Police Chief Cheated to Get His Job, and Officers Helped, U.S. Says

Armando J. Perez, the police chief of Bridgeport, Conn., and another official were charged with conspiring to rig the hiring process to ensure Mr. Perez got the top job.

As Antifa Rumors Spread in Oregon, Residents Defied Evacuation Orders – The New York Times  – (fueled by Trump’s ANTIFA incitement – non-calming tweets)

 

“We are inundated with questions about things that are FAKE stories,” the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Medford posted on Facebook. “One example is a story circulating that varies about what group is involved as to setting fires and arrests being made. THIS IS NOT TRUE!”

The FBI said it had also investigated reports that extremists had set wildfires in Oregon “and found them to be untrue.”

#NatlPrep: Half Of All Americans Need An Earthquake Plan

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2014 Update To The USGS Seismic Risk Map

Note: This is day 11 of National Preparedness Month. Follow this year’s campaign on Twitter by searching for the #NatlPrep #BeReady or #PrepMonth hashtags.

This month, as part of NPM20, I’ll be rerunning some updated preparedness essays, along with some new ones.

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In 2019 the SSA (Seismological Society of America) held their annual meeting, and a study was presented that concludes that California’s recent lack of major quakes has no precedent in the past 1000 years.


The Current Unlikely Earthquake Hiatus at California’s Transform Boundary Paleoseismic Sites

Glenn P. Biasi, Katherine M. Scharer

Seismological Research Letters (2019) 90 (3): 1168-1176.
https://doi.org/10.1785/0220180244

ABSTRACT

Paleoseismic and historical earthquake records used to quantify earthquake recurrence rates can also be used to test the likelihood of seismically quiescent periods. At principal paleoseismic sites in California on the San Andreas, San Jacinto, Elsinore, and Hayward faults, no ground‐rupturing earthquake has occurred in the last 100 yr, yet this interval is about three times the average interearthquake period for the ensemble of sites. 

        (Continue . . . )

California, they concluded, has been in an earthquake drought for the past 100 years.  One, that the SSA warns, is unlikely to continue.   In a news release they wrote:

They agree that the next 100 years of California earthquakes along these faults could be a busy one. “If our work is correct,” Scharer and Biasi note, the next century isn’t going to be like the last one, but could more like the century that ended in 1918.

Five years ago, in USGS: Nearly Half Of U.S. Population Exposed to Potentially Damaging Earthquakes, we looked at the results of a new study – published in the journal Earthquake Spectra, that nearly doubled – to 143 million – the number of Americans who live or work in areas susceptible to potentially damaging seismic ground shaking.
Of particular note, this study didn’t include earthquakes due to human activity – such as `fracking’ – nor did it take into consideration the amplification of ground shaking due to soil type, which could exacerbate the effects of some earthquakes. Nor does it include those who live or work near active volcanoes (see USGS: California’s Exposure to Volcanic Hazards).
When you add in that the Gulf and Atlantic coastlines are susceptible to tsunamis generated from distant earthquakes (see East Coast Tsunami Threats), then there is better than a 50-50 chance that you live in an area that is at risk of some seismically induced disaster.
While the `big one‘ in California (see Dr. Lucy Jones: `Imagine America Without Los Angeles’) is perhaps the most anticipated major disaster of all time, there are other areas in the continental United States equally ripe for a big quake.

FEMA and the U.S. government conducted a huge drill four years ago (see FEMA: Cascadia Rising 2016) involving 20,000 people from both the United States and Canada, in order to prepare for a catastrophic M9.0 quake & tsunami off the Pacific coast. 
And in 2011 – during the bicentennial of the four great New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 – FEMA and other federal agencies mounted the largest National Level Exercise (NLE) to that date, revolving around a catastrophic earthquake occurring in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) that would involve eight Central U.S. States.
In recent years Oklahoma has see a huge upsurge in seismic activity (see M5.6 Quake In Northern Oklahoma), while northern Alabama, Georgia and Eastern Tennessee – and even New York City and parts of New England – can experience infrequent, but strong temblors (see USGS: Eastern Earthquakes – Rare But Powerful).

Perhaps least appreciated is the seismic history of South Carolina, which in 1886 was struck by an (Est. 7.3-7.6 magnitude) quake that devastated much of Charleston, South Carolina. Shaking was felt as far north as Boston, south to Cuba, and west as far as New Orleans.

An earthquake of that size today, in the same area, it is estimated would produce:

  • 45,000 injuries
  • 9,000 hospitalizations
  • 900 fatalities
  • 200,000 displaced or homeless persons
  • 20 billion dollars in Damage

Even if you don’t live or work in the shake zone of one of the events, should a great quake strike any one of them, the economic and societal impacts could easily spread far beyond the damaged area.

