NEWS:

Pawlenty says salary, benefit cuts needed to solve budget problems  PLAINVIEW -- Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Thursday public employees are "over-benefited and overpaid" when compared to private employees so cutting school employee salaries and benefits are one of the keys to solving the state's education funding challenges.  "It used to be that public employees were underpaid and over-benefited. Now they are over-benefited and overpaid compared to their private-sector counterparts," he told a crowd gathered in Plainview.   more....

Local transportation advocates weigh in on stimulus spending report (1/14/10)  Transportation lobbyists in Minnesota are defending the use of federal stimulus spending on roads and bridges in the state, despite a recent Associated Press report that questioned the program's effectiveness at creating construction jobs. Read more at: http://www.finance-commerce.com/article.cfm/2010/01/15/Local-transportation-advocates-weigh-in-on-stimulus-spending-report

New highway program needs to be comprehensive, forward thinking, LaHood says (1/13/10)  WASHINGTON — Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood today called on Congress to pass what he called a “comprehensive, forward-looking reauthorization program.” Addressing the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board, LaHood said he recognized that there is a lot of capacity and demand for additional transportation investments across the country that neither stimulus packages nor a newer jobs bill can provide. Read more at: http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2010/1/13/NewhighwayprogramneedstobecomprehensiveforwardthinkingLaHoodsays.aspx

 

State commission rules against DOT's former top lawyer  (12/21/2009)  Madison — The former top attorney at the Department of Transportation who was transferred out of his job after releasing state records won't get his old post back, the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission has ruled.  The commission's decision - issued last week and released publicly over the weekend - reverses a hearing examiner's opinion that found Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi abused his discretion in moving Jim Thiel into a staff attorney position in 2004.  Read more at: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/79834762.html

USDOT Honors Engineer, mentions ASCE Code of Ethics (12/17/2009)   The U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General honored structural engineer Steve T. Mackey, P.E. this month for his efforts to alert the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of lax inspection standards on the Dulles Metro extension project outside of Washington, D.C. Citing ASCE's code of ethics, the commendation praised Mackey for his commitment to holding the public's safety paramount.  Mackey contacted the FTA and the Inspector General's office after he left the firm handling the construction of the 11 mile Metro extension last year. As construction began on the line, crews preparing to build a bridge that would carry trains over I-66 discovered a series of foundations that had been laid in the late 1970s. Mackey quit when he objected to the firm's decision to use the existing foundations without proper testing and inspections.   As a result of Mackey's actions, the FTA required new safety standards for the project and all existing foundations must be inspected.  To read more, visit the Washington Post online.

Another Public-Private Partnership Disaster - Canada Port Mann Bridge

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