The Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The first phase of a new terminal at the South Carolina Ports is on schedule to open in March, officials said. Port officials said in a statement that concrete has been poured for the wharf, and buildings and booths for trucks are being finished. Helicopters are currently helping run power lines to the new site, which will be named for Republican state Sen. Hugh Leatherman of Florence. The new terminal will have a direct connection for truckers to Interstate 26. It also will have six-story-tall refrigerated container racks. The new terminal is the first phase of a six-year $2...

ATLANTA — The pandemic-fueled boom in online shopping shows no signs of slowing down, providing more business for delivery companies like United Parcel Service Inc. UPS said July 30 that shipments from businesses to U.S. consumers soared 65% in the second quarter, helping lift the delivery giant to a $1.77 billion profit. The results were better than expected, and UPS shares jumped 15% in midday trading. In April, UPS executives thought online shopping would slow down after the early days of the pandemic. “Instead, we saw just the opposite,” said the company’s new CEO, Carol Tomé. Consumer online spending surged as stores closed,...

SEATTLE — Workers on Monday, July 27, managed to attach two large platforms to the underside of a damaged commuter bridge that was declared a “civil emergency” by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan earlier this month. The platforms were put in place to allow crews to begin work to stabilize the bridge, KOMO-TV reported. However, officials say they still don’t know whether or not the repairs they are set to start will permanently fix the bridge. The West Seattle Bridge that links the West Seattle neighborhood to the rest of the city has been closed since March, after officials said cracks in...

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andréz Manuel López Obrador’s decision last week to put management of the country’s customs operations in the hands of the military has claimed one of his cabinet ministers who opposed the move. López Obrador said Thursday, July 23, that he had accepted the resignation of Transportation Secretary Javier Jiménez Espriú. The president said he had a “dispute” with Jiménez, who thought Mexico's sea ports should be managed by his agency. “I believe that because of the current situation, because of the corruption that reigns in the ports, in customs and finally also because of the contraband...

WASHINGTON — Congressional watchdogs are questioning the federal government’s decision to award a $700 million coronavirus relief loan to a struggling trucking company on grounds its operations are critical for maintaining national security. YRC Worldwide provides transportation and logistics services, such as delivering food, electronics and other supplies to military locations around the country. The Defense Department is a major YRC client. The department, however, sued YRC in 2018 for overcharging the government for freight carrier services and making false statements. Under terms of the coronavirus relief loan, U.S. taxpayers, through the Treasury Department, will take a 30% stake in the...

SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has declared the cracked high-rise West Seattle Bridge a civil emergency. The declaration, issued Thursday, may increase the odds of winning federal or state money, The Seattle Times reported. Durkan also seeks to speed up repairs or replacement by skipping some city regulations regarding competitive bidding, budget limits or employment of temporary workers. Meanwhile, the city’s engineering panel said it’s possible to repair the 36-year-old concrete bridge, which  has been closed since March 23 because of dangerous shear cracks. But the panel’s letter leaves many questions unanswered, such as how many lanes could operate if...

PHOENIX — A fire involving hazardous materials burning in a truck trailer outside an Amazon warehouse snarled traffic in part of Phoenix Thursday, July 16. Dozens of Phoenix Fire Department fire engines and other units deployed to the scene on the city’s west side, where a section of Interstate 10 reopened after being closed for more than an hour due to the fire. Local streets also were closed in the area. News video earlier in the day showed smoke billowing up into the sky. Fire Capt. Todd Keller said initial reports from the scene indicated the smoke was coming from a...

ATLANTA  — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday, July 15, that he is rolling back a foundational Nixon-era environmental law that he says stifles infrastructure projects, but that is credited with ensuring decades of scrutiny of major projects and giving local communities a say. Trump was in Atlanta to announce changes to the National Environmental Policy Act’s regulations for how and when authorities must conduct environmental reviews, making it easier to build highways, pipelines, chemical and solar plants, and other projects. The 1970 law changed environmental oversight in the U.S. by requiring federal agencies to consider whether a project would harm...

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — Federal fire investigators believe a faulty exhaust system on a semitruck sparked the Nevada wildfire along U.S. Highway 395 last week that destroyed three homes and burned more than 28 square miles (72 square kilometers) of mostly rangeland and rugged terrain near the California state line. The fire, which is now at 100% containment, has become widely known as the “Numbers Fire.” In a news release, the East Fork Fire Protection District reported that investigators have gathered physical evidence indicating that a semitruck, while operating southbound on U.S. 395, most likely experienced a failure in its exhaust system....

  LAROSE, La. — A Louisiana pilot experiencing engine trouble made a safe emergency landing on a highway. WWL-TV reported that longtime pilot Howie Guidry was about an hour into his flight and 2,000 feet in the air when his plane experienced engine trouble on a Thursday morning flight. He knew he couldn't make it back to an airport and remembered the advice of his training instructor to land on the biggest highway he could find. "I had to make fast decisions to get on the ground safely. Through my years of training, my flight instructors always told me 'Fly the plane until...

WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled House approved a $1.5 trillion plan July 1 to rebuild the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into projects to fix roads and bridges, upgrade transit systems, expand interstate railways and dredge harbors, ports and channels in the U.S. The bill also authorizes more than $100 billion to expand internet access for rural and low-income communities and $25 billion to modernize the U.S. Postal Service’s infrastructure and operations, including a fleet of electric vehicles. Lawmakers approved the Moving Forward Act by a 233-188 vote, mostly along party lines. It now goes to the Republican-controlled...

SILVER SPRING, Md. — A struggling trucking company once sued by the Department of Defense (DOD) is getting a $700 million loan from the U.S. government because the company “is critical to maintaining national security,” the Treasury Department said Wed., July 1. U.S. taxpayers will take a 29.6% stake in YRC Worldwide as a result of the deal, which was made as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The announcement by the Treasury Department did not mention that the DOD sued YRC in 2018 for overcharging the government for freight carrier services and making false statements. “This...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Police brutality protesters blocked a bridge connecting Kentucky to Indiana for three hours before police dispersed the crowd and arrested 33 people. Protesters blocked lanes on the Clark Memorial Bridge Monday morning (June 29), bringing traffic to a standstill, news outlets reported. The bridge, which connects Louisville, Kentucky, to Jeffersonville, Indiana, is one of the only toll-free bridges crossing the Ohio River, according to news outlets. Indiana officials contacted Louisville authorities around 11 a.m. Protesters set up signs and banners on the roadway with images of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman shot and killed by Louisville Metro Police officers who...

ATLANTA — A reality television star who appeared on VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” was indicted Wednesday, June 24, for allegedly using coronavirus relief funds intended to help small businesses survive to pay for luxuries such as a Rolls-Royce and custom jewelry, federal officials said. Maurice Fayne, also known as “Arkansas Mo,” was arrested in May on federal bank fraud charges arising from a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan that he obtained in the name of Flame Trucking. In a news release, the Department of Justice said Maurice Fayne, 37, has now been charged with bank fraud, making a false...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — NFL free agent Antonio Brown pleaded no contest Friday (June 12) to charges related to a fight with a moving truck driver outside his South Florida home earlier this year. As part of a deal with Broward County prosecutors, Brown pleaded no contest to burglary with battery, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and criminal mischief. He will serve two years of probation, undergo a psychological evaluation and follow-up treatment, attend an anger management course, perform 100 hours of community service and follow a stay-away order from the truck driver and the moving company owner. Judge Edward Merrigan...

LARAMIE, Wyo. — A late spring snowstorm closed an interstate highway and sent tree limbs crashing onto power lines in southeastern Wyoming. Almost 10,000 people in the Laramie area were without power Tuesday morning, KTWO Radio reported. Rocky Mountain Power crews were working to restore service. The storm closed Interstate 80 between Cheyenne and Laramie on Monday night. The Wyoming Department of Transportation estimated the highway would reopen Tuesday afternoon. Over 6 inches of snow fell in the higher reaches of the Laramie Range and Medicine Bow Mountains. Forecasters expected the snow to melt quickly. The weather system brought strong wind and thunderstorms to...

LOS ANGELES — A fire early Friday destroyed a Southern California distribution facility that was used to ship items to Amazon customers. Authorities said employees got out and there were no reports of injuries. A half-dozen fire departments were unable to stop flames from destroying the sprawling structure in Redlands, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. The nearby Interstate 10 freeway was shut down temporarily as flames shot high into the air. The facility operated by the global logistics and supply chain company Kuehne & Nagel was dedicated to servicing Amazon. Business and customer orders will be fulfilled from other...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Department of Transportation plans to close 10 highway rest areas to save money amid a budget crisis. The closures starting June 15 will save about $800,000 a year, department officials said Friday. The department is closing rest areas near Lusk on U.S. Highway 18; Guernsey on U.S. 26; Greybull on U.S. 14-16-20; Moorcroft on Interstate 90; Star Valley on U.S. 89; Ft. Steele on I-80; Sundance on I-90; Upton on U.S. 16; and Orin Junction and Chugwater, both on I-25. The Wyoming Transportation Commission approved the closures in a special budget-related meeting May 27. "Although these rest areas...

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission voted Tuesday, June 2, to lay off 500 fare collectors and other toll workers and make the entire interstate network a cashless system. The cuts are the latest development in the agency’s multiyear transition from a system that largely relied on workers stationed in toll booths to collect cash to one that uses E-ZPass as well as automated license-plate readers that generate mailed bills. Messages seeking comment were not returned by Teamsters officials at union offices in the Philadelphia suburbs and Pittsburgh. The turnpike said employees were notified earlier Tuesday. The Turnpike Commission said a...

TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Turnpike Authority voted Wednesday (May 27) to increase tolls on two of the state’s major highways and approve a $24 billion construction plan that the hike will fund. The board’s 7-0 vote came despite pleas from many people to delay the vote, saying. They said the agency should not have gone ahead with the hearing process while residents are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. The construction plan includes $16 billion to widen sections of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, permanently implement cashless toll payment and replace a bridge between New Jersey...