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2 episodes with Federal Railroad Administration
2 episodes with Federal Railroad Administration
2 episodes with Federal Railroad Administration
Welcome to a special episode of the Crawfordsville Connection Podcast! BIG NEWS for the City of Crawfordsville - The City has been awarded funding by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration under the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program. Listen to learn more about the planning & development phases of this project, the data submitted in the grant application, and details about the next steps of the process. To ask any questions about this podcast or to submit topic ideas, please email Sarah Sommer at ssommer@crawfordsville-in.gov
The president-elect's nominee to lead the Federal Railroad Administration has longstanding business ties to an heir of the Mellon banking fortune.Stay ConnectedForbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.comForbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbesForbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbesForbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbesMore From Forbes: http://forbes.comForbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In 2021, the U.S. Congress directed the Secretary of Transportation to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine – Transportation Research Board (TRB) “to conduct a study on the operation of freight trains that are longer than 7,500 feet.” Railway Age reported on the 105-page study, “Long Freight Trains: Ensuring Safe Operations, Mitigating Adverse Impacts – TRB Special Report 353.” Sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration, the TRB convened a 12-member committee “with experience in freight and passenger railroad operations, state rail transportation, national rail safety oversight, and freight and passenger rail research” that met 16 times (six in person) to examine impacts of long trains and invited presentations from individuals and organizations. Meetings focused on railroad technology and highway-rail grade crossings. This Rail Group On Air podcast features six of those members and TRB Senior Program Officer and Study Director, Consensus and Advisory Studies David O. Willauer, who coordinated their participation: • Debra L. Miller (Chair), Former Secretary, Kansas Department of Transportation and former Surface Transportation Board Vice Chair. • Gary F. Knudsen, Locomotive Engineer, BNSF Railway (retired). • Allan Rutter, Freight Analysis Program Manager, Texas A&M Transportation Institute and former Federal Railroad Administrator. • Dr. John M. Samuels (National Academy of Engineering), President, Revenue Variable Engineering and retired Senior Vice President Operations Planning and Budget, Norfolk Southern. • Peter F. Swan, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management, Emeritus, The Pennsylvania State University. • Paul E. Vilter, Assistant Vice President Planning, Commercial Services, and Sustainability, Amtrak (retired).
The Federal Railroad Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, is investing more than $40 million in rail funding for Oregon. Projects span the state and include work in Linn and Lake Counties and Coos Bay. Prineville is getting funding specifically allocated for rural communities. The grant will help the city restore its rail line and improve safety. Prineville’s railway has experienced its ups and downs. When the lumber business was booming in the ’60s, the railway was a major economic driver for the region. In recent years, the railway has had to reinvent itself to stay in business. We hear more about the efforts from Matt Wiederholt, the general manager of the City of Prineville Railway.
The Federal Railroad Administration announced the Port of Kalama in Washington state was awarded over $26 million for a rail expansion project, and Renewable Fuels Association applauds California Governor Gavin Newsom for directing the state's Air Resources Board to expedite approval of E15.
The Federal Railroad Administration announced the Port of Kalama in Washington state was awarded over $26 million for a rail expansion project, and Renewable Fuels Association applauds California Governor Gavin Newsom for directing the state's Air Resources Board to expedite approval of E15.
Kevin Cooper, National Political Director for the American Federation of Government Employees, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss his career path to the AFGE. He also discussed how government policy has positively impacted organizing over the past few years and how members have reacted to educational opportunities around the election. Roy Morrison, Safety Director for the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) final rule proposal mandating automated track inspection to supplement human track inspections.
You may have been hearing more train horns recently... and that's because railroad crossings from Ogden to Provo no longer meet the standards for quiet zones within the Federal Railroad Administration. Cities are now responsible to update the quiet zones to meet the requirement. Mayor of Kaysville Tamara Tran joins the show to discuss what feedback they have received on the train horns and what the cities need to do to retain the quiet zone status.
ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS CB2024-149: A Resolution Approving a Grant Agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Training CB2024-150: An Ordinance Amending the Annual Budget for General Fund CB2024-151: A Resolution Establishing a Council Policy Regarding Lot Disposition of Surplus Property No Longer Necessary for a City Use and Codifying Such Policy CB2024-152: A Resolution Supporting the Grant Application for the Federal Railroad Administration's Railroad Crossing Elimination Program for the Bradley Avenue Railroad Crossing Alternatives Analysis CB2024-153: A Resolution Expressing the City's Intent to Pursue the Creation and Approval of a Tax Increment Redevelopment Project Area and to Provide Assistance for the Redevelopment of the Former CS Johnson Site CB2024-154: An Ordinance Approving a Preliminary Final Planned Development CB2024-155: A Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Change Order with Global Rental Co., Inc. for the Upfitting of One Mid-Size Aerial Lift Truck
Officials issued a shelter-in-place notice for residents near a train derailment in North Dakota due to the train carrying hazardous materials. Air monitors detected low levels of anhydrous ammonia during the removal of a venting railcar. The notice was lifted later on Sunday when air monitoring levels returned to zero, and no injuries were reported. The incident occurred on Friday before dawn, involving 29 cars of a CPKC train. Health officials warn that exposure to high concentrations of ammonia can cause serious health issues, including respiratory damage. The fire caused by the derailment, involving anhydrous ammonia, methanol, and plastic pellets, was mostly out by Sunday. Work continued to remove hazardous materials and derailed cars, with the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Railroad Administration investigating the cause.Learn more on this news visit us at: https://greyjournal.net/news/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The NTSB issued more than two dozen recommendations Tuesday in East Palestine concerning the toxic train derailment and vent and burn of the vinyl chloride that began nearly a year and a half ago. These recommendations found that the rail industry had no standards in place for overheating wheel bearings and detectors and that the chemicals' vent and burn were unnecessary.21 News anchor Lindsay McCoy sat down with Steven Ditmeyer, a retired executive of the Federal Railroad Administration who has had extensive careers in rail spanning decades, including the research and development of rail safety standards, to discuss the NTSB's findings.
Congressman Tim Kennedy says he's calling on the Federal Railroad Administration to conduct an investigation into the tragic train crash in North Tonawanda that killed three people last Friday.
For decades in its war on terror following 9/11 the U.S. government poured resources, including its own terror tactics, in combating Islamic radicalism during the rise of ISIS. Meanwhile, white domestic terrorism, fueled by extreme religious groups like white evangelicals, increasingly went unchecked, leading to Trump and his violent January 6 insurrection. Can those same far-right Chrstian extremists help Trump win the Electoral College? This week's bonus show, based on a listener's question and exclusively for our subscribers at the Truth-teller level and higher on Patreon, looks at the potential impact of the far-right Christian vote and ways to counteract it. The episode answers other questions from our listeners at the Democracy Defender-level and higher on Steve Bannon's terror tactics, exposing white women slaveholders in American history, and more! To submit your questions and comments for a future Q&A, be sure to subscribe to the show at the Democracy Defender level or higher only on Patreon! Fight for your mind! To get inspired to make art and bring your projects across the finish line, join us for the Gaslit Nation LIVE Make Art Workshop on April 11 at 7pm EST – be sure to be subscribed at the Truth-teller level or higher to get your ticket to the event! Be sure to check out this really cool art initiative out of Michigan from Gaslit Nation listeners!: Breaking down walls through art and expression: https://umdearborn.edu/news/breaking-down-walls-through-art-and-expression There's also this important work from another Gaslit Nation listener in our community that's part of the long overdue solution for modernizing America's rail service: Fed plan contains more passenger trains for Utah https://buildingsaltlake.com/fed-plan-contains-more-passenger-trains-for-utah/ More info here: Federal Railroad Administration's Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study fralongdistancerailstudy.org Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you! Join the conversation with a community of listeners at Patreon.com/Gaslit and get bonus shows, all episodes ad free, submit questions to our regular Q&As, get exclusive invites to live events, and more! Check out our new merch! Get your “F*ck Putin” t-shirt or mug today! https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/57796740-f-ck-putin?store_id=3129329 Submit your song for the Gaslit Nation song feature! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-d_DWNnDQFYUMXueYcX5ZVsA5t2RN09N8PYUQQ8koq0/edit?ts=5fee07f6&gxids=7628 Show Notes: They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South https://bookshop.org/p/books/they-were-her-property-white-women-as-slave-owners-in-the-american-south-stephanie-e-jones-rogers/8493268?ean=9780300251838 How Evangelicals Became a Voting Bloc Evangelical voters' focus on policy over character came much earlier than you think. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2024/march-web-only/evangelicals-voting-bloc-super-tuesday-donald-trump-charact.html Religious Group Voting and the 2020 Election https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/324410/religious-group-voting-2020-election.aspx It's Time to Talk About Violent Christian Extremism There's a “strong authoritarian streak” that runs through parts of American evangelicalism, warns Elizabeth Neumann. What should be done about it? https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/04/qanon-christian-extremism-nationalism-violence-466034 Why QAnon Has Attracted So Many White Evangelicals https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-qanon-has-attracted-so-many-white-evangelicals/ The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-undertow-scenes-from-a-slow-civil-war-jeff-sharlet/18515351?ean=9781324006497 The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-family-the-secret-fundamentalism-at-the-heart-of-american-power-jeff-sharlet/7918950?ean=9780060560058 Is America Headed Towards a Civil War? Andrea's interview with Jeff Sharlet (April 2023) https://www.gaslitnationpod.com/episodes-transcripts-20/2023/05/03/jeff-sharlet-undertow-america-civil-war Democrat wins Alabama special election in early test for IVF as a campaign issue https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/democrat-marilyn-lands-wins-alabama-special-election-ivf-abortion-righ-rcna145210 Federal Railroad Administration's Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study fralongdistancerailstudy.org Fed plan contains more passenger trains for Utah https://buildingsaltlake.com/fed-plan-contains-more-passenger-trains-for-utah/ Breaking down walls through art and expression: A new program inspired by the Inside Out Program and funded by a U-M Arts + the Curriculum grant offers art-focused workshops and discussions that are free and open to the public. https://umdearborn.edu/news/breaking-down-walls-through-art-and-expression The Great Rupture in American Jewish Life https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/opinion/israel-american-jews-zionism.html?searchResultPosition=1
Award-winning ProPublica reporter Topher Sanders has spent the last two years investigating America's aging freight train system. He says the Federal Railroad Administration monitors "less than 1% of what's happening on the rails." Sanders talks about the toxic East Palestine, OH derailment, the prevalence of blocked railroad crossings, and why railway safety legislation is yet to be passed. Also, rock critic Ken Tucker shares three new songs.
Award-winning ProPublica reporter Topher Sanders has spent the last two years investigating America's aging freight train system. He says the Federal Railroad Administration monitors "less than 1% of what's happening on the rails." Sanders talks about the toxic East Palestine, OH derailment, the prevalence of blocked railroad crossings, and why railway safety legislation is yet to be passed. Also, rock critic Ken Tucker shares three new songs. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
In Part 2 of this two-part series on railroad safety and technology, Steven R. Ditmeyer takes a deep dive into ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems), specifically, highway/rail grade crossing warning devices that interface with motor vehicles, with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. Ditmeyer has had an extensive career in railroading that started in 1960 on the St. Louis Terminal Railroad. He received a B.S. in Industrial Management from MIT and an M.A. in Economics from Yale. In the private sector, he worked for six railroads and a railroad equipment manufacturer. In the public sector, he served as an Army Transportation Corps officer on active duty in the Logistics Directorate of the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in the Reserves in the 3rd Railway Brigade, as Associate Administrator for Policy and for R&D at the Federal Railroad Administration, as acting general manager of The Alaska Railroad, as associate professor of economics and transportation at National Defense University, and as economist and rail technology expert at the World Bank. His career has cut across multiple disciplines, including freight and passenger railroading, engineering, economics, research and development, policy, marketing, management, operations, information technology, systems analysis, command and control systems and education. In his early days at FRA, Ditmeyer was involved in the creation of Amtrak, the preliminary engineering and economic studies for the Northeast Corridor Project, and the establishment of the Transportation Technology Center. As head of policy at FRA, he initiated the sale of The Alaska Railroad by the Federal Government to the State of Alaska and was involved in developing the legislation for the deregulation of the freight railroad industry. At Burlington Northern, he was intimately involved in development and testing of the first PTC system (ARES) and the first natural gas locomotives. Following retirement, he helped structure and teach in railway management programs as an adjunct faculty member at Michigan State University and the University of Delaware, and HEC and EML Business Schools, both in France.
In Part 1 of this two-part series on railroad safety and technology, Steven R. Ditmeyer discusses the fundamentals of signaling and train control and takes a deep dive into PTC (Positive Train Control) and its potential for evolving beyond a safety overlay system with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. Ditmeyer has had an extensive career in railroading that started in 1960 on the St. Louis Terminal Railroad. He received a B.S. in Industrial Management from MIT and an M.A. in Economics from Yale. In the private sector, he worked for six railroads and a railroad equipment manufacturer. In the public sector, he served as an Army Transportation Corps officer on active duty in the Logistics Directorate of the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in the Reserves in the 3rd Railway Brigade, as Associate Administrator for Policy and for R&D at the Federal Railroad Administration, as acting general manager of The Alaska Railroad, as associate professor of economics and transportation at National Defense University, and as economist and rail technology expert at the World Bank. His career has cut across multiple disciplines, including freight and passenger railroading, engineering, economics, research and development, policy, marketing, management, operations, information technology, systems analysis, command and control systems and education. In his early days at FRA, Ditmeyer was involved in the creation of Amtrak, the preliminary engineering and economic studies for the Northeast Corridor Project, and the establishment of the Transportation Technology Center. As head of policy at FRA, he initiated the sale of The Alaska Railroad by the Federal Government to the State of Alaska and was involved in developing the legislation for the deregulation of the freight railroad industry. At Burlington Northern Railroad, he was intimately involved in development and testing of the first PTC system (ARES) and the development and testing of the first natural gas locomotives. Following retirement, he helped structure and teach in railway management programs as an adjunct faculty member at Michigan State University and the University of Delaware, and HEC and EML Business Schools, both in France.
Welcome to the daily304 – your window into Wonderful, Almost Heaven, West Virginia. Today is Wednesday, Dec. 20 “West Virginia's Christmas City” helps make the state the most festive in the nation. Weirton's new battery plant lands a big project in California. And a grant will help restore an Amtrak route that goes through 9 West Virginia counties…on today's daily304. #1 – From BLUEFIELD DAILY TELEGRAPH – West Virginia's Christmas City is shining on a national level. A recent Fox News national report highlighted a study that found West Virginia to be the most festive state in the nation. That article zeroed in on Bluefield, which is West Virginia's trademarked Christmas City. It discussed the Holiday of Lights and other featured Christmas City attractions, including the ferris wheel, ice skating rink and Christmas Market, all of which are located at city park. City officials say the national attention will only help in making others across the nation aware of West Virginia's Christmas City. “I was pleasantly surprised, and it does further help our efforts,” Bluefield Mayor Ron Martin said. “I went through the park Saturday night, and it is phenomenal down there.” Check out www.visitmercercounty.com to learn more about happenings in Bluefield and the surrounding area. Read more: https://www.bdtonline.com/news/west-virginias-christmas-city-shines-in-the-national-spotlight/article_11dcaf52-984b-11ee-9e1e-efa4e87279fd.html #2 – From WV PUBCAST – Weirton's Form Energy plans to build storage batteries for a project in California. The $30 million project will use Form's batteries to store and discharge power for 100 hours, according to the California Energy Commission. That fills a gap between solar generation during the day and wind generation at night. The energy captured at off-peak times can be discharged to the grid when demand is the highest. The batteries will be built in Weirton. Form Energy is building its plant on the former site of Weirton Steel and could employ 750 workers or more. Read more: https://wvpublic.org/form-energy-to-build-batteries-for-california-project-in-weirton/?es_id=416f4390f0 #3 – From WOWK-TV – Money is coming to help restore the daily Amtrak Cardinal Train route from Chicago to New York City by way of nine West Virginia communities. According to the City of Huntington, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration announced a $500,000 grant to help restore the route. Huntington Mayor Steve Williams says the Corridor Identification & Development Program grant will help the company and the city figure out how to get the daily service back up and running, get it funded and bring economic development and tourism on the line to “new levels.” The route goes through nine towns in the Mountain State, which include Huntington, Charleston, Montgomery, Smithers, Thurmond, Prince, Hinton, Alderson and White Sulphur Springs. It is the only Amtrak route in the country with stations inside a national park. Read more: https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/amtrak-gets-grant-to-help-restore-daily-cardinal-service-through-west-virginia/ Find these stories and more at wv.gov/daily304. The daily304 curated news and information is brought to you by the West Virginia Department of Commerce: Sharing the wealth, beauty and opportunity in West Virginia with the world. Follow the daily304 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @daily304. Or find us online at wv.gov and just click the daily304 logo. That's all for now. Take care. Be safe. Get outside and enjoy all the opportunity West Virginia has to offer.
