Auto Review: Leading the Pack of Midsize Pickups
Mean-spirited midsize pickups shook me into a denim and tie-dyed froth in the ’70s . I looked like some sort of wobbly hippie-dippy milkshake when I poured myself out of those trucks — and that was after just a 10-minute trip to the grocery store. My first puny pickup — a tinny, mustard-colored ’77 Datsun that I bought after extended exposure to the Grateful Dead and Elvis Costello — bounced and vibrated so badly that I could not see...
Auto Review: Tacoma Equally Adept, on or off Road
After three days of city and highway driving, I was ready to dismiss the 2016 Toyota Tacoma pickup as a very nice, very tall sedan. One of those citified trucks. It’s so quiet, cushy and comfortable that it hardly seemed to be a truck at all. The plush seats, lush suspension, refined interior and single-finger steering lulled me into a Barcalounger-like state of relaxation. Floating above traffic, I imagined the best use of this...
Wheels: All the ‘Ford Tough’ Without the Weight
It is a gamble, but one that might be worth the risk. In the future, it could say more about the future of Ford Motor Co. than it says about any particular Ford product. Indeed, there is something to be said about a company willing to take big chances when everything seems to be going right. And Ford is risking something big here with its aluminum-alloy-bodied 2015 F-150 pickup truck. The F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the...
New Ways of Feeding the Needy
Charles Scott is shopping for groceries at a Philadelphia food pantry, busily clicking away at a computer to select his choices of onions, tomatoes and frozen corn. Scott’s budget is tight since he was disabled from a work-related injury, so he turns to the Mitzvah Food Project at the Kleinlife center. The pantry is among the vanguard of hunger-relief operations that have installed a digital ordering system. “I think it’s wonderful,”...
Emergency Fix on Hartford’s Route 4 Rail Bridge Begins Today
Hartford — State and local authorities in Vermont have announced an emergency project to replace the Route 4 railroad bridge, which was damaged in June by a passing truck. The town of Hartford, VTrans, the Vermont Rail System and their contractors are scheduled to begin construction on the Maple Street bridge at noon today and finish on Monday. Hartford police Maj. Brad Vail said the bridge was damaged on June 15 when the boom of a...
