Cupertino, CA, USA. New voice-activated services make it possible to send text messages with both hands on the wheel. As drivers begin to use these new technologies, states may have to decide what they will and won’t allow on the road.

When Apple introduced its new iPhone 4S earlier this month, tech analysts raved about the phone’s voice-activated personal assistant, nicknamed Siri.

Washington, DC, USA. A number of states used to make food stamp recipients pass a fingerprint test. Now all but one has stopped, to save on staff time and ease the burden on the clients.

Food stamp applicants in California and Texas no longer have to be fingerprinted, a change both states hope will save money and improve the process of distribution.

New York, NY, USA. A new report details risks facing vulnerable populations, and policy recommendations to ensure that health care reform will help achieve equity in the US health care system.

A new set of strategies released by the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System could dramatically improve how the U.S. health care system serves vulnerable populations — those in the U.S. who are uninsured, low-income, or members of racial and ethnic minority groups.

Helena, MT, USA. In Montana, where powerful winds fly down the Rocky Mountains and whip across the plains, wind power could be a boom industry.

The state ranks near the top of most lists of states with wind energy potential, a standing that President Barack Obama was aware of when he recently touted the possibility of Montana becoming a national leader in developing wind energy.

Washington, DC, USA. States have received federal disaster assistance more times in the first nine months of 2011 than in any other year. But the surge in disasters comes at a time when states, localities and the federal government are struggling to find money to pay for relief.

Last week, when President Obama named New Jersey a federal disaster area for floods that came before Hurricane Irene, he cemented 2011’s ranking as the United States’ most disaster-prone year ever.