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News

Railroad company faces charges in wildfire

From the Traverse City Record-Eagle

Lake State Railway may have operated unsafe train engine 

BY ART BUKOWSKI and LINDSAY VANHULLE
Record-Eagle staff writers

GRAYLING — A downstate rail company faces felony charges for allegedly sparking a massive 2008 blaze that torched about 1,300 acres of forest and several buildings in Crawford County. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox on Monday announced charges against Saginaw-based Lake State Railway, Inc. Cox contends the company started the April 24, 2008, wildfire in Crawford and another fire in Arenac County six days later by operating an unsafe train engine.

 The engine threw sparks from its exhaust system because it was missing standard safety equipment called spark arresters, officials said.

 LSR faces two felony counts of setting fire to a forest land and two misdemeanor counts of operating an engine without spark arresters.

 Of the four charges, one felony and one misdemeanor count apply to fires in each county, and company officials will face hearings in separate courts in those counties, Cox spokesman Nick De Leeuw said.

 LSR officials couldn’t be reached for comment.

 Prison time won’t be possible because a corporation is being charged, De Leeuw said, but the judge could order LSR to repay damage and rescue costs.

 Estimated costs of the Grayling fire total roughly $934,000 for damage and suppression efforts, Cox’s office said.

 The charges bring a measure of relief for local residents.

 “I think for the citizens of Crawford County, it’s a good thing … I think it will ease their minds a bit, that they know what the source was,” said David Stephenson, chairman of the Crawford County board of commissioners.

 The fire crept close to Grayling, and some residents at the time feared it would engulf the city.

 “That was way too close a call for the city of Grayling,” Stephenson said.

 Bob DeVries, a Grayling resident, said the fire was powerful enough that the wind carried it onto his property across Interstate 75.

 Today, “it looks like it’s been clear-cut,” DeVries said, adding he was glad to hear charges were filed. “They have to be responsible for their actions. They have to be responsible for the areas that they cover.”

 Read more:
http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_047003517.html

FYI, News

BLOG: How About High Speed Rail for Every Major City?

From LA Streets Blog

by Elana Schor on February 9, 2010

HS.png(Image: U.S. PIRG)

Now that the Obama administration has awarded $8 billion in high-speed rail grants to more than two dozen states, with $2.5 billion more coming soon, why not keep thinking big when it comes to bullet-train expansion? 

That’s the ethos of a new report released today by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) calling for a New Deal-like public works juggernaut that would eventually connect all major cities located within 100 and 500 miles of each other. For a look at how such a system would remake the American rail map, check out the image above. 

“The first step in building the network is to set a national goal with an ambitious time frame, just like we did for the Interstate Highway System or getting to the moon,” U.S. PIRG senior analyst Phineas Baxandall wrote in a blog post unveiling the report. “We can link all our major cities by 2050, if we set our minds to it.” 

Given the political wrangling over the deficit that continues to paralyze Washington, however, it’s worth asking how an ambitious rail program would be funded. The U.S. PIRG answers that question in several ways: First, the group calls for a dedicated revenue stream for inter-city passenger rail in the next long-term transportation bill, with local investments matched by the federal government in the same 80:20 ratio that highway plans receive.
 

“By financing transportation projects equitably,” the report’s authors write, “states will be able to make rational transportation decisions based on the needs of their residents, rather than on the chances of securing a lucrative federal match.” 

Secondly, the U.S. PIRG aims to put government support for Amtrak — often derided by conservatives for its reliance on federal subsidies that also benefit road projects — in perspective. When evaluated as a share of U.S. GDP, government investment of passenger rail looks stunningly low compared with other industrialized nations. The imbalance is visible in the chart below:
 

chart_2.png(Chart: U.S. PIRG)

From the U.S. PIRG report: 

To begin to dig out of that hole, the federal government should invest steadily increasing levels of funding in passenger rail. We probably cannot hope to match the $300 billion China will be investing in its high-speed rail system between now and 2020, but we should endeavor to match the level of investment provided by other industrialized nations, as a share of GDP, in their rail networks.

The group does not address the lingering debate over whether all planned U.S. inter-city rail projects can truly be called “high-speed” given that many would achieve maximum speeds little better than 110 miles per hour. Still, its vision of finishing the job begun by the White House this year is likely to fire up rail advocates and give helpful new tools to local planners.

