Pacific Coast Highway to reopen in May, Newsom says
Gov. Gavin Newsom recently announced that Pacific Coast Highway will reopen to one lane in each direction before the end of May, weeks ahead of schedule, following the deadly wildfire in January.
Since the wildfire, the highway has been closed to the public and has only reopened to residents, essential businesses, and repair crews.
According to the governor's office, once the highway is reopened, security checkpoints currently in place on the north and south ends of the closure will be removed, while law enforcement from state and local agencies will remain in place.
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The Governor's Office of Emergency Services and Caltrans will work with the United States Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize the cleanup of parcels along PCH by adding more crews in the area.
'There are currently more than 100 USACE crews (consisting of excavators, metal crushing equipment, and dump trucks) working on Palisades Fire parcels. All equipment and dump trucks utilize PCH as a path of travel for the haul routes. Currently, USACE is removing nearly 1,284 truckloads of debris per day,' a news release said.
Newsom's office also noted that the United States Army Corps of Engineers removes over 1,284 truckloads of debris per day.
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Time Magazine
2 hours ago
- Time Magazine
Why Waymo's Self-Driving Cars Became a Target of Protesters in Los Angeles
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President Donald Trump, who mobilized the National Guard to respond to the situation, has called the demonstrators ' troublemakers ' and ' paid insurrectionists.' Here's what to know. What is Waymo? Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google's parent company, and grew out of the Google Self-Driving Car project that began in 2009. It launched its robotaxi business in 2020 in limited markets, which grew to include Los Angeles in 2024. While the company says its mission 'is to be the world's most trusted driver,' a national survey earlier this year found that '6 in 10 U.S. drivers still report being afraid to ride in a self-driving vehicle' while the proportion of people enthusiastic about the development of the technology has actually decreased from 18% in 2022 to 13% in 2025. Waymo vehicles were involved in 696 accidents across the U.S. between 2021 and 2024, or about one accident every other day. 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And in July 2024, a man was charged with slashing the tires of 17 Waymo cars in San Francisco. Why is Waymo being targeted in the L.A. protests? Several potential explanations have emerged for why Waymo vehicles were targeted during the protests in Los Angeles. The Wall Street Journal reported that part of the reason the cars were vandalized was to obstruct traffic—a traditional, albeit controversial, protest tactic. Some social media users have suggested that self-driving vehicles in particular have become a new target because they are seen by protesters as ' part of the police surveillance state.' Waymo's cars are equipped with cameras that provide a 360-degree view of their surroundings, a tool that has been tapped by law enforcement, according to reports. Independent tech news site 404 Media reported in April that the Los Angeles Police Department obtained footage from a Waymo driverless car to use as part of an investigation into an unrelated hit-and-run. 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Los Angeles Times
10 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump deploys, protesters respond. This will not end well
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New York Times
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