California's bullet train, the 220 mph red-ball express intended to link northern and southern California, is getting slowed down: The latest business plan calls for a three-year delay.
From the LAT's Ralph Vartabedian: "Rail planners have turned their construction plans upside down, attempting to fit the mega-project within the state's limited budget."
"The 2016 business plan, released last month, shows that the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco rail link has proved to be politically and technically more complicated to build than foreseen in 2008, when voters agreed to help finance the project with a $9-billion bond."
"The plan acknowledges the biggest of those problems: The costly and geologically complex crossing of the Southern California mountains cannot be completed by 2022, as the rail authority had long contended."
The Assembly gave its blessing to a package of no-smoking legislation, paving the way for approval in the Senate.
From the Chronicle's Melody Gutierez: "The Democratic-controlled state Assembly approved six tobacco-control bills Thursday, including legislation that would increase the minimum smoking age in California to 21 from 18."
"Despite the objections of Republicans, who called many of the measures government overreach, the tobacco bills now head to the state Senate, which is expected to approve the legislation next week and send it to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature."
"They include a bill that would define e-cigarettes as tobacco products and require them to be regulated the same way. Other bills would allow counties and cities to ask for voter approval on tobacco taxes and to expand tobacco-free-workplace rules in public places."
Outside compensation for UC's chancellors is getting scrutiny amid the disclosure that UC Davis leader Linda Katehi received $420,000 in payment for sitting on the board of a textbook publisher.
The Bee's Diana Lambert and Dale Kasler tell the tale: "UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B Katehi received $420,000 in compensation as a board member for John Wiley & Sons, a leading publisher of science, engineering and math textbooks for universities."
"Katehi served on the Wiley board from 2012 to 2014, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. She received $125,000 in pay and stock in 2012, $144,000 in 2013 and $151,000 in 2014."
Under pressure, Katehi resigned this week from the board of DeVry Education Group as the for-profit company faces scrutiny from federal officials for allegedly deceiving students about job and income prospects."
Katehi’s decision in February to accept a paid board seat from DeVry prompted state Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego, to demand information on how much she and other chancellors receive in side income at a Capitol hearing Thursday on education funding."
For some people, the economy may be booming -- but not everybody. Say hello to the "hidden poor."
From Matt Perry in the California Health Report: "Stuck in the limbo above the federal poverty level yet below adequate income streams to make ends meet, these “hidden poor” are often a forgotten demographic."
"Why is identifying the “hidden poor” so important? On average, their health is much worse than their wealthier neighbors – and thus more expensive to treat – yet they are rarely included in health statistics."
“The hidden poor get lumped into that other (wealthier) category and get lost,” says Steven P. Wallace, associate director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Among California adults 65 and over, there are more than twice as many hidden poor as those in poverty – 655,000 compared to 259,000."
Forty years after the Chowchilla kidnappings, a new probe in connection with the case has been opened.
From the AP's Don Thompson: "A California prosecutor on Thursday began investigating whether victims were paid to support parole applications for three men who hijacked a school bus full of California children nearly four decades ago."
"Madera County District Attorney David Linn said he asked his investigators to look into allegations made by other survivors. They are among 26 children kidnapped along with their school bus driver near Chowchilla in 1976."
"The allegations have periodically surfaced in parole hearings for the three. They have always been denied — as they were again Thursday by an attorney for the three kidnappers."
For those who wonder who had the worst week in California, #WorstWeekinCA, we offer a candidate: Dan Richard, chair of the High Speed Rail Authority, which has been forced to slow down the bullet train project.
"A Times analysis in October concluded that the plan to bore 36 miles of deep tunnels through the mountains, lay 300 miles of track, build a half-dozen stations and install high-voltage systems along the route almost certainly could not be completed by 2022 and within the projected budget."
"The California High-Speed Rail Authority disputed the story...."
"If we had started with all the money in the world, this program would have probably proceeded differently," Richard said in an interview. "If we did not have some of the requirements of the bond act, this program would definitely have proceeded different." The first leg, he added, "would probably have gone from L.A. to San Diego."
All aboard ...