Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 11/1

[SVPete]

High Speed Rail CEO Resigns After Questions From CBS

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2026/10/31/high-speed-rail-ceo-resigns-after-questions-from-cbs-n3820550

California's high-speed rail project continues to be a dumpster fire of incompetence and overspending. This week, the project's CEO, Ian Choudri, announced his resignation after the Los Angeles affiliate of CBS News pressed him with questions about consultants and travel spending.

The head of California high-speed rail has stepped down, casting new uncertainty over the troubled, $126 billion transportation megaproject.

Ian Choudri, who has served as the CEO of the state’s High-Speed Rail Authority since 2024, submitted his resignation late Wednesday, according to the authority’s board chair Steve Kawa. The move followed an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General which concluded that consultants have billed the authority nearly $600,000 for unauthorized expenses, including first-class flights and rides to gyms as well as an escape room.

After the inspector general published those findings, the authority opted to limit Choudri’s authority to manage contracts.

As mentioned, the High-Speed Rail Authority's OIG released a report last month about the "unallowable" travel spending. But as with many political scandals in a blue state, no one really cares until the media makes the story impossible to ignore. First, here's what the OIG report found:

A report issued Tuesday by the authority's Office of the Inspector General said allegations that the CHSRA failed to comply with state regulations and contract requirements when reimbursing consultants' travel expenses were substantiated. Out of the more than $1 million of travel expenses reviewed between 2024 and 2026, the report states, 60%, or $680,500, did not comply with state regulations requiring advance approval, "indicating there was little to no upfront consideration of the need for or cost of the travel."

Of the unapproved expenses, $592,000 were deemed to be unallowable, according to the report, under state travel regulations or under the contract with the consultants. The reimbursements included expenses for premium airfares, Uber Black and Lyft Black upgrades, trips to gyms, escape rooms, cigar lounges, tiki bars, and private residences with no documentation of a state business purpose.

...
CEO Choudri declined to answer questions about any of this, so CBS LA reporter Julie Watts showed up at a public meeting to hound him, along with another reporter from KCRA. This is the raw video of the encounter, not the polished final report. You don't have to watch all of this, but you'll quickly get the vibe of Choudry looking confused and ducking questions. It's painful to watch.

KCRA is a Sacramento TV station, NBC, IIRC.

[ADsOutburst]

Questions: The famous arch-enemy of every bureaucrat.

[SVPete]

DOJ Flagged 300,000 Possible Non-Citizen Voters

https://www.frontpagemag.com/doj-flagged-300000-possible-non-citizen-voters/

We’re seeing this now play out in California and Washington where secretaries of state insist that there are no non-citizens registered to vote, then admit that they have no ability to check the citizenship of whoever is voting, but insist that there’s no reason to believe that there are non-citizens voting because it’s illegal for non-citizens to vote… and so they don’t have to worry about non-citizens voting.

However, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, there are some 300,000 possible non-citizens who have been flagged on voting rolls.

Rather than straight up denying it, states like Washington and California have taken to slow walking the review of the names, arguing that they have no ability to check citizenship (because again, they choose not to have any ability to check citizenship and refuse to use the SAVE system) ...

How big is the problem? I’m going to guess that 300,000 is only the tip of the iceberg. If you doubt that, consider the high standards over in Washington.

Appearing at an event with Gov. Bob Ferguson Friday morning, Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall said she has never seen a case of a noncitizen voting in an election in her 30-year career.

“We keep very tight records in our voter registration database,” Hall said. “We are a vote ID state, and the voters do attest to the fact they are a citizen of the United States.”

When the 20K illegal voters were called out, I pointed out that this was "just" Los Angeles County. Similarly, this 300K of illegal voters appears to be "just" California and Washington.

[SVPete]

Putin has problems both on Earth and in space

https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/2116827320451256763

Two satellites from Russia’s Rassvet constellation, developed as a rival to Starlink, have begun losing altitude and falling out of orbit.

According to space researcher Anatoly Zak, three of the 17 satellites launched in July failed to reach a stable orbit at around 500 km. Another satellite is still trying to gain altitude.

The first batch ran into trouble, too: one satellite has already fallen out of orbit, while another 14 reached just over 500 km instead of the expected 800 km.

Putin is having trouble getting it up.  

[SVPete]

California hospital chain scraps $1B expansion amid red tape nightmare

https://nypost.com/2026/10/30/health/sutter-health-suddenly-abandons-1-billion-emeryville-hospital-plan/

A Sacramento health care giant abruptly scrapped a $1 billion Bay Area expansion Friday, blaming red tape and dealing a crushing blow to the local economy.

Sutter Health will no longer pursue building a hospital in Emeryville, citing California’s environmental review law that has plagued construction projects for its red tape.

“Over two years, we pursued relief under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. Those efforts did not secure the certainty needed to advance the hospital project, leaving it vulnerable to litigation that could delay construction and new hospital services for years,” the company said.

Under CEQA, projects need to complete adequate reviews of their environmental impacts before receiving approval to proceed. That process can be bogged down by lawsuits and take years.
...
The stunning decision comes after more than a year of planning over the proposed hospital, which would have included a 17-story tower with approximately 325 beds, emergency services and a rooftop helipad.

Enviros and NIMBYs stopped a major healthcare foundation's planned expansion. Brilliant!

Sutter has been around for decades, probably longer than I have. It operates hospitals, walk-in clinics, labs, doctors' office complexes, and (genuine) hospices. This obstruction has me wondering if the Enviros are trying to make getting healthcare more difficult than it should be.

[SVPete]

In-N-Out plots eastward burger blitz — with four more states in its sights

https://nypost.com/2026/10/31/lifestyle/in-n-out-owner-reveals-4-states-eyed-for-eastward-expansion/

In-N-Out president Lynsi Snyder has teased an eastward expansion for the SoCal burger joint in the past, while insisting they will always have a presence in California, and now she has revealed four states she is targeting.

The 44-year-old president and owner of the burger chain – the granddaughter of founders Esther and Harry Snyder – recently spoke with actor Terry Crews to commemorate the fast food chain’s 78th anniversary, with the first restaurant opening in Baldwin Park, California on October 22, 1948.

Snyder moved her family to Tennessee last year to start the chain’s eastward growth, though there are four states she is eyeing for further expansion.

“If you look at the map, you’ve got Texas. There’s Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma. There are some states that are possibilities,” Snyder explained.

She added, “New Mexico has been waiting for us, and that will be soon,” referring to a November 2023 Instagram announcement that they will open an Albuquerque restaurant by 2027.

The chain – which has remained private and family-owned since its inception, without turning to franchising – operates 445 restaurants in 10 states, with Snyder adding there are many states who request the chain to expand there.

In-N-Out's business model is different from M or BK. At the corporate level, they don't do franchising. All stores are corporate owned. At the store level, their stores do not have a freezer. Their ground beef is nothing frozen, and the fries they serve were whole potatoes minutes or tens of minutes before being served. Their logistics are different from a burger chain that uses frozen meat and fries.