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Daily Express
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Express
DBKK stepping up efforts on streetlight woes
Published on: Thursday, May 29, 2025 Published on: Thu, May 29, 2025 By: Sidney Skinner Text Size: Repairs were made to the faulty fixtures along several housing roads around Bandar Sierra. City Hall will step up efforts to check on the public lighting on several roads between Kolombong and Manggatal to ensure that that the common areas along these stretches are properly illuminated at night. This follows feedback from three road-users about the poor night-time driving experience on Jalan Kilang, Mile 6½ Jalan Tuaran and housing roads in Bandar Sierra. They provided Hotline with the pertinent details, related to their separate concerns, which were forwarded to the agency. A spokesman for the City Hall's Engineering Department said its electrical contractor was alerted to the streetlight woes along the affected roads. He said two inspections were made of Jalan Kilang over the span of two weeks recently. 'A faulty contactor in one the control panels was changed during the first check,' he said. Advertisement He explained that a 'contactor' was a type of switch for repeatedly opening and closing an electric circuit. 'When the technicians returned about 14 days later, they replaced two 150watt lanterns, two 250watt lanterns, five 250watt ballasts, six line taps and a 120metre length of a 16milimetre cable.' He said a skymaster was deployed to facilitate these repairs. A 'ballast' regulated the electrical current to the lanterns and provided sufficient voltage to start the lanterns, according to him. Given as how the lights had twice been rendered inoperative, he said, the contractor kept the road under surveillance for a period afterwards, before confirming that everything was in order. He said Jalan Kilang covered a distance of some 1.83kilometres from the roundabout on Jalan Mangga and another on Jalan Lintas Khidmat. 'Where the divider at Mile 6½ Jalan Tuaran was involved, the contractor and his team attended to a faulty contactor and Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) in the control panel for the lights.' 'We were made to understand that the U-turn on the main road in the Seri Warisan area had been unlit for some time.' He elaborated that a MCB prevented electrical hazards by detecting and interrupting abnormal currents and short circuits. 'A follow-up check was made three weeks later, during which time the lights were found to be out of order. 'The contractor replaced two 250watt lanterns, two 250watt ballasts and four line taps in this instance.' He said the individual kept tabs on the public lighting in this part of Jalan Tuaran on and off over the coming weeks to ensure that the section of the road near the U-turn was properly illuminated at night. On top of this, the spokesman said four service lines, three ballasts, four 'ignitors' and four lanterns were replaced in the residential area at Bandar Sierra. 'An 'ignitor' functions as a starter to increase the initial voltage to make the lanterns glow.' He said the related fixtures were found to be malfunctioning along Lorong Sierra 1/ 1A, Lorong Sierra 1A, Lorong Sierra 1A, Lorong Sierra 1B and Lorong Sierra 1/ 1B. 'All the lights on Lorong Sierra 1/ 1B, which extends for about 167metres, were found to have broken down.' He said the contractor did a day-time test, at the time, to ensure that these amenities were coming on as they should. 'He also went back after dark to determine if the road was adequately lit.' When asked how often maintenance was carried out on those streetlights under City Hall's jurisdiction, the spokesman said there was no fixed-schedule for this work. 'These amenities are attended to as and when it becomes necessary to do so.' * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia


The Advertiser
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Chief minister insists causes of crime being addressed
More than $500 million will go to one territory's prison system to keep pace with tough new bail laws but the chief minister insists her government is also addressing the root causes of crime. The Country Liberal Party government's first budget for the Northern Territory delivered on Tuesday features a record $1.34 billion spend on police, corrections and justice. Corrections services will get more than $500 million to ensure extra beds and services to cope with a boosted jail population resulting from the tougher bail laws, with youth offenders mainly impacted. The government has been criticised by the Labor opposition and justice reform groups for taking a punitive approach to crime rather than tackling its root causes. But Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro insists her government is taking decisive action to break the cycle of crime by addressing its causes through a package of early intervention, education, family support and housing initiatives in the budget. "You don't fix crime by only responding after it happens. You prevent it by investing in addressing the root causes of crime," she said in a statement on Tuesday. The budget had a strong emphasis on youth engagement, family safety and community wellbeing, she said. Ms Finocchiaro said her government was driving reforms to improve school attendance and hold parents accountable for ensuring