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Alasdair Harris: How Can Coastal Conservation Save Marine Life And Fishing Practices?

; Credit: /Courtesy of TED

Manoush Zomorodi, Matthew Cloutier, and SANAZ MESHKINPOUR | NPR

Part 3 of TED Radio Hour episode: An SOS From The Ocean

In 1998, Alasdair Harris went to Madagascar to research coral reefs. He's worked there ever since. He explains the true meaning of conservation he learned from the island's Indigenous communities.

About Alasdair Harris

Alasdair Harris is a marine biologist and the founder of the organization Blue Ventures. His organization seeks to catalyze and sustain locally-led marine conservation in coastal communities around the world.

His work focuses on rebuilding tropical fisheries and working with coastal people to increase their sources of income.

Harris holds a PhD in tropical marine ecology, and an honorary doctorate of science from the University of Edinburgh.

This segment of TED Radio Hour was produced by Matthew Cloutier and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Twitter @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadio@npr.org.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.




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Detention Officer

The Catawba County Sheriff's Office is recruiting highly motivated individuals with excellent communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving abilities to fill full-time Detention Officer roles.  In these positions, you will provide safety and security for inmates confined in the Catawba County Detention Facility and process inmates in and out of the Detention facility. Experience preferred but not necessary.  
 
*ADDITIONAL SALARY INFORMATION:
  • Salary negotiable for applicants with prior law enforcement, detention, or corrections experience.  
  • Shift deferential of $2 an hour provided for night shift.
  • Detention Officers with advanced degrees and specific law enforcement certificates will receive extra pay. 
  • A salary increase is given annually upon a successful performance review (dependent upon budget availability).
  • Bilingual extra duty pay is provided upon successful completion of testing (dependent upon budget availability). 
     




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I-95 Partially Closed For Hours After Police Standoff With Armed Men

Traffic on Interstate 95 was diverted for hours after a group of armed men fled from police near Wakefield, Mass. on Saturday. Massachusetts state police say 11 suspects have been taken into custody.; Credit: Michael Dwyer/AP

Matthew S. Schwartz | NPR

Eleven people were taken into custody Saturday after an hours-long standoff with police early Saturday outside Boston.

While police engaged in negotiation, members of the group engaged the public on social media, saying their group was called "Rise of the Moors."

The heavily armed men were said to be driving from Rhode Island to Maine for "training."

The incident started around 1:30 a.m., when state police noticed two cars stopped at the side of I-95 near Wakefield, Mass., apparently out of fuel. As troopers stopped to assist, they noticed that some individuals near the cars had "military-style" gear, and were carrying long guns and pistols, Massachusetts State Police Col. Christopher Mason told reporters.

"You can imagine 11 armed individuals standing with long guns slung on an interstate highway at 2 in the morning certainly raises concerns and is not consistent with the firearms laws that we have in Massachusetts," Mason said.

Police requested backup, and thus began a standoff that lasted several hours. The men refused to lower their weapons, saying that they "don't recognize our laws," police said. Some of the armed men fled into a nearby wooded area, police said, and a portion of I-95 was closed for several hours.

The standoff was broadcast on social media

Around 4 a.m., a man whom the Boston Globe identified as Jamhal Talib Abdullah Bey said he was broadcasting live from I-95 and said that he told police they had nothing to fear.

"I reassured them that we are not sovereign citizens," a man who appeared to be Bey said in a live-streamed video. "I reassured them that we are not Black identity extremists. I reassured them that we are not anti-police. I reassured them that we are not anti-government. I reassured them that these men here will not be pointing guns at them. I reassured them that we are trying to come to a peaceful resolution."

"We're going to our private land to train, which is our Second Amendment right," he said, showing a vehicle he said contained camping equipment.

As police tactical teams brought in armored vehicles to surround the area, and negotiators interacted with the men, they ultimately surrendered. Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan told reporters the suspects were expected to appear in court on Tuesday morning.

State police "don't have any knowledge about this particular specific group" but as state police "it is not unusual for us to encounter people that have sovereign citizen ideologies — I'm not saying that this group does — but we have had those encounters before in the past," Mason said at a Saturday morning press briefing.

