ST. LOUIS (AP) – A day after Elly De La Cruz jokingly called himself “the fastest man alive,” the rookie backed that up with St. Louis in the series finale.

De La Cruz showed his pace, scoring two hits, hitting base four times and getting the go-ahead with a headfirst sliding grounder in the eighth inning that led the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 over the Cardinals on Sunday.

“Yeah, I’m faster,” De La Cruz said with a smile through a translator. “Anytime they don’t approach me, I have an opportunity to contribute when I’m on base. Whenever I’m on base, I can score.”

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De La Cruz hit an infield single in the first inning at a sprint speed of 31.2 feet per second, with the 21-year-old reaching base ahead of 41-year-old pitcher Adam Wainwright.

“I knew I could do it,” De La Cruz said. “We’re hectic every time.”

De La Cryz equalized the score with an RBI single in the third round to make it 2-2. He De La Cruz went in the sixth, stealing second place and scoring after a single from Tyler Stephenson to equalize 3-3.

Then, in the eighth, De La Cruz took the lead on a full-count push from Jordan Hicks (1-4), advanced through Spencer Steer’s groundout and finished third through Willson Contreras’ passball.

With the infield in, Stephenson hit a two-hopper at Paul DeJong, and the shortstop’s throw landed slightly over first baseline and in the dirt. The ball bounced off Contreras’ mitt as the catcher attempted to score a swipe tag, and De La Cruz slammed the plate with his left hand.

“Right here, I was just trying to get a run for the team and help the team win,” De La Cruz said. “I’m glad I was able to score this run.”

Stephenson said: “I was just as shocked when I turned around and saw it was safe. He’s an incredible talent. Exactly what he can achieve with his speed.”

Cincinnati manager David Bell was impressed.

“That run there was full speed,” Bell said. “It’s a different speed to be able to beat this game. It was a solid batter for a shortstop with a really good arm. He just escaped the throw. It’s pretty incredible.”

De La Cruz is .364 (8 for 22) with five walks, three stolen bases, a .481 on-base percentage and a 1.117 OPS in six games since his debut Tuesday. He has a double, triple, home run and four RBIs.

“He’s a good player and he uses his speed appropriately and in different ways,” said St. Louis coach Oliver Marmol. “He beat us.”

Ian Gibaut (6-1) allowed a hit in 1 2/3 scoreless innings for relief. Alexis Díaz threw a 1-2-3 ninth to keep 15 save chances perfect while the Reds held off the Cardinals two of three.

“It was a great show,” Bell said. “It’s always difficult to play against this team here. All three were hard fought matches. We felt we had to play really well to get two wins here.”

St. Louis went 1-for-11 with runners in goal position and is 9-for-70 (.129) in its last 12 games. The bottom-ranked Cardinals are 7-15 in one-run games and are eight games behind NL Central leaders Pittsburgh. St. Louis has lost seven of its last nine games.

“We are all very upset with the way things are going. “We keep showing up and expecting it to be different, and it doesn’t stay that way,” Wainwright said. “The only common denominator we had is that we found ways to lose. We lose every game in different ways.”

Jonathan India hit a home run in the first round, but in the second the Cardinals went 2-1 through a runs-scoring single from Jordan Walker and an RBI grounder from Tommy Edman.

Nolan Arenado hit an RBI triple in the third set.

Wainwright gave up three runs and a right run in 5 2/3 innings and is 0-1 in his last three outings. He made his 397th start for Wainwright, third for St. Louis behind Bob Gibson and Bob Forsch…. Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene made his first start since June 1, allowing three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings. His fastball averaged 98 mph, 0.6 mph slower than his season average. Due to a stiffness in his right hip, he canceled his scheduled start.

Edman made his tenth appearance at the center this season. He also appeared as shortstop (27 games), second (21), and right (eight). The only other Cardinal in franchise history to appear at second base, shortstop and centerfield in more than 10 games was Dave Brain for the 1904 Cardinals.

Paul Goldschmidt was caught stealing in the seventh inning. This ended a streak of 30 consecutive stolen bases without being caught since 2019.

Reds: Option for RHP Kevin Herget after Triple-A Louisville. Herget pitched 1 1/3 innings Saturday after being called off earlier that day. He allowed three runs and four hits.

Reds: RHP Casey Legumina (bruised right ankle) returned from rehabilitation and was reinstated on Sunday from the 15-day injury list. He is 1-0 with a 4.35 ERA in eight assists this season. … 3B Nick Senzel (right knee injury) is on course to join the Houston team and be activated on Friday.

Cardinals: OF Tyler O’Neill (low back strain) received two injections in his back on June 1 in Los Angeles: a cortisone and lidocaine injection and an epidural for nerve block. He is scheduled to meet with the doctor who administered the injections on Thursday and may be able to resume his baseball activities the next day.

