Note: Next issue date – August 17, 2005. Ed.

 

 1. Richland, Kershaw sewer spat hurts regional harmony - The State - Columbia, SC, USA

 

IT’S UNFORGIVABLE THAT Kershaw and Richland counties have failed to develop a joint plan to provide sewer in West Wateree and Northeast Richland.

 

Officials in the two counties should be showing leadership and unity in an effort to ensure these key areas are prepared for growth. But they’ve allowed the side issue of Kershaw’s membership in the Central Midlands Council of Governments to cloud matters.

 

Kershaw County wants to end an agreement with Central Midlands that allowed it to join the regional agency for water quality planning only. The rest of the county's regional planning is done by the Santee-Lynches Council of Governments. Kershaw joined Central Midlands because Santee-Lynches didn't offer water quality planning, but now it does.

 

Frankly, it really doesn’t matter which council of governments Kershaw belongs to. ...

 

 2. Underground rail plan to ease gridlock - Stuff.co.nz - Wellington, New Zealand

 

The Auckland Regional Transport Authority wants to electrify most of the rail network by 2011, and to build a 3.5km tunnel under the central business district from the western end of Britomart to Mt Eden in 10 to 20 years.

 

Although these plans could cost up to $1.6 billion – if not more – the authority sees them as crucial to keeping rail patronage growing so it is more than six times its current level of 3.8 million trips a year, which is almost double the 2001 total.

 

It wants to make a serious dent in road congestion by increasing public transport usage to 11 per cent of more than a billion passenger trips a year expected to be made by 2015.

 

The authority is understood to favour buying about 50 electric trains by 2011, to be supplemented by a handful of new diesel units in areas where it would be uneconomic to extend overhead power lines.

 

Set up late last year at the Government's behest, and as a condition of a $1.6 billion funding boost, it looks to enlarge the 92km passenger rail network.

...

 

 3. Manatee completes a circle of sprawl - St. Petersburg Times - St. Petersburg, FL, USA

 

... ready or not, the disparate communities ringing the Tampa Bay are morphing into a region. And as a result, traffic, congestion, water demands and cultural and environmental issues are increasingly crossing county boundaries. Whether the bay area is ready to embrace regional cooperation in working through those issues isn't clear.

 

The Manatee County boom, for example, is just a few miles from the Hillsborough County line, where houses are going up but at a much lower density.

 

"The tradition in this state is: local governments characteristically get to make these decisions" on zoning and building issues, said Charles Connerly, chairman of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Florida State University.

 

"How do you do that when every decision a local government makes impacts other parts of the region?"

 

That question is at the heart of a two-year, statewide study that's about to be released.

 

Led by the Urban Land Institute, a 37-member panel has been analyzing what steps Florida can take to promote regional cooperation and how it's fallen short. The group's recommendations have been forwarded to Gov. Jeb Bush.

...

The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, one of 11 statewide, must approve large developments, but its scope, budget and mission are limited. The business-oriented Tampa Bay Partnership focuses on economic development and marketing. In crisis situations, such as a looming water shortage, bay area communities historically have come together.

 

What's lacking, some say, is a regional group to handle everything falling through the cracks: demands on air and auto travel caused by new development; the future of regional transit; county border disputes over zoning; the marketing of sports and arts centers as regional draws; providing access to specialized health centers which serve a multicounty area, like the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center.

...

 

 4. Research Triangle Region, North Carolina: Marketing a “Linked Region” – ARS E-Newsletter

 

The Research Triangle region of North Carolina is an area with separate, linked communities—mid-size cities, small towns and rural areas.  No one city defines the Triangle region, as in other major metropolitan areas such as Atlanta , Boston or Washington , D.C .  The region is anchored by Duke University in Durham , the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in Raleigh .  In 1959, these universities worked together with business and industry leaders to creat Research Triangle Park , ...

 

RCs: Triangle J Council of Governments  Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments

 

 5. Alan Dupont: Place at the table essential - Australian – Australia

 

AUSTRALIA'S invitation to the inaugural East Asia Summit in December is a defining event in our foreign policy. It is the fruit of more than 20 years of bipartisan engagement with Asia and welcome confirmation that we are recognised by all our Asian neighbours as an integral part of the region.

 

Coincidentally, our presence at the summit brings to an end a distracting and misdirected discourse about whether Australia needs to become more Asian to be accepted in the region.

 

The message from the neighbourhood is clear. We can remain who we are; it's what we do that counts. By any objective criteria, whether it is trade, security, education or people-to-people links, Australia has conclusively demonstrated its regional credentials.

...

