Longtime critic of the California High-Speed Rail project, Kings County Supervisor Doug Verboon, is reacting to incoming President Trump’s vow to claw back construction money for the costly project although much of the Central Valley infrastructure work is nearing completion.
“I’ve told our fellow Republicans if you wanted to cut off funding, you should’ve done that 14 years ago – not when we have unfinished overpasses and bridges yet to complete.” He said he recently had a conversation with Congressman McClintock.
Verboon spent more than a decade fighting the project in court but now advocates for it to run Amtrak trains when the route is complete in coming years even if some HSR funding stops. Amtrak is less controversial among the GOP and could get regular funding, he figures.
Today Verboon sits on the San Joaquin Valley Rail Board as its Vice Chair and wants to make sure Kings County residents get consistent and faster rail service even though they won’t be traveling at 200mph.
Verboon reflects that it will be a while before full high-speed rail connects Los Angeles to San Francisco.Republicans have targeted the project as just too expensive.
But Supervisor wants the rail alignment, overpasses and bridges and as well as the planned Hanford station to be built eventually for high speed rail but in the meantime for Amtrak train service. The service should be faster and safer for both passengers and motorists since the rail line no longer interfaces with freight trains, car and truck traffic and goes over busy streets.
“”We will still have a station to be located near Lacey Blvd.”But he doubts there will be enough money to electrify the rail line as the Authority wants to do. “It’ll probably still be diesel, but the service should be improved for consumers.”
Verboon says if a private entity like the group that’s building the new high-speed LA to Las Vegas rail line wants to come to the Central Valley, that might work, particularly since the alignment and infrastructure will be mostly in place and environmentally cleared. That entity would still have to connect from Bakersfield to Palmdale.
Despite opposition to high-speed rail, it seems unlikely that anyone would want the 119 mile built-infrastructure in place in the Central Valley to just sit there, mothballed rather than use it after billions of dollars spent by the public.
Advocates still want to electrify the system as they have promised and joint-ventured recently with CalTrain in the Bay Area. The idea has been to replace current San Joaquins service south of Merced.
The Authority says the California High-Speed Rail Authority trains will run on a “blended system” in the area, meaning they will share these electric tracks and their infrastructure. The Authority committed $714 million to Caltrain’s Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project, nearly 40 percent of the total $2 billion cost, as part of its progress toward a fully electric statewide rail network This summer the regional rail system Caltrain transitioned away from old-fashioned diesel service to fully electric lines and high-performance electric cars on the 51-mile route between San Francisco and San Jose.
Both the current Caltrain cars and the future high-speed rail cars will run at speeds of up to 110 miles per hour on the blended tracks, up from the current top speed of 79 miles per hour. Future modernization of the rail corridor will include extending electrification of approximately 30 miles from San José to Gilroy, they predict.
The state wants to electrify the Central Valley rail route and has said they want to build a dedicated solar farm to power the system. In January, the Authority is pressing on with plans to select a train set manufacturer.
New subdivision in Northwest Hanford
Visalia builder San Joaquin Valley Homes is planning a third Hanford subdivision, this time in the northwest corner of the city. The company has filed its first environmental notice called a Notice of Preparation on the 135-acre,615 home subdivision to be built in four phases in the city. Still ahead, the project must undergo a full environmental impact report before it can move forward. Called the Neves Residential Project, the site is currently a fruit orchard.Phase one of the project would construct 140 units and build a 7-acre park.The location is at the northwest corner of Fargo and 12th
Bird Flu impacting milk supply/ More poultry are infected
Governor Gavin Newsom Dec 18, proclaimed a State of Emergency to streamline and expedite the state’s response to Avian influenza A (H5N1), commonly known as “Bird Flu.”
Three more Tulare County poultry ranches were hit by bird flu in the past few days. Meanwhile, USDA reports that the number of California dairies affected by bird flu stands at 645 with 56 of those dairies now having recovered and no longer quarantined. Some 311 California dairies have been infected in the past 30 days, says a December 17 USDA report.
USDA reported Monday December 16 that two more Tulare County poultry ranches have been hit by H5N1 Bird Flu resulting in the destruction of all the birds there. The results were confirmed December 13 and 14. The two unnamed farms include one broiler ranch where 514,0000 birds died and one duck meat farm where 41,000 birds were lost. On December 10 another ranch in the county was hit resulting in the euthanizing of 320,200 broilers.
With these three recent ranches,Tulare County has now seen 9 poultry operations affected by the highly contagious virus with the total number of birds lost adding up to around 1.7 million since late September.
Both nearby Kings and Kern Counties I’ve also suffered the loss of millions of birds from the spread of this strain of bird flu.Kern County has lost 3.2 million egg layers.
Impact on milk supply
A December 9 USDA report says” handlers in California indicate milk production varies from slightly weaker to slightly stronger this week compared to the week prior, but milk output is still down in terms of a year-over-year comparison by a significant percent.” Bird Flu impacts are suspected.In October California milk production was down almost 4% compared to Oct 2023.The virus impacts adds to a downward trend in production in California. If California milk production is lower, Texas is up 9% and South Dakota is up 8%.
Cotton Production in California including acreage, yield and production are all up in 2025 says a new USDA report. Pima Cotton is leading the way with a production estimate of 402,000 bales versus just 230,000 bales in 2023.
Thomas Compost project to be heard by Planning Commission The Kings County Planning Commission will hear a proposal January 6 to build a composting facility at 20th and Excelsior in Kings County.
The applicant is Thomas Compost who is proposing a two phase schedule including building a commercial manure composting facility with a truck scale, office and retention pond. The 63-acre project has drawn some opposition from neighbors. The project will be heard by two new planning commissioner members, Alonso Puga, and Brent Madillo.
Cheer for gas prices this holiday season with a dozen stations in Kings County selling regular for $3.60 down to $3.30 a gallon says GasBuddy. AAA says the Kings County average price this week is $4.11 vs $4.34 this time last year.
Rain for XMAS? NWS Hanford says there is a 20 to 45% probability of any rain accumulating on Saturday through Monday for most of the Valley. Probabilities increase for rain on Tuesday (Christmas Eve). Snowpack is bountiful in the Tahoe area sasy the Sierra Snow lab at 191% of average so far. The state says snow water content in northern California mountains is 205% of average while the southern Sierra stands at a respectable 105% of average. Huntington Lake has 39 inches of snow on the ground this week.
rendering of Hanford rail station