It may be harmful to humans, too. An algal bloom of this size can cause skin irritation and respiratory problems, and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board is advising people to avoid swimming, kayaking, or other activities on the water until the bloom subsides.

Mary Spicer of Alameda, who paddles on the bay with an outrigger canoe team, said some members of her team have been experiencing skin irritation after coming into contact with the water over the past few weeks. Spicer said she began to notice discoloration of the water about a month ago — and then it turned to a “denser, thicker, chocolaty brown.”

Paddling at the Oakland Estuary a couple weeks ago, she was heartbroken to see a juvenile harbor seal poking its head out of the discolored water. “Just to see these marine creatures… having to live in the red, brown, dense water, it’s really just disconcerting,” she said.

Dead fish line the shore of Lake Merritt in Oakland on Aug. 29, 2022. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes red tides as a “harmful algal bloom,” or large colonies of algae plants growing out of control that are sometimes rust-colored. Not all algal blooms are harmful, and most are beneficial in the ocean.

However, a small percentage of algae can produce deadly blooms, and that’s what Rosenfield believes may be happening now.

SF Baykeeper is getting reports through its pollution hotline of dead fish in Foster City, Alameda, Keller Beach in Richmond, Sausalito and Fort Baker.

“Whatever number I offer you would likely be too low,” Rosenfield said.

Government officials KQED reached would not confirm any number yet. But on Monday, Eileen White, executive officer at the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, described the algae bloom as “highly unusual” and “much more extensive” than blooms the agency has tracked in the past.

“And this one’s resulting in fish kills, which is not good,” she said. “So we’re going to continue to study, try to find the cause of it and learn from this, so hopefully we can prevent them in the future.”

Damon Tighe, who describes himself on his LinkedIn profile as an educator and a naturalist who studies mycology, tweeted a photo of a pile of dead fish at Lake Merritt on Sunday.

“Massive fish die off going on right now in Lake Merritt,” Tighe tweeted. “May be related to the HUGE algal bloom that’s been happening on the east bay since the start of the month in front of Alameda where effluent flows.” Tighe included a link to iNaturalist, a nature app that allows users to share their observations with other scientists and naturalists.

Massive fish die off going on right now in Lake Merritt #oakland #fish #lakemerritt

May be related to the HUGE algal bloom that’s been happening on the east bay since the start of the month in front of Alameda where effluent flows…https://t.co/1H1byxoWok pic.twitter.com/FJBAU0InIb

— Damon Tighe (@damontighe) August 28, 2022

The algal bloom likely leading to the mass fish death is Heterosigma akashiwo, which SF Baykeeper and the San Francisco Estuary Institute and Aquatic Science Center have been tracking since it appeared in the last month. The aquatic science center noted that fish-kill reports began emerging around August 22, though they noted that the bay’s size makes data gathering a “huge challenge.”

What has changed, Rosenfield said, is those reports finally coming in, as well as confirmation from field investigators this weekend.

The algal bloom that Rosenfield says is most likely causing the die-off, he continued, is caused by a mix of environmental conditions, perhaps worsened by climate change, and treated sewage put out by wastewater treatment plants across the Bay Area. The red tide species of algae, Heterosigma, may be killing fish in two ways: it can produce a toxin that is deadly to fish, but it can also result in low dissolved oxygen levels in the water, which can also be deadly.

“So we’re not sure of which mechanism is operating here. Maybe it’s both,” Rosenfield said. But the same bloom has caused massive fish kills in other parts of the world, as well.

Geese pass by a shore filled with dead fish at Lake Merritt in Oakland on Aug. 29, 2022. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

The change that spurred the bloom locally, Rosenfield said, was likely a tipping point in warming waters. The solution, then, is for wastewater treatment plants to begin recycling wastewater in far higher volumes than it does now.

An April 2022 report by the environmental group the Pacific Institute described wastewater recycling as underutilized across California. The group estimates that an additional 1.8 million to 2.1 million acre-feet per year of municipal wastewater is available for reuse in California.

San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, an avid swimmer with the South End Rowing Club, saw the red tide himself as he took a dip last week, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

“My wife said I can’t swim in there anymore,” said Peskin. “I told her about it. It was like swimming through rust.”

He’s started to see the problem on the shores, too. His constituents have already started sending him photos of dead fish on San Francisco beaches. Peskin’s district includes Fisherman’s Wharf and the Embarcadero, areas with borders that touch the water. Peskin wants to ensure that those areas, and beyond, see climate action.

“Our public utilities commission, which is our sewer purveyor, needs to quickly come up with strategies to how San Francisco can do its part in reducing discharges that can exacerbate red tides,” Peskin said.

A dead California bat ray lay on the shore of Lake Merritt in Oakland on Aug. 29, 2022. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

Reached over the weekend, Bill Johnson, chief of the wastewater and enforcement division at the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, pushed back on the assertion that wastewater is to blame — the jury is still out, he says.

He says the water control board is spending $2.2 million annually to fund scientists studying the algal bloom to see if it is indeed caused by human wastewater.

“So if the solution is to ask the wastewater community to spend billions and billions of dollars for nutrients, then that’s what we’re going to do,” Johnson said. “But if the underlying causes are something else and if investing all that money isn’t going to solve the problem, we need to know that before we take that measure.”

Rosenfield countered Johnson’s statements by pointing to a 2020 report from James Cloern, senior scientist emeritus at the US Geological Survey, that showed San Francisco Bay had “high nutrient loadings, primarily from municipal wastewater,” leading to the “potential for high algal production. “

Regardless, understanding what’s causing the algal bloom is crucial, Rosenfield said, because it is almost certainly not a one-off. Without preventive measures, this could be an annual occurrence, rising when the waters warm, and fading as they cool.

It’s already beginning to spook Rosenfield, who isn’t easy to spook — he’s been a senior scientist at SF Baykeeper for four years, and was a lead scientist at The Bay Institute for nearly 11 years.

What really rocked him was seeing a number of a particular white sturgeon, a rare fish that’s part of a recreational fishery, show up dead on Stinson Beach.

They don’t wind up dead nearly as easily, being large, armored fish.

“Seeing that sturgeon is an indicator of a much larger problem,” he said.

Like a canary in a coal mine, but with scales.

