April 30, 2014

Connecticut to Test Rumble Strips on Some State Highways

The Connecticut Department of Transportation, through a pilot program, will test the effectiveness of centerline rumble strips on 11 miles of undivided state highways in a half-dozen locations around the state, according to the Hartford Courant.

Centerline rumble strips alert drivers when they have drifted over the yellow line dividing the highway through vibrations passed through the tires into the body of the car and by a loud rumble made as the car’s tires pass over the strip. They are placed on roads to prevent head-on collisions and opposite-direction side-swipes. The Courant reports that 30 state residents are killed and more than 1,000 are injured each year in these types of accidents.

A 2011 report from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program found that centerline rumble strips reduce accidents by 40% on urban roads and 9% on rural roads.

The article also reports that the federal government will provide $48,000 and Connecticut will provide $12,000 to fund the pilot program.

Connecticut’s Exports Hit Record High in 2013

Connecticut’s total exports for 2013 hit a record high, totaling $16.5 billion, according to a report released by the federal International Trade Administration.

Connecticut’s top exports were transportation equipment ($8.0 billion); machinery other than electrical equipment ($1.9 billion); computer and electronic products ($1.3 billion); chemicals ($933 million); and electrical equipment, appliances, and components ($760 million).

France was the biggest importer of Connecticut products, accounting for $2.4 billion. Canada ($1.9 billion), Germany ($1.4 billion), the United Arab Emirates ($1.2 billion), and Mexico ($1.2 billion) round out the top five.

April 29, 2014

Hot Report: OLR Backgrounder: Interpreting for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

OLR Report 2014-R-0090 provides information on interpreting for the deaf and hard of hearing. It includes an overview of terms and requirements for interpreting in Connecticut, a summary of interpreting requirements in three other states, and a table describing interpreter certificates.

Connecticut currently requires anyone interpreting in the state to register with the Department of Rehabilitative Services (DORS) and provide certain credentials depending on the setting and type of interpreting. Several credential organizations exist or have existed over the years, offering types of credentials or exams that have also changed over time. Table 1 in the report explains these organizations, credentials, and prerequisites for each.

States take other approaches to regulating qualified interpreters. We looked at the laws in three nearby states to provide examples. New Hampshire and Maine have statutory requirements for certification and penalties for interpreting without a certification. New Jersey, on the other hand, does not have statutory requirements for interpreters in general, but instead monitors interpreters through a state agency that maintains and provides lists of interpreters it deems qualified. Interpreters in educational settings in New Jersey must meet requirements specified in its administrative code.
For more information, read the full report.

Causes of Hospital Readmissions

According to a recent federal report, there were 3.3 million hospital readmissions among adults in 2011, with associated hospital costs of $41.3 billion.  The study, by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, defined a readmission as a hospital admission within 30 days of a prior admission. The study included all causes of readmissions, including those that were planned.

The study found that Medicare patients accounted for over 55% of adult hospital readmissions that year.  It also found that the most common conditions leading to readmissions varied across payor type.  The three most common conditions for each category were as follows:
  • Privately insured (age 18 to 64): maintenance chemotherapy, mood disorders, and complications of surgical or medical care
  • Medicaid (age 18 to 64): mood disorders, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, and diabetes
  • Uninsured (age 18 to 64): mood disorders, alcohol-related disorders, and diabetes
  • Medicare (age 65+): congestive heart failure, septicemia, and pneumonia

April 28, 2014

Pell Grants and the Cost of College

As the cost of college has gone up, so, too, has the number of students with student-loan debt. An article from NPR states that nearly 70% of students have debt.

One reason is the declining percentage of college costs covered by federal Pell Grants. For example, the graph below from NPR shows that Pell Grants covered 72% of a public university’s cost in 1976 but only 31% of that cost in 2013.



The article states that 86% of students who receive a Pell Grant still need to borrow about $9,000 per year, even after other aid is included.

April 25, 2014

Caring for the Caregivers

According to a report from National Public Radio, more than 1.1 million people are caring for veterans who served after September 11, 2001, and it’s estimated that 40% of those caregivers meet criteria for depression. The report cites a recent study from the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization.

