Vikings’ Cam Bynum pays tribute to Olympic breakdancer Raygun with celebration: ‘Been saving’ it
Kate Middleton’s Christmas carol concert confirmed to return, poignant theme revealed
After a difficult year, the Princess of Wales, 42, is feeling the festive cheer.
nypost.com
NASA monitoring second stranded astronaut’s possible weight loss after raising alarm about colleague Sunita Williams’ health
"None of this was anticipated. They were supposed to be there for a week, and now it's going on six months," a source told The Post.
nypost.com
Russia attacks Kyiv as North Korean troops enter fight against Ukraine
The U.S. says there will be a "firm response" as Ukrainian forces holding ground in Russia's Kursk region now face North Korean troops "engaging in combat."
cbsnews.com
Matthew McConaughey reveals why he turned down $15M role: ‘The residuals decline on quality of life’
The Oscar winner, 55, said people often mistake success with money -- a notion he strongly disagrees with.
nypost.com
Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy gave him ‘tough love’ ultimatum before leaving — her or the drugs, friend says
"He chose the drugs, so she had no choice but to remove herself from the situation," Cassidy's friend said.
nypost.com
Bride is ‘deleting’ friends after viral video captured a mass no-show at her wedding
A heartbroken bride has updated her followers after turning up to her wedding and finding none of the invited guests bothered to show.
nypost.com
Super Bowl champ hopes Mike Tyson knocks Jake Paul's 'freaking head off'
Jake Paul-Mike Tyson is finally just days away, and former NFL offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth has a loud rooting interest for the fight.
foxnews.com
The most dangerous roads in America have one thing in common
A pedestrian crosses Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia, a maze of chaotic traffic that passes through some of the city's most diverse and low-income neighborhoods. | Julio Cortez/AP Photo Some 110 years ago, a picturesque new road known as Roosevelt Boulevard began ferrying vehicles across the nascent but burgeoning neighborhoods of North and Northeast Philadelphia. At first, traffic was light, but it rapidly thickened as car ownership rose and the surrounding area developed. By the 1950s, when the boulevard expanded to meet the new Schuylkill Expressway, it was lined with row houses and shops. Today, what was initially a bucolic parkway has become a traffic-snarled, 12-lane thoroughfare snaking its way through neighborhoods that house 1 in 3 Philadelphians. It is, by all accounts, a mess. Dubbed the “corridor of death,” Roosevelt Boulevard has been named the most dangerous street in the city (and among the most dangerous in the nation). In 2022, 59 pedestrians were killed there. Residents “want to get across the street to the pharmacy to get their medication or get across the street to the supermarket,” Latanya Byrd, whose niece and three nephews were killed in a crash on the boulevard in 2013, said in a video produced by Smart Growth America. “It may take two, maybe three lights, for them to get all the way across.” It’s not just pedestrians who loathe Roosevelt Boulevard. “People who walk, drive, or take public transit are all pretty badly screwed,” Philadelphia’s public radio station declared in 2017. Aware of the road’s shortcomings, city officials have long sought design changes that would reduce crashes. But they are powerless to act on their own, because the boulevard is controlled by the state of Pennsylvania. That situation is common across the United States, where many of the most deadly, polluting, and generally awful urban streets are overseen by state departments of transportation (DOTs). Often they were constructed decades ago, when the surrounding areas were sparsely populated. Although only 14 percent of urban road miles nationwide are under state control, two-thirds of all crash deaths in the 101 largest metro areas occur there, according to a recent Transportation for America report. In some places, this disparity is widening: From 2016 to 2022, road fatalities in Austin, Texas, fell 20 percent on locally managed roads while soaring 98 percent on those the state oversees. “The country is littered with roads that are a legacy of the past, that don’t work very well, and that drive people crazy,” said US Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who calls them “legacy highways.” Instead of fixing such roadways, state officials tend to keep them as they are, citing limited resources or a need to maintain traffic speeds. In doing so, they constrain the capacity of even the most comprehensive local reforms to respond to urgent problems like car crash deaths, which are far more widespread in the US than among peer countries, or unreliable bus service. Unless state DOTs recognize that a successful urban road must do more than facilitate fast car trips, that problem will persist. Why we have state highways In the early 1900s, states from coast to coast created transportation agencies to build smooth, wide roads that enabled long-distance car trips. New high-capacity roadways traversed forests and farmland, often terminating at what was then the urban edge. When Americans went on a car-buying binge after World War II, states like Michigan widened their highways with the goal of keeping traffic moving quickly, a prime directive for engineers. High-speed roadways fed rapid suburbanization, with new developments mushrooming on the city periphery. Columbus, Ohio, for instance, roughly doubled in population from 