A Chicago-area display manufacturer that had five of its own untrained and unprotected employees remove asbestos from pipes and boilers inside its factory has been fined $1.2 million for 27 willful and serious safety violations. On May 25, the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration said the fine is one of the largest against any employer so far this year. Photo Courtesy of Cook County Assessor’s Office Firm was cited for having untrained employees do abatement without competent supervision at its Chicago-area facility. Cited was Cicero, Ill.-based AMD Industries Inc., which produces merchandising and trade-show displays. The penalty followed an
Related Links: At Dig This, Ordinary Folks Test Their Skills in the Seat The newest Las Vegas Strip attraction isn't another mega-resort or Cirque du Soleil show. Rather, it is a heavy equipment playground that lets visitors operate life-size Tonka toys. “Dig This” is a construction theme park developed by New Zealand-born Ed Mumm, who stumbled upon the idea while using a rented excavator to build his home in Steamboat Springs, Colo. After a couple of days of digging, he realized that operating machinery was a blast. "I wasn't making much progress on the house, but I was having great time," Mumm
SCHAEFER Jack Schaefer, a respected labor negotiator in Las Vegas, president of the Nevada Contractors Association and a board member of several union trusts and apprenticeship programs, died on April 15 in that city. He was 64 and had pancreatic cancer, according to the association. After a Denver-based marketing career, Schaefer became labor relations director in 1990 for the Associated General Contractors chapter in Las Vegas. He left five years later in a leadership rift and launched NCA, a rival trade group that represents contractors that are union-only. AGC represents both union and non-union companies. “At the time, AGC was
Los Alamos National Laboratory, the U.S. Dept. of Energy research complex and former atomic-weapons development center in New Mexico, has settled a three-year-old lawsuit with environmental groups that alleged contaminated stormwater runoff at more than 100 sites on its 36-sq-mile campus. The laboratory did not admit to fault but has agreed to spend $80 million on stormwater control upgrades, including construction of berms, rock dams, weirs and detention ponds. The 2008 lawsuit by eight community groups and two individuals alleges that Los Alamos violated the federal Clean Water Act by allowing elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorine, among
Jack Schaefer, a Nevada construction industry leader, died on April 15 of pancreatic cancer while in hospice care in Las Vegas. He was 64. Schaefer had served various leadership roles for the Las Vegas chapters of the Associated General Contractors and Nevada Contractors Association. Schaefer was a well known labor negotiator who also sat on several local construction union trusts and apprenticeship training boards, including those for the laborers, operating engineers and cement masons, among others. Born in Aberdeen, S.D., Jack Alan Schaefer served as a captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1969. He
The proposed $6-billion, DesertXpress high-speed passenger train project recently cleared its first major hurdle with the March 24 release of its final environmental impact statement. Circle Point, San Francisco, prepared the report on behalf of the Federal Railroad Administration. A record of decision is expected this spring. Photo courtesy US DOT Fares would be $50 to ride the steel-wheel trains. DesertXpress will follow the Interstate 15 alignment between Victorville, Calif. and Las Vegas, using existing right-of-way either along the median or roadside, and will build two passenger stations, a maintenance-storage-operation facility and three electrical substations. The project�s overhead catenary electric
The proposed $6-billion, DesertXpress high-speed passenger train project recently cleared its first major hurdle with the March 24 release of its final environmental impact statement. Circle Point, San Francisco, prepared the report on behalf of the Federal Railroad Administration. A record of decision is expected this spring. Photo: US DOT Fares would be $50 to ride the steel-wheel trains DesertXpress will follow the Interstate 15 alignment between Victorville, Calif. and Las Vegas, using existing right-of-way either along the median or roadside, and will build two passenger stations, a maintenance-storage-operation facility and three electrical substations. The project’s overhead catenary electric powered
A stumbling economy has claimed another victim on the Las Vegas Strip. The two-tower, 1,720-room Sahara Hotel & Casino will close on May 16 amid funding woes that have temporarily stalled redevelopment plans. Photo: Courtesy Sahara Hotel & Casino Las Vegas hotel was a popular tourist and entertainment spot in the 1950s, but tough economics are forcing its closure. Los Angeles-based owner SBE Entertainment Group will shutter the 59-year-old resort on 17.5 acres because continued operation is �no longer economically viable,� a company statement said. The closure will likely affect the bankrupt 3.9-mile Las Vegas Monorail, which has a passenger
NV Energy is making a power play by more than quadrupling the output of its 16-year-old southern Nevada powerplant, the 144-MW Harry Allen Generating Station. Once used as a facility for peak-time power use, the simple-cycle natural gas-fired plant is now undergoing a $600-million expansion that will increase capacity to 628 MW. “After California's energy crisis, we needed to become self-sufficient and not dependent upon others,” says Andrew McNeil, NV Energy's new generation corporate executive. “At the time, we had been buying about 75% of our power from the grid.”Las Vegas-based NV Energy's service area covers 44,424 sq miles and
Astumbling economy has claimed another victim on the Las Vegas Strip. The two-tower, 1,720-room Sahara Hotel & Casino will close on May 16 amid funding woes that have temporarily stalled redevelopment plans. Photo: Courtesy Of Sahara Hotel & Casino Las Vegas hotel was a popular tourist and entertainment spot in the 1950s, but tough economics are forcing its closure. Los Angeles-based owner SBE Entertainment Group will shutter the 59-year-old resort on 17.5 acres because continued operation is “no longer economically viable,” a company statement said. The closure will likely affect the bankrupt 3.9-mile Las Vegas Monorail, which has a passenger