Houston

Jocko Sims portrays Dr. Floyd Reynolds on the NBC medical series, “New Amsterdam,” which kicks off its fourth season on September 21. An avid traveler, Sims said before he sets out to explore a new city or country, “I absolutely look up restaurants. I want to go to the best of the best, from very cheap to most expensive. What built the town or the culture? What place is impossible to get into? That floats my boat.” The 40-year-old actor is active on social media under the username @JockoSims.

“As a group, we had always gotten together physically to write,” said Nobody’s Girl singer-songwriter BettySoo, who’s based out of Austin. “This (pandemic) definitely put our group writing on hold. We haven’t been in the same room since February 2020. Much of the music we write for our group is based on staggering layers of vocal harmonies or counter-melodies, and doing it in person and in real time is a big part of how that stuff comes together. Given the circumstances, we stayed focused on the songs we have, thinking through how we want to present them live once we were finally able to tour and sing in harmony again.” The trio’s full-length debut album, “Nobody’s Girl,” will be released on July 30. Fans may stay in touch with the group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/nobodysgirlmusic) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/nobodysgirlofficial).

Spencer Penrose was of the mind that kids should not be seen or heard.

Avelo is the first of two realistic new domestic startup airlines to announce specifics about how and when it will actually start flying. West Coast travelers are the first winners: Avelo ("ah-VEE-lo") will fly nonstops into 12 regional destinations from a base at Burbank Airport in the LA area. Those 12 destinations, with service varying from daily to three weekly, are, in order of starting date, Santa Rosa, April 28, Pasco, Bozeman, Mesa (Phoenix), Ogden, Monterey, Grand Junction, Medford, Eugene, Redmond to Bend, Eureka to Arcata, and Redding, May 30.

Avelo is the first of two realistic new domestic startup airlines to announce specifics about how and when it will actually start flying. West Coast travelers are the first winners: Avelo ("uh-vell-oe") will fly nonstops into 12 regional destinations from a base at Burbank Airport in the LA area. Those 12 destinations, with service varying from daily to three weekly, are, in order of starting date, Santa Rosa, April 28, Pasco, Bozeman, Mesa (Phoenix), Ogden, Monterey, Grand Junction, Medford, Eugene, Redmond to Bend, Eureka to Arcata, and Redding, May 30.

Amtrak already has a list of projects to fund if it gets the billions it expects from a big infrastructure bill. And some of its proposals can be put into effect rapidly, which is a big change from many other infrastructure proposals. Typically, even "shovel ready" projects need years to show results, but some of Amtrak's ideas are "service ready." Basically, infrastructure required for many Amtrak needs is already in place: Amtrak just adds trains to existing operational rail systems. So Amtrak can quickly add as many routes as it is able to equip and staff within a short time.