PORT ORCHARD INDEPENDENT: Kitsap agencies work to weather storm

Emergency Managment, Public Works among those battling to keep county safe.

The ability of different local agencies to work with each other and the public lessened the impact of this week’s heavy weather conditions.

“Every time we have an emergency, we get better at working together,” said Kitsap Department of Emergency Management (DEM) Director Phyllis Mann. “I wish we could resolve everyone’s problems, but that isn’t always possible. Instead, we have a great partnership that allows us to get things done very quickly and efficiently.”

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER: Search for Autauga County EMA director hits snag

PRATTVILLE -- The Autauga County Commission has gone back to the drawing board to hire a director for the county's emergency management agency.

The governing body originally had advertised for candidates who met the Alabama Emergency Management Agency's requirements. None of the candidates met that bar, so the county is re-advertising the position and taking those requirements out, Commission Chairman Danny Chavers said.

ERIE TIMES NEWS: Crawford County emergency services look to expand

MEADVILLE -- Emergency operations officials are seeking solutions to their cramped county courthouse quarters.

Crawford County commissioners have given emergency management and 911 representatives the initial green light in hiring a consultant to assess conditions in their current home, and to possibly locate and price a new one.

SANFORD NEWS: Sizing up the damage

YORK COUNTY — The Dec. 11 ice storm that wreaked havoc in York County and left thousands of residents without electricity for an extended period is over, for the most part, except for the clean-up and the bill.

York County Emergency Management Agency Director Robert Bohlmann said Monday that public damages resulting from the storm are currently estimated at more than $2 million, but not all towns have reported their figures yet. Most of the storm costs are for debris removal for trees and limbs that came down, for emergency shelter expenses, and for overtime expenses for fire, police and public works crews. Bohlmann said the final tally will probably be about $2.5 million or more.

SUN HERALD: Ocean Springs builds $9M Public Safety Complex

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. -- Ocean Springs will build a $9 million complex to house its emergency operations center, police and fire departments and a new courthouse.

Much of the Public Safety Complex funding comes from a community development block grant and a tax levied on food and drinks that passed December 2007. The remaining cost will be funded through other sources, such as court fees.

Mayor Connie Moran said this week that construction could begin in April.

LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER: Sludge spill stirs concerns in Kentucky

A day after a massive coal sludge break in Tennessee covered hundreds of acres in ashy waste, Kentucky environmentalists and leaders said they will continue pushing for legislation to require emergency action plans in case of similar failures in their state.

Monday's break in Tennessee released millions of yards of dark gray mud that toppled power lines, covered roads and railroad tracks and ruptured a gas line, according to The Associated Press. No one was seriously hurt.

USA TODAY: Feds consider searches of terrorism blogs

WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department may soon start scouring the Internet to find blogs and message boards that terrorists use to plan attacks in the USA.

The effort comes as researchers are seeing terrorists increasingly use the Internet to plan bombings, recruit members and spread propaganda. "Blogging and message boards have played a substantial role in allowing communication among those who would do the United States harm," the department said in a recent notice.

WBKO: David Spade Helps Phoenix Police Buy Rifles

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Phoenix Police Department has gotten some high-powered goodies courtesy of actor David Spade.

The one-time Phoenix resident donated $100,000 so that the department can buy approximately 50 AR-15 rifles.

WASHINGTON POST FEDERAL EYE: Homeland Security Goes Hollywood

A new reality television show focused on the agencies and employees of the Department of Homeland Security is sure to find fans among bureaucrats and department observers, and also is likely to draw some criticism from those who wonder if a primetime television show is the best use of the agency's time.

BOSTON GLOBE: Homeland Security in disarray, officials warn

WASHINGTON - As the Department of Homeland Security prepares for its first transition, a series of major projects - including a communication network linking state and locals officials in a crisis, a system to scan shipping containers for terrorist weapons, and a massive border-control initiative - face serious technical delays or cost overruns.

FEMA NEWS: FEMA Tool Helps Water Association Repair Systems and Fight the Freeze

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Looking for a needle in a haystack might seem like an easy task for members of the Southern Iowa Rural Water Association* (SIRWA) when compared to their job of finding damaged and exposed water pipes as a result of this summer's severe storms and flooding.

With approximately 12,000 underground stream crossings and 4,000 miles of pipeline running through 13 counties, SIRWA's task of finding trouble spots before they cause problems for water consumers can be a difficult one.

This task may be lessened, however, with a new tool developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aimed to help identify areas where damaged is most likely.

SCOTT MORONEY: How Social Media Helps in Emergency Management Situations

Living in the Northeast of the United States, many people think they are prepared for anything and can weather any type of storm. Alas, I learned this past weekend even the mighty can be humbled. Parts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire were struck with an ice storm that devastated trees and left nearly 500,000 homes without power, and cable, phone and Internet services for over one week in many cases. What is amazing is how unprepared most of all were in terms of basic needs.

CENTRAL VALLEY BUSINESS TIMES: Bettenhausen to head California Emergency Management Agency

Matthew Bettenhausen has been appointed acting secretary for the California Emergency Management Agency by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Los Angeles Emergency Management Initiative Report

Excerpt: As witnessed in the recent emergencies the City has faced, Los Angeles has the best prepared and most highly-trained emergency responders in the country and these brave men and women are ready for a disaster or a terrorist attack like never before. But the City must do more to prepare for the inevitable catastrophic earthquake or major wild fire. Through the implementation of the components identified in this initiative, the City will make the necessary changes to update and enhance its efforts to become the most prepared, most responsive, and most resilient City in the nation.

