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Peppermint Parkway lights up COTA for 4th holiday season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:29 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Circuit of the Americas is glowing for the holiday season. Austin's premier, multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue turned on its 6 million lights this week, transforming into Peppermint Parkway for the fourth year now. Peppermint Parkway began in 2020 to "bring more holiday magic to Central Texans and give back to the local community," according to a release from COTA. During the event, COTA is illuminated by millions of holiday lights and plays host to fun, holiday-themed experiences.This year, the event includes a drive-thru experience to see the holiday lights on Tunnel Road, an opportunity to drive on the track, and the iconic 25-story Observation Tower is lit up in candy cane colors.The Peppermint Plaza is also filled with holiday shopping, themed food and drink, rides, character meet and greets, and more.Ticket details and pricing can be found online. Peppermint Parkway is returning to Circuit of the Americas for the 2022 holiday season. (Courtesy: C...

TxDOT wants families to check out equipment at major project

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:29 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Texas Department of Transportation said Thursday it wants to give families an up-close view of the equipment that is building a major highway project in southwest Austin. The agency will host a touch-a-truck event Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Colorado River Constructors which is the lower parking lot of the former ACC Pinnacle Campus at 7748 US 290. TxDOT said the event will display the machines used the build roads, bridges, walls and shared-use paths along the Oak Hill Parkway project.Local first responder vehicles will also be on display, including a fire truck and ambulance, according to TxDOT. People with the Oak Hill Parkway project will be there to talk about the equipment and the project, TxDOT said. Nov. 2022: Traffic pattern change coming soon to Oak Hill construction project Construction at the "Y" at U.S. 290 and State Highway 71 broke ground in July 2021. At that time, TxDOT said the project would improve safety and mobility along six miles...

Firefighters fall from 2nd floor battling blaze in downtown Los Angeles area

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:29 GMT

Two firefighters are OK after falling through the second floor of a two-story office building that erupted in flames in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles Friday morning.Crews responded to a fire burning outside the structure in the 1000 block of West Sunset Boulevard around 1 a.m.Firefighters respond to an office building blaze in Echo Park on Dec. 1, 2023. (OnScene.TV)The flames eventually extended into the building, believed to house medical offices, and traveled to the second floor, the Los Angeles Fire Department stated in a news alert. "There was a partial floor collapse on the 2nd floor which impacted two firefighters," the Fire Department posted. The firefighters were not injured but were taken to a local hospital as a precaution, LAFD Assistant Chief Steve Hissong said.Nearly 70 firefighters continued to battle the blaze aggressively and extinguished the fire in just under an hour, the fire department stated. Arson investigators were sent to the scene. “The arson inv...

Toll lanes open on 405 Fwy in Orange County

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:29 GMT

It's finally here, Orange County. On Friday, toll lanes on the 405 Freeway opened, providing what officials say is a faster option for those willing to pay and less congestion for those who aren't."The Express Lanes benefit all who drive on the I-405, even those who don’t drive in the Express Lanes. Drive times on the regular lanes will be reduced because space will be freed up by those who choose to use the Express Lanes," the Orange County Transportation Authority said on the project's website.The lanes, which run from Long Beach to Costa Mesa, uses electronic tolling, requiring drivers to have a FasTrak transponder. The actual cost to drivers will fluctuate based on what time it is, the day of the week and the direction of travel, something officials call "congestion management pricing," according to OCTA."Congestion management pricing is designed to optimize express lanes traffic at free-flow speeds," OCTA said. "To accomplish this OCTA monitors hourly traffic volumes. Tolls are...

Who will be the 2024 Rose Parade grand marshal? We'll find out soon

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:29 GMT

The name of the 2024 Tournament of Roses grand marshal will be announced a little later Friday morning, but officials have given us a clue about the person's identity. "The Grand Marshal is one award away from the coveted E.G.O.T. status, having won three of the four prestigious awards," the Tournament of Roses stated in a news release earlier this week. The grand marshal will take part in the 135th Rose Parade presented by Honda and participate in the 110th Rose Bowl pre-game by tossing the coin on Monday, Jan. 1. The 2024 Rose Parade is themed “Celebrating a World of Music.” The name of the grand marshal will be revealed at 9 a.m. on the front lawn of the Tournament House in Pasadena.

