Free Republic

The same company that designed a failed pedestrian bridge in Florida was the initial designer of what would become the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. Florida-based Figg Bridge Engineers had the original contract to design the pedestrian bridge that spans the Missouri River between Omaha and Council Bluffs. Figg was behind the design of the pedestrian bridge at Florida International University in the Miami area that collapsed March 15. But Figg ultimately did not provide the design of the Omaha bridge. The reason wasn’t safety. It was cost. Bids to construct the Figg-designed bridge came in at twice the cost that...

If you thought the latest round of US sanctions against some largely unknown Russians and a few new companies listed here, most notably Rosneft and Gazprombank - but not Gazprom, never Gazprom - that would cut off Russian gas to Europe and Merkel doesn't want that - would be largely a non-event, you are right. Unless you own a Kalashnikov, aka AK-47 rifle. In which case read on. From the updated sanctions FAQ: If I own a Kalashnikov product, is that product blocked by sanctions? Am I able to resell a Kalashnikov product at a gun show or other secondary...

WASHINGTON — Rep. Lee Terry’s path to re-election may have just gotten more complicated. Chip Maxwell, a former state senator, confirmed Wednesday that he will launch a petition drive to appear on November’s general election alongside Omaha’s Republican congressman and Democratic challenger Brad Ashford. "I am running for Congress," Maxwell said in a statement. "I am not ready to make a formal announcement because I’m still putting together my campaign plan and team. I have a plan to save the country, but first I have to put together a winning campaign plan." Maxwell switched his party registration from Republican to...

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie is cashing in donations from top Democratic fundraisers and other traditionally liberal donors across the country, even nabbing the support of a handful of rainmakers aligned with President Obama and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Star-Ledger review of state and federal records shows. The checks are flying into the Republican governor’s war chest from all sorts of unlikely places — the hedge fund run by liberal billionaire George Soros, for example, and the politically progressive halls of the University of California, Berkeley. The nascent support from Democratic donors is an early sign of Christie’s fundraising...

I keep hearing the GOP politicians saying that we are $15 Trillion in debt and how horrible that is. However, it is not getting much traction as an issue. Why don't they say "Each and every one of you owes nearly $50,000 in your part of the national debt. And, a family of four owes nearly $200,000. How are you going to pay back your portion of the debt?" I believe that framing this way would get a lot more traction. They could also say that there are only three ways to discharge that debt. Default, meaning most peoples retirement...

Today (this was back on November 16, 2009) the Petitioners in McDonald v. City of Chicago, the case on whether the Second Amendment applies to the states, filed their merits brief. You can read it here. It’s a truly remarkable brief. It devotes 55 pages to arguing that the Supreme Court should overturn The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) and embark on a new era of a newly rejuvenated Privileges or Immunities Clause. It then gives a mere seven pages, at the very end of the brief, to applying existing doctrine and arguing that the Second Amendment is incorporated and applies to...

On January 20th, we had a number of engineering jobs completed for construction in 2009. These included plans and specifications for bridge replacements, bridge repairs, street replacements, street overlays, sewer projects, etc. Naturally, some Federal money was involved in all projects like these. We had Federal and State approval and had turned them over to our customers (mostly local governments) for bidding and selection of the lowest and best bidder. On January, 21st, all projects that had been approved, but work had not actually started on yet, were unapproved by the Federal Government. We have to reapply and an absolutely...

Like a 3-year-old, for whom the word "no" has little relevance, Omaha landlord Paul J. Hansen flagrantly flouts the rules. Like a parent, the courts keep putting him in timeout. But the battle of wills has stretched for years now, and there's no sign that the "timeouts" — including one for 60 days in jail handed down Friday in Douglas County Court — are having any impact. It had been a busy week in court for Hansen: Thursday, he was tracked down in a sixth-floor stairwell at the Douglas County Courthouse to be cited for code violations at five north...

So, we’ve been getting a lot of comments about the ACLU’s stance on the Second Amendment. For those of you who didn’t catch our response in the blog comments, here it is again: The ACLU interprets the Second Amendment as a collective right. Therefore, we disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision in D.C. v. Heller. While the decision is a significant and historic reinterpretation of the right to keep and bear arms, the decision leaves many important questions unanswered that will have to be resolved in future litigation, including what regulations are permissible, and which weapons are embraced by the...

Revolutionary ideologies always look good until they prevail; then their latent seeds of destruction sprout and conflagrate. Such is the case with originalism, and Heller provides an opportunity to see this process in action. To see why, imagine that, to the surprise of everyone, Clarence Thomas retires from the court next year and President Obama replaces him with a moderately liberal lawyer whom I will call X. In X's first term, another Second Amendment case reaches the Supreme Court. X reads the majority and dissenting opinions of Heller and decides that Justice Stevens' dissent makes the better originalist case. He...

