Best of #StateReads: Why Louisiana Leads the World in Imprisonment
By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org
May 16–This week’s collection of #StateReads covers why Louisiana has the highest imprisonment rate in the world, the rise of education advocacy groups that often combat teacher unions in statehouses and questionable investments by the teachers’ pension fund in Texas.
These examples of extraordinary journalism about state government were recommended in tweets using the #StateReads hashtag on Twitter and in email submissions to dvock@stateline.org.
“Louisiana Incarcerated” — The Times-Picayune
“Louisiana,” writes Cindy Chang (@CindyChangTP), “is the world’s prison capital.” The state has twice the number of people in prison per capita as the national average, which means it leads the world, too. The Times-Picayune is running an eight-part series on the factors for the high rate and its consequences. Counties and private prison companies benefit from building new prisons for state prisoners and offer the inmates few services. Meanwhile, a state penitentiary in Angola offers far more generous programs, such as training for vocational skills, but the programs are of little use, because the vast majority of prisoners there are serving life sentences.
“The changing face of education advocacy” — Education Week
Reporters Stephen Sawchuk (@TeacherBeat) and Sean Cavanagh (@EdWeekSCavanagh) examine the sudden rise of groups lobbying state legislators and getting involved in statehouse races to push their recipe for improving schools. Groups such as Stand for Children, StudentsFirst and Democrats for Education Reform champion ideas including increased use of charter schools, performance reviews for teachers and higher academic standards for schools and students. “Though the record of their electoral success is mixed,” Sawchuk writes, “such groups’ overall influence appears to be growing, and it has already helped alter the landscape of education policy, particularly at the state level.” Education Week’s series also looks at how the groups made headway in states and how they are funded.
“Texas teachers’ pension fund invests in casinos, loses $99 million” — The Dallas Morning News
Read More»Officials: Stolen guns, equipment sold on auction sites
By The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.
May 15–Camp Lejeune Marines used websites like eBay, Craigslist and Lejeune Yard Sales to sell more than $2 million in stolen combat equipment to the highest bidder, including those in China, Naval investigators said Monday.
Altogether, more than 60 people have been implicated in a two-year undercover operation by agents with Naval Criminal Investigative Service to staunch the flow of stolen guns and gear aboard Lejeune and other military installations, said Ed Buice, public affairs officer for NCIS in Quantico, Va.
“The case is still active and ongoing in partnership with several other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies,” he said. “I can’t go into much detail.”
The NCIS probe has spilled over into the Army and Air Force with soldiers and airmen being investigated as well, as first reported in The Daily News.
The operation so far has resulted in the recovery of $1.8 million in stolen weapons and equipment and ballooned to include the FBI; Homeland Security; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Defense Logistics Agency; the N.C. State Bureau of Investigations, and several local law enforcement agencies including the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office and the Jacksonville Police Department.
Buice said it all began with a tip to the NCIS Carolinas Field Office aboard Lejeune that stolen government property was being sold on auction websites.
The special agent-in-charge of NCIS Carolinas, Joe Kennedy, could not be reached for comment.
NCIS agents found equipment not only was being sold online, but guns and ammunition were being sold at yard sales and in clandestine face-to-face deals.
“NCIS did an in-depth analysis of the cases and saw there was definitely a growing problem,” Buice said. “Undercover agents have worked extensively to build cases against those involved during the last two years.”
Agents found that some military members were selling guns, or attempting to sell guns, to street gangs in North Carolina and elsewhere, according to a government official familiar with the operation.
So far 47 service members and 21 civilians have been charged. About half of those have been to trial with many pleading guilty to the offenses, Buice said.
The Daily News has requested but not yet received a complete list of those who have been charged.
Read More»The Philadelphia Inquirer Karen Heller column
By Karen Heller, The Philadelphia Inquirer
May 16–This may well be Temple’s moment, even with slashed state funding and the search for a new leader. The university has soared in popularity, moving beyond being a commuter school to attracting students from across the state and nation, the tuition a bargain compared with that of private institutions.
During the last decade, undergraduate enrollment exploded by more than a third, students spilling into the surrounding North Central Philadelphia neighborhood of handsome 19th-century brick rowhouses. Currently, 7,000 students reside right off campus — more than live in the dorms.
Real estate speculators, some from New York and California, are feasting on the demand. It’s Northward Ho! Most students left last week at the end of spring semester, but the area’s narrow streets remain clogged with cranes, trucks, Tyvek-enveloped structures, and hillocks of debris, a situation residents say has intensified in the last six months. You’d be hard-pressed to find a neighborhood with a higher volume of construction.
