• Tornadoes will not deplete FEMA disaster fund

    The latest series of tornadoes that raged across the Midwest and South will not deplete the U.S. disaster fund, which was only recently reloaded by Congress last year, officials said

  • Missouri first responders learn from last year’s tornado season

    Drawing on the valuable lessons learned from last year’s record tornado season, emergency officials in the St. Louis area were ready to spring into action immediately after tornadoes swept through the state once again last week

  • No racial profiling, abuse by Secure Communities

    The Earl Warren Institute at the University of California, Berkeley Law School claimed that DHS Secure Communities program suffers from a disturbing pattern of abuse of authority by ICE, including wrongful arrests of thousands of U.S. citizens, a pattern of racial profiling against Latinos, and denial of due process for aliens in removal proceedings; a new study by the Center for Immigration Studies says this is not the case

  • Nebraska debates disaster housing fund

    Legislators in Nebraska are currently debating a law that would create a $2.5 million temporary housing fund for families who lose their homes in natural disasters

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  • Virginia receives $40 million in federal disaster aid following quake

    Following the rare east coast earthquake last year, Virginia has received nearly $40 million in federal disaster aid

  • New York overhauls emergency response capabilities post-Irene

    Last week New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a series of major initiatives to bolster the state’s emergency response capabilities; the proposals specifically incorporate lessons learned from the state’s response to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee

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  • Police wary of suicide attempts at 9/11 memorial

    Aside from the threat of terrorism, the New York City Police Department worries about the risks of suicide at the national 9/11 memorial; The memorial is focused around two sunken granite pools where the World Trade Center towers once stood; some fear that visitors, so overcome by grief, may attempt to commit suicide by throwing themselves into the pools

  • Nuclear accident reawakens California’s anti-nuke movement

    Following the discovery of a small leak at a nuclear power plant near San Diego, California in January, the state’s anti-nuclear movement has hit a fever pitch

  • NRC approves first new nuke reactors since 1978

    For the first time since 1978, U.S. nuclear regulators have approved the construction of a new nuclear power plant; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently voted four-to-one in favor of granting Southern Co. a license to build two additional reactors at its Plant Vogtle nuclear facility near Augusta, Georgia

  • Fearful immigrants trickle back into Alabama

    After Alabama enacted its tough new immigration laws last September, the state saw a large exodus of fearful immigrants who packed up their entire families and fled the state; since the law went into effect, some illegal immigrants have begun returning to the state

  • DHS suspends expansion of Secure Communities in Alabama

    Due to ongoing federal litigation against Alabama’s tough new immigration laws, DHS has halted the expansion of the Secure Communities immigration program in the state; the law has been tied up in legal battles, and a federal appeals court has already blocked portions of it

  • One in three of military aircraft are drones

    A report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) recently made public reveals that unmanned drones now account for 31 percent of all military aircraft

  • Proposed EPA budget cuts funding from clean air and water grants

    President Obama’s latest proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 cuts $105 million from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) budget, primarily from funds aimed at treating wastewater and drinking water

  • Kansas fights to keep bio lab project alive

    Still reeling from the shock of finding out that the administration’s budget proposal does not contain any construction funds for the $650 million Bio Lab Level 4 facility in their state, Kansas political and business leaders vowed to fight to keep the project alive, including looking for alternative funding sources; the bio lab was considered the anchor of what is called an Animal Health Corridor stretching from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, to the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri

  • In Keene, N.H., locals oppose military equipment for police

    With the help of a $285,933 DHS grant, local police in Keene, New Hampshire were all set to purchase a new armored vehicle until local residents got wind of the plan; the citizens of the quiet New Hampshire town of 23,000, which has only seen two murders since 1999, questioned why police needed such an expensive military-type truck and balked at the militarization of a local force; with federal counterterrorism money continuing to pour into local communities, lawmakers and residents across the country will have to grapple with the same issues as Keene and determine what kind of police force they want to have patrolling the streets