Local questions

The parking lot of the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park has a free observation platform which offers a view of the gorge without having to pay to access the bridge or other park attractions. To reach the parking lot, follow County Road 3A from Highway 50 near Cañon City, Colorado. For those wanting to cross the historical Royal Gorge Bridge but not visit the other attractions in the park, bridge-only tickets are available from 8 am – 10 am and for one hour before closing time.

The Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team plays its home games at American Airlines Center in the Victory Park neighborhood of downtown Dallas, Texas. The Mavs relocated here from the Reunion Arena where they played until 2001. American Airlines Center is also the home arena of the Dallas Stars NHL ice hockey team.

Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans is open to cars during the daytime in a one-way direction from Canal Street towards Esplanade Avenue. At night, from around 7 pm, bollards and police barriers close off most of Bourbon Street to traffic and it becomes a pedestrian mall for night-time revellers. Cross streets remain open to vehicles. Bourbon Street is also closed to traffic during special events such as New Year’s Eve celebrations and Mardi Gras.

Pop star Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch was located on Figueroa Mountain Road in Los Olivos, California, some 31 miles (or 50 kilometers) northwest of Santa Barbara. Then-named Sycamore Valley Ranch, Jackson purchased the house with 2,700-acre grounds as a home in 1988, renaming it Neverland, and built a private amusement park on the property, complete with fairground rides, a mini railway, and zoo. He made little use of the property after 2005, and the property was refinanced when he was threatened with foreclosure proceedings. Following Jackson’s sudden death from a drug overdose in Los Angeles in 2009, the amusement park was substantially dismantled, and the ranch, renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch again, was marketed for sale in 2015, initially for $100 million. In 2020, American businessman Ronald Burkle purchased the property for $22 million.

A person who is a long-time resident or native of Stockport is called a Stopfordian. It is the commonly used demonym for someone from Stockport, Greater Manchester.

Whistler ski resort in British Columbia is named after the whistling sound made by the hoary marmots native to the area’s alpine environments. Whistler Mountain itself was originally named London Mountain by British naval officers surveying the area in the 1860s. The name Whistler Mountain was officially adopted in the mid-1960s during the early years of its development as a commercial ski resort.

In good daytime conditions, driving across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway between Metairie and Mandeville, Louisiana, takes approximately 25 minutes. In foggy conditions, the crossing time will be nearer 45 minutes as traffic is restricted to a single lane and a speed limit of 35 mph. At the 16 mile marker, the bridge has a bascule drawbridge to allow passage of marine vessels, which requires road traffic to stop when raised.

Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman on the evening of February 26th, 2012, on a path running between houses on Twin Trees Lane and Retreat View Circle, at The Retreat at Twin Lakes, a residential community in Sanford, Florida. Martin, a 17-year-old high school student, was returning on foot from a nearby convenience store to the home of his father’s fiancee in the gated community. Zimmerman, a resident and neighborhood watch volunteer at The Retreat, observed Martin and called the police to report what he considered to be a suspicious person. Zimmerman, who was licensed to carry a firearm, reportedly followed Martin on foot and during a physical altercation between them, fatally shot an unarmed Martin. Zimmerman was ultimately charged and stood trial for murder, but was acquitted after claiming self defense. The killing of Trayvon Martin, an African-American, who had a legitimate reason to be walking in the area, attracted accusations of racial bias, compounded by the delay before authorities arrested and charged Zimmerman. The incident drew worldwide attention and widespread protests in the United States.

When Norfolk, Virginia’s Berkley Bridge is lifted, it stays open for as long as required to allow water traffic to pass, which can be as much as 15 minutes, during which time road and pedestrian traffic is stopped. Subject to federal regulations, during weekday daytime hours, the double-leafed bascule bridge over the Eastern Branch Elizabeth River is limited to four lifts for vessels that have signaled and are waiting to pass, at 9 am, 11 am, 1 pm, and 2:30 pm. To accommodate I-264 rush hour traffic, the bridge normally remains in the closed position during weekday commute periods, from 5 am to 9 am and 3 pm to 7 pm, except during federal holidays. Outside of the restricted hours, and on weekends, the bridge lifts on request. Operators of vessels with a draft of at least 18 feet can request a bridge lift during restricted times, with at least six hours’ notice to the Berkley Bridge Traffic Control room.

There is no access to Point Bonita Lighthouse when closed as the final leg of the trail to the bridge and lighthouse passes though a rock tunnel which is gated and locked outside of opening hours. Point Bonita Lighthouse is normally open only on Sunday and Monday from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm. The short, steep trail from the car park as far as the tunnel gate remains open daily, and offers good vantage points with views from the Marin Headlands towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

The statue of English footballer Duncan Edwards is located on Market Place in the centre of his home town of Dudley, West Midlands. The Manchester United and England national team player, was one of the Busby Babes, a group of young, talented footballers playing for Manchester United in the 1950s under manager Matt Busby. Edwards was one of eight Manchester United players who died as a result of the Munich air crash. He survived the crash but died from his injuries 15 days later on 21st February 1958, aged 21. His mother, Sarah-Anne Edwards, unveiled the statue in 1999, along with his Manchester United teammate, Sir Bobby Charlton, who survived the plane crash. The statue was relocated to the other end of Market Place during the town centre refurbishment, and rededicated in 2015.

