AltWeeklies Wire
Rising Optimismnew

If you work in downtown Worcester, maybe in one of the buildings reaching high enough to afford a view over the rooftops, chances are your gaze has captured the hustle and bustle of building crews, electrical contractors, plumbers and dozens more tradesmen and women scurrying about.
Worcester Magazine |
Walter Bird Jr. |
09-27-2012 |
Housing & Development
Tags: Construction
Chinese Drywall Has Screwed Thousands of South Florida Homeownersnew

"Some people indeed say that the drywall Knauf Tianjin produces is toxic," Liao says cautiously in soft Mandarin. "Everyone in the company has heard about it." In fact, this bustling factory is the epicenter of a global consumer disaster that reaches all the way to South Florida.
Miami New Times |
Tim Elfrink |
01-11-2010 |
Housing & Development
Money, Environmental and Political Worries Halt Big Bridgenew
AFTER YEARS OF steamrolling steadily in the same direction, the controversial Columbia River Crossing (CRC) plan has hit gridlock as leaders of the I-5 bridge replacement project clearly split last Friday.
The Portland Mercury |
Sarah Mirk |
12-10-2009 |
Transportation
Boston's Rat Population Explodes Amongst Economic Collapsenew

With more and more foreclosed and abandoned properties making it harder for planners and exterminators to combat pestilence, anecdotal and empirical evidence suggests that Boston's rodent problem is only getting worse.
Boston Phoenix |
Chris Faraone |
11-16-2009 |
Animal Issues
Dying to Build: Why Texas is the Deadliest State for Construction Workersnew

A construction worker dies in Texas every 2 1/2 days. The causes are far from mysterious: lax enforcement of labor and safety regulations, too many overtime hours without rest breaks and a lack of safety training and equipment.
The Texas Observer |
Melissa del Bosque |
06-17-2009 |
Business & Labor
Sustainable Straw: A Charming House Displays Eco-Ingenuitynew
Carolyn Roberts' warm and cozy home only cost about $50,000 to build and generates a measly $35 monthly in utility bills.
Tucson Weekly |
Tim Vanderpool |
10-24-2008 |
Housing & Development
Wall St. Demands Earth-Friendly Buildings, but Main St. Doesn'tnew
Demand for sustainable living remains low, and even during the height of the housing boom, homebuilders didn’t really go for the green. So why do executives and taxpayers demand environmentally sensitive buildings, and then go home to their wasteful old houses?
San Diego CityBeat |
Eric Wolff |
07-30-2008 |
Housing & Development
How to Stiff Immigrant Workers in Constructionnew
Because he called his workers "business partners," Contractor Shawn Campbell was able to avoid over $1 million in payments to the state workers' compensation fund and keep his employees working up to 46 hours a week with no overtime, a judge found. He slid through undetected for more than two years, until a disgruntled employee blew the whistle.
Seattle Weekly |
Laura Onstot |
05-12-2008 |
Business & Labor
Facing Construction Slowdown, Brazilian Immigrants Leaving South Carolinanew
Brazilians are leaving the area in droves, propelled by the downturn in the construction industry, the decreasing value of the dollar, and the fear of a statewide crackdown on illegal immigration.
Charleston City Paper |
Jared Goyette |
02-20-2008 |
Immigration
Showtimenew
The downtown performing arts center in Missoula, Montana, faces a pivotal six-month stretch. Can planners turn a grand vision into reality?
Missoula Independent |
Jessie McQuillan, Jason Wiener and Skylar Browning |
03-22-2007 |
Business & Labor
No Easy Solution to Illegal Immigrationnew
On Nov. 2, Arizonans passed Proposition 200, designed to further limit public benefits to non-citizens. The consequences on both illegal immigration and the economy are hotly debated but still unknown.
Phoenix New Times |
Robert Nelson |
11-09-2004 |
Immigration
Tags: illegal immigrants, Immigration, crime, border, D.C., construction, nanny, coyotes, cheap labor, day laborers, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California-San Diego, emergency room, federal immigration laws, nannies, Pro-Prop 200 leader Russell Pearce, Prop 200 opposition leader Alfredo Gutierrez, Sonoran Desert, Steve Camarota, U.S. Border Patrol, Wayne Cornelius
The Wreck of the Oglebay Nortonnew
Oglebay Norton was once "the most conservative, risk-averse company that ever existed," according to one analyst. Then a respected, ambitious CEO, John Lauer, sank the shipping and mining company in a sea of red ink.
Cleveland Scene |
Frank Lewis |
09-24-2004 |
Business & Labor