These are some of the stories we’ve been following this week.

The Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tennessee. Scott Basford. CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Construction is underway on the Vista Tower, which will be one of the largest buildings in Chicago once it is complete. The skyscraper will be built partially with funds secured through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.
  • Senators from Michigan want the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to halt construction of the Rover gas pipeline being built near Silver Lake.
  • A lawsuit aimed at cleaning up the Tennessee River could be headed to court. A trial date is set for January 2019.
  • New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have given more information to first responders dealing with a train derailment. In his veto, Governor Christie said he did not believe all of the information about the state’s trains, including all of the trains’ contents, should be easily accessible by the public because it could pose a security risk.
  • The Pearland City Council in Texas voted to sue over an odor coming from a local landfill.
  • A new study found that wastewater from hydraulic fracturing operations can contaminate nearby water sources.
  • California officials are getting closer to using eminent domain to acquire Martin’s Beach so that it can be used by the public.
  • County commissioners in Palm Beach, Florida, tentatively agreed to keep the property tax rate the same for the seventh year in a row. Commissioners said higher property values would allow more taxes to be collected, but in the future the rate might have to be increased.
  • Washington is one of only seven states without a state income tax. However, the city of Seattle has instituted a tax on annual income of more than $250,000 or $500,000 for couples. Officials said the additional funds will be used for a variety of public projects.