The Chicago Police Department is working with the Illinois Institute of Technology and the Rand Corp. on an innovative project that will help pinpoint hot spots of criminal activity. The process -- called predictive analytics -- is to analyze every violent incident and gang interaction with police to extrapolate and identify future problems. The numbers will be analyzed by experts at ITT. Chicago Sun-Times
Planned Utopian Community Deterioriates
A utopian dream of a new urban community, built in Grenoble, France, in the 1970s, had slowly degraded into a poor neighborhood plagued by aimless youths before it finally burst into flames three weeks ago. A mob set nearly 100 cars on fire, wrecked a tram car and burned an annex of City Hall. President Nicolas Sarkozy seized on the event as a symbol for a new campaign to get tough on immigration and crime. New York Times
City Computer Expert Sentenced for Locking Down System
Camden Libraries Win Reprieve
The Camden, N.J., libraries were given a reprieve today with the announcement that the Camden County library system will take over the city branches, preventing their imminent closure. Philadelphia Inquirer
Texas Cities' Online Checkbooks Open to Residents
Cities across Texas are starting to open their books to the public by posting their check registers online. Open government advocates applaud the trend, though they note that in many cases the way the information is provided makes it difficult for the public to scour the books. "It is still too early to tell the effectiveness because it's so new," said Keith Elkins, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. "To see governments embracing putting check register information online, that's a good thing." Dallas Morning News
Sheriff's Office Loose with Credit Cards
"Zombie Satellite" May Cut Internet to Rural Alaska
As many as 35,000 people in rural Alaska may lose Internet access, long-distance phone service or both for hours at a
time this week because of a "zombie" satellite that has wandered off course and is expected to scramble the signals of thearea's main telecommunications provider. Anchorage Daily News
Mayor Moves City Funds to Black-Owned Bank
Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. plans to move Jackson, Miss., city funds into Liberty Bank and Trust as a way to support the city's only black-owned bank. Johnson said he wanted to put $1 million to $2 million into certificates of deposit with Liberty as a good-faith effort to show support. "We have one minority-owned bank in the city of Jackson, and here is an opportunity to do business with that bank," Johnson said. Jackson Clarion-Ledger