The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (U.S. Department of Commerce) Monday issued the following press release: Today, FirstNet Board Chair Sue Swenson and Vice Chair Jeffrey Johnson notified Assistant Secretary of Commerce David Redl of their resignation from the FirstNet board.
- PUB DATE: 8/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

Four years after New Carlisle Assistant Fire Chief Jamie Middlebrook was killed while fighting a fire, a federal agency has released a report on the incident and announced several recommendations as a result of its investigation. The report was created by the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
- PUB DATE: 8/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC 57 WBND-TV South Bend News

Channel 2 Investigates has learned a rotating group of Houston firefighters equipped with a tent, waited with a broken HFD fire truck for about 11 hours. The rotating crews were on-duty but unavailable to respond to emergency calls during the overnight event in Kingwood. "Nobody gave them direction as to checking on them, where do they go, there was no water, no restrooms out there, and no one gave them direction," Patrick Lancton, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, said.
- PUB DATE: 8/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Sunday vetoed legislation to expand benefit rights for paramedics and emergency medical technicians by defining them as firefighters in municipal collective bargaining agreements. Rauner’s veto of the two measures, which were passed with overwhelming, veto-proof bipartisan majorities, was in line with his previous pronouncements that Springfield shouldn’t dictate “unfunded state mandates on local governments.
- PUB DATE: 8/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune

Some black city firefighters, in a departmental dispute over facial hair, will not turn the other cheek. Four African-American FDNY members afflicted by a painful skin condition are bristling over their reassignments to light duty — because the ailment prevents them from getting a clean shave, the Daily News has learned.
- PUB DATE: 8/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News