Archive for the ‘Media Control’ Category

Harris County Flood Control District Marks Significant Progress on The Anniversary of Hurricane Harvey – Press Room – Harris County Flood Control…

HOUSTON, TX August 25, 2022 On the anniversary of Hurricane Harvey and nearing the anniversary of the 2018 Bond Program, the Harris County Flood Control District is marking significant progress on flood risk reduction efforts across the county.

Following Harvey, an overwhelming majority of Harris County voters placed their trust in the Flood Control District by collaborating on and approving a $2.5 billion bond to implement a nearly $5 billion program aimed at fortifying our future. This fundamentally transformed the work of our organization and accelerated flood risk reduction efforts across the county at an unprecedented pace.

Since Hurricane Harvey, teams from the Flood Control District have:

In addition, the Flood Control District is continuing to grow the organization's presence in the community as a proactive partner. We have evolved and expanded our outreach efforts significantly since Harvey and the passage of the 2018 Bond Program and continue to implement new ways to engage all Harris County residents. Since Harvey, more than 14,000 attendees have provided input on projects through 180 community engagement meetings. This feedback is critical to the work of the Flood Control District and helps ensure projects reflect the lived experience of our community.

Together, were focused on making Harris County stronger and more resilient for generations to come, said Flood Control District executive director Dr. Tina Petersen. Weve made significant progress, and we know the need is still great, so we are treating each and every project with a sense of urgency. The projects included in the 2018 Bond Program are providing substantial and immediate benefits to residents, making our communities safer from flooding.

Click here to view the Harvey Timeline. Also, you can view our progress since Hurricane Harvey, by clicking here.

See the original post here:
Harris County Flood Control District Marks Significant Progress on The Anniversary of Hurricane Harvey - Press Room - Harris County Flood Control...

TxDOT Project Updates for the Week of Aug. 29, 2022 – Texas Department of Transportation

Anderson CountySeal coat operations will be taking place at the following locations:

Anderson County construction projects updates:

US 79 Super 2 Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue work on final cleanup. Project consists of widening for a Super 2, including sub-grade work, surface treatment, base and surface hot mix asphalt, widening structures, bridge rail, MBGF, signage and permanent striping.

SH 155 Overlay Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on driveways and drainage structures on SH 155 in Anderson County. The speed limit is scheduled to be reduced to 60 mph throughout the project limits. Motorists should use caution when traveling through the project and expect lane closures and delays. It consists of OCST, PFC surface, shoulder texturing, edge treatment and pavement markings.

SH 175 Widening Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on drainage structures on US 175. Motorists should use caution when traveling through the project and expect lane closures and delays. Project consists of grading, subbase work, HMAC, drainage, structures, pavement markings and signing.

----------------------------------------

Cherokee CountyJacksonville and Rusk crews will be removing encroachments and repairing potholes in various locations throughout the county.

Also, striping operations will take place at the following locations:

Cherokee County construction projects updates:

SH 204 Super-2 Widening Project

No work is scheduled this week. The project adds passing lanes and incorporates safety upgrades.

US 84 Widening

The contractor is scheduled to fill pavement edges and temporary seeding. Lane closures will be in place. Expect delays on this corridor when construction is in progress. The project will widen and resurface the roadway, along with adding safety upgrades.

FM 22 Safety Widening and Bridge Replacement Project

The contractor is scheduled to begin paving the final surface. Lane closures are anticipated. The bridge is now open to traffic. The project will widen the existing roadway, replace three bridges and incorporate safety upgrades.

SH 21 Resurfacing Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue road work construction on driveway upgrades and structure extensions. No lane closures are expected. The project will consist of pavement resurfacing.

SH 135 Bridge Replacements

The contractor has placed message boards to inform the public. The project will begin Sept. 6. All birds have finished nesting. The project consists of the replacement of the bridge at Mud Creek and Mud Creek Relief.