And a neighborhood North Central Philadelphia is. The area, with a rich African American history, is in danger of losing its identity and residents to absentee landlords and transient renters with nominal personal investment in the community. Even the area’s name is a source of friction: Rental properties are draped with “Templetown” banners. Efforts have been made to brand it as “Temple” as opposed to the names residents call home, North Central Philadelphia or the Cecil B. Moore Community.
“This was Philadelphia’s Harlem,” says the Rev. William B. Moore as we tour the myriad construction sites, silt spilling into sewers, bricks tumbling onto the sidewalk, few Dumpsters, four electric meters affixed to housing designated for one family. It’s the Wild North of speculation.
“We’re not against development,” Moore says. “What we’re against is out-of-control development that’s thumbing its nose at the residents.”
Read More»Bangladesh announces probe into Grameen Bank units
DHAKA, Bangladesh – Bangladesh says a four-member commission will investigate 54 businesses linked to the pioneering microlender Grameen Bank.
Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith recently said the bank’s board had not authorized most of the affiliates. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Bangladesh’s government on a recent visit here to not to do anything that might undermine the effectiveness of bank.
A Finance Ministry statement on Wednesday said the commission will suggest “future steps to be taken about Grameen Bank and its affiliates.” It will be headed by a former government official and must submit a report in three months.
The bank and its founder Muhammad Yunus were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the bank’s efforts to lift people from poverty.
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Read More»Bank of America names new state president for Maine
By Matt Wickenheiser, Bangor Daily News, Maine
May 16–Bank of America said Tuesday it has named Bill Williamson as a new state president for its Maine banks.
Williamson is a Maine native and Falmouth resident who has been with the company since joining a predecessor institution in 1981. Williamson said Tuesday he was with Fleet Bank when Bank of America acquired it; previously he had worked for Bank of New England and Maine National.
Williamson is a senior client manager in the bank’s Global Commercial Bank, where he works with public and private companies in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Bank of America said in a statement that Williamson will “help integrate Bank of America business lines throughout Maine, allowing the company to reach more individuals, families and businesses while deepening relationships with existing customers. He also will oversee corporate social responsibility activities including philanthropic giving, community development lending and investing, environmental initiatives, diversity efforts, arts and culture projects, and employee volunteerism.”
According to Bank of America, Williamson replaces Betsey Timm, who served as state president since 2004, and state president for a predecessor institution beginning in 1998. Timm will retire in June.
Williamson will have fewer branches to oversee. It was announced on April 24 that Camden National Bank was acquiring 15 Bank of America branches in Maine in a $20 million deal. That was roughly half of Bank of America’s presence in the state.
After that deal closes, Bank of America will be the fifth largest bank in Maine, after TD Bank, KeyBank, Camden National and Bangor Savings, with 5.86 percent market share.
Williamson said the company still has a “very significant presence” in terms of the number of employees, though Bank of America doesn’t disclose headcounts in each state. More importantly, he said, the company has a significant presence on a client and business basis.
“We’re the primary bank to most of the largest businesses headquartered in the state,” he said.
Read More»Norwalk’s My Three Sons utilizes boost from state
By Chris Bosak, The Hour, Norwalk, Conn.
May 15–NORWALK — Jerry Petrini did not waste time applying for the state grant and did not waste time putting the money to good use once he received it.
My Three Sons, Petrini’s indoor family fun center in Norwalk, was one of the first businesses in the state to apply for a grant through the Small Business Express Program. Shortly after applying, he learned he was selected to receive $50,000 from the state to perform upgrades to his facility.
On Friday during a press conference, he unveiled the brand new The Vault: Laser Maze and an upgraded Laser Tag system to local politicians and media. Petrini told The Hour in April that he had the capital to do one or the other upgrade. The grant allowed him to do both.
“From start to finish this was a really smooth operation,” Petrini said. “I got a lot of help from (Greater) Norwalk Chamber (of Commerce) and state government.”
Petrini said he was also able to hire four new employees because of the grant money.
The Small Business Express Program, which came out of last October’s bipartisan Jobs Bill, is designed to help small businesses in the state grow. More than 500 small businesses in Connecticut have applied for grants through the program. So far, 38 loans totaling $32 million have been approved by the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), which administers the loans and grants. It is estimated that the grants have created nearly 200 new jobs have retained more than 200 jobs.
“Because of this, Jerry expanded his business and added four additional jobs,” state Sen. Bob Duff, D-25, said. “We’re not only seeing an investment in capital, but human resources as well.”
Duff said he was pleased to see how popular the Small Business Express Program has become. The program will dole out $100 million to state small business.
“It’s taken off like wild fire,” Duff said. “New DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith has cut down on the paperwork and the state acts quicker on these requests now. We’re trying to get things turned around a lot quicker.”
House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, R-142, was instrumental in the formation of the program.
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