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Small Business Lifestyle

State legislators considering every option to try and better police staffing levels in Alabama [Video]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – A state lawmaker says legislators are working on another possible solution to help Birmingham Police solve those staffing challenges.

Right now, the department has 223 officer vacancies. The city is considering a new recruitment and retention plan from the mayor that would up the sign on bonus from $5,000 to $10,000. It would also create a $10,000 retention bonus.

The plan included a take home care program and mental health day regulations for officers as well. Still the state has also been working to help better staffing levels in the state.

Earlier this year, Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter created a special committee to try and find a way to fight violent crime in urban areas. He placed former BPD Assistant Chief and current Representative Allen Treadaway on the committee. Treadaway says one of the topics the group spends time on is the issue of police staffing.

“We are looking at offering college …

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Small Business Lifestyle

Its tremendous working here and being here: 2 brothers find home thousands of miles from home working as firefighters at Fort Carson [Video]

Kadeem and Specialist Oeane Cranston tell 11 News while they were close before, but the connection they share as firefighters has only made them closer as they have continued to train together in a field where, they say, there is always more to learn.

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Small Business Lifestyle

Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead new 'Department of Government Efficiency' [Video]

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency" which is not, despite the name, a government agency.The acronym DOGE is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House advice and guidance and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before. He added that the move would shock government systems.It's not clear how the organization will operate. It could come under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which dictates how external groups that advise the government must operate and be accountable to the public.Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets and entanglements to ward off any potential conflicts of interest, and to divest significant holdings relating to their work. Because Musk and Ramaswamy would not be formal federal workers, they would not face those requirements or ethical limitations.Musk posted on X: Department of Government Efficiency. The merch will be (fire emojis). Later he added: Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!Musk has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election.The president-elect has often said he would give Musk a formal role overseeing a group akin to a blue-ribbon commission that would recommend ways to slash spending and make the federal government more efficient. Musk at one point suggested he could find more than $2 trillion in savings nearly a third of total annual government spending.Trump had made clear that Musk would likely not hold any kind of full-time position, given his other commitments.I dont think I can get him full-time because hes a little bit busy sending rockets up and all the things he does, Trump said at a rally in Michigan in September. He said the waste in this country is crazy. And were going to get Elon Musk to be our cost cutter.Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump.Trump said in his statement the two will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies."