National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C.            Vol. 31, No. 9 * May 10, 1999

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HUDSON COUNTY (N.J.) Executive Robert Janiszewski (center) signs the county’s "living wage" ordinance in a ceremony outside the Brennan Court House as local and state labor leaders and the county Board of Chosen Freeholders look on. The freeholders unanimously approved the living wage ordinance, which requires at least 150 percent of minimum wage for employees of private firms that staff county buildings.

ARKANSAS

• The Wolf House, probably the oldest building in the state, now belongs to BAXTER COUNTY. The Norfork City Council voted to give the two-story log building to the county recently.
  
  The log building has a colorful history and was used as a courthouse before Arkansas was a state. The county plans to secure grants to restore the building to its 19th century condition.
  
  Ultimately both Norfork and Baxter County hope to get Wolf House into the state’s park system. That might not be an easy task. The state has a moratorium on new parks. It was part of a deal with voters to help pass a 1986 sales tax increase to support parks.
  
  

CALIFORNIA

• ORANGE COUNTY will start airing ads to build support for a new airport at the old El Toro military base. The board of supervisors approved five ads at about $30,000 apiece.
  
  The board was split three to two. Proponents of the airport said the advertising budget is too small. Opponents said the ads discount alternative ideas for the facility.
  
  
• It’s getting more expensive to pack heat in ORANGE COUNTY. The county’s board of supervisors voted to increase the application fee for a concealed weapons permit from $5 to $100 to help the sheriff’s department cover a larger portion of its expenses.
  
  Officials estimate it costs more than $200 to process an application. The maximum the state will allow a county to charge for a permit is $100.
  
  Sheriff Mike Carona was recently elected on a promise of approving more concealed weapons permits. That touched off a flood of new applications. The waiting list in March had more than 600 names.
  
  Added to the county’s $100 fee is a $90 state charge for a background check.
  
  

COLORADO

• Fens, marshes and bogs are breathing a sigh of relief in SUMMIT COUNTY. The county commission passed a resolution recently to protect alpine wetlands.
  
  The resolution articulates a "no loss" policy, requiring that wetlands that are damaged by developers must be repaired or replaced by the creation of new wetlands.
  
  Summit County is a resort area, and developers who fought the proposal for years are generally happy with the final product, which reflects some of their concerns, according to The Denver Post.
  
  

ILLINOIS

• PEORIA COUNTY has opened an education center to teach residents about the joys and benefits of recycling. The county took the wraps off the center on, appropriately enough, Earth Day, April 22.
  
  The center has interactive displays, murals and samples of recycled products to teach residents that recycling not only saves resources, it reduces pollution and saves space in the nation’s straining landfills.
  
  

MICHIGAN

• WAYNE COUNTY joins the list of counties filing lawsuits against gun makers and merchants. The county and Detroit name 31 companies in two separate lawsuits, but are likely to pool their efforts, according to The Associated Press.
  
  Other cities and counties around the country have filed such suits. In federal court in February gun makers were found liable for shootings and ordered to pay $500,000 in damages.
  
  

MINNESOTA

• The ASSOCIATION OF MINNESOTA COUNTIES is among a group of leading state organizations looking at the devastation that low commodity prices are visiting on the state’s rural areas.
  
  Members of the coalition, which includes bankers, the state’s department of agriculture and the extension service, are well aware of the problems state farmers are facing.
  
  Still, they said they can’t predict when commodity prices will turn. Tax relief is one possible short-term measure being discussed.
  
  Minnesota isn’t alone in experiencing pain in the agriculture sector. NACo passed a policy resolution at the Legislative Conference to urge Congress to investigate the forces driving commodity prices to historic lows.
  
  

NEVADA

• After eight long years on the force and more than 1,200 drug busts to her credit, Mattie recently retired from the CLARK COUNTY Sheriff’s office. The nine-year-old black Labrador retriever received a cake, retirement badge and plaque at her going-away bash. Mattie’s drug-sniffing duties are being taken over by Shadow, a 20-month old German shepherd.
  
  

NEW YORK

• The NASSAU COUNTY Foster Grandparent Program was recently part of a special nationwide awareness campaign to prevent the unintentional death and injury of children. During National Safe Kids Week May 1–8, foster grandparents distributed the publication "Safety Check: A Loving Reminder for All Grandparents."
  
  The program is funded by the Corporation for National Service and the state Office for the Aging and is administered by the county Department of Senior Citizen Affairs. For more information about the program, call 516/572-0800.
  
  

OHIO

• Call 911. There’s a fight in HAMILTON COUNTY over a new emergency communications system.
  
  Everyone agrees that it’s needed. What they don’t agree on is how to pay for it. Hamilton County Democratic leaders told the Cincinnati Post that the $63.7 million system should be partially paid for out of the county government’s $43 million surplus.
  
  The county argues that part of that is for a rainy day fund and the rest is already earmarked. Voters were set to vote last week on paying for the new system with a four-year hike in their property taxes. The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $30.92 per year.
  
  

TEXAS

• Gov. George W. Bush and country music star Willie Nelson were singing the praises of the gussied-up HILL COUNTY courthouse recently. They were among thousands who turned up to help the county dedicate the $10 million renovation, after the 100-year old structure was gutted by a fire six years ago. Architects used faded photographs and the memories of longtime residents to reconstruct the building as close as possible to its original state.
  

UTAH

• County attorneys in the state are in a snit over a law that goes into effect in 2001 that strips them of much of their civil authority, according to a recent article by the Associated Press.
  "What is the purpose of electing county attorneys if they have to take orders from county commissioners?" questioned Karl Hendrickson, who heads an effort by the Statewide Association of Public Attorneys to retain some powers of county attorneys.
  
  David Leavitt, the attorney for JUAB COUNTY, says the new law, signed by his big brother Gov. Mike Leavitt, is OK with him. He says he "bows to the will of the county commission" on all civil matters and maintains he was elected to act independently only as a prosecutor.
  
  

(News From the Nation's Counties is compiled by Mary Ann Barton and Kevin Wilcox, senior staff writers. Got some news? Send it to mbarton@naco.org or kwilcox@naco.org. Or fax 202/393-2630.)