Rio de Janeiro wins bid to host 2016 Summer Olympic games

For the first time ever, South America will host its first ever Olympic games.  This afternoon, Rio de Janeiro was announced as the hosting site for the 2016 Summer Olympics. 

According to Espn.com, nearly 50,000 people erupted in a celebration after Rio was announced the winner. 

There were three rounds of voting that took place to decide the winner.  Surprisingly, Chicago was eliminated in the first round leaving Madrid, Tokyo, and Rio in the race for the bid. 

Rio had attempted to win the Olympic games previously in 1936, 2004, and 2012, but failed each time.  Espn.com reported that once Chicago was out, its supporters jumped on the Rio bandwagon.

My Take:  This is huge news that Chicago was eliminated.  President Obama even did his part to try and get Chicago the bid.  What also is shocking is that Chicago was the first one eliminated with the fewest amount of votes.

Syracuse Department of Transportation plans a meeting on Rt. 69, Munger Hill Intersection

According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, the state Department of Transportation will hold a meeting Tuesday from 4 to 6 p.m.  DOT plans on discussing a safety project at the intersection of State Route 69 and Munger Hill Road in the village of Mexico. 

The Post-Standard reports that there are two methods of maintaining the traffic on Route 69 during construction.  Either a full closure of Route 69 with a detours or keeping traffic on site with alternating, one-way traffic could be used.

The meeting will be held at the Mexico town office on South Jefferson Street.  There is no formal presentation planned, but the meeting will be held like an open house.  The public is allowed to attend and can ask questions throughout the meeting. 

My Take:  It’s important that DOT does something about this intersection, especially if it presents possible dangerous situations.  The sooner they hold this meeting, the better it will be for the public.

Notre Dame’s sellout streak could end this weekend

Notre Dame’s football team has sold out every game in their stadium since 1973.  That could all change this weekend, though.

The Irish host Washington this Saturday, and tickets still have not been sold out yet.  According to Espn.com, the university sent out a news release Friday morning advertising ticket sales.  Notre Dame says the additional tickets for sale is because Washington returned an additional portion of its ticket allotment today.

In total, Notre Dame has a streak of 207 consecutive football sellouts.  Notre Dame also has tickets still available for their Nov. 21 game against the University of Connecticut.

My Take:  It sounds crazy, but for the past 36 years Notre Dame has played in front of a sellout crowd at home.  That kind of streak is unheard of in with today’s economic struggles.  It’ll be curious to see if Notre Dame can sell the remaining tickets.