TIME: Wikipedia for Spies: The CIA Discovers Web 2.0

There's a quiet revolution underway at the CIA and its sister agencies. A new generation of analysts, determined to drag their Cold War–era colleagues into the world of Web 2.0 information-sharing, have created Intellipedia, a classified version of Wikipedia they say is transforming the way U.S. spy agencies handle top-secret information by fostering collaboration across Washington and around the world. Rolled out in 2006 to skeptical veterans at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., Intellipedia has grown to a 900,000-page magnum opus of espionage, handling some 100,000 user accounts and 5,000 page edits a day, according to the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

YAHOO/AP: FBI joins effort in hostage standoff with pirates

NAIROBI, Kenya – FBI hostage negotiators joined U.S. Navy efforts Thursday to free an American ship captain held captive on a lifeboat by Somali pirates. A U.S. destroyer and a spy plane kept close watch in the high-seas standoff near the Horn of Africa.

The pirates took Capt. Richard Phillips hostage Wednesday after they hijacked the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama, then fled the cargo ship as the vessel's crew overpowered them. It was the first such attack on American sailors in about 200 years.

Kevin Speers, a spokesman for the Maersk ship company, said the pirates have made no demands yet to the company. He said the safe return of the captain is now its top priority.

The USS Bainbridge arrived near the Maersk Alabama and the lifeboat with the pirates, he said.

YAHOO/AFP: British police chief quits over terror blunder

LONDON (AFP) – Britain's top anti-terror police chief has tendered his resignation following a security blunder, London Mayor Boris Johnson said Thursday.

Johnson told BBC radio he had accepted Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bob Quick's resignation with "great reluctance and sadness," after the blunder triggered premature anti-terror arrests Wednesday.

"I have this morning with great reluctance and sadness... accepted Bob Quick's resignation as head of counter terrorism," he said, adding that Assistant Commissioner John Yates would take over from him.

Quick was photographed Wednesday as he arrived at Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street office for talks on police reform with a sensitive document clearly visible.

FIRE RESCUE 1: Mo. firefighter sues agencies, colleagues

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Cindy Schuenke, the firefighter-paramedic who was severely burned in a fire three years ago in north St. Louis County, has filed suit against three fire agencies and numerous firefighters who responded to the blaze with her.

Schuenke, 44, suffered severe burns March 29, 2006, while searching for the mother of a fellow firefighter in a burning house in Vinita Terrace. Her suit, filed last week in St. Louis County Circuit Court, alleges that firefighters at the scene, and their commander there, made mistake after mistake. The suit also alleged that two fire chiefs had failed to train their fire personnel to properly handle such situations.

The suit also names Grace Industries Inc., the maker of a personal alert safety system (PASS) device that Schuenke wore into the fire. The suit says the device failed to sound, therefore failing to alert rescuers to her predicament and location.

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DHS: DHS Announces Nearly $970 Million in Preparedness Grant Final Allocations

CDC: Video: Screening People for External Contamination: How to Use Hand-held Radiation Survey Equipment

EXAMINER: Windsor SWAT team nabs man who evaded border units

DETROIT (Map, News) - Police in Windsor, Ontario, say they arrested a 25-year-old Detroit man who rammed a stolen car through Canadian customs at the Ambassador Bridge and led officers on a chase. The bridge links Detroit and Windsor.

The Windsor Star says a U.S. border guard fired at the car when it refused an order to stop. Windsor police Staff Sgt. Stefan Kowal tells the Detroit Free Press his department's SWAT team and other officers arrested the man at 4:40 p.m., soon after they learned of the border breach.

YAHOO/AP: Santa Barbara County reverses oil drilling stand

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Months after making national headlines for supporting offshore oil drilling, the county famous for spawning the modern environmental movement reversed course Tuesday and voted to oppose the drilling.

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, citing a need to preserve its coastline, voted 3-2 for a resolution to oppose oil exploration and extraction in the county.

