Contra Costa Herald

News Of By and For The People of Contra Costa County, California

Grayson cryptocurrency regulation bill signed into law

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Assembly Bill 39 will establish a licensing process for crypto exchanges and provide consumers with needed protections. Senate Bill 401 will establish safeguards for crypto kiosks. 

(SACRAMENTO, CA) – On Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, Assembly Bill 39, authored by Assembly Banking and Finance Chair Timothy Grayson (D-Concord) and co-authored by Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego), Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Chair Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara), and Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine), was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. AB 39 will establish a licensing program for crypto assets within the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) to protect Californians from bad actors and foster responsible innovation. The bill represents a major victory for responsible innovators and California consumers.

AB 39’s lead author, Assemblymember Grayson, released the following statement:

“Today California is taking the necessary step to regulate a market that is volatile, risky, and, in some cases, deliberately rigged against everyday consumers. Because of today’s action, Californians can be confident that crypto businesses, like any other company in financial services, must follow reasonable rules that will protect consumers and their money. Thank you to Governor Newsom for helping ensure that our state leads in fostering responsible innovation.”

Assembly Bill 39 is a companion bill to Senate Bill 401 (Limón and Atkins), which will set a regulatory framework for crypto kiosks, a part of the crypto industry rife with fraud and abuse. Crypto kiosks are ATM-like machines that allow consumers to purchase cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. However, these machines charge exorbitant fees and are hubs of criminal activity, scams, and consumer fraud.

“With the important frameworks established by AB 39 and SB 401, California will begin the challenging task ahead of us to regulate cryptocurrency and ensure that no Californian falls prey to scams, investment related fraud, or high-fee asset withdrawal schemes,” said California Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins. “Failures in crypto markets in recent years have emphasized the need for regulatory frameworks that have the backs of consumers, and Assemblymember Grayson and Senator Limón have led the way in doing just that.”

“California is taking a step in the right direction to protect California consumers from fraud, unnecessary risk, and potentially criminal activity with the signing of SB 401 and AB 39,” said Senator Monique Limón. “I am grateful that Governor Newsom sees the benefits to establishing a clear framework that allows for innovation without harming California consumers.”

Senate Bill 401 was signed into law, along with Assembly Bill 39. 

“The Consumer Federation of California thanks Governor Newsom for signing these two important bills protecting consumers in the crypto marketplace,” said Robert Herrell, Executive Director of Consumer Confederation of California. “California now retakes its rightful position near the top of states protecting consumers in the crypto market. We also profoundly thank Assemblymember Grayson and Senators Limón and Atkins for their perseverance on these issues. Consumers will be better protected in crypto thanks to these new laws.” 

With the Governor’s signature of these measures, crypto companies and crypto kiosk operators must obtain or apply for a license by July 1, 2025, to continue doing business in California. Additional information and the text of both bills can be found here. 

 

Personal flying electric vehicle tested at Byron Airport

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Pivotal’s eVTOL “Opener” was tested at Byron Airport. Video screenshot.

The new eVTOL goes on sale in 2024

By Contra Costa County District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis

George Jetson would feel right at home if he visited Byron Airport.

That’s because in recent years, companies like Pivotal have been testing their innovative personal flying electric vehicle prototypes at Byron. (See video) Last week, Pivotal unveiled the Helix, a new eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicle in development since 2011. The Helix will be priced at $190,000 when it goes on sale in 2024.

Source: Office of Supervisor Burgis

Testing innovative technologies at Byron was our goal when I worked with the Contra Costa County Airports Division to partner with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies to make our Contra Costa County airports official unmanned aerial system test sites. Byron Airport and Buchanan Field are in perfect locations to test drones because of the open testing areas and their proximity to the various aviation companies headquartered in the Bay Area (Pivotal is based in Palo Alto). Learn more about our Bay Area Test Site, a.k.a. “Drone Town USA” on the Contra Costa County Airports website or by watching the video.

Having groundbreaking testing facilities in Contra Costa County is just the first step. In the medium and long term, we’re working to have the vehicles of the future developed and even manufactured locally. In the meantime, I’m proud to have products tested in District III ready for sale to aviators everywhere.