Flyover Friday, December 15, 2023Intro: On this episode of The Heartland POD for Friday, December 15th, 2023A flyover from this weeks top heartland stories including:Welcome to The Heartland POD for a Flyover Friday, this is Sean Diller in Denver, Colorado. With me as co-host today is Adam Sommer, how you doing Adam?We're glad to have you with us. If you're new to our shows make sure you subscribe and leave a 5 star rating wherever you listen. You can also find Heartland POD content on Youtube and on social media with @ THE heartland pod, and learn more at thehearltandcollective.com SEAN: Speaking of - the website over at THE HEARTLAND COLLECTIVE DOT COM - if you have not yet checked it out, it is full of not just shows but articles too, including a recent on on abortion laws by Rachel Parker, really sharp stuff. ADAM: Yeah, hats off to you and the team, shout out my and special thanks to Allyn for all the work, I think folks will like what they find over there at the site, and that article by Rachel goes great with the pod from Wednesday which was Rachel with Jess Piper and Laura Belin was back from Bleeding Heartland, a powerhouse group of women talking about abortion laws, absolutely not to be missed. SEAN: Plus, we're back in the saddle this coming week with the LAST CALL shows, which are for members only, we have a lot of fun on those shows and that's for patreon members, you can sign up today, $5 per month unlocks that feature, go to THE HEARTLAND COLLECTIVE DOT COM and click the button to sign up today to join us for those member only bonus shows. Alright! Let's get into the storiesSOURCES: Wisconsin Examiner, Missouri Independent, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Ohio Capital Journal, Colorado Newsline; Indiana Capitol Chronicle Rep. Sarah Unsicker has pulled out of the Dem AG primary after a two week period in which she appears to have had serious issues pop upVery odd turn of events, disgusting anti-semetic smears and a final move of a Dark Night jOker like videoMissouri Dem leader and candidate for Governor, Crystal Quade, is taking the charge on the abortion issue in Missouri. https://x.com/crystal_quade/status/1735330641967759416?s=20Sen. Josh Hawley (drop) has failed to include funding for nuclear waste cleanup for Missourians. https://missouriindependent.com/2023/12/12/defense-radioactive-senate-st-lous/Wisconsin Secretary of State calls for removal of fake elector who was part of 2020 scheme for Donald Trump https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2023/12/11/wisconsin-secretary-of-state-calls-for-removal-of-election-commissioner-who-served-as-fake-elector/Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski and the two Democrats on the Senate elections committee are calling for Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) to remove state elections commissioner Robert Spindell from his position. Democrats are calling for Spindell's removal because he served as a fake elector following the 2020 presidential election, casting a false Electoral College vote for former President Donald Trump despite Joe Biden's victory in the state. Last week, Spindell and the nine other Republicans who joined him settled a lawsuit against them for their actions — stating publicly that Biden had won the election and agreeing not to serve as electors for Trump again.On Monday, Godlewski said Wisconsinites can't trust Spindell to have a say in how the state's elections are run. “Wisconsin Election Commissioner Robert Spindell Jr. admitted that he was not a qualified 2020 presidential elector and co-signed a fraudulent Certificate of Votes and submitted them to my office,” Godlewski said in a statement. “That unlawful certificate was used as part of a larger scheme to overturn the election. The people of Wisconsin cannot trust the integrity and moral compass of Commissioner Spindell to administer our elections. Senator LeMahieu should immediately remove him from Wisconsin's Election Commission.”Democrats on the Senate elections committee, Sens. Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire) and Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) said Monday that Spindell's admission that he participated in an effort to overturn the election results should be enough for him to resign or for LeMahieu to remove him. “Bob Spindell has continued to serve without any repercussions for his actions and statements celebrating lower turnout and successful voter suppression,” the two senators said in a statement. “Now, Bob Spindell has admitted his involvement in the scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election, and it is abundantly clear that the Senate Majority Leader's excuses and deflections must come to an end. Bob Spindell has admitted to signing and sending false documents claiming that he was a presidential elector for the state of Wisconsin. If there were any remaining questions about whether Bob Spindell should go, they were answered when he finally acknowledged that he signed falsified documents submitted to public officials despite President Joe Biden winning the 2020 election in Wisconsin. Bob Spindell should resign. If he doesn't, Senator LeMahieu must remove him. We understand the Wisconsin Elections Commission is made up of partisan appointees, but surely Senator LeMahieu can find a different Republican who didn't attempt to illegally overturn a presidential election. The people of Wisconsin deserve better than Bob Spindell.” Democratic Rep. Keri Ingle of Lee's Summit calls for removal of STL area Shrewsberry Rep. Unsicker from Democratic caucus in Missouri https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/missouri-house-democrat-calls-for-ouster-of-shrewsbury-state-rep-from-caucus/article_8b475036-9945-11ee-b25d-e3f3e17972df.htmlRep. Keri Ingle, D-Lee's Summit, said in a news release that state Rep. Sarah Unsicker of Shrewsbury “failed to denounce” antisemitic attacks, as well as accusations that members of their caucus worked for the Israeli government, in a recent livestreamed conversation with conspiracy theorists.Her press release said Democratic caucus leadership should “begin the process” of removing her.“As long as she persists in enabling and spreading this kind of rhetoric, I believe my Democratic colleagues must take swift action to uphold our caucus' commitment to fight and confront hate and intolerance by ousting her from our ranks,” Ingle said.Her press release added that Unsicker had helped “propagate hateful, antisemitic, and conspiratorial and racist rhetoric which has hurt people and sparked online harassment campaigns.”Ohio Legislation for so called “Parent's Bill Of Rights” gets push backhttps://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/12/13/counselors-psychologists-and-school-officials-speak-out-against-parents-bill-of-rights/Dozens, including school counselors and psychiatrists, testified Tuesday against a bill in the Ohio Senate that would force schools to notify parents on “sexuality” content, and possibly on a student's sexuality, calling it “censorship” and potentially risky for students.“Young people are people who are entitled to their own privacy,” said Mallory Golski, of the Kaleidoscope Youth Center. “Young people are people who should have the freedom to read stories that reflect their own lives and experiences.”Ohio House Bill 8 could be up for a vote this week, as the bill seeks to put the control of education more into parent's hands, by allowing them to opt out of certain curricula based on the “sexuality” content. According to one of the bill's sponsors, state Rep. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, school districts would also be “prohibited from keeping changes in the health of the student from their parent, and the school district is also prohibited from encouraging the student to hide these issues from their parents.”Amanda Erickson, also of the Kaleidoscope Youth Center, worried about the impact the bill will have on teachers, who may not only be required to speak with parents about information they were told by a student, but could also be impacted themselves, based on their own life choices.Erickson herself trained as a teacher, before she moved on to the nonprofit sector after graduation. A career in a classroom did not appeal to her after the efforts of the Ohio legislature, now and in the past.“Why would I want to be a teacher in Ohio when my legislators are so obsessed with gender and sexuality that they do not have time to pass legislation that would actually improve our schools,” Erickson asked of the Senate Education Committee.Erickson also argued that the law might ban her and others from putting family pictures on her desk, as it might suggest a discussion she's not allowed to have.“Since this bill does not define ‘sexual concepts' or ‘gender ideology,' there are those who would argue that my wedding photo or the questions it could prompt would qualify as one or the other,” Erickson said.The committee heard from some that currently are in the education field with members of the Ohio School Psychologists Association and the Ohio School Counselor Association both submitting in opposition to the bill, saying the bill is “not workable,” and ignores parents as an already “key tenet” in a student's education. The Missouri and Kansas border war went from civil war to friendly sports rivalry, and is reemerging as a political battle about health carehttps://missouriindependent.com/2023/12/11/university-of-kansas-deal-with-missouri-hospital-feels-terribly-wrong-to-lawmakers/The proposed takeover of Liberty Hospital in Missouri by the University of Kansas Health System is being greeted with scorn by lawmakers from both sides of the state line and both political parties.Leading the charge against the takeover in Missouri is Kansas City Democratic state Sen. Greg Razer, who said the idea of KU owning a hospital in suburban Missouri is “terribly wrong.”“There are boundaries for a reason, and they've crossed one,” said Razer, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia.The Republican leader of the Kansas Senate also has expressed concern about the takeover, along with at least one member of Liberty Hospital's board of trustees.Earlier this month, Razer pre-filed a bill in the Missouri General Assembly that would put a stop to a proposed partnership between the University of Kansas Health System and Liberty Hospital by prohibiting hospital boards to partner with an out-of-state health system “operated by an institution of higher education” without voter approval.“I can't imagine the outrage of Missouri taxpayers if we opened up (University of Missouri) Health in Olathe, Kansas,” Razer said, calling the proposed arrangement “mind boggling.”Liberty Hospital announced in May it was looking to partner with another health system to help it expand to meet growing demand in the Kansas City suburbs north of the Missouri River. In October, it announced it had chosen KU.The two health systems have signed a letter of intent but are still in negotiations, and the terms of the deal are not yet available. But Liberty Hospital CEO Dr. Raghu Adiga said in an interview Friday that KU had pledged to continue the services the hospital provides, including cardiothoracic surgery and a level-two trauma center. Adiga said those are rare for a hospital Liberty's size.“They put the patients first just like us,” Adiga said, “ensuring high-quality health care that we can provide right here in town.”In a video announcing the deal in October, he said the partnership “will bring world class clinical excellence across the river to every Northlander's doorstep.”Razer said the arrangement would take health care dollars from Missouri to “prop up Kansas,” and feared it would be a recruiting tool for the University of Kansas. “Liberty has a lot of high school students. … They get great grades. It's a great school district up there. They're all going to be driving by a Jayhawk every day in the state of Missouri,” Razer said.Razer's primary objection centered on the idea of having a Kansas state institution plant its flag in Missouri.The University of Kansas Health System is governed by the University of Kansas Hospital Authority, a board established in Kansas statute, primarily appointed by the Kansas governor and affiliated with the University of Kansas School of Medicine. But the health system hasn't been owned by the state in 25 years. It receives no state or local tax dollars. Indiana, one of the most “red” states in the union, is struggling to keep up economically speakinghttps://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2023/12/13/hoosier-economic-policy-improving-slower-than-competitors-report-says/Indiana has improved on key economic development criteria in recent years, but has still fallen in national rankings, the influential Indiana Chamber of Commerce found in a report card Tuesday.The chamber in August released a vision for Indiana in 2035, with 31 goals for the state's education, entrepreneurship, economic growth, energy and infrastructure, health, quality of place and workforce.The report cards — expected to be biannual — log progress on 59 metrics related to those goals.Compared to previous years, the state scored better on about 67% of the metrics — but its national rankings on those metrics improved just 41% of the time.“What that tells us is that we're improving overall — but the progress isn't happening fast enough, because other states are improving at a faster pace,” outgoing President and CEO Kevin Brinegar told reporters Tuesday. “We need to pick up the pace.”Indiana's strongest performance was a third-place ranking for the 11% of Hoosiers working in knowledge- and technology-intensive industries, like manufacturing or software development.It came in fourth for the 63% of foreign-born Hoosiers with science or engineering bachelor's degrees, as well as for the 10% of non-white workers who are self-employed.More Rail Service In Colorado… coming soon? https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/front-range-rail-development/Front Range Passenger Rail District will get a $500,000 planning grant as part of the federal Corridor ID program, which aims to help development of intercity passenger rail projects. The idea, Bose said, is to get projects into the pipeline for implementation, eventually connecting an entire corridor of cities to rail service.The Front Range Passenger Rail District, which was created through 2021 legislation, is planning a rail line that would connect cities between Fort Collins and Pueblo.“Colorado is very, very well positioned in the Corridor ID program,” Bose said, partly because the district has already defined the scope of its service development program and can move forward to the second step of the program. There are “tens of millions of dollars” for project planning now that the scope is set.The Colorado project is one of 70 that the Federal Railroad Administration selected to get money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.“The fact that we have a federal administration that's committed to helping us dream up and execute a project like this is not an opportunity that we can take for granted. I think it shows us what kind of a moment we have,” Lew said.Polis is pushing a housing agenda that encourages development along transit corridors, and he is likely to champion related legislation next year. Though the state is years away from putting Front Range residents onto passenger rail cars, the agenda represents a goal for people to live near their primary mode of transportation and commute more easily without adding traffic congestion.“Coupled with bus rapid transit and transit oriented neighborhoods, passenger rail is a huge lynchpin in this vision we have for smarter growth, for improving affordability, livability and sustainability as Colorado grows,” Polis said. @TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and ThreadsCo-HostsAdam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post)Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller (no social)The Heartland Collective - Sign Up Today!JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK!“Change The Conversation”Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium http://www.americanaquarium.com/
Flyover Friday, December 15, 2023Intro: On this episode of The Heartland POD for Friday, December 15th, 2023A flyover from this weeks top heartland stories including:Welcome to The Heartland POD for a Flyover Friday, this is Sean Diller in Denver, Colorado. With me as co-host today is Adam Sommer, how you doing Adam?We're glad to have you with us. If you're new to our shows make sure you subscribe and leave a 5 star rating wherever you listen. You can also find Heartland POD content on Youtube and on social media with @ THE heartland pod, and learn more at thehearltandcollective.com SEAN: Speaking of - the website over at THE HEARTLAND COLLECTIVE DOT COM - if you have not yet checked it out, it is full of not just shows but articles too, including a recent on on abortion laws by Rachel Parker, really sharp stuff. ADAM: Yeah, hats off to you and the team, shout out my and special thanks to Allyn for all the work, I think folks will like what they find over there at the site, and that article by Rachel goes great with the pod from Wednesday which was Rachel with Jess Piper and Laura Belin was back from Bleeding Heartland, a powerhouse group of women talking about abortion laws, absolutely not to be missed. SEAN: Plus, we're back in the saddle this coming week with the LAST CALL shows, which are for members only, we have a lot of fun on those shows and that's for patreon members, you can sign up today, $5 per month unlocks that feature, go to THE HEARTLAND COLLECTIVE DOT COM and click the button to sign up today to join us for those member only bonus shows. Alright! Let's get into the storiesSOURCES: Wisconsin Examiner, Missouri Independent, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Ohio Capital Journal, Colorado Newsline; Indiana Capitol Chronicle Rep. Sarah Unsicker has pulled out of the Dem AG primary after a two week period in which she appears to have had serious issues pop upVery odd turn of events, disgusting anti-semetic smears and a final move of a Dark Night jOker like videoMissouri Dem leader and candidate for Governor, Crystal Quade, is taking the charge on the abortion issue in Missouri. https://x.com/crystal_quade/status/1735330641967759416?s=20Sen. Josh Hawley (drop) has failed to include funding for nuclear waste cleanup for Missourians. https://missouriindependent.com/2023/12/12/defense-radioactive-senate-st-lous/Wisconsin Secretary of State calls for removal of fake elector who was part of 2020 scheme for Donald Trump https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2023/12/11/wisconsin-secretary-of-state-calls-for-removal-of-election-commissioner-who-served-as-fake-elector/Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski and the two Democrats on the Senate elections committee are calling for Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) to remove state elections commissioner Robert Spindell from his position. Democrats are calling for Spindell's removal because he served as a fake elector following the 2020 presidential election, casting a false Electoral College vote for former President Donald Trump despite Joe Biden's victory in the state. Last week, Spindell and the nine other Republicans who joined him settled a lawsuit against them for their actions — stating publicly that Biden had won the election and agreeing not to serve as electors for Trump again.On Monday, Godlewski said Wisconsinites can't trust Spindell to have a say in how the state's elections are run. “Wisconsin Election Commissioner Robert Spindell Jr. admitted that he was not a qualified 2020 presidential elector and co-signed a fraudulent Certificate of Votes and submitted them to my office,” Godlewski said in a statement. “That unlawful certificate was used as part of a larger scheme to overturn the election. The people of Wisconsin cannot trust the integrity and moral compass of Commissioner Spindell to administer our elections. Senator LeMahieu should immediately remove him from Wisconsin's Election Commission.”Democrats on the Senate elections committee, Sens. Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire) and Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) said Monday that Spindell's admission that he participated in an effort to overturn the election results should be enough for him to resign or for LeMahieu to remove him. “Bob Spindell has continued to serve without any repercussions for his actions and statements celebrating lower turnout and successful voter suppression,” the two senators said in a statement. “Now, Bob Spindell has admitted his involvement in the scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election, and it is abundantly clear that the Senate Majority Leader's excuses and deflections must come to an end. Bob Spindell has admitted to signing and sending false documents claiming that he was a presidential elector for the state of Wisconsin. If there were any remaining questions about whether Bob Spindell should go, they were answered when he finally acknowledged that he signed falsified documents submitted to public officials despite President Joe Biden winning the 2020 election in Wisconsin. Bob Spindell should resign. If he doesn't, Senator LeMahieu must remove him. We understand the Wisconsin Elections Commission is made up of partisan appointees, but surely Senator LeMahieu can find a different Republican who didn't attempt to illegally overturn a presidential election. The people of Wisconsin deserve better than Bob Spindell.” Democratic Rep. Keri Ingle of Lee's Summit calls for removal of STL area Shrewsberry Rep. Unsicker from Democratic caucus in Missouri https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/missouri-house-democrat-calls-for-ouster-of-shrewsbury-state-rep-from-caucus/article_8b475036-9945-11ee-b25d-e3f3e17972df.htmlRep. Keri Ingle, D-Lee's Summit, said in a news release that state Rep. Sarah Unsicker of Shrewsbury “failed to denounce” antisemitic attacks, as well as accusations that members of their caucus worked for the Israeli government, in a recent livestreamed conversation with conspiracy theorists.Her press release said Democratic caucus leadership should “begin the process” of removing her.“As long as she persists in enabling and spreading this kind of rhetoric, I believe my Democratic colleagues must take swift action to uphold our caucus' commitment to fight and confront hate and intolerance by ousting her from our ranks,” Ingle said.Her press release added that Unsicker had helped “propagate hateful, antisemitic, and conspiratorial and racist rhetoric which has hurt people and sparked online harassment campaigns.”Ohio Legislation for so called “Parent's Bill Of Rights” gets push backhttps://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/12/13/counselors-psychologists-and-school-officials-speak-out-against-parents-bill-of-rights/Dozens, including school counselors and psychiatrists, testified Tuesday against a bill in the Ohio Senate that would force schools to notify parents on “sexuality” content, and possibly on a student's sexuality, calling it “censorship” and potentially risky for students.“Young people are people who are entitled to their own privacy,” said Mallory Golski, of the Kaleidoscope Youth Center. “Young people are people who should have the freedom to read stories that reflect their own lives and experiences.”Ohio House Bill 8 could be up for a vote this week, as the bill seeks to put the control of education more into parent's hands, by allowing them to opt out of certain curricula based on the “sexuality” content. According to one of the bill's sponsors, state Rep. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, school districts would also be “prohibited from keeping changes in the health of the student from their parent, and the school district is also prohibited from encouraging the student to hide these issues from their parents.”Amanda Erickson, also of the Kaleidoscope Youth Center, worried about the impact the bill will have on teachers, who may not only be required to speak with parents about information they were told by a student, but could also be impacted themselves, based on their own life choices.Erickson herself trained as a teacher, before she moved on to the nonprofit sector after graduation. A career in a classroom did not appeal to her after the efforts of the Ohio legislature, now and in the past.“Why would I want to be a teacher in Ohio when my legislators are so obsessed with gender and sexuality that they do not have time to pass legislation that would actually improve our schools,” Erickson asked of the Senate Education Committee.Erickson also argued that the law might ban her and others from putting family pictures on her desk, as it might suggest a discussion she's not allowed to have.“Since this bill does not define ‘sexual concepts' or ‘gender ideology,' there are those who would argue that my wedding photo or the questions it could prompt would qualify as one or the other,” Erickson said.The committee heard from some that currently are in the education field with members of the Ohio School Psychologists Association and the Ohio School Counselor Association both submitting in opposition to the bill, saying the bill is “not workable,” and ignores parents as an already “key tenet” in a student's education. The Missouri and Kansas border war went from civil war to friendly sports rivalry, and is reemerging as a political battle about health carehttps://missouriindependent.com/2023/12/11/university-of-kansas-deal-with-missouri-hospital-feels-terribly-wrong-to-lawmakers/The proposed takeover of Liberty Hospital in Missouri by the University of Kansas Health System is being greeted with scorn by lawmakers from both sides of the state line and both political parties.Leading the charge against the takeover in Missouri is Kansas City Democratic state Sen. Greg Razer, who said the idea of KU owning a hospital in suburban Missouri is “terribly wrong.”“There are boundaries for a reason, and they've crossed one,” said Razer, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia.The Republican leader of the Kansas Senate also has expressed concern about the takeover, along with at least one member of Liberty Hospital's board of trustees.Earlier this month, Razer pre-filed a bill in the Missouri General Assembly that would put a stop to a proposed partnership between the University of Kansas Health System and Liberty Hospital by prohibiting hospital boards to partner with an out-of-state health system “operated by an institution of higher education” without voter approval.“I can't imagine the outrage of Missouri taxpayers if we opened up (University of Missouri) Health in Olathe, Kansas,” Razer said, calling the proposed arrangement “mind boggling.”Liberty Hospital announced in May it was looking to partner with another health system to help it expand to meet growing demand in the Kansas City suburbs north of the Missouri River. In October, it announced it had chosen KU.The two health systems have signed a letter of intent but are still in negotiations, and the terms of the deal are not yet available. But Liberty Hospital CEO Dr. Raghu Adiga said in an interview Friday that KU had pledged to continue the services the hospital provides, including cardiothoracic surgery and a level-two trauma center. Adiga said those are rare for a hospital Liberty's size.“They put the patients first just like us,” Adiga said, “ensuring high-quality health care that we can provide right here in town.”In a video announcing the deal in October, he said the partnership “will bring world class clinical excellence across the river to every Northlander's doorstep.”Razer said the arrangement would take health care dollars from Missouri to “prop up Kansas,” and feared it would be a recruiting tool for the University of Kansas. “Liberty has a lot of high school students. … They get great grades. It's a great school district up there. They're all going to be driving by a Jayhawk every day in the state of Missouri,” Razer said.Razer's primary objection centered on the idea of having a Kansas state institution plant its flag in Missouri.The University of Kansas Health System is governed by the University of Kansas Hospital Authority, a board established in Kansas statute, primarily appointed by the Kansas governor and affiliated with the University of Kansas School of Medicine. But the health system hasn't been owned by the state in 25 years. It receives no state or local tax dollars. Indiana, one of the most “red” states in the union, is struggling to keep up economically speakinghttps://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2023/12/13/hoosier-economic-policy-improving-slower-than-competitors-report-says/Indiana has improved on key economic development criteria in recent years, but has still fallen in national rankings, the influential Indiana Chamber of Commerce found in a report card Tuesday.The chamber in August released a vision for Indiana in 2035, with 31 goals for the state's education, entrepreneurship, economic growth, energy and infrastructure, health, quality of place and workforce.The report cards — expected to be biannual — log progress on 59 metrics related to those goals.Compared to previous years, the state scored better on about 67% of the metrics — but its national rankings on those metrics improved just 41% of the time.“What that tells us is that we're improving overall — but the progress isn't happening fast enough, because other states are improving at a faster pace,” outgoing President and CEO Kevin Brinegar told reporters Tuesday. “We need to pick up the pace.”Indiana's strongest performance was a third-place ranking for the 11% of Hoosiers working in knowledge- and technology-intensive industries, like manufacturing or software development.It came in fourth for the 63% of foreign-born Hoosiers with science or engineering bachelor's degrees, as well as for the 10% of non-white workers who are self-employed.More Rail Service In Colorado… coming soon? https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/front-range-rail-development/Front Range Passenger Rail District will get a $500,000 planning grant as part of the federal Corridor ID program, which aims to help development of intercity passenger rail projects. The idea, Bose said, is to get projects into the pipeline for implementation, eventually connecting an entire corridor of cities to rail service.The Front Range Passenger Rail District, which was created through 2021 legislation, is planning a rail line that would connect cities between Fort Collins and Pueblo.“Colorado is very, very well positioned in the Corridor ID program,” Bose said, partly because the district has already defined the scope of its service development program and can move forward to the second step of the program. There are “tens of millions of dollars” for project planning now that the scope is set.The Colorado project is one of 70 that the Federal Railroad Administration selected to get money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.“The fact that we have a federal administration that's committed to helping us dream up and execute a project like this is not an opportunity that we can take for granted. I think it shows us what kind of a moment we have,” Lew said.Polis is pushing a housing agenda that encourages development along transit corridors, and he is likely to champion related legislation next year. Though the state is years away from putting Front Range residents onto passenger rail cars, the agenda represents a goal for people to live near their primary mode of transportation and commute more easily without adding traffic congestion.“Coupled with bus rapid transit and transit oriented neighborhoods, passenger rail is a huge lynchpin in this vision we have for smarter growth, for improving affordability, livability and sustainability as Colorado grows,” Polis said. @TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and ThreadsCo-HostsAdam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post)Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller (no social)The Heartland Collective - Sign Up Today!JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK!“Change The Conversation”Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium http://www.americanaquarium.com/
Author Max Marshall traces a murder and a multi-million-dollar drug ring in his new book "Among the Bros: A Fraternity Crime Story."Then, Mike Christiansen, Executive Director of the Utah Rail Passengers Association, discusses why the Boise – Salt Lake City – Las Vegas passenger rail didn't make the Federal Railroad Administration's cut. And Steven Bellefeuille talks about Park City based Pret Helmets.
GDP Script/ Top Stories for Nov 22nd Publish Date: Nov 21st HENSSLER 15 From the Henssler Financial Studio Welcome to the Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. Today is Wednesday, November 22nd and Happy heavenly Birthday to Rodney Dangerfield. ***Rodney Dangerfield on Carson*** I'm Bruce Jenkins and here are your top stories presented by Peggy Slappy Properties. New treatment offers hope for Long COVID patients to restore their smell GCPS and partners to use federal grant to address school psychologist shortage Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose's Visit To Gwinnett Highlights Need To Address Blocked Train Crossings Plus, my conversation with Leah McGrath from Ingle Markets on essential oils. All of this and more is coming up on the Gwinnett Daily Post podcast, and if you are looking for community news, we encourage you to listen daily and subscribe! Break 1: PEGGY SLAPPY STORY 1: New treatment offers hope for Long COVID patients to restore their smell Researchers have discovered a new 10-minute treatment that may restore the sense of smell in patients with long COVID. The treatment involves injecting anesthetic directly into the stellate ganglion on one side of the neck, stimulating the autonomic nervous system. The minimally invasive procedure, guided by CT imaging, has been successful in treating post-COVID parosmia, a common symptom affecting the sense of smell. The method, taking less than 10 minutes and requiring no sedation, has been previously used for conditions like cluster headaches and phantom limb pain. The study reported positive outcomes and near 100% resolution of phantosmia in some patients. STORY 2: GCPS and partners to use federal grant to address school psychologist shortage Gwinnett County Public Schools, Paulding County School District, and Georgia State University have received a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education to address the shortage of school psychologists. The funds will be used to recruit, train, and support professionals from local communities, preparing them to enter the field of school psychology. The grant aims to enhance the quality of education and support services within Gwinnett County Public Schools, particularly addressing the increasing mental health needs of students in the post-pandemic era. The initiative aligns with the district's strategic plan to support the holistic development of students. STORY 3: Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose's Visit To Gwinnett Highlights Need To Address Blocked Train Crossings Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose visited Duluth to discuss railway safety and the challenges posed by trains blocking local roads with U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath and Gwinnett County leaders. The meeting addressed safety concerns related to railroad crossings and followed the Federal Railroad Administration awarding $888,000 to Gwinnett for studying the elimination of three crossings. The crossings at Arcado, Oak/Gloster, and Hosea Roads are on the CSX rail line, and the goal is to explore alternative means to facilitate vehicle movement over or under the tracks without interruptions. The discussions also touched on concerns about pedestrian crossings and quiet zones near residential areas. We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.874.3200 for more info. We'll be right back Break 2: M.O.G. – TOM WAGES – DTL STORY 4: Gwinnett County Public Schools sets calendars for next two school years Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia will start the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years on Aug. 5, 2024, and Aug. 4, 2025, respectively, but the approved calendars do not include holidays for Eid, despite advocacy from Muslim students and a school board member. The calendars were chosen by district leaders following a public input process, with the majority supporting options that closely resembled the existing calendar. Options Two and Four, which included additional holidays for Rosh Hashanah and Eid, received less support. School Board Chairwoman Tarece Johnson-Morgan expressed disappointment at the lack of community support for inclusive calendars. STORY 5: Scientists solve the mystery of red wine headaches Scientists from the University of California, Davis, have identified the reason why drinking red wine can lead to headaches. They found that a natural compound or flavonol called quercetin in red wine can interfere with alcohol metabolism, leading to headaches. Quercetin, a healthy antioxidant found in fruits and vegetables, including grapes, blocks the metabolism of alcohol when it enters the bloodstream, causing the accumulation of the toxin acetaldehyde. The study also revealed that different wines had varying amounts of quercetin, depending on sunlight exposure during grape growth. The researchers plan to conduct human clinical trials to further explore the causes of red wine headaches. We'll be back in a moment Break 3: ESOG - INGLES 3 – GCPS STORY 6: LEAH MCGRATH And now here is my conversation with Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on essential oils. STORY 7: LEAH MCGRATH ***LEAH MCGRATH INERVIEW*** We'll have final thoughts after this. Break 4: Henssler 60 Signoff – Thanks again for hanging out with us on today's Gwinnett Daily Post podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties, or the Paulding County News Podcast. Read more about all our stories, and get other great content at Gwinnettdailypost.com. Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. 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‘Mineta Transportation Institute' - Silicon Valley's Outreach for Assistance: The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose State University is a renowned hub for independent surface transportation research, education, workforce development, and technology transfer on a global scale. Dr. Philbrick spearheads four prestigious, competitively selected consortia, including the Mineta Consortium for Transportation Mobility and the Mineta Consortium for Equitable, Efficient, and Sustainable Transportation, generously funded by the US Department of Transportation. MTI also manages the California State University Transportation Consortium, made possible by the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (CA Senate Bill 1), and the Climate Change and Extreme Events Training and Research Program, supported by the Federal Railroad Administration. Their mission is to enhance nationwide mobility by elevating the safety, efficiency, accessibility, and convenience of the United States' transportation system. America's Transportation Problem: Traffic Congestion: The 2019 Urban Mobility Report found that commuters spend an extra 54 hours in traffic annually, totaling 8.8 billion hours overall Inefficient Public Transportation: The ASCE 2021 graded U.S. transit "D-," with over 40% of buses and 25% of rail assets in poor condition Road Safety Concerns: In 2019, 36,096 people died in car crashes, with pedestrian fatalities at their highest since 1990, accounting for 6,205 deaths Mineta Transportation Institute's Mission: Their mission is to increase mobility by improving the safety, efficiency, accessibility, and convenience of our nation's transportation system. Through research, education, workforce development, and technology transfer, they help create a connected world. About the Guest: Karen Philbrick has served as the Executive Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San José State University since 2014. MTI oversees three distinguished multi-university consortia: the California State University Transportation Consortium (CSUTC), which consolidates surface transportation research and workforce development across the extensive California State University system; the Mineta Consortium for Transportation Mobility (MCTM), comprising four exceptional institutions that champion the diversity enriching our nation's fabric, including Howard University, Navajo Technical University, San José State University, and the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Additionally, MTI administers the Climate Change and Extreme Events Training and Research Program, generously funded by the Federal Railroad Administration. In this Episode: In this episode, get ready to explore the fascinating history and impactful work of the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI). Founded in 1991 as a university transportation center, MTI is dedicated to improving the mobility of people and goods. This episode delves into the organization's origins, its mission to honor the legacy of Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, and its remarkable journey from a local initiative to a globally recognized institution. Join us as Karen Philbrick, the President of MTI, shares her passion for improving mobility and the life-changing impact of transportation. Don't miss this episode that celebrates the power of transportation in transforming lives, fostering community, and making a global impact. Stay tuned for an enriching conversation with Karen Philbrick, and be prepared to embark on a journey of change and empowerment through transportation. Show Notes: Learn about the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) and its mission to improve mobility Discover the origins of MTI, founded in 1991 as a university transportation center, and its ties to Secretary Norman Y. Mineta How MTI was established to address the need for research and workforce development in transportation How mobility is a lifeline to opportunities, touching on its impact on social engagement and physical health Learn about MTI's numerous success stories, focusing on workforce development and its impact on young students pursuing careers in transportation Discover the challenges in transportation, including the need for policy alignment with innovation and user acceptance of autonomous vehicles Explore the various programs offered by MTI, including K-12 initiatives and an affordable Master's in Transportation Management program Rotary Club of San Jose: Learn about Karen's role as president of the Rotary Club of San Jose and her passion for community service Impact of Rotary: Karen shares a heartwarming story about the Rotary Play Garden, a project that made parks more accessible to children with disabilities
The Federal Railroad Administration released a 143-page report on railroad Norfolk Southern's safety culture Aug. 9. The agency has worked on the report since thousands of people had to evacuate their homes after the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment in February. Though the report acknowledged the railroad has made improvements, poor communication and mistrust between employees and managers are hindering Norfolk Southern's efforts to improve safety, the agency said. Railroad CEO Alan Shaw said the company is working to address the report's findings.
