"Follow the money" is a time-honored dictum, even if you're building California's bullet-train: A court says the High-Speed Rail Authority has to revamp its funding plans, although federal money received to date is fine. Bottom line: More delays are in the offing.
From the Bee's Andy Furrillo: "A Sacramento Superior Court judge on Monday ordered the agency building California’s high-speed rail system to rescind its original funding plan, a decision that figures to halt state bond funding for the $68 billion project until a new plan is put in place."
"But, in another ruling in the same case, Judge Michael P. Kenny refused to block the California High-Speed Rail Authority from spending the $3.4 billion in federal money it already has obtained to build an initial rail segment near Fresno."
"In a second case, Kenny declined the rail authority’s request to validate its issuance of $8 billion in bonds that California voters approved in 2008 in Proposition 1A. The ruling sets the stage for several of the project’s opponents to challenge its financing even further."
A Superior Court judge in gym clothes was leaving the L.A. Fitness parking lot in Westwood when he was pulled over by two UCLA police officers for not wearing a seat belt. He said he was shoved around, cuffed and locked in the cruiser. UCLA is investigating.
From the LAT's Richard Winton: "Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David S. Cunningham III, a former Los Angeles Police Commission president, said the officers shoved him against his car, handcuffed him, locked him in the back of their police cruiser and told him he was being detained for resisting arrest."
"Cunningham's complaint does not attribute the incident to his race, but his attorney said race was clearly a factor in the officers' behavior."
"Do you think this would have happened if he was a white judge?" the attorney, Carl Douglas, said Monday, calling for both officers to be removed from the field immediately. UCLA said it is investigating the incident."
A young generation, the so-called Millennials who were born roughly between 1980 and 2000 are starting to make themselves felt in the Capitol and the state's political landscape. So what happens next?
From Capitol Weekly's Nik Bonovich: "Sociologists, political scientists and demographers alike are pointing to strong disillusionment, but they see a positive disposition coming from the Millennial Generation, a political force that politicians and consultants now are forced to reckon with. Millennials are a large cohort of Americans, born roughly between 1980-2000 that even out number Baby Boomers."
"Millennials have yet to take the reigns of power in Sacramento, but their faces are already becoming commonplace in the Capitol. Millennials even have a voice in the Legislature, Assembly Member Ian Calderon (D-Whittier), born in 1985."
"Joining Calderon shortly is another Millennial, Assembly Member-elect Matt Dababneh (D-Woodland Hills), born in 1981 who just won a surprisingly close special election in AD45."
GOP Assemblyman Jeff Gorell of Camarillo intends to challenge Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley next year for her House seat.
From the LAT's Jean Merl: "Republican state Assemblyman Jeff Gorell announced plans Monday to run for Congress next year against Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Oak Park) in a Ventura County-based swing district."
"Gorell's candidacy puts an end to former state Sen. Tony Strickland's campaign to take on Brownley again. And it's likely to add to speculation that Strickland will run for Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon's seat if the Santa Clarita Republican decides not to seek reelection."
"Gorell, 43, of Camarillo, a former deputy district attorney, was first elected to the Assembly in 2010 and was called back to active duty by the Navy in 2011 and served in Afghanistan. He returned the following year and won re-election. He previously worked in then-Gov. Pete Wilson's administration."
Meanwhile, circling back to trains, what's happening with the passengers at the Davis and Sacramento Amtrak stations? They seem to be disappearing.
From the Bee's Tony Bizjak: "But in the past year, the number of passengers getting on and off in Sacramento and Davis has dropped notably. Concerned Capitol Corridor officials say they are launching an investigation to figure out what’s happening."
“I am not trying to sound alarm bells, but those are our two busiest stations, so we need to find out why,” Capitol Corridor chief David Kutrosky said."
"Passenger levels dropped 6 percent this year at Sacramento Valley Station in downtown Sacramento and 5 percent in Davis, Kutrosky said. Combined, the two stations accounted for 88 percent of ridership losses on the system, which has 17 stations, and runs from Auburn to San Jose. A total of 1.7 million passengers rode the Capitol Corridor train in fiscal 2013, a 2.6 percent drop from the prior year."
And from our
"For Whom the Tolls Ring" file comes word of the Virginia man who
racked up thousands of dollars in unpaid highway tolls. And you thought you had it bad at the GG or Bay Bridge.
"A friend told him that when the toll booths were unmanned after 11:30 p.m., you could use the road without paying. His friend was wrong."
"This week, VDOT took Bourcier to court because his bill had ballooned from $440 to more than $200,000, including late fees and interest. They reached a settlement and agreed on a payment plan."
“They provided me with a stack of summonses that was 12 inches high, and me and my lawyers, the best that we could do was $40,000,” he said. “Another kicker is they put me on a payment plan for $150 a month.”
"At that rate and with interest due -- another $55,000 -- Bourcier, who is 33 and now has a good job, figures he will be 87 years old by the time he pays VDOT back."
Time to car pool ...
