The LuLac Edition #3582, August 28th, 2017

THE TRUMP WAY: 

INFRASTRUCTURE AT ANY COST?

Newsweek reported that in an attempt to de-regulate rules set in place to guarantee successful growth, President Trump took a short cut.Funny, he hasn't started ANYTHING yet!
But it appears Trump signed away Obama-era flood standards just weeks before Hurricane Harvey hit Texas in a bid to get infrastructure projects approved more quickly.
The rule signed by former president Barack Obama in 2015 had not yet come into effect but aimed to make infrastructure more resilient to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and flooding.
Those who backed Obama’s rules believed they would make people safer by putting roads, bridges and other infrastructure on safer ground, NPR reported, but Trump rescinded the rule several weeks ago in an attempt to speed up the time it takes for infrastructure projects to be approved.
Obama's regulations meant roads, buildings and other infrastructure needed to be constructed to take climate change into account and be built to withstand the effects of such climate change, including rising sea levels in coastal areas.
But Trump believed the rule would slow down the permitting process. The president favored a faster route for infrastructure building, which he announced with an executive order signed several weeks ago—the latest in a series of Obama-era climate change policies to get the boot.
Speaking from New York when he announced the rollback of the rules on Tuesday, August 15, Trump said: “We're going to get infrastructure built quickly, inexpensively, relatively speaking, and the permitting process will go very, very quickly."
The executive order signed by Trump also gives a two-year time limit for the permits to be completed for major infrastructure projects, which includes environmental reviews on such proposals.
“It’s going to be a very streamlined process, and by the way, if it doesn’t meet environmental safeguards, we’re not going to approve it,” added Trump, who previously promised he would pass a $1 trillion package intended to improve the country’s infrastructure, although this is yet to materialize.
The fact of the matter is that Trump has had NO infrastructure plan. So he pretty much did this because Obama made this rule. Talk about spiteful behavior.
When right wing conservatives talk about regulations stopping business growth, they don’t realize that regulations are there for the safety and the public good. Not just the almighty dollar.

IN THE LAC, MARK POWELL TEACHES BEFORE HE PREACHES

Attorney Mark Powell (Photo: Powell for DA website)

There has not been a Democratic District Attorney since the late 60s in Lackawanna County but Attorney Mark Powell wants to change all that. Powell is an interesting guy who is facing off with Eugene Talerico who wrested the GOP nomination from Sean Scanlon in the spring. Powell has been an Attorney but has had quite the teaching career. See he instructs other lawyers in the nuances of the courtroom. Here’s a little bit about what he’s up to from his website:
In addition to his busy law practice, Attorney Mark Powell spends a great deal of time teaching other lawyers how to try cases. He is a faculty member of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, a leading teaching organization for trial lawyers in the United States.
In his capacity as a NITA faculty member, Mark frequently lectures at Temple and Georgetown Universities, helping experienced trial lawyers from around the country – some with 10 to 20 years of trial experience - hone their courtroom skills. Fellow faculty members include law school professors, federal judges and other experienced litigators. In addition, Mark has instructed the Trial Skills and Depositions programs numerous times.
“I have been honored to be invited by NITA to instruct every year since the inception of NITA’s Advanced Trial Skills Program in 2004,” Mark says. “Teaching is personally rewarding to me. I enjoy mentoring other lawyers. But it also helps me in the courtroom because, in jury trials, you have to be able to teach jurors the law or some complex field of science that few have experienced.”
None of the other candidates for Lackawanna County District Attorney has Mark’s teaching experience.
“As District Attorney, you have to be able to help the younger Assistant District Attorneys in the office successfully prosecute their cases,” he says. “I have the trial experience and teaching experience to mentor young attorneys to make sure the public is well-served and criminals get the punishments they deserve.”
This race which some people are calling a sleeper just might heat up.