By Amanda Chandler Commercial 0 Comments

Mister Car Wash expands presence in California’s Central Valley

Mister Car Wash Inc. is expanding its presence California, United States, with the addition of two new Central Valley locations in Turlock and Riverbank, announce the company.

The Turlock location opened earlier this week, and the Riverbank location is scheduled to open in August. Mister has 39 locations throughout the Golden State.”We’ve seen tremendous growth in California since first entering the state in 2017,” said Ryan Darby, vice president of development and construction at Mister Car Wash. “These two new locations expand our footprint in the Central Valley and complement the existing network of stores throughout the region giving our customers and members even more options to keep their cars shining.”

Headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, and with over 25 years of car wash experience, Mister Car Wash, Inc. operates over 340 car washes nationwide and has the largest car wash subscription program in North America.

https://www.petrolplaza.com/news/27825

By Amanda Chandler Economy 0 Comments

Aviation company establishes presence in Buttonwillow Airport

Kern County and the company American Aerospace Technologies have signed a letter of intent to create a Regional Operations Center at the Buttonwillow Airport, which would bring new unmanned aircraft to the airport. The letter stipulates the environmental and state requirements that the company must comply with to begin construction. “We’re super excited that they believe that the airport can serve their needs,” said Mark Witsoe, director of Kern County’s airports.

The Buttonwillow Airport has little use to many residents; operationally, flight trainers mainly employ the airport to practice taking off and landing planes, Witsoe said. The structure’s sparse nature means AAT will create a new facility to house its technology, he added. “Our goal is to establish a permanent presence in California with this as our hub,” said David Yoel, the CEO of American Aviation Technology. He hopes to finalize negotiations and start construction in the next six months.

Kern County serves as a perfect base for the company because of its central location, Yoel said. Furthermore, the county has a wide range of applications the aircraft can serve, he added. Yoel said his unmanned aircraft systems cannot be mistaken for drones. While a traditional drone can operate for 20 minutes and must fly below 400 feet, the UAS can fly for 15 hours and at altitudes up to 15,000 feet, Yoel said. Moreover, the UAS is environmentally friendly and can burn less fuel when compared to some smaller drones, he said. “It creates a fundamentally different kind of capability that doesn’t currently exist in civilian applications,” Yoel said.

The company desires to partner with the local companies to uphold its mission statement: maintain health, safety and compliance. The technology can assist oil and gas production, agriculture and fire departments, Yoel said. UAS sends back imagery in real time to stave off any threats, he added. Unmanned aircraft can fly into areas not easily accessible by a person. Therefore, the technology spots potential gas leaks, fire outbreaks and helps growers understand their land, Yoel said.

AAT foresees bringing smaller versions of its larger aircraft to Buttonwillow. This technology weighs 220 pounds and has an 18-foot wingspan. Smaller UAS also includes integrated artificial intelligence that can detect threats to power and pipe lines, often spanning hundreds of miles. Furthermore, the compact equipment can access areas along power lines that are dangerous or inaccessible by an individual, Yoel said. The potential Buttonwillow Regional Operations Center is the second such creation by the company within the nation. Another center is located in New Jersey. AAT worked on a project with NASA at the Buttonwillow airport, which sprouted the idea to create a Kern County center, Yoel said. Witsoe said Kern County airports have never housed unmanned equipment that can be used by civilians. “David Yoel and the company, AAT, seems to be a great new entity to move out here to Kern County,” Witsoe said. “I’m really hopeful we can put something together that lasts a long time.”

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/aviation-company-establishes-presence-in-buttonwillow-airport/article_d42a0eda-fc9c-11eb-a509-5f4b15c24958.html

By Amanda Chandler Distribution 0 Comments

Hardware distribution company to hire 400 in Visalia

The “helpful hardware folks” say Visalia is the place for Ace … to build their distribution center. Illinois-based Ace Hardware, with its popular jingle “Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks,” will open a 1 million square foot distribution center in Visalia in the next year. Developer Seefried Industries filed for a permit to build the complex on Aug. 6. The permit names Ace Hardware as the tenant. The permit is valued at $90 million with the contractor listed as Clayco who has built other projects for Seefried including the Amazon warehouse in Fresno.

Seefried had previously presented a detailed site-plan for the 81-acre property it is buying at Plaza Drive and Ferguson Avenue in the Visalia Industrial Park which stated the tenant would hire 400 employees working in two to three shifts. Seefried Western Manager Sean Sheppard confirmed the deal this week saying he hoped the warehouse would be open by October of next year. The news is further evidence the logistics industry has selected Visalia as one of the best places to reach California markets within a day’s drive, delivering goods overnight directly to customers in Southern California and the Bay Area.

