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What is the most important resource in your fire department?
Frank R. Myers Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityShortly after I was promoted to lieutenant, a questionnaire was given out to several newly promoted personnel. It was quite lengthy, and took me several days to complete. The questionnaire was given out by the contracted testing company, who was outsourced. They did this to find out what the job was like, so they could make a realistic promotional exam based on your duties and responsibilities of all aspects for your rank. To my surprise while completing the questionnaire booklet, somewhere between 70-80 percent of what I answered revolved around "training."
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Western wildfires spread apace with drought, rising temperatures
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalThe recent combination of heat, wind and low humidity has cultivated an intense, fire-prone climate in Colorado and California. From the Wyoming border to southern Colorado, there are dozens of active wildfires burning. However, the weather in Colorado lately has allowed for more success in containment efforts, meanwhile, California’s current heatwave makes it very difficult for firefighting conditions. Napa and Yolo counties are fighting the County Fire that has now grown to the size of Atlanta, and is only 48 percent contained.
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Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias reopens after massive…
Dave G. Houser Recreation & LeisureYosemite National Park’s most popular attraction finally reopened to the public June 14. The historic Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias — home to more than 500 mature giant sequoias — had been closed since 2015 to undertake a landmark project to protect the grove and re-establish the area’s natural serenity. The $40 million renovation began in July 2015 to replace the grove’s paved trails with natural surfaces and to relocate parking lots and visitor services to improve access to the famous 209-foot-tall Grizzly Giant and the California Tunnel Tree.
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New report calls for reboot on immigration policy
Seth Sandronsky Civil & GovernmentA new report on immigration policy, a politically fraught issue of the day, calls for publicly funded universal legal representation for low-income immigrants held in detention in New Jersey. In this way, the Garden State would join the state of New York and other U.S. municipalities, such as Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago and Denver, paving a path forward that helps immigrants and strengthens economic and fiscal stability, according to Erika J. Nava, a policy analyst with New Jersey Policy Perspective.
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Employers add 213,000 jobs in June; unemployment rises to 4 percent
Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementNonfarm payroll jobs rose 213,000 in June vs. 223,000 in May, as the unemployment rate climbed to 4 percent from 3.8 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Employment growth rose in professional and business services, manufacturing, and healthcare, but jobs in retail trade declined. "Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs increased by 211,000 in June to 3.1 million," the BLS reported, and the number of re-entrants to the labor force rose by 204,000 to 2.1 million.
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California judge rules in oil companies’ favor in climate change…
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalRecently, a California District Court judge threw out a lawsuit introduced by San Francisco and Oakland against the five largest oil companies: Exxon, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell. This case was closely watched by local governments that struggle to pay for necessary infrastructure changes. For those who strategized that the judicial branch may be a successful ally in the fight against climate change, this recent ruling comes as a demoralizing blow.
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Guadalupe County, Texas, institutes bounty to address feral hog problem
John McAdams Recreation & LeisureFaced with a growing list of problems caused by feral hogs, commissioners in Guadalupe County recently voted to institute a hog bounty. When the program officially begins, the county northeast of San Antonio will pay a $5 fee for all hog tails turned in at designated check stations. Home to an estimated hog population north of 2,000, Guadalupe County commissioners were besieged with the same issues as government officials and wildlife biologists all over Texas in recent years.
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Feds to dish out more money to fight opioid abuse
Scott E. Rupp Civil & GovernmentFederal health officials are preparing to allocate nearly $1 billion to support states in their efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) said it is accepting applications from states and territories to secure a portion of an allotted $930 million in state opioid response grants for opioid prevention and treatment initiatives. SAMHSA will award up to 59 grants. States and the District of Columbia can receive a minimum of $4 million.
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Law enforcement agencies have a new partner: Amazon
Bambi Majumdar Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityAmazon has made its entry into the surveillance business with a new facial recognition system, Rekognition. The product is geared towards law enforcement use, and has already been used in select police departments around the country. The AI-based program can track, identify and analyze people in real time. It is powerful enough to identify up to 100 people in a single image and scan the information quickly against databases. Some are calling it a "first-of-its-kind public-private partnership."
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Tariff torment: China’s retaliation on US trade
Delany Martinez ManufacturingThe escalation of tariff tension between the United States and its allies is reaching a fever pitch, with a growing tit-for-tat list on both the Chinese and American sides of a very public disagreement. The Trump administration’s steel tariff mandate — a hefty 25 percent on imported steel — earlier this year appears to be the proverbial spark that landed on a powder keg of inter-country trade issues. Canada became one of the first allies to make its displeasure known, but China wasn't far behind.
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