While the 1.1 million people caring for post-9/11 veterans makes up just 20% of all military veteran caregivers, the RAND report found that the (1) post-9/11 veterans and their caregivers are younger than the other military veterans and their caregivers and (2) post 9/11 veteran caregivers are more likely to care for someone with mental health or substance issues. 

The report estimates the services provided by the post-9/11 caregivers are worth nearly $3 billion and their efforts at providing care results in $5.9 billion in lost productivity.

The report recommends establishing programs for these caregivers including ones that ensure caregivers’ long-term health.

April 24, 2014

Up, Up, and Under Oversight

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) assume oversight of sightseeing balloon operators.

The NTSB made its recommendation in April, citing several accidents that caused one death and several injuries. The NTSB said that, like airplane and helicopter tour operators, balloon operators would need a letter of authorization from the FAA. Subject to such a letter, balloon operators would be motivated to comply, knowing that failure to do so could result in loss of business. Balloon operators also should brief passengers on safety, the NTSB said.

The NTSB cited in its recommendation an April 2013 Pennsylvania incident that seriously injured three of 10 passengers and a September 2008 incident in which a balloon pilot died.

Northwestern University Football Players Win Right to Unionize

Could player unions soon appear in college sports? An upcoming vote by Northwestern University’s football team will decide whether the players will form the first union in any college sport.  The players won this right in a March decision by a regional office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which found that the players were employees for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and therefore entitled to unionize.

College athletes have long been deemed to be students rather than employees, a distinction with important implications concerning the applicability of labor laws and workers’ compensation issues. The board’s decision does not affect players at public universities, as they are governed by individual states’ labor laws and not the NLRA.

The election is scheduled for April 25. Northwestern has appealed the regional office’s decision to the full NLRB. An article in the Chicago Tribune has more details.

April 23, 2014

Health Insurance Exchange Open Enrollment Results

Open enrollment for private health insurance plans through Access Health CT, Connecticut’s health insurance exchange, closed March 31, 2014.  The exchange enrolled 208,301 people for health care coverage, according to the Connecticut Mirror.  Of those, 37% (78,713) enrolled in private health insurance plans and the other 63% (129,588), enrolled in Medicaid.

The next open enrollment for private health insurance begins November 15, 2014, while Medicaid enrollment is open year round.  People experiencing a special enrollment qualifying event may also be able to enroll throughout the year.  Qualifying events include child birth, death of a household member, marriage, and loss of current health care coverage, among others.  See Access Health CT’s website for more information.

April 22, 2014

Hot Report: Lateral Certification of Police Officers

OLR Report 2014-R-0125 answers the questions: What is meant by lateral transfer and lateral certification with regard to the Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST)? What steps has the legislature taken to address the lateral certification issue?

POST establishes minimum qualifications for municipal police officers (among others) in the state and enforces professional standards for certifying and decertifying them.

POST certifies new municipal police officers and police officers who move to another department (“lateral certification”), regardless of when they were last certified. Under existing law and current POST regulations, POST-certified police officers who move to another department must generally meet all the council’s entry-level requirements for new recruits, except the physical fitness test.

Under the council’s regulations in effect in 2011, POST-certified police officers who moved to another department within two years after being certified had to be certified anew in the same manner as recruits. Thus, they had to meet the council’s entry-level requirements, which include drug, polygraph, physical fitness, and psychological tests, and retake the police basic training program, even if they were recently certified. It is unclear whether the intent of the two-year rule was to (1) deter officers from smaller departments that had incurred costs to train them from moving to bigger and wealthier departments or (2) ensure that the original hiring department recouped some of its investment in training the officers.

A 2003 bill, which did not pass, would have imposed a financial penalty on municipalities that hired a POST-certified police officer from another law enforcement unit within two years of certification. It would have required such municipalities to reimburse the original department the cost of certification as follows: full cost, if the hiring took place within the first year after certification and two-thirds of the cost if the hiring took place between one and two years after certification.