----------------------------------------

Gregg CountyLongview maintenance will be clearing trees from the right-of-way on FM 1845 and FM 3053. Crews will also be cutting high edges on FM 2207, from FM 1252 to SH 135 N. Expect flaggers controlling traffic.

Gregg County construction projects updates:

SH 135 Kilgore Traffic Circle

This project consists of completely rebuilding the traffic circle and full width of roadway to the Rusk County line. It will consist of removing existing concrete paving, reconstructing subgrade, constructing concrete paving, storm sewer installation, lighting, and striping. The traffic will be reduced to one lane in the southbound direction for the duration of the project. A detour will be set up for northbound traffic to follow SH 42. This will allow the contractor to build half of the roadway. Traffic will be switched to the newly constructed lanes later to allow completion of the other half of the highway. Expect delays.

SLP 281 Mill and Inlay

The project consists of performing mill and inlay all lanes with hot mix in both directions, including the center turn lane. Work will be performed at night. There will be alternating lane closures. Expect delays. Estimated completion is August 2022.

Spur 63/McCann Road Bridge Project

This project is part of the City of Longview Guthrie Creek Trail project. It will consist of building a bridge over Guthrie Creek to allow bicyclist and pedestrians to travel under Spur 63. The traffic will be reduced to two lanes, one northbound lane and one south bound lane to allow the contractor to build half of the bridge. Traffic will be switched later to allow completion of the bridge construction. Expect delays.

FM 2206/Harrison Road

This project consists of widening a two-lane road to four lanes with a center turn lane. This includes drainage structures, new bridge, flexible base, hot mix and pavement markings. Contractor will be extending culverts and constructing detours. There will be daytime lane closures. Expect delays.

FM 2206/Harrison Road

This project consists of widening a two-lane road to four lanes with a center turn lane. This includes drainage structures, flexible base, curb and gutter, sidewalks, hot mix and pavement markings. Contractor will be extending culverts and constructing detours. There will be daytime lane closures. Expect delays.

Pentecost Rd. Bridge Replacement

The project consists of replacing the bridge structure on Big Head Creek. Pentecost Road will be closed to through traffic. Only local traffic will be allowed. Through traffic needs to select an alternate route.

----------------------------------------

Henderson CountyAthens maintenance is scheduled to repair edges and patch potholes on various roads throughout the county. This will be a slow-moving operation using a TMA. Expect delays.

Henderson County construction projects updates:

SH 198 Bridge Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on the new northbound bridge and roadway elements. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The speed limit has been reduced to 50 mph throughout the project. The project consists of the construction of replacing bridges, approaches, grading, structures, asphalt concrete pavement (ACP) base, ACP surface, retaining walls, curb & gutter, MBGF, and pavement markings.

BUS 175 Safety Improvement Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on roadway elements. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The project includes traffic signals, curb ramps and pavement markings.

Texas Parks & Wildlife Resurface Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on the final cleanup of the parking areas in the fishery and intersection with FM 2495 in Henderson County. The project consists of OCST and pavement markings.

----------------------------------------

Rusk CountyCrews will be digging various ditches and cleaning culverts in various locations throughout the county. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic. A second crew will be performing edging on US 259. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic.

Also, striping operations will be taking place at these locations:

----------------------------------------

Smith CountyTyler Maintenance will be performing ditch maintenance in various locations throughout the county. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic. A sweeper and herbicide unit will also be in various locations throughout the county.

Smith County construction projects updates:

Sidewalks at Various Locations in Smith County

The contractor is scheduled to complete punch list items. Lane closures are anticipated. The project consists of sidewalk construction along SH 64 west in Tyler, SH 110 west in Troup and SH 135 north in Troup.

FM 344, etc., Safety Improvements

No work is scheduled this week. The project consists of improving drainage, culvert work, and guardrail upgrades.

SH 155 Resurfacing Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue seal coat. Anticipate lane closures while work is in progress. When in progress, hours will be from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., Sunday through Thursday nights. Expect delays. The project will resurface the roadway, upgrade drainage structures, and repair bridge joints.

