Iron Horse Update for January 2014

Westbound Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern freight between Huron and Rapid City, SD seen passing through Wall, SD with CP Rail and Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern SD40-2s in June 2007- a year before the CP Rail takeover. JJ Schrader photo

CANADIAN PACIFIC- CP Rail and shortline operator Genesee & Wyoming have reportedly reached a deal to purchase more than 600 miles of former Canadian Pacific (ex Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern, nee Chicago & Northwestern) trackage in South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wyoming.

The price tag for the deal was reportedly $210 million and is Genesee & Wyoming's first transaction since last year's takeover of Rail America. The new name for the line will be the Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern and will run from Tracy, MN west to Colony, WY by way of Rapid City and the South Dakota capitol of Pierre. According to a GWR press release, the transaction includes a branch from Rapid City to Dakota Jct, NE as well as trackage rights over CP from Tracy to Mankato, MN to interchange with the Union Pacific as well as trackage right over BNSF between Yale and Watertown, SD and a separate line between Wolsey and Aberdeen, SD where the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern could also interchange with the independent regional Dakota, Missouri Valley and Western. This stretch of the line primarily hauls ethanol, wheat, bentonite clay and cement.

Prior to 2008, the line was part of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern system. The DM&E was reportedly interested in expansion by building a new line in Wyoming to access coal from the Powder River Basin and ship it to power plants throughout the Midwest. However, the line between Pierre and Rapid City featured unstable roadbed as well as aging track and bridges limiting speed limits to 10 MPH over that portion of the line and creating a significant bottleneck. With the 2008 CP Rail takeover, a number of proposed improvements were approved but quickly forgotten after competition from natural gas and regulatory burdens on coal drove prices down and the CP Rail installed Hunter Harrison as its new CEO after a 2012 hostile takeover by the Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund. With the focus shifting to rising oil traffic from Alberta and North Dakota, the former DM&E lines became viewed as insignificant backwater and an increasing burden by CP Rail management.

The DM&E itself was started up after the Chicago & Northwestern announced their intent to abandon marginal and unprofitable lines through South Dakota and parts of Minnesota in the early 1980s. Responding to pressure from shippers and then-US Senator Larry Pressler, the C&NW spun off their lines between Winona, MN and Rapid City, SD to the newly formed Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern in 1986 and the railroad began operations with castoff equipment and facilities.

In addition to their Powder River ambitions, the DM&E purchased the 1700 mile I&M Rail Link in 2002. The I&M Rail Link ran between the Twin Cities and Kansas City via the former Milwaukee Road/Soo Line main and also ran to Chicago via Iowa. The newly-formed sister railway- called the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern- gave shippers in South Dakota access to the Twin Cities, Chicago, St Louis and the Great Lakes. Ironically, the Canadian Pacific reacquired most of the lines in 2008 with their acquisition of the DM&E and IC&E that their Soo Line subsidiary spun off in the late 1990s. To hardly anybody's surprise, the former IC&E trackage between the Twin Cities and Kansas City as well as the Sabula, IA to Chicago line weren't on the chopping block.

Pere Marquette Berkshire #1225 seen passing a grain elevator in the village of Carland, MI with an excursion on December 13, 2013. Brian Plant photo

MICHIGAN- After a hiatus of nearly four years, Pere Marquette 2-8-4 #1225 is back in service for the Owosso, MI based Steam Railroading Institute. The big Berkshire re-entered service at the end of November, in time for the SRI's Polar Express excursions over the Great Lakes Central Railroad between Owosso and Ashley, MI in December [although some of them were cancelled due to a state of emergency being declared in Shiawassee County, MI due to a snowstorm- NANESB].

The locomotive last ran at the end of 2009, when it was pulled from service for it's FRA-mandated 15 year boiler inspection. A few months prior, the #1225 was one of the marquee attractions at the 2009 Train Fest, which also included fellow Berkshire Nickel Plate #765 and Southern Pacific's colorful 1941-built Daylight #4449.

Appropriately enough, there is another gathering of vintage iron horses- as well as aircraft and autos- within a few months of the #1225's return to service. The gathering is dubbed Locomotives Wings and Wheels and in addition to the #1225, the gathering is scheduled for June 20-22 and will also feature restored WWII era P-51 Mustangs from the Commemorative Air Force as well as SRI's Flagg Coal Company 0-4-0 switcher and visiting steam locomotives from the Little River Railroad.

CANADIAN NATIONAL- Just days after a fiery train wreck and derailment in Casselton, ND, a Canadian National freight carrying crude oil and liquefied propane derailed in rural New Brunswick near the village of Plaster Rock. According to a CN spokesman, 19 cars and one locomotive derailed on the 122-car four locomotive train.

Unlike the Lac Megantic disaster last July of the BNSF oil train explosion in Casselton, ND earlier this month, the CN train involved in the derailment was a mixed freight, meaning it was carrying other commodities besides petroleum and liquefied natural gas. However, the wreck prompted the evacuation of nearby residents and some of the derailed cars burned for four days after the derailment.

Transportation officials believe that a mechanical failure prompted the train to apply the emergency brakes prior to the derailment. There were no reports of injuries to the crew.

Plaster Rock, NB is about 30 miles away from the Canada/US border in the northwestern corner of New Brunswick and has a population of roughly 1100 according to Canada's 2011 census.

Today's Train of Thought- Winter Mix, December 17, 2013

Today's Train of Thought takes us to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for weather conditions best described as a 'winter mix' which is mostly snow, sleet and freezing rain all taking place at temperatures below freezing.

Here, railpicture.net contributor John Ryan caught Illinois Central GP40-2 #3110 leading a southbound Canadian National merchandise freight over the Cedar River at Powers, MI on December 28th, 2008. The white stuff is clinging not only to the tree branches, telephone poles and truss bridge, but also the nose of the #3110 and the broom kept on the front of the unit. In the process, the white stuff is also obscuring the 'death star' Illinois Central logo on the nose- a moniker applied to the logo that came with the IC's final paint scheme prior to the 1998 takeover of IC by Canadian National.

Sports Chowdah Update- Rolled Tide, Auburn Stuns #1 Bama As Time Expires; Patriots Stage Texas-Sized Rally in 2nd half Against Struggling Houston;

Todd Van Emst Photo

NCAA FOOTBALL- War damn Eagle indeed.

Wow- I know I'm several days behind on this unless you've been hidden away in a Tibetan monastery for the last several weeks, but allow me to set the table anyway.

Coming into Saturday's game, the annual Auburn-Alabama Iron Bowl had implications beyond an in-house SEC rivalry. The undefeated Crimson Tide came in ranked #1 while a resurgent Auburn was ranked #4- which had all the ingredients of a compelling contest and lots of buzz about the BCS title game implications.

Fast forward to the 4th quarter- with just under a minute to go, the Auburn Tigers managed to tie the contest up at 28-28 thanks to a pass from QB Nick Marshall to receiver Sammie Coates. On their next possession, Alabama managed to get as far as the Tigers 38 yard line with just 1 second left on the clock. In an attempt to avoid OT [which they successfully managed, just not in the way the Tide envisioned- NANESB!, Alabama sent kicker Adam Griffith onto the field to try and boot a 57 yard FG. Realistically, the worst that could happen would be that Griffith would miss and the game would head to overtime.....or so Alabama head coach Nick Saban though.

