CNCounty News

News from Across the Nation - Jan. 8, 2018

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CALIFORNIA

Counties are once again picking up the pieces after devastating wildfires in the state. SAN DIEGO COUNTY will waive permit fees for the rebuilding of more than 200 structures destroyed in the 4,100-acre Lilac Fire last month. More than 200 structures, including at least 100 homes, were destroyed in the fire. At least six people were injured and an estimated 200 acres of parkland burned. The county set up an assistance center for residents at a county library.

 

The good news: Supervisor Dianne Jacob told The San Diego Tribune that the county learned lessons drawn from handling fires in 2003 and 2007, and cited better communication between fire agencies and better tracking of flames. In past fires, there was little air support but this go around, 15 helicopters and seven air tankers were deployed including those from the Marine Corps and the Navy as well as San Diego Gas & Electric. Infrared cameras were also used to help track hot spots at night.

 

â–º     SAN MATEO COUNTY Supervisor David Canepa plans to ask the Board of Supervisors to approve a resolution that calls on Congress and the United Nations to restrict development of killer robots. “Killer robots are no longer just the stuff of science fiction,” Canepa told The Mercury News. “In fact, rapid advances in artificial intelligence and robotics could lead to humans giving up control of lethal force decisions in the very near future. That should be absolutely frightening to all of us. No robot or machine should be able to make life or death decisions on its own.”

Canepa sought guidance on his proposed resolution from UC Berkeley computer science professor Stuart Russell, creator of the video “Slaughterbots.” Russell co-authored a letter calling for a ban on killer robots that has been signed by nearly 20,000 people including Tesla co-founder Elon Musk, physicist Stephen Hawking and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The U.N. also recently held a conference dedicated to preventing the creation and use of autonomous weapons.

 

â–º     In other wildfire news, SONOMA COUNTY in northern California is facing a $21 million budget shortfall that includes the loss of property taxes from destroyed homes and businesses during the October wildfires as well as county staff overtime to respond to the county’s worst disaster. “It’s not going to be easy, but I also feel that we have great partnerships with the state and federal governments,” Supervisor Shirlee Zane, who chairs the Board of Supervisors, told The Press Democrat. “That has been demonstrated on a number of issues in the last eight weeks.”  The county made some prudent fiscal decisions in recent years, amassing a healthy reserve and paying down debt, which will help soften the blow, Zane told the newspaper.

 

FLORIDA

BREVARD COUNTY commissioners recently dropped religious invocations from the start of their meeting agendas, after a federal judge issued an injunction banning the county from continuing its long-standing practice. As a result, county commissioners are now asking for a moment of silence at the start of their meetings. Three organizations and five individuals had sued the county, and the judge also ordered the county to pay the plaintiffs a total of $60,000 in compensatory damages; county commissioners voted unanimously to appeal the decision. They also heeded the advice of County Attorney Scott Knox to halt the invocation practice.

“We had a judge enter an order against the county, enjoining the holding of invocations in the manner that were being done before,” Knox said. “You’ve authorized an appeal. Pending that appeal, we feel it’s appropriate that we do the moment of silence, in lieu of an invocation, instead of trying to come up with a new policy on that. Just wait until the appellate court rules on the existing policy.”

 

IOWA

The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a complete ban on guns in county courthouses. Chief Justice Mark Cady revised a previous edict from the summer that banned all guns from county courthouses. Now, county supervisors or other local officials can file written requests to allow guns in buildings. Cady’s order issued last month was the result of discussions with legislators, local officials and court staff and is an attempt to balance all interests, a court system spokesman said.

 

KANSAS

A new law limiting counties’ ability to raise property tax revenues — a property tax lid — is causing severe problems for counties in the Sunflower State, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. Melissa Wangemann, general counsel for the KANSAS ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES, told lawmakers the group would like to see an exception for rising employee costs. “The lowest quote I have heard from my counties for health care was a 7 percent increase in 2018,” she said. “This year’s consumer price index — the measurement for the tax lid — was 1.4 percent.”

