USA Update

A NEW law has banned certain vehicles from using the left-hand lane on several major roads and forced drivers to pack more in their trunks.

Versions of the rules have been enforced previously, but officials have decided to significantly extend their scope.

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Drivers in Colorado are now subject to strict new rules governing winter driving[/caption]

Winter is very much on the way, with parts of the country seeing temperatures dropping as low as 20F overnight.

Drivers in traditionally colder states in the North and Mid-West are bracing for snowy conditions and icy roads as Fall wears on.

This includes lawmakers bringing in temporary restrictions to improve safety on wintry routes until the thaw.

A recently enacted law in Colorado is one example, with the state cracking down on certain vehicles driving in the snow.

The National Weather Service is forecasting lows of 20F in the area around the Rockies, while the densely populated Denver Metropolitan Area could see around 43F.

Given the oncoming chill, officials are particularly concerned about the prospect of larger vehicles losing control in wintry conditions.

As a result, commercial vehicles weighing over 16,000 lbs have now been banned from using the outside lane in multiple areas in the mountainous part of the state.

Drivers must keep to the inside if they are travelling through any of the following:

• Glenwood Canyon
• Dowd Junction (The section of I-70 between Avon and Vail)
• The west side of Vail Pass
• The tunnel grade on both sides of the Eisenhower-Johnson tunnels
• Georgetown Hill
• Floyd Hill

The only exception is pulling out to overtake a vehicle up ahead if it is travelling below the posted speed limit.

This includes new “heightened speed limit enforcement zones”, where the limit can be lowered by law enforcement depending on conditions.

Any trucker caught violating the rule will be charged with a moving violation and could be hit with fines.

Likewise, the law allows penalty charges to be double for any commercial vehicle caught speeding in the enforced areas.

In addition to the new speed and lane restrictions, motorists will also be required to carry snow chains or other form of traction assistance on any of the following roads:

• I-70 west of milepost 259 (Morrison)
• Colorado Hwy. 9 milepost 63 to milepost 97 (Frisco to Fairplay)
• Route 40 west of milepost 256 (Empire)
• U.S. Route 50 west of milepost 225 (Salida)
• U.S. Route 160 west of MP 250 (Morrison)
• U.S. Route 550 from milepost 0 to 130 (State line south of Durango to Montrose)

This marks a change from the previous rules, which only required chains on I-70 between Dotsero and Morrison.

The restrictions came into force on September 1 and will apply to all commercial vehicles in the state until May 31.

A DESPERATE mother had to track down a tow truck operator who hauled away her family vehicle with her child sleeping inside.

The family was in the middle of a road trip and had stopped at the Baymont Inn and Suites in Lakewood, Colorado, on October 18 to wash their clothes.

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Alex Vesile had been moving bags in and out of the car as the family left the 13-year-old boy sleeping in the backseat.

However, during his back-and-forth trips to the car, Vesile, the boy’s uncle, realized the vehicle was missing from the parking lot.

“Oh my. What do you think? I think someone had stolen my kid,” Vesile recalled the frightening moment to Fox affiliate KDRV-TV.

The family quickly called Lakewood police and filed a kidnapping report.

“Our sergeant in charge made the quick decision to treat this as a legitimate kidnapping and quickly gathered all available LPD resources,” a Lakewood Police Department public information officer told People.

With the help of family members and the hotel, law enforcement used security cameras on the premises to determine a tow truck operator repossessed the vehicle.

The vehicle, which had a tracking system, was eventually located minutes later by police and was stationed at a tow yard 12 miles from where it was repossessed.

When police arrived at the tow yard, the 13-year-old boy was still sleeping.

Authorities said the tow truck operator had no clue the boy was inside the car.

“The driver of the tow truck was just as shocked when we informed him that a boy was in the back seat,” Lakewood police told the magazine.

“The boy’s parents informed us that they were preparing to leave for the East Coast and that he had been up playing Fortnight all night.”

‘LIKE A SHADOW’

Lakewood police described how the teen camouflaged in the backseat, almost like a “shadow.”

“He probably just looked like a shadow back there, the child was wearing all-black clothing and was sleeping in the back seat with the big black blanket over him,” police said.

“So, the driver was just as surprised, I think, as the child was when we showed up.”

KDVR-TV was on the scene to capture the emotional reunion between the boy and his mother.

The outlet spoke to the boy, who was sound asleep in the backseat.

“I sleeping in the car, I don’t know,” Mario Mustata told KDVR-TV.

“I sleep 10 minutes, and I don’t know.”

The teen said he did not wake up once during the car’s 12-mile journey to the tow yard.

Mustata said he only awoke when police officers banged on the window and then learned about what happened.

Lakewood police called the incident an “honest mistake.”

A DAD who went into a coma and lost his memory after a tragic hit-and-run case woke up believing it was 1980.

Luciano D’Adamo, 68, thought he was still a 24-year-old man living in Rome when he got out of the blackout – and has been struggling to adjust to reality.

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A picture of young D’Adamo[/caption]

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The dad lost 40 years of his life after his memory was wiped out due to a tragic accident[/caption]

His last memories after waking up from the coma in 2019 were of leaving his house in 1980 when he dealt with a sudden blow that forced him to collapse.

D’Adamo was baffled to learn the accident only happened in 2019 as almost four decades of his life had been wiped out because of the memory lapse.

The old man even struggled to recognise himself in the mirror – and was horrified to see himself as a man with grey hair.

He even thought his aged wife was a complete stranger.

Because for all he knew, she was still a 19-year-old girl he was hoping to marry one day.

