The Monday Roundup

Here’s the news that caught our eye this week:

– It doesn’t often make the news, but every year, enough oil spills into the Niger Delta in Nigeria to dwarf the scope of the current oil spill off the U.S. coast.

– In Chicago, two young men have been found guilty of setting out, drunkenly, to intentionally run down people on bicycles, but received very light sentences.

– Some cities are using GPS technology to track stolen bikes, but in most places bike theft is still underreported and inconsistently addressed.

– Baltimore is considering a new zoning code that would encourage an increased number of urban farms.

– The density debates continue, this time in a piece about urban environmentalists who oppose development in their cities.

– A carfree, bicycle-oriented housing development is being planned for the outskirts of Columbia, South Carolina.

– On the Paris Metro, turnstile jumpers are getting organized, including pooling their money to pay the fines when they get caught.

– In Kentucky, 15,000 people turned out to enjoy a ciclovia/open streets event—on the airport’s new tarmac.

– In Beirut, Lebanon, 150 people, part of a new group called Darreja (an Arabic play on the words bicycle and trend) rode bikes to protest a transportation system that focuses almost entirely on private cars.

– Ever heard the refrain that U.S. paved roads were originally built for bikes? Here’s the historical story.

– After families and advocates protested, NYC agreed to halt the planned removal of two ghost bike memorials.

– Here’s a nice roundup of ways people around the U.S. are using cargo bikes for feats normally consigned to the domain of the SUV, pickup truck, or minivan.

– And finally, thanks to the magic of the digital age, you can finally see what Los Angeles would look like without any cars (or anyone else for that matter).