Train in Hoboken Crash Had Malfunctioning Data Recorder; Ransomware Hits Honolulu Fire Dept.
A New Jersey Transit commuter train crashed into the Hoboken Terminal on Thursday. Chris O'Neil / NTSB via Associated Press
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Also in our State and Local Weekend News Digest: Louisiana’s “Deepwater Horizon” tax breaks; Illinois state government pays its electric bill; and sentence handed down in Kentucky bribery case.
HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY
TRANSPORTATION SAFETY | A National Transportation Safety Board official said Sunday that the New Jersey Transit commuter train that crashed into Hoboken Terminal last week did not have a functioning data recorder, which will deprive investigators of an important tool needed to help determine what went wrong. The data recorder in the train was 21 years old. “That’s quite an old event data recorder,” NTSB vice chairman Bella Dinh-Zarr said. “Usually when they’re not working, they’re replaced.” The crash killed one person at Hoboken Terminal and injured more than 100 others. [The Record]
HONOLULU, HAWAII
RANSOMWARE | The Honolulu Fire Department temporarily shut down all of its administrative computers after personnel inadvertently downloaded a ransomware virus discovered last week. The virus infected about 20 computers and was discovered on Monday. Administrative computers at the department’s 43 stations were shut down to prevent its spread. The department’s dispatch and fire truck computers were not affected. A city spokesperson said the matter had been referred to the FBI. [McClatchy via EMS WORLD]
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
TAX CREDITS | The movie “Deepwater Horizon” about the 2010 explosion on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana received the most taxpayer subsidies of any film produced in the state. The state issued nearly $38 million of tax credits to the movie’s producer, Lionsgate, through a program that economists have criticized for giving Louisiana a weak return on investment. The credits for “Deepwater Horizon” are about equal to the combined sum the state invests annually in the University of New Orleans and Southern University at New Orleans. Film production in Louisiana is currently in a slump, which people in the industry attribute to changes the state legislature made to the film tax credit program in 2015. [The Advocate]
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY
KICKBACKS | The former head of Kentucky’s Personnel Cabinet, Tim Longmeyer, was sentenced to six years in prison for bribery. Longmeyer was serving on former Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration when he used his position to help a consulting firm win state government contracts in 2014 and 2015 in return for more than $200,000 in kickbacks. Beshear’s son, Attorney General Andy Beshear, later made Longmeyer his top deputy—a post he resigned from days before his criminal case went public. At the sentencing hearing Longmeyer, who also owes $203,500 in restitution, said he had failed to follow his “moral compass.” “There is no excuse for my actions,” he said. [The Associated Press via The State Journal]
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
UTILITY BILLS | State government finally paid its nearly $19 million utility bill, according to Springfield City, Water, Light and Power. The utility provides electricity to the state capitol and other government buildings, which racked up late bills while Illinois continues to operate without a budget for more than a year. Most of the money was paid in August, after the city-owned utility threatened in July to shut off services on Sept. 21. But the state has fallen behind on bill payments to other vendors as well. [The Southern Illinoisan]
CASPER, WYOMING
PUBLIC WORKS | Local officials in Wyoming’s second-largest city have been looking at how much snow removal they could cut back on before having an impact on transportation, just in case budget cuts need to be made. The streets superintendent, Shad Rogers, told members of the Casper City Council last week that 20 percent of snow removal routes could be eliminated without having too much of an impact because there are some minor streets that don’t need plowing. [Casper Star-Tribune]
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