February 22, 2019

Hurricanes create natural climate change labs in Puerto Rico

EL YUNQUE, Puerto Rico (AP) — The hurricanes that pounded Puerto Rico in 2017, blasting away most of its forest cover, may give scientists clues to how the world will respond to climate change and increasingly severe weather.

Researchers at El Yunque, the only tropical rain forest overseen by the U.S. Forest Service, are running controlled studies on how plants respond to higher temperatures combined — since the cataclysmic blow from Hurricane Maria — with severe weather. Not far away, another group is looking at how hurricanes affect the forest environment.

“It’s a once-in-a-century opportunity to look at these two aspects of climate change together,” said Tana Wood, a research ecologist with the Forest Service.

Wood heads a team testing how plants themselves respond to higher temperatures. The 2017 hurricane season, with Maria following a lesser blow from Hurricane Irma, has given them a chance as well to see how storms affect the recovery of ecosystems already under stress, a key concern in the Caribbean, where scientists say warmer temperatures could lead to more intense hurricanes.

Read more: https://apnews.com/ba991184859c4e22b2163121f6846106

February 22, 2019

EU blacklists American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, USVI and other countries

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Afghanistan, American Samoa, the Bahamas, Botswana, North Korea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guam, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, US Virgin Islands and Yemen have all been blacklisted in a report published by the European Union (EU) Commission last week.

Individual EU governments and parliamentarians still have to sign off on the new list, but if accepted, it would prove painful for EU banks that handle payments connected to the blacklisted countries and territories. Those lenders would have to conduct “enhanced due diligence” on any cash that moves to and from the EU and the blacklisted jurisdictions.

The EU report states that the list has been established on the basis of an analysis of 54 priority jurisdictions the EU had constant investigations on over the course of the last few years, which was prepared by the Commission in consultation with the member states and made public on 13 November 2018. The countries assessed meet at least one of the following criteria:

• They have systemic impact on the integrity of the EU financial system;

• They are reviewed by the International Monetary Fund as international offshore financial centres; and

• They have economic relevance and strong economic ties with the EU.

Read more: https://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/2019/02/18/eu-blacklists-panama-the-bahamas-puerto-rico-trinidad-and-tobago-usvi/

February 22, 2019

Scientists Say Coral Bleaching Is Threatening Caribbean Communities

Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy -- Climate change has fueled coral reef bleaching throughout the tropics, with negative consequences for reef ecosystems and the people who depend on them.

A new study finds that in the Caribbean, independent island nations such as Cuba and Jamaica are less vulnerable to coral bleaching than island territories like Saint Barthélemy.

The study, published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B and led by UC Berkeley graduate student Katherine Siegel, uses a compilation of environmental, socioeconomic, and management data from thirty Caribbean islands to assess variation in social and ecological vulnerability to coral bleaching.

Coral bleaching–which occurs when coral expels the algae living within their tissues–is often caused by unusually warm ocean temperatures. Corals are the cornerstones of reef ecosystems. If a bleaching event is prolonged and causes enough corals to die, the entire reef ecosystem can become severely compromised. Coral bleaching can have ripple effects for coastal communities that depend on reef ecosystems for benefits such as seafood, tourism, and shoreline protection.

Read more: http://vifreepress.com/2019/02/scientists-say-coral-bleaching-is-threatening-caribbean-communities/

February 21, 2019

Texas lawmakers look to the "cloud" for storing sensitive government data

by Edgar Walters, Texas Tribune


What do a warehouse in North Austin and a building at Angelo State University have in common? They hold quadrillions of bytes of data containing some of Texans’ most sensitive information, including health and education records.

The Texas Legislature created the twin data centers in 2005 to consolidate disparate data management operations at dozens of state agencies. But since then, as government programs churned out more and more electronic information about health care, highways, public schools and other key services, the cost to operate the facilities has ballooned.

