January 20: Inauguration Day events | Immigration action | Data archiving

Today is Inauguration Day for Donald Trump. Barack Obama inherited a very different America in 2008. NPR shares dozens of stats on unemployment, wage gaps, GDP, confidence, and more for a quick rundown on America 2008 vs. America 2017.

In preparation for the Women’s March in Philadelphia on Saturday, Philadelphia released a guide for road closures and parking restrictions. CBS shares specifics block by block plus public safety information. While that might be the most talked-about inauguration-related event in the area, there are also sister marches in six municipalities in New Jersey and Delaware. NewsWorks shares a rundown of other Inauguration Day events, including non-partisan activities at the National Constitution Center and Free Library.

In addition to marches, watch parties and events, Philadelphians are marking the inauguration through Signs of Solidarity hanging signs and banners with messages of positivity, tolerance, and warnings.

The L.A. Times reports that Donald Trump is likely to take swift, early action to make good on his immigration-related campaign promises. That means raids, a broader range of people singled out for deportation, more prosecution of immigration violations, and making it harder for people to request protection in the U.S. because of a “credible fear” of returning home. Last week Domenic Vitiello wrote about the vital role of documented and ‘illegal’ immigrants on Philadelphia’s revitalization.

The President-elect’s nominee for Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, now says the administration’s infrastructure plan will include direct government spending in addition to offering incentives to private investors – key for answering the needs in urban areas needing to maintain ailing infrastructure and rural areas where new infrastructure might not be self-sustaining. “There’s bipartisan interest in working together on infrastructure issues, but there are also questions about how the new administration’s plan will address infrastructure projects that do not have a readily available revenue source,” said Commerce Chairman Sen. John Thune.

Since the Reagan years, data preservation specialists have worked to capture information as administrations transition, in part reflecting shifting budget priorities. However, with the incoming administration, some scientists worry key environmental research will go missing because of political reasons. Researchers, archivers, historians and students came from all over the country and Canada to Philadelphia for UPenn’s Data Refuge hackathon last weekend, reports Susan Phillips. “The internet is a terribly unstable way to keep information available,” said Laurie Allen, Assistant Director for Digital Scholarship at Penn. “A huge number of references to websites no longer work.”

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