children attend. That involved referring parents to income support if they deprived their children of education, school attendance officers issuing infringement notices for chronic non-attendance and more school-based police officers to promote safety. The budget also delivers $204 million for family support services and $20.9 million for child protection, $138.6 million for out-of-home care and $73.2 million to support homelessness services. It includes $6.6 million per annum in ongoing funding for the Circuit Breaker program operating in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine. This initiative targets young people aged 10 to 17 who are at risk of entering the youth justice or child protection systems, offering case management and family support, supervised accommodation where needed, local supervision to keep at-risk youth off the streets and keeping kids in school and families accountable. To tackle overcrowding and poor housing conditions the government is investing in up to 2700 new homes and a major repairs and maintenance program under the jointly funded $4 billion remote housing agreement. A much-loved Darwin store owner's fatal stabbing on April 23 inspired what are being billed as Australia's toughest bail laws. The NT government brought in the reforms barely a week after 71-year-old Linford Feick was allegedly stabbed to death by a teenager who was on bail for "serious matters" and has since been charged with murder. When the bail laws were passed Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said Labor would support them "in good faith" but they were a "band-aid solution". Justice Reform Initiative executive director Mindy Sotiri said the record spend on law and order was "a clear example of getting the policy and resource settings completely wrong". "The NT remains Australia's most imprisoned jurisdiction, with an incarceration rate three times greater than anywhere else in Australia – and that number continues to rise due to punitive legislative settings," she said. More than $500 million will go to one territory's prison system to keep pace with tough new bail laws but the chief minister insists her government is also addressing the root causes of crime. The Country Liberal Party government's first budget for the Northern Territory delivered on Tuesday features a record $1.34 billion spend on police, corrections and justice. Corrections services will get more than $500 million to ensure extra beds and services to cope with a boosted jail population resulting from the tougher bail laws, with youth offenders mainly impacted. The government has been criticised by the Labor opposition and justice reform groups for taking a punitive approach to crime rather than tackling its root causes. But Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro insists her government is taking decisive action to break the cycle of crime by addressing its causes through a package of early intervention, education, family support and housing initiatives in the budget. "You don't fix crime by only responding after it happens. You prevent it by investing in addressing the root causes of crime," she said in a statement on Tuesday. The budget had a strong emphasis on youth engagement, family safety and community wellbeing, she said. Ms Finocchiaro said her government was driving reforms to improve school attendance and hold parents accountable for ensuring children attend. That involved referring parents to income support if they deprived their children of education, school attendance officers issuing infringement notices for chronic non-attendance and more school-based police officers to promote safety. The budget also delivers $204 million for family support services and $20.9 million for child protection, $138.6 million for out-of-home care and $73.2 million to support homelessness services. It includes $6.6 million per annum in ongoing funding for the Circuit Breaker program operating in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine. This initiative targets young people aged 10 to 17 who are at risk of entering the youth justice or child protection systems, offering case management and family support, supervised accommodation where needed, local supervision to keep at-risk youth off the streets and keeping kids in school and families accountable. To tackle overcrowding and poor housing conditions the government is investing in up to 2700 new homes and a major repairs and maintenance program under the jointly funded $4 billion remote housing agreement. A much-loved Darwin store owner's fatal stabbing on April 23 inspired what are being billed as Australia's toughest bail laws. The NT government brought in the reforms barely a week after 71-year-old Linford Feick was allegedly stabbed to death by a teenager who was on bail for "serious matters" and has since been charged with murder. When the bail laws were passed Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said Labor would support them "in good faith" but they were a "band-aid solution". Justice Reform Initiative executive director Mindy Sotiri said the record spend on law and order was "a clear example of getting the policy and resource settings completely wrong". "The NT remains Australia's most imprisoned jurisdiction, with an incarceration rate three times greater than anywhere else in Australia – and that number continues to rise due to punitive legislative