GPS DAILY: Satellite Navigation For Emergency Management

GMV has announced the results of the HARMLESS project, an international FP6 research effort aimed at studying and promoting the use of the Galileo and EGNOS satellite navigation systems for emergency management, humanitarian aid and law enforcement support.

WESTERN STAR: County EMA head offers to resign

HAMILTON — After receiving support from his agency's governing board and criticism from local police chiefs, Butler County Emergency Management Director William Turner is offering to resign.

LIVINGSTON DAILY: 911 officials recommend new chief, restructuring

The top two officials with Livingston County 911 Central Dispatch/Emergency Management are recommending promoting the current operations manager to director next April.

WEB STRATEGY BY JEREMIAH: How Municipalities Should Integrate Social Media Into Disaster Planning

This last Thanksgiving was marred by the horrible deaths of over 170 victims at Mumbai’s terrorist attack. If you weren’t watching, social media played a part in helping –and hurting– the event. First hand accounts were published on twitter, including pictures of terrorists in action, in fact Forbes called this Mumbai: Twitter’s Moment. Cities, authorities, states, and governments should have a social media plan in place to prepare for disasters of all sorts.

OXFORD PRESS: County eyes new site for emergency operations

HAMILTON — Butler County commissioners are eyeing the former Ohio State University agricultural extension office as a potential site to relocate the county's Emergency Operations Center.

TRUCKER NEWS SERVICE: ATA releases trucking cargo security guidebook

ARLINGTON, Va. — The American Trucking Associations today released the ATA Certified Cargo Security Professional Resource Guidebook, which provides a detailed synopsis of motor carrier security from pick up to delivery.

AMVA: Homeland Security recommends Kansas site to replace Plum Island

The Department of Homeland Security is recommending Kansas State University as the site of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility for the study of foreign animal and zoonotic diseases that can affect livestock.

The AVMA is backing federal legislation to establish the NBAF. The high-security facility will replace Plum Island Animal Disease Center on Plum Island, N.Y., the only location in the United States for research on the live virus that causes foot-and-mouth disease. Homeland Security has oversight of Plum Island, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducts the research there on foreign animal diseases.

AP: Firefighter: Miracle no one died on Denver runway

DENVER It was a miracle that no one was killed when an airliner veered sharply off a runway during takeoff, burst into flames and nearly broke apart, firefighters said Sunday.

MSNBC: Pigeon poop blamed for awning collapse

YUMA, Ariz. - Sheriff's deputies in Yuma County, Ariz., are blaming pigeons for the partial collapse of a gas station awning.

WICHITA EAGLE: Tornado study stuns authors

The first in-depth study of the Greensburg tornado has uncovered new details and raised fresh questions about one of the strongest and most dramatic tornado outbreaks ever recorded.

"There are a lot of things in that storm that made me go, 'Wow,' " said Les Lemon, a co-author of the study and research associate meteorologist with the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

"Most meteorologists will see this kind of storm once in their lifetime."

NY TIMES: Jet Catches Fire in Denver

DENVER (AP) — A Continental Airlines jet taking off from the airport here went off the runway and caught fire on Saturday night, forcing more than 100 passengers to evacuate on emergency slides and injuring at least seven people, officials said.

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: DeKalb public safety chief urged

A review of DeKalb County operations says the 911 dispatch system is “severely inadequate,” that “potentially large amounts of the county’s technology investments have been wasted” and that the county needs a new public safety director position.

The report, prepared for incoming Chief Executive Officer Burrell Ellis, notes the county’s projected budget shortfall of $40 million next year.

It says there are “numerous” areas that could be more efficient and questions whether departments are held accountable when they overspend their budgets.

STATE JOURNAL: Controversial public safety building complete

The city of Frankfort's $12-million public safety building, now occupied for several weeks, is complete with the controversial "Emergency Operations Center" coming online Friday.

City officials have yet to stage a ribbon-cutting for the building, though Mayor Bill May told The State Journal Friday during a tour of the facility there may be a ceremony this week.

The structure, which drew fire from local candidates campaigning for city offices in November elections, now houses the city's police and fire departments, a dispatch center and an emergency command operation for use in disasters.

DENVER WESTWORD: Denver Health to City Auditor: You aren't the boss of us!

Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher presented his office's long-awaited report on the city's emergency medical response system yesterday, saying that the information his team has compiled "speaks for itself." His choice of such a careful phrase to describe the scathing assessment is indicative of the bitter inter-agency politics that have hovered around the audit since it was announced ten months ago.

ABC NEWS: Could It Happen? The Truth About Disaster Movies

Medical Expert Explores Truth Behind Diseases Depicted in Entertainment

The question is debated among many science fiction fanatics and writers alike: How will the world end? Perhaps a giant gorilla that wreaks world-ending havoc? Or a final, apocalyptic world war?

AP: Doubts remain 20 years after Lockerbie disaster

LONDON (AP) — Much of the political fallout from the Lockerbie air disaster has been resolved, but doubts remain about who was behind the explosion 20 years ago Sunday in the skies above Scotland.

A cancer-stricken Libyan secret agent is in prison, the sole person convicted in the tragedy, but he has earned a second appeal by convincing judges that "a miscarriage of justice" may have occurred during his trial.

Some of the victims' families are still not convinced that Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, 56, is to blame for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 259 people, mostly Americans, in the air, and 11 more on the ground. Al-Megrahi, convicted in January, 2001, is serving a life sentence.

