NEWS: August 31, 2010

Technology | Virginia
Agencies Still Paralyzed by Computer Collapse
Gov. Bob McDonnell wants an "independent third party" to investigate the collapse of a Virginia government computer system nearly a week ago that continues to paralyze some agencies. Six of 26 agencies hit by the outage, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, still were not fully up and running.
MORE: Richmond Times-Dispatch
Report: Many Congressional Websites 'Suboptimal'
Although a few congressional websites are exemplary, many are "suboptimal," and Congress needs to do more work to improve the sites, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution.
MORE: Federal Computer Week
Federal Ethics Office Plans Better Website
The Office of Government Ethics, which counsels federal employees on potential conflicts of interest, plans to renovate its website to make its guidance easier to find.
MORE: Nextgov

Mayor Bing

Public Workforce | Detroit
Mayor Ready to Impose Wage Cuts
Mayor Dave Bing is moving to end a yearlong standoff and impose a contract on the city's largest union after a labor fact-finder blessed Bing's calls for a 10 percent wage cut and benefit concessions. The city council must approve any contract imposed on the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
MORE: Detroit News

Human Services | Los Angeles County
Audit: Child Deaths Not Reported
County officials have failed to follow state law that requires them to publicly disclose child fatalities resulting from abuse or neglect, according to an independent audit. The violations involve "potentially dozens" of child fatalities, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.
MORE: Los Angeles Times

Ethics | Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Proposed Rules Target Rampant Corruption
With federal investigators reporting rampant corruption in Cuyahoga County's existing government, an ethics code proposed for the county's new charter government would forbid employees from accepting gifts that could influence their official duties and bar them from hiring relatives or business associates.
MORE: Cleveland Plain Dealer
Former CalPERS Board Member Takes the Fifth
Questioned by a state lawyer, former California Public Employees' Retirement System board member Charles Valdes refused to say whether he accepted gifts while he served on the board, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 126 times.
MORE: Sacramento Bee

Matt Garcia

Public Officials | Fairfield, Calif.
Man Sentenced in Councilman's Slaying
A Fairfield man with a lengthy criminal record was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for fatally shooting City Councilman Matt Garcia in 2008, a slaying that prosecutors called the result of mistaken identity over a $50 drug dispute.
MORE: San Francisco Chronicle
Unions: Federal Judges Face More Theats
The federal judges who handle Social Security disability claims and immigration are facing an increase in violent threats involving deadly weapons, according to union leaders who called for security improvements in the courtrooms.
MORE: Government Executive

Elections | Harris County, Texas
County to Replace Burned Voting Machines
With Harris County's voting machines destroyed in a fire, County Clerk Beverly Kaufman said she intends to have all polling places open Nov. 2 with replacement machines. County officials approved Kaufman's emergency plan to spend $13.6 million to buy 2,325 electronic voting machines and supporting equipment.
MORE: Houston Chronicle

Environment | The Nation
New Vehicle Stickers
Would List Greenhouse Gases
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation proposed a fuel economy label overhaul to reflect how electric and alternative-fuel vehicles stack up against gasoline passenger vehicles, rating cars on greenhouse gases and other air pollutants from tailpipe emissions.
MORE: CNET News

Finance | Oregon
Revenue Lags from New Tax on High Incomes
Early indicators suggest that the state will take in only about half the $472 million that was expected from a tax increase on households making more than $250,000 a year, raising questions about whether January's bitterly fought election was worth it.
MORE: The Oregonian

>> More news, analysis, resources and events: GovManagement.com
>> Follow GovManagement on Twitter and Facebook

SPONSOR

QUOTABLE

“I really don't think it's about qualifications.”
Levi Johnston, the high-school dropout who is the father of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's grandson and who is considering running for mayor or city council in Wasilla as part of a reality TV show, saying a quest for office is "really about, you know, the people liking you and believing in you"
CBS News | More quotes

DATAPOINT

21%
Percentage of Americans who don't use the Internet at all, 90 percent of whom say they don't want to, according to a Pew Internet & American Life study.
Federal Computer Week | More data

ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

Politics
Timothy Egan
Know-Nothing Nation
The Democrats may deserve to lose in November. But it should be because their policies are unpopular or ill-conceived--not because millions of people believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim, doubt that the president is a citizen, or believe falsely that the TARP bailout was enacted by Obama, not by President Bush.
MORE: New York Times

UPCOMING

Governing magazine
Summit on the Cost of Government
Sept. 14-15 | Washington, D.C.

American Society for Public Administration
Webinar on Project Management
Sept. 15, 1 p.m. ET

Government Technology magazine
Government Technology Conference/East
Sept. 22-23 | Albany, N.Y.

Service Employees
International Union
Annual Leadership Conference
Sept. 24-25 | Anaheim, Calif.

National Association of State Chief Information Officers
Annual Conference
Sept. 26-29 | Miami

Harvard Kennedy School
Executive Education
Online Program on Nonprofit Financial Stewardship: Concepts and Techniques for Strategic Management
Sept. 27-Nov. 19

Center for Governmental Research
Conference on Ensuring Effective Educators: Revolutionary Work
Sept. 28, 8 a.m. ET | Rochester, N.Y.

Full events listings