settings," she said. More than $500 million will go to one territory's prison system to keep pace with tough new bail laws but the chief minister insists her government is also addressing the root causes of crime. The Country Liberal Party government's first budget for the Northern Territory delivered on Tuesday features a record $1.34 billion spend on police, corrections and justice. Corrections services will get more than $500 million to ensure extra beds and services to cope with a boosted jail population resulting from the tougher bail laws, with youth offenders mainly impacted. The government has been criticised by the Labor opposition and justice reform groups for taking a punitive approach to crime rather than tackling its root causes. But Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro insists her government is taking decisive action to break the cycle of crime by addressing its causes through a package of early intervention, education, family support and housing initiatives in the budget. "You don't fix crime by only responding after it happens. You prevent it by investing in addressing the root causes of crime," she said in a statement on Tuesday. The budget had a strong emphasis on youth engagement, family safety and community wellbeing, she said. Ms Finocchiaro said her government was driving reforms to improve school attendance and hold parents accountable for ensuring children attend. That involved referring parents to income support if they deprived their children of education, school attendance officers issuing infringement notices for chronic non-attendance and more school-based police officers to promote safety. The budget also delivers $204 million for family support services and $20.9 million for child protection, $138.6 million for out-of-home care and $73.2 million to support homelessness services. It includes $6.6 million per annum in ongoing funding for the Circuit Breaker program operating in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine. This initiative targets young people aged 10 to 17 who are at risk of entering the youth justice or child protection systems, offering case management and family support, supervised accommodation where needed, local supervision to keep at-risk youth off the streets and keeping kids in school and families accountable. To tackle overcrowding and poor housing conditions the government is investing in up to 2700 new homes and a major repairs and maintenance program under the jointly funded $4 billion remote housing agreement. A much-loved Darwin store owner's fatal stabbing on April 23 inspired what are being billed as Australia's toughest bail laws. The NT government brought in the reforms barely a week after 71-year-old Linford Feick was allegedly stabbed to death by a teenager who was on bail for "serious matters" and has since been charged with murder. When the bail laws were passed Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said Labor would support them "in good faith" but they were a "band-aid solution". Justice Reform Initiative executive director Mindy Sotiri said the record spend on law and order was "a clear example of getting the policy and resource settings completely wrong". "The NT remains Australia's most imprisoned jurisdiction, with an incarceration rate three times greater than anywhere else in Australia – and that number continues to rise due to punitive legislative settings," she said. More than $500 million will go to one territory's prison system to keep pace with tough new bail laws but the chief minister insists her government is also addressing the root causes of crime. The Country Liberal Party government's first budget for the Northern Territory delivered on Tuesday features a record $1.34 billion spend on police, corrections and justice. Corrections services will get more than $500 million to ensure extra beds and services to cope with a boosted jail population resulting from the tougher bail laws, with youth offenders mainly impacted. The government has been criticised by the Labor opposition and justice reform groups for taking a punitive approach to crime rather than tackling its root causes. But Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro insists her government is taking decisive action to break the cycle of crime by addressing its causes through a package of early intervention, education, family support and housing initiatives in the budget. "You don't fix crime by only responding after it happens. You prevent it by investing in addressing the root causes of crime," she said in a statement on Tuesday. The budget had a strong emphasis on youth engagement, family safety and community wellbeing, she said. Ms Finocchiaro said her government was driving reforms to improve school attendance and hold parents accountable for ensuring children attend. That involved referring parents to income support if they deprived their children of education, school attendance officers issuing infringement notices for chronic non-attendance and more school-based police officers to promote safety. The budget also delivers $204 million for family support services and $20.9 million for child protection, $138.6 million for out-of-home care and $73.2 million to support homelessness services. It includes $6.6 million per annum in ongoing funding for the Circuit Breaker program operating in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine. This