Hispanic Heritage Month began in mid-September and runs through Oct. 15, and a financial institution in Washington state is finding unique ways to serve Hispanic members of its community. Newrizons Credit Union in the western Washington town of Hoquiam offers a variety of financial services to people, regardless of whether they are even members of the credit union. .
Members of a Texas group working to end mass incarceration thought they were making headway, but now they re not so sure. Faith in Texas has ideas for how Dallas County could reduce the prison population by 25%, and received support from a county judge to draft a proposal. Joe Swanson, lead community organizer for the group, said the reform talks have stalled, and the Dallas County commissioners have appointed a committee to determine if a new jail should be built. .
Every election, thousands of people are disenfranchised from voting because they are incarcerated. But Houston s Harris County Jail has shown the two are not mutually exclusive. In 2021 a polling place was available at the jail for the first time. .
A police oversight group has formally recommended Portland adopt a technology known as "ShotSpotter" to help tackle gun violence, but the technology has been met with some skepticism. ShotSpotter uses artificial intelligence with data collected from hidden microphones to determine the location of gunshots and inform the police department. Dan Hon, a Portland-based strategy consultant in government and civic technology, said the technology still has to make some leaps to determine if the sound it hears is a gunshot. .