In 2011, the legislature introduced a bill that would have allowed police officers to move from one department to another and not repeat the basic training program or meet entry-level requirements. Many police chiefs, and others, opposed the bill on the grounds that entry-level requirements, such as drug screening, criminal history record check, and polygraph examination, were necessary to weed out unqualified and corrupt police officers. They labelled the bill the “bad cop” bill. In response, the House removed the entry-level provision from the bill and passed the amended bill, which became PA 11-251. It allows POST-certified police officers to move to another Connecticut police department without having to repeat minimum basic training. But the officers must still meet all of the council’s entry-level requirements. A 2012 bill sought to exempt officers from the physical testing portion of the entry-level requirements. The bill did not pass, but POST subsequently changed its regulations to create this exemption.
For more information, read the full report.

Shifting Sands: New Study Shows How Connecticut’s Shoreline Has Changed Over Past Century

In 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released a report detailing coastline change in New England and the Mid-Atlantic States over the past 100 years. The report omitted analysis of Connecticut’s coastline because it is tucked away behind Long Island. To make up for this short fall, a team from the Connecticut Sea Grant, UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research, and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has been examining drawings, photos, and GPS data gathered between the 1880s and 2006 to create a portrait of how Connecticut’s coastline has changed over the past 130 years.

The group found Connecticut’s shoreline, despite being protected by Long Island, is a dynamic coast with constantly shifting sands. There are many reasons shorelines advance and retreat, but the causes are usually a mixture of human activities and natural forces, such as storms, tides, and wind. While some areas of Connecticut have consistently lost ground, others have gained. The study has shown the shoreline has a higher rate of loss in eastern Connecticut, but that much of the shoreline gains on the western end of the state were caused by human activities like filing of waterfront areas for development.

You can get a better sense of Connecticut’s changing shoreline by exploring these interactive maps produced by the Connecticut Mirror using data from the shoreline research group.

April 21, 2014

Foxwoods Renames Tower

According to the Hartford Courant, the MGM Grand at Foxwoods is being renamed “The Fox Tower,” as part of a new campaign to refresh the casino’s brand in light of the expanded gambling competition in the Northeast.  (In October 2013, MGM resorts and the Mashantucket Pequots ended their licensing agreement that allowed the use of the MGM name and logo.) 

This name change also comes as MGM Resorts International plans to build a casino in Springfield if granted a license from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, which is also preparing to pick resort casinos in the greater Boston area and Western Massachusetts.

The other steps Foxwoods is taking to meet the competition include renovating the Grand Pequot Tower, which is almost complete; constructing a new food court at Great Cedar Tower; and developing a $120 million, 85-acre outlet mall set to open in May 2015. 

April 18, 2014

The Impact of New Energy Technologies

The February edition of State Legislatures describes how “disruptive technologies” from micro-grids to solar panels and energy storage are transforming the electric system. These technologies may fundamentally alter how policymakers, utilities, and energy businesses approach all aspects of the energy industry, from producing and delivering energy to how government regulates it.  For example, the article argues that the traditional model of the centrally managed and controlled utility, whose profits are largely based on how much energy it sells, may need to be altered to address the growth of the new energy-efficient technologies.

The article describes recent advances in these technologies, which include photovoltaics, combined heat and power (cogeneration) systems, energy storage, and micro-grids. It also describes the impact of plentiful natural gas supplies, including how they are reducing the competitiveness of coal, nuclear power, and renewable energy, and other generating sources.

The article notes that the utility regulatory structure in most states gives utilities little or no incentive to embrace energy efficiency and technologies, such as combined heat and power systems that reduce their sales. This outcome puts the utilities’ goals at odds with those of many policy makers, businesses and consumers. At the same time, declines in utility sales impair their ability to recover their substantial infrastructure costs. The article describes initiatives in several states to decouple the fiscal health of utilities from their sales. It also describes the debate taking place in several states on the appropriate policy response to distributed energy technologies such as solar photovoltaics.

April 17, 2014

Hot Report: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

OLR Report 2014-R-0123 answers the questions: What is PTSD? What are the symptoms, diagnoses, and treatment for PTSD?