This would be the 18th Ace distribution center in the U.S. with one in Sacramento. The new Visalia center will serve hundreds of Ace Hardware stores, including three in Tulare County. The company continues to expand with 11 new locations in California this year. The private company is a cooperative with an ownership stake by each local store. There are nearly 5,500 stories in the U.S. Visalia has a large store across from the Visalia Mall, Nelson’s Ace Hardware, in the former Orchard Supply Hardware. Other local Ace cooperatives include Exeter Mercantile Co., Dinuba Lumber Co. and Wiesenberger’s Ace Hardware in Porterville.

Phoenix-based Seefried’s operational statement filed in June, described a 1,033,180 square foot warehouse and distribution facility (+/-1,002,980 square feet of warehouse and +/-30,200 square feet of office) to be constructed on a 81.35 acre parcel located at the southwest corner of north Plaza Drive and west Ferguson Avenue. The parcel is the largest remaining open-space piece in the heart of the industrial park, formerly known as the Jacuzzi property. It has frontage on both Plaza and Goshen Avenue.

The square footage description filed in June exactly matches the permit request filed recently for Ace Hardware. While there has been no announcement (Amazon was quiet for many months), Ace will likely lease the new warehouse from the developer, as they have elsewhere.

GROWTH CAPACITY

The site can accommodate a future expansion of 356,160 square feet, which is not being contemplated for now, but would bring the total size of the facility to 1.4 million square feet. The design of the site provides 752 auto parking stalls (15 accessible per code) and 304 trailer stalls. The facility will be constructed to a height of 55 feet above current grade to accommodate a minimum clear height within the facility of 40 feet, and parapets around the perimeter to screen mechanical equipment on the roof. The facility will be fully conditioned with an Early Suppression, Fast Response (ESFR) fire sprinkler system and code required fire alarm system. Access will be provided through driveways off Plaza Drive, Fergusson Avenue and a private access road just south of the facility. Trucks will utilize Ferguson primarily and employees will utilize Plaza. There will be a main point of access to the facility off Plaza through the office area, with code required fire access around the perimeter.

24/7 OPERATION

The statement continues that this “facility will operate 24 hours, 7 days a week utilizing +/-400 employees in two (2) shifts (8:00 am-5:00 pm- DAY and 6:00 pm-4:00 am- NIGHTS). It is estimated that 280 employees will operate during the day shift, and 120 employees during the night shift.”

Ace Hardware successfully competes with rival big box hardware stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s reporting record fourth quarter revenues of $2.1 billion – an increase of 39.2 percent from last year and record fourth quarter net income of $43.1 million, an increase of $39.6 million from last year. Ace’s same store sales were up 28.7 percent during the quarter and 25.9 percent for the year. An Ace company report describes how US customers recently funneled a “disproportionate share of their discretionary spending into their homes and gardens” as the possible reason for the increase.

Founded in 1924 as “Ace Stores,” the company changed its name to “Ace Hardware Corporation” in 1931. After the retirement of longtime president and founder Richard Hesse in 1973, Ace was sold to its retailers, becoming a retailer-owned cooperative. It first reached $1 billion in wholesale sales in 1985 and $5 billion in 2015. The hardware store advertises itself as a neighborhood store featuring employees who, in contrast to big box help, offer caring assistance on do-it-yourself projects. A few years ago they changed their popular jingle from “Helpful hardware men” to “ hardware folks.”

Landing the large retailer is another huge catch for the Visalia Industrial Park which has recently seen the opening of the new UPS hub and the 1.2 million square foot Amazon fulfillment center to open this fall next door. And there is more to come. Work is expected to begin next month on another million square foot-plus, tilt-up building to the north of Amazon. With the addition of this $90 million permit, the city will have permitted over $100 million in new commercial projects in 2021 so far – on pace to exceed last year’s total of $182 million and 2.4 million square feet.

https://thesungazette.com/article/visalia/2021/08/18/hardware-distribution-company-to-hire-400/

By Amanda Chandler E-Commerce 0 Comments

FARADAY FUTURE LISTED ON NASDAQ WITH THE TICKER “FFIE” AND ANNOUNCES NEW RESERVATION POLICY FOR FLAGSHIP PRODUCT FF 91 FUTURIST

Faraday Future (“FF”), a California-based global shared intelligent mobility ecosystem company, announced that its shares were listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market today. The listed company was renamed “Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc.”, with its Class A common stock and warrants trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbols “FFIE” and “FFIEW”, respectively. The “I” stands for Intelligent and Internet, and “E” stands for Ecosystem and Electric. This reflects the fact that FF is not just an EV company, but also an internet and technology company, an AI product company, a software company and a user ecosystem company.