DeSantis, Newsom clash over COVID-19, crime, abortion in fiery debate

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:29 GMT

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) went head to head in a Fox News debate on Thursday as the governors — one a current presidential contender and the other seen as a future White House prospect — clashed over their records and policy.During the fiery 90-minute debate moderated by Sean Hannity and branded as “The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate,” DeSantis and Newsom took jabs at each other over how they handled key issues like the COVID-19 pandemic, crime and abortion, at times reverting to personal attacks such as calling each other bullies.The debate came against the backdrop of DeSantis’s presidential campaign. The Florida governor was initially seen as a threat to Donald Trump but is now lagging in polls behind not only the former president but also former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.Meanwhile, Newsom has been widely floated as a presidential hopeful; while he has said he’s not interested in challenging President Biden next year, the Fox News ...

Linying Sees the Lights

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:29 GMT

Linying Sees the Lights: LA-via-Singapore artist Linying told us about her Francis & the Lights experience.Linying: As an ex-perfectionist taking great measures to undo what feels like a hard-coded impulse to maximise, I’ve come to realise that what is best is only as true as what feels best… which then becomes an exercise in listening to yourself. The best gig I’d ever been was the one I hadn’t known was happening until it was in front of my eyes — it was SXSW in 2017, and my guitarist and I had just stumbled out of a church in Austin where an up and coming artist named Billie Eilish had played a solo set on her ukulele. On the way out we spotted Chloe Grace Moretz sitting on the steps and, while gawking, nearly collided with a tricycle Questlove was sitting in. As musicians from Singapore growing up in a city state in which life was by and large predictable and sterile, it blew our sheltered little minds that we were turning corners every five minutes and seeing people whose f...

Kurtenbach: The Eagles’ ‘Tush Push’ is the NFL’s best play. The 49ers know the secret to stopping it

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:29 GMT

The NFL’s most famous play might also be its most straightforward.And on Sunday, when the 49ers play the Eagles, it’s must-see TV.You can call the play the Tush Push, the Brotherly Shove, or, simply, the Eagles’ quarterback sneak.But no matter the moniker, Philadelphia has run it so often and so effectively that there have been calls for the league to ban the play.“People can’t do it like we can,” Eagles coach Nick Siriani said in October. “Don’t ban this play. If everyone could do it, everybody would do it.”Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) scores a two-point conversion against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 57 football game, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Related ArticlesSan Francisco 49ers | Kurtenbach: Inside the Brock Purdy-Brandon Aiyuk relationship that has taken the 49ers offense to a new level San Francisco 49ers ...

Holiday lights add a bright touch to San Jose’s History Park

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:29 GMT

Christmas in the Park’s Drive-Thru Light Show is open and back at History Park in San Jose, where it offers the perfect complement to the Victorian-era buildings on the grounds.“We have been waiting to come back to History Park for a while,” said Christmas in the Park board chair Stacey Holden, whose mother was on the original board. “History Park is a special place in and of itself, but it really is magical when you combine it with this.”A car drives past the Pacific Hotel at Christmas in the Park’s annual “Drive Thru Light Show” at History Park in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)A view from Sal Pizarro’s vehicle as he drives through Christmas in the Park’s annual “Drive Thru Light Show” at History Park in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)Lights dangle at Christmas in the Park’s annual “Drive Thru Light Show” at History Park in San Jose, Calif., on Wednes...

Holiday getaway: Cut down your own Christmas tree in Plumas National Forest

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:29 GMT

Cutting down a Christmas tree is a tradition for many families — and a staple outing in nearly every Hallmark holiday movie. Christmas tree farms offer plenty of Douglas firs and Monterey Cypress, of course, but for those who crave the nostalgia of chopping down an imperfect pine in the wilderness, there’s another option.Tucked away in the Lost Sierra in Plumas County, the cozy town of Graeagle sits along the Middle Fork Feather River about an hour north of Truckee. With a population of less than 1,000, the small town offers all the wintry, holiday charm of a movie — you know, the kind where a big city exec falls in love with a lumberjack trying to save his family business.The tree-sourcing experience requires nothing more than a $10 permit from the Plumas National Forest, a hand saw and a sense of adventure. A four-wheel drive vehicle helps, especially when the weather is a bit wet. Consult a map and you’ll find several places where you can get off the main ...