NewsWatch: Cities and Counties -- Coyotes Come to Town, Cities Still in Financial Trouble, More ...

Coyotes Come to Town
Wild Coyotes have settled in or around every major city in the United States, thriving as never before, and in New York they have taken to golf. Orion Magazine

Counties Use Web-Based Solution to Develop Emergency Plans
The Gwinnett County, Ga., Office of Emergency Management is using a Web-based collaboration platform to improve its emergency planning and reduce the number of in-person meetings and workshops the county must hold. Government Technology

Jail Sued Over Bible Policy
- A South Carolina jail was hit with a lawsuit Wednesday that challenged its practice of barring inmates from receiving in the mail any form of literature but the Bible. Prison Legal News claims its constitutional right to free speech is being trampled by the Berkeley County jail's practice of "censoring and failing to deliver multiple copies of journals and books sent to detainees." Courthouse News Service

City Should Track Taxis by GPS
City Hall may someday be watching your every on-duty move while driving the streets of Chicago. Inspector General Joe Ferguson recommended Thursday that Chicago mandate an “integrated’’ GPS system that tracks the movement of its 6,726 licensed taxicabs to safeguard cabdrivers and passengers, locate lost property and identify cabs involved in hit-and-run accidents. Chicago Sun-Times

No Soda on Food Stamps Says City
The Bloomberg administration took its anti-obesity war to a new front, asking the federal government’s permission to enact a two-year ban on the use of food stamps to buy soda and other sugary drinks. The measure would affect the city’s 1.7 million food stamp recipients. New York Times

How Bad is it? Cities Still in Financial Trouble
According to City Fiscal Conditions 2010 -- a report released on Wednesday by the National League of Cities -- 87% of city finance officers report their cities are worse off financially than in 2009.  City revenues -- as generated in property, sales, and income taxes -- will decline 3.2% in inflation-adjusted dollars according to finance officers.  To compensate, city officials are cutting back spending, with expenditures declining by -2.3%.  These are the largest cutbacks in spending in the history of the survey and the fourth year in a row that revenue declined.  National League of Cities

San Francisco Parking Meter Rates Among Highest in Country
A new report ranks San Francisco's parking meter rates and fines among the highest in the country. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the survey - prepared by the Board of Supervisors' legislative analyst - found among major U.S. cities only Chicago and Los Angeles charge more than San Francisco to park at a downtown meter. Sacramento Bee

Grocery Stores in Malls?
Supermarkets in shopping malls? The trend is likely to spread just as mall operators in the past added restaurants and movie theaters to the mix. In addition to generating regular traffic, supermarkets can fill vacant spaces left by closed department stores or other large tenants. Meanwhile, from a grocer’s perspective, taking space at regional malls may be the only way to penetrate densely populated areas with high barriers to entry. Retail Traffic