Original Story: macombdaily.com
A teacher at Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township has been charged with criminal sexual conduct following allegations of inappropriate contact with a 16-year-old female student.
Christopher David Cowles, 23, of Clinton Township faces one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was arraigned at 41B District Court and is jailed in lieu of $250,000 cash or surety bond. A criminal law attorney represents clients charged with criminal conduct.
Township police Capt. Richard Maierle said the alleged contact by Cowles occurred with the teenager at the teacher’s home last year. The girl, now 17, reported it to her parents who then contacted police.
Detectives obtained a warrant from the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office and subsequently arrested Cowles at his home. He was taken into custody without a struggle, police said.
Cowles, a career and technical education teacher, was placed on administrative leave Jan. 12 after police notified school administrators they were investigating allegations that he may have been involved in an inappropriate relationship with one of his female students, district officials said in an email to Chippewa Valley High School parents and staff.
In addition to relieving Cowles of his teaching assignment, school officials have prohibited him from being on the high school grounds, attending any school event and contacting any students. A Charleston education lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.
Chippewa Valley officials hired Cowles in January 2014 to fill a vacancy. He passed a criminal background check.
“We have pledged our support to the police and the prosecutor’s office and will continue to cooperate with them as they move forward with this matter. The allegations made against Mr. Cowles are serious ones, and we intend to deal with them in an appropriate manner. Based upon a review of the specific charges against him, he faces permanent dismissal from Chippewa Valley Schools,” the email authored by Principal Jerry Davisson and Chippewa Valley Schools Superintendent Ron Roberts states.
“We are proud of Chippewa Valley High School’s fine educational program, and we are committed to providing our students, parents and staff with a safe and positive school environment. Although information (of criminal allegations) can be upsetting, we want to assure you that the situation is being handled appropriately by our staff and our school district,” Davisson and Roberts wrote. An Atlanta education attorney is following this story closely.
Clinton Township police confirmed Cowles has no prior criminal convictions.
Third-degree criminal sexual conduct is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The offense involves sexual penetration and a variety of circumstances including a victim who is 13-15 years old, or is a student 16-17 years old and the offender is employed as a teacher, substitute teacher or administrator of any public or non-public school.
Cowles is scheduled to return to district court for a probable-cause conference March 4. He also awaits a preliminary hearing March 11 for prosecutors to prove there is sufficient evidence for Cowles to be bound over to Macomb County Circuit Court for trial.
04 March 2015
STOP MICHIGAN'S RECKLESS CHARTER SCHOOL AUTHORIZERS
Original Story: freep.com
Michigan taxpayers funnel $1 billion a year to some 380 charter schools exempt from much of the regulations and oversight that constrain the state's traditional public schools.
State lawmakers responsible for this arrangement defend it by asserting that students benefit when they have more educational options, that charter schools offer students in many low-income neighborhoods a better education than the one available at their local public school, and that competition for students and the state funding that follows them gives all schools an incentive to improve.
But a new analysis by one of the nation's most respected educational foundations challenges each of these premises. While recognizing that Michigan's best charter schools are delivering on their promise to provide an education as good or better than the one offered by traditional public schools, the report card released Thursday by the Education Trust-Midwest provides persuasive evidence that the authorizers and operators who serve the majority of Michigan's charter school students are falling short of that standard.
Education Trust's analysis also reveals that a handful of colleges and school districts responsible for a disproportionate share of the state's worst-performing charter schools are continuing to authorize new charters at a frantic pace. An Atlanta charter school lawyer is experienced in education law and charter school compliance.
Since 2011, when Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation giving such institutions unchecked authority to open or expand an unlimited number of charter schools, more than 80 charter schools have opened for business in Michigan, including many sponsored by the state's worst-performing authorizers and run by operators with similarly poor track records.
Among those contributing to this unprecedented expansion are Eastern Michigan University (12 charter schools) and Northern Michigan University (10 charters), both of which earned failing grades in Education Trust's exhaustively documented authorizer report card.
It all adds up to an urgent, unambiguous imperative for the governor and legislators who designed this Wild West marketplace:
Lansing needs to impose an immediate moratorium on chronically failing charter authorizers and insist that they meet tougher accountability standards before they are allowed to authorize new charter schools or expand existing ones.
The 'good or better' test
Other studies, including a major investigative project undertaken last year by the Free Press, have criticized the performance and financial practices of the state's charter schools and called for greater transparency and government oversight.
But the Education Trust-Midwest analysis is unique — and uniquely disturbing, in several respects.
Amber Arellano, the group's executive director, says her organization's more than two-year study is the first to examine the track records of the colleges, public school districts and intermediate school districts authorized to approve new charter schools, monitor their performance and renew contracts with charter operators.
Ten of the 16 authorizers evaluated earned grades of A or B by consistently approving or renewing charter schools that demonstrated progress in improving student achievement. But the six authorizers who earned A's accounted for just 13 charter schools, while the six at the bottom of the grading scale (1 C, 3 D's and 2 F's) were responsible for authorizing 153 schools.
The bottom line is that the most prolific authorizers are too often failing to assure that the charters they bring to life are providing students with an option as good or better than the public schools from whom they divert taxpayer money. A Binghamton education lawyer is following this story closely.
And in Michigan, that record of failure can be be lucrative: Authorizers typically take 3% of the annual state funding provided to every charter school they approve, whether or not those schools serve students effective.
Rigorous methodology
Education Trust-Midwest used the same public state accountability data available to charter operators and authorizers to compare both student achievement and year-to-year improvement in math and reading.
To be fair to charters, the report excluded from its analysis schools with less than three years of data or that have converted from traditional public schools to charters in the last three years, as well as those that serve specialized populations, such as strict discipline academies established as an alternative to incarceration.
Individual charter schools were deemed to have met the charter movement's "as good as or better" promise if their students scored in the 50th percentile or above in the state's top-to-bottom ranking of all Michigan schools. Charter schools whose performance fell below the statewide average could also pass the "as good or better" test by demonstrating year-to-year improvement equal to or better than the average school in Michigan and in the public school district where most of its students reside.
Thus, charter schools that draw the largest proportion of their students from Detroit were compared with public schools in Detroit, even if the charter is located outside the city's boundaries. The college or school district responsible for authorizing the charter was judged to have fallen short of the Education Trust's minimum quality standard only if it failed to meet the "as good or better" test for three consecutive years.
"This gives us confidence that when we say a school is not serving its students well, it's really true," the report says.
Just 16 of the state's 40 charter authorizers had amassed enough data to be included in the ETM study. But the 16 serve 96% of the students attending Michigan charters.
