Roundup Of Coverage Regarding Rockville Central’s Move

As we know our decision to move Rockville Central entirely to Facebook as a publishing platform has created quite a stir here in Rockville, but it has also created a stir among those who write about media and journalism.

We thought we were the first site to try this approach and after all the commentary, this seems to be true. We have been overcome by the extent of the coverage worldwide.

On the day we announced, Nieman Journalism Lab Assistant Editor, Megan Garber, called to chat about our move. Her article Rockville Central set to become a Facebook-only Outlet provided a terrific description of our excitement and reasoning.

Her article was then picked up by quite a few other sites:

Future Journalism Project: Local Paper Rockville Central Moves To Facebook-only reports on our switch while looking at Facebook stats and the recent evidence that Facebook plans to expand the journalism field.

The Next Web: Could Facebook Become A Better News Reporting Tool Than Twitter? Also describes Facebook’s advertisement for a Journalist Program Manager then gives updates from Gawker and Egypt about Facebook before describing our move.

Media Bistro: Rockville Central To Become Hyperlocal News Site - Without the Site - It Will Go Facebook Only also picked up the story.

Journal Standard: A peek to a possible future is a fine article but it didn’t get it quite right because we will be posting full articles using Notes in Facebook. We aren’t limiting ourselves to wall posts.

Media News At This Hour also highlighted the news.

In the meantime, friends wanted to write about our decision:

Former Silver Spring Penguin editor, Jennifer Deseo, has moved on to New York and currently writes The Hyperlocalist. When she heard the news, she kept slapping her knee as she thought about more and more ways a Facebook-only platform could really work, so she wrote Where hyperlocal meets the “like” button.

Rockville Patch editor Sean Sadam contacted us to report on this local news story, Rockville Central Moving To Facebook.

Since Patch is about to become part of the Huffington Post Media Group, the story was picked up by the Huffington Post Rockville Central To Become Facebook-only News Outlet.

Other news outlets also covered the story:

New York Observer: Local News Site Goes Facebook-Only discusses our move and Tumblr (which allows ads) and speculates that if Facebook were to come up with a revenue-sharing arrangement with news sites it could “boost news readership significantly, quantitatively and qualitatively, in all demographics”.

Lost Remote: Community news site to move entirely to Facbook thinks that if our goal is to create community, it’s “brillance”.

Mashable published an extensive article Facebook’s Growing Role In Social Journalism exploring the new world of Facebook and journalism including the events in Egypt and Libya. The piece also describes Rockville Central’s move, in fact it starts with it.

The Mashable piece was picked up and linked by many sources including MacSoftware, Gazelle Interactive, and quite a few others.

A couple of blogs had a few words to say:

Jr Deputy Accountant TLP: Bad News for Paperboys believes someone is lazy.

Zera’s Blog tells us to think “New World Order”.

We drew some attention internationally:

In the Ukraine an article tells of our move to feysbuk: Facebook-only Media: A Format That Saves Local Projects From the Competition? You will need a translation — and some points might be lost in it!

In the UK: Community News Site To Move Entirely To Facebook where he comments “For online news folks, that may sound absolutely absurd. Suicidal, even. But it may be a stroke of brilliance, especially for part-time hyperlocal sites that arent generating ad revenue. Community is the secret sauce of hyperlocal. The key differentiator.”

The Dutch site De Nieuwe Reporter also wondered if their TMG site would follow in our footsteps: Is The Future Of Local News On Facebook And Hyves?

Our move was even discussed on a tv show:

NBC’s North Carolina Today’s Chit Chat show did a segment on our move which they called a “sign of the times”.

We’ve been asked if we expected this attention and we did not!

When Rockville Central was founded, we made a point of using the free tools we could find, like Blogger. We wanted to be an example of how people could create and share online as a community without a financial investment. Anyone can do it! Hopefully this publicity will inspire many more to try. We hope you will join us on our Facebook page and continue the conversation.

Facebook.com/RockvilleCentral

Rockville Real Estate Listings 2/25/11

Here’s our weekly community-produced real estate listing.

The Gallery Of New Listings contains pictures and descriptions of the new homes on the market as of yesterday, click on this link or the photo above for the information.