 

MARYLAND

The MONTGOMERY COUNTY Council was expected to pass a resolution to urge the federal government to allow immigrants — thousands who live in the county — to remain in the country, The Washington Post reported. “Without question, there is strong support for immigrant reform that provides a path to citizenship, that lifts the threat of deportation from these families in our community,” council President Hans Riemer told the newspaper. Riemer was recently arrested alongside 200 others demanding that Congress enact legislation to grant DACA recipients permanent citizenship.

“It’s important in times like these for the community to take a stand, and that’s what we’re trying to do with this resolution,” he said. The county is home to the second-largest share of the more than 325,000 immigrants with temporary protected status across the country, according to the county’s resolution.

 

MINNESOTA

The HENNEPIN COUNTY Board of Commissioners was set to vote last month on whether to change the management of the county crime lab, separating it from the sheriff’s office, which currently manages the lab. The proposal was pulled after Sheriff Rich Stanek opposed the measure, saying he didn’t want change to happen right away. Commissioners agreed but said they hope to revisit the issue soon. They say separating the lab from law enforcement helps guarantee impartial results and would save money according to studies that included input from law enforcement. The proposal would move funding and management to a new Forensic Crime Services Department, operating under county administration.

 

NEVADA

CLARK COUNTY will save more than $50,000 in 2018 by not automatically mailing absentee ballots to precincts with small populations. Registrar Joe Gloria told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the county’s voting centers that debuted in 2017 and allowed voters to cast their ballots anywhere in the county gave residents more options and would likely lead to the absentee ballots being wasted. The decision will affect about 4,800 registered voters across 131 “mail ballot precincts” but voters can still request absentee ballots.

 

NEW YORK

â–º     Gun shows are no longer welcome at the WESTCHESTER COUNTY Center or any other county-owned building following an executive order by County Executive George Latimer on his second day in office. “I believe the majority of the Board of Legislators, and myself as executive, believe very strongly that this is the wrong venue for a gun show,” he said, adding that the county was endorsing gun culture by allowing shows at a building that plays host to family-friendly events like basketball games and pet shows, The Journal News reported.

 

â–º     The YATES COUNTY Legislature voted Dec. 29 to approve a local law authorizing an alternative tax exemption for Cold War veterans. Cold War veterans, as defined by the state of New York, includes military service rendered from Sept. 2, 1945 through Dec. 26, 1991. The new law would exempt 10 percent of a property’s assessment up to $4,000.

 

NORTH CAROLINA

Hoping to address the affordable housing shortage, WAKE COUNTY commissioners passed a resolution urging all municipalities to allow accessory dwelling units, such as above-garage apartments and backyard cottages. The county allowed these “granny flats” starting in 2014, but the prime territory for this housing is in municipalities like Raleigh, where the units would be close to services and transit lines, The News and Observer reported.

 

OHIO

During a prolonged stretch of below-freezing temperatures, BUTLER COUNTY Sheriff Richard Jones has kept his office lobby open overnight for homeless people to take shelter. He has staff there overnight, which makes that measure possible.

Jones told The Journal-News that in those temperatures, “it’s very important” to have a place for the homeless to go when it’s this cold. “You’re not looking at thousands of people, but it’s the humane thing to do,” he said.

 

OKLAHOMA

CLEVELAND COUNTY is suing its jail’s inmate telephone service provider for breach of contract, alleging the company failed to pay the county its 67 percent share of revenue from the calls for several months. The Norman Transcript reports that the delinquent payments were discovered during a review of the jail’s finances. The proceeds fund jail operations.

 

OREGON

In an effort to remove barriers to access, the JACKSON COUNTY library system has eliminated late fines for up to three weeks past their return date. Outstanding fines have been forgiven. Revenue from those fines make up less than 1 percent of the library district’s annual budget, The Mail Tribune reported. Patrons who keep items for more than three weeks past their due date will be charged for their replacement, and they will be blocked from checking out more materials if their fines total $10.

