Beach Weekly S10E12: CSULB road repairs, NPR quits Twitter & more

In Season 10: Episode 12 of Beach Weekly, Lei Madrigal discusses the most recent local, national and international news. As the CSULB campus roads see a lot of wear and tear due to the high transportation rate as a commuter school, a three-phase project called the Campus Road Repair Project is underway to enhance campus safety and efficiency. Cracks in roads will be fixed and loose asphalt will be replaced. Pedestrians will get wider sidewalks, drivers will get sturdier roads, and cyclists will get new, safer bike lanes. In total, the completed project is estimated to cost around $2.4 million once all repairs are finished. An office tower in East Long Beach near the university campus is being turned into 149 off-campus student apartment suites. The new apartment complex will be geared towards Long Beach State students but not officially affiliated with the university. The developers plan to begin leasing apartments in the new building by the 2025-2026 school year. Last month, the city of Long Beach turned a rarely-used downtown parking lot into a safe site for people living in their cars. The site provides vital resources including restrooms, pet areas and hand-washing stations. There are also Homeless Services Bureau staff on-site to connect homeless people to programs that could provide relief. The site will operate until May 21. NPR will no longer post new content on Twitter accounts after Twitter’s decision to label the media organization as “government-funded” and “state-affiliated.” NPR is a private, non-profit organization whose institution and board are independent of the government. NPR will continue to be active on all other forms of social media. The lithium-ion battery in an electric bike caused a fire that resulted in two deaths last Monday in New York City. The bike was charging outside of a multi-family building when it suddenly erupted in flames and quickly made its way to a second-floor apartment. Last Thursday, Ghana approved a new vaccine for children five months through 36 months old to prevent the spread of malaria. An early-stage testing result from last year found that the vaccine is about 80% effective. The final testing stages of the vaccine are still underway and results are expected by the end of the year. It is not yet known when the vaccine will be widely available. An enormous amount of water will continue to rush into California’s rivers and streams this spring and summer as a result of melting snowcaps. Two rivers, the Tule and Kern, may exceed 400% of their average runoff from April to July. Reservoirs and basins in Southern California are also expected to overflow. Somewhere in a forest between Maine and Canada, a ton of meteorites hit Earth and they are waiting to be discovered. The Maine Mineral and Gem Museum is offering $25,000 to the first person to find and turn in any meteorites weighing over two pounds. Host: Lei Madrigal Editor: Andy Nguyen Producers: Leila Nunez, Isabel Silagy Like, comment, and follow us on your favorite platform for more content! Apple Podcasts ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beach-weekly/id1488484518?uo=4⁠ Google Podcasts ⁠https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kMzEwMjEwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz⁠ Spotify ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4HJaqJep02kHeIQy8op1n1⁠ Overcast https://overcast.fm/itunes1488484518/beach-weekly