AT&T boss gets robocall during live interview

Not even Randall Stephenson is safe.

by Sean Keane March 21, 2019 4:16 AM PDT

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson got interrupted by a robocall while on stage at an Economic Club event in Washington on Wednesday, proving that no one's immune from the tele-plague.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson gets a robocall while onstage at @TheEconomicClub. pic.twitter.com/i5llHj6hz2

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 20, 2019

"I'm getting a robocall, too," Stephenson said after checking an incoming call on his Apple Watch. "It's literally a robocall."

He declined the call and got a laugh from the audience, but the timing of the incident couldn't have been better. AT&T and Comcast on Wednesday announced they'll offer call authentication between networks to stem the tide of unwanted robocalls. Previously, such systems only worked on calls to and from the same provider.

That service followed the Federal Communications Commission demanding that carriers implement robust caller ID authentication systems by the end of 2019 or face "regulatory intervention."

In January, a report revealed that 26.3 billion robocalls were made in the US in 2018, a rise of 46 percent from the previous year.

AT&T didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

First published at 3:37 a.m. PT.

Updated at 4:16 a.m. PT: Adds background.

https://www.cnet.com/news/at-t-boss-gets-robocall-during-live-interview/

I thought Randall Stephenson resigned from AT&T, but found out:

Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T, resigns from Boeing’s board

Published Fri, Dec 15 2017 • 5:08 PM EST | Updated Fri, Dec 15 2017 • 7:11 PM EST

Boeing announced Friday that , chairman and CEO of AT&T, has resigned from its board.

The company said in a statement that Stephenson stepped down in order to devote more time to AT&T. Stephenson told Boeing that 2018 “will be an extremely busy one for him at AT&T.”

Last month, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block AT&T’s proposed merger with Time Warner. The department argued that the $85 billion deal would raise prices for consumers and stifle competition.

AT&T has said it would fight the lawsuit and resisted suggestions that it should sell off some of its businesses to more easily obtain regulatory approval.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/15/randall-stephenson-chairman-and-ceo-of-att-resigns-from-boeings-board.html

See also AT&T (5) Q drops and:

"AT&T paid Cohen $600K for ‘advice’ on Time Warner merger

AT&T’s top Washington exec was forced out of his lucrative gig after he authorized paying $600,000 to President Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, a new report said Friday."

May 11, 2018 | 11:02am

https://nypost.com/2018/05/11/att-exec-forced-out-over-600k-payment-to-trumps-lawyer/

Deer Park shelter-in-place lifted, still in effect in Galena Park due to elevated benzene levels at ITC

By Jeff Ehling 3 hours ago Updated 10 minutes ago

DEER PARK, Texas (KTRK) – A shelter-in-place has been lifted for Deer Park after elevated levels of benzene were detected at the ITC facility, where tanks burned for days.

City officials said that the air quality improving and confirmation from Dr. Umair Shah, executive director at Harris County Public Health, allowed them to confidently lift the shelter-in-place.

"According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Harris County HAZMAT teams and a private contractor on-site at Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) Deer Park site, air quality readings are improving, and over the last few hours, they have been significantly reduced," said Emergency Services Director Robert Hemminger. "This information, combined with the assurance of Harris County Public Health, allows us to meet our internal criteria necessary to lift our Shelter-in-Place."

All Deer Park facilities will reopen to the public at 1 p.m. If you were scheduled for Deer Park Municipal Court, you can call 281-478-7238 to reschedule your appearance.

As of an 11:40 a.m. update from Deer Park city officials, SH-225 will be reopened in both directions between Beltway 8 and SH-146.

Galena Park also issued a shelter-in-place earlier Thursday out of an abundance of caution. The city has not said yet how much longer that will remain in effect.

According to a message from the Community Awareness Emergency Response (CAER) system, an incident occurred at the facility, located at 1943 Independence Parkway, around 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

ITC told ABC13 an employee monitoring the area around the tank fire detected the elevated levels of benzene using a handheld device.

During a press conference Thursday morning, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that the benzene escaped from a foam blanket used to suppress the fire, leading to the elevated benzene levels.

…

https://abc13.com/shelter-in-place-for-2-cities-due-to-benzene-levels-at-itc/5209552/