Latest news with #oftheDragon
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
BCSO, THP partner to encourage and enforce safety on the Tail of the Dragon
BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) —On Thursday, law enforcement leaders from the Tennessee highway Patrol (THP) and Blount County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) announced they are partnering together to emphasize and enforce safety for drivers and motorcyclists riding on the narrow windy roadway known as the Tail of the Dragon. This comes in response to a seasonal spike in crashes, 112 on this road total the past year, due to factors like speeding, unauthorized vehicles on the roadway, as well as distracted driving. Inspector finds off temperatures, no sanitizer at Chinese restaurant in Morristown The 11-mile stretch of US 129 runs between just south of Maryville to the North Carolina state line, where last year 112 crashes were reported, including five deaths and 40 injuries. Even though this year's riding season is just getting started, there have already been 35 crashes, and first responders are feeling the impact. 'Well, we do get tired of hauling people and dead bodies off the road. It really takes a toll on myself and all the deputies that are up here working. But they get tired of seeing it we would like to be able to put an end to it, but we want people to come and have fun, have a good time, but we want them to go home safe,' explained Randy Ailey a Lieutenant with the Traffic Safety Unit. With interstate damage from last year's storms, more tractor-trailers have been rerouted onto this winding road – another factor behind the rising numbers. 'I can 100% see how people will come in here with a little bit of attitude and caught that false sense of confidence and the dragon will slip it out from under you. It's the carpet. Just whew like if you don't respect it, it will show you why,' said Zsofi Balazs a motorcyclist who rode the Tail of the Dragon for the first time on Thursday. 'She's very special' East Tennessee veteran continues to serve others With more riders comes more risk. Local business owners, like Mandy Thomas owner of Dragon City, are calling for common sense on the curves. 'There's a lot of awesome roads here and the Dragon's just becoming more and more popular. So, more and more people are coming here. But with that, if everyone followed the posted speed limits, if you can stay within the lines and stay within your skill level and not try to overdrive it, you wouldn't see the accidents that are out there right now,' explained Thomas. Both officers and community members say increased patrols could make a difference, but it starts with each rider making smart choices. 'I want people to come up and enjoy themselves but try to remember that this isn't a racetrack. This is where people live. So, keep that in mind. Remember, 'Would I want someone to drive like this in front of my house?'' added Ailey. The BSCO announced that there will be more speed cameras installed, also grants from the Tennessee Highway Safety office will allow officers to concentrate specifically on the Dragon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
BBC News
23-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Will promoting Welsh film locations encourage more visitors?
Ask people why they come to Wales, and mountains and beaches in general might feature highly in their two campaigns focusing on Welsh film and TV could give fans of the big screen more reasons to cross Offa's you want to walk on the exact beach where a dragon landed, Visit Wales and Visit Britain's international promotion of high-profile UK filming locations could be just the thing to draw in visitors to see the House of the Dragon filming site, one of many used in the HBO Game of Thrones prequel across north Wales. And while you're there, you could nip along to Plas Newydd country house on Anglesey, setting for new release Madfabulous which is coming out this tells the story of the flamboyant Henry Paget, fifth Marquess of Anglesey, starring Treorchy's Callum Scott Howells of It's a Sin Victorian eccentric equally scandalised and delighted society with his penchant for dressing up in outrageous costumes, putting on plays for local people and bankrupting his estate before his untimely death aged 29. Visit Wales is using the GB-wide promo video as a launching point to highlight other Welsh sites from series such as Sex Education, shot at the former University of South Wales campus in Caerleon, in Newport county, St Fagan's Museum of Welsh Life on the outskirts of Cardiff, and Gavin and Stacey in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan. Meanwhile Film Hub Wales has compiled a database of films with a Welsh link being released this year, with the aim of promoting the films both to distributors and the audience and highlighting different areas of Wales in the Made in Wales online guide signposts all film releases in 2025 with a star, location, or production team from manager Toki Allison says: "We're all about amplifying Welsh-connected films. So once a film has reached that point where it's going out for distribution or heading into festivals we like to pick it up and make sure that it's getting into cinemas. "There's a couple of heavy hitters coming out this year. Mr Burton which is coming from Severn Screen and is obviously the story of Richard Burton, and about his childhood life, school life and the mentor that he had."He took on the name of Philip Burton, so we're really excited to see that one coming out. That's got Welsh director Marc Evans attached to it as well and Aneurin Barnard's in it and Aimee-Ffion Edwards."Then we've got Madfabulous which is a really exciting film about Henry Cyril Paget. He was the fifth Marquess of Anglesey and was a really flamboyant character."Then there's Havoc, Welsh director Gareth Evans's next feature which sees Tom Hardy and Forest Whittaker in a big criminal action adventure so I guess that will be really fun for people." The filming for Havoc saw areas in Cardiff, Swansea and Barry stand in for the US, with Swansea's Guildhall transformed into a US police stars were both spotted enjoying time off in such places as Tenby, Pembrokeshire and Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, with Whittaker posting his enjoyment of the country on social a slightly sideways take on film fame, Visit Wales has also highlighted the pivotal role played by an aqueduct in the animated Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, the latest in the classic Aardman stop motion series featuring a hapless inventor and his long-suffering dog, which aired on Christmas Day in the filmmakers have acknowledged they were heavily influenced by the Unesco world heritage aqueduct at Pontcysyllte in Denbighshire when designing their own version for the climactic scene in the film. Back down in south Wales, later this year the town of Port Talbot will take centre stage on the big screen as the backdrop to Mr story tells the tale of Philip Burton, the teacher who took a young lad named Richard Jenkins under his wing during World War Two after seeing beyond the "wayward schoolboy" to the natural talent for acting he famously took on Mr Burton's surname and went on to become one of the world's most famous leading men in the post-war further west, rural Carmarthenshire will stand in for Long Island, New York, in the upcoming thriller The Man in the Basement starring Willem Dafoe, which is also set for release this year. The house above the titular basement looks every inch an all-American clapboard residence, but was actually built by a returnee from Pennsylvania towards the end of the 19th Welsh film should not just be associated with physical places visitors can see in the country, Film Hub Wales aim of the Made in Wales project is also to raise awareness of films set or filmed outside the country made by Welsh filmmakers or involving Welsh is highlighting films such as Satu: Year of the Rabbits by Powys-raised Joshua Trigg, which is entirely shot and set in Laos and tells the story of a young boy abandoned at birth who goes in search of his mother, and the relationship he forges with a young aspiring journalist who accompanies him along the way. Another is Brides, made by Welsh production company ie ie Productions, which follows two teen girls who leave the country covertly, heading for Syria and the prospect of very different lives to the ones they are leaving Allison says: "We're just really keen for people to recognise what Welsh film is, beyond the stereotypes and people's impressions of what that is."There's some really beautiful international storytelling. There's very different narratives coming out of Wales."We're a very diverse country and we want that to be reflected in what people understand Welsh connected film to be."
South China Morning Post
08-02-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Born in the Year of the Dragon? Here's everything you need to know in 2025
Published: 4:00pm, 8 Feb 2025 This article has been made freely available for our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP's journalism by subscribing . Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app . There are 12 zodiac signs in Chinese astrology, each possessing a unique set of qualities. Each year, an animal is paired with one of the five elements: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. These elements complement and conflict with each other. The year 2025 belongs to the snake, but if you were born in the Year of the Dragon, here's everything you need to know and more:
