(TNS) - Florida was left largely unscathed from its first taste of this year's hurricane season as Tropical Storm Colin cut through the northern half of the state last week, and that's a sigh of relief for Emergency Management Director Bryan Koon.

Koon was appointed in February 2011 by Gov. Rick Scott to lead the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and his tenure over the state's first line of recovery after a storm has remained free of hurricanes.

(TNS) - If you see something, say something.

It is a dictum for terrorizing times, and as the carnage mounts, law enforcement is more urgently pressing the public to turn tipster.

But what, exactly, does something mean?

That depends.

"If I have a friend who all of a sudden starts going to the masjid [mosque] five times a day, is that a sign of radicalization - or of admirable devotion?" said Quasier Abdullah, assistant imam at Quba Institute, a school and mosque in West Philadelphia.

(TNS) - In the aftermath of 9/11, the nation’s top domestic security priority focused on stopping foreign sleeper cells planted by al-Qaida or other radical groups.

Now, Omar Mateen defines what anti-terrorism experts say is the most serious and increasing threat for the United States — the “lone wolf.”

(TNS) — The Department of Homeland Security is testing airflow inside the city’s subway system this week as a way to predict what would happen in a possible chemical attack.

The week-long study poses no risk to the public, the Department of Homeland Security said.

From May 9 through May 13, DHS said officials will be releasing harmless, non-toxic gases inside several subway stations in Manhattan, including Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal and at Times Square.

The Islamic State-aligned gunman who attacked a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., had been investigated for possible terror ties in 2013 and 2014, yet he was able to legally buy two guns within days of the attack, officials said Sunday afternoon.

(TNS) - Don’t be alarmed if you hear gunshots coming from inside the Henry County Courthouse Thursday evening.

It’s only a drill.

Henry County, Iowa Emergency Management director Walt Jackson and the Henry County Sheriff’s Department will host the drill at 4 p.m. Thursday, using blank rounds in real guns to simulate the sounds of a shooting incident.

“We want to give employees here more tools in their tool bags if something like this happened,” Jackson said.

(TNS) - A new source of reimbursement for ambulance providers in the state could provide Skagit County providers with millions of dollars, but would require restructuring the county’s current ambulance system.

Ground Emergency Medical Transport legislation, which was recently signed into law, provides certain ambulance providers with a partial reimbursement for care given to Medicaid patients, according to Scott Clough of AP Triton, a consultant who worked on the legislation.

(TNS) - The map above Alene Tchourumoff’s desk shows lines that appear, at first, to denote rivers -- they sprawl and branch off, weaving and curving across the state.

Instead, they depict a vast network of railroad tracks.

In her new role as Minnesota’s rail director, Tchourumoff will refer back to the map often as she leads Gov. Mark Dayton’s efforts to improve rail safety, train first responders and track the movements of the rail cars that transport Bakken crude oil and other hazardous freight.

Walmart and Wells Fargo are two unsung heroes of the emergency management world. While most corporations focus mainly on their bottom lines, these two titans make major, tangible contributions to emergency management agencies in their communities. In doing so, both companies combine a sense of civic responsibility with enlightened self-interest — because the disasters that affect their communities also affect these corporations’ properties, employees and paying customers.

More Than $50 Million Contributed

Wal-Mart won for price; first-aid kits and gallons of water were particularly inexpensive.