Work on California’s $68-billion high-speed rail line is due to start in six weeks, but the construction team that came in with the lowest bid also came in with the lowest-ranked “design quality, safety plan, and engineering,” according the LA Times (28.05.13). Excellent.

Tutor Perini’s $985-million bid to build the first section of the line, through the Central Valley, won the day after several rule changes that practically guaranteed the cheapest option would prevail; they came in way under the $1.4-billion bid made by a Spanish team with the highest technical marks. But Tutor Perini chief exec Ron Tutor wants to assure us all that his firm is totally up to the job, and definitely did not underbid for the work only to gouge taxpayers later. See how reassuring he sounds?

la.curbed, 28.05.13.

I should be there or at the Oakland Indie Business Awards party right now..

my dad always says, “on a bicycle, you are invisible”

i like to think, “INVINCIBLE”. :D ahah jk (well, so far, i have been)

in all seriousness, though, I’m not even mad about what happened. usually i can get pretty pissed off when drivers pass me too closely, when ppl double-park in the bike lane, etc. etc.

rather, i was more.. incredulous.

I bike on telegraph ave. southbound from berkeley to oakland almost every night. I have my front cateye bike light on blinking mode, and it’s like a f—king strobe light. like, we could turn that on and be hella raving.

anyway, yeah, there’s always turning traffic from the opposite direction, but they see me and keep yielding, of course, since i’m going straight. there’s sometimes turning traffic from my right off the side streets, but they see me and don’t turn yet, either.

wtf is the deal with this woman last night?

It’s a major intersection (telegraph/grand), pretty well lit. even without my light, i’m visible. wtf?!

as I’m continuing straight and the driver of the white minivan seems to not be stopping… I could see in slow motion what would happen next.. (is this a cyclist ability??! like in the film Line of Sight, how bike messengers can see into the future, find openings where they can ride, predict that a cab door is about to open, etc.)

it seemed so unreal that that would happen, then maybe a bit more surreal that we stopped a foot or less from crashing into each other.

I think i stopped? or slowed down? or maybe that was my mind playing out the slo-mo possible outcome? there was a brief moment, though, that i was stopped and looked the driver straight at her face and said “What are you doing??!!” before we both continued on like nothing had happened..

wish i had a gopro and had this recorded. or that someone behind me did. maybe there’s footage from traffic cameras on that intersection. suuuuper close call.

Walmart pleaded guilty to multiple counts of violating the Clean Water Act. The company also owned up to illegal dumping in two other federal cases, which were filed in Los Angeles and Kansas city , Missouri. In all, those guilty pleas add up to $81.6 million in fees.

“By improperly handling hazardous waste, pesticides, and other materials in violation of federal laws, Walmart put the public and the environment at risk and gained an unfair economic advantage over other companies,” Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a statement…

As part of a plea agreement filed in California, Walmart was sentenced to pay a $40 million criminal fine and an additional $20 million that will fund various community service projects, including opening a $6 million Retail Compliance Assistance Center that will help retail stores across the nation learn how to properly handle hazardous waste.

sfweekly, 28.05.13.

Crews that built the railing committed what experts called a basic mistake — they welded the bolts in place firmly in their slots rather than leaving a small amount of room to accommodate a natural expansion of the bicycle path that happens in hot weather.

As a result, scores of the 1-inch-diameter bolts have been sheared off along the 1.2-mile bike path on the southern side of the span’s skyway section. All of them, along with hundreds of others that were solidly welded, will have to be inspected and possibly replaced, a Caltrans spokesman said Tuesday.

The problem pales in comparison with the failure of 32 steel rods crucial to seismic-stability structures on the eastern span and questions that have been raised about the soundness of more than 2,300 similar metal fasteners. But it also adds to skepticism about how Caltrans managed construction of the bridge, which is scheduled to open to traffic Sept. 3 — a timetable that is now very much in doubt.

sfgate, 28.05.13.

holy sh-t wtfeezy caltrans??!!!

were you supposed to yield to her?

no, it was my green to go straight. turning traffic is supposed to yield.

moments like these, I think, If i were driving a car, WHY would you still try to turn???!

that got hit on telegraph/40th a couple months ago.

I was biking back home, almost to downtown oakland..

I’m going straight, and a black lady driving a white minivan from the opposite direction was trying to turn left.

I’m still heading straight, but she shows no sign of stopping. Wtf??! I’ve already swerved to my right in anticipation but she keeps going and I could imagine myself in my first crash

but finally she sees me maybe and I look right at her, What are you doing??! while her van is about a foot away from me

gyahh like wtf??! Is my blinking front bike light not bright enough for you??! Do I have to go buy that Lights & Motion front light for $150 to make sure I don’t get hit by turning cars??!

anyway, yeah, glad I’m okay. seems like a moment when having a gopro on would have been great. maybe I should also finally get a bike bell, and ring it every time as I enter an intersection.