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CINCINNATI - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, will highlight in downtown Cincinnati this morning key infrastruture projects, such as the Brent Spence Bridge, as he outlines a framework to rebuild and repair the country’s infrastructure which will create millions of construction jobs. The northern Ohio Senator will be joined by Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority President and CEO Laura Brunner, and OKI Regional Council of Governments Deputy Executive DirectorRobert Koehler. President Donald Trump previously promised $1 trillion of investment in American infrastructure during his campaign. Brown joined Senate colleagues to release a roadmap for making...

Dozens of governments and private philanthropists have pledged nearly $200 million for family planning services, after US President Donald Trump banned funding for groups linked to abortion. Sweden, Belgium and Finland promised €20 million each (about $21 million) to the the global fundraising initiative, She Decides, launched by Dutch Development Minister Lilianne Ploumen. The pledges came at a one-day She Decides conference in Brussels on Thursday, aimed at raising funds for aid groups whose funding is under threat. Some 50 governments, ranging from EU members states to African and Asian countries, attended the conference. Organizers hope to raise $600 million...

The pattern continues…   Those who are connected to the crimes and misdemeanors of the Clinton cartel live in hiding for fear of their lives.   Of course there was funneling of money going on. The Wikileaks and Guccifer 2.0 hacks went along way in documenting the quid pro quo nature of Clinton diplomacy.   Back in the 90s, it was selling nuclear secrets to China, and schmoozing with high powered Chinese individuals, caught up in real estate deals, fundraising schemes and the like.   So it is little surprising, though certainly alarming, that this story has surfaced of...

Note too that Pence specifically took ownership of this position: US President Donald Trump expects NATO allies to make real progress by the end of this year towards meeting the increased defence spending target agreed by the alliance, his Vice President Mike Pence said Monday. “The president and the American people expect our allies to keep their word and to do more in our common defence … the president expects real progress by the end of 2017,” he said. “If you have a plan to get there, our alliance needs you to accelerate it,” Pence said. “If you don’t yet...

Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is hoping the federal government can rescue several critical infrastructure projects that the state can no longer afford.The Brownback administration recently sent what amounts to a wish list to President Donald Trump for inclusion in his planned infrastructure initiative. It includes the following $240 million in highway and bridge projects delayed or abandoned because of the state’s ongoing budget problems: $50 million to replace a section of the Lewis and Clark Viaduct that carries Interstate 70 across the Kansas River between Kansas and Missouri.$91 million to build an I-235 interchange in Wichita.$45 million to reconstruct...

<p>MADISON -- A new audit shows huge cost overruns at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, with dozens of projects costing double or triple their original estimates.</p> <p>The Legislative Audit Bureau report finds that estimated costs for 19 major projects completed between 2006 and 2016 were $1.5 billion, double the initial projection. The audit also finds that the estimated costs of 16 ongoing major highway projects have increased by $3.1 billion.</p>

A Look Into the Opaque Crystal Ball for Infrastructure Initiatives in the First 100 Days of the Trump Administration President Donald J. Trump's "America's Infrastructure First" plan is one of the Trump Administration's priorities during his first 100 days in office. Throughout the campaign, President Trump heralded his plan to build and restore highways, tunnels, airports, bridges, and water systems across America and promised a $1 trillion investment in the infrastructure sector over a 10-year period. Leaders from both parties acknowledge the nation's deteriorating infrastructure, and there have been expressions of support from both sides of the aisle for some...

As cities across Ontario finalize their budgets and try to squeeze out savings to expand public transit, something doesn't add up. Too many cities, including Toronto, are missing out on hundreds of millions in savings. That's because Ontario has a labour law loophole that's putting cities, companies and taxpayers at a huge disadvantage. The heated debate over road tolls in Toronto has distracted from a far simpler way of saving for public transit expansion. Here it is: Change the way construction projects are tendered. Right now, Toronto and too many other municipalities including Hamilton, Sault Ste. Marie and the Region...

President Trump has promised to eliminate regulations and rebuild the nation’s aging infrastructure. Federal agencies are awash with regulations and provisions based on the presumption that government is, and should be, the sole provider of infrastructure. But now that we understand the merits of public-private partnerships, which can provide more accountable public-purpose infrastructure, these numerous regulations and provisions serve as major obstacles preventing the improvement of highways and other infrastructure. Back in 1995, Reason Foundation published a policy study itemizing a number of these regulatory barriers. Sadly, most of them still exist today. If a state or municipal facility has...

