| Downtown bus route running out of gas
REDLANDS - Route 31, the last remnant of the Redlands Trolley experiment, may be cut by Omnitrans. Fare increases are also proposed for July 1. The changes could come as part of Omnitrans' continual effort to meet cost recovery standards, according to Wendy Williams, director of marketing. "I think people understand that a public transit agency has rising costs just like any other business," said Williams. If approved, the single-trip full fare will rise from $1.25 to $1.35. The discounted single-trip fare for senior citizens and disabled riders would increase from 50 cents to 65 cents. By law, public transportation agencies must recover at least 20 percent of their operating cost through rider fares or risk losing federal funding. Omnitrans would prefer to make 25 percent and stay safely above the legal minimum.
Duffy Keeps Promise, Travels in Wheelchair
(Rochester, N.Y.) -- People often complain about having to walk through the snow but what if you can't walk? Wednesday, Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy and his commissioner of environmental services maneuvered the tricky winter conditions from the perspective of people in wheelchairs. Duffy only made it about a block before he was tired and this was after thinking the sidewalks were reasonably clear. He admitted the snow, ice and bumps made navigation difficult, and said that with effort, the community could do a better job of clearing them.The mayor was fulfilling a campaign promise made to the Center for Disability Rights. They say people in wheelchairs are often stuck at home in winter weather. .
Sunday's newspaper round-up: BP, LSE, Countrywide
LONDON (SHARECAST) - Lord Browne's departure as BP chief executive was brought forward to pre-empt a potentially damning report into the oil giant's safety culture, according to senior City figures, reports the Observer. An independent investigation into BP's Texan refinery disaster has concluded that there were serious structural deficiencies in the way the company managed safety stretching right up to its London headquarters, writes the Independent US corporate raider Samuel Heyman and the London Stock Exchange are in talks about the exchange's future. There is speculation that the American is trying to broker a deal that would see the LSE sold to its US rival, Nasdaq, which has launched a 2.7bn hostile bid, says the Observer. Harry Hill, managing director of Countrywide estate agents, is braced for defeat tomorrow.
Rough as the game he plays
He is a movie star and an author, a public speaker and a civil engineer. He is a former collegiate soccer player, a current world-class rugby player, an alumnus of Georgia Tech University. Once, when he was bored, he strapped himself to a set of rockets and attempted to fly over a lake. Yet, if the numbers are any indication, there is a good chance you have never heard of Mark Zupan. You have never watched his movie. And you most certainly have never seen him play his sport in person. Two years after the acclaimed documentary Murderball rocketed up critics' top-10 lists and propelled Zupan into the national spotlight, the 31-year-old quadriplegic rugby player finds himself in a peculiar position. Though his 15 minutes of fame tick on - he is recognized in public, he tours the country giving speeches, he recently performed the aforementioned lake jump in the movie Jackass 2 - he also views himself as an example of the very societal limitations the movie attempted to destroy.
Roosevelt students learn about disabilities
OCEANSIDE -- Sixth-graders at Roosevelt Middle School will have a chance this week to gain some understanding about living with a disability by walking in somebody else's shoes and using someone's wheelchair.
View A VideoDuring a four-day ability awareness fair at the Oceanside campus, roughly 450 students will visit a dozen different stations in the school's auditorium, each of which represents a different disability. The event began Wednesday. Students are attending the fair one class at a time during their regular physical education period and learning firsthand about living with dyslexia, speech impediments, vision problems and using a wheelchair. .
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