The Nation

WHITE COUNTY, Ind. —  One person is dead after a fatal Friday crash involving a tractor-trailer in Indiana. Indiana State Police and the White County Sheriff’s Department responded to a fatal crash northbound on Interstate 65, north of the 191-mile marker just after 2:45 p.m. on Friday. Traffic was stopped at the time of the crash due to other crashes that happened earlier in the day in White and Jasper counties. A preliminary investigation found that a 2017 Jeep Wrangler driven by Abigail Hollenbaugh, 37, of Greenwood, Indiana, and a 2013 Volvo semi-truck and trailer driven by Benjamin McNeil, 47, of Dolton, Illinois, were traveling northbound on Interstate 65 in the right lane. Hollenbaugh and McNeil noticed that traffic was stopped and began to slow down. At that time, the driver of a 2016 Dodge Dart failed to slow down for traffic, side-swiped the Jeep and ran into the back of the Volvo’s trailer. The driver of the Dodge Dart succumbed to their injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene of the crash. The dead driver’s name is being withheld pending identification and notification to the family. Neither Hollenbaugh nor McNeil were injured in the crash.

LAGRANGE COUNTY, Ind. — A tractor-trailer driver is dead after being ran over by another tractor-trailer driver on a toll road in Indiana. Indiana State Police said the fatal crash happened on the Interstate 80/90 toll road near Shipshewana, and claimed the life of Shamshitdin Nuridinov, 45, of Morrisville, Pennsylvania. Just after midnight Sunday morning, troopers from the toll road post were dispatched to the area of the westbound 114-mile marker to investigate a reported semi crash. Upon arrival troopers located two tractor-trailers. One that was parked on the right shoulder with cautionary triangles displayed and one crashed down in the north ditch. Troopers also located Nuridinov severely injured and unresponsive in the north ditch. Troopers immediately began providing CPR until LaGrange County EMS paramedics arrived and took over. Due to the extent and severity of Nuridinov’s injuries, all life saving measures attempted at the scene were unsuccessful. Nuridinov was pronounced dead at the scene by the LaGrange County Coroner. Trooper George Youpel’s preliminary investigation determined the following chain of events: Shamshitdin Nuridinov had been operating a 2019 Volvo tractor-trailer that apparently ran out of fuel and had become disabled on the right shoulder of the westbound lanes. Nuridinov had exited his vehicle and was standing well off the road in the side ditch, where he was engaged in a phone call with his trucking company dispatcher. Joseph Jett, 35, of Ambridge, Pennsylvania, was operating a white 2022 Freightliner tractor-trailer in the right westbound lane approaching Nuridinov’s disabled vehicle. Jett’s semi-tractor crossed over the white fog line, first striking the left rear of the Nuridinov’s semi-trailer, then side swiped the cab of the disabled semi, veered off road ahead of the disabled semi, crashed through a guard rail along the north shoulder, ran over Nuridinov, and then came to rest down in the side ditch after impacting a concrete abutment. Jett was wearing his seatbelt during the crash and his vehicle’s air bags deployed as intended.  He was not injured in the crash, but due to the severity of the crash he was transported to Parkview hospital in LaGrange for medical evaluation and clearance. Neither drugs nor alcohol were suspected, but as required by Indiana law of all drivers involved in a personal injury or death crash, Jett voluntarily submitted to chemical testing as part of the investigatory process. Both tractor-trailers sustained significant damage. Both were towed from the scene by Grate’s Towing Service to Grate’s impound yard, where they will be held pending an inspection by the ISP Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division. Traffic was restricted to the left lane only for approximately four hours to clean up the crash debris. Family notifications were made earlier Sunday morning with the assistance of Pennsylvania officials. This remains an active and ongoing investigation. Currently, there is no further information to release. Once the overall crash investigation has been completed, the investigative findings will be turned over to the LaGrange County Prosecutor for review and determination of charges to be filed, if charges are warranted.  