The resolution, which will be sent to President Barack Obama and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is largely symbolic because the board lacks authority to allow or prevent drilling. However, drilling critics said the vote was timely because the Department of Interior is scheduled to discuss oil and gas leasing next week.

YAHOO TECH: FCC gets going on national broadband plan

NEW YORK - The Federal Communications Commission is launching its effort to encourage the expansion of high-speed Internet connections in the country.

The FCC was ordered to create such a plan as part of the economic stimulus package passed this year.

CNN: NY gunman fired 98 shots in about a minute, police chief says

(CNN) -- The gunman who killed 13 people at an immigrant services center fired 98 shots in a minute or so, the police chief in Binghamton, New York, said Wednesday.

YAHOO/REUTERS: U.S. electrical grid penetrated by spies: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls, the newspaper said, citing current and former U.S. national security officials.

YAHOO/AP: Helicopter pilot in sex act denied license

GARDENA, Calif. – A judge says a commercial helicopter pilot videotaped in a sex act while flying over San Diego committed gross negligence and cannot have his license back.

National Transportation Safety Board administrative law Judge William R. Mullins upheld a Federal Aviation Administration order revoking the license of David Martz after a hearing Tuesday.

Martz had no comment after the ruling.

A passenger was videotaping when Martz let an adult film actress perform a sex act on him during the 2005 flight, and an edited version eventually became public.

YAHOO/AP: Death toll in Italy quake reaches 260

L'AQUILA, Italy – Aftershocks from the earthquake that has killed at least 260 people in central Italy sent new fears through the tent camps that shelter thousands of survivors, and Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday that he would visit the shocked and injured people of the area as soon as possible.

As rescue teams pressed ahead with their searches in the crumbled buildings, some of the almost 28,000 left homeless emerged from tents after spending a second night in chilly mountain temperatures.

"I slept so badly because I kept feeling the aftershocks," said Daniela Nunut at one of the tent camps set up across the city of L'Aquila. The 46-year Romanian-born woman said she and her companion plan to stay in the tent for now. "What can you do? You can't go into the building."

The magnitude-6.3 quake hit L'Aquila and several towns in central Italy early Monday, leveling buildings and reducing entire blocks to piles of rubble and dust.

YAHOO/AP: Binghamton officials defend response to massacre

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – Even if police officers had immediately entered the immigrant center where a gunman had just shot down 13 people, the victims' injuries were so severe that none would have survived, a county prosecutor said Sunday.

The shooting at the American Civic Association stopped shortly after the first 911 calls came in at 10:30 a.m. Friday, but police didn't enter the building until nearly 45 minutes later.

YAHOO/AP: Fight over urinating dog got police to Pa. ambush

PITTSBURGH – A 911 call that brought two police officers to a home where they were ambushed, and where a third was also later killed during a four-hour siege, was precipitated by a fight between the gunman and his mother over a dog urinating in the house.

The Saturday argument between Margaret and Richard Poplawski escalated to the point that she threatened to kick him out and she called police to do it, according to a 12-page criminal complaint and affidavit filed late Saturday.

WFTND Blog Update

Yes, WFTND regular readers, you may have noticed that blog entries recently went from about every day to about every week. My attention has been focused on making arrangements for my new job. I will be with FEMA Region VII in Kansas City starting next Monday. Until I can get settled, WFTND will be updated about every week. As soon as I can get into the groove in the new digs, we will go back to the daily entries. Thanks for all your support, and as always, thanks for your comments.

CHICAGOIST: City Building Back-up 911 Center on the Sly

While Mayor Daley has spent most of the last several months huffing and puffing about the Olympics, Al Sanchez, and conflicts with the police, the City has quietly been building a back-up 911 center at O'Hare meant to be used if a terrorist attack or natural disaster renders the current West Loop 911 center useless.

NAMIBIA ECONOMIST: EU emergency experts assess flood-hit areas

A team of European Union (EU) emergency experts brought together by the Community Civil Protection Mechanism arrived in Namibia last week to assess the flood-hit areas.
The team comprises six experts in various areas of emergency management from Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and the European Commission.

MOSNEWS.COM: Powerful bomb defused near supermarket in south Russia

A bomb has been found near the Metro supermarket in Ulyanovsk city on the Volga River, Interfax informed.

WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY: Watchdog group questions FEMA appointment of contractor

A government watchdog group is raising concerns about a possible conflict of interest related to the appointment of a former contractor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to serve as FEMA’s chief of staff.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano named Jason R. McNamara as FEMA’s chief of staff March 4. He previously served as associate vice president and director of emergency management and homeland security at Dewberry LLC since 2005. The planning, engineering and management firm is based in Fairfax, Va.

NJ.COM: Berkeley Heights police chief receives one-time payment of $65,264

BERKELEY HEIGHTS -- A last-minute resolution, introduced and passed while two Township Council members were on vacation, will provide the police chief with a one-time payment of $65,264.

Police Chief David Zager's salary will be adjusted retroactively to $138,306 for 2007 and $152,137 for 2008. The total of the retroactive salary increases amounts to $33,319.

HIGHLANDS TODAY: Arrest Made In Sebring Powder Scare

SEBRING - The Highlands County Sheriff's Office has arrested a 20-year-old man in connection with Thursday's white powder scare that shut down a hospital and a town hall in this small community 90 miles southeast of Tampa.

YAHOO/AP: Calif. nut plant: Kraft found salmonella in 2008

FRESNO, Calif. – A company at the heart of a nationwide pistachio recall said Friday that Kraft Foods Inc. detected salmonella in its pistachios more than six months ago but didn't report the finding until last week.

Lee Cohen, a New York plant production manager for Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc., said Kraft told them on March 24 that the tainted nuts were found in a mixed snack blend that also contained salmonella-tainted cherries.

Kraft spokeswoman Susan Davison said manufacturer Georgia Nut Co. first found the bacteria in its Kraft Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix in September 2008, but it took more than six months of testing to determine what caused the contamination.

HOMELAND 1: Fargo resisted FEMA recommendation to evacuate

FARGO, N.D. — With floodwaters rising around them, Fargo officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency faced an agonizing decision: Should they order a mandatory evacuation of the entire city?

FEMA thought the best course of action was to evacuate and not leave anything to chance. Fargo officials disagreed, saying they knew what it would take to hold back the Red River. The conversation turned heated at times, and Fargo ultimately won.

Now that the Red River is receding and leaving only relatively minor damage, that decision looks smart. The city began returning to normal Wednesday as people went back to work, stores reopened and the river dipped to only slightly above 37 feet.

GT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: FEMA Proposes Forgiving Some Community Disaster Loans

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has proposed an amendment to the regulations governing special community disaster loans (CDLs). The regulation submitted to the Federal Register today proposes procedures and requirements for the cancellation of CDLs under certain conditions.

WPXI: Pipe Bombs Found In Mt. Washington Had Nails Attached

MOUNT WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Workers cleaning out a house in Mt. Washington called police when they found a device with what looked like pipe bombs with wires and nails attached."It looked exactly like somebody would wear in a suicide bomber-type of scene or suicide bomber- type of incident," said Sheldon Williams, of the Pittsburgh police bomb squad.

GOOGLE NEWS: Spy agencies believe NKorea has nuke warheads

SEOUL (AFP) — Intelligence agencies have information that North Korea has assembled several nuclear warheads for its medium-range Rodong missiles capable of targeting Japan, an analyst said Tuesday.

Daniel Pinkston, senior analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said the agencies believe that probably five to eight warheads have been assembled.

"Intelligence agencies believe the North Koreans have assembled nuclear warheads for Rodong missiles, which are stored at underground facilities near the Rodong missile bases," Pinkston told AFP.

"It might be right, it might be wrong -- but if others believe it is true, it has implications for the psychological aspects of deterrence," he said, describing the assessment as "quite significant."

