UNITED STATES. Mortgage rates today are holding near 7% after a week that pushed the national average back toward levels many buyers hoped they had left behind. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6.95% for the week ending Sept. 17, 2026, up from 6.76% the week before and the … Read more
St. Lucie County ALPR cameras are under scrutiny: ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — St. Lucie County staff have found at least 14 automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras installed on county rights-of-way without permits and say they still do not know who owns them. The county is posting bright red 30-day removal notices on the … Read more
Philadelphia data center task force update: PHILADELPHIA — Mayor Cherelle Parker signed an executive order around Sept. 16–17, 2026, creating a city Data Center Task Force to study how Philadelphia should regulate future facilities that power artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The group drawing representatives from city agencies and including a representative from City Council … Read more
South Howard flood relief project update: Tampa, Fla. — Tampa City Council on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, narrowly approved the South Howard (SOHO) Flood Relief and Streetscape Project, a roughly $100.4 million plan to rebuild aging drainage under South Howard Avenue and route chronic floodwater from Parkland Estates and Palma Ceia Pines into Hillsborough Bay … Read more
Project Taurus data center — Colorado Springs, Colo. — Colorado Springs City Council voted 7-2 on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, to postpone a final decision on Project Taurus—a proposed 50-megawatt AI data center by California-based Raeden at a former chip plant near Garden of the Gods Road and Centennial Boulevard—until April 13, 2027. The delay … Read more
HOUSTON / HARRIS COUNTY, Texas Harris County Commissioners Court approved a property tax rate increase of roughly 7.9% in a 3-1 vote, a change county estimates say will cost the average homeowner about $193 more per yearor roughly $16 a month—while capping the rate at 67 cents per $100 of taxable value. The higher rates … Read more
WASHINGTON — The Social Security COLA 2027 is still unofficial, but the latest independent forecasts put next year’s cost-of-living adjustment near 3.5%, with the Social Security Administration expected to lock in the number around Oct. 14, 2026, after September inflation data arrive. For the typical beneficiary, that would mean roughly $68 to $75 more per … Read more
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Unified School District enrollment has fallen steeply again—about 4 percent this year—forcing a sharper debate over LAUSD school closures even as the Board of Education keeps approving hundreds of millions in campus rebuilds funded by voter-backed bonds. The Los Angeles Times’ Howard Blume reported on Sept. 16, 2026, that district … Read more
SEATTLE — City Councilmember Dionne Foster has introduced legislation that would temporarily slash Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability fees for stalled pipeline projects, reviving a developer-backed break that collapsed earlier this year amid a fight over housing production versus affordable-housing funding. PubliCola’s Erica C. Barnett reported the deal on Sept. 16, 2026. Under Foster’s bill, developers … Read more
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Costa Mesa City Council voted 7-0 near midnight Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, to approve a land-use framework for the former Fairview Developmental Center that sets a minimum of 2,300 homes—including 920 affordable units, of which 200 are permanent supportive housing, plus 690 moderate-income homes—while still allowing a path toward as many … Read more