This session, lawmakers are considering an overhaul of how the state uses its data centers, with an eye toward private tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft that own private networks of remote servers known as a "cloud." Proponents say hiring such a firm to be the official keeper of much of the state's data could save millions of dollars and modernize vulnerable government tech infrastructure. But detractors say the current setup is working fine and that any kind of structural change would be laborious, expensive and potentially risky.

A decade ago, it cost $278 million to run the centers over the state's two-year budget cycle; under the current spending plan, it costs about $489 million to operate them.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/02/19/texas-lawmakers-cloud-storage-sensitive-data/

February 21, 2019

Texas settles Medicaid fraud case for $236 million

A long-running case of alleged Medicaid fraud, in which taxpayer-funded costs for children’s orthodontic treatments in Texas soared over an eight-year period ending in 2012, has been settled for a $236 million payment to the state.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the settlement with Xerox Corp. and its former business-services subsidiary -- Conduent Inc., which now is a standalone company -- the largest single resolution to a Medicaid-related claims suit filed by his office. Still, Conduent had been on the hook for a reported more than $2 billion worth of fraudulent Medicaid losses and damages that Texas had been seeking to recover.

Xerox and Conduent were responsible for pre-authorizing dental and orthodontic treatment for children between 2004 and 2012, when Medicaid spending climbed steeply. State officials filed a lawsuit in May 2014, accusing them of shirking their duties by rubber-stamping treatment requests instead of providing appropriate reviews.

Medicaid is the federal health program for poor people and children.

“Misconduct by employees of Xerox and its related companies compromised the integrity of the Medicaid program -- the very program Texas hired the Xerox defendants to safeguard through the administration of a proper prior authorization review,” Paxton said in a written statement Tuesday.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190219/texas-settles-medicaid-fraud-case-for-236-million

So Paxton recovered only one-eighth of the fraudulent losses. Perhaps if Paxton wasn't distracted with his own criminal fraud case?

February 21, 2019

Austin boy uses hot chocolate stand to raise 'over $9,000' for border wall

A 7-year-old boy from the Austin area has received insults from community members, including being called “little Hitler,” after starting a hot chocolate stand earlier this week to raise money for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.

Benton Stevens wanted to contribute to the fund after attending the presidential inauguration and watching the State of the Union, his parents said. The boy’s parents, Jennifer and Shane Stevens, identify as conservatives and are both members of the Republican National Convention.

“He wanted to know about the wall so we explained what it was about and (Benton) was like ‘I want to raise money for the wall,’” Jennifer Stevens told KXAN.

Benton created the stand in front of a strip mall in Steiner Ranch on Saturday and made about $230 before his father decided to close the stand because of the backlash toward the store owners nearby.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190220/austin-boy-uses-hot-chocolate-stand-to-raise-over-9000-for-border-wall

Don't get me started.

February 21, 2019

Kirsten Gillibrand in Dallas: 'I have to fight for every family as if it were my own'

Looking for campaign cash and support on Julian Castro's and Beto O'Rourke's home turf, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Wednesday that she was the best choice to beat Donald Trump and in the process help curb systemic racism in America.

Gillibrand also said her ability to win elections in Republican areas and being a mother helps make her the ideal choice to battle Trump in 2020, and deal with issues like health care, education, jobs and criminal justice reform - all that have been exacerbated by bias and racism.

"That perspective of being a mother has really informed who I'm fighting for and why," Gillibrand said after speaking to students at Paul Quinn College in southern Dallas. "I will fight for other people's children and their families and their communities as hard as I would fight for my own."

"When I see how our law enforcement and our criminal justice system works against communities of color, I imagine it happening to my own sons. When I see that educational opportunities aren't the same and the amount of student debt that particular communities of color kids of color have to face, I would to change that as if I was changing it for my own family."

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/elections-2020/2019/02/20/kirsten-gillibrand-dallas-fight-every-family

Paul Quinn College is a HBCU so Gillibrand spoke on a relatable topic.