Reds: RHP Luke Weaver (1-2, 6.27) will be making his second career appearance and will face the Royals on Monday, who will play with RHP Zack Greinke (1-6, 4.59). On opening day, Weaver was on the 15-injured list with a right elbow flexor strain and made his season and Reds debut on April 20. Greinke is 8-2 with a 2.38 ERA in 14 career starts against Cincinnati.

Cardinals: LHP Matthew Liberatore (1-2, 6.00) meets San Francisco’s RHP Logan Webb (4-6, 3.09) on Monday. In his last start, Liberatore only lasted four innings and allowed five runs and his first home run of the year.

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WARREN MAYES and Associated Press

26 minutes ago

Willson Contreras of the St. Louis Cardinals throws his bat after coming up in foul territory during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds Sunday, June 11, 2023 in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Rookie Elly De La Cruz showed his pace, scoring two hits, hitting base four times and getting the go-ahead with a headfirst sliding grounder in the eighth inning that gave the Cincinnati Reds the win over the St. Louis Cardinals 4: 3 on Sunday.

De La Cruz hit an infield single in the first inning with a sprint speed of 31.2 feet per second, and the 21-year-old tied the score 2-2 with an RBI single in the third inning against 41-year-old Adam Wainwright .

De La Cruz went into the sixth, stealing second place and scoring after a single from Tyler Stephenson to equalize 3-3. Then, in the eighth, De La Cruz took the lead on a full-count push from Jordan Hicks (1-4), advanced through Spencer Steer’s groundout and finished third through Willson Contreras’ passball.

Vandals damage LGBTQ door display at church in southern St. Louis County

With the infield in, Stephenson hit a two-hopper at Paul DeJong, and the shortstop’s throw landed slightly over first baseline and in the dirt. The ball bounced off Contreras’ mitt as the catcher attempted to score a swipe tag, and De La Cruz slammed the plate with his left hand.

De La Cruz is .364 (8 for 22) with five walks, three stolen bases, a .481 on-base percentage and a 1.117 OPS in six games since his debut Tuesday. He has a double, triple, home run and four RBIs.

Ian Gibaut (6-1) allowed a hit in 1 2/3 scoreless innings for relief. Alexis Díaz threw a 1-2-3 ninth to keep 15 save chances perfect while the Reds held off the Cardinals two of three.

St. Louis went 1-for-11 with runners in goal position and is 9-for-70 (.129) in its last 12 games. The bottom-ranked Cardinals are 7-15 in one-run games and are eight games behind NL Central leaders Pittsburgh. St. Louis has lost seven of its last nine games.

Jonathan India hit a home run in the first round, but in the second the Cardinals went 2-1 through a runs-scoring single from Jordan Walker and an RBI grounder from Tommy Edman.

Nolan Arenado hit an RBI triple in the third set.

NO DECISIONS TO START

Wainwright gave up three runs and a right run in 5 2/3 innings and is 0-1 in his last three outings. He made his 397th start for Wainwright, third for St. Louis behind Bob Gibson and Bob Forsch…. Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene made his first start since June 1, allowing three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings. His fastball averaged 98 mph, 0.6 mph slower than his season average. Due to a stiffness in his right hip, he canceled his scheduled start.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE

Edman made his tenth appearance at the center this season. He also appeared as shortstop (27 games), second (21), and right (eight). The only other Cardinal in franchise history to appear at second base, shortstop and centerfield in more than 10 games was Dave Brain for the 1904 Cardinals.

squad change

Reds: Option for RHP Kevin Herget after Triple-A Louisville. Herget pitched 1 1/3 innings Saturday after being called off earlier that day. He allowed three runs and four hits.

TRAINING ROOM

Reds: RHP Casey Legumina (bruised right ankle) returned from rehabilitation and was reinstated on Sunday from the 15-day injury list. He is 1-0 with a 4.35 ERA in eight assists this season. … 3B Nick Senzel (right knee injury) is on course to join the Houston team and be activated on Friday.

Cardinals: OF Tyler O’Neill (low back strain) received two injections in his back on June 1 in Los Angeles: a cortisone and lidocaine injection and an epidural for nerve block. He is scheduled to meet with the doctor who administered the injections on Thursday and may be able to resume his baseball activities the next day.

NEXT

Reds: RHP Luke Weaver (1-2, 6.27) will be making his second career appearance and will face the Royals on Monday, who will play with RHP Zack Greinke (1-6, 4.59). On opening day, Weaver was on the 15-injured list with a right elbow flexor strain and made his season and Reds debut on April 20. Greinke is 8-2 with a 2.38 ERA in 14 career starts against Cincinnati.

Cardinals: LHP Matthew Liberatore (1-2, 6.00) meets San Francisco’s RHP Logan Webb (4-6, 3.09) on Monday. In his last start, Liberatore only lasted four innings and allowed five runs and his first home run of the year.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to introduce a sweeping bill of laws and sign an executive order Friday to facilitate the construction of transportation, clean energy, water and other infrastructure across California. This step is intended to capitalize on a cash injection from the Biden government to promote climate-friendly construction projects.

The proposal aims to shorten the procurement process for bridge and water projects, limit environmental litigation deadlines, and simplify approval of complicated developments in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and elsewhere.

