At one point, Dallas had dozens of days above 100 degrees and 67 days in a row without any rainfall, a streak that was finally broken on Aug. 9. Now, in a shocking reversal, it is likely this August will be Dallas’ wettest since 1899, The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore noted on Twitter.
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Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/08/22/dallas-texas-flash-floods/
‘Smooth’ start to Monday commute during MBTA’s Orange Line shutdown, Boston mayor says – WCVB Boston
BOSTON —
The second big test of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s 30-day shutdown of the Orange Line is expected Tuesday, and officials expect a gradual increase in passenger traffic in the coming days and weeks.
“Just because things have gone relatively smoothly today does not mean you should jump back in your car,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. “Please continue to avoid these diversion routes. Also want to continue to emphasize the Commuter Rail as an alternative travel option for all for Orange Line riders.”
Poftak said that despite Monday going smoothly, he did not want the message to be that it’s OK to drive to work Tuesday.
State highway administrator Jonathan Gulliver said Monday traffic was unusually light. Boston mayor Michelle Wu said the real test will come when students return to school.
While some people reported longer than normal trips to work on Monday, the first weekday commute during the Boston transit system’s Orange Line shutdown appeared to go fairly smoothly.
The 11 miles of the Orange Line, from the Oak Grove to Forest Hills stations is scheduled to remain closed until 5 a.m. on Sept. 19.
Planned projects include track repairs to eliminate slowdowns, upgrading signals, replacing infrastructure and repairs or upgrades at various stations as part of what the MBTA calls major revitalization and safety work on the Orange Line.
The T is providing shuttle buses between stations, and the city has set aside designated bus-only travel lanes on some streets. Commuter rail lines are also running with increased frequency.
Poftak helped direct riders to Orange Line alternatives early Monday and passed out Charlie Card at Forest Hills Station.
“I anticipate we’ll face some challenges and probably learn something about where there’s going to be traffic issues and holdups, and we’ll get better as we go,” Poftak said.
A fleet of 200 buses is being used to shuttle Orange Line riders to their destinations during the next month.
Wu boarded a shuttle at Forest Hills Station in Jamaica Plain to start her commute to Government Center.
“It went pretty smoothly. It was a little bit longer than a usual commute, but no real bottlenecks or traffic along the way — buses and trains coming very shortly at each stop we were getting on and off at,” said Wu. “Overall, very hopeful. It seems like that much of the planning and all of the details we discussed have been implemented and so far, so good.”
On Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker took to the commuter rail to test that side of the alternatives and said he had an on-time commute.
“Took the @MBTA_CR Haverhill Line this morning. Glad to report it was an on-time commute. Thank you to all of the @MBTA riders today for their patience as the T embarks on the 30-day Orange Line rebuild,” Baker tweeted. “I want to also thank all of the @MBTA employees for their work to make everyone’s commutes as smooth as possible. The team and I have been in close contact with the T over the weekend and today to monitor the diversion and construction progress.”
Baker did not announce prior to Monday morning that he would ride the MBTA Commuter Rail train and no photos or videos of the governor riding the train were posted to social media.
Officials said they can squeeze work that would have normally taken five years into the monthlong work period.
The Orange Line provides about 101,000 trips each day, so the impact of the closure on commuters is expected to be major.
The start of unprecedented closure ushered in a complicated dance of diversions and alternatives that Boston officials have called a “transportation emergency.”
Some streets were closed or effectively cut in half to create dedicated lanes for the shuttle buses. Curbside loading areas were also designated for the buses.
State Street between Congress and Washington streets, Dartmouth Street between St. James and Boylston streets and one side of Washington Street between Arborway and Williams Street will be closed to traffic to make a path for the buses.
Officials have said that making a path for the buses will have a ripple effect throughout the region, according to projections made by engineers who model traffic for MassDOT. Motorists have been warned to expect heavy traffic increases, especially on roadways along the shuttle bus routes.
Commuter Rail train frequency has been increased to accommodate anticipated changes to travel patterns. Riders can also use the Commuter Rail in Zones 1, 1A and 2 for free by showing a CharlieCard or CharlieTicket.
As an alternative, Boston is offering a free 30-day pass to ride BlueBikes during the shutdown.
Starting Monday, parts of the MBTA Green Line will also be closed for 28 days. The Green Line shutdown from the Union Square to Government Center stations will allow the MBTA to perform the final-phase construction work necessary to open the Medford Branch, which is now anticipated to open in late November.
Shuttle buses will also be offered to replace Green Line service.
The city of Boston and the MBTA announced the following number for a new MBTA Call Center: 617-222-3200.
Officials said the “impetus” for the Orange Line shutdown was a safety review by the Federal Transit Administration. The FTA has been digging into the MBTA’s record since May after a man was dragged to death on the Red Line in April. A final report from the federal agency is expected to be released within the next few weeks.
