Local Government

A pact between the county and Internet service provider Nortex will extend high-speed Internet to residents in the underserved communities of Callisburg, Woodbine and Oakridge. The network is slated to come online in late 2025.

Raleigh has hired Marina Kelly to lead its cybersecurity efforts as CISO. Her executive-level experience includes time at North Carolina State University, where she was an IT manager in its Office of IT.

Reducing traffic deaths is a compelling proposition, but it gets complicated when trying to make it so.

Compelled to use manual processes and paper timesheets after a cyber incident discovered in March, the Alabama city has paid most employees on time, Mayor Randall Woodfin told staff. The issue of late paychecks is being addressed, he added.

Commissioners in Franklin County, Maine, will commit $100,000 from the county’s undesignated fund to an IT reserve fund. During the next 18 months, plans are to migrate a computer server onto the county’s cloud network.

City Councilmembers in the Silicon Valley city recently voted to seek state and federal funding to cover a portion of the service’s annual cost. Other operational details remain to be resolved, including how far users would be able to travel.

TDS Telecom is installing fiber optics in Missoula and neighboring Lolo, with the goal of wiring up roughly 1,700 customers during the first year. The new services, which include phone and digital TV, will enable some residents to move off dial-up.

Huntington Beach, Calif.’s new city website, which launched Monday, eliminates nearly half the pages on its old site. A curated visitor search drives sought-after pages to the top, and the process for back-end changes has been refined.

The Missouri county’s assessment, collections and recorder of deeds offices were closed Monday as officials worked to restore computer systems impacted in last week’s attack. Other systems and taxpayer data were not compromised.

A new all-in-one platform will head to development, the Hawaii capital’s planning and permitting director told a City Council committee Thursday. Officials upgraded a related system in July and will pilot AI-based software for plan and code reviews.

The City Council on Tuesday voted in favor of hiring Nebraska-based Allo Missouri to lay fiber-optic broadband. A final vote will happen at the council’s next meeting and build-out is expected to take approximately two years.

Secretary of State David Scanlan said he’s in favor of using federal election funds, via grants, to help cities and towns modernize aged devices. Scanlan had been reluctant to commit federal Help America Vote Act funds to the effort.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana thwarted an intrusion into its network on Friday, but hackers did obtain a small quantity of data. The bad actors are not believed to have gained access to the agency’s network.

The New Mexico county has relied on a VHF radio system that is “incredibly close” to end-of-life. Officials are anxious to implement an $8.1 million switch to a state encrypted system but will need roughly $5 million in additional funds to do so.

The county, through its Trailability Program, is using off-road TerrainHoppers to make trails accessible to people with disabilities; this year, GPS will enable solo rides. The county is also sharing scenery information via auditory devices.

The acquisition is just the latest for the Nebraska company whose software is used by municipalities, utilities and special districts. Private equity helped make this deal possible, reflecting a larger gov tech trend.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker appointed veteran manager Melissa Scott to serve as chief information officer, the city announced Monday. Scott has been on staff more than eight years and arrived from private-sector IT.

Some city sources have attributed a cyber incident in early March to ransomware, although the municipality has only called it a “network disruption.” Birmingham is using paper-based processes to pay staff, but public effects may be more minor.