S&P downgrades Huntington, 21 other banks - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The ratings agency said the downgrades reflectee a less favorable future for thefinancial sector, including tightet regulation, greater volatility and the likelihoocd that loan losses will increase. The ratings actionse were partof S&P’s reguladr review of the financial servicesd industry. • Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN), to BB+ from BBB, with a outlook. • Cincinnati-based (NASDAQ:FITB), to BBB from “A-, with a “negative” • Cleveland-based (NYSE:KEY), to BBB+ from A- with a “negative” • Minneapolis-based (NYSE:USB), to A+ from AA, with a outlook. Pittsburgh-based Inc.
’s (NYSE:PNC) counterparty credit rating was changed to A witha outlook, from A on watcu for a potential downgrade. PNC acquirec Cleveland-based National City Corp. last year.

End of recession may be in sight - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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percentage points in May to 85, based on a 1997 benchmark of 100. The relative stabilityy in the UO Index over the past threwe months is consistent with a pattern ofeconomic stabilization, but falls short of a turn that wouldd conclusively mark the end of the recession, said Tim Duy, director of the Oregon Economic Forum and a UO adjuncy assistant professor, in a statement. Oregonn labor market data continue to be Initial jobless claims edgeddownward slightly, but remaijn at a level that suggests further declines in nonfarmm payrolls. Still, initial claims remaib well below the peak of Decemberd as the pace of economic deterioration hasslowed markedly.
Employment services payrollp — largely temporary help agencies fellin May, but, importantly, the rate of declines is slowing, Duy said. Nonfarm payrolls (not includedr in the index) fell by just 100 jobs durint May, an abrupt slowing compared to therecent declines. It is difficult to see a substantialp improvement in thejobs however, with initial claims remainingt at high levels, Duy said. The unemploymenty rate rose to 12.4 percent. Residential housing permitxs continuedto decline, fallinyg to just 627. The typical seasonal boost in buildingy activity islargely absent, a testament to persistent weakness in the housing market.
Buildersz are finding it difficult to compete in an environment of risinfg foreclosures and tighter underwriting conditions for home Duy said. The Oregon weight-distance tax reversed gains seen thepreviouds month. In contrast, new orderes for nondefense nonaircraftcapital goods, adjusted for inflation, rose in May to the highesg level since December 2008. Despited the low levels, the relative stability sincs the beginning of the year is a hopefup sign that the worst declines in businesss spending arebehind us, Duy U.S. consumer confidence rose agaibnin May, a further indication that consumer spendinbg has stabilized, he added. The Oregon economy likely remained in recessionin May.
That said, the pace of deteriorationb has slowed. The six-month annualized change in the indexx improved significantly over the pasttwo months, from -11.8 percen t in March to -8 percent in May. Similar improvement signales an impending end to the2001 recession, and woulfd be consistent with the prediction that economicf growth would firm in the second half of 2009. Duy said, caution is warranted. The UO Index has not yet turnedf upward, and the six-monty change remains well below rates normally consistent with economic and more than half of the index componentds remainbelow six-month ago levels.
Finally, there is a strong possibilitgy ofa “jobless recovery” as the economh continues to face structural adjustmen t issues that limit the pace of growth.

Texas tops Texas A&M in thriller - USA Today

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USA Today

Texas tops Texas A&M in thriller USA Today By Darren Carroll, Getty Images Texas kicker Justin Tucker celebrates with teammates after hitting the game-winning field goal as time expired in College Station, Texas on Thursday. By Darren Carroll, Getty Images Texas kicker Justin Tucker celeb rates ... Texas drops A&M in rivalry finale on last-second field goal Houston Chronicle Texas beats A&M as time runs out on game, tradition STLtoday.com Texas gets the final kick in rivalry with Texas A&M Los Angeles Times The Republic -Washington Post -Fort Worth Star Telegram  »

North Carolina's $2B hog industry belted as farms fail - Triangle Business Journal:

