TIL Japan built the bullet train before California built the 5 freeway. The best time to build a high speed rail line was 20 years ago, the second best time to build one is today.

Insane behavior. 5x the cost for something way *less* useful to people walking or rolling. No one in LA who is in charge of things walks, and it shows.

Having 20 days to appeal a $38,000 fine when the city has no obligation to prove you were present at the scene of the fireworks for which you were fined ... sounds like the stuff of a recurring anxiety dream :,)

Waymo temporarily suspends service in SF amid power outage www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti... #ProudBlue. Apparently the autonomous ride hailing industry did not have a plan for a blackout.Waymo’s failed to stop at lights and intersections causing an already chaotic scene in SF to become even worse

This happens every year but @arianelange.bsky.social turns it into a necessary and gut wrenching read www.sacbee.com/news/local/h...

I love the rabbi in this story, who encourages us to keep asking questions about why the Sacramento region has no Jewish delis because asking questions is the Jewish way www.abridged.org/news/jewish-...

Bad enough that repeat speeding offenders get off lightly in California, even worse that those penalties are STILL lesser than people who kill people with their cars.

Wrote about The Sacramento Angle of the collapse of California's e-bike voucher program: www.sacbee.com/news/local/t...

This begins with an anecdote about a white man telling another white man he can't hire him ~because diversity~. Another anecdote: Multiple white men in Hollywood have told me the same sob story. They've never considered that it's a corrosive lie to spare their feelings. (Until I told them that, lol)

Reporters can do what AI can’t. But McClatchy Media refuses to agree to ethical guidelines on its AI usage. With your support, we can ensure your local news is done by local reporters like these. @idwanewsguilds.bsky.social @idahonewsguild.bsky.social

for whatever reason, the victims of traffic violence never factor into the calculation. no urgency there. but do something that might affect a suburban lawyer who had a few drinks and then it becomes an “equity” issue

Some think that weeks of persistent fog is gloomy, but for me, it is simply enhancing the experience of eating soup

One of the many reasons AI can't produce good writing is it can't hate its own writing. It can't think to itself "Maybe I'm illiterate" during the writing process. And that's essential

“Instead of hiring qualified full-time civil service staff, these agencies have opted to privatize public services at two to three times the cost,” a union president said‼️ www.sacbee.com/news/politic...

I've been updating a spreadsheet of Sacramento traffic deaths. Just input the 30th death I've logged in 2025: a pedestrian. His name was David Zoellner, and he was 61. The deaths follow patterns: 26 of the 28 fatal crashes happened on the high-injury network, and 1 happened just outside the network.

"A Post analysis found that of 27 cities that had at least five pedestrian deaths each year before adopting Vision Zero, all but one now have the same or higher pedestrian death rates than when those declarations were made." Not surprised. www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...

A real doozy www.abridged.org/news/investi...

Wrote about Sacramento's new plan to improve road safety for pedestrians and cyclists (and, by extension, drivers). The city has a lot of ambitious transportation plans like this one. Will this one be followed by decisive action? www.sacbee.com/news/local/t...

The City of Sacramento spent millions and put in years of work. and hundreds if not thousands of hours of public outreach into this plan to fix pedestrian safety. BUT. THERE. IS. LITTLE. FUNDING. TO. FIX. THE. ROADS. www.sacbee.com/news/local/t...

I love being a reporter bc our local animal shelter has been making completely unhinged posts and I emailed the county PIO about it and was like "is this u?" and then she let me and a photojournalist who's won a Pulitzer follow her around and pet dogs for a few hours www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...

So our campus just announced the six undergraduate programs being put on the chopping block. One of them is Philosophy. Philosophy. Can we be a university without offering a Philosophy major?

“I can’t believe I’m talking about my son in the past tense.” www.sacbee.com/news/local/c...

Exciting news: my union @pen-guild.bsky.social won our fight to hold management accountable for rolling out AI tools with no notice & for failing to hold the bots to the same standards all of us humans must follow — in violation of the contract they agreed to. A neutral arbiter said we were right!

