November 17, 2016

Governing: “In large cities across the country, court challenges can be a drain on municipal coffers. To gauge the fiscal impact of claims and lawsuits, Governing requested financial data from the two dozen largest cities in the U.S., the first such national review of comprehensive legal costs. Twenty cities responded, and their combined financial information paints a picture of just how significant these claims costs can be. All totaled, the cities paid out more than $1.2 billion in their last fiscal year.”

November 01, 2016

Governing: “As this election year began, it looked as if the GOP might break its own record for the number of governorships under the party's control. That's looking less likely now. Democrats are not only hanging tough in states that typically vote Republican for president -- including some that appear to be sticking with Donald Trump this year -- but actually leading in several of them.”

October 04, 2016

NYT: “Detectives in Las Vegas pride themselves on having one of the country’s better track records for solving homicides, clearing nearly eight in every 10 cases while many other big-city departments struggle to solve half of their murders. But like other big cities across the nation, Las Vegas is in the midst of a dramatic rise in homicides. The rising murder rate is now testing whether the 19 homicide detectives at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department can keep solving those crimes as new calls pour in, from parks awash in heroin, from streets where gang allies are quick to draw their guns, and from poor neighborhoods that lie just blocks from the shimmering casinos of the Strip.”