Griffith's FG came up short, but Auburn CB Chris Davis was in the end zone and cleanly fielded the missed FG attempt. Words defy what happened next- so let's try some video:



It has to chafe Alabama fans knowing that if just one Tide player could've tackled Davis or nudged him out of bounds at any point during his 109-yard return, the outcome of Saturday's Iron Bowl- not to mention the SEC title game and most likely the FBS Chapmionship- could've been dramatically different.

While not exactly a stunning upset on the scale of Appalachian State-Michigan circa 2007, Auburn moves up to #3 in both the AP and USA Today rankings while Alabama slips down to #4. The Tigers win also sets up an SEC title game with......the Tigers. Auburn will take on the #5 ranked Missouri Tigers at the Georgia Dome for the 2013 SEC Championship. Missouri and Auburn both come in sporting identical 11-1 records- all the more impressive considering both teams had a lackluster 2012 season and that this is only Missouri's second season playing SEC football after jumping ship from the Big 12 after the 2011 season.

ACC FOOTBALL- A state attorney for Florida announced on Thursday that they will not be pressing charges against Florida State Seminoles QB and Heisman candidate Jameis Winston. A female FSU student accused Winston of sexually assaulting her in an off-campus apartment in Tallahassee, FL in December 2012. State prosecutors reportedly determined there was insufficient evidence against Winston to press charges.

The decision clears the way for Winston to travel with the team to Charlotte, NC to take on the #20-ranked Duke Blue Devils in the ACC title game on Saturday night. The last time the two teams played head to head was in Tallahassee during the 2012 season- the Seminoles thumped the Blue Devils by a 48-7 final. Should #1 Florida State beat Duke [and let me say how odd it is to be talking about Duke and title games outside the context of basketball- NANESB!], that pretty much punches FSU's ticket to the BCS Championship game. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 PM ET and the game will be televised on ABC.

ELSEWHERE IN THE ACC- Boston College wrapped up their regular season with a loss in the Carrier Dome to they Syracuse Orangemen- the first matchup between the former Big East rivals since Syracuse moved to that Atlantic Coast Conference. The Eagles had a 31-27 lead in the 4th quarter before Syracuse drove the ball 75 yards in just under 2 minutes for the go ahead TD to make it 34-31 Syracuse with 17 seconds left in the ballgame.

Syracuse would go on to win by a final of 34-31 and are now eligible for a bowl game in their first year of playing ACC football. As a matter of fact- in addition to Boston College, Florida State, Duke and Syracuse- seven other teams in the ACC are now bowl-eligible. It would actually be shorter to mention the list of teams NOT going to any kind of bowl [at least based on their record- NANESB!]: North Carolina State, Wake Forest and Virginia.

BIG TEN- Were it not for the wild finish in the Iron Bowl, perhaps The Game between Michigan and undefeated Ohio State would've been first and foremost in college football-centric headlines

With archrival Michigan sporting a lackluster 7-5 record, Saturday's game against undefeated Ohio State was pretty close. After Ohio State took a 42-35 lead with just over 3 minutes remaining in the Big House, the Wolverines capped a drive of just under 2 minutes with a short TD pass from QB Devin Gardner to TE Devin Funchess to make it a one point game. However, instead of opting for a game tying point after kick, the Wolverines opted to go for the potential go-ahead 2 point conversion. But the 2 point conversion failed and Ohio State managed to survive the late Michigan threat, escaping with a 42-41 win and briefly facing all sorts of questions about their worthiness as a BCS team before the Iron Bowl later that day.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- Alabama wasn't the only undefeated team to fall over the Thanksgiving weekend. The last remaining obstacle for Fresno State out in the Mountain West and a possible BCS Bowl berth was the San Jose State Spartans on Black Friday. In a game that saw San Jose State score a late TD in the first half to cut the Bulldogs lead to 42-41....yes- you read that right. Both teams had combined for more than 80 points before the first half had concluded. However, in the second half San Jose State took the lead for good and would go on to win by the final of 62-52. So not only is Fresno State's perfect record now blemished [it should involve an asterisk, however, since their September 14th game against Colorado was cancelled due to flooding in the Boulder area- NANESB!] but so is any shot at going to a BCS Bowl game.

The Bulldogs will still face the Utah State Aggies on Saturday in the Mountain West championship game, which Fresno State will host. Kickoff is scheduled for 10:00 ET and the Aggies sport an 8-4 record heading into Saturday's contest.

Richard Wolowicz- Getty

NHL- Surprisingly, despite being two months into the season the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens had yet to meet this season heading into Thursday night's game at the Bell Centre.

Gregory Campbell got the B's on the board early to bring Boston out to an early 1-0 lead, but play was stopped after the Habs' Max Pacioretty checked Johnny Boychuk into the end boards and Boychuck was unable to get back onto his feet and had trouble breathing, prompting the medical staff to examine him before he was wheeled out of the arena.

The Habs would then score two unanswered goals in the second period, including one by Pacioretty to make it a 2-1 game- Montreal would go on to win by a 2-1 final after a scoreless 3rd period. Boychuk underwent examination at a Montreal hospital but was reportedly back with the team after the game and cleared to travel with the team back to Boston.

No word on whether or not Boychuk is cleared to play in Saturday night's home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

David J. Phillip- AP

NFL- Once again, the New England Patriots found themselves down at halftime by a significant margin and once again they were able to rally.

Granted many observers said they shouldn't have trailed the struggling Houston Texans by a 17-7 margin to begin with but in the 3rd quarter, New England scored back to back TDs to take a 21-17 lead before the Texans re-took the lead when QB Case Keenum scrambled for a 5 yard TD run to go up 24-21.

New England re-took the lead early in the 4th quarter thanks to a 7 yard TD run from LeGarrette Blount. On the next drive, Houston RB Ben Tate got his 3rd TD of the year to put the Texans back on top 31-28. However, the game would come down to not one, but two Gostkowski FG's from the 53 yard line- including what would turn out to be the game winner with 3:12 remaining.

The Patriots go on to win by a 34-31 final at Reliant stadium while the struggling Texans lose their 10th in a row. For this upcoming weekend, the Patriots will host the Cleveland Browns- the franchise that Bill Belichick got his start with in the NFL.

MLB- The Jacoby Ellsbury era in Boston has come to an end as the free-agent outfielder agreed to a 7 year, $153 million contract with the New York Yankees. The massive signing of the former Boston outfielder seemingly triggered a wave of departures of free agents from the Bronx- outfielder Curtis Granderson agreed to a 4 year, $60 million deal while free agent 2B Robinson Cano signed on to a $240 million 10 year contract with the Seattle Mariners.

Blue State Graft Watch: Former Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick Sentenced to 28 Years

Once billed as 'America's First Hip Hop Mayor', former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was clad in khakis and gave a brief statement to the court as he was sentenced to 28 years of federal prison on Thursday at Detroit's federal courthouse.

Kilpatrick, now 43, became Detroit's youngest mayor ever at age 32. Prosecutors say he used his position to generate enormous personal wealth for himself and those close to him, not to improve the city he claimed to love and grew up in.

While earning an annual salary ranging from $158,000 to $176,000, Kilpatrick used other means to enrich his bank account, federal prosecutors say.

He evaded taxes and spent $554,000 of funds raised by the Kwame Kilpatrick Civic Fund, which operated under the guise of a nonprofit, on campaigns, rental cars, summer camps for his children, debugging equipment, birthday parties, gifts to relatives, travel and a crisis manager after the text message scandal broke.

Prosecutors tabulated $64,000 spent on suits.

"In all, while he was mayor, he spent $540,000 in cash," Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Chutkow said during the opening statement of the trial. "This was over and above his salary, his payroll check, and it was not disclosed on his tax returns.

