Content about Security
FORT MEADE, Md. — A military judge refused on Thursday to dismiss the most serious charge against an Army private accused in the biggest leak of government secrets in U.S. history.
Col. Denise Lind rejected a defense motion to throw out the charge of “aiding the enemy” during a pretrial hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. It was one of several motions seeking to dismiss some or all of the charges, but Lind left all 22 counts against Manning in place.
The Austin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in Building B of the Jesse H. Jones Communication Center Thursday evening after smoke was reported from the building.
The alarm was set off after the motor of an elevator caught on fire, said UT Police Department Sgt. Wayne Coffey. No injuries were reported and the building was cleared within the hour.
“There was more smoke than fire,” he said.
Academi, the private military company formerly known as Blackwater USA that was contracted to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, has acquired a new director with close ties to UT.
The Austin/Travis County Hate Crimes Task Force is trying to instill a new message in the community: respect is not a passive mind-set.
LONDON — Every email to your child. Every status update for your friends. Every message to your mistress. The U.K. government is preparing proposals for a nationwide electronic surveillance network that could potentially keep track of every message sent by any Brit to anyone at any time, an industry official briefed on the government’s moves said Sunday.
The Austin Police Department plans to place two new security cameras downtown, increasing the number of cameras in the area to 29, said Lt. Patrick Cochran.
The two cameras will be placed on Fourth Street near the road’s intersection with Sabine Street and Trinity Street, Cochran said. APD officials have been monitoring the cameras since they were first put up in September and all gathered film is stored.
SAN ANTONIO — Private intelligence firm Stratfor was paid by Coca-Cola to gauge the threat of Olympic protesters, provided Dow Chemical information on environmental activists, and sells what clients and subscribers consider the best geopolitical analysis that money can buy.
Now the Texas-based think tank is the latest target of WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange, who says his anti-secrecy group has more than 5 million of Stratfor’s emails and is promising to release damaging material in the coming weeks.
PARIS — Interpol said Tuesday that 25 suspected members of the loose-knit Anonymous hacker movement have been arrested in a sweep across Europe and South America.
The international police agency said in a statement that the arrests in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain were carried out by national law enforcement officers working under the support of Interpol’s Latin American Working Group of Experts on Information Technology Crime.
The distinction between the established press and new media continues to create differences of opinion on the protection sanctioned by the First Amendment regarding organizations like WikiLeaks.
Austin 3-1-1 received a false alarm reporting a general, non-descript threat to KLRU studios in the CMB at 7:20 last night.
Austin Police Department officials visited the scene along with UT police and state troopers. Many students and UT staff, including The Daily Texan, evacuated the communications complex before police called an all-cleared at 10:05 p.m.
“There was a voluntary evacuation, and we brought in a canine to search the building,” said Darrell Birdett, spokesman for UTPD.
Rochelle Rae is an artist of many mediums. With a degree in fine arts and experience as a painter and graphic designer, she ventured into a new world of art when she launched her Austin business Rae Cosmetics in August of 2006.
After meeting a friend who worked as a makeup artist, Rae’s interest in cosmetics ultimately led her to the prestigious Make-up Designory in Hollywood. There, Rae swapped her paintbrushes for makeup brushes and embraced a new canvas: a human one.
Despite concerns over Mexico’s drug war and increased border security, many people with family and friends across the border still choose to make trips between the U.S. and Mexico, said a UT student with family in Mexico.
Claims of homophobic bouncers at the downtown Austin bar Barbarella appear to be only a personal vendetta, Barbarella General Manager Harvey Graham said.
The claim stems from an incident in the early morning of Dec. 30 during Barbarella’s weekly “TuezGayz” night when Michael Grammar, a gay man, was asked to leave for violently and drunkenly kicking cups towards customers, Barbarella bouncer Ian Archer said.
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — Police in Bellingham, Wash., say a 10-year-old boy defended his mother from an attacker by shooting him in the face with a BB rifle as many as four times.
The man accused of the attack rents a room in the woman’s home and came home drunk and angry Tuesday morning. Police say he kicked in a bedroom door and started choking the woman.
Officers say the boy hit the attacker with a board and then shot him in the face with the pump-action BB rifle as he grappled with the woman.
After successful use in other Texas locations, the Austin Police Department is installing security cameras on 6th Street in order to enhance local security and protection.
Read the full story here.
Seventeen High Activity Location Observation security cameras were installed along Sixth Street last Friday, aimed at thwarting crime and will expand to include a total of 26 cameras by next week, Austin Police Department Lt. Patrick Cochran said.
Cochran said the camera system known as HALO has already been used to identify one person involved in an assault, but hopes that the cameras will mostly be used to prevent crimes rather than record them happening.
[Corrected Oct. 16: Added "generic" before silhouette in 8th graf]
By November, the Transportation Security Agency is scheduled to install full-body scanning machines using the latest technology at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to a TSA official.
Firefighter Rex Dorado extinguishes a fire after a pile of brush caught flame on a trailer bed while the truck was in transit on IH-35 Monday evening. While the source of the fire remains unknown, firefighters quickly controlled and contained it within 30 minutes after the driver exited the highway onto Manor Road and Comal Street.
Danielle Villasana | Daily Texan Staff
Lieutenant Jon Wharton drags a fire hose uphill in the Steiner Ranch neighborhood Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters from Lake Travis Fire Rescue created a ring of mud around damaged houses to prevent potential wildfires from spreading.
Firefighter Richard Loera, left, and Lieutenant Adam Lear walk toward the cul-de-sac on Medina River Way to stabilize conditions around homes to prevent further wildfires.
The UT Police Department is adjusting its practices after a September on-campus shooting, according to a new report.
A state building downtown was under lockdown this morning while the Department of Public Safety and the Austin Police Bomb Squad assessed the area for threats after a state trooper arrested a man who had a homemade gun silencer in his car.
The state trooper saw the silencer inside of a car parked on the top floor of the parking garage attached to the William P. Clements State Office Building at 15th Street and Lavaca. Ricky Lankford, 33, approached the trooper and identified himself as the owner of the car, according to DPS spokesperson Lisa Block.
Every documentary has a thesis, a point which they are trying to make. But ironically for Andrew Rossi’s “Page One: A Year Inside The New York Times,” there isn’t a nut graph to sum up the story. It’s a fascinating film, filled with compelling people and situations, but it lacks anything resembling a narrative, electing instead to bounce around while celebrating the importance of The New York Times.
The UT System Board of Regents will now require all student employees at UT to go through a criminal background check, according to an email sent to the Human Resources Department last week.
The departments that hire student employees will cover the cost of background checks, University Operations spokeswoman Cynthia Posey said.
UT has between 7,000 and 10,000 student employees, and the process will cost $4 for every person who has not gone through a criminal background check, she said.
