Texas Ag Commissioner’s Deep-Fryer Defense; Nobody Can Apply for a Tenn. State Job
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Also: Kansas Capitol’s new gun rules, Duluth’s big parks problem and cities without property taxes.
AUSTIN, Texas: Sid Miller, the Lone Star State’s outspoken agriculture commissioner, defended his department’s controversial new nutrition policy this week in his State of Agriculture address, which allows public schools to install deep fryers and soda machines if they want. "The problem we have is not serving healthy foods, but instead of having healthy children we have healthy trash cans," Miller said, according to the Texas Tribune. In April, he said that the move “isn’t about french fries, it’s about freedom,” and as the Houston Press notes, Miller has also urged Texans to consume more steak and sweet tea. [Texas Tribune; Houston Press]
NASHVILLE, Tennessee: Want to apply for a job with the Tennessee state government? Well, too bad, you can’t do that right now. The state’s job application system will be offline until late August for upgrades, The Tennessean reports. Hiring for executive positions won’t be impacted, however. [The Tennessean]
TOPEKA, Kansas: Attention gun owners: You can now enter the Kansas State Capitol building with concealed firearms without a permit thanks to a new law that went into effect on July 1. Previously, as The Wichita Eagle reports, gun owners with concealed firearms had to present a permit at security checkpoints. [Wichita Eagle]
DULUTH, Minnesota: The Gopher State’s fourth-largest city has a problem in its 12,000 acres of parks and trails: Vandalism and illegal dumping, according to the Duluth News Tribune. The city hopes its new Protect Our Parks initiative will curb behaviors like pushing portable toilets into creeks or setting them on fire. [Duluth News Tribune]
BANGOR, Maine: How do cities without property taxes pay for operations? The Bangor Daily News asked this question and examined five cities around the nation that don’t assess property taxes: Campo, Colorado; Dewey Beach, Delaware; Youngtown, Arizona; Stafford, Texas; and Port Alexander, Alaska. In Stafford, the city alternately assesses sales taxes, franchise taxes, permit fees and a “schools tax.” [Bangor Daily News]
Michael Grass is Executive Editor for Government Executive’s Route Fifty.
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