Broadband’s ‘Tempting Voices’ Viewed With Suspicion in Virginia; Chicago Alderman Punched in Face

ROANOKE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
BROADBAND | Not everyone’s a fan of government-subsidized broadband. Roanoke County Supervisor Al Bedrosian urged fellow board members to oppose a $3.4 million, 25-mile network expansion into Roanoke Valley, which has been touted as an economic development driver since it would hook into high-speed fiber lines connecting Atlanta with Washington, D.C. And he did it with an impassioned Greek mythological metaphor, no less. “Stand strong and resist the tempting voices,” Bedrosian said. “Those are luring voices of the sirens of government that promise increased economic development and prosperity if only we will allow them to take our money and grow just a little larger.” [The Roanoke Times]

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
PUBLIC SAFETY | Alderman Walter Burnett was punched in the face outside his ward office on Thursday night by a man who, the lawmaker says, told his staff earlier in the day that he was going kill him and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The suspected attacker was arrested, and charges are pending. “I’m a boxer, so I can take a punch,” 52-year-old Burnett, who sustained minor injuries, said. “The big deal for me is that somebody would be motivated enough to do that to me.” [Chicago Sun-Times]

DENVER, COLORADO
PUBLIC TRANSIT | State and local officials and eager transit fans were on hand Friday for the official opening of the Regional Transportation District’s highly anticipated new 23-mile commuter rail line linking Denver Union Station with Denver International Airport. The public enjoyed free rides on Friday and Saturday between the airport and downtown on the new rail line, where trains travel up to 79 mph with service every 15 minutes for most of the day. [RTD Denver; Route Fifty]

MADISON, WISCONSIN
WORKFORCE | The Wisconsin state government workforce is experiencing a wave of retirements and employee departures to the private sector. In 2015, one in eight state employees—not counting University of Wisconsin system workers—left their positions for retirement or other jobs outside the state workforce. That’s 3,600 state employees, a 23 percent jump from 2014 and nearly twice as many from 2010, when many state workers delayed retirement due to the Great Recession. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT
AIR QUALITY | Fairfield County, with its proximity to New York City, has always been known as a very well-monied jurisdiction, home to plenty of billionaires who enjoy the county’s proximity to New York City. But it’s also home to worst air quality in the New York City region for ozone pollution and is the most polluted in Connecticut, according to the American Lung Association’s 2016 State of the Air report. [The Guardian; Route Fifty; Connecticut Post]

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
IT MANAGEMENT | Due to a computer glitch, the Washington State Department of Transportation failed to bill 8,200 vehicles on time, as far back as March 2015, for tolls in three locations, including the busy Highway 520 floating bridge over Lake Washington. More than 80 percent of the bills were for one to 20 trips and an average of $110, though frequent users’ bills averaged $825. Altogether, 126,000 trips for non-Good to Go customers saw delayed billing, though WSDOT is extending their payment window and, if they open a smart pass account, reducing their fees. [The Seattle Times]

DETROIT, MICHIGAN
PARKS AND RECREATION | An extension of the Dequindre Cut Greenway, a much-lauded bicycle and recreation path along an unused depressed rail cut connecting Detroit’s riverfront with neighborhoods east of downtown, opened to the public on Friday. The $21 million extension of the greenway from Gratiot Avenue to Mack Avenue, is part of a larger expansion of improved pedestrian and bicycle paths in and around downtown, a network that now includes 20 miles of pathways. [MLive.com; Curbed Detroit]

FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY
POWER STRUGGLES | The chairman of the state pension board, Thomas K. Elliott, defied Gov. Matt Bevin’s order to relinquish his post presiding over a meeting of the body on Thursday. The system's executive director, William Thielen, said of Bevin’s order to remove Elliott: "It is our position that the governor has no authority to do that." Kentucky has some of the nation’s worst-funded pension systems, with unfunded liabilities exceeding $19 billion. Bevin, a Republican who is less than a year into his first term, has identified fixing the state’s pension troubles as a top priority for his administration. [The Associated Press via Lexington Herald Leader]

CARSON, CALIFORNIA
HARASSMENT | A former council field representative filed a lawsuit against Mayor Albert Robles and the city, accusing them of firing her for coming forward about being sexually harassed. Robles denied making sexual advances toward the woman in a car in 2013—asking her to be his “secret girlfriend”—and repeatedly until last June, when she complained to her supervisor, Charlotte Arrick. In July she was fired, with the city citing budget reasons. The suit seeks unspecified damages. [MyNewsLA.com]

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT | Construction projects don’t always go to plan and the rebuilding and beautification of Roland Avenue in the northern part of the city is a doozy. City officials last week approved nearly $670,000 in spending to fix problems from the avenue’s reconstruction last year. Neighbors complained about new drainage issues stemming from the new curbs among other issues. E-mails released through a public records request illustrate concerns from city officials the work of the contractor and the long-term health of Zelkova trees in the avenue’s median. “[A]fter seeing the trees yesterday, I can assure you it is going to get way worse in terms of community backlash when most of the trees are 60 percent dead or more.” [Baltimore Brew]