Link to Blog:
http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/09/us-pirg-how-about-high-speed-rail-for-every-major-city/

News, Press Releases

MDOT shares details of reduced 2011-2014 Five-Year Transportation Program

Michigan Department of Transportation press release

Contact:  Bill Shreck, Director, MDOT Office of Communications, 517-335-3084
Agency: Transportation
February 12, 2010 — The state’s recently approved 2010-2014 Five-Year Transportation Program has been posted online by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) on the MDOT Web site at: www.michigan.gov/mdot5yearplan. MDOT also has posted a new document titled “Financial Crisis Key Messages” to the Web. This document identifies funding strategies for a department that is faced with the reality that there will be insufficient state revenues available to match all of the estimated available federal funds beginning in 2011. The 2010-2014 Five-Year Program was approved by the State Transportation commission at its Jan. 28 meeting. The department must submit the Five Year Program to the Michigan Legislature by March 1.”If Michigan cannot match federal funds, over a half a billion dollars each year in federal fuel taxes already paid by Michigan residents and businesses will be lost to us,” said State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle. “Our money will go to other states that are able to provide the needed match. This will have a devastating effect on job creation and Michigan’s economy. All modes of transportation are being affected by declining state revenues and decreased buying power, including highway, aviation, bus, rail and marine programs.”

Steudle also stated that the transportation system will continue to deteriorate even if the department is able to match federal funding, as it will in 2010.

“Unless state revenue for transportation increases, Michigan will experience substantial decline in road and bridge conditions, and our rail freight, passenger transportation and aviation programs also will suffer,” Steudle said. “The message of The Transportation Funding Task Force was clear in November 2008. Michigan needs to double its current investment in transportation to provide an adequate level of service, let alone an improved one.”

The Financial Crisis Key Messages document contains charts and graphs illustrating the reduced program of each mode of transportation compared to the previous (2009-2013) Five-Year Transportation Program. The highway program total is reduced most dramatically by more than 35 percent, compared to the previous Five-Year Program total. Projects in the plan for 2010 are fully funded and will not face delays. However, MDOT says that if the current return on federal gas tax revenues falls in 2011 as expected, 256 highway projects will be delayed. The 256 projects break down as: 129 bridge preservation projects, 118 road preservation projects and 10 capacity/new roads projects.

“We will have to implement a reduced road and bridge program investment strategy in 2011 and cut approximately $600 million annually, if federal funding continues to go unmatched,” said Steudle.

Press release link:
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151–231668–,00.html

News

E. Ray Scott, Artrain founder, passed away

From Artrain, Inc.

E. Ray Scott, Artrain founder, passed away on Friday, February 5, 2010.  Scott was the embodiment of an arts advocate and demonstrated so over the course of a lifetime.

Among his many accomplishments was the founding of Artrain, Inc.  As noted by his long-time friend Robert O’Leary III, “If there is one defining moment in which Ray takes the most pride, it is the establishment of Artrain.” Launched in 1971 as a rail car equipped as a travelling art gallery with the original mission of bringing art to underserved communities throughout Michigan and eventually the whole country, Artrain, Inc. continues today and has provided arts and cultural programs for over 3.2 million people in cities, towns and villages across the country.  

E. Ray developed Artrain as the flagship program of the Michigan Council for the Arts (MCA) where he served as the Executive Director from its inception in 1966 to 1985.  During his tenure he was known for his passionate, intelligent and persuasive lobbying for state support of artists, cultural institutions and arts in education programs.  E. Ray was a tireless and determined advocate for the arts. 

E. Ray’s voice carries forward through the individuals that have been inspired, cultural organizations that have been started or strengthened and communities that have been changed through this wonderful arts catalyst that we know as Artrain. 

E. Ray Scott Memorial Service
Saturday, February 27, 2010
11:00 a.m.
GEM Theatre
333 Madison Avenue
Detroit, MI  48226 

Memorial Gifts &Tributes

  • E. Ray’s family requests memorial gifts to support the arts in Michigan and Artrain. To make a contribution in remembrance of E. Ray Scott, click here.   
  • To read or post memorial tributes in honor of E. Ray Scott, click here. (Coming Soon)

E. Ray Scott’s Obituary

A Video Tribute To E. Ray Scott

Read more:
http://www.artrainusa.org/erayscott.asp

News

Report highlights benefits of improving railways

From the Niles Daily Star

A new research report by the Ann Arbor-based Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM) highlights the benefits of improving railways in Michigan and the United States.
President Obama awarded $40 million in high-speed rail funds last month to Michigan. The funding could bring high-speed rails to Niles’ Amtrak station.

It’s part of a plan that will send $8 billion to 31 states to help build and plan for high-speed rails under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Detroit to Chicago corridor, which runs through Niles, will receive $244 million.

According to the PIRGIM report, the full plan for the Michigan line would lower travel time between Detroit and Chicago to 3 hours and 46 minutes, making it faster than driving or flying.
Michigan also has applied for funds to make improvements that would increase train travel speeds up to 110 miles per hour.

Read more:
http://www.nilesstar.com/2010/02/11/report-highlights-benefits-of-improving-railways/