On February 21, ICITAP completed the Basic Criminal Investigation Training Course for 29 members of the Belize Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Branch.

2020 marks the 30th anniversary of President George H.W. Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. Throughout this 30th anniversary year, the Division is publishing a monthly series of blog posts highlighting the impact that our recent ADA enforcement efforts have made in people’s everyday lives. We celebrate the many ways in which the ADA has transformed American society and enabled a generation of Americans with disabilities to thrive. At the same time, we recognize that too many barriers to equal opportunity remain. We recommit to our work of making the promise of the ADA a reality, enabling all Americans with disabilities to achieve their dreams and reach their full potential.

**NEW DATE: April 20**  Agency FOIA professionals are invited to join OIP and OGIS for a joint Best Practices Workshop on FOIA and technology featuring the Chief FOIA Officer Council Technology Subcommittee.

On February 28, ICITAP concluded the Advanced First Aid Course at the National Highway & Motorway Police (NHMP) Training Facility in Kot Ranjit.

Join us in an early celebration of Sunshine Week 2020 this Thursday, March 12.  

Newly published FOIA Litigation and Compliance Report details a range of efforts by OIP to encourage government-wide compliance with the FOIA, including new policy guidance, robust government-wide training, and other open government initiatives.

**Now Virtual at New Time** The previously scheduled Best Practices Workshop on FOIA and technology featuring the Chief FOIA Officer Council Technology Committee will now be held online.

The spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States is having a dire effect on all Americans, but victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking are uniquely burdened by this crisis.

On April 27, ICITAP’s Central America mission conducted a webinar titled “Pathology and Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) During the COVID-19 Pandemic” for hundreds of subject matter experts from throughout the Western Hemisphere. Chaired by ICITAP-Central America’s Attaché, the 80-minute webinar began with a pre-recorded media interview from the Dominican Republic, which highlighted the critical work currently carried out by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in Washington, DC.

Over the past few months, our lives have changed dramatically due to COVID-19. We have seen the best of America emerge – our nation’s medical professionals, first responders, and supply chain workers have acted heroically, along with so many others.

OIP is now accepting registration for topic-specific FOIA training sessions to be offered online. 

The Department of Justice has released the agenda and list of participants for its March 11, 2020, public workshop to solicit public dialogue on the proposed vertical merger guidelines. The workshop will be the first in a two-part series hosted together with the Federal Trade Commission. The two half-day workshops will allow for a dynamic discussion about the proposed guidelines to complement the written public comments about the proposed guidelines that were submitted to the agencies.

The Department of Justice prevailed in a first-of-a-kind arbitration, which will resolve a civil antitrust lawsuit challenging Novelis’s proposed merger with Aleris Corporation.  As a result, Novelis must divest Aleris’s entire aluminum auto body sheet operations in North America, which will fully preserve competition in this important industry.  In addition, under the terms of the arbitration agreement between defendants and the Department, Novelis must reimburse the Department for its fees and costs incurred in connection with the arbitration.

Two commercial flooring executives, Robert A. Patrey Jr. and Kenneth R. Smith, pleaded guilty for their role in an antitrust conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices for commercial flooring services and products sold in the United States, the Department of Justice announced. The defendants are cooperating with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation.

The Department of Justice announced today that it is requiring United Technologies Corporation (UTC) and Raytheon Company (Raytheon) to divest Raytheon’s military airborne radios business and UTC’s military global positioning systems (“GPS”) and large space-based optical systems businesses in order to proceed with their proposed merger.  Without these divestitures, the merger would eliminate competition between two of the primary suppliers of military airborne radios and military GPS systems to the Department of Defense (DoD), and enable the merged firm to lessen competition for multiple components used in reconnaissance satellites sold to DoD and the wider U.S. intelligence community.  

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge collaborative efforts of McKesson Corporation, Owens & Minor, Inc., Cardinal Health, Inc., Medline Industries, Inc., and Henry Schein, Inc. (together “Medical Supplies Distributors”) to expedite and increase manufacturing, sourcing, and distribution of personal-protective equipment (“PPE”) and coronavirus-treatment-related medication. These collaborative efforts are part of an emergency response developed and led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to address supply needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

South Korea-based company Jier Shin Korea Co. Ltd., and its president, Sang Joo Lee, have agreed to pay $2 million to the United States for civil antitrust and False Claims Act violations for their involvement in a bid-rigging conspiracy that targeted contracts to supply fuel to U.S. military bases in South Korea, the Department of Justice announced today.

The Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge a proposal by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) to operate an online platform for advertisers to solicit bids from companies that provide production services for commercial advertisements. The Department’s position was stated in a business review letter from Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim for the Antitrust Division to counsel for the AICP.

The Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge collaborative efforts of AmerisourceBergen Corporation (AmerisourceBergen) to identify global supply opportunities, ensure product quality, and facilitate product distribution of medications and other healthcare supplies to treat COVID-19 patients.

This week, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division celebrates the 20th anniversary of World Intellectual Property Day. The division marks the occasion by remembering the revolutionary ideal that our nation’s founding fathers embedded in the U.S. Constitution: that “securing . . . to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” will “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.” For over 200 years, this “exclusive Right” has served as the foundation of the U.S. system of patent, copyright, and trademark laws.