D’Adamo, who was not even married in 1980, is now adjusting to having a son in his 30s who he thinks is older than he was at the time of the accident.

A group of doctors are working with the old man to help him get back his memories – and adjust to a world that he thinks is 40 years ahead of his time.

He told Messaggero in an interview: “I still remember the amazement of travelling in a car that showed me a map of Rome on a screen, or rather the Tuttocittà as we once called it, while a voice asked us to turn right in 100 metres.”

Soon after waking up from the coma, D’Adamo requested to speak to his mother.

But he could not believe his eyes when he was given a modern mobile phone to speak to other people.

Sadly, the old man was reminded that her mother had died, but he had no memories of her death.

Describing the moment he saw his wife for the “first time”, D’Adamo said: “She called me Luciano and I wondered how she knew my name.

“She was a complete stranger to me.”

As D’Adamo lost four decades of his life in the painful memory lapse, his experience of being an old man was also wiped out.

While he was able to get on with children very easily, he struggles to socialise with them as a granddad, Corriere della Sera reports.

The dad said he still has many challenges to overcome as he tries to get his memory back.

He said: “Sometimes I say that I would like to fly on a plane because I have never done it.

“But then my wife tells me we ahve been on a plane together, and even flew out to Paris.”

For the past five years, doctors as well as psychologists have been working with D’Adamo and his family to help him get his memory back.

He has now started his life over and works in a school, DailyMail reports.

However, he never received justice – or compensation – for the tragic accident in 2019.

The hit-and-run driver was never found.

ELIGIBLE Americans are in line to score monthly payments from a brand new program.

The City of Salem and UpTogether have just launched a guaranteed income program called Uplift Salem.

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Participants who live in Salem, Massachusetts will receive $500 a month for one year with no strings attached.

The program will choose 100 residents and each will be able to spend the payments however they decide. 

However, each recipient will be evaluated by two Salem State University faculty members, according to a statement from the program.

Applications will open on October 28 and residents will have two weeks to apply or until 350 eligible applications have been received – whichever comes first.

“We want Salem to be an affordable place for everyone, and a guaranteed income program offers an innovative approach to help achieve that goal,” Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo said in a statement.

To submit a form, be sure to check out the Uplift Salem website.

ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?

To qualify for the program, residents must meet two criteria.

Participants must reside in Salem, Massachusetts – this included unhoused residents who spend the majority of their time in Salem.

Second, they must have a household or family income at or below 100% of the federal poverty level based on household size. 

Folks will be selected randomly from the group of eligible applications.

Once chosen, their first payments will be handed out by December 1. 

A LITTLE HISTORY

UpTogether is a national nonprofit working to address and eliminate poverty.

The total cost of the pilot is $685,000 and funded through the American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

A private contribution was also made through UpTogether.

WHAT IS GUARANTEED INCOME?

Guaranteed income is similar to universal basic income, UBI, where programs provide individuals with regularly fixed incomes.

These can be programs that use public funds or are funded by the government.

Each program looks to reduce poverty and may be implemented federally and statewide.

While guaranteed income is similar to UBI, it typically provides a smaller amount of money and is aimed at a specific group.

EA Sports released the latest entry in its long-running football series at the end of September, and people are already building their teams.

Fans are getting involved with UT Clubs, showing off their players and creating the perfect team compositions.

Everyone knows the best way to level up their teams is to grab promo players or get lucky when opening UT packs.

Players can also level up their Season Pass to grab a number of rare gold cards and 80+ players.

EA FC 25 changed up the way that people can progress through the Season Pass, by sharing progression across all modes of the game.

That means whether you play Career Mode, Ultimate Team or Clubs you’ll gain XP or Season Points towards your Season Pass.

EA FC has teamed up with Pepsi Max to offer fans free Season Points, by scanning in their empty cans or bottles.

Each can or bottle will have a special promo code that you can scan to get Season Points and special Pepsi-themed kits, TIFOs and stadium themes in EA Sports FC 25.

If you drink Pepsi Max and play EA Sports FC 25, make sure that you are purchasing the promotional packs to get your code.

You’ll know it’s the right kind of pack as it will have the EA Sports FC 25 logo around the bottom of the can or bottle.

Pop and play

While this is a nice little freebie if you play EA Sports FC 25 and have a taste for Pepsi Max, it’s definitely not worth buying Pepsi to grab these rewards.

All of the free rewards are blue and Pepsi-themed, so if Pepsi isn’t your thing, you’re very unlikely to use them.

The number of Season Points that you earn from this offer has not been announced, so it is likely that the number of points is random.

However, it doesn’t matter how many Season Points you can grab, it’s not worth it if it means chugging down cans of a drink you don’t like.

If you want to read more about the game, check out our EA Sports FC 25 review.

The limited series, based on Charles Yu's 2020 novel of the same name, also stars Ronny Chieng and Chloe Bennet.

The complaint follows suggestions on a recent edition of 'Real Time With Bill Maher' that the right-wing activist "has committed adultery" with the former president and current Republican presidential candidate.

Speaking at MIPCOM Cannes, Paramount's chief content licensing officer confirmed the revived Republic Pictures has picked up the U.S. and Canadian rights for Alex Winter's 'Adulthood.'

In 'Lifeform,' an essay collection inspired by her experience of pregnancy and motherhood, the actor offers up a piece of herself.

TreeHouse Foods, a manufacturer based in Oak Brook, Illinois, said on Tuesday it recalled “all products manufactured at one facility and still within their shelf-life.”