KQED’s Lesley McClurg contributed reporting to this story.

The post Useless Fish Are Piling Up Throughout Shores of San Francisco Bay, Lake Merritt, As Algal Bloom Grows appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

When KQED showed a social media video of dead fish piling up at the edge of Lake Merritt, Johnson said, “That’s a pretty powerful image. Yeah, that’s not good.”

Damon Tighe, who describes himself on his LinkedIn profile as an educator and a naturalist who studies mycology, tweeted a photo of a pile of dead fish at Lake Merritt on Sunday.

“Massive fish die off going on right now in Lake Merritt,” Tighe tweeted. “May be related to the huge algal bloom that’s been happening on the east bay since the start of the month in front of Alameda where effluent flows.” Tighe included a link to iNaturalist, a nature app that allows users to share their observations with other scientists and naturalists.

Massive fish die off going on right now in Lake Merritt #oakland #fish #lakemerritt

May be related to the HUGE algal bloom that’s been happening on the east bay since the start of the month in front of Alameda where effluent flows…https://t.co/1H1byxoWok pic.twitter.com/FJBAU0InIb

— Damon Tighe (@damontighe) August 28, 2022

The algal bloom likely leading to the mass fish death is Heterosigma akashiwo, which SF Baykeeper and the San Francisco Estuary Institute and Aquatic Science Center have been tracking since it appeared in the last month. The aquatic science center noted that fish-kill reports began emerging around August 22, though they noted the Bay’s size makes data gathering a “huge challenge.”

What has changed, Rosenfield said, is those reports finally coming in, as well as confirmation from field investigators this weekend.

The algal bloom that Rosenfield says is most likely causing the die-off he says is caused by a mix of environmental conditions, perhaps worsened by climate change, and treated sewage put out by wastewater treatment plants across the Bay Area. The red tide species of algae, Heterosigma, may be killing fish in two ways: it can produce a toxin that is deadly to fish, but it can also result in low dissolved oxygen levels in the water which can also be deadly.

“So we’re not sure of which mechanism is operating here. Maybe it’s both,” Rosenfield said. But the same bloom has caused massive fish kills in other parts of the world, as well.

The change that spurred the bloom locally, Rosenfield said, was likely a tipping point in warming waters. The solution, then, is for wastewater treatment plants to begin recycling wastewater in far higher volumes than it does now.

An April 2022 report by the environmental group called the Pacific Institute described wastewater recycling as under-utilized across California. The group estimates that an additional 1.8 million to 2.1 million acre-feet per-year of municipal wastewater is available for reuse in California.

San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, an avid swimmer with the South End Rowing Club, saw the red tide himself as he took a dip last week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

“My wife said I can’t swim in there anymore,” said Peskin. “I told her about it. It was like swimming through rust.”

He’s started to see the problem on the shores, too. His constituents have already started sending him photos of dead fish on San Francisco beaches. Peskin’s district includes Fisherman’s Wharf and the Embarcadero, all areas with borders that touch the water. Peskin wants to ensure those areas, and beyond, see climate action.

“Our public utilities commission, which is our sewer purveyor, needs to quickly come up with strategies to how San Francisco can do its part in reducing discharges that can exacerbate red tides,” Peskin said.

Johnson, from the water quality control board, pushed back on the assertion that wastewater is to blame — the jury is still out, he says.

He says the water control board is spending $2.2 million annually to fund scientists studying the algal bloom to see if it is indeed caused by human wastewater.

“So if the solution is to ask the wastewater community to spend billions and billions of dollars for nutrients, then that’s what we’re going to do,” Johnson said. “But if the underlying causes are something else and if investing all that money isn’t going to solve the problem, we need to know that before we take that measure.”

Understanding what’s causing the algal bloom is crucial, Rosenfield said, because it is almost certainly not a one-off. Without preventative measures, this could be an annual occurrence, rising when the waters warm, and fading as they cool.

It’s already beginning to spook Rosenfield, who isn’t easy to spook — he’s been a senior scientist at SF Baykeeper for four years, and was a lead scientist at The Bay Institute for nearly 11 years.

What really rocked him was seeing a number of a particular white sturgeon, a rare fish part of a recreational fishery, show up dead on Stinson Beach.

They don’t wind up dead nearly as easily, being large, armored fish.

“Seeing that sturgeon is an indicator of a much larger problem,” he said.

Like a canary in a coal mine, but with scales.

The post Useless Fish Are Piling Up Throughout Shores of San Francisco Bay, Lake Merritt, as Algal Bloom Grows appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

San Francisco Ballet is ending its 2022 season on a glorious high note with Helgi Tomasson’s production of that all-time classic, Swan Lake. It also marks the end of Tomasson’s enormously successful 37 years as SFB Artistic Director. It makes perfect sense that he would want to leave audiences with this particular ballet as a last impression, as it is also the ballet with which he first truly made his mark as a choreographer in San Francisco. When his first Swan Lake debuted in 1988, he was both serving notice that SFB intended to be a major player on the international ballet scene and providing a harbinger of glories yet to come. This current production of Swan Lake is based on the 1988 version, with new designs and some additional choreography made in 2009.

Swan Lake is a towering classic for good reason. It’s got it all – spectacularly rich and varied choreography, dazzling large group numbers that fill the stage, a fiendishly difficult dual central role of Odette-Odile that is a rite of passage for any prima ballerina, and Tchaikovsky’s incomparable, soaring score, arguably the most gorgeous and dramatically compelling ever composed for a ballet. Tomasson’s version adheres to the classic plot of young Prince Siegfried who, who after being admonished by the Queen Mother to find a suitable bride posthaste, becomes entrance with Odette, a young creature who has been condemned by the wicked Von Rothbart to be a swan by day and regain her human form only at night. Siegfried and Odette quickly fall in love, and Siegfried vows his undying love before Odette disappears with the approach of dawn. At a palace ball, Voth Rothbart appears uninvited with his daughter Odile, whom he has transformed into a semblance of Odette. The ruse works and Siegfried declares his love for Odile before her true identity is revealed, thus condemning Odette to life as a Swan. This leads to a tragic ending, with the Siefgried and Odette reuniting only in the afterlife. While this all may sound preposterous on paper, in performance it can be incredibly moving as it is basically another variation of the timeless story of two lovers who are kept apart by forces beyond their control.

