Howard County, Maryland, has launched a countywide program to bring civil discourse back into a society besieged by growing anonymity and stress. Choose Civility, a multi-year project inspired by a book by a Johns Hopkins professor, is a partnership of over 17 organizations and government agencies. Its aim is to promote simple principles, such as awareness of others, thoughtful responses to challenging situations, and conflict resolution skills. Plans include presentations and workshops, ethics courses taught by the police department, a potential transit system campaign against vandalism, and the inclusion of civility principles in school curriculum or policies.

Under a controversial new federal rule, forensic DNA sampling will be automatically collected from anyone, including illegal immigrants, detained by U.S. federal authorities. Crime victims' organizations applaud this measure, which will expand the national DNA database and might help capture criminals. Critics, including immigration lawyers, argue that the DNA sampling will result in stigmatizing all illegal immigrants.

A possible model for other states, the Farmers Health Care Cooperative of Wisconsin seeks to broaden health coverage for farmers and their families as well as for employees of farms and farm-service businesses. The statewide health care cooperative, made possible by a state law, will allow farmers to collectively negotiate lower prices on insurance plans. Currently, almost 20% of Wisconsin farm families do not have health insurance; many have a spouse working off the farm to help cover the cost of insurance premiums or to qualify for an employee group plan.

The Illinois State Police have launched the first statewide Internet Crimes Unit (ICU) targeting online crimes like hoaxes, identity thefts, and sexual predation. Through the ICU's website, citizens can report such crimes and can learn about classic scams and safety on the internet. 

Horizons, a program administered by Washington State University, helps depressed communities develop local solutions to economic and social problems. Spanning eight states, the 18-month long process includes community discussions about poverty in the area, while also identifying and teaching leadership skills to residents who may not have seen themselves in such a role. Resulting interventions have included the opening of a daycare center, developing an eBay business, and the purchase of a building for potential community, adult education, and religious use.

Increasingly popular in Wisconsin, "day reporting" offers a low-cost alternative to prison. For example, in La Crosse County, 200 offenders benefiting from this option report once a day to the county authorities and, if required, are tested for drug or alcohol use. In the face of skepticism, coordinators argue that the program improves rehabilitation and costs about thirty dollars a day less per inmate than incarceration.

In California, the Tri-City Homeless Coalition is traversing the usual barriers to healthcare access--such as cost, lack of transportation, and irregular hours--by bringing the clinic to places where homeless persons congregate. The mobile clinic has a professional exam room with a sink and running water, a small medical laboratory, two private counseling rooms, and a confidential intake and case management interview area.

Sixth graders in four schools in Oregon will now each have a laptop for their class work and homework. The Oregon Department of Education and Intel have teamed up to provide students and teachers full-time access to laptop computers, software applications, and training to facilitate the integration of technology in the classroom. Students will keep their laptops as they move through middle school and high school. Intel has donated 200 Gateway laptops valued at $350,000 so far, plus additional support services to make this pilot possible.

In an effort to keep families intact, pregnant women and mothers convicted of nonviolent crimes in Fresno, California, may have the option of avoiding state prison through an alternative program that lets them raise their children while undergoing counseling and job training. This summer, the Fresno Family Foundation program will begin to use a refurbished building, staffed mostly by counselors rather than prison guards, to house up to 35 women for a year. The facility includes a nursery and a children's play area. Similar programs in San Diego and Los Angeles counties serve about 70 women. 

Newsletter produced by: Brendan St. Amant and Vanessa Ruget (researchers and writers); Joellen Secondo (editor).