Social media experts warn parents of horrifying content from Hamas following terrorist attacks in Israel

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CEO of the Organization for Social Media Safety says Hamas has put your kids at great risk online, parents should lock down or take away kids’ devices  

By Bridget Sharkey, Prime Media Management via prnewswire.com

Social media has long been used as a weapon by terrorist groups like Al Qaeda. Now Hamas is using the power of the Internet to terrify, confuse, and demean its victims.

“Hamas is planting videos on sites like X that show gory and horrific acts of violence, including mass murders and defiled corpses,” said social media safety expert Marc Berkman, CEO of the Organization for Social Media Safety (OFSMS).

According to their website, the organization “is a nonprofit, consumer protection organization focused exclusively on social media. We protect against all social media-related dangers through a comprehensive approach that includes education, advocacy, and technology development. We are available to provide expertise for your story on social media-related dangers.”

Berkman says that these videos have millions of views, despite only being recently uploaded.

“Terrorist groups often use social media platforms to disseminate hate and extreme violence,” he continued. “Parents around the country are receiving alerts from schools and elected officials over concerns that terrorists plan to disseminate distressing videos, including of hostages, through social media. These officials urge parents to delete TikTok and Instagram from their children’s devices as a protective measure.”

Berkman and the OFSMS concur, saying now is a good time to make your kids log off. He also agrees that major social media platforms, including X, Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, and Discord, may be used as weapons of war, spreading graphic violence and hateful messaging.

“This is not a concern limited to TikTok and Instagram,” said the social media expert. “Many platforms already contain graphic, violent videos produced by terrorists. In the past, we have also seen videos of extreme violence shared through social media messaging-based platforms like Snapchat.”

The Organization for Social Media Safety urges all social media platforms to block or immediately remove any content disseminated directly by a terrorist organization. Berkman and the OFSMS share the following tips for parents:

  • Consider pausing children’s social media access to protect their mental health and well-being.
  • Talk with your children about what to do if they come across violent content (We strongly recommend teaching your child about blocking and reporting.)
  • Consider third-party safety software, like our endorsed choice, Bark, that can alert you if dangerous content, like extreme violence, is shared on your child’s social media account.

“We all have a responsibility to protect our community from the dangers of social media,” Berkman concludes. “Report and block! Don’t keep scrolling.”

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

Tech firm relocates to Antioch completes $1 million CA Digital Innovation Challenge global competition

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Dalet Access Labs is going into the most underserved areas and building “infrastructure grid of the future” from the bottom up

By Allen D. Payton

A locally minority-owned tech firm in Antioch, CA was the only company to complete the requirements of the $1 Million Dollar State of California Innovation Challenge by deploying a system in Fairhaven, CA near Eureka in Humboldt County. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced the global competition in early 2021, to award “up to $1 million to the boldest, most revolutionary proposals to eliminate the digital divide and expand high-speed internet access to all Californians.” After they entered the competition in August 2021, Dalet Access Labs was assigned that community by the California Department of Education (CDE) to deploy their innovative network fabric

The CDE estimates that nearly a half-million students still lack either a device to attend school online, network access to their classroom, or both.

The rules of the challenge stipulated that competitors had to test their innovation with students experiencing a lack of connectivity either due to barriers of affordability or infrastructure. The solution had to be at a cost of no more than $15/month per household, include 100 megabits synchronous upload and download speed with no data caps, and have fully deployable implementation within a year.

The competition was the result of a partnership with Genentech and the Genentech Foundation, General Motors and Dr. Gary K. Michelson, Founder and Co-Chair of Michelson Philanthropies and the Michelson 20MM Foundation – and Dalet Access Labs was in it to win it.

On July 1, of 2022 the company successfully deployed broadband connectivity services to the Fairhaven community with upload and download speeds that exceeded the competition requirements. It was tested with students who came to visit the site and learn as part of the Technology Exploration Summer Institute (TESI) program sponsored by Humboldt County Office of Education (HCOE).

In October of 2022, HCOE sponsored a ribbon cutting ceremony to showcase the success of the broadband deployment in the Fairhaven community by inviting the leadership from CDE and other government officials to come tour the site with hopes of a winner being declared at this event.

