Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 85

Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 85

Hosted Live/Produced/Recorded by: Andru Valpy, Natty Somers.

Air Date: 07/15/2011 6:00 PM on UMFM 101.5 FM
Free Podcast Download Location: iTunes.
Web: http://wakeupwinnipeg.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wakeupwinnipeg 

Become a FaceBook Fan: http://facebook.com/wakeupwinnipeg
Rebroadcast: 07/20/2011 on CJUM 101.5 UMFM - 6:30 AM

This week, Natty and I continued on with our Winnipeg Folk Festival coverage by airing live interviews with the various artists we had the pleasure of meeting at the 2011 Winnipeg Folk Festival.

Before we got to the good stuff, we woke our listeners up to recent news and event happenings occurring within the perimeter, and beyond.

Leading headlines this week, The Winnipeg police department has acknowledged that a gang conflict  is taking place on our cities streets.

To date, the Winnipeg Police Service acknowledges that over thirteen incidents have occurred between June 14th through July 13th, including the most recent attack at a tattoo parlor in the 100 block of Osbourne street.

Ongoing investigations are continuing and have already lead to the arrests of a 23 year old male, and a 33 year old male in connection with the tattoo parlor attack that occurred on Tuesday. Both face numerous charges.

The Police Service is committed to dealing with this conflict and in their efforts have already made approximately  fifteen arrests so far for a variety of breaches, drug possession and outstanding warrants.

The Winnipeg Police Service would like to remind members of the public that these series of events involve individuals associated to outlaw motorcycle gangs.

The resolution of these incidents continues to be of the highest priority.

Winnipeg Transit Director Dave Wardrop announced earlier this week that the Winnipeg Transit Busse's will be re-fitted with electronic fare readers to ensure that riders are paying the correct amount of fare.

The move is part of a five year transit plan that was introduced by city council five years ago.  Currently, the bus fare system relies on a paper-based system.

The new machines are expected to be available by pre-paid smart cards which will be loadable by internet purchase or through a kiosk system which is expected to be released when the project launches. 

The project will cost a total amount of 17 million dollars.

Finally, ending off this week's headlines,

Drivers in Los Angeles California are preparing today for what is being called "Carmageddon".

A 10 mile stretch of interstate 405, will be shutting down for 53 hours starting at 7:00 PM This evening while crews begin a painstaking demolition project to expand and repair the iconic three-span box girder bridge.

The Mulholland Bridge is an artery that links communities north and south of the Santa Monica Mountains. This will be the first time in fifty years that the section of I-405 will be virtually silent.

The current bridge is 72 feet wide, 579 feet long and 80 feet high from the ground. The new bridge will be widened by 82 feet wide, and 608 feet long.

4,000 tons of concert are expected to be removed from the southern half of the bridge, leaving the northern half of the bridge remaining open for emergency access traffic.

The exercise will continue next year with the northern side of the bridge.

Resident Angeleno's are already being asked to avoid the section of the highway, with some calling it Carmeggedon.

On a typical weekend in July, about a half a million vehicles use the section of the freeway to get to major locations such as LAX International airport, popular beaches, and major interchanges that connect with other sections of the interstate system.

Michael Miles, a California Department of Transportation official stated the best thing Angelenos can do is stay home if you can, and not to drive if you have to" noting to be prepared, and to treat the closure as a disaster.

To discourage drivers, transit officials will be offering free rides on the subway and select bus lines and will be adding more train service.

Quick not to miss a marketing opportunity, transportation companies are also offering discounted deals to help ease the burden of traffic, with Jet Blue airways offering one way 30 minute tickets between $4.00 to $5.00 for flights between Long Beach Airport and Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, calling it a "plane pool" between San Fernando Valley and the beach.

Us Rail Provider Amtrak noted 50% discounts to their train passengers to help as well.

And finally, a helicopter company is advertising 150.00 rides to zip people to LAX airport.

A fitness instructor suggests "Carmageddon yoga" for stressed-out drivers, while Dr. Arnold Klein, Michael Jackson's longtime dermatologist, is giving 25 per cent off on Botox injections.

The highway is expected to open again by 6:00 AM on Monday.

After a brief Fringe Festival event listing, Natty and Andru turned it over to portions of their interviews at the Winnipeg Folk Festival.

Our interviews this week included the following artists or groups:

Oh My Darling
David Wax Museum
Trampled By Turtles
Melissa McClelland

On next weeks episode, we'll conclude our Folk Fest coverage with interviews with the Tom Fun Orchestra and Winnipeg's own The Imaginary Cities.

Our subscribers in iTunes will also have a chance to hear the full interviews next week, after they have aired on UMFM 101.5 FM.

In the mean time, subscribe in iTunes now to receive past episodes of Wake Up Winnipeg, and automatic updates on future Podcasts.

Be sure to tune in to Wake Up Winnipeg in it's new live time slot on UMFM 101.5 FM in Winnipeg on Friday evenings at 6:00PM CST, and online at http://umfm.com/

You can follow us for up to the date information online at http://twitter.com/wakeupwinnipeg or like us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/wakeupwinnipeg and finally find more information on our webpage at http://wakeupwinnipeg.com/

(c) 2011. A. Valpy. - Wake Up Winnipeg