And it is helped enormously by choreography of unparalleled invention. The second act, where the two lovers initially meet by a moonlit lake surrounded by a flock of swans is especially transporting, and is perhaps the most perfect example of music meeting choreography. The swans shimmer in the moonlight, forming all manner of kaleidoscopic patterns, framing Siegfried and Odette as they fall in love. The music is impossibly rapturous, and the movement is slow and refined so that we can read every shifting emotion between the central couple. The third-act ball scene then allows them to let ‘er rip in the famously explosive “BLACK SWAN” pas de deux as Odile lures the prince into her net.

The cast on opening night danced beautifully throughout, aside from the odd bobble here and there which may well have been the result of first-night nerves. In the first act, Isabella Devivo, Esteban Hernandez and Julia Rowe were luxury casting in an enchanting pas de trois that presages the one man – two women plot and choreographic fireworks still to come. Rowe was crisp and playful, DeVivo serene and stylish. Hernandez provided stalwart partnering to both women, and in his big solo thrilled with his soft landings, perfectly on the beat.

DeVivo and Rowe returned (This particular pair have been dancing together so spectacularly all season that I feel we need to invent a term for their special brand of tag-team partnership.) in the Act II lakeside scene along with Ellen Rose Hummel and Norika Matsuyama for the iconic, lightning-quick, arms-interlaced Dance of the Cygnets. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it danced with such vivaciousness and precision. Every leg beat, every toe point, every head turn was right on the money. 90 seconds of sheer heaven. Also impressive in Act II were Kamryn Baldwin and Megan Amanda Ehrlich as the Swan Maidens, another perfectly matched pair. They projected elegant authority and somehow managed to dance in perfect unison while still letting their individual temperaments shine through.

The Act III ball sequence of international dances featured yet another terrific performance by Henry Sidford in the Spanish variation. I’m fairly certain Mr. Sidford does not actually hail from the Iberian peninsula, but you’d never know it from the Castilian flair and fire which colored his every move. Steven Morse and Hansuke Yamamoto in the Russian variation were another delight. They danced with such gusto and clarity that they made even these relatively minor roles sparkle. Veteran dancer Anita Paciotti made a wonderfully sophisticated Queen Mother. Paciotti has been dancing with SFB since 1968(!) and often excels at playing parts that call for down-to-earth warmth and good humor so it was fun to see her killing it in a role that requires elegance mixed with a somewhat chilly authority .

Frances Chung as Odette and Joseph Walsh as Prince Siegfried
in Helgi Tomasson’s Swan Lake

Joseph Walsh and Frances Chung made a smashing Prince and Odette/Odile. He scored early on with a searching, ruminative solo at the end of Act I that was all diffidence and changes in direction, neatly illustrating the character’s uncertainty. Walsh partnered Chung beautifully in the famous “White Swan” pas deux, lifting her off the stage and setting her back down again with such grace and dexterity that it felt like a miracle. He also had a jaw-dropping lift at the end of Act II where he held Chung high overhead, seemingly forever and with no discernible effort, in a triumphant expression of their newfound love. He dispatched his “BLACK SWAN” pyrotechnics with aplomb and provided a nice emotional grounding for the tragic denouement.

Chung was an intriguingly different Odette-Odile. Never the floatiest of dancers, her Odette was less fragile than most, but still capable of being meltingly tender. In Act II, when she raised on pointe and let go of Walsh’s hand, she swooned backwards as he moved around to catch her and it was absolutely breathtaking. Odile perhaps played more to Chung’s natural strengths, where she was all rapid-fire movement and straight lines. She whipped off the famous series of 32 fouettés like nobody’s business, emerging victorious as she exulted in her successful seduction of the prince.

The swans shimmer in the moonlight at the end of Helgi Tomasson’s Swan Lake

And then there were the amazing women of the corps de ballet. As wonderful as the principals and soloists may have been, if there ain’t no swans, then there ain’t no Swan Lake. SFB definitely comes through with the swans, dozens of them, skittering across the stage, alternately acting as protector and protectorate of Odette. The most profoundly moving sequence of the entire ballet occurs at the end of Act IV, when all of the swans rise on pointe, turn their backs to the audience in grief, and waft gently in the moonlight as their arms softly undulate and the strings ascend to the heavens in pianissimo. There’s not a more beautiful moment to be found in all of ballet, and it is performed here with such sensitivity and plasticity that it is sure to break your heart. It only makes sense that Swan Lake is closing out the season, because how could you possibly top that?

[All photos by Erik Tomasson]

Live performances of San Francisco Ballet’s Swan Lake continue through Sunday, May 8th at the War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA. Running time is approximately 2:45, including two intermissions. Proof of full COVID vaccination and the wearing of masks while in the building are required. For tickets and additional information, visit www.sfballet.org or call (415) 865-2000, MF 10am-4pm.

The post SWAN LAKE at San Francisco Ballet Brings the 2022 Season to a Spectacular Shut appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

OAKLAND (KPIX) — Police in Oakland are investigating a fatal early morning stabbing Sunday in a Lake Merritt neighborhood that has seen multiple homicides in recent months.

Police said a man was stabbed multiple times just after 3 am near 1200 Lakeshore Avenue.

That makes four homicides on the same lakeside street in less than six months.

“I heard a big commotion and I came outside on the balcony and I saw, like, about five people beating up this guy,” said a woman who declined to provide her name for fear of retaliation.

She said the attackers were two women and three men.

“They just were really beating him up, beating him up and, all of a sudden, the women said ‘Oh, let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!’ So they all jumped into a car. The (victim) got up, then he stumbled, then he fell,” she said.

She said the victim had blood all over his chest and that there were other people standing nearby, including a security guard for her condo building. Those witnesses tried to help the victim after the attackers left.

Oakland police said it’s the fourth homicide on this long dead-end street since Nov. 2021. It is unclear what motivated the stabbing. Police said the previous homicides, involving guns, were over robberies.

“Unfortunately, not surprised because there’s been so much of it,” said Michael Ziolkowski, who lives on the block.

“It’s really discouraging sometimes. I still love the neighborhood but I don’t think I would be comfortable sitting on a bench here after dark, honestly,” said neighbor Krista Sumida.