Fairhaven Fire station is where Dalet has their lab, Ariel view of Fairhaven community leveraging data from vexceldata.com. Source: Dalet Access Labs

According to the October 6, 2022 CDE press release, they celebrated the launch of the new high-speed digital internet system in Fairhaven. The newly installed broadband network is a model in an effort to reduce rural California’s internet “digital divide,” and is a collaboration between the HCOE, the Samoa Peninsula Fire District in Samoa, CA and Dalet. The fire district’s Fairhaven fire station was chosen as the base of operations due to its proximity to all the homes in the community. “The Fairhaven model surpassed the minimum requirements for the Innovation Challenge by providing download speeds of around 100 megabits. Dalet Access Labs led the project with HCOE to create the broadband system under guidelines set forth in the CDE competition. The group worked with Cogent Communications and AT&T to launch a live fiber optic line to the Fairhaven firehouse structure and through the system’s optimized sensor-networking software, the system was enabled, providing low latency, and high-speed internet coverage to families in Fairhaven. The infrastructure for high-quality distance learning was in place as a result,” the press release reads.

Edehomon claims the actual speeds were around 700 megabits.

Although Dalet Access Labs is a small tech start-up, this is big news for them and the City of Antioch, as the opportunities for this technology are endless. According to their website, the company was “founded in 2019 and has become one of the world’s premier disruptive innovation partners that is praised by customers and vendors as we forge strategic partnerships and create new opportunities for our clients and vendors. We are known for getting stuff done. We pride ourselves on working efficiently, on time and within budget.”

“We were one of the four finalists for the high-speed broadband for the underserved,” CEO Odion “Odie” Edehomon shared. “COVID exposed the poor state of infrastructure in our country. The California Dept of Education invited companies to innovate. We were one of the 48 companies to participate. They narrowed it down to seven, then to four companies. We were the only company to deploy our intelligent network fabric.”

“We have the corporate office, here in Antioch. The lab is in Fairhaven,” he shared. Damon Owens, known in the community as the head pastor of Genesis Church on E. 18th Street is Vice President of Community Development.

Dalet spent over $700,000 to prove their solution would work. They were able to successfully deploy its innovative Network as a Service (NaaS) network platform that provides broadband connectivity services that met and exceeded all competition requirement, as was stated by the CDE representative, Chief Deputy Superintendent Mary Nicely, during the official ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by HCOE. Edehomon and Owens said they were told that Dalet was the only remaining participants who had completed the challenge, which gave them hope that they would be declared the winner of the competition and be awarded the $1 million prize.

“We knew from the beginning we were going to win,” Edehomon said with a laugh.

Asked how he said, “We are vendor-neutral. I’m from the dev-test industry. We are the equal system behind any technology development. Our knowledge of where infrastructure is going to be in 10 years, we knew we were going to build something that will transform.”

However, none of the competitors won, according to a recent San Francisco Chronicle article which reads, “a Chronicle investigation has found that state officials misled contestants about the contest, then proceeded to ignore their urgent emails and calls for months at a time. State officials said they and the prize’s funders, who later judged the competition, hoped someone, maybe at academic heavyweights like MIT or CalTech, was sitting on an invention that would provide universal, fast and very cheap internet access — within a year’s time.”

But the result was practical solutions from Edehomon’s work and a very pleased Humboldt County community.

The platform deployed by Dalet Access is a “Public Infrastructure Network Node (PINN) compliant network.  This is a model that enables the full functionality of Fourth Industrial Revolution 4.0 technology of the future like, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and drone technology through the implementation of an intelligent grid platform,” he explained.

“It is the standard for an infrastructure grid of the future,” Edehomon said. “It is software driven. It’s a single platform, whether it’s 5G or 6G, satellite or fiber. Smart cities will be plugging into it, driverless cars and buses. B2B (business to business), car to car, ultrawide band. Smart Dot, Smart Pavement, Smart Vault.”

“Autonomy Institute is taking the lead on it. They’re based in Texas,” Edehomon continued. “We’re looking at things five to ten years ahead. We’re building this intelligent transformation platform on a broadband network. Everything has to do with latency for the applications.”

Gas stations will still be there, but they will be converting to charging stations,” he stated. “Digital transformation is being brought to consumers. It’s what we call the shared economy, a heavy amount of data will be generated.”

They will use “distribution or smart nodes. The intelligence will be in the software, no longer in the hardware as it used to be,” Edehomon stated.

“They don’t build things that are available to poor people. They always develop from the top down. That’s what created the digital divide,” he continued. “We do things the other way around. We choose to go into the most underserved areas and build from the bottom up.”