RED LIGHT CAMERA SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND PLACEMENT FOR INTERSECTION SAFETY WEB SEMINAR Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Time: 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Eastern Credit: 1.5 PDH/.15 IACET CEU Background: Red light running is a serious safety issue at many intersections in the US and other countries. Cameras that automatically record red light violators and provide the means for issuing citations by mail have been shown to reduce the collision toll under some circumstances over the past few years. However, the success of a camera program depends upon many good decisions being made by the responsible jurisdiction and engineers. This course will...

As a Citizen, capital C, of Nebraska, Omaha landlord Paul Hansen believes that neither the city nor Douglas County holds sway over him. That's why the 49-year-old owner of dilapidated rental housing refuses to pay property taxes on time, if at all, and never without protest. It's why he generally doesn't heed city code inspectors' numerous requests about getting permits or fixing up his mostly inner-city properties. And it's why Hansen continues to ring up a bill for the citizens, lowercase c, of Douglas County and Omaha. Two of his properties, 3202 Seward St. and 1314 S. 30th Ave., are...

It’s a pleasure to be back at Concurring Opinions. I much enjoyed guest blogging here last summer, and the management has been kind enough to invite me back for a few months to cover firearms law issues during the pendency of District of Columbia v. Heller, the landmark Supreme Court case on the Second Amendment right to arms. I’ll cover the briefing, the oral argument on March 18, and the decision, which will probably be issued at the end of the term in June. I also hope to discuss some other firearms law topics such as ConocoPhillips v. Henry, a...

Costs are quickly mounting in Orange County's effort to invalidate its pension agreement with sheriff's deputies, public records show. The county has already paid a total of more than half a million dollars to four law firms in the last year to research and develop a strategy for a legal challenge -- and that's before supervisors have even decided to take the case to court. snip snip Supervisors are expected to vote next week on whether to move forward with the case. In a recent interview, Supervisor Chris Norby said Kirkland & Ellis, the firm most recently retained by the...

Finally it appears the city has set a real deadline for Corcoran Jennison to prove that it can move forward with development plans on the Fort Trumbull peninsula. The New London Development Corp.'s decision to take a firm stand is long overdue and much welcomed. For seven years the Boston development group has been the preferred developer for the property. Progress stalled for years because of the bitter eminent domain fight that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court before being decided in the city's favor in June 2005. That delay was frustrating enough, but the failure to...

Figures from program's first 6 months show drop in accidents, tickets By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News Dallas officials believe the city's electronic red-light spies are causing motorists to hit the brakes. Preliminary statistics show that accidents and citations are drastically down at intersections with red-light cameras during the first six months of the program, according to a report presented to the City Council's public safety committee Monday. "Police can't be at intersections at all times, but technology can," said Zaida Basora, an assistant director of the city's Public Works and Transportation Department. In Dallas, nearly 30 percent...

Interesting article in “Better Roads” magazine, November 2007. It is an industry magazine. Unfortunately, it is not posted on their website (although previous years reports are listed). Also some interesting statistics. The percentage of structurally deficient (SD) and functionally obsolete (FO) bridges in the United States is 24.1%. (Per the FHWA: "An SD bridge is one that (1) has been restricted to light vehicles only, (2) is closed, or (3) requires immediate rehabilitation to remain open. An FO bridge is one in which the deck geometry, load carrying capacity (comparison of the original design load to the State legal load),...

ABBEVILLE — Rita Bixby made one final statement to Judge Alexander Macaulay Friday before being sentenced to life in prison for conspiring with her son to kill two law officers in relation to a strip of land the state wanted to take for a highway project. In the time she had to plea for the judge’s mercy, Bixby asked her attorney to say something on her behalf. “She still feels she’s not guilty, your honor,” said her attorney, Jeffrey Bloom. That was it. Any chance that the grieving family members of State Constable Donnie Ouzts or Abbeville County Sheriff’s Sgt....

I just read a summary report about a book called “Road Diet Handbook: Setting Trends for Livable Streets”. This is the latest fad that is bringing traffic circles, bike lanes, and speed bumps to your town under the label of “traffic calming”. Of course, such things don’t “calm” traffic. Neither do they “calm” the driver. Each thing is planned to force the drivers onto other streets, into mass transportation, or to skip the trip altogether. Road Diets are the latest incarnation of their diabolical plan. The plan is to take existing streets and reduce the number of lanes. Does that...

I just got an invite to the Midwestern ITE conference. It is being held in West Des Moines, IA this year on September 26th, 27th, and the morning of the 28th. A person from the MNDOT was scheduled to speak there before the I-35W collapse. They are planning to have him tentatively discuss the collapse instead of his originally planned topic. I will try to attend and, if so, let everyone know what he says. There will also be a breakout session on Red Light Cameras which should be interesting.