National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C.            Vol. 31, No. 17 * September 13, 1999

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Broadband issues featured in e-newsletter
News stories about the latest on the high-speed Internet front are featured in the first issue of Broadband Bulletin, published by FasterNet.org, http://www.fasternet.org.
FasterNet.org is part of the Keep America Connected Campaign, a coalition of 31 groups representing older Americans, people with disabilities, rural and inner city residents, people of color, lower income citizens, labor and telecommunications providers.

Harris County, Texas auctions items online
Move over eBay, you’ve got some competition. The Harris County (Texas) Purchasing Department is auctioning off everything from a Suzuki violin to a Nintendo Game Boy on its county Web site, http://www.purchasing.co.harris.tx.us/auction.shtml, starting this week.
The surplus and confiscated property used to be sold at live auctions held quarterly. The county would pay about $5,000 to staff the Saturday auctions, with Harris County Purchasing Agent Jack McCown donating his time as the auctioneer.
In a test last month, the county sold 100 items, netting $2,935 on its Harris County Online Auction System. At first, the county was afraid that people might say they were discriminating against residents who do not have Internet access.
But access to the Internet is as close as a resident’s public library, said Manager Tony Riddle. “With the live auctions, you could say we were discriminating against people who didn’t have a car or a babysitter.”
Another advantage: If you can’t “attend” the auction live via Internet, you can register your highest bid for an item and the county will bid for you, increasing by $1 increments if there is another bidder.
Money raised in the auctions goes to a general revenue account in the county treasury.

Got something to say? Head to one of NACo’s discussion forums
NACo has added discussion forums to its Web site. Just head to http://www.naco.org/counties/forums.cfm to see which ones you’re interested in. These are a perfect way to pose your concerns about county matters. Look for more discussion areas in the future.

Webcast on violence prevention set for Sept. 14
Trying to find solutions on how you can prevent violence in your community? Head to www.pbs.org/seekingsolutions on Sept. 14 from 9–11 a.m. ET for a live Webcast from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The event will include participation from Education Secretary Richard Riley, James Burch, youth gang director, U.S. Department of Justice, as well as community activists who have sparked grass roots action in their own hometowns.

The ultimate search engine
So you’re looking for something on the Internet and you’re skipping around between search engines – if you can’t find it on Yahoo, maybe you’re trying Excite or HotBot.
Well, how about trying The BigHub.com? Just head to http://www.thebighub.com/ and it will spit out results from each search engine you check.

(Web Watch is compiled by Mary Ann Barton, senior staff writer. Got some news? Send it to mbarton@naco.org.)