Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- How can a president fix more roads and bridges without any new money to spend? President Barack Obama's answer Thursday was to announce new initiatives to encourage private-sector investment in the nation's infrastructure, including the creation of a "one-stop shop" at the Department of Transportation to forge partnerships between state and local governments, and public and private developers and investors. Stymied by Republican lawmakers who refuse to go along with Obama's call for vast new spending on the nation's infrastructure, the president is spending the week trying to demonstrate that he can still find ways to stop big...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Explosive documents about the Interstate 35W bridge suggest the engineering company the state hired to make sure the bridge was safe actually predicted it would collapse months before it fell apart. The documents are part of a lawsuit victims are bringing against California based URS Corporation. They accuse the firm of predicting a catastrophic event, but allegedly not telling anyone about it. The thought has been tough to swallow for the victims of that day in August 2007, when 13 people lost their lives and well over 100 were injured. "I remember until probably about 5:15 that day,"...

It's official. The Interstate 35W bridge fell -- not because of what Tim Pawlenty or Carol Molnau did or didn't do -- but because engineers failed to calculate correctly the thickness of gusset plates more than 40 years ago. The National Transportation Safety Board's findings, released on Nov. 14, must feel like some vindication to Pawlenty, Molnau and MnDOT's bridge inspection and maintenance team. After the collapse, Pawlenty counseled patience. He urged Minnesotans to wait for a thorough investigation before leaping to conclusions about why the bridge fell. Instead, critics launched a relentless -- if often subtly expressed -- search...

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office has confirmed the body of Greg Jolstad, 45, of Mora, has been recovered from the site of the 35W bridge collapse. The recovery brings the total number of confirmed deaths, and recovered victims, to 13. No more victims are believed to remain in the wreckage of the collapse.