https://theconversation.com/dont-blame-food-stamps-for-obesity-in-america-80725

Stereotyping low-income Americans and criticizing safety net programs won’t do anything about the national obesity epidemic. Instead, we need to encourage the government to do more to improve American health across the board.

http://theconversation.com/driverless-cars-could-see-humankind-sprawl-ever-further-into-the-countryside-83028
Autonomous vehicles promise a future in which passengers are free to use their time productively (working, for example). And they can park themselves (or be part of a shared pool) which saves yet more time in the morning rush. Coupled with faster journey times, the incentives to live further out of town will increase significantly.

https://theconversation.com/how-flood-insurance-works-6-questions-answered-83187

Editor’s note: Hurricane Harvey dumped up to 50 inches of rain on parts of Texas and Louisiana last month. Meanwhile, Hurricane Irma is bearing down on Florida, which will also likely cause substantial flooding. Homeowners generally rely on insurance provided by the federal government to cover the costs of rebuilding their lives after a flood. We asked an insurance expert to explain the government program and its challenges.

https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-experimental-social-psychology/news/jesp-piloting-the-use-of-statcheck

What is statcheck?

statcheck is a program that checks for errors in statistical reporting in APA-formatted documents. It was originally written in the R programming language. statcheck/web is a web-based implementation of statcheck. Using statcheck/web, you can check any PDF for statistical errors without installing the R programming language on your computer. To use statcheck/web, simply upload a PDF or HTML file of your APA-formatted document. The output will identify any errors in statistical reporting from the manuscript text, based on apparent discrepancies among degrees of freedom, test statistic, and p-value. (For a summary of what statcheck can and cannot do, see the statcheck manual).

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.