Technologies

Las Vegas First Responders Lean on AT&T’s FirstNet to Stay Connected During the F1 Race

Amid the chaos of the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, I talked to AT&T and first responders about how they plan and operate during events like this.

At the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix race, Rich Johnson can hear the distant percussive blats of the F1 cars racing in downtown Las Vegas, but he won’t get to see them all weekend. And he’s fine with that.

Although he’s in town specifically for the event, his main focus is ensuring that, in the event of any emergencies, first responders can communicate and coordinate effectively. I spent time with Johnson, the associate director of network disaster recovery for AT&T, to learn more about an important piece of the race weekend that most people won’t — and shouldn’t have to — think about.

Johnson oversees teams of people and resources strategically positioned around the race track and throughout the city as part of FirstNet, the First Responder Network Authority, «a private/public partnership between AT&T and the US government to create, maintain and service a nationwide public safety drop-in network,» he explains.

FirstNet operates on Band 14, a patch of spectrum dedicated for first responders so they don’t have to compete for a signal if something happens, even in a wireless-rich environment like a Formula 1 race.

«If our primary communication methods fail, we have backups that we can go to,» said Brian O’Neal, deputy fire chief with the Clark County Fire Department and emergency manager for Clark County. «Typically that involves moving from radio to cellular. When you look at an event like this, where a 3.8-mile track is running through the middle of the city, capacity within that system becomes a concern.»

That’s where FirstNet comes in, enabling every first responder to communicate with one another on that dedicated spectrum, which is not affected by all of the other competing signals.

As I spoke with O’Neal and Johnson, several bright yellow Clark County fire trucks rolled out behind them to be deployed throughout the area. Johnson pointed out that when the event is going on, traffic is even worse because it’s locked down, so ingress and egress is extremely difficult.

«All these fire trucks will end up being in that footprint before it gets locked out,» said Johnson. «And because we are so embedded with public safety, that’s part of the plan. We have our staff and equipment pre-staged throughout the footprint as well.»

One piece of equipment Johnson showed me was a small portable trailer that can be set up by a single person. When it’s activated, a process that takes about 30 minutes, it provides about a mile of FirstNet coverage.

It’s often towed by a larger response communications vehicle, which was also parked at the ready and has a deployable 20-foot mast that can provide cellular to first responders over about a mile-and-a-half radius.

Johnson also took me to the roof of a nearby parking garage, where a portable network tower occupied two parking spaces with a lovely view of downtown Las Vegas and the race track in the distance. It’s up there in «hot standby» mode as a backup to ensure a consistent flow of communication. If needed, it can be activated remotely in a few seconds, using a large dish to communicate with a long-range satellite as the data backhaul.

It’s unlikely the unit will be used during the weekend, but the commitment to multiple redundant systems is why it’s parked in the same spot as it was last year.

Planning for an event like this takes about six months, said Johnson, although much of it came together in four months this year because this is the third Las Vegas Grand Prix where FirstNet has been on hand. Both Johnson and O’Neal reiterated that the technologies and capabilities of these tools are used throughout the year for everyday operations, too. They’re just scaled up dramatically for a planned event like this.

Johnson said AT&T has over 190 assets like these dedicated to FirstNet, with access to over 750 AT&T assets they can use exclusively for public safety if needed.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Feb. 21

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 21.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s the long Saturday version, and some of the clues are stumpers. I was really thrown by 10-Across. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: «Jersey Shore» channel
Answer: MTV

4A clue: «___ Knows» (rhyming ad slogan)
Answer: LOWES

6A clue: Second-best-selling female musician of all time, behind Taylor Swift
Answer: MADONNA

8A clue: Whiskey grain
Answer: RYE

9A clue: Dreaded workday: Abbr.
Answer: MON

10A clue: Backfiring blunder, in modern lingo
Answer: SELFOWN

12A clue: Lengthy sheet for a complicated board game, perhaps
Answer: RULES

13A clue: Subtle «Yes»
Answer: NOD

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: In which high schoolers might role-play as ambassadors
Answer: MODELUN