Continuing our celebration of National Safety Month, Dr. I. David Daniels speaks to Michael Coplen, the founder and President of TrueSafety Evaluation, in this episode. He previously served as Division Chief of Safety Policy and Promotion at the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), senior Human Factors Program Manager at the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Research, Development and Technology (RD&T) Department, and past Chair of the U.S. DOT interagency Human Factors Coordinating Committee. One of the essential predictors of an organization's physical and psychosocial hazard and risk environment is the organization's safety culture. Mr. Coplen will share his experience in the rail industry and, ultimately, in the federal government, focused on researching, developing, implementing, and evaluating safety culture and safety management systems from a behavioral safety and human factors perspective.
John Cantrell stops by and talks about his experience at a Taylor Swift concert over the weekend; a security guard at a San Francisco Walgreens shoots and kills a transgender shoplifter; Hammond to receive $7 million from the Federal Railroad Administration for a railroad overpass project; Tom reads some fan mail; Tom shares his latest triathlon experience; a new Winnie the Pooh book causes controversy; Steve Bannon calls for 149 Republicans to be primaried as a result of their debt ceiling vote; Rep. Lauren Boebert says she didn't show up to cast a debt ceiling vote out of protest, but news footage outside the Capitol suggests otherwise.
EPISODE 1519: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Siena Sterling, the author of THE GAME SHE PLAYS CAN TURN DEADLY. about twisted plots, twisted people and twisted writers like Patricia Highsmith and Fyodor Dostoievski Siena Sterling is an American living in London. Before moving to England, she worked at Doubleday bookstore in New York, in political campaigns, and for the Federal Railroad Administration. She has two children. She plays poker and tennis, and has a passion for Jack Russell terriers. Her latest thriller is THE GAME SHE PLAYS CAN TURN DEADLY (2023) Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Welcome to the American Railroading Podcast hosted by Don Walsh, founder, president, and CEO of The Revolution Rail Group, a railcar consulting and brokering company, which is the anchor sponsor for the podcast. Don shares his experience of how he got into the industry as a teenager and his journey to establishing a consulting and brokering company in the railroad industry. In this episode Don is joined by guest, Wendy Buckley, the founder, president, and CEO of Stars Hazmat Consulting. She has an extensive background in hazmat and has worked with and for various organizations and departments, is a Sirius XM show guest-host and an author. Don't miss out as they discuss the importance of safety when working with hazardous materials in the railroad industry and share experiences helping companies transport, store, handle and remediate hazardous materials safely. They also delve into the remediation process implemented in the East Palestine, Ohio derailment from February 3, 2023, as well as common mistakes people make when working with hazardous materials. They emphasize the importance of communication with employees and leadership's role in operating safely. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the railroad industry and the critical role that safety plays in the handling and transportation of hazardous materials by rail. KEY POINTS: Don Walsh is the founder, president, and CEO of the The Revolution Rail Group, which is the anchor sponsor for the American Railroading Podcast. Don got into the industry as a teenager by knocking on doors in his neighborhood and doing summer jobs for a man who owned a rail car repair company.Wendy Buckley is the founder, president, and CEO of Stars Hazmat Consulting, who is the first guest on the American Railroading Podcast.Wendy Buckley has an extensive background in hazmat and has worked for and with various organizations and departments, including the Federal Railroad Administration, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, multiple county fire departments, and has performed Hazmat training for educators and the U.S. military.She is an instructor, trainer, and an adjunct professor teaching hazmat transportation. She appears monthly on a show on Sirius XM Radio, publishes a weekly newsletter called Hazmat Chronicle, and has written a book on hazmat transportation.Wendy Buckley has won numerous honors and awards, including being listed as one of the 10 most successful businesswomen to watch in 2022 and one of the 20 most inspiring women leaders of 2022.Wendy Buckley helps companies transport, store, dispose of, and handle hazmat safely and efficiently, in compliance with regulations and industry best practices.Discussion of the remediation process implemented in the East Palestine, Ohio derailment from February 3, 2023.The importance of safety when working with hazardous materials in the railroad industry. The most common mistake people make is becoming complacent and forgetting that hazardous materials can cause damage to the body, short-term and long-term injury, and even death.Most personal injuries occur at the beginning or end of a career due to ignorance or complacency. Communication with employees is crucial, and leadership must understand the importance of operating safely. There tends to be a misunderstanding about what the shipper's responsibility is and what the railroad's responsibility is. Pre-trip inspections are essential.It is necessary to check all loading and unloading equipment and fittings before loading or unloading a railcar, to ensure everything is functioning properly, and report any non-conformance and/or leaks. LINKS MENTIONED: https://therevolutionrailgroup.com/ https://starshazmat.com/ https://aar.org/ Disclaimer: https://www.americanrailroading.net/p/disclaimer/
Gwinnett County police are looking for a woman accused of robbing one bank and trying to rob another one in mid-December. Arrest warrants have been taken out against Janae Samantha Fareaux according to Corporal Ryan Winderweedle. Fareaux is accused of going to a Wells Fago off of Killian Hill Road in unincorporated Lilburn on December 14 and demanding that she be taken into the vault. Winderweedle said she left the bank without getting any money, however. A day later, Fareaux allegedly went to a Truist bank located off of Pleasant Hill Road in unincorporated Duluth and passed a note to a teller. She allegedly left Truist with more than $2,000. Winderweedle said Fareaux was wearing a long black wig, gray T-shirt over a long sleeve black shirt, black pants, black shoes and green socks the last tie she was seen. She may be driving a red or maroon 2019-2020 Hyundai Elantra. Anyone who has information about Fareaux's whereabouts is asked to call detectives or crime stoppers. Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward for tips that lead to arrest and indictment. North Gwinnett senior Marek Briley committed Sunday to the Georgia Bulldogs football program, accepting a preferred walk-on offer from the defending national champion. Briley, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound wide receiver, had 37 catches for 795 yards and eight touchdowns this season for North's state playoff team. Briley had division one offers from programs such as Stetson and Navy. He received his offer to be a preferred walk-on for the Dawgs during his mid-December visit to Athens. As U.S. Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux's final days in Congress ticked away during the holidays, she highlighted one last batch of funding she was able to secure for the 7th Congressional District before leaving office. Bourdeaux, who leaves office this weekend, said the federal Fiscal Appropriations Bill that was passed by the House and sent to President Joe Biden in December included nearly $13 million for projects in her district. In all, 14 7th Congressional District projects were included in the appropriations bill. Some of those projects include money to expand transit in Gwinnett County, support work to convert the Hooper-Renwick School building in Lawrenceville into the Hooper-Renwick library branch and support efforts to help victims of sexual and domestic violence. This will be the last time that north Gwinnett and Forsyth County get funding allocations as part of the 7th Congressional District. Starting in 2023, Forsyth and parts of the Buford area will move to the 6th Congressional District while most of the northern half of Gwinnett will move to the 9th Congressional District. Meanwhile, part of north Fulton County and the part of Gwinnett County that is south of U.S. 78 will be added to the 7th Congressional district. A major chunk of the 7th Congressional District money included in the appropriations bill will support transit expansion in Gwinnett County. That funding includes $2 million for Gwinnett County Transit to establish microtransit service in the Buford and Suwanee area. Another $2 million was allocated to the county's transit system for bus shelters for a new Route 25 local bus service. Data shows Georgia is among the worst states for grade crossing crashes. According to Operation Lifesaver, citing preliminary 2021 Federal Railroad Administration statistics, Georgia had 132 grade crossing collisions with eight deaths and 37 injuries. The Peach State ranked behind Texas and California for the number of collisions. According to the Georgia Department of Transportation, in 2018-20, there were 283 crashes with 22 fatalities and 63 injuries at grade crossings in the state. Between 2018-20, 12.4% of all injuries and 5.3% of all fatalities occurred at grade crossings with gates. Jennie Glasgow, Operation Lifesaver's state coordinator for Georgia, told The Center Square it's not necessarily surprising the state nears the top of the list, considering it is one of the more populous states and is an important railroad state. The number of crashes in Georgia increased from an average of 81 in 2010-12 to 99 per year in 2017-19, even as the annual number of crashes during 2009-19 nationally stayed constant. Across Georgia, there are more than 5,000 railroad crossings. However, less than half — roughly 45.2% — have gates, while about 2.9% have flashing lights but no gates. The majority — roughly 51.9% — are so-called "passive" crossings, meaning they do not have flashing lights or gates. Lanier had good reason to throw in the towel. The Longhorns boys basketball team saw its seven-point lead over Scottsboro dwindle to two before halftime of the 31st Annual Deep South Classic Championship on Friday. They then surrendered back-to-back 3-pointers to open the third quarter, resulting in a four-point deficit. Some teams would panic. Others might fold entirely. Instead, the Longhorns dug in their heels. Lanier used a dominant third-quarter run to pull out a 61-56 win and secure the DSC title on Eddie Martin Court. Trailing 30-26 with 6:30 to go in the third quarter, Lanier turned up the dial defensively. The Longhorns made a concerted effort to apply pressure, close out on shooters and force up shots. On the other end of the court, the proverbial lid on the rim dissolved, allowing their own shots to float through the net at last. The result? A flurry of 14 unanswered points en route to a 20-2 run that flipped the game on its head. By the time the third-quarter game clock dipped inside the minute, the Longhorns had built up a 46-32 advantage. The run lasted five minutes of game time, but it was perfectly encapsulated by a sequence that took just 38 seconds to unfold. When Lanier junior Cameron Thornton's 3-pointer slipped through the net to retake the lead for his team, 5:10 remained on the clock. Just 20 seconds later, senior Landon Suarez stopped at the same spot on the court and knocked for a 3-point jumper of his own. The Wildcats marched down the court looking to answer, but junior Jayce Nathaniel elevated to block the shot at the 4:42 mark. The Longhorns wasted no time running the other in transition, putting the ball in the hands of Suarez, who once against connected from downtown to make it 37-30 with 4:32 to go. The 38-second sequence injected a jolt of energy into the Longhorns that ultimately carried them to victory. 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A lot more accidents and near misses occur on the nation's railroads than you might realize. The Federal Railroad Administration tracks incidents using what's known as the Confidential Close Call Reporting System or C3RS. But the Government Accountability Office found that only a handful of railroads participate, so there's a big gap in safety data. To get more on this, Federal Drive host Tome Temin spoke with GAO's Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues, Elizabeth Repko.
Claudia Swain is Lawfare's digital strategist—but before coming to Lawfare, she worked at the Federal Railroad Administration, deep in the bureaucracy. She recently wrote an article for Lawfare called, “The Emerging Cyber Threat to the American Rail Industry,” which is a bit of a chilling read about the threat that the American rail industry faces as a result of, of all things, new computerized safety systems. Benjamin Wittes sat down with Claudia for a fascinating conversation about Positive Train Control, this new computerized system, and the potential cybersecurity threats it poses. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 623, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: The Davis Cup 1: Kim Carnes sang about her eyes. Bette Davis. 2: In 1861 he resigned from the U.S. Senate. Jefferson Davis. 3: He's moved his Raiders all over California. Al Davis. 4: In 1978 this cartoonist introduced his character Garfield to the world. Jim Davis. 5: This black activist ran for vice president on the 1980 Communist Party ticket. Angela Davis. Round 2. Category: Salad 1: The name of this salad comes from the Dutch for "cabbage salad". coleslaw. 2: The ever-popular salad made from this elbow-shaped pasta often contains celery, olives and chopped pimiento. Macaroni salad. 3: There's a kitchen honcho in the name of this classic salad with egg, cheese and meat. a chef salad. 4: This salad of tomatoes and mozzarella gets its name from an island near the Bay of Naples. caprese. 5: This salad with chopped turkey, bacon, tomatoes and hard-boiled eggs is named for the owner of the Brown Derby. a Cobb salad. Round 3. Category: Movie Locations 1: 1972:Brando prefers anonymity in "Last Tango in blank ". Paris. 2: 2002:Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones get away with murder in " blank ". Chicago. 3: 2004:Don Cheadle managed "Hotel blank ". Rwanda. 4: L.A.'s Biltmore played the Sedgewick Hotel, where guests got slimed in this 1984 comedy. Ghostbusters. 5: 1985:Jeff Daniels steps out of "The Purple Rose of blank ". Cairo. Round 4. Category: "Sea" Ya 1: The First Daughter. Chelsea Clinton. 2: This company's V.O. whisky had a gold and black ribbon signifying the horse racing colors of its founder. Seagram's. 3: This city's annual Seafair features various water sports and a hydroplane race on Lake Washington. Seattle. 4: This fish of the genus Hippocampus has the ability to change its color to conform to its background. Seahorse. 5: In this Bobby Darin tune, "My lover stands on golden sands and watches the ships that go sailing". "Beyond the Sea". Round 5. Category: Which U.s. Cabinet Department? 1: The Food Safety and Inspection Service. the Department of Agriculture. 2: The Federal Railroad Administration. Transportation. 3: The National Park Service. Department of Interior. 4: The U.S. Parole Commission. the Justice Department. 5: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Department of Health and Human Services. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia! Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/
October 21, 2022 — The Great Redwood Trail overcame a major hurdle late yesterday afternoon, when a federal regulator turned down the Skunk Train's offer to buy 13 miles of track north of Willits. The Great Redwood Trail Agency, which owns the track, had asked the Surface Transportation Board, which regulates railroads, to allow it to abandon the track so it could start the process of converting it into a trail. The Board approved the abandonment, effective on June 19, unless it received a formal notice from an entity intending to buy part or all of the line. The Skunk Train, also known as Mendocino Railway, did so. Last Saturday,it filed its bid, known as an Offer of Financial Assistance, which the Board rejected within the five-day legal timeframe. The Board also lifted the hold on its authorization to abandon the line, which means that as of Tuesday, October 25, the entire 176 miles of track from Willits to just outside Eureka is officially an abandoned railway. There is no appeals process, and the Board will take up further issues around converting the railway into a trail in the next few days. The Great Redwood Trail Agency is working closely with Senator Mike McGuire, the California Coastal Commission, and environmental groups including Friends of the Eel River, to build a 320-mile trail alongside or on top of the railroad line from Marin to the Humboldt Bay. The Agency also holds the deed to the Willits yard, or depot on Commercial Street, which is a critical part of the Skunk Train's infrastructure. Last month, Robert Pinoli, the President and CEO of Mendocino Railway, told a judge he feared that if the line were abandoned, his company would no longer be able to use the yard. Pinoli was the only witness in a three-and-a-half day eminent domain trial, where Mendocino Railway is suing a landowner just outside of Willits, claiming that short lines like the Skunk Train are a vital element of the nation's infrastructure. As such, Pinoli argued, the Skunk should be authorized to take the property because its use of it would serve the most public benefit. The eminent domain trial seemed to conclude about a week before the Great Redwood Trail Agency signed the deed to the Willits yard, but it's since been reopened. It will start up again on November third. The process of converting the railway into a trail appeared to be threatened over the summer, when an anonymous “Coal Train” interest based in Wyoming declared its intent to purchase all 176 miles of the track and use it to carry coal from the midwest and ship it overseas from the port in Humboldt Bay. That plan was scuttled when badly redacted bank statements showed that the company was flat broke. The Skunk Train's challenge remained, though. On Saturday, it made good on its stated intent to buy the track from Willits to Longvale. In a 271-page Offer of Financial Assistance, the company argued that the Great Redwood Trail Agency had grossly overestimated the maintenance and rehabilitation costs of the line; that the Skunk Train had a potential client for its freight shipping services; and that it has the financial wherewithal to purchase the track for about five and a half million dollars. The company estimated that rebuilding the track would cost an additional seven to nine million dollars. The Great Redwood Trail Agency's attorney, Charles Montange, argued that “In order to show financial responsibility, MR (Mendocino Railway) must show available assets sufficient to cover purchase price and rehabilitation and other costs of sustaining the initial two years of operation.” The Agency calculated that the purchase price, rehabilitation costs, and the two years operation and maintenance would come out to a little over $39 million. The entire northern portion of the line is so unsafe that in 1998, the Federal Railroad Administration embargoed it, meaning that it is illegal to use the line. And a tunnel on the Mendocino Railway line between Willits and Fort Bragg has collapsed multiple times. There is no connection between the Mendocino Railway short line and the national rail network. Pinoli testified last month that to his knowledge, the last time Mendocino Railway interchanged a freight train with another train was the day before Thanksgiving of 1998. He did not know the last time a freight train left Mendocino County. Mendocino Railway did not include its assets or the name of its potential shipping client in the public filing of its Offer of Financial Assistance. The Surface Transportation Board did have access to that information, and it found that the Railway “failed to demonstrate…that it has, or within a reasonable amount of time will have, the funds necessary to not only acquire the 13-mile rail segment, but to rehabilitate, maintain, and operate it as well.” The Great Redwood Trail Agency hired Marie Jones, a Fort Bragg consultant, to conduct a market analysis of Mendocino Railway from Longvale to Willits. She wrote that, “As an abandoned community, (Longvale) will not provide a market for the rail-based transport of any finished goods, manufactured goods, or commuting traffic, and on its face, is not a tourist destination for excursion train use. Aggregates, gravel and sand are the only realistic potential freight from this area.” She calculated that permitted operations in the area allow for a maximum of 79,100 tons of gravel extraction per year. With competitive transportation costs in the Willits market, she concluded, “There is no space within the market for non-competitive transportation pricing.” Jones is dubious that any potential shipper would pay the higher rates she believes Mendocino Railway would have to charge to be profitable, especially since trucking is so much cheaper. According to Jones, for the train to compete with trucks, it should charge $211 per railcar. But Jones concluded that “the total capitalized cost for acquisition, construction, and operating costs for the Longvale to Willits rail line would be $3,767/railcar, which is an order of magnitude higher than the average trucking cost of $211 for 80 tons of aggregate delivery.” Montange summed up Jones' findings: “The only shipper that could possibly be served on the Longvale to Willits segment is Wylatti dba Geo Aggregates, which has previously been identified by MR (Mendocino Railway) as the only shipper in the Longvale vicinity, and which is also present in Fort Bragg. GRTA (the Great Redwood Trail Agency) retained Marie Jones to examine rail need and feasibility for all the shippers identified by MR, and the transportation market generally from Longvale to Fort Bragg. Suffice it to say that Ms. Jones shows in her resulting report (attached to Jones Verified Statement, exhibit 4) not only that Wylatti is being served by trucks but also that that trucks are cheaper than rail to satisfy all current or expected transportation needs. If trucks are cheaper, then freight rail is not feasible or needed.” The Board agreed that Mendocino Railway “has not demonstrated financial responsibility.” Meanwhile, the Great Redwood Trail Agency has released its “Feasibility, Governance, and Railbanking Report,” which McGuire refers to as the “Master Plan.” He anticipates it will take two to three years to get through the details of construction, fire safety, and community engagement before trail building begins. There will be a virtual town hall about the master plan on Monday night at 6:30 p.m.
Bill welcomes debut author Siena Sterling to the show. Siena is an American journalist and writer living in London with her family. Before moving to England, she worked at Doubleday bookstore in New York, in political campaigns, and for the Federal Railroad Administration. She plays poker and tennis, and has a passion for Jack Russell terriers. Tell Us No Secrets is her debut novel.
