Boston's Big Dig: the gift that keeps on taking

From the Boston Globe: "Cost of probe on Big Dig nearly $1m"

The special prosecutor hired by Attorney General Martha Coakley to spearhead the investigation into the Big Dig tunnel ceiling collapse is billing the state almost $30,000 a week, running up a tab that already has reached nearly $1 million and could climb even higher in coming months if his contract is extended.

Despite the bill, special assistant attorney general Paul F. Ware Jr. has so far indicted only one supplier - Powers Fasteners - in connection with the death of Milena Del Valle in July 2006. But even if convicted, the Powers Fasteners glue company faces a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine.

As somebody who has been following the Big Dig debacle relatively closely, it's my opinion that the case against Power Fasteners is particularly weak, meaning that Massachusetts won't even recoup that $1000. You can't make this stuff up.