initiative targets young people aged 10 to 17 who are at risk of entering the youth justice or child protection systems, offering case management and family support, supervised accommodation where needed, local supervision to keep at-risk youth off the streets and keeping kids in school and families accountable. To tackle overcrowding and poor housing conditions the government is investing in up to 2700 new homes and a major repairs and maintenance program under the jointly funded $4 billion remote housing agreement. A much-loved Darwin store owner's fatal stabbing on April 23 inspired what are being billed as Australia's toughest bail laws. The NT government brought in the reforms barely a week after 71-year-old Linford Feick was allegedly stabbed to death by a teenager who was on bail for "serious matters" and has since been charged with murder. When the bail laws were passed Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said Labor would support them "in good faith" but they were a "band-aid solution". Justice Reform Initiative executive director Mindy Sotiri said the record spend on law and order was "a clear example of getting the policy and resource settings completely wrong". "The NT remains Australia's most imprisoned jurisdiction, with an incarceration rate three times greater than anywhere else in Australia – and that number continues to rise due to punitive legislative settings," she said.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gov. Cox's veto preserves 'lifesaver' tax relief for low-income seniors, advocates say
SALT LAKE CITY — Cheryl and Gary Johnson bought their South Salt Lake home for just $10,500 — more than 60 years ago — hoping to start a family. The young couple did just that, and the house soon became home for their three kids and, eventually, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It is filled with photos chronicling the joy and heartbreak of more than six decades living there, but the Johnsons have left a more permanent mark on the home in the form of several added rooms they built in the 1980s that more than doubled the home's footprint. The couple would plant willow saplings to mark the birth of each child — the two remaining trees now stand more than 40 feet tall. Cheryl Johnson is particularly proud of the large brick fireplace and hearth her husband built from the ground up in the dining room. She said the company that installed the firebox asked if it could include photos of the hearth in its catalog, but her husband, a brick mason by trade, declined. 'I said, 'Honey, that's an honor. Why would you not want that?'' she recalls telling her husband. 'He said: 'I just don't want anyone to steal my pattern.' ... His dad was a brick and stone mason, and he took up the trade business. He loved it, and he was good. He was the best.' The home — where Cheryl Johnson, 83, now lives with her cat, Jojo — is now valued at more than $400,000, and the annual increases in property tax have stretched her budget, especially since her husband died in 2013. 'I'm so proud of my home,' she said. 'I'm going to be here the rest of my life. Nobody can take this house; and after, I'm hoping one of my kids can buy it.' Johnson is able to stay in her house in part because of the so-called Circuit Breaker program, which provides tax relief to older Utahns who may not be able to afford annual property tax payments. Those who qualify based on annual income can have a portion of their property tax bill abated, a program just shy of 10,000 Utahns have taken advantage of in recent years. 'They call it the Circuit Breaker for a reason — because, essentially, this is at the point where people are struggling to keep their lights on,' said Salt Lake County Treasurer Sheila Srivastava, who oversees the county program. It's a program that has existed for decades but one that Utah lawmakers planned to substantially change by making tax forgiveness unavailable to new applicants going forward — until the governor stepped in and vetoed the bill hours before the deadline to do so last week. Tax relief for low-income older adults comes in several forms, including the tax forgiveness program and a tax deferral program. The deferral allows homeowners to hold off on paying property taxes until they sell the house or until it is passed down to a relative, at which point the owner would be responsible for paying the back taxes. Other programs provide tax relief for those with disabilities, active duty service members and veterans, among others. Under SB197, state Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, said the Circuit Breaker program would stop taking new applicants after a couple of years, requiring low-income homeowners to rely on the tax deferral program. Those already receiving abatement would be grandfathered in, he said, meaning nobody would be kicked off of the benefits they currently enjoy. As the Circuit Breaker program is designed to prevent people who are 'house rich, cash poor' from being kicked out due to indigence, McCay argues the deferral program still provides relief, while ensuring the county is eventually paid back for those taxes when the homeowner receives the windfall from selling their property. 'If they don't have cash to contribute to the property tax system, we want to make sure that taxes are not the reason that they have to leave their home,' he told Monday. 