INFORMATION WEEK: Practical Disaster Recovery For Midsize Companies

Disasters happen, and when they do, IT had better be prepared, since businesses depend on information and the technology that manages it. For midsize companies, however, planning and equipping for disasters has been problematic. Where large enterprises have an array of specialized disaster-recovery systems from which to choose, and small businesses often can make do with ad hoc measures, midsize companies frequently have been caught in the middle--not able to afford big-bucks systems, yet needing more than just sending tapes off-site.

RAND: Better Efforts Needed to Track, Prevent Career-Ending Injuries Among Public Safety Workers

Non-fatal injuries to police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other public safety workers are common, but little is done to track these incidents in order to improve prevention efforts, according to a study issued today by the RAND Corporation.

"We have pretty good information about the causes of fatalities that strike public safety employees, but we do not do enough to track the less-severe injuries that routinely strike this group of workers," said Tom LaTourrette, lead author of the study and a physical scientist with RAND, a nonprofit research organization.

Non-fatal injuries among public safety workers are far more common and create more costs for employers than fatal injuries, according to the RAND study.

LA TIMES: California Supreme Court allows good Samaritans to be sued for nonmedical care

By Carol J. Williams
December 19, 2008

Being a good Samaritan in California just got a little riskier.

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a young woman who pulled a co-worker from a crashed vehicle isn't immune from civil liability because the care she rendered wasn't medical.

The divided high court appeared to signal that rescue efforts are the responsibility of trained professionals. It was also thought to be the first ruling by the court that someone who intervened in an accident in good faith could be sued.

AP: 5 men convicted of conspiracy to kill US soldiers

CAMDEN, N.J. – Five Muslim immigrants accused of scheming to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix were convicted of conspiracy Monday in a case that tested the FBI's post-Sept. 11 strategy of infiltrating and breaking up terrorist plots in their earliest stages. The men could get life in prison when they are sentenced in April.

AP: Fla. terror plot retrial will start in January

MIAMI – Six Miami men accused of plotting with al-Qaida to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices in several cities will go to trial for a third time in January, a federal judge said Monday.

Juries twice have failed to convict any of the so-called "Liberty City Seven," although one man was acquitted after the first trial. That defendant, 33-year-old Lyglenson Lemorin, is still in immigration custody as the U.S. works to deport him to his native Haiti.

A third jury will be chosen beginning the week of Jan. 13, said U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard at a brief hearing. Because of publicity from the two earlier trials, that could take two weeks or more.

GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY: Video Games Hone Triage Skills

Dec 19, 2008, By Hilton Collins

The video game market has stormed the U.S. like a commercial juggernaut. PricewaterhouseCoopers, a global professional services and consulting firm, estimates that consumer spending for console and handheld games will reach $11.7 billion in 2012, a noticeable increase over the $8.6 billion in 2007 the firm recorded.

This upturn means that games about shooting, beating and blowing up people are on the rise. But there's a lesser-known game genre whose chief goal is training and educating, rather than entertaining vicariously through digital violence.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Arizona Deploys Gateway Trial for Public Safety Communications

The Arizona Public Safety Communications Commission Statewide Radio System Demonstration Project is piloting a deployment of Motorola's ISSI Gateways on Project 25 Networks between live Project 25 (P25) networks.

The prototype installation culminated many months of multi-agency collaboration and provided "connected coverage" with the Regional Wireless Cooperative in Phoenix and the Yuma Regional Communications System.

FIREHOUSE.COM: Oops, California Hangar Fills with Foam

TRACY MANZER
Press-Telegram, Long Beach, Calif.

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- A contract employee working at an airport hangar that holds the police department's helicopters accidentally triggered the building's fire system, filling the 100,000-square foot facility with flame retardant foam Thursday morning. Long Beach Fire Department and Police Department employees working at the facility said the system worked like a charm, filling the cavernous building to the ceiling with high-expanding foam in a matter of moments. There were many jokes about it being a snow day in Long Beach, but the potential price tag for the mistake is not expected to be a laughing matter.

USA TODAY: Storm-ravaged Galveston faces 'disaster tourism' dilemma

By T.J. Aulds, The Galveston County Daily News

GALVESTON, Texas — Janet Oostenbrink came to see the sights. Actually, the Canadian was on Galveston's seawall to see what sites were no longer there.

"It's amazing," said Oostenbrink, who was visiting from Edmonton, Alberta. "You talk about the power of the ocean, and you see that there is nothing you can do to stand against it."

She didn't come to the United States just to see what destruction Ike had brought to Galveston. She was visiting fellow Canadian Beth Wiebe in Spring, and the two were curious just what was left of Galveston. They had seen plenty of images on TV, but standing on the seawall and seeing what was left of Murdoch's Pier and the damage to the Flagship Hotel they decided the television images didn't do the storm justice.

"We just didn't realize it impacted this area," Wiebe said. "It is so different from what we have in Spring."

The Canadian women are not the only tourists who are making trips to the island to see what was destroyed, what was damaged and what survived Ike. They also wouldn't be the first disaster tourists.

YAHOO NEWS: Scientists seek ways to ward off killer asteroids

WASHINGTON — A blue-ribbon panel of scientists is trying to determine the best way to detect and ward off any wandering space rocks that might be on a collision course with Earth.

``We're looking for the killer asteroid,'' James Heasley , of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy , last week told the committee that the National Academy of Sciences created at Congress' request.

Congress asked the academy to conduct the study after astronomers were unable to eliminate an extremely slight chance that an asteroid called Apophis will slam into Earth with devastating effect in 2036.

JOURNAL OF LAW AND ECONOMICS: Weathering Corruption

Could bad weather be responsible for U.S. corruption? Natural disasters create resource windfalls in the states they strike by triggering federally provided natural-disaster relief. By increasing the benefit of fraudulent appropriation and creating new opportunities for such theft, disaster-relief windfalls may also increase corruption. We investigate this hypothesis by exploring the effect of disaster relief provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on public corruption. The results support our hypothesis.

