Berea Becomes Kentucky's first "Transition Town"
BEREA, KY - According to the Lexington -Herald Leader Berea is one of nearly 150 communities around the world participating in a project called Transition Town. It is a citizen-driven effort to develop local strategies for coping with inevitable change in energy supplies and economic conditions that are no longer sustainable or good for the planet. The Transition Town movement was started in 2004 by Ron Hopkins, an environmental educator in Totnes, England. Most Transition Towns are in the United Kingdom and Ireland, although the movement has spread to every inhabited continent except Africa. In addition to Berea, 17 other U.S. communities have signed on, including Los Angeles, Denver and Boulder, Colo. Transition Town Berea, an outgrowth of an organization called Sustainable Berea, has citizens groups looking at ways the Madison County town can be less vulnerable to global changes. It's a good model other Kentucky towns should consider. To challenge the community, Transition Town Berea has adopted some ambitious goals around the slogan "50 by 25." By 2025, the group would like Berea to use half as much electricity, with half of it to come from renewable sources. It also would like to see half of local food grown locally.

Local Agencies Need Collaboration for Emergency Responder Equipment Compatibility
The director of the Command, Control and Interoperability Division at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Directorate for Science and Technology writes in Government Technology magazine that a major component of his job is to make sure that community emergency responders can communicate properly during a crisis event. Cultural differences and the "Human Factor" contribute to "some emergency response agencies remaining rooted in turf battles that make collaboration nearly impossible, while other agencies simply don't consider collaboration in their planning. Without collaboration, interoperability can't occur. Command structures, procedures, protocols and shared agreements must be established among regional agencies for responders to provide swift, coordinated support during incidents."