Prominent champions of Michigan's charter movement have hastened to dismiss the Education Trust study, mostly on the grounds that its authors were motivated by an animus to the charter movement.
But the evidence provides scant support for this ad hominem critique. Arellano maintains that the Education Trust, which derives nearly all of its funding from nonpartisan groups like the Skillman Foundation, is emphatically "agnostic" on the issue of school governance.
Its authorizer report card goes out of its way to celebrate the successes of responsible authorizers such as Washtenaw Community College and Grand Valley State University, and readily acknowledges the important role such authorizers have played in making higher quality choices available to students served by poorly performing traditional schools.
But no one (except, perhaps, the authorizing institutions themselves) benefits when authorizers enable operators with poor performance records to replicate their formulas for academic failure. That's why Lansing must move expeditiously to put the brakes on the most irresponsible authorizers.
Michigan School Superintendent Mike Flanagan, who has some authority to suspend authorizers for deficient oversight of charter schools in their portfolios, has already put 11 authorizers on notice that they are at risk of suspension. But Flanagan's list does not include some of the authorizers ETM singled out as poor performers, and neither Flanagan no anyone else has sufficient authority to make sure the $1 billion taxpayers provide to support charters is being spent wisely.
Snyder and Republican legislative leaders have both identified charter accountability as a top priority for 2015. While they pursue a comprehensive solution, they should take immediate action to stem the damage Michigan's most irresponsible authorizers are doing right now.
Grading charter authorizers
Education Trust Midwest assessed and graded Michigan's charter school authorizers for more than two years. Its scorecard looked at a number of factors in assigning a grade, including:
The group then assigned scores to that data and grades according to the overall score.
Charter authorizers without schools open for at least three years were not included. The study also did not include strict discipline academies or schools in a transition mode in the overall grades for each authorizer. Based on this criteria, Ed Trust's report covers 16 of Michigan's 40 authorizers, including 96% of the students in Michigan's charter schools.
Grade: A
Washtenaw Community College
Schools measured: 1
Total schools: 1
Washtenaw ISD
Schools measured: 1
Total schools: 1
Grand Rapids Public Schools
Schools measured: 1
Total schools: 1
Wayne RESA
Schools measured: 2*
Total schools: 7
Hillsdale ISD
Schools measured: 2
Total schools: 2
Macomb ISD
Schools measured: 1
Total schools: 1
Grade: B
Lake Superior State University
Schools measured: 7*
Total schools: 30
Ferris State University
Schools measured: 16*
Total schools: 30
Grand Valley State University
Schools measured: 36*
Total schools: 63
Bay Mills Community College
Schools measured: 33*
Total schools: 48
Grade: C
Central Michigan University
Schools measured: 50*
Total schools: 73
Grade: D
Oakland University
Schools measured: 8*
Total schools: 10
Detroit Public Schools
Schools measured: 4*
Total schools: 14
Saginaw Valley State University
Schools measured: 20*
Total schools: 34
Grade: F
Eastern Michigan University
Schools measured: 9*
Total schools: 12
Northern Michigan University
Schools measured: 7*
Total schools: 10
*In many cases, the number of schools measured do not match the number of schools in the authorizer's portfolio. This is because the only schools measured were those that had three years of academic data.
Michigan taxpayers funnel $1 billion a year to some 380 charter schools exempt from much of the regulations and oversight that constrain the state's traditional public schools.
State lawmakers responsible for this arrangement defend it by asserting that students benefit when they have more educational options, that charter schools offer students in many low-income neighborhoods a better education than the one available at their local public school, and that competition for students and the state funding that follows them gives all schools an incentive to improve.
But a new analysis by one of the nation's most respected educational foundations challenges each of these premises. While recognizing that Michigan's best charter schools are delivering on their promise to provide an education as good or better than the one offered by traditional public schools, the report card released Thursday by the Education Trust-Midwest provides persuasive evidence that the authorizers and operators who serve the majority of Michigan's charter school students are falling short of that standard.
Education Trust's analysis also reveals that a handful of colleges and school districts responsible for a disproportionate share of the state's worst-performing charter schools are continuing to authorize new charters at a frantic pace. An Atlanta charter school lawyer is experienced in education law and charter school compliance.
Since 2011, when Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation giving such institutions unchecked authority to open or expand an unlimited number of charter schools, more than 80 charter schools have opened for business in Michigan, including many sponsored by the state's worst-performing authorizers and run by operators with similarly poor track records.
Among those contributing to this unprecedented expansion are Eastern Michigan University (12 charter schools) and Northern Michigan University (10 charters), both of which earned failing grades in Education Trust's exhaustively documented authorizer report card.
It all adds up to an urgent, unambiguous imperative for the governor and legislators who designed this Wild West marketplace:
Lansing needs to impose an immediate moratorium on chronically failing charter authorizers and insist that they meet tougher accountability standards before they are allowed to authorize new charter schools or expand existing ones.
The 'good or better' test
Other studies, including a major investigative project undertaken last year by the Free Press, have criticized the performance and financial practices of the state's charter schools and called for greater transparency and government oversight.
But the Education Trust-Midwest analysis is unique — and uniquely disturbing, in several respects.
Amber Arellano, the group's executive director, says her organization's more than two-year study is the first to examine the track records of the colleges, public school districts and intermediate school districts authorized to approve new charter schools, monitor their performance and renew contracts with charter operators.
Ten of the 16 authorizers evaluated earned grades of A or B by consistently approving or renewing charter schools that demonstrated progress in improving student achievement. But the six authorizers who earned A's accounted for just 13 charter schools, while the six at the bottom of the grading scale (1 C, 3 D's and 2 F's) were responsible for authorizing 153 schools.
The bottom line is that the most prolific authorizers are too often failing to assure that the charters they bring to life are providing students with an option as good or better than the public schools from whom they divert taxpayer money. A Binghamton education lawyer is following this story closely.
And in Michigan, that record of failure can be be lucrative: Authorizers typically take 3% of the annual state funding provided to every charter school they approve, whether or not those schools serve students effective.
Rigorous methodology
Education Trust-Midwest used the same public state accountability data available to charter operators and authorizers to compare both student achievement and year-to-year improvement in math and reading.
To be fair to charters, the report excluded from its analysis schools with less than three years of data or that have converted from traditional public schools to charters in the last three years, as well as those that serve specialized populations, such as strict discipline academies established as an alternative to incarceration.
