Parades

Four people were killed and 16 injured when a train slammed into a flatbed truck carrying veterans and their wives during a parade in Midland, Texas, officials said Thursday.   The Midland Police Department said two flatbed trucks participating in the "Hunt for Heroes" parade were crossing the railroad tracks about 4:30 p.m. One truck cleared the rails, but the second truck didn't make it.  Some riders reportedly jumped out of the way before the collision.  Two people died at the scene and two more died at Midland Memorial Hospital, where the other  injured were also taken, police said.

Kermit the Frog and Hello Kitty are apparently not among Hurricane Sandy's victims, even though Macy's keeps the giant balloons, floats and costumes for its annual New York City  Thanksgiving Day Parade across the Hudson River in hard-hit New Jersey Macy's parade design studio last year moved from Hoboken to Moonachie, a northern New Jersey town overcome by flooding when a levee broke last week, forcing mass evacuations. Flood water did not creep into the design studio, located near the Hackensack River, although streets and nearby businesses were inundated, said John Piper, vice president of the parade studio.

SAN FRANCISCO - Hundreds of thousands of happy baseball fans jammed downtown San Francisco on Wednesday to celebrate the Giants' second World Series championship in the last three years - a vibrant street party sprinkled with Halloween-garbed revelers. Die-hards showed up before the sun, cadging spots along Market Street not long after work crews had finished festooning the parade route with black, orange and white balloons. A grim reaper with a pumpkin head, sporting the team's trademark colors, got in line for an early morning hot dog. Legions of fans looked more or less like pandas, a homage to third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who hit three home runs in Game One against the dazed Detroit Tigers.

It's not often that we get to compare Los Angeles to the Roman Empire, unless we're making fun of the kitschy copy-cat architecture of the Getty Villa. At least in popular stereotype, L.A. and Rome are polar opposites, each one the perfect foil for the other. One city - ours - is unfinished, amnesiac and forward-looking; the other city - theirs - is so obsessed with past glory, its streets piled so high with landmarks and layers of history, that its 21st century personality can be tough to make out. So when I began noticing similarities between an ancient Roman ritual and two huge public events in Los Angeles in 2012, I was tempted to dismiss them out of hand.

Ted Saraf flipped on his red lights and leaned on the siren as he passed through the intersection of Cahuenga and Hollywood boulevards. His 1968 Dodge Coronet has the Pasadena Police Department logo on its doors and old-fashioned squad car lights on its roof. But it was the Los Angeles Police Department escort that prompted drivers to stop. The Coronet was one of 30 vintage police cars that rolled through Hollywood on Thursday for the 10-4 public safety parade. Saraf, a 70-year-old retired Pasadena police detective spent $35,000 restoring the old pursuit vehicle.

Another blind auditions episode of "The Voice," another batch of talented singers with heart-tugging back stories. First up in the second show of the season Tuesday night was Adriana Louise, a waitress and bartender from Brooklyn, New York, who said music "saved" her when she was 9, after a gang attacked her dad and held her family hostage before police moved in. "The only thing that made me happy was my music. It entirely got me through that situation," she said. Her version of "Domino" spun all four judges around.

Parade claims a circulation of more than 32 million. The weekend magazine supplement to scores of newspapers offers the perfectly vanilla, nonthreatening platform for political candidates to introduce themselves. Mitt and Ann Romney get their turn in the comfortable weekly's lap this weekend - the magazine's interview from late last month set amid a lobster supper at the couple's lakeside retreat in New Hampshire. Yet even in this relaxed setting, Romney is dependably himself.

The Kingdom Day Parade always started with Larry E. Grant cruising down a boulevard in South Los Angeles with a procession of colorful floats, marching bands and dance troupes trailing behind. Grant traveled the three-mile route on the back of a convertible, waving at the throng of spectators who lined the streets to celebrate the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the slain civil rights leader. Then Grant would hop out of the car and climb into the bleachers to watch the rest of the parade.

There are so many things you can absolutely count on during the Olympics parade of nations: first off, Bermuda shorts worn by athletes from Bermuda. And odd-looking head gear, foisted upon a country by some fashion-challenged wardrobe designer. Then again, royals have produced some interesting hats over the years and would probably approve of some of the choices at the parade. There was doubles star Max Mirnyi, the flag bearer for Belarus. The outspoken, fun-loving  mother of one of his tour tennis mates felt moved to comment on her Twitter account.