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Continuing delays on the construction of Interstate 69 between Bloomington and Martinsville have led to another ratings downgrade on the bonds issued to help finance the project. Standard & Poor’s has lowered its rating from BB+ to BB- on $244 million in bonds issued by the Indiana Finance Authority in 2014 for the interstate project. “The rating action reflects our view of increased construction risk at the project, which is eight months behind schedule and about 56 percent complete,” S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Tony Bettinelli said in the ratings agency’s statement on the downgrade last week. The 21-mile project,...

The state of Indiana needs to do a better job of looking out for the interests of Hoosiers, especially Monroe County Hoosiers, when it comes to construction of Interstate 69. Section 5 of the project, the part that starts just south of Bloomington and goes north to Martinsville, has run into problems. Not for the first time. Again, the private development company the state picked to build the highway has fallen behind on payments for work that’s been done. So major contractor Crider & Crider of Bloomington has stopped working, again, until it gets paid. State officials aren’t saying so,...

PUFFING UP DEMOCRAT VOTER SAMPLES Headlines! PPP declares to all who will listen (not RCP, btw), Clinton Leads in Key Battlegrounds; Seen as Big Debate Winner. Oooh, big news? Trump stalwart Laura Ingraham, strangely, announces the PPP battleground polls just after they come out and for some reason says, "well, Trump isn't destroyed, anyway." Okay, so what's all the fuss about? PPP shows Hillary leading in five key battlegrounds; Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia. Most strikingly, she's up by two points in Florida and North Carolina, two must win states for Trump. Well never fret Trump supporters, cause...

PPP's newest national poll finds a pretty steady race- but that the candidates are getting even more unpopular as the election approaches, with undecideds actually going up when they would usually be on the decline at this stage in the campaign. Hillary Clinton leads with 42% to 37% for Donald Trump, 6% for Gary Johnson, 4% for Jill Stein, and 1% for Evan McMullin, with 10% of voters still undecided. A month ago Clinton actually led 46/41 but both she and Trump's support has dropped by 4 points, with support for third party candidates increasing from 8% to 11% and...

Clinton has narrow lead in Pennsylvania PPP's newest Pennsylvania poll, conducted entirely after the Democratic convention, finds Hillary Clinton with a narrow lead in the state. She's at 45% to 42% for Donald Trump, 4% for Gary Johnson, and 2% for Jill Stein. In a head to head match up just with Trump she leads by 4 points at 49-45. Both polls- in Pennsylvania and nationally- PPP has done since the Democratic convention basically suggest that the race is back where it was in June. In late June we had Clinton up 46-42 on Trump head to head in Pennsylvania...

Raleigh, N.C. – PPP's new North Carolina poll finds Donald Trump leading Hillary Clinton 43-41 in the state, with Gary Johnston at 3% and Jill Stein at 2%. Trump's 2 point lead represents a 4 point improvement from our March poll of the state, when Clinton was ahead by a couple points. The movement has come completely among Republicans. In March Clinton was up 79-13 among Democrats, and now she's up 79-12 among Democrats. In March Trump was up 49-32 among independents, and now he's up 45-27 among independents. But in March Trump was only up by 63 points among...

Add one more investment to the list of CalPERS’ controversial investments: a privately run state highway. The retirement fund recently purchased 10 percent of Indiana Toll Road Concession Co. The firm runs a 157-mile stretch of highway that runs across northern Indiana from Illinois to Ohio. California’s state engineers’ union says it’s a horrible investment that sinks government employees’ money into a project that, ironically, is hostile to government employees. The toll-road company is the first of what fund managers anticipate will be more investments in infrastructure and transportation projects as the $291 billion system broadens its reach into those...

PPP also polled Republicans in tomorrow’s contests. Those surveys showed no surprises: Things aren’t nearly so competitive on the Republican side, with Donald Trump getting a majority of voters in each state. He’s strongest in Rhode Island where he gets 61% to 23% for John Kasich, and 13% for Ted Cruz. The numbers are very similar in Connecticut with Trump getting 59% to 25% for Kasich, and 13% for Cruz. Things are a little bit different in Pennsylvania where Trump’s share of the vote isn’t as high (51%) and Cruz edges out Kasich 25/22 for second place. None of these...

PPP's new Maryland poll finds both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton with double digit leads heading into next week's primary election. Trump isn't looking as dominant as he is in New York, polling at 43%. But he's benefiting from a similar dynamic to the Empire State in that there is no clear alternative to him- John Kasich and Ted Cruz are closely matched for second place at 29% and 24% respectively. Trump is by far the most broadly popular candidate among GOP voters in the state with a 57/37 favorability rating compared to 48/35 for Kasich and 33/50 for Cruz....

