Narrowing the digital divide: Baton Rouge is one of three pilot cities included in a partnership between Cox Communications and the American Library Association that aims to encourage more low-income families to use free digital literacy and technology training resources at the local libraries. The East Baton Rouge Parish Library will launch a portal to a new Digital Learn platform in April and will host a series of events and classes to introduce the resource to patrons across the parish. The partnership is meant to increase education and job opportunities by providing formal literacy training to those who otherwise might have not access to computers and other forms of technology. Other pilot cities for the program are Topeka, Kansas, and Tucson, Arizona.
On appeal: Louisiana’s request to broaden the federal aid available for areas damaged by February tornadoes has been denied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, The Associated Press reports. People who live in Livingston and Orleans parishes were approved for individual assistance from FEMA in mid-February. But Gov. John Bel Edwards sought to expand that, to allow people who live in Ascension, St. James and St. Tammany parishes to apply for federal disaster aid. He also asked for public assistance across seven parishes to help local government agencies with the costs of recovery. FEMA denied those requests, according to a letter to the governor’s office released Wednesday. The federal agency said preliminary damage assessments determined the damage wasn’t of the “severity and magnitude” to get the assistance sought. The governor’s office says it will appeal FEMA’s rejection.
Room for growth: The rise of self-employment and soaring office costs are fueling demand for shared office space in metropolitan areas, with a handful of firms renting workspace by the hour, similar to the way Airbnb offers overnight stays. The Associated Press reports that a website called Breather operates in the U.S. and Canada, catering to business professionals in major cities. Across the Atlantic, another company called Vrumi says it has 5,000 registered users and 120,000 square feet of rentable workspace. It’s the latest development of the so-called sharing economy, where those looking for extra cash are generating income any way they can with the help of the internet and smartphone apps. Read the full story.