SH 64 Bridge Maintenance

The contractor is scheduled to complete punch list items. Lane closures are anticipated. The project consists of bridge maintenance and repair.

Tyler State Park Bridge and Resurfacing Project

No work is scheduled this week. The project consists of bridge and pavement resurfacing.

SH 110 & FM 346 Landscape Project

No work is scheduled this week. The project consists of landscape development.

Whittle Street, CR 2110 and CR 289 Bridge Replacement Project

The contractor is scheduled to begin construction on Whittle Street at West Mud Creek Tributary. The road is closed to through traffic. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure.

The contractor is scheduled to continue construction on the CR 2110 bridge at Kickapoo Creek. The road is closed to through traffic. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure.

No work is scheduled this week on the CR 289 bridge at Prairie Creek. The road is open to traffic. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure. The contractor will complete one bridge at a time.

IH 20 Mill and Inlay

No work is scheduled this week. When in progress, work will be done at night, Sundays from 9 PM to 5 AM and Monday-Thursday 8 PM to 5 AM. Expect delays on this corridor when construction is in progress. Project consists of an overlay with TBPFC surface, ACP surface, planing, shoulder texturing and pavement markings.

US 271 Rehab, Turn Lanes, and Pavement Overlay

Crews will be paving shoulder level-up on the southbound inside lane and rehabbing southbound left-turn lane. Traffic control will consist of daily southbound inside lane closures managed by signs and channelizing devices. The project consists of paving, structures, MBGF, and pavement markings from I-20 north to the Gregg County line. The portion from I-20 to FM 16 also includes turn lanes and pavement rehabilitation.

IH 20 at Barber Road

This project consists of widening on ramps and exit ramps, culverts, drainage upgrades, new metal beam guard fence and bridge rails on the Barber Road overpass, and asphalt overlay. No work this week on this project.

Safety Improvement Project (Van Zandt, Anderson, Smith and Henderson County)

The contractor is scheduled to continue final cleanup on FM 850 in Smith County. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The project includes grading, structure work, guard rail replacement and bridge rail upgrades.

---------------------------------------

Van Zandt County

Van Zandt County construction projects updates:

I-20 MBGF Improvements (Van Zandt, Smith, and Gregg counties)

Crews will be addressing final punch list items. This project is to construct safety improvements consisting of upgrading metal beam guard fence and mow strip.

SH 19 Super Two Widening & Overlay (South of Canton)

Crews will be laying hot mix on the NB super two lane. Traffic control will consist of a daily northbound shoulder closure managed by flaggers and a pilot car. The project consists of Super 2 work including grading, base repair, treated subgrade, flex base, OCST, PFC surface, structures, signs and pavement markings.

SH 19 Super Two Widening & Overlay (North of US 80)

Crews will be extending drainage structures. Traffic control will consist of a northbound shoulder closure managed by channelizing devices. The project consists of Super 2 work including grading, base repair, treated subgrade, flex base, OCST, PFC surface, structures, signs and pavement markings.

CR 2918, etc. Bridge Replacements

Contractor will be addressing punch list items. All bridges are open to traffic and near final completion. Minimal impact to the traveling public is anticipated. The project consists of removing and replacing four bridges.

IH 20 Mill and Inlay

The project consists of milling and inlaying hot mix on various frontage roads in the area. Estimated completion is August 2022.

----------------------------------------

Wood CountyMaintenance crews are scheduled to perform hot mix overlay on SH 11 east of Winnsboro. Expect one lane closure with flaggers and a pilot vehicle controlling traffic. Delays are expected.

Wood County construction projects updates:

SH 37 Road Widening and PFC Overlay

Crews will be paving shoulder level-up northbound and southbound. Traffic control will consist of daily shoulder closures managed by flaggers and a pilot car. The project consists of base repair, level-up, spray paver, permeable friction course surface, structures, bridge rail, metal beam guard fence, and pavement markings.