Asked if the company is for profit or non-profit Edehomon said, “We are for profit. We are a Network as a Service (NaaS) provider.”

Asked who are their customers he shared “As a NaaS provider to all, our service is ubiquitous, and we are an early adopter OpenRoaming offers affordable access and connectivity to small and mid-size businesses, residential, enterprise and government customers through the platform. Just like you take your mobile phone or your laptop and can get service anywhere, but you can’t do that everywhere you go with services from most existing providers. The goal is to provide seamless connectivity to all our customers by leveraging the PINN-compliant platform. For customers the key is to provide them with seamless connectivity.”

“We are filling in the gaps,” Edehomon explained. “They sometime call it the last mile. But there’s a misconception as a minimum point of entry from the home to the business. We build from the edge to the last mile.”

“We have an infrastructure in which we are expanding the fabric into the entire city of Eureka,” he shared. “We use MmWave nodes that transform, and the optimization takes place in the software, not the hardware. You eventually get to 100 gig. The nodes are about half the size of a laptop and can be on existing infrastructure on the side of buildings, on light posts. Some of the unique advantages of the way the self-organizing nodes work, is like a flock of birds that fly in synchronized form, they operate together but as individual devices.”

“We are starting in a more rural area, but it’s designed it more for high-density areas,” Edehomon shared.

Asked how we get this application to come to Antioch he responded, “We need money, and we need the city to buy into it. We need a few fiber hubs. We actually had a meeting with the mayor, last year because we wanted to start in Antioch, first. But not everyone sees the need. We also had a meeting with Brentwood. We want to do an intelligent corridor from the Brentwood Blvd. exit all the way to Pittsburg. But they don’t see the way we see how infrastructure can work.”

“We want to bring industry to Antioch and East County, that’s the goal,” Owens added.

In spite of the outcome of the competition, the company has moved on and they are focusing their efforts in other communities.

“We already signed off on the U.S. 30 Project which is a smart corridor in Ohio. It’s similar to what we want to do with Highway 4 east,” Edehomon stated. “It includes LIDAR (laser imaging, detection, and ranging) Data and smart cameras. You must build the infrastructure to be compliant. We want to help the knowledge transfer. It takes a visionary.”

Get Off Your Apps. April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month

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By California Office of Traffic Safety

In the smartphone age, people are more connected than ever before, but also attempting to stay connected when they shouldn’t: behind the wheel. And it is not just cell phones. Distracted driving is anything that takes your eyes or mind off the road or hands off the steering wheel – especially when texting or using your phone.

Using your cell phone while driving is not only dangerous, but also illegal. In California, you cannot use a cell phone or similar electronic communication device while holding it in your hand. You can only use it in a hands-free manner, such as speaker phone or voice commands, but never while holding it. Any driver under the age of 18 is prohibited from using a cell phone for any reason.

Because engaging in distracting behaviors with a phone like dialing, talking, or texting is so dangerous (it increases the risk of getting into a crash by three times), The California Office of Traffic Safety started the “Put Your Phone Down. Just Drive” public awareness and education campaign. Like the “Silence the Distraction” campaign that started in 2015, it is intended to appeal to the smartphone culture and younger audiences – specifically those between the ages of 16 to 24. The youngest and most inexperienced drivers are most at risk when driving distracted. The campaign emphasizes that all functions of a phone can be distracting: using an app, shuffling through music or playing videos, looking at social media, maps or photos. They are all dangerous and illegal when you are driving, and the safest thing drivers can do is put down the phone and just drive.

And remember. Other serious driver distractions such as eating, grooming, reading, reaching for objects on the floor, changing clothes or talking with passengers are just as dangerous and can result in a “reckless driving” or “speed unsafe for conditions” ticket.

The “Put Your Phone Down. Just Drive.” PSA, along with tips, facts and other information about distracted driving laws and prevention, can be found at gosafelyca.org.

Additional information, programs and resources on distracted driving:

California’s Cell Phone Laws

Focus on the road, not your status. That phone call, text or email can wait. Put down the phone and just drive. Our roads are safer when they are distraction-free.