"And this was just a minimal, just the amount that these investigators here were able to readily trace."

Before Kilpatrick resigned in 2008, prosecutors presented evidence and testimony showing that Ferguson recruited Mahlon Cliftan, one of Kilpatrick's "best friends" who stood up in his wedding, to deliver him $90,000 dollars.

Cliftan taped the cash to his abdomen, flew to Chicago and hid the cash in the bag of a vacuum cleaner before delivering it to Kilpatrick and his wife in two installments.

Kilpatrick's former fundraiser, Emma Belle, who said she'd known Kilpatrick since he was a boy and regarded him as a son, earned over $900,000 in commissions collecting donations for Kilpatrick's nonprofit, although about half she kicked back to the mayor, she testified.

Kilpatrick's co-defendant and friend Bobby Ferguson is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday. While in office, Ferguson colluded with Kilpatrick and friends to steer millions of dollars worth of lucrative city public works contracts to Ferguson.

From Day 1, Kilpatrick's tenure as mayor was fraught with official misconduct and corruption. Within a year of Kilpatrick's 2002 swearing-in, reports circulated of Kilpatrick's wife interrupting a wild party with strippers and drugs at the mayor's official residence. On April 2013, one of the strippers who reportedly performed at the mansion was shot and killed in her vehicle with a .40 cal Glock- the same type of gun used by the Detroit Police as their sidearm at the time.

Around the same time, Kilpatrick was carrying on an illicit affair with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty and the two were texting on city-issued phones. By 2008, the Detroit Free Press had obtained nearly 14,000 text messages between Kilpatrick and Beatty. In addition to the extramarital affair, the texts also indicated that Kilpatrick was using city funds to arrange getaways with Beatty and the two had colluded to fire then police chief Gary Brown.

Kilpatrick has also been accused of diverting state grant money to his wife and lost a 2007 civil suit filed by Brown and one of the mayor's former bodyguards. The mayor's office initially dragged his feet on paying the $8.4 settlement but quickly changed his tune when the attorney for the policemen had discovered that Kilpatrick and Beatty perjured themselves. The mayor and attorneys for the city then hastily struck a 'secret' deal in which the sacked police chief and bodyguard would lose up to 33% of their settlement if they ever divulged the secret text messages or the deal itself. Ultimately the Free Press ended up publishing the contents of the incriminating texts.

Earlier this year, Kilpatrick was found guilty on 24 out of 30 federal charges of bribery, racketeering and corruption.

Detroit Becomes Largest US City to File For Bankruptcy

Will the last one out of Detroit please turn the lights off?

Beset by years of mismanagement, corruption and a steep population decline, the Motor City became the largest US city to file for Municipal bankruptcy on Thursday.

The filing by a state-appointed emergency manager means that if the bankruptcy filing is approved, city assets could be liquidated to satisfy demands for payment.

Snyder had determined earlier this year that Detroit was in a financial emergency and without a plan to improve things.

was unable to convince a host of creditors, including the city's union and pension boards, to take pennies on the dollar to help facilitate the city's massive financial restructuring.

Some creditors were asked to take about 10 cents on the dollar of what the city owed them. Underfunded pension claims would have received less than 10 cents on the dollar under that plan.

The filing leads to a 30 to 90 day period that will determine whether or not the city of Detroit is eligible for Chapter 9 protection, and define the number of claimants who may compete for Detroit’s limited settlement resources. The petition seeks protection from unions and creditors who are renegotiating $18.5 billion in debt and liabilities, according to the Detroit Free Press.

To the protests of many on the Detroit city council, Michigan's Republican governor Rick Snyder appointed emergency manager Kevin Orr back in March to oversee Motown's finances. Orr was a Maryland-based attorney who resigned from the prestigious Jones Day law firm to take the Emergency Manager position.

Besides rapid depopulation and a massive public employee pension shortfall, the city of Detroit fell into further financial disarray when former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick took office and started awarding overly-generous city contracts to unqualified friends and ran up more than $210,000 on a city-issued credit card for meals, travel and alcohol.

It should also be worth pointing out that Detroit hasn't had a Republican since 1962.

Today's Train of Thought- The Lake Show, June 29th, 2013

Today's train of thought takes us to Michigan's lower peninsula and gives us a glimpse of one of the few remaining independent regionals in the state.

Operating some 400 miles of track entirely within the state of Michigan, the Great Lakes Central is a fairly recent addition to the shortlines that operate within the wolverine state. In 2006, the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay railway- which was a cluster of former Ann Arbor, New York Central, Grand Trunk Western and Chesapeake & Ohio lines from Ann Arbor, MI to Petoskey, MI- was purchased by Federated Railways, Inc and renamed the Great Lakes Central. While the line has ambitions to operate a commuter rail service in the Ann Arbor area, like most regionals and shortlines, the focus remains on freight.

Traffic for the Great Lakes Central includes plastics, chemicals, coke, lumber, sand, fertilizer, cement and grain and the line interchanges with the Canadian National, Norfolk Southern, CSX, Mid Michigan Rail, Genesee and Wyoming's Huron and Eastern and WATCO's Ann Arbor. Motive power for the Great Lakes Central includes a half dozen former Conrail GP38-2s as well as ten former Tuscola and Saginaw Bay (nee Ann Arbor) GP35s- some of them with ALCo trucks.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Kyle Korionek caught GP38-2s #396 and #397 racing past a venerable grain elevator in downtown Cohoctah, MI on a sunny August 2012 afternoon with an Ann Arbor-bound mixed freight. The train has just finished up doing some interchange work with the Huron & Eastern at Owosso and Canadian National at Durand.

Home Cooked Sports Chowdah Update- O No You Didn't! Sox Win Home Opener Versus Baltimore; Category Zero Hurricanes Do Little Damage At The Garden; NCAA Title and Unforgettable Week in the Cards for Louisville and Pitino

Winslow Townson photo

RED SOX- After wrapping up a road trip to Toronto where John Lackey left Saturday's game with an undisclosed injury and Jays starter RA Dickey was rocked by the Red Sox bats, it was time for the home opener at Fenway Park on Monday afternoon. The 4-2 Red Sox opened up the 2013 season at Fenway with a daytime matchup against the Baltimore Orioles.

With pre-game ceremonies that included marking the 60th anniversary of the Red Sox affiliation with the Jimmy Fund, a massive flag draped across the Green Monster and a flyover from WWII-era P51 Mustangs, the Red Sox and Orioles got underway on a sunny April afternoon with Clay Buchholz on the mound looking for his second win and Boston looking to wipe the slate clean after their worst season in nearly 50 years. This was a very different Red Sox lineup from just a year ago with no Youkilis, Gonzalez or Beckett in the lineup while the Orioles were coming off of their first postseason appearence since 1997.

Buchholz allowed a leadoff single to start off the game but seemed to settle down from there. Meanwhile, the Red Sox batters seemed to be having a difficult time with Baltimore starter Wei Yin Chen- who allowed just two hits through the first six innings. However, in the bottom of the 7th, Chen allowed a leadoff single to Dustin pedroia followed by a double to Mike Napoli. Although Chen got Middlebrooks to strike out, Daniel Nava belted a 1-1 offering over the Monster seats to give Boston a 3-0 lead.

As it turned out, that would be all Boston needed. Although Joel Hanrahan gave up a leadoff solo homerun to O's outfielder Adam Jones and a 2-out double to JJ Hardy, Hanrahan managed to close out the game and preserve the Red Sox win by getting Ryan Flaherty to pop out in foul territory in front of the Baltimore dugout. Buchholz threw for 7 shutout innings while striking out eight and allowing four walks.

