It’s hard to believe we’ve been haunted by Jerry Brown’s “Unicorn Legacy of the Bullet Train” for 10 long years. In keeping with Brown’s typical fairy-tale wishes, this toy had no reasonable plan, or candor, in mind as to practicalities in building it or in operating it. The only concrete...

Almost invariably, taxpaying voters fall for the same old lies. It’s a mystery. Our bureaucrats lie to us, and we take it in the wallet every time, yet the liars remain in office. While many of us are not fooled, the majority eats it up. Jerry Brown’s bullet train to nowhere. So far it has cost multi-millions...

The California High-Speed Rail Authority will hold three public meetings in September to discuss the three recommended alignment alternatives from Burbank to Palmdale. “This is an opportunity to ask questions and provide input regarding effects to the environment, including biological resources, cultural...

Andrew G. Fried Over the years, the acronym NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) has taken on a widely recognized, negative connotation: People who oppose things like new construction or government infrastructure projects get labeled, derisively, as NIMBYs. The implication is that a NIMBY is someone who doesn’t...

The California High-Speed Rail Authority board will meet Tuesday in Anaheim for an update on various project sections including Burbank to Palmdale, which has been whittled down to three alternatives. Two would tunnel through the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, while the third would encroach...

The California High-Speed Rail Authority and the City of San José announced an agreement Monday that will infuse $600,000 in federal and state funds into San José’s historic Diridon Station. This station area planning agreement ensures a collaborative effort between local and regional transportation...

If the California High Speed Rail Authority folks want us to ride that train, they first have to get us out of our cars. I think they might be working with oil companies to get it accomplished. There is a little matter of increasing taxes on every gallon of gasoline and extra environmental regs that...

In 10 to 15 years we could have a high-speed railroad come through our little valley. By that time, the trains they are planning to use will be of technology developed as early as the first streamliner trains in the 1930s. Designs that will be approaching 100 years old and still on steel wheels making...

The chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority sent a letter Tuesday to Senate President Kevin de León saying the rail board has narrowed down and revised the potential routes from Burbank to Palmdale. Two of the routes that chairman Dan Richard said the board will study (shown in magenta...

It is a dark and stormy night as I write this. Raining so hard, the satellite TV signal can’t get through, and my cell is having a bit of the same problem. Just like at the start of this journey, the weather is controlling my movements. It isn’t fun driving a 40-foot-long RV pulling a Jeep in a torrential...