N.Y. State Pension Bribery Indictments; Will Congress Kill D.C.’s ‘Death With Dignity Act’?
United States District Attorney Preet Bharara announces charges Wednesday in New York. Mark Lennihan / AP Photo
Connecting state and local government leaders
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Snow-removal costs pile up in Billings; Ohio aims to make its data more accessible; and Oklahoma City’s new evening lifeline.
INDICTMENTS | Federal prosecutors in Manhattan say that two broker-dealers used bribes in the form of “entertainment, travel, lavish meals, prostitutes, nightclub bottle service, narcotics, luxury gifts, and cash payments” to gin up business with a New York state pension fund portfolio manager, Navnoor Kang, who was arrested and charged on Wednesday. One of the broker-dealers secretly pleaded guilty to related charges on Dec. 15. [Reuters via CNBC; Capital Confidential / Times Union]
HEALTHCARE | D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the “Death with Dignity Act” on Tuesday, which would allow doctors in the city to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to terminally ill patients who request it as a means to end their life. As with all laws passed by the District of Columbia, Congress has 30 legislative days to pass a resolution that would block the enactment of the law. [WAMU]
SNOW | Costs for clearing over 20 inches of snowfall from roadways in Billings, Montana are piling up. Vern Heisler, the city’s deputy director of public works, said Tuesday that snowplow operators have earned more than $85,000 in overtime pay since plowing work began last week. That’s not to mention other costs, like a $22,000 tab for 1,000 tons of salt and sand mix used to help melt ice, or $12,000 for 100 tons of a “natural granular de-icer.” [Billings Gazette]
DATA | The state of Ohio is planning a sweeping overhaul of its government data stores to make them easier to mine for information on infant mortality, opioid addiction, hunger, dropout rates, and unemployment. Identifying information would be stripped data analysis begins. [Associated Press via ABC News]
STADIUMS | The delayed construction of a minor league baseball stadium in Hartford, Connecticut will be finished next spring, officials said Tuesday. Dunkin’ Donuts Park, a $71 million publicly financed facility, is expected to be ready for the Hartford Yard Goats inaugural home opener in April, barring severe weather or “an act of God.” [Hartford Courant]
Meanwhile in Clark County, Nevada commissioners conditionally approved a $500,000 loan to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, to be repaid by May 1, to cover the agency’s legal counsel, financial recordkeeping, daily accounting and budgeting, and Applied Analysis research. The board is planning a $1.9 billion stadium for the NFL’s Oakland Raider, and legal counsel will negotiate development and operational agreements. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
PUBLIC TRANSIT | In Oklahoma City, there are only a handful of bus routes that run through evening hours, but they’re an economic lifeline for those who don’t have cars and rely on the buses to get to their jobs. “I can't afford a car; I just can't save up the money,” one evening bus rider said. Service until 12 midnight is a step to improve transit service in Oklahoma’s largest city, which is building a downtown streetcar loop and is in the early stages of planning a commuter rail system. [The Oklahoman]
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