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Philadelphia recently installed two Portland Loos: modular, stand-alone public restrooms first commissioned by Portland, Oregon. The single-stall metal structures are easy to keep clean and feature rounded walls to deter graffiti and walls that are louvered at the top and bottom to deter mischief inside stalls. However, despite these supposed benefits, cities regularly spend absurd amounts of taxpayer funds to purchase and install the bathrooms.

Philly plans to install six Loos over the next five years as part of the city’s public restroom pilot, which Philadelphia Health and Human Services launched in January 2021. The city has budgeted $1.8 million for six units, or $300,000 per unit, including installation costs.

According to a Portland Loo spokesperson who spoke with Reason, the total cost is around $200,000: up to $155,000 for the unit, including shipping, and between $30,000 and $80,000 for installation. Maintenance is about $14,000 annually. (Photos: Portland.gov) $140,000
Portland, Oregon for the original 2008 ? $330,000
Dayton, Ohio for two units $97,000
San Antonio, Texas for one unit $290,000
Charleston, South Carolina for one unit $320,000
Cambridge, Massachusetts for one unit

“We had one restroom near a kid’s soccer fielda traditional brick and mortar….Unfortunately, the reality is people will spread feces all over the walls. It happened so often…just way too often. Because it’s a brick and mortar, you can never clean that off.”

Ventura, California, Parks and Recreation Director Nancy O’Connor in a statement to The Philadelphia Citizen

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Entertainment

Thunderbirds and Peppa Pig actor David Graham dies aged 99

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Thunderbirds and Peppa Pig actor David Graham dies aged 99

David Graham, whose voice featured in some of the UK’s favourite TV shows, including Thunderbirds and Peppa Pig, has died.

The London-born star was 99.

Jamie Anderson, the son of Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson, led the tributes on X as he called Graham a “legendary” actor.

Graham brought to life the Thunderbirds puppet characters Gordon Tracy, scientist Brains, and Lady Penelope’s driver, Aloysius “Nosey” Parker, in the series about the secret International Rescue organisation.

Graham with Parker. Pic: Geoff Pugh/Shutterstock
Image:
David Graham with Parker from Thunderbirds. Pic: Geoff Pugh/Shutterstock

“We will miss you dearly, David. Our thoughts are with David’s friends and family,” Anderson’s post on X confirming the death on Friday said.

Anderson went on to pay tribute to Graham, who also voiced the evil Daleks in Doctor Who, saying: “David was always a wonderful friend to us here at Anderson Entertainment.”

‘What a talent’

Anderson also told the PA news agency: “Just a few weeks ago, I was with 2,000 Anderson fans at a Gerry Anderson concert in Birmingham where we sang him happy birthday – such a joyous occasion.

“And now, just a few weeks later, he’s left us. David was always kind and generous with his time and his talent. And what a talent.”

Read more from Sky News:
Farage: It’s possible I could become PM

Body found in search for missing TV chaplain

Parker from Thunderbirds. Pic: 
Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Image:
Parker from Thunderbirds. Pic: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock

Highlighting all the characters played by Graham, Anderson added: “He will be sorely missed.”

Graham returned as Parker for ITV’s remake Thunderbirds Are Go, which ran between 2015 and 2020, but not for the live-action 2004 film which saw Ron Cook take on the role.

David Graham has died. Pic: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Image:
Pic: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock

The original 1965 Thunderbirds was created by Gerry Anderson, who died in 2012, and his second wife, Sylvia, the voice of Lady Penelope, who died in 2016.

Graham also played Grandpa Pig in children’s show Peppa Pig, and provided the voice for characters in Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom.

His in-person acting roles included Doctor Who, Coronation Street and Casualty.

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Technology

SEC says Elon Musk should be sanctioned if he keeps dodging Twitter depositions

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SEC says Elon Musk should be sanctioned if he keeps dodging Twitter depositions

Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X looks on during the Milken Conference 2024 Global Conference Sessions at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 6, 2024. 

David Swanson | Reuters

The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a federal judge to sanction Elon Musk if he continues to violate the court’s order to appear for a deposition in a probe of his 2022 Twitter acquisition.

