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San Francisco launches driverless bus service following robotaxi expansion

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:50:52 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — First came the robotaxis. Then the driverless buses arrived.San Francisco has launched an autonomous shuttle service — less than a week after California regulators approved the expansion of robotaxis despite traffic and safety concerns.The free shuttle will run daily in a fixed route called the Loop around Treasure Island, the site of a former U.S. Navy base in the middle of San Francisco Bay. The Loop makes seven stops, connecting residential neighborhoods with stores and community centers. About 2,000 people live on the island.The all-electric vehicle, which doesn’t have a driver’s seat or steering wheel, is staffed with an attendant who can drive the bus with a handheld controller if necessary. The county is offering the shuttle service as part of a grant-funded pilot program to assess how autonomous vehicles can supplement the public transit system.“Having the attendant on board makes everyone feel comfortable,” said Tilly Chang, executive director of ...

Prosecutor urges life sentence for Michigan shooter who killed 4 students

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:50:52 GMT

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A prosecutor urged a judge Friday to impose a life sentence on the teenager who killed four students at his Michigan school, arguing that his methodical planning and “appetite for violence” should keep him locked up forever.“He only stopped because there was no one left to shoot. Those kids were trained to go into lockdown and they did,” Karen McDonald said.“There were hundreds of kids in that building who wrote and texted their parents very similar things: ‘There’s a shooter. I’m scared. I love you.’ … They were helpless — like the birds,” McDonald said, referring to evidence that the shooter liked to torture birds.Her final remarks came at the close of a unique four-day hearing that will determine whether Ethan Crumbley, 17, gets a life sentence for the attack at Oxford High School or a shorter term that would some day make him eligible for parole.Because of the shooter’s age — 15 at the time — Oakland County Judge Kwame Rowe must cons...

Rhode Island tornado lifts car as New England storms damages homes, flood roads

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:50:52 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — A rare Rhode Island tornado lifted a car off an interstate highway Friday morning as severe weather damaged homes and swept already storm-weary New England, a fire official said.Johnston Fire Chief David Iannuccilli said firefighters rushed to help the startled motorist on Interstate 295 and found her unharmed from her encounter with a tornado. “The driver said she got caught in the funnel, was lifted 10 feet in the air and was dropped back down on her tires,” Iannuccilli said. “She was shaken up more than anything.”The tornado also moved through wooded areas and residential neighborhoods, but there were no reported injuries, Iannuccilli said. Meteorologist Glenn Field with the National Weather Service said the tornado was confirmed by radar and lifted tree limbs and other debris into the air.Elsewhere, authorities were investigating to see if there was additional tornado damage in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Tornado touchdowns were also confirmed in Attlebor...

Stock market today: Wall Street limps toward the close of a third straight losing week

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:50:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is limping Friday toward the close of a third straight losing week.The S&P 500 was down less than 0.1% and heading for a weekly loss of more than 2% like other U.S. indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 15 points, or less than 0.1%, at 34,489, as of 2:50 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower. August has been rough for the stock market, which has given back close to a third of the S&P 500’s torrid gains for the year’s first seven months. That’s in part because a swift rise in yields has forced investors to reconsider whether stocks got too expensive, particularly after critics warned the market rose too far, too quickly. Stocks were holding a bit steadier Friday after yields eased a bit. After topping 4.30% a day before and nearing its highest level since 2007, the 10-year Treasury yield fell back to 4.25%.Stock markets elsewhere in the world sank more sharply, as higher yields globally crank up the...

'Really incredible': Inside a downtown Chicago pizza tour

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:50:52 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Architectural Tour gets a lot of glory, rightfully so, but there's also a downtown tour of one of the city's other staples — pizza.Jonathan Porter grew up eating pizza all around the city and became addicted to all the various delicacies Chicago has to offer.After a career in sales, Porter admitted he was doing it more "for the paycheck" and wanted to find something he truly loved."Once the economy took a downturn in 2008, I didn’t have the passion for what I was doing. I told myself at that time, if I was going to have to work the rest of my life, I wanted to make sure it was something that I truly loved," he told WGN News. Porter, who describes himself as a "pizza nerd," knew how popular tours are for Chicago tourists and locals, but noticed no one was doing pizza tours. So in 2010, he bought a bus and established Chicago Pizza Tours.He has no plans to slow down anytime soon."I am now 13 and a half years into it — I still feel like this is my baby and I don’...

