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JONATHAN TURLEY: Grandstanding Newsom will stop at nothing to ride the rails to glory in 2028
Gavin Newsom’s $15B ‘Train to Nowhere’
Fox News’ Jesse Watters criticizes Dem California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s video announcing construction of California’s high-speed rail beginning construction after over a decade and $15 billion spent.
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In the dystopian novel “1984,” George Orwell wrote, “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
The true meaning of that line was never more clear than watching the truly bizarre photo op of Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom heralding the success of the greatest boondoggle in history: his high-speed train to nowhere.
Without laying a single yard of track after burning $12 billion, Newsom showed a diesel freight train on a conventional track to create the appearance of a working railroad.
I have been writing about this boondoggle for years. Newsom promised years ago that the project would be transformative. It was, but not as he promised.
CALIFORNIA IS BROKE, BUT IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR THE REST OF US
Voters approved a $9.95 billion bond issue in 2008 after absurdly low estimates of the projected cost. Influential figures and companies stood to make a fortune, and the key was to secure a “buy-in” worth billions, so that it would become increasingly difficult to abandon the project as overruns and delays sent costs soaring.
Now the official estimate of future ridership has dropped by 25%, and it demands billions more to complete a project delayed by decades. Remember that this entire project was meant to create a rail line of only 171 miles. It is projected to exceed $128 billion and could ultimately cost a billion dollars per mile. There are still uncompleted environmental assessments and challenging rail lines through the mountains.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is promoting his supposed success on high-speed rail, though it hasn’t laid one track. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
There is still no train and not a yard of track almost 20 years later.
The state’s inspector general, Benjamin Belnap, issued a scathing report on the first phase of the still uncompleted project. That is only the stretch from Merced to Bakersfield which was supposed to be completed by 2033.
Belnap wrote, “With a smaller remaining schedule envelope and the potential for significant uncertainty and risk during subsequent phases of the project, staying within the 2033 schedule envelope is unlikely. In fact, uncertainty about some parts of the project has increased as the authority has recently made decisions that deviated from the procurement and funding strategies that were part of its plans for staying on schedule.”
JAMES WOODS WARNS NEWSOM’S PRESIDENTIAL APPEAL WON’T LAST LONG AMID ‘ATROCIOUS’ CALIFORNIA FAILURES
Rather than deliver on the promise of high-speed rail from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the Merced-Bakersfield line would now cost $35.3 billion, exceeding the 2008 projection for a complete system.
Merced and Bakersfield have a combined population of just 500,000 for the most expensive rail project in the state’s history.
However, Newsom still wants to be president, even as citizens are fleeing his state in record numbers. The “train to nowhere” is a problem. Even The New York Times is writing editorials on whether Newsom will be the next mistake of the Democratic Party.
NEWSOM PUSHES CLIMATE RECORD ABROAD AS CALIFORNIANS SHOULDER AMERICA’S HIGHEST GAS COSTS
Newsom’s response is to arrange for gushing columns like Maya Singer’s embarrassing piece in Vogue: “Let’s get this out of the way: He is embarrassingly handsome, his hair seasoned with silver, at ease with his own eminence as he delivers his final State of the State address.
California’s high speed rail ‘boondoggle’ will one day cross this bridge over CA-99 in Fresno. (Reuters)
“Newsom’s lanky frame was folded onto a sofa a bit too low-slung for him. This made him lean back — away from me. Or it could be that his body language had nothing to do with ergonomics and is a function of Newsom’s quality of being at once gregarious and aloof.”
BIDEN’S GREEN ENERGY FIASCO, NOT TRUMP’S REFORMS, IS JACKING UP YOUR ELECTRIC BILL
It is the type of teenybopper heartthrob coverage that Newsom is counting on from the media. It is not the billions burned on a non-existent railway but his glorious hair and “eminence.”
However, others beyond Vogue readers may be interested in his actual record. Hence, the need to release this absurd photo op that would make a propagandist blush.
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“All of the hard work behind us. Now we’re going to see the fruits of that. We’re going to start seeing precisely what you see here. Real tracks, real progress.”
Merced and Bakersfield have a combined population of just 500,000 for the most expensive rail project in the state’s history.
It is like paying for a meal at a restaurant and the chef charging you ten times what was on the menu, not producing the meal for hours and then showing you a picture of a different dish as a sign of his progress.
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The difference is that Newsom has taken almost two decades to deliver and cut the original dish to a fraction of its original size while increasing the price exponentially.
