August 17: Rizzo statue sculptor | PHL $10M grant | Arch Street bones

Would the creator of the contested Rizzo statue do it again? WHYY’s Joe Hernandez talks with sculptor Zenos Frudakis about portraying the former mayor and his reactions to the calls for removal.

Now that the Confederate statues have been removed in Baltimore, what could the city do with the empty sculptural plinths? City Lab throws out for inspiration Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth in London, aka “the world’s greatest placeholder.”

Philadelphia Orphans’ Court has taken jurisdiction over the bones uncovered on the First Baptist Church burial ground site, the Inquirer Stephan Salisbury reports. Judge Carrafiello’s modified plan includes mapping out the burials on the site and regular field reports throughout the process. A rep for developer PMC Properties says “the judge didn’t order us to do anything that we didn’t intend to do already.”

The Department of Transportation has awarded the Philadelphia International Airport a $10.8 million grant to help fund the airport’s runway extension project and taxiway rehabilitation work, the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Alison Burdo reports.

President Trump has rolled back the stringent building standards set by President Obama aimed at protecting federally-funded infrastructure projects from the impact of rising sea levels associated with climate change, WHYY’s Tom Johnson reports. Proponents of the Obama era rule in New Jersey argue that the standards ensured taxpayers’ dollars would not be wasted on infrastructure projects subject to repeated flooding.