Steel For I-81 Rebuild Sourced From Pennsylvania Steel Mills

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In about a month, the massive bridge beams being manufactured for the emergency Interstate 81 rebuild project will be coming from beam fabricator High Steel Structures in Lancaster.

The company’s manufacturing facility — one of three in that city and four in the state — stands in sharp contrast to the fallen production factories that dot parts of the rust belt as it loops through Pennsylvania.

The steel industry was once a giant in Pennsylvania, and not just in Pittsburgh, Johnstown or Bethlehem, cities whose names are synonymous with steel.

While many of the heavy industrial mills closed — and indeed, Bethlehem Steel ceased to exist in 2003 — steel manufacturing is still a part of the state’s industrial landscape.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/07/all_in_family_steel_for_i-81_r.html#incart_river_default

U.S. Economy Creates 195K Jobs In June

U.S. employers stepped up hiring in June, adding 195,000 jobs, above the median forecast in a Reuters poll, Labor Department data showed on Friday.

The unemployment rate held steady at 7.6 percent.

Economists were expecting 165,000 new jobs last month, according to a Reuters survey, slightly below the 175,000 positions created in May.  The government on Friday revised payrolls for April and May to show 70,000 more jobs created than previously reported.

The increase could draw the Federal Reserve closer to implementing a plan to start scaling back its massive monetary stimulus later this year.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-june-jobs-report-20130705,0,1426956.story#ixzz2YCIf6SLc
Follow us: @mcall on Twitter | mcall.lv on Facebook

Pittsburgh Gets 2 New Tugs, 1st Built In 30 Years

English: Opekiska Lock and Dam on the Monongahela River. The dam is located about seven miles northeast (downriver) from Fairmont, West Virginia, at river mile 115.4. The lock and dam were constructed 1961–64 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve navigation on the Monongahela River, replacing 60-year-old locks 14 and 15. View is downriver to the northeast. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pittsburgh-based marine services company has built two new tugboats, a reminder that the old business of pushing barges along rivers continues even in modern times.

Campbell Transportation christened the Renee Lynn and the Alice Jean at a riverside ceremony last week.  The 65-foot-long, 24-foot-wide boats are the first new major vessels built in Pittsburgh in 30 years, the company said.

The Port of Pittsburgh ranked 21st in the nation in terms of total tonnage in 2011, which means it handled more traffic than ports in Philadelphia, Tampa, Fla., or Seattle, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Technically, the river tugs that push barges are called towboats, while those that push ships in harbors are called tugboats.  But the general public calls them all tugboats.

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130704/NEWS03/130709833/pittsburgh-gets-2-new-tugs-1st-built-in-30-years#full_story

Pottstown Classics Car Club Nostalgia Night July 6th

Laura Bush Foundation Grant To Barth Elementary Is Only One In PA

First Lady Laura Bush observes a fifth grade math class at Lovejoy Elementary School in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN — Barth Elementary School has received a $5,000 grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries, the only school in all of Pennsylvania to receive a grant from the former First Lady’s foundation.

Principal Ryan Oxenford was recently notified of the award.

In 2013, the foundation awarded over $1 million in grants to schools to update and diversify their library book collections.

“This is an incredible opportunity to expand the resources in our library.  The grant approval could not have come at a better time with the unveiling of our newly renovated library this fall,” said Oxenford.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130705/NEWS01/130709680/laura-bush-foundation-grant-to-barth-is-only-one-in-pa

Man Found Shot To Death In Reading Alley

A man believed to be in his early twenties was found shot to death early this morning in a rear alley in northeast Reading by a city police officer who was investigating a report of a possible burglary, detectives said.

The officer went to the 1100 block of Birch Street just after 4 and found a broken window in the rear door facing the concrete alley that runs parallel to both Birch and North 12th streets, investigators said.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=491034