Allocations of N95 masks from federal stockpile weren't distributed to states on per capita basis

As states have scrounged for supplies of N95 masks and other critical personal protective equipment, federal authorities have repeatedly said the state-by-state allocations from the Strategic National Stockpile were made on a per capita basis.

This is not the case.

My analysis of the data is in today's Portland Press Herald. Teaser: it's not based on political loyalty or apparent pandemic exposure either, but the federal government is unwilling to explain what logic was in fact used.

Maine's Congressional delegation is largely outraged by the lack of transparency, except for the one Republican of the four, Sen. Susan Collins, whose office wouldn't answer questions about it.

Details in the story.

[Update, 4/23/20: This story was picked up by the national Associated Press wire and also featured in today's USA Today News from the Fifty States feature.]

I wrote on another, distinctly handled, federal stockpile issue last week: the allocation of ventilators.

End of the year round-up on POLITICO cities project

2016 is thankfully about to end, though I suspect we will long for it by the second quarter of next year. In parting, a quick round-up of items related to my series on successful innovations in American cities for POLITICO Magazine.

The Vermont "hack": Burlington Electric, the city-owned utility in Vermont's largest city, is in the news today because they discovered malevolent Russian state "hacker" code on one of their computers. I profiled the utility last month for the series.

Roanoke Times editorial: thanks to Roanoke, Virginia's newspaper of record for this editorial discussing how to move cities forward, with special focus on my POLITICO article on that city, and the work of The Atlantic's James Fallows. Much appreciated.

Bloomberg View on homelessness: Syndicated columnist Noah Smith took up the issue of work and

 homelessness this week, citing my most recent piece for the series on Albuquerque. The column was carried across the country, including at Maine's Bangor Daily News.

And, separately, thanks to columnists at the Herald Dispatch in Huntington, West Virginia and the Post Register in Idaho Falls, Idaho for taking up American Nations this month. Much appreciated.

Happy New Year, everyone. Let's hope it outperforms expectations.

As Trump Age dawns, a dispatch from the city Sanders built

At Politico Magazine, the subjects for the What Works series are picked months in advance, so it's by coincidence that, days after Donald Trump's upset victory in the U.S. presidential election, the series visit Bernie Sanders' hometown. I did field research for this story a couple weeks before election day; now it reads like a dispatch from an alternate universe, where a town with few meaningful fissures is creating a sustainable economy under the guidance of their municipal government, itself run for much of the past four decades by social democrats.

In any case, the new story is on Burlington, Vermont's 37-year drive to build a sustainable city, protected from international fossil fuel markets and the whims of distant corporate boards. The result: the first city able to power itself entirely from renewable energy -- it owns its own grid and generating capacity and could theoretically cut itself off from the outside world without interrupting power -- and one that is now working to become net zero in transportation and thermal energy use as well. It also grows a lot of its own food.

This is my ninth full-length "What Works" piece this year. The others were on how Des Moines went from dull to cool; how Manchester, New Hampshire turned its vast 19th century millyard to spinning high-tech gold; on how Denver built its game-changing light rail system, only to discover its most powerful effects were not what they'd expected; how Cincinnati transformed "America's most dangerous neighborhood"; how Philadelphia repurposed a 1200 acre former naval base;  how Milwaukee breathed life back into a legacy industrial district, creating the manufacturing park of the future; how Roanoke, Virginia went from a train city to a brain city; and how Winston-Salem, North Carolina pivoted from tobacco manufacturing to high-tech innovation. In addition -- on the occasion of the Republican National Convention -- I had this shorter story on how Cleveland revamped its long-neglected Public Square.

Where's next? Hint: They filmed Breaking Bad there.

The forecast for passenger rail in Maine

Union Station, Portland, 1954, courtesy of the always interesting Portland Maine History 1786-Present Facebook Page

The last passenger trains pulled out of Maine in the 1960s. Portland's grand terminals were torn down to make way for parking lots and, in the case of Union Station, a particularly soulless strip mall. Tracks were ripped out or paved over. Highways were the way of the future.

But since 2001, passenger rail has been making a comeback. In 2001, the Amtrak Downeaster debuted Boston to Portland service and in the years since has greatly exceeded ridership expectations and regularly been rated as the top service in the national system. This past November the run was extended to Freeport and Brunswick in Maine's midcoast. There was talk of continuing service to Augusta and Lewiston, and maybe even Montreal. Seasonal connecting service to Rockland was to beefed up. Direct Portland to New York City trains were on the drawing boards.

In today's Portland Press Herald cover story, I take a look at the near- and long-term prospects for extending passenger trains in Maine. Ironically, because of some missing infrastructure -- consisting entirely of elements torn up in the late 20th century -- the Downeaster's core service isn't operating as quickly and frequently as it really needs to, particularly on the Portland-Brunswick leg. Until it does, most connecting and continuing services will have to wait, while seasonal service to Rockland is actually expected to scale back.

Super Tuesday and the American Nations

I'm pleased to note that the results of the ten "Super Tuesday" G.O.P. nominating contests fit very nicely with the political geography outlined in American Nations. Newt Gingrich, for instance, can't manage to win a single county in the regional cultures I call Yankeedom and the Midlands, which makes his nomination all but impossible. Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum also have striking regional strengths and weaknesses, explaining their county-by-county performances in (culturally-divided) battleground states like Ohio.

But I ramble. For a discussion of all of this, check out my latest piece over at Washington Monthly's Ten Miles Square.

Maine: How the GOP rammed through a massive health insurance overhaul

The new Portland Phoenix has my cover story on how Maine Republicans railroaded a massive overhaul of our health insurance regime through the State House, and the political fallout that's followed. The majority party sometimes slams a bill through the system faster than anyone can digest it, but rarely do these bills involve such genuine life-and-death issues as those affected by LD1333.

The Phoenix cover artists even created this insurance lobbyist/devil figure to illustrate the piece. Hyperbolic, perhaps, but you have to admit it's eye-catching.

For the policy wonks out there, I did take the time to photograph the testimony submitted for the original April 27 hearing, back when this was but a four-page bill. The points raised for and against the loosening of restrictions on charging higher premiums based on a customer's location, gender, age, or health status, may still be valid in regards to those components of the new law. You can find it here as a 37-megabyte PDF. (Why the legislature hasn't ordered that all committee testimony be scanned and posted online is beyond me.)

Vermont also overhauled their health insurance system last month. The difference: they're going to a single payer model. Will be interesting to see which approach results in the best outcomes for these respective state's people.