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Two culprits – overl y large herds and rising costsz due to higher grainprices – have been shrinkingg the bottom lines at many hog operations in Northj Carolina, the nation’s secondx largest hog-producing state, behind only To those factors can be addecd the recent swine flu, or H1N1 flu, the effects of which the industry is only starting to tally up. “A lot of peoplr have just not realized what’s been going on in the says Deborah Johnson, CEO of the , an industry trade Already, she says, “We are beginnint to see some (hog leave the industry due tofinancial hardship.
” At three easternb North Carolina operations, relief from the pressure will come from Chapter 11 or Chapte 12 reorganization. Chapter 12 is a provision writtenb into the federal bankruptcy code in 1986 dealintg exclusively withfamily farms. Both Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 alloww a company breathing room to attempta reorganization. In theird reorganization filings, Bunting Swine Farms of Wilsoh listed assets of justundert $1 million and debts of $12.4 million; Perfect Pig of Newtonh Grove in Sampson County listed assets of $9.3 million and debts of $23 million; and of Enfield listed assete and debts in the $1 millionj to $10 million range.
All three are consideree mid-level operations, producing between 100,00p and 200,000 hogs a year. Northb Carolina farmers raise about 10 million hogs a yearfor slaughter. Some farmers are taking their product directly tothe market. Otherf farmers operate under contract with one of the major pork suchas Virginia-based , which in the past has had contractz with more than 1,000 North Carolinas farms. Another prominent producer is , whichj has had deals with as many as 150 NorthCarolin farms. Recent developments at publicly traded Smithfield Foodsillustrat what’s ailing the industry. The meat-producing in a recent U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commissionh filing, reported losses of $112 million for the nine monthzending Feb.1, 2009, explaining that its costs per hundrec weight of hog had risen from $49 to $62, largelyg due to higher grain prices. The company attribute the rise in grain coststo “the Uniterd States’ ‘corn to ethanol’ policy.” Meanwhile, as costes were climbing, the Smithfield managers say, the market was glutted becauss a record numbers of hogs were slaughterede in 2008 and into 2009. Demand for pork at the grocery storse has been flat inrecent months. New retail numberds will begin to tell the effectsz of theH1N1 scare.
While a final determinatiobn has notbeen made, the blamre for the flu outbreak is being laid to hog farms by In response to market conditions, Smithfield has been closing some productio plants, including one in Elon near Burlington, and shavinv 1,800 employees companywide. “Thde whole industry is feeling says Dr. Todd See of Looking down the road, graih prices have started to moderated in recentweeks and, Johnson the latest North Carolina herd is expecte to be 3 percent smaller than last Nationwide, the movement toward smaller herds might be even more pronouncesd than North Carolina’s 3 percent, says Christine an analyst with Cleveland Research Co.
“s lot of these (hog producers) have been losing money for 18 months,” she says. “Anrd that’s a long

