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FBI wants to move hunt for criminals into Internet backbone

FBI director Robert Mueller's testimony to the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives on Wednesday gave a tiny glimpse of the future of law enforcement online, and it raised some tough questions about the evolving line between public and private in a networked world.

Details Here: /arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080424-fbi-wants-to-move-hunt-for-criminals-into-internet-backbone.html

first published week of:   04/25/2008

FCC Auction Ensures Open Access — If in Name Only

Open-access proponents let out a collective sigh of relief in late January when an anonymous bidder with a fat purse exceeded the $4.6 billion reserve price for the nationwide C-block of 700-MHz spectrum.

The still-sealed $4.71 billion bid, which came during the auction's 17th round, means that the Federal Communications Commission's open-access stipulations will be all but ensured when a future network based on C-block spectrum is built out. Google and other companies fought hard for these open-access requirements in the months leading up to the auction.

Details Here: www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2008/02/open_access

first published week of:   02/04/2008

Federal Lands, Endangered Species and GIS

The US government has multiple responsibilities for the protection of endangered species, many of them stemming from its role as the nation's largest landowner. To explore how endangered and imperiled species are distributed across the federal estate, we carried out a geographic information system (GIS)-based analysis using natural heritage species occurrence data. In this 10-year update of a previous analysis, we found that the Department of Defense and the USDA Forest Service harbor more species with formal status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) than other US agencies. The densities of ESA status species and imperiled species are at least three times higher on military lands-2.92 and 3.77, respectively, per 100,000 hectares-than on any other agency's lands. Defense installations in Hawaii are especially significant; more than one-third of all ESA status species on military lands are Hawaiian. These findings highlight the continued importance of public lands for the survival of America's plant and animal species. Keywords: endangered species, biodiversity, federal lands, Department of Defense, natural heritage

Details Here: //www.redorbit.com/news/science/1419511/federal_lands_and_endangered_species/ first published week of:   06/16/2008

FEMA's flood maps inaccurate?

Colorado homeowners are among those who are now paying big money for mandatory flood insurance, despite accusations that some of FEMA's flood plain maps are inaccurate, the Vail Daily reports.

A number of Eagle-Vail properties have been newly-designated as a flood plain as a result of a December 2007 study, subjecting them to mandatory insurance that can cost thousands of dollars each year, according to the paper. 

The Daily reports reports FEMA officials told residents that the federal government wouldn’t pay some $50,000 to have the area remapped, so local organizations are trying to come up with the money.

In stark contrast to the response Eagle-Vail received, FEMA “rescinded” new maps it had drawn for the nation’s capital after D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty took the agency to federal court Monday, according to The Washington Post.

Details Here: blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/06/colorado-homeow.html

first published week of:   07/07/2008

Fixing Bucks County's property tax system

How did assessments get so out of whack? For starters, Pennsylvania is one of only two states where counties have no statewide oversight.

In most states, the legislature has created an agency in charge of setting assessment rules, according to Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr.

The Allegheny County judge described other states' assessment practices in his 94-page opinion last summer that ruled the assessment system common in Pennsylvania counties is unconstitutional. The base year system relies on property values frozen at the time of the last full reassessment, which was last done in 1972 in Bucks County.

In Pennsylvania, there exists no agency mandated to offer training, education or standards.

Details Here: /www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113-02222008-1492197.html

first published week of:   02/25/2008

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Volume 31

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