Area residents said they are fearful to leave their home at night. In addition to the four homicides, the East Bay Times reported there have been seven non-fatal shootings in the cul-de-sac since May 2021.

“We need a greater police presence on this cul-de-sac,” Sumida said.

“If (the police) drive through with their lights flashing, that kind of makes a lot of the cars move and get out,” Ziolkowski said.

One neighbor was seen with a large moving truck on the block moving out. He said he was tired of the violence and shootings.

“We’ve had three neighbors just moved out of this building in the last eight months,” Sumida said.

The dead end stretch of Lakeshore Avenue is a popular hang-out spot for young people to park their cars and party at night. Neighbors said that makes those people easy targets for robbers and some of those parties have led to fights and shootings.

“My message to our mayor is to please step up, pull your leaders together and come up with a viable way where we can be safe,” said neighbor Colette McPherson.

Police hadn’t released the victim’s identity by Sunday evening, pending notification of next of kin. The man suffered multiple stab wounds and died after being transported to a hospital. He was in his 30s.

Police were still looking for the suspects.

Sunday evening, Oakland city council president Nikki Fortunato Bas called on the city to do more

“Enough is enough,” Fortunato Bas tweeted. “Last night, another life was lost to violence in the Lakeshore cul-de-sac. I’m calling for immediate action. Parking restrictions must be enforced, including ticketing + towing to help prevent violence from occurring.”

The District 2 councilmember wrote that she wants the city to expedite the process for residents of the area to use the current no-parking zone “and help prevent harmful activities.”

She also said Oakland police should increase patrols in the area and better coordinate with private security. She also called for gun reform and “accountable, neighborhood-based policing.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the OPD Homicide Section at (510) 238-3821 or the TIP LINE at 238-7950.

© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report

The post Oakland Police Examine Deadly Stabbing in Troubled Lake Merritt Neighborhood – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

There’s nothing better than having a small gripe.

With a small gripe, you get to feel aggrieved for reasons that don’t really make your life worse. You can blow it out of proportion. You can, with a constant tinge of irony, rant and rave about a tiny beef. Crotchety old men have it right — complaining just feels good.

I have a small gripe: The moving walkways at the Salt Lake City International Airport are too slow.

At my last trip walking through the airport, watching as those off the moving walkway were moving faster than those on it, I decided to pursue this story. Frustrated as I was by my small gripe, I did the only thing I know how to do: I researched it. I’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time recently learning about moving walkways. I learned about the moving walkway industry as a whole, the way in which the walkways work, the laws governing them, and, critically, the speeds at which they operate. And I learned about some potential solutions to the problem.

I figured I’d share that information with y’all, because I know I’m not alone in my frustration. In doing so, I think I’ve written the definitive moving walkway story available anywhere. Is this too much detail about such a small gripe? Perhaps. But I want you to know what I know.

Intro to moving walkways

(Rachel Rydalch | The Salt Lake Tribune) Travelers use moving walkways at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022.

It turns out that the airport moving walkway industry is a big one: one source estimated that about $2 billion worth of moving walkways were sold to airports in 2020, and that there would be about $3 billion by 2030.

Salt Lake City’s airport was a portion of that. All in all, the airport has spent $19 million on the contracted moving walkways, which are located in the gateways, the bridges, the parking garages, and of course, the terminals. That $19 million includes the currently installed moving walkways, and the ones to come in the Concourse A East expansion, the central tunnel, and the first phase of the Concourse B East expansion.

Those walkways are all made by Schindler, an originally Swiss company that also has an American division. They’re all model 9500 walkways, between 170 feet and 300 feet long, all 48 inches wide. All but four of them require substantial pits underneath the entrances and exits of the walkways, where the machinery pulls the walk along on one end and creates tension on the other.

Diagrams of the Schindler 9500s — the moving walkways at Salt Lake City International Airport — and how they operate. (https://us.schindler.com/content/dam/website/us/docs/moving-walks/schindler-9500-horizontal-moving-walks-brochure.pdf/_jcr_content/renditions/original./schindler-9500-horizontal-moving-walks-brochure.pdf)

You’ll notice the 4-foot pit depth required at the edges, and about 13 inches in the middle — that’s more than I would have thought, but is pretty typical of moving walkways in general.

Four of the airport’s moving walkways are called “pitless” versions, in which a minimal pit is required, and the walkways are somewhat raised. Those four are all in the bridges connecting the airport with the passenger pickup locations, because a 4-foot pit in a bridge just can’t work. But pitless systems are more expensive and require more upkeep.

All of the airports’ currently installed moving walkways combined use about 310 kilowatts per hour when being operated. They do, though, have energy-efficient sensors that turn them to lower speeds when no one is either on or approaching the walkway.

Last week, the airport posted a picture of one of the new walkways being installed in the new Concourse A East.

(Salt Lake City International Airport) Installation of a moving walkway in January of 2022 in the Salt Lake City International Airport’s Concourse A east expansion.

They move these walkways into the building before it is closed. They come fully shipped, so they’re too big and wide to move in through the doors.

The problem

As has been endlessly documented, the new airport is much bigger than the old one, which has meant a lot of walking. This is a bummer for most travelers but especially the old, the young, the disabled and so on. It used to take just a couple of minutes to get to your gate when flying out of Salt Lake City. Now, you might have to walk two-thirds of a mile.

This takes time. The airport put together these estimates of how long it takes to walk from the terminal to the farthest gates.

(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)

Here’s my gripe: The moving walkways hardly help at all. To the end of Concourse A, they save the moving-walker less than a minute. To the farthest point at the end of the airport in Concourse B, it saves just about a minute and a half.

That’s because the moving walkways just don’t move that fast. Indeed, they move quite slowly. The speed of Salt Lake City’s moving walkways is 100 feet per minute — or, in terms you’re actually likely to recognize: 1.13 mph.

That’s also about the speed that icebergs travel. It is roughly a fifth the speed of a swimming crocodile, a fourth the speed of a jellyfish. Koalas climb trees about 50% faster than the moving walkways move horizontally.

But wait, it gets worse.

Seth Young, director of the Center of Aviation Studies at Ohio State University, conducted a 1999 study at the San Francisco and Cleveland airports to watch how people were using moving walkways. He found that people generally walked 3 mph in the airport when not on a moving walkway (a number that correlates really well with the results of a 1978 study that found a 3.01 mph walking speed in New York City transit situations).

