Airports and roads are clogged, bridges are reaching old age and dams are getting more hazardous across the United States, says the American Society of Civil Engineers, as it issued American infrastructure a grade of D+ in its quadrennial report card Thursday.

"Deteriorating infrastructure is impeding our ability to compete in the thriving global economy, and improvements are necessary to ensure our country is built for the future," the report card said.

The report card was released with infrastructure in the public eye, weeks after a Northern California dam's damaged spillways prompted the evacuation of thousands and with President Donald Trump promising a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure.

The engineering group says the U.S. needs twice that amount, and recommends Congress invest $206 billion more in infrastructure each year to raise the grade.

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The D+ remains the same as it was four years ago, though the engineers say some small progress has been made since. No category got an A grade, and most received Ds. The B issued to rail was the highest grade, and transit's D- was the lowest.

The costs of the infrastrucutre gap are high, according to the report card: $3,400 in disposable income for each American family each year.

"In infrastructure, you get what you pay for and for decades we haven't been paying nearly enough. It shows in the grades," said Norma Jean Mattei, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, in a letter accompanying the report.

Read the full report here.

The dangers of failing infrastructure got an up-close look in February when the back-up spillway at the Oroville Dam, the tallest in the nation, neared failure. Nearly 200,000 people in the community down-river were evacuated over the risk of uncontrolled flood waters, and state and national emergencies were declared.

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The report card gives American dams a D, with more than 2,100 dams with high-hazard potential found to be deficient, and $45 billion needed to repair aging dams with high-hazard potential.

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Bridges fared better than most, with a C+ that's in a three-way tie for second-best grade among the 16 categories. 

Many bridges are reaching the end of their operational lifespans — nearly four in 10 were built at least 50 years ago — and the engineers argue that the motor fuels tax needs to be increased in order to adequately fund bridges in the future.

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Staples announced Thursday it would close 70 stores in 2017 after reporting fourth-quarter sales that were far weaker than analysts expected.

The largest U.S. office-supply chain reported a $548 million loss and a 3% drop in sales in the fiscal fourth quarter that ended in January.

Staples stock gave up 19 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $8.77 during morning trade, The Associated Press reported.

A spokesman for the Framingham, Massachusetts-based company said those results prompted Staples’ decision to close 70 stores in 2017, or 4.5% of its 1,600 remaining locations as it works to overhaul operations.

The latest store closings come on the heels of 48 shutterings last year, and a combined 242 in the two prior years. Staples had 1,255 U.S. stores and 304 Canadian locations. The retailer also operates some stores around the world.

The retailer tried to merge with rival Office Depot, but that deal was blocked by the Federal Trade Commission a year ago.

"I’m increasingly confident that we have the right plan and the right team to transform Staples and get back to sustainable sales and earnings growth,” said Shira Goodman, Staples’ Chief Executive Officer. “I am particularly proud of our ability to grow our delivery business by continuing to enhance our offering and satisfy our business customers.”

Traditional brick-and-mortar stores have been under pressure for some time due to greater competition from online outfits such as Amazon.

On Wednesday, RadioShack filed for bankruptcy for the second time in two years, announcing it would close 200 of its 1,500 stores and placing the future of the remaining stores in doubt.

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Police in Chester County arrested a woman accused of swindling elderly people in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department announced Thursday that they had arrested April Lynn Parks, 52, a day earlier after being tipped off that she was at a business along Enterprise Drive in East Goshen Township, Pennsylvania.

An indictment claims that Parks was operated a business in Nevada that was supposed to care for elderly people and people with disabilities. Parks faces one felony count of racketeering, 33 felony counts of theft, 19 felony counts of exploitation of an older person, 18 felony counts of exploitation of and older person/vulnerable person, nine felony counts of theft, 74 felony counts of offering false instruments for filing or record and 58 felony counts of perjury in Nevada, police said.

Parks was arraigned in Chester County and sent to jail on $500,000 bail as she awaited extradition to Clark County, Nevada, police said.

Police didn't reveal what Parks was doing in Chester County.

The damaged Delaware River Bridge connecting the Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpikes will reopen late Thursday, highway officials said in a statement.

The damaged bridge was originally slated to be shut down through at least early April as crews work to repair a major crack in the span's steel, but repairs took less time than expected and the bridge was expected to open sometime Thursday night.