1950 and 2000, while its land area quintupled. Sprawling cities in the South and Southwest emerged seemingly overnight, while new suburbs encircled older metropolises in the North. In these newly urbanized areas, state highways that had previously meandered through the countryside were now lined with retail and housing. Their designers had initially paid little attention to transit, sidewalks, or tree cover — features that are often afterthoughts for rural roads, but crucial in more densely populated areas. As with Philadelphia’s Roosevelt Boulevard, the width and traffic speed of state roads in urban neighborhoods now frequently clash with local desires for street safety, quality transit service, and pedestrian comfort. But revising them is rarely a priority for state DOTs engaged in a Sisyphean battle against traffic congestion. “If a state agency’s primary focus is on moving vehicles, they’re looking at reducing delays and building clear zones” that remove objects such as trees next to a road, where errant drivers might strike them, said Kristina Swallow, who previously led the Nevada DOT as well as urban planning for Tucson, Arizona. “At the local level, you’re looking at a bunch of other activities. You have people walking or on a bike, so you may be okay with some congestion, because you know that’s what happens when people are coming into an economically vibrant community.” City-state tensions over state highways can take many forms. Roadway safety is often a flashpoint, since fixes frequently involve slowing traffic that state officials want to keep flowing. In San Antonio, for instance, the city negotiated for years with the Texas DOT to add sidewalks and bike lanes to Broadway, a state arterial with seven lanes. Last year the state scuttled that plan at the 11th hour, leaving Broadway’s current design in place. Local efforts to improve transit service can also face state resistance. In September, Madison, Wisconsin, launched its first bus rapid transit (BRT) line, a fast form of bus service that relies on dedicated bus lanes. But much of its route runs along East Washington, an arterial managed by Wisconsin, and the state transportation department prevented Madison from making the entire BRT lane bus-only during rush hour. That could sabotage the new service out of the gate. “These dedicated bus lanes would serve the bus best in the heaviest traffic, so it’s counterintuitive to typical BRT design,” said Chris McCahill, who leads the State Smart Transportation Initiative at the University of Wisconsin and serves on Madison’s transportation commission. Wisconsin’s DOT did not respond to a request for comment. The whole point of fast transit programs like BRT is to get more people to ride transit instead of driving, thereby increasing the total human capacity of a road since buses are much more space-efficient than cars. But that logic can escape state transportation executives oriented toward longer, intercity trips instead of shorter, intracity ones, as well as highway engineers trained to focus on maximizing the speed of all vehicles, regardless of how many people are inside them. Even sympathetic state transportation officials may not fix dysfunctional urban roadways due to limited resources and competing needs that include expensive upgrades to bridges and interstates. Critical but relatively small-dollar projects, such as street intersection adjustments that better serve pedestrians or bus riders, can get lost in the shuffle. Lacking the authority to make changes themselves, city officials are stuck. “How do you create connected networks when you don’t own the intersection, and to fix it you have to compete at the state level with 500 other projects?” said Stefanie Seskin, the director of policy and practice at the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). As an example, Seskin cited the state-controlled St. Mary’s Street bridge in Brookline, a dense suburb adjacent to Boston. “It’s the only way to get to and from Boston that isn’t on a major, super busy arterial,” she said. “It’s not structurally deficient, but from the position of those walking, biking, and using transit, it’s just not functioning well. It requires a reconstruction” — something that Massachusetts has not done. The beginnings of a paradigm shift in transportation policy With deaths among US pedestrians and cyclists hitting a 40-year high in 2022, a growing number of state DOTs are starting to acknowledge that maximizing vehicle speed is not the only goal that matters on urban roadways. The Pennsylvania DOT, for example, is now working with Philadelphia to at last bring lane redesigns, bus lane improvements, and speed cameras to Roosevelt Boulevard. On the other side of the country, the head of the Washington state DOT has requested $150 million from the state legislature to address the shortcomings of legacy highways. “I think there are people in every single state DOT who want to be more proactive and to plan for safer streets for people who are moving, no matter what mode of transportation they use,” Seskin told me. “I don’t think that that was necessarily the case 20 years ago.” Still, fixing the deficiencies of state roadways requires a paradigm shift within state DOTs, with senior officials accepting that maximizing car speeds jeopardizes crucial local priorities like accommodating pedestrians, enabling rapid transit service, or supporting outdoor dining. Such nuance can escape state highway engineers trained with a myopic focus on vehicle speed. “Many of the people doing roadway design work for states are