Top Regional Community stories

  1. Denver’s lessons for Milwaukee - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Milwaukee, WI, USA

The Democratic Party National Convention brought new attention to Denver. And in almost every television picture of the Denver skyline, there was one feature: a construction crane, the symbol of a growing economy. Denver’s growth offers mile-high lessons for Milwaukee.

Regions compete in sports - and in economic development. The Packers beat the Broncos. The Brewers have a better record than the Rockies. Milwaukee and Denver split the decision for the Miller-Coors headquarters. But in the growth of good paying jobs, Denver crushes Milwaukee.

In the past 12 months, despite the national economic trends, metro Denver has gained nearly 10, 000 jobs. Metro Milwaukee has lost 7, 000. The average wage per job in metro Denver is $50, 100 - more than 10% above the national average. The average wage in metro Milwaukee is just over $43, 000 - below the average for metro areas.

Denver's lessons offer something for liberals and conservatives; for Republicans and for Democrats. …

Denver is frequently cited for the success of regional government; it has a strong regional mass transit system. If one believed the opponents of regional transit in Milwaukee, Denver should be in trouble. But Denver ranked sixth in a 2008 study of metro area competitiveness.

How can both Wisconsin liberals and conservatives be so wrong? Or so right? And what lessons can be learned from Denver's success?

First, regionalism works. Denver has a widely acclaimed metro area economic development corporation. It has a regional sales tax for transportation - and for the arts. The Denver mayor, a successful businessman, is the region's cheerleader. He helps recruit businesses to the suburbs and professors to the University of Colorado's flagship campus in Boulder, a 45-minute drive from Denver.

Next, metro Denver economic development is focused on six industry clusters - …

RCs: Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission

         Denver Regional Council of Governments

  2. Mega-regions: We're in world's 2nd-largest economy - Foster's Daily Democrat - Dover, NH, USA

They're called mega-regions, were born under the illumination of night, and a prominent social theorist has us living in the second largest one on Earth.

New Hampshire and Maine — from Portland south — are considered the "northern edge" of the 500-mile Boston-Washington, D.C., corridor that Richard Florida, author and professor at the University of Toronto's Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, has found generates $2.2 trillion in economic activity.

For context, $2.2 trillion is larger than all but two economies as measured by national boundaries — the United States and Japan — Florida wrote in a research paper.

"That Eastern Seaboard of the United States is really the economic powerhouse, " fueled by the technology industry, said Steven Pedigo, who analyzes economic and consumer trends for Florida's Creative Class Group.

The mega-region concept has the potential to change the way regions, let alone nations, shape policy and size up global competition, Pedigo said. Instead of the United States competing with entire countries like China or India, the focus should be on the countries' economic centers, he said.

In an e-mail to Foster's, Pedigo described a mega-region as an area "that hosts business and economic activity on a large scale, generating a lion's share of the world's economic activity and an even larger share of the world's innovation and technological discoveries."

New Hampshire and Maine's portal to the 54 million people-strong economic unit has long been Boston, Mass., largely due to commuting patterns and the rise of technology jobs, said University of New Hampshire professor Ross Gittell, who specializes in business and regional development.

Still, one expert warns against thinking the northern states rely on their neighbor to the south.

Rather, there "is a beneficial synergy, " said Christopher St. John, executive director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy. …

PDF: Northeast Megaregion 2050: A Common Future,  November 2007 - Regional Plan Association

  3. Here's reality: capital region is one big city - Edmonton Sun - Alberta, Canada

I nearly choked on my own surprise.

…

The cold, hard truth is that no matter how much politicians bicker over petty rivalries, Edmonton and surrounding communities is a single metropolis.

The flow of people, goods and services is not stopped at municipal boundaries. People do not weigh the morality of going into a neighbouring community and making use of public facilities -- parks, hospitals, rec centres, courthouses -- they didn't help pay for. And so they shouldn't.

It's interesting that most of the talk of so-called "regional cooperation" is confined to politicians having esoteric discussions of arcane topics like revenue sharing and interjurisdictional protocols.

It keeps the public from caring, I suppose. Politicians guard their fiefdoms, pretending to be looking out for constituents when really they're hurting them.

Here's a real-life example of how regional cooperation -- should there ever actually be any -- can affect people in the metro Edmonton area: public transit. At present, there are three major, independently-operating transit systems, Edmonton, St. Albert and Strathcona County.