CQ POLITICS: Northcom Chief Vows to Address Worries About New Homeland Unit

A senior military official pledged Wednesday to address congressional concerns about a new homeland emergency response task force that is designed to respond to a chemical, biological or nuclear attack.

Air Force Gen. Victor E Renuart Jr., commander of U.S. Northern Command (Northcom), also told reporters that the new force, which will eventually total 20,000 personnel, will not require new funding right now and is not meant to authorize the federal government to enforce martial law.

YAHOO NEWS: NRC issues security rules

WASHINGTON – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is beefing up security at commercial nuclear power plants, including more stringent requirements to counter potential cyber attacks.

YAHOO NEWS: Harmless white powder mailed to US embassies

WASHINGTON – Eight U.S. embassies in Europe have received suspicious letters of white powder, the FBI said Tuesday in what the agency called a hoax.

Additionally, more than 40 governors' offices nationwide have gotten the letters, which also contain an unspecified note, FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said.

YAHOO NEWS: British pilot hits cow during emergency landing

LONDON – A British pilot said he ran into an unusual hazard while making an emergency landing — a cow. Rob Wotton said he was trying to land his World War II-era Tiger Moth after the engine stalled just after takeoff southwest of London on Sept. 14. He was about to touch down in a field when the animal wandered into his way.

NEWSWEEK: A Germ Warfare Guru Goes Free

A U.S.-trained Al Qaeda microbiologist has been released from jail by the Malaysian government, prompting alarm among American counterterrorism officials.

REUTERS: Train carrying fertilizer derails in Minnesota

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Two freight trains collided in southeastern Minnesota on Wednesday, derailing about 40 cars, spilling liquid fertilizer and sending one locomotive into the Mississippi River, authorities said.

No one was injured but two employees of the Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd, operator of both trains, were taken to the hospital for examination, CP Rail spokesman Mike LoVecchio said.

The accident involved one train with 15 rail cars, and another with 93 rail cars, three of which contained fertilizer, he said. The rest were empty.

A 1,000-gallon (3,785-liter) stationary tank of propane used to warm the tracks was also punctured and had a small leak, said Joyce Tlougan of the Winona County Emergency Management Department.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: European Emergency Number 112 Now Works in all EU Member States

People can now reach emergency services from anywhere in the EU, simply by dialing 112, the single European emergency number. Now that 112 can be called from any phone in Bulgaria, it has achieved complete availability just before the Christmas period when thousands of people travel between EU member states to visit family, hit the slopes or look for winter sun. It also crowns the combined efforts of the European Commission and EU member states to make 112 fully available everywhere so that Europeans will always have a lifeline in the EU.

Non-traditional highre education degrees may be an option for emergency managers

In a recent article by Bob Jaffin in Government Technology, the increase in emergency management degrees was discussed. The article also mentioned Thomas Edison State College. I am an alumni of TESC.

I received my emergency/disaster management bachelors degree from TESC. Originally, I was working on a degree in nuclear engineering technology, using my U.S. Navy nuclear power training as a foundation. The Nuclear Power program trains engineers to run the nuclear reactors on ships and subs in the Navy. The program was classified, but in an arrangement with TESC, the training program was evaluated so a program graduate could earn college credit for the accomplishment. (At the time I was in the program, the school was highly competitive, crammed a lot of information into a very short period of time, and was considered equivalent with the top universities in the country.)

I eventually changed my major to reflect where I really wanted to go with my career. While most of my former peers went on to commercial nuclear power plants, I wanted to take a different path. At that time, there was not a lot of online options, but TESC was flexible enough so that courses from different colleges, exams and transfer credits could by used to meet degree requirements. In many ways, this was the beginning of the move to non-traditional degree options.

A lot of emergency managers out there have cut their teeth in the field, earning a lot of experience and knowledge in the process. It may be tough for some to go back to school full time. The nontraditional degree route may be a better option for them.

GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY: Emergency Management Profession Gets Boost From Increase in Degree-Granting Programs

Dec 15, 2008, By Bob Jaffin

Professions such as law enforcement, fire science, emergency management and homeland security continue to evolve and develop. Simultaneously higher-education course delivery methods also continue to evolve. In fact, both adult education and online education continue to grow faster than traditional programs.

The development of emergency management as a profession and a recognized discipline is a direct result of the large increase in degree-granting programs. This has made it necessary for many who entered the field early to now earn undergraduate and advanced degrees or certificates in their areas of expertise, such as finance, budget and public administration.

This article will briefly examine a cross section of opportunities available for anyone willing to obtain academic degrees or certifications. At the same time, we as a society are recognizing the inherent value of lifelong learning. Part of that comes from extended life expectancies, and another part comes from the growing body of knowledge we use in our professional endeavors.

REUTERS: "Death map" shows heat a big hazard to Americans

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Heat is more likely to kill an American than an earthquake, and thunderstorms kill more than hurricanes do, according to a "death map" published on Tuesday.

Researchers who compiled the county-by-county look at what natural disasters kill Americans said they hope their study will help emergency preparedness officials plan better.

CQ POLITICS: Homeland Security ‘Midnight’ Regulations More Nuisance Than Worry

A handful of contentious homeland security regulations are in the pipeline in the waning days of the Bush administration, but some of the more controversial proposals have been softened or left for the new administration to deal with.

White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten announced earlier this year that the Bush administration would avoid issuing a torrent of last-minute regulations, a practice that has been part of the republic since its founding.

