JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — Crews were almost done building a temporary route on Tuesday around a landslide that closed a vital road for thousands of workers in a western Wyoming resort town.
Wyoming Department of Transportation officials were eyeing Friday to reopen Wyoming Highway 22. The road over Teton Pass near the Idaho state line has been closed since the landslide sent both lanes crashing into a deep ravine June 8.
No one was hurt when the pavement gave way. The road was already closed because another landslide had washed mud and debris across the road nearby.
Yet the collapse was a big headache for thousands of commuters. Many people work in Jackson — a ski and tourism hub at the doorstep of Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks where the average home costs millions — and live in more affordable eastern Idaho.
The destroyed highway has been forcing them to take a different route to the south, adding over an hour to their commute each way.
Cars will need to slow down through the temporary section to 20 miles per hour (32 kilometers per hour) but won't have to stop, said Bob Hammond, an engineer with the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The two paved lanes will span about 600-700 feet (180-230 meters).
“We have a steeper grade, which really isn’t that big of a problem. But the turns are a little tighter,” Hammond said during a news media site tour Tuesday.
A permanent fix costing perhaps upward of $20 million will take longer, Hammond said.
This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies a damaged section of Teton Pass near Jackson, Wyo., Tuesday, June 11, 2024. ((Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — The Bolivian general accused of leading a failed coup was sent Saturday to a maximum-security prison as he faces charges of terrorism and starting an armed uprising.
“At some point the truth will be known,” a handcuffed Gen. Juan José Zúñiga told journalists as he was escorted by two guards to the vehicle that will take him to the Chonchocoro maximum-security prison on the outskirts of La Paz.
“The rest are innocent. The are innocent people,” he added. Two other former military chiefs, including former navy Vice Adm. Juan Arnez Salvador, were also taken to the same prison.
Zúñiga, who was arrested Wednesday after the rebellion, said before being taken into custody, without providing evidence, that President Luis Arce ordered him to carry out the rebellion — something that the Bolivian leader and his government have vigorously denied.
Arce told the AP on Friday that Zúñiga planned to “take over” the government and become president, and he denied once again that Wednesday’s attack on the government palace was a “self-coup” designed to garner him political points.
Authorities have arrested 21 people, including Zúñiga, who were in custody in police facilities in La Paz. All of them face charges of armed uprising and terrorism.
Fourteen of the detainees appeared on Saturday before a judge.
Families of some of the detainees said Friday that they knew nothing of a plot, and some say that their loved ones were simply “following orders” or told they were carrying out a “military exercise.”
Senior Cabinet member Eduardo del Castillo, second left, waves from a balcony police station as people detained for their involvement in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt are escorted from their jail cells to be taken to the Chonchocoro maximum security prison, in La Paz, Bolivia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Colonel Edison Alejandro Caero, detained for his involvement in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt, is escorted from a jail to be taken to Chonchocoro maximum security prison, in La Paz, Bolivia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Juan Jose Zuniga, former commanding general of the Army, is escorted from a jail to be taken to Chonchocoro maximum security prison, in La Paz, Bolivia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. Zuniga was detained for his involvement in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Juan Jose Zuniga, former commanding general of the Army, is escorted from a jail to be taken to Chonchocoro maximum security prison, in La Paz, Bolivia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. Zuniga was detained for his involvement in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Juan Jose Zuniga, former commanding general of the army, is escorted from a jail to be taken to Chonchocoro maximum security prison, in La Paz, Bolivia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. Zuniga was detained for his involvement in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