Alexander Hamilton’s 1802 home, The Grange, was relocated in June 2008 to the northern end of Saint Nicholas Park in Harlem’s Hamilton Heights neighborhood. The Founding Father’s yellow and white Federal-style house previously stood a block north, next to Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church on Convent Avenue at 141st Street. Despite becoming a National Memorial in 1962, it was hemmed in by neighboring buildings, and had fallen into a state of disrepair. The relocation project included a $14.5 million restoration of the building, which is managed by the National Parks Service as the Hamilton Grange National Memorial. It was the second move for the Grange, having originally been built on a hilltop at the center of Hamilton’s 32-acre country estate, just two blocks north where West 43rd Street stands today. To accommodate expansion of Manhattan’s street grid layout, the house was donated to St Luke’s in 1889 and first relocated to the site adjacent to the present-day church. The Grange was Hamilton’s home for just two years before he was shot and killed in 1804 in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr.

Notorious American gangster Al Capone spent 4½ years in the prison on Alcatraz Island after being transferred there in August 1934 from the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta. Capone was serving an 11-year sentence for tax evasion, during which time his mental health seriously declined due to syphilis contracted prior to his incarceration. He spent his final year at Alcatraz on the prison’s hospital wing before being transferred in January 1939, aged 39, to the prison at Terminal Island, Los Angeles.

British film director and producer Tony Scott died by suicide, aged 68, when he jumped off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the San Pedro district of Los Angeles, California, on August 19th, 2012. He had left his Toyota Prius car parked on the bridge, with a note containing contact information, and a note for his family was found later in his office. No reason for his suicide was publicly disclosed, and the coroner found no evidence that he was suffering any serious underlying medical condition at the time. Scott, the brother of film director Sir Ridley Scott, was best known for directing box office hit movies such as Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, Days of Thunder, and Crimson Tide.

The Kalamazoo Greyhound stop is at the Kalamazoo Transportation Center on North Burdick Street at Kalamazoo Avenue in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan. The transport hub is shared by the Amtrak train station and bus services operated by Metro Transit, Greyhound Lines, Miller Transportation and Indian Trails. The complex has a concession stand, restrooms, and a waiting area open until 11 pm daily. Greyhound tickets must be purchased in advance as they are not sold at this location.

The City of Palo Alto prohibits smoking in public places, including workplaces, bars, restaurants, stores, and theaters. The ban extends to all commercial areas, including publicly-owned sidewalks, alleys, parking areas, and service areas such as taxi and bus stops, in the city’s commercial zones, including downtown Palo Alto, California Avenue business district, Town and County Shopping Center, and Stanford Shopping Center. Smoking is also prohibited in multi-unit residences, including apartment buildings, condominium complexes, senior and assisted living facilities, and long-term health care facilities. The smoking ban also prohibits the use of electronic vaping devices.

The 96.5 KOIT radio studios are located on the third floor of the DC Station building on Junipero Serra Boulevard in Daly City, California. The Adult Contemporary format radio station relocated here in 2020 from its former studios in downtown San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. The broadcast facilities are shared shared with three other Bonneville-owned Bay Area FM stations, 99.7 NOW (KMVQ), 102.9 KBLX, and 98.5 KFOX.

For Colorado Avalanche ice hockey games at Ball Arena in Denver, doors open 1 hour before puck drop.

On January 8, 2011, US Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot during a constituent meeting held in the parking lot of the Safeway store at the Oracle Place Shopping Center in Casas Adobes, near Tucson, Arizona. Giffords was shot in the head at close range and taken to hospital in critical condition. Eighteen others were shot at the event, six fatally, including Gabe Zimmerman, who was one of Giffords’ staffers, federal District Court Chief Judge John Roll, and a 9-year-old girl. Giffords underwent surgery to treat her injuries, followed by intensive rehabilitation therapy. In January 2012, she resigned from her congressional seat in order to concentrate on recovering from her brain injury. The shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, a 22-year-old Tucson man, was detained at the scene and arrested by police. He had deliberately targeted Giffords and was later diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. At his trial in November 2012, he was sentenced to life plus 140 years in federal prison.

You can drive to Manitoulin Island via the Little Current Swing Bridge which carries Highway 6 over the North Channel of Lake Huron in Northeastern Manitoulin, Ontario. To reach the Swing Bridge, from Highway 17 (Trans Canada Highway) between Sudbury and Sault Saint Marie, turn on to Highway 6 for Espanola and continue for 50 kilometers (or 31 miles) towards Little Current. The bridge is usually in the closed position to allow highway traffic to cross, except during summer, when it swings open for the first 15 minutes of each daylight hour to permit passage of boating traffic. There is no weight restriction on the bridge. Alternatively, vehicles can be taken on the daily ferry service between Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula and the South Baymouth terminal on Manitoulin Island, with a crossing time of up to 2 hours.