"We train to those encounters," Mason continued. "We very much understand the philosophy that underlies that mindset. And we train our officers, actually, at the academy, on these interactions and how to de-escalate those situations, and how to engage with people that have that philosophy and mindset and resolve those situations in a peaceful manner."

The group calls itself "Rise of the Moors"

The same man appearing to be Bey said in a later video: "They keep portraying us as being anti-government, but we're not anti-government at all."

The group's website lists Bey as a leader of the "Rhode Island State Republic and Providence Plantations." According to the site, Bey served in the military for four years, some or all of that time in the Marines, after which he began studying "Moorish Science."

That website, "Rise of the Moors," explains that Moors are not "sovereign citizens" because "sovereignty does not stand alone," but can rather be considered synonymous with "nationality."

"The record show that the Moors are the organic or original sovereigns of this land — America," the FAQ says. "When we declare our nationality as Moorish Americans we are taking back the position as the aboriginal people of the land, to which the sovereign power is vested in."

Bey's group may be associated with the Moorish sovereign citizen movement, which the Southern Poverty Law Center characterizes as an offshoot of the antigovernment sovereign citizens movement. Moorish sovereigns "have come into conflict with federal and state authorities over their refusal to obey laws and government regulations," SPLC writes.

"The Moorish Sovereign movement is a rapidly growing group of people who believe that they belong to a sovereign nation that has a treaty with the US but otherwise operates outside of the federal and state laws," JJ MacNab, a fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism, explained on Twitter.

"They rely on an alternative history that borrows from Moorish Science Temple, Black Hebrew Israelism, Nation of Islam, UFO theories, phony Native American tribes, and the pseudo-legal arguments crafted by white supremacist 'patriot' groups in the 1970s," MacNab said.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.




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Catawba County Social Services releases data from Livable and Senior Friendly Community Survey.

In the fall of 2009, as a part of the Catawba Aging Leadership Planning Project, Catawba County, along with aging service providers, volunteers and local municipalities developed a �Livable & Senior Friendly Community Survey�. This survey was widely distributed throughout Catawba County and targeted the County�s Senior Community, their caregivers and professionals in the aging field. The purpose of the survey was to obtain current and relevant information on the quality of life of seniors. Obtaining this information is important when looking toward the future of Catawba County.




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Catawba County Public Health dental practice reaches out to children.

Proper dental care and routine trips to the dentist help to guarantee that children and adults not only have a healthy smile, but a healthy body as well. To help ensure that every child in Catawba County has access to dental care, Catawba County Public Health Dental Practice serves as a resource for children ages 4 to 17.




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Catawba County names new Emergency Services Director

Bryan Blanton, who has steadily risen in positions of responsibility from paramedic to Training Officer to Manager of Emergency Medical Services, will now permanently supervise all of Catawba County's Emergency Services.




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Social Services' Children's Services Manager honored.

Cyndy Benson, who recently retired as Family and Children�s Services program manager in the Department of Social Services, has received the Kimberly F. Crews Memorial Award from the N.C. Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. This award is presented annually to honor a person who works directly with children suspected of having been abused.




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Catawba County Social Services program works to help adult adoptees, birth parents and close relatives find each other.

Family Builders, the adoption service of Catawba County Social Services, can now help adult adoptees, birth parents and their close relatives find each other. Not all counties in North Carolina offer this service, which is called Confidential Intermediary Services. Until recently all adoption records were sealed under North Carolina state law. In 2008, a new law took effect that allowed the release of certain records to adult adoptees and birth parents, if both parties agreed.




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Catawba County Budget Office wins national honor for 22nd consecutive year.

For the twenty-second straight year, Catawba County�s Budget Office has been recognized by its peers for producing a budget document which is easy to read and understand. The Office has won the 2010 Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association. This award recognized the County�s fiscal year 2010-2011 budget.




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Catawba County honors employees with 25 or more years of service

Employees with 25 or more years of service were recognized at the twenty-sixth annual Quarter Century Club lunch at the Catawba Country Club. Many current members of the club celebrated with retired County employees, who also served with the County for 25 or more years. Catawba County formed the Quarter Century Club in 1986.




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County FInance Office honored with national award for 29th consecutive year

The Catawba County Finance Department is a winner of the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2010. Catawba County has now won the award for 29 consecutive years.