The win gives Boston a 5-2 record- all opponents being from the AL East so far this season- and the home crowd something to cheer about after watching them win 2 out of three in each of the road series in the Bronx and Canada. The win makes it nine straight home openers that the Red Sox have won. Tuesday is an off day, but on Wednesday, the series resumes with Ruan Dempster [0-1; 5.40 ERA] getting the start against Jake Arrieta [0-0; 9.00 ERA]. The game will be televised on NESN with a first pitch at 7:10 ET.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- Red Sox fans got quite a scare on Saturday afternoon when starter John Lackey left the fifth inning of the game against Toronto [JA Happ and the Toronto bullpen would throw a shutout against Boston in their 5-0 win- NANESB!]. The start was Lackey's first in nearly 18 months and immediately led to a flurry speculation from sportswriters that Lackey was already out for the season with an undisclosed injury. Lackey had Tommy John surgery in the 2011 offseason and spent most of 2012 rehabbing.

Upon returning to Boston, Lackey underwent an MRI at Massachusetts General Hospital. The MRI reportedly showed inflammation around the right biceps. Although Lackey is expected to miss his next start, the injury is not considered season-ending. If Lackey is unable to start by Sunday, the Red Sox will reportedly slot Alfredo Aceves [0-0; 10.38 ERA] in Lackey's place in the rotation.

MEANWHILE, DOWN ON THE FARM- Shortstop Stephen Drew went 1 for 3 in what was slated to be his final game with the AA Portland Sea Dogs before returning to Boston on Wednesday. Drew went on the DL in Spring Training with a concussion and was assigned to AA Portland for rehabilitation. Overall, Drew went 2-13 with a double, a homer, two walks and 3 RBI.

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

BOSTON BRUINS- After a disappointing Saturday night in Montreal where the Bruins missed an opportunity to vault past the Canadiens in the Eastern conference standings, Boston had the opportunity to vent their frustration on the slumping Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

Rich Peverly opened up the scoring early for the Bruins about 4 minutes into the first period followed by two Brad Marchand tallies before intermission. Building on their 3-0 lead, the Bruins added to their lead in the second with goals from Andrew Ference and Jordan Caron to make it a 5-0 Boston lead. Midway through the 3rd period, the Hurricanes would get on the board thanks to a Patrick Dwyer goal followed by a Drayson Bowman goal 45 seonds later to make it a 5-2 game. However, with less than four minutes to go in regulation, the Bruins managed to pad their lead after Nathan Horton tapped home a pass from Dougie Hamilton behing netminder Dan Ellis to make it 6-2, what would turn out being the final score.

Carolina's Justin Peters was pulled early after allowing two goals on four shots faced while Ellis turned aside 28 of the 32 shots he faced on Tuesday night. For Boston, Tukka Rask carried a shutout into the 3rd period and ended up turning aside 40 of 42 shots faced. Brad Marchand had two goals in the first period while new acquisition Jaromir Jagr had two assists on the night. The win put the Bruins within a game of idle Montreal on Monday night.

On Wednesday night, the Bruins will travel down to the Prudential Center to take on the slumping Devils for the second time in less than a week. The Devils are riding a 7 game slump heading into the contest. The game will be televised on the NBC Sports Network and gets underway at 7:30 ET.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- With a few weeks still remaining in the NHL season, there are already two teams that have clinched a playoff berth. The Chicago Blackhawks- who did not lose a regulation game until March 8th beat Nashville by a 5-3 final on Sunday to clinch the first playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Meanwhile, the Penguins also managed to clinch a postseason berth on Sunday night- however indirectly. Although the Pens won their Friday night contest against the NY Rangers by a 2-1 final, it wasn't until the Sabres beat the New Jersey Devils in OT on Sunday night that their entry into the playoffs were made official.

NCAA HOOPS- In a March Madnes that was eerily devoid of UConn's presence, the Men's title remained in the Bluegrass state after a final between Louisville and the Michigan Wolverines at Atlanta's Georgia Dome.

Although Michigan jumped out to the early lead, the Cardinals would close the gap late in the 1st thanks to a dramatic dunk by freshman Montrezl Harrell that looked kind of like this:

Prior to that play, Louisville was trailing Michigan by as much as 12 points in the first. The Cardinals would go on to outscore the Wolverines in the second half by a 45-38 margin to win their first NCAA Men's Basketball title since 1986, winning by a final of 82-76.

This is the second year in a row that a Kentucky school has won the NCAA Men's Basketball title. Cards Junior Luke Hancock was 5 for 5 from 3 point range and made 7 out of 10 free throws, totalling 22 points on the night and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

The week is alread off to a good start for Louisville head coach Rick Pitino. His son was hired by the Minnesota Golden Gophers to replace Tubby Smith, a horse he co-owns won the Santa Anita Derby and now qualifies for the Kentucky Derby and now the former Celtics and Boston University coach will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA- all of this news coming before Monday night's Championship game in the Georgia Dome.

Blue State Graft Watch Update- Kwame We Hardly Knew Ye; Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Convicted of Racketeering

Once dubbed America's First "Hip-Hop Mayor", former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was found guilty of racketeering at the federal courthouse in Detroit on Monday. Kwame, along with his father bernard Kilpatrick and contractor Bobby Ferguson were convicted of 24 out of 30 charges of racketeering, fraud, extortion, bribery and tax evasion after a months-long trail.

Although sentencing is still a few weeks off, US District Judge Nancy Edmonds deemed Kilpatrick a flight risk and ordered immediate incarceration of the ex-mayor while awaiting sentencing.

Attorneys for Kilpatrick and Ferguson argued they men should remain free on bond pending their sentencing and said they weren’t a flight.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bullotta argued Kilpatrick should be detained because he has a history of disobeying court orders. He also said Kilpatrick has access to money, as does Ferguson. Bullotta said Kilpatrick lied after his convictions on obstruction of justice charges in the text message scandal that drove him out of office.

Kilpatrick had previously been incarcerated in 2010 after a Wayne County judge determined he was lying about hidden assets after a 2008 trial where he and former aide Christine Beatty faced charges of perjury, official misconduct and obstruction of justice from Wayne County prosecutors. As part of the 2008 plea deal, Kilpatrick resigned as mayor and was supposed to pay $1 million in restitution and serve 120 days in jail.

Kwame is the son of congresswoman Carolyn 'Cheeks' Kilpatrick, who represented Michigan's 13th congressional district from 1997 to 2011. Elected to the office in 2001, Kwame Kilpatrick became the Motor City's youngest mayor. Despite using his office to award lucrative contracts to friends and fire city officials investigating reports of misconduct from the mayor's office, Kilpatrick was re-elected in 2005.

Seemingly locked in a death spiral at the time of his first term as Mayor, Detroit's prospects have only gotten worse since his resignation. The city faces a budget defecit of $327 million and an estimated $14 billion in long-term debt thanks to unfunded pension and healtchcare obligations. Michigan governor Rick Snider initiated the process of bringing in an emergency manager to Detroit at the beginning of the month.

He told a crowd at the Maccabbees building in Midtown that views today as a sad but hopeful day.

“At one point, (Detroit) was recognized as the most prosperous city in the United States,” he said. “We went form the top to the bottom.”

He said the decision won’t eliminate the role of elected officials in the city, acknowledging steps the mayor and city council have taken toward restructuring Detroit’s troubled finances.

“They haven’t been enough to solve the problem,” he said. “So lets work together.”

