conserve energy and block out unwanted heat.”
(Photo of Kasim Reed by the Skolkovo Foundation via Flickr CC by SA.)