Imagine an M8.0 New Madrid quake collapsing major bridges that cross the Mississippi river, buckling the Midwest’s railroad tracks and interstate highways, and taking out the dozens of critical natural gas pipelines that snake through that region.
A quake of that size could impact the transportation of food, the delivery of energy (power, gas, coal, etc.), the national power grid, and the nation’s economy in ways we can only partially imagine.
While we can’t prevent the next big quake from happening, we can prepare for it.
Working to improve earthquake awareness, preparation, and safety is Shakeout.org, which promotes yearly earthquake drills and education around the country (see A Whole Lotta Shakeouts Going On).

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The third Thursday in October (Oct 15th in 2020)  is International Shakeout Day, when dozens of states and countries practice earthquake safety. If you live in or near one of these seismically active areas, I strongly would urge you, your family, and your employees take part in these yearly drills.

But after the shaking stops, you’ll have to find ways to cope with the aftermath. 
While the government will send help, you could find yourself pretty much on your own for several days and living in less than comfortable conditions for weeks.For starters – and as a bare minimum – every household should have a disaster plan, a good first aid kit (and the knowledge to use it), an emergency battery operated NWS weather radio, and emergency supplies to last a minimum of 72 hours during a disaster.

Basic%2BPreps.JPG

While 72 hours is an admirable start, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with it. Here in the United States many agencies and organizations recommend that households work towards having a 10-to-14 day supply of food, water, and emergency supplies on hand. FEMA%2BPreparedness%2BSurvey.png 

As the (above) graphic illustrates (see #NatlPrep: FEMA National Household Preparedness Survey), while we’ve seen some improvement over past few years, Americans still have a long way to go if we are to cultivate a culture of preparedness.

For more on earthquake preparedness, both here in the United States, and around the world, you may wish to revisit:

Pandemics: A History

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Title: Pandemics: A History

Author: Elvidge, Alex

Publisher: Golden Meteorite Press

Language: English

Subjects: Non Fiction, Medicine

Collection: History

Description: If there has been one constant throughout the history of human life, it’s disease.

Disease-causing pathogens have always been present in our world and will undoubtedly continue to exist for the foreseeable future. This book examines the history of major plagues and pandemics from the 5th century CE to the present-day COVID-19 crisis. Each chapter tackles an individual pandemic and examines its causes, scope, and impact. Denial, prejudice, and scapegoating are societal patterns that consistently recur in response to the threat of disease. However, necessity breads innovation, and past pandemics have spurred us to develop new technology, medical advancements, improved public health policies, and more practical infrastructure. Misinformation, however, is the enemy of progress, and learning how our predecessors responded when confronted with similar events helps us both understand and better prepare for present and future crises. COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic that humanity will experience. History demonstrates that we have overcome outbreaks of disease time and time again, and we will continue to do so using the lessons we have learned from our past. There will always be infectious diseases present in our world, but the casualties and scale of future pandemics will depend entirely on how well we can learn from our previous mistakes.

Hilary Swank Is Suing SAG-AFTRA After Being Denied Coverage For Malignant Ovarian Cysts

I’m truly exhausted by the way women’s ovarian and cyclical health issues continue to be treated by healthcare insurance companies. I have experienced it in my own life, and I continually read about it across social media and in the press. Their policies are antiquated, barbaric and primarily view the role of women’s organs solely as a means for procreation.

My hope is to create change for all woman suffering from women’s health issues that have to battle with insurance companies who diminish the significance of their problems, don’t believe the patient (or their doctor’s) explanations surrounding their suffering, and severely preclude coverage to only incredibly limited services and procedures.

Source: Hilary Swank Is Suing SAG-AFTRA After Being Denied Coverage For Malignant Ovarian Cysts

Employees Say Cal State’s COVID-19 Policies Are Falling Short

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Kim Neal, right, is chair of the California State University Employees Union at CSU Los Angeles. The union represents clerical and IT workers, custodial staff and others at all 23 CSU campues. (Courtesy Kim Neal)

Following a surge of coronavirus outbreaks at California State University campuses in Chico and San Diego, employees of Cal State campuses in the L.A. area are expressing concerns that COVID-19 protocols are inconsistent and could lead to further spread

The protocols currently in place give the presidents of each of the 23 Cal State campuses the authority to develop their own pandemic guidelines. While the university system argues that campus-specific protocols allow for more flexibility to respond to different conditions at different schools, critics say a systemwide policy would send a stronger message.