“Today is a new chapter in FF’s history, marking the culmination of a noble vision and mission created seven years ago in California by our founder YT Jia. This is also the common mission of our global partners, who are also known as the Futurist Alliance,” said Dr. Carsten Breitfeld, Faraday Future’s Global CEO. “We would like to thank all investors, partners and internal and external partners for their trust and confidence in our leadership, product technology and business model, and we are confident in the high-quality delivery of our FF 91 Futurist in the next 12 months.”
FF also announced the brand-new reservation policy for its FF 91 Futurist. The first announced FF 91 Futurist Alliance Edition will be limited to 300 units globally, with a priority reservation deposit of $5,000. This initial group of FF 91 owners will all receive three user privileges: Futurist Alliance membership, Spire Club membership, and the next generation product upgrade privileges. FF has also launched the FF 91 Futurist Edition for a priority reservation deposit of $1,500.
As FF Founder and Chief Product and User Ecosystem Officer, YT Jia led the FF team to define and develop the ultimate intelligent techluxury FF 91 five years ago, who is now focusing on pushing the product power improvement, and user ecosystem establishment. The FF 91 Futurist Alliance Edition and FF 91 Futurist models represent the next generation intelligent internet EV product with unbeatable product power. They are not just high-performance EVs, all-ability cars, and ultimate robotic vehicles, but also the third internet living space, and are equipped with unique technology, an ultimate user experience and complete ecosystem. FF 91 Futurist has an industry-leading 1050 hp, 130kWh battery pack with immersive liquid cooling technology, capable of 0-60mph in 2.4 seconds, tri-motor torque vectoring, and rear wheels independently driven and controlled by dual rear motors. FF 91 is also equipped with the industry‘s only super AP for internet connection at “light speed”, video streaming on PID, rear intelligent internet system, in-car video conferencing system, Intelligent Seamless Entry, FFID face recognition, multi touch eyes-free control, and zero gravity rear-seats with the industry’s largest reclining angle of 150 degrees.
With the FF Intelligent App, users will be able to configure and reserve an FF 91, create an FFID, book exclusive test rides, and even book a tour of FF’s global headquarters in Los Angeles. The FF Intelligent APP is not only an FF 91 reservation platform and social community where all Futurists connect and communicate, but also the most important platform for the value co-creation and sharing of our FF user ecosystem. Users can learn more about our products and interact with the technology that sets FF apart from others in the EV space. Along with the social community aspects where users and fans can share thoughts and ideas together, users will also have an opportunity to sign up for a unique Futurist Product Officer (FPO) program and even interact with FF executives and employees to share ideas.
By Amanda Chandler Hi-Tech 0 Comments

Solar-powered plane aims to break world record from Fresno Chandler Executive Airport

Taking off from the Fresno Chandler Executive Airport around 6:20 a.m. Wednesday, a production electric aircraft powered by off-grid renewable energy is about to make history. “We’re proving out today, the value of the infrastructure that’s being developed for electric cars has a potential to also electrify aviation, which electric aircraft are here and are coming very rapidly.  More and more are coming into the marketplace,” said Joseph Oldham, Founder, and CEO of New Vision Aviation.

Odham is piloting the solar-powered plane, a Central Valley native, who knows first hand why utilizing these types of aircraft is a step in the right direction — especially in the Valley. “So electric aircraft are feasible today and offer that opportunity to both reduce carbon emissions and also criteria pollutants like naaqs and PM10 or PM2.5 which are a problem for us in our air quality in the San Joaquin Valley on a day to day basis,” said Oldham.

Beam Global specializes in electric vehicles and makes it possible for the plane to fly for about an hour at a time before recharging.  The CEO is proud his company is leading the way for environmentally-friendly aviation. “It’s absolutely groundbreaking.  I mean, first of all, our ability to deploy charging infrastructure in an airport like this without construction, without electric work, that’s an absolute first and then, of course, aviation is a terrible polluter as it stands today,” said Desmond Wheatley, the CEO of Beam Global.