He said he expects an emergency manager to remain in place for at least a year and a half.

There has been increasing opposition to the state's Emergency Manager option since it first came up last year, even though there are few other viable options for Detroit.

Iron Horse Roundup For December 2012

A Canadian Pacific and DM&E SD40-2 lead a Rapid City to Huron, SD freight past an abandoned farmhouse in Wasta, SD in March 2010. Jeff Robertson photo

CANADIAN PACIFIC-Canadian Pacific has announced their intention to sell approximately 660 miles of former Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern trackage between Tracy, MN and Rapid City, SD along with branches from Rapid City to Colony, WY and Dakota Jct, NE.

Canadian Pacific acquired the DM&E as well as sister railroad Iowa, Chicago & Eastern in 2008. Even before it's acquisition by CP Rail, the DM&E had made plans to build new trackage west of South Dakota's Black Hills to tap coal traffic from Wyoming's Powder River Basin. Although CP Rail planned on following through with construction of the new line, declining coal prices and a hostile takeover of the company from Pershing Square Capital Management in 2012 have caused those plans to be shelved.

While the western end of the DM&E still generates considerable freight traffic in the form of grain, ethanol, aggregate and clay, much of the right of way through South Dakota is in need of an upgrade, with speed restrictions between 10 and 25 MPH commonplace. With no new line into the Powder River Basin and coal traffic, Canadian Pacific CEO Hunter Harrison has decided the railroad should divest themselves of the entire western end of the DM&E.

The DM&E itself started up in 1986 after taking over operations from former Chicago & North Western trackage in Minnesota and South Dakota that was spun off. In 2002, the DM&E purchased the assets of the Washington Company's I&M Rail Link, renaming it the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern. This encompassed the former Milwaukee Road/Soo Line route between the Twin Cities and Kansas City (via the Quad Cities) as well as the east west line between Sheldon, IA and Chicago, IL. It's believed that Canadian Pacific will likely retain most of the former IC&E.

With the shutdown of the Catalyst Paper mill in Snowflake, AZ looming Apache C420 #91 hauls a string of boxcars to the BNSF interchange at Holbrook, AZ in September 2012. Ted Ellis photo

APACHE RAILWAY- The facilities for Catalyst Paper's mill in Snowflake, AZ- including the Apache Railway- has been sold to Los Angeles-based Hackman Capital for a reported $13,460,000 and other non-cash considerations.

The massive paper mill at Snowflake, AZ permanently shut down in October- both the railroad and mill were owned by Canadian paper company Catalyst. While the long-term future of the Apache is up in the air, the railway has been kept busy with removing stored cars from the line and hauling feed to a sizable pig farm north of Snowflake. Meanwhile the town of Snowflake is looking into potential tenants for the former Catalyst mill just west of Snowflake. In November, the Snowflake town council had threatened to seize the Apache right-of-way via condemnation when it learned potential buyers for the railroad were appraising it for scrap value.

Although the Catalyst shutdown this fall resulted in nearly 300 layoffs, geologists and mining concerns have discovered significant quantities of Potash nearby in the Holbrook Basin worth more than $300 billion.

Ann Arbor GP38 #7791 switches autoracks in Toledo, OH in March 2011. Michael Harding photo

ANN ARBOR- Kansas-based shortline operator WATCO has announced their acquisition of the Ann Arbor Railroad at the end of December. In its most recent incarnation, the Ann Arbor's fortunes have been tied to the auto industry.

The Ann Arbor Railroad serves southeastern Michigan and the Toledo, Ohio, areas, mainly shipping auto and other manufacturing goods. It operates 50 miles of track between Ann Arbor and Toledo and has Toledo-area terminals serving General Motors Co., Chrysler and Ford Motor Co.

The original Ann Arbor operated line out of Toledo, OH as well as a number of train ferries on Lake Michigan until its 1973 bankruptcy and 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Eventually, a truncated version of the original Ann Arbor started up operations between its namesake city and Toledo, OH in 1988. This latest acquisition, along with the 2011 purchase of the Wisconsin Southern represents a trend where shortline operators such as Rail America or WATCO buy up independent shortlines or regionals rather than purchase lines divested by Class 1 carriers.
 

Hampton & Branchville GP9# 667 leads a unit coal train of former Chessie and Norfolk & Western GP9s at  Hampton, SC. Adam Finger photo

SOUTH CAROLINA- The 40 mile Hampton and Branchville made what may be their final revenue run at the end of December. The H&B's only customer is the South Carolina Electric and Gas power plant in Canadays, SC. The line, which started out as a lumber carrier in 1901, had the SCE&G plant as its only remaining customer before the plant switched from coal to natural gas.

The line uses a mix of former Chessie and Norfolk & Western GP9s for motive power- all of them still in the colors of their previous owner.

Amtrak Baggae/cab control car #90213 is seen departing Brunswick, ME with a southbound Downeaster on November 3rd, 2012. Michael White photo.

AMTRAK- Some changes are afoot for the national passenger carrier in New England. At the beginning of November, Amtrak launched an extended service on their popular Downeaster route. The daily Boston, MA-Portland, ME train has been extended east to Brunswick and Freeport, ME via Pan Am's former Maine Central Rockland Branch.

In 2010, Amtrak and the Maine Department of Transportation announced their plans to extend the Downeaster route another 30 miles to serve Freeport and Brunswick. Freeport, ME is perhaps best known for being home to LL Bean's flagship store while Brunswick is home to the small Bowdoin College. During warmer weather, the Downeaster  will also reportedly connect with Maine Eastern's seasonal excursions between Brunswick and Rockland, ME.

Meanwhile, in western Massachusetts, work is proceeding on rerouting the Vermonter to PanAm's former Boston & Maine line between Springfield and Greenfield, MA. The move would eliminate a 20-mile dogleg over the CSX's former Boston & Albany mainline between Palmer and Springfield, MA before travelling north on the New England Central to St Albans, VT. The Vermonter's predecessor, Amtrak's Montrealer, ran this route until deteriorating track conditions forced its suspension in 1987.

There has also been talk of restoring Amtrak service all the way to Montreal via White River Jct and St Albans, VT. In June, Vermont's Agency of Transportation was awarded a $7.9 million TIGER grant to upgrade some 20 miles of New England Central line used by the Vermonter. At the time, Rail America was reportedly contributing $3 million to the effort.

"The award shows the confidence in the state of Vermont and the railroad by the Federal Department of Transportation," said Christopher Parker, executive director of the Vermont Rail Action Network, an advocacy group. Parker noted Vermont's TIGER IV grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation was given to primarily to improve freight train speeds and raise weight limits for freight, but passenger trains also eventually would benefit. The federal funds will help pay for 19 miles of new welded rail, ties, ballast, and bridge upgrades that will raise speeds to 40 mph for freight (and 59 mph for passenger trains). The weight limit will rise from 263,000 pounds per car to 286,000 pounds. resulting in a competitive benefit for Vermont. Vermont is providing $7 million and the NECR, owned by RailAmerica, Inc., is contributing $3 million. Said Parker, "This award checks off one of four steps needed to extend Amtrak's Vermonter to Montreal," said Parker. "Progress is happening on the other three items as well, thanks to Vermont House and Senate member] efforts and the work of the Agency of Transportation and Amtrak." St. Albans, Vt., has been Amtrak's northern terminus for the Vermonter since 1995, when the Montrealer's route was cut back.