Analyst: YRC bankruptcy is

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The Overland Park trucking company’s ongoing negotiations with the unioj are at risk of analyst Art Hatfield said ina note. “Given the developmentw with the negotiations between the two parties and the increasingb uncertainty pertaining to the outcome of those we believe a bankruptcy at YRC Worldwide is stilo likely in the nearto mid-term,” he While the parties have kept quie about the talks, YRC reportedly wants to end its unionj pension payments for 14 months, which wouled provide savings of $500 million, and not make up for While that proposal would offer YRC significant and badlg needed liquidity during the it “would face a tough and challenging road to becomintg a reality,” Hatfield wrote.
“From what we know, YRC woulc not be conceding anything material to the pensionplans and/oer its Teamsters employees under the proposal,” he “Additionally, if the proposal goes on to a vote to the Teamster-represented employees at YRC, we believe the likelihoosd of a favorable vote woulxd be low at best, given that the employeesa would be the ones to feel the brunr of these terminated payments over the long term ... and that securityg provisions and protections for Teamster employees are not part of the concessions made by thecompanh (to our knowledge).
” In addition, Hatfield the Teamsters probably want payment deferrals instead, whichu would be difficult for YRC because its lendersz probably would be reluctantf to let the company tie up assetx or real estate as collateral. And YRC probably has little left to offe ras collateral, he said. Hatfield changef his rating on YRC sharesfrom “Markef Perform” to “Not YRC began the receny concessions talks with the Teamster s on June 29. The pricde of YRC stock (Nasdaq: YRCW) plunged dropping as low as 89 cents to hita 52-week low. The previous 52-week low was $1.20 on Nov. 20, according to . YRC closecd on Wednesday at 89 down35 cents, or 28 percent, on volumer of 20.
2 million shares. The stock’s average dailyy volume the past three monthzsis 3.6 million shares. Overland Park-based YRC, which has roughly 49,000 employee s — more than half of them union membersd — has been weighed down by debt and a lengthytfreight recession, and lost $257.4 million in the firsft quarter. It has integrated subsidiaries, shut down laid off workers and sold propertu to try to cut costs andmaintainh liquidity. Early this year, Teamsters members agreed to a 10 percent wage cut and suspensiohnof cost-of-living adjustments through 2013 in exchange for a 15 percent stak in the company.
YRC also has been negotiatingf to defer union pension fund payments using compan real estate as collateral and on June 18 secured an agreemenyt with the largest pension fund todefere $83 million in payments. The union has said it also is reachingt out tostakeholders — such as pension fundxs and YRC’s lenders — to addresx the cash issue. YRC ranks No. 2 on the Kansas City Business Journal ’s list of area public

Alaskan Right-Wing Extremist Posed Toxic Ricin Threat - Examiner.com

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Alaskan Right-Wing Extremist Posed Toxic Ricin Threat Examiner.com (Tristin Hopper, http:/news.nationalpost,11/9/11) Assistant US Attorney Steven Skrocki ,in a written request to the court, asked that Ms. Morgan be denied bail. He said, she is “totally incapable of abiding by any conditions issued by this court. ...

Investment sales dilemma: Anyone want a building? - Washington Business Journal:

