KUT Morning Newspod November 30, 2011
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Travis County Report Assesses Wildfire Response
Travis County’s Office of Emergency Management has released a report outlining what went right–and what didn’t–in the response to the Labor Day weekend fires. Travis County had six large fires on September 4th. The fires destroyed 57 homes and burned about 7,000 acres. The report praised responders for doing their best with local resources. The report says state and federal resources were not available because of all of the other wildfires burning across the state.
The report laid out several communication failures. It says more public information officers were needed to get accurate information out to residents more quickly. The report even cited a “rumor mill at the shelter due to lack of information and conflicting media reports.” It also suggested more social media networks need to be created to get out information to the public.
Hasan Hearing Wednesday
Another pre-trial hearing is set for Wednesday morning in Major Nidal Hasan’s Fort Hood shooting case. Hasan’s attorneys have brought forward motions about the military’s death penalty. At a hearing last month, Hasan’s attorneys asked for a jury consultant and a media expert at the government’s expense. The military judge has not ruled on those requests.
Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder for the November 2009 shootings.
What Happens if F1 Track Isn’t Built?
Today is the deadline for local organizers of a Formula One auto race to come to an agreement with the international racing body for next year’s planned event. The track, in southeast Travis County, has been under construction for months. Work was stopped two weeks ago, as a dispute broke out over the organizer’s contract with F1. As KUT’s Matt Large reports on today’s podcast, that’s left some neighbors in the area wondering what’s going to happen if they don’t come to a deal.
Podcast: Download (6.4MB)
