Shall we make a dog shelter for stray dogs?
Vote for dog shelter
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This idea is active.Animal and Pest Control »3 comments
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This idea is active.Public Works Agency Portal »
Citizen Request, 311 and Emergencies
Offer a service to allow submission of ground news (Text, Video, Blog, Work Order System) by citizens affected by infrastructure related issues ...more »
1 commentOffer a service to allow submission of ground news (Text, Video, Blog, Work Order System) by citizens affected by infrastructure related issues and/or emergencies. This would be a better place than Twitter for sharing emergency related issues. Thanks!
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This idea is active.Public Works Agency Portal »
IdealScale and PublicWorksAgency.com
Integrate IdeaScale with Municipal profiles on PublicWorksAgency.com. Municipalities have the ability to manage and control sub-social network ...more »
1 commentIntegrate IdeaScale with Municipal profiles on PublicWorksAgency.com. Municipalities have the ability to manage and control sub-social network under the PublicWorksAgency.com domain. Although IdeaScale is a standalone platform that can be configured by the administrator and available through PublicWorksAgency.com, widgets can be seamlessly integrated with MyMuni profiles to capture vitisors ideas. Ideas coming from the MyMuni profile and directly from an agencies Idea platform will help in obtaining the most information possible from various sources.
Contact: support@publicworksagency.com
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This idea is active.Streets, Roads and Bridges »
CITIZEN'S COMPLAINTS
1 commentWhat about to send our complaint's we have for local goverment services?
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Public Works Procurement
Add your commentI would like to see public agencies post procurement opportunities here that would be interesting. Thanks!
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This idea is active.Public Works Agency Portal »
Tweet Requests
Add your commentOffer the ability for users to Tweet requests, links, geo-data and photos to Citizen Request.
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This idea is active.Civil Rights »
U.S. Education Dept. investigating TPS treatment of minorities
The U.S. Department of Education confirmed Monday it's investigating whether Toledo Public Schools distributes its resources in a fair way to ...more »
Add your commentThe U.S. Department of Education confirmed Monday it's investigating whether Toledo Public Schools distributes its resources in a fair way to black students for career development and college preparation.
Several groups of parents, alleging discrimination against black students, filed a complaint early last year with the federal agency's Office for Civil Rights in Cleveland.
The parents say predominantly black Scott High School offers few college prep classes when compared to other "identifiably" white high schools, such as Start and Bowsher.
Read more...
http://toledoblade.com/article/20101026/NEWS16/10250367/-1/NEWS
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This idea is active.Ethics »
A Double Standard for House Ethics?
The ethics cases against Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) highlight an odd paradox: that many other members of Congress ...more »
Add your commentThe ethics cases against Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) highlight an odd paradox: that many other members of Congress do similar things but are not facing charges.
On March 4, 2009, Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) introduced a witness at a hearing promoting renewable energy interests: Brooks Hurst. Congressman Graves failed to mention that Hurst was an old friend. The congressman also left out that his own wife and Hurst invested money in the same Missouri fuel plants.
Congresswoman Waters argues that is the same thing she's accused of: helping a good friend and his company, where her spouse owned stock. Yet Waters is the only one facing an ethics trial.
Then there's Congressman John Carter (R-Texas). On Oct. 7, 2009, he criticized Rangel for, among other things, failing to disclose income. "These are all violations of the rules of the House," Carter said in an interview about Rangel.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20020521-503544.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody
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This idea is active.Family »
ABC picks up new shows 'Better' and 'Family'
ABC is continuing this season's pattern of extending pickups to moderately performing new shows, reflecting the overall weakness of this year's ...more »
Add your commentABC is continuing this season's pattern of extending pickups to moderately performing new shows, reflecting the overall weakness of this year's group of rookies.
The network gave full-season orders to "Better With You," the weakest link in its Wednesday comedy lineup, and "No Ordinary Family," the creatively promising Tuesday drama, while also ordering four additional episodes of the Tuesday drama "Detroit 1-8-7."
It follows a pattern established by Fox, CBS, the CW and NBC, which also picked up shows averaging only so-so ratings.
Support for struggling shows only goes so far, however – ABC will not be ordering any additional episodes of the Wednesday law drama "The Whole Truth."
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This idea is active.Recent News - Comment »
County to build 3 facilities to help centralize its public works
Thurston County plans to construct three buildings and remodel another at its road maintenance site near Tilley Road, to help centralize its ...more »
Add your commentThurston County plans to construct three buildings and remodel another at its road maintenance site near Tilley Road, to help centralize its public works and emergency management departments.
The commission is expected to award a $16.33 million construction contract to Panattoni Construction Inc. during today’s meeting. To pay construction costs, the commission is also scheduled to approve issuing about $18 million in 20-year bonds, a majority of which are Build America Bonds, according to the county.
After decades of leasing buildings, it came time for the county to build its own facilities, said Mark Neary, director of central services.
“The county would prefer to be in its own buildings rather than a leased building,” Neary said, citing cost savings in the long term as a major reason for moving forward.
Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/10/26/1396308/county-to-build-3-facilities.html#ixzz13SvdtbMc
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This idea is active.Recent News - Comment »
Safe crossings: New crosswalks on Main Street make crossing safe
MIDDLETOWN — It was Dodge City last year when the City’s Public Works Department visited the dangerous stretch of land between the North End ...more »
Add your commentMIDDLETOWN — It was Dodge City last year when the City’s Public Works Department visited the dangerous stretch of land between the North End and the United Church of Christ.
Watching jaywalking pedestrians “dodge” speeding cars as they crossed the road was not an uncommon sight while traipsing down Main Street.
According to a 2009 report by the United States Department of Transportation, 68 thousand pedestrians are injured on American roads every year, making walking one of the most dangerous modes of transportation in terms of deaths per mile of travel.
But now there are several new crosswalks slashed across Main Street, installed for their aesthetic appeal and practicality. Paid for with a portion of a state-sanctioned road bond, the newly installed piece of civic infrastructure is the Cadillac of crosswalks. One day it may even talk to you.
The idea started in Berlin, Conn. at a Dairy Queen a few years ago, according to Bill Warner, director of planning, conservation and development.
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http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2010/10/26/news/doc4cc63cf6f4157408720189.txt
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This idea is active.Recent News - Comment »
Storm Water Fee Under Consideration St. Charles officials consid
A proposed utility fee to help manage storm water would cost the average household less than five dollars a month, but potentially thousands ...more »
Add your commentA proposed utility fee to help manage storm water would cost the average household less than five dollars a month, but potentially thousands annually for businesses, schools and churches.
Citing a need to better manage the city's creeks and rainwater runoff to prevent flooding, city officials look to charge a monthly storm water utility fee based on the overall non-permeable land on properties. Examples include the footprint of homes, garages, driveways and other areas covered by concrete or asphalt. The money would be used on projects that would improve water flow in creeks and other measures to prevent flooding.
"We really think a storm water utility can really make a difference," said Mark Koenen, St. Charles director of public works. "This would only fund drainage and storm water projects."
Read more...
http://stcharles-il.patch.com/articles/storm-water-fee-under-consideration
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This idea is active.Recent News - Comment »
Public works in the past?
NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey's governor wants to kill a $9 billion-plus train tunnel to New York City because of runaway costs. Six thousand miles ...more »
Add your commentNEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey's governor wants to kill a $9 billion-plus train tunnel to New York City because of runaway costs. Six thousand miles away, Hawaii's outgoing governor is having second thoughts about a proposed $5.5 billion rail line in Honolulu.
In many of the 48 states in between, infrastructure projects are languishing on the drawing board, awaiting the right mix of creative financing, political arm-twisting and timing to move forward. And a struggling economy and a surge of political candidates opposed to big spending could make it a long wait.
Has the nation that built the Hoover Dam, brought electricity to the rural South and engineered the interstate highway system lost its appetite for big public works projects? At a time when other countries are pouring money into steel and concrete, is the U.S. unwilling to think long-term?
"My sense is things have changed," said Andrew Goetz, a University of Denver professor and an expert on transportation policy. "People now tend to see any project as a waste of money, and that's just wrong."
Read more...
http://www.theeagle.com/business/Public-works-in-the-past-
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This idea is active.Civil Rights »
Sedition case: Civil rights groups back Arundhati
New Delhi: Civil rights groups have protested Delhi Police's reported move to book writer-activist Arundhati Roy for sedition. Talking to CNN-IBN, ...more »
Add your commentNew Delhi: Civil rights groups have protested Delhi Police's reported move to book writer-activist Arundhati Roy for sedition. Talking to CNN-IBN, National Advisory Council (NAC) member and social activist Aruna Roy defended Arundhati's right to express her opinion.
"Well I speak for myself and not as an NAC Member. I simply do not believe. Neither for Arundhati nor for any other person, that just by expressing an opinion you become seditious. I think that in this country we have had a long history and tradition, long before Independence and thereafter where all kinds of opinions have been expressed. Just the expression of an opnion without inciting people is not seditious. She has just talked and she has a right to her opinion just as much as anybody else," said Aruna Roy.
"There are other constitutional rights that protect our freedom of expression and there are many other people who make even more seditious remarks, who are fully ignored by the establishment. I would say that it would be a terrible day, a black day for Indian democracy when they proceed against her legally," she said.
Read more...
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/sedition-case-civil-rights-groups-back-arundhati/133762-37-64.html
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This idea is active.Civil Rights »
Education Department Takes Aim at Gay Bullying
The administration is putting more teeth behind bullying and harassment policies when they involve gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered students. ...more »
Add your commentThe administration is putting more teeth behind bullying and harassment policies when they involve gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered students.
The Education Department is taking an aggressive stance on gay-bashing, telling schools that they could be in violation of civil rights laws and anti-bullying policies if their students tease or harass their peers based on their sexual orientation.
The agency is digging deep into case law that prohibits gender-based harassment. There isn’t a federal civil rights statute that explicitly protects people based on their sexual orientation, but the courts have held that same-sex harassment based on gender stereotypes is unlawful.
Read more...
http://www.nationaljournal.com/education-department-takes-aim-at-gay-bullying-20101026
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This idea is active.Defense »
Germany undertakes major military restructuring
BERLIN -- Germany's Defense Minister says the country will begin a major restructuring of the military next year as it moves from a Cold War ...more »
Add your commentBERLIN -- Germany's Defense Minister says the country will begin a major restructuring of the military next year as it moves from a Cold War conscript army to one better positioned to face today's threats, while also cutting costs.
Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told reporters Tuesday as he was presented an expert commission's recommendations that the overall restructuring is expected to take five to eight years.
The commission is recommending reducing ministry staff from 3,300 to 1,600 and cutting the military from 250,000 to 180,000 troops. At the same time, it wants to double the number of troops that can be deployed at any one time from 7,000 to 14,000.
Guttenberg says the government will decide by the end of January how to proceed.
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This idea is active.Disabilities »
Norwegian Cruise Line to pay $100,000 to nine disabled passenger
By Gene Sloan, USA TODAY CAPTIONCourtesy Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Cruise Line has agreed to pay $100,000 to nine cruisers with disabilities ...more »
Add your commentBy Gene Sloan, USA TODAY
CAPTIONCourtesy Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line has agreed to pay $100,000 to nine cruisers with disabilities who allegedly were discriminated against on one of its ships.
The U.S. Justice Department, which announced the settlement on Monday, had sued the line on behalf of the cruisers, five of whom are deaf and four of whom use wheelchairs.
The Justice Department says in a statement that the five deaf cruisers did not receive interpreters and other auxiliary aids, or a closed caption TV, while on voyages around Hawaii on a Norwegian ship, and "thus were unable to enjoy the activities on board the ship or the shore excursions because they could not understand what was going on and communicate effectively."
The agency says the four cruisers who use wheelchairs did not get accessible buses between the airport, ship and hotel, and on shore excursions; had to wait hours for an accessible bus at times; were unable to go on shore excursions because of the lack of an accessible bus; were charged extra for accessible transportation; and/or were not allowed to get on and off the bus during a shore excursion even though the bus was accessible.
The Justice Department sued Norwegian under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Justice Department says that in addition to the cash payment to the nine cruisers, a proposed consent decree with Norwegian includes requirements that the line:
-- have an access desk to handle requests for reasonable accommodations from passengers with disabilities before sailing.
Read More...
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This idea is active.Economy »
Political Wisdom: Voter Anger and the Economy
A week before the elections, voter anger isn’t subsiding and there’s a lot of blame going around as the Democrats face the expected loss of their ...more »
Add your commentA week before the elections, voter anger isn’t subsiding and there’s a lot of blame going around as the Democrats face the expected loss of their House majority and maybe the Senate, too. The economy is lousy, and there’s a sense that President Barack Obama just doesn’t get it.
Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic says it’s time for Democrats to quit blaming “the narrative,” whatever that is.
Zoom ahead to early this year: Obama said that the economy had “turned a corner.” Technically true, but if voters are listening, they’re taking the president’s messaging with many grains of salt.
In April, Obama said “the worst is over.” But then came news that growth had stagnated, and that the mortgage industry was in (perpetual) crisis, that businesses just weren’t hiring.
So if voters are skeptical about what comes out of Obama’s mouth, it’s not because he’s not saying the right things. The economy just isn’t recovering at the pace that Obama and his advisers expected it would. Add to this the drumbeat of doom that counter-pressures independents–the right wing echo-sphere’s charge that Obama ruined the economy–and it’s not hard to see how soft Democrats and independents aren’t going to take this president’s word as bond.
The Economist looks at President Obama’s problem with white, working-class Americans.
If the white working class has a capital, says Henry Olsen of the American Enterprise Institute, it is West Virginia, where more than nine out of ten people are white and six out of ten have never gone to college. For more than half a century, the Mountain State sent the late Robert Byrd, a Democrat, to represent it in the Senate. Now the state’s popular governor, Joe Manchin, also a Democrat, is hoping to take his place. But this year everything is different. Despite Mr Manchin’s relentless efforts to distance himself from that fellow in the White House, the race is a toss-up.
No other state is quite like this: in the electorate as a whole, the white working class adds up to perhaps 40% of the voters. But at a time when most working-class white voters are furious at the Democrats, the states where these voters are concentrated have become a happy hunting ground for Republicans. Mr Olsen thinks it no coincidence that a disproportionate number of the Democrats’ most vulnerable House seats in the South, the north-east and the Midwest are in districts dominated by blue-collar whites. Democrats are struggling in the bellwether state of Ohio, and may lose the tight Senate races not only in West Virginia but also in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The revolt of this class, he thinks, could be the defining characteristic of the election, counting more even than the rise of the (also mostly white, but mostly more affluent) tea-party movement.
Read more...
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/10/26/political-wisdom-voter-anger-and-the-economy/
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This idea is active.Education »
At Temple, Secretary Arne Duncan, Tony Danza promote teaching R
In an auditorium full of high school students, teachers, and college students training to be teachers, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, ...more »
Add your commentIn an auditorium full of high school students, teachers, and college students training to be teachers, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, actor Tony Danza, and others on Monday hailed teaching as a rewarding field in need of new and innovative talent.
Touting the U.S. Department of Education's TEACH program, a national campaign to attract more people to be teachers, Duncan told the gathering of about 1,000 people at Temple University's Performing Arts Center that teaching was crucial to the country's future.
"If we can attract the next generation of great teachers . . . we're going to transform education in this country," Duncan said in a panel discussion that included Danza, Philadelphia schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, and other educators.
Duncan said that, while there had been improvements in education over the last few years, "we have to get dramatically better as a country" on the issue.
Danza, who spent a year teaching English to sophomores at Philadelphia's Northeast High School for the A&E reality-TV show Teach, drew loud cheers from students when he talked about his experience at the school.
Teaching the students "was the greatest thing I ever did in my life," Danza said.
Watch sports videos you won't find anywhere else
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This idea is active.Public Works Agency Portal »
National Platform for Citizen Engagement
Add your commentConsolidate citizen engagement technologies to one national platform. Thanks
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This idea is active.Public Works Agency Portal »
Hurricane Earl
Hurricane Earl, the second major hurricane of 2010, is moving away from the Northern Leeward Islands. Residents along the U.S. East Coast should ...more »
Add your commentHurricane Earl, the second major hurricane of 2010, is moving away from the Northern Leeward Islands. Residents along the U.S. East Coast should follow Earl closely to see what impacts the hurricane will bring Thursday and Friday.
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This idea is active.Recent News - Comment »
The Commons: Repeat after Rona
The Scene. To his credit, Christian Paradis did not avoid the House this afternoon. No doubt knowing he would face a new round of questions about ...more »
Add your commentThe Scene. To his credit, Christian Paradis did not avoid the House this afternoon. No doubt knowing he would face a new round of questions about the latest in an unfortunate series of circumstances, the former minister of public works and current minister of natural resources took his seat along the front row all the same.
No doubt knowing he would not have to rise to answer a single one of these questions, he surely did so quite comfortably.
“Mr. Speaker, in September 2007, one week before it closed, the request for proposals for renovation of the West Block North Tower was amended and the qualifications needed to bid dramatically downgraded,” Liberal Marcel Proulx said first, reviewing the newest revelation for the benefit of the House. “Experts in the construction industry have said this would have benefited only one bidder, LM Sauvé.”
Nearly every other day of the last month has brought some new curiosity such as this—another clipping to tape to the wall in search of connections. Were it not for Richard Nixon, it might all be the stuff of whispered conversations around the booths at Hy’s. As it is, 38 years after those two-bit burglaries, we sit around the press gallery wondering how properly to attach the suffix “gate” to the situation.
Once more it is difficult to know whether to curse or thank the 37th president of the United States.
Read more...:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/10/25/the-commons-repeat-after-rona/
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This idea is active.Recent News - Comment »
Sparks public works chief out as 2 departments merge
Sparks Public Works Director Wayne Seidel is leaving city government as part of a recession-related reorganization at City Hall. The Public ...more »
Add your commentSparks Public Works Director Wayne Seidel is leaving city government as part of a recession-related reorganization at City Hall.
The Public Works and Community Development departments will combine to form a new department, Community Services, led by Neil Krutz, the city's current community development leader.
"With a high unemployment rate, significant reductions in tourism and the construction industry decimated from a collapse in the real estate market, city revenues are not expected to significantly rebound in the future," the city said in a statement issued Monday.
"As a result, the city is creating a sustainable organization that will provide success for years to come and that at least meets the minimum needs of city residents, within an environment of much lower revenues than it has previously enjoyed," the statement added.
Seidel has been public works director since 2000. He initially was hired in 1995 as the city's engineer and construction manager.
Link:
http://www.rgj.com/article/20101026/NEWS/10260356/1321
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This idea is active.Recent News - Comment »
Jacome cites wage violations at Westport two public works projec
Illegal labor practices at two public works projects in Westport — a new fire station and an elderly housing complex — are being cited by state ...more »
Add your commentIllegal labor practices at two public works projects in Westport — a new fire station and an elderly housing complex — are being cited by state representative candidate F. George Jacome to show how he says competitor Paul Schmid allowed workers to be paid unfair wages at both sites.
Jacome first questioned Schmid, a Westport selectman, about the projects at a debate last Thursday, and later provided letters showing a labor organizer brought complaints of wage law violations to the attention of Westport officials — including Schmid — almost a year ago.
The letters, from union organizer Daniel Rego, urged selectmen to investigate “and put a stop to the exploitation.” Rego and Jacome said last week that those letters were ignored.
Schmid’s roles were different in the two projects.
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