CALIFORNIA
·LOS ANGELES COUNTY recently launched the state's first regional drug court, accepting participants from multiple court jurisdictions. "Santa Monica will eventually be a five-district program," said Robert Mimura, executive director of the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordination Committee. "It's probably the most unique drug court in the state because all of the other state programs are in single districts."
Rather than incarcerate and reincarcerate the offender for chronic relapses, drug court hopes to give abusers an opportunity to break the cycle of drugs and crime by introducing treatment as an alternative. In return for a chance to avoid criminal conviction, participants agree to close monitoring, drug testing and counseling.
MICHIGAN
·The counties of CHEBOYGAN, CHARLEVOIX and EMMET are banding together to enhance their 911 service. The three counties' public safety departments - police, fire and emergency services - have switched to Hi-Band frequency. (For more information, contact Jim Tamlyn at 616/436-5351.)
NEW JERSEY
·In UNION COUNTY, fish are biting ... at mosquitoes. The county is touting the advantages of using flat head minnows to control 20 species of the pesky insect in a recent program it started. Those advantages include low cost - the fish are provided free by the state and a labor pool is already in place. Using fish also means not using chemicals, so the program is environment-friendly.
OHIO
·If everyone had a living will, Medicare costs could be reduced by 27 percent, according to studies advocated by FRANKLIN COUNTY Recorder Richard Metcalf.
The solution? Living wills. Metcalf says although most people (90 percent in his county) would like to have a living will (the document that makes your life support intentions known), less than 10 percent are actually used when the time comes. That's because most hospitals have no way of locating the will, since the person is usually in a coma. Metcalf points out that the average person with a living will saves $65,000, and that those who remain on life support also wipe out any savings they might have had.
Franklin County is offering to file living wills at a reduced cost of $20. Records will also soon be on the Internet, making it easier for hospitals to access a living will. (For more information, contact Metcalf at 614/462-3930.)
WASHINGTON
·PIERCE COUNTY's garbage may soon enter the cutting edge of trash technology. One byproduct of rotting garbage, a foul-smelling gas, may soon be turned into methane fuel, a clean-burning alternative to gasoline and diesel fuel. The landfill gas in now burned off, adding pollutants to the air.
TerraMeth Industries of Walnut Creek, Calif. was recently issued a permit to begin the $10 million project, which would also provide a big improvement in air quality. Washington's Economic Development Finance Authority recently approved the sale of $9.8 million worth of tax-exempt bonds to finance the project.
NEW YORK
NASSAU COUNTY expects to reap between $25 million to $30 million when the U.S. Open golf tournament comes to town in 2002. The U.S. Golf Association recently announced the county as the site for the premier sporting event. Applauding its announcement are: (lr) Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta, Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney, New York Governor George Pataki and New York State Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro.
(News From is compiled by Mary Ann Barton, senior staff writer.)