“We pledged to reopen the bridge as soon as we could do so safely,” said New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Richard T. Hammer, who serves as chairman of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority board. “Thanks to a round-the-clock effort involving dozens of engineers, contractors, scientists, and other workers, we are able to get that done much sooner than we expected with every confidence that it will be safe for the motorists who depend on it.”

A large vertical crack was discovered by an worker inspecting a new paint job in January. The fracture was located in a truss holding up the bridge's road deck on the Pennsylvania side.

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“Many people were greatly inconvenienced by this closure over the last seven weeks, and I know that everyone is excited to get this bridge reopened and to see their lives return to normal,” said PA Turnpike CEO Mark Compton. “Without a doubt, this incident was a bad dream for the two turnpike agencies and the contractors and consultants on our team, but a nightmare for customers and neighbors.”

The bridge, which carries 42,000 vehicles a day between the two highways, was immediately shut down and remained closed causing major detours and traffic trouble. It's not clear what caused the crack to form or how long it had been there.

The repair team was able to bolster rhe truss with a temporary splice and use hydraulic jacks, each capable of lifting 600 tons, held by 80-foot-high towers, to re-align the truss.

The bridge was re-aligned and officials say the workers were able to build a permanent splice to repair the fractured truss.

Earlier in the week, test loads were driven over the bridge to determine it was safe to re-open.

“We will continue to monitor loads and stresses on the bridge,” said NJTA Chief Engineer Robert Fischer. “The temporary sensors will remain for now. In the coming months, we expect to install a system for monitoring the health of the bridge over the long term.”

PA Turnpike Chief Engineer Brad Heigel confirmed that two mis-drilled holes were identified as the primary factors that lead to the fracture in the truss. He also said that weeks of hands-on inspection of the entire bridge and extensive inspection found no other such holes.

“We continue to look at other factors such as air temperature and loads like heavy trucks or high winds that may have had an impact when the fracture occurred,” Heigel said. “But getting a definitive answer as to why it happened is akin to solving a 60-year-old mystery perpetuated by unseen offenders. We may never know for sure what all the factors were that caused the fracture,” Heigel said.

An elderly couple had a rude awakening Thursday morning. A driver slammed his car into their home. Now police are searching for the person responsible. NBC10 South Jersey Bureau Reporter Cydney Long spoke with the couple's son who wants this driver caught.

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The Eagles announced they cut DE Connor Barwin Thursday. John Clark looks back on his community service and dedication to our area.

Jim Rosenfield (JR): You were in Philly recently doing a story on Strawberry Mansion, about a program that is helping young people get engaged, and get excited about learning. Why did you want to do that story?

Lester Holt (LH): You know I’m always looking for stories that inspire people. People were are tackling the big issues of the day in a micro way. And in this case it was a Strawberry Mansion neighborhood, a guy who grew up there, and still lives there, he had the ability, he had this former bar that his mother left him. She said do something great, and he did something great. He started an after school program not only getting kids off of the street at a critical time of the day, but also a place where they can get help with their homework and be enriched. Those are the kinds of stories that our viewers time and time again tell us they’re craving. People stop me and say Holt thank you, thank you for showing us something other than divisiveness. Thank you for showing something that makes me smile at the end of the newscast. And I’m with them, sometimes I can’t I hide my emotions, we’ll run one of those stories where you see my eyes glisten up, or a big grin on my face, I love it too. You know the news is very heavy.

The great thing about Philadelphia for me, is that we have access, its close by, I can come to a place like this and do a story and still get back to NYC in time for the Nightly News. This is in many ways is a part of my wider community, but there are stories like these happening all over the country, we get people who are seeing an issue and thinking you know what I have the resources, I have the ability to organize people and do something, and that’s why this is such a great story. We walked the streets of Strawberry Mansion, he helped me understand the issues there what the kids face and what I love is after we did that story, I started getting emails and calls from people hey I want to volunteer, I want to help you know we put them in contact, you stand back and you smile you know what, we did something really good today we told a great story, and we call the segment “Inspiring America” and dog-on-it if it didn’t inspire people.

Jacqueline London (JL): You have seen too much flooding, tornadoes, police involved shootings, and you’ve been there. How does that make you feel?

LH: When at a scene of a calamity I always go through this process. I guess it’s a personal process of thinking, ok what if this was me? What if this was family how would I deal with this? How would I want to be treated? Part of our job as reporters is to bring compassion to stories, I think that’s a necessary element of journalism and its very life affirming to me. Its strikes me, sometimes I go do these horrible stories, people have been through hell and yet they are able to put one foot in front of the other and move forward. Its very life affirming. I think if it were me I would be curled up in a ball somewhere, but time and time again people show their resilience that’s part of our storytelling, is to look at how people are able to deal with it.