Overall, administration officials hope the package could accelerate project construction by more than three years and cut costs by hundreds of millions of dollars – efforts they say are needed to meet the state’s aggressive climate goals.

Newsom unveiled the proposal Thursday at an event in Sacramento, calling it “the most ambitious streamlining, licensing and judicial reform in our state in half a century.”

“This is a profound moment,” Newsom said.

Newsom is expected to formally release his 11-bill bill plan at a Friday morning news conference in Stanislaus County.

Administration officials said they want to integrate the package into the 2023-24 state budget, which has to be passed by both houses of the legislature by June 15. Lawmakers are currently negotiating the final details of the budget with Newsom’s office.

At the heart of Newsom’s plan is the California Environmental Quality Act — a polarizing 1970 statute that supposedly helps preserve the state’s natural beauty but is often criticized for putting needed housing, energy and transportation projects in litigation blocked.

The proposal makes no significant changes to the law, which requires officials, agencies and developers to fully consider and publicize a project’s impact on the existing environment. Rather, it seeks to limit the length of time that CEQA lawsuits can drag on in court.

The proposal aims to prevent lawsuits against certain projects in the water, transport, clean energy, semiconductor and microelectronics sectors from lasting more than nine months.

Eligible projects include the governor’s $16 billion plan to build a tunnel to transport water to southern California under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, water recycling and desalination plants, solar arrays, offshore wind farms and power transmission, according to government officials .

The idea is similar to existing practices that have helped speed construction of NBA arenas in San Francisco and Sacramento, as well as other major projects across the state.

Additional CEQA changes in the plan would give government agencies more control over deciding what is needed in a project’s official administrative records, overturning a recent Court of Appeals decision that required the inclusion of internal emails in those records. The litigation over the e-mail issue related to a large residential and commercial development in San Diego County lasted almost two years after it was approved.

For decades there have been debates about speeding up the state’s sluggish process of building critical infrastructure. Major reforms often foundered in the thicket of environmental, development, local government, and labor interests influential in the Capitol. Newsom said Thursday his administration had made an organized effort to get advocacy groups on board.

Gayle Miller, deputy director for policy at the state Treasury Department, told The Times that the plan offers a “sound approach” to addressing CEQA.

“We are not trying to destroy our environmental protection in California. But we’re definitely trying to say enough is enough,” Miller said. “We must move forward and transition the state to its clean energy future.”

Newsom said it’s important to make changes now because there is a projected $180 billion in state and federal funding available for infrastructure in California over the next decade, an amount increased by allocations from the President Biden-signed Infrastructure and climate change legislation is increased.

“It’s one of the most significant investments in California history,” Newsom said. “The only thing standing in our way is the world we invent.”

To kick-start this process, Newsom is expected to sign an executive order directing various government agencies to work together and form an infrastructure attack team, which will theoretically take care of projects that need to be completed and make sure they get to their destination come line.

The newly available federal money also includes many clean energy grants and other competitive grants. For California to win, it must show the federal government it can deliver, the governor said.

Newsom, a Democrat, said those investments would be at risk if talks in Washington about raising the debt limit collapsed.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) said Republicans would agree to raise the limit only if Biden agreed to roll back certain provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, which include ambitious climate plans and funding for infrastructure projects.

“If Kevin McCarthy has his way, that’s going to set us back,” Newsom said Thursday. “What he promotes would have a devastating effect on our progress.”

Other elements of the Newsom package would remove contractual barriers that government agencies encounter when starting and completing their projects.

Newsom wants to allow the State Department of Water Resources and the California Department of Transportation to use a more flexible contracting process for up to eight complex projects each, which could streamline construction and reduce logistical issues that cause delays. Another proposal would allow the transportation department to use a simpler contracting model that could shave months off a project’s schedule.

Departments could use these streamlining tactics to build bridges more quickly, upgrade dams, repair aqueducts, or maintain the state’s highway system. The package would also expedite three planned wildlife crossings along Interstate 15 in San Bernardino County.

The final part of Newsom’s plan would streamline Caltrans’ conservation efforts and approval of projects that affect endangered species or are in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

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SUNNYVALE — As state and local officials begin to mandate only electrical equipment, PG&E has long backlogs in approving upgrades needed for many older homes.

A South Bay couple is feeling the shock of trying to go electric, and their story might serve as a cautionary tale for many.

Mike and Karen Kapolnek’s home in Sunnyvale is more than 100 years old and he has to go down the stairs under the house to get to his stove and water heater. The couple thought they were doing the right thing and replacing all of their gas appliances with electric ones, but it turns out the problem isn’t with the appliances.

“In order to replace these, we need to upgrade our (electrical) switchboard,” Mike said. “We have a 100 amp panel at the moment and we really need about 200 amps.”

They were willing to pay an electrician for that.

“But then we started looking at the various PG&E rules that make it difficult to replace a panel in place,” Mike said.

