Annoyed with how much sick time firefighters use, the City Council on Monday night informally agreed to reduce the amount of overtime in the proposed 2017-18 budget from $631,000 to $570,000. Mayor Joseph M. Butler Jr. recommended cutting the fire department’s overtime by $61,000 after a lengthy discussion about sick time.
- PUB DATE: 5/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times

After a week of silence and speculation, former Sioux Falls Fire Chief Jim Sideras was arrested Monday, charged with possessing child pornography. State police and county deputies removed CDs, hard drives and computers from the fire chief's home last Tuesday, hours before his employment with the city was abruptly terminated.
- PUB DATE: 5/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Argus Leader

VIDEO - A Facebook Live tour of a Memphis fire truck is now under investigation. Two men saw the truck, hopped in, and streamed the whole thing on Facebook. Memphis Fire said the fire engine was never stolen, not even moved from the spot where it was parked on Monday afternoon near Lamar Avenue and Prescott.
- PUB DATE: 5/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMC-TV Action News5 Memphis

The Texas House easily passed Houston's pension reform bill Monday, but not without making several changes friendly to firefighters, setting the stage for a reconciliation showdown between the upper and lower chambers. The House accepted four amendments to the bill the Senate passed last week before voting 112-28 to preliminarily approve Houston's reform measures.
- PUB DATE: 5/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

A portion of a storage tunnel that contains rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday morning, forcing an emergency declaration at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeastern Washington state. The U.S. Department of Energy said the Tuesday collapse covered about 400 square feet (37.1 square meters) instead of the 16 square feet (1.
- PUB DATE: 5/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000