  • California has a hands-free cell phone law, which prohibits drivers from holding a phone or other electronic device while behind the wheel.
  • Drivers under the age of 18 may not use any mobile communications device at all, whether hands-free or hand-held.
  • Starting July 1, 2021, violations that occur within 36 months of a prior conviction for the same electronic device violation is subject to a point against a driver’s record.
  • If you need to make a call or send a text, pull over and park at a safe location.
  • Avoid the temptation of using the phone while driving altogether! Put the phone in the glove box, trunk, or back seat; anywhere you cannot reach.
  • Other distractions: deep conversations with passengers or fussy children in the back seat. If you find yourself in any of these situations, find a quiet, safe place to park and address the distraction!

#justdriveCA

Opinion: Tech workers brace for possible omnibus job-killer bill

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The ‘EAGLE’ Act would revise portions of the Immigration Act of 1990 allowing more foreign workers to fill U.S. tech jobs

Co-sponsored by three Members of Congress currently representing or will represent Contra Costa County – Thompson, Swalwell and Garamendi

By Joe Guzzardi, Progressives for Immigration Reform

Source: U.S. Techworkers

Like the proverbial bad penny that keeps reappearing, lousy immigration bills are hard to kill off. Consider the EAGLE Act of 2022, also known as Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment, or formally recognized as H.R. 3648. The newest proposed legislation is another iteration of the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act. Although it passed the House by a 365-65 vote, eventually it stalled in Congress.

Introduced by immigration lawyer, amnesty advocate, enforcement foe and expansionist champion Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the new and the old versions of her proposed legislation both share the same ruinous-to-U.S. tech workers’ feature: the legislation would rob thousands of U.S. tech workers of access to well-paid, white-collar, high-skilled jobs in the science, technology, engineering and math fields, STEM jobs for which they are fully qualified.

Along with her like-minded congressional allies that include Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), who was just elected as House Majority Whip for the 118th Congress and thus became the third highest ranking Republican in the House, Lofgren has scheduled a vote on the EAGLE Act, which has bipartisan support, when Congress returns from its Thanksgiving recess.

Briefly explained, the EAGLE Act would dramatically revise portions of the Immigration Act of 1990. Almost any alien who has been on the visa waiting list for at least two years with an approved petition for an employment-based green card could apply for adjustment of his status which then wouldn’t count against existing numerical caps. Stated another way, employers can sponsor a temporary foreign-born worker for an H-1B nonimmigrant visa and convert that worker to permanent by merely sponsoring him for a green card. Aliens go from temporarily present to permanent residents. With the stroke of a pen, job searches become more challenging for U.S. tech workers – Congress’ twisted idea of sound legislation.

The bill also eliminates the per-country caps for employment-based visas, which means that within about a decade Indian and Chinese nationals will receive virtually all such visas, especially the H-1B; other countries’ nationals would have an uphill climb to obtain a visa. Under current law, no countries’ nationals can comprise more than 7 percent of any visa category. This provision ensures that skilled workers from around the globe have an opportunity to come to America. The EAGLE Act, however, seeks to entirely remove all caps from employment-based visas and more than double the existing family-preference visa from 7 percent to 15 percent, a hike that would, because of family reunification, ensure significant population surges. The proposed visa cap elimination is ironic because Lofgren and the EAGLE Act’s cosponsors claim to embrace diversity, but the bill heavily favors Chinese and Indian citizens to the exclusion of most others.

Moreover, dependent children of the aliens granted the new status would be allowed to retain their legal standing, a form of amnesty, as dependents of their parents for the duration of the green card application process; they would be protected from aging out while their parents move up in the backlog. An estimated 190,000 minors would be protected.

Time was when Democrats purported to care about America’s minority workers. But their empathy toward U.S. workers is long gone, and is now redirected to foreign nationals, particularly Chinese and Indians. Blacks, Hispanics and other minorities aspire to IT jobs, too. But they’ve had little luck in obtaining those coveted STEM jobs. Pew Research found that black workers make up 9 percent of the STEM workforce, while Hispanics also comprise about 9 percent. The low STEM representation among blacks and Hispanics is largely unchanged from 2016.

For rational thinkers, few and far between in Congress, a push for liberalized immigration laws and amnesty in light of the border surge and its 2 million-plus encounters in 2022 is beyond the pale. But those sound-of-mind types don’t understand the congressional mindset; nothing stops its amnesty drive. And if the EAGLE Act doesn’t get Senate approval, Lofgren always has the option to attach it to a must-pass Omnibus bill. With the 118th House about to transfer into GOP hands, EAGLE Act supporters view December as their last chance to subvert U.S. tech workers.

