GAO Rules in favor of Boeing on Aerial Refueling Tanker

On Wednesday the Government Accountability Office (GAO) ‘sustained Boeing’s protest‘ regarding the Air Force’s decision to award a contract to build aerial refueling tankers to Northrop Grumman.

The Air Force now has “60 days to inform [the GAO] of the Air Force’s actions in response to [these] recommendations.”  As I interpret the GAO statement, there are several directions in which the Air Force could go - it could ignore the recommendations and proceed with the contract as awarded or amend the solicitation and resume the competitive bidding process.  Some in Congress believe that the Air Force should simply award the contract to Boeing - which has Alabama lawmakers a bit upset.  (When the decision was made in late February, it was big news across the state of Alabama, but particularly in Mobile, where the tankers were scheduled to be built.  The Birmingham News indicated that it would bring at least 1500 new jobs to the state. )

The GAO has not yet made the decision publicly available, “because the decision contains proprietary and source selection sensitive information.” However, the statement issued on Wednesday does include the rationale for sustaining the protest.  Among them, it appears that the Air Force did not follow its own criteria for awarding the contract, as listed in the solicitation, and made several errors in calculating life cycle costs which, when corrected, revealed that Boeing did make a lower bid.

For more background information, the Mobile Press-Register has an informative podcast up on al.com

Alabama Media Portal

Alabama state agencies now have a place to post videos and images. “Media.alabama.gov offers State agencies a place to locate any media they may have in one convenient place, online.”

Videos can also be browsed by agency or by type of content, such as commercials and documentaries.  The Governor has his own channel. Images can only be posted if agencies have already posted a video.

The site also includes a news feed that pulls together press releases from all of the state agencies who use RSS. (Side note: I’m very glad to see state agencies beginning to use RSS more - it’s a great way to push out content to interested parties!)

The service is provided by the Office of Web Services within the Department of Finance’s Information Services Division.

Alabama tomatoes safe to eat

According to Alabama Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks, Alabama-grown tomatoes are going to be placed on the FDA’s ’safe to eat’ list this evening.

From the FDA’s web site: “The Food and Drug Administration is alerting consumers nationwide that a salmonellosis outbreak appears to be linked to consumption of certain types of raw red tomatoes and products containing raw red tomatoes. The bacteria causing the illnesses are Salmonella serotype Saintpaul, an uncommon type of Salmonella.

The specific type and source of tomatoes are under investigation. However, preliminary data suggest that raw red plum, raw red Roma, or raw round red tomatoes are the cause. At this time, consumers should limit their tomato consumption to tomatoes that have not been implicated in the outbreak. These include cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, and tomatoes grown at home.”

Earlier today it was announced that several restaurants and grocery stores have halted sales of tomatoes, following FDA guidelines.

How Much is Your Congressman Worth?

Today the Sunlight Foundation launched Fortune535 -  a way to track the net worth of your Members of Congress (as taken from their financial disclosure statements).  As the site says, “So take what follows with a boulder-sized grain of salt: It’s all based on information from the seriously flawed disclosure system used by members of Congress.”

However, it’s still fun to play with - the Alabama lawmakers are listed in order of their 2006 net worth (from highest, Sen. Richard Shelby, to lowest, Rep. Artur Davis.)  Their 2006 net worth is compared with their 1995 net worth (if available) - and if their first disclosure form was filed before 1995 and after 1978, that information is available as a PDF. (Note: they weren’t required to type the forms, so some of the handwriting can take a bit of time to interpret!)

Goat Management Field Day - Saturday

Tomorrow the Tuscaloosa County Extension Office will be conducting a goat management field day from 10-3, at Abby Farms.  According to a Tuscaloosa News article on the topic, more people in West Alabama are raising goats, leading to an increase in calls to the Office, so they decided to host a workshop.  The day’s activities will include “presentations and demonstrations to address healthcare and nutrition, management and marketing, hoof trimming and basic care for meat goats.”  The event is open to the public, and free.