Cengage Learning Holdings II Inc. and McGraw-Hill Education Inc. mutually agreed to abandon their plans to merge after the Department of Justice informed the companies it had serious concerns that the proposed transaction, as structured, would harm competition.

Apotex Corp., a generic pharmaceutical company headquartered in Florida, was charged with fixing the price of the generic drug pravastatin, the Department of Justice announced today.  According to the one-count felony charge filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Apotex and other generic drug companies agreed to increase and maintain the price of pravastatin, a commonly prescribed cholesterol medication that lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke.  The conspiracy began in May 2013 and continued through December 2015.

I've gone to this particular photographic well before, having posted a couple of other shots of my morning shoot with the Cormorant Fishermen on the Li River in Guilin China. Not super original, but still among my favorites both for the fascinating subject and exotic landscape and because it was a magical morning and one of my favorite all time photographic experiences. Here the first sunrise tones are just reflecting low on the river backlighting the fisherman. This was a bit of a crazy adventure, and definitely took me outside of my comfort zone. At the tail end of a working trip to China I had saved a day before my midnight flight back to the US. I was originally considering a side trip to see Wulingyuan National Park with its famous "Avatar"-like Karsts, but after some research realized that a) this would be more than a one day undertaking, and b) that there was an equal if not better Karst environment around Guilin and much more accessible. I'd arranged for a local guide to pick me up early in the morning and drive me to meet with the Cormorant fisherman before dawn, so after just a couple hours of sleep I was up again and heading out in to the back country up river with a little bit of apprehension. While I've never felt in any physical danger in China, there are still plenty of scams and people ready to take your money and/or things, and it isn't that hard to find yourself suddenly in uncomfortable circumstances (been there, done that!). However, I'd booked the guide through a reputable company and figured the risk was minimal. Indeed, we arrived at a small fishing village after a longish drive without any hiccups at all. The humid tropical smells hit me immediately and woke me up. Morning is my favorite time under normal circumstances, and on this day I was very excited; every sense really felt alive, and I was thoroughly engaged and in the moment. The surroundings were exotic, the skies just beginning to reveal the cloud structure in the early morning darkness and I could see a lot of cloud but not an unbroken gloom. I was introduced to the fisherman and he paddled us out to a little dock and then floated off on his bamboo raft and lit his small lantern. Later, once the dawn broke fully he took out his net and set his cormorants to work, demonstrating this ancient working relationship between these wonderful birds and their handlers. After a couple of hours on the river, we packed up and headed out to take some other landscape photos throughout the day, including a couple of tough climbs up to the peak of some of the Karsts to get a better view of this amazing area. Finally just after sunset it was time to leave, and after a bit of a delay and a small panic I made it back to Shanghai in time to catch my flight to the US. An extremely tiring but incredibly rewarding experience. That feeling of total immersion in a moment of time was truly priceless and is my favorite thing about this hobby. I would very much like to go back to Guilin and spend much more time appreciating this spectacular location. Hit up my album for China if you're interested in seeing other pics from Guilin.

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Nearly the whole country was moved by the presence of Carryn Owens, widow of slain Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, during President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress. Nearly, but not all. Some liberals used the emotional moment to attack both the president and the grieving widow.

WBAL is hosting a town hall meeting on Thursday, May 4th from 8pm to 10pm that will be broadcast live on 1090 AM and streaming on wbal.com!. Sign up to participate here.

WBAL NewsRadio 1090 hosted a town hall with a number of WBAL listeners to discuss President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office.

The retired Hopkins neurosurgeon, now the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is in the city to talk about lead poisoning and ways to combat blight.

We would like you to come and sit alongside C4, Derek Hunter and other WBAL listeners at the WBAL Penthouse at 3800 Hooper Ave.

It’s that time of year again for private school acceptance letters and all the excitement they can bring.

There are eight red light cameras around the city that will begin issuing warnings for violators for 30 days, before beginning to issue tickets.

Mayor Catherine Pugh says the state has agreed to restore 16 parole and probation officers to the city that were cut by the O’Malley administration. She also says there are other, non-law enforcement initiatives, in her plan to fight crime.

The competition between the three service academies does not come down this matchup often and Navy will be looking for revenge as they lost to Army last season, 21-17.

Seventy-seven passengers and seven crew members were aboard when the train derailed and pulled 13 cars off the tracks.

The so-called employment audits and interviews with store workers could lead to criminal charges or fines. A top ICE officials calls the operation "the first of many."

Snow continued into early Wednesday morning with a dusting to 1 inch around Baltimore, and higher amounts northwest of Baltimore City.

In the U.S., there are at least 25,000 cases across all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington D.C. At least 323 have died from the virus.

The battle against coronavirus has intensified across the country as more workers are laid off, medical supplies dwindle, and states enact new rules to get Americans to stay home.

This is the easiest way to listen to WBAL NewsRadio 1090 and FM 101.5 on Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

In a statement Saturday, Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young said that two individuals had died, a woman in her 60s and another woman in her 80s.

A COVID-19 outbreak at a Maryland nursing home contributed to an increase in virus cases Sunday across the state that the governor described as “frightening.”

The Maryland Department of Health on Sunday announced five new deaths as a result of COVID-19.