ESTACADA, Ore. — OR 224 east of Estacada will open to traffic by May 1, with Clackamas River access points available to users. Travelers should expect occasional delays as work will continue in the corridor through the summer. Nineteen miles of the road of the road have been closed since the devastating Labor Day 2020 wildfires. Since then, crews have been removing dead trees, replacing signs, installing new guardrails, repairing the road and taking the necessary steps to make the road safe again. The schedule may change due to unexpected circumstances. Much work remains to be done, including removing stacked trees, road repairs and repaving. What’s happening now Eight miles of new and repaired guardrail has been installed, with an additional 3.7 miles of new installation under way. Guardrail was needed at 11 sites in the corridor. This work may continue after the road re-opens. Patching pavement holes continues. Rough Road signs will be posted in some locations. Full paving of the road will be done this summer. The U.S. Forest Service continues work but doesn’t expect to re-open any sites, campground or boating access points, in 2022. Arborists continue looking for dead or dying trees to see if any more need removal. This work should be complete by May. A helicopter will operate this week to remove trees from the high ridge. Go here to see video of the ODOT video team shot last week. For more information go to the Wildfire Recovery website.  

GATINEAU, Quebec — Out of an abundance of caution and safety due to the ongoing demonstration taking place in Ottawa, Public Services and Procurement Canada advises motorists that there will be lane closures on the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge from Friday, Feb. 18, at 8 p.m. to Monday, Feb. 21, at 6 a.m. During this period, two lanes in each direction on the bridge will be open to vehicular traffic. PSPC is monitoring the situation closely and may implement additional unplanned lane closures for the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge if required.

WASHINGTON — Human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing global criminal enterprises, and is estimated to be a $150 billion industry. Today, there are an estimated 40 million men, women and children across the world trapped in this web of modern-day slavery. Each January, during National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Trucking Moves America Forward (TMAF) shines a light on the dark practice of human trafficking. “The trucking industry is uniquely positioned to help combat this epidemic by operating as America’s eyes and ears on the road,” TMAF officials said. Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) seeks to “raise up a mobile army of transportation professionals in the fight against human trafficking” through training on the warning signs of this crime and how to aid law enforcement, according to TMAF. Following are stories from four professional truck drivers who are ambassadors for TAT and who have seen first-hand how the issue of human trafficking touches the trucking industry. GARY SMITH Gary Smith is an over-the-road truck driver from Ohio for Garner Trucking. He has been driving for more than 13 years, and operates in the nation’s upper Midwest region. In 2017 he was selected to be an America’s Road Team (ATA) captain and an ambassador for TAT. Smith recently shared a story about a time when he was a new truck driver, and a young woman came knocking on his truck door in the middle of the night at a truck struck. “I expected to see another truck driver saying that I was blocking him in, but standing outside my door in a torrential downpour, was a young girl — as young as maybe 15 or 16 years old — and she asked me if I wanted some company,” Smith recalled. “I told her to go away, and she just stared at me momentarily and then turned and walked away. Because of ignorance and a lack of awareness about human trafficking, I never gave that young girl a chance to be rescued,” he said. “I wish I could turn back the hands of time, but what I can do now is educate others.” Regrets about this experience led Smith to become TAT-certified in 2014. He now works to educate truck drivers and the general public about the horrors of human trafficking. “I try to talk to everyone I can,” he said. “The more people that understand human trafficking and realize that it is real and understand that it could be one of your children or grandchildren snatched off the street and sold into slavery, increases the number of people who can help.” Speaking about meeting and working with Survivors, Gary said, “When they tell you their stories about what their lives were like, you can’t even fathom that people would treat another person that way. When I hear these stories about how people treat other people, a righteous indignation rises up inside of you and you realize this has to stop. You are called to action.” When educating people about what they can do to help, Gary said, “It’s about raising your level of situational awareness. Human trafficking is real: it’s happening in our backyard, and we need to be more aware of it. I tell people: keep your eyes open. If you see something, say something. Make the call. Save a life.” Smith said it’s vital that truckers know the warning signs of human trafficking so they can spot and potentially help rescue victims. “I still see that young girl’s face outside my truck. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the opportunity to save a victim, but as long as I can educate as many people as possible, I know that I can do my part and help make a difference,” Smith concluded. RHONDA HARTMAN Rhonda Hartman, who lives in Iowa, is a less-than-truckload driver for Old Dominion Freight Line. She began her trucking career as an owner-operator and has been a professional truck driver for more than 38 years. She has accumulated more than 2.8 million accident-free miles. The first time Hartman believed she witnessed human trafficking, she said didn’t know what to do. “I was driving late at night when a van came flying down the highway next to my truck,” Hartman recalled. “Normally, I don’t look down at vehicles, but something inside me told me to look down into this van,” she said. “I saw several small children in car seats that were bolted to the floor. The children were all crying. The woman driving the van was alone in the front and there were no other adults with her. I felt instantly that these children had all been abducted. I felt this had to have been a transport.” This event happened in the days before cellphones, and unfortunately, the van got away before Hartman was able to get in touch with someone by radio to call 911. To this day, she does not know if the children were ever rescued. This event had such an impact on Smith that it moved her to learn more about human trafficking and how to report it, which led her to become an ambassador for TAT. She now works to educate other drivers. “I make it personal: This could be your child, grandchild or sibling,” she said, adding that it’s better to call for help and be wrong about suspicious activity than to do nothing and be right. Rhonda also discussed the advantage that truck drivers have in the war against trafficking. “Truck drivers are often overlooked because people are so used to seeing trucks on the road, but since we’re always paying attention and alert, we are able to see everything around us,” she said. “As truck drivers, we are the eyes and ears on the road. We can see things that the public and even law enforcement cannot.” BILL KROUSE Third-generation driver Bill Krouse, who lives in Minnesota, has been a trucker for 38 years. He has been driving for YRC Freight/Yellow Corp. for the past 35 years, hauling non-refrigerated goods, and has accrued more than 3 million accident-free miles throughout his career. When Krouse was first approached by TAT, he said he wasn’t aware about the human trafficking crisis. “Once I found out about it, I had to act,” he said. “I watched one of TAT’s videos and I said to myself, ‘This is something I feel in my heart that I can talk to people about and make a difference.’” Krouse become TAT-certified last year. “Now, I know what to look for,” he said. “I’m much more aware of my surroundings than I was before and I’m always watching to see if anything is out of the ordinary.” Krouse reiterated the importance of the trucking industry in the fight against human trafficking. “We’re all over the country,” he said. “That’s over 3 million drivers who can be scanning streets across the country. If you factor in all of the other transportation drivers, like bus drivers, taxi drivers and others, that’s a lot of people who can help call something in.” Krouse advises drivers to keep an eye out in specific areas that are considered high traffic areas for human trafficking, such as rest areas, truck stops, restaurants and hotels. TIM TAYLOR Tim Taylor has been a professional truck driver for more than 30 years and has been driving with FedEx Freight for 27 of those years. He lives in Georgia. While attending the Georgia Truck Driving Championships in the early 2000s, Taylor was approached by a TAT representative who was educating drivers about the organization. Taylor went through the certification process and learned to spot the common signs of human trafficking so he would know what to look for while on the road. “TAT opened my eyes to the human trafficking crisis,” he said. “I learned the signs to watch and listen for that someone that may be in a human trafficking situation may be presenting.” After learning more about human trafficking and the warning signs, Taylor said believes he came across a victim earlier in his career before he was TAT-certified. He recalled pulling into a gas station in Florida one night to park. A car pulled up next to his truck. “A young teenage girl came out of the car dressed provocatively,” he said. “She started towards us and offered commercial sex that night.” Because of the age of the girl and the fact that she was with an older woman, whom Taylor describes as “grandmotherly,” he was concerned. “I knew it my heart and my gut that something was wrong,” he said. “We told her we weren’t interested and left. Knowing now what I know, I wish I would have known back then. I believe that older woman was in control of that girl. If that was to happen to me now, I would know what to do.” Since becoming TAT-certified, Taylor works to educate others about the warning signs of human trafficking and what to do if they encounter a human trafficking situation. “I wish we could get every truck driver that has a CDL TAT-trained. It’s so easy. It’s as easy as sitting at your computer or downloading an app,” he said. “Whenever truck drivers get ready to haul our loads every day, we do a pre-trip on our tractors and trailers. We know what to look for; we’ve been trained on what to look form” he explained. “It’s the same with human trafficking; you’ve got to be trained.” When a person is trapped in a human-trafficking situation, they are reliant on others for help, he noted. “If a person is in a trafficking situation and nothing’s done, they’re going to remain in that trafficking situation. That’s a lifetime of trafficking,” Taylor said. “If one person can make a difference, one person is saved from modern day slavery.”