The Pipistrel model aircraft will be stopping to recharge in Madera, Merced, Modesto, and Lodi before touching down and breaking the world record around 10:05 a.m. Thursday at the Sacramento Executive Airport.

https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/solar-powered-plane-aims-to-break-world-record-from-fresno-chandler-executive-airport/

By Amanda Chandler Tourism 0 Comments

Destination California: Explore 90 acres of fun at Jellystone Park in Lodi

If you’re looking to take the family camping, fishing or swimming, you don’t have to go too far from Sacramento. Jellystone Park in Lodi is the only place near Sacramento where you can find over 300 campsites next to a water park, a marina, a golf course and a giant Yogi Bear. Jellystone Park is that perfect summer getaway to make long-lasting family memories.

Patrick Glover started with a friendly welcome and began the tour with a look at one of the park’s 88 cabins. “We are going to check out our Delta Deluxe Plus Cabin over here,” Glover said. “This is glamping at its finest.”  These cabins come with a full kitchen, bathroom, bunk beds, TVs, a master suite and an upper floor for the kiddos. The cozy cabin also has an outdoor hot tub, grill and a fantastic view of a brand-new water park. Up next on the tour is one of the park’s most popular locations, Jellystone Marina.  One of the fantastic things about Jellystone Park is you can take your pontoon boat or your fishing boat out on the Delta and go as far as Sacramento or even San Francisco.

July is one of the park’s busiest times of the year. Between 3,000 to 4,000 people will set up camp over the holiday weekend, and they’ll have plenty of activities ready for them.   “July still falls under our Under the Sea theme, so we have a mermaid coming in,” Glover explained. “We have a bubble parade, and we have a lot of Fourth of July golf cart parades and Fourth of July crafts.”

In other words, it’s pretty hard to get bored at Jellystone Park. There’s no shortage of things to do for the young and the young at heart. “From 8:30 a.m. until 10 p.m., we are just packed full of activities that families look forward to,” Glover said. Melanie Townsend’s favorite activity at Jellystone Park is getting out of the heat and into the lazy river. Jellystone Park has so many great things to do for both kids and adults, making it another great destination in California.

https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/destination-california/destination-california-explore-90-acres-of-fun-at-jellystone-park-in-lodi/

By Amanda Chandler Economy 0 Comments

Clovis’ rapid growth isn’t slowing down. Here’s why its mayor says people want to live there

Clovis has been one of the fastest growing cities in the state in recent years, and its mayor said this week he doesn’t expect that to slow down. Mayor Jose Flores said Clovis is a destination for many people trying to raise families. He also quoted Harry Armstrong, who died in 2018, who spent nearly half a century on the Clovis City Council going back to 1970. “Harry Armstrong, our icon, said we’re a clean, safe city and we still are,” he said Wednesday during a Zoom call. “And because of Clovis Unified School District, we’re a destination. Families want to live here.”

Clovis had 3,093 more residents this year than a year ago, according to numbers released in May from the state Department of Finance. That’s the fifth largest increase in that state when comparing raw numbers. Clovis was the eighth fastest-growing in that state this year when looking at population expansion by percentage, state numbers show, and that’s after at least two other years in the top 10 in California.

The city’s population has more than tripled since 1980 to more than 121,000, according to the latest state numbers. Some residents resent the expansion in a town they once could consider quaint. “We have others that don’t want us to grow anymore, but people want to live here,” Flores said. “That’s economic growth. What they say for business, if you have the rooftops, then businesses can thrive.” Also driving growth in Clovis, Flores said, is the growing medical complex near Temperance Avenue and Highway 168, which is close to Clovis Community Center, California Health Sciences University and other medical services.

Clovis has sometimes been accused of sprawling. The Clovis City Council recently unanimously in April approved an environmental review of plans to potentially push the city’s sphere of influence further north through a study of 1,050 acres. The council members agreed the city needed to look at the area east of Sunnyside and north of Shepherd avenues. The potential change to the sphere of influence includes the roughly 825 acres of new housing the council approved in October.

https://www.fresnobee.com/article252629368.html

By Amanda Chandler Distribution 0 Comments

New construction near Grapevine highlights surge in local speculative development

Speculative development is picking up across Kern County’s industrial real estate industry, evident most recently in a large warehouse now under construction along Interstate 5 at the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center. As the latest joint venture between Lebec-based Tejon Ranch Co. and Southern California development titan Majestic Realty Co., the 629,274-square-foot distribution center-style project spreads across nearly 39 acres near the foot of The Grapevine. With 136 dock-high doors, it is expected to be ready for one or more tenants to move in within about a year.

