Nuclear Cheating

Missoulian: Hagel orders urgent push for ethics crackdown         
Department of Defense Press Briefing With Rear Admiral Kirby in the Pentagon Briefing Room

“First, following the meeting last week that Secretary Hagel convened with senior leaders of our strategic deterrence enterprise, those leaders have now begun work on an action plan to identify any systemic personnel problems in the nuclear force and the steps necessary to fix those problems.”

Navy Probes Cheating Allegations at Nuke Reactor School

“About 30 of 150 watch-standers at the Navy’s Charleston Nuclear Power Training Unit in South Carolina are being investigated for alleged cheating on a written qualification exam, the chief of naval operations said today.”

Baucus / Canadian Cold/ Retailer Drops Tobacco/ Union Rules/ Uninsured

Missoulian: Senate committee OKs Baucus to be ambassador to China
U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

National Weather Service

Missoulian: Warmth in Alaska sends chill south to western Montana
Short Range Public Discussion
“Meanwhile, cold high pressure over Western Canada will sink southeastward to the Middle Mississippi Valley by Thursday evening.  Upper-level energy and the circulation around the high will trigger light snow over parts of the Northern Intermountain Region and the Northern/Central Rockies through Thursday morning.  Additionally, snow will also develop over parts of the Texas panhandle on Thursday morning.”

Missoulian: CVS Caremark plans to stop tobacco products sales

Statement by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on CVS Tobacco Announcement

“CVS Caremark’s announcement that CVS/pharmacy stores will no longer sell cigarettes and other tobacco products is an unprecedented step in the retail industry. We also commend CVS Caremark on their new national smoking cessation program. With more than 7,600 CVS/pharmacy locations, this private sector health leader’s new policy will have considerable impact.”

Missoulian: Labor board tries again to change union rules

 The National Labor Relations Board Proposes Amendments to Improve Representation Case Procedures

• allow for electronic filing and transmission of election petitions and other documents;
• ensure that employees, employers and unions receive and exchange timely information they need to understand and participate in the representation case process;
• streamline pre- and post-election procedures to facilitate agreement and eliminate unnecessary litigation;
• include telephone numbers and email addresses in voter lists to enable parties to the election to be able to communicate with voters using modern technology; and
• consolidate all election-related appeals to the Board into a single post-election appeals process.

Missoulian: Administration drills down to find the uninsured

Small Area Health Insurance Estimates

“The U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) program produces timely estimates for all counties and states by detailed demographic and income groups. The SAHIE program produces single-year estimates of health insurance coverage for every county in the U.S. The estimates are model-based and consistent with the American Community Survey (ACS).”

Anti-Smoking Campaign/ Endangered Species Act/ Sage Grouse/ Farm Bill

Missoulian: FDA launching anti-smoking campaign aimed at youth
The Real Cost: Campaign Overview

Missoulian: 13 GOP lawmakers propose broad changes in Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act, Congressional Working Group: Report, Findings and Recommendations

Missoulian: Council recommends sage grouse protections
Fish and Wildlife Service – Greater Sage Grouse
Montana Sage Grouse Management

Missoulian: Senate set to send farm bill to Obama
H.R.2642 - Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013

AT&T Patent restricting bandwidth use

I normally focus on linking Montana news to the state or federal resources mentioned in an article. This topic did not come up in the local news sources but I thought it should be included given the potential affects. -SC

Digital Trends: AT&T patents a new way to skirt net neutrality on its wireless network

US Patent 8,559,303

“A user of a communications network is prevented from consuming an excessive amount of channel bandwidth by restricting use of the channel in accordance with the type of data being downloaded to the user. The user is provided an initial number of credits. As the user consumes the credits, the data being downloaded is checked to determine if is permissible or non-permissible. Non-permissible data includes file-sharing files and movie downloads if user subscription does not permit such activity. If the data is permissible, the user is provided another allotment of credits equal to the initial allotment. If the data is non-permissible, the user is provided an allotment of credits less than the initial allotment. Various restriction policies also can be applied, such as levying additional fees and/or terminating the user's access to the channel. Also, incentives can be provided to entice the user curb the misuse.”

Missoulian: AT&T reduces rates for high-data plans