Denver has just been dropped from 9th to 39th on the federal government's list of cities at risk of being a target of a terrorist attack. The reasons for the drop are secret but the ramifications are not. According to David Kaufman, deputy associate director of the Office of Domestic Preparedness, which made the change:

[the] agency reviews the risks and then arranges and trims the list of cities to match grants available from the Department of Homeland Security. The grants are used to improve police, fire and medical response.

Translated into dollars, this means Denver's federal anti-terrorism funds will decrease from $15.6 million to $8.6 million.

Metro-area agencies have used much of their terrorism grant money to improve emergency radio systems and to enable officers from different jurisdictions to talk to one another during a major disaster.

Do you feel safer now?