MEXICO CITY — The U.S. Embassy announced Friday that Washington is lifting a ban on inspections of Mexican avocados, freeing the way for exports to resume. The suspension of inspections had threatened Mexico’s $3 billion annual exports and raised the possibility of prices increases for U.S. consumers. Ambassador Ken Salazar said in a statement the decision came after Mexico and the United States agreed “to enact the measures that ensure the safety” of agricultural inspectors who are in charge of making sure Mexican avocados don’t carry diseases or pests that would harm U.S. orchards. Salazar did not describe those measures or whether they would address reports of Mexican growers and packers playing fast and lose with sanitary measures designed to protect U.S. production. The inspections were halted last week after one of the U.S. inspectors was threatened in the western state of Michoacan, where growers are routinely subject to extortion by drug cartels. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday that the inspector had received a threat “against him and his family.” It said the inspector had “questioned the integrity of a certain shipment, and refused to certify it based on concrete issues.” Michoacan is the only Mexican state certified as pest-free and able to export avocados to the U.S. market. There have been frequent reports that some packers in Mexico are buying avocados from other, non-certified states, and trying to pass them off as being from Michoacan. “I am pleased to report that today the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service has determined it will immediately resume its avocado inspection program in Michoacán,” Salazar wrote. The service said Friday that “avocado exports to the United States have resumed.” The week-old ban had already been taking a toll on avocado pickers in Michoacan, who stood on a roadside this week outside the city of Uruapan asking for donations after they lost their work. Holding up signs saying “Voluntary donations” and “We make our living off avocado picking,” they waited for motorists to drop spare change into buckets they held. There were signs that supplies may have tightened since the inspection suspension was announced last Saturday and that the damage to Mexico’s violence-plagued avocado industry may be lasting: It could prompt companies that import avocados to look beyond Mexico, which currently supplies about 92% of U.S. imports of the fruit. Peru, Colombia and Chile already ship avocados to the United States, but in quantities that are only a tiny fraction of Mexico’s production. That may change. “I was talking with a few buyers of avocado domestically, and on toward the future, they know they need to diversify suppliers,” said Miguel Gómez, professor of applied economics and management in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. “The issue is that they realized that it would be very risky to depend on a single source.” Exports from Mexico were largely responsible for the huge increase in U.S. avocado consumption in recent decades because they made the fruit available year-round, most famously during the Super Bowl. U.S. per capita consumption of avocados tripled since 2001 to 8 pounds per person in 2018. The Mexican harvest is January through March, while U.S production runs from April to September. While there is concern about the deforestation and violence that have resulted from the avocado boom in Michoacan, it is unclear whether Americans would be willing to pay more for avocados produced by growers who do not pay protection money demanded by drug cartels in Michoacan. “It’s requiring Americans to really ask themselves, do they want to pay more to have a quality product or do they want to kind of look the other way and be able to slice their toast accordingly?” said Desirée LeClercq, a professor of employment law at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. “And I think that consumers are becoming more educated on how these products are made. But whether or not that’s going to trickle into consumer behavior, I think has yet to be seen.”

