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Snowplow Driver Shortage Could Mean Slower Road Clearing
The nation’s snow belt is facing a severe snowplow driver shortage: Montana is down half its temporary snowplow drivers this year. Kansas is missing nearly a third of all snowplow operators. Pennsylvania needs almost 60% more temporary drivers. “As much as states want to do a good job, they may not be able to provide […]
No More Stairs: Cash Influx to Make Transit More Accessible
When Chicago resident Michele Lee wants to take public transit around town, she doesn’t even consider the “L,” the city’s subway and elevated train system. Lee, 39, who uses a wheelchair, is a quadriplegic who was paralyzed from the chest down after a car crash nearly two decades ago. Lots of Chicago Transit Authority subway […]
How Common Are Ransomware Attacks? Lawmakers Want to Find Out.
After his local library had to shut down because of a ransomware attack, Indiana state Rep. Mike Karickhoff realized the state didn’t know much about the frequency of such security breaches. Spurred by similar crimes across Indiana last year, he decided to author a bill requiring all public agencies to report cyberattacks to the […]
Surging Catalytic Converter Thefts Spur State Crackdowns
If you start your car one morning and hear a loud roar when you hit the gas pedal, you might have been robbed. That disturbing sound could signal that a thief has cut out the catalytic converter, a device mounted near the tailpipe that changes environmentally hazardous engine exhaust into less harmful gases. The number […]
Natural Disasters Can Set the Stage for Cyberattacks
An earthquake strikes a city in Indiana, causing chaos and destruction, sending emergency managers and first responders scrambling. Then the water system goes down, and everyone figures it’s because of the natural disaster. But it isn’t. It’s a ransomware attack by cybercriminals, who are taking advantage of the disruption to infiltrate the water system’s network. […]
Cities See Trash Cleanup Programs as a Way to Combat Homelessness
At her lowest, Resheemah “RoRo” White was living in a tent or sleeping on park benches or beneath an underpass in Oakland, California, fearful that her life had bottomed out and she’d never make it back. White had gotten laid off from her warehouse job at the Port of Oakland, her mother had died, and […]
Biden Signs School Cybersecurity Bill
President Joe Biden has signed a bill into law aimed at helping improve cybersecurity at K-12 schools and making them less vulnerable to ransomware attacks. The measure directs the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to study the cyber risks facing elementary and secondary schools and develop recommendations to assist schools in facing those risks. […]
Transit Agencies Lease Real Estate to Generate Much-Needed Cash
The pandemic has sent ridership plummeting at transit agencies across the United States. Riders are slowly returning, but not in pre-COVID-19 numbers—and they may not for a long time, if at all. Transit agencies must generate cash to replace the lost revenue from fares. One strategy that is gaining renewed traction is leasing agency-owned land […]
Pandemic Prompts Cycling Surge—and Calls for New Protections
Early this month, Lorna Rae Moss, a 69-year-old woman who loved to compete in triathlons, was killed when her bicycle was struck from behind by a minivan on a western Iowa road. The driver allegedly was drunk. Moss, who taught water fitness classes and often rode her bike, left behind her husband of 47 years, […]
Fake Vaccine Card Sales Have Skyrocketed Since Biden Mandate
The price of fake COVID-19 vaccine cards and the number of vendors selling them have shot up since President Joe Biden announced his vaccine mandate plan last week, according to a global cybersecurity company. Check Point Software Technologies found that the typical cost of phony vaccine cards bearing the logo of the federal Centers for […]
Expired Driver’s Licenses Open Lane for Cybercriminals
After the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, many states issued emergency declarations allowing driver’s licenses to remain valid past expiration dates. But those extensions mostly have ended, and drivers now need to make sure their licenses are renewed. Scammers are exploiting that shift, cybersecurity experts say. Driver’s license phishing scams designed to steal people’s identities […]
Hackers Strike Another Hospital System
A network of hospitals and clinics in Ohio and West Virginia was forced to cancel surgeries and divert patients with emergencies to other facilities after it was hit in a ransomware attack this week. Cybercriminals struck Memorial Health System, a nonprofit that runs three hospitals, outpatient service sites and clinics spread across southeastern Ohio and […]