It’s a Race Against Time to Repair a Vulnerable Dam in California

Here are state and local government news stories you may have missed this weekend ...

INFRASTRUCTURE | A major disaster was averted in Northern California six months ago when a massive hole developed in the spillway of the Oroville Dam following a period of heavy rain, prompting the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people downstream. Hundreds of construction workers are currently on site working 20 hours a day, six days a week to rebuild the 3,000-foot-long main spillway before the return of the rainy season in November. But concerns still remain about the long-term stability of the Oroville Dam. When the state built the dam 50 years ago, it built the spillway atop weak rock and cut corners, according to a UC-Berkeley engineering analysis which also criticized California Department of Water Resources for having an attitude of “patch and pray” when cracks developed in the spillway. The department is currently facing a lawsuit from a walnut farmer who list 15 acres of trees due to flooding along the Feather River amid the spillway crisis. [Bay Area News Group; KRCR-TV]

HOMELESSNESS | The mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah, went undercover for three days in March posing as a homeless man, leaving his office on a Friday without a wallet or identification. The Road Home shelter didn’t know that Mayor Ben McAdams was staying at their facility. McAdams had been reluctant to talk about his experience, stressing that it wasn’t a publicity stunt nor an exposé, but recently opened up a bit about what he saw on the streets and in shelters. “I didn’t feel safe. I absolutely did not feel safe.” [The Salt Lake Tribune]

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT | Tornado sirens didn’t sound in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when a tornado quickly formed and rolled through the city early Sunday morning, apparently catching the National Weather Service and local authorities off guard. The storm, confirmed later on Sunday as a F-2 tornado, caused extensive damage and injured 30 people, but there were no reported deaths.  [The Tulsa World]

PUBLIC WORKS | Communities in Bergen County, New Jersey, are carefully watching local utility poles, where ultra orthodox Jews from across the border in Rockland County, New York have been affixing white PVC pipes to the poles to mark an expansion of the eruv, a symbolic religious boundary that allows observant ultra-Orthodox Jews to do certain tasks on the Sabbath when they’re ordinarily be prohibited. Towns, including Upper Saddle River and Montvale, have ordered the piping removed from the utility poles, but Jewish religious leaders have refused. The conflict over the eruv is simmering amid community concerns that the ultra Orthodox communities may be looking to expand south across the border into northern New Jersey “potentially negatively affecting school districts, property values and the very character of their communities.”  [The Record; The Jewish Standard]

LAW ENFORCEMENT | Hiring to fill the ranks of local police and sheriff departments across the nation is never easy, but it’s become particularly difficult in Spokane County, Washington, where Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich has 20 vacancies and he thinks his department will be “lucky if we get 100 or 150 applicants.” It’s a far cry from the days when prospective police officers were up against a 1,000 applicants for a handful of positions. A looming problem for Knezovich: One-third of his police force is age 53 or older, meaning they can retire at any time. [The Spokesman Review]

In Auburn, Massachusetts, a problem involving elevated carbon monoxide levels in Ford Explorers used by police officers has been resolved, thanks to assistance from the Ford Motor Company. [The Boston Globe]

ELSEWHERE …

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Fiscal reserves in the Keystone State are so drained that the state government could only rely on them to fund operations for one-tenth of one day. Pennsylvania’s rainy-day fund currently stands at $245,000. [PennLive.com]

South Bend, Indiana: Attention prospective teachers: With classes starting in less than two weeks, there are as many as 100 unfilled educator positions in the local public schools. The president of the teachers union says that South Bend’s position is not unique: "You're seeing the effects of retirements, you're seeing the effects of anti-teacher legislation, there's less funding, teachers don't feel appreciated." [South Bend Tribune]

Toledo, Ohio: Details matter, especially when it comes to local governments applying for grants. The Glass City’s grants administrator “was demoted to the city’s water department with a substantial pay cut” thanks to an error that may have cost the Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority a $1.1 million grant for a job training program. [The Blade]

Reno, Nevada: The Biggest Little City in the World has been known for decades as a center of gambling, but it’s becoming better known for something else. "We're not just the gaming mecca anymore and tech companies are really realizing that,” according to Mayor Hillary Schieve. [CBS This Morning]

Snellville, Georgia: Looking for an example of a municipality wrought by internal acrimony and bogged down by litigation? Look at this city east of Atlanta, which is facing a new lawsuit alleging racial discrimination and controversial firings. [Atlanta Journal Constitution]

Meridian, Idaho: New numbers expected to be released by the U.S. Census Bureau may confirm that this city has now more than 100,000 residents. Officially, Boise is the only city in Idaho with a six-digit population. [Boise State Public Radio]

Amherst County, Virginia: Besides managing the local government, County Administrator Dean Rodgers is also a noted entrepreneur, inventing the patented Quick-Snap sprinkler system that’s used around the world and now on sale at Sam’s Club. [WDBJ-TV]