Mayor Rahm Emanuel is looking for a new Chicago Fire Department commissioner, as Jose Santiago hits mandatory retirement age and steps down. Emanuel tried to find a way to let Santiago stay past his 63rd birthday that’s coming up in a few days, but the city statute bars firefighters of any rank from serving beyond that, according to spokesman Adam Collins.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune

A fire department whose data was throttled by Verizon Wireless while it was fighting California's largest-ever wildfire has rejected Verizon's claim that the throttling was just a customer service error and "has nothing to do with net neutrality." The throttling "has everything to do with net neutrality," a Santa Clara County official said.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ars Technica

A jury awarded $3.35 million Wednesday to a former Circleville firefighter who sued the city, alleging years of harassment and discrimination, including unwanted sexual advances, denied promotions and bodily fluids on her belongings. Amie Morningstar, 38, of Circleville, the first full-time female firefighter on that community’s force, filed suit in late 2015 and was fired in early 2016, said her attorney, Brian K.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Columbus Dispatch

Two Key West firefighters were fired Monday in connection with a police narcotics investigation centered on the city’s fire department. The firings, announced Tuesday, followed an Aug. 10 sweep of all three Key West fire stations by Key West police and Homeland Security, who were tipped off by the KWPD special investigations units that fire personnel were engaging in “narcotic activity,” according to an arrest report.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FL Keys News

California cities and counties have too few cops and too many wildfires to get a handle on their soaring overtime budgets. That’s how they explain the $3.7 billion they spent collectively on overtime last year, a 60 percent increase from the $2.3 billion they shelled out for overtime in 2012. The dynamic means police and firefighters have no shortage of opportunities to pad their paychecks with overtime hours, but for some, the extra work is taking a toll on their bodies and families.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Modesto Bee