FM 2088, etc. MBGF Improvements in Wood County

Crews will be replacing MBGF on FM 514 and placing concrete mowstrip at four locations on FM 2966. They also will be placing mowstrip at three locations on FM 17. Traffic control will consist of daily lane closures managed with flaggers. The project is for bridge maintenance consisting of MBGF and bridge retrofit rail.

----------------------------------------

I-20 Total Maintenance Contract

Excerpt from:
TxDOT Project Updates for the Week of Aug. 29, 2022 - Texas Department of Transportation

What game is he playing?: Lachlan Murdoch, Trumps election lies and the legal fight against a small Australian website – The Guardian

Rupert Murdoch, so the aphorism goes, doesnt sue.

But his eldest son, it appears, is cut from different cloth.

Lachlan Murdoch is headed to Sydneys federal court, launching a defamation action this week over a news article, not involving his considerable Australian media empire, but instead Fox Newss reportage of the febrile denouement to the Trump presidency and the January 6 insurrectionist storm of the US Capitol.

In what is being portrayed as a David and Goliath clash between the billionaire and Crikey, a small Australian independent news website, Murdochs 40-page statement of claim alleges Crikey has falsely impugned he had illegally conspired with the former US president Donald Trump to incite a mob with murderous intent to march on the US Capitol on 6 January, and that he should be indicted as a traitor.

Murdoch, the chief executive and executive chairman of Fox Corporation in the US, is already involved in a monumental $1.6bn defamation lawsuit in the US on the other side of the bar table defending allegations by Dominion Voting Systems that Fox News pushed false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 US presidential election in relation to Dominions voting machines.

But the Australian suit has opened up the possibility that Foxs reportage of the Trump presidency and its aftermath, and the corporations links to Trump himself, will be publicly aired in forensic detail in a court 15,000km away.

In starting this suit, Murdoch has invited scrutiny of his own organisations actions and reportage, a potentially high-risk strategy that will not be totally under his control. It has left some to ask: What game is he playing here?

Without doubt, it is a supremely high-risk strategy for Crikey too, facing a financial cataclysm if the case is lost. On Friday the site launched a GoFundMe page seeking donations for its legal fees, telling readers Lachlan Murdoch has unleashed his legal and financial forces against us.

At issue is an analysis piece written in June this year by Crikeys political editor, Bernard Keane.

The piece does not name Lachlan Murdoch individually at any point and is, in large part, not about the Murdoch family, its empire, or its news businesses. It is concerned with evidence given by the former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson to the US House select committee on the January 6 insurrectionist assault on the US Capitol building.

Hutchinson did not say the name Murdoch in her evidence.

Keanes alleged defamation does not occur until the final two paragraphs of the piece.

Having discussed Trumps tenacious promulgation of what commentators have dubbed the big lie that he won the 2020 US presidential election he lost by 306 electoral college votes to 232, and the popular ballot by 7m votes Keane argues the worlds most powerful media company continues to peddle the lie of the stolen election and play down the insurrection Trump created.

Keane then draws an analogy between the former US president Richard Nixon infamously the unindicted co-conspirator in the Watergate scandal with the Murdochs, arguing they and their slew of poisonous Fox News commentators are the unindicted co-conspirators in the events of January 6.

Its a strong line, and seeking to make such an analogy is newsworthy (if perhaps deserving of greater exposition than two unexplored paragraphs at the tail end of an article).

But an editor put the unindicted co-conspirator phrase into the headline. Murdochs people saw it. A five-page letter of concern was fired off within 24 hours.

After weeks of increasingly intemperate legal letters back and forth, Crikey went nuclear, goading Murdoch by taking out advertisements in the New York Times and the Canberra Times literally inviting him to sue, and publishing all the legal correspondence on its site.

Legal sources have told the Guardian that Crikeys bombast left Murdoch feeling he had no other option but to sue, and that he is determined to see it through.