The definition of PTSD has been revised several times over the years. But the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM), which provides standard criteria for the classification and diagnosis of mental disorders by mental health professionals in the United States, classifies it under trauma- and stress-related disorders in its most recent edition, DSM-5, 2013.

PTSD stems from exposure to a traumatic event, such as combat, violent crime, torture, sexual violence, or a natural or man-made disaster, that caused or threatened to cause death or serious injury. It can affect those who (1) personally experience or witness the event; (2) learn that the event happened to a close relative or friend; or (3) experience repeated or extreme exposure to unpleasant or gruesome details of the traumatic event, such as first responders collecting human remains in the aftermath of a disaster (DSM-5, 2013 p. 271).

The typical symptoms associated with PTSD vary, but they include (1) recurring recollections of the traumatic event (“flashbacks”); (2) intense psychological or physiological reaction to cues symbolizing aspects of the event; (3) persistent display of negative emotions (such as fear, anger, guilt, or shame); (4) persistent inability to experience positive emotions (such as happiness, satisfaction, or love); (5) markedly diminished interest in participating in significant activities; (6) angry, reckless, and self-destructive behavior; and (7) avoidance of thoughts or situations reminiscent of the trauma. The symptoms may start soon after the triggering event or may be delayed for months or years after exposure to the event (delayed expression). To be characterized as PTSD, the symptoms must last for more than one month and cause significant impairment in a person’s ability to function. And they cannot be attributable to the physiological effects of a medical condition or substance, such as alcohol. (Separate diagnostic criteria included in DSM for children under age six are not discussed in this report.)

Not everyone who experiences trauma suffers from PTSD. Some research suggests that temperament and genetic makeup have some bearing on the chances of developing PTSD, and it is more likely to affect people with certain predisposing conditions such as depression. But it has also been diagnosed in people with no predisposing conditions. And it can affect people of any age. Research indicates that PTSD rates are higher among veterans and others whose work increases the risk of traumatic exposure (such as police, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel.) Highest rates (ranging from one-third to more than one-half of those exposed) are found among survivors of rape, military combat, and captivity and ethnically or politically motivated internment and genocide. Higher PTSD rates have also been reported among U.S. Latinos, African Americans, and American Indians than Caucasians, and lower rates among Asian Americans, after adjusting for traumatic exposure and demographic variables (DSM-5, p. 276). Events most commonly associated with PTSD in women are rape and sexual violence. In men, the event is combat exposure.

According to the literature, the main types of treatment for PTSD are psychotherapy (counseling), medication, or a combination of both.

The diagnosis of PTSD has its critics. One 2007 study, for example, describes it as a “faddish postulate” that “has redefined and overextended the reach of a long-recognized natural human reaction of fear, anxiety, and conditioned emotional reactions to shocks and traumas.” The study authors conclude that “the concept of PTSD has moved the mental health field away from, rather than towards, a better understanding of the natural psychological responses to trauma” (McHugh, P.R. and Treisman G., “PTSD: a problematic diagnostic category,” Journal of Anxiety Disorders 21(2): 211-22). The authors of a 2008 study concluded that the disorder’s “core assumptions and hypothesized mechanisms lack compelling or consistent empirical support” (Rosen G. M. and Lilienfeld S. O., “Posttraumatic stress disorder: An empirical evaluation of core assumptions,” Clinical Psychology Review 28:837-68).
For more information, read the full report.

Connecticut’s Election Performance Improves According to New Report

Connecticut performed better in the 2012 election than in the 2008 election, according to a new report from The Pew Charitable Trust’s Center on the States.  The report measures the “Election Performance Index” of states, based on 17 measures.

After a 67% rating in 2008, Connecticut improved to 74% in 2012, which made it 10th among all states.  An average rating in 2008 was 64% and in 2012 was 68%. The report cited additions to the election information that the state makes available online as one reason for Connecticut’s rating increase.

