http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2017/08/04/in-some-states-sales-tax-holidays-lose-luster

Consumers in 16 states can take advantage of sales tax holidays this year—going on frenzied shopping sprees to buy items such as backpacks, computers and school clothes tax-free. But states confronting budget woes and a long list of spending priorities are questioning whether the hyped-up shopping events are worth the cost.

http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/08/10/the-fate-of-online-trust-in-the-next-decade/

Many experts say lack of trust will not be a barrier to increased public reliance on the internet. Those who are hopeful that trust will grow expect technical and regulatory change will combat users’ concerns about security and privacy. Those who have doubts about progress say people are inured to risk, addicted to convenience and will not be offered alternatives to online interaction. Some expect the very nature of trust will change.

http://magazine.pewtrusts.org/en/archive/summer-2017/at-waters-edge-norfolks-rising-flood-risk

“Many of our federal flood-risk policies are based on past events, but this is a time when we need to be looking toward the future,” says Laura Lightbody, who directs Pew’s flood-prepared communities initiative. “At Pew we’re looking to places like Norfolk, which have embraced resiliency and taken a proactive approach to reducing flood risk. People there are developing best practices that could help the federal government make better policy.”

http://altdaily.com/norfolk-city-council-approves-open-data-policy/

This program will make city data more consumable and readily available to the public. The work to create the open data policy and program was completed with guidance from What Works Cities, an initiative of Bloomberg Philanthropies. The City of Norfolk is one of only 100 U.S. cities selected to participate in the What Works City initiative, designed to help mid-sized cities improve transparency, increase efficiency and make better data-driven decisions.

http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/multimedia/data-visualizations/2014/fiscal-50#ind0

Fiscal 50: State Trends and Analysis, an interactive resource from The Pew Charitable Trusts, allows you to sort and analyze data on key fiscal, economic, and demographic trends in the 50 states and understand their impact on states’ fiscal health.

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_does_the_public_think_about_cross_sector_collaboration

One of the most interesting findings from these focus groups was that people believe both that government is the root of most modern problems and that it is government’s responsibility to solve them. While the public may express a desire for better government, many citizens are actually seeking better governance—a better process for solving public problems. Governance today requires more than just government. Yet our focus groups showed that cross-sector collaboration is not yet top of mind for most people and has only passive support. If individuals were more aware of how cross-sector collaboration influences their lives and the use of their tax dollars, they might be more invested in how groups are using it in their communities. For this reason, foundations, nonprofit organizations, and other civic-minded organizations have an important role to play in effectively communicating their experiences with cross-sector collaboration to relevant leaders, the media, and the general public.

http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2017/03/doi-display-guidelines-update-march-2017.html

https://theconversation.com/why-do-human-beings-speak-so-many-languages-75434
Why is it that humans speak so many languages? And why are they so unevenly spread across the planet? As it turns out, we have few clear answers to these fundamental questions about how humanity communicates.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/technology-is-biased-too-how-do-we-fix-it/

Whether it’s done consciously or subconsciously, racial discrimination continues to have a serious, measurable impact on the choices our society makes about criminal justice, law enforcement, hiring and financial lending. It might be tempting, then, to feel encouraged as more and more companies and government agencies turn to seemingly dispassionate technologies for help with some of these complicated decisions, which are often influenced by bias. Rather than relying on human judgment alone, organizations are increasingly asking algorithms to weigh in on questions that have profound social ramifications, like whether to recruit someone for a job, give them a loan, identify them as a suspect in a crime, send them to prison or grant them parole.

https://theconversation.com/four-charts-that-show-who-loses-out-if-the-white-house-cuts-food-stamps-78648

It is hard perhaps for some to judge the benefits of having one less hungry person. But it is not hard to see the costs of a hungry one. If less hunger means fewer dropouts from school, less emergency room use and less crime, those are big gains for society.