This message was sent to ##Email## January 9, 2020   |   Home  |   About  |   Membership  |   Education & Training  |   Resources  |        TOP NEWS Australia's emergency management agency shuts due to poor air quality caused by bushfires The Daily Beast The Australian government department responsible for managing emergencies closed down its Canberra, Australia, office due to poor air quality as the 20th death from deadly bushfires in New South Wales was confirmed. Canberra had a toxic rating of more than 340 on the Air Quality Index, and the Home Affairs Department told nonessential staff to stay away from its Canberra headquarters, and the Health Department told staff not to work out of one of its locations.  READ MORE    SPONSORED CONTENT Promoted by Insurance Program Managers Group The most effective way to protect public safety employees How to use predictive data to reduce workers’ compensation claims Don’t fear your workers’ compensation audit — here’s what you need to know Minimizing claims costs by tackling core issues affecting workforce health The tools public entities need to mitigate risk and manage claims   Austin, Texas, implements 'leading pedestrian intervals' to improve downtown traffic safety CBS News Austin At each intersection in Downtown Austin, Texas, commuters may now notice they are waiting a bit longer to get the green light. Now, 110 crosswalks in the downtown area have leading pedestrian intervals (LPI), a modification to the traffic signals in those intersections that give pedestrians five to seven more seconds to start crossing the street before traffic lights change for cars.  READ MORE California will open vacant state land for homeless shelters under Newsom order The San Francisco Chronicle California will open vacant state land to emergency shelters for homeless people under an executive order that Gov. Gavin Newsom intends to sign. The order, which Newsom announced ahead of his annual budget plan due this week, would also create a fund to pay rent and build affordable housing for homeless people. The governor will propose to start the fund with $750 million in taxpayer money, which the Legislature would have to approve.  READ MORE Georgia makes way for driverless vehicles, 18 miles of it Governing Next-gen highway striping has been deployed on a strip of highway in Georgia with the aim of making roadways safer while also helping to accommodate advanced driving systems (ADS) technology. The Ray, an 18-mile stretch of Interstate 85 in southern Georgia, functions as a test bed for next-generation highway technologies.  READ MORE New federal self-driving car policy talks up government's safety role but leaves industry in charge of technology The Washington Post The White House and the Transportation Department recently announced a revamped self-driving car policy at CES in Las Vegas, outlining efforts to get more than three dozen federal agencies working together on the potentially revolutionary technology. In a speech at the show, a vast annual get-together for tech companies, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the new policy would ensure that the U.S. is at the forefront of innovation.  READ MORE Texas officials urge cyberhygiene amid threat uptick Government Technology Cyberattack attempts originating in Iran are increasing, Texas officials said recently. Over the previous two days, as many as 10,000 “probes” of state agencies' IT systems per minute came from Iran, according to Gov. Greg Abbott and state Department of Information Resources executive director Amanda Crawford. “It's very important that everybody be particularly vigilant right now about what may happen out of Iran,” Abbott said.  READ MORE FEMA disaster preparedness report ignores climate change CFO The Trump administration's National Preparedness Report, which describes the greatest risks and hazards to the country, did not mention climate change, sea-level rise, or drought. It was the first such report — prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — to not acknowledge climate change as posing a threat to critical infrastructure and public health. “That seems to be a really grave, missed opportunity,” said Divya Chandrasekhar, a professor at the University of Utah who has studied national disaster recovery policies.  READ MORE California sends urban search and rescue team members to support emergency response to earthquake in Puerto Rico Yuba Net At the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Governor Gavin Newsom through the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) has approved the deployment of four members of California-based Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Task Forces assigned to a FEMA US&R Incident Support Team to provide assistance as a result of the recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico.  READ MORE PRIMA Risk Watch Connect with PRIMA Recent Issues | Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Advertise | Web Version  Colby Horton, Vice President of Publishing, 469-420-2601 | Download media kit Bethanney Standerfer, Content Editor, 469-420-2688  | Contribute news Public Risk Management Association 700 S. 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