Page 8 - IAV Digital Magazine #498

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Nearly 20k Teens In Georgia Have Received Their Driver’s Licenses Without A Road Test
The sweaty palms on the steering wheel. The repeated exclamations of “Sorry!” The nerv- ous glances from the examiner. They’re all part of the dreaded road test, which, for decades, has been a rite of passage for every American teenager to obtain their dri- ver’s license.Well, until now.”I had been nervous about the driving test —
with the parallel parking and all that,” said 17- year-old Willa Pevey from Tucker, Georgia.”So I was happy that I didn’t have to do it.”
Neither did thou- sands and thou- sands of other teens in Georgia. All of them got their licenses without taking an official road test. It’s Georgia’s way of handling the backlog of the
thousands of road test requests that have been put on hold due to
the coronavirus pandemic.On Wednesday, the state’s Department of Driver Services released just how many teens had their permits upgraded since the road test waiver was announced last month: 19,483 teens.
Southern California Stench Blamed On Glowing Algae
By Ben Hooper
May 13 (UPI) -- A mysterious stench causing complaints across Southern California might be the result of bioluminescent algae dying off in the ocean, experts said.
Residents across Southern California, includ- ing Los
Angeles, com- plained of a mys- terious
odor Tuesday, and utility provider SoCalGa s said workers determined the smell was not the cause of a natu- ral gas leak in the
area.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District said investigators determined the odor is likely coming from the ocean.
"Based on what we're seeing, we do believe it's organic in nature coming from the red tides," Terry Mann, deputy executive officer of enforcement with South Coast AQMD, told KABC-TV.
Valerie Burkholder with the Aquarium of the Pacific said
the smell is believed to be a result of the bio- luminescent algae that
has been making waves off the California coast glow for the past couple weeks. She said the algae is starting to die off, causing a foul smell.
"The thing that's responsible for it is the Dinoflagellate," Burkholder said. "Mother Nature can do some gross things sometimes and this is just one of those many examples."