Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 3/10

[SVPete]

NY Times: San Francisco's BART System Faces a Doom Loop

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2026/03/10/ny-times-san-franciscos-bart-faces-a-doom-loop-n3812712

Last month the San Francisco Chronicle published a story warning that the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) was in danger of major cuts unless voters passed a new tax to fund it this November. Today the NY Times has a story basically echoing those concerns. BART as it exists today will collapse unless a new source of funding arrives soon and that could eventually mean the collapse of the entire system. This is one part of the doom loop scenario which is still on the verge of happening even though no one talks about the doom loop anymore.

Seven years ago, BART trains would fill up quickly each weekday, with passengers taking every seat, jostling for space in the aisles and clutching every pole. Now, the trains often lumber into the city with a trickle of commuters rather than a crush.

BART’s future is dire. Its ridership cratered during the pandemic and remains less than half of what it once was. And the very future of the familiar white and blue trains, which have zipped around the Bay Area since 1972, is in doubt...

Fewer trains. Higher fares and parking fees. Ending service at 9 p.m. instead of midnight. Laying off a quarter of its work force. And shrinking the system almost back to its original footprint by shuttering 15 stations...

What the NYT did not mention, at least in what Hot Air quoted, is that during BART's peak a few years ago, it was operating at a deficit and had to be subsidized with taxes. Now, with work habits changing and companies moving part or all of their operations out of SF (not to mention BART police ignoring turnstile jumpers), the existing subsidies are not enough. And anyone who imagines that BART riders will not change what they do in the face of higher fares and parking fees must be a bureaucrat or Prog pol.

[SVPete]

Florida woman used AR-15-style weapon in attack on Rihanna’s mansion, source says

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-03-08/rihanna-beverly-hills-mansion-is-struck-by-gunfire-source-says

A 35-year-old Florida woman armed with an AR-15 style weapon fired several shots into the Beverly Hills-area home of pop star Rihanna on Sunday, and a round penetrated a wall of the mansion, a law enforcement source told The Times.

Police identified the suspect as Ivanna Ortiz. She is being held on $10.2-million bail. Officials have not cited a motive for the attack.

Los Angeles police responded to the report of the shooting at 1:21 p.m. Sunday in the Beverly Hills Post Office neighborhood.
...
The suspect, Ivana Ortiz, of Orlando, had several prior arrests in her home state, according to public records reviewed by The Times.

She was involved in a bankruptcy case in 2013, was arrested on suspicion of careless driving in 2021 and arrested again in 2023 on suspicion of domestic violence and battery.
...
Ortiz frequently posted on Facebook, rapping and dancing and calling out celebrities. In nearly every video, she was alone performing for the camera.

I think this is a picture of the alleged shooter:

[SVPete]

J6 committee's anti-Trump storyteller referred to DOJ for criminal charges: Report

https://www.theblaze.com/news/j6-committej6-committees-tall-tale-telling-star-witness-referred-to-doj-for-criminal-charges-reportes-tall-tale-telling-star-witness-referred-to-doj-for-criminal-charges-report

The Jan. 6 Select Committee's various improprieties and its prioritization of narrative over facts have been exposed. Nevertheless, key participants in the Democrat-led lawfare campaign have so far managed to evade consequence. That might soon change.

House Republicans have reportedly referred Jan. 6 committee star witness Cassidy Hutchinson to the Department of Justice for criminal charges.

A pair of sources reportedly familiar with recent developments told CNN that Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk (Ga.), the chairman of the Select Subcommittee to Investigate the Remaining Questions Surrounding Jan. 6, 2021, recently made the referral, which was co-signed by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

The referral reportedly accuses Hutchinson — who milked her time in the limelight for a book deal — of lying to Congress in her public testimony in June 2022.

[SVPete]

Illegal immigrant charged for allegedly voting in every presidential election since 2008

https://www.foxnews.com/us/illegal-immigrant-charged-allegedly-voting-every-presidential-election-since-2008

FIRST ON FOX: An illegal immigrant from Africa who has allegedly voted in every federal election since 2008 has been arrested, Fox News Digital has learned, as congressional lawmakers fiercely debate a proposal to strengthen election integrity laws.

Mahady Sacko, a Mauritanian citizen, has been charged with voter fraud in Philadelphia, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Monday.

"This criminal illegal alien committed a felony by voting in federal elections dating back to 2008. Illegal aliens should NOT be electing American leaders," DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said. "Our elections belong to American citizens, not foreign citizens. Congress must pass the SAVE America Act immediately to secure our elections. The Senate must pass the SAVE America Act."

Every Federal election since 2008 ... remind me, who was elected President in 2008. The President before Trump who didn't really care about illegals being in the US or about illegals voting.