From the Seattle Weekly comes the latest bit of craziness from Washington State Ferries. It seems that the clocks at Seattle’s Colman Dock ferry terminal were incorrect leading patrons to think they had more time than they did to catch their boat.
 
Oops…not so. The clocks were off, so people weren’t able to get on in time before the ferry shoved off. So what does WSF do – fix the clocks or buy new ones?
 
Think again…Instead of repair or replace, WSF chose to remove.
 
The clocks are gone at Colman Dock, so now ferry riders won’t know by how much they missed the boat. No evidence equals no crime.
 
Well, at least a bungle like this doesn’t threaten lives or property, which isn’t the case with some WSF practices that were reported at LibertyLive.org late last year. What it is, however, is more evidence of the thinking that has governed the agency since just about forever.
 
We’re waiting for WSF to ”apologize for any inconvenience…”
 
But since there are no clocks at WSF, we have no idea how long of a wait it will be.
 
The Piper

Color me surprised.
I really did not think Michael Jordan wanted to be the guy in an NBA franchise. Now he is — he really is Mr. Bobcat now.
I still want to see who helped Jordan come up with the money for this deal — and if Jordan has the good sense to change the name [...]

*MJ buys the Bobcats; Heels head to Wake for another spanking a 2 o’clock tipoff; Update: See, I corrected my ‘foolisly premature prognostication.’ Give me credit for that;
*The Winston-Salem Journal has a big front-pager on Gerald Hege’s run for Davidson County sheriff:
Seven years after leaving the office in disgrace — removed after pleading guilty to [...]

It’s always good news when an Amtrak intercity rail line makes money. That means taxpayers and other non-users don’t have to pay for a service provided to a very narrow and usually higher income segment of the transportation market. Unfortunately, accurate reporting on transportation finance is pretty thin, as this report from the Lynchburg, Virginia News & Advance demonstrates all too clearly. Despite the headline, the Amtrak line is not earning a profit.

The news is relatively good: The recently opened (October 2009) Amtrak line connecting Lynchburg with Washington, DC in Northern Virginia is earning higher revenues and covering its operating costs because ridership is higher than anticipated:

“Virginia had planned to provide a $242,000 monthly subsidy to keep the train running. It won’t need any of that money for November.

“The month’s results for the new train between Lynchburg and Washington were stronger than October’s ridership, according to Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

“Danville also provided a remarkable upward spike in the DRPT report: a quadruple increase in passengers boarding Amtrak’s previously operating Crescent train.

“Lynchburg is served by both the Crescent train and the new one, called the Northeast Regional, which leaves at 7:38 a.m. — later in the morning than the Crescent. The Northeast train returns from Washington earlier, at 8:36 p.m.

“More than 2,000 people boarded the Crescent in Danville during November, the DRPT said. During the same month of 2008, just 452 people boarded in Danville.”

The problem with the news story is that it claims this means the line is earning a profit. It’s not. The line is just covering operating costs, not the cost of building and financing the line. In other words, it covers the salaries of the engineers and ticket takers, not the rails, rail beds, or purchases of the rail cars.

That’s a big gap, particularly on transit projects where most costs are capital costs, not operating costs.

We’ll leave aside the point that this is just the second month of operation. The real test is whether ridership stays high. That can be the subject of another blog on another day.

Legislature Earns Flunking Grade…But There Is Hope
By Rep. Vic Gilliam,

Last week the 2010 “test” session of the Oregon Legislature ended with a debate on a resolution to approve annual sessions. Incredibly, this is a quote from that discu…

Like you didn't already know. So I don't have to put D's and R's by their names, the top eight are Democrats and the bottom five are Republicans.

Here's the list rated on their degree of liberalism by National Journal. The number at the left of their name shows where they rank among 435 House members; the number following…

This afternoon the House Ways and Means Committee adopted an amendment that restores K-6 Alternative Learning Experience (ALE) program funding –  which includes public online schools.
 
Rep. Pat Sullivan introduced the amendment. It replaces the supposed savings from cutting K-6 ALE programs with cuts to transportation.

 
Online learning leaders assure me that today’s committee action can be attributed to the outpouring of responses from families across the state whose children are enrolled in online learning. Their stories of success — of gifted students, disabled students, medically fragile students, student parents, student athletes, the list goes on — is hard for legislators to ignore. Online programs provide families with rigorous, accountable, effective learning options — for no more than it costs the state to send students to brick-and-mortar schools.

 
K-6 online learning programs appear to be safe for now. A bill that would legalize the House’s original cuts dropped this afternoon but will likely be dead on arrival now that cuts have been made elsewhere.
 
The online learning community prevailed this week. It’s time to stay alert and continue telling the stories of public online learning options. 

Watch the House Ways and Means Committee Hearing live on TVW to see legislators discuss the House proposed budget. The proposed budget eliminates K-6 public online learning. This would displace more than 7,000 students and only save the state money if those children opt out of the public school system.
 
For more information visit www.waonlinefamilies.org and http://apps.facebook.com/causes/452218.

Highway Trust Fund to Shut Down Monday; U.S. DOT to Furlough Workers Tuesday The federal Highway Trust Fund will shut down first thing Monday, suspending all payments to state transportation departments, and four U.S. Department of Transportation agencies are expected…