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A top Republican senator demanded a deeper explanation from President Trump about his removal of the State Department watchdog while criticizing the ousted inspector general over a flawed investigation into British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s dossier.

“Stealth” coronavirus cases are fueling the pandemic, with a staggering 86% of people infected walking around undetected, a new study says. Six of every seven cases – 86% — were not reported in China before travel restrictions were implemented, driving the spread of the virus, according to a study Monday in the journal Science. “It’s the undocumented infections which are driving the spread of the outbreak,” said co-author Jeffrey Shaman of Columbia University Mailman School, according to GeekWire. Using computer modeling, researchers tracked infections before and after the Chinese city of Wuhan’s travel ban.

A public interest advocacy group has identified the country’s “most wasteful and pointless” transportation projects, which are costing taxpayers $25 billion. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) cites among “the biggest boondoggles” a $2.2 billion widening of Interstate 81 in Virginia, a $7 billion interstate project in Houston and a $802 million “Connecting Miami” redesign of city highways. According to PIRG, widening highways to reduce gridlock fails for several reasons. Multiple studies show that more road space over time leads to further congestion because of a phenomenon called “induced demand.” “We’re stuck in a car-centric rut in the United...

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s ability to build new toll roads may be temporarily stymied by opposition from state leaders, but the agency is keeping busy with major ongoing projects. While the great majority of its spending is on expanding roadway capacity for cars, CTRMA Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein emphasized the millions the agency is investing in bike and pedestrian infrastructure in a Tuesday presentation to the Travis County Commissioners Court. The $108 million construction of State Highway 45 SW, linking MoPac Expressway with FM 1626, will be accompanied by a 4.5-mile shared-use path, along with pedestrian and bicycle...

After roaming around and studying downtown for a week, the Urban Land Institute’s advisory services panel provided Atlanta leaders with recommendations on how to move forward with the colossal proposed “Stitch” project. On Friday, ULI, which conducts land use research for cities around the globe, suggested the time is now to partner with local elected officials and philanthropic organizations to get the ball rolling on fundraising efforts for the potentially 14-acre project that would install a massive park and new construction above the Downtown Connector. But in order to be competitive for public and private funding—panelists expect the highway-capping project...

VIDEO On October 10, 2018 I walked just over 30,000 steps or 15.6 miles according to my Samsung Health app. The next morning after a very deep sleep I felt great. No soreness in my legs. Only a very slight stiffness. Not only is this a good way to help lose weight but it most definitely does lower the blood pressure.

You can sum up the Greensboro area’s biggest transportation news in several generations with two words: Urban Loop. Set for completion by 2022 — when the last of the Greensboro Urban Loop’s remaining two legs are finished — the project’s potential impact is hard to overstate. It will mark the end for a legacy of planning, debate, study and construction that harkens back to the late 1940s. “The Urban Loop is probably a once-in-a-lifetime project,” says Adam Fischer, director of the Greensboro Department of Transportation. “I don’t see any project ahead that’s quite on that scale.” Spanning 44 miles when...

A coalition of local leaders backed by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce wants voters to approve a sales tax increase on the November ballot to pay for projects like the widening of Interstate 25 and the buildout of bike lanes. The group filed four ballot measures with the Secretary of State on Thursday that would raise between $500 million and $1 billion for transportation projects, according to the chamber, and allow that money to be used to pay for bonds, which would generate even more upfront cash. A booming population across the Front Range has created traffic snarls on...

Google Maps has removed a feature that informed users how many calories they could burn by walking, which took the form of counting how many cupcakes would be burned off based on the distance, following complaints by users that claimed it was “triggering.” According to the Telegraph, “Users have reacted badly to cupcake metric on social media describing it as ‘shaming’ and some saying it could be a trigger for people suffering from eating disorders.” In a post on Twitter, Taylor Lorenz, a reporter for the Hill and Mic, called the feature “triggering.” “I guess Google maps now automatically shows...