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Social Services program helping teens make smart choices wins national award

A Catawba County Department of Social Services program that helped teenagers enrolled in a poverty reduction and teen pregnancy program better understand the myths of government support programs has been named a winner of a 2011 National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Award.




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Social Services' Senior Nutrition Services have a new home

Senior Nutrition Services is now housed at 507 Boundary Street in Conover. Senior Nutrition Services includes Home Delivered Meals (Meals on Wheels), Seniors Morning Out, Nutritional Supplements (Ensure and Boost), Frozen Meals, and In Home Aide Services.




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My Catawba County app developed for mobile devices!

Anyone accessing My Catawba County will be able to choose from a selection of informational links and County applications. The application was developed for mobile devices with a web browser such as iPad, iPhone, Android phones and tablets.




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Sheriff�s Office to assist in Operation Pill Stoppers drop box program.

The Catawba County Sheriff�s Office, in conjunction with The Cognitive Connection and The Foothills Coalition, is sponsoring an Operation Pill Stoppers program that now provides fixed locations for citizens to properly dispose of their unused and unwanted medications.




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Cable TV show profiling services of local governments, schools, quality of life, to premiere

�Catawba Communities,� a monthly show which will feature information about programs and services provided by local governments, school systems and associated agencies across Catawba County, will premiere on Charter Communications� Government Channel (Channel 3) on Tuesday, August 23, 2011, at 8:00 p.m.




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Earthquake survival tips from Catawba County Emergency Services

What if the August 23 earth tremors had been closer or stronger? Would you know what to do? Here are some tips from Catawba County Emergency Services.




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Catawba County Animal Services to offer free rabies vaccinations, while they last, on September 21, 2011

Vaccines will be administered on a first-come, first-serve basis, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., or until the supply is depleted on September 21, World Rabies Day, thanks to 250 vaccines provided by the World Rabies Organization and Pfizer Animal Health.




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Catawba County Social Services wins Best Practices Award from state association

The award was presented for the agency's Children and Aging Strategic Planning Projects in the category �Profiles in Community Collaboration�. The entry described the Children�s Agenda Planning Committee and the Aging Leadership Planning Project. In both cases, Social Services took the lead in collaborating with area agencies to develop reports about the needs of children and older adults.




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Catawba County, North Carolina honors employees with 25 or more years of service.

Catawba County Government renewed an annual tradition on March 22nd, honoring employees with 25 or more years of service at the twenty-seventh annual Quarter Century Club lunch. Catawba County formed the Quarter Century Club in 1986. A highlight of this year�s program was the recognition of twelve new Quarter Century Club members.




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Catawba County developing new GIS Real Estate website to take advantage of new technology, offer enhanced services

Enhancements include an auto-fill feature, the ability to search on a business or landmark name, and links to both Google and Bing maps.




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Catawba County dental practice celebrates grand reopening

The Catawba County Public Health Dental Practice celebrated a �grand re-opening� on May 31 by welcoming visitors to an open house at its new space inside the Public Health building. Located just down the hall from its former location, the practice has doubled in size and capacity in order to provide a comprehensive dental home for children ages 1-21 in Catawba County.




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Catawba County Finance Officer named Outstanding NC Finance Officer Of Year

Rodney Miller has been named Outstanding N.C. Finance Officer of the Year for 2011-12 by the North Carolina Government Finance Officers Association. The award traditionally and annually recognizes and honors the local government finance officer who has demonstrated state leadership in local government finance issues by serving as the organization's president.




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Proposed County solid waste management franchise agreement would provide additional recycling services.

The agreement would substantially increase the number of items collected for recycling across Catawba County, with further expansion of items collected as needed over time; begin �single stream� collection of recyclable commodities so recycled materials would no longer be required to be separated at curbside; increase Republic Services� investment in Catawba County by $13 million; and protect more than 150 local jobs.




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Twenty year veteran in Library Service is named new Catawba County Library Director.

Suzanne M. White, who has managed comprehensive library programs, services and personnel at two full service library branches in Rowan County for more than seven years, and has had a successful career in library services spanning more than twenty years, has been named Catawba County�s new Library Director. White succeeds Karen Foss, who will retire on February 1, 2013, after serving as the County�s Library Director since July 1999.