Our guest on this week's episode is Chris Shimoda, vice president of government affairs for the California Trucking Association. He is here to discuss California's Assembly Bill #5, better known as AB5. Until just a couple of weeks ago, the law had been tied up in appeals since it was passed in 2019, but it could soon go into enforcement. Essentially, it redefines contract workers' status in California. The problem for supply chains is that it forces many independent drivers to be considered employees of the companies they service - whether they want to be or not. Most of the opposition in the industry has been from owner-operators who want to remain independent to run their own trucks. Shimoda also discusses the potential impacts of proposed environmental regulations in California that would force trucks with internal combustion engines off the state's roads as early as 2024. He speaks with Senior Editor Victoria Kickham.The Federal Railroad Administration has proposed a regulation to require a minimum of two operators in each railroad locomotive cab. It's a controversial regulation, as with today's safety systems many railroad operators feel it is redundant to have a second operator in the cab. The government says it is intended to further secure safety on the rails.This past year was marked by supply chain disruptions. A new study now shows that those disruptions, year over year, may have actually been worse than we thought. The study examined 400 different types of disruptions across more than 100 million sources of information. It revealed a huge increase in disruptions during the first half of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. We reveal what types of disruptions were most common.DC Velocity's sister publication CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. The second season has now launched and focuses on supply chain digitalization. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:California Trucking AssociationFRA revives crew redundancy requirement for train staffingSupply chain disruptions up 46% year over yearVisit DCVelocity.com for the latest news. Visit Supply Chain QuarterlyListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Quarterly's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastListen to Supply Chain Quarterly's Top 10 Supply Chain Threats podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@dcvelocity.com.Podcast sponsored by: Honeywell IntelligratedOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply Chain Management Podcasts
On Thursday, June 2, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Thursday in Michigan $368 million in rail infrastructure and safety grants to 46 projects in 32 states, with about $30 million flowing to Michigan. On this week's edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Peter Anastor, who directs the Michigan Department of Transportation's Office of Rail, talks about the economic benefits to the rail companies and businesses they serve. Buttigieg made the case for the grants in an op/ed published in the Detroit Free Press: President Biden tasked us with strengthening our supply chains, speeding the movement of people and goods, increasing production, and helping usher in newer, cleaner and cheaper energy - all of which will lower costs for families. And thanks to the president's historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we have the resources we need to do just that. The grants include $21.3 million for a proposed project to improve track and rail assets operated by the Great Lakes Central Railroad just north of Ann Arbor, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. The second grant of up to $8.7 million will go to the West Michigan Railroad Co. to pay for infrastructure improvements on roughly 10 miles of track in southwest Michigan. Anastor also discusses other exciting improvements going on with passenger rail service in Michigan, including ongoing enhancements on the Detroit-Chicago corridor to increase speeds to 110 mph. Elsewhere, advocacy continues for Traverse City-to-Ann Arbor passenger rail service.
Paul Voss' talk, entitled “To Hell and Back: Catholicism, Liberal Arts, and Business Ethics,” explains how the wisdom and ethics of the Catholic intellectual tradition has the ability to shape the future of business for the better.Voss is the President of Ethikos, an ethics consulting group, and an Associate Professor at Georgia State University. A gifted public speaker and award-winning teacher, his clients include the FBI Labs, General Electric Energy, British Petroleum, the Home Depot, Visa, the Federal Railroad Administration, and many others.
Paul Voss' talk, entitled “To Hell and Back: Catholicism, Liberal Arts, and Business Ethics,” explains how the wisdom and ethics of the Catholic intellectual tradition has the ability to shape the future of business for the better.Voss is the President of Ethikos, an ethics consulting group, and an Associate Professor at Georgia State University. A gifted public speaker and award-winning teacher, his clients include the FBI Labs, General Electric Energy, British Petroleum, the Home Depot, Visa, the Federal Railroad Administration, and many others.
By working people. For working people. Welcome to The Rick Smith Show.Tune in every weeknight from 9-11pm EST as we break down the news of the day and what that news means for working families across the country.Call-in at 1-866-416-RICK (7425) to join the show.Did you miss part of the #RickShow on your local radio station? Want to listen at work? Download the podcast at: https://www.thericksmithshow.com.The Rick Smith Show also streams live every weeknight from 9p-11p EST on YouTube & Twitch, and you can also find us on Free Speech TV. Be sure to add the FSTV channel on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, on the FSTV iOS app, or find it in the regular channel lineup on DirecTV or Dish.Questions or comments? Email Rick@thericksmithshow.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The infrastructure law provides the most significant investment in passenger rail in U.S. history, but substantial hurdles - including a powerful cartel - stand firmly in the way of a real national network. In this episode, learn the ways the infrastructure law paves the way for a better future for passenger rail along with the significant obstacles that it failed to address. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish YouTube Video What is the World Trade System? Contributors to Supply Chain Issues Matthew Jinoo Buck. February 4, 2022. “How America's Supply Chains Got Railroaded.” The American Prospect. “Cartel.” Merriam-Webster.com. 2022. “Energy Group Joins Shippers Alleging Price Fixing in Rail Transport.” January 6, 2020. The Houston Chronicle. Testimony of Dennis R. Pierce. Passenger and Freight Rail: The Current Status of the Rail Network and the Track Ahead. October 21, 2020. 116th Cong. U.S. Internal Revenue Service. December 31, 2019. “IRS issues standard mileage rates for 2020.” Dangers of Monster Trains and Rail Profiteering Aaron Gordon. Mar 22, 2021. “‘It's Going to End Up Like Boeing': How Freight Rail Is Courting Catastrophe.” Vice. U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. Dec 29, 2020. “Accident Report: Collision of Union Pacific Railroad Train MGRCY04 with a Stationary Train, Granite Canyon, Wyoming, October 4, 2018” [NTSB/RAR-20/05 / PB2020-101016.] Marybeth Luczak. Nov 30, 2020. “Transport Canada Updates Rail Employee Fatigue Rules.” Railway Age. U.S. Government Accountability Office. May 30, 2019. “Rail Safety: Freight Trains Are Getting Longer, and Additional Information Is Needed to Assess Their Impact” [GAO-19-443.] Christina M. Rudin-Brown, Sarah Harris, and Ari Rosberg. May 2019. “How shift scheduling practices contribute to fatigue amongst freight rail operating employees: Findings from Canadian accident investigations.” Accident Analysis and Prevention. Jessica Murphy. Jan 19, 2018. “Lac-Megantic: The runaway train that destroyed a town.” BBC. Eric M. Johnson. Dec 6, 2017. “Growing length of U.S. freight trains in federal crosshairs after crashes: GAO.” Reuters. Cumberland Times-News. Aug 12, 2017. “Last of Hyndman's evacuated residents return home.” The Tribune Democrat. Jeffrey Alderton. Aug 5, 2017. “Propane fire out at Hyndman train crash site, residents await news of when they can return.” The Tribune Democrat. Jeffrey Alderton. Aug 3, 2017. “Train derailment destroys Bedford County home, forces evacuation.” The Tribune Democrat. New Jersey Department of Health. Revised June 2011. “Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Sodium Chlorate.” Stephen Joiner. Feb 11, 2010 “Is Bigger Better? 'Monster' Trains vs Freight Trains.” Popular Mechanics. Lobbying and Corruption “CSX Corp: Recipients.” 2020. Open Secrets. CSX Corporation Lobbying Report. 2020. Senate.gov. “Union Pacific Corp: Summary.” 2020. Open Secrets. “Union Pacific Corp: Members Invested.” 2018. Open Secrets. Union Pacific Corporation Lobbying Report. 2020. Senate.gov. What you really pay for TV Gavin Bridge. Oct 27, 2020. “The True Cost to Consumers of Pay TV's Top Channels.” Variety. Laws H.R.3684 - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Sponsor: Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) Status: Became Public Law No. 117-58 Law Outline DIVISION A: SURFACE TRANSPORTATION TITLE I - FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS Subtitle A - Authorizations and Programs Sec. 11101: Authorization of appropriations Authorizes appropriations for Federal-Aid for highways at between $52 billion and $56 billion per year through fiscal year 2026 (over $273 billion total). Authorizes $300 million for "charging and fueling infrastructure grants" for 2022, which increases by $100 million per year (maxing out at $700 million in 2026) Authorizes between $25 million and $30 million per year for "community resilience and evacuation route grants" on top of equal amounts for "at risk coastal infrastructure grants" Authorizes a total of $6.53 billion (from two funds) for the bridge investment program Sec. 11102: Obligation ceiling Caps the annual total funding from all laws (with many exceptions) that can be spent on Federal highway programs. Total through 2026: $300.3 billion Sec. 11109: Surface transportation block grant program: Allows money from the surface transportation block grant program to be used for "planning and construction" of projects that "facilitate intermodel connections between emerging transportation technologies", specifically naming the hyperloop Sec. 11508: Requirements for Transportation Projects Carried Out Through Public Private Partnerships For projects that cost $100 million or more, before entering into a contract with a private company, the government partner has to conduct a "value for money analysis" of the partnership. Three years after a project is opened to traffic, the government partner has to review the compliance of the private company and either certify their compliance or report to the Secretary of Transportation the details of the violation. The certifications or violation notifications must be publicly available "in a form that does not disclose any proprietary or confidential business information." DIVISION B - SURFACE TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENT ACT OF 2021 TITLE I - MULTIMODAL AND FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION Subtitle A - Multimodal Freight Policy Sec. 21101: Office of Multimodal Freight Infrastructure and Policy Restructures/eliminates offices at the Department of Transportation to create an Office of Multimodal Freight Infrastructure and Policy The person in charge will be appointed by the President and has to be confirmed by the Senate Authorizes "such sums as are necessary" Subtitle B - Multimodal Investment Sec. 21201: National infrastructure project assistance Authorizes $2 billion per year until 2026 ($10 billion total) on projects that cost at least $100 million that include highways, bridges, freight rail, passenger rail, and public transportation projects. The Federal government will pay a maximum of 80% of the project costs. Sec. 21202: Local and regional project assistance Authorizes $1.5 billion per year until 2026 ($7.5 billion) (which will expire after 3 years) for grants for local transportation projects in amounts between $1 million and $25 million for projects that include highway, bridge, public transportation, passenger and freight rail, port infrastructure, surface transportation at airports, and more. Sec. 21203: National culvert removal, replacement, and restoration grant program Authorizes $800 million per year through 2026 ($4 billion) for grants for projects that replace, remove, or repair culverts (water channels) that improve or restore passages for fish. Subtitle C - Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Reforms TITLE II - RAIL Subtitle A - Authorization of Appropriations Sec. 22101: Grants to Amtrak Authorizes appropriations for Amtrak in the Northeast Corridor at between $1.1 billion and $1.57 billion per year through 2026 ($6.57 billion total). Authorizes appropriations for Amtrak in the National Network at between $2.2 billion and $3 billion per year through 2026 ($12.65 billion total). Sec. 22103: Consolidated rail infrastructure and safety improvements grants Authorizes $1 billion per year through 2026 ($5 billion total) for rail infrastructure safety improvement grants Sec. 22104: Railroad crossing elimination program Authorizes $500 million per year through 2016 ($2.5 billion total) for the elimination of railroad crossings Sec. 22106: Federal-State partnership for intercity passenger rail grants Authorizes $1.5 billion per year through 2026 ($7.5 billion total) for grants to states to expand intercity passenger rail grants Subtitle B - Amtrak Reforms Sec. 22201: Amtrak findings, mission, and goals Changes the goal of cooperation between Amtrak, governments, & other rail carriers from "to achieve a performance level sufficient to justify expending public money" to "in order to meet the intercity passenger rail needs of the United States" and expands the service areas beyond "urban" locations. Changes the goals of Amtrak to include... "Improving its contracts with rail carriers over whose tracks Amtrak operates." "Offering competitive fares" "Increasing revenue from the transportation of mail and express" "Encourages" Amtrak to make agreement with private companies that will generate additional revenue Sec. 22203: Station agents Requires that at least one Amtrak ticket agent works at each station, unless there is a commuter rail agent who has the authority to sell Amtrak tickets Sec. 22208: Passenger Experience Enhancement Removes the requirement that Amtrak's food and beverage service financially break even in order to be offered on its trains Creates a working group to make recommendations about how to improve the onboard food and beverage service The report must be complete within one year of the working group's formation After the report is complete, Amtrak must create a plan to implementing the working group's recommendations and/or tell Congress in writing why they will not implement the recommendations The plan can not include Amtrak employee layoffs Sec . 22209: Amtrak smoking policy Requires Amtrak to prohibit smoking - including electronic cigarettes - on all Amtrak trains Sec. 22210: Protecting Amtrak routes through rural communities Prohibits Amtrak from cutting or reducing service to a rail route if they receive adequate Federal funding for that route Sec. 22213: Creating Quality Jobs Amtrak will not be allowed to privatize the jobs previously performed by laid off union workers. Sec. 22214: Amtrak Daily Long Distance Study Authorizes $15 million for an Amtrak study on bringing back long distance rail routes that were discontinued. Subtitle C - Intercity Passenger Rail Policy Sec. 22304: Restoration and Enhancement Grants Extends the amount of time the government will pay the operating costs of Amtrak or "any rail carrier" partnered with Amtrak or a government agency that provides passenger rail service from 3 years to 6 years, and pays higher percentages of the the costs. Sec. 22305: Railroad crossing elimination program Creates a program to eliminate highway-rail crossings where vehicles are frequently stopped by trains Authorizes the construction on tunnels and bridges Requires the government agency in charge of the project to "obtain the necessary approvals from any impacted rail carriers or real property owners before proceeding with the construction of a project" Each grant will be for at least $1 million each The Federal government will pay no more than 80% of the project's cost Sec. 22306: Interstate rail compacts Authorizes up to 10 grants per year valued at a maximum of $1 million each to plan and promote new Amtrak routes The grant recipient will have to match the grant by at least 50% of the eligible expenses Sec. 22308: Corridor identification and development program The Secretary of Transportation will create a program for public entities to plan for expanded intercity passenger rail corridors (which are routes that are less than 750 miles), operated by Amtrak or private companies. When developing plans for corridors, the Secretary has to "consult" with "host railroads for the proposed corridor" Subtitle D - Rail Safety Sec. 22404: Blocked Crossing Portal The Administration of the Federal Railroad Administration would establish a "3 year blocked crossing portal" which would collect information about blocked crossing by trains from the public and first responders and provide every person submitting the complaint the contact information of the "relevant railroad" and would "encourage" them to complain to them too. Information collected would NOT be allowed to be used for any regulatory or enforcement purposes Reports to Congress will be created using the information collected Sec. 22406: Emergency Lighting The Secretary of Transportation will have to issue a rule requiring that all carriers that transport human passengers have an emergency lighting system that turns on when there is a power failure. Sec. 22408: Completion of Hours of Service and Fatigue Studies Requires the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration to start pilot programs that were supposed to be conducted no later than 2010, which will test railroad employee scheduling rules designed to reduce employee fatigue. They will test... Assigning employees to shifts with 10 hours advance notice For employees subject to being on-call, having some shifts when those employees are not subject to being on-call. If the pilot programs have not begun by around March of 2023, a report will have to be submitted to Congress explaining the challenges, including "efforts to recruit participant railroads" Sec. 22409: Positive Train Control Study The Comptroller General will conduct a study to determine the annual operation and maintenance costs for positive train control. Sec. 22418: Civil Penalty Enforcement Authority Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide notice and an opportunity for a hearing to "persons" who violate regulations requiring railroads to report information about railroad crossings. Eliminates the minimum $500 fine for violating the regulations Allows the Attorney General to take the railroad to court to collect the penalty but prohibits the amount of the civil penalty from being reviewed by the courts. Sec. 22423: High-Speed Train Noise Emissions Allows, but does not require, the Secretary of Transportation to create regulations governing the noise levels of trains that exceed 160 mph. Sec. 22425: Requirements for railroad freight cars placed into service in the United States Effective 3 years after the regulations are complete (maximum 5 years after this becomes law), freight cars will be prohibited from operating within the United States if it has sensitive technology originating from or if more than 15% of it is manufactured in... "A country of concern" (which is defined as a country identified by the Commerce Department "as a nonmarket economy country"). Countries on the nonmarket economy list include... Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus China Georgia Kyrgyz Republic Moldova Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Vietnam A country identified by the United States Trade Representative on its priority watch list, which in 2020 included... China Indonesia India Algeria Saudi Arabia Russia Ukraine Argentina Chile Venezuela State owned enterprises The Secretary of Transportation can assess fines between $100,000 and $250,000 per freight car. A company that has been found in violation 3 times can be kicked out of the United States transportation system until they are in compliance and have paid all their fines in full. These rules will apply regardless of what was agreed to in the USMCA trade agreement. Sec. 22427: Controlled substances testing for mechanical employees 180 days after this becomes law, all railroad mechanics will be subject to drug testing, which can be conducted at random. Bills H.R.1748 - Safe Freight Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Don Young (R-AK) Status: Referred to Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials 03/14/2019 Hearings Leveraging IIJA: Plans for Expanding Intercity Passenger Rail House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials December 9, 2021 During the hearing, witnesses discussed plans for expanding intercity passenger rail in their states, regions, and networks, and how the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was recently signed into law, will support these efforts. Witnesses: Stephen Gardner, President, Amtrak David Kim, Secretary, California State Transportation Agency Kevin Corbett, President and CEO of New Jersey Transit, Co-Chair, Northeast Corridor Commission, On behalf of Northeast Corridor Commission Julie White, Deputy Secretary for Multimodal Transportation, North Carolina Department of Transportation, Commission Chair, Southeast Corridor Commission, On behalf of the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Southeast Corridor Commission Ms. Donna DeMartino, Managing Director, Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency Knox Ross, Mississippi Commission and Chair of the Southern Rail Commission Clips 8:52 - 9:12 Rep. Rick Crawford: Finally, any potential expansion of the Amtrak system must include the full input of the freight railroads on capacity and track sharing issues. The ongoing supply chain crisis only further emphasizes the value of freight railroads and efficiently moving goods across the nation. The important work the freight railroads cannot be obstructed. 16:49 - 17:10 Rep. Peter DeFazio The law is pretty clear: preference over freight transportation except in an emergency. Intercity and commuter rail passenger transportation provided for Amtrak has preference over freight transportation and using a rail line junction crossing unless the board orders otherwise under this subsection. Well, obviously that has not been observed. 22:05 - 22:24 Stephen Gardner: With the $66 billion provided to the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak we and our partners can finally have the chance to renew, improve or replace antiquated assets like the century old bridges and tunnels in the Northeast, inaccessible stations around the nation, and our vintage trains. 23:44 - 24:11 Stephen Gardner: Additionally, we'll continue to work collaboratively with our partners where they see value in working with other parties to deliver parts of their service and with new railroad entities that aim to develop or deliver their own service. We simply ask that key railroad laws like the Railway Labor Act and railway retirement apply to new entrants, that the federal government gets equity and accountability for investments it makes in private systems, and that any new services create connections with Amtrak's national network 1:25:00 - 1:25:37 Stephen Gardner: We've been working very closely with a variety of host railroads on opportunities to expand, notably Burlington Northern Santa Fe and our work to expand the Heartland Flyer service between Texas and Oklahoma and potentially extend that North to Wichita, Newton, in Colorado along the front range also with BNSF, to look at opportunities there. With Canadian Pacific we've been having really good conversations about launching a new service between the Twin Cities, Milwaukee and Chicago. Similarly, I think there's opportunities for that Baton Rouge to New Orleans service that Mr. Ross mentioned. 1:54:24 - 1:55:10 Rep. Chuy Garcia: You've each had different experiences with freight railroads as the host railroad for your respective services. What can Congress do to help you as you discuss expanding and improving passenger rail service with your freight railroad? You'll have about 15 seconds each. Knox Ross: Congressman, thank you. I think it's enforcing the will of Congress and the law that set up Amtrak in the beginning is, as the Chairman talked about, in the beginning, that people have a preference over freight. Now we understand that we all have to work together to do that. But we think there are many ways that Amtrak and other other hosts can work together with the fright to get this done, but the law has to be enforced. 1:55:14 - 1:55:30 Julie White: I would say that the money in the IIJA is going to be really important as we work, for example, on the S Line it is an FRA grant that enables us to acquire that line from CSX and enables us to grow freight rail on it at the same time as passenger. 1:58:05 - 1:58:23 Rep. Tim Burchett: Also understand that Amtrak is planning to either expand or build new rail corridors in 26 states across the country over the next 15 years and I was wondering: what makes you think Amtrak will turn a profit in any of those communities? 1:58:43 - 1:59:29 Stephen Gardner: But I would be clear here that our expectation is that these corridors do require support from states and the federal government, that they produce real value and support a lot of important transportation needs. But we measure those not necessarily by the profit of the farebox, so to speak, even though Amtrak has the highest farebox recovery of any system in the United States by far in terms of rail systems, we believe that Amtrak mission is to create mobility, mobility that creates value. We do that with as little public funding as we can, but the current services do require support investment and I think that's fair. All transportation modes require investment. 2:00:12 - 2:00:24 Rep. Tim Burchett: Since you mentioned that you needed more funding down the line, don't you think it'd be better to make your current service corridors more profit -- or just profitable before you build new ones in other parts of the country? When Unlimited Potential Meets Limited Resources: The Benefits and Challenges of High-Speed Rail and Emerging Rail Technologies House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials May 6, 2021 This hearing featured twelve witnesses from a range of perspectives, exploring the opportunities and limitations associated with high-speed rail and emerging technologies, including regulatory oversight, technology readiness, project costs, and available federal resources. Witnesses: John Porcari, Former Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Transportation Rachel Smith, President and CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Phillip Washington, CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Danielle Eckert, International Representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Carbett "Trey" Duhon III, Judge in Waller County, TX Andy Kunz, President and CEO of the US High Speed Rail Association Carlos Aguilar, President and CEO of Texas Central High Speed Rail William Flynn, CEO of Amtrak Josh Giegel, CEO and Co-Founder of Virgin Hyperloop Andres de Leon, CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Michal Reininger, CEO of Brightline Trains Wayne Rogers, Chairman and CEO of Northeast Maglev Clips 8:37 - 8:48 Rep. Rick Crawford: Rail is also considered one of the most fuel efficient ways to move freight. On average freight rail can move one ton of freight over 470 miles on one gallon of fuel. 18:05 - 18:46 Rep. Peter DeFazio: You know we have put aggregate with the essentially post World War Two, mostly the Eisenhower program, $2 trillion -- trillion -- into highways, invested by the federal government, a lot of money. But post World War Two $777 billion into aviation, airports, runways, air traffic control etc. And, and we have put about $90 billion total into rail. 22:45 - 23:25 John Porcari: As I evaluated ways to increase capacity in the Baltimore-New York City corridor, these were my choices: I could add air capacity between BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport and New York with 90% federal funding for runway and taxiway improvements, I could add highway capacity on I-95 to New York with 80% federal funding, or add passenger rail capacity with zero federal funding for that 215 mile segment. A passenger rail trip makes far more sense than driving or flying, yet passenger rail capacity was the least likely alternative to be selected. So if you wonder why we have the unbalanced transportation system we have today, follow the money. 