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Military suicides have dramatically increased over the last twenty years. In response, much energy and expense have been focused on suicide prevention, as well as training chaplains and other caregivers. Despite the comprehensive intentions of these efforts, little focus has been placed on the ways in which worship and preaching might contribute to abating the crisis. The purpose of this article is to examine some critical areas for consideration in creating sermons that address the threat of suicide for the Army chapel community. The difficulties of preaching to desperate listeners are examined along with the prevalent myths associated with suicide. The selection of language and presentation of the message are each discussed along with the pitfalls of certain atonement hermeneutics. Suggestions for biblical texts, including use of the psalms, are reviewed. The article concludes with further recommendations for better addressing suicide from the pulpit.

In the Master Settlement Agreement, the major U.S. tobacco companies agreed to pay approximately $229 billion between 1999 and 2025 to 46 states, the District ofColumbia, and five U.S. territories. The windfall raises important spending andfinancing decisions for state governments. This research note analyzes how governments are spending their settlement proceeds, especially whether states are using funds to finance current budget deficits, and investigates the financing practice by several states of selling their right to future settlement proceeds to support the issuance and repayment of tobacco securitization bonds.

Despite the persistent efforts of federal tax policymakers to place binding constraints on the economic development bond market in the United States, it has grown since the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and is a well established segment of the municipal securities market. This article provides an analysis of the development bond market by describing tax increment debt finance (TIF) in the United States and conducting an empirical analysis of California TIF debt. Our analysis indicates that tax increment debt finance (TIF) is no longer an obscure infrequently used financing tool, but for local governments in many states is a commonly used means of raising capital for multiple purposes. Our empirical analysis highlights the unique project‐specific features of tax increment finance that bond issuers must understand and manage to enhance the credit quality and minimize the financing costs of tax increment debt.

The synthesis provided by Davidson et al. offers a welcome contribution to the study of cities and city‐networks, providing an agenda and an analytical framework that may be used for understanding and addressing critical questions of political economy, knowledge dynamics and local/institutional dimensions of urban climate governance.