And so it has come to this, the steps of Sydneys federal court, in the jurisdiction of New South Wales, the famed defamation capital of the world a sobriquet so earned because it is seen as the most applicant-friendly anywhere.

The alleged role of the Murdoch media in contributing to fanning the flames of insurrection that led to January 6 have been extensively canvassed in the US and elsewhere, but presumably he is suing in Australia because that is where he believes his chances are greatest.

Murdochs statement of claim states he seeks damages because, through the publication and republication of the article, he has been gravely injured in his character, and has suffered and will continue to suffer substantial hurt, distress and embarrassment.

He is also seeking aggravated damages, with the claim also alleging Crikey had published the parties legal correspondence as a strategy for self-promotion and commercial gain, while falsely suggesting that Murdoch was being unreasonable in his conduct towards them to settle the dispute, in circumstances where he repeatedly told them that an apology was the only further step that needed to occur for the matter to resolve.

He has one of Sydneys most high-profile defamation barristers, the sharp-elbowed Sue Chrysanthou SC, representing him.

Crikey says the imputations asserted by Murdoch are contrived and his response bullying and an abuse of media power. The publisher has retained Michael Bradley. The managing director of Marque Lawyers does not have a prominent history in defamation law, but is an experienced lawyer (if occasionally irreverent, he describes himself on his own website as a shameless self-promoter). The correspondence revealed this week by Crikey shows he is clearly up for the fight.

Crikey is painting this not only as a battle for its very existence the best way to support independent media is to become a member, the co-founder of publisher Private Media, Eric Beecher, beseeched but also as a broader fight for free journalism itself.

We didnt start this senseless altercation with Lachlan Murdoch. We may not be as big, rich, powerful or important as him, but we have one common interest: were a news company that believes in publishing, not suppressing, public interest journalism.

Dr Andrew Dodd, the director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, told the Guardian a legal showdown between the minnow and the monolith has been looking increasingly inevitable for some time.

Dodd, who has worked for both the Murdoch-owned News Corp newspapers and for Crikey, says Crikeys editorial position has become more trenchantly left wing, and has increasingly come to see its role as an unafraid and independent media organisation holding influential institutions like Fox and News Corp to account.

Beecher, in particular, has been a decades-long campaigner against Australias acute concentration of media ownership (65% of national and city daily newspapers are owned by Murdoch).

This is a defining issue for [Beecher], Dodd says. Its wrong to characterise this as simply a commercial exercise. There is a marketing element Crikey taking on the Murdochs but this is a marriage of deeply held principle and a commercial decision.

Dodd argues there is an irony in Lachlan Murdoch wanting to claim to have been identified in the Keane article (when the only reference was to the Murdochs, taken by many to refer primarily to Rupert) but not to confront the criticisms within the piece that Foxs coverage, and continued succour to the lie of the stolen election, had played a role in fomenting the discontent that inspired the January 6 insurrection.

What game is he playing here? Is he wanting to beat his chest and say I am in charge. Well, if he is doing that, he should also man up and be responsible for the editorial output of his news organisation, which has a lot to answer for despite what he might say a lot to answer for in relation to its coverage in the lead-up to what happened on January 6.

Lachlan has been very thin-skinned, unable to take one-tenth of the criticism that his organisation dishes out daily.

Dodd argues, too, that Murdoch the youngers actions reflect a brittle culture deeply ingrained in the psyche of News Corp.

Sign up to Guardian Australia's Morning Mail

Our Australian morning briefing email breaks down the key national and international stories of the day and why they matter

News doesnt like a pesky small player like Crikey, it runs contrary to the monopolistic idea at News Corp that small players dont have legitimacy. And when Crikey is kicking it in the shins in the irreverent way that it does, that is triggering for News Corp.

Others with knowledge of the companies and their histories have described Crikeys strategy as bold and potentially catastrophic. Picking a fight with the Murdochs will have undoubtedly driven subscriptions, but a loss could end it, or wound the company so greatly as to change it irreparably.