But when people got on the moving walkway, their walk slowed down: They walked only about 2.2 mph. The walkways that Young studies were moving at a brisker 1.4 mph pace, which means that these passengers traveled at 3.6 mph. It’s clear, though, no matter the speed of the walkway: Even when ignoring the people who stop and stand, most get only a marginal benefit from the moving walkway.

There is a clear inverse correlation between the speed of the walkway itself and the speed that people choose to walk; the faster the moving walkway goes, the slower people will choose to walk on average. One industry study — I found this in a ThyssenKrupp brochure — found the peak capacity of moving walkways occurs when they move 145 feet per minute. Still, that’s 1.64 mph, significantly faster than Salt Lake City’s moving walkways.

Estimated passengers/hour on a moving walkway as a function of how fast the moving walkway goes. (https://sweets.construction.com/swts_content_files_nas/43184/432947.pdf)

So why are the airport moving walkways so slow? I’ll let Cal Smith, deputy program director of implementation at the airport, explain.

“In airport use, where you have a lot of people with children or baggage, getting on and off the moving walkway are a safety concern — for the moving walkway companies like Schindler and ThyssenKrupp, and moving walk consultants,” Smith said. “They try to limit the speed for those areas due to safety concerns.

“People are fumbling. They’re trying to get their grip on the entries and exits,” Smith added. “Particularly for elderly or for challenged people who are trying to use those moving walkways — moving walkways are there for everybody, able-bodied and not so able-bodied.”

Now, what kind of accidents happen? Sometimes, the walkways can grab loose clothing. In 1960, a 2-year-old girl died on a moving sidewalk when her coat got trapped at the edge.

Safety measures clearly have improved since then. There’s a somewhat humorous example diagram in the Schindler 9500 brochure of a high-heel shoe tip getting caught — an incident that the manufacturer said was now a thing of the past, thanks to additional safety measures along the walkway’s edge.

The moving walkways installed by SLC’s airport have preventative measures against high heels — or other loose clothing — getting stuck. (https://sweets.construction.com/swts_content_files_nas/43184/432947.pdf)

Trips and falls do still happen, though. In 2017, a Dallas airport passenger fell when a walkway stopped, causing a dislocated shoulder. It appears that, in 2010, a 58-year-old woman fractured her wrist exiting a walkway.

There’s no database for moving walkway injuries, but I did think it was notable that searching for the phrase “moving walkway accidents” led to more results for attorneys who will help you sue a moving walkway company than for actual published accounts of moving walkway accidents.

I haven’t been able to find any data regarding the relationship of walkway speed to walkway injuries, either. I suspect that such a relationship would be tenuous, given how few moving walkway injuries seem to occur. Truthfully, what I believe is that the companies’ and consultants’ recommendations to set the walkways at 1.14 mph is more about avoiding those attorneys than avoiding those injuries — but that’s guesstimated commentary, not research.

Is the solution coming?

So I asked the airport: What if I get Utahns on board with the idea of speeding up the walkways? After all, we weren’t afraid to boost Interstate 15′s speed limits. Couldn’t we raise the speed of these walkways?

And just imagine what would happen if we could get more people through the airport more quickly. It’d be great for those travelers’ lives, sure, but it could also lift the economy. Imagine having a couple of extra minutes to get a snack, a drink, or to spend a moment browsing at an airport store. Heck, we can’t afford not to speed up the walkways!

Well, Smith told me, not so fast. While the Schindler 9500s that the airport has can operate faster — Smith threw out a 130 feet per minute speed, or about 1.5 mph — they would need new parts to do so. The motors and drive units that power the walkways currently perform at the slower 1.13 mph, and it’s not a matter of turning a knob to speed them up. It would be an expensive and time-consuming project to replace those motors, and, of course, we’d have the walkways not work at all while those changes were being made.

If you’re like me, you were probably disappointed with even the idea of 1.5 mph being the “fast” setting. That’s all we can do? Actually, It turns out we can do better.

Introducing the accelerated moving walkway. These, manufactured by ThyssenKrupp go that same slow speed on the edges, so that people can easily enter and exit the walkway, but then accelerate in the middle to a maximum of 7.4 mph. The video shows how they work: basically, the walkway inserts little pallets in the middle that accelerate the person to top speed as they walk. It is exceptionally cool.

Turns out that there’s only one of these in North America: at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, where there’s a 1,000-foot bridge that needs to be traversed. I’ve had the privilege of riding this. It’s a game changer. It turns a 10-minute walk into a 3- to 4-minute one. It also just feels neat to be whisked from one place to another safely.

Smith, our Salt Lake City airport source, was familiar with the project. He had worked in Toronto’s airport, and met his wife there. She worked on the team that installed the accelerated moving walkway. What a love story!

I asked him: Why not install this in the 1,200-foot central tunnel between the A and B concourses?

Well, turns out that it isn’t legal by most U.S. standards. Code regulations say that a moving walkway can only go up to 180 feet per minute, or about 2 mph. But even if the code were to change — and I think a lobbying effort could succeed — there are other considerations.

For example, code also states that people can’t be trapped on a walkway where they have to move in more than 200 feet in either direction to get out. That’s one reason why the walkways at the airport are all limited to under 400 feet. The accelerated walkway at Toronto actually has movable arms at the entrance, almost like a railroad crossing, that prevent people from getting on the walkway in case of a fire or other emergency.

From the video, you can see the accelerated moving walkway’s handrail is a bit wonky — it works less smoothly than the underfoot tread, creating hand pinching opportunities. It’s also pretty noisy, and breaks more often, thanks to all of those moving parts.

“When we travel to Toronto,” Smith said, “we’re very excited because we love (the walkway). “It’s like, ‘Oh, we get to use the high-speed moving walkway, this is fantastic! Sometimes we’re really happy and we’re on that thing and we’re speeding down there. And sometimes that doesn’t work and you’re just going, you know, 1.4 miles an hour and you’re like, ‘Oh, I wish it was working today.’”

