Tap water is safe to drink, but don’t get it up your nose: A potentially deadly amoeba has been detected in a Louisiana water system, and while officials say tap water is safe to drink, they are urging people to avoid getting it in their noses. The Louisiana Department of Health notified the Schriever Water System and town officials Thursday after confirming the amoeba’s presence. The amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, causes a brain infection that leads to the destruction of tissue. READ MORE
Farm Bureau cheers WOTUS reversal: To cheers from farmers and ranchers, EPA announced last week it is rescinding the Waters of the U.S. rule (“WOTUS”) and recodifying the regulations that existed before 2015. The agency also said it would look carefully at the definition of “waters of the United States” and propose a new rule. This reversal under new EPA administrator Scott Pruitt was hailed by the American Farm Bureau Federation and may be one of the most popular actions taken in the first 180 days of the Trump Administration. The rule’s reversal is of great importance to farmers and ranchers on privately owned lands, who said they saw the recent EPA WOTUS rule as a significant and potentially abusive over-reach of federal authority and interference into their business operations. READ MORE
PERSONNEL SECURITY
Why you need a plan to handle workplace violence: A guman identified as a doctor opened fire in a New York City hospital Friday, killing a woman and wounding several people before killing himself, according to law enforcement officials. The shooter, Dr. Henry Bello, was a former employee at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in the Bronx, the borough north of Manhattan. Sadly, the incident illustrates the need to be careful with employees and the need to have plans in place for workplace violence as well as terrorism incidents. Dr. Bello is believed to have had several prior arrests, and resigned from the hospital in 2015 before being fired. He allegedly hid an M16 assault rifle under his white lab coat as he spread mayhem on several floors of the hospital. READ MORE
TERRORISM
Investigations of ISIS sympathizers continue: Shortly after North Carolinian Justin Sullivan was sentenced to life in prison for planning to commit mass murder in support of the Islamic State, U.S. Attorney Jill Rose of Charlotte, N.C., confirmed that investigations of other suspected ISIS sympathizers continue in North Carolina. A domestic-terrorism expert told the Charlotte Observer this week that the North Carolina probes are among some 1,000 active FBI investigations into ISIS-related threats encompassing all 50 states. READ MORE