23:26 - 23:54 John Porcari: It's an extraordinary statement of state priorities that the California High Speed Rail Authority's 2020 Business Plan anticipates 85% of its funding from state sources and only 15% federal funding for this project of national and regional significance. This is a remarkable state financial commitment and a clear declaration of the state's project priorities. Yet there's no ongoing sustained federal financial partner for this multi year program of projects. 23:54 - 24:28 John Porcari: To match the people carrying capacity of phase one of the high speed rail system, California would need to invest $122 to $199 billion towards building almost 4200 highway lane miles, the equivalent of a new six lane highway and the construction of 91 new airport gates and two new runways. The San Francisco-Los Angeles air loop is already the ninth busiest in the world, and the busiest air route in America. Doesn't it make sense to prioritize this finite and expensive airport capacity for trans continental and international flights? 24:28 - 24:40 John Porcari: For California the 120 to 209 billion of required highway and airport capacity as an alternative to high speed rail is double the 69 to 99 billion cost estimate for phase one of the high speed rail system. 25:05 - 25:18 John Porcari: Providing real transportation choices at the local and state level requires the establishment of a Passenger Rail Trust Fund on par with our Highway Trust Fund and Airport and Airway Trust Fund. 48:00 - 48:23 Trey Duhon: Texas Central promised this project was privately financed, and everything they've done today, including the EIS was based on that. So we say let it live or die in the free market and invest our tax dollars in more equitable transportation solutions. We should not have to pay for another train to nowhere while having our communities destroyed by the very tax dollars that we work hard to contribute. 49:48 - 50:42 Andy Kunz: High Speed Rail can unlock numerous ridership opportunities. Essential workers like teachers, police and firemen in the high price Silicon Valley could find affordable housing options with a short train ride to Merced or Fresno in California's Central Valley. Residents of Eugene, Oregon could access jobs in Portland's tech sector or booming recreational industry with a 35 minute commute. A Houston salesperson could prepare for an important client meeting in Dallas with dedicated Wi Fi and ample workspace while gliding past the notorious congestion on I-45. A college student in Atlanta could make it home for Thanksgiving in Charlotte while picking up grandma along the way in Greenville, South Carolina. International tourists visiting Disney World in Orlando could extend their vacation with a day trip to the Gulf beaches of the Greater Tampa Bay area. 51:41 - 54:58 Andy Kunz: High Speed Rail has an unmatched track record of safety. Japan, with the world's first high speed rail network, has carried millions of people over 50 years without a single fatality, in comparison as many as 40,000 Americans are killed every year in auto accidents on our highways. 52:22 - 52:45 Andy Kunz: China has invested over a trillion dollars in high speed rail, allowing them to build a world class 22,000 mile network in 14 years. Not taking a pause, China plans to construct another 21,000 miles of track over the next nine years. Modern infrastructure like this fuels China's explosive economic growth, making it challenging for us to compete with them in the 21st century. 52:46 - 53:10 Andy Kunz: On the other side of the globe, the United Kingdom is currently doubling their rail network with $120 billion investment. France has invested over $160 billion in constructing their system. Spain's 2000 mile High Speed Rail Network is the largest in Europe, costing more than 175 billion. These are considerable investments by nations that are similar in size to Texas. 1:08:00 - 1:09:00 Rep. Peter DeFazio: Are you aware of any high speed rail project in the world that isn't government subsidized? I know, Virgin in, you know, in Great Britain says, well, we make money. Yeah, you make money. You don't have to maintain the rail, the government does that, all you do is put a train set on it and run it. John Porcari: Yeah, that's a really important point, Mr. Chairman, virtually every one that I'm aware of in the world has had a very big public investment in the infrastructure itself, the operation by a private operator can be very profitable. I would point out that that is no different, conceptually from our airways system, for example, where federal taxpayer investments make possible the operations of our airlines, which in turn are profitable and no different than our very profitable trucking industry in the US, which is enabled by the public infrastructure investment of the highway system itself. 1:09:46 - 1:10:37 Philip Washington: The potential is very, very good to make that connection with the private railroad. And actually that is the plan. And we are working with that, that private railroad right now to do that. And that connection with the help of some twin bore tunnel will allow train speeds to be at anywhere from 180 to 200 miles an hour, getting from that high desert corridor to Los Angeles. And so it's a it's a huge, huge effort. It links up with high speed rail from the north as well, with the link up coming into Union Station as well. So I think the potential to link up both of these are very, very great. And we're working with both entities. 1:11:31 - 1:12:13 Philip Washington: Well one of our ideas very quickly is right now we have as you know, Mr. Chairman, assembly plants, assembly plants all over the country what we are proposing is a soup to nuts, all included manufacturing outfit in this country that manufactures trains from the ground up, forging steel, all of those things. So we have proposed an industrial park with suppliers on site as well to actually build again from the ground up, rail car passenger rail car vehicles and locomotives. It is the return of manufacturing to this country as we see it. 1:21:16 - 1:21:50 John Porcari: We have 111 year old tunnel in New York, we have a B&P tunnel in Baltimore, that Civil War era. Those are not the biggest obstacles. It is more a question of will. What we want to do as a country in infrastructure, we do, and we've never made rail, really the priority that that I think it needs to be. And we've never provided meaningful choices for the states to select rail and build a multi year rail program because we don't have the funding part of it. 1:21:55 - 1:22:19 John Porcari: Our passenger rail system in the US is moving from a survival mode to a growth mode. And I think that's a very healthy thing for the country. Whether you're talking about our cross country service, one of the coastal corridors or the Midwest service, all of that is really important. In just the same way we built the interstates, city pairs aggregating into a national system, we can really do that with the passenger rail system if we have the will. 1:27:13 - 1:27:41 Rep. Michelle Steel: My constituents are already taxed enough, with California state and local taxes and skyrocketing gas prices making it unaffordable to live. I just came back from Texas, their gas price was $2 something and we are paying over $4 in California. We must preserve our local economy by lowering taxes not raising them. And we must not continue throwing tax dollars into a high speed money pit. 1:30:53 - 1:31:11 Trey Duhon: The folks in Waller county the folks that I know, a family of four is not going to pay $1,000 To ride a train between Houston and Dallas, when they can get there on a $50 tank of gas an hour and a half later. It's just not going to happen. So it's not a mass transit solution, at least not for this corridor. 1:48:56 - 1:49:25 Andy Kunz: The other big thing that hasn't been mentioned is the the cost of people's time and waste sitting stuck in traffic or stuck in airports. It's estimated to be several 100 billion dollars a year. And then as a business person, time is money. So if all your people are taking all day to get anywhere your entire company is less competitive, especially against nations that actually have these efficient systems, and then they can out compete us 2:03:52 - 2:04:13 Seth Moulton: And I would just add, you know, we build high speed rail, no one's gonna force you to take it. You have that freedom of choice that Americans don't have today and yet travelers all around the world have. I don't understand why travelers in China should have so much more freedom than we do today. In America, high speed railway would rapidly rectify that 3:01:09 - 3:01:27 Josh Giegel: In 2014 I co-founded this company in a garage when Hyperloop was just an idea on a whiteboard. By late 2016 We began construction of our first full system test set, dev loop, north of Las Vegas. To date we've completed over 500 tests of our system. 3:01:38 - 3:01:48 Josh Giegel: Today we have approximately 300 employees and are the leading Hyperloop company in the world and the only company, the only company to have had passengers travel safely in a Hyperloop. 3:01:48 - 3:02:33 Josh Giegel: Hyperloop is a high speed surface transportation system. Travel occurs within a low pressure enclosure equivalent to 200,000 feet above sea level, in a vehicle pressurized to normal atmospheric conditions, much like a commercial aircraft. This, along with our proprietary magnetic levitation engine, allows us to reach and maintain airline speeds with significantly less energy than other modes of transportation. Not only is Hyperloop fast, it's a high capacity mass transit system capable of comfortably moving people and goods at 670 miles per hour with 50,000 passengers per hour per direction, on demand and direct to your destination, meaning no stops along the way. 3:02:54 - 3:02:58 Josh Giegel: We achieve all this on a fully electric system with no direct emissions. 3:11:34 - 3:11:53 Mike Reininger: Since our 2018 launch in Florida, we operate the only private high speed system in the US, showcasing the potential of American high speed passenger rail. We carried more than a million passengers in our first full year and learned a lot that is worth sharing from the investment of over $4 billion over the last 10 years. 3:12:45 - 3:12:57 Mike Reininger: We use existing road alignments and infrastructure corridors to leverage previous investments, reduce environmental impacts, lower costs, and speed execution as a basis for profitability. 3:13:00 - 3:13:28 Mike Reininger: In 2022, we will complete the extension into the Orlando International Airport, making our total route 235 miles, linking four of the largest cities in America's third largest state. 400 million annual trips occur between these cities today, 95% of them by car. By upgrading a freight railway first built in the 1890s and building along an Express Highway, we leveraged 130 years of previous investment to support our 21st century service. 3:13:31 - 3:13:51 Mike Reininger: Brightline West will connect Las Vegas to Los Angeles, where today 50 million annual trips and over 100 daily flights occur. Traveling on trains capable of speeds of 200 miles an hour using the I-15 corridor, but cutting the drive time in half, Brightline West's better option expects to serve 11 million annual riders. 3:14:56 - 3:15:08 Mike Reininger: Consider allowing private entities to become eligible parties for FRA grant programs by partnering with currently eligible applicants as a simple way to stretch direct government investment. 3:29:39 - 3:29:54 Rep. Rick Crawford: Amtrak announced plans to expand its routes including to several small cities where there doesn't appear to be enough demand or population to warrant those new lines. Can you guarantee that those new routes will be self sustaining and turn a profit or will they lose money? 3:38:42 - 3:38:55 Bill Flynn: 125 miles an hour on existing track infrastructure is high speed. The newest Acelas we ordered will have a top speed of 186 miles an hour. 3:36:46 - 3:37:05 Rep. Seth Moulton: What is the top speed of the Acela service? Bill Flynn: The Acela service in the southern network, Washington to New York, top speeds 135 miles an hour, and then in New York to Boston top speed of 150 miles an hour across different segments of the track. 4:11:57 - 4:12:30 Bill Flynn: When we think about NEPA and the other permitting processes that take place, and then ultimately into construction, on many major projects, we're talking a decade or more. So without the visibility and predictability and the certainty of funding, these projects are all affected, they ultimately become more high cost, and they take longer than they should. So if I were to recommend one policy action, creating a trust fund, or trust fund like structure, for intercity passenger rail would be key. Full Steam Ahead for Rail: Why Rail is More Relevant Than Ever for Economic and Environmental Progress House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials March 10, 2021 The hearing explored the importance of rail to the U.S. economy and as a tool to mitigate climate change. Witnesses: Shannon Valentine, Secretary of Transportation, The Commonwealth of Virginia Caren Kraska, President/Chairman, Arkansas & Missouri Railroad Greg Regan, President, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO Tom Williams, Group Vice President for Consumer Products, BNSF Railway Clips 18:17 - 18:50 Shannon Valentine: One of the worst rail bottlenecks, mentioned by Chairman DeFazio, along the east coast is at the Potomac River between Virginia and DC and it's called the long bridge which is owned by CSX. The bridge carries on passenger, commuter, and freight rail, nearly 80 trains a day and is at 98% capacity during peak periods. Due to these constraints, Virginia has been unable to expand passenger rail service, even though demand prior to the pandemic was reaching record highs. 18:50 - 19:42 Shannon Valentine: Virginia has been engaged in corridor planning studies, one of which was the I-95 corridor, which as you all know, is heavily congested. Even today as we emerge from this pandemic, traffic has returned to 90% of pre-pandemic levels. Through this study, we learned that adding just one lane in each direction for 50 miles would cost $12.5 billion. While the cost was staggering, the most sobering part of the analysis was that by the time that construction was complete, in 10 years, the corridor would be just as congested as it is today. That finding is what led Virginia to a mode that could provide the capacity at a third of the cost. 20:34 - 20:43 Shannon Valentine: According to APTA rail travel emits up to 83% fewer greenhouse gases than driving and up to 73% fewer than flying. 20:58 - 21:22 Shannon Valentine: Benefits can also be measured by increased access to jobs and improving the quality of life. The new service plan includes late night and weekend service because many essential jobs are not nine to five Monday through Friday. That is why we work to add trains leaving Washington in the late evening and on weekends, matching train schedules to the reality of our economy. 52:23 - 53:06* Rep. Peter DeFazio: I am concerned particularly when we have some railroads running trains as long as three miles. And they want to go to a single crew for a three mile long train. I asked the the former head of the FRA under Trump if the train broke down in Albany, Oregon and it's blocking every crossing through the city means no police, no fire, no ambulance, how long it's going to take the engineer to walk three miles from the front of the train to, say, the second car from the rear which is having a brake problem. And he said, Well, I don't know an hour. So you know there's some real concerns here that we have to pursue. 1:23:25 - 1:24:15 Shannon Valentine: When we first launched the intercity passenger rail, Virginia sponsored passenger rail, back in 2009, it really started with a pilot with $17 million for three years from Lynchburg, Virginia into DC into the new Northeast Corridor. And, and I had to make sure that we had 51,000 riders and we didn't know if we were going to be able to sustain it. And in that first year, we had 125,000 passengers. It always exceeded expectations for ridership and profitability. And today, that rail service which we now extend over to Roanoke, and we're working to get it to Blacksburg Christiansburg is really one of our most profitable rail services. In fact, probably in the country. It doesn't even need a subsidy because they're able to generate that kind of ridership. 2:10:21 - 2:12:11 Shannon Valentine: Our project, in my mind, is really the first step in creating a southeast high speed corridor, we have to build the bridge. In order to expand access, we need to be able to begin separating passenger and freight. And even before that is able to occur, building signings and creating the ability to move. We took a lot of lessons from a study called the DC to RDA again, it's the first part of that high speed southeast corridor. For us, it was recommended that we take an incremental approach rather than having a large 100 billion dollar project we're doing in increments. And so this is a $3.7 billion which is still going to help us over 10 years create hourly service between Richmond and DC. It was recommended that we use existing infrastructure and right of way so in our negotiations with CSX, we are acquiring 386 miles of right of way and 223 miles of track. We are also purchasing as part of this an S line. It's abandoned. It goes down into Ridgeway, North Carolina from Petersburg, Virginia, just south of Richmond. Because it's abandoned, we have a lot of opportunity for development for future phases or even higher speed rail. And we actually included part of Buckingham branch, it's an East West freight corridor that we would like to upgrade and protect for, for East West connection. All of these were incremental steps using existing right of way and tracks and achieving higher speeds where it was achievable. Examining the Surface Transportation Board's Role in Ensuring a Robust Passenger Rail System House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials November 18, 2020 Witnesses: Ann D. Begeman, Chairman, Surface Transportation Board Martin J. Oberman, Vice Chairman, Surface Transportation Board Romayne C. Brown, Chair of the Board of Directors, Metra Stephen Gardner, Senior Executive Vice President, Amtrak Ian Jefferies, President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of American Railroads Randal O'Toole, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute Paul Skoutelas, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Public Transportation Association Clips 27:31 - 27:59 Daniel Lipinski: Unlike Amtrak, Metra and other commuter railroads do not have a statutory federal preference prioritizing commuter trains over freight trains. Additionally, commuter railroads generally do not have standing to bring cases before the STB. Therefore, commuter railroads have very limited leverage when it comes to trying to expand their service on freight rail lines and ensuring that freight railroads Do not delay commuter trains. 35:42 - 36:27 Rep. Peter DeFazio: In fact, Congress included provisions to fix Amtrak on time performance in 2008. That is when PRIA added a provisions directing the FRA and Amtrak to work to develop on time performance metric standards to be used as a basis for an STB investigation. Unfortunately, those benefits haven't been realized. It's been 12 years since PRIA was passed. If our eyes metric and standards for on time performance were published this last Monday 12 years later, for the second time, and after this long and unacceptable delay, I look forward to seeing an improvement on Amtrak's performance both in in my state and nationwide. 38:01 - 38:32 Rep. Peter DeFazio: Worldwide, I'm not aware of any railroads, passenger railroads, that make money, although Virgin claims they do in England because they don't have to maintain the tracks. Pretty easy to make money if all you have to do is put a train set on it, run it back and forth. That's not the major expense. So, you know, to say that we shouldn't be subsidizing commuter or we shouldn't be subsidizing Amtrak is, you know, is just saying you don't want to run trains. Because everywhere else in the world they're subsidized. 43:45 - 44:30 Ann Begeman: Most intercity passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which is statutorily excluded from many of the board's regulatory requirements applicable to freight carriers. However, with the enactment of the Passenger Rail Investment Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIA) which both Chairman Lipinski and Chairman De Fazio has have mentioned in their opening comments, as well as the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015. FAST Act, the board assumed additional Amtrak oversight responsibilities, including the authority to conduct investigations under certain circumstances, and when appropriate, to award relief and identify reasonable measures to improve performance on passenger rail routes. 1:02:24 - 1:03:07 Stephen Gardner: Congress created Amtrak in 1970 to take on a job that today's freight railroads no longer wanted. In exchange for contracts assumption of these private railroads common carrier obligation for passengers and the associated operating losses for passenger service, the freights agreed to allow Amtrak to operate wherever and whenever it wanted over their lines, to provide Amtrak trains with dispatching preference over freight, and to empower what is now the STB to ensure Amtrak's access to the rail network. It's been nearly 50 years since the freight railroads and agreed eagerly to this bargain. And yet today, many of our hosts railroads fall short and fulfilling some of these key obligations 1:03:28 - 1:04:38 Stephen Gardner: Since our founding, Congress has had to clarify and amend the law to try and ensure host compliance. For example, by 1973, the freights had begun delaying Amtrak train so severely that Congress enshrined this promise of Amtrak preference into federal law, and in 2008, delays had gotten so bad that Congress created a new process to set Amtrak on time performance and provided the STB with the authority to investigate poor OTP. But for several reasons, these efforts haven't remedied the problems. For Amtrak and your constituents that has meant millions of delayed passengers and years of impediment as we try to add trains or start new routes to keep up with changing markets and demand. As the AAR are made clear and its litigation opposing the PRIA metrics and standards rule, many hosts see supporting our operation not as their obligation to the public, but as competition for the use of their infrastructure. But Amtrak wasn't created to relieve host railroads of their requirements to support passenger trains. It was created to help them reduce financial losses and ensure that passenger trains could still serve the country 1:04:38 - 1:05:15 Stephen Gardner: We need this committee's help to restore your original deal with the freights. For example you can provide us as you have in the moving forward Act, a way to enforce our existing rights of preference. You can make real Amtrak statutory ability to start new routes and add additional trains without arbitrary barriers. You can create an office of passenger rail within the STB and require them to use their investigative powers to pursue significant instances of for OTP. You can require more efficient STB processes to grant Amtrak access to hosts and fairly set any compensation and capital investment requirements. 1:06:19 - 1:07:57 Stephen Gardner: A rarely heralded fact is that the U.S. has the largest rail network in the world. And yet we use so little of it for intercity passenger rail service. A fundamental reason for this is our inability to gain quick, reasonable access to the network and receive reliable service that we are owed under law. This has effectively blocked our growth and left much of our nation underserved. City pairs like Los Angeles and Phoenix, or Atlanta to Nashville could clearly benefit from Amtrak service. Existing rail lines already connect them. Shouldn't Amtrak be serving these and many other similar corridors nationwide? 1:12:34 - 1:12:57 Randall O'Toole: Last year, the average American traveled more than 15,000 miles by automobile, more than 2000 Miles, road several 100 miles on buses, walked more than 100 Miles, rode 100 miles by urban rail, transit and bicycled 26 miles. Meanwhile, Amtrak carried the average American just 19 Miles. 1:13:35 - 1:13:55 Randall O'Toole: In 1970, the railroads' main problem was not money losing passenger trains, but over regulation by the federal and state governments. Regulation or not, passenger trains are unable to compete against airlines and automobiles. A 1958 Interstate Commerce Commission report concluded that there was no way to make passenger trains profitable. 1:14:52 - 1:15:20 Randall O'Toole: The 1970 collapse of Penn Central shook the industry. Congress should have responded by eliminating the over regulation that was stifling the railroads. Instead, it created Amtrak with the expectation that it would be a for profit corporation and that taking passenger trains off the railroads hands would save them from bankruptcy 50 years and more than $50 billion in operating subsidies later, we know that Amtrak isn't and never will be profitable. 1:15:40 - 1:16:10 Randall O'Toole: When Amtrak was created, average rail fares per passenger mile were two thirds of average airfares. Thanks to airline deregulation since then, inflation adjusted air fares have fallen by 60%. Even as Amtrak fares per passenger mile have doubled. Average Amtrak fares exceeded airfares by 1990 despite huge operating subsidies, or perhaps as has well predicted, because those subsidies encouraged inefficiencies. 1:16:50 - 1:17:15 Randall O'Toole: Today thanks to more efficient operations, rail routes that once saw only a handful of trains per day support 60, 70 or 80 or more freight trains a day. This sometimes leaves little room for Amtrak. Displacing a money making freight train with a money losing passenger train is especially unfair considering that so few people use a passenger trains, while so many rely on freight. 1:17:15 - 1:17:25 Randall O'Toole: Passenger trains are pretty, but they're an obsolete form of transportation. Efforts to give passenger trains preference over freight we'll harm more people than it will help. 2:42:40 - 2:43:50 Stephen Gardner: We think that the poor on time performance that many of our routes have is a significant impediment to ridership and revenue growth. It's quite apparent, many of our passengers, particularly on our long distance network, that serves Dunsmuir, for instance, you know their routes frequently experience significant delays, the number one cause of those delays are freight train interference. This is delays encountered, that Amtrak encounters when freight trains are run in front of us or otherwise dispatching decisions are made that prioritize the freight trains in front of Amtrak. And the reduction in reliability is clearly a problem for passengers with many hour delays. Often our whole long distance network is operating at 50% or less on time performance if you look at over the many past years. Even right now, through this period of COVID, where freight traffic has been down and we're only at 60% over the last 12 months on time performance for the entire long distance network. 2:52:44 - 2:53:23 Stephen Gardner: The difference between the US system and most of the international examples is that the infrastructure is publicly owned, publicly owned and developed in all of these nations, the nations that Mr. O'Toole mentioned, there is a rail infrastructure entity and they're developing it for both passenger and freight in some of those locations are optimized for passenger service primarily, that's for sure the case. China is a great example of a nation that's investing for both as a massive freight system and an incredible amount of investment for passenger rail. And again, they see high speed as a means of dealing with their very significant population and efficient way. Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)
