WASHINGTON, July 16 -- Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., has introduced legislation (S. 2343) to "require the head of each agency to establish a safety plan relating to COVID-19 for any worksite at which employees or contractors are required to be physically present during the COVID-19 pandemic."The bill was introduced on July 14 and was co-sponsored by Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Benjamin Cardin, ... Read More

Jul. 8—In the '60s, a group of Black civil rights leaders persuaded Philadelphia officials to let them plan a federal urban renewal project just north of Girard Avenue. Rather than add another low-income project to the city's stock of public housing, they created a middle-class enclave, a suburb-in-the-city for a community that had long been denied access to the real suburbs. Although the ... Read More

Baltimore’s Howard Street tunnel expansion project took a significant step forward Wednesday after a federal review found it would have no significant impact on the environment. The long-awaited project will allow trains with shipping containers stacked two-high to pass through the CSX-owned tunnel, a key artery to and from the Port of Baltimore. Workers also will raise three Baltimore bridges ... Read More

Baltimore has officially recommended against building the proposed high-speed Northeast Maglev train to Washington, citing concerns about equity and the project’s effects on the environment. Chris Ryer and Steve Sharkey, the city’s planning and transportation chiefs, recommended a “No Build Alternative” for the $10 billion project in a May 14 letter to the Federal Railroad Administration in ... Read More

Just over a month after the four-member Pennsylvania Utility Commission voted unanimously to reject a controversial overhead powerline project proposed for construction in southcentral Pennsylvania, the contractor hired to obtain necessary regulatory approvals to build it filed appeals. Transource Energy officials filed an appeal Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of ... Read More

The Baltimore County Council passed a $4.2 billion spending plan Thursday without cutting a cent from County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr.’s initial proposal. Council members have lauded the plan proposed by Olszewski, a Democrat, for spending $1 billion on construction of schools, senior centers, parks and playgrounds, and fire and police stations across the county after a year of unexpected ... Read More

May 26—The final piece is secure. On Tuesday, a steel beam was raised to the top of The Assembly, a structure is located at Morewood and Centre Avenues on the Bloomfield/Shadyside border at the former site of the Ford Motor Company assembly plant. The original 250,000 square-foot building and the 4-story addition will house University of Pittsburgh laboratories and offices, an event space, ... Read More

May 4—State College's Borough Council voted Monday to move forward with a $74,000 contract with Glenn O. Hawbaker, despite the construction contractor's recent legal trouble involving alleged wage theft, after being told that voting against the measure could prove costly for the borough. Council voted 5-2 Monday to approve the Hawbaker contract to pave the compost facility's access road and ... Read More

Apr. 30—A major construction contractor that's one of the top employers in Centre County is temporarily suspended from bidding on or participating in contracts for new state highway projects. Glenn O. Hawbaker was suspended by the state Department of Transportation for at least three months. A PennDOT spokeswoman termed it an "initial period" in a written statement, opening the door for the ... Read More