still stuck in the old model,” said Billy Hattaway, an engineer who previously held senior transportation roles in the Florida DOT as well as the city of Orlando. McCahill, of the State Smart Transportation Initiative, empathized with those toiling within state DOTs. “Think about their position as engineers,” he said. “They’ve got their federal highway design guidelines, they’ve got their state guidelines. They’ve been conditioned to be conservative and not try new things.” Historically, those roadway design guidelines have prioritized free-flowing traffic. Making them more malleable could empower engineers to get more creative. Instead of applying one-size-fits-all rules for elements like lane widths and traffic lights, “context-sensitive design” encourages engineers working in urban settings to add pedestrian crossings, narrow lanes, and other features that can support local transportation needs. McCahill applauded Florida’s DOT for recently “rewriting” its design guide to incorporate such context-sensitive layouts. Federal money could help finance such redesigns — if state officials know how to use it. “There’s a lack of knowledge about the flexibility of federal dollars, with misunderstandings and different interpretations,” said NACTO’s Seskin. Recognizing the issue, over the summer, the Federal Highway Administration published guidance and held a webinar highlighting dozens of federal funding programs available to upgrade legacy highways. Then there is an alternative approach: Rather than revise problematic roads themselves, states can hand them over to local officials, letting them manage improvements and maintenance. Washington state, for instance, in 2011 transferred a 2.5-mile strip of state road 522 to the Seattle suburb of Bothell. But such moves are not always financially feasible. “The risk is that when you transfer a highway to local government, you take away the capacity to properly fund it over the long term” because the city becomes responsible for upkeep, said Brittney Kohler, the legislative director of transportation and infrastructure for the National League of Cities. Unless the revamped road spurs development that creates new tax revenue, as it did in Bothell, cash-strapped cities may be unable to afford the costs of retrofits and ongoing maintenance. States and cities can work together to fix legacy highways — and federal support can help In Portland, Oregon, pretty much everyone seems to agree that 82nd Avenue, a major thoroughfare that the state manages, is a disaster. Originally a little-used roadway marking the eastern edge of the city, 82nd Avenue has developed into a bustling arterial. It’s been a dangerous eyesore for decades, with potholed pavement, insufficient pedestrian crossings, inadequate lighting, and minimal tree cover, said Art Pearce, a deputy director for the Portland Bureau of Transportation. According to city statistics, from 2012 to 2021, crashes on the thoroughfare caused 14 deaths and 122 serious injuries. At least two-thirds of crash victims were pedestrians, bicyclists, or occupants of cars turning left at intersections without traffic signals. During winter storms, Pearce said state workers would often clear nearby Interstate 205 but leave 82nd Avenue unplowed, leaving the city to do it without compensation. “Our priority in snow and ice is to keep public transit moving, and 82nd Avenue has the highest transit ridership in the whole state,” he said. Nearby residents and business owners have been begging local officials to revamp 82nd Avenue for decades, said Pearce and Blumenauer (whose congressional district includes Portland). The state was willing to transfer the roadway to the city, but the local officials wanted more than a handshake. “We were like, if you give us $500 million, the city will take over 82nd Avenue and fix it,” Pearce said. “The state officials answered, ‘We don’t have $500 million, so hey, good meeting.’” A breakthrough came in 2021, when the American Rescue Plan Act offered states and cities a one-time influx of federal funding. Matching that money with contributions of their own, the state and city negotiated a transfer of seven miles of 82nd Avenue from the Oregon DOT to Portland. Some $185 million will go toward new features including sidewalk extensions, trees, a BRT line, and curb cuts for those using a wheelchair or stroller. Blumenauer, who said that reconstructing 82nd Avenue has been a personal goal for 35 years, led US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on a tour of the roadway last year. The success story is “a bit of a one-off,” Blumenauer admits, reliant on stimulus dollars tied to the Covid-19 pandemic. But a dedicated federal funding source could enable similar roadway reboots nationwide. At the moment, President-elect Donald Trump and incoming congressional Republicans show little appetite for transportation reforms, but a golden opportunity will come during the development of the next multiyear surface transportation bill, which is expected to be passed after the 2026 midterms. Although Blumenauer did not run for reelection this month, he said he hopes the future bill will include a competitive grant program that invites state and local officials to submit joint proposals to upgrade state highways in urban areas, with federal dollars acting as a sweetener. Otherwise, these state roads will continue to obstruct urban residents’ most cherished goals of safety, clean air, and public space. Flourishing cities cannot coexist with fast, decrepit roads. Too many state officials have not yet learned that lesson.