The Election Performance Index includes the following measures:
  • data completeness
  • disability- or illness-related voting problems
  • mail ballots rejected
  • mail ballots unreturned
  • military and overseas ballots rejected
  • military and overseas ballots unreturned
  • online registration available
  • post-election audit required
  • provisional ballots cast
  • provisional ballots rejected
  • registration or absentee ballot problems
  • registrations rejected
  • residual vote rate
  • turnout
  • voter registration rate
  • voting information look-up tools
  • voting wait time



April 16, 2014

DOL Offering Free Employment & Training Workshops

The state Department of Labor recently announced that the Hamden Job Center will be offering a series of free employment and training workshops throughout May.  The offered workshops are:
  • Successful Job Search Strategies (5/6)
  • Military to Civilian Résumé Workshop (5/6)
  • Interviewing Techniques (5/8)
  • LinkedIn for Job Seekers (5/12)
  • Career Exploration (5/13)
  • Résumé Basics (5/14)
  • Internet Job Searches (5/19)
  • Interviewing Techniques (5/20)
  • Résumé Basics (5/21)
  • Networking Club (5/22)
  • Over 40 and Looking for Work (5/28)
  • Advanced Résumé Writing (5/29)
Due to space limitations, the department recommends registering in advance at (203) 859-3200.

April 15, 2014

Hot Report: Minimum Oyster Harvest Size in Nine East Coast States

OLR Report 2014-R-0120 answers the question: What is the minimum size required for oysters to be legally harvested in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia?

Connecticut law currently requires all oysters harvested in state waters to be at least three inches long. This restriction is not unusual in comparison to the other states surveyed. Generally, harvest size restrictions vary based on the source of the oyster (i.e., aquaculture versus natural beds) and the purpose of the harvest (i.e., marketing for food versus seed oysters for aquaculture). Oysters harvested from a natural bed must be a minimum of three inches in seven of the nine states surveyed. In the two states outside this range, New Jersey requires oysters to be a minimum of two-and-a-half inches and Delaware requires a minimum of two-and-three-quarters inches. For aquaculture, state standards range from no minimum size to two-and-a-half inches.

Generally, oysters produced through aquaculture are either not subject to size restrictions or are obligated to meet a size limit that is a half inch to an inch smaller than the restrictions for natural beds. Many states allow holders of aquaculture permits to harvest undersized oysters, sometimes from the state’s natural beds, for the purpose of seeding farmed oyster beds or selling the undersized oysters to other permittees for seeding their farmed oyster beds.

For more information, read the full report.

Holding Middle School Students Back Can Negatively Affect Peers

Duke University researchers examined records for 79,000 middle school students in 334 North Carolina middle schools. They found that in schools with a high number of students who were held back or old for their grade, there were more suspensions, substance abuse problems, fights, and classroom disruptions.

“If 20 percent of children in seventh grade were older than their peers, for example, the chance that other students would commit an infraction or be suspended increased by 200 percent,” according to an article about the study.

The researchers note, “an unexpected but noteworthy finding is that students who are in the groups least likely to engage in misbehavior are most susceptible to the potential negative peer influence of retained and older peers.”

April 14, 2014

Study Finds Link between Middle Schooler Sexting and Sexual Activity

A new study in the journal Pediatrics found a link between seventh graders sexting (texting sexually explicit language or photographs) and engaging in sexual activity.

Researchers from Brown University surveyed 420 at-risk seventh graders from 2009 to 2012 about sexting and whether they are sexually active.  The researchers found that 22% had sexted within the prior six months – 17% sending texts and 5% sending photos. This group was much more likely — from four to seven times as likely — to engage in a wide variety of sexual activities, from “making out” to intercourse.

The researchers concluded that even in middle school “attention should be paid to adolescents’ electronic communication because sexting may be a marker for sexual risk behaviors that can have significant consequences, including pregnancy or disease.”

The researchers also suggest making sexting part of the standard sexual education curriculum.

April 11, 2014

State and Local Governments Still Recovering From Recession Job Losses

State and local governments across the nation have lost 695,000 jobs since August 2008, according to a new report from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. That’s an overall decrease of 3.5%. By contrast, the private sector is almost back to pre-recession levels, down 0.6% from peak employment in January 2008.