 

PENNSYLVANIA

â–º     Lead testing is now mandatory for all children in ALLEGHENY COUNTY. The county health department will screen each child ages 9 to 12 months old and then again when they are 2 years old. If the child is considered high risk for lead exposure, he or she will be tested each year until they are 6 years old.

 

â–º     A judge forced into retirement is volunteering for most of the work he will do in the WESTMORELAND COUNTY family court division. John Driscoll sued the state five years ago to challenge the mandatory retirement age of 70, and worked as a part-time senior judge until the voters changed the state constitution to bump the age to 75. He can be paid to work up to 10 days a month, but plans to work without pay after he reaches that limit.

That will allow the court to be fully staffed. “I do like the work,” Driscoll told the Tribune Review. “A senior judge working full time is pretty cost effective.”

 

SOUTH CAROLINA

Sheriff’s deputies in BERKELEY COUNTY went on the offensive to combat mail thieves in December by deploying decoy packages equipped with GPS tracking devices, The Post and Courier reported. Once a package is moved, a message is sent to a central computer at the Sheriff’s Office and a deputy can respond. 

“If (thieves) pick the package up and run home or run and get in a vehicle, then we can track them and obviously investigate it and arrest them for taking a package off someone’s porch,” Sheriff Duane Lewis said.

 

TEXAS

Following Hurricane Harvey, HARRIS COUNTY commissioners have approved a proposal to require developers to elevate any new buildings within the 500-year floodplain in unincorporated areas. It could add up to almost 8 feet in some parts of the county. County Judge Ed Emmett called it the toughest floodplain building rule in the country, according to KHOU News.

 

UTAH

SAN JUAN COUNTY leaders plan to appeal a federal court ruling that requires the county to hold a special election in 2018 using new district boundaries for the County Commission and school board. The Navajo Nation sued in 2012 over voting districts drawn after the 2010 Census that gerrymandered their population. U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby found that the districts violated the Navajos’ rights. He approved new district maps that ensure significant American Indian majorities in two of three Commission districts and on four of five school board voting districts. But the county says that special election could interrupt continuity of service by the governing bodies.

“Under this scenario, there would be no one with experience on the County Commission or the school board. That would hardly constitute good governance and it would most certainly constitute a significant disruption to the ordinary process of governance. And then there is the matter of the current office holders and the electorate,” Jesse Trentadue, the attorney for San Juan County, wrote in the filing, Fox 13 News reported.

 

State lawmakers may require all cars pass emissions tests in counties with the poorest air quality. SALT LAKE, DAVIS, CACHE and WEBER counties already have the requirement.

 

VIRGINIA

A LOUDOUN COUNTY drone assisted SHENANDOAH COUNTY Sheriff’s deputies in finding a lost hunter. The man, who was 92 years old, did not return home from hunting in Shenandoah County. Within 20 minutes of the Loudoun County drone’s joining the effort, the hunter was located and the Shenandoah team was able to reach him. WTOP News reports the drone was purchased for Loudoun County’s Project Lifesaver program, which aims to track l people with Alzheimer’s or other medical conditions who are lost.

 

WASHINGTON

Solitary confinement has been banned at KING COUNTY’s juvenile justice facility since the 1990s, but now the practice has been banned for all minors held at the King County Jail and Maleng Regional Justice Center. The County Council passed an ordinance to that effect that also requires that imprisoned juveniles receive full access to educational programming. The practice started at the adult jails to protect them from older inmates. Council Member Claudia Balducci, formerly the director of the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, said banning solitary for juveniles “puts us absolutely on the right side of history and detention practice.”

 

News from Across the Nation is compiled by Charlie Ban and Mary Ann Barton, senior staff writers. If you have an item for News From, please email cban@naco.org or mbarton@naco.org.

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