Ramsey County, the second most populous county in Minnesota, has always worked hard to provide the best service at the lowest possible cost to its taxpayers. But as the nation reeled from the recession that began in 2008, it became clear to the county that it needed to better leverage technology if it wanted to continue providing high-quality services without exceeding its budget. Full story »

From its Onamia, MN, headquarters, the Corporate Commission of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians operates Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley, which includes hotels, convention centers, entertainment venues, a golf course, food and beverage venues, gift shops, an RV park, and a marina. In addition, the Corporate Commission operates an RV and auto shop, gas stations, a movie theater, a Subway franchise, and a wastewater management facility. “We have 12 separate businesses in all, spread out over 55 miles,” says Lance Dutcher, Systems Engineer for the Corporate Commission.
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ORLANDO, FL (Laserfiche)—October 17, 2010—Laserfiche (booth #305), a key sponsor of the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, will deliver a special educational session titled “Unlocking Organizational Agility with Effective Information Governance.” The session will take place on Wednesday, October 20, from 12:30-1:30 pm at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel – Oceanic 7. Full story »

As chief probation officer for LaPorte Superior Court No. 4 in Indiana, Steve Eyrick knows a great deal about rehabilitation. Every day, he works with clients who’ve been charged with misdemeanors and Class D felonies, and it’s his job to help them turn their lives around.

Of his probationers, Eyrick says, “They’re just people who make some bad decisions. I try to focus on their issues and their individual dynamics, while at the same time testing them and making sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”
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When Lindsay Lohan violated her probation by drinking the night of the MTV Movie Awards this month, it was the technology authorities used to catch her that really made headlines: an ankle monitor that detects alcohol on the wearer’s skin. Former Criminal District Court Judge Vickers Cunningham Sr. knows all too well how effective this technology, known as SCRAMx (“Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring”) can be. “Before we had this tool, I was putting 80% of people on probation for alcohol-related offenses back in prison,” Cunningham says. “Now, 83% percent of the people using the bracelets are alcohol-free—which means our justice system can focus its resources on the remaining 17%.”
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Oshkosh, WI, a city of just over 65,000 residents, has an impressive statistic to share: IT Director Tony Neumann and his staff of just seven have maintained the same budget over the last ten years. In fact, the IT department’s operational expenses have actually dropped by 33% since 2000.

Not surprisingly, against this backdrop of budgetary efficiency, Neumann and his team have initiated several infrastructural enhancements to the city’s technology wheelhouse that have resulted most recently in a redesign of the city’s website. Completed in May 2010, the redesign is the culmination of an e-Government Web strategy used by virtually all of Oshkosh’s departments to provide automated information and services to citizens. Helping to drive these services, Neumann says, is Oshkosh’s use of the Laserfiche WebLink 8 public portal, a key component of Laserfiche’s enterprise content management (ECM) suite. Full story »

Giving underprivileged children a head start in life is more difficult now than ever before. Broken homes, urban violence, poorly-funded school districts, inadequate access to health care and constant increases in the cost of living are making life more and more challenging for these kids every day. That’s why, for the disadvantaged youngsters in Los Angeles County, the Head Start-State Preschool program is so vital to their well-being and future success.

Created in 1965, Head Start is the most successful national school readiness program in the United States. It provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. All told, nearly 25 million preschool-aged children have benefited from the program nationwide.
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As chief probation officer for LaPorte Superior Court No. 4 in Indiana, Steve Eyrick knows a great deal about rehabilitation. Every day, he works with clients who’ve been charged with misdemeanors and Class D felonies, and it’s his job to help them turn their lives around.

Of his probationers, Eyrick says, “They’re just people who make some bad decisions. I try to focus on their issues and their individual dynamics, while at the same time testing them and making sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”
Full story »