National

Image by justgrimes via Flickr The Sunlight Foundation is an organization and a campaign to use technology to bring more transparency to government. Last week the Sunlight Foundation kicked off their Public Equals Online campaign with a panel discussion at the Google Headquarters in Washington DC. Panelists included: Jake Brewer, engagement director of the Sunlight Foundation Mark Tapscott,...
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Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is continuing to keep Pittsburgh in the national spotlight.  The Charlottesville, VA paper, The Daily Progress, has published and OpEd about the $1,000 trash cans. By THE DAILY PROGRESS Published: February 28, 2009 Now, some city officials may want their names associated with playgrounds, or schools, or parks, or museums. Luke Ravenstahl wants his name...
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Image by wallyg via FlickrCongratulations to Paul Roden and Valerie Leuth from Tugboat Print Shop. Their work has been selected for the Manifest Hope Exhibit in Washington, DC. Click here to see their finished print. About Manifest Hope: Art plays a pivotal role in creating cultural momentum. The MANIFESTHOPE: DC Gallery celebrates that...
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Image by Getty Images via DaylifeI was just reading the latest email from Michael Moore about bailing out the big three automakers – I like that he offers an alternative to the bailout, I don’t know if it is the right alternative but it is helpful to see some alternative ideas discussed (I am...
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And we are off… I have been getting phone calls and emails from around the globe asking what is happening with the Presidential race here in PA.  So far, nothing to exciting – just some door knocking.  This looks like the first major candidate event to head to Western, PA. On ...
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Last week the New York Sun published an editorial, The Next Philadelphia?, that basically says the future of Pittsburgh hinges on this mayorial election. Pittsburgh is a cautionary tale for many American cities. It can either go the way of Detroit or become a comeback city like Philadelphia and Baltimore. Its future, as defined by...
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Anyone attend and like to comment on the highlights? Apparently Pittsburgh has received 2.5 million dollars from Surdna to bring people back to city neighborhoods. Surdna’s 2007 grantees are listed, several Pittsburgh orgs among them, but I couldn’t find this particular grant – or on the web in general. Conference coverage here…
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The presendial campaigns are coming to town.  Sorry about the last minute notice of this event – there was some confusion about if Edwards was actually coming to Pittsburgh. John Edwards is traveling to 11 cities and towns in 3 days to shine a light on the continuing injustice of poverty in America. What: John...
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Whats Happening: HR 811 – the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act could come to a vote in the next 2 weeks H.R. 811: Paper Ballots — ALL voting machines must produce a paper ballot Audits — ALL voting machines must be audit-able No Secret Source Code — ALL voting machine vendors MUST make the machines’ software available for...
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So, of course, I wasn’t gonna drop the $200 to attend this thing, but now that I’ve crashed the event after the dessert course is served to find the two people I need to talk to, I’ve set my butt up on the now-empty stage. Jason Alexander is getting mad requests for autographs; I’m going...
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A number of groups and people from Pittsburgh are in Washington DC this week for the national Take Back America Conference. The Pittsburgh League of Young Voters is there. Check out their take on the TBA conference on the league blog.
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NPR ran a story this morning about Kyle Corbin, the newly elected 18-year-old mayor of Union, OR.  No word on how or if he’ll be having to balance his new mayoral duties with, like, schoolwork, or anything; but the story does highlight some of the awkwardness of having to clear interviews with his mom first. Apparently...
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Pittsburgh can expect to get plenty of TLC from 2008’s presidential candidates once the nominees are picked, but since when do we get any pre-Primary love? Tom Vilsack announced his bid for the Democratic nomination in his Announcement Event Tour, which includes stops in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh December 2nd 10:30am            Meeting with 14th...
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Nods out to Philly’s John Laumer for this post in Treehugger, referencing a Chicago Tribune  article on Wisconsin’s “Big Bang” plan to keep young people in the state after they attend college there, at least for 10 years. Students would get four years of reduced or free college tuition in exchange for staying in Wisconsin...
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I’ll be anxious to see how many young people came out and voted locally, and what impact it had. But in Senate races in PA and across the country, they appear to have played a role in swinging things– and turnout was up over 2002. The following from Rock-the-Vote via Rolling Stone: Among voters 18-29 years...
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