2D clue: This clue number
Answer: TWO

3D clue: Paid via app, perhaps
Answer: VENMOED

4D clue: Coat of paint
Answer: LAYER

5D clue: Falls in winter, say
Answer: SNOWS

6D clue: Married title
Answer: MRS

7D clue: ___ Arbor, Mich.
Answer: ANN

11D clue: Woman in Progressive ads
Answer: FLO

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 21, #516

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 21, No. 516.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. I actually thought the purple category, usually the most difficult, was the easiest of the four. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Old Line State.

Green group hint: Hoops legend.

Blue group hint: Robert Redford movie.

Purple group hint: Vroom-vroom.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Maryland teams.

Green group: Shaquille O’Neal nicknames.

Blue group: Associated with «The Natural.»

Purple group: Sports that have a driver.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is Maryland teams. The four answers are Midshipmen, Orioles, Ravens and Terrapins.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is Shaquille O’Neal nicknames. The four answers are Big Aristotle, Diesel, Shaq and Superman.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with «The Natural.» The four answers are baseball, Hobbs, Knights and Wonderboy.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports that have a driver. The four answers are bobsled, F1, golf and water polo.

Technologies

Wisconsin Reverses Decision to Ban VPNs in Age-Verification Bill

The law would have required websites to block VPN users from accessing «harmful material.»

Following a wave of criticism, Wisconsin lawmakers have decided not to include a ban on VPN services in their age-verification law, making its way through the state legislature.

Wisconsin Senate Bill 130 (and its sister Assembly Bill 105), introduced in March 2025, aims to prohibit businesses from «publishing or distributing material harmful to minors» unless there is a reasonable «method to verify the age of individuals attempting to access the website.»

One provision would have required businesses to bar people from accessing their sites via «a virtual private network system or virtual private network provider.»

A VPN lets you access the internet via an encrypted connection, enabling you to bypass firewalls and unblock geographically restricted websites and streaming content. While using a VPN, your IP address and physical location are masked, and your internet service provider doesn’t know which websites you visit.

Wisconsin state Sen. Van Wanggaard moved to delete that provision in the legislation, thereby releasing VPNs from any liability. The state assembly agreed to remove the VPN ban, and the bill now awaits Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’s signature.

Rindala Alajaji, associate director of state affairs at the digital freedom nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, says Wisconsin’s U-turn is «great news.»

«This shows the power of public advocacy and pushback,» Alajaji says. «Politicians heard the VPN users who shared their worries and fears, and the experts who explained how the ban wouldn’t work.»

Earlier this week, the EFF had written an open letter arguing that the draft laws did not «meaningfully advance the goal of keeping young people safe online.» The EFF said that blocking VPNs would harm many groups that rely on that software for private and secure internet connections, including «businesses, universities, journalists and ordinary citizens,» and that «many law enforcement professionals, veterans and small business owners rely on VPNs to safely use the internet.»

VPNs can also help you get around age-verification laws — for instance, if you live in a state or country that requires age verification to access certain material, you can use a VPN to make it look like you live elsewhere, thereby gaining access to that material. As age-restriction laws increase around the US, VPN use has also increased. However, many people are using free VPNs, which are fertile ground for cybercriminals.

In its letter to Wisconsin lawmakers prior to the reversal, the EFF argued that it is «unworkable» to require websites to block VPN users from accessing adult content. The EFF said such sites cannot «reliably determine» where a VPN customer lives — it could be any US state or even other countries.

«As a result, covered websites would face an impossible choice: either block all VPN users everywhere, disrupting access for millions of people nationwide, or cease offering services in Wisconsin altogether,» the EFF wrote.

Wisconsin is not the only state to consider VPN bans to prevent access to adult material. Last year, Michigan introduced the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act, which would ban all use of VPNs. If passed, it would force ISPs to detect and block VPN usage and also ban the sale of VPNs in the state. Fines could reach $500,000.