Bolten directed department heads in a May memo to hold off issuing so-called midnight regulations “except in extraordinary circumstances.”

These regulations can create confusion for the incoming administration and require a lengthy proposal and public comment period to be officially undone.

But in the meantime, President-elect Barack Obama can direct his appointees not to enforce last-minute Bush regulations, or steer resources away from programs he disapproves of, according to Matt Madia, regulatory policy analyst for the watchdog group OMB Watch.

NTI: Homeland Security Council Out? Obama Might Add Responsibility to National Security Council

By Shane Harris National Journal

WASHINGTON -- The incoming Obama administration is considering changes to the White House's role in homeland security policy that could dramatically enhance the influence of the president's national security adviser, giving him a primary role in shaping disaster management and counterterrorism policy within the United States (see GSN, Dec. 3).

BALTIMORE SUN: Shifting priorities affect police presence on the city waterfront

Peter Hermann | Baltimore Crime Beat

December 14, 2008

A little more than three years ago, the Baltimore Police Department's Marine Unit was an indispensable crime-fighting tool. The city had spent $143,000 on a state-of-the-art 27-foot SeaArk craft packed with the latest radar, sonar and satellite navigation, and had enough federal homeland security money to buy two more.

"You are always concerned that there is a possibility that Sept. 11 can happen again, right here with us," Sgt. Ed Coleman explained back then.

What had appeared necessary for the security of the nation and the citizens of Baltimore is suddenly not so necessary anymore. Money isn't flowing as it was then; in fact, city police are cutting back while dealing with nearly a murder-a-day crime pace that started at the beginning of November and threatens to overshadow gains made earlier this year in reducing the number of killings.

The city's five police boats are still docked between Fells Point and Canton, but the 14 officers assigned there have dwindled to a single sergeant, who can go out if required. It's nearly winter, crime is surging, the budget is tight and the police commissioner has redeployed the marine officers to different jobs, at least until the ice thaws and people go sailing again.

ISRIA: Canada and United States Renew Emergency Management Cooperation Agreement

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Peter Van Loan, Minister of Public Safety, today welcomed the renewal of the Agreement Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America on Emergency Management Cooperation.

NEWSWEEK: FEMA’s Turn To Get Saved

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was widely ridiculed for its pitiful response to Hurricane Katrina, may undergo big changes under President Obama. Agency critics say the nation's disaster-relief efforts have been hampered ever since FEMA was lumped into the Department of Homeland Security—the slow-footed bureaucratic behemoth created by the Bush administration after 9/11. Last week, officials from the International Association of Emergency Managers, which represents local disaster agencies, met with Obama aides and urged them to break FEMA free from Homeland Security and restore its previous status as an independent agency.

BLACKBERRY INSIGHTS FORUM: Are you prepared? Emergency / Disaster Prevention with your BlackBerry

Here is a list of essential applications and utilities you need for your BlackBerry to be prepared:

ANN ARBOR NEWS: Homeland Security failed to protect U.S. from financial harm

Immediately after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 a common expression was that "everything is different now." In fundamental ways, many things are different in relation to counterterrorism strategies and the enforcement and administration of criminal justice both at home and abroad.

For example, the local police are now engaged in the "war on terror" in addition to fighting crime, and the FBI - originally devoted to domestic law enforcement - has international field offices today in places like Afghanistan, Indonesia and Uzbekistan. Indeed, large portions of the criminal justice system, the military and the intelligence and security institutions have been reorganized, largely through the Department of Homeland Security, to fight a war on terror that has neither a time frame nor a reliable means of measuring the extent of success or failure in this war.

More importantly, what has fallen below the radar are the connections between these changing legal crime-fighting operations and their effects on the missing war on white-collar and state-corporate crime.

It is these "omissions" in controlling many financial practices from Wall Street to Main Street that may be linked to this country's current economic crisis.

PLATTS: FEMA agrees to new reimbursement policy for damaged power systems

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday said it had reached
an agreement with state emergency management agencies and cooperative and
municipal utilities over the terms of a proposed national policy on
post-ice-storm reimbursement for downed and damaged distribution lines.

NOLA.COM: FEMA approves $150 million for Katrina damages to Charity Hospital

After years of haggling with state officials, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced late Friday that it has approved $150 million for hurricane-related damage to Charity Hospital.

The amount is far less than the $492 million that the state claims the damage is worth but considerably more than the $23 million that FEMA previously had said it was willing to pay.

Rather than bring the long-running dispute to an end, FEMA's announcement merely moves the issue to the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama.

MOAA: Homeland Security — coming to a small screen near you!

We were roused from a Grey’s Anatomy-induced stupor by an advertisement for a new series. It seemed to be a spoof on reality show TV.

“Homeland Security USA,” said the announcer. Since there was no “gotcha’ moment or announcer to confess the joke was on the viewer, it became painfully obvious that ABC would, in fact, air a reality show about the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

HERITAGE FOUNDATION: The Quadrennial Homeland Security Review: A Vital Tool for the Obama Administration

by Jena Baker McNeill Backgrounder #2215

Election Day has come and gone. While homeland security did not play a major role in the 2008 presiden­tial election, Americans must not forget that the impor­tance of keeping the nation safe does not diminish in the transition from one Administration to the next. Homeland security is different from many of the issues in the political marketplace because if homeland secu­rity fails, lives are lost and all the other issues are imperiled. Protecting Americans from hostile enemies, preparing for and responding to natural disasters, and securing the country's borders should be less about pol­itics and more about implementing sound approaches that keep our country free, safe, and prosperous.

The best way to ease this transition is through the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR). The QHSR will be a new comprehensive review by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including recommendations for future action.

