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Trolley Riding Bank Robbers
Press Release, SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority)
PHILADELPHIA, PA–The Route 101 trolley served as a get-away vehicle for the two bank robbers arrested by SEPTA Police at the 69th Street terminal at 10 am today.
The two men are suspected of robbing the Sovereign Bank located at Providence Road and Baltimore Pike in Media. After fleeing the bank, they were seen boarding the Route 101 trolley for the 25 minute ride into Upper Darby.
SEPTA Police Sergeant Don Wagner and SEPTA Officer James Hoback overheard a police scanner broadcast about the robbery and were waiting for the alleged robbers when the trolley arrived at the 69th Street Terminal. The men initially attempted to run when they spotted their uniformed escorts, but were immediately apprehended. The unidentified men are currently in police custody.
(19 December 2008)
As Duncan Black (Atrios) comments: “Mass Transit Not Good For Everything .”
Bush approves $17.4 billion in aid to automakers
Jim Puzzanghera and Martin Zimmerman, Los Angeles Times
The emergency loans come with conditions the next administration may modify.
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Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington Martin Zimmerman — In reluctantly tossing a $17.4-billion government lifeline to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler on Friday, President Bush ensured that the automakers would not fail in the coming weeks — sparing the economy and his own legacy another potentially devastating blow. But Bush’s action leaves most of the tough decisions about the the U.S. auto industry’s future to President-elect Barack Obama.
The conditions Bush attached to the emergency loans, such as requiring trade unions to accept wages and benefits comparable to those at U.S. factories run by foreign automakers, were largely nonbinding and thus subject to change by the next president.
(20 December 2008)
Economy Will Test Obama’s Vision for an Energy-Efficient Auto Industry
Micheline Maynard, New York TImes
President-elect Barack Obama leveled a stern warning at General Motors and Chrysler last week after the federal government promised them billions to help them survive: “The auto companies must not squander this chance to reform bad management practices.”
Once he takes office, the bailout will give him a tool to prod the industry to change, but it will also test his resolve as he pushes it in new directions.
Mr. Obama, after all, has been thinking out loud about the future of the American automobile industry for years, well before his presidential campaign began. He co-sponsored two bills in 2006, during his second year as a United States senator — one to raise fuel economy standards, and the other to encourage the use of alternative fuels.
(20 December 2008)
