December 23: Whither goes our withering bridges? | Underground raves adopt safety dance | Law of Ancient Lights

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If we had a dollar for every unanswered question about the GOP’s plans for federal infrastructure spending, we’d have enough money to fix the nation’s deficient bridges. Over in Pittsburgh, Margaret Krauss reports that local business and political leaders are concerned. Meanwhile, CNN reports that President-elect Trump’s pick for Sec. Treas, Elaine Chao, sounds far less bullish on the aggressive, $1 trillion spending plan Trump campaigned on. Also sounding less-than-supportive: Chao’s husband. Normally, spouse’s opinions don’t have an effect on national policy, but here it matters: Chao’s married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who says he wants to “avoid a trillion-dollar stimulus.”

Like water slipping through sidewalk cracks, artists find and fill a city’s empty spaces. Abandoned warehouses are rarely up to code, though. Following the tragic Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, Ca., Philadelphia’s artist collectives and underground DJs are trying to be proactive, Peter Crimmins reports, so they can avoid L+I crackdowns.

Someone, please, make a Philadelphia version of this: The New York Times mapped the shadows cast by the city’s buildings, with amazing photography and fascinating tidbits on zoning, architecture, history and even law related to light. Did you know England has a Law of Ancient Lights? I didn’t, and I studied law in England.

Eyeing yet another budget fight on the horizon, Gov. Tom Wolf is denying all requests to expand Keystone Opportunity Zones this year, Jared Brey reports. The Zones are meant to encourage development in blighted neighborhoods by waiving certain state and local taxes. The City had hoped to get zones to cover the Logan Triangle and the old University City High School site. Despite the rejection, developments on both will continue unabated. Which makes you wonder… “But by the theory of tax incentive programs like KOZ, which are only supposed to be used in circumstances where development wouldn’t occur otherwise, the rejection should slow things down at least. If not, wouldn’t that raise questions about whether the tax breaks were necessary in the first place?”

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