RELATED: Phase-out plan for gas water heaters and furnaces to relieve consumers

The rules state that a new panel must not be placed too close to the gas meter, although many have been installed there in the past to allow PG&E meters to be read easily.

The Kapolneks have received mixed opinions from the utility company about whether their switchboard is too close to the gas meter, but they were also told that they would need to install a steel post next to their narrow driveway to protect the switchboard.

“Going in and out of a long driveway with a metal pole here was a non-starter for us,” Mike said.

So they decided to move the entire unit to the other side of the house, which could cost more than $10,000.

“PG&E asked us for a $5,000 deposit to cover part of the cost of moving the line to the other side of the house,” Mike explained. “So $10,000 wouldn’t be surprising.”

In addition to the costs, there is time for installation. The Kapolneks have been trying to get approval for the project since August, and they are currently on a 35-week backlog to get the job done. They anticipate it will take a full year to complete the process, but at least they’re in line.

Beginning in 2027, it will be illegal to install gas water heaters in the Bay Area, and they’re concerned about what the backlog will look like for people who need to replace a broken unit.

“I worry about the families who may have to move out of their homes for three, six, maybe more months,” Karen said. “Where will they find a home and will they have to pay double the rent? Or pay two mortgages, or rent and a mortgage? It just seems like the cost wasn’t fully estimated.”

The experience has left the couple feeling jaded about the way rules are made.

“They’re very enthusiastic and want it done right away,” Mike said. “But you have to take a step back and realize that this is affecting real people, that we have real systems that people rely on in their day-to-day lives and you have to work with those and transition smoothly and think about these issues and solve them before it is too late.”

Currently, the state ban on gas appliances begins in 2035, but the Bay Area has a more aggressive timeline. This is where the ban on new gas boilers from 2027 and for new stoves from 2029 begins.

John Ramos

John Ramos accidentally launched a lifelong career in journalism when he began drawing editorial cartoons and writing witty satire for the Bakersfield High School newspaper.

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According to the latest Zillow Real Estate Market Report, the housing market is as competitive as ever, moving at record pace. Buyer demand has been strong enough to keep the market moving at a record pace, even after a massive spike in mortgage rates.

Year-over-year home value growth set a record for the 13th consecutive month in April, as the typical US home is now worth $344,141 — 20.9% higher than a year ago. That record pace of growth comes despite rising mortgage rates eating away at what home buyers can afford.

The monthly mortgage payment on the typical US home is 11.7% higher than it would have been in March, and 52.5% higher than a year ago, assuming a 30-year mortgage with a 20% down payment.

“We do expect the market to begin rebalancing this spring as rising costs keep enough would-be buyers on the sidelines for inventory to begin catching up with demand, but we have not yet reached that point,” said Nicole Bachaud, Zillow Economist. “Nearly half of homes are selling above their list price, and April sales happened as almost as we’ve ever recorded. It may very well be that fewer people are trying to buy, but with bidding wars continuing to drive up prices on limited inventory , those in the market today likely won’t feel much relief.”

To keep monthly mortgage costs the same as they would have been a year ago, today’s buyers must shop in a different price range. According to estimates from Zillow’s mortgage calculator, a buyer who can afford a monthly mortgage payment of $1,500 could have paid roughly $340,000 for a house a year ago, when mortgage rates were much lower.

Today, that $1,500 monthly payment could buy a house worth about $275,000. And that is before factoring in home value growth of more than 20% during that time; a buyer would have paid about $227,500 a year ago for that $275,000 home.

Rising costs have not yet eased competition. Homes that sold in April typically went pending after only seven days, tying a monthly record set last May and June. To put that remarkable market speed into perspective, in April 2019, the last spring before the pandemic, the typical home sat on the market for 24 days before an offer was accepted.

Nearly half (48%) of homes that were purchased in March — the latest data available — sold for more than the asking price, indicating the buyer expected multiple bidders. That’s up from 37.5% in March 2021. More than three-quarters of homes are selling above list price in the country’s most competitive markets: San Francisco (80.4%), Seattle (77.3%) and San Jose (76.1%).

Distant signs are starting to emerge that a more balanced market is around the corner. The share of listings with a price cut crept up to 9.1%, higher than 8.6% in March and 7.8% last April. That may be a sign that sellers cannot be quite as ambitious in their pricing strategy as they could have been in recent months.

Inventory continues to rise as well, up 5.5% from March — the second straight month of growth. The year-over-year inventory deficit has also shrunk in each of the past three months, now sitting at -19.5%.

More inventory is both the consequence and the cause of a more balanced housing market: It limits the number of buyers bidding on each home as there are more to choose from, and it prompts sellers to price their home competitively.

Zillow’s home value forecast now calls for 11.6% growth through April 2023, down from a year-ahead forecast of 14.9% made in March. Zillow’s forecast for existing home sales has been lowered as well, now predicting 5.73 million sales in 2022. That would mark a 6.4% decrease from 2021. Spiking mortgage rates, inventory gains, and lower-than-expected pending home sales and mortgage application data drove the downward revision.