Meanwhile, the western Massachusetts reroute of the Vermonter through the rather presumptively named 'Knowledge Corridor' will eliminate Amherst, MA as a stop while adding Greenfield and Northampton, MA. Currently, the line sees freight service from Pan Am Rail serving the coal-fired power plant at Mt Tom as well as the CSX interchange in Springfield and Pioneer Valley Railroad interchange in Holyoke, MA.

MBTA- Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority has announced the resumption of service to Cape Cod beginning this summer.

The service, dubbed the CapeFLyer, will run through Labor Day. Trains will depart South Station Friday evening , and also on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Trains depart from Hyannis Saturday and Sunday evenings, with a possible Monday morning departure still being discussed. Round-trip tickets will cost $30, and bicycles will be allowed on board. The two-hour trip time is considered time-competitive, given the near-legendary, decades-old seasonal road gridlock that occurs on approaches to both the Bourne Bridge and Sagamore Bridge, each of which spans the Cape Cod Canal. Cape Cod is a major summer destination not just for Massachusetts residents, but for many in the New York metropolitan area as well.

Between 1988 and 1996, Amtrak handled trains to Cape Cod with their New York to Hyannis, MA Cape Codder service- at the time running over trackage belonging to the Bay Colony Railroad and being one of the few Amtrak trains to regularly operate over a shortline.

You can't tell through those weeds, but apparently this train HASN'T derailed yet. Still lettered for Santa Fe, Maumee & Western GP7u #5 trundles over the former Wabash right of way in Okolona, OH. WM Heilman photo

OHIO- A shortline that has gained infamy in some circles for its deferred maintainance has found a new owner.

Pioneer Railcorp completed their purchase of the 51-mile Maumee & Western at the end of December, renaming the line the Napoleon, Defiance & Western. Although the line runs from the Norfolk Southern interchange at Woodburn, IN to Cecil, OH, the line between Defiance and Cecil is currently used for car storage. Trains typically operate at what could be describes as walking speed over the rest of the right-of-way due to deferred maintenance.
The line was spun off as a result of Indiana Hi-Rail's bankruptcy in the 1990s and in apparent defiance of both gravity and at least a few FRA regulations, hauled aggregates, manufactured goods and feed with an array of secondhand Geeps from the Santa Fe and Illinois Central.

Saratoga & North Creek B39-8 #8524 is seen with BL2 #52 with the Snow Train to Gore Mtn in March 2012. John Sesonske photo

NEW YORK- Saratoga & North Creek's aspirations to be a freight carrier may be realized sooner than expected thanks to Superstorm Sandy. Over the summer, Saratoga & North Creek's parent company, Iowa Pacific holdings, outlined plans to rehab more than 30 miles of  abandoned former Delaware & Hudson line to Tawahus, NY to remove tailings and waste rock from abandoned mines there.

The tailings were to be used in making cement and concrete- something needed along the northeastern corridor as parts of New York City and elsewhere are still cleaning up after the damage from Superstorm Sandy.

Although the S&NC started out as an excursion line, Iowa Pacific began actively courting potential shippers along the route despite opposition from the Sierra Club.

Amid Violent Protests, Michigan Becomes 24th Right to Work State

Michigan State Police in riot gear and LIUNA protesters in Lansing, MI. Mike Mulholland- Mlive.com

With the stroke of a pen, first-term Michigan governor accomplished what was once considered unthinkable in a state with strong ties to the nation's organized labor movement and signed into law legislation that made Michigan a right-to-work state.

At about 5:45 p.m., Snyder announced publicly that he signed the historic right-to-work legislation in private - hours after the bills won final approval in the House and five days after he joined with GOP legislative leaders to announce their plan to enact the controversial law.

"This is a major day in Michigan's history," he said during a news conference in the Romney building not long after signing the legislation. "Again, I don't view this as anti-union at all. I believe this is pro-worker."

The signings came as thousands of protesters and union members descended on Lansing, obstensibly to urge a veto of the legislation once it reached Gov. Snyder's desk. Union protestors also tore down a tent belonging to pro right-to-work group Americans for Prosperity- with people inside- and at least one protestor in an IBEW jacket was videotaped shoving and punching FOX News contributor Steven Crowder outside the collapsed tent. Apologists for the various union thugs laughably attempted to explain away both videotaped events as being 'provoked' by Americans for Prosperity or a 'false flag' where they sabotaged their own tent [shorter Union: "They totally deserved to have their tent wrecked, even though they did it to themselves!"- NANESB!].

[12/12 UPDATE- Not satisfied with simply tearing down a tent and assaulting Crowder, the braying mob apparently focused their energies on destroying a hot dog cart and hurling racial slurs at the cart's owner, Clint Tarver. Tarver was catering to the Americans for Prosperity tent that was ripped down to hoots and applause from the union crowd. The media also described the rampage protests as 'mostly peaceful'.]

Earlier in the day, state representative Doug Geiss [D- Taylor] promised on the floor of the State House that "there will be blood" if right-to-work was passed. The Michigan State House Democrats twitter account would later tweet Geiss' threat before deleting it. On Monday, President Obama slammed the state's right-to work legislation as he was speaking in Michigan to try and gain support for his proposed tax hikes, falsely claiming the two seperate bills making their way through the State House would eliminate collective bargaining altogether. Earlier this year, President Obama ripped right-to-work in a speech before big labor leaders like Trumka and Hoffa, but his supporters and economic team were all to willing to take credit for the jobs created in right-to-work states.

One commenter on Mlive.com succinctly charachterized Michigan's new right-to-work law as follows

Unions will now have to view their members as customers instead of just treating them as a revenue stream. That's about the only thing that changed today. Unions still exist. Employees can still organize. Employees can still engage in collective bargaining.

Gov Snyder's move came about 10 months after Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed right-to-work into law, making the Hoosier state the first 'rust belt' state to have right-to-work laws in more than 40 years. Snyder reportedly wanted to make Michigan as competitive as Indiana, which has added an estimated 43,000 jobs since the state passed right-to-work.

Growing up, we got a cursory introduction to the labor movement in the history books at school while unions like the Teamsters murdered 96 people at the DuPont Plaza hotel in Puerto Rico or various New England chapters of the Laborers International Union of North America maintained cozy relationship with the Patriarcha crime family out of Providence, allowing mobsters to engage in laor racketeering while raiding the union's pension fund.

Many of the unions protesting in Madison, WI last year lost much of their credibility when despite AWOL lawmakers and activist judges, laws limiting collective bargaining in Wisconsin were passed by Gov. Scott Walker despite massive, continuous protests on the grounds of the state capitol building. However, despite dire predictions of public employee unions like AFSCME or SEIU, the sky didn't fall and Wisconsin didn't turn into Mogadishu overnight.

Moreover, even without Tuesday's violent tantraum in mind, I have zero sympathy for unions that do things like help themselves to money from families of disabled people. I'm not certain it this is limited to Michigan, but hopefully this practise is dismantled ASAP.

The law will likely face a number of challenges and I would be very surprised if an activist judge somewhere along the way didn't attempt to overturn it by judicial fiat. Still, wouldn't it be ironic if after the rough years the auto industry has had lately, the new right-to-work law started bringing the auto industry back to its 'home' in Michigan?

Today's Train of Thought- Marquette Down on the Calendar, October 27, 2012

It doesn't seem that long ago that New England was the place to be for fall- especially if you were a sports fan. The days get shorter, the hills start to explode with reds, oranges and yellows and you could hardly turn on the radio or TV without listening to a Boston team winning.