Even though their services overlap -- St. Albert and Strathcona carry commuters to and from Edmonton -- they have their own buses, schedule and rate structures, creating an unwieldy, expensive system for anyone travelling beyond their community. I defy any adult to take public transit from Sherwood Park to St. Albert in less than three hours, and be willing to pay the $9.50. If it was a regular trip, monthly passes would run you a whopping $162.

Each of the three systems also have their own management personnel and bureaucracies to pay for.

Meanwhile, in Vancouver, there's a single transit system for 13 municipalities with a total population of 2.1 million -- one fare structure, one schedule and one bureaucracy.

That's what regional cooperation could mean... if we had any.

- - -

ACRA Office Closed

The Alberta Capital Region Alliance has closed its office effective April 30, 2008. 

The 25 municipalities in the greater Edmonton area will now be working together as part of the Premier's Capital Region Integrated Growth Management Plan.

To view a contact list of these capital region municipalities, please click here

 

  4. Replacing Federation is An Urgent Matter - The Epoch Times - New York, NY, USA

…

Basically there are three options:

A two-tier system comprising a national government and much improved local government level plus adjunct regional organisations of councils (a mezzanine level);

A two-tier system comprising a national government and a large number of new regional/provincial governments (but no local government), some see this as a new type of federation;

A new non-federal, three-tier system with around 30 regional/provincial governments, plus improved local governments.

Moves towards federal structures elsewhere, like devolution in the UK and the trend in the EU, for instance, may well be positive and appropriate in those circumstances, but it is different here. Federalism is no longer appropriate. Centralism in Australia has been a curse at the state level. We need to move towards much better system of decentralisation radiating from Canberra. That can take the form of functional decentralisation as well. Many unitary states in the world are much better decentralised than Australia. Twomey and Withers argue that federalism is something that is becoming fashionable again and that this is a reason for Australia to maintain, improve, repair what we have. This is not a good argument at all.

Also the language that we heard at the 2020 Summit, e.g. "fixing", "repairing", apparently meant to make "cooperative federalism" acceptable as a new form of piecemeal tinkering, is unhelpful. Let's call a spade a spade: the time has come to replace the federation. That is what the ALP COAG love-in should be used for and a transitional strategic scheme be put in place to allay the understandable concerns of state politicians and public servants.

So much has changed in Australia since 1901 that it makes no sense to continue with nine parliaments, five of which bi-cameral, totaling over 800 politicians, nine civil services, and a ramshackle federal Constitution …

  5. Kanawha leaders will observe Ky. government - Daily Mail - Charleston - Charleston, WV, USA

City and county leaders are hoping to learn a lesson or two from their counterparts in Kentucky about how to make the controversial plan for metro government a success.

For two days next week, Sept. 4 and 5, the Kanawha County Commission will lead a delegation of city and county officials to Louisville, where metro government has been working well for the past five years.

The concept of cities and counties merging services is still a new one to West Virginians. But areas that already have combined say it allows them to take advantage of federal grants and other services available only to regions with larger populations.

County Commissioner Dave Hardy said he's eager to learn how the Kanawha Valley could attempt metro government.

"I'm curious to sit down and think how we could do this at a local level, " Hardy said. "The first thing we need to do is educate the public."

Hardy said the first thing he wants to know from Louisville officials is how they spread the word to the public and what feedback was received.

The county already is working with the Charleston Area Alliance to create a task force to promote the idea and explain the concept to residents. 

Hardy already has been tapped to work with that group. He represents the county commission on the Alliance's Board of Directors.

Officials still are trying to figure out a way to fully fund the task force's programs. 

"We have to walk away with an understanding of what it will take to implement an education plan, " Hardy said. "By talking with officials, I think it will allow us to get the straight facts and not rely on various versions of what happened there."

…

RC: Regional Intergovernmental Council – Region 3

  6. Business poachers are abroad in Valley View – The Plain Dealer – Cleveland, OH, USA

A new school year has barely dawned, but Valley View Mayor Randall Westfall and his council are about to flunk two tests: They're ready to undermine regionalism and also gut their school district's budget.

Westfall could welcome a local company that wants to expand -- Brooklyn Heights-based Safeguard, which employs 500 and renovates foreclosed homes -- in a way that honors the collaborative, progressive agreement Cuyahoga County officeholders struck in 2006. The pact isn't legally binding but was historic. It paved the way for the region to work together for growth and stop the cutthroat sniping that happens when the game is winner-take-all.