These downwardly revised projections would still represent a very strong housing market in the coming year. Other than this recent run of record-breaking home value growth, only during a short stretch in 2005 have home values ​​grown faster than 11.6% annually in the history of the Zillow Home Value Index. And while 5.73 million existing home sales would be a decrease from a remarkably strong 2021, that would mark the second-best calendar year total since 2006.

The pace of annual rent growth slowed for the second consecutive month. Rents are up 16.4% year over year, down from 17% annual growth in March. The typical US rental unit costs $1,927 a month.

To read the full report, including charts and methodology, click here.

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Low occupancy? Look At Variable Speed ​​HVAC

Coupled with the need to increase outdoor air into the building, lower occupancies may present a challenge to facilities teams.

By John Sheff
From the October 2021 Issue

It’s a bit of an understatement to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work. Many offices are either totally empty or operating at a fraction of their intended occupancy. Remote work, once thought of as a drag on productivity, has proven so successful that it’s likely here to stay in some capacity irrespective of the pandemic. And, as people slowly return to the office, those spaces are experiencing major changes in how they operate. More than 18 months into the pandemic, masking, social distancing, and vaccines are still effective ways to mitigate the virus’ spread, but facility managers and building owners are also investing in new hardware to help that effort. Adding upgraded air filtration systems and ultraviolet lighting are recommended, but the most important mitigation feature is increasing the supply of outdoor air in the building, which helps increase air flow and disperse virus particles in the air.

(PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK – DENISISMAGILOV)

This combination of fluctuating occupancy coupled with the need to increase the flow of outdoor air present facility managers and building owners with an unusual challenge: How to maintain a steady flow of air to properly ventilate a space that only a small number of people are using.

The vast majority of US offices utilizes constant speed HVAC systems to heat and cool their occupied spaces. Whether we’re talking about large commercial office buildings using chillers and boilers or low-rise office suites with rooftop units, these systems are by and large fixed speed, meaning they operate at either 100% or 0% capacity with nothing in between. Just like your home HVAC system, these systems turn on when they condition the space to thermostat’s set point and click off when that set point is reached. When the system is off there is no air flow occurring.

This worked in the pre-pandemic world because offices were mostly full, and ventilating beyond what building codes required was unnecessary. In the middle of a pandemic, however, it presents problems. These constant volume systems are designed to heat and cool during the hottest and coldest days of the year, which occur roughly 2% of the time. The other 98% of the time, the system is oversized. Bringing more outside air into the building, which then needs to be heated or cooled, drives up system usage and utility bills. Not to mention that this oversized system is operating more than usual to condition outside air and ventilate the building for only a handful of people. In this context it makes sense that even as office occupancies have cratered by 70% or more, energy use in those offices has decreased by just 25%, according to a recent Greentech Media article.

Variable speed technology, which is available in office applications large and small, provides some solutions to this unique set of challenges. Unlike constant speed systems, variable speed ones can run between 20% and 100% capacity, effectively matching HVAC load to the building’s actual demand. And, as opposed to the on/off operation method of their fixed-speed counterparts, variable speed systems operate continuously, providing a steady stream of conditioned air.

These two features of variable speed systems give facility managers distinct advantages during this pandemic. First, as people slowly return to the workplace and while future lockdowns are possible, the ability to ramp a system up and down depending on demand is vital.

Even if an office is totally empty, many leases require tenant spaces to be minimally conditioned at all times. Many HVAC systems, particularly hydronic ones involving water, require regular usage to avoid corrosion. Variable speed systems can be run continuously at lowered speeds to match low demand and maintain system usage. When more people return to the office, the system ramps up to meet their needs.

Second, since a variable speed system is continuously operating, even at a lowered rate, it is also continuously ventilating the space. Facility managers no longer need to increase systems operating hours to increase ventilation. They need only increase the flow of outdoor air, which the system conditions and moves around the space, or raise the system’s minimum speed to allow for more air flow.

Under normal circumstances, variable speed HVAC systems offer attractive paybacks and low total cost of ownership. During this pandemic, however, these next generation systems prove essential. They provide facility managers and owners with the flexibility needed to manage in this very uncertain time.

Sheff is director of public and industry affairs for Danfoss in North America. Previously, he was business development manager, leading cross-business initiatives within buildings. Before joining Danfoss, Sheff worked as an energy and sustainability policy analyst in the office of Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley before earning an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park in 2014.

Do you have a comment? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, or send an e-mail to the Editor at [email protected].

Check out all the recent HVAC Factor columns from Facility Executive magazine.

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Here are your FOX Business Flash top headlines for March 25.

One expert is claiming that Facebook and Twitter are moving at a “slow speed” in their enforcement of Russian government propaganda and disinformation on social media.

After Russian forces bombed a maternity hospital on March 9 in Mariupol, the Russian embassy in the United Kingdom tweeted pictures from the blast captioned with the word “FAKE” over them, implying that the hospital only had military troops inside.