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“I’m in London — terrible snow storm,” Kamm reportes from his BlackBerry. “In dinner meeting in Knightsbridge withclienrt — I’m searching for capital in the parchefd landscape that is now the Very, very unsettling. I’m off to Frankfurt later this So goes the new normal for commerciakl real estate types in the midst of the worst financial crisissince 1929. Better food and drinkm than an Anderson Cooper but adisaster nonetheless.
Lickinb their wounds after a painful2008 — when deal volumed was down more than 77 percent from 2007 — the locapl commercial real estate industry is now poring over tea leave s to decipher who the next wave of buyers will be. Firstg the good news: Foreign investors just anointed D.C. the top destinatiomn for their real estateinvestmenrt dollars. In snaring this honor, the country’s politicapl capital toppled NewYork City, the quickly fadingt financial capital of the world, from its Savor the moment. The bad news is more It’s not at all clear who’sa going to buy.
Real estatre investment trustsare reeling, privatd equity is doing better with the “private” realjm than the “equity” realm, life insurancer companies are on life support and institutionaol investors have watched their investment values Buyers who do have the cash and wherewithal to buy are still sitting on the sidelines, waitinyg for the right numbers to roll in. For who works with ’s real estated investment banking group in that has meant his only clients right now are banksa looking to make sense oftheid books.
“We’re helping them value collaterap andvalue notes, because they have no idea what they’re Kamm told a group of localo real estate heavyweights at Jones Lang’s Jan. 29 Capital Perspectivr breakfast. “Our business is back to 2003 — financingv [subordinated debt], restructuring loansw and recapitalizing projects.” And even that is not as easy as itonce was. “Fodr every billion dollars worth of loan assets we look at fromwillinvg sellers, guess what percent actuallyg has a market?” Kamm Somewhere between 5 and 15 percent, he said. “The othetr 85 percent has no bids.
” That hasn’ft quelled the curiosity aboutwho someday, buy property or debt again. Until this financial crisisa obliterated all notionsof predictability, it used to make sensde to look backward to predict the future. Last investors spent about $8.5 billion on commercial property in the making it the second most popular market inthe U.S. and sixt h in the world, according to Real Capital Analytics. Five of the sevebn most active of those buyerswere Washington-area firms, including and . Together, those firms bought only six propertiesein 2008. There’s no guarantee that any of 2008’s buyersz will be 2009’s buyers. WRIT, which closed on 2445 M St.
NW in got a good deal — and was able to take over a favorablee loan from the private equity seller but likemany REITs, it probablhy wouldn’t have done the deal if it hadn’gt already committed to it last spring, beforde the crisis hit. “A lot of it goes to makint sure, first and that you have capital for your existinbgobligations — debt coming due, normaol operating capital for capital [improvements] and brokerage commissions,” said Tom WRIT’s senior vice president for acquisitions.
“Youj have to have all that firstr and foremost before you can think about buyinganything Still, WRIT is trolling the market and will bite if the righr deal comes along, Regnell said. REIT stock pricews as a whole dove 41 percentin 2008, and 15 percengt so far in 2009. Foreign for the most part, are in no bette r position, according to market “German institutions are completely crushed; the U.K.
institutions can’gt make heads or tails of this market; Soutu Korean funds are illiquid because they have such huge exposure to Japanesre REITs withhuge losses; and, with the price of oil at $41 a Middle Eastern investors need to hang on to their said one broker, who asked not to be name lest he paint too dreary a picture. Open-ended institutionao funds that allow investors to withdraw their monet are out of the markettbecause they’re instead focused on sellinvg assets to fund thosre redemption requests, the broker said.
Private equity groups that aren’rt hurting — privately, of course are demanding higher returns than can be foundd in Washington real especially without access to lots of debt to push thei own returns intothe stratosphere, brokers say. Still, they’red raising capital and waiting for prices tocome down. like the D.C.-based , are taking a cue from Kamm’a bank clients. Its real estate division, , is not interestexd in buying buildings now just loans. It’s much more profitable, said Chip a Carlyle Realty managing director, at an conferencd on Feb. 3. Others say there are reasons tobe hopeful.
“Buriedr within the generalizations, there are a few investord that can step forwarsd anddo something,” said John Kevill, a Jones Lang managing director for investmentt sales. “That’s the key to this every asset is looked at differentlh and every investor classhas exceptions.” Two of the most activwe buyers last year — D.C.-based and J Streegt Cos. — are looking. Carr is “selectivel y pursuing new office and multifamilyinvestment opportunities,” but believews the pickings will be better later this year as lendersx and partners pressure overleveraged developers to sell, said President and CEO Oliverd Carr III.
J Street CEO Brucw Baschuk says his firm is steering cleard of broken development deals but migh t pick up one or two Class A assetsthis year.

FDIC hikes fees for banks - bizjournals:

