Government
Tornadoes Slam Plains, Midwest
May 20, 2013 12:07 pm | by SEAN MURPHY,Associated Press | News | CommentsForecasters had been warning of bad weather since Wednesday and on Sunday said conditions had ripened for powerful tornadoes. Wall-to-wall broadcasts of storm information spread the word Sunday, leaving Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth grateful.
Warnings About Sandy Led To Confusion
May 20, 2013 11:35 am | by SETH BORENSTEIN,AP Science Writer | News | CommentsFederal weather forecasts for Superstorm Sandy were exceptionally accurate last fall, but the warnings themselves were confusing, an internal review found. The gigantic October storm lost tropical characteristics hours before landfall in New Jersey, so the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stopped calling it a hurricane.
Mexico Sets Shelters As Volcano Shakes, Spews Ash
May 13, 2013 9:53 am | News | CommentsSeismic activity has increased at the Popocatepetl volcano near Mexico City, leading authorities to alert towns in two central states and the capital. Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Center says the white-capped volcano spewed a plume of steam more than a half mile into the sky.
Police Vow To Solve Shootings Of 19 In New Orleans
May 13, 2013 9:38 am | by CHEVEL JOHNSON,Associated Press | News | CommentsVideo released early Monday by New Orleans police shows a possible suspect in the Mother's Day gunfire that wounded 19 people during a neighborhood parade. Shootings at parades and neighborhood celebrations have become more common in recent years as the city has struggled with street crime, sometimes gang-related.
Canada Not Planning H7N9 Vaccine Studies; Will Watch U.S. Result
May 10, 2013 10:51 am | by Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press | News | CommentsCanada currently has no plans to ask its pandemic flu vaccine manufacturers to make trial batches of vaccine to protect against the new H7N9 bird flu, senior officials of the Public Health Agency of Canada have revealed. While the U.S. government has said it will ask several flu vaccine manufacturers to start growing up batches of serum against the new virus this summer, Canada will watch, wait and learn from the work the U.S.
Boston Cop: Never Saw Russia Warning About Suspect
May 10, 2013 10:47 am | by ALICIA A. CALDWELL,Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Boston police commissioner says three city police officers were working with the U.S. terrorism task force but didn't know about vague warnings by Russia's government about one of the bombing suspects delivered nearly two years before the attacks.
Courts Office Hacked; Judicial Data Security Reviewed
May 10, 2013 9:46 am | by RACHEL LA CORTE,Associated press | News | CommentsThe Washington state Administrative Office of the Courts was hacked sometime between last fall and February, and up to 160,000 Social Security numbers and 1 million driver's license numbers may have been accessed during the data breach of its public website, officials said. The broader information "just happened to be on a server in an area that was accessed," said Veronica Diseth, director of the courts' information services division.
Global Hacker Network Steals $45M From ATMs In Mere Hours
May 10, 2013 9:38 am | by COLLEEN LONG,Associated Press | News | CommentsThe sophistication of a network of thieves who drained cash machines around the globe of an astonishing $45 million in mere hours sent ripples through the security world, not merely for the size of the operation and ease with which it was carried out, but also for the threat that more such thefts may be in store. Seven people were arrested in the U.S., accused of operating the New York cell.
Taking Care Of Business
May 8, 2013 11:29 am | by Daniel Hahn, MA, CEM, FPEM, Santa Rosa County Emergency Management Plans Chief | Articles | CommentsGovernment has predefined duties at every level — federal, state and local. One of the major duties of government (other than collection of revenues), is public safety. Since the turn of the century, we have seen several paradigm shifts in the relationship between government and the private sector.
$475M In Sandy Aid Released
May 8, 2013 10:49 am | by ANDREW MIGA,Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Interior Department said it is releasing more than $475 million to help repair the damage from Superstorm Sandy. The money will go for 234 projects that will repair and rebuild parks, refuges and other agency facilities damaged by the storm and help get them ready for the summer season. Some of the money will go to repairs to help the Statue of Liberty in New York reopen in time for Independence Day.
Governor Wants Disaster Loans For Indiana Counties
May 8, 2013 10:42 am | News | CommentsGov. Mike Pence is asking federal officials for low-interest disaster loans for central Indiana counties following recent flooding. Pence requested the U.S. Small Business Administration to provide disaster loans for Grant, Howard and Tipton counties because of severe storms and flooding April 17-23.
Sculptures To Mark Evacuation Points In New Orleans
May 6, 2013 2:28 pm | News | CommentsMore than a dozen sculptures that will be used to call attention to evacuation points around New Orleans are arriving in the city. The statues are simple larger-than-life stick figures that appear as though they are poised to hail a bus.