The embassy also targeted Ukrainian blogger Marianna Podgurskaya, stating that she “played” the role of a pregnant woman with “very realistic make-up,” that looked like blood.

“It’s the indeed pregnant [Ukraine] beauty blogger Marianna Podgurskaya,” the embassy tweeted, according to the New York Post. “She actually played roles of both pregnant women in the photos.”

UKRAINE CRISIS: KREMLIN BLOCKING RUSSIANS’ ACCESS TO TWITTER AMID PROTESTS, CRITICISM: RESEARCHER

IRPIN, UKRAINE – MARCH 07: Residents of Irpin flee heavy fighting via a destroyed bridge as Russian forces entered the city on March 07, 2022 in Irpin, Ukraine. Russia continues its assault on Ukraine’s major cities, including the capital Kyiv, more (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The posts were removed from Twitter, but only after government officials in the United Kingdom expressed outrage, according to the report.

Emerson Brooking, a resident senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council, told FOX Business that this is a prime example of social media companies moving at a “slow speed” to combat propaganda coming from Russian government accounts.

“What has troubled me most is the slow speed of enforcement in cases where Russia is using its government presence or it’s continuing the existence of government accounts clearly to spread disinformation,” Brooking said. “In the case of the Russian embassy that was personally maligning a bomb victim in Mariupol, claiming that this woman was a crisis actor and was an outrageous, personally directed attack and the attack lasted for several hours on Twitter before it was removed and got significant shares.”

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Facebook and Twitter have taken actions targeting the Russian government as well as some aimed at helping keep individuals informed.

UKRAINE WAR: META SAYS IT WILL RESTRICT RUSSIAN STATE-OWNED MEDIA RT AND SPUTNIK IN EUROPE AMID INVASION

In this photo illustration the Facebook logo seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Twitter suspended advertisements in Russia and Ukraine on Feb. 25 in an effort to ensure “critical public safety information is elevated and ads don’t detract from it,” according to the company.

A Twitter spokesperson pointed to FOX Business to a blog post explaining their approach to the war in Ukraine, which includes de-amplifying content that isn’t associated with a risk for immediate harm but may be out of context and mislead people. If a tweet is in violation of the Twitter rules, action will be taken against it, the blog post states.

One day after Twitter made the announcement, Meta announced that it is banning Russian state media from “running ads or monetizing on our platform anywhere in the world.” Meta also announced the establishment of a “Special Operations Center to respond in real time.”

Meta also announced on Feb. 28 that it is restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the European Union.

TWITTER SUSPENDS ADVERTISEMENTS IN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AMID WAR

Brooking, however, says that there is a difference between that type of content and press releases or government statements that are shared on Russian government accounts.

“I want to distinguish that kind of content from press releases or government statements, or the things that are typically released via these channels,” Brooking said. “That’s the sort of content, even if we find it despicable, that I think should continue to circulate in the digital space.”

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FILE – This July 9, 2019, file photo shows a sign outside of the Twitter office building in San Francisco. Twitter posted solid results for the last three months of 2020, capping what CEO Jack Dorsey called “an extraordinary year” for the platform. ( (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu / AP Images)

Brooking says that social media companies face a constant battle to maintain balance.

“For these companies, it is always a balancing act. And if Russia continues to use its official voices to engage in such personal and repugnant attacks, then I think their access to these platforms should be totally removed,” Brooking said.

FOX Business’ Michael Ruiz contributed to this report

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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — San Francisco Bay is playing host this weekend to a new sailing competition called Sail GP. The races are short, the boats are very fast and, if Saturday’s crowd was any indication, it may be the wave of the future.

This is only the second season for Sail GP, an international sailing competition that patterns itself on the Grand Prix auto racing circuit. The 50-foot catamarans ride up out of the water on foils, turn on a dime and can reach speeds over 60 mph.

“Sail GP is all about high-adrenaline, close-to-shore racing,” said chief marketing officer Erica Kerner. “It is the fastest boats on the water. It’s absolutely incredible.”

Unlike America’s Cup, which is as much a technology competition as a boat race, Sail GP boats are identical so the races are won or lost by the skill of the sailors. This weekend is the season’s last event and the prelims will decide who joins the US and Australia in Sunday’s final, single-race sprint for a $1 million.

“I think it’s a great idea, I do, and this is the best place to sail,” said racing fan Doug Roberts. “That’s why they’re going to end up here, because you’re not going to find any place like San Francisco Bay.”

San Francisco Bay is an ideal venue for watching a sailing competition. It features strong winds and provides an accessible waterfront giving people an up-close view of the action. The prospect of seeing boats moving so fast, so close to shore, brought out a huge crowd of spectators Saturday.

“It’s doggone thrilling! Who doesn’t want to be thrilled?” said Greg White, who traveled from Santa Barbara to watch the races. “This is pretty good stuff.”

White, who is an avid sailor, said Sail GP is already having an impact on the racing community. He said America’s Cup switched from single hulls to catamarans and are now also racing on foils.