Individual charter schools were deemed to have met the charter movement's "as good as or better" promise if their students scored in the 50th percentile or above in the state's top-to-bottom ranking of all Michigan schools. Charter schools whose performance fell below the statewide average could also pass the "as good or better" test by demonstrating year-to-year improvement equal to or better than the average school in Michigan and in the public school district where most of its students reside.
Thus, charter schools that draw the largest proportion of their students from Detroit were compared with public schools in Detroit, even if the charter is located outside the city's boundaries. The college or school district responsible for authorizing the charter was judged to have fallen short of the Education Trust's minimum quality standard only if it failed to meet the "as good or better" test for three consecutive years.
"This gives us confidence that when we say a school is not serving its students well, it's really true," the report says.
Just 16 of the state's 40 charter authorizers had amassed enough data to be included in the ETM study. But the 16 serve 96% of the students attending Michigan charters.
Prominent champions of Michigan's charter movement have hastened to dismiss the Education Trust study, mostly on the grounds that its authors were motivated by an animus to the charter movement.
But the evidence provides scant support for this ad hominem critique. Arellano maintains that the Education Trust, which derives nearly all of its funding from nonpartisan groups like the Skillman Foundation, is emphatically "agnostic" on the issue of school governance.
Its authorizer report card goes out of its way to celebrate the successes of responsible authorizers such as Washtenaw Community College and Grand Valley State University, and readily acknowledges the important role such authorizers have played in making higher quality choices available to students served by poorly performing traditional schools.
But no one (except, perhaps, the authorizing institutions themselves) benefits when authorizers enable operators with poor performance records to replicate their formulas for academic failure. That's why Lansing must move expeditiously to put the brakes on the most irresponsible authorizers.
Michigan School Superintendent Mike Flanagan, who has some authority to suspend authorizers for deficient oversight of charter schools in their portfolios, has already put 11 authorizers on notice that they are at risk of suspension. But Flanagan's list does not include some of the authorizers ETM singled out as poor performers, and neither Flanagan no anyone else has sufficient authority to make sure the $1 billion taxpayers provide to support charters is being spent wisely.
Snyder and Republican legislative leaders have both identified charter accountability as a top priority for 2015. While they pursue a comprehensive solution, they should take immediate action to stem the damage Michigan's most irresponsible authorizers are doing right now.
Grading charter authorizers
Education Trust Midwest assessed and graded Michigan's charter school authorizers for more than two years. Its scorecard looked at a number of factors in assigning a grade, including:
- Did an authorizer give a new contract to an operator (between fall 2011 and 2014) that had more than half or more of its other schools not meeting a minimum quality standard?
- What percentage of an authorizer's current schools either performed at or above the 50th percentile or met the average statewide and local district improvement standard for three years in a row?
- What percentage of an authorizer's schools were in the state's bottom 5% of all schools for two years and didn't show at or above state-average improvement in the second year and are still open?
- Did an authorizer's schools meet or beat the improvement of the traditional public school where the majority of students come from?
The group then assigned scores to that data and grades according to the overall score.
Charter authorizers without schools open for at least three years were not included. The study also did not include strict discipline academies or schools in a transition mode in the overall grades for each authorizer. Based on this criteria, Ed Trust's report covers 16 of Michigan's 40 authorizers, including 96% of the students in Michigan's charter schools.
Grade: A
Washtenaw Community College
Schools measured: 1
Total schools: 1
Washtenaw ISD
Schools measured: 1
Total schools: 1
Grand Rapids Public Schools
Schools measured: 1
Total schools: 1
Wayne RESA
Schools measured: 2*
Total schools: 7
Hillsdale ISD
Schools measured: 2
Total schools: 2
Macomb ISD
Schools measured: 1
Total schools: 1
Grade: B
Lake Superior State University
Schools measured: 7*
Total schools: 30
Ferris State University
Schools measured: 16*
Total schools: 30
Grand Valley State University
Schools measured: 36*
Total schools: 63
Bay Mills Community College
Schools measured: 33*
Total schools: 48
Grade: C
Central Michigan University
Schools measured: 50*
Total schools: 73
Grade: D
Oakland University
Schools measured: 8*
Total schools: 10
Detroit Public Schools
Schools measured: 4*
Total schools: 14
Saginaw Valley State University
Schools measured: 20*
Total schools: 34
Grade: F
Eastern Michigan University
Schools measured: 9*
Total schools: 12
Northern Michigan University
Schools measured: 7*
Total schools: 10
*In many cases, the number of schools measured do not match the number of schools in the authorizer's portfolio. This is because the only schools measured were those that had three years of academic data.
19 February 2015
DON’T BLOCK TEACHERS FROM RIGHT TO WORK
Original Story: detroitnews.com
A group of Taylor teachers prevailed in their challenge of a 10-year security agreement that prevented them from exercising their right-to-work freedoms. The Michigan Employment Relations Commission made the call and got it right. A Boston employment lawyer is following this story closely.
The Taylor teachers union was not the only labor group that tried to skirt right to work before the law went into effect in March 2013. But it did stand out for crafting one of the longer contracts.
At least 145 school districts, including some of Michigan’s largest, passed contracts that extended years into the future, delaying the full impact of the law aimed at giving workers a choice on union membership. A Detroit labor lawyer provides professional legal counsel and extensive experience in many aspects of labor and employment law.
The labor commission ruled last week that the Taylor Federation of Teachers and the Taylor School District had committed an unfair labor practice when they signed off on the decade-long security agreement. Under the pact, teachers could not opt out of the union until it expired.
In the Taylor case, the labor commission stated, “Imposing a lengthy financial burden on bargaining unit members, to avoid the application of a state law for 10 years, is arbitrary, indifferent and reckless.”
While this ruling only applies to the Taylor teachers, it should be seen as good news for teachers in other districts locked into long contracts.
The three teachers from Taylor —Nancy Rhatigan, Rebecca Metz and Angela Steffke —sued the school district and union.
The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation represented the teachers, who claimed it was unreasonable for the security clause to extend more than five years beyond the collective bargaining agreement.
The security clause forced teachers to keep paying the union dues until 2023, and allowed the district to fire teachers for not paying.
The commission’s ruling is the latest setback for teacher unions trying to thwart the right-to-work law. A Boston employment lawyer assists clients with employment law matters.
Earlier this month, the Michigan Court of Claims dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Michigan Education Association, along with other union plaintiffs who argued the Legislature violated the state’s Open Meetings Act when it passed right to work in December 2012.
The court said the temporary closure of the Capitol building, which the unions fought, was handled correctly.
And a decision last fall from an administrative law judge with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission tossed out a rule the MEA had imposed that only allowed teachers to leave the union during the month of August.