Crikey and Lachlan Murdoch have form. It is the fourth time in five years that Lachlan Murdoch has threatened to sue Crikey: in April last year Crikey had to run an apology at the top of its homepage for 14 days after a piece on Murdoch was shown to contain a series of errors. A year earlier, Crikey was forced to apologise for incorrectly comparing Murdoch to an organised crime boss.

Dr Matthew Collins QC, the president of the Australian Bar Association and a defamation law expert, says the fundamental legal question to be considered by the court is what does the ordinary reasonable reader of the Crikey piece understand to be conveyed by the piece.

And here, whats interesting is that Lachlan Murdoch is not named the reference is to Murdoch and to Fox News, and the imputations derive mostly from the heading and that single sentence at the end.

Perhaps counterintuitively, having written less, rather than more, about Murdoch, leaves greater scope for argument about what the article conveys to a reader.

Collins argues there are very serious questions about whether the imputations are, in fact, conveyed, and serious questions about whether the article sufficiently identifies Mr Murdoch in circumstances where he hasnt been expressly named.

And he argues the case is ripe to contest the newly introduced public interest defence in NSW defamation law: a defence to the publication of defamatory material if the issue is of public interest and it was reasonably believed the publication of the matter was in the public interest.

There is a political element at play too, with a renewed push for a judicial inquiry into media concentration in Australia, aimed largely at the Murdoch empire. And two former prime ministers of Australia have long railed against what they perceive as Murdochs malign influence on the Australia polity and public.

Malcolm Turnbull this week called the Murdoch lawsuit hypocritical on radio, saying very few people have defamed more people than the Murdochs over the years, their media organisations.

Theyre always bleating about freedom of speech and how the defamation laws are too harsh, and they stifle free speech.

And, Turnbull told the ABC, January 6 could not have happened without the toxic influence of Fox News.

But the timing of this suit is intriguing as Lachlan Murdoch finds himself on the other side of the bar table, on the other side of the world, on the very same issue the 2020 US election.

In Delaware, Murdoch is defending a $1.6bn defamation action, brought by Dominion Voting Systems, over Foxs post-election coverage.

Dominion has alleged that Fox News broadcast claims it knew to be untrue about the validity of the 2020 presidential election result, alleging that Dominions voting technology had fraudulently stolen the election from Trump. Dominions suit alleges several of Foxs hosts repeatedly claimed, without evidence, Dominions voting machines were faulty, deliberately rigged to disadvantage Trump, or affected by technical glitches that distorted results.

Dominion successfully argued Fox Newss parent company, Fox Corporation, should be enjoined to the litigation because its two most senior executives, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, allegedly played a direct role in participating in, approving and controlling reportage that amplified false perceptions of voter fraud.

Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch allegedly made a business calculation to spread former President Trumps narrative through Fox News even though they did not personally believe it, Delaware superior court Judge Eric M Davis said, ruling that the action against Fox Corporation could proceed.

He determined that Dominions allegations support a reasonable inference that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch either knew Dominion had not manipulated the election or at least recklessly disregarded the truth when they allegedly caused Fox News to propagate its claims about Dominion.

Dominion is confident. The truth matters, the companys lawyers wrote in their initial complaint.

Lies have consequences. Fox sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process. If this case does not rise to the level of defamation by a broadcaster, then nothing does.

Fox has defended its coverage on first amendment grounds: A free press must be able to report both sides of a story involving claims striking at the core of our democracy.

The cases could impact upon each other: Murdoch will have in his possession the court material from the US case, which Crikey could potentially seek to obtain to use in its Australian defence.

Lachlan Murdoch being on the opposite side of the cases on opposite sides of the globe, the cases expose the glaring difference in the operation of defamation laws in the US and Australia.

Defamation is regarded as significantly harder to establish in the US system: public figures in America suing for defamation must prove that false statements were published maliciously. That is with prior knowledge they were untrue or with reckless disregard for whether they were true.

