Maine company offers nature and lighthouse tours along the seacoast
Sponsored by New England Chevy Dealers
With tours focusing on local lighthouses and indigenous wildlife, including puffins, lobsters, birds and seals, Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company offers different cruises highlighting the best the Maine seacoast has to offer.
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Washington AG exploring potential challenge to new federal travel restrictions
Jun. 10—Washington is "taking a careful look" at where it has standing to challenge President Donald Trump's recent proclamation restricting travel from 12 countries, Attorney General Nick Brown said during a news conference Tuesday. "The president says his travel ban is about national security, but this racist order will not make anyone safer," Brown said. The restrictions, Brown said, have stalled medical care, "struck fear" into Afghan refugees who previously aided the United States military and could hinder international students looking to study at American universities. "We are actively looking at ways to challenge this ban, but it will be difficult," Brown said, adding that the Supreme Court has upheld other travel bans in recent years. Trump last Wednesday announced that citizens from 12 countries — Afghanistan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — would be barred from entering the United States. The president also partially banned citizens from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. In a video posted on social media, Trump said the "strength of the restrictions we're applying depends on the threat posed" and said countries could be added or removed from the list. "But we will not allow people who enter our country who wish to do us harm," Trump said. "And nothing will stop us from keeping America safe." The restrictions continue a trend by Trump, who issued several bans on international travel during his first administration. The first, which barred travel from seven majority-Muslim countries, faced swift backlash and was challenged within days by then-Attorney General Bob Ferguson. "I'll always be proud that Washington state was indeed the first state to take on that first travel ban, the first state to take on Donald Trump, and the first state to defeat Donald Trump in court," Ferguson said. "It is a little difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that we are back here again on another travel ban." Ferguson said that Washington will lead other states on standing up against Trump's orders. "And I want all Washingtonians to know that," Ferguson said. "We have a new attorney general, but guess what? The good news is he is as deeply connected to this issue, and as resolved to stand up against it, as we were eight years ago." Among those feeling the impact of the travel ban is Katia Jasmin, founder and executive director of Creole Resources in Spokane. During an interview Tuesday, Jasmin said the inclusion of Haiti caught her by surprise. Jasmin said the ban could have wide-ranging effects on Spokane's Haitian community, including deepening the existing trauma that many have experienced. Jasmin said the ban could also result in family separation, as many permanent residents or citizens still have family abroad — something she knows firsthand. "I have my brother that lives in Haiti, and he comes to see us, and now he won't be able to come and see us," Jasmin said. Katia's brother, Jay, was set to serve as the best man in an upcoming wedding — plans that seem to be in doubt. "My brother won't be able to see us, so I don't know how long we'll have to wait to be able to see him," Jasmin said. The restrictions, Jasmin said, will ultimately have minimal impact on safety. "If you people are scared of gang members coming to the States, I don't know how we are scared of the gang members; they don't have visas, they don't have anything. I don't think a gang member from Haiti will come here to the United States to do anything," Jasmin said. "So whatever they try to say that it's for, the security or stuff, it's not true."
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Politicians sink $13M in closed New Mexico tourist attraction
BERNALILLO COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – 'Build it and they will come.' It's not just a memorable line from a movie. Consider a weed-choked vacant lot on Albuquerque's West Mesa. Beginning in 2021, construction crews transformed barren acreage into a multi-million-dollar, two-story architectural masterpiece. And then, a year later, a parade of community leaders and politicians celebrated with a marathon ribbon cutting ceremony complete with music, food, specially designed t-shirts, and a host of political and community leaders. Among the 36 guest speakers, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller. 'This is a celebration bigger than the West Side, bigger than Albuquerque. This is about the Land of Enchantment and about the story of America,' Mayor Keller proclaimed. And, State Senator Michael Padilla. 