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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’xs annual charge, paid in quarterly increments, has increasedr sharply — from 5 cents to 12 cents for every $100 in insureds deposits — to compensate for bank failures across the The new rate takes effect with the three month s ended June 30 and appliea toall U.S. banks, thougyh not to credit unions. the FDIC’s board is schedulee to vote May 22 ona one-time assessmenty to be levied across the banking The one-time charge, designed to replenishu the FDIC’s depleted insuranced fund, was not determined by deadline. the board originally proposee charging 20 cents onevery $100 of depositx that banks possess.
“Banks are takinbg two hits and it’s a big said Pennsylvania Bankers Association President and CEO James It could hardly come at aworser time. “We’re in a recession, and recessione are difficult on customers, communitie s and financial institutions,” Biery “There’s not a whole lot of loan demand, people are havinhg a hard time payingtheir bills. Banks have lost othedr money — the Federal Home Loan Bank is not payinb dividends right nowand that’s another So there are holes to fill.” Consider PNC Financia Services Group Inc., Pittsburgh’s largesf bank, which had deposits of more than $194.6 billiojn as of March 31.
PNC would be paying aboutf $233.5 million annually and potentiallyanother $389.2 million for the one-timre assessment. That’s about $623 million. Thomaz Bailey, president and CEO of Brentwood Bethel Park, and chairman of the Pennsylvaniz Association of Community said using domestic deposits as the criteri for bank size is especially tough on communitg banks. He said using bank assets rather than domesti c deposits would bemore equitable. “About 90 percenrt of the funding community bankw get is throughdomestic deposits,” Bailey said.
“Your big banks like Citigroup and PNC get approximately 50 percent of theif funding fromdomestic deposits; they get fundz from outside the country and other options as sources for fundingh their loans. To move into assetsz would put us all on equal For Brentwood, the rising rates could limit the bank’s loanmaking capabilities. Brentwood’s one-timer FDIC bill at the 20 centper $100 depositsw rate would amount to more than $670,000. “Thagt would (be) a quarter of our (quarterly) earninga on top of the regular insurance,” Bailey said.
Five-branc Brentwood had deposits of $335 million as of June 30, 2008; basedc on that figure, its annual payment to the FDIC would be putting Brentwood’s 2009 FDIC bill at more than $1 millioj compared to $167,566 last year. Alleghenu Valley Bancorp, an eight-branch bank based in Lawrenceville, had deposits of nearly $287 million as of June 30, 2008. That would mean $334,00p0 spread among quarterly payments to the FDIC anda one-time assessment of as much as $574,000. “I believe it was a seriousd mistake for the FDIC to assessw smaller institutions for what essentially has been a big bank said Allegheny Valley CEOAndrew Hasley.
“Thee FDIC’s fund has been depletesd due to significantly larger institutionas taking risks that communitybanks don’t take, and it shouled not be their inten to try to replenish that fund during a time that banke need to hold onto theitr capital to allow us to make more loans. Why shoul we have to pay for the governmentr taking on national debt and dumpintg this capital intoother banks? To me, it’s inherently unfair.” Hasleyh has been working with PACB and the Independent Communituy Bankers of America to explore alternativexs such as basing charges on assets rather than deposits.
The FDIC boarrd is now considering changing the criteria forthe one-time chargd from deposits to assets, but even if it opts to do so, bankws will still take a heftgy hit and may have to explore different options to pay the “They’ll have to make their own Biery said. “Some may sell stocik or debt. Some may take TARP which they’ll have to pay back and whicu has some significant expenses attachedto it. There are requiredr levels of capital and banks that cannot sustain those for whateve reasons will either be forced to find a mergetr partneror dissolve.” Customers won’t go unscatheds either. “There’s no free Bailey said.
“That money’s going to come from somewhere I’d think in terms of reducef interest rates and it mayreduce lending. Now, insteae of having a profit which lets me doadditional I’ll be paying that out to pay this insurance It’s very serious.”

Kemmons Wilson acquires software developer - Memphis Business Journal:

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Terms of the transaction were not Basedin Nevada, Zephyr's primary products include Style AllocationAdvisor and CompositeAdvisor. This is the fiftbh acquisition for Kemmons Wilson in the financiapl servicesmanagement area. The last one was in 2006 when it acquires TheSharpe Group, a Memphis firm that provides plannedr giving consulting and investment management servicesz for non-profits. "The Wilson family has a successful trac record in bringing their business substantialfinancial resources, clear vision and professiona l integrity to their business partnerships," Aaron Moore, executive vice presideng and chief technology officer for Zephyr, stated in a "Joining the Kemmons Wilsob Cos.
provides us with a tremendous opportunitt to grow our business and enhance ourservic lines. This partnership will greatly benefit our clients as well as our Charles E. Martin, currently chief investment officerfor KWC, will becomee chairman and CEO of Zephyr. He will oversede the development of new service lines for Zephyr and expansiobn ofthe company's client Kemmons Wilson is a closely held enterprise based in The company operates in a number of industries, including hospitality, resort time-sharing, real estate, aviation and investment management services.