Wildly fluctuating info on Sacramento's homeless population. In 2024, elected officials cited the PIT count and said homelessness had dropped almost 30%. Now, a local nonprofit says we're back up to almost 9,000 homeless people. 🤷🏻‍♀️ via @tclift.bsky.social

Lucy Li wanted to be a TikTok star. Oliver Karafa wanted to be rich. When a friend got in the way of their plans, they combined forces and pulled off a murder plot so preposterous that one of their lawyers used stupidity as a defence

Alena Wong was almost killed six years ago while biking to school. She and her parents have hounded the city to make safety improvements; when I met them last year, they said Sacramento had done "nothing." This month, Sacramento installed a quick-build improvement. www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...

New: At least six people died of overdoses or apparent overdoses at drug-free city and county of Sacramento shelters in the last two years, since Jan. 1., 2024. None were announced to the public and some weren't even announced to local electeds. www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...

Bee Lao was the second person to die on Marysville Boulevard this year and the fourth person since last January. I spoke with one of the loved ones who are bearing the cost of this dangerous road: his 14-year-old daughter, Sophia. www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...

I have been following every development in this story breathlessly like I just found out this carpet broke into the DNC headquarters at the Watergate

This is the third death on Fruitridge Road within city limits this year. Last year, three men died on Fruitridge in Sacramento. www.sacbee.com/news/local/c...

Some professional news: I now have a new beat at the SacBee - Regional Watchdog Reporter. In this role, I'll work with beat reporters to dig into things in the city/county of Sacramento AND its suburbs. We are also hiring several other positions: www.linkedin.com/posts/chris-...

The people cry out for robust public transit and congestion-based tolling !

A vigil in Sacramento last night marked World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. In California, ~4,000 people die in crashes each year. The vast majority of these deaths are preventable with changes to infrastructure and policy. Tough to witness this grief. www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...

Heartbreaking tragedy, and yet it's just one of over 4000 every year in California. Thank you @arianelange.bsky.social for telling the deeply personal story and explaining the systemic failures.

Worth reading every line of this heartbreaking, enraging piece that tells the story of just one of the 4000 people killed by cars every year in CA & the effect of his death on his family. The driver, who ran a red light, got off with a little probation & got to keep her license. Shameful

Ariane Lange at the Sac Bee and Jose Fermoso at Oaklandside are the only reporters in California (or anywhere, as far as I'm aware) who are actually covering traffic violence as the public health and social crisis that it is. bsky.app/profile/aria...

"On paper, policymakers make lofty commitments to public transportation and road safety, placing the utmost value on human life. In practice, human life is not as important as the convenience of drivers — a policy choice that endangers every person in California." www.modbee.com/news/califor...

Okay it's not the point but I love that at the end of this video of Dana Williamson no-commenting her way from the courthouse to the car waiting at the curb you can hear someone shouting "GET OUT OF THE BIKE LANE. F*CKING GET OUT OF THE BIKE LANE." www.tiktok.com/@sacramentob...

I wrote about public transit demand, vehicular homicide, dangerous roads and the lack of urgency around responding to any of them. It's also a story about a pedestrian who died in a crash—Drew Pringle, 21—and the staggering grief borne by his sister Erika. www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...

How do we get back to thots doing drugs in a cave

New: The family of a man who died after he was found unresponsive in the jail has filed a lawsuit. He died in August of a drug-related cause. The Sheriff's Office did not announce it to the public. With @emmahall.bsky.social www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...

The @pghguild.com strike paper's top story: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit orders the PG to restore the striking journalists' contract, including its health care plan, and bargain a new one, and strikers are looking forward to returning to work: www.unionprogress.com/2025/11/10/t...

When I inquired about a Caltrans robot dog that reportedly caught a human thief, I assumed I'd be working on a complex project about a person yanked into the criminal justice system by "AI," and the implications for humanity. Humbled to report that was not the case. www.sacbee.com/news/local/t...

"The Nevada County District Attorney’s Office has, in at least three criminal cases in recent weeks, filed briefing citing to fabricated (legal) authority"! www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...

What a sweet-looking family! This is heartbreaking.

Union statement and Conde statement

I appreciate Thien Ho saying that this rapist and murderer gave the impression of "a sloppy grandpa or an alcoholic uncle whom you avoided at all costs during Thanksgiving dinner.” www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...

tired: leaders throw folks under the bus wired: leaders invite folks on the bus in a dedicated lane

I believe this is the first time I have seen "Good luck, losers" in a subhed in The Sacramento Bee