“A lot of our members are very concerned about exposure to COVID-19 while they’re working on campus,” said Cal State Los Angeles employee Kim Neal, the school’s chapter chair of the California State University Employees Union. The union represents 16,000 clerical workers, custodians, IT workers and other employees in the CSU system.

“Right now there’s no measuring of temperatures. There’s no self-checks,” said Neal, an instructional support technician in CSLA’s Department of Television and Film. “There’s no arrival checks, there’s nothing of that in place that we’re aware of.”

A directive from the chancellor’s office to the campuses, she said, would reduce the risk of virus exposure to her members.

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Pete Rauch, Vice President of Organizing with the California State University Employees Union, at a public hearing in 2019. (Courtesy Pete Rauch)

The union’s vice president, Pete Rauch, said COVID-19 guidelines issued by Cal State Chancellor Tim White should have been a mandate for each campus, rather than suggestions.

“If you’re going to return students to San Francisco State and you’re going to return students and staff to San Diego State, what’s the difference?” he asked.

“Let’s just say that I show up on a campus and then it turns out a couple days later, I was infected,” Rauch said. “And while I was walking around on the campus, you know, I went to two or three different buildings. I don’t think that there’s a uniformity in how that’s reported, not to the campus and not back to the employees either.”

The outbreaks at Chico and San Diego led both campuses to cancel their few remaining in-person classes, and Chico cleared its dorms last week.

As of Thursday, Chico State’s tally of student and employee COVID-19 cases totaled 156. As of the same day, San Diego State said it had counted 440 confirmed cases related to employees.

GAPS IN COVID PROTOCOLS

The way different campuses check for COVID-19 symptoms among people on campus underlines the variations in protocols and deadlines.

At Cal Poly Pomona, approximately 500 employees and students are on the campus on a given weekday. Only a fraction of on-campus housing has been opened and most employees have been asked to work from home, said Leticia Gutierrez-Lopez, the university’s Associate Vice President for Student Health and Well-being.

“I think we started very cautiously,” she said.

Cal Poly Pomona’s protocols require students and employees who need to be on campus to fill out a web-based symptoms checker. The university will be moving to an app soon called #CampusClear, Gutierrez-Lopez said.

“I think we’ve been able to manage so far by using the screening and also by using safety training for students and staff,” she said.

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The app-based symptom checker for students and employees who will be at the CSU Dominguez Hills campus. (screenshot)

At the opposite end of Los Angeles County, CSU Dominguez Hills, which has about 200 staff and students on campus on an average weekday, reopened without a similar symptom checker in place, but this week officials rolled out a symptom screener on its iToro app. Students who will be on campus, in the dorms or to attend the few in-person classes are required to use the app to answer questions regarding virus symptoms.

Not all campuses post tallies of campus-related cases. Dominguez Hills posts it’s count here. Cal Poly Pomona added new cases on Thursday to its count here.

Still, employees are not required to answer those same questions. The university says it’s talking to the employee unions for sign off.

“We’re just trying to make sure that we understand who our audience is, and that we’re asking the right questions,” said Mike Williams, the environmental health and safety manager at Dominguez Hills.

CSULA’s COVID-19 plan outlines various cleaning and sanitizing methods to take place on campus, and says students will be instructed to carry out self-checks but the plan does not describe any mandatory checks for people on campus.

“Since March, Cal State L.A. has sent repeated communications to students and employees regarding COVID-19, including preventative measures and signs and symptoms of the disease,” CSULA’s communications office said in an email.

“The university has also provided information on self-screening, which can be found on this webpage. Employees and students have also been instructed on what to do if they are diagnosed with coronavirus or have been exposed to others who have been diagnosed with the disease. Signage has been posted on buildings across campus and placed along walkways and other open areas,” the office said.

AUTONOMY AND CENTRALIZED DIRECTION

Critics question whether that’s enough.

Audrey Dow, vice president at the Campaign for College Opportunity, says autonomy serves campuses well when it comes to setting curriculum to address local educational needs — but it hasn’t served the campuses well during the pandemic.

“Students really need to have a consistent strong message coming from the Chancellor’s Office,” Dow said. “We’re not sending a strong message to students about what they need to do in terms of precautions once they get onto campus.” That could lead to outbreaks at different campuses.

The Cal State Chancellor’s Office said autonomy is meant to address campuses’ regional needs.

The office sent campuses an 18-page guide to protocols as the fall semester began. In a memo sent last week, the Chancellor’s office urged campuses to report and investigate new cases.

“Each of the campuses has developed its own repopulation plan and there are differences in each plan related to the variance in enrollment, programs, facilities, etc. across the campuses,” said Mike Uhlenkamp, spokesman for Chancellor White.

He said the chancellor’s office is not keeping an official tally of COVID-19 cases at the 23 campuses.

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