“They realize they have to do something because this is here to stay,” White said. “There’s a little bit of, ‘I’m going to catch up with these other crazy fellows,’ and good on ’em for it.”

Sailing enthusiast Nate Bernardo thinks the shorter, 14-minute sprints of Sail GP may become more popular with the public than traditional yacht racing and the America’s Cup might be in trouble.

“The America’s Cup is more prestigious but Sail GP is a little bit faster-pace and I think it will appeal more to the younger demographic,” he said. “That is the future.”

There will be three races Sunday, two more qualifiers then the final, million-dollar race at 3 pm The event is centered at the Saint Francis Yacht Club and can best be viewed anywhere along the waterfront from Crissy Field to Marina Green.

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Written by

David Peter Alan, Contributing Editor

Amtrak’s new Alstom-built Acela II trainset, seen here testing on the Northeast Corridor, is expected to enter revenue service later this year. (Gary Pancavage)

RAILWAY AGE MARCH 2022 ISSUE: U.S. high-speed rail is a mixed bag, with some projects more likely to succeed than others.

As the Obama-Biden Administration began in 2009 and 2010, “High-Speed Rail” (HSR) became a buzz-phrase in transportation circles. The High-Speed Intercity Rail Program began, but quickly went nowhere. Democrats sponsored it; Republican governors in Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida killed proposed routes in their states. 

Only California planned a genuine HSR line, and that project was nearly dead three years ago. Today, it is alive again and making steady progress. So is Brightline in Florida and its subsidiary, Brightline West in Southern California and Nevada, at least as far as Las Vegas. What about the prospect of more fast and frequent service, which seemed possible for a brief moment about 12 years ago? How is the nation faring with efforts to establish high-performance passenger trains?

First, a definition. For the purposes of this article, “high-performance rail” includes passenger rail services that will achieve speeds of 110 mph or higher. This comports with the FRA’s standard for Class 6 track, where that is the top speed. Of course, it would also include faster trains on higher-tier track: Class 7 for 125 mph or Class 8 for 160 mph. The FRA allows Class 9 track with a speed limit of 200 mph, which meets the international standard for true HSR, as found in Europe, China and Japan. At this writing, there is no such track in the U.S., but a segment of it is under construction in California.

It has been a mixed bag for projects designed to deliver service at those speeds. There is an ambitious public-sector project in California, two that are being built by a private-sector company in different parts of the country, one that seems to be headed for the end of the line (not in a good sense), and some efforts to speed service on a few Amtrak routes. Every one of them is different, and some are more likely to succeed than others. Still, the prospect of high-performance passenger rail in the U.S. has moved beyond the realm of science fiction, even though it will not catapult the nation to the status of a world-class hotbed for HSR trains, like Japan, China or a number of countries in Europe.

A bit of recent history: When the Obama-Biden Administration was pushing its version of HSR, which was not as fast as the “real thing” running in Europe and Asia today, Joseph C. Szabo was Federal Railroad Administrator. Szabo “knew the railroad.” He had started on train and engine service in Chicago and had worked his way up, through his labor affiliation. The FRA sponsored a number of conferences about the Administration’s conception of HSR. Szabo remarked that it was easier to speed up a run by raising the bottom speed than by raising the top speed. Those of us who were familiar with the railroad knew this, while those who were not familiar with railroad operations probably did not, but it was Washington’s way of letting us know that applicants for grants should be looking toward what we are now calling “high-performance rail” rather than true HSR according to international standards.

Projects in Florida (Orlando to Tampa), Wisconsin (Milwaukee to Madison), and Ohio (Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton, the 3C+D) received grants from the FRA, but Republican governors turned them down. Looking back at the projects, while it would have been good to have them added to the nation’s mobility map, it does not appear that they would meet the standard for high-performance rail. The money that would have gone toward them was spent elsewhere instead, but those projects have been proposed again in Amtrak’s Connect US plan for expanding state-supported trains and corridors by 2035, which was introduced in April 2021.

There was one other grant recipient: the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), a public-sector agency that started building a line with some true HSR mileage, the first in the nation. The project has had difficulties through the years, including three years ago, when the FRA said the project could not be completed by 2022, and “de-obligated” its $929 million grant to CHSRA. In an article on the Railway Age website, Whither (Wither) High-Speed Rail?, which expressed general doubt about the future of HSR in the U.S., I pronounced the project dead. Its circumstances have changed since then, and it is now doing better.

The proposed system would start with a spine between San Francisco and Anaheim, through Los Angeles (Phase 1), now slated to open in 2030. Trains will originate in San Francisco at a new station to be called the Salesforce Transit Center. From there, they will proceed along the present Caltrain line on the Peninsula to San José and Gilroy, turn left and go east through the Pacheco Pass to a point in the Central Valley (and near the current San Joaquin line on Amtrak) between Merced and Madera, and then from Madera south to Bakersfield. From there, the line would go to Los Angeles through the Tehachapi Pass and the Antelope Valley, through Burbank, and into Union Station. South of there, the last segment would go to Anaheim. 

