Hope you are all having a happy day off (or day on). Here’s the news that caught our eye this week:
– A group of business leaders and investors (worth about $13 trillion) has thrown its weight into the climate change fight, urging world governments to act quickly.
– More cars—about four million—were scrapped than sold in the US in 2009
– New Seattle mayor Mike McGinn has been spotted riding his bike to press conferences — on topics unrelated to bikes.
– By the numbers, Vancouver, BC is squarely the greenest city in the Pacific Northwest. The second-greenest city? You might be surprised to find it isn’t Portland.
– Oprah profiled distracted driving on her show today, along with her guest, transpo sec’y Ray LaHood and relatives of people who were killed by others who were driving while texting or talking on the phone.
– New federal funding rules will light a bigger fire under the boom in streetcar development in cities nationwide.
– Is the sentencing of the Road Rage Doctor really a victory for bicycling rights? Bob Mionkse says not yet.
– More on gender and bicycling — in the racing world. An interview with a top ‘cross racer gives a glimpse of differing pay scales between men and women (sometimes 10:1). And check out the end of this interviewand then the comments for further complexities.
– A man who was arrested during Critical Mass in Minneapolis is in the way of receiving a $70,000 settlement from the city.
– One of Portland’s top chefs describes how he got fit and lost 100 pounds — in part through trading his car for a bike.
– On the little-explored dangers of walking while talking on the phone.
– What happens when you can’t talk on your phone while driving anymore? You pull over into the bike lane to chat, of course.
– Some history on the rise of the “devil cart” in Bangor, Maine.
– Hate riding in traffic? Maybe it’s time to invest in high-wire bike lanes above gridlocked streets. And dirigibles.
– Video of the week — a slideshow of family cycling from Totcycle: