September 11th attacks

Aug. 4 (UPI) — The federal government is approving more than $100 million in federal grant money for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for wetland conservations efforts in more than a half-million acres of critical migratory bird habitats.

The U.S. Department of Interior said Monday its Migratory Bird Conservation Commission approved $102.9 million in federal funding for the wildlife service and its partners to “conserve, restore or enhance” some 548,242 acres of key wetlands and its associated upland habitats across North America for migratory birds.

In addition, more than $201 million in matching funds will be granted by Fish and Wildlife partners.

According to the department, the financial infusion for wetland preservation came as part of the 1989 North American Wetlands Conservation Act.

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement that NAWCA has “fostered partnerships and an investment in wetland conservation that yield both ecological and economic returns for local communities and a broad range of industries,” which he said includes tourism, commercial fisheries, and the forestry and agriculture industries.

Burgum, who sits as chair of the migratory bird commission, said the federal grants will “increase and maintain healthy bird populations and wetland habitat” while “supporting local economies and improving public access to recreational activities for American traditions” such as hunting, fishing and birdwatching.

Interior said NAWCA is the only federal grant program targeted for the conservation of wetland habitats for migratory bird species.

More than $7.1 billion in federal funding since 1991 has advanced the conservation of wetland habitats in all 50 states, Canada and Mexico, according to DOI.

It added that more than 7,100 partners from private landowners to state, tribal and local governments, conservation groups, sportsmen’s clubs, land trusts and corporate entities had taken part in more than 3,400 federal projects.

On Sunday, a noted Marine biologist and conservationist said on social media that U.S. wetlands “are disappearing at a staggering rate” and pointed out that its restoration “can take centuries” to fix.

“This hits your safety, your health, your wallet — your future,” Dr. Tom Montgomery posted on X.

Montgomery noted that among 170 nations represented at the recent global summit on the wetland crisis in Zimbabwe that there were “two empty seats labeled ‘USA,'” he wrote.

A 2023 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court significantly curtailed the regulatory power of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate and protect water in wetlands under the Clean Water Act of 1972.

Yet DOI officials say the commission has aided in the conservation of “much of” America’s “most important” waterfowl habitats, saying the NAWCA legislation signed by then-President George H.W. Bush is one of the “most effective tools” the federal government has at its disposal for migratory bird conservation.

“NAWCA funding supports projects that enhance or establish areas for hunting and birdwatching, uplifting local economies and improving public access to recreational activities for future generations,” stated Justin “J” Shirley, principal deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Similar efforts by the prior Biden administration at wetland preservation included over $46 million last year in September to restore some 91,425 acres of wetland habitat in 17 states for waterfowl, shorebirds and other species. It came with nearly $100 million in partner matching funds.

In 2023 the year before a total of $50.9 million in NAWCA grants was matched by over $73 million in private partner grants.

Aug. 1 (UPI) — U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Friday that the Federal Railroad Administration will cancel two grants totaling more than $26 million for the Baltimore-Washington maglev project.

The department’s press release about the Superconducting Magnetic Levitation Project said it has seen “nearly a decade of poor planning, significant community opposition, tremendous cost overruns, and nothing to show for it.”

The release called the project a “boondoggle.”

As part of its analysis, the FRA also determined the project would result in “significant, unresolvable impacts to federal agencies and federal property, including national security agencies,” the release said.

“We want big, beautiful projects worthy of taxpayer dollars — including high-speed rail. This project lacked everything needed to be a success from planning to execution. This project did not have the means to go the distance, and I can’t in good conscience keep taxpayers on the hook for it,” Duffy said in a statement. “We’ll continue to look for exciting opportunities to fund the future of transportation and encourage innovation.”

The Northeast Maglev would eventually connect Washington, D.C., and New York City. The train would be able travel at speeds of more than 300 mph to make the trip one hour long.

Maglev is a system of rail transport whose rolling stock is levitated by electromagnets rather than rolled on wheels, eliminating rolling resistance.

Compared with conventional railways, maglev trains have higher top speeds, superior acceleration and deceleration, lower maintenance costs, improved gradient handling, and lower noise. But they are more expensive to build, cannot use existing infrastructure, and use more energy at high speeds.

Indirect effects of this project also would impair critical infrastructure and ongoing agency missions, the release said. Government agencies harmed by this project would have included: the National Security Agency, U.S. Department of Defense and Fort George G. Meade, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S Department of Agriculture, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Department of Interior — Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of Labor.

In 2015, the federal government gave Maryland a grant of $27.8 million to study a high-speed maglev train line that could connect Baltimore and Washington, D.C., in 15 minutes. Duffy is now canceling that grant. The funding for such a grant was authorized in 2005, when Congress set aside $90 million for maglev projects.

In 2021, China unveiled a maglev train that it said can travel 373 mph. In July 2020, the government said it planned to build a network with as many as nine maglev lines that include 620 miles of track.

May 30 (UPI) — Bernard Kerik, New York City’s police commissioner on Sept.11, 2001, died Thursday at the age of 69.

Kerik was hailed as a hero for his response to the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, but fell from grace after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges and tax crimes in the years that followed.

F.B.I director Kash Patel said in a statement on social media Thursday night that Kerik had died “after a private battle with illness.”

“With over forty years of service in law enforcement and national security, he dedicated his life to protecting the American people,” Patel wrote.

Kerik rose to prominence as former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani‘s bodyguard during Giuliani’s 1993 mayoral campaign. He worked his way through the ranks of the police department as a street cop and narcotics officer in some of the city’s busiest and most heavily trafficked areas, including Times Square, before being promoted to corrections commissioner where he took on the abuse of sick time by fellow officers and worked to reduce violence among prison inmates.

Kerik’s rapid rise through the ranks prompted criticism among many, who were quick to point out that he did not have a college degree or the necessary experience to carry out the duties of a high-ranking bureaucrat in the nation’s largest and most closely scrutinized police department.

Officers at Kerik’s rank were typically required to have a college degree, which he did go on to earn in 2002.

Crime declined during his tenure as police commissioner, but his critics said that was a continuation of the success that had been achieved by two of his predecessors.

Despite heavy criticism and scrutiny, Kerik received several meritorious awards, including the title of Commander of the British Empire, bestowed on him by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 2009, however, Kerik pleaded guilty to eight charges ranging from tax evasion to theft of honest services, making him the first city police commissioner to become a felon. He was sentenced to 48 months in prison.

The New York City Police Department issued a statement Thursday night saying it was in “mourning” over Kerik’s passing.

“For nearly two decades, Kerik served and protected New Yorkers in the NYPD, including helping rebuild the city in the aftermath of 9/11,” the police force said on X.

“We offer our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”

Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudolph Giuliani and a member of the Trump administration’s White House, said in a statement Thursday that “New York lost one of our greatest crime fighters this evening.”

“Bernard Kerik set the standard, turning the most dangerous Correctional systems in the world into the gold standard,” he said on X, adding that as police commissioner on Sept. 11, “Bernie led from the front.”

“Personally, I will always remember Bernie through the eyes of my seven-year-old self, as one of the toughest cops a boy could imagine.

“Rest in peace my friend; you rock; you great warrior!”