It reminds me of another advance in air travel technology that seemed like the wave of the future: the Concorde. Remember the supersonic aircraft, of which 20 were built? It could fly people from Paris to New York in under 3.5 hours, when a normal flight takes eight. It clearly was a step forward. Just like Toronto’s accelerated moving walkway, it also was noisy, expensive, and broke often, and so didn’t get widely adopted after the initial aircraft.

The more likely solution to Salt Lake City’s biggest walkway speed problem, though, is an automated people mover — essentially an underground train connecting the concourses. At the moment, that’s not scheduled to be built until decades down the road, when the airport needs to expand to a future Concourse C.

Debate continues, however, and airport officials acknowledged that it’s possible it could be built sooner if the public demands it and funding can be established.

But for now, the plan is plain and slow Schindler 9500s moving at 1.13 mph through the central tunnel. Those walkways would be wider (56 inches) than the others at the airport, and a bit longer. Still, it’s not the improvement I desired.

Some other fun moving walkway facts

(Rachel Rydalch | The Salt Lake Tribune) A man uses the moving walkway at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022.

While we’re here, I might as well tell you some other moving walkway facts that I learned while reporting on this article.

First, Young’s study on the speed on which people walk on moving walkways was full of fascinating results. Some likely won’t surprise you. Business travelers, on average, walk faster than leisure travelers. Men, on average, walk faster than women.

But do people walk faster when entering the airport or leaving the airport? Turns out, those moving away from the gates move faster on average than those going to their gates — despite the few folks who are running, trying to avoid missing their flights. Everyone else, seemingly, is in less of a mood to move quickly when they’re about to board a flight.

Meanwhile, people with bags actually move faster, on average, than those without bags. This may have to do with the tendency of those who would be burdened by bags to check them before using an airport’s moving walkway.

In Young’s study, about 20% of people just stood on the moving walkways — remember, his traveled at the faster 1.4 mph speed. However, among those who do walk, most (80% of walkers) won’t go out of their way to pass a stopped traveler if he or she is blocking the walkway.

Finally, a sad note: Some airports have actually removed their moving walkways altogether in the past decade, usually because they’re simply using too much space in airport terminals that are becoming more crowded. In trouble spots, they intersect with lines of people at gates waiting to board, causing havoc. For these reasons, Chicago’s O’Hare removed moving walkways in one United concourse, as has Las Vegas’ airport. Cincinnati’s airport removed some of its, simply saying that they were too expensive to replace.

But there are still moving walkway fans out there. A group of seniors, for example, complained when Orlando’s airport proposed removing them, calling them a “godsend” and a “saving grace.”

I’ll join them. Bless moving walkways. I hope for their continued existence in our lives. I just also hope that they start to high-tail it.

Andy Larsen is a data columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune. You can reach him at alarsen@sltrib.com.

The post Why are Salt Lake Metropolis’s airport transferring walkways so sluggish? Is there something that may be achieved about that? appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

OAKLAND (CBS SF) – Two foreign suspects were arrested and charged in November when an Oakland woman on a cul-de-sac on Lakeshore Ave has been involved in gunfights since May seven.

Oakland police said Lashawn Price, 33, a resident of Stockton, and Torrin Dupclay, 32, a resident of Crockett, were in custody for their roles in killing 22-year-old Devani AlemanSanchez on November 11th.

CONTINUE READING: Fentanyl, which was seized by SFPD in the tenderloin, increased fivefold in 2021

According to court documents, prosecutors also charged the couple with attempted murder of two other people during the same incident and robbery at gunpoint on December 5th and 6th.

Oakland Police Chief LeRonne L. Armstrong held a press conference earlier this week to address violence in the city, particularly at 1400 block on Lakeshore Ave.

It came after a man was shot dead in the same cul-de-sac over the weekend.

“We’ve been working with the community for the last month or so to monitor the violence we saw on the 1400 block of Lakeshore,” Armstrong said. “We don’t think this latest murder has anything to do with previous criminal cases, but we know this is an area that people love to come and congregate. It’s a scenic area. It is a place that a lot of people come to when they want to see the lake or to visit the lake. “

Oakland has stepped up police presence in the area to curb the increase in violence on the Lakeshore.

“I would like to say, without going into specific cases, we have seen whenever people hang around there, either in the evening or early morning hours, consuming alcohol or using drugs, have made contact with other people in the area that we have believe they may be involved in illegal activity, ”said Captain James Beere of the Oakland Police Department, who is in charge of enforcement in the area.

“Unfortunately, there are sometimes confrontations or clashes that escalate into violent crimes and shootings.”

Sanchez was standing in front of a vehicle when at least one person approached her and tried to rob her. The shooter shot her. She was taken to a hospital where she died a few days later.

The last murder took place on Christmas Eve. The officers reacted to reports of gunfire around 8:19 p.m. When they arrived, the officers found a man in the middle of the street.

Firemen and an ambulance tried to save the man, but he died in the hospital. His name was withheld pending notification of the next of kin.

It was the 134th murder in the city – the highest number in Oakland since 148 in 2006. Last year, Oakland Police investigated 109 murders in the city.

CONTINUE READING: Missing Tahoe skier Rory Angelotta is believed to be dead after disappearing on Christmas Day

Michael Ziolkowski lives in the facility and heard four opposing recordings on Christmas Eve. From his apartment he saw the victim lying in the middle of the street. He said it appeared the man had been shot in the back.

“Several people around him are trying to help him and whatever and tell him to lie down. He kept trying to get up, ”said Ziolkowski.

The incident kicked off a heavy Christmas weekend in Oakland. Police said there were multiple shootings, robberies and car thefts.

People who live in the Lake Merritt area said they no longer feel safe there.

“It’s been getting more dangerous the last six months I’ve lived here,” said Maya Hendricks area residence.

Hendricks no longer feels safe at Lake Merritt. She stays at home after dark.

“It is not customary to leave [my home] after 7 or 8 pm I try to get in just before the sun goes down, ”said Hendricks, who was walking her dog.

“It’s scary. I don’t know why the increase. I think there has been a lot of activity here since the pandemic,” said Tsiolkovsky.

The 1400 block on Lakeshore Avenue is a popular spot where people just park, hang around in their cars, and admire the views of Lake Merritt. Most people just assume it’s a safe place until they find out about all of the shootings.

“It’s a little intimidating and nerve wracking. It’s a little scary, ”said Matthew Ball, who was walking his dog by the lake.

