Within a decade, San Jose and Bakersfield aim to be the first cities in California connected at 220 mph.
Jessica Calefati in the San Jose Mercury News: "In a huge win for the Bay Area, the state will build the first 250 miles of bullet train track between San Jose and the Bakersfield area and now aims to offer service on the line in less than a decade, according to a report set to be released Friday."
"The new plan represents a seismic shift from the California High-Speed Rail Authority's 2012 decision to build the first segment of the San Francisco-to-Los Angeles rail line between Burbank and the Central Valley."
"In the draft report obtained Wednesday by this newspaper, the authority says it had to change course to keep costs down, in large part because the southern segment will entail expensive tunneling costs through the Tehachapi and San Gabriel mountains."
Prosecutors are seeking an eight-year prison term for former state Sen. Leland Yee, after his involvement with Chinatown gangster Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow.
From the Chronicle's Bob Egelko: "Federal prosecutors, portraying former state Sen. Leland Yee as a cynical and corrupt lawmaker, recommended an eight-year prison sentence Wednesday for the San Francisco Democrat, who admitted accepting bribes from undercover agents posing as campaign contributors."
"Yee “was willing to betray the trust of those who elected him by being prepared to sell his vote to the highest bidder,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in a filing to U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who has scheduled sentencing for Wednesday."
"Yee, 67, pleaded guilty in July to a racketeering conspiracy charge. He admitted accepting at least $60,000 from undercover agents in return for promises of votes on legislation, other political favors, and illegal importing of firearms from the Philippines. The contributions were to pay off a debt from his unsuccessful 2011 campaign for mayor of San Francisco and to fund his short-lived 2014 campaign for California secretary of state."
Meanwhile, the dispute is deepening between and Apple and the feds over a privacy dispute related to creating a backdoor for the iPhone.
Tracey Lien, Brian Bennett, Paresh Dave and James Queally in The L.A. Times: "Setting up a pitched battle between Silicon Valley and the counter-terrorism community, Apple's chief executive said Wednesday that his company would fight a court order demanding the tech giant's help in the San Bernardino attack investigation, turning what had been a philosophical dispute into a legal skirmish that could have major ramifications for the tech industry."
"Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook said that the FBI request that the company develop software to hack into one of its own devices, an iPhone 5c, used by gunman Syed Rizwan Farook, would set a dangerous precedent that could compromise security for billions of customers. The government, Cook contends, is asking Apple to create a "backdoor" to its own security systems."
"Up to this point, we have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them," Cook wrote in a letter published on the company's website. "But now the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create."
Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing a near-$180 million dollar dip in the state's general fund to clean up a battery recycling facility.
Melody Gutierrez in The Chronicle: "Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday proposed spending $176.6 million from the state’s general fund to expedite testing and cleanup of the former Exide battery-recycling facility in the Los Angeles County industrial city of Vernon."
"The governor’s plan would test the soil around homes, schools, day cares and parks within a 1.7-mile radius of the closed Exide Technologies facility and remove the highest concentrations of lead."
"The Exide plant shut down in 2014 to avoid criminal charges under an agreement between the company and the U.S. attorney’s office that requires the plant to be demolished. According to the agreement, Exide will be forced to pay $50 million to clean up the site and surrounding neighborhoods affected by the plant’s environmental toxins. The company was also required to admit that it illegally stored the hazardous waste it produced."
After the Porter Ranch gas leak, L.A. is now seeking expert help to oversee residential projects.
Sharon McNary with KPCC: "The Los Angeles City Council voted on Wednesday to hire a petrochemical expert to oversee the city's relationship with oil and gas operations near residential neighborhoods. The person hired will likely manage such issues as the fallout from the Porter Ranch gas leak, controversial oil drilling facilities in South Los Angeles and growing criticism of major refineries in Wilmington."
"City law has required the City Administrative Office to have a petroleum administrator on staff to oversee oil and gas operations in the city since the late 1950s. But for the past few decades that staffer has mostly been tasked with collecting royalty and lease checks and has not had the expertise to analyze geological issues or drilling proposals or assess their impact on public health."
"The United Neighborhoods Neighborhood Council, which represents portions of the city near I-10 and Arlington Avenue, pressed city leaders to fill the position with a full-time staffer who understands oil and gas issues because the city hasn't had one on the payroll since the mid 1980s."
And finally, we find out that some homeowners deal with rats, mites and other pests. Australian homeowners, however, have to deal with the Hairy Panic.
"Residents of a rural Australian city are frustrated by a fast-growing tumbleweed called hairy panic that is piling up outside their houses, covering lawns and blocking doors and windows."
"Hairy panic is piling up outside several homes in Wangaratta in north-east Victoria – at times reportedly reaching roof height – forcing residents to clear it several times a day. About 20 residences on Bella Way, a new development hard against the fringe of farmland, have been particularly affected, with the grass blowing over from neighbouring fields."
Bring back the bald panic....