Each county in the state has an extension office.  The Tuscaloosa County Office’s annual report is available on their web site - it’s pretty interesting all of the activities that the Extension Office does!  In fact, the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service web site contains a great deal of information on agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, and even the Master Gardeners program!

Happy Earth Day!

April 22nd is Earth Day in the U.S. In order to educate folks as to what they can do to ‘protect our planet’ the U.S. Government has set up an Earth Day portal.  The site includes information for students and teachers, volunteer opportunities, and information on what the Bush Administration is doing to further the goals of Earth Day.

Governor Riley has also proclaimed April 22, 2008 to be Earth Day in the state of Alabama.  While I can’t find much about it on state agency web sites, I did come across the publication “Celebrate Earth Day with ADEM - Today and Everyday!“

For more on the history of Earth Day, visit the EPA’s site.

Food Inspection site

Last week, in cooperation with county health departments, the Alabama Department of Public Health launched a new web site on food establishment scores.  The site allows you to search for restaurants or other food establishments and retrieve their latest inspection score, as well as a map to the establishment.
The site also educates consumers on how to interpret the inspection reports - including a guide to report scores.

Alabama VA National Cemetery

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has chosen a name for the national cemetery to be built in Alabama - the Alabama VA National Cemetery.  Documents related to the new cemetery are available from the VA web site. A fact sheet on the ‘National Cemetery in the Birmingham Area‘ is included.

A listing of all VA National Cemeteries is also available. This Alabama VA National Cemetery will be the state’s third - behind the Fort Mitchell and Mobile National Cemeteries. (At first, I thought that this would be the only one in the state - that’s what the name implies.  But I was, of course, wrong.)

The addition of a national cemetery in Alabama is a result of the Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-117), which “required VA to establish six additional national cemeteries in areas of the United States in which the need for burial space is greatest.”

Maps

I was in Maryland [my home state] for the Easter holiday, and while there I had a chance to visit the exhibit “Maps: Finding Our Place in the World” at the Walters Art Museum [part of Baltimore's Festival of Maps]. The exhibit included maps from all over the world, from various time periods - I found it fascinating. And it got me thinking about the different kinds of maps of Alabama that are available, either online or in our collection (or both!)

The first site that came to mind was Alabama Maps - a project of the Cartographic Research Lab here at UA. Obviously, the focus of the site is on maps of Alabama, and there are all kinds of gems that have been digitized and made available for download (for example, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and the Historical Soil Survey Maps).

Other kinds of maps available from state agencies include:

- Maps of Alabama’s Surface Water Classifications and Alabama Waterways Guide Maps (Alabama Department of Environmental Management)

- Wildlife Management Area Maps and Where to Boat [note: works in IE, not Firefox] (Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources)

- the Alabama Department of Archives and History has blank maps available for download - in case you want to test your knowledge of Alabama county locations!  They also have a database of maps in their collection - about half of which are digitized.

- Alabama Watershed Assessment Maps (Soil and Water Conservation Committee)

- Digital Geologic Map of Alabama  (Geological Survey of Alabama)

- County Maps (Department of Transportation)

Alabama and the AT

Alabama will soon have a connection to the Appalachian Trail (AT)! The Pinhoti Trail will officially open on Sunday, connecting Cheaha Mountain State Park to Springer Mountain in Georgia. To have Alabama marked as the official Southern terminus of the AT will require an act of Congress.

If you’re interested in reading more about the Congressional aspect of the National Trails System, or specifically on the Appalachian Trail, you might want to check out the items that can be found in the Gorgas Library Government Documents collection. Some examples:

- Appalachian Trail amendments : hearing before the Subcommittee on Parks and Recreation of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session, on S. 2066 … H.R. 8803 … November 1, 1977. Call number: Y4.En2:95-81

- Appalachian Trail, Tennessee and North Carolina (map). Call number: A 13.28 67

- Appalachian Trail : national scenic trail/Maine to Georgia (map). Call number: I 29.2:Ap 4/4

- Comprehensive plan for the protection, management, development and use of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Call number: I 29.2:Ap 4