Gallery of New Listings contributed by Lisa AbramsRE/MAX Realty Services, (O)301-652-0400, (C)301-437-6742, [email protected]

More information on local real estate is also available from Hillstrom Homes, one of our advertisers. They have a site specifically for Rockville: RockvilleHomes.com.

The data included in this post is a compilation of many different databases obtained from various sources, Rockville Central makes no claims as to its accuracy, you should not assume it is error-free.

Weekend to Weekend Pick: Chicago!

Photo by Steve Bailey. On left Veronika Gajer playing Velma Kelly, and Claire Ortuzar playing Roxie Hart.

Everyone’s talking about the Richard Montgomery High School Black Maskers production of Chicago which is opening this weekend! You’ll be sure to enjoy this wonderful production.

Give ‘em the old razzle dazzle. Razzle razzle ‘em. Give ‘em an act with lots of flash in it and the reaction will be passionate.

Chicago has everything that makes a musical shine: a “universal tale of fame, fortune and all that jazz”. You’ll recognize all the show-stopping songs. I hear these students can dance!

FRIDAY February 25
SATURDAY February 26
FRIDAY March 4
SATURDAY March 5

ALL PERFORMANCES AT 7:00 PM

SAVE WITH RESERVED TICKETS IN ADVANCE: ADULTS $13 STUDENTS $5
AT THE DOOR: ADULTS $14, STUDENTS $6

RSS Users Fear Not: You Will Still Be Able To Subscribe To Rockville Central Articles

Click the image for the RSS feed address!

People who use RSS feed readers to keep up with news have shared dismay at our recent decision to shift to an entirely Facebook platform. They worry they will not be able to see our articles in their readers. But, fear not! You can subscribe to an RSS feed for all of Rockville Central’s “notes” which are what our articles will become.

Simply add this subscription to your feed reader:

http://www.facebook.com/feeds/notes.php?id=11270373798&viewer=0&key=c034072652&format=rss20

(If that seems like a lot of gobbledeygook to you, don’t worry. RSS readers will get it.)

Rockville Central is Moving. Join Us!

We are excited to let you know of a new development here at Rockville Central.

Since we began in June 2007 (here’s our first post), we have always stressed the community aspect. We aim to be an open, fair, and civil space in which to share views about what’s going on in Rockville. That means this site has always been about you, the participant. That focus has spurred very gratifying growth and we have remained in the top five local blogs in Maryland for a number of years.

However, traffic and readership has never been the most important measure of success for us. We are far, far more interested in knowing things like:

• How many people entered public life who had not participated before?
• How deep and robust were comment exchanges on key articles?
• How many people were sending article contributions and adding their voices?
• What other community web sites were getting started?

These measures, too, have been very gratifying as all of them have come true. Especially that last point. As new friends like Patch have gotten started and the Gazette and even the City of Rockville itself have implemented features we pioneered, and as current friends like Rockville Living have continued to grow, we are excited that the online community in and around Rockville is on its way to being vibrant and alive. The community is well served by this ecosystem of news, opinion and information.

Now, it is time for us to move to the next chapter in the life of Rockville Central.

Some time ago, we initiated Rockville Central’s Facebook page, and this has grown to become its own robust space for comments and participation. What’s more, in examining our traffic logs, it is the most important source (after Google) of traffic to the rockvillecentral.com site.

We believe that this suggests that Facebook is where people, by and large, have decided to go for their first-stop online community activities. Which begs the question: Why have a separate site, and try to drag people away from Facebook? Why not go where they are?

For entities and organizations that are trying to turn a profit, or have other institutional or organizational reasons to have a separate identity, it can make sense to have a separate web space. But Rockville Central is different and, as we thought hard about it, we realized we could find no compelling reason that Rockville Central needs to exist as a separate rockvillecentral.com site.

And so, as of March 1, all new Rockville Central content will be found solely on our Rockville Central Facebook page. We hope you will join us there. Everything you have come to know and love about our articles will also exist in Facebook. You can comment, share, and interact — all with more ease and in one place. We’ll no longer have conversations in two different locations.

One thing that will change is that we will do less duplicative reporting. For a city its size, Rockville is well-covered, journalistically. We don’t need to duplicate the efforts of our friends. (How many recaps of the Mayor and Council meetings can you read, really?) We will focus instead on trying to build community and providing content and services that are different and not currently offered by others.