The decision only applies to teachers working under contracts approved after March 2013.
Union officials had used the August provision to bully teachers into paying dues longer than they wished.
Unions will have to look beyond blocking right to work to hold on to their members.
A group of Taylor teachers prevailed in their challenge of a 10-year security agreement that prevented them from exercising their right-to-work freedoms. The Michigan Employment Relations Commission made the call and got it right. A Boston employment lawyer is following this story closely.
The Taylor teachers union was not the only labor group that tried to skirt right to work before the law went into effect in March 2013. But it did stand out for crafting one of the longer contracts.
At least 145 school districts, including some of Michigan’s largest, passed contracts that extended years into the future, delaying the full impact of the law aimed at giving workers a choice on union membership. A Detroit labor lawyer provides professional legal counsel and extensive experience in many aspects of labor and employment law.
The labor commission ruled last week that the Taylor Federation of Teachers and the Taylor School District had committed an unfair labor practice when they signed off on the decade-long security agreement. Under the pact, teachers could not opt out of the union until it expired.
In the Taylor case, the labor commission stated, “Imposing a lengthy financial burden on bargaining unit members, to avoid the application of a state law for 10 years, is arbitrary, indifferent and reckless.”
While this ruling only applies to the Taylor teachers, it should be seen as good news for teachers in other districts locked into long contracts.
The three teachers from Taylor —Nancy Rhatigan, Rebecca Metz and Angela Steffke —sued the school district and union.
The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation represented the teachers, who claimed it was unreasonable for the security clause to extend more than five years beyond the collective bargaining agreement.
The security clause forced teachers to keep paying the union dues until 2023, and allowed the district to fire teachers for not paying.
The commission’s ruling is the latest setback for teacher unions trying to thwart the right-to-work law. A Boston employment lawyer assists clients with employment law matters.
Earlier this month, the Michigan Court of Claims dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Michigan Education Association, along with other union plaintiffs who argued the Legislature violated the state’s Open Meetings Act when it passed right to work in December 2012.
The court said the temporary closure of the Capitol building, which the unions fought, was handled correctly.
And a decision last fall from an administrative law judge with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission tossed out a rule the MEA had imposed that only allowed teachers to leave the union during the month of August.
The decision only applies to teachers working under contracts approved after March 2013.
Union officials had used the August provision to bully teachers into paying dues longer than they wished.
Unions will have to look beyond blocking right to work to hold on to their members.
DETROIT-WINDSOR BRIDGE PLAZA DEAL EXPECTED WITHIN DAYS
Original Story: detroitnews.com
Washington — U.S. and Canadian officials are expected, as early as Wednesday, to announce a deal to pay for a U.S. Customs plaza at a new bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, American and Canadian officials briefed on the plan said Tuesday.
The issue is one of the largest lingering hurdles for the $2.1 billion bridge over the Detroit River. The deal is expected to include a commitment by the Obama administration to staff and equip the plaza, which is estimated to cost between $250 million and $300 million.
The Canadian government has offered to fund construction of the bridge and be repaid for the U.S. share through toll revenue. The public-private partnership overseeing the bridge is expected to announce it will pay for construction of the customs plazas on both sides of the border and that the United States will staff, operate and maintain the customs plaza in Detroit.
It was not clear Tuesday how much the U.S. government will contribute.
The Detroit News first reported this month that an agreement was close after several months of talks. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told The News that a deal between the two countries on funding the customs plaza was close.
The publicly financed bridge is scheduled to be built two miles south of the privately financed and operated Ambassador Bridge.
Gov. Rick Snyder's spokeswoman, Sara Wurfel, didn't comment Tuesday on any deal. But she reiterated "how strongly we feel about what a critical infrastructure project this is for the state of Michigan, the city and region, our country and Canada."
"Discussions are ongoing between Canada and the United States. Transport Canada will not speculate on the outcome of the ongoing discussions," said Transport Canada spokesman Mark Butler.
In January 2004, a joint U.S.-Canada study concluded that additional border-crossing capacity was needed for reasons including increasing traffic volume, economic security and national security concerns. The State Department approved a permit for the new bridge in 2013.
Manuel "Matty" Moroun, who owns the Ambassador Bridge, has been fighting efforts by Michigan and Canada to build the bridge, insisting it will harm the Ambassador's business. In court filings, the company argued it needs to build a second span across the Detroit River to handle traffic while it repairs the Ambassador so it can compete with the publicly financed bridge.
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, said Saturday negotiations have centered on the Canadians fronting money for construction of the plaza and then be repaid by tolls.
"My focus right now has been to ensure that … when the plaza is built that it is fully staffed" with customs and border patrol agents, Peters told The Detroit News.
He expressed frustration that the Obama administration and Congress have resisted appropriating tax dollars toward building the customs plaza to be "a partner in this border crossing."
"To me, it's an embarrassment to the United States government," Peters told The News.
Washington — U.S. and Canadian officials are expected, as early as Wednesday, to announce a deal to pay for a U.S. Customs plaza at a new bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, American and Canadian officials briefed on the plan said Tuesday.
The issue is one of the largest lingering hurdles for the $2.1 billion bridge over the Detroit River. The deal is expected to include a commitment by the Obama administration to staff and equip the plaza, which is estimated to cost between $250 million and $300 million.
The Canadian government has offered to fund construction of the bridge and be repaid for the U.S. share through toll revenue. The public-private partnership overseeing the bridge is expected to announce it will pay for construction of the customs plazas on both sides of the border and that the United States will staff, operate and maintain the customs plaza in Detroit.
It was not clear Tuesday how much the U.S. government will contribute.
The Detroit News first reported this month that an agreement was close after several months of talks. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told The News that a deal between the two countries on funding the customs plaza was close.
The publicly financed bridge is scheduled to be built two miles south of the privately financed and operated Ambassador Bridge.
Gov. Rick Snyder's spokeswoman, Sara Wurfel, didn't comment Tuesday on any deal. But she reiterated "how strongly we feel about what a critical infrastructure project this is for the state of Michigan, the city and region, our country and Canada."
"Discussions are ongoing between Canada and the United States. Transport Canada will not speculate on the outcome of the ongoing discussions," said Transport Canada spokesman Mark Butler.
In January 2004, a joint U.S.-Canada study concluded that additional border-crossing capacity was needed for reasons including increasing traffic volume, economic security and national security concerns. The State Department approved a permit for the new bridge in 2013.