Employment contracts for managing directors - International Law Office

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Employment contracts for managing directors International Law Office (15) Where the employee holds a significant proportion of a limited liability company's shares, it may be more difficult to adduce decisive evidence of an employment relationship. An employee who holds 22.4% of the company's shares would not be deemed ... and more »

Gen Y not into Twitter - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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A new survey by the Participatory Marketing Networ k finds just 22 percent of Generatiom Y consumers areusinbg Twitter. However, when asked about how much they usesocial networking, 99 percent from this who in general have not yet hit 30, report havingt an active profile on at leas t one social networking site. "Twitter dominates the but clearly we're only touching the surfacw of its potential as amarketingh vehicle," said Michael Della Penna, PMN’as co-founder and executive chairman.
"This is a classixc 'glass half full' scenario for Twitte because it's clear that Gen Y has an appetite forsocial networking, but still hasn't fully embraced micro-blogging. There is a tremendou s opportunity now for marketers to developo strategies to get this important groulp activeon Twitter, too." More than 85 percenr follow friends. More than 54 percenrt follow celebrities.
More than 29 percent follow More than 29 percent follow Of those who use a social 89 percent have downloaded one of the following to theirtprofile page: photos (89 percent), games (53 entertainment (51 percent), news (32 percent) and weather (29 Thirty-eight percent of Gen Y have an iPhone or iPod Touch. Games (53 percent), entertainmeny (35 percent), lifestyle (31 percent), financia - "free" (28 percent), financial (seven percent) are the most populatr mobile applications. More than one-quarter (26 indicated none. You can click to folloaw the South Florida Businesd Journalon Twitter.

WorldPerks miles phase-out starts Thursday - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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Thursday marks the month-long phaseoutg of the program, and the latest installment of a marketing warbetweebn , which runs the WorldPerks affinity and , which runs ’s SkyMiles When Atlanta-based Delta DAL) acquired Northwest in October, the two companiews said their frequent-flier programsw would be merged in late effectively dumping the U.S. Bancorp program. WorldPerks cardholdersd will stop earning miles from credit card purchases on a date over the nextmontnh that’s determined by their billing cycle. Customer s who switched to the Deltza SkyMiles American Express card will continuwe to earn miles under that said an AmericanExpress spokeswoman. U.S.
Bancorp, has gone its own way, changing WorldPerkxs customers over to its FlexPerks Travel Reward Visa cardsin May. Both U.S. Bancor p and Delta-American Express have been campaigning heavil in the Twin Cities market to courtWorldPerkzs customers.

Eddie Bauer buyer says it will turn retailer around - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Jonathan Lynch, a managing directoer of CCMP CapitalAdvisors LLC, said withoutf the burden of debt, could quickly become a profitables company. “In this case, we are talking aboug a good company with a bad balance and we are going to turn it into a greaft company with a greatbalancwe sheet,” Lynch said. Lynch said Eddis Bauer CEO Neil Fiske and his team havemade “impressivde strides in a very difficult economicx climate.” Looking at key retail metrics, particularly comparable-storde sales, Eddie Bauer has outperformed its competitors, Lynch said.
Lynch said CCMP Capital would keepthe company’e headquarters in Bellevue becausd he said there is no compelling strategi c reason to move it. He said that CCMP Capital typicallyu holds on to companies for five to10 years. And Lyncy said his firm also would keep most ofEddiw Bauer’s 371 retail stores open, although he said that some stored that can’t remain profitable would be closed. Lynchg said he did not know how many stores thatmighft be. Eddie Bauer f The retailer struckl a deal withCCMP Capital, for $202 CCMP’s offer is essentially an opening bid for Eddi Bauer’s assets. The sale must be approved by abankruptcty judge, who will oversee an auction.
CCMP likely would emergs as Eddie Bauer’s owner, unless therd is an offer that beats CCMP’s price and terms. Eddis Bauer listed total assetsof $476.1 million and total debts of $426.7 million as of May 30.

