Brian Naylor

After Sept. 11, there were widespread reports that public safety agencies responding to the attacks on the World Trade Center had trouble talking to one another. The problem: incompatible radios.

It was a common challenge among public service agencies nationwide. Different first responders had different radios operating on different frequencies. Billions of dollars later, federal, state and local governments have largely solved that challenge.

But many first responders still lack access to the kind of technology that many Americans carry on their waistbands or bags.

Democratic Party leaders have been suggesting Rep. Anthony Weiner resign from his New York seat. If Weiner decides to stay, the party has another option, it could redistrict him out. Because New York's population has not increased on a pace with other states, it will lose two congressional districts. One is likely to come from the New York City area.

As the government copes with this spring's plague of tornadoes and flooding in the Midwest and South, it is still responding to disasters of previous years.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency continues to fund rebuilding projects related to Hurricane Katrina and other major storms in the past. This has caused some cash flow problems at FEMA.

This spring, tornadoes in the Midwest and the Southeast plus flooding along the Mississippi River are adding up to major expenses for the federal government, which is asked to provide emergency aid to states and localities.

On Tuesday, a House panel voted to put another $1 billion into a disaster assistance fund — and that may be just the start.

An Emergency Infusion Of Cash, Again

As rescuers continue their search for survivors, a different kind of accounting is going on in Washington.

In addition to the tens of thousands of people displaced by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and subsequent radiation leak in Japan, tens of thousands of pets are also homeless.

Many have been taken in by animal rescue groups — some of which sneaked into the exclusion zone surrounding the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to remove animals found wandering the streets and houses.