Boston’s Big Fiber Deal With Verizon; Kentucky Gov.’s University Budget Cuts

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
TELECOMMUNICATIONS | Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced a six-year, $300 million investment from Verizon to replace the city’s copper-wire infrastructure with a fiber network. The city has agreed to implement an accelerated permitting process for the fiber installation, which will start in the Dorchester, West Roxbury and the Dudley Square neighborhoods. "Boston is moving faster than our current infrastructure can support, and a modern fiber-optic communications platform will make us a next level city," Mayor Walsh said in a statement. [City of Boston]

FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY
BUDGET CUTS | Gov. Matt Bevin is insisting that mid-year budget cuts to state universities are within his legal authority. Attorney General Andy Beshear has filed a lawsuit to reverse the cuts, which would reduce the current-year appropriations to public universities and community colleges by 4.5 percent. In response, Bevin took a swipe at Beshear saying, “He needs to clean up the mess in his own house," a reference to the federal bribery charge leveled last month against Tim Longmeyer, who had served as Beshear’s deputy attorney general. [Courier Journal]

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
LEGISLATIVE RELATIONS | Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vetoed more legislation sent to him than any Virginia governor since 1998—that’s 32 bills out of 811 sent to his desk for consideration. The Democratic governor told reporters on Monday that legislators in the Republican-controlled General Assembly shouldn’t be surprised that he used his veto pen, since he told them that he would not approve any bill that attacked LGBT rights or women’s access to health care services. [The Washington Post]

CHEYENNE, WYOMING
BARNYARD ANIMALS | Local officials in Wyoming’s capital city are considering new rules that would allow residents to keep chickens in coops on their property. On Monday, the Cheyenne City Council recently approved an ordinance on the matter on second reading and if it passes on a third reading, it will become law. Under the rules, residents would be able to keep five hens—but no roosters—but would need approval from all adjacent property owners. [Wyoming Tribune Eagle]

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
PARKS AND RECREATION | Municipal golf courses aren’t usually a cash cow for cities looking for a steady stream of revenue. If anything, city-owned golf courses are a costly expense for taxpayers. In Iowa’s second-largest city, officials have hired a consultant to evaluate options, which could lead to privatization of the four municipal golf courses. Cedar Rapids’ golf department was, on average, $350,000 in the red the previous three fiscal years and has a $2 million net deficit. [The Gazette]

ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA
CRIME | It’s always good to lock your car, even when you’re at home. Just ask Orange County Mayor Teresa Johnson. Car thieves made off with an unlocked SUV parked in the mayor’s driveway, which was captured on surveillance video. “None of us are immune to crime, and this serves as an excellent reminder to take all precautions,” the mayor said in a statement. [Orlando Sentinel]

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
PARKING | Members of the City Council are scheduled to vote on an amended ordinance on Wednesday that would make it far easier for owners of pick-up trucks to park on residential streets in the nation’s third-largest city. Currently, pick-up owners have to secure a special permit or risk a ticket. [Chicago Tribune]

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
UNEMPLOYMENT | A new state and local agency website will serve as a conduit for unemployed oil workers to booming careers in the natural gas sector in southern Louisiana. AcadianaOpportunity.com is a cross-sector collaborative effort to connect more than 12,000 displaced workers with training and jobs. “Protecting our base is priority No. 1,” said the president and CEO of One Acadiana. [The Advocate]

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
LEAD | Councilman Jay Schenirer wants the city to test for lead contamination in residential yards near a Sacramento gun range. The range, which is located in a park that also includes a playground, swimming pool and athletic fields, was closed in 2014 following tests that revealed high levels of lead indoors and on the building’s roof. The city, however, never notified residents that lead was the reason for the facility’s closure. Likewise, the city has yet to clean the range, and only recently ordered tests of the soil adjacent to the building as a result of an investigation by The Sacramento Bee. Residents are demanding more information about why they were never informed of the potential for lead contamination. “The city should have told us,” one resident said. “We would have had the choice whether we wanted to step foot in that park or not.” [The Sacramento Bee]

NORMAN, OKLAHOMA
DAMS | All is not as it should be in Norman. Summit Lake’s earthen Misty Dam is leaking, threatening surrounding homes. Homeowners James and Dawn Tomlins have reported that their house has sunk by at least two inches as water seeps under the structure. The Water Resources Board includes the problem on its “high hazard” list, yet questions remain about who will pay to fix it. [The Oklahoman]