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School nurse secures lifesaving device for middle schools

Two Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) were presented to Grandview Middle School and Northview Middle School at a basketball game between the two rivals on January 24. The AEDs were made possible though efforts of Catawba County Public Health school nurse Virginia Beisler, MS, RN. Beisler worked with Frye Regional Medical Center and each school�s booster and PTA clubs to raise the $3,200 necessary to purchase the AEDs.




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Entrance to Justice Center dedicated in honor of retired Sheriff L. David Huffman

The Catawba County Board of Commissioners took action at its meeting on February 4, 2013, to dedicate the entrance area of the Catawba County Justice Center in honor of retired Sheriff L. David Huffman and his 32 years of services to the county, including four as a county commissioner and 28 as Sheriff.




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Catawba County Home Health empowers older adults to lower risk of falling through a new service called Smart Moves

Catawba County Home Health is empowering older adults to lower their risk of falling through a new service called Smart Moves.




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Solid Waste Franchise, effective July 1, bringing expanded recycling, new fee schedule, services.

A new County Solid Waste Franchise with Republic Services (formerly known as GDS), effective July 1, is bringing expanded recycling, new fee schedule, services.




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Adult Services Social Worker Chandra Henson is honored by North Carolina Adult Foster Care Association.

Adult Services Social Worker Chandra Henson with Catawba County Social Services has been honored by the North Carolina Adult Foster Care Association.




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Budget Office again wins national award, for producing budget document judged easy to read and understand.

Budget Office wins national award, for producing budget document judged easy to read and understand, for 25th straight year




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Randy Cress named Catawba County's new Chief Information Officer.

Randy Cress, currently the Systems and Network Manager for Rowan County, North Carolina, is named Catawba County's new Chief Information Officer.




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Social Services program named 1 of 15 programs in US making critical difference in lives of youth in foster care

Social Services program honored as one of only 15 programs in U.S. making critical difference in lives of youth in foster care.




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Supreme Court Restricts Police Powers To Enter A Home Without A Warrant

In a case originating with a California Highway Patrol officer's pursuit of a vehicle and ultimately entering the driver's home, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that police may not enter homes without a warrant for minor crimes.; Credit: Chris Carlson/AP

Nina Totenberg | NPR

Updated June 23, 2021 at 12:31 PM ET

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that police cannot enter a home without a warrant when pursuing someone for a minor crime.

By a unanimous vote, the court declared that police violated the rights of a California man by pursuing him into his garage for allegedly playing loud music while driving down a deserted two-lane highway late at night.

Writing for the court majority, Justice Elena Kagan said police had no right to enter the man's home without a warrant for such a trivial offense.

"On many occasions, the officer will have good reason to enter – to prevent imminent harms of violence, destruction of evidence, or escape from the home," she wrote. "But when the officer has time to get a warrant, he must do so – even though the misdemeanant fled."

The court's ruling came in the case of Arthur Lange, who was playing loud music in his car late one night, at one point honking his horn several times. A California highway patrol officer, believing Lange was violating a noise ordinance, followed him, and when the motorist slowed to enter his driveway, the officer put on his flashing lights.

Lange, who later said he didn't notice the police car, drove into his garage. The officer, in "hot pursuit," got out of his car and put his foot under the closing garage door sensor to force the door open again. He had no warrant to enter the home, but once inside, he said, he smelled liquor on Lange's breath and arrested him, not only for the noise violation, but also for driving under the influence.

Lange appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, contending that the officer had no right to enter his home without a warrant and that the DUI evidence had been illegally obtained.

The Supreme Court has long held that police may conduct a warrantless search when pursuing a fleeing felon. The question in Lange's case was whether police are free to do the same thing when pursuing someone suspected of a minor offense like playing loud music.

"[P]ursuit of a misdemeanant does not trigger a categorical rule allowing a warrantless home entry," she wrote.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.




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Studies Suggest a Possible Link Between Military Service and ALS

A limited body of evidence suggests an association between military service and later development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare but fatal neurodegenerative disorder, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.




