Visitation to National Park Service sites has seen a boom in recent years. For five years in a row, the park service has tallied over 300 million visitors per year. It’s an unprecedented spike, and the reason why this is happening now goes deeper than social media alone. While the threat of COVID-19 will likely change those numbers this year, the park service is still figuring out how to regain the balance between preservation and visitation. Cheddar explains the history of crowding in America’s national parks, and the impacts we are seeing from that today.
The mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in Virginia pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of felony child neglect, seven months after her son used her handgun to critically wound the educator in a classroom full of students.
Ahead of National Roller Coaster Day on Wednesday, Alessandro Zamperla, president and CEO of Central Amusement International, spoke with Cheddar News about the park's history and recent expansion.