“It’s become our new reality… I don’t like to say ‘normal,’ because that sounds like a plateau, and we’re on a trajectory where we’ll get more and more fire.”
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Frontier Communications’ plan to sell off all its Pacific Northwest assets turns heads
Here’s a roundup of coverage pertaining to Frontier Communications’ plan to sell off all of its assets in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.
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How San Francisco broke America’s heart
“To many inhabitants, San Francisco has become unrecognizable in a decade, as though it had gone on a cosmetic surgery bender,” writes Karen Heller.
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Politico Magazine marvels at Seattle’s Link light rail powered mass transit boom
In this piece, Erick Trickey takes a look at “how a fast-growing city has invested heavily in mass transit alternatives to keep a lid on gridlock”.
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For the best coverage of the devastating Notre Dame fire, turn to France 24’s English channel
Forget CNN — turn to France 24 English for a French perspective of the catastrophic events of Monday, April 15th, 2019 at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.
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America has a flooding problem it can’t manage. Vermont’s experience shows a possible way forward.
We can’t build our way out of future floods with better levees, just as we can’t build our way out of traffic congestion with wider highways.
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Why the West Coast is suddenly beating the East Coast on transportation
The New York Times reports on the important work that cities like Seattle and Los Angeles are doing to expand their transit systems following a trip by New York City Transportation Commissioner to California.
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Self-driving cars aren’t the panacea libertarian tech futurists say they are
They have imbued autonomous vehicles with the possibility to solve every problem that was ever created in transportation since the beginning of time… That might
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Florida school shooting: Students to march on Washington, D.C.
Survivors of the horrific attack on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student body have announced plans to march on the nation’s capital next month to demand stronger gun safety laws.
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Sorry, Hanford: Your radiation leaks aren’t as important as tax cuts
“The whole mess is like a metaphor for how the entire federal government is run today. There is talk about big needs, even as they cut taxes on corporations and the wealthy, making it harder to address those needs. We the people are distracted by our borrowed bonuses. The crippling disconnect from reality isn’t even acknowledged.”
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Elon Musk doesn’t understand why mass transit succeeds
Big cities don’t function without transit, and that means transit has to be allowed to succeed. That means it won’t go to your door, or
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Schematic shows where Amtrak Cascades 501’s rolling stock ended up after derailment
Schematic shows where Amtrak Cascades 501’s rolling stock ended up after derailment
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Smartphones are killing Americans, but nobody’s counting
Honestly, I think the real number of fatalities tied to cell phones is at least three times the federal figure… We’re all addicted and the
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Seattle: lose your ego, get an ambassador
“In our own minds,” writes Knute Berger, “Seattle is a gleaming model of progressivism. But folks look at homelessness, housing prices, affordability, crime, taxes and traffic and, at the very least, have their doubts. They shake their heads, and some sneer: This is the progressive city on the hill?”
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Why Seattle geology makes earthquakes worse
“Mexico City and Seattle have a lot in common when it comes to earthquakes. One example, the soil the cities sit on can actually amplify the effects and length of the shaking. KING5’s Glenn Farley is here to talk about what that means for us here in the Pacific Northwest.”
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Why Mexico is at the epicenter of the month’s most prominent natural disasters
“September has, in one sense, been an unlucky month for Mexico. But there are few places on the planet besides Mexico where the bad luck of a severe earthquake and a hurricane might actually converge,” The Washington Post’s Philip Bump explains.
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Amtrak’s new “Break The Travel Quo” campaign showcases the advantages of rail travel
Amtrak, America’s passenger railroad, has been facing the prospect of deep service cuts ever since Donald Trump and his minions rolled out their first budget proposal. But, buoyed by Congress’ refusal to (so far) implement the proposed evisceration of its long distance routes, Amtrak this week rolled out a brand new ad campaign that brilliantly showcases the advantages of rail travel, called Break the Travel Quo.
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Radar mosaic shows Hurricane Irma pummeling Florida
This National Weather Service radar mosaic shows Hurricane Irma’s movement through Florida and into Georgia. Irma first made landfall in the Keys before moving up Florida’s west coast. The storm is now a Category 1 hurricane, but still very dangerous. (NOAA/NWS animation)
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I-84 closure an important reminder that the private depends on the public
Interstate 84, Oregon’s main east-west link, is closed indefinitely in stretches between Hood River and The Dalles due to the Eagle Creek Fire and unstable slopes produced by the fire. That’s hurting truckers like David Cassidy, whose livelihood is made possible by the availability of public infrastructure paid for by taxpayers.
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Texas Republicans lobbied against imposition of safety rules on chemical plant that exploded
“The French company that says its Houston-area chemical plant is spewing ‘noxious’ smoke — and may explode — successfully pressed federal regulators to delay new regulations designed to improve safety procedures at chemical plants, according to federal records reviewed by International Business Times.”
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Harvey brings catastrophic floods to Houston; at least five reported dead
Everything that we had hoped wouldn’t happen but was forecasted is happening. We have a catastrophic, life-threatening flood event taking place over southeastern Texas, including
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