Ambush Attack at Ohio Courthouse Raises More Security Concerns

Our daily roundup of state and local government news is compiled by Route Fifty’s staff and edited by Michael Grass. Help us crowdsource link gathering: Flag state and local government news using the Twitter hashtags #localgovwire and #stategovwire.

Leading our roundup …

LAW ENFORCEMENT | The Jefferson County Courthouse in Steubenville, Ohio was expected to reopen for business on Wednesday following Monday’s shooting of a local judge in an apparent ambush attack outside the building. Common Pleas Court Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr., who exchanged gunfire with 51-year-old Nathaniel Richmond before the man was shot dead by a court probation officer, is expected to recover from his wounds. Counseling services will be available on Wednesday. The incident has raised additional concerns about courthouse security. "Every judge should be armed today in America. Prosecutors need to be armed," Sheriff Fred Abdalla said. "It was a cold-blooded attempted murder on a judge." According to Jefferson County Commissioner Tom Graham: “I mean [the sheriff] has the extra deputies there, he's had them in place, you know, last year we had that unfortunate suicide, the person who jumped from the third floor down, so the sheriff is aware, and he's done everything he's supposed to do, and we're even going to talk about more things to be done." [Herald Star; WTOV9; The Daily Beast]

One of New York City’s primary policy unions, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, has released a video in response to the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia claiming that officers experience what the clip calls “Blue Racism.” “The average person doesn’t see those things that make me human,” the video’s narrator says. “They don’t even label me based on being African-American, Latino, Asian, Caucasian and so on. They tend to see an even broader stereotype through an even more racist lens. When they look at me, they see blue.” In reactions online, activists and civil rights groups questioned the video’s very premise. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund called the video “offensive and uninformed” and issued a statement saying: “Being a police officer is a choice. The uniform’s blue shirt can be taken off at the end of the day, the color of one’s skin cannot. Representatives of the union, which represents roughly 13,000 active and retired sergeants in the city, have admitted that “racism” was perhaps not the right term to use. [The New York Times]

HOUSING | Seattle city leaders are raising the possibility of taxing overseas home buyers, or vacant houses in the city in an effort to help rein in high housing prices. But the City Attorney’s Office says that these sorts of taxes would be illegal and the King County assessor has said they are unnecessary and could cause backlash against minorities. “The luxury-home market is not driving our affordability crisis. It is simple supply and demand of housing priced for working people,” said King County Assessor John Wilson. [The Seattle Times]

Suburban land-use patterns aren’t necessarily randomly thrown upon the landscape, they’re influenced as much by tax codes as they are by planners, builders and property owners. Suburban sprawl gets “preferential tax treatment” in the nation and protections that favor new construction over renovation or in-fill projects “are pervasive throughout federal and state tax codes, but a few rules stand out.” [Medium via @StrongTowns, @HannahLebovits]

IMMIGRATION | U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services plans to shut down Vermont’s EB-5 regional center, currently embroiled in the largest investor fraud case in the visa program’s history. The Jay Peak Resort’s former owner and president stand accused of misusing $200 million invested by foreigners across seven EB-5 projects over eight years. Criminal charges have not yet been brought, but lack of oversight at the regional center, responsible for providing permanent residency in exchange for $500,000 spent on qualifying projects creating 10 jobs, has been brought to light. [VTDigger]

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Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: As of Aug. 1, there were 500 unfilled teaching positions in Oklahoma, according to a new survey released by the Oklahoma State School Boards Association, an indication that the Sooner State’s teacher shortage is getting worse. [KOSU]

Richmond, Virginia: In the Old Dominion, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced this week that the commonwealth will be ending the 2017 fiscal year with $136.6 million more than had been projected. While some of that money has been already targeted for certain projects, like the Water Quality Improvement Fund, the governor has said that the rest will go to the state's reserves. [WAVY-TV]

Hartford, Connecticut: According to recent numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2015, the Nutmeg State has the nation’s lowest marriage rate, 5.3 marriages per 1,000 people. [Connecticut Post]

Pierre, South Dakota: The state Supreme Court recently reasserted its power over quasi-judicial proceedings with respect to deciding whether or not public board administrative decisions are arbitrary. In this case, the court ruled the closure of Day County roads in 2014 by Valley, Butler and Troy township boards could stand. [Capital Journal]

Squaw Valley, California: State road crews will be cutting weakened and dangerous trees along highways near Lake Tahoe after one fell on a motorist’s car earlier this year. Caltrans has already removed 100,000 dead trees from state property adjacent to roads as part of a $115 million safety initiative. [The Sacramento Bee]

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Miami Beach, Florida: The city plans to place concrete barriers at the ends of Lincoln Road, a popular shopping promenade in South Beach. The move follows attacks in Europe where people have driven vehicles into crowds of people. According to Miami Beach Mayor Phillip Levine: “The barriers will be temporary, until a more permanent and aesthetically pleasing option can be implemented as part of the eventual redesign of Lincoln Road.” [Miami Herald]

Denver, Colorado: A French company that makes bus-like driverless shuttle vehicles will open its U.S. headquarters later this year near the Denver International Airport. The company, EasyMile, recently worked with the Regional Transportation District in the Denver area to demonstrate its autonomous EZ10 shuttles. [The Denver Post]

Grand Rapids, Michigan: The fire department in Michigan’s second-largest city expects to administer more doses of naloxone to people who have overdosed on heroin and other opioids and is tracking the data closely. In 2015, the department used Narcan, as the overdose-reversing drug is called commercially, seven times. That number jumped to 87 in 2016. And the department expects to administer 120 does by the end of the year. [The Grand Rapids Press / MLive.com]

St. Paul, Minnesota: The city’s youth jobs corps program, which was rebranded in 2014 as Right Track, uses a combination of city-subsidized internships in local agencies and employer-paid internships and in the 2016-17 school year, placed nearly 900 young people in jobs in St. Paul, most from communities of colorl. “There are a bunch of folks that are retiring,” according to Asha Shoffner, who runs the program. “If we don’t help properly prepare young people to fill those roles, then our workforce is going to be in trouble.” [MinnPost]