Time to Downsize Pittsburgh’s Desolate Airport?; North Dakotans Will Vote on Medical Marijuana
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Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: 311 spat at New York City Hall; more violence in Chicago; and 50th anniversary for North America’s longest continuous truss bridge.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
AIRPORTS | The CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, Christina Cassotis, is considering downsizing Pittsburgh International Airport. The airport’s status as a hub is a thing of the past and many gates are going unused. Cassotis believes that demolishing those obsolete gates would save money, as well as change the perception of the airport in the eyes of the travelers passing through. “We have 8.2 million passengers a year in a facility built for 35 million. There are parts of the day that it feels empty,” Cassotis said. “That’s not the impression we want to leave with people coming in, like, ‘What happened here?’” [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA
MEDICAL MARIJUANA | Voters in the Peace Garden State will be voting on a ballot measure in November that would pave the way for patients to access medical marijuana to treat around a dozen conditions. On Thursday morning, North Dakota’s secretary of state, Al Jaeger, announced that medical marijuana advocates had gathered enough signatures to put the proposed ballot initiative before voters this fall. Previous efforts to legalize the use of marijuana for medical treatment through legislation came up short in the last legislative session. [The Bismarck Tribune]
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
311 | When City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito tweeted a complaint about a dangling crosswalk signal in East Harlem, the local Department of Transportation told her to call 311. "I thought it was stupid," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "They should recognize if the speaker of the City Council, one of the leaders of city government, is raising an issue then obviously it demands respect and demands attention. Now the good news is that should be true for any citizen." The signal was quickly fixed after Mark-Viverito’s staff called DOT, but other residents began complaining online complaints are often referred to 311. [New York Daily News]
ASTORIA, OREGON
INFRASTRUCTURE | The 50th anniversary of the Astoria-Megler Bridge, the longest continuous truss bridge in North America, will be celebrated here this weekend. Spanning the Columbia River, the 4.1 mile structure opened to traffic in 1966 and cost about $24 million to build. U.S. Highway 101 runs over the span, connecting Oregon and Washington. "The opening of the bridge was a big deal for coastal communities at the mouth of the Columbia River," said Betsy Miller, executive director of the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum. [OregonLive]
KERRVILLE, TEXAS
DEATH PENALTY | Jeff Wood was the getaway driver in a 1996 plan to steal a safe out of a gas station convenience store. He was outside in his pickup truck when his friend, Daniel Reneau, shot Kriss Keeran, the gas station clerk who refused to comply. Reneau was sentenced to death and executed in 2002. Now, Wood is also sentenced to die under a Texas law that holds anyone involved in a murder equally accountable. “I’m not aware of another case in which a person has been executed with as minimal participation and culpability as Jeff,” said Jared Tyler, Wood’s lawyer. “It’s a national first in that regard if the state does actually execute him.” [Texas Tribune]
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
GUN VIOLENCE | At least 99 people were shot here between last Friday afternoon and early Thursday, 24 of them fatally, according to data kept by the Chicago Tribune. Monday was the deadliest day in 13 years, with at least nine people were killed by gunfire. So far this year, no fewer than 2,514 people have been been victims of gun violence in Chicago. During the same time period last year, that number stood at 1,725 . Law enforcement have blamed loose gun laws, and conflicts between gangs for the high level of violence. [Chicago Tribune]
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