Big Setback for Airbnb in New York; Major Drought Grips Alabama
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Connecting state and local government leaders
Also in our State and Local weekend news digest: Oklahoma rebuffs Russia; important pension case before California Supreme Court; and Pennsylvania’s violent prisons.
Here are some state and local government news items that caught our eye this weekend …
SHORT-TERM RENTALS | New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation that would impose major penalties on residents who rent out entire apartments on short-term rental booking sites like Airbnb, which has filed a lawsuit against the state. [Bloomberg Technology]
WATER | A vast majority of Alabama is experiencing drought conditions, with moderate drought conditions in the southwest part of the state with severe, extreme and exceptional drought conditions in northeast, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Drought Monitor. [AL.com]
ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATION | Russia has asked to send 2016 election monitors to a handful of states, including Louisiana and Texas. In Oklahoma, Secretary of State Chris Benge is the latest public official to decline the request from Moscow. [Tulsa World]
PENSIONS | The case determining if California can cut government pensions, so long as they remain “reasonable,” is now before the state Supreme Court. [Los Angeles Times]
LAW ENFORCEMENT | A police officer in Brewer, Maine, drew his gun as he confronted two Bangor Daily News journalists, who were inspecting an abandoned house with the assistant city manager. “The second he saw me he raised it to my chest,” said photographer Ashley Conti, referring to the officer’s firearm. “It stayed raised until he saw the city official.” [Bangor Daily News]
PUBLIC SUBSIDIES | Oakland, California Mayor Libby Schaaf: “While I’m committed to keeping the Raiders, I will not enter a bidding war with Nevada using public funds.” [@libbyschaaf]
CORRECTIONS | Pennsylvania’s state prisons saw about 4,200 violent incidents, 1,000 of them assaults on guards, over a 15-month period—causing officials to consider hiring more staff. [The Beaver County Times]
DISASTER RECOVERY | This summer’s flooding in Louisiana should not be too disruptive to the state’s important crawfish industry, though there might be some more severe localized impacts. And that’s a good thing. “The commodity price of rice, soybeans is down. Everything’s down,” according to one farmer. “Crawfish is basically what is keeping us in business.” [KLFY-TV]
STATE GOVERNMENT | An emergency communications agency in Utah has recovered most of the money stolen in a long-running embezzlement scam discovered earlier this year. "We have recovered $820,000 of our loss, which is almost 100 percent … as of last week," Tina Mathieu, head of the Utah Communications Authority, told lawmakers this week. [The Salt Lake Tribune]
PUBLIC BUILDINGS | Liquid seeped into a room on the fifth floor of the Hall of Justice in San Francisco on Thursday. Union members meeting in the building at the time thought the leak “was the pee from the ceiling that we’ve been hearing about,” according to a spokesperson. Leaky pipes aren’t the only problem. A 2012 report concluded the building’s seismic shortfalls could lead to 25 deaths in a major earthquake and there are also said to be problems with rats, roaches and asbestos. [San Francisco Examiner]
RATTLESNAKES | Due to an increase in rodents in Wichita Falls, Texas, city officials are telling residents to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes, which have attacked several pets. [Times Record News]
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