Joe Guzzardi is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist who writes about immigration and related social issues. Joe joined Progressives for Immigration Reform in 2018 as an analyst after a ten-year career directing media relations for Californians for Population Stabilization, where he also was a Senior Writing Fellow. A native Californian, Joe now lives in Pennsylvania. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.

Biden issues Executive Order on Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

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Executive Order on Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to effectively implement the historic infrastructure investments in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (the Act), it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1.  Background.  The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a once-in-a-generation investment in our Nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness. It will help rebuild America’s roads, bridges, and rails; expand access to clean drinking water; work to ensure access to high-speed Internet throughout the Nation; tackle the climate crisis; advance environmental justice; and invest in communities that have too often been left behind.  It will accomplish all of this while driving the creation of good-paying union jobs and growing the economy sustainably and equitably for decades to come.

Critical to achieving these goals will be the effective implementation of the Act by my Administration, as well as by State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments.

President Biden signed the infrastructure bill during a ceremony on the back lawn of the White House surrounded by members of his cabinet, the House and Senate on Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. Source: U.S. Speaker of the House website.

Sec. 2.  Implementation Priorities.  In implementing the Act, all agencies (as described in section 3502(1) of title 44, United States Code, except for the agencies described in section 3502(5) of title 44), shall, as appropriate and to the extent consistent with law, prioritize:

(a)  investing public dollars efficiently, working to avoid waste, and focusing on measurable outcomes for the American people;

(b)  increasing the competitiveness of the United States economy, including through implementing the Act’s Made-in-America requirements and bolstering United States manufacturing and supply chains;

(c)  improving job opportunities for millions of Americans by focusing on high labor standards for these jobs, including prevailing wages and the free and fair chance to join a union;

(d)  investing public dollars equitably, including through the Justice40 Initiative, which is a Government-wide effort toward a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits from Federal investments in climate and clean energy flow to disadvantaged communities;

(e)  building infrastructure that is resilient and that helps combat the crisis of climate change; and

(f)  effectively coordinating with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments in implementing these critical investments.

Sec. 3.  Infrastructure Implementation Task Force.  (a)  There is established within the Executive Office of the President the Infrastructure Implementation Task Force (Task Force).  The function of the Task Force is to coordinate effective implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other related significant infrastructure programs within the executive branch.

(b)  The Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council shall serve as Co‑Chair of the Task Force.

(c)  There is established within the Executive Office of the President the position of White House Infrastructure Coordinator, who shall serve as Co-Chair of the Task Force.

(d)  In addition to the Co-Chairs, the Task Force shall consist of the following members:

(i)     the Secretary of the Interior;

(ii)    the Secretary of Agriculture;

(iii)   the Secretary of Commerce;

(iv)    the Secretary of Labor;

(v)     the Secretary of Transportation;

(vi)    the Secretary of Energy;

(vii)   the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;

(viii)  the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;

(ix)    the Director of the Office of Personnel Management;

(x)     the Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council;

(xi)    the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor; and

(xii)   the heads of such other executive departments, agencies, and offices as the Co-Chairs may from time to time invite to participate.

(e)  The Co-Chairs may coordinate subgroups consisting of Task Force members or their designees, as appropriate.

Sec. 4.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

November 15, 2021.

 

Beat a cyberbully – here’s how parents can help

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Victims of cyberbullying can feel helpless and may not know what to do. Free resources on jw.org help children, teens and parents successfully deal with bullying.

Oakley parents share their approach

By Ezra Smith, Public Information Desk, Jehova’s Witnesses United States Branch 

While remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic lowered reported instances of bullying, parents fear that, for some students, going back to school will mean going back to being bullied.

“With the prevalence of technology and social media, you’re forced to be concerned. Now kids can be bullied in the privacy of their own home,” said Tomas, a father of three who lives in Oakley.

Now 15 years after the inception of National Bullying Prevention Month in October, technology’s ever-greater presence in children’s lives has given bullying a new outlet. With just a click, cyberbullies can taunt, harass and threaten relentlessly, even reaching into the home via cellphone or computer. As a result, victims report feeling hopeless, isolated and even suicidal.

What can parents do to protect their kids? Taking an interest in their children’s online world can make a difference, says the National Parent Teacher Association.