The project is the latest in a growing trend of speculative development gaining momentum locally. Most of the buildings under construction are major undertakings measuring hundreds of thousands of square feet, but there are also some as small as 10,000 square feet — and that kind of building activity has not been seen in Kern for years. The developments are noteworthy not because they stand out in a landscape increasingly dotted with large warehouses, in a region that clearly benefits from a lack of available distribution space in Southern California. What’s more striking is the pace at which such investments are happening and the confidence they reflect on the part of developers.

Bakersfield industrial real estate broker Wayne Kress said investors have reacted with greater urgency during the last three years to the county’s central location offering the ability to reach 40 million consumers within a single day’s truck drive. Warehouse tenants in Kern can easily reach ports in Southern and Northern California, and they don’t have to deal with the congested market for industrial property in the traditional logistics hub of the Inland Empire. Kress, a principal at Cushman & Wakefield | Pacific Commercial Realty Advisors in Bakersfield, noted two “spec” developments 1 million square feet or larger under development in Shafter, one at the Wonderful Industrial Park and one next to it. Others are in the works locally as well but Kress said he was not at liberty to discuss them.

Local industrial broker Boyd Binninger, ASU Commercial’s senior vice president of industrial services, said demand is growing lately for smaller buildings as well. He pointed to two spec buildings where construction began about a month ago at the Silver Wings Commercial Center near Meadows Field Airport. One measures about 15,000 square feet, he said, and the other about 10,000 square feet. By his reckoning, it’s been about seven years or more since speculative development of that size took place in the Bakersfield area. “We hadn’t seen a lot of spec building with the exception of the big boys,” he said, adding the developer hopes to undertake additional spec development once the projects now underway lease up.

The tenants expected to fill those spaces will probably be in manufacturing or small distribution operations, he said. What has made such projects difficult, aside from the risk that comes with spec development, is recently high materials costs. Even so, he predicted more industrial development will take place near the airport as such projects gain momentum in the years ahead. Tejon Ranch Co.’s executive vice president of real estate, Joseph N. Rentfro, said in a news release it was very pleased to be working again with Majestic, reportedly the largest privately held industrial developer in the United States. The two companies first partnered in 2016 on a fully leased, 651,909-square-foot property they owned and managed together. Since then, they have spec-developed a 480,480-square-foot building and another measuring 579,040 square feet, both of which reportedly met with strong pre-lease activity and remain fully leased. The two companies’ latest joint venture is their largest spec project to date. “Given the historical success we’ve enjoyed without previous speculative building developments, the lack of vacant space within the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center and the level of demand inquiries we’re fielding for light manufacturing, warehouse and distribution space out of Southern California and elsewhere,” Rentfro stated, “we wanted to move as quickly as possible to bring another new building online.”

The commerce center near the merger of Interstate 5 and Highway 99 is a master-planned retail and industrial development spanning 1,450 acres. For its part, Majestic sees the latest partnership with Tejon Ranch as attractive to tenants seeking a low-cost option compared with the Los Angeles Basin, where it said costs related to living, labor and rentals are relatively high. It said the building will have 136 dock-high doors and a 36-foot clear height. “Beginning with our initial partnership agreement in 2016, we’ve remained incredibly bullish about Tejon Ranch and we’re excited to be breaking ground on our third new building with a partner that sees and is committed to implementing a development vision through the same long-term lens,” Majestic Realty Co. Vice President Tom Simmons said in its news release.

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/new-construction-near-grapevine-highlights-surge-in-local-speculative-development/article_128dfe2c-df45-11eb-9be0-c7ef6e52c42a.html

By Amanda Chandler Workforce 0 Comments

Bank of America gives Kern nonprofits $385,000 to support career opportunities

Bank of America announced Wednesday it has donated $385,000 to be divided among nine Kern County nonprofits as part of its new focus on helping people gets jobs instead of its earlier emphasis on providing emergency money. The organizations listed as receiving donations are: Bakersfield College Foundation, Bakersfield Homeless Center, Boys and Girls Clubs of Kern County, Cal State Bakersfield, Circle of Life, CityServe Network, Community Action Partnership of Kern, Garden Pathways and Kern Economic Development Foundation.

