Local Government
A pet food pantry in New York won’t solve the city’s shelter crisis
This summer, New York City shelters were overwhelmed by a surge of pet surrenders. The Animal Care Centers of New York City, which contracts with the city to provide animal control services, reported a record 1,000 animals in…
Wyoming woman sues her town to let her keep her pet pygmy goat
When Venus Bontadelli and her husband moved to Powell, Wyoming, to be closer to family, they also hoped to find a reprieve from the "increasingly illiberal and imperious state of politics in California." But it…
Brickbat: Where's the Fire?
Prosecutors in Aurora, Colorado, declined to file criminal charges against two firefighters who were recorded in February driving a fire engine at high speed, activating spotlights, and swerving into the oncoming lane, which…
Brickbat: Down the Drain
Enforcement officers in London, England, handed Burcu Yesilyurt a £150 ($197) fine after pouring the last of her coffee into a storm drain near Richmond Station before boarding a bus. The fine was issued under the…
The government shut down his Dallas small business—for someone else’s crime
When there's crime, I blame the criminal. But Dallas politicians blamed a business. Dale Davenport owned Jim's Car Wash. But five years ago, after a shooting at the property, the city ordered him to shut it down.…
Somerville voters approve vague anti-Israel ballot measure
Residents of Somerville, Massachusetts, voted Tuesday to pass a non-binding ballot measure recommending that city officials abstain from contracting with businesses that sustain "Israel's apartheid, genocide, and…
Baseball’s solution to the Dodgers isn’t a salary cap
Hello and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! If you're looking for work, I know of a few vacancies. (Just don't ask for too much money.) The baseball gods blessed us with amazing drama last week—but with the…
Oklahoma’s obscenity bait and switch could ban pride parades and public drag shows
Oklahoma lawmakers are suggesting that a new state law aimed at "adult performances" means municipalities must predict what sorts of events might become obscene and preemptively prohibit them. It's a clear…
California couple faces $1 million in fines for someone else’s code violations
A California couple is staring down stratospheric fines after their property allegedly ran afoul of local cannabis code violations. The kicker, however, is that the previous owner is to blame for the infractions. That has not…
How opioid settlement money turned into a $600K party fund
The town of Irvington in Essex County, New Jersey, was hit hard by the opioid crisis. In 2023, the county recorded 459 drug overdose deaths, 401 of them opioid-related—the most deaths of any county in the state. Despite this…
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