vox.com
Mike Tyson says training for Jake Paul made him 'tougher than I believe I was'
Mike Tyson has been training for nearly eight months to fight Jake Paul. Now that the fight is finally almost here, Tyson says he has learned a lot about himself.
foxnews.com
Los Angeles Times owner announces paper will have a new editorial board soon so 'all voices are heard'
Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong revealed on X Monday that a new editorial board will be established “coming soon" after ongoing controversy.
foxnews.com
Women switched at birth in 1965: "They kept it secret"
The babies - one born on Feb. 14 and the other on Feb. 15, 1965 - are now 59-year-old women and they are filing a lawsuit.
cbsnews.com
Amtrak Says Service Between New York and New Haven Will Return in Afternoon
The train service suspension, caused by a fire in the Bronx, was expected to disrupt the Wednesday morning commute in the New York City area.
nytimes.com
Waiting for Alex Ovechkin to slow down? It might be time to give up.
At 39, Alex Ovechkin remains a relentless goal scorer, and his teammates ‘don’t think there’ll ever be anybody like him again.’
washingtonpost.com
Special Counsel Jack Smith plans to retire before Trump takes office: report
Special Counsel Jack Smith says he plans to retire before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, denying the incoming president a chance to fire the lawyer.
nypost.com
Dear Abby: I’m old and in a terrible marriage — can I kick him out?
Dear Abby weighs in on an elderly woman stuck in a marriage and a previous letter about a grandmother changing her will.
nypost.com
House GOP moves ahead with leadership elections as majority yet to be decided
Control of the House has yet to be determined, but Republicans are operating as if they've secured the majority.
cbsnews.com
Flight passengers are making ‘the gate escape’ in an attempt to avoid ‘poor airport experiences’
A new report reveals an emerging trend when it comes to airport travel.
nypost.com
Senate Republicans to elect new leader as Trump looms over contest
Whip John Thune of South Dakota, former Whip John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida are in the race for Senate Republican leader.
cbsnews.com
‘Amityville Horror’ house may still be ‘haunted’ — 50 years after shocking real-life murders on Long Island
The son-in-law of legendary paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren thinks there could still be something hiding in the house, waiting to be reawakened
nypost.com
How could voters choose both Trump and AOC? Pay attention, Democrats
Democrats should stop beating themselves up and get to work. Progressive policies aren't the problem — it's their messaging.
latimes.com
Letters to the Editor: Trump has vowed revenge. Start the pardons, President Biden
People face financial ruin from frivolous prosecution. To combat this, President Biden should preemptively pardon those who might be on a Trump enemies list.
latimes.com
Letters to the Editor: Blame misogyny and racism? Or are voters just not into Democrats?
Some readers bristle at suggestions that the Democrats made mistakes, seeing bigotry behind the election results. Others say voters just don't like liberal policies.
latimes.com
Some California House races haven't been decided yet. Campaigns are making sure every ballot counts
Democratic and Republican activists are asking voters to correct technical errors on their ballots in several close races that could determine control of the House.
latimes.com
Oscar flashback: Jamie Foxx wins his first and so far only golden guy as Ray Charles
The actor turned his win into a family affair in his speech.
latimes.com
Biden highlights 'peaceful transfer of power' as he hosts Trump in the White House
President-elect Donald Trump's transition process has been hampered in part because he has missed deadlines to sign papers that promise to avoid conflicts of interest while in office.
latimes.com
Right before the election, inflation picked up
Economists expect Wednesday’s report will show inflation edged up at a 2.6 percent annual rate in October, compared with a 2.4 percent gain in the prior month.
washingtonpost.com
How a morally ambiguous assassin and a spy 'spoke to the moment' in 'The Day of the Jackal'
In Peacock's thriller series, Eddie Redmayne is the titular assassin being chased by Bianca, a British intelligence officer played by Lashana Lynch.
latimes.com
With 'Dune' and 'Gladiator' sequels in the mix, are we back to hits winning the top Oscar?
