Yesterday, we had the amazing story of Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey out on patrol, coming across a brawl on the streets, and when he called for backup, the police radio system crashed, leaving the cops largely deaf to what was going on the streets and with their fellow officers:

The trouble started at 9:36 p.m. Tuesday, when Ramsey radioed for an assist after he and his driver came upon two drunks fighting outside a bar on Cumberland and Cleveland streets.

Dozens of cops tried to get on the air and respond to the call, causing a computerized controller and an electronic card to fritz out at a communications tower on Domino Lane in Roxborough, said Chief Inspector Michael Feeney.

The same tower was struck by lightning on Monday, causing a brief crash.

"It just took the whole system down. That's the first time the backup systems have gone down, too," said Feeney, who heads the police department's Information Technology and Communication Services Bureau.

For those not following at home, this isn't a new problem. The radio system has been a total disaster, failing repeatedly. This time, it appears that two things were different, bringing the issue to a critical mass. First, the backup system went down. And second, the police commissioner was in the middle of it all. And so now, with each of those two factors, I will bet that the system gets scrapped. All of that is good news for our police of course, and that shouldn't be forgotten.

Which brings us to story number two, also good news. PA has passed a law, which Governor Rendell signed, that will mandate that insurers provide insurance for kids with autism:

Starting next July, the bill will require private insurers to cover diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, up to $36,000 annually, for those under 21. That includes coverage for applied behavioral analysis therapy - or treatment focusing on teaching social, verbal and other skills to help shape behavior - which advocates say is essential to treating the disorder.

For treatments above the $36,000 cap, families, regardless of income, can still turn to the state's Medicaid program to fill in the gap. Health plans covering businesses with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from the bill.

Rendell and others who championed the issue believe Pennsylvania's autism-insurance law is among the strongest in the country.

They may be right, many autism advocates say.

I have seen autism up close, and the effect it has on families trying to cope. It is a brutal experience, where parents are told that the earlier and more aggressively they intervene with their kids, the more normal life their children will lead. But, many insurance companies refuse to actually cover those treatments. And so, the parents of autistic children are forced to spend every waking second advocating for their child, helping their child, and figuring out how in the world they are supposed to pay for it all. If they are anything less than rich? They simply cannot pay, and run up bills, go into debt, and maybe declare bankruptcy while they are at it.

But, it looks like PA has taken the lead, and become one of a few states to pass this important bill. So, why did it get done here, and now? Lets see:

First, we have Rendell generally willing to push the insurance companies a little. Second, the parents being crushed by the weight of their children's autism are many times middle class and articulate, and after spending day and night advocating for their kids, they get pretty good at hammering at legislators to fix this. And third, Denny O'Brien, the Speaker of the PA House, has also experienced this up close, with a nephew with Autism, and has made it his own personal struggle over the course of his career.

O'Brien, whose nephew is autistic and who has championed autism causes throughout his legislative career, believes it is about "a social responsibility" to children with the disorder.

One of the reasons he became speaker, O'Brien said, was so that autistic children - he calls them "my kids" - would "go from 3-by-5 cards to 8-by-10 glossies" and would have "a seat at the table."

O'Brien fought for kids with disabilities before his own nephew was diagnosed. But, as I bet he would agree, there is a deeper understanding he gained of how tough autism is when he saw- and sees it- with his own family.

So, the Police Commissioner and the Speaker of the House, two of the most powerful people in the City, have a problem become personalized, and so, there will be a solution.

Saying all politics is personal is not exactly groundbreaking stuff (welcome to the blog!). But, sometimes I think we (maybe just I) could use a reminder of that.

A few weeks ago, The Reinvestment Fund launched one of the cooler internet tools in recent memory: PolicyMap. Those interested in public policy, in mapping, or just procrastinating with a cool diversion are going to have to check this out.

Basically, what Policy Map does is bring data and mapping to the masses. Given its place as a lender and public policy research center, TRF has always accumulated all kinds of data. About a year or so ago, they decided that they were going to try and put that data online, in a way that the general public could see it. And from that, and many (many) hours of development, PolicyMap was born. They mapped something like 4000 pieces of data, and then put it online in a format where anyone can map it. And if they got the data free (ie, Census, etc), they give it away for free too.

Anyway, enough blathering, because check out what you can do in about one minute. These maps are focused on Philly, but, data is available Country-wide:

Let's say you are thinking about the foreclosure crisis, and in trying predict what neighborhoods are going to be hard hit, you want to see what neighborhoods in Philly had the most subprime loans in 2006. After about 45 seconds, you get this:

For those who cannot see the ranges, the darkest purple means that over 50 percent of all loans in 2006 were subprime. Yikes.

Or, lets say a certain section of Philadelphia always seems to be saying that they have too many section 8 renters. (We will call this section of the City, totally hypothetically, the Northeast.) Well, with a couple clicks, we can actually check it out:

Hmm. Check out the ranges. Here, the absolute darkest purple means at least 15% of rental units are section 8. And, except for one spot, it appears that this set of hypothetical complaints really might not be based in reality. In fact, North Philly and parts of NW Philly, along with Southwest Philly appear to be where the rentals are concentrated.

Or, maybe you just want to get good and depressed about the state of Philadelphia. If so, then PolicyMap is the place for you! For example, how about the percentage of Philly families in poverty, versus the surrounding areas?

Of course, that is a general problem with looking at public policy maps of Philly… it can be pretty hard to take.

Those are just some random maps. You can zoom out to a county, state or national level. You can zoom in to census tract levels if the data is there. Bottom line, there is a lot of stuff to screw around with. And, if there are cool data sets out there that you think they should have, you can email them and they will look into it. If the data is free, and they map it, then they give out mapped, for free.

(And in interest of full disclosure: PolicyMap is a product of The Reinvestment Fund (TRF). For those who don’t know about TRF, it is a Philadelphia non-profit that does things like fund affordable housing, childcare, supermarkets in neighborhoods that need them, etc. Additionally, it has a public policy arm that has basically pioneered all kinds of housing and lending research, among other things. They have also had the unfortunate experience of putting me to work on and off for the last 4 years or so.)

Anyway, check it out. With data so available, I might have to start making arguments based on facts. What a pain.