A growing number of states and local governments are turning to an unconventional method of financing possible fixes to big social problems, motivated by tight budgets and little incentive to take a chance on initiatives without a guarantee of results. On Tuesday, officials in Connecticut, South Carolina and Colorado announced new public/private arrangements to fund so-called "pay for success" projects that aim to help families struggling with drug addiction, improve health outcomes for poor mothers and their children and reduce chronic homelessness. The concept, often referred to as "social impact bonds," involves a government entity teaming up with a private...

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has announced with members of the state general assembly a plan allowing the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to add at least one additional lane in each direction to a 25-mile stretch of Interstate 55 near Chicago using a public-private partnership (P3) agreement. IDOT is allowed to use P3 agreements only if the general assembly adopts a resolution supporting a proposed project, a state law in place since 2011. This would be the first P3 managed lane project in the state. “By using existing resources to leverage private investment, we can build the type of infrastructure...

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump holds an 8-point lead in Iowa, just four days before the first-in-the-nation caucuses there, according to a Public Policy Polling survey released Thursday. The billionaire businessman secured 31 percent support, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in second, with 23 percent, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), at 14 percent, and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, at 9 percent. Former Govs. Jeb Bush (Fla.) and Mike Huckabee (Ark.), along with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), tie for fifth, with 4 percent each.

PPP's newest New Hampshire poll finds Donald Trump leading in the state by 14 points. Trump's position in the state has been steady over the last three months- we found him at 28% in mid-October, 27% in early December, and we find him at 29% this month. 5 other candidates are in double digits but pretty closely clustered and all well behind Trump- Marco Rubio at 15%, Chris Christie and John Kasich at 11%, and Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz at 10%. Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina at 4%, Rand Paul at 3%, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum at 1%,...

The National Park Service and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) have announced a new partnership to construct the nation's first bicycle High Occupancy/Toll Express Lanes on the Mount Vernon Trail between Rosslyn and Mount Vernon.

Full title: Trump Lead Grows Nationally; 41% of His Voters Want to Bomb Country From Aladdin; Clinton Maintains Big Lead PPP's newest national Republican primary poll finds Donald Trump holding his largest lead yet in the wake of Tuesday night's debate. He's at 34% to 18% for Ted Cruz, 13% for Marco Rubio, 7% for Jeb Bush, 6% for Ben Carson, 5% for Chris Christie, 4% each for Carly Fiorina and Mike Huckabee, 2% each for John Kasich and Rand Paul, 1% each for Lindsey Graham and Rick Santorum, and less than 1% each for Jim Gilmore and George Pataki...

Almost one-third of Republican primary voters would support bombing the fictional kingdom of Agrabah, according to a report released by Public Policy Polling on Friday. In its poll, Public Policy Polling asked the 532 Republicans: “Would you support or oppose bombing Agrabah?” While 57% of responders said they were not sure, 30% said they supported bombing it. Only 13% opposed it.

PPP (D) 2016 GOP Nomination Poll Donald Trump 34% {26%} [27%] (29%) {19%}Ted Cruz 18% {14%} [7%] (6%) {4%} [8%] (10%) {16%} [5%] (9%) Marco Rubio 13% {13%} [13%] (7%) {10%} [13%] (13%) {6%} [3%]  Jeb Bush 7% {5%} [10%] (9%) {12%} [15%] (11%) {17%} [17%] (17%) Ben Carson 6% {19%} [17%] (15%) {10%} [12%] (12%) {10%} [18%] (15%) Chris Christie 5% {3%} [2%] (2%) {3%} [4%] (5%) {4%} [5%] (7%) Carly Fiorina 4% {4%} [6%] (8%) {4%} [5%]  Mike Huckabee 4% {4%} [4%] (5%) {8%} [11%] (12%) {6%} [10%] (9%) John Kasich 2% {3%} [4%] (6%) {3%} Rand Paul...

National Survey Results.

According to a new poll by Public Policy Polling, Donald Trump continues to be the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. The billionaire businessman has 26% support among Republican voters. He's followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 19%. In PPP's last poll from early October, Carson had 17% and Trump 27%. This is a positive development for those who want Trump to fail, but it's a far cry from the inevitable Trump collapse many experts predict. If one thing is clear, it's that he certainly has staying power. That doesn't mean he will actually win, but he certainly has a...

The only one of the declared presidential candidates that Americans have positive feelings for overall isn’t a frontrunner and has never held public office before. According to a poll released Thursday by Public Policy Polling, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson is the sole presidential candidate whose favorability rating is higher than his or her unfavorability rating. When asked about Carson, 41 percent of the respondents in the national poll reported that they felt favorably about him, compared to 30 percent who have an unfavorable view. That puts him well ahead of all the other candidates in the field, though 29 percent...