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AAA: Holiday Traffic "through the roof," Sugar Bowl APP

Record numbers of people are packing their bags for the long holiday weekend. Triple-A Alabama is predicting ninety nine million people nationwide will get in their cars to travel at least fifty miles from home this year. That’s a four percent hike over 2013. It’s a number that even the American Automobile Association describes as through the roof. There’s been speculation that lower gas process and higher airplane ticket prices are driving more people to drive. AAA spokesman Clay Ingram says actually the growing number of holiday drivers is part of an ongoing trend…

“We used to see anywhere from 82 to 84 percent of people travelling would travel by automobile. Nowadays, this year, it’s upwards of ninety percent. I think that’s a tremendous indicator that more people are driving and fewer people are flying.”

Ingram says the holidays, plus school being out, plus upcoming college football bowl games will keep traffic busier than normal until the new year.

If you have nothing to do on Christmas, how about seeing arguably the most controversial movie of the year. Edge Theater in Birmingham has announced on Twitter that it will show the movie “The Interview.” In case you haven’t heard, that’s the film at the center of the hacking involving Sony Pictures and North Korea. Edge Theater says it will show “The Interview” eight times on Christmas day. Sony is releasing the movie on a limited basis after initially saying it wouldn't be shown.

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville is honoring a rocket scientist who was considered ahead of his time. Ernst Stulinger was part of Wherner Van Braun’s team that built rockets to send NASA astronauts to the moon. The Center in Huntsville is hosting an exhibit on another of Stulinger’s idea. He designed a type of motor called an ion engine. It uses inert gases to generate thrust. Ed Stewart is director of exhibits at the Space and Rocket Center. He says the display on Stulinger’s rocket includes scale models…

“If you’ve display cases with these really fantastic period models of spacecraft based on his designs. And what’s really cool about these is that they’re really 1950’s retro futuristic looking.”

Stewart says film maker Walt Disney liked the designs enough to use them in his film titled “man in space.”

If you’re planning on going to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl, sponsors of the game want to know there’s an APP for that. The Allstate Sugar Bowl has launched its latest mobile app for both iPhone and Android users. The app provides maps of downtown and the stadium, as well as the pre-game Fan Fest event, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and the Allstate Sugar Bowl Fan Jam, the official pre-game party for the Sugar Bowl. Alabama plays Ohio State in this semi-final game before the national championship.

Pat Duggins is news director for Alabama Public Radio.
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