'You're going to be able to tell your children, your babies, your grandbabies, your great grandbabies, 'I was there the day that they opened the Route 66 Visitor Center'. I'm so excited,' Senator Padilla said. Welcome to Albuquerque's newest government attraction, the Route 66 Visitor Center. But don't be deceived by the enthusiastic ribbon-cutting crowd. Once the hoopla died down and the politicians headed home, reality set in. It has been three years since that ribbon-cutting celebration. However, as a tourist destination, the project has been a bust. Today, the parking lot is empty, the gates are locked, and the building is closed. Over the last decade, city, county, and state politicians have poured more than $13,000,000 into a facility plagued by mismanagement, financial improprieties, and procurement violations. In fact, from the very beginning, the Route 66 Visitor Center had all the tell-tale signs of a pricey government venture gone wrong. 'This was probably not the best use of public funds, but officials pushed forward with it anyway,' said Bernalillo County Commissioner Eric Olivas. The concept was for a revenue-generating complex that included a lowrider museum, amphitheater, banquet hall, commercial kitchen, tap room, and gift shop. But the Visitor Center is not your typical public works project. In this case, millions of public dollars were allocated to a venture that had no master plan, no budget, and no oversight. It was only after funding the visitor center that county officials got around to a feasibility study. And then they ignored glaring red flags and went ahead with the project anyway. 'No one [read] that report. That's really the crux of the problem here. We didn't listen to the facts and ultimately went forward with something without fully understanding the repercussions,' Commissioner Olivas said. Eric Olivas was elected to the Bernalillo County Commission after the Visitor Center had already been constructed. 'We had a series of failures,' Commissioner Olivas said. Once construction was complete, Albuquerque's City Council spearheaded the purchase of equipment and furnishings. Armed with a generous Capital Outlay checkbook courtesy of the State Legislature, the City Council embarked on a grandiose shopping spree at taxpayer expense. But behind the scenes, something was amiss. According to the City Council's new Budget Director, Mark Motsko, the Council's equipment expenditures were not by the book. 'The state has a process with Capital Outlay dollars that requires us as a municipality to ask permission before we actually spend the money. In this case, that permission was never asked. They just did it. That is not by the book,' Motsko said. He added, none of the Route 66 purchases were questioned or justified. For example: $151,000 for an old Route 66 motel sign. The sign was donated to the visitor center, but it cost taxpayers $151,000 to have it moved, transported, refurbished, and installed at the new building. $58,000 for audio visual equipment including microphones, speakers, clamps, lights, mixers, and cables. The electronic gear has been sitting in storage, unused for three years. $5595 for a large-format color printer that's never been plugged in. Today, no one at the Council recalls a justification for the purchase of a commercial printer. $5263 for fixtures from a defunct East Central honky-tonk, the Caravan East. Council staffers purchased at auction dozens of saloon relics, including signs, chandeliers, a shoe shine bench, a gumball machine, and even a $200 claw-foot cast iron bath tub. The material has been stored at the visitor center for nearly a decade. Except for the bathtub tub which has disappeared. $8612 for specially designed visitor center t-shirts given away at the ribbon-cutting. $15,712 for iPads, thermal printers, cash drawers, installation, set-up, and staff training. The equipment was never delivered, and the firm has since gone out of business. The list goes on and on. Add it all up and, since 2022, Albuquerque's City Council has shelled out more than $320,000 to furnish the newly constructed building. 'There was no oversight of these (expenditures). I have not seen any records justifying the purchases.' City Council Budget Director Mark Motsko said. The Council's former Budget Director was responsible for ensuring purchases were compliant with the law. According to Motsko, he screwed up 'big time.' 'Those purchases have been discovered, reversed, and now we're making sure this doesn't happen again,' Motsko said. Albuquerque City Councilor Klarissa Peña supervised the acquisition of the building furnishings, although she said she does not know who authorized the expenditures. Councilor Peña also said she did not know at the time that the equipment purchases failed to comply with state law. 'Unbeknownst to me, I didn't know that that was occurring. It's concerning. I think that there was probably a level of errors throughout all our procurement within City Council,' Councilor Peña said. Bernalillo County Commissioners hired the non-profit West Central Community Development Group to manage the facility. The first visitor center appropriation came in 2015. $13,000,000 later, the building opened for business. That was in 2023. Fully equipped and furnished, the visitor center had everything it needed to be a successful tourist destination, everything except tourists, employees, revenue, a brew pub, banquets, weddings, catering, concerts, or a gift shop. Rather than generating self-supporting income and boosting the local economy, the visitor center has turned into a significant drain on taxpayer dollars. What went wrong? For starters, Bernalillo County's lack of planning is a factor. And then there's the location. The county built the visitor center a good half mile from the nearest interstate exit, well off the beaten path. And then last year, the county terminated its contract with the West Central Community Development Group, citing mismanagement and financial improprieties. The building was closed shortly after it opened. Last year, Bernalillo County walked away from the project and donated the entire Route 66 Visitor Center building to the City of Albuquerque. 