Californians are now captives on a train to nowhere. The state must continue to burn billions because too much is invested economically and politically. They must ride the train with Gavin Newsom to the very end.
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WASHINGTON – Coming up this month, spring’s most colorful new event: Tulip Day Washington.
What we know:
On March 15, 2026, Tulip Day Washington will transform DC’s National Mall into a vibrant tulip-picking garden beautiful views of U.S. Capitol
This one-day event will take place from 11:15 AM – 4:15 PM, offering a floral showcase of approximately 150,000 tulips; visitors are invited to pick their choice of 10 tulips for free upon arrival.
Dig deeper:
The registration site for Tulip Day is currently down, showing users “This site is currently unavailable. If you’re the owner of this website, please contact your hosting provider to get this resolved.”
Users on social media say the event may be sold out.
Check tulipday.eu for updates.
The backstory:
The event is organized by the Embassy of the Netherlands and Royal Anthos, a Dutch trade association, in honor of America’s 250th birthday. The display of tulips will be in the shape of the number 250.
The bulbs come from the Netherlands, but are being grown in Virginia and New Jersey.
These won’t be the first tulips on the National Mall, however. The Floral Library, also known as the Tulip Library, features 93 beds of flowers near the Tidal Basin. The Floral Library was established in 1969, and is maintained by the National Park Services. These flowers, though, are to be enjoyed only – not to be picked.
The expansion would open the spigot for 550,000 barrels per day of crude, the company says. Although the crude would mostly pass through eastern Wyoming, the venture opens opportunities for Wyoming oil producers in the region for more transportation access to U.S. refineries and shipping ports, according to Bridger and local industry officials.“It would be the biggest project in our history, if it comes to fruition,” Bridger Pipeline spokesperson Bill Salvin told WyoFile on Friday. “We are, however, in the really early stages of the project. But we’re very excited about it.”Industry trade groups speculate the Bridger Pipeline Expansion is part of a competitive scramble to fill a gap left by TC Energy’s Keystone XL project. That company, in 2021, abandoned the controversial project in the face of major opposition and protests. It would have transported Canadian tar-sands oil into the U.S. market via a route extending through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Among many challenges for Keystone XL was acquiring new rights-of-way easements. Though the Bridger Pipeline Expansion proposal requires some new rights-of-way, that’s not the case for the 210-mile Wyoming segment, according to Salvin.“All of that distance is within, or parallel to, existing pipeline corridors,” Salvin said.
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The Wyoming segment would pass through Crook, Weston, Niobrara, Goshen and Platte counties.Bridger Pipeline, a subsidiary of Casper-based True Companies, submitted a notice of intent to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in January and noted it will formally initiate environmental applications to the agency. Salvin told WyoFile he’s uncertain about the full spectrum of regulatory requirements in Wyoming.However, the company regards the Cowboy State as a great fit for the project, he said. “This [project proposal] just highlights how important the region is and how Wyoming is a very good place for energy projects like this.”Reached for comment, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming said the proposed pipeline only stands to benefit Wyoming producers and the state.“Investments like these, along with continued growth in areas like the Powder River Basin, show Wyoming will continue to play an important role in the nation’s energy markets,” PAW Vice President and Director of Communications Ryan McConnaughey told WyoFile. “Connecting in Guernsey allows product to be transported to refining hubs like Cushing, Oklahoma.” WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
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Text messages about marriage, money and a “fresh start” took center stage in the murder trial of Utah author Kouri Richins, as prosecutors laid out what they say was her plan to move on from her husband and profit from his death.
Richins, 35, is charged with aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and multiple financial crimes in the March 3, 2022, death of her husband, Eric Richins. Prosecutors allege she poisoned him with a fentanyl-laced Moscow mule so she could collect life insurance money and begin a new life with her boyfriend. She has pleaded not guilty.
During opening statements, Summit County Deputy Attorney Brad Bloodworth read aloud a series of text messages he said were exchanged between Richins and a man identified in court as her boyfriend.
In one message sent the day before Eric’s death, Richins allegedly wrote: “If I was divorced right now and asked you to marry me tomorrow, you would?”
Internet searches recovered from the phone of Kouri Richins, a Utah mother accused of fatally poisoning her husband, are displayed on a screen during her murder trial at the Summit County Courthouse in Park City, Utah, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Heaps/AP Photo, Pool)
Weeks earlier, prosecutors said she sent another message: “If he could just go away, and you could just be there, life would be so perfect.”
Jurors also heard that 16 days after Eric’s death, Richins allegedly sent her boyfriend a link to a Caribbean resort and wrote, “Are we there yet?” About a month after the death, prosecutors said she texted him, “I think I want you to be my husband one day.”
