Free Republic

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - The toll bills haven't stopped coming for some drivers in Central Florida after SunPass’ software meltdown last summer. In fact, state senators were told more than 4 million outstanding bills are still heading to mailboxes, adding up to an outstanding balance of $100 million. Related Headlines Last June, SunPass took its online payment system offline for a week of scheduled maintenance. At the end of the week, the system wouldn’t come back online. Almost 250 days later, people are still getting bills in the mail for the weeks of tolls that SunPass couldn’t process. Some drivers...

Much like many brand new commercial aircraft, Boeing’s 737 Max’s entry-into-service hasn’t been the smoothest — and the latest incident (in what is a string of 737 Max related events) took place earlier this morning, with a brand new Norwegian Air jet. Flying from Dubai (DXB) to Oslo (OSL), Norwegian Air’s two-month-old Boeing 737 MAX 8 encountered engine trouble, and following around 20 minutes of flying at its cruising altitude of 32,000ft…the newly built American jet initiated an emergency descent to Shiraz International Airport, located in south-central Iran. Before its landing, the aircraft circulated several times over the region, after...

Here are two recent events you might have missed: In March, House speaker Paul Ryan was widely quoted as saying, “The last thing we want to do is pass historic tax relief and then undo that, so we are not going to raise gas taxes.”The next month, in California, Republicans submitted 54 percent more than the required signatures to put on the November ballot a measure that would repeal the 2017 state law increasing gasoline and diesel taxes. Meanwhile, roads in Los Angeles are in such bad shape that it costs the average driver $892 a year in additional vehicle...

At a measly 17 cents a gallon, Missouri’s fuel tax is woefully inadequate to fund the state’s growing need for transportation-infrastructure improvements. The more the system deteriorates, the worse our state’s business climate will become. Gov. Eric Greitens could put some muscle into his determination to attract business and generate more jobs by embracing a long-overdue fuel tax increase. The Missouri 21st Century Transportation Task Force, created by the Legislature and approved by the governor last year, proposes to boost the tax by a dime, and by 12 cents for diesel, which is only about half of what’s needed to...

As state officials launch a project to add toll lanes to Interstate 270 and the Beltway, they also are exploring the benefits of privatizing maintenance of existing highway sections. The Maryland Department of Transportation last week began soliciting input from businesses on the estimated $7.6 billion plan to expand Interstate 495 through Maryland and I-270 from the Beltway to Frederick. A separate but related $1.4 billion plan calls for adding capacity to I-295. During a Sept. 21 press conference, Gov. Larry Hogan said his idea for relieving congestion on the state’s largest thoroughfares relies on finding a private partner to...

HOUSTON - The teachers at Spring Forest Middle School asked KHOU 11's Verify team whether Beltway 8 has been paid off and if the tolls will ever go away in the foreseeable future. "Why do we still pay for toll roads?" wondered 7th grade teacher Rebecca Mustachio. "To be honest, I thought we would be done paying for toll roads." We are not even close to paying the bill for those roads, according to Roxana Sibrian of the Harris County Toll Road Authority. In a statement emailed to KHOU, the authority says it will be paying off construction debt until...

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey's decision to again take for other uses state gas tax money intended to help cities and counties build and repair roads is getting a cold reception from some in the Legislature. The Republican governor's budget proposal for the year starting July 1 eliminates $86.5 million in highway spending in the current year, a decision likely to spur a fight with lawmakers from both parties who have been seeking a permanent stop to shifts of cash for road work to other uses. Legislation that would bar the practice and require gas tax money only...

MIAMI - Drivers throughout South Florida have said no matter where their daily commute takes them, they feel they're spending more money, more often on tolls. Local 10 News spoke to several drivers who said the tolls are another expense and don't necessarily help them reach their destination any faster. "Three hundred to four hundred (dollars) a month," Maribel Masvidal estimated she spends commuting from Homestead to her job in South Miami. "A lot of money that could be used on other things for my family." Masvidal said that commute can take her up to two hours one way on...

Chicago school and city officials detailed $200 million in cuts—including layoffs, scaled-back maintenance and reduced transportation—to the nation’s third-largest school district Wednesday, one day after the district paid a $634 million pension bill officials said it couldn’t afford. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said schools would still open on time in the coming school year and class sizes wouldn’t be affected. He put the blame on state legislators for worsening the situation and said a property tax increase was up for consideration. The district had to borrow and factor in the cuts to make the pension payment by Tuesday’s deadline because legislators,...

There are over 100 pre-oil change treatments products for removing engine sludge. Each product endorser swears on a stack of Bibles that IT is the best --the others are all dastardly liars. But see, I trust Freepers: Is there a stand-out product, detergent, or some DIY product for gasoline-powered car engines that average Joe's can buy or formulate and run in their engine for 10 minutes right before an oil change in order to free up engine sludge...? This gasoline-powered Camry has not changed oil in over 10,000 miles, I believe. Sorry for the Vanity, I think this is almost...