Manuel "Matty" Moroun, who owns the Ambassador Bridge, has been fighting efforts by Michigan and Canada to build the bridge, insisting it will harm the Ambassador's business. In court filings, the company argued it needs to build a second span across the Detroit River to handle traffic while it repairs the Ambassador so it can compete with the publicly financed bridge.
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, said Saturday negotiations have centered on the Canadians fronting money for construction of the plaza and then be repaid by tolls.
"My focus right now has been to ensure that … when the plaza is built that it is fully staffed" with customs and border patrol agents, Peters told The Detroit News.
He expressed frustration that the Obama administration and Congress have resisted appropriating tax dollars toward building the customs plaza to be "a partner in this border crossing."
"To me, it's an embarrassment to the United States government," Peters told The News.
DETROIT TRANSIT MAY TAKE CUE FROM GRAND RAPIDS
Original Story: detroitnews.com
Grand Rapids — Chris Dekorver didn't mince words when describing how perpetually late buses were here, griping that "it was like they would lose buses in a sinkhole."
Not anymore, he said. Last week, Dekorver, 59, sat on the plush, new Silver Line bus that moved quickly through stops on busy Division Avenue and was, to his delight, on time and then some.
This is exactly what officials for The Rapid, the agency in charge of transit, envisioned last August when it became the first region in Michigan to introduce on the city's main artery bus rapid transit — buses designed to travel in dedicated lanes with fewer stops and a simpler boarding process. And officials expect economic development to follow. A Grand Rapids transportation lawyer represents clients in Michigan transportation law cases.
In Metro Detroit, officials are playing catch-up to the state's second-largest city. The Regional Transit Authority has been studying bus rapid transit routes for Woodward, Gratiot and Michigan avenues and are going ask voters in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties to approve a tax increase for rapid buses in 2016.
And the Silver Line is one BRT route RTA officials plan to visit and learn from in coming months.
"This is much better," said Dekorver, of Comstock Park, who was heading to pick up parts for his vintage audio repair business. "It's much more reliable."
The $39 million BRT project, which was narrowly rejected by local voters the first time passed on the second try when coupled with system-wide bus improvements. It has been embraced by the public and businesses who say the north-south Silver Line is helping to breathe new life into a moribund Division Avenue.
"This corridor, it needed it. We've been in a slump for a long time and (BRT) showed belief in it," said Tommy Brann, the owner of Brann's Steakhouse on Division and a big proponent of the Silver Line. "As a rider, you appreciate the speed of it. The regular bus system has so many stops and is so slow."
The 9.6-mile Silver Line snakes through Grand Rapids, Wyoming and Kentwood — and makes a loop downtown around what officials call the "Medical Mile," where biotech and medical research centers are located in the city's center. The project, officials said, came in nearly $4 million under budget. A Chicago transportation lawyer assists clients with public transportation and transportation safety issues.
The BRT buses pull into stations with 15-inch-high platforms that line up to the bus door to make boarding easier.
Each station has an advanced ticket vending machine that allows for seamless boarding. In the winter, the concrete platforms are heated to melt snow and ice. Each station has seating and is covered.
The Silver Line averages 2,161 riders a week. The corridor average, which includes other bus routes, is slightly more than 4,220 a week; the goal is 5,000 by year's end, Rapid officials say.
Riders can park in a free, 250-space lot owned by The Rapid on 60th Street; the city owns another lot with fewer free spaces. There are 10 buses with eight in service at one time.
Silver Line riders pay $1.50 per ride, the same as a regular bus.
It has also begun to attract non-bus users into embracing public transportation. Employees of the Spectrum Health Medical Center ride for free as the company subsidizes their trips to encourage riding the BRT.
Lida Giacomelli of Grandville works as a radiology nurse in the medical center, and by her own admittance, wouldn't have dared take a bus. But last winter, she totaled her car in a traffic pileup. This winter, she took a ride and hasn't stopped. Her home is five miles from the free parking lot.
"I talked to some other people who had been on it, too, and they said it was really nice. Everything was brand new. It's very nice and clean. And there are some very interesting characters that ride this bus, too."
Maurice Scott of Grand Rapids wasn't so convinced. He rode the Silver Line with his wife for the first time last week and thought too much money was spent on one line.
"I thought it was a stupid idea when you have so many homeless people around," he said.
Peter Varga, the CEO of The Rapid, said that the Silver Line has helped usher in new ridership — even though some riders were siphoned from the traditional buses. "That was expected, but not many," he said.A Grand Rapids transportation lawyer is following this story closely.
Varga said the economic development is coming but will take time, possibly years. There already are discussions about some housing and retail development on important parts of the route, he informed.
"People are starting to market the certain properties in the corridor, saying it's next to BRT," Varga said.
Varga says that for the southeast Michigan's Regional Transportation Authority to be successful getting voters to support BRT in four different counties with different needs, it will need to convince voters that it will "help the overall integration of the mass transit system."
The success of the Silver Line has Rapid officials now studying BRT that would travel East-West on a so-called Laker Line.
Brann, who also serves on the Division Avenue Business Association, said the rapid transit line has "modernized the bus system" by getting tickets more efficiently and "getting on and off fast."
Conrad Venema, the project manager for the Silver Line, said when this process began more than a decade ago, there was such "an unfamiliarity of what BRT is" and that much work went into selling it.
"A public education was one of the keys so to understand that what we were trying to accomplish was not yet another woeful bus service," Venema said. "It was something that was uniquely branded and fulfilled a different role, a different experience."
Jeff Lobdell, who owns restaurants in the Grand Rapids region, including a popular Mexican establishment on Division, said the rapid transit is connecting communities. Even some of his patrons and workers at his Beltline Bar use it.
"Although buses do great things, the general consensus in the past was like, buses are for people who don't have enough money to have a car," Lobdell said. "I think it's changed the perception where the Silver Line has made people think it's a great way to get to places and be part of a community. It's making little Grand Rapids feel more like a big city."
Grand Rapids — Chris Dekorver didn't mince words when describing how perpetually late buses were here, griping that "it was like they would lose buses in a sinkhole."
Not anymore, he said. Last week, Dekorver, 59, sat on the plush, new Silver Line bus that moved quickly through stops on busy Division Avenue and was, to his delight, on time and then some.
This is exactly what officials for The Rapid, the agency in charge of transit, envisioned last August when it became the first region in Michigan to introduce on the city's main artery bus rapid transit — buses designed to travel in dedicated lanes with fewer stops and a simpler boarding process. And officials expect economic development to follow. A Grand Rapids transportation lawyer represents clients in Michigan transportation law cases.