We don’t know necessarily what that will look like, but we are excited to see it emerge!

This is a bold step for us, and, to our knowledge, there are no other Facebook-only hyperlocal community hubs such as ours. It is our next step in trying to blaze a trail.

The existing rockvillecentral.com will continue to exist, and all current content will remain. Old links will still work. But, after February 28, there will be no new posts on that site, and all commenting will be closed. We invite you, instead, to post on our Facebook page.

Thank you for your loyal readership all these years, and we hope you will continue along with us as we embark on this next phase of our life.

We’ll see you over on Facebook.

Your friends,

Cindy Cotte Griffiths
Editor

Brad Rourke
Founder and Publisher

Death Ray Unveiled!

The high winds over the weekend toppled the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse and tore the tarp off the District Courthouse in Rockville.

Early Saturday morning, the winds ripped the $30,000 tarp into pieces. Only one small triangle remained hanging on an upper corner of the building by noon.

Have you found any large white pieces of tarp? Most likely it blew east! One piece was littered the entryway of Rockville City Hall. I didn’t hear of any accidents or destruction from the demise of the tarp. Perhaps large pieces are scattered around town and people don’t know their origin.

As we reported, the Department of General Services of the State of Maryland installed the tarp on Saturday, January 22, 2011 as a temporary measure until a real solution could be found for the high intensity reflection which was destroying surrounding vegetation and melting sections of parked cars.

During the winter, the ray has not been too hot. However, summer is another matter. If you haven’t experienced it yet, you should. The intensity is pretty amazing.

Will the State pay for another tarp which could easily be destroyed again? Have they found a solution to the problem? Since the six-story curtain was purchased, they must not have devised a quick fix.

Another death ray exists in Las Vegas. A high-tech film to cover the windows of the Vdara Hotel was not completely effective last September. Since that death ray was burning people and scorching their hair at the pool below, they added more umbrellas!

We would need a pretty big umbrella on Vinson Street!

ICC Opening Delayed

Notwithstanding today’s POTD, the scheduled opening (tomorrow) of the Intercounty Connector (ICC) has been postponed until Wednesday. Here is the announcement from the State:

As a result of forecasted precipitation overnight, the Intercounty Connector (ICC)/MD 200 is now scheduled to open to traffic by 6 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, weather permitting. The expected wintery mix will prevent crews from completing final work that must be performed overnight to adjust traffic patterns on adjacent highways that is required for the opening of the ICC.

“For safety and logistical reasons, we need to push the opening of the ICC about 24 hours,” said Acting Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) Executive Secretary Harold M. Bartlett. “There is transition work that must take place overnight before we can open the ICC and that work cannot take place in wet or icy conditions. This is certainly an anticipated day and we appreciate motorists’ understanding that we also need Mother Nature’s cooperation in this.”

The Week That Was Feb. 14 – Feb. 20

Here are the top stories from Rockville Central this week. This feature appears every Sunday.

Opinion and Features

Rockville Real Estate Listings 2/19/11: Our weekly feature.

Contributor Opinion By John Britton: The Tag Line, The Logo, Our Process: Councilman Britton addresses criticism of the branding decision and process.

News

Tax Free This Weekend For Energy Star Products Plus Info For Loans, Nonprofits And Businesses: Marylanders will get a break from the state’s 6 percent sales tax on qualifying ENERGY STAR products from February 19 to 21, 2011.

What You Need To Know About Presidents Day: Closures and openings.

RM Cluster Emphasizes The Importance Of Music: For the first time, students from all of the schools in the Richard Montgomery Cluster performed in the annual RM Cluster Concert.

Borders In White Flint Slated To Close: Where will people wait for their tables at Cheesecake Factory?

New Site Provides Information About Montgomery County’s Health: New one-stop online source for population-based data and community health information launches.

Rockville Police Reports (Feb. 7, 14): The weekly rundown of who’s been run down.

Robins May Not Be Harbingers Of Spring: Although some people might think the marauding crowds of nosy robins are a sign of spring in Rockville, this might not be the case.

Mayor And Council Meeting 2-14-2011: A brief meeting featured worksession with Finance and Budget Task Force.

