Happy College Colors Day!

For those of you who were unaware, today is College Colors Day in Alabama and a number of other states.  On August 20th Governor Riley issued a proclamation stating that

“WHEREAS, College Colors Day seeks to celebrate and promote the traditions and spirit that make the college experience great by encouraging faculty, staff, alumni, students, and fans to wear apparel of their favorite college throughout the day of August 31, 2007;”

For more information about College Colors Day, including why teams chose certain colors, check out the Tuscaloosa News.

GameDay Condos & GO Zone

In today’s Tuscaloosa News, there’s an article about how real estate developers and investors are benefitting from the ‘GameDay Condos’ being built around the city of Tuscaloosa. The Gulf Zone Opportunity Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-135) was enacted in order to give tax incentives to builders, investors, etc., in the areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Tuscaloosa was included in the boundaries of the GO Zone, and thus the condominiums currently being built around the city (including those close to Bryant-Denny Stadium) qualify.

More information on the tax incentives available to small businesses and employers in the Gulf region is available from the IRS web site.  A backgrounder on the bill itself is available from gulfcoastopportunity.gov

* Please note that the tax breaks do NOT apply to those individuals who build or purchase land for their own use.

State E-Government

E-government is a very broad term, used to label everything from filing your taxes online, to communicating with elected officials, to renewing your drivers’ license. But the federal government and different state governments are moving at different speeds to implement e-government services for their citizens.

The Congressional Research Service recently produced the report “State E-Government Strategies: Identifying Best Practices and Applications,” an analysis of existing state e-government programs. The report is based on research done by Masters Students in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, which surveyed state governments on their e-government management and strategies. The report includes an analysis of governing documents and survey results, critical factors in the evaluation of state e-government programs, and several case studies based on programs in Kentucky, Texas, Utah, California, Massachusetts, and Washington.

For examples of Alabama e-government services, visit the Online Services section of alabama.gov. More information on Alabama’s e-gov initiatives is also available.

Bridge information

Yesterday’s bridge collapse in Minnesota has lots of people wondering if the same could happen in their part of the country. In response, the Alabama Dept of Transportation (ALDOT) has produced some information on bridges in this state. Earlier today they posted a backgrounder on Alabama bridges, and information on the bridges declared Structurally Deficient by ALDOT.

One thing to keep in mind: not all bridges in the state are owned by ALDOT, and the number of bridges declared structurally deficient (240) is out of the 5,687 owned by ALDOT, not all 15,827 bridges in the state. The Federal Highway Administration numbers differ a bit from ALDOT’s – their 2006 NBI totals indicate that Alabama has 15,879 bridges, of which 2,102 are structurally deficient. (More information from the National Bridge Inventory is available on the FWHA web site.)