It wasn't that long ago one could expect to tune in to the Red Sox vie for another American League pennant, the Patriots embark on their quest for another title, Boston College raise hell in the ACC with Matt Ryan at QB and the Bruins and Celtics season get underway- all in one weekend. But the only constant is change, and like the leaves lazily drifting to the ground an increasing number of these teams have made themselves in non-factors in the month of October.

Now, that mojo seems to have made it's way west to the Wolverine State. Granted they haven't gotten off to the best of starts in the World Series, but not only have the Detroit Tigers won the American League pennant, they also can lay claim to the first triple crown winner in baseball in more than 45 years as well as the defending AL MVP and Cy Young winner- starting pitcher Justin Verlander. Be it the Wolverines or Spartans, either one of Michigan's Big 12 college football teams have more wins than all three FBS schools in New England combined (the MAC teams are another story, tho').

Sometimes the icing on the cake is the bucolic scenery in the fall- whether in the Midwest of northeastern corner of the country. And if some active rail lines happen to cut their way through that bucolic landscape, then all the better.

And this is exactly the case with western Michigan's Marquette Rail. Here, railpictures.net contributor familymansystem caught Marquette Rail SD40-2 #3001 leading a pair of Union Pacific-painted leasers up the hill and under a wooden bridge at Newyago, MI with Grand Rapids-bound symbol freight Z-151. The wet weather and fallen leaves on the tracks made the rails especially slick on October 11, 2012 and the crew has decided to double up the hill- a process where the crew splits the train into two portions before heading up the hill with one half, placing it in a siding before retrieving the second half and continuing after reattaching the two portions.

Not surprisingly given the composition and bright colors [no easy feat on an overcast day- NANESB!], familmansystem's image has been selected for a People's Choice award by railpictures.net users.

Interestingly, the #3001 is the only such unit to wear such bright livery for the Marquette- the other units are primarily leasers, some of which had the Marquette Rail logo hastily applied. This will also likely be the only unit to wear this distinct scheme. Marquette Rail has the distincion of going from becoming an independent shortline to a Rail America subsidiary to a part of the Genessee and Wyoming system in a few months time. The GWI acquisition of Rail America systems means that there will be plenty more orange along the Marquette Rail in the future.

More Taxpayer Funded 'Green Energy' Firms File For Bankruptcy

Say what you will about the Obama Administration, at least they're the model of consistency when they try and pick renewable energy winners while playing venture capitalist with other people's money.

No less than two Massachusetts-based 'green energy' companies- one of them touted by President Obama as a Stimulus success story- have filed for bankruptcy last week.

Waltham, MA-based battery manufacturer A123 Systems [NASDAQ- AONE] had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on October 16.



The company had gone through nearly $260 million in Federal grants and loans since 2010 as well as another $5 million from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The struggling battery manufacturer was supposedly close to a deal worth more than $400 million with China's Wanxian Group [SSE- 600371] but that deal fell through.

Instead, Wisconsin-based Johnson Controls [NYSE- JCI] is bidding to purchase A123's assets including two battery plants in Michigan.

The following day, Boston-based solar inverter company SatCon had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. SatCon [NASDAQ- SATC], which primarily markets towards industrial and utility grade photvalic markets, had been awarded two seperate stimulus grants of $3 million each- far less than A123 or Solyndra- but has reportedly used an estimated total of $228,000 from those contracts.

On the other end of the country, officials in the Treasury Department are investigating the financial practices of a solar company run by a bundler for Obama's Presidential campaign.

Elon Musk was hoping to put his San Mateo, CA-based Solar City up for an initial public offering (IPO),but some of the disclosures required by the SEC has garnered the attention of the IRS and Treasury in two seperate probes.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing SolarCity, the SEC filings reveal, and at the same time the Treasury Department's inspector general is investigating the company. The question at hand: Did President Obama's Treasury Department inappropriately give stimulus money to Musk's company.

Obama's stimulus transformed a long-standing tax credit for renewable energy investment into a direct grant from Treasury, worth 30 percent of a company's investment in a renewable project. Musk's company has applied for approximately $325 million in these stimulus grants, according to the SEC filing.

Treasury found that SolarCity repeatedly overstated the value of its investments, the SEC filings indicate. In those cases, Treasury awarded smaller grants than SolarCity had tried to claim. Now the department's IG and the IRS are doing a broader audit of the projects for which SolarCity and other large solar companies got stimulus cash. Investigators want to know if the companies regularly overstated the value of their investments and thus got overly generous taxpayer grants.

Musk is also the CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla motors, which recieved grants and low-interest loans from the US government to the tune of $465 million in 2009. Musk has reportedly donated more than $100,000 to President Obama's campaign and alligned PACs as well.

Meanwhile, workers in a Holland, MI plant that made batteries for the Chevy Volt are now saying that there is literally nothing to do but tidy up around the place or play cards as there are no orders for them to work on. The facility, run by South Korea-based LG Chem, has had very little in the way of work since General Motors scaled back production of the hybrid Chevy volt. The new facility, which broke ground in 2010, recieved $151 million in stiumulus funds and reportedly has yet to make a single battery.

7 Killed, At Least 30 Wounded in Tour Bus Bombing In Bulgarian Coastal City

A bomb targeting Israeli tourists in the eastern Bulgarian city of Burgas detonated on a tour bus, killing at least 7 people and injuring 32 on Wednesday.

The bus was carrying 42 Israeli tourists who landed in Bulgaria at 4:45 p.m for a vacation in Sunny Beach. Two adjacent buses were also damaged in the blast.

Six of the victims died on the spot, and the seventh in the hospital following the attack, Bulgarian officials confirmed. Two of the victims were said to be Bulgarian -- the bus driver and tour guide

As recently as January, Bulgarian police had stepped up security measures for Israeli tour groups after a suspicious package was discovered on a bus carrying tourists from Turkey to Bulgaria.

Local officials belive the device was detonated via remote control, although witnesses at the airport told Israeli TV they had seen an unidentified man get on immediately before the bus exploded.

Citing recent Iranian-backed terror plots targetting Israeli and western interests in Thailand, India and Azerbaijan, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran and the Lebanese-based Shi'ite terrorist group Hezbollah. For its part, Iran has accused Israeli agents of carrying out assassinations of scientists working with their nuclear program.

Over the weekend, police in Cyprus arrested a Lebanese man holding a Swedish passport in the city of Limasol. While in custody, the man admitted to being a member of Hezbollah and had detailed information on flights arrivign from Israel and photos of possible Israeli tagerts.

Carrying out attacks on Israeli tagets on foreign soil is nothing new for Hezbollah. The Bulgarian attacks come on the 18th anniversary of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association bombings in Buenos Aires that killed 84. There are reports that Argentine prosecutors have recently discovered that some of those involved in the 1994 bombing were using Iranian diplomatic credentials to travel and plan out the details of the attack.

The resort town of Burgas has become popular with Israeli visitors in recent years, particularly recent high school grads seeking out a 'spring break' type getaway before beginning their compulsory military service.

UPDATE- 7/19: Bulgaria's Interior Ministry said the attack was most likely a suicide bombing. The suspected bomber was caught on survaillence video in the terminal at the Bargas airport.

Interior minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that investigators have found a Michigan ID at the scene thought to belong to the suspected bomber. The Interior Ministry is sending the identification to the FBI for authentication.

UPDATE #2- Bulgarian officials are now saying the Michigan identification card in fake, but some reports also claim a US Passport belonging to the suspected bomber was also found at the scene but has yet to be authenticated.

