Free Republic

Wednesday opens a new chapter in the 16-year Bay Bridge saga, when regional politicians take the reins to oversee the project amid unanswered questions about why the public will pay twice — at unknown cost — for the same work. Specifically, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission will be asked to approve freshly repackaged bids to build the bridge's tower. Caltrans is expected to advertise the project the next day but has not released an official cost estimate. MTC's new role results from lengthy negotiations in the Capitol this year and the new law they produced. It means the Bay Area will...

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Welds on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge are not faulty as had been alleged by former welders who claimed the work was dangerously unsafe, the Federal Highway Administration said Wednesday. Private inspectors hired by the Federal Highway Administration have been cutting out sections of steel foundation work in the Bay Bridge to test for the allegedly faulty welding. The agency reported Wednesday it found no evidence of shoddy, unsafe welds. The FBI, the Federal Highway Administration and state attorney general's office began several weeks ago investigating allegations by former project welders that they...

The new Bay Bridge is riddled with defective welds, 15 welders told the Oakland Tribune in a nine-month investigation - allegations that could lead to criminal fraud charges. The welders' claims have prompted an FBI investigation. In the worst case, the federal probe could lead to tearing apart the bridge to see if it is structurally sound or needs to be rebuilt. The FBI began investigating allegations in February that welders were "encouraged or instructed to save time by producing substandard welds," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Mershon of the bureau's San Francisco division. The bureau is investigating...

My note: With all of the garbage we hear about the politicization of commencement addresses, this one is absolutely perfect. There were 5 ceremonies at Madison, and he spoke at 4 of them. I got to see one of the "performances" because his movies (Airplane!, KFM) are a personal favorite of mine, and I decided to go. Here's the transcript: University of Wisconsin-Madison Spring Commencement Kohl Center May 17 and 18, 2003 Thank you Chancellor Wiley, distinguished platform party, friends, guests and the very reason for our presence here today — the members of the class of 2003. Before I...

<p>When Steve Jones carried a curious duct-taped tin can with wires protruding from its clear plastic top into Sen. Rick Santorum's office last month, a wide-eyed Senate staffer remarked, "I'm surprised you got this stuff up here."</p> <p>So was Jones. But for reasons other than heightened security on Capitol Hill. For more than a decade, the house painter from Salt Lake City has run up against public indifference as he promoted the jury-rigged can he insists would save lives in a dirty-bomb attack by terrorists.</p>