Attorney General Jeff Sessions Is Cracking Down on Legal Marijuana
The attorney general reportedly aims to close off the legal gray area that has allowed legal marijuana to flourish in more than half of U.S. states.
Justice Department Rescinds Obama-era Marijuana Guidance
The move by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions stirs uncertainty for states that have legalized cannabis sales and production.
Blaming States, Trump Dissolves Election Integrity Commission
The body struggled to compile concrete evidence of widespread voter fraud, wracking up lawsuits over voter suppression in the process.
The mobile mandate: Congress requires mobile friendly websites
The Connected Government Act requires all new or redesigned federal websites to be mobile friendly.
With California’s Largest Wildfire on Record Nearly Contained, Officials Warn of New Danger
The Thomas Fire has been winding down but the risk of mudslides has put state and local agencies on alert. “Every canyon within this burn zone is at risk.”
The Quandary of Designing Streets and Sidewalks to Protect Against Rare Events
Bollards and barriers can help protect pedestrians and crowds from malicious and unintended acts by motorists but can also limit walkability and pose their own hazards and nuisances.
All states opt in to FirstNet
The planned national wireless interoperable emergency responder network got 100 percent buy in, but some stakeholders needed some prodding.
Cities tap startups for innovation infusion
With the Startup in Residence program, municipal agencies get a fresh perspective on their civic challenges, and startups get the opportunity to tap into the government technology market.
Felony Conviction Rates Have Risen Sharply, But Unevenly
The share of the population living with a felony conviction has gone up sharply in Georgia and Florida, while West Virginia and New Hampshire still have relatively low rates.
In opioid epidemic, states intensify prescription drug monitoring
At least 39 states are insisting that health professionals use prescription drug-monitoring programs to analyze each patient’s prescription drug use before writing another prescription for highly addictive drugs.
As Boston, N.Y. Mayors Start Their 2nd Terms, a Focus on Housing Affordability
In their inauguration speeches, Marty Walsh and Bill de Blasio discuss what may be the the most difficult policy challenge U.S. city halls are facing.
Prison Food Is Making U.S. Inmates Disproportionately Sick
Lapses in food safety have made U.S. prisoners six times more likely to get a foodborne illness than the general population.
Explore Route Fifty's 2017 Newsmap
We have a big country to cover. Take a look at what we wrote about this past year via our interactive map.
California Says the Only Safe Way to Talk on Your Cell Phone Is to Text
The California guidelines have been in the works since 2009, but after 27 draft versions the state abandoned the document without publishing it before before a judge compelled their release.
Prison Health Care Spending Varies Dramatically by State
Why such a discrepancy, and what does it indicate?
The Gem State Is Now the Nation’s Fastest Growing
Newly released U.S. Census Bureau figures show growth—and population loss—in the 50 states.
Memphis's Novel Strategy for Tearing Down Confederate Statues
In a surprise move Wednesday evening, the city sold two parks to a nonprofit corporation that promptly tore down monuments to Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis.
New CDC Data: 2016 Was the Deadliest Year Yet for the Opioid Crisis
More people died from overdoses in 2016 than died from AIDS in 1995, the peak of that crisis.
NYC to expand online voter registration
New legislation calls for a portal and mobile app that allows residents to submit their information and electronically sign a voter registration form.
The Most Expensive Weather Year Ever
Economists are tallying the damage from the fires and the hurricanes, and finding their true costs immeasurable.
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link
If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.
Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.
Cookie List
A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:
Strictly Necessary Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Functional Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Performance Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Social Media Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Targeting Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.