Coronavirus

Despite Pandemic Threat, Gubernatorial Hopefuls Avoid COVID Nitty-Gritty

Voters who are deciding the next occupant of their governor’s mansion are also effectively choosing the next leader of their state’s COVID-19 response.

  • By Katheryn Houghton and Matt Volz , Kaiser Health News

Despite Pandemic Threat, Gubernatorial Hopefuls Avoid COVID Nitty-Gritty

Voters who are deciding the next occupant of their governor’s mansion are also effectively choosing the next leader of their state’s COVID-19 response.

  • By Katheryn Houghton and Matt Volz , Kaiser Health News
Coronavirus

Despite Pandemic Threat, Gubernatorial Hopefuls Avoid COVID Nitty-Gritty

Voters who are deciding the next occupant of their governor’s mansion are also effectively choosing the next leader of their state’s COVID-19 response.

  • By Katheryn Houghton and Matt Volz , Kaiser Health News

Carjackings, Delivery Vehicle Thefts Spike During Pandemic

"These are crimes of opportunity."

  • By Jenni Bergal, Stateline

Local and State Governments Spent $9 Billion on Small Business Aid

As the economy cratered during the pandemic, local and state governments offered an important financial lifeline for small businesses, according to a new report.

  • By Andrea Noble

Eleven States Join DOJ in Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Police in Colorado take off-road vehicles to homeless encampment to provide vaccines and Covid tests … Can city recoup cancelled RNC costs? … Colleges require flu shots.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Inside the Mind of an Anti-Vaxxer

The majority of Americans will need to take the coming COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s how to persuade those who won’t want to.

  • By Olga Khazan, The Atlantic

Covid-19 Patients Swamp Rural Hospitals

Hospitals are better prepared. But winter is likely to be brutal.

  • By Christine Vestal, Stateline

With Early Voting Crowds Come Long Lines, Last Minute Changes

More than 28 million people have already cast ballots for the presidential election as many states have changed absentee voting protocol to make it easier to vote early.

  • By Andrea Noble

Most Home Health Aides ‘Can’t Afford Not to Work’—Even When Lacking PPE

Union officials say that workers who've complained about not having adequate protective equipment on the job have experienced retaliation from employers.

  • By Eli Cahan, Kaiser Health News

Fast Moving Colorado Wildfire Still Raging in State

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Michigan prohibits voters from carrying guns to the polls … Virginia home health workers to get one-time bonus pay … Rhode Island cracks down on break rooms.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Federal Judge Rejects Work Requirement Changes in Food Stamp Program

Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., had filed a lawsuit challenging the USDA's changes to food assistance, which would have cut 700,000 adults from the program.

  • By Laura Maggi

Emissions Exposure May Increase Covid-19 Mortality

"The burden of pollution is not equally shared."

  • By Alex Brown, Stateline

The Third Coronavirus Surge Has Arrived

This week’s Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations make clear that the U.S. is once again sinking deeper into the pandemic.

  • By The COVID Tracking Project, The Atlantic

Featured eBooks

Cybersecurity in State and Local Government
New Initiatives in Public Health
County Government in a Time of Crisis

County Program Offers Grants to Help People Pay for Funerals

Residents in Maricopa County, Arizona, can apply for up to $1,200 toward funeral expenses if they've lost a loved one and also suffered financial losses during the coronavirus pandemic.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

To Better Address Covid, States Need to Use Data Better

COMMENTARY | Covid-19 exposed gaps in data use for state governments but it also revealed innovative practices that can be applied in the future.

  • By Jed Herrmann and Tyler Kleykamp

How Planning to Protect Data Privacy Helped One State’s Covid-19 Response

By creating standardized data sharing agreements that cover privacy issues unique to each state agency, Indiana officials say they were able to streamline requests to share data with the public.

  • By Andrea Noble

Inside the Covid Unit at the World’s Largest Women’s Prison

The Central California Women’s Facility quarantined prisoners with Covid-19 with those who never tested positive for the virus.

  • By Ko Bragg and Kate Sosin, The 19th

Covid-19 Cases Dropped by 75% in One State After Local Leaders Were Allowed to Require Masks

A CDC report said the drop followed a spike in cases in Arizona after the state's stay-at-home order expired, underscoring the utility of face coverings in curbing spread of the disease.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

K-12 Support Staff Hit by School Workforce Cuts

But employment losses in state and local education are still coming into focus.

  • By Bill Lucia

Sleepless Nights, Hair Loss and Cracked Teeth: Pandemic Stress Takes Its Toll

“The mental health component of COVID is starting to come like a tsunami,” said on psychiatrist.

  • By Aneri Pattani, Kaiser Health News

Are Americans Losing Trust in the FDA?

Experts worry that politically-motivated acts by the Trump administration will undermine Covid-19 therapies.

  • By Teresa Carr, Undark

How State IT Officials Ramped Up Capacity, Security As Workers Went Remote

From increasing the capacity of VPN infrastructure to rethinking the IT help desk, chief information officers had to address new challenges during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

  • By Andrea Noble