News

Meet Nicholas Moore, America’s Highest Paid Road Worker. Macquarie Group Limited is a publicly traded banking, financial, advisory, investment, and fund management services headquartered in Sydney, Australia. In the United States, it has pushed for the privatization of public infrastructure and assets and operates major toll roads including Chicago’s Skyway, Indiana’s Toll Road, and the Dulles Greenway in Virginia, where area residents complain that higher tolls are pushing traffic into residential areas. The firm also owns a stake in Acquarion, a private, for-profit water service provider in New England, and is a major investor in K12 Inc., a for-profit provider of poorly performing “cyberschools.” K12 Inc. receives 86% of its revenue from taxpayers.   PR Watch

DC: J.C. Hayward: A long-time local benefactor and WUSA anchor awaits a legal resolution…. As chairwoman of Options Public Charter School, the complaint said, Hayward allegedly signed off on lucrative contracts that funneled local and federal tax dollars to two for-profit companies founded and run by school managers. Hayward allegedly helped incorporate one of the companies named in the civil lawsuit, a company that according to several people familiar with the investigation is now under federal scrutiny.  Washington Post

OR: Liquor privatization battle heads to Oregon. Big retail stores in Oregon will push to privatize state-controlled liquor sales on the ballot next year, duplicating an effort by retailers in Washington State that led to one of the most expensive political battles in history. Washington Post (blog)

VA: Dulles Toll Road drivers will pay more starting Jan. 1. Check your E-Z Pass balances and if you don’t have an electronic pass, your cash on hand – tolls on the Dulles Toll Road will increase to $2.50 beginning Jan. 1 for passenger cars at the main toll plaza. That’s an increase of 75 cents. Washington Post (blog)