Public Safety
Lawyers Who Were Ineligible to Handle Serious Criminal Charges Were Given Thousands of These Cases Anyway
In the only state with no public defenders, people charged with murder and other serious crimes can get assigned attorneys who are legally ineligible to take on their cases. The state claims it was unaware.
Texas Plants Released Nearly as Much Pollution During Winter Storm as During Hurricane Laura
Oil refineries, chemical plants and other industrial operators emitted 3.5 million pounds of excess pollution during the winter storm and power crisis in Texas, according to an analysis of company notices provided to state regulators.
‘It Doesn’t Feel Worth It’: Covid Is Pushing New York’s EMTs to the Brink
Emergency medical services work has long been grueling and poorly paid. Covid-19 has added stress and new risks for workers in the profession.
One month in, How Biden Has Changed Disaster Management and The U.S. Covid-19 response
COMMENTARY | The Biden administration is re-empowering key federal agencies to return to the roles and responsibilities they were designed for within a planned national disaster management framework.
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New Tools Help State and Local Governments Battle Ransomware, Other Big Disasters
When governments find themselves being ransomed, their choices are typically to pay, which will undercut their ability to deliver key services to their communities due to budget restrictions, or not pay, resulting in the immediate inability to serve their communities and the loss of key data that will inevitably plague them for years afterwards.
Texans Running Out of Food as Weather Crisis Disrupts Supply Chain
Texans running low on food are finding empty grocery store shelves. Food pantries are running out of supplies. And the freeze has wiped out substantial portions of the state's citrus and vegetable crops.
'We’re in It Alone': Power Outages Leave Millions of Texans Desperate for Heat and Safety
Texas residents said the storm — and ensuing partial collapse of the state's power system — sapped what mental reserves they had left after eleven months of a global health crisis that has cost thousands of jobs and claimed more than 40,000 lives in the state.
Photos: Texans Face an Ice Storm That's Left Millions of People Without Power
An arctic blast barreled though Texas over Valentines Day weekend. Temperatures plummeted and ice and snow blanketed the entire state, leaving millions of people without electricity. Texas Tribune photographers fanned out across the state to record the historic cold snap. Here's what they saw.
CISA, FBI Share Recommendations After Water Treatment Hack
The agencies say updating to the latest operating system is important, even if it wasn’t a factor in this particular incident.
Sensors That Track Earthquakes Are Hackable, Researchers Find
A Greek team found they could interrupt and even falsify data.
Maryland Created the Police Officers’ Bill of Rights. Now Lawmakers There Might Repeal It.
Passed in 1974, the statute grants broad workplace protections for officers accused of misconduct and has served as a blueprint for similar laws in more than a dozen other states.
How the Police Bank Millions Through Their Union Contracts
The public funds six-figure “sick day” payouts, $2,500 “perfect attendance” bonuses and lucrative “extra duty” assignments identified in a ProPublica, Asbury Park Press analysis of New Jersey police union contracts.
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