As for Hendricks, she said the beauty and vibrancy surrounding the lake is no longer worth the risk.

MORE NEWS: Dramatic video: the police pursuit ends with the arrest of a suspect while trying to escape in San Francisco Bay

“I’m actually moving out. So I don’t have much to say other than that I can’t stay here much longer, ”said Hendricks. “For me personally it is getting more and more uncomfortable [to live here]. “

The post 2 Arrested For Slaying On Crime-Ridden Oakland Cul-De-Sac Subsequent To Lake Merritt – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

OAKLAND (CBS SF) – An Oakland man was shot dead in a cul-de-sac on Lakeshore Avenue on Lake Merritt on Christmas Eve, where a woman was previously fatally shot and seven other people injured, authorities said.

All of these gun violence incidents have occurred since May, East Bay Times investigators said. They did not disclose whether the shootings were related.

CONTINUE READING: Infrequent snowfall ensures a white Christmas in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Oakland’s Devani Aleman Sanchez was shot dead in a cul-de-sac around 12:50 p.m. on November 16. She was taken to a hospital where she died a few days later.

According to police, she was standing in front of a vehicle when at least one person approached her and tried to rob her at gunpoint.

In the most recent incident, officials reacted to reports of gunfire around 8:19 p.m. on Friday. When they arrived, the officers found a man in the middle of the street.

Firefighters and an ambulance tried to save the man, but he died in the hospital. His name was withheld until the next of kin were notified.

It was the 134th murder in the city – the highest number in Oakland since 148 in 2006. Last year, Oakland Police investigated 109 murders in the city.

Michael Ziolkowski lives in the facility and has heard four opposing shots. From his apartment he saw the victim lying in the middle of the street. He said it appeared the man had been shot in the back.

“Several people around him are trying to help him and whatever and tell him to lie down. He kept trying to get up, ”said Ziolkowski.

The incident kicked off a heavy Christmas weekend in Oakland. Police said there were multiple shootings, robberies and car thefts.

People who live in the Lake Merritt area said they no longer feel safe there.

CONTINUE READING: VIDEO: Man arrested near Metreon in San Francisco after harassment of KPIX News crew

“It’s been getting more dangerous the last six months I’ve lived here,” said Maya Hendricks area residence.

Hendricks no longer feels safe at Lake Merritt. She stays at home after dark.

“It is not customary to leave [my home] after 7 or 8 pm I try to get in just before the sun goes down, ”said Hendricks, who was walking her dog.

“It’s scary. I don’t know why the increase. I think there has been a lot of activity here since the pandemic,” said Tsiolkovsky.

The 1400 block on Lakeshore Avenue is a popular spot where people just park, hang around in their cars, and admire the views of Lake Merritt. Most people just assume it’s a safe place until they find out about all of the shootings.

“It’s a little intimidating and nerve wracking. It’s a little scary, ”said Matthew Ball, who was walking his dog by the lake.

As for Hendricks, she said the beauty and vibrancy surrounding the lake is no longer worth the risk.

“I’m actually moving out. So I don’t have much to say other than that I can’t stay here much longer, ”said Hendricks. “For me personally it is getting more and more uncomfortable [to live here]. “

Anyone with information about the Friday night shooting is encouraged to contact Homicide at (510) 238-3821 or Tip Line at (510) 238-7950.

MORE NEWS: Sierra Nevada is having a whiteout Christmas, and more to come

Da Lin contributed to this report.

The post Man Shot To Loss of life On Crime-Ridden Oakland Cul-De-Sac Subsequent To Lake Merritt – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Tyler Bettilyon and his wife outside their new home in Salt Lake City.

Sarah Maddock, @sarahmaddock

Long before Tyler Bettilyon, a software engineer and educator, left San Francisco, he wondered what he would have to sacrifice in order to be financially enough to raise a family in the Bay Area. “There was a path I could follow to make $ 250,000 a year,” he says. “But part of that equation would have included a hectic lifestyle that kept me in the company office from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. every day.” (Remember to give up your expensive city too? Check out the Lowest Mortgage Rates You Can Get Right Here, and under.)

It wasn’t that Bettilyon didn’t want to work hard. He only wanted to work, but also to spend time with his girlfriend at the time (now his wife) and the children, if they ever got them. Bettilyon, who had to commute 90 minutes each way to his job as a senior engineer at a technology start-up, found the experience was grueling. “There are thousands of people at BART who will corner you,” he notes.

Even before the pandemic began, Bettilyon realized that what he really craved – time, accessible green space, a community – was nowhere to be found in San Francisco, where he had lived for seven years. “My wife and I started looking for a house in the Bay Area, and any house we liked was so far out of reach financially,” he says.

Do you also dream of moving to a cheaper city?
Here are some resources to help you make that decision

• Casing: See what type of mortgage you can qualify for Here, and see what rent you could pay here.

• Cost of Living and Other Lifestyle Factors: Compare the cost of living in a new city to your current city here, as well as things like taxes, crime, and more.

• Health care: See how US News ranks your new state in terms of healthcare here.

• Workplaces: If your current job doesn’t let you work remotely, websites like. looking for jobs As a matter of fact and glass door.

• Crime, education and other lifestyle factors: Look at that niche.

The frugal couple saved nearly $ 200,000 in cash, he notes. In San Francisco, Bettilyon says he made about $ 150,000 even though his wife made less. They kept spending low by taking public transportation and sharing a 1,600-square-foot house in Berkeley with Bettilyon’s brother and sister-in-law for a total rent of $ 4,000 a month. In fact, according to Zillow, the typical San Francisco home is still valued at more than $ 1.5 million. “Any reasonable-priced home was either in an area we didn’t want to live in or in an area that wasn’t particularly safe,” notes Bettilyon. Adding children to a mortgage would have been financially onerous, even with Bettilyon’s six-figure salary.

Instead, Bettilyon and his wife decided to return to their Salt Lake City home, where they bought a three-bedroom home for $ 420,000 in May 2020, just as the pandemic started, he notes. The house is in the neighborhood where Bettilyon grew up and is close to friends and family. Better yet, it’s a couple of blocks from a large park. In San Francisco, they couldn’t afford a seat near a green space, and that was something the couple had sorely missed.

