National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C.            Vol. 31, No. 12 * June 21, 1999

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ARIZONA

• o Is your dog missing? Call 911. Pets 911, that is. MARICOPA COUNTY is teaming up with a non-profit group to operate a 24-hour hotline for pet information.
  
  Before the Pets 911 system, a person trying to find a missing pet had to call shelters and agencies all over the county, trying to track down an errant Spot. With the new system, all those shelters and agencies will be connected.
  
  Officials are hoping that the system, which will also include adoption information and pet care advice, will help reduce pet euthanasia. There were 55,000 in the county last year.
  
  

CALIFORNIA

• KERN COUNTY officials want to know which drug and alcohol treatment programs work and which ones don’t. So the county is participating in a three-year state and national pilot study.
  Kern is part of the California Treatment Outcome Project, which will start July 1. About 500 county clients will be tracked for three years. The county will find out how they respond to treatment and what happens to them when they leave the program.
  
  The county and the state already track the programs, but this tracking doesn’t explain why some people can succeed in one program, but not another.
  
  
• As if ORANGE COUNTY’s debate over what to do with the old El Toro military base isn’t complicated enough, in steps the city of Irvine with a plan to annex the site.
  
  The city apparently wants to block the county’s plans to build an international airport. The county board and citizens have been debating for months whether to build an airport and how big it should be. A small part of the base is already within city limits. The lion’s share is under county jurisdiction.
  
  Irvine’s annexation proposal must go before a county board, where the city must demonstrate that the county would not lose tax revenue in the annexation. Both city and county officials admit the annexation plan faces serious hurdles, and agree that it could throw a wrench in the county’s plans.
  
  

ILLINOIS

• MENARD COUNTY is going into radio, but Howard Stern doesn’t have to worry about his ratings dropping. The county will broadcast tourism information around the clock.
  
  About 600,000 people visit New Salem every year. The county wants to use the radio station to guide the visitors to other area attractions, such as bed and breakfasts.
  
  The station will pump out 10 watts of sound, which should cover a four-mile area. One benefit is that the county can phone in new programming, rather than having someone drive to the transmitter tower.
  
  The county is using a $15,000 grant from the state to pay for the station.
  
  

IOWA

• When it was time to publish the 1998 annual report, POLK COUNTY let their imaginations run wild. This is fitting, because the theme is that the county is working for citizens in "ways you’ve never imagined." This is the same theme as a recent series of NACo public service announcements available to counties.
  
  The report cover is a vanity license plate, replica, enscribed with "imagined." The county printed the report on cardboard and used a spiral binding to make it easy to flip through.
  
  Inside, the report stresses all the services the county delivers, from parks and public works, to social services and a Y2K program that is on schedule to fix all the counties computer problems by September.
  
  

MINNESOTA

• HENNEPIN COUNTY is trying to make it as easy as possible to quit smoking. The county and the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco gave away 2,000 free nicotine patch kits this spring.
  
  A pharmaceutical company donated the patch kits, which include a cassette tape, handbook and a six-week supply of patches. It’s valued at $120.
  
  "Thanks to the donation of these patch kits, we were able to help people kick the habit," said Randy Johnson, chair of the Hennepin County Board, and NACo’s immediate past president. "If this saves one life, it was a success."
  
  
• The WASHINGTON COUNTY Sheriff’s Department is trying to save lives in Minnesota, too. They’re focusing on catching a black panther that’s apparently prowling near the town of Hugo.
  There’s a Center for Endangered Cats in the area, and officials think the panther could be an escapee. The cat has been spotted lapping up blood outside a butcher shop, crossing area roads and running through fields.
  The state Department of Natural Resources doesn’t even have a panther trap. They’re going to try some fresh meat in a bear trap.
  
  

NEW MEXICO

• The coast is clear for Crazy Ground Hog, Cuckoo Waterfall and Crazy Jacks. They are among a list of "safe and sane" fireworks welcome in BERNALILLO COUNTY. The Board of Commissioners recently banned most fireworks, open fires, and campfires, but issued a list of "safe and sane" fireworks for use by residents.
  
  Raising concerns about wildfires, commissioners voted 5–0 for the temporary ban. The legislature and governor passed a bill in January giving local governing bodies the authority to temporarily ban or restrict the use of fireworks.
  
  

NEVADA

• A private disposal service may spend more than $36 million to clean up a gas-seeping, smelly landfill in exchange for a contract extension through 2035, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
  
  That’s the deal the CLARK COUNTY Commission was expected to approve recently to resolve a lengthy debate over the closed dump and to comply with a federal order demanding action.
  
  The agreement shouldn’t cause a rate increase for trash pickup for residents and businesses. Under a county ordinance passed this year, rate increases are tied to the nation’s inflation rate.
  
  The property is owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the county is taking steps to acquire it. The property, once fixed, could be turned into a golf course or park.
  
  

NEW YORK

• A group appointed by the ONONDAGA COUNTY Legislature and Syracuse Common Council wants to arrange a marriage between the county and city economic development departments, according to a recent article in Syracuse Online.
  
  Officials have been calling for certain city and county departments to merge since County Executive Nicholas Pirro called for the merging of the two purchasing departments in his annual address three years ago, the news service reports.
  
  A merger of the economic development departments would help marketing efforts, says Donald Western, who heads the county development office.
  The county office employs five and has an annual budget of $363,972. The city office, which has the added responsibility of administering several million dollars’ worth of federal CDBG funds, employs 11 and has a locally generated budget of about $500,000.
  
  

NORTH CAROLINA

• Paper food stamps have become a thing of the past in MECKLENBURG COUNTY. The county has trained most of the 13,000 people who are eligible for food stamps. As of June 1, 10,000 had received training on the new Electronic Benefits Transfer system. The county Department of Social Services is coordinating the training, which takes place daily at a local church. By state mandate, the head of the family that receives food stamps must take the training before they can access benefits.
  
  The cards are similar to bank cards and were mailed to recipients prior to the start of training in May. Training includes how to use the cards and selection of a personal identification number.
  
  

NORTH DAKOTA

• An ex-Marine who said he would shoot anyone who came between him and a judge was arrested recently outside the CASS COUNTY Courthouse, according to The Forum, a local newspaper.
  
  Officers found a loaded assault rifle and several hundred rounds of ammo in his car. Three pipes and materials to make pipe bombs also were taken from the car, along with more than 200 rounds of other ammunition, smoke grenades and a British military survival manual.
  
  The disgruntled man was angry at a judge who asked him, several weeks ago, to surrender a large knife – a seven-inch blade stamped with "USMC" – while being served with an arrest warrant in March.
  
  

VIRGINIA

• FAIRFAX COUNTY recently opened an office in London to showcase the county as a prime technology business location to British technology companies.
  
  "With our strong technology community and availability of venture capital, Fairfax County is an ideal location for emerging and established technology firms from the UK and throughout Europe who want to market in the United States or to partner with Fairfax County companies," said Gerald L. Gordon, president of the county Economic Development Authority.
  
  The office is the second international office for the county. The first opened in Tokyo in 1997.
  

(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.)