Bernie Madoff. It's a name now often bandied about when talking about the failing Dallas Police and Fire Pension fund. "The reality of it is that it was a Bernie Madoff type scheme," says Lee Kleinman, a city council member and former pension board trustee. The city has agreed to put in an additional billion dollars over 30 years, but they're proposing a series of bitter pills to make up the rest of the nearly $4 billion shortfall.
- PUB DATE: 1/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas - Fort Worth

VIDEO - Two police officers were captured on video appearing to pose for a selfie in front of a home as it went up in flames on Long Island Thursday afternoon. The fire destroyed the house in Uniondale, though no one was hurt. Moments after the officers posed for their apparent photo op, one of them appeared to approach another man taking selfies as if to ask him to leave the scene.
- PUB DATE: 1/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC New York

In cooperation with the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, NFPA has produced a new video underscoring the painful aftermath of home fires. Burn care specialists from the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center, one of the premier burn care hospitals in the U.S., detail the frequency of home fire injuries and painstaking recovery of burn survivors.
- PUB DATE: 1/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fire Engineering

A Thursday death has rocked the local firefighter community. Jason Abalos, a 35-year-old husband, father and firefighter, died after years of battling a brain tumor. “This is going to have a deep impact on the department,” said Deputy Chief Spencer Lee with Jacksonville Fire and Emergency Services. Lee knew Abalos from his years working at JFES.
- PUB DATE: 1/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily News, Jacksonville

A local man was to appear in court Thursday after West Haven police say he tried to steal a fire truck that was responding to a medical call. Wayne Gagne, 63, was also in possession of a knife with an eight-inch blade during the Wednesday night incident, police spokesman Sgt. David Tammaro said Thursday in a press release.
- PUB DATE: 1/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Haven Register