Moving from San Francisco to Salt Lake City saved the couple a tremendous amount of money. You’ve covered nearly 50% of the cost of your home and now your total mortgage is $ 1,250 per month. Bettilyon, who now teaches corporate computer coding courses on a contract basis, says he now makes between $ 60,000 and $ 80,000 a year, and his wife, who works as a project manager at a startup, makes roughly the same. And that works well for them, while it would have been difficult in the Bay Area, since everything from food to groceries to personal care services is cheaper in Salt Lake City than it is in San Francisco. The one expense, which may be a little higher, is that Bettilyon has more use of his car now that he can no longer walk to the grocery store – but he already had the car when he lived in Berkeley. And he couldn’t park the car in the house he lived in without paying his landlord an additional $ 500 a month – now he just parks in his driveway.

Thanks to their cheaper lifestyle, Bettilyon and his wife are saving for the future, he says. They recently installed solar panels on their home and decided to invest in a restaurant and mobile cocktail company. Every year they maximize their Roth IRA accounts and slowly replenish their savings. Every now and then they treat themselves to something totally pampering. For example, Bettilyon recently bought a piano to practice a skill he learned as a child. “It’s really liberating to be able to say that I can go out and have a good night on the town and not have to worry about how much it will cost,” says Bettilyon.

Parenthood is just around the corner – but for now the couple are focused on taking care of their recently adopted dog, who enjoys walking in the large park near their home. “I wouldn’t have got a dog in San Francisco because I was worried that this dog would get enough exercise,” says Bettilyon.

Of course, there are things the couple misses about San Francisco – the museums, the food, the inexhaustible possibilities. “Nothing is open late here in Salt Lake City. So if you’re hungry on your way home from a night out, you’d better have a pizza in your freezer, ”says Bettilyon. But as he gets older he goes out less anyway. “A lot of what made San Francisco so valuable in my twenties is not so valuable to me now that I’m married and thinking about children,” he says. (Are you thinking of giving up your expensive city too? Check out the Lowest Mortgage Rates You Can Get Right Here.)

The post This couple ditched dear San Francisco for Salt Lake Metropolis. Must you transfer? appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SONOMA COUNTY (CBS SF) – It takes more than sporadic showers to make headway against the drought. It will take more storms, and lots of them. In places like Lake Sonoma, the great October storm runs out of legs.

“The rain is really great,” says Chris Tito of Wilson Vinyards. “If you want the wine, you need the rain.”

CONTINUE READING: San Francisco Safeway adds barriers to prevent rampant shoplifting

A little rain, with more forecast, is good news in Dry Creek Valley, as is welcome news on the other side of the dam.

“We’re still stuck in a drought, there’s no doubt about it,” said Barry Dugan of the Sonoma County Water Agency. “Lake Sonoma currently has almost 50% of its capacity. But that’s a 67% decrease at the same point in time last year. “

CONTINUE READING: SF Supervisor Preston is proposing a 10 day warning period for tenants who are about to be evicted

For Sonoma County’s reservoirs, the atmospheric river in late October was a spectacular moment of passing relief. In the weeks in between it has rained just enough that the water flows into Lake Mendocino, but not into the system’s larger reservoir.

“We saw Lake Sonoma stall,” says Dugan. “Now is starting to lose a bit of capacity. So we start to see how the saturation level decreases a little. “

The lake level shows Sonoma received a boost from the storm, followed by a flat line. While a little rain will help recharge the soil, the area desperately needs major storms.

MORE NEWS: Redwood City retail theft suspect arrested; Stolen Home Depot items recovered

“So we’re just hoping that this weather pattern can change enough that we regularly see a series of storms in December and January,” says Dugan.

The post Huge October Storm’s Deluge Draining Out Of Lake Sonoma – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

By Ira Boudway | Bloomberg

California-based drone startup Zipline plans to begin delivering medicines and other supplies to households in Salt Lake City, Utah. The company, whose fixed-wing drones have been transporting medical supplies to rural clinics in Rwanda and Ghana since 2016, has signed a service contract with Intermountain Healthcare of Utah to deliver to its patients in the city. Zipline expects the first deliveries to occur in the spring of 2022 and hit hundreds per day within four years of the service’s launch.

A zipline drone that delivers vaccines. (Zipline Inc.)

“We are excited to help lead the industry beyond the pilot phase and build something that can lead to a large commercial operation,” said Conor French, Zipline’s general counsel, in an interview Tuesday. The company will be able to reach around 90 percent of households in the greater Salt Lake City area with its drones, which navigate autonomously via satellite and parachute payloads of up to four pounds, French said.

Zipline plans to use yards and driveways for drops. Before it can begin, it must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. The company has applied for certification under the FAA program, known as Part 135, for unmanned parcel delivery.

“We are very confident that we will receive Part 135 certification in good time,” said French. (FAA spokeswoman Emma Duncan said via email that the administration would not comment on ongoing certification projects.)

Intermountain, a nonprofit founded in 1975 on a gift from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, operates 24 hospitals and 215 clinics in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada, and serves approximately half of the population of Salt Lake City over 1, 25 million. Initially, the zipline service will focus on homebound and immunocompromised patients. In later stages, Intermountain plans to use drones to fill out routine prescriptions and dispense over-the-counter medications, with patients using online registration to arrange delivery within 15-30 minutes. “We see this as a long-term relationship,” said John Wright, Intermountain’s vice president of supply chain and support services.

Since its inception in 2014, Zipline has said it has flown 15 million kilometers and made more than 215,000 deliveries, including hundreds of thousands of Covid vaccine doses, in Africa. Its drones take off from catapults and can fly back and forth for up to 100 miles – and service up to 8,000 square miles from a single hub. Earlier this year, the San Francisco-based company raised $ 250 million on a valuation of $ 2.75 billion.

Last year Zipline ran a pilot program that delivered personal protective equipment to two health facilities in North Carolina with limited FAA approval. Drone operators supported by Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc. have already been certified as unmanned airlines by the FAA.

(Corrects the number of Covid vaccine doses as per paragraph 6; updates the items Zipline plans to deliver.)

More stories like this can be found on Bloomberg.com

© 2021 Bloomberg LP

The post San Francisco drone startup plans drug deliveries to houses in Salt Lake Metropolis appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.