In applicant-friendly Australia, there is no public figure defence, nor a constitutional first amendment-like right to free speech. Critics of Australias laws say they are poorly drafted, and work neither to protect the private right to a reputation nor the public right to freedom of speech and of the press. Some defences, such as honest opinion and qualified privilege, are almost unworkable in Australia. But there have been recent reforms: this case will likely be one of the first tests of Australias new serious harm test which will oblige Murdoch to demonstrate his reputation was damaged by the article, or Crikeys actions thereafter.

Private Media, the company that owns Crikey, is valued at less than $20m by its own reckoning. It is supremely cognisant of indeed relishing its role as David to the Goliath of the Murdoch empire, worth billions. It sees a significant part of this battle as being played out, not in the staid surrounds of the federal court, but in the court of public opinion.

In the legal correspondence with the Murdochs that Crikey published this week, it quoted Lachlans own words back at him. In his 2014 Keith Murdoch Oration (Keith Murdoch was his grandfather), Lachlan Murdoch argued censorship should be resisted in all its insidious forms.

We should be vigilant of the gradual erosion of our freedom to know, to be informed and make reasoned decisions in our society and in our democracy.

The rest is here:
What game is he playing?: Lachlan Murdoch, Trumps election lies and the legal fight against a small Australian website - The Guardian

City of Burlington responding to more coyote attacks – burlington.ca

Burlington, Ont.Aug. 26, 2022 Another unprovoked coyote attack was reported to the City of Burlington from a woman walking in Central Park around 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 24. She was treated at Joseph Brant Hospital for coyote scratches and released. City staff are also following up with health officials regarding a fifth unconfirmed attack on Mayzel Road, next to Central Park. The City is asking residents to be vigilant in these areas and report coyote sightings using the form at burlington.ca/servicerequest.

Anyone attacked by a coyote is advised to seek immediate medical attention and report the attack to the Halton Region Health Department and to the City of Burlington Animal Services at animalservices@burlington.ca or 905-335-3030.

These attacks are uncharacteristic of coyotes and this cluster of attacks on humans are the first reported in Burlington.

The City of Burlington, with the expertise of a Certified Wildlife Control Professional, is urgently dealing with these most recent attacks and a den of coyotes related to the unprovoked attacks. The den is located on a private lot and City staff have contacted the owners to remove vegetation and fallen trees. They have seven days to comply with the City order to clean up the building site, so it is no longer an attractive denning site for coyotes.

Municipalities are responsible for taking appropriate actions to manage resident coyote sightings, encounters and attacks and take appropriate action. If a coyote attacks a person, the City has a Council approved Coyote Response Strategy in place that is currently being followed to prioritize and deal with this situation.

City of Burlington staff will present a report to council on coyote management recommendations at the Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability Committee Meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 14 for approval at the City of Burlington Council Meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

Burlington is a city where people, nature and businesses thrive. Sign up to learn more about Burlington at burlington.ca/subscribe and follow @CityBurlington on social media.

Quick Facts

Links and Resources

Map of coyote attacks

This map pinpoints the unprovoked coyote attacks in the City of Burlington

-30-

Media contact:Carla MarshallCommunications Advisorcarla.marshall@burlington.ca

View original post here:
City of Burlington responding to more coyote attacks - burlington.ca

Why Trump must hate the FBI’s redactions to the Mar-a-Lago affidavit – MSNBC

The affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence was unsealed Friday afternoon by a federal court in Florida. Reading between the many, many blacked out lines of the affidavit and reading the Department of Justices related filings shows just how serious the FBIs investigation is, how flimsy some of Trumps legal arguments are and how worried the government is that obstruction of justice is yet occurring.