Last year, the Pew States Project presented the figures in a handy infographic that shows employment changes in all the states at a glance. Connecticut is in the group of nine states that have each lost at least 5% of its state and local employees between 2008 and 2012. At the other end of the spectrum is a group of eight states that each added a minimum of 2.5% to its state and local workforce in that same timeframe.


April 10, 2014

Financial Abuse of the Elderly Growing

Financial abuse of the elderly is a serious and growing problem, accompanied, in some instances, by other forms of elder abuse. A study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute estimated that Americans over age 60 lost about $2.9 billion to financial abuse in 2012--up from $2.6 billion in 2008.  Experts say this is a conservative figure because of serious underreporting. And some contend that the growth in the senior population, social changes, and advances in technology will dramatically increase the opportunities for abuse.

Financial abuse spans a broad spectrum of conduct, from telemarketing scams and insurance and investment fraud to getting a person to sign a deed, will, or power of attorney through deception or undue influence.  Seniors can be prime targets because of their larger net worth and their vulnerabilities. Typically, perpetrators are not strangers, but people who have gained the trust of the elderly person, including caretakers, relatives, neighbors, friends, and acquaintances.

In 2012, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified the need for a national strategy and made recommendations on elder financial abuse.

Childhood Obesity Rate Plunges

According to the New York Times, federal health authorities recently reported a 43% drop in obesity among American two- to five-year-old children in the past decade. The Times noted several possible explanations for the decrease:
  • children consumed fewer sugary beverages than they did a decade ago;
  • more women breast-fed their infants, which can lead to a healthier weight gain range for young children;
  • the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) increased funding for fresh fruits and vegetables and reduced funding for fruit juice, cheese, and eggs; and
  • state, local, and federal policies aimed at combating childhood obesity are beginning to achieve desirable results. 
The obesity rate among youths ages two to 19 as a whole has remained flat since 2003. However, according to Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan, a professor of medicine and public health at Emory University, the decline in obesity among the two- to five-year-old cohort is significant since obesity that becomes established at that age is very difficult to combat once a child gets older.
 
You can read the full report published in the Journal of American Medical Association (subscription required).

April 9, 2014

Visitors to Connecticut National Park Service Units Bring in More than a Million Dollars

“Connecticut” and “National Park” might not be an oft-made association, but National Park Service units in Connecticut saw more than 21,000 visitors in 2012 who spent more than $1.2 million, which in turn generated 14 jobs.  This is according to a recently released report by the National Park Service. The report claims that this activity yielded a total economic output of $1.4 million.
To give context for these totals, Connecticut’s 21,465 visitors in 2012 places it 49th on the list of states, ahead of Delaware. Topping the list was California, with more than 36 million visitors in 2012, who spent more than $1.5 billion.

Connecticut’s most notable National Park Service unit is Weir Farm National Historic Site in Ridgefield. The site is the location of the home and studio of Julian Alden Weir, a noted American Impressionist painter.

Connecticut is also home to a portion of the Appalachian Trail, which is a National Scenic Trail; a portion of the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valleys, a National Heritage Corridor; and a portion of the Washington-Rochembau National Historic Trail (Washington really did sleep here!).

April 8, 2014

Hot Report: Accredited Police Departments in Connecticut

OLR Report 2014-R-0115 answers the question: Which and how many Connecticut police departments are accredited, and by what entities? It also describes the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) accreditation program.

As of April 1, 2014, 28 of Connecticut’s 106 police departments are accredited, 12 of which are accredited by both CALEA and the Police Officers Standards and Training Council (POST), Connecticut’s credentialing authority. These 12 are Avon, Coventry, Enfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Guilford, Norwalk, Simsbury, University of Connecticut, Wethersfield, and the State Police and State Capitol Police. Fourteen departments are accredited by the state only, and two by CALEA only. Twenty-nine other departments have applied for accreditation (see Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 in the report).

CALEA is a private credentialing authority that offers accreditation programs for public safety agencies that volunteer to participate in the process. Its stated purpose is to improve the delivery of law enforcement services by offering a body of standards, developed by law enforcement practitioners, covering a wide range of current law enforcement topics.

