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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.”
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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.
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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.”
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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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Turner was selected by the Detroit Tigers
New Mexico State pitcher Jack Turner has been taken in the 10th round of the 2026 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers.
Turner becomes the 14th Aggie player selected in the MLB Draft since 2015 and the eighth selected in the first 10 rounds. The most recent NM State players selected in the MLB Draft prior to Turner were outfielders Keith Jones II, a 10th-round pick by the Texas Rangers, and Titus Dumitru, a 16th-round pick by the Atlanta Braves, both in 2024.
Turner spent the 2025 and 2026 seasons with the Aggies after arriving from Suffolk County Community College (New York), where he was a 2024 NJCAA Division III First Team All-American. He made 24 pitching appearances, 17 being starts, and recorded a 6.15 ERA over those two years. Turner struck out 100 batters in 112.2 innings pitched across 2025 and 2026 and made one save in 2026.
He ended his NM State run on a high note by not allowing a run in the Aggies’ penultimate game of 2026 against Florida International on May 15. Turner struck out five batters that day and allowed only three hits in six innings to help NM State win 6-5.
Turner played for the Trenton Thunder and the State College Spikes, collegiate summer league baseball teams playing in the MLB Draft League, after leaving the Aggies. He recorded a 4.09 ERA with the Thunder and a 5.14 ERA with the Spikes.
Turner made eight pitching appearances for Trenton and struck out 17 batters, allowed only five earned runs and walked eight batters in 11 innings pitched. He started two games for State College, striking out five batters, allowing four earned runs and registering a 1.114 WHIP in seven innings pitched.
Turner received recognition after his first start for the Spikes on June 3 after pitching a sinker and a sweeping curve that each had over a foot of horizontal movement.
Turner becomes the seventh NM State player to be selected by Detroit in the MLB Draft, the first being former NM State AD Mario Moccia in the 44th round of the 1989 draft. The most recent was pitcher Ryan Beck in the 30th round of the 2013 draft.
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The Olive Butte Fire is one of several blazes burning in Eastern Oregon, as of Sunday morning.
SAN JUAN COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — The Babylon Fire, currently the largest wildfire in the United States, has grown to 106,324 acres, according to Utah Fire Info. The blaze is now 47% contained.
The wildfire is burning about 25 miles southwest of Monticello. Officials said five structures have been lost and 1,467 personnel are assigned.
Current operations
Firefighters are conducting an aggressive attack along the active fire edge, officials said, with a “specialized helitack crew” entering the Dark Canyon to secure the western edge into the bluffs. Crews in Trail Canyon continue to reinforce the fire line.
Fire personnel have reportedly secured containment lines off Steamboat Point and Dry Mesa.
A spot fire remains active on the north-facing slope of Jackson Ridge, officials said. Firefighters continue to protect a critical communication site on Abajo Peak.
Firefighters are using grass and brush on the south slope to keep the fire in heavy timber. Intense fire activity caused fire crews to pull back from Indian Creek, officials said. Complete containment from the southern line back to South Cottonwood is expected by the end of Sunday’s shift.
Firefighters assigned to the structure protection group on the Babylon Fire string hoses connected to a portable water tank along a dozer line west of Monticello, Utah, on July 11, 2026. (Courtesy: Geoff Liesik/U.S. Wildland Fire Service)
Upcoming weather, fire behavior
A critical shift is happening as monsoonal moisture moves in from the south. This will heighten the chance for critical fire weather conditions.
Temperatures will be slightly cooler and morning winds will be breezy, officials said, with some gusting along ridge tops. The main concern is forecasted scattered thunderstorms after noon, with dry storms bringing the potential for lightning and erratic, severe outflow winds.
See a current map of the Babylon Fire, as well as a smoke outlook, below.
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Babylon Fire Smoke Outlook, July 12, 2026. (Courtesy: Utah Fire Info)
Evacuations, closures
There are 23 evacuation zones in “SET” status at this time. This includes all zones west of Highway 191, south of State Route 211, and north of State Route 95.
All National Forest lands, roads, and trails within the Monticello Ranger District of the Manti–La Sal National Forest are closed. The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park is also closed to ensure public safety and aid firefighting operations.
All BLM-managed public lands west of Harts Draw Road and north through the Indian Creek Corridor to Indian Creek Falls are temporarily closed. This closure reportedly includes key recreation and backcountry areas like Shay Mesa, Beef Basin, Dark Canyon, and the Sweet Alice Wilderness Study Area.
“Anyone not directly involved in firefighting operations must stay out of all closure areas and avoid public lands within the boundary formed by State Route 211 to the north, U.S. Route 191 to the east, and State Route 95 to the south,” fire officials said. “These restrictions are in place to protect the public and allow firefighters to operate safely and effectively.”
Evacuation and closure information can be found on the Babylon Fire Inciweb page here.
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