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The CEO of California’s high-speed rail authority resigned late Wednesday, saying he needs to focus on “important personal and family priorities,” according to a copy of the emailed resignation obtained by CalMatters. “This has not been an easy decision, as leading the Authority has been one of the most meaningful and rewarding chapters of my professional life,” wrote Chief Executive Ian Choudri. He will be replaced by Joe Stephenshaw, who has led the state Department of Finance since July 2022 after working as a policy analyst in the state Legislature for more than a decade, the board announced Thursday morning...

Pennywise lives — in the sewers of Maryland. A mysterious man living in Baltimore’s sewers has allegedly been taunting and chasing kids down the street, according to an irate mother. Unique Wiggins initially didn’t believe her children when they told her a creep lurking in the sewers was bothering and harrasing them, WJZ reported. But after repeated complaints, the mom decided to investigate the subterranean nuisance. “It was a Friday, and my daughter, who is 21, called and she was panicking. And I asked, ‘What’s wrong?’ And she said, ‘Mom, I’m scared. The man told me I can’t walk right...

Watch to learn why the project is years late and billions over budget California’s high-speed rail project promised to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco with trains traveling up to 220 mph. Eighteen years after voters approved Proposition 1A, the ambitious transportation project lacks any finished track and faces an uncertain future. Costs are now projected to reach $126 billion with land acquisition and regulatory hurdles still putting America’s largest active infrastructure endeavor in jeopardy. In this video, WSJ travels to construction sites, analyzes satellite images and reviews legal filings to explain what comes next for the multibillion-dollar project.

Garbed in purple and holding signs that read “Fair contracts now!” and “Here to serve, not to starve,” thousands of state workers rallied at government buildings across California Wednesday to protest what they describe as unfair labor practices by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration. SEIU Local 1000’s first strike in its 44-year history unfolded in several cities including Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The union — which represents about 100,000 workers, nearly half the state workforce — has been in contentious labor talks with the Newsom administration since its latest contract expired in late June. Its members want a better...

A Trump administration fraud task force has uncovered nearly $42 million in food stamp funds meant for needy families that were instead stolen to support criminal activities as well as the lavish lifestyle of a rapper with multiple arrests — including for repeatedly exposing himself to pee off his apartment balcony. Vice President JD Vance and members of the Departments of Justice and Agriculture held a press conference in Cincinnati Wednesday highlighting the cases involving more than 40 defendants operating schemes that bilked the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and related programs. “Two-hundred twenty thousand Americans could’ve eaten for the entire...

“PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — More human remains discovered during a cleanup at a homeless camp in Downtown Portland on Monday may be linked to remains found in the Old Town area less than a week ago. According to the Portland Police Bureau (PPPB), officers were called out to an area near W. Burnside Street and Interstate 405 just after 12:30 p.m. when a cleanup crew located the remains in a homeless encampment. Investigators did not say what remains were found or in what condition they were in. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, a crew with Rapid Response discovered human remains in...

Bigger agencies, higher spending, and expanded workforces don't always make government more effective.My recent trip to Malibu from Los Angeles was my first post-wildfire drive through the Pacific Palisades and, my goodness, there's nothing like seeing something with one's own eyes to grasp the enormity of the devastation. The obliterated hulks along Pacific Coast Highway 21 months after the tragedy raise multiple issues, including ones related to the excruciatingly slow rebuilding process. This being California, the state has yet to grapple sufficiently with the reasons the wildfires started—and the failed response to them. But late is better than never, so...

FIRST ON FOX - The price tag for the beleaguered Obama Presidential Center is now projected to top $1 billion, nearly triple its original estimate, the foundation overseeing construction of the Chicago facility told Fox News Digital. Confirmation of the 10-figure cost marks another chapter in the troubled history of the much-delayed project, which opened five years behind schedule amid controversy over its use of public parkland and claims that subcontractors were stiffed out of millions of dollars. It comes as newly released financial records reviewed by Fox News Digital offer a fresh look at the finances of the Obama...

Employees at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago are unionizing over their working conditions, claiming their benefits have been cut and workloads are increasing just four months after the center opened in June. Workers circulated a letter to staff Wednesday announcing their intent to unionize, complaining about “increasing” workloads “vague responses” from administrators to a list of complaints they’d raised, the Chicago Sun Times reported. Some of the complaints suggested that the $900 million presidential center could already be facing financial trouble. Such complaints have led to a “high turnover rate,” with exiting employees “taking with them their institutional knowledge...