The essential elements of the accreditation process are an extensive review of an agency’s policies, procedures, operations, and equipment; an onsite evaluation of the agency; and a decision by CALEA that the agency meets accreditation standards. The standards cover six major law enforcement areas and address almost every facet of policing and police operations, although not all standards apply to all agencies. Agencies must comply with (1) all applicable mandatory standards, which deal with life, health, and safety issues; legal requirements; and essential police practices; and (2) at least 80% of all the other applicable standards, which deal with important or desirable law enforcement practices and activities.

The accreditation cost, which includes initial accreditation, on-site assessment, and annual continuation fees, depends on factors such as the size of the agency and how long it takes to complete the process. The initial agreement between the agency and CALEA is for 36 months, but an agency may complete the process sooner. If the agency does not complete its self-assessment or schedule its on-site assessment within 36 months, it may seek an annual extension at additional cost. The initial accreditation fees vary from $7,125 for agencies with one to 24 full-time employees (including sworn and nonsworn personnel) to $18,600 for agencies with more than 1,000 employees. On-site assessment fees depend on such factors as the cost of lodging and airfare for the assessors, number of assessors involved, and geographical location of the agency being accredited. Annual payments to maintain accreditation range from $3,470 for the smallest agencies to $5,765 for agencies with 1,000 or more employees (see Appendix 3). CALEA accreditation is valid for three years, at which time the agency must be reassessed to maintain its accreditation.

According to the CALEA website, since the CALEA accreditation was developed in 1984, it “has become the primary method for an agency to voluntarily demonstrate their commitment to excellence in law enforcement.” But many states, including Connecticut, have also developed their own programs. The Connecticut program, which is free, is modeled after the CALEA program, according to the POST executive director. 
For more information, read the full report.

Dangers of Liquid Laundry Packets

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently provided an update on ongoing efforts to protect children from the dangers of single-load laundry packets. These packets contain highly concentrated chemicals and, according to the update, the CPSC has received about 1,230 reports of children being unintentionally injured by them.

Injuries can result from swallowing the packets or getting the chemicals in the eyes or on the skin. The update reports that companies are voluntarily taking steps to minimize the dangers by (1) supporting a voluntary consensus safety standard, (2) making the packets opaque to reduce their appearance as toys or candy, (3) including warning stickers and labels in multiple places on product containers, and (4) researching containers that are more difficult for children to open.
 
CPSC provides the following tips to keep children safe from these packets:
  1. Read and follow package warnings and instructions;
  2. Store the packets in their original containers and keep the containers closed, dry, and out of a child’s sight and reach; and
  3. Do not take packets apart, leave loose packets around, or let children handle them.

April 7, 2014

Manufacturers’ New Star Trek Technology

Source: http://texaslynn.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/star-trek-replicator.jpg
Plucking molecules out of the air and reconfiguring them into Earl Grey tea (hot) or ghargh (You never had ghargh!) was Gene Roddenberry’s way of ensuring an adequate food supply for star ships that boldly went where no one had gone before.

Well, manufacturers have stolen a page from Roddenberry and devised a machine that uses “computer-generated information to add fine, powder-like material layer by layer and fused by heat or laser to form an object without part-specific tooling,” the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) reported last summer. This additive manufacturing technology—also referred to as 3D Printing—appears to have many benefits, including precisely made products with little or no waste.

In the not too distant past, machinists had to set up tools to make specific parts, which took time, energy, and material. By reducing lead-time and tooling costs, additive manufacturing gets the parts to their customers faster, CASE explains. But there’s more: Because the additive manufacturing doesn’t require molds, manufacturers can make parts in different sizes, something that’s “particularly valuable for manufacturing medical devices that can be individualized for each patient.”
If you want to see what additive manufacturing looks like, view this video:


What you’ll see is definitely not your father’s . . . excuse me, grandfather’s tool and die machine. But, like most new technology, additive manufacturing is creating a disturbance in the force, and that’s the subject of Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee’s new book, The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies (2014), and a future posting. If you can’t want for the posting, read this PBS interview with the authors.

