The Fed Experience program aims to encourage retiring baby boomers from the private and nonprofit sectors to consider "encore careers" in the federal government. Now at the research stage, the initiative seeks to reach out to experienced workers who may be tempted by the rewards of public service and by the benefits offered by most federal agencies—including flexible and part-time hours and telecommuting opportunities. The goal is to lure the workers into some of the more than half a million federal jobs that will soon be left vacant by retiring employees.

An initiative launched this month in Maine by the US departments of defense and labor, which will be extended to 18 other states, is recognizing the challenges that military spouses face in maintaining a career. The Military Spouse Career Advancement Program provides grants of $3,000 a year to spouses of service members to help them pay for tuition, educational materials, and licensing fees. Unemployment among spouses of military personal is three times higher than the national average.

The police in Farmers Branch, Texas, have acquired a motion-activated digital camera to use in areas where vandalism and graffiti have become commonplace. The $6,000 deterrence unit, which will be turned on from dusk to dawn, loudly informs potential violators that they are being photographed, that the photos could be used in a prosecution, and that they should leave the area immediately.

Indiana State Police have begun using a new electronic ticketing system to generate computerized citations and warnings, reducing paperwork for officers in the field and freeing them to address more critical tasks. The Electronic Citation and Warning System scans a driver's license and registration to generate a computerized ticket, and then transmits the information wirelessly to the local judicial branch.

The University of Maryland, with the support of the Maryland Historical Trust and the Department of Planning and Zoning of the City of Annapolis, has developed a new interactive Web site that enlivens the city's Colonial past. Preservation Search combines Geographic Information System (GIS) technology with a wide array of online historical and archeological information into one of the most comprehensive online collections of historic records of a single jurisdiction. Creators hope that the site will serve as a model for similar endeavors in the state and across the country.

Pueblo County, Colorado, is joining a growing number of municipalities in replacing face-to-face jail visits in their detention centers with video visitations. Supporters argue that the controversial programs increase the frequency and length of appointments by reducing both staffing issues and delays associated with registering and monitoring visits.

A new online service streamlines the process of determining which credits count when college students transfer schools. The Michigan Transfer Network is a collaboration between the Michigan Association of College Registrar and Admissions Officers and Michigan State University. A majority of the 80 institutions of higher education in the state has loaded or is in the process of loading courses into the network.

The US Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs are partnering to ensure that wounded military personnel need not wage a further campaign at home against government bureaucracy. The yearlong pilot program will test a new Disability Evaluation System. The system is designed to ease the transition of wounded service members to disability compensation by eliminating redundancies in both departments. Under the current system, it can take up to two years to ensure delivery of care to veterans.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is working with the New York State Forest Owners Association (NYFOA) to protect the state's most endangered wildlife by gathering details on the New York's 13.2 million acres of privately owned forests. Through a state grant, the NYFOA will utilize computerized mapping software to locate private forests home to rare or threatened animals and plants. Once discovered, the goal is to encourage those owners to help the state in its conversation efforts.

A three-year initiative funded by the US Department of Labor will help dropouts in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, get back into the educational system by putting them to work renovating blighted, vacant structures. The New Beginnings—Houses of Hope Initiative will recruit at least 60 youths and train them in construction. While in the program, the students will also be reenrolled in alternative schools, giving them the opportunity to earn their diploma.