Bank of America said in a news release that Garden Pathways expects to spend its share on providing paid internships helping seven at-risk youth develop job skills. It said another 48 high-school students involved with the juvenile justice system will be given opportunities to help mitigate effects of their trauma. CAPK, the release added, is training 20 people who have been living on the street. It said the program, which is a partnership with CityServe and BC, teaches job-interview preparedness, customer relations and computer skills.
By Amanda Chandler Hi-Tech 0 Comments

Tehachapi welcomes latest changes to high-speed rail plans

Tehachapi City Hall, once a leading local critic of California’s bullet train project, has tentatively given its blessing to plans released Friday for high-speed rail tracks proposed to connect Bakersfield and Palmdale. City Manager Greg Garrett said Monday that, although he and his staff had not finished reading the entirety of the project’s new environmental review, the California High-Speed Rail Authority appears to have made a number of positive changes in response to the city’s requests. Among the most welcome revisions he said were outlined in a meeting Monday morning between Tehachapi officials and rail authority staff were the introduction of two sections of sound walls, one in the Ash Village area and one near Arabian Estates.

Another improvement he pointed to was the agency’s agreement to lower the bullet train route’s height profile through the Tehachapi area, as well as its pledge to accommodate a station that might one day be built in the city. “At this point we do feel that (the rail authority) has addressed our concerns to the point that we can continue to move forward,” he said. “But we would encourage citizens” to review the latest plans as well, he added. Late Friday afternoon the rail authority issued what it termed the final environmental review of an 80-mile alignment mostly following Highway 58 between a proposed station at F Street and Golden State Avenue in Bakersfield and another in Palmdale. The rail authority’s governing board is scheduled to vote in mid-August on whether to adopt the review.

Maps contained in the document show the route would be built on raised viaducts through most of Bakersfield then come down to surface level through the Edison area. Through the Tehachapi Mountains it would run underground as well as at ground level and on viaducts, then proceed mostly along the surface through the Antelope Valley. The rail authority estimates the route will become operational in 2033 as part of the start of service between San Francisco and Los Angeles. That’s about three years after it expects trains traveling up to 220 mph will connect Merced and Bakersfield. Friday’s release has also renewed calls by the Kern Council of Governments for state cooperation on three portions of the proposed Bakersfield-to-Palmdale alignment.

Executive Director Ahron Hakimi said Kern COG has for years spoken with the rail authority about potentially coordinating work on a grade separation he said would improve safety, congestion and other conditions near Edison Highway and Morning Drive. The idea is that work there will take years to plan and, because it has independent utility, the grade separation could begin ahead of the rail segment’s construction timetable. Another project Hakimi said would benefit from an early start on construction is a grade separation at the intersection of highways 58 and 223 near Bakersfield National Cemetery. Early work there would be helpful because excess dirt from the rail authority’s excavation work through the Tehachapi Mountains could be put to use raising part of the intersection.

Extra lanes for eastbound trucks climbing the Tehachapi Pass represent the third project Kern COG wants to see start early. Hakimi said that project has been under consideration for more than 20 years. No formal agreement has been struck to proceed with those projects ahead of other local work, but a representative of the rail authority said by email Monday the agency is interested in collaborating with local jurisdictions to advance all three efforts “as funding becomes available.”

Money to complete the overall project remains an open question. Although the Biden administration recently freed up nearly $1 billion that had been taken away from the project by the Trump administration, tens of billions of dollars are still needed to complete the work. The Biden administration has talked about dedicating money toward the project but has not finalized funding. Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a vocal supporter of California high-speed rail, has been negotiating recently with state legislators on as much as $4.2 billion in new money for the rail project. “Hopefully we’ll have an update on (those discussions) by the end of the month,” rail authority spokeswoman Toni Tinoco said Monday. Garrett, Tehachapi’s city manager, noted the area receives little to no benefit from the project itself, even as Bakersfield and Palmdale will benefit. That’s why he said the possibility of a station one day in Tehachapi seems appealing. “It’s not something that’s in the plan at all but in the future there may be a possibility, right?” he said.

Rail authority CEO Brian Kelly said in a news release Friday that the new environmental review, which followed the public release of a draft in February 2020 and a revised version one year after that, culminates thoughtful study and collaboration with various agencies and local government leaders, community members and other stakeholders. “With this effort, California will have 300 of the 500-mile high-speed rail system environmentally cleared, paving the way for future construction progress into Los Angeles County,” he wrote.

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/tehachapi-welcomes-latest-changes-to-high-speed-rail-plans/article_529dff26-d860-11eb-a5a8-6b9a322534a6.html