Urban News

(NEW YORK) -- A downtown Big Apple landmark is off and running again, the famous electronic-readout billboard that shows the mounting debt accumulated by the federal government. The sign is at Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street, near Times Square.

According to various media reports, the concept of the "clock" was the brainchild of Seymour Durst, who paid to have the "debt reminder" erected in 1989.

The sign was turned off about two years ago.

Now the surviving son of the originator of the sign, Douglas Durst, apparently decided -- with the still-increasing debt total -- it's time to turn it back on.

Currently the debt load, as announced by the readout, is about $6.12 trillion dollars.

The elder Durst died in 1995. He was a popular New York City-area real estate developer who maintained an extensive collection of artwork and maps.

(BOSTON) -- The Boston suburb of Medford has suffered another power outage. According to city officials, it's the sixth time that's happened in as many days. Mayor Michael McGlynn told local media that he would try to work out ways to deal with the cost factors involved, possibly by, as the old adage goes, "robbing Peter to pay Paul" in city coffers.

Meanwhile, local power officials and line crews have been dealing with the recurring problems.

The Medford Police Department tells United Press International that the problem is not related to hot weather, but in many cases the age and condition of some of the area's older transmission lines are to blame.

(DENVER) -- It appears that Denver's Museum of Nature is more resilient than some think. The lights are back on again, after a power system failure within the complex on Wednesday. The Denver Post says that crews from Xcel Energy had to replace several large fuses in order to get the lights back on.

At first it was announced that the popular tourist attraction would have to be closed Thursday while workmen figured out why systems failed. But the work of returning power to the building was accomplished quicker than anticipated and representatives of the complex alerted local media that the facility would be open after all.

The problem started late on Wednesday night and power was still not restored when employees arrived for the Thursday morning shift. The outage is being investigated.

(LOS ANGELES) -- A lawyer for that Los Angeles police officer who was shown on an amateur videotape to be bashing a handcuffed teenager's head into the side of a car has told CNN that the incident needs to be put into "context." Meanwhile, according to KNX Radio in that city, the man who shot the damning video has himself been arrested.

Mitchell Crooks was stopped outside of CNN's Los Angeles bureau. He was wanted on a bench warrant from northern California for misdemeanors and for failing to show up to serve a prison sentence.

Now, in the wake of another citizen-made charge against the LAPD, that department has put in jail the man who made the accusations. Even though it's a coincidence, some are criticizing the timing.