Michigan Lawmakers Proceed on ‘Ice Cream Month’ Declaration; Breakaway City Plan in Louisiana on Hold
Connecting state and local government leaders
Also: The Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s traffic cone defensive move and Denver isn’t responsible for Red Rocks injuries.
Here’s some of what we’ve been reading ...
LANSING, Michigan: Michigan residents have been long tortured by potholes on roadways, but state officials still haven’t been able to come up with a funding plan to pay for road repairs. Michigan House members adjourned on Wednesday with no road plan to show for it, which isn’t necessarily a surprise. But they did manage to declare July as “Ice Cream Month” in Michigan. Here’s an idea for Lansing to consider: Allow road-weary drivers to turn in pothole-repair vouchers for free scoops of Mackinac Island fudge. [The Detroit News]
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: There’s been a movement to create a new independent city and school district out of part of East Baton Rouge Parish and calling it St. George. But supporters of the breakaway movement “have officially conceded—at least for now” following a court ruling to squash their lawsuit against the parish registrar, according to The Advocate. Restarting the St. George breakaway petition process may take two years. [The Advocate]
PORTLAND, Oregon: The Portland City Council has given the OK for the city to spend more than $250,000 for a plot land that will likely end up as a homeless encampment that will be relocated from downtown. [The Oregonian]
BOSTON, Massachusetts: Apparently, there has been an easy way to evade paying tolls at the Ted Williams Tunnel: just drive around the electronic toll barrier, as was previously documented in a video from Boston.com, which follows up with news that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation has a new “traffic-stopping innovation: orange cones.” [Boston.com]
DENVER, Colorado: Do you have any urges to see a concert at the famous Red Rocks amphitheatre? If rocks happen to fall from Creation Rock, do not expect the city of Denver to pay for injuries. The Colorado Court of Appeals, according to The Denver Post, ruled Thursday that the city is not responsible. [Denver Post]
(Photo by Michigan Municipal League / Flickr.com)
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive’s Route Fifty.
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