Here's your reminder that the judges are out of control: Post The Vigilant Fox 🦊 @VigilantFox A 19-year-old charged with stabbing a man in Pittsburgh so badly his intestines were hanging out was released the SAME DAY without posting a dime. Eight days later, he’s the prime suspect in ANOTHER stabbing. District Judge Dan Butler let Delvin Dobbins walk on a non-monetary bond. Just a promise to show up to court. Pittsburgh Police Chief Jason Lando couldn’t believe he was out. “How can that be? I mean, he just stabbed someone in the stomach a week ago.” And it’s happened...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), under President Joe Biden and former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, knowingly allowed millions of illegal aliens who overstayed their visas to remain in the United States, classifying them as “non-priority” aliens. A report from DHS Inspector General (IG) Joseph Cuffari details a clear lack of immigration enforcement embedded within the Biden administration — particularly regarding visa overstays. From 2021 to 2024, for instance, ICE received more than 3.1 million leads on visa overstays, about 104,000 of whom were classified as potential national security or public safety threats. Fewer than 500 of...

In the aftermath of two devastating hurricanes, then-Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration steered some $100 million in disaster funding toward affordable housing projects — despite hundreds of storm victims stuck in temporary homes, according to an analysis. Under Cooper’s watch, the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) sent $100 million for affordable housing as the $1 billion agency was suffering from a gaping budget shortfall, an analysis by the John Locke Foundation, a free-market think tank in the state, found. One of the affordable housing projects, Starway Village, was a $9 million 278-unit complex that opened...

Even in a city filled with homeless encampments, this was a unique sight. A KTLA viewer shared a photo of a homeless encampment that was set up on top of a bus stop shelter in Los Angeles’ Brentwood neighborhood. The photo was taken near the busy intersection of S Barrington Ave. and Wilshire Blvd. at a Metro bus stop. In the photo, a man is seen laying on top of the structure next to a shopping cart and other personal items. An estimated 187,000 people are currently experiencing homelessness in the state of California, while the latest point-in-time count found...

There was a time when California built big things efficiently. In the 1930s, for example, the state simultaneously constructed the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge — both marvels of engineering — in about a four-year span. Both on time. Both on budget. Those days are gone. Today, examples abound of California construction projects gone (way) awry. One of those is the long-awaited People Mover at LAX. The project’s contractor, LAX Integrated Express Solutions, disclosed this month that the train — intended to whisk people around LA’s famously sprawling airport — will not open in October as most recently...

Under Assembly Bill 435, California is revising its regulations for child passenger safety. Currently, most children transition out of booster seats by age 8. But starting in 2027, kids aged 8 to 16 must. If they do not meet all five criteria, they’ll need to stay in a car seat that offers better protection, and families who don’t comply could face fines of up to $490.

Gavin Newsom finally admits closing beaches during COVID was “insane,” and Bill Maher says he should have figured that out WHEN IT MATTERED! He adds Newsom's COVID rules were the exact OPPOSITE of what should have been done. Closing beaches was just the start: • Banned singing at church • Banned indoor church services until the Supreme Court stepped in • Shut down Bible studies in private homes until the Supreme Court blocked it • Rammed through the country's first COVID vaccine mandates for kids • Told diners to keep their masks on “in between bites” • Signed a law...

Nick Shirley takes his viral Minnesota fraud investigation directly to Congress, describing daycares with blacked-out windows, public funding and no children visible during his visits. He says federal action followed his reporting, including a freeze on $185 million in child-care funding.

Less than 40% of electric school buses purchased under a multibillion-dollar Biden-era program have been delivered, new statistics released by the EPA Thursday reveal. The slow pace of deliveries, coupled with concerns over the reliability of the EV buses, have prompted many school districts to pull out of the $5 billion “Clean School Bus Program,” for which some $2.7 billion in taxpayer funds has already been doled out — and almost exclusively on electric buses versus other alternative fuel vehicles. “Instead of following Congress’ directives to effectively provide safe and reliable transportation for American school kids, the Biden-Harris administration rushed...

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District announced last year Sacramento electricity ratepayers would be under a new rate system that charges residential users higher rates between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. — just in time for everyone to arrive home after work and begin evening family rituals: homework on computers, dinner, television, stereo, baths, laundry, and dishwasher after dinner.”

Minnesota Senate candidate Michele Tafoya dragged her Democratic opponent, Lieutenant Gov. Peggy Flanagan, over alleged welfare fraud in the state under her watch — as new polls predict an incredibly close match-up. Tafoya, a former NFL reporter who won a crowded Republican primary last month, urged voters to “not give [Flanagan] a promotion” to the vacant Senate seat as the lt. governor leads Tafoya by 1.8 points, according to the latest Real Clear Politics poll. “She really needs a pink slip,” Tafoya said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday.