Click here to skip to main content.
scenic picture from Washington state
focus headerLocal News and Government Information Header

Focus Archive by Subject or Month | MRSC Updates by E-mailSign Up to Receive MRSC's Web Site Update and Quarterly Newsletter by E-mail | MRSC In Focus RSS Feed

Report on Online Citizen Consultation (Aug 28)
A new report from the Moritz College of Law, at The Ohio State University entitled, "Building Democracy Through Online Citizen Consultation: A Framework for Action," is intended as a brief practical guide to public officials who are wondering (a) what e-democracy is and (b) what sorts of issues need to be considered if an online consultation is to be staged successfully.

Web Sightings - Everything Green (Aug 28)
In a time of high energy costs and concern about climate change, communities are embracing a variety of green strategies. The topic for this month's Web Sightings is Everything Green.

Planning Advisor header image

Finance Industry and Climate Change: Its Potential Implications to Cities and Counties

Anindita Mitra, AICP, CREÄ Affiliates, LLC, presents "Finance Industry and Climate Change: Its Potential Implications to Cities and Counties," in the latest Planning Advisor column.
 

Vancouver May Be Livable, But It's Not Happy (Aug 28)
A groundbreaking study found that, despite their glorious mountains and ocean, mild weather, good health, Olympic future, and all the livability accolades, Vancouverites are not very happy. More from Vancouver Magazine.

Extreme Seattle (Aug 28)
New demographic figures make clear what a statistical outlier Seattle is, with few families, few kids, high education, and rapid gentrification. More from Crosscut.

Teardowns and McMansions (Aug 28)
In an effort to protect historic neighborhoods, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has developed an online resource guide to help community leaders identify approaches and best practices for managing teardowns.

Public Records Act Case Law Update (Aug 28)
In the last few months, the Washington Courts have issued five Public Records Act (PRA) opinions on several key issues. More from Foster Pepper News Alerts.

New Report on Crisis Readiness (Aug 28)
A new report from the Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI) and New York University’s (NYU) Center for Catastrophe Preparedness and Response (CCPR), "Predicting Organizational Crisis Readiness: Perspectives and Practices toward a Pathway to Preparedness" finds that that a large number of organizations lack effective preparedness programs to respond to and recovery from a crisis.

Place Making Around the World (Aug 28)
Asking the right questions of a community will be one of the most difficult aspects of shifting to a place-making perspective in development projects around the world. More from Urban Land.

Muni Fiber Networks Bounce Back (Aug 28)
Despite some high-profile failures, the deep-seated need for broadband keeps municipalities on the fiber-to-the-home-track. More from Telephony Online.

This Little Light of Mine (Aug 28)
Many cities have been switching to the efficiencies of as-needed lighting, thanks to their computer programmers. More from Governing.

Local Governments in the News
Local Governments in the News by Subject or Month

Here are the latest news clippings from around the state highlighting current events, trends and other news affecting Washington city and county governments and special districts:

Also in Focus