Five North Carolina counties got the jump on the rest of the nation this month, when TV stations serving them switched from analog to digital broadcasting.

Until recently, San Mateo County, Calif. jail inmates were blowing through 3,000 disposable plastic spoons per day — used once then off to the landfill.

Vance County Chairman Danny Wright calls him his “mentor.” Fellow Commissioner Deborah Brown says he is “everybody’s favorite commissioner.”

Gwinnett County, Ga. is helping its employees develop their management potential and helping the community at the same time through its leadership training programs.

NACo is now accepting nominations for the County Leadership in Conservation Awards program. The awards recognize leadership, innovation and excellence in local land conservation and park creation by counties.

Congress has returned from its summer recess to a very uncertain future. Very little, if anything, of interest to counties will be passed before it adjourns for the November elections. The target adjournment is the first week in October.

NACo’s Arts and Culture Commission presented its annual arts awards to Fulton County, Ga., the Franklin County, Ohio Board of Commissioners and Peter S. Levi, president of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce during ceremonies at the commission’s Awards Dinner held during NACo’s Annual Conference

NACo, along with the National Association of Realtors and other partners, is holding a one-day conference — Employer-Assisted Housing: Bring Workers Home. Held on Monday, Oct. 6, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Chicago, the conference will focus on education and raising awareness about employer-assisted housing (EAH).