'This person gets a tax benefit for a number of years, but then when they go to sell their home, they pay back the taxpayers, and everybody else's property tax goes down incrementally for paying those property taxes over the years.' SB197 would also have frozen property tax increases for those on the deferral program even if the value of the home went up, McCay said, adding the difference to the amount to be paid upon sale of the home. While presenting the bill to the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee in February, he argued the tax forgiveness program can be used to pass on property to heirs without having to pay taxes on it. 'The idea of protecting the inheritance of a future generation by not having someone pay property tax should concern everybody,' McCay said. 'The key thing here is making sure that low-income seniors are protected and not forced out of their homes for tax purposes.' SB197 passed on the final night of this year's legislative session after it was amended, with just hours to go, to include a prohibition on receiving Circuit Breaker benefits along with other forms of tax relief. Upon passage, several groups and individuals who had organized against the bill pivoted to urge Gov. Spencer Cox to veto it. Groups such as the Utah Housing Coalition, Crossroads Urban Center and the Utah Disability Law Center wrote to the governor arguing that the tax relief amounts to only a small expense and said the bill would hurt low-income Utahns. Tim Funk, who works in advocacy for the Crossroads Urban Center, said he has worked with the program since its inception and called McCay's bill 'perplexing.' 'I'm a person who's just short of 80 years old, and I understand what that means in terms of tax forgiveness for people. The reason I came back into working on this, about three or four years ago, was (because) it was obvious that people needed more help,' Funk said. 'It's a humble program. It's not giving away the store.' Phil Conder, the chief deputy treasurer of Davis County, and others have argued eliminating the Circuit Breaker would lead to some Utahns going without food or medication so as not to leave their heirs with a deferred tax bill upon their death. He said the current program is more cost-effective for taxpayers. 'If you were to take away the Circuit Breaker program, you're going to create a hardship on this demographic that will have to be accounted for in other ways,' Conder said. 'Do we force them into a care center that's now being paid for by different taxes? I believe it's the most cost-effective way to help these people.' Eventually, treasurers from 27 of the state's 29 counties joined the chorus of voices calling for a veto. Grand County Treasurer Chris Kauffman led a letter explaining their position. 'We are especially concerned that seniors will forgo medicine, food and other essentials in order to stay in their home and avoid burdening their children,' the letter stated. Srivastava estimated the program in Salt Lake County adds about $3 per month to the average homeowner's property tax bill — an increase she is willing to defend. 'It's going to be a really big impact for the people that it serves,' she said of the Circuit Breaker. 'They come into the office crying and struggling, and this feels like it's a lifesaver for them.' The governor appeared to agree. On March 27, he vetoed SB197 — one of only six bills he rejected this year. 'A number of our county government leaders expressed concerns and asked for a veto due to administrative challenges with this policy change,' he wrote in a letter explaining his decision. 'They also expressed concerns about the impact this would have on our senior population. I agree with both of those concerns.' Cox said he believed the bill had 'well-intentioned goals' but said it 'risks cutting off the most vulnerable of Utah's expanding senior population from a critical tax relief lifeline.' In his letter, Cox said he is 'committed to working' with lawmakers on broader reforms to the state's tax system, and efforts to change the Circuit Breaker should be undertaken as part of a 'comprehensive' overhaul. McCay was skeptical that such overhauls are possible. 'I'm optimistic in that ... we can work on the issue going forward,' he said. 'My confidence in broader tax reform is low, having seen how broader tax reform goes with the public. ... We are far better off looking at small policies and making changes as we can, and I felt like (SB197) was a great step in the right direction. However, this process requires 38 votes in the House and 15 votes in the Senate, and I fell one vote short in the executive branch.' The bill passed, initially, without enough votes to overturn Cox's veto, and McCay didn't say whether he plans to push for a veto override. Srivastava was thrilled by the veto. 'I love it so much,' she said. 'I think that hearing (Cox) say those words was a really big testament to the fact that we can come out of this in a better way and that there is hope to see our politicians and our local elected officials working together for the common good.' Although Johnson's own benefits would remain intact either way, she thinks Cox made the right call and said the veto will continue to let people have the same opportunities she has had — at least for the time being. 'It means a lot to me, and to my family,' she said. 'I don't know what I would do without it, for sure.'
