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June 28, 2014 • Vol. IX • No. 13 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215/885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215/885-2910
Inside
Oregon Zoo Addresses Elephant in the Room By Irwin Rapoport CEG CORRESPONDENT
It is fitting that the Oregon Zoo’s (in Portland) eight Asian elephants are among the many watching construction of Elephant Lands, a $57 million project that will quadruple their habitat from 1.5 to more than 6 acres. From the beginning, zoo officials have said that everyone working on this project has been aiming to look at it through the elephants’ eyes. “At every stage of design and construction, we ask ourselves how we can make this a better home for elephants,” said zoo bond program director Heidi Rahn. “Animal welfare has been our guiding principle every step of the
Proxibid Opens Facility Across the Pond...30
Lyon & Son Attracts Customers to Houston...44
way.” The ambitious new Elephant Lands project is the fourth of eight major projects funded by a community-supported 2008 zoo bond measure, which ultimately will renovate more than 40 percent of the zoo. Not only will the elephants enjoy a much larger space, but the infrastructure supporting them will receive state-of-the-art upgrades aimed at making their lives more comfortable, providing greater opportunity for choice and encouraging natural behaviors. “It is designed to keep elephants active for 16 to 18 hours a day outdoors,” said Jim Mitchell, the zoo’s construction manager, “but also an opportunity to stay inside if they want. We did a lot of see ZOO page 10
The ambitious new Elephant Lands project is the fourth of eight major projects funded by a community-supported 2008 zoo bond measure, which ultimately will renovate more than 40 percent of the zoo. Thousands Take Part in Ritchie Bros. Houston Sale...48
Table of Contents ............4 Attachment & Parts Section ......................11-15 Recycling Section ....17-25 Truck & Trailer Section ...... ..................................37-38 Auction Section ........42-51 Business Calendar ........46 Advertisers Index ..........50
Senators Propose Industry Adds 6,000 Jobs, Gas Tax Increase Unemployment Rate Drops for Transit Jobs Construction employers added 6,000 workers to payrolls in May as the industry’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.6 percent, its lowest May level in six years, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. However, association officials cautioned that gains remain spotty and that thousands of highway construction jobs are at risk because of a pending halt in federal transportation funding later this summer.
“Even with five straight months of construction employment gains, the industry remains vulnerable to sudden shifts in demand,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Should Washington allow federal highway funding to come to a halt as predicted later this summer, the sudden loss of billions of dollars worth of demand would cost many construction workers, as well as workers from other segments of the economy, their jobs.” see JOBS page 49
By Joan Lowy ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) Two senators unveiled a bipartisan plan June 18 to raise federal gasoline and diesel taxes for the first time in more than two decades, pitching the proposal as a solution to Congress’ struggle to pay for highway and transit programs. The plan offered by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., would raise the 18.4-cents-a-gallon federal gas tax and 24.4-cents-a- gallon diesel tax by 12 cents each over the next two years, and then index the see INCREASE page 40