Here are the 10 best picture winners with the highest box-office grosses
latimes.com
This lounge chair made of 1984 L.A. Olympics merch is a tribute to what’s coming
Artist Darren Romanelli teamed up with Goodwill and scoured EBay to piece together his Olympic-themed lounge chair and ottoman.
latimes.com
Letters to the Editor: L.A.'s new police chief will make 'only' $450,000. Do we thank him?
Jim McDonnell will get $450,000 annually to lead the LAPD. The new L.A. DWP leader makes $750,000. Are those rates excessive?
latimes.com
How 'CoComelon' became a mass media juggernaut for preschoolers
The brightly colored "CoComelon" cartoons have become must-watch videos for babies and toddlers. But they've also raised questions about what kids should be viewing.
latimes.com
Why these four Oscar contenders go the musical route
Sometimes a song is the only way to express the highs and lows of human emotions, say these film directors
latimes.com
Want to play games under the stars? The Music Center is turning into an outdoor arcade
IndieCade's Night Games returns to downtown's Music Center, bringing a host of unique and experimental games focused on communal play. And being silly.
latimes.com
Brace for winter. It may not be as tame as some expect in the D.C. area.
We’re predicting more snow than last winter and perhaps the most in six years.
washingtonpost.com
Everything you need to know about the radical feminist movement that preaches 'no sex'
Trump's reelection has prompted women to learn more about a radical feminist movement that preaches 'no sex.' Where did this crusade come from?
latimes.com
Is Adrien Brody building toward an awards comeback?
The star of 'The Brutalist' still holds the record as the youngest lead actor winner. What other Oscar facts swirl around him?
latimes.com
Artist Doug Aitken brings in the L.A. Phil, Natasha Lyonne and a mountain lion for fall's biggest spectacle
Doug Aitken premieres "Lightscape" as a live music-screen experience with the L.A. Phil at Disney Hall, then opens it as an immersive art exhibition at the Marciano Art Foundation.
latimes.com
A chaotic love storm
Smoky rays of blue light and hot fire mix to create an enchanting prelude to a musical.
latimes.com
He was her employee, then her killer. Now construction worker faces life in prison
Construction worker Heber Enoc Diaz of Pasadena was convicted of brutally slaying Chyong Jen Tsai, 76, with a hammer, a jab saw and a box cutter during a 2019 burglary.
latimes.com
Josh Brolin's memoir presents a series of vignettes starring the actor as himself
As an author, he hits more often than he misses, particularly with the raw, rough-edged beauty of his prose.
latimes.com
OpenAI just scored a huge victory in a copyright case ... or did it?
A federal judge's dismissal of a copyright claim against OpenAI has artists and writers wondering if they can ever win in court against the AI industry, but experts aren't sure the battle is over.
latimes.com
California's coastal King Tides Project kicks off this weekend. Here's how you can help
Researchers use community-submitted king tide photos to validate climate change models. This year's King Tides Project is scheduled for Nov. 15-17 and Dec. 13-15.
latimes.com
Surfboard lights might deter shark attacks — but don't bet your life on it
A study suggests that wrapping a surfboard in very bright lights — like aquatic Christmas trees — could make the surfer less interesting to great white sharks.
latimes.com
'Orbital,' which looks down on Earth in awe, wins the 2024 Booker Prize
"Orbital," by Samantha Harvey, won the 2024 Booker Prize on Tuesday. The book follows a day in the life of six astronauts.
latimes.com
In unearthed prison phone call, Charles Manson admits involvement in pre-1969 killings
A new docuseries about the cult leader features audio in which he admits to participating in multiple killings in Mexico before the notorious Manson family murders of 1969.
latimes.com
She couldn’t afford a bigger house in L.A. So she built a stylish ADU for $230,000
In housing-strapped Los Angeles, a single mom adds an ADU to accommodate her three teenagers and aging parents.
latimes.com
Many 'undercover' officers in lawsuit over LAPD photos are just regular cops, city admits
Los Angeles dials back its claim that hundreds of cops were put at risk after their photos were made public, saying most of them weren't working undercover.
latimes.com