Jen has been all over the internet lately telling the world that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework is a dumpster fire of a bill. In this episode, she backs that up by comparing the levels of investment for different kinds of infrastructure and examining the society changing effects the bill would have if it were to become law. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD218: Minerals Are the New Oil CD205: Nuclear Waste Storage Oil CD073: Amtrak Recommended Articles and Documents Benjamin J. Hulac and Joseph Morton. October 7, 2021. “With GOP sidelined, Manchin steps up to defend fossil fuels.” Roll Call. Connor Sheets, Robert J. Lopez, Rosanna Xia, and Adam Elmahrek. October 4, 2021. “Before O.C. oil spill, platform owner faced bankruptcy, history of regulatory problems.” The Los Angeles Times. Donald Shaw. October 4, 2021. “Criticizing Joe Manchin's Coal Conflicts is ‘Outrageous,' Says Heitkamp.” Sludge. Michael Gold. October 1, 2021. “Congestion Pricing Is Coming to New York. Everyone Has an Opinion.” The New York Times. Utilities Middle East Staff. September 13, 2021. “World's largest carbon capture and storage plant launched.” Utilities. Adele Peters. September 8, 2021. “The first commercial carbon removal plant just opened in Iceland.” Fast Company. Hiroko Tabuchi. August 16, 2021. “For Many, Hydrogen Is the Fuel of the Future. New Research Raises Doubts.” The New York Times. Robert W. Haworth and Mark Z. Jacobson. August 12, 2021. “How green is blue hydrogen?.” Energy Science & Engineering. Emily Cochrane. August 10, 2021. “Senate Passes $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill, Handing Biden a Bipartisan Win.” The New York Times. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. June 3, 2021. “2020 Fatality Data Show Increased Traffic Fatalities During Pandemic.” U.S. Department of Transportation. Nation Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). May 19, 2021. “What We Know—and Do Not Know—About Achieving a National-Scale 100% Renewable Electric Grid .” Michael Barnard. May 3, 2021. “Small Modular Nuclear Reactors Are Mostly Bad Policy.” CleanTechnica. Hiroko Tabuchi. April 24, 2021. “Halting the Vast Release of Methane Is Critical for Climate, U.N. Says.” The New York Times. Grist Creative. April 15, 2021. “How direct air capture works (and why it's important)” Grist. American Society of Civil Engineers. 2021. “Bridges.” 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure. Open Secrets. “Sen. Joe Manchin - West Virginia - Top Industries Contributing 2015-2020.” Savannah Keaton. December 30, 2020. “Can Fuel Cell Vehicles Explode Like ‘Hydrogen Bombs on Wheels'?” Motor Biscuit. Dale K. DuPont. August 6, 2020. “First all-electric ferry in U.S. reaches milestone.” WorkBoat. Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser. 2020. “CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” Our World in Data. Jeff Butler. January 27, 2019. “Norway leads an electric ferry revolution.” plugboats.com Our World in Data. Annual CO2 Emissions, 2019. Hydrogen Council. 2019. Frequently Asked Questions. Mark Z. Jacobson et al. September 6, 2017. “100% Clean and Renewable Wind, Water, and Sunlight All-Sector Energy Roadmaps for 139 Countries of the World.” Joule. Kendra Pierre-Louis. August 25, 2017. “Almost every country in the world can power itself with renewable energy.” Popular Science. Chuck Squatriglia. May 12, 2008. “Hydrogen Cars Won't Make a Difference for 40 Years.” Wired. Renewable Energy World. April 22, 2004. “Schwarzenegger Unveils ‘Hydrogen Highways' Plan.” United States Department of Energy. February 2002. A National Vision of America's Transition to a Hydrogen Economy -- to 2030 and Beyond. The Bill H.R. 3684: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act August 10, 2021 Senate Vote Breakdown July 1, 2021 House Vote Breakdown Jen's Highlighted Version Bill Outline DIVISION A: SURFACE TRANSPORTATION TITLE I - FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS Subtitle A - Authorizations and Programs Sec. 11101: Authorization of Appropriations Authorizes appropriations for Federal-Aid for highways at between $52 billion and $56 billion per year through fiscal year 2026. Sec. 11117: Toll Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, and Ferries Authorizes the government to pay up to 85% of the costs of replacing or retrofitting a diesel fuel ferry vessel until the end of fiscal year 2025. Sec. 11118: Bridge Investment Program Authorizes between $600 million and $700 million per year through 2026 (from the Highway Trust Fund) for repairs to bridges If a Federal agency wants grant money to repair a Federally owned bridge, it "shall" consider selling off that asset to the State or local government. Sec. 11119: Safe Routes to School Creates a new program to improve the ability of children to walk and ride their bikes to school by funding projects including sidewalk improvements, speed reduction improvements, crosswalk improvements, bike parking, and traffic diversions away from schools. Up to 30% of the money can be used for public awareness campaigns, media relations, education, and staffing. No additional funding is provided. It will be funded with existing funds for "administrative expenses." Sec. 11121: Construction of Ferry Boats and Ferry Terminal Facilities Authorizes between $110 million and $118 million per year through 2026 (from the Highway Trust Fund) to construct ferry boats and ferry terminals. Subtitle D - Climate Change Sec. 11401: Grants for Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Creates a new grant program with $15 million maximum per grant for governments to build public charging infrastructure for vehicles fueled with electricity, hydrogen, propane, and "natural" gas. The construction of the projects can be contracted out to private companies. Sec. 11402: Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities Establishes a program to study and test projects that would reduce emissions. Sec. 11403: Carbon Reduction Program Allows, but does not require, the Transportation Secretary to use money for projects related to traffic monitoring, public transportation, trails for pedestrians and bicyclists, congestion management technologies, vehicle-to-infrastructure communications technologies, energy efficient street lighting, congestion pricing to shift transportation demand to non-peak hours, electronic toll collection, installing public chargers for electric, hydrogen, propane, and gas powered vehicles. Sec. 11404: Congestion Relief Program Creates a grant program, funded at a minimum of $10 million per grant, for projects aimed at reducing highway congestion. Eligible projects include congestion management systems, fees for entering cities, deployment of toll lanes, parking fees, and congestion pricing, operating commuter buses and vans, and carpool encouragement programs. Buses, transit, and paratransit vehicles "shall" be allowed to use toll lanes "at a discount rate or without charge." Sec. 11405: Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) Program Establishes the "PROTECT program", which provides grants for projects to protect some current infrastructure from extreme weather events and climate related changes. Types of grants include grants for "at-risk coastal infrastructure" which specifies that only "non-rail infrastructure is eligible" (such as highways, roads, pedestrian walkways, bike lanes, etc.) Sec. 11406: Healthy Streets Program Establishes a grant program to install reflective pavement and to expand tree cover in order to mitigate urban heat islands, improve air quality, and reduce stormwater run-off and flood risks. Caps each grant at $15 million TITLE III: RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION Sec. 13001: Strategic Innovation for Revenue Collection Provides grants for pilot projects to test our acceptance of user-based fee collections and their effects on different income groups and people from urban and rural areas. They will test the use of private companies to collect the data and fees. Sec. 13002: National Motor Vehicle Per-mile User Fee Pilot Creates a pilot program to test a national motor vehicle per-mile user fee. DIVISION B - SURFACE TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENT ACT OF 2021 TITLE I - MULTIMODAL AND FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION Sec. 21201: National Infrastructure Project Assistance Authorizes $2 billion total per year until 2026 on projects that cost at least $100 million that include highway, bridge, freight rail, passenger rail, and public transportation projects. Authorizes $1.5 billion total per year until 2026 (which will expire after 3 years) for grants in amount between $1 million and $25 million for projects that include highway, bridge, public transportation, passenger and freight rail, port infrastructure, surface transportation at airports, and more. TITLE II - RAIL Subtitle A - Authorization of Appropriations Sec. 22101: Grants to Amtrak Authorizes appropriations for Amtrak in the Northeast Corridor at between $1.1 billion and $1.57 billion per year through 2026. Authorizes appropriations for Amtrak in the National Network at between $2.2 billion and $3 billion per year through 2026. Subtitle B - Amtrak Reforms Sec. 22201: Amtrak Findings, Mission, and Goals Changes the goal of cooperation between Amtrak, governments, & other rail carriers from "to achieve a performance level sufficient to justify expending public money" to "in order to meet the intercity passenger rail needs of the United States" and expands the service areas beyond "urban" locations. Changes the goals of Amtrak to include "improving its contracts with rail carriers over whose tracks Amtrak operates." Sec. 22208: Passenger Experience Enhancement Food and beverage service: Amtrak will establish a working group... Sec. 22212: Enhancing Cross Border Service Amtrak must submit a report... Sec. 22213: Creating Quality Jobs Amtrak will not be allowed to privatize the jobs previously performed by laid off union workers. Sec. 22214: Amtrak Daily Long Distance Study Amtrak would study bringing back long distance rail routes that were discontinued. Subtitle C - Intercity Passenger Rail Policy Sec. 22304: Restoration and Enhancement Grants Extends the amount of time the government will pay the operating costs of Amtrak or "any rail carrier" that provides passenger rail service from 3 years to 6 years, and pays higher percentages of the the costs. Sec. 22305: Railroad Crossing Elimination Program Creates a program to eliminate highway-rail crossings where vehicles are frequently stopped by trains. Authorizes the construction on tunnels and bridges. Sec. 22306: Interstate Rail Compacts Authorizes up to 10 grants per year valued at a maximum of $ million each to plan and promote new Amtrak routes Sec. 22308: Corridor Identification and Development Program The Secretary of Transportation will create a program for public entities to plan for expanded intercity passenger rail corridors, operated by Amtrak or private companies. When developing plans for corridors, the Secretary has to "consult" with "host railroads for the proposed corridor" Subtitle D - Rail Safety Sec. 22404: Blocked Crossing Portal The Administration of the Federal Railroad Administration would establish a "3 year blocked crossing portal" which would collect information about blocked crossing by trains from the public and first responders and provide every person submitting the complaint the contact information of the "relevant railroad" and would "encourage" them to complain to them too. Information collected would NOT be allowed to be used for any regulatory or enforcement purposes. Sec. 22406: Emergency Lighting The Secretary of Transportation will have to issue a rule requiring that all carriers that transport human passengers have an emergency lighting system that turns on when there is a power failure. Sec. 22409: Positive Train Control Study The Comptroller General will conduct a study to determine the annual operation and maintenance costs for positive train control. Sec. 22423: High-Speed Train Noise Emissions Allows, but does not require, the Secretary of Transportation to create regulations governing the noise levels of trains that exceed 160 mph. Sec. 22425: Requirements for Railroad Freight Cars Placed into Service in the United States Effective 3 years after the regulations are complete (maximum 5 years after this becomes law), freight cars will be prohibited from operating within the United States if more than 15% of it is manufactured in "a country of concern" or state-owned facilities. The Secretary of Transportation can assess fines between $100,000 and $250,000 per freight car. A company that has been found in violation 3 times can be kicked out of the United State's transportation system until they are in compliance and have paid all their fines in full. Sec. 22427: Controlled Substances Testing for Mechanical Employees 180 days after this becomes law, all railroad mechanics will be subject to drug testing, which can be conducted at random. DIVISION C - TRANSIT Sec. 30017: Authorizations Authorizes between $13.3 billion and $14.7 billion per year to be appropriated for transit grants. DIVISION D - ENERGY TITLE I - GRID INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESILIENCY Sec. 40101: Preventing Outages and Enhancing The Resilience of the Electric Grid Creates a $5 billion grant distribution program to electric grid operators, electricity storage operations, electricity generators, transmission owners and operators, distribution suppliers, fuels suppliers, and other entities chosen by the Secretary of Energy. The grants need to be used to reduce the risk that power lines will cause wildfires. States have to match 15%. The company receiving the grant has to match it by 100% (small utilities only have to match 1/3 of the grant.) Grant money be used for micro-grids and battery-storage in addition to obvious power line protection measures. Grant money can not be used to construct a new electricity generating facility, a large-scale battery facility that is not used to prevent "disruptive events", or cybersecurity. The companies are allowed to charge customers for parts of their projects that are not paid for with grant money (so they have to match the grant with their customer's money). Sec. 40112: Demonstration of Electric Vehicle Battery Second-Life Applications for Grid Services Creates a demonstration project to show utility companies that electric car batteries can be used to stabilize the grid and reduce peak loads of homes and businesses. The demonstration project must include a facility that "could particularly benefit" such as a multi-family housing building, a senior care facility, or community health center. TITLE II - SUPPLY CHAINS FOR CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES Sec. 40201: Earth Mapping Resources Initiative The US Geological Survey will get $320 million and ten years to map "all of the recoverable critical minerals." Sec. 40204: USGS Energy and Minerals Research Facility Authorizes $167 million to construct a new facility for energy and minerals research. The facility can be on land leased to the government for 99 years by "an academic partner." Requires the USGS to retain ownership of the facility. Sec. 40205: Rare Earth Elements Demonstration Facility Authorizes $140 million to build a rare earth element extractions and separation facility and refinery. Does NOT require the government to retain ownership of the facility. TITLE III - FUELS AND TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS Subtitle A - Carbon Capture, Utilization, Storage, and Transportation Infrastructure Sec. 40304: Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Authorizes $600 million for 2022 and 2023 and $300 million for each year between 2024 and 2026 for grants and loan guarantees for projects for transporting captured carbon dioxide. Each project has to cost more than $100 million and the government can pay up to 80% of the costs. If the project is financed with a loan, the company will have 35 years to pay it back, with fees and interest. Loans can be issued via private banks with guarantees provided by the government. Sec. 40305: Carbon Storage Validation and Testing Creates a new program for funding new or expanded large-scale carbon sequestration projects. Authorizes $2.5 billion through 2026. Sec. 40308: Carbon Removal Creates a new program for grants or contracts for projects to that will form "4 regional direct air capture hubs" that will each be able to capture 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Authorizes $3.5 billion per year through 2026. Subtitle B - Hydrogen Research and Development Sec. 40313: Clean Hydrogen Research and Development Program Changes a goal of an existing research and development plan for hydrogen fuels (created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005) from enhancing sources of renewable fuels and biofuels for hydrogen production to enhancing those sources and fossil fuels with carbon capture and nuclear energy. Expands the activities of this program to include using hydrogen for power generation, industrial processes including steelmaking, cement, chemical feestocks, and heat production. They intend to transition natural gas pipelines to hydrogen pipelines. They intend for hydrogen to be used for all kinds of vehicles, rail transport, aviation, and maritime transportation. Sec. 40314: Additional Clean Hydrogen Programs Creates a new program to create "4 regional clean hydrogen hubs" for production, processing, delivery, storage, and end-use of "clean hydrogen." At least one regional hub is required to demonstrate the production of "clean hydrogen from fossil fuels." At least one regional hub is required to demonstrate the production of "clean hydrogen from renewable energy." At least one regional hub is required to demonstrate the production of "clean hydrogen from nuclear energy." The four hubs will each demonstrate a different use: Electric power generation, industrial sector uses, residential and commercial heating, and transportation. Requires the development of a strategy "to facilitate widespread production, processing, storage, and use of clean hydrogen", which will include a focus on production using coal. The hydrogen hubs should "leverage natural gas to the maximum extent practicable." Creates a new program to commercialize the production of hydrogen by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. The overall goal is to identify barriers, pathways, and policy needs to "transition to a clean hydrogen economy." Authorizes $9.5 billion through 2026. Sec. 40315: Clean Hydrogen Production Qualifications Develops a standard for the term "clean hydrogen" which has a carbon intensity equal to or less than 2 kilograms of carbon dioxide-equivalent produced at the site of production per kilogram of hydrogen produced." Subtitle C - Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Sec. 40323: Civil Nuclear Credit Program Creates a program, authorized to be funded with $6 billion per year through 2026, that will provide credit from the government to nuclear reactors that are projected to shut down because they are economically failing. Subtitle D - Hydropower Sec. 40331: Hydroelectric Production Incentives Authorizes a one-time appropriation of $125 million for fiscal year 2022. Sec. 40332: Hydroelectric Efficiency Improvement Incentives Authorizes a one-time appropriation of $75 million for fiscal year 2022. Sec. 40333: Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentives Authorizes a one-time appropriations of $553 million for repairs and improvements to dams constructed before 1920. The government will pay a maximum of 30% of the project costs, capped at $5 million each. Sec. 40334: Pumped Storage Hydropower Wind and Solar Integration and System Reliability Initiative Authorizes $2 million per year through 2026 to pay 50% or less of the costs of a demonstration project to test the ability of a pumped storage hydropower project to facilitate the long duration storage of at least 1,000 megawatts of intermittent renewable electricity. Subtitle E - Miscellaneous Sec. 40342: Clean Energy Demonstration Program on Current and Former Mine Land Creates a new program, authorized to be funded with $500 million through 2026, to demonstrate the technical and economic viability of putting clean energy projects on former mine land. There will be a maximum of 5 projects and 2 of them have to be solar. Defines a "clean energy project" to include "fossil-fueled electricity generation with carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration." TITLE X - AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR ENERGY ACT OF 2020 Sec. 41001: Energy Storage Demonstration Projects Authorizes $505 million through2025 for energy storage demonstration projects. Sec. 41002: Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program Authorizes between $281 million and $824 million per year through 2027 for advanced nuclear reactor demonstration projects. Sec. 41004: Carbon Capture Demonstration and Pilot Programs Authorizes between $700 million and $1.3 billion through2025 for advanced nuclear reactor demonstration projects. Sec. 41007: Renewable Energy Projects Authorizes $84 million through 2025 for geothermal energy projects. Authorizes $100 million through 2025 for wind energy projects. There is a clarification that this is definitely NOT in addition to amounts wind gets from another fund. Authorizes $80 million through 2025 for solar energy projects. DIVISION E - DRINKING WATER AND WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE DIVISION F - BROADBAND DIVISION G - OTHER AUTHORIZATIONS DIVISION H - REVENUE PROVISIONS DIVISION I - OTHER MATTERS DIVISION J - APPROPRIATIONS DIVISION K - MINORITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)
For 150 years, Chicago has remained the country's busiest rail hub at the center of the nation's rail network. In all, 40 railroads provide services from Illinois to every part of the United States and all seven of the major North American freight railways converge in Chicago to make it the largest US rail gateway. Moving anything coast-to-coast by rail is almost guaranteed to pass through Chicago. In 2011, Illinois ranked first in the US for rail freight volume accounting for 490.4 million tons. Today, the state is the world's third most active rail intermodal hub with 25% of U.S. freight rail traffic and 46% of all intermodal traffic beginning, ending or traveling through Chicago. Each day, nearly 500 freight trains and 760 passenger trains pass through the Chicago region, moving the goods and people that are the life blood of the national economy. In this episode we talk with retired train engineer and rail historian David Daruszka to discuss Chicago's rail history from its founding in 1848 to its peak in the 1940s and on into today's operations. Though the waterways established Chicago the railroads soon became a key connector and transfer link to the continent from east to west and north to south. The development of Chicago from a frontier town into a world-class city could not have happened as it did without the railroads. Chicago became and arguably still is the greatest railroad center in the world. We hope you enjoy this journey into Chicago's railroad history. Map of Railroads in and out of ChicagoLocomotive "The Pioneer"Stock CertificateGrand Crossing in 1902Map of the Illinois Central RailwayPlaque commemorating the railroad establishing Standard TimeUnion StockyardColumbian Expostion Train Station in 1893Roundhouse at the Calumet YardPullman Porter Museum in ChicagoPullman Car InteriorPullman Car at the Illinois Railway MuseumEarly Refrigerated Car Links to Research and Historic Sources: "Transportation that Built Chicago: the importance of the railroads" from the Curbed Chicago websiteChicago's Grand Crossing neighborhood and railroad crossing in WikipediaPullman Porters from the History Channel websiteC-Span Book Talk with Larry Tye author of the book Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class (2004)"Why Was Casey Jones an American Folk Hero?" from the History Channel websiteSamuel Insull history and bio on WikipediaRelocating the tracks at Midway Airport from the Digital Research Library of Illinois History JournalChicago Railroad Fair narrated 1948 home video on YouTubeChicago Railroad Fair Color Home Movies 1948Film of "Wheels A Rolling" musical history of trains from the Chicago Railroad Fair of 1948/49 on YouTubeOperation Lifesaver offers school and community group presentations on RR crossing safety"Stand by Me" (1986) movie clip of the Train bridge sceneArticle on Chicago's last roundhouse "NKP's Calument Yard, Coaling Tower, Roundhouse, Turntable" on the Industrial History websiteChicago Railroad Stations from Chicagology.comLink to railroad historian Fred Ash's book Chicago Union StationFreight Rail Overview from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration website
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Aug. 29 issued a regional emergency declaration offering relief from regulations related to maximum driving time provisions for property-carrying vehicles and passenger-carrying vehicles. The declaration encompasses Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas and applies to drivers who are providing direct assistance in support of emergency relief efforts. The Federal Railroad Administration has activated an emergency relief docket that offers railroads the ability to obtain temporary waivers from safety regulations to expedite service recovery and restoration.
In our new Talking SMART episode, we dig into freight rail issues that affect both the safety of railroad workers and the safety of communities around the country. Our featured guests are SMART Transportation Division Kansas State Legislative Director Ty Dragoo and Transportation Division Nebraska State Legislative Director Bob Borgeson. Ty Dragoo Brother Dragoo followed his father into the railroad industry and hired on as a conductor for Union Pacific in 2005. He has served as a legislative representative of Local 1503 in Marysville, Kansas, been the state's legislative director since 2010 and helped lead efforts to create a transportation safety task force in his state. Ty spoke with us about his work in Kansas, including two-person crew legislation and the downsides of so-called precision scheduled railroading. Bob Borgeson Brother Borgeson represents SMART in a state – Nebraska – with a high concentration of Transportation Division members and works to bring greater public attention to the important work our members do. Bob spoke with us about the negative impacts of long trains, efforts to move two-person crew legislation in Nebraska, and the innovative media and outreach tools SMART has used recently to bring attention to key rail safety issues in his state. In addition, listen for the open mic segment with General President Joseph Sellers at the end of this episode. He responds to a question about what SMART is doing nationally to try and make two-person crew the law of the land, especially under new leadership at the Federal Railroad Administration that is not actively trying to block two-person crew regulations. Talking SMART is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network — working people's voices, broadcasting worldwide 24 hours a day.
Locomotive engineers have been qualified and trained with simulation technology for years. Through technology, the opportunity to leverage simulation beyond locomotive engineers is quickly emerging. Heartwood scratched the surface by developing a virtual simulation platform to certify Transportation and Mechanical employees in conducting 49 CFR Part 232 brake tests at Norfolk Southern, and obtained a Federal Railroad Administration simulation training waiver to meet the regulatory requirements. With simulation technology, including augmented and virtual reality, regulatory and maintenance training can be at employee fingertips. Can railroads train, qualify and improve their workforce with simulation tools? FRA Staff Director, Railroad Safety Partnerships Rob Castiglione, Heartwood Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer Neil Wadhawan and Consultant Brian Keller discuss this emerging technology with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono.