OTTAWA, Ontario — Police began arresting demonstrators and towing away vehicles Friday in Canada’s besieged capital city, and a stream of trucks soon began leaving under the pressure, raising authorities’ hopes for an end to the three-week protest against the country’s COVID-19 restrictions. The crackdown on the self-styled Freedom Convoy began in the morning, when hundreds of police, some in riot gear and some carrying automatic weapons, descended into the protest zone and began leading demonstrators away in handcuffs as holdout truckers blared their horns in protest. Police smashed through the door of at least one RV camper before hauling it away. A steady procession of trucks began leaving Parliament Hill in the afternoon as lines of officers pushed through the streets. Tow truck operators — wearing neon-green ski masks, with their companies’ decals taped over on their trucks to conceal their identities — arrived under police escort and got to work removing the big rigs, campers and other vehicles parked bumper to bumper and shoulder to shoulder near Parliament. Scuffles broke out in places, and police repeatedly went nose-to-nose with the protesters and pushed the crowd back amid cries of “Freedom!” and the singing of the national anthem, “O Canada.” Hours into the show of force, authorities said 21 people had been arrested and roughly two dozen vehicles had been towed, including all of those blocking one of city’s major streets. There was no immediate word of any injuries in one of the biggest police enforcement actions in Canada’s history, with officers drawn from around the country. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said around midday: “There are indications we are now starting to see progress.” Many protesters stood their ground as the show of force escalated. “Freedom was never free,” said trucker Kevin Homaund, of Montreal. “So what if they put the handcuffs on us and they put us in jail?” The capital and its paralyzed streets represented the movement’s last stronghold after three weeks of demonstrations  and blockades that shut down border crossings into the U.S., caused economic damage to both countries and created a political crisis for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. They also shook Canada’s reputation for civility, with some foes of the unrest blaming the influence of the United States. Over the past weeks, authorities had hesitated to move against many of the protesters, in part for fear of violence. The demonstrations have drawn right-wing extremists and veterans, some of them armed. With police and the government facing accusations that they let the protests gain strength and spread, Trudeau on Monday invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act, giving law enforcement extraordinary authority to declare the blockades illegal, tow away trucks, arrest the drivers, suspend their licenses and freeze their bank accounts. Ottawa police made their first move to end the occupation late Thursday with the arrest of two key protest leaders. They also sealed off much of the downtown area to outsiders to prevent them from coming to the aid of the protesters. The emergency act also enabled law enforcement authorities to compel tow truck companies to assist. Ottawa police said earlier that they couldn’t find tow truck drivers willing to help because they either sympathized with the movement or feared retaliation. As police worked to dismantle the siege, Pat King, a protest leader who has made white supremacist comments in the past, told truckers, “Please stay peaceful,” while also threatening the livelihoods of the tow truck operators. “You are committing career suicide,” King warned on Facebook. “We know where the trucks came from.” King himself was later arrested by officers who surrounded him in his car. Ottawa police had made it clear for days that they were preparing to end the protest and remove the more than 300 trucks at any moment. On Friday, even as the operation was underway, police issued another round of warnings via social media and loudspeaker, offering protesters one more chance to leave and avoid arrest. Some locked arms instead as officers formed a line to push them back. “This is not Canada. We don’t need a split country!” one woman yelled. Dan Holland, a protester from London Ontario, packed up his car, which was parked amid the trucks, as police closed in. “I don’t want to get beat up by this police,” he said. Children bundled up in coats and hats stood amid the crowd. Police said that the protesters had put the youngsters in the middle in the confrontation and that the youngsters would be brought to a place of safety. The two protest leaders arrested a day earlier  were due in court Friday. Among the charges: mischief and obstructing police. The occupation infuriated many Ottawa residents, who complained of being harassed and intimidated on the streets and obtained a court injunction to stop the truckers’ incessant honking of their horns. The demonstrations around the country by protesters in trucks, tractors and motor homes initially focused on Canada’s vaccine requirement for truckers entering the country but soon morphed into a broad attack on COVID-19 precautions and Trudeau’s government. Trudeau portrayed the protesters as member of a “fringe” element, and Canadians have largely embraced the country’s COVID-19 restrictions, with the vast majority of the population vaccinated, including an estimated 90% of the nation’s truckers. Some of the vaccine and mask mandates imposed by the provinces are already falling away rapidly. The biggest border blockade, at the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, disrupted the flow of auto parts between the two countries and forced the industry to curtail production. Authorities lifted the siege last weekend after arresting dozens of protesters. The final border blockade, in Manitoba, across from North Dakota, ended peacefully on Wednesday. The protests have been cheered on and received donations from conservatives  in the U.S.  

