Connecticut is receiving $5 million in federal grants to expand high-speed internet service, and fill gaps in coverage in low-income communities.
The money, provided through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Internet for All initiative, includes a $4.2 million Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment grant and a $736,568 Digital Equity grant.
Read the full story
Northern Arizona University will alter its admissions requirements to reduce the number of the core courses mandated for guaranteed university admission.
The pilot program, approved by the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR), will eliminate the foreign language requirement from the 16 core classes students must take in high school for consideration and be closely aligned to the state’s graduation requirements.
Read the full story
As America begins to put the COVID-19 pandemic in the rearview, the lesson from this once-in-a-generation crisis couldn’t be clearer: We need less, not more, central planning in our lives.
For example, a study earlier this year by health economist Casey Mulligan revealed that economic lockdowns mandated by government were counterproductive, given the significant steps workplaces took to prevent the virus from spreading.
The same is true with health care. By now, most folks know the story of how Operation Warp Speed — the previous administration’s unprecedented plan to trim bureaucracy from the vaccine development process — resulted in the creation of multiple safe and effective vaccines in record time. But an equally important storyline is how states took a sledgehammer to their own bureaucracies to expand access to care for those in need.
Read the full story
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has issued Executive Directive 2021-02, which will establish the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI) with the intent of improving costs and access to high-speed internet.
The governor pointed to the ongoing pandemic as the precipitating event that necessitated the order.
“COVID-19 has only confirmed how the lack of high-speed internet access can cause too many Michiganders to struggle in their ability to engage in online learning, to use telemedicine to seek needed healthcare, to search for a new job or to take advantage of all the online resources,” Whitmer said in a statement. “A fully connected Michigan is essential for our state to reach its economic potential in the 21st century global economy.”
Read the full story
Lt. Governor Randy McNally has decided that effective Monday new protocols will go into effect that will allow greater access to the Senate areas within the Cordell Hull Building.
The revised protocols are due to the increased availability of the vaccine and the overall decline in the spread of COVID-19, according to a late-day email Friday from McNally’s chief of staff addressed to Senate members and staff.
Read the full story