Events

Weekend to Weekend Pick: Hakka: Learn all about the Hakka Culture of China this Saturday.

Rockville Real Estate Listings 2/19/11

Here’s our weekly community-produced real estate listing, along with a graph showing the low stock of housing listings.

The Gallery Of New Listings contains pictures and descriptions of the new homes on the market as of last Thursday, click on this link or the photo above for the information.

Neighborhood Facts:

As you can see by the graph….new listings vs. active listings are way down. 6 to 9 months worth of inventory is healthy. Montgomery County has less than 4 months worth of inventory, which is an unhealthy low. To give you a comparison Florida has 60 months worth of inventory!

Gallery of New Listings and Neighborhood Facts contributed by Lisa AbramsRE/MAX Realty Services, (O)301-652-0400, (C)301-437-6742, [email protected]

More information on local real estate is also available from Hillstrom Homes, one of our advertisers. They have a site specifically for Rockville: RockvilleHomes.com.

If you are a local real estate broker and you would like to send along the details and a picture of one of your new listings, please email [email protected] and we’ll feature it. Keep in mind, Rockville Central accepts contributions on all sorts of things. The data included in this post is a compilation of many different databases obtained from various sources, Rockville Central makes no claims as to its accuracy, you should not assume it is error-free.

Tax Free This Weekend For Energy Star Products Plus Info For Loans, Nonprofits And Businesses

In the current issue of Energy InfoWIRE, The Montgomery County Energy Programs Team reminds us that this weekend is Maryland’s Tax Free Weekend for Certain ENERGY STAR Products. Marylanders will get a break from the state’s 6 percent sales tax on qualifying ENERGY STAR products from February 19 to 21, 2011. During Shop Maryland Energy weekend, the following ENERGY STAR products are tax free:

• Air conditioners
• Clothes washers and dryers
• Furnaces
• Heat pumps
• Boilers
• Solar water heaters (tax-exempt at all times now)
• Standard size refrigerators
• Dehumidifiers
• Programmable thermostats
• Compact fluorescent light bulbs

Learn more at: http://www.comp.state.md.us/shopmd/default.asp

Here’s some other detailed information to help you save and go green:

Maryland Clean Energy Center Home Energy Loan Program

The Maryland Clean Energy Center (MCEC) is offering loans for projects that increase the energy efficiency of participating residences who qualify for financing. Unsecuritized loans are available for up to $20,000 at a 6.99% interest rate. Measures typically include insulation and HVAC equipment upgrades but are not necessarily limited to these improvements. Property must be a single family detached or townhome and be a primary residence. Homeowners must have a complete home energy audit to determine the scope and cost of potential projects. Auditors must be MCEC approved and certified. Contact MCEC for any other information on this program.
Learn more at: the MCEC Loan Program Website

NonProfit Energy Alliance – Helping NonProfits Reduce Energy Costs and Purchase Clean Energy

The Nonprofit Energy Alliance (NPEA) is an informal group of nonprofits united for the purpose of using their collective power to obtain cheaper and greener electricity. Since NPEA’s kick-off in May 2010, 26 nonprofits are saving between 10 and 20% on their energy bills, totaling an estimated $250,000. NonProfit Montgomery, the NonProfit Roundtable, the Montgomery County Arts and Humanities Council and Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL) are now organizing the third Alliance (NPEA III) . Participation is open to any nonprofit in DC or Suburban MD that pays for electricity as an owner or renter.

Bethesda Green Launches Greening Condos Series

Bethesda Green, ecobeco, and event sponsors are presenting a free series of panel discussions focusing on greening condominiums. The five monthly sessions are scheduled at Bethesda Green on the first Wednesday every month through July. Sessions will start at 7 pm with networking and light appetizers. Formal presentations begin at 7:15 pm and conclude at 8:30 pm. Greening Condos targets residents, boards, property managers, and companies that provide green services to condominiums. The goal is to make it easier for residents to take action to improve their building’s environmental impact, to save energy, and to lower their utility bills for both units and common areas.

Montgomery County Green Business Certification

The Montgomery County Green Business Certification Program is an exciting initiative to help and recognize businesses and organizations that voluntarily go above and beyond basic day to day green office measures to reduce their environmental impact. Certified businesses are listed in the County’s online Green Business Directory and showcased through press releases, short videos and other promotional activities. To date, the Program has certified 23 organizations ranging in size and diversity from a multi-national hotel chain to a small orthodontics office. The Program has also attracted the attention of close to 20 jurisdictions across North America, including Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Montgomery College provides on-going training courses.

