About Foxes and Hen Houses. And About Losing Important Things.
Comes now the news that freshman Congressman Jeff Denham of California has been appointed chair of a key subcommittee of the House Transportation Committee … specifically the Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials subcommittee.
Essentially, this is the guy in the U.S. House of Representatives who is responsible for oversight of America’s railroads. And this guy is a sworn opponent of California’s high-speed rail project who says he won’t approve any more federal funds for it. Swell.
Denham is a Republican … of course.
Next, on the subject of long-distance trains, here’s the link to a wonderful story about a small town in Kansas faced with the prospect of losing daily Amtrak service from the Southwest Chief. It provides some touching insights into what this train means to the people of Garden City who have been served by passenger trains every single day for 150 years. (The photo of passengers boarding the Southwest Chief in Garden City is by Clarence Matthews.)
And sandwiched in between those insights is the core argument in support of Amtrak’s national long-distance network. The Chief, you see, is important public transportation for this mid-American town of 28,000 folks. Anyway, read the story. You’ll enjoy it. I promise.
And finally, I must note the passing of Stan Musial at age 92. Not just one of the eight or ten greatest baseball players of all time, he was a beloved life-long resident of St. Louis. Musial played a phenomenal 22 years in the big leagues, all with the St. Louis Cardinals, and was remarkably consistent throughout his great career. When he retired, he had accumulated a total of 1815 hits in his home park in St. Louis … and 1815 hits on the road. How’s that for consistency!I have an autographed photo of Stan the Man hanging on the wall of my little office. I treasure it.