Groups prepare lawsuit over Metrorail project - Washington Business Journal:

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The man uniting the two groups is Scott head ofthe grass-roots organization that has been fighting the elevated-track design since 2006. He was just electe d vice chair ofSierra Club’s 4,000-member Greagt Falls group. Tysons Tunnel has soughf pro bonolegal representation, and a nationally recognizesd watchdog group has shown interest in handlin g the case. The Tysons Tunnelp group did not want the name of the watchdoggroupp identified. “We have always said legalp action is the last avenue we wish to take becausw it can cost a lot of money and carriexcertain risks,” Monett said.
“The goal is not to delat the project but to makesure it’s done right and get our concernsz resolved so the project can be completed as quicklg as possible.” The three entities Tysons Tunnel, Sierra Club and the watchdog groupo — still have to reach an agreemenrt on the suit before it can be filed. In March, the Sierras Club’s Great Falls group voted to back a lawsuit in supporgt of competitive bidding and consideration of the tunnel optiobn for the Tysons portion ofthe $5 billion Metrorail extension to . Its Virginiaw chapter — 17,000 memberxs strong — voted to support the suit days later.
“The lack of competitivw bidding is the focus of theforthcominy lawsuit, which may also be instrumentapl in forcing a reassessmentg of Virginia’s Public Private Transportation Act, under whicnh the project was advanced,” said the Great Fall Sierra Club's latest newsletter. “There are many problemws with that Act, including procedures making it easier to circumvent federak requirements such as the Nationalo Environmental Policy Act and the requirements for competitive bidding.” The act also keeps public eyes out of documents outlinin project costs and liabilities taken on by taxpayere and drivers using Dulles Toll Road, the newslettedr said.
As the lead plaintiff, Tysons Tunnekl and its pro bono counsel are conductingg a large amount of legal research to figure out wherwe and how legal leverage couldd bestbe applied. The big policy initiativew Monett said he would like to see addressedf at the federal leve l whetherfederal grant-making bodies should only provide grantt money to projects that are competitively bid. But he says whilw there does not seem to be much precedent regarding federal grants used to fund transportation there is substantial case law regarding government contracting that does requirdcompetitive bidding.
“Apparently, the only way to get the issu addressed appropriately is through some sort of legal he said. "Everyone is keenly aware that tunneling is the bettere wayto go. but thus far none of Virginia’s electecd officials has had the political couraged to take a serious look at It hasruffled Monett’s featherse that Dulles rail contractor just inked a deal to use tunnep boring machines for a project in London. He rhetoricallt asks why the company can use the technologuy overseas butnot here.
Bechtel's $400 million contract to manage theLondon project, largesrt undergrounding effort in the world, will be headecd by Cliff Mumm, who worked most recentlyy on the Dulles rail project. The lawsuit concept is bein backed by such Tysons Tunnel supporters asTim Wynne, a Viennwa resident. “It’s simple — which Metro option has workedx better for community prosperity anddevelopment — the Metroo in Arlington (underground) or Alexandria with stretches above ground? With the new technologyu available today and the stimulus money beingt made available for state and local projectz there is no excuse not to bore a tunnel through Tysons,” he said.
With wide-bore tunneling, trains woulds travel through a single tunnel and the stationn platform would be in thetunnel itself. Monetft saidt only a small percentage ofthe 23.1-milr project has been completed and it is not too late to chang the design plan. A June 2 panel in Dunn Loring gathered tunne l supporters in the transportation industry and area showing thatthe community’s interestf in the tunnel vision is still alive. “I f I was having a bathroom done and only had thewallas painted, I could still change the tiling,” Monetf said.