Pentagon: Chinese Government Waging Cyberattacks
May 6, 2013 2:23 pm | by LOLITA C. BALDOR,Associated Press | News | CommentsIn a new report on the Chinese military, the Defense Department goes a small step further than it has gone in the past, when it said that cyberattacks originated in China and may be linked to Beijing's use of civilian experts in clandestine attacks against American companies.
U.S. Urges China Collaboration On Cyber Intrusions
April 29, 2013 4:34 pm | by CHRISTOPHER BODEEN,Associated Press | News | CommentsThe top U.S. military officer said Wednesday that he has called on China to be more transparent about cyberattacks and boost collaboration with the U.S. to tackle a common threat to their economies. Gen. Martin Dempsey said tackling cyber intrusions featured in his talks with his Chinese counterpart and other Chinese leaders during his three-day visit to China.
Army, Navy & Air Force Officers Prepare For Cyberwarfare
April 29, 2013 4:30 pm | by BRIAN WITTE & DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe U.S. service academies are ramping up efforts to groom a new breed of cyberspace warriors to confront increasing threats to the nation's military and civilian computer networks that control everything from electrical power grids to the banking system.
Man Pulls Gun In Utah Police Lobby
April 29, 2013 4:14 pm | by BRADY MCCOMBS,Associated Press | News | CommentsA man who told authorities months ago that he wanted to be killed by police entered a suburban Salt Lake City police station and pointed a gun at an officer and a records clerk, prompting a shootout. The gunbattle at about 8:30 a.m. also disrupted the downtown morning commute, temporarily halting light-rail and bus service in the area.
Honeywell Revises Emergency Response Plans, Eyes Restart
April 26, 2013 12:22 pm | News | CommentsThe plant has been closed since May of last year after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered Honeywell to make the site able to withstand an earthquake or tornado. The regulators also wanted the company to revise its emergency response plans to natural disasters.
Boston Bombers Planned To Attack Times Square
April 26, 2013 12:01 pm | by COLLEEN LONG & JENNIFER PELTZ,Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Boston Marathon bombers were headed for New York's Times Square to blow up the rest of their explosives, authorities said Thursday, in what they portrayed as a chilling, spur-of-the-moment scheme that fell apart when the brothers realized the car they had hijacked was low on gas.
Internal 'Software Issue' Shuts U.S. Options Exchange
April 26, 2013 10:56 am | by BERNARD CONDON & STEVE ROTHWELL,AP Business Writers | News | CommentsSome on Wall Street shrugged off the outage. "I don't think it is too big of a deal if it's a one day thing. If it keeps happening, of course, that's different," said Ryan Detrick, a senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
One Of Two Suspects In Boston Bombing Killed
April 19, 2013 10:56 am | by EILEEN SULLIVAN, KATIE ZEZIMA & MEGHAN BARR, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing killed an MIT police officer and hurled explosives at police in a car chase and gun battle overnight that left one of them dead and his brother on the loose, authorities said Friday as thousands of officers swarmed the streets in a manhunt that all but paralyzed the Boston area.
Hoaxes, Scams Abound After Disasters Like Boston
April 19, 2013 9:44 am | by LEANNE ITALIE,Associated Press | News | CommentsLike numerous disasters before, hoaxes and conspiracies have popped up in the chaotic first days after the tragedy, days when people want to jump in with help and support while investigations have barely begun. They're also days when thieves get to work setting up pleas for money via social media, phone calls and text.
House Passes Pro-Business Cybersecurity Bill
April 18, 2013 1:14 pm | by ANNE FLAHERTY,Associated Press | News | CommentsPro-business legislation aimed at helping companies fend off sophisticated foreign hackers sailed through the House on Thursday despite a White House veto threat and an outcry from privacy advocates and civil liberties groups that say it leaves Americans vulnerable to spying by the military.
Judge Chides Army Corps Over New Orleans Levees
April 17, 2013 4:30 pm | News | CommentsThe Army Corps of Engineers built a "tragically flawed" levee system for New Orleans — but isn't liable for claims that excavation work by a government contractor weakened a floodwall and caused it to breach in two places during Hurricane Katrina, a federal judge has ruled.
Radio Scans Show Boston Police, Medic Heroics
April 17, 2013 4:20 pm | by JACK GILLUM & STEPHEN BRAUN,Associated Press | News | CommentsThe urgent and sometimes garbled appeals that flickered across Boston's emergency services radio bands gave full voice to the split-second and pressurized decisions that the city's police and fire uniformed and supervisory officials made under the extreme duress of a long, hard day.
Investigators Seek Answers After Boston Bombings
April 16, 2013 8:01 am | by JIMMY GOLEN,Associated Press | News | CommentsThe bombs that blew up seconds apart at the finish line of one of the world's most storied races left the streets spattered with blood and glass, and three dead. Federal investigators said no one had claimed responsibility for the bombings on one of the city's most famous civic holidays, Patriots Day. But the blasts among the throngs of spectators raised fears of a terrorist attack.
