The technologies modernizing Alaska’s avalanche management

In Alaska, state officials responsible for keeping the public safe from avalanches are increasingly looking to use commercial products, such as drones, roadside sensors and digital maps to reduce their reliance on military technologies. Timothy Glassett, Alaska’s statewide avalanche and artillery program manager, says on the Priorities Podcast that the system currently used to spur “preventative” avalanches — “We try not to use the word controlled because we can’t really control nature,” he says — is an M101A1 howitzer that fires 105mm rounds. He says it was designed and built in 1928. Drones and other commercial products, along with alternative “exploder systems,” he says, are a welcome addition to a state trying to transition away from technology nearly one century old.

This week’s top stories:

The Minnesota Department of Human Services last week distributed data breach notification letters disclosing that the demographic records of nearly 304,000 people had been compromised last fall. An unauthorized user also accessed more detailed information — including Medicaid ID numbers and partial Social Security numbers — of more than 1,200 people.

California is not required to turn over its full voter registration list to the federal government, after a federal judge last week granted a motion to dismiss a Department of Justice lawsuit filed last September. District judge David O. Carter said he was unpersuaded by the DOJ’s attempts to use provisions of the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act to force the state to share entire unredacted voter rolls containing the sensitive personal information of millions of residents.

The Illinois Accountability Commission last week made it easier for residents to share information about possible misconduct by federal agents with the launch of a web form that allows people to submit videos, written accounts or other information. The effort comes after a recent Department of Homeland Security operation in Chicago known as Operation Midway Blitz, aimed at arresting illegal immigrants and cracking down on sanctuary cities.

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday. For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,Soundcloud or Spotify.