But instead of upholding the regionalism agreement (which Westfall, a long-time officer of the Cuyahoga County Mayors and City Managers Association, laughably claims not to remember) Westfall is promising Safeguard a desperately generous 40 percent, 10-year income tax break.

Because Brooklyn Heights currently splits income tax revenue from Safeguard between the village and the school district, Valley View's sneaky attack would suck a quarter-million dollars away from the school district, which serves students from both towns.

Just to refresh Valley View officials' memory regarding the regionalism resolution, it calls for sharing taxes 50-50 for up to five years. To which Valley View Council President Marty Johnston ignorantly scoffs, "Resolutions mean nothing."

Gallant political stands aren't convenient or easy. Nor is seeding regionalism, though it is critical to the Northeast Ohio's future.

Brooklyn Heights Mayor Mike Procuk is livid, as he should be. So should everyone who understands that to thrive, this region must stop cannibalizing the meager growth it manages to achieve.

The public and local leaders must …

  .7 Building a new bridge does more than span river - Mid Columbia Tri City Herald – Kennewick, WA, USA

In so many ways we need to get past the idea that we live in a particular city and instead embrace the idea of our larger community.

If you've read that message in other Herald editorials, there's a simple reason for it -- the community's progress is limited by our failure to come together in thought and in deed.

But this time were not talking about bridging the chasms created by parochialism but a literal bridge across the Columbia River.

Do we need another bridge?

That's not clear, and may never be unless local governments figure out how to share the costs of a study to determine the answer.

It's a question of cost versus benefits. Someone with the required expertise needs to run the numbers.

Regardless of where or when -- exactly -- a new bridge is built, all Tri-Citians would get some benefit. Few of us live, work, eat, shop and recreate within the boundaries of a single city.

If you're anywhere near the blue bridge at rush hour, you can see the Mid-Columbia is on the move. A new bridge -- anywhere -- would alleviate some of that congestion.

Even those drivers who keep to the blue bridge or Interstate 182 wouldn't fight as much traffic if others were using a Horn Rapids bridge or an Edison Street bridge.

And if all drivers benefit, so would all our cities.

The city of Pasco initially took the lead on a bridge study. Since Pasco's big choking point right now is Road 68, that's where city officials focused their efforts.

Pasco needed partners, but Richland and Benton County didn't see a clear benefit from a study limited to a span at Edison Street.

Some Kennewick leaders were worried the location would interfere with Columbia Park.

Even so, there was some money and a little cooperation behind plans to study the site, but local governments kept pulling out.

We piled on with an editorial calling for a broader study looking at alternative sites, rather than focusing solely on a connection between Road 68 and Edison Street.

Pasco wound up feeling bruised in the process.

"Candidly, we felt like the Pasco council was getting beat up for something unnecessarily, unfairly, when there didn't seem to be much consensus on the willingness to look forward on the issue, " City Manager Gary Crutchfield said at a recent city council meeting.

Council members had pledged $35, 000 toward a $125, 000 study to determine costs and feasibility, but dropped the offer after the cool reception from other government officials.

Now there is no bridge. No study. No money.

So far, parochialism prevents even the research required to determine the need for a new bridge. Unless local governments can agree on a study, the possibility of joining forces to actually build a bridge seems remote.

Can the benefits of a new bridge justify the costs? We don't know. What about 20 years from now? We don't know that either.

Crutchfield suggests the Benton-Franklin Council of Governments should take responsibility for leading the study process, with financial help from the state.

That's an idea worth investigating. After all, the entire region stands to benefit, so a regional agency at the lead makes sense.

The Beatles had the right idea. "Come together, right now, over me."

  8. Decade-old report still offers lessons today - Telegraph-Journal - Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

The suburban towns have had a taste of amalgamation before, and they don't like the smell of what's cooking in the oven.

Former provincial deputy minister Jean-Guy Finn is only weeks away from delivering his report on reforming local government, and part of his recommendations will deal with regionalizing services among municipalities.

In an interview last week, the provincial commissioner was careful not to disclose what his recommendations will be, but even the mention of regionalization makes officials in Rothesay, Quispamsis and Grand-Bay Westfield break out in a sweat.

…

In reaction, the suburban officials are already discussing ways to pour cold water on regionalization, which they consider just short of full amalgamation and half -baked.

