Two environmental segments on this episode: Kelly reports on the importance of milkweed to monarch butterflies, and how local governments help or harm habitats through their zoning codes. Then Geoff talks about the increasing criticism over leaf blowers in the era of work-from-home and climate change. (Steve mostly just takes it all in.)

Steve, Geoff and Kelly take on two issues affecting localities across the country lately. First, the sudden arrival of rental electric scooters in big cities and university towns. Second, the effort by some cities to ban plastic grocery bags, and the states that thwart them: a fight known as "home rule" or "Dillon's Rule" depending on the state.

Welcome to What’s the 311? A National Talk Show About Local Government, featuring hosts Stephen Volan, a member of a city council, Geoff McKim, a member of a county council, and Kelly Kuglitsch, a lawyer. In our inaugural episode, Steve, Geoff and Kelly introduce the idea of making city halls and county courthouses easier to navigate. They talk about the short phone number that some towns have activated to make navigating their bureaucracies as easy as "one call to City Hall." Geoff also gets...