Houston Chronicle: Claiming confusion, Texas Medical Center changes how it reports ICU capacity amid COVID-19. “Texas Medical Center hospitals stopped updating key metrics showing the stress rising numbers of COVID-19 patients were placing on their facilities for more than three days, rattling policymakers and residents who have relied on the information to gauge the spread of the coronavirus.”
transparency
WCAX: UVM researchers look at police funding across Vermont
WCAX: UVM researchers look at police funding across Vermont. “As funding for police departments is under scrutiny across the country, a new database compiled in collaboration with UVM researchers is comparing police budgets from more than half of Vermont cities and towns.”
Wisconsin Budget Project: New online database shows law enforcement spending in individual communities (WisBusiness) (PRESS RELEASE)
WisBusiness: Wisconsin Budget Project: New online database shows law enforcement spending in individual communities (PRESS RELEASE). “Local governments in Wisconsin — including cities, villages, towns, and counties — spend more than $2 billion a year on law enforcement and related costs like jails. Black community leaders have called on policymakers to put that money to better use, shifting resources away from law enforcement and towards mental health services, housing, job assistance, and other services that strengthen communities. Now, a new online database from the Wisconsin Budget Project allows residents to look up spending on law enforcement and related costs for Wisconsin’s largest 100 cities and all 72 counties, and see how that amount compares to public spending for other other purposes.”
EFF: California Agency Blocks Release of Police Use of Force and Surveillance Training, Claiming Copyright
EFF: California Agency Blocks Release of Police Use of Force and Surveillance Training, Claiming Copyright. “Under a California law that went into effect on January 1, 2020, all law enforcement training materials must be ‘conspicuously’ published on the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) website. However, if you visit POST’s Open Data hub and try to download the officer training materials relating to face recognition technology or automated license plate readers (ALPRs), or the California Peace Officers Association’s course on use of force, you will receive only a Word document with a single sentence.”
CNN: An internal Amazon memo shows how closely it’s tracking coronavirus data at warehouses
CNN: An internal Amazon memo shows how closely it’s tracking coronavirus data at warehouses. “For months, Amazon has refused to reveal data on the number of coronavirus cases inside its warehouses by claiming the data itself ‘isn’t particularly useful,’ frustrating workers and critics hoping for a clearer picture of infections within what have become critical hubs for home supplies. But behind the scenes, Amazon has been closely tracking the spread of the virus inside at least one warehouse, according to an internal memo viewed by CNN Business. And its own data may raise new concerns about the rate of infections in its facilities.”
WTRF: Ohio launches website combining state and local budgets and checkbooks
WTRF: Ohio launches website combining state and local budgets and checkbooks. “The state of Ohio launched a new website Tuesday that combines information about the state’s budget and how much is being spent. [The site] creates a one-stop, interactive look at state and local governments’ budgets and checkbooks.”
The Guardian: Florida governor under fire over claims state is ‘cooking the books’ on Covid-19
The Guardian: Florida governor under fire over claims state is ‘cooking the books’ on Covid-19. “Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s faltering response to soaring new coronavirus numbers in his state is descending into acrimony, after an accusation his administration is ‘cooking the books’ in an effort to hide the true impact of the devastating pandemic. The claim from the state’s former leading Covid-19 data scientist comes as Florida smashed its own one-day record for new cases of the disease on Friday with 8,942, after two successive days above 5,000 – by far the highest figures since the pandemic began.”
The Brussels Times: Belgians can now track coronavirus per municipality
The Brussels Times: Belgians can now track coronavirus per municipality. “This week, Belgium’s national research institute Sciensano launched a new tool with which both authorities and citizens can track the number of new infections in their municipality. As the institute has stopped holding press conferences to announce the latest figures for new infections, hospital admissions and deaths in Belgium, it launched a tool for citizens to keep track of the situation themselves.”
GAO Blog: GAO’s review of the federal response to COVID-19
GAO Blog: GAO’s review of the federal response to COVID-19. “Facing unprecedented national public health and economic crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, federal agencies moved swiftly to distribute funds and implement programs to help people and businesses. But, as a tradeoff for that speedy response, agencies have made only limited progress so far in achieving transparency and accountability goals. On June 25, we issued our first audit report on the federal response to COVID-19 under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and other relief laws. The CARES Act requires GAO to issue bi-monthly reports through the first year of the law, in addition to several other related studies. Today’s WatchBlog explores what we’ve found so far.”
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Medicare COVID-19 Data Release Blog
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Medicare COVID-19 Data Release Blog. “Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released preliminary data on COVID-19 derived from Medicare claims. The data provides a highly instructive picture of the impact of COVID-19 on the Medicare population, further confirming a number of long understood patterns in the disease such as the elevated risk for seniors with underlying health conditions.”
EPA: EPA Announces Dynamic New Water Data Transparency Tool
EPA: EPA Announces Dynamic New Water Data Transparency Tool. “Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new tool that assembles publicly available water quality data into a user-friendly package that provides information on the quality of our nation’s waters at the community, state, and national level.”
Slate: We Have No Idea How Many People in Prison Actually Have COVID-19
Thanks to “b3thv3” on Twitter for tipping me to this. Slate: We Have No Idea How Many People in Prison Actually Have COVID-19. “In March, [Maddie] deLone began watching facilities in New York take action to reduce their incarcerated populations through releases. She wondered if other facilities around the U.S. were doing the same—and whether any of it was being systematically tracked. When she found it wasn’t, she joined forces with [Sharon] Dolovich, who had started a collaborative spreadsheet to document criminal justice responses to COVID-19. The spreadsheet, which Dolovich first conceived in early March as a tool for personal research, quickly became the UCLA School of Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project.”
KOB4: NYC to give greater access to police disciplinary records
KOB4: NYC to give greater access to police disciplinary records. “In his latest push for police reform, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday that the city is launching an online database that will let New Yorkers track disciplinary cases against police officers accused of excessive force and other violations and view their administrative records.”
Crossroads Today: Texas Comptroller’s Office Releases Updated Transparency Tool
Crossroads Today: Texas Comptroller’s Office Releases Updated Transparency Tool. “This powerful new visualization tool gives users a daily look into state government finance and allows them to download state financial data for further analysis. Tabular data, charts and graphs can help taxpayers, researchers and policymakers search and explore vast amounts of government information with new perspectives, and easily compare various state agencies’ expenditures.”
AP: Treasury chief refusing to disclose recipients of virus aid
AP: Treasury chief refusing to disclose recipients of virus aid. “Building ramparts of secrecy around a $600 billion-plus coronavirus aid program for small businesses, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has moved from delay to denial in refusing outright to disclose the recipients of taxpayer-funded loans.”