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion: Changes to SB197 fail to protect low-income seniors
On February 14th, my op-ed was published regarding SB197, the bill that Sen. Dan McCay proposed in the Legislature that within five years would've wiped out any hope for financial relief for low-income senior property owners via Utah's four-decade-old Circuit Breaker program. Evidently, that editorial hit home. The bill was changed, but not enough to fix it. The first change was to exclusively grandfather in anyone who received relief in 2024, but that was it. No one else. A later version added folks who get approved in 2025. But again, just those particular senior Utahns could stay on. Unfortunately, punitive qualifying factors and measures were added for that exclusive group. No new applicants allowed after this year. Anyone not 66 years old by this December 31st is out. If you happen to not qualify for whatever reason, you can't get back on. The sponsor stated he wanted this bill to inspire seniors to move, to downsize and open up housing stock. Not sure where these seniors might move to that makes financial sense for them in this market, but once they do, they're off the program, as this bill states you need to be in the same residence you were in previously to continue. Another thing SB197 does is to lock in the income chart from 2024 without future adjustments for inflation, as has been the policy in the past. That $40,840 figure can be easily exceeded when minimal SSA COLA raises are granted, or when a family member needs to move in to care for their elderly parents. In January of this year, the tax commission proposed a maximum income of $42,623 for this year's Circuit Breaker and Renter Refund programs. Senator Wayne Harper's SB224, which got buried after McCay's SB197 was proposed, had proposed a $46,000 maximum income. Oddly, in SB197, renters can have a maximum household income of $46,000, but not property owners. Why the discrepancy? The $40,840 figure is too low, and being locked in will make qualifying much harder in the future. Consider that the governor's housing advisor, Steve Waldrip, proposed a $45,807 maximum in HB401 in 2022, three inflationary years ago. Yes, so much of this doesn't make any sense, and it gets worse. The new deferral programs SB197 creates are a revamped version of the failed deferral program McCay instituted two years ago that benefited only eight households. In looking over the plans, tax auditors around the state have found many obstacles and pitfalls too numerous to detail here. Some senior Utahns who have a reverse mortgage will be disqualified from deferral, while some Utahns of any age who are not financially strapped will be able to game the system and use it to take out low-interest loans for years and years to come. It's just bad policy. As long-time Chief Deputy Treasurer Phil Conder wrote to the Governor, 'I know of no County Tax Administrators in the State who support this bill. Not from an implementation perspective, financial perspective, nor compassionate perspective.' Another fallacy is that SB197 is meant to stem a program growing unsustainably. Participation in homeowner's credit actually decreased this year and now the number of households participating is fewer than in 2023. The state funding of the 2024 senior homeowner's credit amounted to only 8.6% of the entire Circuit Breaker program. For cost savings, SB197 aims at the wrong target. In 2023, another program had its benefits raised by 90%, and that has resulted in a cost increase to the counties of $22 million dollars in two years. That's where the 'growth' is. Unfortunately, SB197 was circled until the fifth version was unveiled and hurriedly passed with three hours left in the legislative session with a short debate cut off abruptly. Please promptly contact the governor's office at (801) 538-1000 or use one of these links to share your opposition to SB 197. We need county tax administrators to be able to share their accumulated wisdom and help craft a fair and useful deferral program Utahns can be proud of.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
COTA Expansion Set to Include Amusement Park, Water Park, Hotel, Convention Center
Formula 1 race fans planning on a trip to Austin, Texas, and the Circuit of the Americas for the United States Grand Prix on October 25 can be excused if they do a double take this fall. COTA is growing up... and growing fast. Of course, fast is what the F1 circuit is known for, so that should be no surprise at all. The circuit is adding a 30-acre amusement park with some 30 rides to the grounds adjacent to the track. According to an article on the Austin Business Journal website this week, the most dramatic expansion to the facility to date—COTALAND—is on schedule to open in time for this fall's F1 race. COTALAND is a theme park with a fact sheet from organizers that proclaims: COTALAND takes entertainment to new heights with thrilling rides, family-friendly attractions, world-class entertainment, and more. Palindrome, the first infinity shuttle coaster in the U.S. and the only steel coaster in the U.S. to go over and active road, and Circuit Breaker, America's first tilt coaster, are both expected to be open ahead of the United States Grand Prix. A 1,000-room hotel and convention center is also on the drawing board. And you thought the only roller coaster ride at COTA was a hot lap on the track...