Officers in the Palm Bay Police Department in Florida are among the first in the nation to patrol their neighborhoods by way of powered paragliders. Officials say that these ultra-light flying machines provide officers with a quick and cheap aerial view of the ground below, a capability that may be useful in search-and-rescue operations and some types of surveillance. Currently, four officers are training to fly the powered paragliders. While weather and landing spots may sometimes be a challenge, the pilot program is seen as a unique solution to the needs of the rural district, and the initiative has been approved by the U.S. Justice Department.

The Seattle Police Department is deploying undercover officers as pedestrian decoys to target drivers who cruise through city crosswalks without stopping. These “crosswalk stings” both deter dangerous driving and increase revenues to the city from issued citations. In Virginia, the Department of Transportation has painted zigzag stripes on some of its roads with the aim of bewildering drivers enough to slow them down at the crosswalks. Among the first of their kind in the U.S., officials say they are modeled on other designs in different countries.

West Virginia, Georgia, and Ohio have been chosen by the Pew Center on the States, a division of the Pew Charitable Trusts, to participate in their Management Labs initiative. Management Labs are year-long partnerships in which Pew works with individual states to bolster operations in areas such as finance, personnel, human resources, and technology. All states were eligible to apply for this program; West Virginia, for example, will receive consulting from the Pew Center and $50,000 for its state project.

Some school districts, grappling with new fiscal realities, are considering reducing their school week by one day. While some small rural districts have adopted four-day school weeks to save fuel costs, districts such as South Florida's Broward County, the nation's fifth-largest, are also examining the policy. Six states are deliberating on bills to permit the policy change; eighteen states already allow districts to choose a four-day week.

Seattle and Nissan are partnering to promote the development of an electric-car-charging network. The auto company seeks to introduce plug-in electric vehicles in 2010 in Seattle, along with other markets including Oregon and Tennessee. The Seattle mayor hopes the initiative will reduce the impact of transportation on the climate. The Washington Legislature has also passed a measure that provides tax incentives for electric-car batteries and electric-charging infrastructure, requires the state to install charging stations in some state facilities by 2015, and establishes a pilot project to offer electric-car drivers along Interstate 5 the ability to recharge their batteries at designated locations.

Michigan students recently learned about the effects of inebriation during a drinking and driving demonstration using a special pair of goggles that blurs vision and challenges depth perception, simulating the effects of inebriation. The students strapped on the goggles and strapped into high-speed race karts to maneuver a special obstacle course. Errant swerves and toppled cones abounded in this hands-on lesson about the perils of driving under the influence.

Many cities are looking to rebrand their images in an effort to increase tourism and business investment. In this article, The Wall Street Journal takes a look at how cities like Providence, RI, New Market, VA, and Peoria, AZ, have fared. Critics argue that these image makeovers are often unoriginal and are a waste of precious resources in an era of declining revenues.

Some school districts are using Twitter, the free social networking service, to keep the public informed about daily happenings in areas such as student achievement, homework, school plays, and school board hearings. Headlines are shared with followers by way of cell phones and other devices, giving those interested constant updates about school events. Officials in Georgia note that the service is a very cost-effective way to communicate directly to people.

Members of the general public looking to track the influence of Massachusetts lobbyists can access a new public Web site that will make it easier to keep tabs on what they are working on and who they are working with. The site allows users to search by lobbyist, entity or client, type of industry, campaign contribution, and activity or bill number.