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In One Kentucky Community, Dogs Rule—Literally
Wilbur, a 6-month-old French bulldog, is the latest canine mayor of Rabbit Hash, an unincorporated community in Kentucky that's been led by dogs since the late 1990s.
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North Dakota Will Allow Covid-Positive Hospital Staff to Keep Working
STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Money runs out on Honolulu rail project … El Paso County plans to set up 10 mobile morgues as Covid deaths rise … Most Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical of ACA challenge.
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State and Local Leaders Tapped to Assist With Biden Transition
The president-elect’s “agency review teams,” including one focused on transportation, will in some cases be led by state and local government officials.
Nextgov
Top Tech Companies Begin Pushing Priorities for Biden Administration
Microsoft, IBM and other companies urged the president-elect to consider policies for boosting workforce development, solving the pandemic and addressing biometrics in surveillance.
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Governments Offered Hazard Pay to Frontline Workers. Can They Keep It Up?
With the virus surging across the country, it is unclear whether governments will again offer lump sum payments or keep paying out augmented salaries.
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San Francisco Voters Approve ‘Overpaid Executive Tax’
The surcharge will apply to businesses where top executives earn more than 100 times the median pay level for a company’s employees in the city.
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One Republican Governor Reversed Course on a Mask Mandate. Others Are Still Resisting.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert declared an indefinite statewide mask mandate on Sunday as coronavirus cases continue to spike around the country, but other governors—including those in states hit hardest by the virus—haven't budged.
Nextgov
Analysts See ‘First Glimmers of Sustained Growth’ in Under-30 Federal IT Workforce
After a decade of declining ratios of younger-to-older federal technology employees, analysts see the start of a turnaround.
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Invasive Weed Found in Michigan Grows Six Inches a Day
The mile-a-minute weed, discovered at a nature center in Albion, can persist in the soil for up to six years.
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Pelosi Touts Possible Bipartisan Cooperation on Infrastructure After Election
The House speaker also said she has no plans to stop pressing for a big coronavirus relief deal. Meanwhile, at least one top Senate Republican also indicated it’s possible Democrat and GOP lawmakers could come together on a public works plan.
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Puerto Ricans Voted in Favor of Statehood. What Happens Now?
The territory’s only likely path toward statehood would come through Democratic control of the House, Senate, and White House.
Nextgov
OMB Confirms Appointment of Controversial New Federal CISO
Camilo Sandoval, a former acting CIO for the Veterans Affairs Department, was the director of the Trump campaign’s data operations in 2016.
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Mayors Reelected in Two Cities that Saw Extensive Protests
The mayors of Portland, Oregon and Richmond, Virginia will both move on to another term. Meanwhile, new mayors will take office in Baltimore, Honolulu and Miami-Dade.
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Mississippi Abolishes Jim Crow-Era State Voting System
The relic from the state’s 1890 constitution, one of several provisions designed to dilute the power of Black voters, was abolished through a ballot initiative that won by a blowout margin.
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For Decades, Denver Outlawed Pit Bulls. Voters Just Overturned the Ban.
The city passed a pit-bull ban in 1989 after multiple people reported being attacked by the breed, although research has shown that such policies have little effect on public safety.
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California Voters Approve Carveout for Lyft and Uber Drivers from State Labor Law
Tech companies spent heavily on a campaign for the measure, which labor groups say is flawed. Supporters say it provides a template for “gig worker” regulations in other states.
Nextgov
IG: Treasury’s IT Challenges Persist But No More So Than Other Agencies
Three projects were identified as having a medium risk of failure due to cost and schedule overruns.
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Vote Count Continues in Battleground States
As President Trump falsely complained of "fraud" in the continued counting and former Vice President Joe Biden urged patience, election officials explained a crush of mail-in ballots and limitations on when officials could start tallying them has led to delays in results.
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Republicans Win in Montana, Missouri Governors' Races
Elsewhere, there were few surprises on election night with governors' contests. Eight incumbents were reelected, five of them Republicans. And a favored GOP candidate won in Utah.
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