Schuyler County Offers Free Emergency Preparedness Training

Schuyler County officials are inviting county residents to sign up for a free class to learn about preparing for emergencies. The New York Citizen Preparedness Training Program will be held at the Schuyler County Human Services

Complex, Room 120, in Montour Falls, NY, on Tuesday, December 2, at 5:00 p.m.

This program is designed for county residents who may benefit from learning more about preparing for extreme weather and other emergencies. It is offered by Schuyler County in conjunction with the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Citizens Preparedness Corps.

With severe weather events becoming more frequent and more extreme, it is more important than ever that New Yorkers are prepared for disasters. The NY Citizen Preparedness Training Program teaches residents to have the tools and resources to prepare for any type of disaster, respond accordingly, and recover as quickly as possible to normal conditions.

The training course will provide an introduction to responding to a natural or man-made disaster. Participants will be advised on how to properly prepare for any disaster, including developing a family emergency plan and stocking up on emergency supplies. Each family that attends will receive one preparedness kit.

Registration is required to attend. Residents can sign up here.

Legal links of interest for the week ending February 28, 2014

Attorney Steven Getman reports on some of the stories about lawyers and the law for the last week of February:

Arizona Religious Bill That Angered Gays Vetoed: The Republican governor said she gave the legislation careful deliberation in talking to her lawyers, citizens, businesses and lawmakers on both sides of the debate.

Calif. student wins $50G in Constitution lawsuit: A California college student who was blocked last year from handing out copies of the Constitution gave his school a lesson in civics and the law, winning a $50,000 settlement and an agreement to revise its speech codes.

Homeland Security wants national database using license-plate scanners: The Department of Homeland Security wants a nationwide database with information from license-plate readers that scan every vehicle crossing their paths, according to a solicitation last week from the agency.

In New Orleans courts, the legal gusher BP cannot contain: the source of much of BP’s ire lies with a legal donnybrook over a settlement designed to compensate individuals and businesses for economic harm caused by the spill. BP alleges that many of the 256,478 claims filed — by a parade of fishermen, hotels, surf shops, law firms, nursing homes, strip clubs and others — are unjustified or even fraudulent.

Justices appear divided over greenhouse gas regulation: this issue could be major test of executive authority, with some groups painting President Obama as misusing his power and ignoring the will of the legislature.

Law professor says US is at “constitutional tipping point”: Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, testified before the House Judiciary Committee that the presidential use of executive orders threatens has created “a massive gravitational shift of authority to the Executive Branch that threatens the stability and functionality of our tripartite system.”

Man Framed by Detective Will Get $6.4 Million From New York City After Serving 23 Years for Murder: The comptroller’s quick acceptance of liability in the high-profile conviction is also significant because the case is the first of what is expected to be a series of wrongful conviction claims by men who were sent to prison based on the flawed investigative work of the detective, Louis Scarcella.

For more on each of these stories, click the links above.