RADIO WORLD: FEMA Seeks Public Comment on EAS Proposal

The Federal Emergency Management Agency wants to hear from you about the open standards process for the Emergency Alert System and specifically the coming upgrade to the Common Alerting Protocol.

This is the next step in the process to upgrading emergency alerts to a next-gen public warning system. The goal is to allow the president and authorized officials to send alerts using television, radio, wireless and wired telephone, e-mail and other communications technologies.

FEMA asks emergency management industries, state and tribal leaders and first responders to review and comment on the open standardization process for EAS CAP.

STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY: 5 contend for emergency management job

Three first responders from Routt County are among the five finalists vying to fill Chuck Vale’s former position as county emergency management director. The other two finalists, chosen from 57 applicants, have previous emergency management experience but are from out of state, County Manager Tom Sullivan said.

ALLGOV: FEMA Administrator: Who is Craig Fugate?

Taking over the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), one of the most historically ridiculed federal operations in the United States, is W. Craig Fugate, whom some have called “Mr. Hurricane.” Fugate brings a long resume of tackling disasters, after heading up Florida’s version of FEMA for most of this decade.

FAS: Secrecy Shuts Down Briefing on 2008 Chem Accident

Government safety investigators canceled a public briefing about an August 28, 2008 explosion that killed two persons at a chemical plant in Institute, West Virginia after operators of the plant said that public discussion of the accident could jeopardize “sensitive security information.”

Bayer CropScience, which runs the plant, told the U.S. Chemical Safety Board that relevant information about the plant is protected from public disclosure under the terms of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, as interpreted by U.S. Coast Guard regulations.

The Board, which is an independent federal agency that investigates industrial accidents, canceled the March 19 public meeting while it seeks to evaluate the Bayer secrecy claims. See “Board Cancels Hearing Under Bayer Pressure” by Ken Ward, Jr., The Charleston Gazette, February 25, 2009.

On their face, the Bayer secrecy claims do not seem well-founded.

JOURNAL NEWS: Rockland's public safety coordinator quits

NEW CITY - The county's coordinator of public safety has resigned her nearly $100,000-a-year job after an investigation showed she was working at Dominican College when she should have been at the Rockland Sheriff's Department.

Hilda Kogut, a retired FBI agent who has worked for the county since 2003, said she would resign after an internal investigation concluded she had done nothing criminal and did not face any charges, Sheriff James Kralik said.

WMUR: Fire Officials Criticize Police For Impersonating Firefighters

NEWPORT, N.H. -- Firefighters are criticizing Newport police after they disguised themselves as firefighters to take a man into custody who allegedly threatened an officer with a gun.

Newport police said Matthew Miller pointed a shotgun at an officer responding to his apartment on a noise complaint Wednesday night. With no backup, the officer left, but hours later, police returned. Dressed as firefighters, they were able to take Miller into custody without incident.

BOSTON GLOBE: Consultant finds Boston Fire Department lax on maintenance

An outside consultant concluded that the Boston Fire Department has failed to adequately maintain its firetrucks and that the city should hire an inspector to ensure that the vehicles are safe, Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick J. Fraser said yesterday.

"It's going to say pretty much the same thing I've already said, that preventive maintenance is not being done," Fraser said in a telephone interview.

EFFINGHAM HERALD: Disaster drill puts crews, system to the test

The blood and gore were all part of an act, right down to the tree limb that impaled an Effingham County High School student.

But it was getting treated as if it were very much real.

LA TIMES: U.S. citizen beheaded in apparent drug hit

Reporting from San Diego -- A U.S. citizen was one of the three men who were found decapitated this week in Tijuana, Mexican authorities said Friday.

The body of George Harrison, a 38-year-old former Chula Vista resident, had been dismembered and mutilated and was dumped in a vacant lot near Tijuana's beachside bullring.

USGS: Designed for 3 years, ’workhorse’ satellite completes 25

Outliving its expected 3-year lifespan by more than 22 years, on March 1 Landsat 5 completed a busy quarter-century of collecting information about and observations of the planet Earth's land mass and seems to still be going strong.