They may not ride in crammed trains or carry angst over potholes but feuding presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both want to fix America's infrastructure. The focus on improving public transit and highways couldn't come soon enough for local commuters, say two experts. "There is a desperate need to invest more into mass transit in Chicagoland," Regional Transportation Authority Chairman and former state senator Kirk Dillard said. "Most states significantly assist in the mass transit arena, but that is not the case today in Illinois," Dillard added, noting New York City budgets about $196 per capita on mass...

A proposed “distracted walking” bill in New Jersey would ban pedestrians from walking and texting simultaneously, with the possibility of a $50 fine or even a short jail sentence. The measure, which has been proposed by New Jersey Assembly Congresswoman Pamela Lampitt, is to try and reduce pedestrian deaths as a result of distraction from mobile devices. The law would ban people from walking while texting on any form of electronic communication device unless it is totally hands free. Those caught could face fines of up to $50, 15 days imprisonment, or both, which is the same penalty as jaywalking.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - About 5,500 more people could survive a major tsunami hitting the Pacific Northwest if they just walk a little faster to higher ground after roads are knocked out, a new study shows. The report published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looked at 73 communities along 700 miles of coastline in Oregon, Washington and Northern California. The area is considered most at risk from the next major earthquake and tsunami in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, where two plates of the Earth's crust come together miles off the coast. Emergency preparedness experts...

Note to new readers: This article explores the consequences of using so much fuel to produce our food. If you come out of it thinking it’s telling you to drive rather than get some exercise, you didn’t read it!

WHITEHOUSE , Texas, A Texas woman who was approached by a police officer who was “acting suspicious” was arrested after she failed to stop and talk to him. Melissa Bonnette was out for a walk on Friday morning when a Whitehouse Police Department officer pulled up alongside her on a motorcycle and asked her to talk. The officer, Shawn Johnson, allegedly approached Bonnette because she was walking on the wrong side of the road. "I thought that maybe he was flirting," Bonnette told KYTX. "I just thought it was odd, I thought it was odd. I wasn't really sure but...

"When walking in open space, collision avoidance with other pedestrians is a process that successfully takes place many times."

Raise your hand if you’ve ever walked smack into something or someone while staring down at your smartphone? Yeah, you. You know who you are, and you’re far from alone. We’re guilty of walking and texting, too. Fear no longer, distracted, device-gazing zombie walkers. Help for unabashed, small-screen addicts like us is on the way -- to the Google Play store next month, actually. The industrious geniuses at New York City’s One Llama Labs have developed a hyper sound-sensitive Android app called Audio Aware.

Walking, fast or slow, is wonderful exercise. But now a first-of-its-kind study shows that to get the most health benefits from walking, many of us need to pick up the pace. The findings stem from a new analysis of the National Walkers’ Health Study, a large database of information maintained at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory about thousands of middle-age men and women who walk regularly for exercise. Recruited beginning in 1998 at walking events and from lists of subscribers to walking-related publications, these volunteers filled out a lengthy survey about their typical walking distance and pace, as well as...

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) had harsh words Saturday for those who racially profile black men. Wilson said that black males “will continue to be singled out and arrested for driving while black, shopping while black, walking while black, eating while black, and just being plain old black.”

Walking or other light exercise after meals may reduce glucose levels by more than half in both healthy people and type 1 diabetes patients.... Dr. Yogish Kudva, who led the study at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, stated that, "Minimal activity sustained for 30 minutes (walking 0.7 miles in 33 minutes) lowers post-meal glucose concentrations. Such activity has little or no risk for almost everybody."

Tens of thousands of Jews are expected to visit the Tomb of Rachel next week on the occasion of her “hilula” celebrations, but police warned Monday that the area was very sensitive, and that there were “serious threats” to visitors. Police officials were speaking at at a meeting of the Knesset Public Affairs Committee, responding to requests by MKs that visitors be allowed to approach the site on foot, instead of being required to take a short bus ride from Jerusalem. The ride is inconvenient visitors to waste much time waiting on line and crowding onto buses for an uncomfortable...