No doubt they will point to an influential report written more than a decade ago, one that still offers lessons today. It was hastily commissioned by the suburban towns and villages in response to consultant Skip Cormier's recommendations in February 1997.

Cormier advised the provincial government to abolish the suburban municipalities surrounding Saint John in favour of a supercity. With provincial governments looking to reduce costs and make services more efficient, it was all the rage in the 1990s for municipalities across Canada to amalgamate - with greater Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal eventually leading the way.

The suburban towns in Greater Saint John, angry over their possible extinction, quickly hired some heavyweights of their own, two professors from Ontario and the accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand.

Their report accused Cormier of doing a shoddy financial analysis and low-balling what would happen to the area's property tax rates. In big bold letters, it declared that the costs of creating a supercity would exceed expectations.

...

  9. Interoperability: What's Impeding a National Communications System? - Government Technology - Folsom, CA, USA

It's interesting how issues become "the thing" in government. Following 9/11, when fire and police agencies had no radio contact with one another, communications interoperability became a high, national-level priority.

So what's impeding the establishment of a national interoperable communications system? Let's explore the issues:

Governance: Our country's form of governance impacts many emergency management aspects, including communications interoperability. …

Size: The larger a jurisdiction, the less need for cross-discipline and cross-jurisdictional communications since it can handle most incidents with internal resources. …

Control: A handheld radio can cost several thousand dollars. Yet even with high costs, many jurisdictions are reluctant to partner to buy common systems. The Department of Homeland Security made progress on this issue by requiring regional solutions for regional problems. Still, jurisdictions can find ways to have a common system and yet not talk to one another. They do this by limiting access to talk groups in trunked radio systems. People want to feel like they have control of their operations and aren't subordinating their agency's or jurisdiction's work to others.

People: The common thread in these issues is that it's people, not equipment or technology, who are the problem. Communications interoperability will come when we have people and agency interoperability. You can't buy that - no matter how much money you throw at the problem.

Wake-up calls come in the form of disasters. …

Eric Holdeman is the former director for the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management, and is now with ICF International. His blog is located at www.disaster-zone.com

Comments

…

Eric, your article is clearly written from the perspective of an urban area that's competitive for UASI funding. Allow me to interject a rural perspective. "Requiring agencies to discard their desire for a customized system" is too cavalier of a dismissal; legitimate operational requirements drive system customization. Rural departments have different operational and staffing constraints from our urban counterparts; we rely on more volunteers and much less money. Our dispatch models don't necessarily look the same as urban departments. Consequently, we have different requirements from our communications system. We will happily acquiesce to the design goals of our larger regional partners with whom we consolidate dispatch and communications functions. However, in return they must step up to help us defray the cost of making changes to our communications systems. For us, these costs could include more paid staff. I challenge you to solicit more input from your rural readership.

10. U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles.

Bold font words are Google search terms. Bold italic words considered worth noting.  In this and section 11, links to websites of organizations are added to the news excerpt when this is the first time an organization has been found. A goal of this newsletter is to find every regional council in the U.S. in a news story as well as recognizing other regional organizations. In most cases, where a full name is present, a Google search will quickly get one to that organization. News reports do not always get the organization name correct.   Contents

    .01  9/11 Commission Heads: US 'Dangerously Vulnerable' to Terrorist Attack

Environment News Service

… To make better progress in protecting the country, the report offers three recommendations: … Strengthen international cooperation. The United States cannot be safe working alone. Terrorism does not respect borders. We must utilize multilateral institutions, regional organizations and bilateral ties. We must be firm in our goals, but flexible in our approach. When the report is made public on September 10, it will online at Partnership for a Secure America.

 

    .02  How do you want southwest Ohio to grow?

Oxford Press - Oxford, OH, USA

A regional planning effort is seeking residents' ideas about what should be the main regional priorities in developing Butler, Warren, Hamilton and Clermont counties.Butler and Warren County residents are encouraged to take a survey available on the Citizens for Civic Renewal Web site, http://citizenscivicrenewal.org , to help prioritize regional planning efforts.

 

    .03  The Republic of Oldistan

Artvoice - Buffalo, NY, USA

So Scranton is a bellwether for politics and policy—because like everywhere else in the region I call the Republic of Oldistan, Scranton has every measure of economic distress that should lead to support for a populist Democratic ticket that is going to be fiercely focused on economic issues. … But the other divide is regional.. It is between Oldistan, which is the old, cold, shrinking part of America, and the rest of the country, specifically, the Sunbelt, the Coasts, the Rockies, and Chicago.