In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out from an anonymous supporter: It may seem like we just had an election, but 2021 is once again a city, county, and state election year. Party primaries are coming soon on June 8, 2021. The deadline to register to vote, or update an existing registration is Monday, May 17, 2021. Visit the Virginia Department of Elections to learn more at .elections.virginia.gov. On today’s show:Charlottesville City Council begins the process to remove Confederate statuesThe Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation is working on a new statewide plan that includes expanded serviceU.S. Route 250 remains closed at Afton Mountain one day after a rockslide and there’s no time yet for when the roadway might be reopen. Actually, that last one is the whole update. That’s all I know. The seven-day average for new COVID-cases has now dropped below 1,000 for the first time in many months. The seven-day average for positive test results has declined to 4.5 percent. Nearly a third of Virginians are now fully vaccinated. Blue Ridge Health District Director Dr. Denise Bonds briefed City Council last night. “And when you look at the absolute numbers, in Charlottesville, 53 percent of the population has received at least one dose and 37 percent of our population is fully vaccinated,” Dr. Bonds said. “Charlottesville when you look is number five in the state for the percent of the population with at least one vaccine. We’re actually surrounded by Albemarle County which is number one in the state.”Dr. Bonds said there is a push now to get vaccines to people who are homebound, as well as specialized vaccine clinics across the city. “We’ve really tried to meet people where they are at to get them vaccinated and make sure they are safe from COVID,” Dr. Bonds said. Source: Blue Ridge Health DistrictHowever, Dr. Bonds said there’s a long way to get to the figure of 75 percent vaccinated and that means targeting specific demographics. “To target some of our key populations, we have assisted the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP and the Latino Health Initiative who have developed public service announcements with funding by the Move 2 Health Equity Coalition,” Dr. Bonds said. Also at Council last night, several people spoke to a consent agenda item that authorizes a public hearing on removal of Confederate statues on June 7. That’s an official step required to remove the statues under legislation that passed the General Assembly in 2020. Albemarle County used this process to remove a Confederate statue in Court Square last September. Don Gathers was a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces. “Through the diligence and hard work and determination of the nine members of that board, we’ve done our job,” Gathers said. “And now we call on Council to say it is time for you to do yours, it’s time for those statues to go with all expedient speed. And if they cannot be gone expeditiously then they do need to be covered and they need to be put in storage.”Council adopted a resolution last night on their consent agenda to move the process forward. Here’s City Manager Chip Boyles. (read the resolution)“Thank you for passing the consent agenda that includes the Lee and Jackson Statues movement,” Boyles said. “We intend to publish the notice so that you can have that public hearing at your June 7 Council meeting.”That prompted a follow-up from Vice Mayor Sena Magill. “What would the timeline if the notice gets published than we had the meeting on the 7th, what would the earliest time if it passed on the 7th?” Magill asked.“Thirty days after June 7,” Boyles said.In the case of the At Ready statue in Court Square, Albemarle County passed their resolution of intent on July 1, 2021, the first day they were eligible to do so under the new law. They held their public hearing on August 6th and the statue was removed on September 12th. Boyles also said the city has received supplemental affordable housing funds from the federal American Rescue Plan which was passed by Congress earlier this year. “The city of Charlottesville will be receiving $270,000 that we’ll be able to spend on affordable housing programs within the city,” Boyles said. “Along the lines of the American Rescue Fund, we are still waiting to get the full total dollar amount that we will be receiving as well as the regulations.” Boyles also said there were 64 applicants from across the country for someone to be the executive director of the Police Civilian Review Board. He also said he has resumed a practice of meeting with leaders of neighborhood associations and the next meeting will be on July 15. More from City Council in a future episode of the program. An architect with ties to Charlottesville has been named by a trade organization as one of two winners of its 2021 Award for Excellence in Public Architecture. The American Institute of Architects has recognized Katie Swenson for her role in creating public facilities. While a graduate student at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, Swenson worked with the Piedmont Housing Alliance and helped lead their 10th and Page Street Neighborhood Revitalization Project, which built many single-family homes in that section of Charlottesville in the 2000’s. Swenson was the first executive director of the Charlottesville Community Design Center, a now-defunct nonprofit that sought to help area residents become more knowledgeable about planning issues. The organization folded in early 2011. Swenson left in 2006 to direct the Enterprise Community Partners Rose Fellowship Program. She also co-founded Enterprise’s Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute Program along with former Charlottesville Mayor Maurice Cox. Read more on the AIA website. You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement. Let’s end today with a subscriber-fueled public service announcement. the group Resilient Virginia has a mission to help communities in the Commonwealth be prepared to adapt to a changing climate. They kick off their three-part Spring Resiliency Academy on May 6 with a workshop on funding for flood-prone communities. It’s $25 for the one event, but $60 for if you want to also attend the May 27 event on resilient buildings and the June 17 installment on economic recovery, jobs, and justice. Register at resilientvirginia.org where you can also learn more about their upcoming virtual conference. The Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNE) will hold a Virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 to launch a new tool intended to help its members build better relationships with their donors. At noon, they will publicly launch an initiative called “7 Actionable Principles for a Strong Social Sector.” These range from Create Strategic Budgets to Evaluate Impact. “As CNE has worked intensively with nonprofits and our local partners towards sustaining our social impact sector and supporting positive outcomes in difficult times, the need for bold thought and creative approaches to community solutions has become paramount,” said CNE Executive Director Cristine Nardi. “7 AP is a flexible, accessible tool that gives nonprofits and funders across Virginia and beyond a proven structure for assessing their organizational health and using resources effectively.”Register for the event at thecne.org/7ap. Last year, CNE worked with over 700 nonprofits across Virginia. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation is working on a new statewide rail plan, the first such document since Governor Northam announced a $3.7 billion investment in passenger rail in December 2019. Emily Stock is manager for rail planning for the DRPT. “The rail plan is required by the Federal Railroad Administration every four years and the last statewide was adopted by the [Commonwealth Transportation Board] in 2018,” Stock said. One of the items called for in the draft plan is to implement a study called for in the 2020 General Assembly to review logistics for the Commonwealth Corridor, a proposed east-west passenger service that would travel from Hampton Roads to the New River Valley. That report is due by the next General Assembly Session, before the overall plan is complete. “It would be examining how the service could integrate with service on the western rail service and also the I-95 corridor so it would be an opportunity to develop the Commonwealth Corridor expansion policies,” Stock said. There will also be a review of extending service westward to Bristol, as well as a potential stop in Bedford. The statewide rail plan is expected to be completed in early 2022. Approval by the Commonwealth Transportation Board will happen soon afterward. One change in the future will be that the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority or the DRPT will be responsible for operating and maintaining stations, but the details aren’t yet known.“DRPT is in the process of working out how things will change and we’re developing a new policy and prioritization to spell it out based on our recent agreements with CSX, Amtrak and [Virginia Railway Express],” Stock said. A study of the long range needs for Charlottesville’s train station is underway. An issue at many stations across Virginia is the need to become compliant with the Americans for Disabilities Act. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
The Billings Police Department received a grant Tuesday up to $50,000 from the Federal Railroad Administration to support reducing railroad trespassing deaths. The Railroad Trespassing Enforcement Grant was also awarded to cities in six other states that have so-called trespass hot spots. According to the Federal Railroad Administration, these are geographic areas where law enforcement agencies have seen a high amount of railroad trespassing.
Days before Sarah Feinberg started as interim president of New York City Transit (NYCT), we made plans to ride the subway together. By her first day on March 9, there were 142 cases of COVID-19 in New York, and Mayor Bill de Blasio had urged nonessential workers to stay home. As of publishing, there has been a 92% drop in average ridership on the New York City subway, an over 70% drop in ridership on buses, and nearly 3,000 of the NYCT's 51,000 employees have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the press office of its parent agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). “[It was] clear I was landing in the middle of the crisis,” the 42-year-old tells me from her home in Manhattan’s East Village. “The job under all of my predecessors was to run a system that served 5 million people a day. The job now is to make sure that, in the best of times, the system will run safely and efficiently. But it's also a job of economic recovery, of helping this workforce recover, and of offering my condolences.” Feinberg apologizes and pauses a beat longer than normal. Despite best efforts, 84 MTA employees have already died from COVID-19. Feinberg says she’s called or left messages for the families of each worker who’s passed, and on April 14, the MTA announced that families of deceased workers will receive death benefits totaling $500,000. Her voice wavers when she speaks again. “Right now this is a job focused on moving the tens of thousands of essential workers in New York," she says, "but also doing the best I can to protect our workforce and get them through [losing] dozens of their colleagues.” As a way to thank the MTA staff, Feinberg’s team helped launch its #HeroesMovingHeroes campaign on April 6, which features images of employees on and off the job. During her first weeks as president, she'd planned to visit workers at stations across the city, but those get-togethers were quickly axed. “It was not helpful to have another person and set of germs entering these facilities," she says. Instead, she focused on disinfecting touch points at the city’s nearly 500 stations and figuring out how to protect her workforce from the virus. Feinberg’s resume puts her in a small group of leaders who, in recent years, have helped manage multiple global public health crises at the federal level. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, which infected 60.8 million and killed 12,469 people stateside, Feinberg was a special assistant to President Obama and senior adviser to his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. Less than five years later, during the Ebola outbreak, she provided strategic counsel to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. “During Ebola, governors started saying, ‘I don't want trucks carrying hospital waste from places where there's Ebola to travel through my state,’” says Feinberg, whose other professional bona fides include communication work for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Bloomberg L.P., and Facebook. “Hospitals treat their waste in a way where disease does not survive, so there's no risk whatsoever. But there's a panic that makes people behave in ways that aren't reasonable.” In 2015, Obama nominated her as administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, which she ran for two years, and in early 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Feinberg to the MTA board; she became NYCT's interim president a year later. (She replaced the well-liked Andy Byford, nicknamed "Train Daddy," who earned his stripes for improving train timeliness.) Feinberg says her team created several contingency plans for the coronavirus outbreak, like service reductions, assuming that staffers would get ill. “Our job is to make sure we have options available to the governor and, now, the White House,” she says. “You want to present the boss with every tool available to best attack the problem.” That said, the organization’s handling of the crisis hasn’t come without criticism. Employees told The New York Times that leadership was slow to distribute masks and gloves, failed to inform them about possible exposure, and took weeks to implement social distancing policies. MTA officials said they acted as quickly as possible, distributing over 5.2 million gloves and over 700,000 masks (including 300,000 N95 masks), implementing rear-door boarding on buses, and suspending cash transactions with station agents. “We had a healthy stockpile of masks, but we felt like it was important to follow the medical expert guidance,” she says, referring to the CDC’s recommendation that only symptomatic people wear face masks, which changed in early April. “I am responsible for 51,000 people. At the end of March, we went out on a limb and said, ‘I know that the CDC guidance is that we should not be providing masks to healthy people, but we're not going to abide by it anymore.’ Who are we to tell these essential workers we're not going to provide them [masks] because the CDC seems to be weeks behind where it should be?” Feinberg’s team was also criticized when reduced services led to pictures of overcrowded subway cars making rounds on social media. “People are upset that there isn't more service, and I don't know how many more times we can say that [it's] because literally thousands of our workers are sick,” she says. “It's a little bit like people complaining in the middle of the pandemic, ‘Why is the emergency room so overcrowded?’” She recommends going to another train car, waiting for another train, or walking to the next station. “The alternative is for me to bring back workers who are either ill or quarantined to run additional trains, which is just not something I'm willing to risk my workforce for.” As for many, an acute professional crisis has collided with a challenging personal set-up. Feinberg is mother to a 2-year-old and stepmom to a 12-year-old. (Both Feinberg and her domestic partner, media executive Josh Tyrangiel, were previously married; she to Obama’s former director of communications, Dan Pfeiffer, and he to a New York architect.) “We're barely keeping it together, just like everyone else,” she says. “[Josh's] doing the majority of the child care at the moment. I might do the morning bottle and reading.” Based on the layout of their apartment, self-isolating hasn't been realistic. “I both work and have my emotional moments in our bedroom with the door closed, or sometimes in our bathroom when our bedroom is being used to play with Calico Critters.” Feinberg had been quarantining at home since March 27 after encounters with three colleagues who tested positive for the virus. She has since returned to work, but it’s still on an interim basis. Her initial priorities for the role, pre-COVID-19, were to help recruit a permanent president and curb the increasing crime rate. “I did not believe that would be the right thing for my family,” she says of taking the job permanently, given that on a good day, it requires being on 24/7. New roles often come with learning curves, and most executives have time to make mistakes before they face their first major challenge. Feinberg hasn’t been so lucky. Even knowing what awaited her, she would take the job again without question. “This is one of the best jobs in public service in America,” says Feinberg, whose father served in the West Virginia state legislature and whose mother was a federal magistrate judge for the state’s U.S. District Court. “I love public service, I feel strongly about it, and I believe that if the governor or the president asks you to serve, it is your obligation and your honor to do so.”
Doug and Aaron discuss complaints about the noise of the commuter rail train horns in Needham and ideas to alleviate the problem. You can watch the 2017 public hearing on the issue, which starts at the about the 45 minute mark, and read the Federal Railroad Administration's info page about train horn rules and the establishment of quiet zones.
One thing about the nation's capital is that the government might be eternal, but the city itself is a canvass on which the country paints its ceaselessly evolving history. Now the National Capital Planning Commission is discussing plans for two new memorials, and the Federal Railroad Administration is talking to the Commission about how to expand Union Station. For details on what's going on, the Commission's Director of Urban Design and Plan Review, Diane Sullivan, spoke to Federal Drive with Tom Temin.
Democrat Willhite and Republican State Rep. Rick Roth are holding the roundtable, featuring officials from the Federal Railroad Administration, FDOT and Brightline among others.
Sarah Feinberg, the former head of the Federal Railroad Administration and current MTA Board member, joins me to discuss her experiences in Washington and her views on what's going right and what's going wrong with the MTA. With the $51 billion capital plan and MTA reorganization on tap, we discuss if the MTA is finally on the right track.
William Barr speaks out And We Love What He's Saying, Do You?William Barr speaks out in Fox News exclusive; Trump immigration overhaul plan pushbackIn an exclusive interview with Fox News, Attorney General William Barr explained that he is trying to get to the bottom of whether or not “government officials abused their power and put their thumb on the scale” during the early stages of the Russia probe. "I’ve been trying to get answers to the questions and I've found that a lot of the answers have been inadequate and some of the explanations I've gotten don't hang together. In a sense I have more questions today than when I first started," Barr told Fox News' Bill Hemmer in an interview set to air Friday on "America's Newsroom."Hemmer conducted the interview with Barr in El Salvador, where he will address the crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border, MS-13, drug trafficking and human trafficking with officials.Op-ed: Bill de Blasio 2020 - A 'farce' of a candidacyNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announcedThursday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, becoming the 23rd Democrat to officially announce a bid for the White House and the second this week following Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s announcement on Tuesday. De Blasio took direct aim at President Trump, calling him a “bully,” adding that “I know how to take him on.”Still, even de Blasio's hometown was not impressed. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found 76 percent of New York City voters said they believed de Blasio shouldn’t run and gave the mayor “an anemic 42-44 percent job approval rating.” In an editorial, the New York Post called de Blasio's candidacy a "complete farce" and gave reasons why "why Democrats across America shouldn’t waste time or money on this guy." Trump called de Blasio "the worst mayor in the US." And the blast-a-thon on de Blasio will likely go on and on.Trump unveils immigration overhaul planPresident Trump on Thursday unveiled a long-awaited immigration overhaul that would dramatically alter how the U.S. accepts people into the country, upending the system in order to favor admissions based on merit rather than family ties. The proposal would judge immigrants with a points-based system that would favor high-skilled workers -- accounting for age, English proficiency, education and whether the applicant has a well-paying job offer. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., warned Trump's plan would have a "devastating effecton millions of people" and renewed her call to abolish ICE (the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency). Fox News host Laura Ingraham said on "The Ingraham Angle" on Thursday that the plan "makes sense" for America.California's high-speed rail project stopped in its tracksThe Trump administration is withdrawing nearly $1 billion in federal money for California's high-speed rail project. The Federal Railroad Administration announced Thursday it will not give California the $928,620,000 it was originally promised, saying the state “repeatedly failed to comply with the terms” of its grant, “failed to make reasonable progress on the Project,” and “abandoned its original vision” for a train connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco. The administration will also be seeking to recover an additional $2.5 billion in funds from the state that were allocated to the project through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a move that the California Rail Authority pleaded against in March.This image released by HBO shows Emilia Clarke in a scene from "Game of Thrones," that aired Sunday, May 12, 2019. (HBO via AP)It's 'GoT' finale weekendThe series finale of "Game of Thrones" will air on HBO this Sunday and "GoT" fans - enamored and disgruntled alike - will likely give the cable channel blockbuster, perhaps record-setting, ratings. Besides the fates of Jon Snow, Daenerys, Arya and the Iron Throne, there are other questions that will need to be answered: Will more Starbucks cups or other "GoT" editing blunders be noticed by eagle-eyed fans? Will any more NFL quarterbacks make cameo appearances? Will even more viewers join the 350,000-plus disgruntled faithful who have signed a petition demanding that HBO remake the final season "with competent writers"? Stay tuned.Chelsea Manning will go back to jail after refusing to testify to grand jury probing WikiLeaks.Sebastian Gorka decries PBS cartoon show 'Arthur' over gay wedding.Follow @PeterBoykin on Social MediaTwitter: Suspended Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gays4TrumpInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterboykin/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PeterBoykinReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/peterboykinTelegram: https://t.me/PeterBoykin https://t.me/RealPeterBoykinParler: https://parler.com/profile/peterboykin/postsPolitiChatter: https://politichatter.com/PeterBoykinGab: https://gab.com/peterboykinDiscord: https://discordapp.com/invite/pyuPqU9Periscope: https://www.periscope.tv/peterboykinSupport Peter Boykin's Activism by DonatingPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/peterboykinPayPal: https://www.paypal.me/magafirstnewsCash App: https://cash.me/app/CJBHWPS Cash ID: $peterboykin1Listen to #MagaOneRadiohttps://magaoneradio.net/Join the #MagaNetworkhttps://themaganetwork.com/Read the Latest #MagaFirstNewshttps://peterboykin.com/https://magafirstnews.com/https://magaone.com/https://us1anews.com/Support Donald Trumphttps://votefordjtrump.com/http://trumploveswinning.com/https://marchfortrump.net/https://gaysfortrump.org/Join Our Groups on Facebook:MarchForTrumphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/MarchForTrump2020/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarchForTrump/MagaOneRadiohttps://www.facebook.com/groups/MAGAOneRadio/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MagaOneRadioNet/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MAGARadio/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MagaFirstRadio/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MAGA1Radio/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MagaFirst/TheMagaNetworkhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/theMagaNetwork/GaysForTrumphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/gaysfortrump/https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheGayRight/https://www.facebook.com/groups/LGBTexit/https://www.facebook.com/groups/gaysfortrumporg/https://www.facebook.com/groups/DeplorableGays/https://www.facebook.com/groups/GaysForTrumpParty/Americans With Trumphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/AmericansWithTrump/North Carolina MAGA Networkhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/northcarolinamaganetwork/NC Trump Clubhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/NCTRUMPCLUB/Exit Extremismhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/EXITEXTREMISM/Vote For DJ Trumphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/VoteForDJTrump/Trump Loves Winninghttps://www.facebook.com/groups/TrumpLovesWinning/Straights For Trumphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/StraightsForTrump/US1ANewshttps://www.facebook.com/groups/US1ANews/https://www.facebook.com/groups/US1ANewsGroup/MyNCGOPhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/MyNCGOP/Grab them by the P***Yhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/GrabThemByTheP/Join Our Pages on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/TheMAGANetwork/https://www.facebook.com/MAGAFIRSTNEWS/https://www.facebook.com/pg/MagaOneRadio-778327912537976/https://www.facebook.com/North-Carolina-MAGA-Network-307617209916978/https://www.facebook.com/GaysForTrumpOrg/https://www.facebook.com/LGBTExit-2340621102644466/https://www.facebook.com/Take-Back-Pride-American-Pride-Rally-386980035391880/https://www.facebook.com/PeterBoykinMAGA/https://www.facebook.com/MarchForTrumpUSA/https://www.facebook.com/VoteForDJTrump/https://www.facebook.com/US1ANews1/https://www.facebook.com/MYNCGOP/https://www.facebook.com/trumploveswinning/Contact Email:Peter.Boykin@TheMagaNetwork.comPeterBoykin@Gmail.comGaysForTrump@Gmail.comMagaFirstNews@Gmail.comTelephone Number:1-202-854-1320
A verdict has been reached in the child cruelty case of Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula. After the not guilty decision by the jury, Arambula addresses the media. Our panel weighs in on the verdict and if Arambula's reputation is in the "toilet." The battle between the high-speed rail and the Trump Administration heats up as the Federal Railroad Administration cancels its $1 billion payment. Fresno Bee political reporter Rory Appleton says goodbye as he takes off for his new job in Las Vegas. Our three person panel returns to talk about Newsom's health care plan and the high-speed rail. Well-known author and award winning journalist, Mark Arax, talks about his new book and how he says climate change is real for farmers. Guests: Jim Verros, host of Unfiltered with Jim Verros and KSEE 24 political analyst; Lupe Espinoza, educational program director and former District 31 candidate; Ricardo Franco, democratic party delegate.
In this special episode, Rebecca sits down with Bob Lauby, the Former Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer of the Federal Railroad Administration, to discuss the FRA’s role in oversight of the project, the incredible safety record of the Shinkansen system, the importance of purpose-built infrastructure like the Texas high-speed train and the superiority of a building a fully dedicated system over one that shares infrastructure with other technologies.
Today we speak with Paul Ballard, CEO of Trinity Metro in Fort Worth, Texas (and one of our regular co-hosts) about the grand opening of their new 27 mile commuter rail service from downtown Fort Worth to the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport. Paul walks us though some of the challenges of building these projects, including working with the Federal Railroad Administration in the midst of a government shutdown, as well as early ridership numbers. If you are someone who loves the nitty-gritty of railroads, this is a show you won't want to miss.
