State
Neel-Schaffer named Cornerstone improvements engineer
The Dispatch
Engineering and planning firm Neel-Schaffer Inc. will handle an upcoming
public infrastructure improvement project associated with DPM Fragrance's
$5 million expansion project at Cornerstone Park, supervisors announced
Tuesday.
Neel-Schaffer emerged as the highest-rated firm out of three other
applicants -- including Calvert-Spradling Engineers, JBHM and Pritchard
Engineering -- after a review committee scored each group on
qualifications, experience and capacity.
The firm was awarded 91 points out of 100, edging out Calvert-Spradling's
90.5 score.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=43411
Oil Spill
Re-trial date to be set next week for ex-BP engineer
wlox
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A former BP engineer who won a new trial in a criminal
case arising from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill is expected to learn
the date of that trial next week.
http://www.wlox.com/story/29623138/re-trial-date-to-be-set-next-week-for-ex-bp-engineer
Regional
Weather radar detects swarm of bugs over Texas
(CNN)Nothing seemed unusual Wednesday when the National Weather Service
Forecast Office in Norman, Oklahoma, picked up what appeared to be
rainclouds over western North Texas.
Nothing unusual ... except the clouds weren't rain.
"We didn't have any clouds yesterday to form anything like that," said
Jonathan Kurtz, a meteorologist at the Norman Forecast Office. "Our first
indication was some kind of biological feature."
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/23/us/feat-weather-radar-bugs-texas/index.html
Potentially deadly amoeba found in Louisiana water
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)
State health officials say a potentially deadly brain-eating amoeba has
been discovered in the St. Bernard Parish Water System at the site of a
leaking sampling station that serves more than 44,000 people.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals notified the water system
and parish officials Wednesday evening.
http://www.ktbs.com/story/29621435/potentially-deadly-amoeba-found-in-louisiana-water
National
Outrage over EPA emissions regulations fades as states find fixes
Washington Post
HAZARD, Ky. — Even after years of talk about a "war on coal," Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell startled some of his constituents in March
when he urged open rebellion against a White House proposal for cutting
pollution from coal-fired power plants.
The Obama administration's Clean Power Plan is "extremely burdensome and
costly," the Kentucky Republican said in letters advising all 50 states to
boycott the rule when it goes into effect this summer.
The call for direct defiance was unusual even for McConnell, who has made a
career of battling federal restrictions on coal. Yet more striking is what
has happened since: Kentucky's government and electric utilities have
quietly positioned themselves to comply with the rule — something state
officials expect to do with relatively little effort.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/with-new-epa-regulations-looming-some-states-gain-from-coals-free-fall/2015/07/23/80001208-2c93-11e5-bd33-395c05608059_story.html?hpid=z5