 

    .04  Educating Hispanics will be key to Atlanta’s future

Atlanta Journal Constitution – GA, USA

Atlanta, as it become more diverse, needs to think about how its labor force will compete in the next 50 years. That’s the conclusion of former U.S. Census Bureau director Martha Farnsworth Riche, who spoke Wednesday morning at Morehouse College to a group of about 150 people interested in demographics. Organized by the Atlanta Regional Commission, the seminar focused on the metro area’s diverse population and how it will evolve by the year 2050. …

 

    .05 'Focus' brings Cape together

Cape Cod Times - Hyannis, MA, USA

Cape Cod Focus was formed, Abbott and Sheehan said, to document and measure efforts, locally and regionally, to keep young people on the Cape. The group will look at case studies where policies have worked or failed in the past; share resources with towns, businesses and other organizations; and debunk myths that can affect public opinion and decisionmaking, they said. Members of the group include representatives from organizations such as the Workforce Development Board, Cape Cod Community College and the Cape Cod Commission.

 

    .06  Calif. bill would tie land use to carbon emissions

The Associated Press

The bill requires local governments to submit regional development plans to state air regulators for approval, making them eligible for billions of dollars ...

 

    .07  Central Valley sprawl bill has perfect timing

Merced Sun-Star - Merced, CA, USA

... Senate Bill 375 would set up incentives for regions throughout the state to draw up broad new visions for future development patterns. That's something that local leaders have been trying to do for the past two years in the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint process. … "There isn't going to be a prohibition on development that doesn't follow it, but there will be carrots, " said Rusty Selix, executive director of California Association of Councils of Governments.

 

    .08  Editorial: Convention success we can build on

Minneapolis Star Tribune – MN, USA

… we do agree with him on this point: Cooperation around the region made this convention possible. That's a foundation on which to tackle some our most pressing problems, such as transportation and growth

 

    .09  Abouhalkah's column: Don't count Funkhouser out, yet

Kansascity-com

The mayor has a policy-wonk approach to government. He still has many attractive ideas — on a slimmer budget, economic development, better infrastructure — that would make him a valuable leader. Funkhouser has the biggest bully pulpit and easily gets the most public attention. To make the most progress for Kansas Citians, though, he’ll need cooperation from a council majority. It’s something he needs to earn in the future.

 

    .10  Education, passion and regionalism can repair Detroit

Model D - Detroit, MI, USA

Detroit should not only be important to Detroiters, but to those who live in the rest of the state. At the center of this dilemma are the residents of ...

 

    .11  Regional court facility still draws interest

Gazette Online - Solon, IA, USA

Merging the Linn and Johnson county courthouses would seem like blasphemy to some. But setting up a regional trial center in the Corridor seems more palatable, ... not only sees this as a chance for a regional trial center but to brainstorm services, such as a bus or light rail system. …

 

    .12  Orange Mayor Crotty Reveals Lynx Funding Plan

Central Florida Political Pulse - Orlando, FL, USA

"If this is truly a regional asset, like a university or an airport, " Crotty said, "then we need to think regionally and pay for it regionally. ...

 

    .13  County, cities begins planning for future growth

Bellingham Herald - Bellingham, WA, USA

Planning directors from each city, the county, tribes, Port of Bellingham and Whatcom Council of Governments meet regularly to provide the council recommendations....

 

    .14  County gives its response to fire findings

San Diego Union Tribune - United States

The county of San Diego, responding to a grand jury report about the region's preparedness for wildfires, said there is no evidence to suggest a consolidated county fire agency would have changed the region's ability to respond to the firestorms of 2003 and 2007. ...

 

    .15  Small Victory for Gaughan in West Seneca

WKBW-TV - Buffalo, NY, USA

The regionalism advocate has visited nearly every town, village and city in Erie County, asking lawmakers to reduce the size of government … Most municipalities have resisted Gaughan's ideas, but he has found some success. The villages of North Collins and Lancaster are considering downsizing plans....

 

    .16  City Extends Pine Tree Waste Deal

Sun Journal – Lewiston, ME, USA

"Our trash is collected regionally; it's incinerated regionally; it's disposed of regionally, " Reed said. "What's not regional is our thinking, and that's not very efficient." ...