The above video is from the Minnesota State Patrol’s Facebook site. It shows the fierceness of the current winter storm. FARGO, N.D. — Blizzard conditions have closed portions an interstate and highways in eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota Friday. The North Dakota Highway Patrol has closed Interstate 29 from Fargo to the Canadian border due to blowing snow and near-zero visibility. Motorists face fines if they travel on roads that have been closed. Highway 2 from Devils Lake to Grand Forks is also closed. No travel is advised in much of the Red River Valley. “Those winds are making their way into the Valley from north to south. As to conditions on I-29 right now, with the temperature changing, we’ve got icy roads combined with zero visibility,” said Highway Patrol Capt. Brian Niewind. More than a dozen vehicles were involved in a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 94 just west of Valley City on Friday morning, Niewind told KOVC-AM. Three people were hurt. The crashes closed the westbound lane of the interstate for nearly three hours, he said. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for all of eastern North Dakota and parts of northwestern Minnesota. Wind gusts of up to 65 mph were expected with isolated gusts of 70 mph. The Minnesota Department of Transportation and State Patrol have also closed parts of at least 11 highways in northwestern Minnesota.

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. – The Illinois Tollway Board of Directors announced Thursday that a key agreement with the City of Chicago necessary to construct the new Interstate 490 Tollway and complete the $3.4 billion Elgin O’Hare Western Access Project investment in the region’s transportation infrastructure has been reached. The agreement approved during the February Board meeting positions the tollway to build and operate a completely new roadway in the shadow of one of the nation’s largest airports, guiding the design efforts and providing land access needed for completion. “My administration is proud to mark yet another milestone in enhancing transportation in the Chicago metropolitan region, paving the way for additional access to O’Hare,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said. “When complete, this project will enhance access for countless Illinoisans to not only one of the world’s busiest airports, but additional highways, transit centers, businesses and communities throughout the region. I thank our City of Chicago partners for working alongside the Illinois Tollway to see this project through.” As a result of the recent, historic agreements with the Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific railroads that were necessary for the new I-490 Tollway to cross the Canadian Pacific Railway Bensenville Intermodal Yard, the final design required additional negotiations with the City of Chicago. This agreement provides additional land, while defining a process by which the design of the southern portion of the new road will be managed and coordinated in complete cooperation with the Chicago Department of Aviation, which owns and operates O’Hare International Airport on behalf of the City of Chicago. “The amended agreement with the Illinois Tollway, which I will introduce to City Council next week, provides a clear path forward toward the jobs, minority contracting opportunities, and improved airport access offered by the I-490 plan,” Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot said. “I thank Commissioner Rhee and her staff for their stewardship in making these negotiations possible, as well as Executive Director Alvarez and the entire tollway team for their continued partnership in the years ahead.” Currently, this portion of the new I-490 Tollway is still under design, and the agreement provides the Illinois Tollway with a clear framework for the land and construction parameters that are necessary to ensure the continuity of the critical transportation network that operates in the area. A final design is expected later this year, with additional details presented to the Elgin O’Hare Western Access Local Corridor Advisory Committee, as well as local and regional stakeholders, and the public at large this summer. “The level of partnership required between the tollway, City of Chicago, Chicago Department of Aviation and the railroads to achieve our mutual goals on this complex project cannot be understated,” Illinois Tollway Executive Director José Alvarez said. “I’d like to thank Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Commissioner Rhee and her entire team, and reiterate our thanks to the railroad leadership, as well as local, state and federal stakeholders for their continued support.” The agreement will be introduced to the