What does the slang acronym 'IJBOL' mean?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:50:52 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Just when you thought you had them all memorized, yet another internet-driven slang term has arrived to make you feel out-of-touch.The latest of these slang terms is “IJBOL,” an acronym that stands for “I just burst out laughing,” and can be used much in the same way as LOL (laughing out loud), ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing) or LMAO (laughing my a-- off).As reported by The New York Times and Today.com, the acronym is increasingly being used on social media, or in texts, to convey users’ reactions to something they find surprisingly hilarious. It was first embraced by the K-Pop fan community in 2021, the Times reported. The iPhone ‘hang up’ button may not be moving as much as we feared As of this week, many users on X (formerly Twitter) appeared to be adopting the term more frequently in their posts, though plenty of those posts were also poking fun at the term, or mocking the media outlets that reported on the acronym’s alleged popularity.In any case, searches fo...

Texas football set for key second scrimmage

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:50:52 GMT

Just about two weeks from Texas football opening the regular season against Rice on September 2, the Longhorns will take the field for their second and final scrimmage of the fall Saturday."[I] thought we had a really fast practice today," said Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian about their Friday practice. "Good tempo. Good energy. We'll get back out tomorrow for our second scrimmage."Practice reports from Sarkisian to the media have been positive throughout fall camp. Still, the Longhorns leader knows how important these scrimmages are for tightening things up."[There is] a couple different scenarios we want to get better at," said Sarkisian. "Some of the substitution things. Game-like substitutions where you're rolling situations as they come."The first scrimmage was last Saturday and was the first look for the coaching staff to see the players in a game-like atmosphere. Now with another week of installation, the progress will be key to observe."Third, fourth down type work," said ...

Met Council delays Summit Avenue bikeway vote as opponents petition for environmental review

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:50:52 GMT

The Metropolitan Council has postponed a Wednesday vote on St. Paul’s proposed Summit Avenue bikeway after opponents petitioned state regulators for an elaborate environmental assessment.The petition cites the 4.5-mile bikeway’s potential impact on the trees, layout and historic character of Summit Avenue, whose streetscape sits on the National Register of Historic Places. Gary Todd, chair of the S.O.S. (Save Our Street) committee, turned in the petition Monday to the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board.Citing the work of an independently-hired arborist, the S.O.S. coalition has estimated the $12 million bikeway, together with the $100 million road reconstruction, could claim as many as 950 trees. City estimates have it closer to 220 trees.Cycling advocates have accused bikeway opponents of using the tree estimates as a smokescreen to protect their parking.Todd, in a brief interview on Friday, emphasized that Summit Avenue is populated not just by Victorian mansions li...

Q&A: Loons owner Bill McGuire on club’s salary spending, strikers woes and Lionel Messi buzz

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:50:52 GMT

Supporters can pick holes in Minnesota United, but Loons owner Bill McGuire chooses to take a holistic approach.The Loons (7-8-7) are one point outside the newly expanded, nine-team Western Conference field for the MLS Cup Playoffs, with 35 percent — 12 matches — left in the regular season.For years, MNUFC has been outside the top 15, sometimes top 20, in MLS salary spending and has needed to outperform that low ranking on the field to clinch four consecutive playoff appearances.But to McGuire, it’s about more that. He points to things such overall competitiveness and experiences, Allianz Field being tabbed as the best stadium in MLS, per the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the club’s and players’ standing within the community.“I think what fans want is, one, a great experience,” McGuire said this week. “And two, they want to have a club or a team that they can be oriented with, they can feel part of. It has emotions around. I don’t think that a majority of people expect to go and ...

Do dogs on trails need to be leashed?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:50:52 GMT

ADIRONDACK PARK, N.Y. (NEWS10) - From small trails to high peaks, the Adirondacks are home to hiking paths perfect to take a four-legged friend on. This week, campers on one mountain in the Adirondacks got a reminder of what could happen when proper precautions aren't taken. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! The Cabins at Chimney Mountain made a Facebook post this week announcing the temporary closure of the Chimney Mountain trailhead, following a recent dog-on-dog attack at one of the cabins. According to the post, a dog belonging to a hiker attacked a dog at the campsite, grabbing it by the neck. It took three adults to separate the dogs, in what Cabins at Chimney Mountain calls one of several such incidents the two-person management team has struggled to deal with."It was our full intention to keep the trail access through our private property open," the statement reads in part. "However, we are at the point where we feel it i...