Bloodworth argued the messages reveal Richins’ desire to start over and pointed to what he described as mounting financial pressure.
According to prosecutors, Richins was facing substantial debt and believed she would inherit millions from Eric’s estate if he died. Bloodworth told jurors a prenuptial agreement would have limited what she received in the event of a divorce.
CHILDREN’S BOOK AUTHOR KOURI RICHINS SAYS SCANDAL AND NOTORIETY POISONED HER MURDER TRIAL
Body camera video is displayed on a screen during the murder trial of Kouri Richins at the Summit County Courthouse, in Park City, Utah, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Heaps/AP Photo, Pool)
“Kouri Richins murdered Eric for his money and to get a fresh start at life,” Bloodworth said in court.
Prosecutors also highlighted phone activity from the early morning hours of March 4, 2022.
Bloodworth told jurors Richins first accessed her phone at 3:06 a.m. but did not call 911 until 3:21 a.m.
The state further referenced internet searches conducted after Eric’s death, including: “Can cops uncover deleted messages iPhone?”
Jurors were also told that three money-themed memes — including one that read “I’m rich!” — were accessed on Richins’ phone the morning Eric died.
Prosecutors allege the killing was tied to life insurance proceeds.
HOUSEKEEPER EXPECTED TO PLAY KEY ROLE IN TRIAL OF WIFE ACCUSED OF HUSBAND’S MURDER IN WEALTHY SKI TOWN
Defense attorney Kathy Nester shows the jury an image of a pill bottle while delivering her opening statement in Kouri Richins’ murder trial, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Heaps/AP Photo, Pool)
Court documents state Richins purchased multiple life insurance policies totaling nearly $2 million and later changed the beneficiary designation to herself without Eric Richins’ authorization. Authorities say Eric discovered the change and switched the beneficiary back to his business partner.
Investigators also allege Richins intended to use insurance money to complete and flip a roughly $2 million Wasatch County mansion, an investment Eric’s family has said he did not approve of.
Defense attorney Kathryn Nester told jurors Eric struggled with chronic pain and substance use and died from an accidental overdose. In pretrial filings, Richins’ legal team has argued that a key prosecution witness changed their story and that the evidence against her is largely circumstantial.
“No family ever wants to believe that behind closed doors someone you loved is using drugs,” Nester said during opening statements.
The defense played Richins’ 911 call in court, in which she can be heard crying and telling a dispatcher her husband was not breathing.
“Those are the sounds of a wife becoming a widow,” Nester told jurors.
The third day of testimony ended unexpectedly after roughly an hour on the stand from the state’s lead crime scene technician.
Kouri Richins looks on during her murder trial at the Summit County Courthouse, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Heaps/AP Photo, Pool)
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Chelsea Gipson, the CSI technician who processed the Richins home, faced cross-examination focused on the evidence she collected, including prescription medications removed from the scene and whether she observed alcohol or THC gummies inside the residence. Gipson acknowledged the hydrocodone bottle recovered from the home was not tested for fentanyl and testified that no drug paraphernalia was found.
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Defense attorneys also questioned how certain areas were documented, noting that no photographs were taken of the kitchen, sink or closet during the initial processing of the scene.
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Kathy Nester walks back to her seat during the trial at the Summit County Courthouse, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Heaps/AP Photo, Pool)
Judge Richard Mrazik called a recess around 9:30 a.m., citing a scheduling conflict. When court resumed shortly after 10:30 a.m., he dismissed jurors for the day, referencing “unforeseen emergency circumstances unrelated to the case.”
On Thursday, Kouri Richins’ housekeeper testified that she bought pain pills for her after repeated requests in early 2022. Carmen Lauber said Richins asked in early February 2022 for pain meds for an “investor,” took the pills and deleted their texts, and later left $1,000 at her Midway home for Lauber to pick up for another purchase.
Lauber also said she helped Kouri Richins obtain increasingly stronger drugs. She said she first sought out strong painkillers through a friend after Kouri Richins allegedly said her “investor” wanted something stronger, calling it the “Michael Jackson stuff.”
Lauber’s testimony followed a state toxicologist’s testimony acknowledging that Eric Richins could have taken fentanyl before having a drink, potentially undercutting prosecutors’ claim that Kouri Richins laced his Moscow mule.
Richins was arrested in May 2023. The case later drew national attention after she published a children’s book about grief following her husband’s death.
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The trial is expected to continue for several more weeks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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