• Revised Cybersecurity Bill Introduced in U.S. Senate
• Source: The Hill   |   Nation   |   July 20, 2012
• The revised bill proposes to establish a multi-agency council, called the National Cybersecurity Council, that would assess the risks and vulnerabilities found in computer systems of critical infrastructure.

• Wildfires in West Strain Outdoor Tourism
• Source: Reuters   |   West   |   July 18, 2012
• Wildfires sweeping across the western United States are straining communities that depend upon the summer tourism season, as recreation sites catch fire, campgrounds close and outdoor activities such as river rafting are disrupted.

• Groups Seek to Block Part of Arizona Immigration Law
• Source: AP/Washington Post   |   Arizona   |   July 18, 2012
• A coalition of civil rights groups, religious leaders and business organizations filed a new request seeking a court order that would prevent authorities from enforcing a rule that requires police to check the immigration status of people they stop for other reasons.

• 5 States Get Federal Money for Tsunami Debris Removal
• Source: AP/Seattle Times   |   Washington state   |   July 17, 2012
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it will provide $250,000 in grants to five states affected by debris from last year's tsunami in Japan.

• Gas Drilling Benefits Drug Traffickers in Texas
• Source: Houston Chronicle   |   Texas   |   July 16, 2012
• Traffickers are seeking to use the southwest-most stretches of the massive Eagle Ford shale formation, which stretches from Mexico all the way to East Texas, to their advantage by trying to corrupt truck drivers, contractors and gate personnel.

• Alaska Gov. Parnell Seeks Disaster Declaration for Fisheries
• Source: Alaska Dispatch   |   Alaska   |   July 16, 2012
• Gov. Sean Parnell sent a letter to acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank, requesting a disaster declaration in the wake of particularly dismal 2011 and 2012 Chinook salmon runs on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers.

• Iowa Governor Blasts Pentagon Air National Guard Cuts
• BY: Stateline   |   Iowa   |   July 13, 2012
• Just days before he and other governors are scheduled to meet with Pentagon brass, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad attacked the Defense Department for failing to work with governors on plans to drastically cut the size of the Air National Guard.

• 9/11 Memorial Bars Elected Officials from Speaking at Ceremony
• Source: New York Times   |   New York City   |   July 12, 2012
• The change comes amid reports of tension between the office of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the memorial’s chairman, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is run by those states’ governors, over control of the ceremony and other developments at the World Trade Center site.
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• Thousands of Colorado Wildfire Evacuation Calls Failed
• Source: AP/NOCO5   |   Colorado   |   July 12, 2012
• More than 20,000 evacuation calls were never delivered to residents in the path of a wildfire that destroyed about 350 homes around Colorado Springs last month, records show.
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• Smart911 Online Citizen Profiles to Help D.C. Emergency Responders
• Source: Washington Post   |   District of Columbia   |   July 12, 2012
• When someone calls 911, information stored in a previously created online profile — such as photographs, the presence of seniors or people with disabilities, or the locations of gas valves — is displayed on the dispatcher’s computer screen.
• 1 Comments

• Rahm Emanuel Proposes Formalizing Chicago's Nondetainer Immigration Policy
• Source: Chicago Tribune   |   Chicago   |   July 11, 2012
• Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to put a long-standing Chicago practice on the books to ensure that police detain only those undocumented immigrants who are suspected or convicted criminals.
• 1 Comments

• Cybersecurity Bill Compromise Could Be on the Way
• BY: Government Technology   |   Nation   |   July 10, 2012
• Latest legislation may represent middle ground in online security debate.

• DHS Terrorist Biological Attack Detector Program Plagued by Failures
• Source: Los Angeles Times   |   Nation   |   July 9, 2012
• BioWatch air samplers have been installed inconspicuously at street level and atop buildings in cities across the country — ready, in theory, to detect pathogens that cause anthrax, tularemia, smallpox, plague and other deadly diseases. But has produced dozens of false alarms in Los Angeles, Detroit, St. Louis, Phoenix, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere, a Los Angeles Times investigation found.

• California Senate OKs Bill That Would Blunt Deportation Efforts
• Source: Los Angeles Times   |   California   |   July 6, 2012
• The Assembly is expected to pass the measure, which would limit California officers' cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, particularly the Secure Communities program.

• Wyoming Wildfires Force Hundreds to Evacuate
• Source: Casper Star-Tribune   |   Wyoming   |   July 6, 2012
• Fed by bone-dry timber and fanned by hot winds, the four major wildfires burning in Wyoming on Tuesday have destroyed an unknown number of buildings and forced hundreds to evacuate.