The SEC has been investigating whether Musk or anyone else working with him committed securities fraud in 2022 as the Tesla CEO sold shares in his automaker and shored up a stake in Twitter, ahead of his leveraged buyout of the company now known as X.

In May, the court ordered Musk to appear for a deposition by the financial regulators regarding the Twitter deal.

“Musk has now failed to appear before the SEC twice: first in September 2023, in defiance of a lawful administrative subpoena, and last week, in defiance of a clear court order,” SEC attorney Robin Andrews said in the Friday filing.

Andrews asked the judge to consider sanctions should Musk delay further, according to the filing.

“The Court must make clear that Musk’s gamesmanship and delay tactics must cease,” Andrews wrote.

The filing also revealed, in a footnote, that the SEC intends to ask the court to hold Musk in “civil contempt” for canceling a deposition on Sept. 10, giving the agency only a few hours notice that he would not appear. Musk’s cancellation cost the SEC time and money after it sent personnel to Los Angeles to depose him and he didn’t appear for the investigative interview, the agency said.

Musk’s deposition in the probe has been rescheduled for a date in early October at an SEC office, the filing said.

“Without further action by the Court, nothing deters Musk” from “simply failing to show up for that date,” Andrews wrote.

Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, a partner at Quinn Emanuel in New York, wrote in a response that “such drastic action would be inappropriate,” adding that the SEC and Musk had agreed rescheduling would be permissible in light of an emergency.

Additionally, Musk and his companies have “cooperated and are cooperating with the SEC in multiple other ongoing investigations,” Spiro wrote.

In a separate, civil lawsuit concerning the same Twitter deal, the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System has sued Musk in a federal court in New York accusing him of deliberately concealing his progressive investments in Twitter and intent to buy out the company.

The pension fund’s attorneys argue that Musk, by failing to clearly disclose his investments in and intentions to buy Twitter, had influenced other shareholders’ decisions and put them at a disadvantage.

Discovery from that case in New York yielded correspondence between an unnamed person at Morgan Stanley, and the executive who manages Musk’s money, Jared Birchall. In the messages, the Morgan Stanley contact wrote in February 2022 that Musk’s Twitter stock-buying strategy was closely held.

“No one knows what is going on and why but you and me,” the person at Morgan Stanley wrote. “Not compliance, not anyone.”

Read the court filing below:

Elon Musk's X is a financial 'disaster,' co-authors of new book 'Character Limit' say

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Environment

Italian DC fast charger maker Alpitronic enters the US market [video]

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Italian DC fast charger maker Alpitronic enters the US market [video]

Electrek‘s Seth Weintraub went to Alpitronic America’s new HQ to speak with CEO Mike Doucleff about its plans to roll out its ultra-fast chargers across the US.

Bolzano, Italy-based Alpitronic was founded in 2009, and it specializes in the development and production of DC fast chargers. The global company’s best-known product line is the Hypercharger, an ultra-fast EV charging station that can deliver charging power from 50 kW to 400 kW, depending on the model.

Alpitronic Americas recently announced an agreement with Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging to become the first DC fast-charging network to deploy Hypercharger 400 units at scale in the US.

Alpitronics Americas’ new headquarters’ 68,000-square-foot office and industrial space in Charlotte, North Carolina, includes a diagnostics laboratory and repair center, a spare parts warehouse, a training center, and space for as many as 300 employees.

The Bolzano, Italy-based company’s Hyperchargers achieve, on average, an efficiency rate greater than 97.5%, and that its repair and service network can service chargers anywhere in the US.

Alpitronic cofounder and CEO Philipp Senoner said, “As a natural part of Alpitronic’s growth, we are anxious to expand our industry-leading Hypercharger network from Europe, where we are market-share leader, to North America. We are pleased with the talent we are finding in North Carolina and look forward to setting a new standard for the EV charging network in the US.”

Alpitronic chargers support all EV brands. Pre-production units have been tested publicly in Rock Hill, SC, and Portland, OR. The first US-built, public chargers are expected to be installed and available in October.

Seth and Mike Doucleff discuss what Aliptronic’s main driver was to come to the US, what attracted them to Charlotte, and what the company thinks the future of DC fast chargers is in the US, among other things. Their conversation begins at 00:41 on the Electrek podcast below:


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