Three years after Kansas City settled claims that it had failed to pay certain overtime wages, Fire Department medical staff are back in court saying the city is circumventing the court’s ruling. A lawsuit filed Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court on behalf of certain emergency medical technicians and paramedics says the city has lowered some pay scales — so that the plaintiffs continue to work overtime hours but haven’t seen higher wages.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star

A federal judge has found that the town of Sandwich was within the law when it terminated former firefighter Andrew Davison, but has left open the question of whether his immediate superiors intended to restrict his free speech when reprimanding him for other misconduct. Davison alleges the town fired him in April 2014 in retaliation for a sign he posted on his Quaker Meetinghouse Road property objecting to a proposal for a public safety complex.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

The Houston Fire Department has resorted to shuttling firefighters to emergencies in SUVs because reliable fire trucks are increasingly becoming a rarity. The fire department internal memo, describing the policy, was first released in 2013, but highlights a growing problem that poses a threat to public safety: not enough reliable equipment to outfit the city's fire department.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston

An effort by the union representing Fairfax County firefighters to reassure the community that bullying and workplace harassment aren’t commonplace struck a painful nerve for Steve Mittendorff — the husband of a former county firefighter who was the victim of online bullying and who died by suicide last year.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTOP-AM 1500 Washington

An East Liverpool patrolman was recently rushed to the hospital after becoming exposed to fentanyl and carfentanil. Chris Greene was obtaining evidence during a traffic stop when fentanyl attached to his shirt. Police say driver Justin Buckle and passenger Cortez Collins had tried to get rid of evidence in the car.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ToledoNewsNow