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DHS releases 2007 state and municipal grant funding levels
Urban Areas Security Initiative and Citizen Corps Program receive mild funding boosts; other programs see minor losses; DHS gives risk assessment the old college try
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Chinese snakes do double duty as seismographs
Recent quakes in Taiwan show need for improved early warning systems; snakes are said to be capable of detecting seismic shaking days in advance; local snake farmers permit scientists to install IP video system; in exchange, famers get up to the minute data on the snake market
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SAIC wins $53 million deal to move WMD models on-line
Integrated Weapons of Mass Destruction Toolset has been in development since 2004; moving on-line critical to dispersing data to first responders; physics-based models assess terrain, wind patterns, and other factors
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Merrick and Co. to map Wichita flood plains
Kansas city decides to invest $600,000 in geospatial mapping; uncertain flood boundaries harm development and frustrate insurance companies; Merrick, a specialist in LIDAR data, will assay 12.5 square miles of Sunflower State terrain
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MD and VA to roll out standardized IDs for first responders
$1.5 million in grants from the Urban Area Security Initiative lay the groundwork; first responder authentication credential will improve disaster area management; card incorporates fingerprint biometrics
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Realtors announce 18 September emergency preparedness conference
Group to discuss need for federal natural disaster insurance program, formation of national Realtor emergency task force
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Michigan professor offers polymerase assay for fifty pathogens
Portable, polymerase-based, hand-held device relies on a DNA biochip; flexibility a major selling point; field testing to be done by university spin-off AquaBioChip
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DC to include pets in disaster recovery planning
District among the first to respond to president’s post-Katrina order; experience shows pet-owners more likely to evacuate if assured of furry friend’s safety; Human Society lends a paw
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War technology lends a hand on Mt. Hood
When T-Mobile’s pinging proves inadequate in finding missing climbers, Iomax brings in precision phone locating kit originally designed to stop IEDs; Aracar supplies rescue UAVs with Afghanistan experience
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China announces new emergency operations command center
At a cost of hundreds of million of yuan, the new Beijing-based center will coordinate national response planning; satellites will provide constant data feeds; reorganization intended to bring order to a decentralized emergency bureaucracy; 2008 Olympics have Chinese spending freely on security
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Half of U.S. multinationals suffered a "showstopper" crisis in last 3 years
Whether the reason is globalization, natural disasters, or terorist act, nearly half of U.S. multinational corporations have suffered a major crisis during the past three years; companies not subjected to a showstopping event are confident in their business coniuity preparations; companies which suffered are less sure
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Enterra's leader recognized
The leader of a company developing business reilience and continuity soutions makes Esquire magazine’s 2006 “best and brightest”
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DoD orders $80 million in EFJohnson radios
Multiple contracts show strong demand for EFJ’s Project 25-compliant radios; DoD does its part for communications interoperability
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DHS survey finds high rates of municipal interoperability
Almost two-thirds use compatible radios for some purpose, though day-to-day use lags; survey is the first to use a refined definition of interoperability; Chertoff points to study as proof that municipalities can change
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HHS to take charge of bioterror and epidemic response
Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act expected to be signed soon; DHS loses control of National Disaster Medical System; new biomedical research lab to be built; government plans a disease detection network
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The long view
Trump Aims to Shut Down State Climate Policies
President Donald Trump has launched an all-out legal attack on states’ authority to set climate change policy. Climate-focused state leaders say his administration has no legal basis to unravel their efforts.