Maine Asks Voters About New Funding for Internet Infrastructure

Date: 16 Jun 2020 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In less than a month Maine will hold a Special Referendum election which includes a measure with significant ramifications for Internet access in the state. On July 14, Mainers will be asked to vote Yes or No on Question 1, a $15 million Internet Infrastructure Bond Issue designed to bring high-speed service to the approximately 85,000 households in unserved or underserved areas. The $15 million in general obligation bonds would join $30 million in matching federal, private, and local funds and go to ConnectME to provide funding for broadband projects with an emphasis on unserved or underserved areas.… Read More

Americans Voted Directly on Policies As Well As People

Date: 12 Nov 2018 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The midterm elections are over. We know who our representatives will be and hope they justify our faith in them. But the 2018 elections also gave us a glimpse into what voters might do if they voted on policies rather than representatives. In 37 states there were over 150 measures on which we voted directly either … Read More

Big Money & Lies: Incumbent Cable Monopolies Try To Confuse Fort Collins, Colo. Voters

Date: 25 Oct 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

With their back against the wall, Comcast is pulling out it’s well manicured, sharp claws in Fort Collins, Colorado. Voters will be asked to approve measure 2B on November 7th, which would allow the city to take steps toward establishing their own municipal telecommunications utility. In order to preserve the lack of competition, incumbent Internet access … Read More

Mancos Voters The Latest To Decide Local Authority In Colorado

Date: 25 Mar 2016 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

 Mancos, a rural community of about 1,300 in rural southwest Colorado, hopes to join over 50 other communities across the state that have reclaimed local telecommunications authority. On April 5th, the town will decide whether to exempt itself from SB 152, Colorado’s 2005 state law that removed local choice from municipalities and local governments. Located at … Read More

Isleboro, Maine, Will Vote to Bond for Municipal Network in May

Date: 5 Mar 2015 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Isleboro, the Maine island community of 566, will decide in May whether or not they want to bond to build a municipal fiber network, reports The Working Waterfront. The network will be owned by the town who plans to partner with GWI to operate and manage it.  Currently, about 2/3 of residents on the island use … Read More

Voters Resoundingly Approve Broadband Measure in Estes Park, Colorado

Date: 5 Feb 2015 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

On February 3rd, voters in Estes Park voted 92 percent to reclaim local authority to establish a telecommunications utility. The result follows a greater trend in Colorado where eight communities made similar decisions last fall. Each of these elections has happened during Comcast’s merger review, which may have discouraged them from their usual tactics to oppose … Read More

Missouri Bill Creates New Barriers to Community Networks

Date: 13 Jan 2015 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Republican State Representative Rocky Miller began the new legislative session with a bill designed to yank authority from local communities that need better connectivity.  Even though the state already preempts local authority to sell telecommunications services and requires a referendum for cable, there is a current exemption for “Internet-type services.” HB 437 [PDF] removes that exemption and would make it … Read More

In Big Win for Local Ownership, North Dakota Votes to Keep State’s Pharmacy Law

Date: 5 Nov 2014 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

At North Dakota polls on Tuesday, local ownership was the winner. The state voted overwhelmingly to keep its forward-thinking Pharmacy Ownership Law, defeating Measure 7, the Walmart-funded effort to overturn it. Final returns came in with 59 percent of the vote in favor of the law, the Fargo Forum reports.… Read More

Why North Dakotans Should Vote to Keep the State’s Unique Pharmacy Law this Election Day

Date: 3 Nov 2014 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This Tuesday, North Dakota voters will decide the fate of the state’s Pharmacy Ownership Law. Those working against the law—namely Walmart, which has sunk more than $3 million into a front group called North Dakotans for Lower Pharmacy Prices—contend that abandoning the long-standing policy would lead to an increase in the number of pharmacies serving North Dakota. Our research suggests just the opposite.… Read More

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