 

 6. Regional water planning on way; locals want to be ready - Enterprise-Record - Chico, CA, USA

 

The Sacramento River runs 327 miles. The aquifers beneath the soil stretch across county lines. And while many north state counties are developing their own water plans, the state wants them to think regionally.

 

How do local players on water issues feel about that?

 

Most recognize that regional planning is coming and that local people need to work together to make sure local concerns are dealt with.

 

Butte County Supervisor Curt Josiassen, who is also a rice farmer, said he sees regionalism as a "great step forward."

...

 

Can one match California  watersheds and Counties and COGs  - CalWater ?

 

 7. Europe's firms fret over Latin futures - International Herald Tribune – France

 

European companies that have taken over Latin America's utilities and basic services are all too aware that they have a "poor image" in the region, and are seen by politicians, economists and the media as having failed to meet expectations, according to a new report by the Inter-American Development Bank (BID).

 

The report is based on interviews by the European office of the BID with representatives of more than 70 companies from Spain, Germany, France, Italy, and Britain that have invested in Latin America and the Caribbean. They all say that they will remain in the region, despite short-term economic concerns, and deeper worries about some countries' institutions. Most senior executives of European countries warned that in the face of the challenges posed by Asia, Latin America needs to improve economic and political stability, reinforce investment legislation, strengthen institutions, and lower interest rates in local currencies.

 

The study also shows that companies understand the geographical and historical contexts of the region's economies. The two countries that raise the greatest concerns are Argentina and Venezuela, both seen as having specific problems related to investment security.

...

 

 8. Guard Against an Energy Bust - RedNova.com - Dallas, TX, USA

The West has long been vulnerable to boom-and-bust cycles. Whether they were tin pan gold miners attempting to stake a claim or ...

 

Beyond the science, there are a number of public policy issues that would accompany the development of oil shale. Most important of these concerns the West's precious water supply. It remains to be seen if the West can spare the water needed for large-scale oil extraction processes. Another question that must be addressed -- since many Easterners already view Utah as a dumping ground for waste -- is how much waste will these activities produce. And where would it go?

...

 

 9. Baldacci yields on regional services  - MaineToday.com - Portland, ME, USA

 

Regionalism was a buzzword for Gov. John Baldacci's administration from the start. The idea: Taxpayers could get cheaper, more efficient services if the state could encourage towns to band together and school districts to consolidate.

 

But what was a central issue in 2003 and 2004 is getting less attention this year. Gone are proposals to give more state dollars to communities that created new "regional school districts" and "municipal service districts."

 

Even a grant program to provide money for cooperation across town lines didn't survive the past legislative session.

 

"It moved off front and center stage," said Geoff Herman, a lobbyist for the Maine Municipal Association, which represents cities and towns across the state.

...

10. Figueiredo: Concerns discussed with council - Hudson Sun - Framingham, MA, USA

 

The Council of the Portuguese Communities (Conselho das Comunidades Portuguesas) met recently in Lisbon, and the Regional Council of North America, comprised of seven advisers from Canada and nine from the United States, also had the opportunity to meet to make their common concerns known to the Portuguese Government. The Regional Council debated various themes including airfare to the Azores, education, health and social problems, economic matters, associations and culture, consular services, and military matters.

...

 

11. Toll Road Proposal Shouted Down - WOAI - San Antonio, TX, USA

 

Opponents of plans to build new toll lanes on Loop 1604 and US 281 across the city's north side lined up to speak out against the plan this afternoon to the Metropolitan Planning Organization, 1200 WOAI news reported today.

 

"I will not pay that toll, school counselor Helen Rogers declared. "I have already paid for the highway to be built."

 

That opinion was repeated by several other speakers, many of whom are members of the Texas Toll Party, a grass roots group which was formed to oppose the construction of new toll lanes around Texas.

...

RC: Alamo Area Council of Governments

 

12. Straight from Google.

 

      a) UNITING FOR CONSENSUS' GROUP OF STATES INTRODUCES TEXT ON SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM TO GENERAL ASSEMBLY - I-Newswire.com (press release) – USA

... on its behalf". The regional organization would also select its own representatives for those permanent seats. If it chose two ...

 

      b) New organization is announced to assist regional nonprofits - Asheville Citizen-Times - NC,USA

Five regional philanthropic groups announced Wednesday a new collaboration, WNC Partners for Nonprofit Success, whose goal is to help nonprofit organizations...

 

      c) Taking regional tack on jobs - Baltimore Sun - United States

... those jobs result from the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission's decision to ... County is doing the right thing by taking a regional approach," said ...