 

    .17  Regional economy boosters get state funds

Boston Globe - United States

... budget includes $250000 for the North Shore Alliance for Economic Development, a group formed last year to promote economic growth on a regional level. ...

 

    .18  From the City Manager: Drillers stadium a home run for Sand Springs

Sand Springs Leader - Sand Springs, OK, USA

… We've got a good team of community leaders in Sand Springs, and we are working in league with Tulsa and other neighboring cities to make our region's field of dreams come true.

 

    .19  Shaping a Greater Nashville

Nashville Business Journal - Nashville, TN, USA

What is regionalism and what issues reside with it currently? What opportunities lay ahead for Middle Tennessee? Should we work more as one region? ...

 

    .20  Preparing for the Worst

Vienna/Oakton Connection - VA, USA

It’s this kind of coordinated effort, not just among hospitals but among cities, counties and states, that is crucial to preparing for a major catastrophic event, local emergency management officials said. “If there’s another major emergency like 9/11, it doesn’t impact just one jurisdiction, ” Fairfax County spokesperson Brian Worthy said. “It had an impact on all the jurisdictions regionally. That’s why the region is taking a very coordinated response.” …

 

    .21  Warren's EMT ranks dwindle as need grows

Detroit Free Press - United States

The city has seen an estimated 20% rise in its population older than 65 in the past decade, according to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. ...

 

    .22  Demonstration of city transit system proposed

Fort Morgan Times –CO, USA

In fact, Larry Worth of the Northeast Colorado Association of Governments said fares usually generate only between 5 and 10 percent of the needed revenue for most systems.

 

    .23  Dispatch centers consider combining

Amherst Bulletin - Amherst, MA, USA

A feasibility study has been proposed to look at the existing system and examine whether regionalization of police, fire and ambulance calls could produce ...

 

    .24  New urbanism can't hide need for regionalism

Richmond Times Dispatch - Richmond, VA, USA

Chesterfield has embraced the new urbanism. A welcome next step would be for the county to gain greater empathy for real, job-seeking urban dwellers by opening its borders to meaningful mass transit. Who knows where we could go from there? Creating this new regionalism, in the heart of Virginia, would indeed be cause for celebration.

 

    .25  Multi-state suit against EPA for failing to regulate global warming pollutants from oil refineries announced

Norwalk Plus Magazine – USA

… multi-state lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to regulate harmful pollution from oil refineries. The lawsuit -- filed by a coalition of 12 states, the District of Columbia and the City of New York -- alleges that the EPA is in violation of the Clean Air Act for failing to adopt standards requiring that new or renovated oil refineries install technologies to control global warming pollution. …

 

    .26  HIE Lays Foundation for Longitudinal EMR in Western North Carolina

HiMSS News – Chicago, IL, USA

Whenever the approximately 800, 000 people spread across the 16 far western counties of North Carolina need hospital services, they visit one of the 16 independent hospitals serving that region.  … Data Link is one of the nation’s few operational HIEs or regional health information organizations (RHIOs).  Approximately 20 RHIOs are operating across the U.S., …

 

    .27  Morganton Historic Festival Q&A

Morganton News Herald - Morganton, NC, USA

I have sponsors who not only give money, but they create partnerships between themselves to help market the event regionally. I have relationships with ...

 

    .28  2008 Democratic National Convention: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by John Hickenlooper, Mayor of Denver, Colorado

MarketWatch – USA

Change is what happens when we all unite--across party lines and regional boundaries. Here in Denver, at the edge of the Rocky Mountains, our mile-high altitude encourages us to take the long view. We can see that being pro-business and pro-environment go hand-in-hand. We demand collaboration and common-sense solutions....

 

    .29  Obama supports national catastrophic plan

Bizjournals.com - Charlotte, NC, USA

... John McCain, has said previously that such a bill has little chance of passing the Senate, and he instead supports a fund that would spread risk out regionally among the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico to help with rising home insurance costs.

 

    .30  Another view: M-7 has made a good start in what will be a long race

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Milwaukee, WI, USA

... of our elected officials pushing for regional solutions to regional challenges such as work force development, education, transportation and governance. ...