This interest does not necessarily require parents to become tech experts. Instead, the federal stopbullying.gov site advises parents to watch for subtle clues that something is wrong, such as their child becoming withdrawn, hiding their screen when others are nearby or reacting emotionally to what is happening on their device.

For Tomas and his wife Leticia, that means being keenly aware of what “normal” looks like for three teenagers, ages 13, 14 and 17. “I can see by their body language or their mood if they had a good time [at school] or not,” Leticia said.

“It’s so important that we take time with our children,” Tomas added. “If we don’t take time, we won’t be able to know our kids and we won’t be able to know how to help them if they are going through something like cyberbullying.”

Talking with kids openly — and often — helps too. “The more you talk to your children about bullying, the more comfortable they will be telling you if they see or experience it,” UNICEF says in its online tips for parents.

As their two daughters enter their teens, Houston parents Thiago and Auboni have found that talking less and listening more works best. “We try to focus on being approachable and listening actively without reaction,” Thiago said.

Beyond talking, listening and observing their kids, parents should not be afraid to make and enforce rules for online activities, experts say.

Thiago and Auboni’s girls are allowed to play online games, but they are expected to turn off the live chat feature to limit interactions with strangers. “We reassure the girls that we trust them and respect their privacy, but they have to stay within the boundaries we’ve set,” Auboni said.

Tomas and Leticia take a similar approach. While they use an app to monitor their kid’s screen time, they recognize that balance is important. “As my kids are getting older, you do have to respect their privacy,” Tomas said. “They are rewarded as they build that trust. That shows that they are responsible.”

Both families cited the tips and reminders they have considered together with their kids from free resources available on jw.org, the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

One of Leticia and Tomas’ daughters especially recommends one of the site’s short animated videos, “Beat a Bully Without Using Your Fists”.

“If being bullied, we don’t want to fight fire with fire,” she said. “Instead of being angry and fighting back, we can just give a calm response and leave the issue instead of making it even worse.”

 

Victims of cyberbullying can feel helpless and may not know what to do. Free resources on jw.org help children, teens and parents successfully deal with bullying.

Contra Costa Transportation Authority partners with Minnesota DOT to expand autonomous vehicle testing opportunities

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Local Motors Shared Autonomous Vehicle preparing for a test run at GoMentum Station. Photo: CCTA

By Linsey Willis, Director of External Affairs, CCTA

The Contra Costa Transportation Authority proudly announces a new partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation– an agency dedicated to advancing transportation technology research – to share knowledge and testing facilities in an effort to advance safer, smarter, more efficient transportation networks that not only benefit both California and Minnesota, but can inform transportation technology implementation across the United States.

MnDOT’s Connected and Automated Vehicle team is actively working to advance research and deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems, Connected Vehicle applications and Autonomous Vehicle technologies with the help of MnROAD–the state’s cold weather pavement testing facility. MnROAD has over 50 unique test sections on several roadways, including two 3.5-mile, high-speed corridors on Interstate 94 and a 2.5-mile, low-speed, closed access road. MnDOT also partners with Camp Ripley, a military and civilian training facility operated by the Minnesota National Guard, which has a 4.3-mile emergency vehicle operations course. With some of the most extreme weather conditions in the nation, Minnesota offers testing simulations that cannot be replicated elsewhere, which provides unique opportunities to test the safety features of CV and AV technologies.

Through this partnership, CCTA will have access to MnROAD facilities and likewise, MnDOT will have access to GoMentum Station in Concord, California – one of the largest secure connected and automated vehicle proving grounds in the country. GoMentum Station augments MnDOT’s testing with varied terrain, and real-life infrastructure including roads, bridges, tunnels, intersections and parking lots provide the environment needed to accelerate testing of the first and last mile applications, and the ability to safely test technology to its limits. CCTA also has many long-standing research and manufacturing partnerships that offer coordination opportunities for MnDOT.
“With this new collaboration, we’ll be able to test in conditions that just can’t be replicated here in Contra Costa,” stated Randy Iwasaki, Executive Director of CCTA. “Our partnership with a state agency like MnDOT will open new doors to shared research opportunities for a small agency like ours, and it’s exciting to be partnering with an agency that has similar goals in the arena of connected and automated vehicle technology.”