 

      d) More ‘coalition' skepticism - Joongang Ilbo - Seoul, South Korea

... In return, Mr. Roh asked for a change in the electoral system, which he described as key to ending regionalism in Korean politics. ...

 

      e) CO-OP ISLAMI concludes regional head quarters - Al-Bawaba - Amman, Jordan

... Saleh Lootah added: "COOP ISLAMI's activities in the UAE and regional markets will be supervised and followed up from the new office, which will be the ...

 

      f)  Modest fare hike good for bus service - Wisconsin State Journal - Madison, WI, USA

... gap, even if the Madison City Council comes up ... comes from riders and state and federal governments. ... As Dane County's suburbs grow, longer commutes in bumper-to ...

 

      g) ANALYSIS - Big questions for ARF after "Mumble in the Jungle" - Reuters India - Mumbai, India

... They see it as 'process regionalism' rather than 'product regionalism' -- an evolution, not necessarily a set of determining finalities," said KS Nathan of ...

 

      h) Producing for Global Markets - AllAfrica.com – Africa

In the current dispensation of economic trading blocs and integration, local industries must embrace regionalism. Policy makers ...

 

      i) Gozitans clamour for regional status - Times of Malta - Valletta, Malta

... the island's regional status regardless of all the talk. We now hope that Gozo is declared a region.". In a statement, the Electoral Commission referred to ...

 

13. Other U.S. regional communities in news articles.

 

      a) Norfolk business gets $500,000 grant to rebuild - Sioux City Journal - Sioux City, IA, USA

... assistance from the city, Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Nebraska Public Power District and Northeast Nebraska Economic Development District.

 

      b) County asked to join regional development efforts - Rolla Daily News - Rolla, MO, USA

 

... Phelps County Commission is slated to vote Tuesday, Aug. 9, on whether to join Missouri's Fort Leonard Wood Region, a regional commerce and growth association that spans Phelps, Pulaski and Laclede counties.

 

     c) Wasatch Choices 2040: What future would you like to create - Salt Lake Tribune - United States

Wasatch Choices 2040, a unique partnership between the Mountainland Association of Governments, the Wasatch Front Regional Council and Envision Utah, is ...

 

      d) Cities Collaborate on Westside Issues - LA Canyon News - Beverly Hills, CA, USA

The Westside Cities Council of Governments (COG) comprised of Beverly Hills, Culver City, Santa Monica and West Hollywood addressed issues of ...

 

      e) Three decades into the future - Vail Daily News - Vail, CO, USA

... More than 100 people from around the region attended the event sponsored by the Silverthorne-based Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, which represents ...

 

      f) DRI planned for Nassau - MSNBC – USA

... Though DRI permitting is just beginning for Ambach, the Northeast Florida Regional Council will likely support the Three Rivers concept because of its mixed ...

 

     g) Possible highway has many hurdles to clear - Youngstown Vindicator - Youngstown, OH, USA

... The Eastgate Regional Council of Governments will conduct two public hearings next spring to gauge Youngstown and Hubbard residents' reaction to the proposed...

 

     h) Lawsuit threatens foreclosure of French Quarter Inn - Ledger Independent - Maysville, KY, USA

... Buffalo Trace Area Development District is also named in the suit as a party by virtue of a mortgage recorded in the Mason County Clerk's office. ...

 

     i) In Our View: Stay with it - Texarkana Gazette - Texarkana, TX, USA

... Supporters say opponents will have ample time for public input on the landfill, once an application is filed with the Ark-Tex Council of Governments, so they ...

 

     j) Outgoing director of county government group gets $10,000 contract - Lodi News-Sentinel - Lodi, CA, USA

San Joaquin Council of Governments ' executive board voted Thursday to give a $200-an-hour consultant's contract to the agency's just-retired executive director ...

 

 

14. Other in the news:

 

      a) Non-Secret Intelligence Gets Cold Shoulder - FOX News – USA

 

Proponents told FOXNews.com that open source information can be an equally or more efffective resource for U.S intelligence. They say an over-reliance on "secret" information has caused an institutional bias against publicly-available information that could otherwise help identify terrorist threats across the globe before the damage is done.

 

"Everything we needed to know to prevent 9/11 was either known to elements of the U.S. government but not shared across agency boundaries, or openly published in foreign language media we chose to ignore," said Robert Steele, a former clandestine officer who now heads Open Source Solutions Network Inc., a global provider of open source networking and analysis training.

 

"[Al Qaeda] was publishing its plans and intentions publicly for years," Steele said. "All of the literature is quite clear."