In Metro Detroit, officials are playing catch-up to the state's second-largest city. The Regional Transit Authority has been studying bus rapid transit routes for Woodward, Gratiot and Michigan avenues and are going ask voters in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties to approve a tax increase for rapid buses in 2016.
And the Silver Line is one BRT route RTA officials plan to visit and learn from in coming months.
"This is much better," said Dekorver, of Comstock Park, who was heading to pick up parts for his vintage audio repair business. "It's much more reliable."
The $39 million BRT project, which was narrowly rejected by local voters the first time passed on the second try when coupled with system-wide bus improvements. It has been embraced by the public and businesses who say the north-south Silver Line is helping to breathe new life into a moribund Division Avenue.
"This corridor, it needed it. We've been in a slump for a long time and (BRT) showed belief in it," said Tommy Brann, the owner of Brann's Steakhouse on Division and a big proponent of the Silver Line. "As a rider, you appreciate the speed of it. The regular bus system has so many stops and is so slow."
The 9.6-mile Silver Line snakes through Grand Rapids, Wyoming and Kentwood — and makes a loop downtown around what officials call the "Medical Mile," where biotech and medical research centers are located in the city's center. The project, officials said, came in nearly $4 million under budget. A Chicago transportation lawyer assists clients with public transportation and transportation safety issues.
The BRT buses pull into stations with 15-inch-high platforms that line up to the bus door to make boarding easier.
Each station has an advanced ticket vending machine that allows for seamless boarding. In the winter, the concrete platforms are heated to melt snow and ice. Each station has seating and is covered.
The Silver Line averages 2,161 riders a week. The corridor average, which includes other bus routes, is slightly more than 4,220 a week; the goal is 5,000 by year's end, Rapid officials say.
Riders can park in a free, 250-space lot owned by The Rapid on 60th Street; the city owns another lot with fewer free spaces. There are 10 buses with eight in service at one time.
Silver Line riders pay $1.50 per ride, the same as a regular bus.
It has also begun to attract non-bus users into embracing public transportation. Employees of the Spectrum Health Medical Center ride for free as the company subsidizes their trips to encourage riding the BRT.
Lida Giacomelli of Grandville works as a radiology nurse in the medical center, and by her own admittance, wouldn't have dared take a bus. But last winter, she totaled her car in a traffic pileup. This winter, she took a ride and hasn't stopped. Her home is five miles from the free parking lot.
"I talked to some other people who had been on it, too, and they said it was really nice. Everything was brand new. It's very nice and clean. And there are some very interesting characters that ride this bus, too."
Maurice Scott of Grand Rapids wasn't so convinced. He rode the Silver Line with his wife for the first time last week and thought too much money was spent on one line.
"I thought it was a stupid idea when you have so many homeless people around," he said.
Peter Varga, the CEO of The Rapid, said that the Silver Line has helped usher in new ridership — even though some riders were siphoned from the traditional buses. "That was expected, but not many," he said.A Grand Rapids transportation lawyer is following this story closely.
Varga said the economic development is coming but will take time, possibly years. There already are discussions about some housing and retail development on important parts of the route, he informed.
"People are starting to market the certain properties in the corridor, saying it's next to BRT," Varga said.
Varga says that for the southeast Michigan's Regional Transportation Authority to be successful getting voters to support BRT in four different counties with different needs, it will need to convince voters that it will "help the overall integration of the mass transit system."
The success of the Silver Line has Rapid officials now studying BRT that would travel East-West on a so-called Laker Line.
Brann, who also serves on the Division Avenue Business Association, said the rapid transit line has "modernized the bus system" by getting tickets more efficiently and "getting on and off fast."
Conrad Venema, the project manager for the Silver Line, said when this process began more than a decade ago, there was such "an unfamiliarity of what BRT is" and that much work went into selling it.
"A public education was one of the keys so to understand that what we were trying to accomplish was not yet another woeful bus service," Venema said. "It was something that was uniquely branded and fulfilled a different role, a different experience."
Jeff Lobdell, who owns restaurants in the Grand Rapids region, including a popular Mexican establishment on Division, said the rapid transit is connecting communities. Even some of his patrons and workers at his Beltline Bar use it.
"Although buses do great things, the general consensus in the past was like, buses are for people who don't have enough money to have a car," Lobdell said. "I think it's changed the perception where the Silver Line has made people think it's a great way to get to places and be part of a community. It's making little Grand Rapids feel more like a big city."
PANEL: RADIOACTIVE FRACKING WASTE-DUMPING IS SAFE
Original Story: freep.com
Disposal of low-level radioactive fracking waste does not harm Michigan's environment under current rules, a panel appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder determined, and a Van Buren Township landfill could even handle higher radioactivity levels without risk.
Those are among the findings in a report issued Friday by a panel appointed by Snyder. The group of regulators, academics, environmentalists and representatives of the oil and gas, medical and landfill industries was convened after public outcry following Free Press reports last summer on the Wayne Disposal landfill importing radioactive fracking waste from other states.
USEcology, owner of the Wayne Disposal facility between I-94 and Willow Run Airport in Van Buren Township, voluntarily suspended accepting low-activity radioactive waste while the panel convened. A spokesman said Friday the landfilling of the waste, called technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive material or TENORM, would now resume.
"Southeast Michigan is the new ground zero for radioactive frack waste now that the state panel is done with its secret meetings," said LuAnne Kozma, a campaign director with the nonprofit Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan.
TENORM involves materials whose low, naturally occurring radiation levels are increased through human activities that concentrate them. The controversial oil and gas drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a major generator of it.
A Free Press report last August highlighted Wayne Disposal's plans to accept up to 36 tons of radioactive fracking sludge from a Pennsylvania oil and gas drilling company — after it had been turned away by landfills in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Wayne Disposal on its website advertises its ability as one of few landfills in the U.S. capable of accepting TENORM waste.
"With the panel's affirmation of the current disposal limits, we plan to resume normal business operations which may entail disposal of TENORM from a variety of sources, possibly including oil and gas fracking activities," USEcology spokesman David Crumrine said Friday.
He added that the panel found licensed hazardous waste facilities like Wayne Disposal are "especially well equipped to dispose of TENORM," with their special liners and enhanced monitoring.
"I'm shocked and appalled," said Justin Juriga, a Van Buren Township resident who lives less than a mile from the landfill.
"There are higher forces at work here, political higher forces."
Ken Yale, chief of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's radiological protection section, said the panel, over the course of multiple meetings, determined the state's radiation limit of 50 picocuries per gram, established in 1996, remains an acceptable level.
