The internet is filled with things. Here are some of them.
All of those issues and more set set in motion a domino-like series of circumstances that continue to plague the project, which is now not expected to begin carrying passengers between Merced and Bakersfield until sometime between 2030 and 2033. No time frame has been offered for building or operating future extensions to San Jose or Los Angeles.I would not be the first to see this and wonder, is our country no longer capable of building great big things? Not to say there's no innovation happening in America, that we're not progressing in capability, but those advances now seem to come solely from small, private teams working in isolation and not the big society-driven we're-all-in-this-together initiatives that created the groundwork for the American century.
Still, the rail authority said it is poised for the future. “The majority of the approximately 500-mile system from San Francisco to Los Angeles is fully environmentally cleared and stand shovel-ready for future phases of investment,” the agency’s statement said.
[Governor] Newsom said that officials were "finally at the point where we can start laying track over the next couple of years," after work clearing the way between San Fransisco and Los Angeles was completed. ... Services are expected to start between 2030 and 2033.Of course, this is a touch hyperbolic. Getting the rail corridor is the difficult, slow, costly part of the project. Actually laying the rail comes last. Quoth this reddit:
To start: when you're building a train line, putting down the tracks is one of the last things you do. Just like how you can't lay down tracks for a subway until all the tunnels are dug, you also can't lay down tracks for a bullet train until you've built out all the bridges, viaducts, etc. Once that's done, actually laying the tracks is fairly simple by comparison.
The Orestimba is a wilderness in the fullest meaning of the word. As a longtime volunteer at Coe Park, I have visited the Orestimba Wilderness many times over the last 20 years. I have startled groups of tule elk, seen countless coyotes, bobcats, and golden eagles. In spring, when the hills are green and the creeks are running, I have crossed fields ablaze with shooting stars. I have watched the setting sun ignite the Rooster Comb, and a little later, I have lain down beneath a star show of stunning clarity. In most wilderness areas in the lower 48 states, there would probably be another camper a mile or two down the trail. Not here. In the Orestimba Wilderness, I’m not far from home, but the solitude is so complete, it’s almost unnerving.
For a short moment this summer my home of Santa Cruz County was in the global spotlight. The reason: A man was miraculously rescued after being lost for 10 days in the forest, found alive and well. Big outlets like the New York Times, CNN, and the BBC jumped on the story, posting photos of the hiker covered in mud, overcome with emotion as he was reunited with his family.
And while I was relieved that he’d been found safe, in my opinion, all the media outlets were missing a key point. The story wasn’t adding up. ... Someone who doesn’t know the Santa Cruz Mountains well might read that story during their morning coffee, crack a small smile at the heart-warming news, and never think about it again. But, having grown up in the area, I was left scratching my head. How on Earth does a local who is, according to the NYT, 'an experienced backpacker who has traversed other rugged regions of the United States,' get lost for 10 days?
"In 1893, the residents of what was then known as Swauger's Station decided to change the town's name. Mrs. Rufus F. Herrick consulted a Wiyot elder to find an appropriate indigenous appellation. The Indians actually called it katawólo 't.
A joke was played on Mrs. Herrick. The elderly gentleman told her that it was hó wiwItak. This does not translate as 'beautiful place at the end of the river,' but rather 'Let's have intercourse!'
She interpreted the last part of the phrase, in baby-talk fashion, as Loleta. And thus she suggested 'Loleta' to the residents of the town, which they accepted."
After her sale, she served as a floating restaurant in lower San Francisco Bay during the depression years of the 1930s. In February 1944, the Navy repurchased the ship and partly sank her in the mud flats of San Francisco Bay, south of the San Mateo Bridge, where Army and Navy aircraft carried out bombing runs with dummy bombs. Portions of the wreck remain above the waterline to this day. She is commonly referred to as the 'South Bay Wreck' and many tide tables reference her as a reference.
In 1854 he [...] retraced his footsteps to San Mateo county, and opened a store at Searsville, which he conducted for thirteen years. In 1878 he came to Mayfield where he has since resided, being now engaged in the lumber business. He has an interest in a large tract of timber land in the southern portion of San Mateo county, also a half interest in a steam sawmill, with a capacity of fifteen thousand feet in the twelve hours.
Iverson split redwood shakes and shingles for a living and, in the 1880s, served as a bodyguard for the wife of Capt. Harry Love, a California ranger who supposedly captured and beheaded the famous outlaw Joaquin Murrieta. One day Love flew into a jealous rage and opened fire on his wife and her protector, only to be shot to death by Iverson.
In 1889, Iverson sold his property to William Page, who had built the first of two sawmills along Peters Creek, which was named after another early immigrant named Jean Peter, who ran a dairy and grew hay and grain.
Page, who also operated a general store and served on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, used the lumber to make shingles. He later built a logging road that became known as Page Mill Road. The road, which still exists, was used to transport lumber to Palo Alto.
It's not there anymore, but there used to be a Toys 'R' Us in Sunnyvale. It was haunted. Growing up here, having friends that worked there in high school, everyone knew this. Linked is an article by Katie Dowd of the SF Gate who, upon the building's purchase by REI in 2021, gets to the bottom of this, concluding that the haunting was merely a publicity stunt involving pop psychic Sylvia Browne, but that's preposterous.