Gov. Chris Christie has canceled the ARC tunnel commuter train project before the over-budget project swallowed New Jersey taxes. (Photo: CC BY/Walter Burns/Wikipedia)

One of the key components of the Obama administration’s plan for America’s economic recovery is infrastructure projects that create jobs and bolster commerce. The potential influx of new jobs is particularly valuable in light of runaway unemployment. Unfortunately, not all public works projects get off the ground. NJ.com reports that the New York to New Jersey ARC (Access to the Region’s Core) tunnel project will be terminated for the second time because of budget issues. The commuter train tunnel would have been the United States’ largest public works project.

Estimated $2.3 billion overrun killed the ARC tunnel

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie officially killed the over-budget infrastructure project that would have extended a commuter train tunnel under the Hudson River from New Jersey into midtown Manhattan, N.Y. “I cannot place, upon the citizens of the state of New Jersey, an open-ended letter of credit,” he told the press. This is the second time the ARC tunnel has been canceled during its nearly two-decade run of planning and development. Back on Oct. 7, Gov. Christie scrapped the project because of a minimum budget overrun of $2.3 billion and a maximum of $5.3 billion, although U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood convinced Christie to extend a grace period while alternate means of funding were researched. The initial estimated cost of the ARC tunnel was $8.7 billion.

No ‘Big Dig’

Gov. Christie was wary that the ARC tunnel would become an embarrassment like Boston’s “Big Dig” mega-tunnel that ended up costing 10 times more than the initial $2.8 billion estimate. The ARC tunnel would theoretically double train capacity to and from New York City by 2018 – increasing job options for cash-strapped New Jerseyites by as much as 45,000 permanent positions – but runaway costs made the tunnel’s worth questionable. Planning and design have already cost $600 million. The lack of progress prompted the people of New Jersey to affix the ARC tunnel project with the unflattering moniker “The Tunnel to Macy’s Basement.” Gov. Christie felt going any further would be a gamble New Jersey taxpayers would have to pay off in perpetuity.

Without the ARC tunnel, New Jersey’s best commuter train option into New York is a century-old two-track tunnel that can handle a mere 23 trains.

Sources

NJ.com

Gov. Christie announces the beginning of the end of ARC

North Atlantic weather systems. From Wikimedia Commons

According the New Jersey Star Ledger, from Thursday to Saturday (February 24th to 26th), the region in and around the state of New Jersey will be vulnerable to a Nor’easter, that will  potentially bring hurricane force winds with snow, up to 15 inches worth.  The kind of damage that can be done from a storm of this kind could take more than a couple of payday loans to clean up.  This year’s winter season has been particularly hard on the Atlantic Coast of the United States. The Atlantic Ocean is a harsh mistress from the Gulf to Maine.

What’s a Nor’easter?

The North Atlantic produces some pretty nasty weather, and one of the harshest blows it routinely deals comes in the form of a storm called a Nor’easter, which typically hits coastal regions from D.C. to Maine.  What happens is that warm air (usually from the Gulf of Mexico) is drawn to the north by the Gulf Stream, a warm current that runs from the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida, up the East Coast, and runs east across the Atlantic at the Labrador Coast.  This brings warm, low pressure systems up into colder weather systems, and those of us who remember physics – warm and cold, slammed together, are NOT good bedfellows.

The result is that storms begin to build somewhere around Florida, and by the time they are just off North Carolina, they start to get nasty.  When Nor’easter storms land, in the cooler parts of the year, typically October to April, they can come in the form of gale (39 to 63 mph) and up to hurricane force (73 mph or greater) winds.  These storms will typically land from North Carolina to Maine and into Canada and can cause moderate to severe damage.

The East Coast has been pounded this year

This year’s winter storm season for the east coast of the U.S. has been particularly nasty.  Heavy snowfall has taken place all across New England; D.C. was buried in mounds of snow.  New Jersey just received 4 to 12 inches of snow in some areas earlier this week, and 7 to 15 inches is anticipated along with winds up to 70 mph heading north into New York state and parts of Pennsylvania.

Mikhail Prokhorov image from Wikimedia.

What would you do if you had billions of dollars? If you were Mikhail Prokhorov, you’d buy a basketball team — or at least most of one. New York Daily News confirms that Mikhail Prokhorov, who is worth more than $9 billion, will become the new majority owner of the Nets early next year.

The New Jersey Nets will become the Brooklyn Nets, adding yet another professional basketball franchise to the New York roster. Mikhail Prokhorov will take over 80 percent ownership of the team.

