Results tagged “infrastructure”

On the agenda today for the City Council is consideration of a proposal that will "replace the city government's crash-prone e-mail system with a Google-based application," according to the Daily News. The impetus behind what some view as a costly or belated upgrade is the fact that the system they currently use, GroupWise, is often down and unreliable.

The Mobility 21 transportation summit (.pdf) is wrapping up for the day, but earlier a list was released, featuring 21 "Critical Transportation Projects 'In My Backyard' to Improve Mobility throughout Southern California." The same-named six-county coalition included sexy public transit projects like subway to Westwood and high speed rail between San Diego and San Francisco, but also other important projects such as Positive Train Control for safety and added freeway lanes.

Chicago in the 90s experienced something quite drastic one summer--thousands of dead fish were washed ashore as a result of the relatively new freshwater critters in town. Zebra and Quagga Mussels had been making there way through the Great Lakes system since the late 1980s and while the end results for a breach goer meant stunningly crystal clear water, the ecosystem was shifted. Come January 17th, 2007, the first of these mussels in California were found in Lake Havasu.

KCET's SoCal Connected blogger Val Zavala shared this photo a couple of days ago, which spotlights a bizarre sight in our city. Says Zavala, of the mysterious floating telephone pole: "L.A. has some strange sights. But this one is a winner. I took this photograph in Silverlake on March 10th. My caption is attached, but I invite you all to add your own. (No, I did NOT photoshop it.)." The caption? A note to the man in Washington DC who is handing out money to help cities stay, er, afloat: "Dear Mr. President, We've got a little infrastructure problem here. Would you mind throwing a little stimulus money our way?" Anyone know what the deal with the pole is?

The $819 billion stimulus package being worked on right now by congress could help California up and down the state. Projected to have $42 billion deficit later this year, the money wouldn't go to state coffers to fix the budget, but rather to counties and cities for ready-to-go infrastructure projects. For example, $4 billion could go to transportation projects alone. But the New York Times warns that California will be an indicator if this stimulus will be successful or not in other states: "There are political hazards, too. Not only is California needy, with high unemployment, the most foreclosures in the country and tax revenues so depressed that it will begin furloughing state workers, it is also politically unruly."

Presidential candidate Barack Obama took a relaxing Sunday bicycle ride with his family to a friend's house and then on a beachside ride. It's sexy that he's sporting a helmet, too (even if some say it was an unflattering choice).

Los Angeles is not short of ideas for the how-to-do and where-to-do public transportation. The problem is always money. Ironically enough, the very thing that needs funding is one that causes the region to lose out on $12 billion a year, says one study. LA City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel writes in CityWatch:

The LA City Council today voted to postpone a vote on proposed DWP fee hikes until April 2nd.

While the presidential election is the sexy supermodel on the Feb. 5 California Primary ballot, there are three important propositions asking you to say Yes or No when you walk in to that polling place or mail in your vote.