...

      b) How Banking Really Works - Vive Le Canada – Canada

 

Most people are probably aware that governments can “print” money. This is spelled out in almost every country’s constitution (or similar document of a different name). It is also spelled out that ONLY government can create money. However, in direct contravention of that basic law of all lands, banks create money all the time. In this document, GCM is short for government created money and BCM for bank created money.

...
 

      c) Boredom Drives Children to Mall Culture - Arab News - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

 

In any other part of the world, children waking up at three in the afternoon every day would not be considered normal, but for the children of Saudi Arabia it is a characteristic of summer life. Despite the fact that 60 percent of the Kingdom’s population is under the age of 21, the country offers few events and activities that children and teenagers can enjoy.

 

With little to do many children and teens have turned to the habit of late nights of TV watching and shopping, unproductive evenings, and non-existent mornings. As the “future of our country” they are not making use of key stages of their development on their way to adulthood.

 

A young Saudi describes her daily routine as “waking at 12:30 in the afternoon, sitting with my family, eating dinner, and then going out at nine to the mall with friends.”

 

For Saudi children and teens, school is usually the only time they are mentally stimulated. ...

 

15. Announcements

 

      a) Foster to head regionalism institute - University at Buffalo Reporter - Buffalo, NY, USA

 

Kathryn A. Foster, who served as director of research for UB's Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth for six years, has been named director of the institute, effective Sept. 1.

 

An associate professor in the School of Architecture and Planning, she served as chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in the School of Architecture and Planning for two years, stepping down on June 30.

 

Foster, whose scholarship focuses on areas including governance, regions and regionalism, and metropolitan decision-making, has been involved integrally in the institute since its founding in 1997.

...

 

      b) Futurists Joyce Gioia and Roger Herman to Head Human Capital Research Institute - Emediawire (press release), WA

 

The Human Capital Institute announced today that the Workforce Stability Institute, a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, will merge with the Human Capital Institute to create a new enterprise with expanded resources and a broader reach across the new business science of human capital management: the Human Capital Research Institute.

---

HCI Communities offer best practices, new strategies, thought leadership, and networking opportunities for human capital professionals, line managers and executives. Each community contains a series of learning tracks that represent important links in the talent management continuum, and serve as collection points for compelling research, new ideas and innovative strategies. 

 

16. Subscription link stories 

 

      a) Idea of truck lanes intrigues officials - Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription) - GA,USA

 

The most dramatic suggestion yet about how to reduce metro Atlanta's notorious traffic congestion involves giving trucks their own lanes.

 

A study by the State Road and Tollway Authority suggests that metro Atlanta's interstate highway system would be 20 percent less crowded if new car pool lanes proposed along I-285 and outside it were truck-only toll lanes instead.

 

The authority used data and computer programs that simulate traffic from the Atlanta Regional Commission's Mobility 2030 plan. That blueprint, which spends $53 billion in federal, state and local transportation money over 25 years, shows that, while congestion doesn't get worse, it doesn't get better.

 

Doug Hooker, the authority's executive director, said he was so surprised by the study results that he asked for the models to be rerun several times.

 

The study, which assumed two cars per one truck, didn't go into much detail, said Erik Steavens, the agency's senior transportation analyst. For example, it didn't get into specifics such as the number of exits from potential truck lanes or whether it's even feasible to put extra lanes within the right of way of some interstate highways. In the study, tolls were assumed to be charged only when traffic stopped moving at a consistent pace.

...

      b) Intel to tailor PCs for regional markets - San Jose Mercury News - United States

 

For Intel, the age of the one-size-fits-all personal computer is coming to an end. The chip maker is announcing today that it is redoubling its efforts to customize PCs for specific regional markets.

 

Bill Siu, general manager of the channel products group, is spearheading the charge by moving from Oregon to Shanghai. And the company is opening up four ``platform definition centers'' overseas so that it can study regional markets and design products for them.

 

The regional centers will be in Shanghai, China; Sao Paolo, Brazil; Bangalore, India; and Cairo, Egypt. The company will hire people with local knowledge of the markets to study consumer behavior and make suggestions for customized technology.

...

      c) Developer entices treechangers to where the grass is greener - Sydney Morning Herald (subscription) - Sydney,New South Wales, Australia

...

About 4000 filled in a survey that revealed the main reason they were thinking of relocation was cheaper real estate followed by a slower pace of life, better environment, employment and reduced commuting times.

 

Almost half said they wanted to move to the North Coast, but about a third said they would also consider inland areas such as New England or the Central West, and nearly 8 per cent said they were interested in the far west.

 

Mr Davey believes that to get regional development "we have to be smarter in what we offer treechange people. People are looking for something different".

...