News From Across the Nation - May 28

The LARIMER COUNTY Planning Commission recently recommended that county commissioners reject a water project, the Thornton Pipeline. The project would have shuttled water from Poudre River through northern Colorado. The commission members voted 4-2 after a packed five-hour hearing, saying the application for the 75-mile pipeline lacked details, Coloradoan.com reported. More than 200 people came to the meeting, most of them in opposition of the pipeline.

FLORIDA

● Using drones to control the mosquito population? Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has named LEE COUNTY’s mosquito control district one of only 10 state, local and tribal government entities to be selected for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program. That means the county’s mosquito control operations can incorporate drone technology under more relaxed standards than under current law. The county will use the drones for tracking down mosquito larvae.

● MIAMI-DADE COUNTY will be home to the nation’s largest mall after the American Dream Miami retail theme park won final zoning approval from the county. The $4 billion mega-mall will be built on undeveloped land off of the Florida Turnpike, according to a report by the Miami-Herald. In a 9–1 vote, county commissioners approved changing the county growth and zoning designations to allow the developer to create an even larger version of its signature property, Mall of America, in Minnesota. Developers still have more county hurdles including permits for environmental mitigation, sewage capacity and water use.

● SEMINOLE COUNTY will soon begin accepting bitcoin as payment for county services like taxes and driver’s licenses, Tax Collector Joel Greenberg announced recently. The county will work with a cryptocurrency e-commerce payments company. Greenberg said using a cryptocurrency payment system will help the county settle payments faster and cheaper than is possible with traditional credit card processors “We live in a world where technology has made access to services on demand … and we should expect the same from our government,” he said. “The aim of my tenure in office is to make our customer experience faster, smarter and more efficient…”

IDAHO

BLAINE COUNTY has suspended the county’s mixed-paper recycling program due to new regulations in China, the largest buyer and processor of recycled materials, according to the Mountain Express. China tightened its acceptable contamination levels for mixed paper from 5 percent to 0.5 percent due to a glut in the market. “My top priority is research, and finding any place that will take the paper, even if it’s at a cost,” County Commissioner Angenie McCleary told the newspaper. Read more about the issue in County News here: https://bit. ly/2rIOtZK.

MARYLAND

BALTIMORE COUNTY is celebrating the grand opening of a multi-use facility that will primarily serve as an equine arena and learning center. The nearly $3 million facility, named for Kevin Kamenetz, the Baltimore County executive who died unexpectedly May 10, will host a range of equine experiences. The center will include life-changing programs for veterans at the 12.7-acre facility, which is located on the grounds of the Baltimore County Center for Maryland Agriculture and Farm Park.

NEBRASKA

Rural counties in Nebraska could follow GARDEN COUNTY’s lead in converting to voting by mail. The county of just over 2,000 people piloted the program in one precinct during the 2016 general election. Now-Secretary of State John Gale will use Garden County’s primary election as a test for similar counties. Eliminating precinct voting also means eliminating the need to find poll workers to operate the polling locations, which “has become an increasing challenge for smaller counties,” Gale told the Star-Herald. “Many county clerks have expressed interest in having by-mail elections.”

NEVADA

The future of LYON COUNTY’s four brothels will be put to the voters in November. The Board of Commissioners voted to draft language to place an advisory question on the ballot that will give voters the option to rescind the county’s brothel ordinance. The brothels, legal in the county since 1971, generate about $400,000 per year in revenue for the county in regulatory permits, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. The anti-sex trafficking group No Little Girl submitted a petition asking for the referendum.

NEW YORK

ERIE COUNTY Clerk Michael Kearns will refuse to allow undocumented immigrants the opportunity to apply for a driver’s license if such a plan passes the Legislature. “We will not process any of these licenses in Erie County,” Kearns said. “As straightforward and direct as that, we will not do that.” The proposal would allow undocumented immigrants to get a driver’s license using their foreign passport, WIVB News reported. Kearns also plans to write to the president of the New York State Clerk’s Association, asking for a resolution to be passed opposing the idea.

OHIO

The MONTGOMERY COUNTY Recorder’s Office has created a free notification system for residents to use to prevent fake filing of home or property records. The Deed Transfer Division of the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office says more than 12 people were suspected of deed fraud since 2017. Six suspects were involved in taking possession of filing fraudulent deeds and other false documents in nearby HAMILTON COUNTY.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Scuttled boats in BRUNSWICK COUNTY could add to the county’s coffers, thanks to a 2017 ordinance. County deputies are removing and auctioning off abandoned boats, following the adoption of the ordinance last year. The deputies attempt to reach owners, but failing to do so, the country will hold auctions for the boats. The first two went unclaimed at auction, the Star News reported, so they were taken to the landfill to be destroyed.

SOUTH DAKOTA

● The MEADE COUNTY Commission recently voted to continue current agriculture land values despite a continued drought. The U.S. Drought Monitor recently listed nearly two-thirds of Meade County in the moderate drought category. The remaining third is listed as abnormally dry. The Black Hills Pioneer reports some commissioners say the adjustment could set a bad precedent or shift the tax burden to taxpayers that aren’t affected.

● In 1965, MINNEHAHA COUNTY sheriff’s deputy Gene Abdallah arrested two drunken teens, and while transporting them to jail, one of them stole his badge. Fifty-three years later, Duke Tufty, now a minister in Kansas City, returned the badge to Abdallah, who went on to have a long career in law enforcement and 12 years in the state Legislature.

“When I woke up sober the next morning, I was pretty ashamed of what I had done,” Tufty told the Argus Leader. Tufty kept the badge in a box of keepsakes and would see it every few years before deciding to return it and spend an hour talking with Abdallah.

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.