Countdown to Brooklyn base

Thanks to Mikhail Prokhorov’s billions, the team won’t be needing any unsecured loans in order to move to its “state-of-the-art facility in Brooklyn, with its rich sports heritage,” said a press release from NBA Commissioner David Stern.

But the Nets are not moving right away. Though Mikhail Prokhorov will take over majority ownership of the team in early 2010, the Nets will not move to Brooklyn until the 2011-2012 season. The move might happen before or during season league play.

Nets’ new ownership

Though Mikhail Prokhorov will be majority shareholder for the Nets, the NBA franchise’s current owner, Bruce Ratner, will still have some ownership of the team.

“We are one step closer to achieving our goals of creating much needed jobs and economic development for Brooklyn and the city,” Ratner said in the NBA press release.

Of course, this also means an economic loss for New Jersey. It also likely means we will soon be hearing from a lot of Nets fans from New Jersey who don’t want to see their team relocate. But business is business, right?

More on Mikhail

Prokhorov is the richest person in Russia, and the 40th richest person in the world. He paid $700 million to acquire majority ownership of the Nets. Mikhail Prokhorov is a self-made billionaire, and he runs the $17 billion investment fund Onexim Group.

Thus far, his investments have mostly focused on development of nanotechnology, including hydrogen fuel cells, as well as other high-technology projects and non-ferrous and precious metals mining. His acquisition of the Nets marks his first foray into American sports, and he will also be acquiring 45 percent ownership in the Atlantic Yards project.

“Interest in basketball and the NBA is growing rapidly on a global basis and we are especially encouraged by Mr. Prokhorov’s commitment to the Nets and the opportunity it presents to continue the growth of basketball in Russia,” Stern said.

Don't worry, the cats who were at the Montgomery Animal Shelter are safe. Image from Flikr.com.

Everyone knows the Internet is a powerful thing. Through massive social networking sites, you can get a message to numerous people instantly. However, the Montgomery Animal Shelter closing story is an example of the fact that if you’re going to disseminate a message to the masses, you’d better make sure it’s true.

First, let’s get one thing straight. The Montgomery Animal Shelter is actually the Montgomery County Texas Humane Society. The Montgomery Animal Shelter closing is not in New Jersey, Tennessee or Pennsylvania. The Montgomery County animal shelter in Pennsylvania has been swamped with calls about people concerned for the animals’ lives, according to Philly.com.

More rumors go viral

Social networking can be a great way to inform people about getting a short term personal loan, promote your business and even make money. But it can also be a way of spreading lies and needlessly getting people all riled up.

The other huge misconception out there, which has run rampant on Facebook and Twitter, is that because of the Montgomery Animal Shelter closing, all of the animals will be put to sleep. Several sources, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Humane Society of Montgomery and the Montgomery County News confirm that all of the animals have been adopted.

Who comes up with this stuff?

The News PK wrote that the Montgomery County Animal Shelter was closing after animal control officers found decomposing dogs in the building. However, the reason for the Montgomery County Animal Shelter closing is that the organization’s lease was up, and their request for funding to maintain the facility was denied.

So there were no dead dogs, there will be no dead dogs, all the animals are safe and the Montgomery Animal Shelter closing was simply a money matter. Oh yeah, and it’s the Montgomery Animal Shelter in Texas. So that should just about clear everything up.

More about the Montgomery Animal Shelter

It really is a shame that the Montgomery County Texas Humane Society is vacating its building. The shelter’s web site reports that the Humane Society of Montgomery will now direct its efforts toward starting a spay and neuter campaign and program, but it doesn’t sound like they’ll be getting a new building to house strays and unwanted pets anytime soon.

The Montgomery County Animal Shelter opened its doors in 1972. It’s disappointing to see a shelter that has been housing animals for 37 years get shut down. State budgets just aren’t what they used to be.

Focus on reality

Animal shelters in Tennessee, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, all having “Montgomery” in their monikers, were swamped with calls all weekend from people worried that their local shelters were closing. Apparently the Tennessee rumor started because of a typo in a newspaper in which “TN” was printed in a headline instead of “TX.”

In the old days, when there were mistakes in a newspaper headline, the locals would see it, usually read the correction about it the next day, and that’s as far as it went. Maybe a few people would spread something false to a few other people by phone. The spreading of all of the false rumors about the Montgomery Animal Shelter closing didn’t really do too much harm to anyone, besides inconveniencing the other shelters. But let this be a lesson that tales spread on the internet elicit big responses, so be careful what you put out there.