EMS DAILY NEWS: Local Cities Will Be Without Ambulance Service Next Week

COLLEGE STATION, TX - Beginning Tuesday, unless stop gap solutions materialize, thousands in northeast Leon County will be without ambulance service for the coming weeks, if not months.

The longtime providers of emergency medical service, a company based out of Palestine, can no longer cover the costs after years of service in the Buffalo-Flo-Oakwood area. Their deal — one that was essentially a free service to the area — ends Tuesday.

Now, it will be at least May — when an election item is voted on — until ambulances can answer calls to the thousands of residents and tens of thousands of drivers passing through.

YAHOO/AP: Homeland Security boss says cartels under pressure

LAREDO, Texas – Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says strategies outlined with Mexican officials this week will put warring drug cartels in a vice.

At a border crossing facility near the Rio Grande River, Napolitano said U.S. and Mexican officials reached agreement on several ways to stop the illegal flow of guns and drugs between the two countries.

Napolitano said beefed up border inspections, drug- and gun-sniffing dogs, more information-sharing and improved surveillance will "operate almost like a vice" on the cartels.

YAHOO/REUTERS: Ex-U.S. sailor jailed for 10 years on terrorism charges

BOSTON (Reuters) – A former U.S. Navy sailor stationed in the Middle East was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Friday for spying and providing material support to a terrorist organization.

Hassan Abujihaad, 33, was convicted last year by a federal jury in Connecticut of providing classified information to Azzam Publications in London, knowing that it would be used in a conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens.

TMC NET: Sprint Emergency Response Team Holds Demonstration

The Emergency Response Team from Sprint Nextel reportedly is all set to demonstrate the deployment of communications and other infrastructure for catastrophic events to first respondents in Oklahoma.

The over-the-air tactical exercise will address catastrophic incident response, emergency preparedness and response as well as disaster recovery. Rapid deployment of IP and wireless communications systems will also be demonstrated in this live show.

HS TODAY: New weather satellite helps predict hurricanes

A new satellite set to launch later this month from Cape Canaveral will help weather forecasters better predict hurricanes and assist in pinpointing distress signals to trigger search-and-rescue operations.

The $499 million GOES-O (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) will orbit about 22,000 miles above Earth, sending back high-resolution images for the next 10 years.

YAHOO/AP: Intel chief wants new spy satellite program

WASHINGTON – The national intelligence director and defense secretary are asking the Obama administration to approve a new top-secret spy satellite program that could cost more than $10 billion, according to government, military and industry officials.

The program calls for building two sophisticated satellites equal to or better than the huge, high-resolution secret satellites now in orbit. At the same time, the government would also commit to spend enough money on commercial satellite imagery sufficient to pay for the construction and launch of two new commercial satellites.

CNN: Gunman barricaded back door before rampage, police say

(CNN) -- A gunman barricaded the back door of an immigration services center with a car and burst through the front door on a shooting rampage, killing 13 people and then, apparently, himself, police said.

YAHOO/AP: At least 12 killed at immigration center in NY

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – A gunman opened fire on a room where immigrants were taking a citizenship exam in downtown Binghamton on Friday, killing as many as 13 people before committing suicide, officials said.

Gov. David Paterson said at a news conference that 12 or 13 people had been killed. The suspected gunman carried identification with the name of 42-year-old Jiverly Voong of nearby Johnson City, N.Y., a law enforcement official said.

HOMELAND1: Who are those guys?

During the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, computer scientists at Rice University determined who the perpetrators were even before local Indian authorities could.

Mumbai police had to wait four days to learn from the only surviving attacker that the culprits were a militant Pakistan-based group called Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. The Rice researchers had only to wait on output from a sophisticated new computer program to determine which terrorist group might be responsible for the attacks.

CNN: Alabama mass grave may contain bodies from 1870s epidemic

(CNN) -- A mass grave unearthed Tuesday in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, is believed to contain bodies from an epidemic of yellow fever that swept the city in the 1870s, police said.