• DoD bill will fund biological attack sensors

    The $636 billion Defense bill will send money to Michigan for bioterror research; $1.6 million will go to Dexter Research Center in Dexter, Michigan, to continue its development of a security sensor meant to protect military installations from chemical and biological attacks; Kettering University in Flint, Michigan will receive $1.6 million to help DoD with its Chemical Agent Fate Program

  • Maine to receive more than $3 million to aid bioterror research

    Research institutions in Maine will receive more than $3 million for bioterrorism research; a grant of $1.9 million will go to Orono Spectral Solutions to continue its development of an infrared detection system for chemical and biological agents; another $1.3 million will be set aside for Sensor Research & Development in Orono, for real time test monitoring of chemical agents, chemical agent stimulants and toxic industrial chemicals

  • Digital Sandbox launches risk analysis initiative for Hampton Roads, central Virginia

    Infrastructure catalog is essential first step in risk management strategy; Digital Sandbox will identify and catalog potential natural hazards and terrorist threats as well as critical infrastructure and key resources throughout the area.

  • Senator Cochran’s earmark savvy benefits Mississippi biodefense center

    Republican Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi is famous for his support of federal earmarks and regularly ranks near the top among senators for the number and size of his annual earmark haul; on Sunday the Senate passed a $1.1 trillion omnibus federal spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year, and Cochran managed to insert $150 million worth of earmarks for Mississippi; among the beneficiaries is Jackson State University’s National Center for Biodefense Communications, which conducts research and compiles data on bioterrorism threats to agriculture, and which is slated to receive $750,000 through the bill

  • Napolitano details DHS counter-IEDs measures

    Terrorists are trying to import IED technology and methods from Iraq and Afghanistan into the United States; Napolitano said that effective defending against IED attacks means American collective responsibility: Individual citizens need to say something when they see something suspicious and everyone needs to do their part to strengthen the preparedness of their families, their communities, and their businesses.

  • New York receives $3 million boost for cyber security

    The funding will help New York State’s Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination (CSCIC) conduct work with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC); the MS-ISAC is the first and only facility dedicated to state, local and territorial governments in the country and the funding is expected to enhance the center’s capabilities

  • Critics of dog-scent lineups charge such lineups are "junk science"

    Law enforcement has relied on dogs for many years for scent tracking or sniffing out drugs or explosives; dogs have become more and more popular in what is called dog-scent lineups, in which dogs are supposed to determine whether the scent of anyone in a police lineup was present at the crime scene; critics say this not much more than junk science

  • Kansas officials confident that BioLab project will not be derailed

    Congress has allocated $32 million for the design of the Manhattan, Kansas biolab which will replace the aging Plum Island facility; Congress conditioned the release of the rest of the money on the result of studies examining the risks involved in building a biolab in “Tornado alley”; other states that wanted the lab have been slow to give up the fight

  • VA hospital builds $750,000 anti-terrorism fence

    Officials at Charles George Veterans Affairs Hospital say that terrorists will not go after military targets, which are hard to hit, but will instead aim for places such as hospitals with the goal of disrupting and disheartening the public

  • New Bay Bridge span designed to endure major quake

    Twenty years ago a 250-ton section of the Bay Bridge fell into the water as a result of a 6.9 magnitude earthquake; the new bridge design will be able to withstand the largest plausible earthquake to occur within a 1,500-year period

  • Some in the livestock industry worry about disease lab's Kansas location

    Two national cattlemen’s organizations say moving the study of dangerous pathogens to the mainland would be unwise because a tornado or other mishap could allow diseases to escape into the surrounding animal population; supporters say facility presents no risk to agriculture

  • Congress allocates funds for planning Kansas biolab

    Congress allocates $32 million for planning and design of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas; the money for construction of the 520,000-square-foot lab and the transferring of research equipment from Plum Island, New York — about $915 million — will be released only if security concerns are satisfactorily addressed

  • Large new dam construction moving ahead in California

    Environmental studies are due out today on a $409 million project to replace Calaveras Dam, a 210-foot-high structure east of Milpitas in the remote, oak-studded hills along the border between Santa Clara and Alameda counties

  • Kansas City International Airport again to receive stimulus dollars

    Kansas City International Airport will receive a $9.3 million stimulus package grant for new and enhanced closed circuit television systems; the airport’s new inline baggage screening system is already completed so it was not eligible for funding

  • Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach receive $15.3 million in security grants

    Grants to help improve security at ports, support implementation of TWIC program; the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach account for more imports and exports traffic than any other U.S. port