News and Issues

Joel Kotkin writes:In 2000 only three U.S. metro areas had more elderly than children under the age of 15 (Pittsburgh, Miami and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.). The 2010 Census showed we now have 10, with the addition of Buffalo, Boston, Cleveland, Hartford, Providence, Rochester and San Francisco to the first three. The elderly population is overtaking the younger population not only in Florida’s retirement havens, but in a number of Rust Belt and Northeastern cities. more »

Katie's Law, also known as the Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2010, has been passed as a federal law to provide funding to states to implement minimum and enhanced DNA collection processes for felony arrests. "The bill is named after Katie Sepich, who was brutally attacked outside of her New Mexico home in August 2003. She was raped, strangled, her body set on fire, and abandoned at an old dump site." more »

In 2009, 31,347 persons died from firearm injuries in the United States, accounting for 17.7% of all injury deaths that year. The two major component causes of all firearm injury deaths in 2009 were suicide (59.8%) and homicide (36.7%). more »

Ferida Wolff writes: We visited a Cuban cooperative organic farm. The land is still state-owned but the produce can be sold privately. We ate in a few paladars, small, privately owned restaurants located in homes. What we found was a resourceful culture, friendly people, and music that enlivens everything. more »