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Vocational Education |
A new high school in Raleigh, North Carolina, is working to put their students on the path towards success in the health care industry. Wake Early College of Health and Sciences offers students the option of hands-on training at local hospitals and clinics as well as classes at Wake Technical Community College. When students graduate from the five-year program, they receive both a high school diploma and an associate degree. This allows students to begin a health care career immediately or enroll as a junior in a four-year college.
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Water Resources |
At the recent World Water Forum, several organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization, launched WSPortal, an internet site devoted to best practices and practical guidance for delivering safe drinking water. The portal provides information and case studies on Water Safety Plans, which offer a health-based, risk-management approach that allows officials to identify flaws in their water systems before they become severe.
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Housing Finance |
The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) has unveiled a new program to help more low- and moderate-income homebuyers enter the increasingly expensive housing market by offering them a 40-year mortgage at a reduced rate. The private sector has had access to 40-year mortgages for several years, but this is the first time a government-sponsored program has made them available in California. The program offers an interest rate of 5.75 percent, one point below the prevailing interest rate offered presently on shorter mortgages.
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Policing and Crime Prevention |
Law enforcement departments across the country are using new technology and psychology to fight crime. Computerized crime-reporting systems in Lake County, Ohio, have standardized reporting indicators leading to better indexed crime reports and the creation of lists of trouble areas which help officers improve deployment. Interactive crime maps on the LAPD's website allow the public to pinpoint, by date and location, specific crimes near their address. Goodhue County, Minnesota, is even using publicity to appeal to drug dealers' entrepreneurial spirit; if they provide tips to police, they can help eliminate the competition.
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Energy Resources |
With the approval of $3.2 billion of solar rebates, California is becoming a world leader in solar energy. By 2017, the state hopes to create more than 3,000 megawatts of solar electricity, more than twice the capacity of the world's current solar grid. California officials believe the plan can be particularly effective given the needs of their state; solar power produces the most electricity during summer months, when California is vulnerable to blackouts.
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Criminal Justice |
Across the nation, states are using innovative ways to collect child support from non-paying parents. Some states have approved legislation or are considering bills that enable them to obtain cell phone records, which include addresses. Virginia's Child Support Enforcement Division has posted "wanted" ads in newspapers that have helped in the arrest of over one hundred and secured payments from others. In Colorado, more than 2,200 delinquent parents have paid $1.3 million in child support after the state threatened to revoke their hunting and fishing licenses.
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Transportation |
Officials in Carroll County, Maryland, are planning to create several "continuous flow" intersections to reduce congestion at busy crossroads. This inexpensive design diverts left-turning vehicles into a separate lane several hundred feet before the intersection and allows them to take their turn safely without having to cut across oncoming traffic. Continuous flow intersections, which are common in Mexico, have been used in a few locations in the United States and are gaining in popularity. A Federal Highway Administration study has shown that this design reduces traffic delay by an average of 48 to 85 percent.
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School Social Service |
The British government will spend 40 million pounds this year to employ "parent support advisers" to work in schools suffering from truancy and bad behavior. Two hundred primary and secondary schools will participate in the experimental program that uses these advisors to promote parental responsibility. By offering parents one-to-one support and arranging home visits and "meet the teacher" sessions, the government hopes these advisors will serve as a catalyst for greater parental engagement and improve students' behavior and school attendance.
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Energy Resources |
The U.S. Department of Energy and General Electric have agreed to design, fabricate, and test a multimegawatt-scale wind turbine that could produce clean renewable electricity at a much-reduced cost. Located offshore and expected to produce electricity at 52% less cost than regular methods, the advanced wind system will include specialized construction techniques, rotor designs, and electrical components designed for use in the ocean's harsh environment. Preliminary studies indicate that with sufficient research and development support, offshore wind farms could be commercially competitive with existing energy sources.
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Probation and Parole |
San Bernardino, California, a city ranked the 18th-most dangerous in the nation, will monitor newly paroled gang members with satellite tracking anklets typically used for high-risk sex offenders. The program, the state's first to focus on gang members, is part of a $5.1 million effort to start tracking 500 parolees by June using GPS devices. With the anklets, officials can view parolees' whereabouts 24 hours a day, being alerted if the wearer tampers with the device or enters an "exclusion zone," such as a victim's neighborhood. Authorities can also check whether parolees have attended mandatory drug counseling or obeyed requirements of their house arrest.
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Fannie Mae Foundation's Kennedy School Fellowships
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Each year, the Fannie Mae Foundation sponsors up to 35 government and nonprofit fellows to attend Harvard's Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at the Kennedy School. For more information about the program, click here. Applications are due March 31.
Newsletter produced by: Alexander Dworkowitz, Brendan St. Amant, and Vanessa Ruget (researchers and writers); Joellen Secondo (editor). |
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