Capsule News Summary For March 14-20, 2005:
The Waterways Journal lost a family member March 5, as Bill Evans passed away of lung cancer at his Mandeville, La., home. Evans retired from the WJ staff earlier this year following more than 25 years of service. He was 62.
Evans joined the WJ staff in 1979 after working for the Memphis Press Scimitar and the Associated Press, and a four-year stint as assistant manager of public relations and advertising for Lykes Lines. He also worked briefly on a towboat for Canal-Gulf Lines.
As the WJ’s Gulf Coast manager, Evans reported on industry events throughout the South and along the Gulf Coast, wrote feature articles, attended industry meetings, sold advertising and generally represented the magazine across the industry.
“Aside from Bill's obvious skills as a reporter, his life-long love affair with the river and his advocacy of the waterways industry, other of his traits are no less memorable,” said Nelson Spencer, WJ publisher. “His intelligence, humor and frugality come to mind. Bill loved to delve beneath the surface of whatever subject he researched, to peel away the layers until he uncovered the nub of the issue, be it a maritime happening, a trip to Alaska, kayaking or a serious helping of crawfish étouffée.
“The latter, he garnished with enough hot sauce to dumbfound his yankee acquaintances. It typified the zest with which he approached life and his 20 plus years as WJ's Gulf Coast manager.
“A rare individual, Bill will be missed. We were fortunate to have known him,” Spencer said.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Seamen's Church Institute’s Ministry on the River. Checks may be written to the Seamen's Church Institute and sent to the attention of Ann Mills, The Seamen's Church Institute, 111 Kentucky Ave., Paducah, Ky. 42003. Donors should include "In memory of Bill Evans—MOR" on the memo line.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its 2005 Report Card For America’s Infrastructure last week, and the result isn’t something to be proud of. The society gave a cumulative grade of D for the country’s infrastructure, down from a D+ in 2001.
"Americans are spending more time stuck in traffic and less time at home with their families," said ASCE president William P. Henry in the announcement. “We need to establish a comprehensive, long-term infrastructure plan as opposed to our current `patch and pray' method to ensure a better quality of life for everyone."
To remedy America's current and looming problems, ASCE estimates an investment need of $1.6 trillion over a five-year period from all levels of government and the private sector. This amount does not include estimates for infrastructure security needs, which are still being defined within the Department of Homeland Security framework, ASCE said.
The 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure assesses the same 12 infrastructure categories as in 2001, in addition to three new categories: public parks and recreation, rail and security. While there has been some improvement in aviation and schools, the analysis indicates that overall conditions have remained the same for bridges, dams and solid waste, and worsened in roads, navigable waterways, drinking water, transit, wastewater, hazardous waste and energy.
Grades range from a high of C+ for solid waste to a low of D- for navigable waterways, drinking water and wastewater….
The Inland Waterways Navigational Conference, sponsored by the navigation industry, Army Corps on Engineers and Coast Guard, will focus on the safety and security of America’s waterways.
The conference is being held from March 15-17 in Nashville, Tenn. Numerous representatives from all three sectors will be addressing those in attendance, participating in panel discussions or presenting updates on various projects and initiatives.
With this year’s focus on safety and security, several scheduled topics include new technology, safety and security inspections on un-inspected towing vessels and Coast Guard presentations on bridges, passenger vessel safety and area maritime security….
Speaking at the recent christening of two towboats, Walter Blessey, president of Blessey Marine Services Inc., summarized his company’s philosophy by saying “It’s all about people. You have to get great people, give them great assets like (these two boats) and then assist them to do their jobs. It’s the people who make the organization.”
To the man, the vessels’ namesakes, crewmembers, builders and others at the christening all responded with high praise for Blessey, whose employee-oriented approach they obviously appreciate.
The two boats, Luke Bryan and Judy S. Fried, were christened in New Orleans February 15. The ceremony was held in conjunction with one of the Harahan, La.-based company’s annual captains meetings, which drew 42 captains to the event. The vessels were moored alongside the Hilton Riverside Hotel.
“We’re honoring two people today,” Blessey continued. “The first is Luke Bryan who has been a tankerman with Blessey for approximately 12 years. Luke’s kind of a hard guy to roast because he is so clean; he does everything so right,” Blessey said. “He is an honored member of our corporate family who does his job professionally, with a smile on his face, year after year after year.”
The other honoree was David Fried, Blessey’s controller since 1992, who chose to name the boat after his wife….
Louisville Engineer District employees have remained busy overseeing the construction projects at Olmsted Locks and Dam and McAlpine Locks and Dam. Progress has been steady, as both projects remain on schedule, but any fluctuations in allocated funds could alter the completion target dates.
According to the president’s recently released budget proposal that was presented to both the House of Representatives and Senate, funding for the two projects has not been compromised.
“There is some good news in that Olmsted was in the top 10 projects in funding in that proposed budget,” Carol Baternik, spokeswoman for the Louisville Engineer District, said. “It is good news in that it, along with McAlpine, are allotted on schedule. Let’s hope it stays that way.”
Despite that precautionary good news, it is safe to say that that initial budget will go through many drafts, including budget reductions, before a final budget is approved by Congress….
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