Cost Overruns

PROVIDENCE -- Costs are soaring for renovations to the Dunkin' Donuts Center. The Rhode Island Convention Center Authority says it will need an additional $15 million to finish the work. That's a 24 percent cost overrun that comes as lawmakers are struggling to find money for other priorities, from healthcare to education. The authority, an independent agency that owns the civic center, is preparing to ask lawmakers to borrow the money. That would leave the state with an additional $1.2 million in annual debt payments for the next 30 years, according to the Providence Journal.

BOTTOM LINE: Duke Energy Corp.'s earnings fell 42 percent in the first quarter because of cost overruns at a coal plant under construction in Indiana. THE NUMBERS: Duke earned $295 million, or 22 cents per share, down from $511 million, or 38 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue slipped to $3.63 billion from $3.66 billion a year ago. BIG PICTURE: The company's underlying earnings grew slightly, despite a mild winter that reduced electric power demand. The company said its planned merger with Progress Energy, which would create the biggest U.S. utility, is on track to be completed...

NEWARK — New Jersey’s governor wants to kill a $9 billion-plus train tunnel to New York City because of runaway costs. Six thousand miles away, Hawaii’s outgoing governor is having second thoughts about a proposed $5.5 billion rail line in Honolulu. In many of the 48 states in between, infrastructure projects are languishing on the drawing board, awaiting the right mix of creative financing, political arm-twisting, and timing to move forward. And a struggling economy and a surge of political candidates opposed to big spending could make it a long wait.

Duke Energy Corp. says its net income fell 42 percent in the first quarter because of cost overruns at a coal plant under construction in Indiana. The company said its underlying earnings grew slightly, though, despite a warm winter that reduced electric power demand and earnings at electric utilities nationwide. Duke's earnings were boosted by higher electric rates in the Carolinas, reduced costs, and higher power sales and rates in Brazil. The North Carolina-based power company said Friday that it earned $295 million, or 22 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31....

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Governor Rick Scott of Florida canceled plans for a high-speed train line between Orlando and Tampa promoted by President Obama, saying yesterday that it would cost the state too much, even with $2.4 billion in federal help. Cost overruns could put Florida on the hook for another $3 billion, and once completed, there is a good chance ridership will not pay for the operating cost, meaning the state would have to pump more money into the line each year, Scott said.

WASHINGTON - The Senate acted yesterday to clamp down on Pentagon purchasing practices that have led to billions in cost overruns and delays in getting weapons to troops at war. The 93-0 Senate vote on the acquisitions overhaul legislation was taken as the House Armed Services Committee was voting 59-0 to approve a similar version. President Obama has pushed for improvements in weapons procurement and urged Congress to get a bill to his desk before Memorial Day. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has also made procurement overhaul a priority, and on Wednesday Deputy Defense Secretary...

City and school officials will convene two meetings for parents and community members to learn about plans to rebuild the East Somerville Community School. The meetings, tomorrow at the Cross Street Center and Jan. 10 at the Capuano Early Childhood learning Center will provide an update on construction plans and give residents the opportunity to comment on and participate in the school design process. The school has been shuttered since December 2007, when it was gutted by fire. Work on the building was stopped in September briefly when the project hit cost overruns.

I AGREE with Jeff Jacoby that the Big Dig was a fiscal disaster ("Entrepreneurs don't deserve the professor's ire," Op-ed, Sept. 28). However, it is less clear that this example supports his point that governments are inept and incompetent. To be sure, we can fault government for its failures of oversight and transparency. However, it was the private sector contractor and the private sector subcontractors that produced the inaccurate plans and provided the substandard materials that contributed to the cost overruns.

BOTTOM LINE: Duke Energy Corp.'s earnings fell 42 percent in the first quarter because of cost overruns at a coal plant under construction in Indiana. THE NUMBERS: Duke earned $295 million, or 22 cents per share, down from $511 million, or 38 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue slipped to $3.63 billion from $3.66 billion a year ago. BIG PICTURE: The company's underlying earnings grew slightly, despite a mild winter that reduced electric power demand. The company said its planned merger with Progress Energy, which would create the biggest U.S. utility, is on track to be completed...

