The new “Fast & Furious” themed roller coaster under construction at Universal Studios Hollywood will open in 2026, the theme park announced on Friday.

“Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift” will be the park’s first high-speed outdoor coaster and will feature “technological achievements never previously employed in a roller coaster,” USH said in a statement.

The ride will launch from the park’s upper lot and descend into the lower lot for a series of banked turns and inversions, including a loop around the Starway escalator. Park officials said its cars will be able to rotate 360 degrees to replicate the drifting seen in the movie franchise’s famous race scenes.

“As Universal Studios Hollywood continues to evolve, the arrival of ‘Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift’ will be a powerful game changer that will infuse a new level of thrill into our already dynamic theme park,” said Scott Strobl, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Universal Studios Hollywood.

The ride’s queue will be a large, red brick, “garage-style structure” in the upper lot, and cars will be modeled after those seen in the films.

The rotating cars, however, won’t just elicit screams. They will also spin riders away from nearby communities so those screams don’t cause a noise issue.

Two half-pipe shields and “pea gravel” filled tracks will also limit noise, the park says on its community outreach website.

Friday’s announcement coincides with the 60^th anniversary of the park’s marquee attraction, the Universal Studios Tour, which predates any of its thrill rides.

To mark the anniversary, the park has revamped the tour to allow riders to step off and take photos next to the famous Psycho House and Bates Motel, among other updates.

City officials declared a public health emergency Thursday after a tuberculosis outbreak left one person dead and nine others hospitalized.

Health officials said the outbreak stemmed from a group of people who stayed together at a Long Beach hotel room.

As of April 29, 14 cases of tuberculosis (TB) are associated with this outbreak — nine of them required hospitalization and one case was fatal.

Investigators said around 170 people have likely been exposed to the illness. Health officials are in contact with any guests or individuals who were at the hotel during the time the infected people were present.

Tuberculosis is a serious illness that mainly affects the lungs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bacteria is spread through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks.

“Tuberculosis spreads easily where people gather in crowds or where people live in crowded conditions,” Long Beach health officials said. “People with HIV/AIDS and other people with weakened immune systems have a higher risk of catching tuberculosis than people with typical immune systems.”

“Symptoms of TB disease depend on where in the body the TB bacteria are growing,” the CDC explains. “TB bacteria usually grow in the lungs (pulmonary TB). TB disease in the lungs may cause symptoms such as:

• A bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer
• Pain in the chest
• Coughing up blood or sputum (phlegm from deep inside the lungs)

Other symptoms of TB disease include:

• Weakness or fatigue
• Weight loss
• No appetite
• Chills
• Fever
• Sweating at night

Most cases of tuberculosis can be treated with antibiotics. However, those taking medication may need to do so for around six to nine months.

The CDC also notes that not everyone infected with the TB bacteria will become sick. As a result, two TB-related conditions exist — latent TB infection and TB disease.

“People who have been infected but are not yet sick have what’s called latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI),” health officials explained. “People with LTBI can take medication so that they do not later get sick with active TB disease.”

The city’s emergency declaration will “streamline the Department’s ability to quickly secure resources and take additional action to contain the outbreak,” Long Beach officials explained. “The population of concern requires outreach and engagement, necessitating significant staff time to perform multiple interactions. The Department has exhausted their resources to manage this response without an emergency declaration.”

The declaration allows the city to implement preventive measures including:

• Mobilizing City resources
• Accelerating emergency planning
• Streamlining staffing
• Coordinating with other agencies
• Expediting the ability of the City to purchase necessary supplies to identify and treat TB
• Allowing for possible future reimbursement by the State and federal governments
• Raising awareness throughout Long Beach about TB

“The risk of TB for people who live, work, study or visit in Long Beach remains very low,” city officials noted. “The Health Department will continue to screen individuals associated with this outbreak and expects the number of cases and contacts to increase.”

The hotel’s name was not released “to protect patient privacy and comply with HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] regulations,” officials said.

More information on tuberculosis can be found on the California Department of Public Health’s website or through the CDC’s website.

Over 100 people were arrested during a massive drug bust operation in Southern California.

The undercover bust targeted the Magnolia Avenue corridor, between Van Buren Boulevard and Pierce Street in Riverside, according to the Riverside Police Department.

The multi-day effort, called “Operation Street Sweeper,” stemmed from “increased criminal activity and complaints from community members and businesses,” police said.

Over a three-week period, 46 people were seen buying a variety of illegal narcotics including methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, PCP and Psilocybin mushrooms. 

In a three-day operation, 44 drug dealers were identified and 33 of them were arrested for narcotics sales violations. 

With help from nearby agencies, 71 additional suspects were also arrested for multiple charges including:

• 32 misdemeanor arrests were made for trespassing, public intoxication, possession of drug paraphernalia, and illegal possession of controlled substances
• 21 outstanding misdemeanor arrest warrants for shoplifting, petty theft, trespassing, possession of drug paraphernalia, illegal possession of controlled substances, and being under the influence of a controlled substance
• 15 arrests for violation of parole, probation, and post-release community supervision
• 3 outstanding felony arrest warrants
• 3 probation searches were conducted at local motel rooms
• 2 search warrants were served at local residences

A total of 104 people were arrested during the large-scale bust. Most of the people arrested claimed to be homeless or living in various motels along Magnolia Avenue, officers said.

During a probation search of a motel room, police discovered a woman who was wanted for a 2022 felony drunk-driving crash that critically injured two women and a 4-year-old boy.

Inside her motel room was also a man with an outstanding warrant for burglary. Police discovered the man possessed several thousand dollars worth of stolen merchandise as well.

Since the arrests, medical aid and police calls for incidents along the Magnolia Avenue corridor “immediately and significantly decreased as a result,” authorities said.

“This wasn’t a one-and-done operation, and our enforcement efforts will continue until our community members, businesses, and visitors feel a constant sense of safety in Riverside,” said Larry V. Gonzalez, Riverside Police Chief.

“The Riverside Police Department will continue its directed enforcement and efforts to investigate those engaged in the trafficking and sale of illicit drugs within our neighborhoods, amongst other crimes affecting the safety of community members,” the police department said.

The public can submit tips about illegal drug activity by calling Riverside police at 951-354-2007.

Information can also be submitted through the “Atlas 1” mobile app by using the “Send a Message” feature. App downloads for Apple devices can be found here. Android device downloads can be found here.