Effort to Recall Michigan Governor Abandoned After Walker's Wisconsin Win

Less than a week after Wisconsin governor Scott Walker handily survived a union-backed recall campaign, a group seeking to recall Michigan's Republican governor has abandoned their effort after coming up well short of the required 807,000 signatures.

This is actually the second time a liberal organization called Michigan Rising had attempted to reall Gov. Rick Snyder. Like Scott Walker, Snyder was elected to office with the backing of the Tea Party that saw a number of conservative candidates winning US House seats and governor mansions.

"It has become abundantly clear that Michigan Rising was not going to accomplish its goal," Fealk said.

The group will continue work to stop "the corporate takeover" of Michigan and plans to develop a progressive think tank and leadership development organization, he said

Meanwhile, teachers unions in Louisiana have begun circulating petitions to try and force a recall of Republican governor Bobby Jindal and a number of state lawmakers who backed the governor's statewide school voucher program.

The Louisiana Association of Educators Board of Directors unanimously voted Saturday to endorse the effort to recall Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Recall organizer Lee Barrios told the board she also is seeking endorsements from the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO.

She said a number of teachers signed the recall during a rally on the Capitol steps during the legislative session.

Barrios said there was some talk of dropping the recall because of insufficient signatures by the September deadline, but organizers decided to "double our efforts" and branch out and try to bring in organizations.

"We want it to look successful," Barrios told the LAE board.

In addition to Gov. Jindal, the Louisiana recall effort is targeting State Speaker of the House Chuck Kleckly- a Republican representing Lake Charles in Baton Rouge- as well as St Tammany Parrish GOP state representatives Kevin Pearson and Greg Cromer.

Blue State Graft Watch- Former Kilpatrick Appointee Under Federal Indictment for Fraud, Extortion While Detroit City Pension Loses Millions

A Detroit city treasurer appointed by ousted former mayor and convicted felon Kwame Kilpatrick has been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on charges of extortion and wire fraud and could face decades behind bars

Jefferey Beasley, a Kilpatrick appointeee who served as City Treasurer between 2005 and 2008 is accused of demanding charter cash, jet flights, Las Vegas concert tickets, limousine service, massages, golf clubs and other favors from companies that wanted to business with the city's pension system. Some deatils from the indictment include:

“’Company G’ was an investment manager for the Police and Fire Retirement System, managing over $150 million in properties owned by the System…” In addition to $50,000 in donations to the Kilpatrick Civic Fund (at the request of Beasley), “Beasley asked the principal of ‘Company G’ to include Kwame Kilpatrick, Beasley, and three other associates on a private jet flight that ‘Company G’ had chartered to Las Vegas over the weekend of April 13, 2007, for a golfing trip. The cost of the flight was approximately $43,000. In addition, ‘Company G’ paid for greens fees, lodging, meals, limousine service, concert tickets, and massages for Kwame Kilpatrick, Jeffrey Beasley, and the three other associates at a cost of approximately $23,000 which was not reimbursed. In July 2007, Jeffrey Beasley asked a principal of ‘Company G’ to charter a private plane for Kwame Kilpatrick to fly to Tallahassee, FL. At a cost of more than $24,000, ‘Company G’ then chartered the private plane so that Kilpatrick could go on a trip to Tallahassee over the weekend of July 20, 2007. One of the passengers on the flight to Tallahassee was the son of Jeffrey Beasley…”

On Friday, the City of Detroit's pension board fired Motor City-based Mayfield Gentry Realty Advisors- reportedly 'Company G' in the Federal Indictment. The firm had reportedly used $3.1 million of retiree's money on two strip malls in California without transferring the deed to the city's pension.

The Detroit Free Press reports that the pension fund's total losses since February 2008 exceeds $480 million. The firms and middlemen who brokered some of these money-losing deals on behalf of the pension fund have drawn scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Comission.

In case you were wondering, the convicted parties or those who were appointed by the convicted parties are all Democrats.

[Hat tip- Russel Mead, Lonely Conservative]

Foreign Workers Hired For Multiple Stimulus-Funded Projects

Gosh- didn't see this coming as far back as 2009 or anything.



Companies that had received funding as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are said to have hired foreign workers for their projects, according to auditors, labor unions and local press.

In July 2010, LG Chem- a subsidiary of South Korean-based LG Electronics- broke ground on a new plant that manufactured electric car batteries in a ceremony attended by President Obama.

However, Unions in Western Michigan are now saying that the plant is being built with labor from South Korea- although LG Chem initially denied the reports.

LG Chem and another company- Dow Kokam- told CBS news that the foreign workers were 'legal and temporary' and have highly specialized expertise with the equipment being involved. Dow Kokam also used stimulus funds to build a battery plant near Midland, MI. LG Chem received nearly $151 million in stimulus funds to build the Holldand plant while Dow Kokam's Midland plant received a $161 million grant from the Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Local plumbers, pipefitters and millwright unions in Michigan are saying that even if temporary, most of the positions going to the foreign workers could easily be filled by local labor. Currently, Michigan's unemployment rate is around 8.8%- higher than the national average but the lowest the Wolverine State's jobless rate has been in recent years.

Over in Oregon, it was disclosed in late 2011 that at least $7 million went to contractors that ended up exploiting legal loopholes to hire foreign workers for a stimulus-funded forestry project. The contractors said they could not find enough local labor in central Oregon, although one state Senator disputes that.

That came as a surprise to local officials, who said they often got hundreds of responses to every job opening.

"This is a timber area and we hadn't been cutting trees for years," said state Sen. Chris Telfer, R-Bend. "It really ticked off a lot of people here."

In a report on the investigation this week, the Department of Labor's Inspector General found that contractors who brought in foreign workers violated no laws or regulations, but used legal loopholes to hire foreign workers.

While legal, the hiring practices appear to violate the spirit and purpose of the $840 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the stimulus, which was designed to create jobs that would jumpstart the country out of recession.

The federal investigation looked at 14 contracts to clear federal forests in central Oregon. The contracts were controlled by four Oregon companies: Medford Cutting Edge Forestry, Summitt Forestry, Ponderosa Reforestations, and G.E. Forestry. All hired foreign workers, according to the report, though they didn't all handle hiring in the same way.

The contractors applied for H-2B visas allowing them to hire workers for seasonal jobs, according to the report. In order to get clearance, contractors must prove the jobs can't be filled with local residents and that pay won't dilute local prevailing wages.

But there is a loophole. Under federal rules, notice of the job openings must be made where the job "originates." And while the bulk of the work took place in Oregon, smaller jobs originated in other states.

"Employers were not required to recruit U.S. workers in Oregon, and we were provided no evidence that they did," federal investigators said. "Workers in Oregon were likely unaware that these job opportunities were available."

In fact, although 146 U.S. workers were contacted for possible employment, investigators found that none was hired.

Contractors used another regulation to dampen response from Oregon residents, the report said. The visa regulations allowed the contractors to do all their hiring four months before work started. That made unemployed workers who needed jobs immediately reluctant to commit to temporary jobs four months later.

Despite the barriers, 29 U.S. workers learned of the jobs and asked about employment. The report did not say if they were from Oregon.

The reports from the Oregon newspaper- the Bend Bulletein- did not mention the nationality of the foreign workers. The comapnies also reportedly advertised the job openings with state employment agencies in Idaho, Arizona, California and Wyoming but not with the state of Oregnon's Employment Department.

The findings come about two years after Congress learned that funds for 'green energy' projects from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were going overseas to purchase solar panels and wind turbine components that were manufactured in China and other Asian countries.

[Hat Tip- Weasel Zippers; The Bend Bulletin]