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: A disaster agency that's a disaster

Earthquake, wildfire or flood - take your pick for the next natural disaster that will hit California. But if you want to see the aftermath, look at the Texas gulf coast where a 30-mile stretch of shore remains buried in smashed homes, dead animals and splintered trees nearly three months after Hurricane Ike.

It's disaster piled on disaster, and the results are pinned on the Federal Emergency Management Agency by angry Texas officials from the governor on down. FEMA, once again, stands for failure, error, mismanagement and arrogance.

WHNT: Marshall County EMA is Likely Moving

The Marshall County Emergency Management Agency could soon be moving to a new location. The agency is currently housed in a small space in the basement of the Marshall County Courhouse. A space so small, much of their equipment is stored in the hallways.

REPORTER: Cain New Chief Of Public Safety

A restructure of two city departments has a familiar face leading both the Hillsboro Police Department and Hillsboro Fire/Rescue.

City Manager Jack Harper announced the creation of the Hillsboro Public Safety Division Monday morning, December 8.

Police Chief Tony Cain will serve as the director over the new entity as chief of public safety.

“The departments will continue as two separate departments. The change is that Chief Cain will direct the activities of both,” Harper explained.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT BLOG: Web 2.0 and disaster management

There's been quite a lot of attention in the media recently about the role of Web 2.0 in disaster management. Spurred by the Mumbai attacks, Jeremiah Owyang, a specialist in web strategy and social media, wrote an interesting article on "How Municipalities Should Integrate Social Media Into Disaster Planning." (For a different but also fascinating take on what municipalities can achieve through the web, see "a city that thinks like the web").

And it's not just man-made disasters that are getting attention. Aftershock is a website entirely devoted to "the world’s first massively collaborative disaster simulation about a major earthquake affecting much of Southern California."

TECHNOLOGY TIPS: Getting the new technologies approved

In a recent blog on Eric Holdeman's Disaster Zone, Eric quoted Pascal Schuback on using technology for EM. I agree with Pascal's and Eric's comments, but think there is another layer to consider. What about the Emergency Manager who is on top of technology, who wants to move forward, but the "mastadons" are the bean counters and the senior approvers? We all know people who have the authority to approve these projects who can not spell VOIP, let alone understand it.

This is just another example of the widely diversified talents required of emergency managers. Not only do you have to understand the technology, you have to be able to explain it to the non-techies and justify it to the approvers. The tip for today is building your support structure to get these things moved forward. Most of the technology can benefit everyone at some level. Make sure you take advantage of that fact to garner support for the project.

AMERICA NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY: Ideas for Obama: Raid Homeland Security Budget

Over the next few days, we will throw out some policy ideas for the new Obama administration. Readers should send in their own proposals by posting a comment.

While the financial crisis permits Obama to spend almost unlimited amounts of money in his first year trying to jump start the economy, he still needs to find ways to re-direct government funds towards projects liberals care about. He can start by raiding the Pentagon and Homeland Security budgets for mass transportation.

Mass transportation? It’s called an evacuation plan.

AZCENTRAL.COM: Public-safety column: Ride-alongs

Two firefighters play video games from the comfort of a pair of recliners, happily stalking each other with guns as they enjoy a momentary lull in emergency traffic at Station 27 in northeast Phoenix. Others prepare homemade shredded beef tacos - a firehouse dinner favorite.

It appears like a quiet afternoon, a classic example of the "Ride-along Jinx" that many journalists and public officials experience during observation runs with the Phoenix fire and police departments. Those who want to see their first-responders in action often get nothing more than a handful of routine calls.

WASHINGTON POST: Study: Maryland Ranks Last in Disaster Preparedness

A new study finds Maryland tied for last among states nationwide in readiness for a health emergency.

Maryland scored a five out of 10 possible points on indicators for health emergency preparedness capabilities according to the study released Tuesday by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

MENS NEWS DAILY: Homeland Security Experts Offer President-Elect Obama Counseling

Jim Kouri, CPP

The Homeland Security & Defense Business Council and the Georgetown Public Policy Institute today held a transition briefing to discuss the historical context of the US Department of Homeland Security, the evolution of the homeland security mission, and recommendations to the Obama Administration for where the Department should go from here.

“Although we are certainly doing better, we are not there yet,” said Greg Pellegrino, Chair of the Homeland Security & Defense Business Council and Global Managing Director at consulting giant Deloitte. “Speed and openness is the enemy of security and after 9/11 we responded very rapidly. We are still navigating the balance between openness and protection.”

LOSANTAVILLE BLOG: Homeland Security in the Obama Administration

Homeland Security in the Obama Administration

I received a copy of a report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) from my friend Claire Rubin a JHSEM. Neither candidate spoke much about issues of homeland security or emergency management during the campaign. The CSIS article is entitled “Homeland Security in an Obama Administration” and covers eight categories the President-elect intends to address during his administration.

HOMELAND SECURITY WATCH: More Insight Into the Next Administration’s HLS Priorities

by Jonah Czerwinski on December 5, 2008

Readers will recall the dearth of attention given to homeland security during the presidential campaign. In part, this was a welcome absence. It reflected some level of consensus on the issues between the candidates, but it also indicated a lop-sided focus during the campaign on kinetic aspects of combating terrorism (notwithstanding the significant attention given by candidate Obama to soft power mechanisms). However, now that the election is over, there is an abundance of discussion about whither homeland security policy, the Department of Homeland Security as an organization, the future of certain of its component agencies, and the question of how the White House will be organized to lead the mission at a variety of levels.