February 21, 2019

In emails, Texas A&M president Michael Young says restarting football rivalry with Texas is

In emails, Texas A&M president Michael Young says restarting football rivalry with Texas is 'unlikely to happen'


A month ago, Texas A&M president Michael Young said he was in favor of restoring the Aggies' annual football game with Texas.

However, several A&M fans were unhappy with the rekindling the rivalry. Based on Young's recent emails on the topic, it doesn't appear they will have to worry about seeing the Aggies and Longhorns share the field in the immediate future.

In multiple emails obtained by The News through an open records request, Young said the A&M-Texas football game "is unlikely to happen."

"We have no plans to renew the rivalry game at this time for very practical reasons," Young wrote on Jan. 22.

Read more: https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college-sports/collegesports/2019/02/20/emails-texas-am-president-michael-young-says-restarting-football-rivalry-texas-unlikely-happen?f=r

February 21, 2019

Ex-partner tells jury in bribery trial that developer romanced Richardson mayor for votes

SHERMAN -- Mark Jordan has portrayed himself as hopelessly love-struck over Richardson's mayor when he wined, dined and lavished her with gifts around the time she voted for a controversial rezoning request for his development.

But testimony from a key government witness Tuesday and Wednesday during the couple's federal bribery trial painted a different picture of the developer. Sarah Catherine Norris, his former business partner and lover, told jurors the philandering Jordan is narcissistic, controlling and manipulative and never originally intended to marry the then-mayor, Laura Maczka.

They eventually married.

Norris testified that Mark Jordan told her the true reason for the trips, gifts and the sex he was having with Laura beginning in 2013: He was just using her to get what we wanted.

According to Norris and transcripts of recorded conversations, Mark Jordan talked about his former attorney's novel bribery defense: Marry Laura. Or as Jordan put it, "I can't go to jail for loving her."

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/02/20/ex-partner-tells-jury-bribery-trial-developer-romanced-richardson-mayor-votes

February 21, 2019

The Forest Park Medical Center Fraud Trial Begins This Week

DALLAS -- In December of 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice filed indictments against 21 suspects related to their alleged involvement in a complex and widespread fraud scheme centered around a chain of high-end luxury hospitals branded as Forest Park Medical Center. There’s a shell of its flagship up Central, the building having been bought by Medical City but is still awaiting redevelopment as a specialized surgical center. The feds alleged that the foundation of Forest Park was a big scam to get high out-of-network payments from insurance companies. Some of the founding doctors involved are accused of offering and receiving kickbacks for patient referrals. The chain built six hospitals, all of which were thrown into bankruptcy as its physician founders started getting indicted. Total assets ballooned to more than $1 billion before they fell. I wrote about all this in a feature for D CEO in 2015.

Since then, 11 of the defendants have pleaded guilty. One of the founders—and the first to get popped, in 2015—was anesthesiologist Richard Toussaint, and he pleaded guilty a few months after the indictments and volunteered to testify against his colleagues. His indictment was salacious and included brazen allegations, including billing for procedures during times he was on a private jet as well as receiving surgery himself.

Will Maddox of D CEO Healthcare Daily reports that the long-awaited trial of the remaining 10 defendants began today. It’s expected to last two months. The feds tracked $200 million to the scheme, about $40 million of which were kickbacks. These were disguised as marketing arrangements in some cases. In others, they came in the form of outright cash payments. All of those facing trial have pleaded not guilty. Two of the doctors, Dr. Doug Won and Michael Rimlawi, were the men who first recruited the neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Duntsch to town, who we coined Dr. Death and later became the first physician in American history to be convicted for aggravated assault related to his patient outcomes.

They’re accused of accepting payments in return for performing surgeries at Forest Park. Won’s attorney told The Dallas Morning News that he never received payments to steer patients to Forest Park facilities—he practiced there because of the high quality of its surgical suites and materials. Here is how I described the allegations two years ago, based on internal documents and Toussaint’s testimony:

Read more: https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2019/02/the-forest-park-medical-center-fraud-trial-begins-this-week/?ref=mpw