The Aug. 5 document was heavily redacted, with roughly two-thirds of its paragraphs at least partially obscured. Even so, it makes slightly clearer the timeline of events leading to the unprecedented search of a former presidents home. The affidavit also clarifies why the FBI was so worried about what remained at Mar-a-Lago after Trump handed over 15 boxes to the National Archives and Records Administration in January. Of most significant concern was that highly classified records were unfoldered, intermixed with other records, and otherwise unproperly [sic] identified," NARAs referral letter to the FBI in February read.

In those boxes surrendered in January were 184 unique documents bearing classification markings, including 25 that were marked Top Secret. Those recovered Top Secret documents marked HUMINT Control System, or "HCS, and Special Intelligence, or SI were most likely to be a national security threat.

HCS is information recovered from spies in the field, any of whom could be threatened or flipped if their identity is revealed. Special Intelligence is material derived from tapping into foreign communications, including phones, emails and other messages. Exposure of those sources would compromise any further information that could have been gleaned from them. The unredacted portions of the affidavit do not make clear how many documents with each label were recovered.

The document also shows that DOJ was ready to knock down the arguments already coming from Trumps camp, like the claim from former Trump administration lackey Kash Patel that Trump had already declassified all of the documents that were recovered. That same claim was made in a May 25 letter attached to the affidavit from Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran.

But as the affidavit makes clear, the term classified information isnt entirely relevant here. Instead, it explains that one of the relevant statutes that authorities believe may have been violated criminalizes the unlawful retention of information relating to the national defense. So even if a document has been declassified it is still not legal to possess documents that likely contain national defense information (NDI) without properly securing them.

Why so much of the document is redacted is newsworthy itself and almost more revealing that the text that remains.

We can make guesses about what information is still being withheld. Given what we know, the redactions are likely obscuring the actual events of a June visit to Mar-a-Lago from Jay Bratt, the FBIs counterintelligence director. So far, weve only heard Trumps account of that visit. His lawyers claimed in a filing last week that an agent accompanying Bratt told Trump, You did not need to show us the storage room, but we appreciate it. Now it all makes sense. Given the DOJs concerns and the search warrant that was executed after that visit, that story feels all the more unlikely.

Why so much of the document is redacted is newsworthy itself and almost more revealing than the text that remains. Before unsealing the affidavit the court released the DOJs explanation for those redactions, which itself was heavily redacted. The reasons given included concerns about potential witness tampering or harassment, destruction of evidence and the safety of law enforcement personnel.

Those concerns arent hypothetical amid the rhetorical attacks against the FBI that Trump and his allies have launched since the search. Right-wing media published unredacted copies of the search warrant, which contained the names of the FBI officials who signed off on it. Since then, FBI agents who have been publicly identified in connection with this investigation have received repeated threats of violence from members of the public, the Justice Department noted.

Judge Bruce Reinhart agreed that the government has well-founded concerns that steps may be taken to frustrate or otherwise interfere with this investigation if facts in the affidavit were prematurely disclosed. That is why so much of the section laying out probable cause is still obscured, to prevent a subject of the investigation (including Trump) from seeing the full road map of its investigation. That the affidavits contents were enough to grant a warrant in the first place means the DOJ convinced Reinhart both that evidence would be destroyed if Trump is given a chance to know what is still being investigated and that its likely a statute prohibiting obstruction of justice has been violated.

In all, the information released Friday strikes the balance between what the public has a right to know and what the FBI and DOJ says it must keep secret. None of what was revealed Friday makes Trump look good, despite his repeated entreaties to release the affidavit and warrant in full. Even former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove made clear in a Fox News appearance that Trump was in the wrong for holding onto the documents recovered so far.

The former president is likely to be rattled at this point but without learning where the FBI got its information, hes only able to lash out in every direction, more likely to injure himself than anyone cooperating with the investigation.

Hayes Brown is a writer and editor for MSNBC Daily, where he helps frame the news of the day for readers. He was previously at BuzzFeed News and holds a degree in international relations from Michigan State University.

See the rest here:
Why Trump must hate the FBI's redactions to the Mar-a-Lago affidavit - MSNBC