The Montgomery College Going Green website can assist businesses in making the changes necessary to get certified.

What You Need To Know About Presidents Day

This Monday, February 21, 2011, our Country will observe Presidents Day. Traffic reports were light this morning so many people might have already left town especially since it’s going to be a beautiful weekend. But if you are here on Monday, here’s what you need to know.

All of the following will be closed:

Rockville City Hall
Rockville Civic Center Park offices, including Glenview Mansion and Glenview Mansion Art Gallery
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre and Box Office
Rockville Senior Center
Montgomery County Offices
Montgomery County Libraries
Montgomery County liquor stores
MCPS Administrative Offices
State offices
State courts

Believe it our not, you can still get rid of your trash on Monday. The City of Rockville’s recycling and refuse will be collected as scheduled. Also the Transfer Station will open.

If you want to get out and shop or socialize, parking fees at meters and the three City-owned garages in Town Square will be suspended. Parking at Montgomery County public garages, lots, curbside meters will also be free.

These fun Rockville facilities will be open as follows:
Thomas Farm Community Center will open 6 a.m.-9:30 p.m
Lincoln Park Community Center will open 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Twinbrook Community Recreation Center will open 6 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Croydon Creek Nature Center will open 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (opening for the holiday).
RedGate Municipal Golf Course will open, weather permitting.
Rockville Swim and Fitness Center will open 6 a.m.-9 p.m.

Public Transportation:
Ride On – special modified holiday schedule
Metrobus – Saturday schedule with supplemental service
Metrorail – Saturday schedule (5 a.m. to midnight)
TRiPS Commuter Stores (Silver Spring and Friendship Heights) – closed

In honor of the holiday, maybe we can all learn one thing about a President. Seems like we should observe the holiday in some fashion!

Weekend to Weekend Pick: Hakka

What Do You Know About Hakka? Learn all about the Hakka Culture of China this Saturday.

VisArts at Rockville
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Special Tung-Fa Music Performance: Noon - 3 PM
Lecture 2-3 PM
FREE

Discover the Hakka culture; who they are and their characteristics. Take part in a Hakka activity. This native Chinese culture migrated across Asia, learn about the immigration, as well as cuisines, architecture, and dance with Dr. Teresa Lee, Dr. Eugenia Shyu, & Dr. Leo Liu. Presented by the Hakka Association of Greater Washington DC.

RM Cluster Emphasizes The Importance Of Music

Combined RMHS choruses

Last night for the first time, students from all of the schools in the Richard Montgomery Cluster performed in the annual RM Cluster Concert. The evening showcased every sort of musical endeavor available from a cappella groups to choruses to instrumental music. One of the objectives of the event is to give the kids a chance to see what you can move onto musically.

Ronald Frezzo, Director of the Richard Montgomery Choruses, explained why music is offered in schools. The reasons include math (counting), geography (musical heritage), civics (patriotic songs), discipline (listening and standing), teamwork, mutual respect, and even the health effects of breathing. Mr. Frezzo told the audience that more drama and music majors get into medical school than biology majors.

The evening kicked off unofficially with the three a cappella groups from Richard Montgomery High School (RMHS): the all-female Resonance, the coed In Tune, and the all-male T Tones. In Tune introduced themselves as the “Pokemon Trainers Association of America” but that must have been an attempt to get the attention of the elementary school kids in the audience. Billing themselves as the “funest” group, they covered the Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes. The T Tones went with The Longest Time by Billy Joel.

Beall Elementary

The main performances of the evening were by the elementary school choruses. The Beall, College Gardens, Ritchie Park, and Twinbrook Choruses all bravely sung to a standing-room-only crowd.

College Gardens Elementary

Their sweet young voices were gently punctuated by the simple accompaniment of a piano.

Ritchie Park Elementary

Ritchie Park added some percussion to Blue Waters of the North.