The "eye in the sky" has proven to be a remarkable workhorse for global earth observations. A catalog of the over 700,000 Landsat 5 images is a 'photo album' of major events in the earth's history of the past 25 years.

GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY: Craig Fugate, Possible FEMA Administrator, Supported by Emergency Managers

On March 4, President Barack Obama announced that he intended to nominate Craig Fugate, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Emergency management organizations and professionals are applauding Obama's possible nomination of Fugate.

USA TODAY: Mexican cartels plague Atlanta

ATLANTA — In a city where Coca Cola, United Parcel Service and Home Depot are the titans of industry, there are new powerful forces on the block: Mexican drug cartels.

Their presence and ruthless tactics are largely unknown to most here. Yet, of the 195 U.S. cities where Mexican drug-trafficking organizations are operating, federal law enforcement officials say Atlanta has emerged as the new gateway to the troubled Southwest border.

Rival drug cartels, the same violent groups warring in Mexico for control of routes to lucrative U.S. markets, have established Atlanta as the principal distribution center for the entire eastern U.S., according to the Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center.

TIME: The Making of a Mumbai Terrorist

Rawalpindi is not a city where fortunes are made. It is a refuge for those seeking relief from the backbreaking labors of rural life and a home for those fleeing the violence on Pakistan's troubled frontier with Afghanistan. 'Pindi, as it is known, may be a stifling metropolis where crime goes unpunished and hard work unrewarded, but it also offers a chance at the first rung of a very long ladder toward financial stability. Yet that ladder goes only so high. The greensward of the Rawalpindi Golf Club teases the poor with dreams of the good life, but its gates are firmly closed. In Rawalpindi, there are no holes in the fence that divides the classes.

WASHINGTON POST: Obama cabinet members pledge faster Katrina effort

NEW ORLEANS -- Disturbed by what they saw on a bus ride through a city still bearing Hurricane Katrina's scars, two members of President Barack Obama's cabinet pledged Thursday to speed the pace of the Gulf Coast recovery operation they inherited from the Bush administration.

On their first visit to New Orleans since Obama took office, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced millions in new funding for post-Katrina housing initiatives and vowed to cut red tape that has kept money out of local governments' hands.

"This will not be the last time we are here," said Napolitano, who is scheduled to take a helicopter tour of Mississippi's Gulf Coast on Friday. "We're going to get this done."

REPORT: National Communications System's Management of 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes Mission Assignment Funding

TECHNOLOGY TIPS: Voltaic Backpack

Voltaic Systems is a small business that touts ecological sustainability through renewable energy and recycled materials. The Backpack is a full-fledged backpack with a water-resistant shell made of recycled soda bottles that uses solar power to charge cell phones, handhelds, MP3 players, and digital cameras.

NOTE: WFTND has no fiscal interest in this product. We just thought it was cool.

TECHNOLOGY TIPS: Cell phone emergency chargers

An updated version of Murphy's Law states that your cell phone battery will die on you when you need it the most. Murphy also says you'll be stranded with no charger, no power supply, and no spare battery.

You're on the scene of the big one, things are moving fast, you have a bunch of people to notify, you have to make sure everything is coordinated - and your cell phone dies. Oh, it must be the battery. Gee, why is this battery not charged? That's okay, you have the mobile charger. Oops, the cord got damaged, so it will not work. Plug in the USB cord to your laptop? No, I need what's left on the laptop battery. What's left?

Your final level of back-up - an emergency charger. Toss in a regular battery, wind up the crank or find the sun and you are back to saving the day.

ElectroHiFi SOS Charger: The SOS Charger is a portable, hand-crank generator designed to charge your cell phone in emergency situations. No batteries necessary, just turn the handle. A simple 3-minute turn of the SOS Charger handle will give you enough battery power to call for help. $20

IST Sidewinder Portable Cell Phone Charger: The manufacturer says that two minutes of charging will provide 'up to' 6 minutes of talk time and 'up to' 30 minutes of standby time. This unit also includes a miniature flashlight. $25

Solio Universal Solar Charger: The internal battery can be charged via a conventional wall charger or directly from the sun. Charging from the wall is a straightforward process, and should get a full charge in about 6 hours. Solio's makers promise you'll be able to fully charge the device with 8 to 10 hours of direct sunlight; 60 minutes of sun will power your phone for about 10 minutes of talk time and four days of standby time. $79-95-$169.95

