Bernie Sanders isn’t being considered as Hillary Clinton’s running mate.
But our own LA Mayor Eric Garcetti reportedly is.
At least, that’s what I’m told the story says, since the Wall Street Journal won’t let me read the damn thing, despite numerous attempts to log in.
It’s far too soon to worry about what our current mayor becoming a heartbeat from the presidency might mean.
But let’s not forget that LA’s Great Streets program and commitment to Complete Streets originates from the mayor’s office. And popular LADOT director Seleta Reynolds serves at the pleasure of whoever occupies that office.
Chances are, Garcetti won’t get the nod. California’s Democratic stronghold is probably already in Clinton’s pocket, so the choice will more likely go to someone from a swing state.
So he may have to settle, for now, anyway, for the honor of simply being considered for the nation’s second highest office.
But if he did get it, it could mean some big changes in the City of Angels.
And not necessarily for the better.
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Speaking of changes made under Garcetti’s leadership, PBS looks at five spaces that urban designers have transformed into pedestrian paradises.
Not surprisingly, the first three are in New York, where former DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan worked to shift the city’s focus from cars back to people.
But the next one is right here in DTLA, where Broadway has gotten a makeover to be more inviting to people on bikes and foot. Although I’d call it a work in progress, rather than paradise found just yet.
Now just imagine if Hollywood and Highland was transformed into a pedestrian plaza like New York’s Times Square, taming one of the city’s most dangerous streets overnight. And sending commercial sales and property values skyrocketing, while giving tourists the Hollywood experience they expect, but seldom find.
Maybe Garcetti can make it happen before he moves to DC.
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The four people injured in last week’s Kalamazoo crash continue to recover from their injuries. One of the riders has already been discharged from the hospital, saying it still seems surreal.
Lance Armstrong — yes, that Lance — visits Kalamazoo to finish the ride the nine victims didn’t get to, and explains in his own words the emotional impact of talking to the victims and their families, while riding past five ghost bikes on the side of the road.
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The US qualified fewer spots for the men’s Rio Olympics cycling competition than Iran and Morocco.
South African U-23 rider Keagan Girdlestone is off the ventilator and out of a medically induced coma, yet remains in critical condition after a collision with a team car while racing in Italy 10 days ago.
An Aspen CO bike racer and skier makes a remarkable comeback from a brain aneurism that typically kills 70% of sufferers within 24 hours, winning a hill climb while competing with a small clip securing a blood vessel in his brain.
A New York cycling champ describes what it’s like to come out of the closet as a gay cyclist.
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Local
LA city prosecutor Andrew Said looks at how California’s outdated speed laws guarantee our streets remain dangerous.
A Santa Clarita resident complains that the city’s McBean Parkway has been converted to a high-speed superhighway, and calls for a road diet, lower speed and better sidewalks to protect bicyclists and pedestrians.
Milestone Rides goes bike camping and rattlesnake dodging in Henninger Flats, in the Angeles National Forest above La Cañada.
State
Newport Beach will consider safety improvements near schools, including crossing guards and buffered bike lanes, following the death of eight-year old Brock McCann as he rode home from school last month. It shouldn’t take the death of a child to prompt improvements to protect children on their way to and from school.
The CHP says a Bakersfield bus kept going after hitting a bike rider; the bus company says oh no we didn’t.
A Fresno driver has been arrested in the February hit-and-run that nearly killed a local surgeon as he rode his bicycle; the 23-year old driver has reportedly confessed.
National
USA Today lists ten open streets events around the country, starting with our own CicLAvia.
Gizmodo rates the best bike rack, basket and panniers for bike commuters.
A Colorado letter writer says demonizing cyclists doesn’t help anyone.
A cyclist is taking part in Colorado’s 400-mile Ride the Rockies bike tour for the fifth time. But just the first time since losing his vision in both eyes.
Next time you visit the original Coors plant in Golden CO, you can check out a bike from the town’s Bike Library for free for the first two hours. Meanwhile, a 25-bike Castle Rock CO bikeshare system will be free all summer thanks to a local hospital.
This is the cost of traffic violence. A Kansas paper offers a heartbreaking look at California native Steven James Lewis, a bike tourist who had traveled throughout the world before losing his life, along with one of the rescue dogs he was towing behind his bike.
In a case reminiscent of our own Dr. Christopher Thompson, an Illinois driver is on trial for brake-checking a group of cyclists and forcing one into a ditch; the driver claims he had to brake to avoid another vehicle after passing the riders. Sure, let’s go with that.
Authorities credit a 12-year old Michigan boy’s helmet with saving his life when he was hit by a van and landed on his head.
Charleston SC councilmembers will have to decide if the safety of bike riders is worth just 48 seconds, as a temporary road diet and bike lanes over a bridge angered drivers by delaying them less than a minute at rush hour. I think we all know what certain LA councilmembers would say under the same circumstances.
International
Most female Strava users say there are no barriers to women’s bicycling. Of course, they are the ones already doing it, not the ones afraid try or unsure if they can make it work.
Rio will reopen the bike path that collapsed in February killing two people; plans are to open the path in time for the Olympics.
If vehicular cycling had never caught on in the 70s, would every North American city look like bike-friendly Montreal?
A British bike rider was the victim of a random attack by a large group of youths, apparently just for the hell of it since nothing was stolen.
A Kiwi truck driver slammed into a parked car. And naturally, blamed a bike rider.
Sydney, Australia police believe the person seen sabotaging a bike path in his boxers may be a local resident; as many as 800 flats have been caused by tacks over the past two years.
Forget protected bike lanes; Kyoto has a two-third mile arcade for bike riders.
Finally…
If you’re going to ride a bike to OC’s famed Trestles surf break, do it upright with a board under your arm like any self-respecting surfer. A writer asks what bike would Ramsey Bolton ride, although he seems more like the massive SUV type to me.
And no matter how pissed off you are after a driver cuts you off, don’t slash his tire with a knife.
And if you do, make sure he’s not a cop first.