NY TIMES: ABC Schedules a ‘Homeland Security’ Series

ICF International Awarded $1.5M Task Order under Department of Homeland Security Contract

THE SUN: Cal State San Bernardino has new emergency response chief

SUFFOLK NEWS HERALD: City to break ground at new safety center

WTVD: City council approves safety center's design

NY TIMES: Reforming FEMA: Two Senators Speak Out

DAILY PRESS: New indictment: Bernard Kerik shoulda spilled in Dept. of Homeland Security interview

NY TIMES: ‘Political Archaeologists’ Find Surprises During the Transition

DHS Announces $34 Million in FY 2009 Emergency Operations Center Grants

EOC applications must be submitted via www.grants.gov no later than Feb. 27, 2009.

GW HATCHET: City, GW prepare for inauguration

As Jan. 20 quickly approaches, federal, city and GW officials are beginning the arduous task of planning President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, which is expected to draw millions of visitors.

As many as four million people are expected to attend the event. With most of the District, including GW, observing Inauguration Day as a holiday, locals and visitors will pour into the National Mall to watch Obama deliver his inaugural address only blocks away from campus.

John Petrie, GW's assistant vice president for public safety and emergency management, will also have a hand in inauguration coordination since it is expected to draw millions of people to the University's doorstep.

TECHNOLOGY TIPS: Emergency Warning Functions in Telephone Systems

Modern telephone systems have a public address or paging function either built in or part of a connected controller. If you have ever been at a retail store and heard the overhead speaker announcement that diapers are on sale in aisle 4, then heard a sound like someone hanging up a phone, that is an telephone system PA function.

This function can be a critical (and often overlooked) part of an emergency warning system. Whether in a retail store or an office setting, the ability to announce to every phone in the system of an emergency can be invaluable. Look for features such as all or selected paging, paging to phones and/or stand alone speakers, and the ability to integrate with other warning systems. A very important function is the ability to add a passcode to prevent unauthorized use.

Here is an example of how this works. The emergency coordinators in an office building monitor the weather radio. A tornado warning is issued. The emergency coordinator picks up any phone in the system, punches in the ALL CALL passcode, and announces a take cover warning to everyone. The warning goes out over the telephone speakers (whether the phone is in use or not) and over stand alone PA speakers. Once the tornado has passed, an all clear announcement is transmitted the same way. A step up in functionality could be integrating the weather radio alert directly into the telephone system, with either an ALL CALL or designated phones.

Contact your telephone vendor or IT provider for more information.

HOMELAND SECURITY WATCH: DHS Issues 73 Terms in Official Lexicon of Homeland Security

DHS is in the process of building an Integrated Risk Management Framework to gather, integrate, analyze, and communicate information about risk in order to prioritize efforts and resources.

A newly released DHS Risk Lexicon is designed to support the Integrated Risk Management Framework by defining a standard set of definitions for DHS risk management. The DHS Risk Lexicon provides definitions for 73 terms deemed fundamental to homeland security risk management.

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: New White House urged to bolster cybersecurity

WASHINGTON — A pioneering bipartisan report that will be released today calls on the incoming Obama administration to set up a high-level office to coordinate the defense of the nation's computer systems from cyber-attacks by rival nations, industrial spies and criminal syndicates.

NEW YORK TIMES: Playing it Safe Around Pirates

A week after pirates fired on one cruise ship near the Horn of Africa, a German cruise company has decided to play it safe in dangerous waters.

Hapag-Lloyd cruises announced today that a ship sailing from Genoa, Italy, to Dubai would unload 300 passengers and crewmembers before it reaches the Gulf of Aden, the lawless stretch of water off the Somali coast where pirates have menaced passenger boats, boarded cargo ships and hijacked a Saudi tanker loaded with $100 million in oil.

WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL: Inauguration celebration seen as ‘opportunity’ and ‘nightmare’ for D.C.

The inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama will create an economic boom and a logistical deluge for the District, according to organizers speaking to Greater Washington Board of Trade members Monday.

Having as many as 4 million people visit the region in one week -- about one-fifth the number that typically visit the region in one year -- “is an enormous opportunity or logistical nightmare” said Jim Dinegar, president and chief executive officer of the Board of Trade, to more than 100 business leaders gathered at the law firm K&L Gates. Dinegar said there were requests for parking spaces for 10,000 buses, enough to stretch around the Capital Beltway and up to Baltimore.

Companies should plan for emergencies, delays in delivery of goods due to packed roads, communications failures and other infrastructure deficiencies, according to Charles Fishher, vice president of James Lee Witt Associates. “When you bring this many people into the area you are going to see some stress to the system,” he said.

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL: Perry asks FEMA for $300M

Governor Rick Perry has written a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency requesting $300 million to create an alternative temporary housing program for Hurricane Ike victims to supplement the existing FEMA program.

MIDDLETOWN JOURNAL: Butler County leaders seek to replace EMA director

HAMILTON — In a pair of scathing letters, Butler County leaders and police chiefs across the county expressed a lack of confidence in the county's emergency management chief after his response to September's historic windstorm.

In a letter to the Butler County Emergency Management Agency governing board today, Dec. 8, two county commissioners said EMA Director William Turner's "service has become a divisive force instead of a unifying force in Butler County."

Commissioners Donald Dixon and Gregory Jolivette called for "a change in management of the EMA."

USA TODAY: Nuclear weapons decision awaits Obama

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — One of the most important national security decision facing President-elect Barack Obama will unfold in this remote valley of aging factories, where workers enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb of World War II.

FREEP: Granholm’s mailroom receives powder; no injuries

LANSING -- Test results from the Michigan State Police have come back negative for a suspicious package with a powdery substance received at a Michigan government mailroom.