'Today, the benefit (of the Route 66 Visitor Center) to the taxpayer right now is nothing,' said State Senator Pete Campos. Senator Campos has long been an advocate for reform of the Legislative Capital Outlay process. He said, 'very clearly it's not responsible at all' to fund a project that doesn't have an operational budget, feasibility study, or master plan. 'The failures were a lack of planning. As legislators, it's up to us to ensure that that particular project be best utilized for the people of that region, for the people of New Mexico,' Senator Campos said. 'If you build something without a plan, it's almost impossible to make that thing functional and having it succeed,' Legislative Finance Committee Chair Senator George Muñoz said. 'It's the cart before the horse. How do you know you're going to really need something before you have a study or a plan? It's like building a house with no plan,' Senator Muñoz said. He said, in his opinion, legislators who appropriated Capital Outlay money towards the Route 66 Visitor Center 'did not do their homework.' 'Having something in this realm is a luxury. (State Legislators) had better do their homework and make sure that they want their name on the Capital Outlay sheet when it fails,' LFC Chair Senator Muñoz said. The City of Albuquerque has appointed a Route 66 Visitor Center Commission to determine how the center can best serve the community. While the Commission contemplates a future usage of the building, city work crews have spent some $600,000 performing repairs and upgrades to the three-year-old structure. Albuquerque officials hope to reopen the building later this year. Until then, the Route 66 Visitor Center remains closed to the public. 'As policymakers, it's not our money, it's public money. We have an obligation to make sure that we review all the facts and all the information that we can possibly get our hands on, and then make an informed decision,' Bernalillo County Commissioner Eric Olivas said. 'This is a big deal. It's (your) tax dollars. You need to know that your dollars are spent on things that you need: water, infrastructure, roads, streets, parks, things that add quality of life,' State Senator George Muñoz said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Metropolitan Shuttle® Expands Deep into Greater Los Angeles--Setting the Standard for Charter Bus Services in Southern California
Expanding on the 1,200 cities served by the thousands of buses in its network, the company has made a deeper push in Southern California in the lead-up to the LA 2028 Olympic Games. LOS ANGELES, June 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Metropolitan Shuttle, a national leader in charter bus services and minibus rentals, has proudly announced its strategic expansion throughout the Greater Los Angeles area and the entire southern California region. This move positions Metropolitan Shuttle as the go-to provider for Los Angeles charter bus services ahead of the highly anticipated LA 2028 Olympic Games. With the launch of new local charter bus and minibus services in over 40 Los Angeles communities—from Glendale, Burbank, and Pasadena to coastal destinations like Newport Beach, Malibu, and Santa Monica—Metropolitan Shuttle is doubling down on hyperlocal coverage to meet the area's growing need for efficient and environmentally-conscious group travel. "Los Angeles isn't just one city. It's a constellation of diverse communities, each with its own mobility and congestion challenges," said Glenn Orloff, CEO of Metropolitan Shuttle. "By expanding our presence from downtown corridors to mountain retreats and coastal escapes, we're making group chartered transportation more accessible than ever—for every event, every neighborhood, and every moment." Expanded Los Angeles charter bus coverage includes: LA Metro Cities: Cypress, Covina, Buena Park, Bell, Alhambra, Azusa, La Puente, Torrance, Huntington Park, Fountain Valley, and more. Tourism & Leisure Hotspots: Palm Springs, Ojai, Big Bear Lake, Joshua Tree National Park, Solvang, Catalina Island, and Disneyland in Anaheim among others. Regional Destinations: San Diego, Santa Barbara, Temecula, Ventura, Bakersfield, Paso Robles and many more. From corporate retreats and school field trips to wedding shuttles and major events, Metropolitan Shuttle's expansive menu of charter buses, minibuses, party buses and executive shuttles of all types offers custom solutions for any group size, with industry-leading logistics management and support, FMCSA-vetted operators, and an unmatched commitment to quality. "Whether it's moving fans between sports venues or getting local communities to graduations, festivals, or tourist destinations, we're proud to be the connective thread across southern California's transportation fabric," Orloff added. About Metropolitan Shuttle Metropolitan Shuttle is a nationwide provider of charter bus rental services for corporations, government agencies, educational institutions, and private groups. Founded in 2001, the company offers proven transportation solutions backed by industry-leading customer service and logistics support. Glenn OrloffCEOMetropolitan Shuttle866-556-3545info@ This release was issued through WebWire®. For more information, visit View original content: SOURCE Metropolitan Shuttle Sign in to access your portfolio