Just received a message from our bandwidth provider. They're going to do some urgent maintenance on their routers tonight from 6:00pm to 10:00pm PST. We may experience intermittent outages of 10-20 minutes each during this period.

Only sixteen percent of blacks in the sprawling South African township of Soweto, Johannesburg, pay for their electricity, while South Africa’s electricity supply infrastructure is rapidly crumbling due to incompetent Third World management and lack of maintenance. The situation is so dire that local media have now reported that the government has been briefed on emergency measures in the event of a total national electricity blackout. The extent of the problem was graphically revealed when late last year, shock photographs—taken in secret by one of the employees of the state-run Electricity Supply Commission (Eskom)—were leaked of one of the country’s...

According to Consumer Reports, Tesla Model S owners are highly satisfied. In fact, the 99 out of 100 owner-satisfaction score gathered from 600 owners is the highest the agency has seen in years. This is somewhat surprising in light of what seems to be a high level of maintenance and service appointments that Model S owners are experiencing. To be fair, much of the maintenance seems to be due to hyperactive proactivity and misdiagnosis as the company learns to properly diagnose problems unique to its electric cars. Still, as a young vehicle manufacturer, there is certainly room for quality control...

NEWTON (CBS) – A worker fell 1,000 feet to his death from a tower in Newton on Wednesday. A veteran crew of three men, working for Ultimate Tower Service, was doing routine maintenance work on the tower when one of the men fell. “The wind, you know, can be a factor, but today’s a pretty calm day, so the whole thing seems very bizarre and tragic,” said Brenda Loew, a neighbor. Sources told WBZ-TV that the surviving workers were almost too upset to talk to investigators. WBZ-TV’s Christina Hager reports. Workers routinely wear safety harnesses to attach themselves to the...

What do B-2 bombers and nuclear submarines have in common? Both cost about the same and both require periodic, and expensive, refurbishment. The U.S. B-2 bomber is the most expensive warplane ever to enter service. The 21 that were built ended up costing over $2 billion each. About half of that was development expense. At the time these aircraft were built (in the 1990s), they cost as much as a major warship. The B-2 has similar needs, including periodic (every seven years), lengthy (13 months) refurbishment (programmed depot maintenance, or PDM). Most of the PDM is devoted to refurbishing structural...

3/22/2010 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Airmen from the 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron aborted an F-15E Strike Eagle mission minutes before takeoff March 12 here when a crew chief noticed an oddity with the flight controls of an aircraft. Staff Sgt. Justin Wilson, a 494th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit crew chief, was watching two taxiing F-15Es at about 11:30 p.m. local time and saw something peculiar as the second aircraft proceeded to the end of runway area to complete preflight preparations. "We were watching them taxi and I noticed when the second jet made its turn the left...

Lt. Col. Brian Coleman, adviser to the Iraqi Army's Director of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Program, takes questions from Iraqi officers about the Iraqi Army Maintenance Program, an electronic database designed to assist the maintenance workshops with organizing work orders and documenting inventory, at Camp Taji, Sept. 30. Photo by Sgt. Keith VanKlompenberg, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). < CAMP TAJI — Iraqi Army (IA) maintenance sites, called Medium Workshops, recently transitioned from handwritten orders and logs to the new Iraqi Army Maintenance Program (IAMP) computerized database. U.S. Army Soldiers met here with Iraqi Army (IA) officers to discuss the progress...

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Andrea Walton, 721st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron, helps an Iraqi Air Force maintenance student use specialized tools to find microscopic cracks and flaws in aircraft parts during a training visit to the Army's NDI backshop at Camp Taji, July 13. Photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Keller, U.S. Air Forces Central Public Affairs. TAJI — Whether it's on the flightline or in a hangar, Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) Airmen are learning to fix their own helicopters, thanks to American Airmen who have shown them how. The Airmen, assigned to the 721st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron, take...

Staff Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, 332nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron tactical mobile maintenance team vehicle-maintenance craftsman, fabricates a metal mud flap bracket for a vehicle on April 22. Photo by Staff Sgt. John Gordinier. JOINT BASE BALAD — Security Forces Airmen in the 532nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron here constantly go outside the wire to perform missions, and they rely on protection from Mine Resistant Ambush Protection vehicles to get them through the mission and back to base safely. "Every morning and afternoon as ground combat patrols get ready to leave here, 332nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron tactical mobile maintenance team...

Staff Sgt. Norbert Ferrell explains the finer aspects of an M1A1 Abrams tank to Iraqi Army Soldiers at Forward Operating Base Hammer, April 11. Photo by Sgt. Joshua Risner, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. BAGHDAD — The M1A1 Abrams tank is one of the newest additions to the Iraqi Army's (IA) arsenal. U.S. Army armor Soldiers and contracted civilians are assisting the 9th IA Division with getting their armored crewmen trained on the new equipment at Forward Operating Base Hammer. "We're here basically to help with mentoring the Iraqis with maintenance and with understanding of how a tank platoon is supposed...