April 4, 2014

Accident Rates for Senior Drivers Continue to Fall

Seniors drive better than you might expect – and they’ve been doing so for a while, according to a February 2014 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study. Not only did the accident rate for drivers 70 years and older drop, but dropped at a faster rate than the one for drivers age 35 to 54.
The study’s authors reached their conclusion after looking at several vehicle accident indicators: national fatal accident data per 100,000 licensed drivers from 1997 to 2012; national fatal passenger vehicle crash involvements per vehicle miles traveled in 1995-96, 2001-02, and 2008; and police-reported crash data for 1997-2008 from 20 states.

The authors found that middle-aged drivers and elderly drivers both experienced an 18% drop in fatal crashes from 2007 to 2012. However, when looking at the entire period, 1997 to 2012, elderly drivers had a bigger drop in fatal crash involvement per licensed driver than middle-aged drivers (42% vs 30%).  They also found a similar pattern in the data measuring fatal crash involvement per 100,000 miles driven for 1995-2006 and 2008--39% vs 26%--and police-reported data for 1997-2008—39% vs 30%. These trends also mirror those for non-fatal injurious accidents and property-damage only crashes.

The authors cited other studies explaining the factors driving these trends. The factors include safety technology, such as front and side airbags, which seem to benefit  seniors than to middle-aged drivers. Another factor explaining the trend is that senior drivers are more likely to drive SUV, vans, and pick-up trucks, vehicles affording drivers and passengers more protection than cars.

April 3, 2014

NOAA Predicts El Nino Warming

The Huffington Post reports that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently issued an El Nino prediction for later this year, an outcome that could mean fewer Atlantic hurricanes, rain for California and southern states, and a milder winter for the northern United States.   El Nino happens when tropical Pacific Ocean trade winds die out and ocean temperatures become unusually warm, NOAA reports. In contrast, La Nina occurs when the trade winds blow unusually hard and the ocean temperatures become colder than normal. 

For more information about El Nino and LA Nina, see NOAA’s website.

April 2, 2014

OLR's Bill Analyses Can Help You Understand a Bill

The Office of Legislative Research has written more than 300 Bill Analyses (and is writing more all the time), which are available to help you understand bills. OLR Bill Analyses are plain language summaries of all bills reported to the House or Senate (except for Appropriations bills, which are summarized by the Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA)).

You can find a Bill Analysis on a bill's status page or you can browse the entire collection of Bill Analyses at once on OLR's site, which is sortable by both bill number and committee.

Checking Accounts Fees: Banks versus Credit Unions

Over the past four years, there has been a significant downward shift in the percentage of big banks offering free checking accounts, relative to credit unions, a recent Bankrate.com survey found, as reported in the Hartford Business Journal.

Bankrate.com surveyed the nation’s 10 largest banks and 50 largest credit unions and found that the percentage of major banks offering free checking accounts dropped from 65% in 2010 to 38% today, while the percentage of large credit unions offering free checking dropped from 78% in 2010 to 72% today. The share of credit unions offering free checking does not include those that do so for customers making direct deposits or meeting other specified requirements.

The article also highlights the other differences the survey found between the transaction fees major banks and large credit unions charge their customers.   For example, the average overdraft fee and the typical charge for using out-of-network ATMs are higher for bank customers than credit union customers.

April 1, 2014

Using Property Tax Incentives to Encourage Urban Farming

California’s Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Act creates an innovative incentive for landowners to develop urban farms.  As Planning magazine reports (“Urban Farming Law Breaks New Ground,” December 2013 (subscription required)), the program allows large cities and counties (those with at least 250,000 residents) to designate zones in which landowners receive a property tax break if they agree to use their land for urban agriculture for at least five years.
Source: National Geographic
The program is designed for landowners of up to three acres parcels that are vacant or blighted.  Landowners that commit to restricting the use of their land for urban farming may qualify to have the property assessed based on its agricultural, rather than market, value.  This could result in significantly lower tax bills.

The article also notes that despite the property tax incentive, some cities may have to remove land use restrictions to make the program work.  San Francisco is a step ahead, having already implemented legislation to make it easier to install urban farms on vacant land and rooftops.