More than a year after Texas voters approved routing billions in state sales taxes to roads and bridges, some lawmakers are questioning whether the first payment of $5 billion should move forward as planned. Texans voted in 2015 to boost funding for state’s public roadways and bridges, which have strained under the state’s growing population. Proposition 7 — loudly cheered by top Texas leaders and supported by 83 percent of voters — changed the state constitution to route some taxes collected on car sales to the State Highway Fund. But in an unusually tightfisted legislative session, some Texas lawmakers are...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has promised to revitalize America’s aging roads, bridges, railways and airports, but a plan put forward by his economic advisers relies on a transportation financing scheme that hasn’t been tried before and comes with significant risks. The plan was set out just before the election by billionaire leveraged buy-out specialist Wilbur Ross, Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, and conservative economics professor Peter Navarro, whom Trump has tapped to head his National Trade Council. They recommended the government allocate $137 billion in tax credits for private investors who underwrite infrastructure projects. Ross and Navarro estimate that...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has cut funding to Travis County, the home of the city of Austin, following through on a threat to block state grants over a new sheriff’s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Abbott’s office said Monday it would cancel $1.8 million in grants to law enforcement programs in the county, the state capital and the University of Texas’s flagship campus. The governor said he is asking state agencies to identify other grants to the county that he could also block.

In a major escalation of the state's battle against local governments refusing to comply with federal immigration laws, Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday moved to immediately carry out his promise to withhold grant money to Travis County because of a new jail policy he contends makes Texas' capital a "sanctuary city." [Snip] Abbott's announcement comes as Hernandez enacted a new policy Wednesday under which she will detain inmates on behalf of federal immigration officials only when they are charged with murder, sexual assault or human smuggling. The new policy changes a longstanding agreement that allowed agents from U.S. Immigration and...

The flurry of anguished news stories and protests surrounding President Trump’s executive action temporarily suspending “immigrants and non-immigrants” from "countries of particular concern” appears to be part of a coordinated PR effort financed by left-wing billionaire George Soros. Rather than a complete "Muslim ban" as promised during the campaign, Trump's executive order contains moderate refugee restrictions, similar to those that have been implemented by President Obama. If reports are true that restrictions are being applied even to green-card holders, that is an unfortunate misapplication of the law that will likely soon be corrected. Protesters quickly materialized Saturday at JFK Airport,...

The Hague (AFP) - The Netherlands on Tuesday called for an international fund to support health centres offering abortion services in developing countries, after US President Donald Trump ordered a halt to US government financing. Trump on Monday signed a decree barring federal funding for foreign NGOs that support abortion, on the eve of the 44th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalised the practice in the United States. The restrictions prohibit foreign non-governmental organisations that receive US family planning assistance from using non-US funding to provide abortion services, information, counselling or referrals. They are also barred from engaging...

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power urged the Trump administration on Friday not to cut funding to the United Nations, warning that this would be detrimental to U.S. interests and benefit countries like China and Russia. “We lead the world, in part, by leading at the United Nations,” Power stressed at her final press conference before leaving the U.S. Mission on Jan. 20 when Barack Obama’s presidency ends and Donald Trump is inaugurated as president. Supporters of Israel in the U.S. Congress have introduced a number of bills to cut off U.N. funding to protest Obama’s decision to allow the adoption of...

You may already be familiar with Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary. He’s definitely become one of the more right leaning, new breed of European leadership which is shaking up the current EU establishment. He’s been a vocal supporter of Theresa May and her handling of the Brexit situation thus far. Going one step further, he’s gone on record saying that if the situation with the European Union doesn’t become more tolerable in the near future his own country may be heading for Huxit within five years. On top of that, he was the first foreign leader to sign...

Dear Editor, As states and municipalities around the nation struggle to find ways to afford much-needed improvements to aging and congested roadways, the Commonwealth of Virginia has established itself as an innovative leader when it comes to carefully prioritizing the state’s transportation investments and wisely leveraging private sector resources to ensure the best deal for state taxpayers. The I-66 Outside the Beltway project exemplifies this leadership, and Cintra, together with its partner Meridiam, is proud to be part of the team selected by the Commonwealth to finance, design, build, operate and maintain this more than $3 billion transformative project at...

PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump has proposed a $1 trillion plan to fix America’s infrastructure. It relies on public-private partnerships as its primary source of financing. Our country’s complex transportation network needs an overhaul, but private investment is not the answer, mainly because of the returns that investors expect. Public-private partnerships can be an excellent procurement tool, but selecting the right project is key. Virginia has been a national leader in such deals since the General Assembly passed the Public Private Partnership Act in 1995. The law was designed for the partnerships to be used as an option for certain projects if...

The cost of toll roads, the toll of urban congestion, ride-hailing battles and a high-speed train war garnered plenty of attention in Texas this year. And after the Legislature spent two sessions focusing on highway funding, lawmakers now appear poised to tackle other transportation matters next year. Here's a look at the year's biggest transportation stories and how they may continue to unfold in the coming months:1. Uber and Lyft roll out of Austin after losing city electionNational ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft stopped operating in Austin after voters there rejected an ordinance that would have repealed certain regulations, including...