Source Article from https://www.wcvb.com/article/30-day-shutdown-of-mbtas-orange-line-monday-morning-commute-august-22/40952840
RUSKA LOZOVA, Ukraine, May 15 (Reuters) – Russia pummelled positions in the east of Ukraine on Sunday, its defence ministry said, as it sought to encircle Ukrainian forces in the battle for Donbas and fend off a counteroffensive around the strategic Russian-controlled city of Izium.
At a meeting in Germany, the secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said Ukraine could win the war, calling for more military support and fast-track approval of expected bids by Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.
Ukraine has scored a series of successes since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, forcing Russia’s commanders to abandon an advance on the capital Kyiv before making rapid gains to drive them from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city.
Moscow’s invasion, which it calls a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from fascists, has jolted European security. Kyiv and its Western allies say the fascism assertion is a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression.
The president of Finland, which shares a 1,300 km (800 mile) border with Russia, confirmed on Sunday that his country would apply to join NATO, a major policy shift prompted by Russia’s invasion. Sweden’s ruling party followed suit. read more
Since mid-April, Russian forces have focused much of their firepower on trying to capture two eastern provinces known as the Donbas after failing to take Kyiv.
An assessment by British military intelligence said Russia had lost about a third of the ground combat force deployed in February. Its Donbas offensive had fallen “significantly behind schedule” and was unlikely to make rapid advances during the coming 30 days, the assessment said.
“Russia’s war in Ukraine is not going as Moscow had planned,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
Ukraine received a morale boost with victory in the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night, a triumph seen as sign of the strength of popular support for Ukraine across Europe. read more
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the win, but said the situation in Donbas remained very difficult and Russian forces were still trying to salvage some kind of victory in a region riven by conflict since 2014.
“They are not stopping their efforts,” he said. read more
‘NOWHERE TO BURY ANYONE’
Russia said on Sunday it had struck Ukrainian positions in the east with missiles, targeting command centres and arsenals as its forces seek to surround Ukrainian units between Izium and Donetsk. Reuters was not able to independently confirm the reports. read more
Izium straddles the Donets river, about 120 km (75 miles) from Kharkiv on the main highway heading southeast.
If Ukraine can sustain pressure on Izium and Russian supply lines, that will make it harder for Moscow to encircle battle-hardened Ukrainian troops on the eastern front in the Donbas.
“The hottest spot remains the Izium direction,” Ukrainian regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said in comments aired on social media.
“Our armed forces have switched to a counteroffensive there. The enemy is retreating on some fronts.”
In Ruska Lozova, a village set in sweeping fields between Kharkiv and Ukraine’s border with Russia, Ukrainian commanders said they believed Moscow was redeploying troops to defend Izium while keeping their opponents pinned down with artillery fire.
“The Russian attack on Kharkiv has been destroyed and they understand this,” said Ihor Obolensky, who commands the National Guard and volunteer force that captured Ruska Lozova eight days ago. “They need to try for a new victory and want to hold Izium.”
But Ukraine’s military also acknowledged setbacks in an update on Sunday morning: “Despite losses, Russian forces continue to advance in the Lyman, Sievierodonetsk, Avdiivka and Kurakhiv areas in the broader Donbas region.”
In western Ukraine near Poland, missiles destroyed military infrastructure overnight on Saturday and were fired at the Lviv region from the Black Sea, Ukrainian officials said. read more
Nine civilians were wounded in Russian shelling of Sievierodonetsk hospital yesterday evening, Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, said on the Telegram messaging application.
Another 10 civilians were wounded in the southern region of Mykolaiv in the last 24 hours, the regional council said, without providing details. The reports could not be independently verified.
There was also no let-up on Sunday in Russia’s bombardment of the steel works in the southern port of Mariupol, where a few hundred Ukrainian fighters are holding out weeks after the city fell into Russian hands, the Ukrainian military said.
Brightly burning munitions were shown cascading down on the steel works in a video posted by a pro-Russian separatist commander. read more
A large convoy carrying refugees from the ruins of Mariupol arrived in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia after nightfall on Saturday after waiting days for Russian troops to allow them to leave. read more
Iryna Petrenko, a 63-year-old in the convoy, said she had stayed initially to take care of her 92-year-old mother, who subsequently died.
“We buried her next to her house, because there was nowhere to bury anyone,” she said.
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Finland and Sweden have both said they see NATO membership as a way of bolstering their security, though Russia has warned that it would be a mistake for Helsinki to abandon its neutrality.
Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats came out in favour of the country joining NATO on Sunday, paving the way for an application and abandoning decades of military non-alignment. read more
NATO’s Stoltenberg and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken both expressed confidence that concerns from Turkey about the bids by the Baltic states could be overcome, with Stoltenberg indicating that an accelerated accession process and interim security arrangements would be possible. read more
As well as losing large numbers of men and much military equipment, Russia has been hit by economic sanctions, while Western states have provided Ukraine with military aid.
Ukraine has deployed many of its new U.S. M-777 howitzers at the front lines and Washington has delivered all but one of the 90 artillery pieces they were due to send, the U.S. embassy in Kyiv said. read more
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Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/frontlines-moving-battle-donbas-ukraine-mounts-counter-offensive-2022-05-15/