BOSTON
Concrete supplier to pay $50 million
A concrete supplier for the Big Dig has agreed to pay $50 million to end civil and criminal investigations into whether it supplied inferior concrete used in the massive highway project, authorities announced Friday.
Aggregate Industries NE Inc. also agreed to plead guilty to a criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the federal government.
Six employees of Aggregate, which supplied concrete used in tunnels and roadways in the Big Dig project, were indicted last year on federal charges that they falsified records to hide the substandard quality of 5,000 truckloads of concrete.
MONTGOMERY, Ala.
Wrong-way SUV rams Greyhound bus
An SUV traveling the wrong way on an interstate collided head-on with a Greyhound bus early Friday, killing the SUV’s driver and injuring 46 people, police said.
The bus driver and all 53 passengers were taken to a hospital, with 45 treated and released and one admitted in serious but stable condition. Mayor Bobby Bright said none of the injuries appeared life-threatening.
Joseph Rudder, 45, was alone in the SUV, which was headed north in the southbound lane, police Capt. Huey Thornton said. Authorities weren’t certain why the SUV was traveling the wrong way.
WASHINGTON
Cheney due for battery replacement
Vice President Dick Cheney was to undergo minor surgery Saturday morning to replace the battery that powers a device implanted in his chest six years ago to monitor his heart and deliver a shock if it ever goes out of rhythm.
Doctors must replace the entire battery part of the defibrillator, which would shock his heart if he experiences an irregular heartbeat. The surgery was to take place at George Washington University Hospital.
