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ByJoanLowy The Associated Press WASHINGTON TheFederalAvia- tion Administration said Tuesday it has granted the first permis- sion for commercial drone flights over land, the latest effort by the agency to show it is loosening re- strictions on commercial uses of the unmanned aircraft. Drone maker AeroVironment of Monrovia, California, and BP energy corporation have been given permission to use a Puma drone to survey pipelines, roads and equipment at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, the agency said. The first flight took place on Sunday. Made by AeroVironment, the Puma is a small, hand-launched craft about 4 feet long and with a 9-foot wingspan. It was initially designed for military use. Drones are often less expensive to operate than manned aircraft and easier to maneuver. Equipped with 3D cameras, the Puma will provide images of hard-to-reach places not currently available, BP and AeroVironment say. AeroVironment CEO Tim Con- ver said the Puma "is now helping BP manage its extensive Prudhoe Bay field operations in a way that enhances safety, protects the en- vironment, improves productivity and accomplishes activities never before possible." Last summer, the FAA had ap- proved the Puma and the ScanE- agle made by Boeing subsidiary Insitu Inc. of Bingen, Washing- ton, for flights over the Arctic Ocean to scout icebergs, count whales and monitor drilling platforms. "These surveys on Alaska's North Slope are another impor- tant step toward broader com- mercial use of unmanned air- craft," said Transportation Sec- retary Anthony Foxx. "The technology is quickly changing, and the opportunities are grow- ing." Last week, the FAA said it was considering giving permission to seven filmmaking companies to use drones for aerial photogra- phy, a potentially significant step that could lead to greater relax- ation of the agency's ban on com- mercial use of drones. So far, the only exceptions to that ban have been limited flights that have been approved over the Arctic Ocean and now Alaska. Congress directed the FAA to provide commercial drones ac- cess to U.S. skies by September 2015, but the agency's efforts to write safety rules for such flights by drones have been slow, and it is not expected to meet the dead- line. FAA officials are on their third attempt to draft regula- tions acceptable to the Transpor- tation Department and the White House. Regulators have said they ex- pect to propose rules before the end of the year intended to clear the way for flights by drones weighing 55 pounds or less. How- ever, it will take months and per- haps years before such regula- tions become final. Thousandsofdrones Much of the commercial de- mand for unmanned aircraft is for small drones, some of which weigh only a few pounds. The FAA estimates that within five years after regulations are in place there will be about 7,500 commercial drones operating in the U.S. Ben Gielow, general coun- sel for the Association for Un- manned Vehicle Systems Interna- tional, a trade association for the commercial drone industry, said the first approval of commercial flights over land is "an exciting moment," but "we believe more can and must be done to allow for limited operations for small (unmanned aircraft) over land." FAA Administrator Michael Huerta has said drafting such rules is complex because they must ensure that the large volume and diversity of manned aircraft in U.S. skies are protected. Even a small drone that collides with plane traveling at high speeds or gets chewed up by helicopter ro- tors could cause a crash. But as the cost of small drones has come down and their sophis- tication and usefulness has in- creased, entrepreneurs and busi- nesses — from real estate agents to wedding video makers — aren't waiting for government permis- sion. Drone industry officials have warned that the longer the FAA takes to write regulations, the more rogue commercial opera- tors will multiply. AVIATION FAAOKscommercial drone flights over land THEASSOCIATEDPRESS In this photo provided by AeroVironment, a man hand-launches a Puma droneaircra . The Federal Aviation Administration said it hasgrantedpermission for commercial drone flights over land, the latest effort by the agency to show it is loosening restrictions on commercial uses of unmanned aircra . The Associated Press WASHINGTON When Ilana Sara Greenstein was a CIA case officer working at head- quarters a decade ago, she said, a married senior man- ager who was responsible for her promotions made sexual advances toward her. She spurned him but didn't dare report the incident, she said in an interview, for fear it would end her career. She went on to a stint in Iraq — where a male officer routinely snapped the bra strap of one of her female colleagues, she said — before she left the agency in 2008. Back then, she said, there was no men- tion of sexual or other harass- ment in the training she got to be a covert operative. These days, the CIA says it has a zero tolerance policy to- ward workplace harassment. And an agency document 15 CIA employees were disci- plined for committing sex- ual, racial or other types of harassment last year. That included a supervisor who was removed from the job after engaging in "bully- ing, hostile behavior," and an operative who was sent home from an overseas post for inappropriately touching female colleagues, said the document, an internal mes- sage to the agency's work- force. The examples cited in the message were meant to show how the CIA is enforcing its strict policy. But the announcement also shed light on the spy agency's struggles to move past its free-wheeling work- place culture, especially in the National Clandestine Ser- vice, the spying arm, which attracts men and women who are willing to lie, cheat and steal for their country. The agency won't release its employee workplace sur- veys or details about com- plaints, on the grounds that such numbers are classified. The CIA takes that position even though the size of its workforce — 21,459 employ- ees in 2013, not counting thousands of contractors — was disclosed in the "black budget" leaked last year by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. HARASSMENT CIA disciplines 15 officers Cases of groping, racial slurs did not result in firings The Associated Press WASHINGTON Gender pol- itics emerged as Hillary Rodham Clinton kicked off a book tour Tuesday that could preview a presiden- tial run when she recalled her refusal to attack Sarah Palin's selection as the Re- publican vice presidential candidate in 2008. Clinton's tour for "Hard Choices" began Tuesday morning in the friendliest possible setting: a book- signing event at a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan's Union Square. Around 1,000 people — some had slept on the sidewalk — let out whoops as she ar- rived about 20 minutes be- hind schedule and delivered brief remarks with a patri- otic tone reminiscent of the campaign trail. The former secretary of state said the book was "written for anybody who wants to think about, and learn about, what is hap- pening in the world today — why America matters, and why the world matters to America. And we have a lot of hard choices ahead of us in our country to make it as brave and as strong as it should be. And we have a lot of hard choices to continue to lead the world and solve problems that affect us and the rest of humanity." The book tour was sched- uled to take Clinton to Chi- cago, Philadelphia, Wash- ington, Toronto and Aus- tin. Her frenetic pace and intense media attention re- sembled a hybrid of celeb- rity book tour and cam- paign kickoff, with plenty of hints of a presidential run. In one of her first promo- tional interviews, Clinton was asked Tuesday on NBC about a 6-year-old tale she recounted in her book about 2008 Republican presiden- tial nominee John McCain's pick of Palin as his running mate. Clinton said Dem- ocratic candidate Barack Obama's campaign, which had defeated her bid for the nomination that year, asked her to attack Palin. "I said, 'Attack her for what? For being a woman?'" Clinton said. She said she told the Obama campaign, "There'll be plenty of time to do what I think you should do in politics, which is draw distinctions." POLITICS Hillary Clinton book tour possible prelude to 2016 run BEBETO MATTHEWS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HiIlary Clinton listens before signing a copy of her book on Tuesday at Barnes and Noble bookstore in New York. 750DavidAvenue,RedBluff•527-9193 NoMove-infees No extra costs Askabout our new UNBEATABLE Rent Specials! 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