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Did Rail Authority flout sunshine law?

At a recent meeting of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, a board member announced a closed executive session but provided no exception as required by the state’s sunshine law, citizen attendees said. State law requires government bodies to notify the

High-speed rail Legislative Report lists some, but not all controversies

Kathy Hamilton March 13, 2015

Risk, time and money remain the major problems for the construction of California’s high-speed rail project. That’s seen in the biannual Legislative Report of the California High-Speed Rail Authority released this month, as required by law. The report is a serious

Property owners resist high-speed rail condemning land

Kathy Hamilton February 17, 2015

Building public projects often involves acquiring land. That usually means using eminent domain to take private property with “just compensation,” as mandated by the Fifth Amendment. California’s high-speed rail project now is acquiring the land needed for construction, but is

Two new legal actions crash into high-speed rail

Kathy Hamilton February 10, 2015

Yesterday California’s high-speed rail project faced two new legal actions in its path to construction. The first was in state court about the adequacy of the electrification environmental document of CalTrain, the Bay Area commuter system. The second was in

Kit fox endangers high-speed rail construction

Kathy Hamilton February 3, 2015

The California High-Speed Rail Authority faces a new obstacle on its railroad track to construction: the endangered San Joaquin kit fox. The environmentalist group Defenders of Wildlife labels it “one of the most endangered animals in California.” On Jan.

Ground broken on troubled high-speed rail project

Kathy Hamilton January 7, 2015

Yesterday in Fresno the California High-Speed Rail Authority officially conducted the groundbreaking ceremony for its bullet-train project – but no dirt actually was turned. After an hour of speeches, a “ceremonial signing” of a railroad tie was conducted by

Bakersfield drops high-speed rail lawsuit

Kathy Hamilton December 22, 2014

As 2015 approaches, California’s high-speed rail project keeps barreling down the track. On Dec. 19, the city of Bakersfield dropped its lawsuit against construction. The city’s settlement with the California High-Speed Rail Authority stipulated, among other things: “The city has met with

Federal board pushes high-speed rail – a little

Kathy Hamilton December 15, 2014

Two recent events are keeping California’s high-speed rail project rumbling forward – either to eventual construction or wasteful oblivion. The California High-Speed Rail Authority just announced it would break ground on the project on Jan. 6. The CHSRA is eager

High-speed rail takes two more swipes at CEQA

Kathy Hamilton November 17, 2014

This is the second in a series of articles updating the status of the California high-speed rail project in the wake of the California Supreme Court green-lighting bond funding. The first article covered two earlier attempts by the California High-Speed

Gov. Brown faces high-speed rail hurdles

Kathy Hamilton November 10, 2014

Republicans’ triumph last week in the U.S. Congress already is rippling across the country. Does that bother Gov. Jerry Brown and his push for getting more federal funding for California’s high-speed rail project? So far, Congress allocated only $3.5 billion