Pentagon: 9/11 conspirators want to confess

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Five detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, say they want to confess to conspiracy charges for planning the September 11, 2001, attacks, a Pentagon spokeswoman said Monday.

Officials: 3 dead after military jet crash

(CNN) -- A military jet crashed into a residential neighborhood in San Diego, California, on Monday as it tried to land at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, killing three people in a home, authorities said.

The victims -- two adults and an infant, according to the San Diego medical examiner's office -- were in one of two houses destroyed by the crash and ensuing fire, officials said.

One other person believed to be in that house is missing.

The pilot of the F/A-18 Hornet ejected safely and was taken to a hospital, the Marine Corps said in a news release. The pilot, whose name was not released, was the only occupant of the two-seat aircraft, the Marine Corps said.

Special Events Planning - Not Just Security

There has been a lot of discussion lately about whether FEMA should be in or out of DHS, with lots of good comments and thoughts on both sides. One of the big reasons to move FEMA out is to ensure that the all-hazards approached is maintained and the big picture is maintained.

Special Events (Contingency) Planning is a good example of the where the security focus can lose the big picture. When special events planning is led by the law enforcement-homeland security sector, it tends to focus on only the security aspect. Even some of the planning guides found on the internet developed by the law enforcement sector talk about other sectors such as fire, EMS, public health, public works and the like as "support" functions. This is not an indictment; this is the natural tendency of a sector to focus on their areas of expertise.

In fact, a good special events (SE) plan ensures that all sectors are represented and considered. All special events have different needs and areas of concern, with security being one of those areas. You can see this in the recent discussions of the Black Friday shopping incidents. Yes, security is an issue, but coordination between the retailer and local responders, the design of the buildings, and the psychology of crowds are also important issues. A good SE plan will use the principles of emergency management to coordinate, collaborate and communicate with ALL the players on a level basis, not just the familiar public safety agencies.

Also, a good SE plan is based on existing emergency/contingency/disaster plans. SE plans should not be an entity unto themselves. The SE plan should use the existing plans as the foundation, with the SE plan addressing the issues specific to the special event. If the SE plans are focused on the specific issues, it actually takes less overall time to plan, as the foundations are the same for each special event. Over time, this will make lead to stronger overall emergency planning for all situations.

Finally, the type of event covered by special events planning needs to be expanded. The minute someone says "we have always done that event this way, we don't need to go overboard, and nothing happens anyway", or something similar, should raise the red flags that this is probably the very event that needs a good planning effort. How many times do we have to after action an incident with the comment "who would have ever thought that could happen?" Have we already forgotten that lesson from 7 years ago?

For more information, see the IS 15a Special Events Contingency Planning training course.

Homeland Security, Emergency Management and the Economy

Dec 1, 2008, By Eric Holdeman

As I write this, the economy -- the financial markets, the stock market and what the future holds for business and families -- dominates the thoughts of most Americans.

What will a severe economic downturn mean for emergency management and homeland security? I'm not a futurist, but I'll take a crack at analyzing the outlook of emergency management.

Rethinking 700 MHz for Public Safety

Nov 21, 2008, By Sascha D. Meinrath

Emergency communications save lives.

The unfortunate corollary to this maxim: Communication failures kill. Increasingly attention is being focused on how to increase communication, not only within an emergency response organization, but also across first responders from different agencies. To remain fully connected, key communications officers have often adopted a "bat belt" approach with several communications devices - sometimes a half dozen or more - strapped to their waist. It's a necessity for communicating among the many different federal, state and local agencies' wireless networks during an incident.

Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security

The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.

The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said.

Panel warns biological attack likely by 2013

WASHINGTON – The United States can expect a terrorist attack using nuclear or more likely biological weapons before 2013, reports a bipartisan commission in a study being briefed Tuesday to Vice President-elect Joe Biden. It suggests the Obama administration bolster efforts to counter and prepare for germ warfare by terrorists.

"Our margin of safety is shrinking, not growing," states the report, obtained by The Associated Press. It is scheduled to be publicly released Wednesday.

TECHNOLOGY TIPS: Change those old VHS tapes into DVD

For those of you who still have VHS tapes (or for that matter, even Beta), before the picture fades away on the tape, consider converting them to DVD. There are several ways to do this:

1. GET SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR YOU
There are many places that will take your tape and convert it to DVD. They usually provide services such as cleaning up the picture and/or sound. The downside to this option is price - it can be very expensive. You may want to leave this option for those critical tapes or the tapes that could be in fragile condition.

2. GET AN ALL-IN-ONE BOX
There are several VHS-DVD Recorder devices on the market. They come in two basic flavors: cheap and simple, and geek squad. The simple type is limited in the bells and whistles, such as cleaning up the picture and/or sound. You put in the tape, put in a blank DVD, push the button - poof, out comes the converted VHS video on DVD. The more expensive boxes have the bells and whistles with lots of options, but it helps to bone up on conversions to get the most out of what you pay for.

3. USE SEPARATE COMPONENTS
This also runs the gamut from simple to geek. Simple has you set up the VHS tape player, run the output to a DVD recorder, hit record, punch play, and off you go. The DVD recorder can be a stand alone DVD player-recorder, or can be your computer. Most computers will require a separate analog-digital converter box. Again, this can be simple with few options, or complicated with lots of options.

If you want to go the geek route, do your homework. Spend some time on the internet to understand things like how DVD recording works, video compression, copy protection, etc. You may find that all need is the simple push-the-button set up. What ever method you choose, it is still better than finding your precious tape of the emergency response of the decade is nothing more than static on the screen.