Age friendly new york city commission

Stateline, ContributorStateline provides daily reporting and analysis on trends in state policy. Hundreds of cities and counties have banned selling tobacco products to anyone under 21. 08/29/2018 10:25 am ET By Jenni Bergal Last month, Massachusetts became the sixth state to boost its legal smoking age to 21. While two dozen other states considered similar bills this legislative session — and many likely will do so again in 2019 — much of the groundswell of activity isn’t happening in state capitols. A growing number of local governments are acting on their own to ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone under 21. At least 340 towns, cities and counties in 21 states have taken action, compared with about 200 in 14 states in 2016. They include not only major cities such as Minneapolis, New York City and San Antonio, but also small communities such as Basalt, Colorado, and Holcomb, Kansas. Whatever the approach, advocates and legislators who support … [Read more...] about Local Governments Aren’t Waiting For States To Raise Smoking Age

The signs of segregation were ubiquitous when John Lewis was growing up on his family’s farm in Pike County, Ala. Whether they hung over separate drinking fountains, washrooms, restaurant en­trances or other public facilities, they always read the same: “white” and “colored.”“I would ask my parents and grandparents, ‘Why segregation?’ ” recalls Lewis, now 65. “They would say, ‘That’s just the way it is. Don’t get out of line. Don’t get in the way.’ ”Lewis didn’t listen to his elders, though. He got in the way. Today he sits in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he represents Georgia’s Fifth Congressional Dis­trict, which covers Atlanta and parts of surrounding communities. Lewis’ presence on Capitol Hill is due in no small part to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As a young man, Lewis played a pivotal role in securing passage of the act. The law enforces the … [Read more...] about New Fight for Voting Rights

The government started trying to deport Octavio, a Mexican immigrant, in 2007. He’s still waiting for his case to be resolved, and he will likely continue to wait until at least 2018.Octavio (the Journal is withholding his last name because of his uncertain immigration status) was subject to removal—immigration law’s term for deportation—because he’d been convicted of having false identification papers. He’d already been living in the United States for more than 10 years, had a wife with a heart condition and three stepchildren when the proceeding began in Denver.There was a backlog of cases, so Octavio couldn’t get a final hearing scheduled until early 2013—six years later. When he returned, the judge ordered him removed but said he’d reopen the case if Octavio could find evidence showing his crime did not merit removal. Having navigated the earlier hearings without counsel, Octavio hired attorney Camila Palmer to reopen his case. … [Read more...] about Legal logjam in immigration court grows to more than 540,000 cases

Johnson’s comments at the low-key signing ceremony at the ranch illustrated his mixed feelings about the new law. “I signed this measure with a deep sense of pride that the United States is an open society,” he said. “I have always believed that freedom of information is so vital that only the national security, not the desire of public officials or private citizens, should determine when it must be restricted. At the same time, the welfare of the nation or the rights of individuals may require that some documents not be made available. As long as threats to peace exist, for example, there must be military secrets.”Johnson’s comments still describe the ongoing tension between the commitment to disclosure of government information to members of the press and public measured against the governmental inclination to withhold information, most often on grounds of national security.Consternation over FOIA was not confined to the Oval Office. More than a … [Read more...] about 50 years later, Freedom of Information Act still chipping away at government’s secretive culture

From her floor seats at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, litigator Carla J. Christofferson was so close to the players that she could feel their power, determination and energy vibrating down the length of the basketball court.It was Christofferson’s second year as an L.A. Sparks season ticket holder. The WNBA team had enjoyed such an exciting previous season—Chamique Holdsclaw was flawless from the free-throw line, and Lisa Leslie’s stunning dunk during an all-star game was a league first—that she’d decided to upgrade her seat assignment and move closer to the action.Apparently, it wasn’t close enough. During a game in July 2005, she suddenly turned to her good friend next to her and said, “We need to buy this team.”Christofferson wasn’t kidding. “We really thought it was an undervalued asset. We couldn’t understand how these women who were the best athletes in their field really weren’t known,” … [Read more...] about Of Passions and Practice