News

WA: Thurston County: Spike in teenagers shoplift booze now available at grocery stores

Since private stores started selling hard liquor in June, more teenagers in Thurston county are shoplifting booze that’s now available at grocery stores.  The Republic

CA: Los Angeles Schools Win Key Court Battle with Charters

Los Angeles school district officials won a key legal battle with charter schools this week, when an appeals court struck down a ruling that could have opened up vast numbers of classrooms for charters, while also creating potential hardships for traditional neighborhood schools.   Governing

PA: Privatizing lottery not a winning proposition, Pa. Dems say

The state s auditor general elect has joined Democratic colleagues in protesting Gov Tom Corbett s effort to put a private company in charge of the Pennsylvania Lottery. NewsWorks

VA: State public-private protocols faulty

Gov. Bob McDonnell has made frequent use of the law, which grants the executive branch broad authority to bypass the legislature when it comes to negotiating public-private partnerships. The results have been uniformly bad, particularly for the residents of Hampton Roads, who will start paying tolls in 2014 to cross the Elizabeth River between Norfolk and Portsmouth. But a recent report on the PPTA, commissioned by the Southern Environmental Law Center and authored by a longtime Virginia policy analyst, underscores its shortcomings, and how its inconsistent and opaque application can provide counterproductive results for taxpayers.   The Virginian-Pilot

FL: State Drops Bid to Privatize Tag Services

Backing away from a possible court fight, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced Friday that it will halt its attempt to bid license tag services to private vendors. Tax collectors — who distribute state tags — and two manufacturing groups tried to block the change by lobbying elected officials and filing legal action against the department.  The Ledger

OH: City, Union Reach Deal Over Parking Privatization

In order to win the support of the largest city employees union for the leasing of Cincinnati’s parking facilities, the city administration has agreed to pay raises and no layoffs for three years. There’s a catch — municipal employees only get the raises and job security if the city’s parking meters, garages and surface lots are leased to a private company for 30 years.   Cincinnati CityBeat

OH: Ohio Awaits Turnpike Study

Many Ohioans are eagerly awaiting the results of a yearlong study on the future of the Ohio Turnpike, but almost everybody, it seems, assumes that the study will call for privatization of the 241-mile-long toll road. The study, which cost the state $3.4 million, is due by the end of the month. Governor John Kasich, a Republican, has raised the idea of privatizing the toll road or rest stops, but he says he will rely on the report before making any final decisions.   Stateline

GA: Price for I-85 toll lanes soars to record high

The cost to use interstate toll roads in metro Atlanta, which has been steadily rising in recent months, has hit a new record. WTVC

TSA screener privatization program needs better guidelines, says GAO

The program that has seen 16 airports around the nation move to private screeners at security checkpoints in lieu of TSA agents needs better guidance and a formal process to measure performance before it is more widely implemented, said a study released by the government’s watdog agency. Government Security News