There is no federal standard for radiation levels related to TENORM and its disposal. The North Dakota Department of Health -- a state where oil and gas drilling is particularly intense -- commissioned a study on TENORM landfilling risks from the Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy research laboratory at the University of Chicago. The study, released last month, found drill pad workers, those transporting TENORM and the general public all face exposure risks far below the federal and international standard for maximum radioactive doses. But to minimize the exposure risk to landfill workers, the laboratory recommended a number of steps, including restricting annual TENORM volumes at landfills to 25,000 tons per year and the radioactivity levels of the waste to no more than 50 picocuries per gram.
Yale said the findings of the North Dakota study influenced the Michigan panel's recommendations.
Wayne Disposal had requested the DEQ allow it a tenfold increase in allowed radioactivity, up to 500 picocuries per gram, last year, but withdrew the request last October. Yale said the panel's report found "because of the extra controls that are in place at a Type I landfill, the DEQ could consider evaluating that for possibly having a higher level," but no plans are imminent.
Wayne Disposal takes materials at higher radiological levels after an adjacent USEcology facility, Michigan Disposal, mixes them with inert substances to reduce radioactivity to an acceptably low level for the landfill.
The panel recommends that all landfills accepting TENORM restrict its placement to at least 10 feet below the bottom of a landfill cap, and said DEQ Director Dan Wyant should consider requiring landfills to restrict the total volume of TENORM waste placed annually, to limit worker exposure. Radium-226, commonly found in TENORM, decays to radon 222, a potential carcinogen through inhalation.
"You could get into an issue, and you have to look at worker safety," Yale said. "Their exposure may be above what would be allowed for the public, and that would mean you either put them in the classification of radiation workers, which includes a number of requirements for their protection, or you limit the volume that is being brought in to the landfills."
DEQ officials will review the comments and reconvene the governor's panel if necessary to address any issues they raise, Yale said.
Juriga said the panel's findings, and the landfill's expanding activity disposing of radioactive fracking waste, leave few good choices.
"As a community, do we band together, pool our resources and look at some legal recourse? Is that a thoughtful option? Or do I just move away from the township I grew up in, the community I love and adore, the watershed I've been a part of and tried to protect my whole life? This is what I have to weigh."
Disposal of low-level radioactive fracking waste does not harm Michigan's environment under current rules, a panel appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder determined, and a Van Buren Township landfill could even handle higher radioactivity levels without risk.
Those are among the findings in a report issued Friday by a panel appointed by Snyder. The group of regulators, academics, environmentalists and representatives of the oil and gas, medical and landfill industries was convened after public outcry following Free Press reports last summer on the Wayne Disposal landfill importing radioactive fracking waste from other states.
USEcology, owner of the Wayne Disposal facility between I-94 and Willow Run Airport in Van Buren Township, voluntarily suspended accepting low-activity radioactive waste while the panel convened. A spokesman said Friday the landfilling of the waste, called technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive material or TENORM, would now resume.
"Southeast Michigan is the new ground zero for radioactive frack waste now that the state panel is done with its secret meetings," said LuAnne Kozma, a campaign director with the nonprofit Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan.
TENORM involves materials whose low, naturally occurring radiation levels are increased through human activities that concentrate them. The controversial oil and gas drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a major generator of it.
A Free Press report last August highlighted Wayne Disposal's plans to accept up to 36 tons of radioactive fracking sludge from a Pennsylvania oil and gas drilling company — after it had been turned away by landfills in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Wayne Disposal on its website advertises its ability as one of few landfills in the U.S. capable of accepting TENORM waste.
"With the panel's affirmation of the current disposal limits, we plan to resume normal business operations which may entail disposal of TENORM from a variety of sources, possibly including oil and gas fracking activities," USEcology spokesman David Crumrine said Friday.
He added that the panel found licensed hazardous waste facilities like Wayne Disposal are "especially well equipped to dispose of TENORM," with their special liners and enhanced monitoring.
"I'm shocked and appalled," said Justin Juriga, a Van Buren Township resident who lives less than a mile from the landfill.
"There are higher forces at work here, political higher forces."
Ken Yale, chief of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's radiological protection section, said the panel, over the course of multiple meetings, determined the state's radiation limit of 50 picocuries per gram, established in 1996, remains an acceptable level.
There is no federal standard for radiation levels related to TENORM and its disposal. The North Dakota Department of Health -- a state where oil and gas drilling is particularly intense -- commissioned a study on TENORM landfilling risks from the Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy research laboratory at the University of Chicago. The study, released last month, found drill pad workers, those transporting TENORM and the general public all face exposure risks far below the federal and international standard for maximum radioactive doses. But to minimize the exposure risk to landfill workers, the laboratory recommended a number of steps, including restricting annual TENORM volumes at landfills to 25,000 tons per year and the radioactivity levels of the waste to no more than 50 picocuries per gram.
Yale said the findings of the North Dakota study influenced the Michigan panel's recommendations.
Wayne Disposal had requested the DEQ allow it a tenfold increase in allowed radioactivity, up to 500 picocuries per gram, last year, but withdrew the request last October. Yale said the panel's report found "because of the extra controls that are in place at a Type I landfill, the DEQ could consider evaluating that for possibly having a higher level," but no plans are imminent.
Wayne Disposal takes materials at higher radiological levels after an adjacent USEcology facility, Michigan Disposal, mixes them with inert substances to reduce radioactivity to an acceptably low level for the landfill.
The panel recommends that all landfills accepting TENORM restrict its placement to at least 10 feet below the bottom of a landfill cap, and said DEQ Director Dan Wyant should consider requiring landfills to restrict the total volume of TENORM waste placed annually, to limit worker exposure. Radium-226, commonly found in TENORM, decays to radon 222, a potential carcinogen through inhalation.
"You could get into an issue, and you have to look at worker safety," Yale said. "Their exposure may be above what would be allowed for the public, and that would mean you either put them in the classification of radiation workers, which includes a number of requirements for their protection, or you limit the volume that is being brought in to the landfills."
DEQ officials will review the comments and reconvene the governor's panel if necessary to address any issues they raise, Yale said.
Juriga said the panel's findings, and the landfill's expanding activity disposing of radioactive fracking waste, leave few good choices.
"As a community, do we band together, pool our resources and look at some legal recourse? Is that a thoughtful option? Or do I just move away from the township I grew up in, the community I love and adore, the watershed I've been a part of and tried to protect my whole life? This is what I have to weigh."
18 February 2015
SENATORS WANT LAW TO PROTECT VEHICLES FROM HACKING
Original Story: detroitnews.com
Two senators unveiled legislation Wednesday to force the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to set rules protecting driver security and privacy.
Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., proposed the bill after Markey released a report Sunday that raised concerns about vehicles being hacked.
Markey’s report said millions of cars and trucks are vulnerable to hacking through wireless technologies that could jeopardize driver safety and privacy. A Detroit automotive lawyer is following this story closely.
As vehicles grow increasingly connected through wireless networks and become more dependent on sophisticated electronic systems, Congress and federal regulators are worried about the potential for hackers to interfere with vehicle functions. The report says vehicles are vulnerable to hacking through wireless networks, smartphones, infotainment systems like OnStar — even a malicious CD popped into a car stereo.
“We need the electronic equivalent of seat belts and airbags to keep drivers and their information safe in the 21st century,” Markey said. “There are currently no rules of the road for how to protect driver and passenger data, and most customers don’t even know that their information is being collected and sent to third parties. An Atlanta data privacy lawyer assists clients with privacy, data protection, information security, and consumer protection issues. These new requirements will include a set of minimum standards to protect driver security and privacy in every new vehicle. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to advance this important consumer protection legislation.”
Blumenthal said automakers need to do more.
“Connected cars represent tremendous social and economic promise, but in the rush to roll out the next big thing automakers have left the doors unlocked to would-be cybercriminals,” Blumenthal said. “This common-sense legislation would ensure that drivers can trust the convenience of wireless technology, without having to fear incursions on their safety or privacy by hackers and criminals.”
The bill would require that all wireless access points in the car are protected against hacking attacks, evaluated using penetration testing; all collected information is appropriately secured and encrypted to prevent unwanted access; and that automakers or third-party feature provider be able to detect, report and respond to real-time hacking events.
The legislation will also call for new cars to be evaluated by a rating system — a “cyber dashboard” — to inform consumers “about how well the vehicle protects drivers beyond those minimum standards. This information will be displayed on the label of all new vehicles — just as fuel economy is today.”
Its release comes after CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday aired a segment showing how vehicles can be subjects of remote hacking. Just last month, BMW AG said it had fixed a security flaw that could have allowed up to 2.2 million vehicles to have their doors remotely opened by hackers.
One automaker told Markey that some owners have attempted to reprogram the vehicle’s onboard computer to increase the horsepower of vehicles or torque through the use of “performance chips.”
In November, two major auto trade associations representing nearly all automakers unveiled a set of principles to protect driver privacy and security. A Detroit automotive lawyer assists automotive clients with technological developments and restructuring the industry.
Wade Newton, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers — the trade group representing Detroit’s Big Three automakers, Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and others — said he had not seen the report.
But he said automakers believe strong consumer data privacy protections and strong vehicle security are essential.
“Auto engineers incorporate security solutions into vehicles from the very first stages of design and production — and security testing never stops.
“The industry is in the early stages of establishing a voluntary automobile industry sector information sharing and analysis center — or other comparable program — for collecting and sharing information about existing or potential cyber-related threats.”
Automakers noted that the Society of Automotive Engineers has created a Vehicle Electrical System Security Committee to draft standards that help ensure electronic control system safety.
NHTSA spokesman Gordon Trowbridge said Sunday the agency is “engaged in an intensive effort to determine potential security vulnerabilities related to new technologies and will work to ensure that manufacturers cooperate and address issues in order to keep motorists safe.”
Two senators unveiled legislation Wednesday to force the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to set rules protecting driver security and privacy.
Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., proposed the bill after Markey released a report Sunday that raised concerns about vehicles being hacked.
Markey’s report said millions of cars and trucks are vulnerable to hacking through wireless technologies that could jeopardize driver safety and privacy. A Detroit automotive lawyer is following this story closely.
As vehicles grow increasingly connected through wireless networks and become more dependent on sophisticated electronic systems, Congress and federal regulators are worried about the potential for hackers to interfere with vehicle functions. The report says vehicles are vulnerable to hacking through wireless networks, smartphones, infotainment systems like OnStar — even a malicious CD popped into a car stereo.
“We need the electronic equivalent of seat belts and airbags to keep drivers and their information safe in the 21st century,” Markey said. “There are currently no rules of the road for how to protect driver and passenger data, and most customers don’t even know that their information is being collected and sent to third parties. An Atlanta data privacy lawyer assists clients with privacy, data protection, information security, and consumer protection issues. These new requirements will include a set of minimum standards to protect driver security and privacy in every new vehicle. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to advance this important consumer protection legislation.”
Blumenthal said automakers need to do more.
“Connected cars represent tremendous social and economic promise, but in the rush to roll out the next big thing automakers have left the doors unlocked to would-be cybercriminals,” Blumenthal said. “This common-sense legislation would ensure that drivers can trust the convenience of wireless technology, without having to fear incursions on their safety or privacy by hackers and criminals.”
The bill would require that all wireless access points in the car are protected against hacking attacks, evaluated using penetration testing; all collected information is appropriately secured and encrypted to prevent unwanted access; and that automakers or third-party feature provider be able to detect, report and respond to real-time hacking events.
The legislation will also call for new cars to be evaluated by a rating system — a “cyber dashboard” — to inform consumers “about how well the vehicle protects drivers beyond those minimum standards. This information will be displayed on the label of all new vehicles — just as fuel economy is today.”
Its release comes after CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday aired a segment showing how vehicles can be subjects of remote hacking. Just last month, BMW AG said it had fixed a security flaw that could have allowed up to 2.2 million vehicles to have their doors remotely opened by hackers.
One automaker told Markey that some owners have attempted to reprogram the vehicle’s onboard computer to increase the horsepower of vehicles or torque through the use of “performance chips.”
In November, two major auto trade associations representing nearly all automakers unveiled a set of principles to protect driver privacy and security. A Detroit automotive lawyer assists automotive clients with technological developments and restructuring the industry.
Wade Newton, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers — the trade group representing Detroit’s Big Three automakers, Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and others — said he had not seen the report.
But he said automakers believe strong consumer data privacy protections and strong vehicle security are essential.
“Auto engineers incorporate security solutions into vehicles from the very first stages of design and production — and security testing never stops.
“The industry is in the early stages of establishing a voluntary automobile industry sector information sharing and analysis center — or other comparable program — for collecting and sharing information about existing or potential cyber-related threats.”
Automakers noted that the Society of Automotive Engineers has created a Vehicle Electrical System Security Committee to draft standards that help ensure electronic control system safety.
NHTSA spokesman Gordon Trowbridge said Sunday the agency is “engaged in an intensive effort to determine potential security vulnerabilities related to new technologies and will work to ensure that manufacturers cooperate and address issues in order to keep motorists safe.”
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