Free Republic

Dive Brief: Passaic County, NJ, has announced its intention to sue the state's Department of Transportation for costs resulting from Gov. Chris Christie's order to shut down all projects funded through the near-empty Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), according to The Record.Citing safety issues, Passaic County officials said they used their own funds to continue with certain state projects after the shutdown, such as a $330,000 repaving project that left raised manhole covers exposed. The county has a multimillion-dollar lineup of infrastructure projects now on hold.Passaic County Counsel William Pascrell, who notified the state DOT of Passaic's intention to sue over...

On June 6, a 16-year-old Baltimore girl named Arnesha Bowers went to a house party in West Baltimore where she met Donay Dixon, 23, and John Childs, 20. Later that night, Dixon and Childs followed Bowers to her northeast Baltimore home. Once there, police allege, the duo kicked in the basement window, sexually assaulted Bowers, strangled her with an extension cord, and then set her and the house on fire. Dixon and Childs — purportedly members of the Bloods street organization — made off with $40, a laptop and an iPad. According to reports, the pair committed the heinous crime...

Arrogant oil refiners concerned more about profits than the safety and workplace concerns of thousands of USW-represented oil workers forced the union to call an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike.The industry, represented by Royal Dutch Shell, gave the USW no other option when it refused to bargain in good faith over a national contract even though the union was prepared to continue talking beyond the midnight deadline.“Shell refused to provide us with a counter-offer and left the bargaining table,” International President Leo W. Gerard said. “We had no choice but to give notice of a work stoppage.”The negotiations for a...