Twinbrook Elementary

Since Julius West Middle School (JWMS) lost their chorus program due to budget cuts, Mr. Steve Cowan brought three instrumental groups to perform. Over 250 kids play instruments at JWMS. The short excerpts played gave a taste of what the school offers from jazzy brass Pink Panther to Bach on strings. Listen to what the Bach turned into:

The Combined Richard Montgomery Choruses brought the evening to a grand finale. During Dona Nobis Pacem all the elementary choruses joined in the singing the rounds. Since the younger students sat in the side rows, their voices surrounded the audience with a flowing embrace of Latin.

Then the audience stood and joined in with the first and fourth verses of America, the Beautiful so parents could show their support with their voices.

During the evening RMHS Principal Dr. Nelson McLeod, proved the value the school places on music by presenting $200 gifts to each of the music programs. Totaling over $1,000, these gifts are a tradition which acknowledges the important role each music program plays for the students.

During this tough budget situation, parents can also reach out to principals and the County Council to show their support for these thriving music programs. Kids who show commitment to choral and drama programs demonstrate their ability to succeed in college. Last night the students and faculty certainly demonstrated their passion for music.

Borders In White Flint Slated To Close

Borders, the bookstore chain, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Manhattan today and will be closing almost 1/3 of its stores including the Borders Books and Music in White Flint Mall. Although White Flint is slightly out of our coverage area, the mall is a local shopping destination. Over the years, I’m sure most of us have shopped at the multi-level store down the Pike.

The news is filled with stories about how Borders and Barnes & Noble are struggling financially. At one point last year Barnes & Noble was seeking a buyer and a possible financial deal with Borders was floated.

Last year I attempted to purchase a book as a present at Borders and they had no selection. On the way home I found several books on the subject in Barnes & Noble. Telling? Perhaps.

Do you still buy books in a store? Or on Amazon? Or only electronically for your reader?

Times change. We no longer have Tower Records in Rockville either.

New Site Provides Information About Montgomery County’s Health

Only one-third of the adult population in Montgomery County engages in regular moderate physical activity. 17.5% of Montgomery County residents are obese. That’s not very good!

Today a new website, HealthyMontgomery.org, was launched. This site is a one-stop online source for population-based data and community health information. More than 90 topics related to the health and well being of our community can be found in an easy-to-read format. Comparisons to other communities across the nation are a click away.

County Councilmember George Leventhal, left, chair of the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee; County Health Officer Ulder Tillman; and Department of Health and Human Services Director Uma Ahluwalia helped the site get off to a healthy start. Photo by Neil Greenberger.

This morning County officials gathered in the Rockville Memorial Library to announce the start of the site which was created by the Healthy Communities Institute, a California-based company that has developed web-based technology to bring health and socioeconomic data together to improve the health and well being of communities across the United States. The site was funded by the Kaiser Permanente Community Benefits Program. Funding for the community health improvement process was provided by the five Montgomery County hospitals and the County.

In the press release for the announcement, County Councilmember George Leventhal, chair of the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee and co-chair of the Healthy Montgomery Steering Committee commented on the possibilities:

The Healthy Montgomery website is the data pillar of our new community health improvement process. The steering committee is comprised of leaders from across the community. Our ultimate goal is to improve access to health and social services for all residents, to achieve health equity for all, and to enhance the physical and social environment to support optimal health and well-being for all.

Uma Ahluwalia, director of the County’s Department of Health and Human Services added:

Having reliable data on which to base our budget decisions on is critical, especially in these lean budget years. In addition, this website will be a great resource for students, health planners and the public.

In June 2008, the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services and the Montgomery County Collaboration Council brought together various organizations which work to improve the health and well‐being of Montgomery County residents. The group assessed how well ten essential public health functions are carried out in the County. All the organizations expressed the need to have “valid, reliable and user-friendly data related to health and the social determinants of health.”

The information on the website will assist County policy makers and partners in identifying key priority areas and will help guide decisions about strategies to meet various needs. For example, it costs nearly $70,000 for a family of three to live in Montgomery County without receiving any public subsidy for child care, food, housing or transportation. When officials decide on policies, this type of information will certainly play a part in making educated decisions.

Healthy Montgomery links to other resources in the community and also has a section on Promising Practices for Health, Environment, Economy, Transportation, Government and Politics, Education and Public Safety. Visit and take a look at our new Community Snapshot.