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U.S. NEWS Friday 23 November 2018

Despite cold, balloons fly at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade

From Front cap-covered heads. Tony Stout had camped Entertainers including Di- Ora tweeted thanks to Ma-
The 21 degrees (minus 6 out with his extended fam- ana Ross, John Legend, cy’s for “the honesty.”
By STEPHEN R. GROVES and Celsius) at the start made it ily since 2 a.m. to make sure Martina McBride and the In another moment that got
MICHAEL R. SISAK, one of the coldest Thanks- they got a good view of his Muppets from “Sesame attention, a performance
Associated Press givings in the city in de- son, who was in the parade Street” performed in the from the Broadway musical
NEW YORK (AP) — Frigid cades, and the tempera- with the Ohio State Univer- frigid cold. “The Prom” included a kiss
weather and blustery winds ture warmed only a few sity marching band. Macy’s later apologized for between two female cast
didn’t chill the enthusiasm degrees as the parade “Ohhh, I’m freezing and “technical difficulties” after members. The producers
at the Macy’s Thanksgiving rolled along. numb, but excited,” said fans ripped into singer Rita told Entertainment Weekly
Day Parade, where specta- Officials had been ready Stout, who had traveled Ora for what they saw as it was the parade’s “first
tors bundled up in blankets to order the 16 helium-filled from Columbus, Ohio. awkward lip-syncing. LGBTQ kiss.”
and sleeping bags and the balloons to a lower altitude Dylan Mahoney, who has The British artist appeared Representatives for Macy’s
giant character balloons or removed entirely if sus- come to the parade ev- out of sync with the vocals and broadcaster NBCU-
flew lower than usual. tained winds exceeded 23 ery year for the past dozen that viewers heard dur- niversal didn’t respond to
SpongeBob, Charlie Brown, mph (37 kph) and gusts ex- years, said he stayed warm ing parts of her televised inquiries. Thursday was one
the Grinch and other big ceeded 34 mph (54 kph). by layering, including sev- performance of “Let You of New York City’s coldest
balloons were cleared for There have been mishaps eral pairs of socks. Love Me,” and the episode Thanksgivings, with Nation-
takeoff just before Thurs- and injuries in the past “It’s one of the coldest,” he sparked a flurry of online al Weather Service data
day’s parade, although when gusts blew them off said, but “we’ve watched commentary. showing the temperature
some floated at noticeably course. in the rain before.” Macy’s apologized via peaked at 27 degrees (mi-
lower-than-usual heights Bystanders refused to let He said he loves the tradi- Twitter, saying “several re- nus 2 Celsius). The cold-
above the people holding the cold put a damper tion of attending the pa- cording artists experienced est on record was in 1871,
their tethers, like the out- on watching the parade, rade, driving from Leonia, technical difficulties that when the warmest it got
stretched hand of the “Dia- breaking out blankets and New Jersey, in the early negatively impacted their was 22 degrees (minus 5
ry of a Wimpy Kid” balloon sleeping bags to watch the hours to see the bands and performance” and were Celsius).
that appeared to hit some balloons, bands and floats balloons and racing for a beyond the performers’ The Macy’s parade didn’t
of his handlers on their wool go by. good spot. control. start until 1924. q

Artificial intelligence improves highway safety in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Artifi- cameras, sensors and other additional resources from
cial intelligence is helping traffic data to develop pre- state or local agencies.
improve safety along a diction models to reduce “Groundbreaking partner-
stretch of Las Vegas’ busi- congestion. The Regional ships like this enable South-
est highway. Transportation Commis- ern Nevada to continue to
The Nevada Highway Pa- sion of Southern Nevada, lead the way in leveraging
trol says a yearlong partner- the Nevada Department advanced technologies to
ship between public safety of Transportation and the dramatically improve traf-
agencies and a startup Nevada Highway Patrol fic safety and efficiency,”
technology firm resulted in teamed up for the pilot pro- RTC general manager Tina
a 17 percent reduction in gram with Waycare. The Quigley said.
crashes along a portion of Israeli startup already car- “These latest statistics cou-
northbound Interstate 15 ried out a similar program pled with the fact that we
just west of the Las Vegas in Tel Aviv, and it started a are identifying accidents
Strip. The Las Vegas Re- crash prevention program up to 12 minutes faster
view-Journal reports Way- In this Feb. 12, 2008, file photo, traffic moves along Interstate last year in Tampa, Florida. with the Waycare platform
care, a provider of artificial 15 in Las Vegas. Artificial intelligence is helping improve safety The Nevada Highway Pa- helps translate what public
intelligence-based mobility along a stretch of Las Vegas’ busiest highways. trol says the results from the and private partnerships
products and services for Associated Press. initial project on I-15 in Las can do and that AI is work-
smart cities, helped lead it in other parts of the Las I-15 and the Rainbow Bou- Vegas between Charles- ing to modernize and cre-
the crash prevention pilot Vegas Valley, including a levard curve. The program ton Boulevard and Russell ate a better transportation
program. They hope to use stretch of U.S. 95 between uses in-vehicle information, Road came without any system for all.”q