Chicago City Council by Lightfoot on Wednesday and referred to the City Council Committee on Aviation for its review and consideration. Also, during the February Board meeting, the Illinois Tollway approved 11 construction and engineering contracts totaling nearly $76 million including three firms stepping up to be first-time primes with the tollway. February construction contracts awarded include: A $30.9 million contract to Plote Construction Inc./Peter Baker & Sons & Co., Hoffman Estates, IL, for pavement rehabilitation, on the North Tri-State Tollway (I-94) between Half Day Road and Atkinson Road. A $17.3 million contract to Plote Construction Inc., Hoffman Estates, Illinois, for pavement and shoulder rehabilitation on the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) between Flagg Creek and Cermak Road. A $9.3 million contract to Lorig Construction Co., Des Plaines, Illinois, for roadway and bridge construction on the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) at the new 88th/Cork Avenue Interchange. A $2.6 million contract to Path Construction Company Inc., Arlington Heights, Illinois, for structural rehabilitation work on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) and the Illinois Route 390 Tollway. A $1.8 million contract to Areatha Construction Co. Inc., Streamwood, Illinois, for noise wall replacement near Ogden Avenue on the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294). A $1.3 million contract to Hecker and Company Inc., Wheeling, Illinois, for material fabrication and storage for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) material on the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) between 95th Street and Flagg Creek. A $1.2 million contract to Meru Corporation, Niles, Illinois, for utility relocation under the Union Pacific Railroad on the new I-490 Tollway. A $674,357 contract to Natural Creations Landscaping, Joliet, Illinois, for landscape planting improvements on the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355) between I-55 and Ogden Avenue. February professional engineering services contracts awarded include: A $5 million contract to TranSystems Corporation, Schaumburg, Illinois, construction management services upon request systemwide. A $3 million contract to Patrick Engineering Inc., Lisle, Illinois, construction management services upon request on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294). A $3 million contract to ABNA Engineering Inc., Chicago, Illinois, for design services upon request on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294). The Illinois Tollway broadcasts all public meetings on the tollway’s website at www.illinoistollway.com. This includes all board meetings and public bid openings. Also provided is detailed information about current tollway construction and professional engineering services contracts through the Construction Contract Tracker.

PHILEDELPHIA — A former Pennsylvania third-party commercial driver’s license examiner pleaded guilty to wire fraud on Jan. 31, 2021. Roberto Correas pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to 12 counts of wire fraud. In November 2021, Correas, a former third-party CDL examiner, was charged. The investigation revealed that between February and March 2018, Correas provided pre-signed CDL skills examination score sheets to a co-conspirator, who completed the sheets with passing scores to fraudulently qualify individuals who did not actually take the CDL test. In addition, between September and October 2018, Correas conducted CDL skills examinations on a company’s behalf. Correas charged applicants $275 each but kept the money instead of submitting it to the company. DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, assisted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Pennsylvania State Police and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.  

COLUMBUS – The Ohio State Highway Patrol will be joining forces with members of the 6-State Trooper Project to enforce speed, safety belts and OVI (operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs) on Interstate 75. The project will run from 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 18 through 11:59 p.m. Feb. 20. The high-visibility campaign includes the Kentucky State Police, Michigan State Police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP). Last year during the same 6-State initiative, the OSHP cited 748 drivers for speed-related violations and 81 for safety belt infractions. The Patrol also charged 24 with OVI. The 6-State Trooper Project is a multi-state law enforcement partnership aimed at providing combined and coordinated law enforcement and security services in the areas of highway safety, criminal patrol, and information sharing