Syrian Refugees/ Education Bill

Missoulian: Syrian refugees welcomed by agencies despite states' fight
U.S. Plans To Lead in Resettling Syrian Refugees
“Imagine losing practically everything – your loved ones, your home, your profession, and your dignity. Imagine the frustration of languishing for years, unable to work or send children to school, exhausting your resources and relying on handouts. Imagine fearing that this situation is never going to end.

For Syrians and for other victims of violence and persecution – resettlement offers not just an escape, but a chance to start over.”

Myths and Facts: Resettling Syrian Refugees

U.S. Refugee Admissions Program FAQs

Refugee Processing and Security Screening

Missoulian: Senate clears major new education bill, sends it to Obama

S.1177 - Every Child Achieves Act of 2015
“This bill reauthorizes and amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). The bill addresses issues such as accountability and testing requirements, distribution and requirements for grants, fiscal accountability requirements, and the evaluation of teachers.

The bill provides states with increased flexibility and responsibility for developing accountability systems, deciding how federally required tests should be weighed, selecting additional measures of student and school performance, and implementing teacher evaluation systems.

It includes grants for providing language instruction educational programs, improving low-performing schools, and developing programs for American Indian and Alaska Native students. The bill provides rural school districts with increased flexibility in using federal funding. It also revises the Impact Aid formula.”

Walleye in Swan Lake

Missoulian: Mandatory kill proposed for northwest Montana lake walleyes

Walleye
“Walleyes are found across much of Montana, but most common in some of the large reservoirs in the eastern and central parts of the state. Although there is no record of walleyes being native to Montana, they were found in the Missouri River downstream from what is now Montana.”

Largest Navy Destroyer/ Pearl Harbor/ DOJ Investigates Chicago Police

Missoulian: Largest destroyer built for Navy headed to sea for testing
USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) An inside look at the Navy's newest destroyer class

Missoulian: Surviving Pearl Harbor: Anaconda veteran recalls safer times
New National Archives Video Short Gives Fresh Look at Pearl Harbor Attack
“The story of what FDR called “a date which will live in infamy” has been told many times in print and on film. A new “Inside the Vaults” video short “Pearl Harbor: In Their Own Words” (2:42) from the National Archives highlights a source that chronicles the events of December 7, 1941, from the point of view of the men on board the ships in the harbor. Watch the video on the National Archives YouTube channel here: http://tiny.cc/PearlHarbor.”

Missoulian: US Justice Department to investigate Chicago police
Justice Department Opens Pattern or Practice Investigation into the Chicago Police Department
“Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced today that the Justice Department has opened a civil pattern or practice investigation into Chicago Police Department (CPD), pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.  The department’s investigation of CPD will seek to determine whether there are systemic violations of the Constitution or federal law by officers of CPD.  The investigation will focus on CPD’s use of force, including racial, ethnic and other disparities in use of force, and its systems of accountability.”

NASA Launch Delay/ US Jobs/ Agriculture Risk Programs

Missoulian: More lousy weather as NASA tries for space station delivery
Today’s Weather Outlook: 30 Percent ‘Go’
“Forecasters from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 45th Weather Squadron have issued an updated prediction for today’s launch of an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft at 5:33:11 p.m. EST aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.”

Bozeman Chronicle: US adds healthy 211K jobs; unemployment steady at low 5 pct. 
Payroll employment rises by 211,000 in November; unemployment rate unchanged at 5.0%
“In November, the unemployment rate held at 5.0 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 7.9 million, was essentially unchanged. Over the past 12 months, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons are down by 0.8 percentage point and 1.1 million, respectively.”

Bozeman Chronicle: Enrollment opening soon for agricultural safety net programs
USDA- Major Risk Management Programs

Air Ambulances/ Yellowstone Wolves/ Climate Talks

Missoulian: Montana hospitals: Air ambulances too expensive, often mean high bills for patients
Survey Responses from (Most) Air Ambulances Serving Montana
Air Ambulance Services Operating in Montana

GAO: AIR AMBULANCE Effects of Industry Changes on Services Are Unclear

Wolves do not recognize political boundaries and often move between different jurisdictions--state, tribal, and federal. Here, the 8-Mile Pack wolf pups sit on a boulder in 2013.

NPS/Stahler

Missoulian: Yellowstone tallies 104 wolves at end of 2014
Yellowstone Wolf Management
“There were at least 104 wolves in 11 packs, including nine breeding pairs, living primarily in Yellowstone National Park during December 2014. From 2009 to 2014, wolf numbers have fluctuated between 83 and 104 wolves, and 6 to 9 breeding pairs. Pack size in 2014 averaged 9 wolves (range = 2 to 14). Forty pups survived to year-end, including 17 in northern Yellowstone and 23 in the interior of the park. An average of 4.4 pups per pack (82%) survived in the nine packs that had pups. For the first time, the size of a wolf pack was estimated via genetic sampling methodology, using scat samples from a den site.”

Missoulian: The Latest: UN climate official sees 'the stars aligning'
21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
“The stars are more aligned now for a historic, universal agreement than they ever have been. We need an agreement for the decades where ambition ramps decisively up the path to global deep decarbonization. We need a strong, unified transparency regime of reporting and review so everyone can see how we’re all doing. We need to elevate our focus on building resilient societies and addressing the impacts of climate change.”

Vaccinations/ US in Syria/ Transportation Bill/ Blackfeet Water Settlement

Missoulian: Students turned away from Missoula County schools for not having vaccinations
Montana Immunization Program
CDC- Vaccines & Immunizations

Missoulian: US-led airstrikes pound IS near Iraq's Ramadi
Coalition Strikes Hit ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq
“U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.”

Missoulian: Congress reaches deal on 5-year transportation bill
H.R.22 - Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015

Missoulian: Senate panel to vote on Blackfeet water agreement
S.1125 - Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2015

EPA Cleanup at Columbia Falls/ Cyber Security Bills

Missoulian: Glencore reaches agreement with EPA for Columbia Falls cleanup
Final agreement to study contamination at Columbia Falls aluminum plant site (Flathead County, Mont.)
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a final agreement to investigate contamination at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Plant, also known as the Anaconda Company Columbia Falls Reduction Plant site, in Flathead County, Montana. Under the terms of the agreement, the site’s current owner, Columbia Falls Aluminum Company, will conduct a comprehensive investigation of soils, river sediments, and ground and surface water to determine the nature and extent of contamination at the site. The company will reimburse EPA for its future costs in overseeing the investigation.”

Missoulian: Cybersecurity bills would add secrecy to public records laws

S.Amdt.1569 to S.Amdt.1463
“To improve cybersecurity in the United States through enhanced sharing of information about cybersecurity threats.”

H.R.1735 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016
“The bill authorizes the FY2016 personnel strengths for active duty and reserve forces and sets forth policies regarding military personnel; compensation and other personnel benefits; health care; acquisition policy and management; DOD organization and management; civilian personnel matters; matters relating to foreign nations; cooperative threat reduction; and strategic programs, cyber, and intelligence matters.”

S.754 - Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015
“This bill requires the Director of National Intelligence and the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Defense, and Justice to develop procedures to share cybersecurity threat information with private entities, nonfederal government agencies, state, tribal, and local governments, the public, and entities under threats.

To detect, prevent, or mitigate cybersecurity threats or security vulnerabilities, private entities may monitor and operate defensive measures on: (1) their own information systems; and (2) with written consent, the information systems of other private or government entities.

Liability protections are provided to entities that voluntarily share and receive cyber threat indicators and defensive measures with other entities or the government.”