CPS Cellbost: The Cellboost specs claim that the device packs enough juice for 60 minutes of talk time or 60 hours of standby time. Once its charge is depleted, however, you can't recharge the Cellboost; instead, you'll have to toss it in the trash and pony up for another one. $10

Clipper Gear Cell Phone Emergency Battery Recharger: The Clipper Gear is compact and light. With it, a 20-minute charge yields 25 minutes of talk time, and it uses 4 replaceable AAA batteries. $9.95 with four adapters to fit into many popular cell phones. Additional adapters for other phone models are $1.50 each.

Charge2Go: Pop in a single AA battery (alkaline, lithium, or even rechargeable), plug in the short connector cable, and hook it up to your cell phone's charging port. Two red LED's start flashing on the top to let you know it's providing power to your phone. The LED's go out when the AA battery is discharged. $24.99

Turbo Charge Tc2: The Turbo Charge runs on regular AA batteries, and deliver anywhere from two to five hours of power; the exact time will vary by phone model. The TurboCharge comes with a set of eight power connectors that should fit most, but not all, cell phones on the market. $24.95

Energizer Energi To Go: The Energizer Energi To Go is optimized to run off lithium batteries, and it won't work with all cell phones. Energizer sells adapters for most Samsung, Sprint, Motorola, and Nokia handsets, while a USB version is available as well. Energizer claims that 80 percent of cell phone brands are supported. $14.99

HTC Emergency Charger: It gets power from a 1.5V AA battery and is compatible with a number of HTC smartphones, including the HTC Touch Pro. $19.95

NOTE: Review the pros and cons of these units, look up the latest reviews on the internet, and check out the prices. An example is the CNET review from 2006 found at http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3504_7-6427792-1.html . Also, try the charger out ahead of the emergency, to make sure you have the right connector for your phone.

PR NEWSWIRE: AFGE to FEMA Nominee: We'll Pick You Up!

WASHINGTON, March 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The announcement of Craig Fugate to head up FEMA couldn't have come at a better time, American Federation of Government Employees National President John Gage said today in response to President Obama's announcement of intent to name Fugate FEMA administrator.

"The recent sexual harassment and retaliation scandal in the Louisiana FEMA office was just the tip of the iceberg," said Leo Bosner, chief steward of AFGE FEMA Local 4060. "FEMA is rife with corruption and mismanagement, and our best employees continue to be discouraged and driven out by this.

"This is an agency still suffering from a failure in leadership, the heavy influence of political appointees, a lack of strategic direction and coordination, poor and unqualified management, over-reliance on contractors, undervaluation of employees, hostile work environments, wasteful spending, duplication of effort, and a systemic failure across the agency to integrate proven principles and concepts of emergency and incident management into programs and operations," the Local wrote in its recent report, Shattering the Illusion of FEMA's Progress.

"AFGE gets more complaints than ever from the employees, and we now have a half-dozen major grievances pending arbitration," Bosner said. "FEMA is desperately in need of strong, experienced leadership to get us back on track, and we believe that Craig Fugate is the one to do this.

"How soon can he get here? Tell him to give me a call if he needs a ride from the airport. I'll pick him up myself," Bosner added.

ROME NEWS-TRIBUNE: October drill helped in Wednesday chemical spill emergency

There’s no way Floyd County EMA Director Scotty Hancock could have foreseen during an October 2008 drill at Bekaert Corp. that he would be back out at the site for real on Wednesday. In any case, the exercise paid off.

SEATTLE TIMES: Yucca Mountain waste site loses funding in new budget

WASHINGTON — More than two decades after Yucca Mountain in Nevada was selected to be the national nuclear-waste repository, the controversial proposal may finally be put to rest by the Obama administration.

In keeping with a pledge President Obama made during the campaign, the budget released last week cuts off almost all funding for creating a permanent burial site for a large portion of the nation's radioactive-nuclear waste at the site in the Nevada desert.

Congress selected the location in 1987 and reaffirmed the choice in 2002. About $7.7 billion has been sunk into the project since its inception.