“Minnesota is excited to partner with one of the nation’s leading institutions in this work as we explore innovations in smart mobility, connected and automated vehicles and how advancing technologies are impacting communities,” said Kristin White, MnDOT CAV-X Executive Director. “Through collaboration and information sharing, we’re committing to learning from CCTA, sharing best practices and together advancing research that supports our regions and national goals. We believe this partnership can be a model for other regions to advance smart mobility.”

About the Contra Costa Transportation Authority

The Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) is a public agency formed by Contra Costa voters in 1988 to manage the county’s transportation sales tax program and oversee countywide transportation planning efforts. With a staff of twenty people managing a multi-billion-dollar suite of projects and programs, CCTA is responsible for planning, funding and delivering critical transportation infrastructure projects and programs that connect our communities, foster a strong economy, increase sustainability, and safely and efficiently get people where they need to go. CCTA also serves as the county’s designated Congestion Management Agency, responsible for putting programs in place to keep traffic levels manageable. More information about CCTA is available at ccta.net.
Background on MnDOT CAV Program

MnDOT’s Connected and Automated Vehicle Office (CAV-X) was launched in 2018 and is now one of the nation’s leading tech startups and idea incubators within state government. Building off its strong history in Intelligent Transportation Systems research, CAV-X advances research, policy, planning and strategy to help the Midwest prepare for the changes that advancing technologies will bring. This multi-disciplinary team combines the fields of law, policy, engineering, planning, and communications to develop strategic partnerships that advance the state’s goals to build a safe, equitable, accessible, healthy, and sustainable transportation system. CAV-X oversees over 100 projects in research, deployment and development with more information found at mndot.gov/automated.

About GoMentum Station

GoMentum Station in Concord, California is owned and operated by AAA, and it is the autonomous vehicle testing facility where the Contra Costa Transportation Authority leads and facilitates collaborative partnerships among multiple automobile manufacturers; original equipment manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers; communications suppliers; technology companies; researchers and academia; public agencies and other partners. At GoMentum Station, technology, innovation and commercialization will converge to define the next generation of transportation network infrastructure. More information about GoMentum Station is available at gomentumstation.net.

 

CUTLINE: Local Motors Shared Autonomous Vehicle preparing for a test run at GoMentum Station

Technology executive wants media to enter war against ransomware, work with FBI

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PC Matic CEO calls on nation’s newspapers to help combat threat of cyberattacks

By Daniel Borsuk

The financially hobbled newspaper industry already faced with downsizing, needs to join the fight against the growing cyberattack crisis, a leading ransomware industry executive said Wednesday.

Noting that struggling United States newspapers can play a vital economic role in their communities, PC Matic Chief Executive Officer Rob Cheng on Wednesday called on the nation’s newspaper publishers and editors to play a bigger role in combatting the rising threat of cyberattacks that can strike business, government, schools, hospitals, or all forms of enterprise.

“The American press are the first responders in every city, town, county, and school district that can raise the public conscience and understanding about the threats of ransomware attacks in our society,” said Cheng.

Cheng announced an unusual proposal whereby the U.S. media would work with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in combatting cyberattacks in many activities of American business and life.

Whether such a cooperative information feed between federal-local law enforcement authorities and the press could feasibly and legally work is unclear. At least with this observer, it might infringe on the freedom of the press amendment issues if the FBI inquires where and how a news reporter compiled information concerning an alleged cyberattack case. This might present constitutional legal questions.

The Contra Costa County Library System was a victim of a cyber security attack, just last month. It affected all library branches and the Martinez administrative offices, which experienced a network outage due to a ransomware attack. The Library worked with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office to investigate the attack. (See related article).

Cheng could not address how the United States press can respond to this growing threat to every sector of American business and society when the American newspaper industry is financially under stress.

The news industry has numerically declined with one in five local newspapers closing since 2004 due in part to advertising going to online news startups, according to a 2019 University of North Carolina study.

When asked what the ransomware war has cost United States business, Jeff Gaynor, a retired Army Colonel securities communications officer speaking on behalf of PC Matic, answered, “We don’t know what cyberware attacks have actually cost the U.S. business sector. It’s been swept under the rug.”

But Gaynor said United State insurance companies need to do a better job of controlling the huge $1 billion ransomware payouts to policyholders.

“This is a risk-based decision, you betcha!” said Gaynor.