GAO says DHS and DOJ should improve sharing information with state and local initiatives.

The report is titled ...

Information Technology: Numerous Federal Networks Used to Support Homeland Security Need to Be Better Coordinated with Key State and Local Information−Sharing Initiative

Download the report.

Fifteen tree squirrels in Denver tested positive for the bacteria that causes plague.

Last year, 25 counties in the state reported occurrences of plague. The disease typically affects prairie dog colonies in mostly rural areas.

Full story.

Video.

Investigators: Operator error led to Massachusetts water contamination

WORCESTER, Mass. - State officials said workers and a faulty alarm system are to blame for an excess of lye that was released into Spencer’s public water supply last week, leading about 100 people to seek medical treatment.

Full story.

TSA has lost a computer hard drive containing Social Security numbers, bank data and payroll information for about 100,000 employees.

Authorities realized Thursday the hard drive was missing from a controlled area at TSA headquarters. TSA Administrator Kip Hawley sent a letter to employees Friday apologizing for the lost data and promising to pay for one year of credit monitoring services.

Full story.

New report urges major improvements in the infrastructure for natural gas supply

A new report from the New York Independent System Operator warns an increasing dependence on natural gas leaves the Empire State's wholesale electricity markets vulnerable to price volatility. The report recommended pipelineinfrastructure improvements to address the situation, and said that additional liquefied natural gas facilities should be developed in the U.S.

Download Power Trends 2007

Why are gas prices at $3 per gallon in the US? Because we lack the political will to do what must be done: Build more refineries in the United States

From the AP:

Gas prices have been driven higher in recent months by a slew of unexpected refinery outages and shutdowns in recent weeks. News Thursday that BP PLC's 400,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Whiting, Ind., will not be operating at full capacity for several months due to unexpected repairs is just the latest in a string of such announcements.

The outages have been reflected in weekly government data which has shown gasoline inventories to be falling during a season when most analysts think they should be rising. Summer driving begins Memorial Day weekend, and analysts worry refineries won't be producing enough gasoline by then to meet demand.

What is an Orange State?

It is a U.S. state that meets two requirements:

1. Its residents are exposed daily to the threat of a predictable catastrophe (whether natural, accidental or intentional) that would result in mass death or destruction.
2. Its exposure to the threat is exacerbated by severe and glaring deficiencies in any or all of the following:

• Critical infrastructures, especially those designed by previous generations to provide protection.
• Emergency response services.
• Medical services.
• Measures to mitigate the effects of a disaster.
• Continuity planning between government agencies, not-for-profit organizations and private enterprises.
• Control over commercial or residential development along coastlines, fault lines, flood plains and other danger zones.

Roughly 90 percent of the U.S. population resides in Orange States, which comprise what we call "Strike Zone America."

What happens when a New York City utility company can't fix all of its "hot spots"? It hires cab drivers to guard them.

From the AP:

NEW YORK (AP) - Utility crews have discovered so many stray voltage areas where pedestrians walk that Consolidated Edison has hired hundreds of cab drivers to park and stand guard until repairs are done, a company spokesman said.

At least 1,500 hot spots - manholes, grates or other items that can deliver shocks - were found in the first four months of this year as part of a safety program prompted by the 2004 electrocution of a woman walking her dogs.

The utility has been unable to guard all the areas with its own vehicles and has turned to livery cabs for help, company spokesman Chris Olert told the Daily News for a story Thursday.

The drivers park near marked-off danger spots. Placards on their cars explain that the area contains ``an extremely dangerous electrified object or structure,'' and the car is there to guard it from pedestrians.

Technorati Profile