BAGHDAD -- Bechtel Corp. said Iraq's security crisis is to blame for delays and cost overruns that have halted construction of a children's hospital in Iraq that was championed by Laura Bush. The project is one of dozens of health projects promised by the United States that have been halted or delayed, Iraqi health officials said yesterday. The high-tech, two-story children's hospital in Basra was intended to provide state-of-the-art care in Iraq's second-largest city. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke highly of the project and lobbied...

Concerns about muck have run amok at Bailey's Hill Park. Nahant residents have voiced alarm about the dredged soils that were removed from the pond and drainage canals at Kelly Greens Golf Course and left on land at the park, which abuts the golf course. The park is a popular spot for walkers and joggers. "I'd be concerned, too," said Town Administrator Andrew Bisignani. "It's nasty-looking and has a slight odor. It's muck . . . dredged material. " Linda Pivacek, chairwoman of the town's Open Space Management and Land Acquisition Committee, said she started receiving complaints by phone and...

Yarmouth police may seek a criminal complaint against former Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos after his wife told police the couple quarreled and he shoved a cellphone in her face, according to a person briefed on the allegations. Andrea Mihos also told police her husband, 62, pushed her on July 7 in West Yarmouth, where the couple share a multimillion-dollar home in a gated community. Andrea Mihos, who couldn't be reached for comment, now does not want police to pursue the case, according to two people briefed on the events.

DECADES BEFORE Google Earth, a group of engineers in Connecticut built the first high-resolution spy satellite, a top-secret wonder that produced detailed photos of Soviet missiles, submarines, and air bases. Recently declassified, the program ranked among the most astonishing technological feats of the Cold War. It's fitting that the Pentagon is finally disclosing the program while many of the engineers who built the devices at Perkin-Elmer Corp. are still alive to enjoy public recognition at last.

AS CONGRESS wrangles over how to rein in the federal debt, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has been ringing the alarm bells about what will happen if the Pentagon is asked to cut more than the $450 billion that it has already agreed to shave off its planned budget over the next ten years. Deeper cuts, he has warned Congress, will turn the world's greatest military into a "paper tiger. " He has used the word "catastrophic" to describe just how bad it will be. While there is no doubt that it will be painful to cut costs while fighting a war in Afghanistan, US taxpayers...

By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent Somerville city and school officials will convene the first of two meetings tonight for parents and community members to learn about plans to rebuild the East Somerville Community School. The meeting, at 6:30 p.m. at the Cross Street Center, will provide an update on construction plans and give residents the opportunity to comment on and participate in the school design process. The school has been shuttered since December 2007, when it was gutted by fire.

City and school officials will convene two meetings for parents and community members to learn about plans to rebuild the East Somerville Community School. The meetings, tomorrow at the Cross Street Center and Jan. 10 at the Capuano Early Childhood learning Center will provide an update on construction plans and give residents the opportunity to comment on and participate in the school design process. The school has been shuttered since December 2007, when it was gutted by fire. Work on the building was stopped in September briefly when the project hit cost overruns.

DECADES BEFORE Google Earth, a group of engineers in Connecticut built the first high-resolution spy satellite, a top-secret wonder that produced detailed photos of Soviet missiles, submarines, and air bases. Recently declassified, the program ranked among the most astonishing technological feats of the Cold War. It's fitting that the Pentagon is finally disclosing the program while many of the engineers who built the devices at Perkin-Elmer Corp. are still alive to enjoy public recognition at last.

By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent Somerville city and school officials will convene the first of two meetings tonight for parents and community members to learn about plans to rebuild the East Somerville Community School. The meeting, at 6:30 p.m. at the Cross Street Center, will provide an update on construction plans and give residents the opportunity to comment on and participate in the school design process. The school has been shuttered since December 2007, when it was gutted by fire.

I AGREE with Jeff Jacoby that the Big Dig was a fiscal disaster ("Entrepreneurs don't deserve the professor's ire," Op-ed, Sept. 28). However, it is less clear that this example supports his point that governments are inept and incompetent. To be sure, we can fault government for its failures of oversight and transparency. However, it was the private sector contractor and the private sector subcontractors that produced the inaccurate plans and provided the substandard materials that contributed to the cost overruns.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Governor Rick Scott of Florida canceled plans for a high-speed train line between Orlando and Tampa promoted by President Obama, saying yesterday that it would cost the state too much, even with $2.4 billion in federal help. Cost overruns could put Florida on the hook for another $3 billion, and once completed, there is a good chance ridership will not pay for the operating cost, meaning the state would have to pump more money into the line each year, Scott said.