JL: How do you see yourself as an anchor?

LH: I feel like I’m the viewer’s representative. Sometimes I hear that voice in my ear, people yelling, “Come on Lester ask him this” and I ask it because I want to be the representative I’m the guy that has the ability to bring people to the table and get answers. I try to look at the questions that people want answered, I think about the questions I would want answered, it’s not always the high flouting question but the something that really gets to the heart of the matter. I definitely sit there when I’m anchoring and am trying to picture people at home, saying what right are they television at the TV about saying no, ask him that. I think what’s really important is to remember it’s about the viewers. The issues that they want to know about, and the questions they what answered. We have the access, we have the technology so let’s get the answers for them

JL: We know how important listening is but how important is understanding?

LH: It’s important that we understand so we can appreciate the differences. If I don’t understand where you’re coming from or the issue then were are never going to find any ground. Our job is not to make everyone hold hands and sing kum-ba-ya but it is to help them process information.

JL: Why is going to the story so important?

LH: I always tell people the most satisfying moments of my career have been not sitting behind a desk but it’s out there. So when something huge happens, I get off the set and I have to be there. Even if it’s not on camera, just talking to people in a given situations is such an enrichment and helps to frame the story. We do a lot of talking in this business, but listening is as important because we’ve got to see the story and where people are coming from. 

JR: What makes this city so unique?

LH: Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods, when you have a city neighborhoods you have of great organic stories of people who were changing those broader issues of the day, they’re changing their blocks or within a two mile radius, this is a place that is rich in those kinds of stories I would except we will be down here a lot.

JR: Do you guys still have a dog?

LH: We were without dogs for a while, but we have a puppy now. A labradoodle back in the fall, 8 months old now, so fun. Because she's a red head we named her Lucy. She’s the best dog I’ve ever had. She's a lover, very affectionate.

JL: One day after your birthday, Happy Birthday! You have big news to announce!

LH: Yeah, I going to be a grandad. My oldest son Stefan and his wife Morgan are expecting their first child in September, I’m more excited than them. I happen to love babies, I really love babies and especially when they are other people’s babies, we are thrilled. I have a lot to teach this kid.

JR: Do we have any names you want to be called?

LH: Yes I want to be known as grand-dude, I think that could stick. But it might be a mouthful for the little one. It’s a boy, so I’ve been getting ultrasound pictures saying to myself, ‘Yes it looks like me!’

JL: Everyone knows your son is an anchor in New York as well, all of your family is right there in NY. You can spoil that baby as frequently as you want

LH: Yeah, Stefan works in the same building as me. All I know is when he was a little boy he used to love to go to the TV station and hang around. Of course he became a TV anchor, so I look forward to bringing my grandson to work… I am proud to be a journalist and I would be thrilled if my grandchild became a journalist.

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Port Authority police officers say they've arrested a New Jersey man who owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in tolls and fees.

Jose Ramirez arrived to pick up his impounded 2002 International truck at the Lincoln Tunnel around 4 p.m. Thursday, Port Authority officials said. A warrant check showed the 50-year-old driver had an outstanding warrant issued Feb. 13 for theft of service.

Authorities said Ramirez's EZ Pass records showed 3,250 known toll violations totaling more than a whopping $308,600 in tolls and fees. He owns a trucking company based in Jersey City called "Mambo Transportation".

The Jersey City resident was charged with theft of service and theft by unlawful taking, police said.

Ramirez's truck remains impounded.

An apparent dust storm stemming from an industrial site in Kearny, New Jersey, sent a smoky haze billowing into the air Thursday -- a wave of what looked like smoke that could be seen from lower Manhattan. 

Crews say work on an ongoing redevelopment project at the site off Fish House Road caused the problem. It came as officials warned of high wind gusts topping 40 mph that likely fueled the spread of dust.

Footage captured from Top of the Rock showed a wall of what looked like white smoke rising from the ground. Many observers thought it was a fire, but those closer to the scene said the swirling "smoke" was actually piles of dirt. 

At least one water truck was spotted at the site; the driver was wearing a mask.

The nature of the project wasn't clear. The property is owned by Hudson County Improvement Authority, which couldn't immediately be reached for comment on the matter.