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Opening Statement by Alice P. Gast for Review of the Scientific Approaches Used During the FBIs Investigation of the 2001 Anthrax Letters Public Briefing

Good morning. I am Dr. Alice Gast and I am here today with Dr. David Relman as the chair and vice chair of the Committee on the Review of the Scientific Approaches Used During the FBI’s Investigation of the 2001 Bacillus anthracis Mailings.




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IOM Report Recommends Eight Additional Preventive Health Services to Promote Womens Health

A new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends that eight preventive health services for women be added to the services that health plans will cover at no cost to patients under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA).




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Juvenile Justice Reforms Should Incorporate Science of Adolescent Development

Legal responses to juvenile offending should be grounded in scientific knowledge about adolescent development and tailored to an individual offenders needs and social environment, says a new report from the National Research Council.




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National Crime Victimization Survey Is Likely Undercounting Rape and Sexual Assault - Justice Department Should Create New, Separate Survey

One of the nation’s largest surveys of crime victims is likely undercounting incidences of rape and sexual assault, making it difficult to ensure that adequate law enforcement resources and support services are available for victims, says a new report by the National Research Council.




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Report Urges Caution in Handling and Relying Upon Eyewitness Identifications in Criminal Cases, Recommends Best Practices for Law Enforcement and Courts

A new report from the National Research Council recommends best practices that law enforcement agencies and courts should follow to improve the likelihood that eyewitness identifications used in criminal cases will be accurate.




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New Report Finds Gulf War Illness Continues to Be Major Health Effect Linked to Persian Gulf War Military Service

Although more than $500 million in federally funded research on Persian Gulf War veterans between 1994 and 2014 has produced many findings, there has been little substantial progress in the overall understanding of the health effects, particularly Gulf War illness, resulting from military service in the war, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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New Report Identifies Six Practices to Improve Health Care for Disadvantaged Populations

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identifies six promising practices to improve health care for individuals with social risk factors for poor health care outcomes, such as people who are in a low socio-economic position, reside in disadvantaged neighborhoods, identify as a racial or ethnic minority, or possess limited health literacy.




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A Century of Service to the Nation

In 1916, the National Academy of Sciences established the National Research Council.




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New Report Says Bullying is a ‘Serious Public Health Problem,’ Calls for Development of Interventional Policies & Practices to Prevent Bullying & its Harm

Bullying is a serious public health problem, with significant short- and long-term psychological consequences for both the targets and perpetrators of such behavior, and requires a commitment to developing preventive and interventional policies and practices that could make a tangible difference in the lives of many children, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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Opening Remarks from Bruce Darling, Executive Officer, National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council Report Release Event for Preparing for Future Products of Biotechnology

Good morning. Welcome to the release of the report Preparing for Future Products of Biotechnology, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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Evaluating In-Service Performance of Guardrail End Treatments – New Report

The end of a roadside guardrail must be designed so that it is not a hazard to occupants of a vehicle striking it and so that it absorbs energy in a crash and redirects the vehicle into a safe trajectory.




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New Report Recommends Construction of Four New Polar Icebreakers of the Same Design as the Lowest-Cost Strategy for Protecting U.S. Interests in Arctic and Antarctic

The U.S. lacks icebreaking capability in the Arctic and Antarctic and should build four polar icebreakers with heavy icebreaking capability to help minimize the life-cycle costs of icebreaker acquisition and operations, says a new congressionally mandated letter report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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New Report Recommends Changes to County Crop and Cash Rent Estimation Methods Used by the National Agricultural Statistics Service

Producing more precise county-level estimates of crops and farmland cash rents will require integrating multiple data sources using model-based predictions that are more transparent and reproducible, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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A Number of Proactive Policing Practices Are Successful at Reducing Crime - Insufficient Evidence on Role of Racial Bias

A number of strategies used by the police to proactively prevent crimes have proved to be successful at crime reduction, at least in the short term, and most strategies do not harm communities’ attitudes toward police, finds a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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New Report Calls for Greater Oversight of Precursor Chemicals Sold At the Retail Level to Reduce Threats from Improvised Explosive Devices

Policymakers’ efforts to reduce threats from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) should include greater oversight of precursor chemicals sold at the retail level – especially over the Internet – that terrorists, violent extremists, or criminals use to make homemade explosives, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.