Dan Boylan

Skyrocketing home prices fueled by increase in land cost, says Harvard University study

Skyrocketing U.S. home prices, which have surpassed bubble levels of 2005-06, are being driven by a dramatic increase in the cost of residential land, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

July 9, 2019

Longer freight trains create delays, safety concerns

U.S. freight trains have been growing up to three miles long, creating lengthy delays at railroad crossings for emergency responders and raising concerns about potential derailments, according to federal auditors.

July 8, 2019

PIRG calls highway projects wasteful

A public interest advocacy group has identified the country's "most wasteful and pointless" transportation projects, which are costing taxpayers $25 billion.

July 3, 2019

Technology industry criticizes states’ data privacy laws

States are enacting their own online data privacy laws, creating a hodgepodge of restrictions that telecom and tech companies increasingly are railing against.

July 1, 2019

Ransomware increasingly targets government networks

Hackers across the country increasingly are holding hostage the data in cities' computer networks.

June 20, 2019

NASA hid costs of Artemis program, says government watchdog

NASA deliberately hid major cost overruns on the rocket program underpinning its plans to return astronauts to the moon, according to the federal government's top watchdog agency.

June 19, 2019

Police staffing shortage sparks recruit bidding war

The Seattle Police Department recently erected a billboard in Indianapolis to recruit Hoosiers for its force in Washington state, and other police departments have addressed staffing shortages by allowing officers to sport beards, mustaches and tattoos.

June 18, 2019

Trans-Pacific ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach feel crush of U.S., China tariff war

The tariff war raging between China and the U.S. is wreaking logistical havoc on America's gateway for trans-Pacific trade, the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

June 17, 2019

States losing gas tax revenue on electric, hybrid cars

States are losing gas tax revenue on hybrid and electric cars, but their efforts to raise registration fees on those vehicles for road maintenance projects is meeting opposition from environmentalists and auto manufacturers.

June 12, 2019

Biometric data of tens of thousands of people who crossed southern border exposed in cyberattack

The cyberattack of a Customs and Border Patrol subcontractor has exposed facial recognition data of tens of thousands of people crossing the southern border, raising security questions as jurisdictions debate how to govern the rapidly expanding biometric technology.

June 11, 2019

Cellphones helping reduce U.S. urban homicide rate, study finds

A new study attributes part of the decline in the U.S. urban homicide rate over the past 30 years to the rise of cellphone usage in the drug trade.

June 10, 2019

Robocalls to be automatically blocked by cell phone companies approved by FCC

The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to expand the powers of mobile phone companies to automatically identify and block robocalls with newly devised filters. What's more, the blocks on unwanted callers can be made without getting customers' permission first.

June 6, 2019

U.S. cities, states not waiting for federal officials to address infrastructure fixes

U.S. city officials increasingly are trying to find their own ways to repair roads, build bridges, improve sewers and provide communications amid squabbling among federal officials over funding a $2 trillion infrastructure plan.

June 5, 2019

Government wasted billions on IT systems, say watchdog groups

The federal government has wasted hundreds of billions of dollars over several decades by building its information technology from scratch rather than buying off-the-shelf systems, public watchdog groups say.

June 2, 2019

Washington becomes first state to legalize ‘green funerals’

Washington has become the first state to legalize "green funerals" -- the process of mixing human remains with straw and wood chips and placing them in soil to help grow flowers and trees.

May 28, 2019

Mike Pence Arlington Cemetery Memorial day speech honors fallen heroes

With parades, military displays and graveside ceremonies, millions of Americans took time Monday to commemorate the hundreds of thousands of service personnel who fought and died for the country.

May 27, 2019

Distracted walking laws slammed by safety advocates

Laws aimed at stopping pedestrians focused on their smartphones from wandering into traffic are generating criticism from safety advocates who say such measures are misguided and fruitless.

May 23, 2019

Robot Rodeo in New Mexico lets bomb squads put skills to the test

It's a scenario straight out of Hollywood: A Russian pilot ejects from a hijacked F-4 Phantom and leaves behind an improvised nuclear device that will detonate in 90 minutes. Can your bomb-disposal robot deactivate it in time to save the world?

May 16, 2019

Darknet illuminated by MIT tool

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed an approach to identify the hidden hands running the illegal, anonymous marketplaces on the darknet.

May 15, 2019

Verbal gossip takes up 52 minutes a day, men and women dish equal dirt, study finds

Call it the scuttlebutt hour. People engage in verbal gossip about 52 minutes a day, with women and men generally dishing the same amount of dirt, and richer and poorer folks equally airing others' dirty laundry, according to a study.

May 14, 2019