 

    .31  Pool pact example of good government

Yuma Sun – AZ, USA

I can understand when someone reads the term "intergovernmental agreement" that the eyes can glaze over. The intergovernmental agreement recently made between the city of Yuma and the Yuma Union High School District for a swimming pool complex, however, gives an opportunity to think about what these agreements can mean

 

    .32  Chattanooga: VW incentives, investment records in state

Chattanooga Times Free Press - Chattanooga, TN, USA

“This is an economic anchor for a three-state region, ” said Matt Kisber, commissioner of the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development. ...

 

    .33  Another Voice Warns of an Innovation Slowdown

The New York Times – NY, USA

… entire career in Silicon Valley, a region that thrives on constant innovation. Ms. Estrin, the former chief technology officer of Cisco Systems, has founded four technology companies. Yet she is deeply worried that Silicon Valley — and the United States as a whole — no longer foster the kind of innovation necessary to develop groundbreaking technologies and sustain economic growth. …

 

   .34  News: Football regions undergo a label change

CSTV Networks
Previously labeled geographically, regions now will be renamed "super regionals" and be categorized numerically so as to not create confusion with the geographically based labels in Division II's regionalization model.

 

    .35  Regional Motorcycle and Tattoo Event Slated for Canton, Ohio

MarketWatch – USA

Sturgis in the Midwest? The USA Motorcycle - Tattoo Classic, the hottest new regional event this fall, is coming to the Stark County Fairgrounds in Canton, Ohio. ...

 

    .36  CalTrans $9.5 Million Gets HOT Lane; Folding Bikes Studies

News10-net – CA

Funds were also made available for the Metro Folding Bike Implementation Plan. Los Angeles will get nearly $85000 to develop a folding bike subsidy program that would provide price discounts to transit riders to purchase a collapsible bike to use in conjunction with bus and/or rail systems.

 

11. Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet   Contents

    .01  An Existential Matter

MorungExpress - Dimapur, Assam, India

Southasia exists – at different levels of intensity and urgency, yes, but it does exist. To many, the region provides the fourth or fifth level of identity, beyond the clan, language-ethnicity, province and nation state.

 

    .02  Smith pushes case for Asia-Pacific body

The Age - AU

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has again raised the prospect of an Asia-Pacific Community, telling a gathering of business leaders in India that such an organisation is needed to combat the many security challenges facing the region. …

 

    .03  Russia's isolation plays into China's hands

International Herald Tribune – France

But a summit in the region held signs that China, already a powerful regional player, will benefit from concerns about an aggressive Russia. ...

 

    .04  Importance of People Centred Short to Medium Term Regional Strategy

Asian Tribune - Bangkok, Thailand

The four key concepts of the era of 1980s and 1990s were globalization, liberalization, integration and regionalism. The Colombo Summit increasingly extended and focused on enhancing connectivity ...

 

    .05  Regional trade agreements A second-best choice

Economist – UK

… growing patchwork of these deals have widely different rules, the simplicity and predictability of a single global trading system is being superseded by what Jagdish Bhagwati, an economist and a long-standing foe of regionalism, has called the “spaghetti bowl” of preferential deals. ...

 

    .06  Regionalism Rules

Indiantelevision.com - Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Marathi news channels agree that content-wise the needs of local viewers are different.They cannot be fobbed off with infotainment; what they look for is hardcore news - be it regional, national or international. …

 

    .07  EPA spells end of CSME, says UWI professor

Antigua Sun - St' John's, Antigua and Barbuda

The Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) has been superseded by the Caribbean Forum-European Commission Economic Partnership Agreement (CARIFORUM-EC EPA) … the abandonment of the CSME, “would be a severe setback for the cause of regionalism in the Caribbean. This is not because the direct economic benefits of regionalism are substantial, but because of the political and psychological fallout that the failure of the project may have on the credibility of regionalism, as an option for engaging with globalisation, from a position of greater autonomy.”

 

    .08  Rothesay's all ears when it comes to recreation

Telegraph-Journal - Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

In regards to the regionalization approach, both Bishop and Quispamsis Mayor Murray Driscoll aren't interested. "No, not really, " Bishop said in response to ...

 

    .09  Regionalization rests on value for money

Telegraph-Journal - Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

When the five municipalities of Greater Saint John agreed on a growth strategy, residents were urged to "think, speak and act as a community with a common focus, common goals and a regional perspective."

 

    .10  Licence to Skill: Streamlining the skills system by devolving skills to local authorities

New Local government Network – UK