The mere thought of a 401(k) lawsuit can send shivers down the spine of even the most experienced retirement plan fiduciary. However, when you have a grasp on why workplace retirement plans are being sued, how the economics of a lawsuit work and what you can do to make the job of a plaintiff’s attorney harder, the risk can be a little easier to manage. For answers to these and more questions, I thought it was time to invite Jerry Schlichter, the plaintiff’s attorney who has sued numerous 401(k) and 403(b) plans around the country and even successfully argued a 401(k) case before the US Supreme Court back to the podcast to share his thoughts. I was also able to work in several questions from our listeners into the episode. If you missed your opportunity to submit a question be sure are one of our email subscribers, we often send announcements out about future guests and give you the opportunity to share your questions in advance. Go to 401kfridays.com/subscribe today to take care of that. If after listening to this episode you feel like you need a little fiduciary refresher, check out last week’s episode with Jason Roberts. Some good points there to help you sleep better and keep the boogeyman away. Guest Bio Jerry is founding and managing partner of the firm. He has been repeatedly elected by his peers for inclusion in "Best Lawyers in America” and “Lawyer of the Year” and is listed in the 2019 edition. Jerry has been designated legal counsel for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers for many years and is currently designated legal counsel for the United Transportation Union and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He has represented railroad workers in trials in many states and has had record-setting jury verdicts in numerous jurisdictions. He obtained a verdict of $27 million for the widow and children of a St. Louis firefighter for a defective breathing apparatus which caused the firefighter's death. This verdict, which was increased to $40.4 million with pre and post judgment interest, was the highest jury verdict in Missouri in 2007 and one of the highest in the United States. The entire amount was collected after appeal. He has also obtained multiple precedent-setting judgments against railroads, including successfully requiring a railroad and the Federal Railroad Administration to modify rules on certification of railroad engineers; successfully obtaining a permanent injunction against the Union Pacific Railroad on behalf of all of its employees, which stopped the railroad's practice of interfering with employees' ability to pursue injury claims; and obtaining the first and only jury verdict in the United States in which a jury determined that a locomotive was not crashworthy, resulting in a jury verdict of $4.75 million, which was the highest verdict against that railroad by an injured employee in its history. Throughout his career, he has also handled major precedent-setting class action and mass tort cases on behalf of individuals. Jerry has been featured in numerous national publications, including the New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal, for his and the firm’s success in pioneering claims of excessive fees in 401(K) plans and obtaining precedent-setting results involving claims of excessive fees against large employers, and for the reduction in fees his cases have caused throughout the 401(k) industry. He and the firm have obtained settlements in these 401(k) excessive fee cases of more than $300 million for employees and retirees, in addition to significant improvements in their 401(k) plans; in total, this relief has been valued at more than $1.5 billion. He also was lead attorney for the firm in the first and only full trial of an excessive fee case in the country, resulting in a verdict of $36 million. In recent rankings of the most influential people in the 401(k) industry by 401kWire.com, Jerry has repeatedly ranked in the top 5. According to a recent article published in Reuters, the CEO of Brightscope, an independent company which evaluates 401(k) plans, stated, speaking of Mr. Schlichter’s national impact on 401(k) plan fees, that “[h]is impact has been humongous." The New York Times has referred to Jerry as “a Lone Ranger of the 401(k)’s,” and he has been referred to by Investment News as “public enemy no. 1 for 401(k) profiteers” and by Chief Investment Officer as “the industry’s most feared attorney.” In describing the effect of his work on behalf of employees in 401(k) plans, the Wall Street Journal referred to it as being “Schlicterized”. In 2014 and 2015, Mr. Schlichter’s firm obtained the two largest 401(k) excessive fee settlements in history. The first was a settlement for $62 million against Lockheed Martin on behalf of Lockheed Martin employees, which included significant changes to the Lockheed Martin 401(k) plan. The second was a settlement for $57 million from Boeing, which likewise included significant non-monetary relief. Also in 2015, Mr. Schlichter won a unanimous 9-0 decision in the U.S. Supreme Court in Tibble v. Edison, the first U.S. Supreme Court case to consider fees in 401(k) plans. In an order in the case of Nolte v. Cigna Corporation in 2013, the U.S. District Court judge stated: “As the preeminent firm in 401(k) fee litigation, Schlichter, Bogard & Denton has achieved unparalleled results on behalf of its clients. Jerome Schlichter and Schlichter, Bogard & Denton’s work throughout this litigation stands as yet another example of the firm’s acting as a private attorney general, risking breathtaking amounts of time and money while overcoming many obstacles for the benefit of employees and retirees. . . . Mr. Schlichter and the Schlichter, Bogard & Denton firm’s actions have led to dramatic changes in the 401(k) industry, which have benefited employees and retirees throughout the country by bringing sweeping changes to fiduciary practices.” The U.S. District Court in Tussey v. ABB similarly found of “special importance . . . the significant, national contribution” made by the team led by Mr. Schlichter, which has “educated plan administrators, the Department of Labor, the courts and retirement plan participants” about the fiduciary obligations of 401(k) plan administrators. Another example of his work on behalf of individuals is his representation of a class of African-American employment applicants in the case of Mister v. Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, a case in which he obtained an extraordinary Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision in which the court stated: "One could not imagine a stronger case of discrimination short of an announcement of it." This resulted in a $10 million settlement. In the Mister case, the U.S. District Court judge described his work stating: "The Court is unaware of any comparable achievement of public good by a private lawyer in the face of such obstacles and enormous demand of resources and finances." The judge also stated: "This Court finds that Mr. Schlichter's experience, reputation, and ability are of the highest caliber." Jerry handled the nationally-recognized Times Beach dioxin case in which he represented a group of people in the community of Times Beach, Missouri who were exposed to dioxin when their streets were sprayed with the chemical. He obtained a record setting $19 million settlement on behalf of the residents against a chemical company in that case. Jerry handled a national employment discrimination class action case on behalf of all women employees of Rent-a-Center. In that case, he confronted for the first time in a national employment discrimination class action a "reverse auction" in which the defendant attempted to destroy the case by an inadequate settlement with others. Jerry successfully defeated this attempt and obtained a $47 million settlement for the class as well as a complete revamping of company policies. This is one of the largest class action settlements for women in the United States and the U.S. District Court judge stated: "In essence, it is an example of advocacy at its highest and noblest purpose, and Class Counsel accomplished a great public good." The judge further stated: "I have never seen an effort like that effort put forth by the plaintiffs' counsel' – it's beyond an extraordinary effort." Jerry is a past national President of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys and is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates. He has authored articles in the field of personal injury litigation and has spoken at numerous seminars on trial techniques, mass torts, class actions, and complex litigation. He has taught trial techniques as an adjunct professor at Washington University School of Law. Jerry has also been recognized for his involvement in community initiatives. He and his wife founded Mentor St. Louis, Inc., a not-for-profit organization which obtains adult mentors for disadvantaged elementary students in the St. Louis Public Schools, which has become the largest volunteer program in the St. Louis Public Schools and has been nationally recognized. He also successfully initiated and spearheaded the passage of a law, "The Missouri State Historic Tax Credit," which has been widely acknowledged for its role in revitalizing St. Louis and the State of Missouri, and which is the national model for legislation aimed at revitalizing older communities. He has also spearheaded and led the effort to pass the Missouri "Rebuilding Communities Act" designed to attract businesses to distressed communities and the "Neighborhood Preservation Act" to develop housing in distressed communities. Jerry has received numerous awards, such as the Levee Stone Award and "What's Right with the Region Award" for his contributions to revitalization of the city of St. Louis and the state of Missouri. In December 2013, Jerry was honored with the prestigious St. Louis Award, given to the person who has accomplished the most in the prior years for the development of St. Louis. Jerry spearheaded the founding and development of another St. Louis not for profit, Arch Grants, which is a global competition for startup businesses in which winning entrepreneurs come to St. Louis, receive $50,000.00 and a broad package of support services including business mentoring, discounts on office space, and free legal, accounting, and marketing services. Arch Grants has provided grants of $50,000.00 to 114 startups since its founding in 2012, and has been the subject of numerous national articles describing its building of entrepreneurial businesses in St. Louis. Education: University of Illinois, B.S., Business Administration, 1969, (in 3 years) with honors; James Scholar. University of California at Los Angeles, J.D. 1972; Associate Editor, UCLA Law Review. Admitted: California (1972); Illinois (1973); Missouri (1982). 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!
There have been a number of highly-publicized accidents on America's railroads recently. Yet, according to a 2017 data from the Federal Railroad Administration released by the Association of American Railroads, the train accident rate, equipment caused accidents, track caused accidents and derailment rates are all down substantially over a fifteen-year period. So what are we, … Continue reading EP 121 IS IT SAFE TO RIDE THE RAILS IN AMERICA?
This week, Editor Jim Wrinn and Associate Editor Steve Sweeney discuss Congress' positive train control hearing, Ron Batory's confirmation as head of the Federal Railroad Administration, weekly traffic figures, Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309, and much more!
Partly cloudy with high temperatures in the low 50s. 25% OF NJ TRANSIT RAIL MANAGERS LEFT OVER 2 YEARS A quarter of NJ Transit’s rail managers left the agency in the two years before the deadly crash at Hoboken Terminal, Curtis Tate reports for The Record. The railroad reported the turnover to the Federal Railroad Administration in documents The Record obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request. Tate writes: “The list backs up public testimony from former agency officials who say a drain of institutional memory from the country's third-largest commuter agency may have contributed to operational and safety problems.” MENENDEZ SEEKING CHANGES IN TRUMP TAX LEGISLATION Calling President Donald Trump’s tax proposal a “hit job” on New Jersey, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez said Wednesday that he’s seeking changes to the Republican-backed legislation, David Levinsky says in the Burlington County Times. In a speech on the Senate floor, Menendez voiced his objection to the bill’s elimination of tax deductions for state income, sales and property taxes. “I cannot and will not support a tax bill that reads like one giant hit-job on New Jersey’s middle class,” Menendez said. New Jersey’s property taxes are among the highest in the nation. MURPHY SAYS HE’LL LOOK FOR WAYS TO PRESERVE OBAMACARE Gov.-elect Phil Murphy said Wednesday that he'll look for ways to preserve health insurance coverage for New Jerseyans if parts of the Affordable Care Act are repealed, Claude Brodesser-Akner reports for NJ.com. The governor-elect, a Democrat, said that he would consider emergency measures similar to the regulations Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued in New York but that his first priority is to pressure Congress to keep the mandate requiring individuals to maintain health insurance. STATE JOINING INTERSTATE WILDLIFE VIOLATOR COMPACT Beginning Friday, the state will have new tools for protecting wildlife from poachers and others who violate laws governing hunting, fishing and trapping. That’s when New Jersey’s membership in the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact begins, Michelle Brunetti writes for the Press of Atlantic City. As a member of the compact, the state will be notified of violations in other states, allowing the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife to consider license suspensions. New Jersey will also share information about violations with other states. U.S. SUPREME COURT TO HEAR SPORTS-BETTING CASE ON MONDAY Gov. Chris Christie, who advocates the legalization of sports betting, will attend arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday when lawyers present arguments in Christie v. National Collegiate Athletic Association. The governor says he is “cautiously optimistic” that New Jersey will prevail in its effort to bring sports betting to the state to help ailing racetracks and casinos, Matt Arco writes for NJ.com. The N.C.A.A., Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League support the federal ban on sports betting, which has exceptions only for Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon.
Look It Up is a podcast for the curious. On today's episode: are farmers given enough incentive to leave fields fallow? How does Amtrak stay in business? And otters. Sources: Farming subsidies (Grist): bit.ly/farmingsubsidie. USDA Conservation Reserve Program (AgWeb): bit.ly/crpsubsidies. Average expected crop yields: bit.ly/potatopounds. History of Amtrak subsidies: bit.ly/amtraksubsidies. Amtrak budget starting 2015: bit.ly/amtrakbudget15. Supplementary amtrak data (Federal Railroad Administration): bit.ly/amtrakfra. Baking yeasts: bit.ly/activedryyeast. Otters (Aquarium of the Bay): bit.ly/liuotters.
What follows is an edited partial transcript of my conversation with Stephen M. Jones. He is an economist for the US Coast Guard. However, we are discussing his own research, so nothing in this conversation should be taken to represent the official views of the US Coast Guard. Petersen: So Stephen, let's start just by defining regulatory discretion. What does that mean in this context? Jones: Sure. So, I think first off, we should probably define regulation because when Congress writes a law, they pass the law on to regulatory agencies and it will say something to the effect of "agencies: issue a regulation." So, when we talk about regulations this point isn't always clear because people just aren't familiar with this process. The regulation is a statement that kind of clarifies existing congressional law or is written in direct response to congressional law. And this could be as specific as, say, Congress can direct an agency to set an exact amount of pollution that is permitted for an industry to as broad as saying something like "protect consumers from unreasonable risks." And then the agency has room to interpret that statement as wide as it wants to. So, when I talk about agency discretion what I'm really talking about is Congress wrote a rule that gave the agency power to issue legally binding rules that may or may not trace directly back to Congress. Petersen: Yes. So, in the example you use with the pollution, Congress has something fairly specific in mind---a specific type of pollution---but the agency might have to clarify and to say what counts as pollution and how much they're measuring it and maybe they might establish a quota system, they might have specific rules for specific firms. And in the other example you gave, which is just protecting consumers from unnecessary risk, in that case they can basically write rules as if they were their own legislator, they're essentially doing what Congress is ostensibly meant to do. Is that correct? Jones: I'm not sure I would go that far. So, there are various theories of the purpose of the regulatory apparatus in the bureaucracy. Some people---I cite them in the paper---Baumgartner and Jones and Workman have one that is called 'The Politics of Information' and I forget what the other is called, it was written in 2015. And their theory instead is that Congress gives the agencies discretion because Congress doesn't know the problems it needs to solve and so the agency is kind of like the specialists that you subcontracted to figure out what Congress wants them to solve without actually knowing, say the relevant information to determine that. That's one theory. You've got other people like Philip Hamburger notably, who has written a whole book on how administrative law, which is another word for regulation, is unlawful and so he goes through sort of the common-law tradition and cites numerous pieces of evidence to say, exactly in the way that you put it, that it's a deep legislative function and only Congress should be performing that. And so, whether that's true I think depends on a number of different assumptions that aren't always discussed directly in the literature. That would be my interpretation if that makes sense. Petersen: Right. And of course, we're approaching this from an economic standpoint so there are important public choice issues involved with this. The same rule whether it's written by a legislator or a bureaucracy---a regulatory agency--- it's the same rule and so in principle, there should be no difference. But the important thing is that the agency and the Congress may have different incentives and may write different rules. That's what I interpret as an important underlying theme in your paper. Jones: That's most certainly true. So, that's actually one of the things that frustrate me greatly about reading a lot of these other, I think, great researchers who don't in my opinion sufficiently consider the role of incentives. To couch it in Baumgartner's or in Jones' and Workman's terms, okay, let's assume that the purpose of the bureaucracy is to create the information that's necessary to solve the national problems, whatever these supposed national problems are. Why would you assume that bureaucrats would supply the right amount of information in the right ways consistently throughout time? And it's not clear to me that those incentive systems are ever worked out; or if you do work them out, I don't think it actually shows that bureaucrats are beholden directly to Congress. So the big terminal literature, which comes from McNollgast, which is McCubbins, Noll, and Weingast, in the 80s is called Congressional dominance. They basically say that because Congress writes the rules they structure all the incentives and have all the tools at their disposal to monitor and police agencies. And I'm just deeply skeptical that that works as well as they describe. Petersen: Right. Your paper mentions the Administrative Procedure Act which is sort of an attempt by Congress to keep these agencies in check. Could you describe that act and what exactly it does? Jones: Sure. So, the Administrative Procedure Act is the main document that governs how agencies regulate. It defines the process by which regulation is made. And the chief component is that it really says before an agency issues a regulation it has to go through notice-and-comment. And what that means is when it sends out a rule it issues it in the Federal Register, which is the government's journal of record, and then it allows everybody to comment on this rule, and literally anybody will comment on these rules, and the agency is legally required to respond to all comments. So, the basic theory is this, it's kind of got a two-part mechanism here. On the one side, it's a sort of direct structural constraint and doesn't really affect agency decision making because all it's really saying is you have to send out all rules---if the fire alarm is triggered it acts like a fire alarm. So, if you get a whole bunch of comments it's a really easy way for Congress to tell, "oh there's a problem with this policy" or it's a contentious policy because all of these people commented it and it's really loud, it's like a fire alarm. But it doesn't necessarily mean that an agency, that an individual bureaucrat in that agency really feels that alarm. It's more like it'll just be triggered, make sure just do something that doesn't trigger that alarm and you should be okay. The other way in which it might change agency behavior is that by forcing agencies to publish rules they reveal a lot of information and in the rule itself you have to describe, say, the cost of the benefits. You have to describe whether or not it has impacts on Native American tribes, or on the Federal structure, or various other executive orders that have been issued. So, one of the main ways in fact that notice-and-comment system has changed is executive orders that define how in a very practical sense these final rules will be constructed. And so, they're all today reviewed in an office inside of the OMB---the Organization for Management and Budget---and the office is called a wire at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. And so, they're responsible for reviewing all regulation and they are an Office of the president. So, some people then conclude that the President has all this power, in effect, of rulemaking in general. Petersen: I guess the idea of the President is that it's the executive branch and so it executes and it sort of makes sense that these agencies that are executing laws would ultimately be beholden to the President. It sort of fits. So, do you know quantitatively how many comments? Are these regulatory agencies writing regulations and getting hundreds of comments every time, or is it rare to get even one comment? Jones: It depends on the agency and it depends on the rules. So EPA because many of its rules will have national effects, and then there are national environmental organizations that you can say are key stakeholders in the outcome of all these rules could very easily generate hundreds of thousands of comments. And so, they'll actually have computer programs that scrape the comments and kind of try to sort them in the boxes. You have other organizations, like FRA for instance, they might have a rule that only gets 30 comments. Petersen: Sorry what does FRA stand for? Jones: Sorry, that's the Federal Railroad Administration and that's one of the two main regulators of railroads in the United States. The other regulator, the Service and Transportation Board, is primarily focused on business practices, antitrust type issues, and FRA is focused primarily on health safety and welfare of anything railroad related. So that's everything from, say, the occupational safety of railroad workers to the safety of passengers on trains. And so, the Federal Railroad Administration might only get 30 to 40 comments on a normal rule, they might even get less than that. It really depends on the rule itself. Petersen: And typically, this would be if a rule affects my business and I might pay attention to the new rules coming out in my industry and if one I thought was going to be detrimental to my bottom line if I work for or run a private business, then I would comment. Is that the typical thing that happens? Jones: Probably. I really think the diversity of interaction is so high it's really hard to characterize exactly what normal public commenting looks like. Because it could be everything from "I'm a regulated businessman who wants this," there might be somebody on the other side who benefits directly because the new rule sets a standard and the standards organization writes in and says your standard isn't strict enough. It could be something like there's a proposed rule that the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates commercial flying, or anything air related at all pretty much, and they have a rule on the use of cell phones on planes. They've got about 5,000 comments, 6,000 comments. It's quite a number. Once you get above 100 that's usually quite significant. And a lot of those could be something as simple as "we just think phones shouldn't be on planes" and just average citizens writing in upset at the very concept of a phone being on a plane. So, there's quite a diversity of interactions between the agency and public on that. Petersen: So, getting into the main topic of your paper you discuss what you call channels of influence. So, what are those and why are they important? Jones: Yes. The way I think about it is this. I think the chief question of the bureaucracy literature is who does this regulatory bureaucracy exist for? Does it exist for interest groups? Does it exist for Congress to ultimately provide information that Congress needs? Does it exist for the President to carry out the President's wishes and his policy? Or does it exist for the bureaucrats themselves which is the one I also like to emphasize because the literature on that one is not very common today. It was more common I think about 30 years ago but the framing of it is a little different. And so, my point is to say each one of these separate groups should have an effect on the outcome itself of the final rule which changes say the regulatory set. Some rules may be demanded by bureaucrats, some rules are demanded by interest groups in Congress. If I were to put it in the econ speak---because I'm writing this paper probably more for a political science literature---but if I had to put it in an econ speak my I'm kind of saying you have four different demanders for this product and so who is the regulatory agency really supplying this for? It's I think really how I'm thinking about it. For the full conversation, listen to the episode.
Famous astronauts Mark and Scott Kelley are identical twins, and part of an ambitious experiment. Scientists studied Mark on Earth, while Scott lived in space for more than 340 days, and the results are surprising. Then, emails between RTD and the Federal Railroad Administration show a troubled relationship with the Train to the Plane. Plus, snowmobiler Colten Moore suffered a spinal cord injury at last month's X Games. His brother Caleb died after a similar accident in 2013.
Sleep apnea has been fingered in the deadly September Hoboken NJ Transit crash. FOX's Alex Hein with details on the safeguards regulators are drafting in your "Housecall for Health": This is Housecall for Health. Railroads across the country are being urged to test train operators for obstructive sleep apnea after federal regulators found the engineer in September's deadly New Jersey commuter train crash had the fatigue-inducing disorder. The Associated Press reports that the Federal Railroad Administration will issue a safety advisory this week stressing the importance of sleep apnea screening and treatment. Metro North found that one in nine of its engineers suffers from sleep apnea. NJ Transit already tests for sleep apnea, but updated its rules last week to prevent diagnosed engineers from operating trains unless they're being treated. The advisory is considered a stopgap measure while regulators draft rules to require sleep apnea screening. But that process could take years to pan out. Airline pilots with sleep apnea aren't allowed to fly unless they've been treated, and regulators are pushing for bus and truck drivers to get tested as well. For more on this story, check FOXNewsHealth.com. Housecall for Health, I'm Alex Hein, FOX News. Follow Alex Hein on Twitter: @Ahlex3889
In the 1950s, the automobile was king. A new federal highway system and dreams of “urban renewal” took hold. But many of those highways are now broken and in need of repair. This hour, we look into what's behind the rebuild of one important New England interstate, and we remember the communities we lost during the urban renewal era, including one city's Little Italy. Later this hour, we discuss the important issues heading into this election for three New England states. And at New England’s biggest flea market, NEXT producer Andrea Muraskin finds that the people are as fascinating as the stuff on display. Getting There We've been closely watching proposals to build new high speed rail through the region. New routes could drastically reduce travel times between Boston and New York and points south. The Federal Railroad Administration has been considering three plans with a variety of old and new pathways for the trains. A decision on a preferred route is expected sometime this fall. A map of a portion of the National Railroad Administration’s plan for the Northeast Corridor shows a proposed line (in purple) that would run through the city center of Old Lyme, Connecticut. (Credit: Federal Railroad Administration) Emails obtained by a group opposing a route through the coastal town of Old Lyme, Connecticut seem to show that the FRA has had a preferred route for a while… and yes, it's the one that goes through that town. We speak with New London Day reporter Kimberly Drelich, who has has been covering the story. In New England, Interstate 84 is well known and, well, hated. One of the reasons for that hatred is a short stretch that cuts right through the heart of Hartford, Connecticut. When I-84 was built, it caused two big problems. First, it meant that all the interstate traffic was bottle-necked onto a twisting, turning, elevated roadway, with a series of complicated on and off ramps infusing new traffic into the mix, commuters, delivery trucks — locals just trying to get across town. The I-84 Viaduct cuts right through downtown Hartford. Credit Ryan Caron King/WNPR The second problem is a common one. When highways were built right through cities in the middle of the 20th Century, they destroyed neighborhoods, and physically separated communities. For an example of what this looks like, read Ryan Caron King’s story about a historic home that was spared the wrecking ball, but not the highway noise. But how to fix the problem? We speak with Norm Garrick, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Connecticut, and author of a recent Citylab article about Rochester, New York's attempt to fix a 1950s planning disaster. We also learn the story of Portland, Maine’s Little Italy. It was one of many neighborhoods across America that was demolished as a result of urban renewal. The federal program introduced after World War II aimed to clear cities of so-called slums and blighted areas, making way for improved infrastructure and commercial development. Producer Georgia Moodie has our story. CT/RI/VT Elections Roundtable Remember those days when we used to talk about issues during a political campaign? Yeah, us neither. That’s why we wanted to sit down with smart political observers from around New England to talk about the big issues facing their states this year. From WNPR in Connecticut, Colin McEnroe from The Colin McEnroe Show and The Wheelhouse joins us. From Rhode Island Public Radio’s Political Roundtable, Maureen Moakley chimes in, and so does Vermont Public Radio capital bureau reporter Peter Hirschfeld. Brimfield A lobster made from horseshoes at the Brimfield Antiques Flea Market (Credit: Ziwei Zhang) In the 1954 film Brigadoon, the protagonists discover a magical village that only appears for one day every hundred years. Brimfield, Massachusetts is kind of like that. The town only has about 3,500 permanent residents. But for a week in each of May, July, and September, the town transforms into a bustling tent city known as the Brimfield Antique Flea Market. The market dates back to the 1950s and today boasts over 250,000 visitors, stretching half a mile down Route 20. At a market like this, the stuff comes with stories, and NEXT producer Andrea Muraskin found plenty on her visit over the weekend. About NEXT NEXT is produced at WNPR. Host: John Dankosky Producer: Andrea Muraskin Executive Producer: Catie Talarski Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon Contributors to this episode: Jill Kaufman, Shannon Dooling, and Jennifer Mitchell Music: Todd Merrell, Lightning on a Blue Sky by Twin Musicom, New England by Goodnight Blue Moon Get all the NEXT episodes. We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and pictures of your own flea market finds to next@wnpr.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Join ShuttletrainTED, from the Washington, Missouri train station as he talks to the President of the PassengerRailKS/OK/TX Association, Evan Stair. The Oklahoma Department of Transpotation Railroad Division, gives us an update on that States's Passenger rail extension. The Midwest Regional National Model Railroad Assn. convention director, David Roeder checks in with an update about the Midwest Convention. We will listen to comments made by FRA Director Joe Szabo at the 2012 Passenger Rail Symposium. Were still no done, we will introduce everyone to the Let's Talk Train Model Railroad Club of the Month. So call-in at 646-716-7106, join us in the chat room at www.letstalktrain.com/chat.
Rohit T. Aggarwala is Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability. This office was charged with the creation of PlaNYC A Greener, Greater New York, a comprehensive sustainability plan consisting of 127 separate initiatives to green New York City. Dr. Aggarwala is now charged with implementing the plan and supporting other efforts related to the sustainability of New York City. Under his leadership the City has begun implementing over 90% of the 127 initiatives in PlaNYC, including regulations to make the City’s taxicabs and black car fleets clean, planting a million trees throughout the five boroughs and overseeing the investment of $80 million a year to reduce City government’s greenhouse gas emissions. A native of Manhattan, NY, Dr. Aggarwala holds BA, MBA, and PhD degrees from Columbia University, as well as a Master’s from Queens University in Ontario. Prior to joining the Bloomberg administration for the City, Aggarwala was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. During the Clinton Administration, he worked at the Federal Railroad Administration. Aggarwala is also the author of several articles on transportation policy and on the history of New York City.
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