Construction is well under way in the Central Valley, with the first segment to be built between Merced and a point 19 miles north of Bakersfield. When completed, it will be the first piece of Class 9 track in the country, with a top speed of 200 mph. Plans call for a three-hour running time between San Francisco and Los Angeles when Phase 1 opens for service. Phase 2 calls for two extensions: from Merced to Sacramento on the north end, and a new route on the south end; from Los Angeles east to San Bernardino and then south through Escondido to San Diego. 

The CHSRA is pursuing federal and state funding, including cap-and-trade credits. The FRA gave the CHSRA the money it started to take away three years ago, and the CHSRA is hoping to raise more money to complete Phase 1 and the two Phase 2 extensions. If the line is completed, it will be the first true HSR line in the country, possibly the only one for decades to come. If the CHSRA runs out of money, the line would not get any closer to Los Angeles than the existing San Joaquin trains, terminating at Bakersfield and requiring a bus ride to continue to Los Angeles. The cost of the entire project may be as high as $105 billion, but the CHSRA hopes it can all be built for less money. We are living in economically chaotic times, but the CHSRA expects to raise the funds.

A private-sector corporation is moving forward on two fronts to establish service in two places. Brightline, a passenger start-up company, has been running fast conventional trains between Miami and West Palm Beach along the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) and building an extension to Orlando Airport. Upgrades to the FEC main as far as Cocoa have been completed, and test runs are now taking place to familiarize crews with the railroad north of West Palm Beach. There is also construction in the area near Orlando Airport, with plans to connect to Cocoa with a new railroad built along Florida State Route 528. Brightline is looking to provide a three-hour ride, with a speed limit of 110 mph on the segment between West Palm Beach and Cocoa, and 125 mph from Cocoa until the last few miles near the airport. Plans call for service to start in 2023.

Brightline has plans for further expansion to Tampa and a station on Disney property called Disney Springs, between the two. This writer has suggested here in Railway Age that running some trains that would make additional stops between West Palm Beach and Cocoa, and eventually to Jacksonville for connections to Amtrak trains going north to New York and other Northeastern cities, would bring tourists to the east coast of Florida and increase mobility for people living there.

Brightline West

Brightline’s other initiative is Brightline West, formerly known as DesertXpress and XpressWest before Brightline bought it in 2018. The original plan was to run between a point in the Victor Valley to Las Vegas, a plan that was roundly criticized for lacking a connection to the Los Angeles Basin, a catchment area with millions of residents, many of whom do not have automobiles. Brightline West’s current plans solve that problem with a new segment that would run eastward from a park-and-ride station in the Victor Valley to Rancho Cucamonga, a stop on the San Bernardino Line operated by Metrolink, the regional/commuter rail system. Service on that line is the most-robust of all Metrolink lines; it would provide a two-seat ride between Las Vegas and Los Angeles Union Station. The top speed on the segment to Las Vegas would be 180 mph, the average speed would be 115 mph, and the trip would take two hours. With the 75-minute trip on Metrolink, trip time from the City of Angels to the gambling mecca would be 3.5 hours, faster than a trip on the highway. Brightline officials plan to run a train every 45 minutes, and service is slated to begin in 2026, an ambitious schedule for building a new railroad. There are also plans to serve the region north of Los Angeles with a line to Palmdale that would offer connections to California’s high-speed line and Metrolink’s Antelope Valley Line.

While signals appear green for Brightline, both in Florida and for Brightline West, and yellow for the California HSR project, indications are red for Texas Central, a private-sector initiative that plans to build a true HSR line between Dallas and the intersection of two highways several miles from Houston, using Japanese Series 700 Shinkansen equipment and technology. The issues are land acquisition and the demands of people who live along the potential  line, but nowhere near a stop. Brightline was able to beat back a legal challenge from counties along with Florida coast where the trains would run but not stop, but Texas Central will probably not do as well. A lawsuit by a landowner may stop the line in its tracks.

James Frederick Myles, a landowner along the proposed line, objected to the railroad using his property and sued, in a case covered extensively on our website. The trial court agreed with him, the appellate court reversed and found for Texas Central, and the Texas Supreme Court turned down the case. Then, suddenly, the Court decided to take the case, invited the state to intervene, and has already held oral arguments. Republicans in the area have opposed the project vigorously, while Democrats in Dallas and Houston support it. All nine of the justices on the Texas Court are Republicans, either elected or appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. While courts can always come up with a surprise, it appears highly likely at this writing that Texas Central is coming to the end of the line, a casualty of the rough-and-tumble world of Texas politics. To make matters worse for Texas Central, Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-Tex.) opposes the project and has introduced a bill in the House that would prohibit any HSR project from starting construction until it has acquired all the land it needs. It is unclear whether or not the bill would pass, but it could seriously jeopardize HSR, nationwide.

Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-Tex.)

There are some plans for faster trains on some Amtrak lines, but it is unclear when the speed increases will occur. Parts of the line between Chicago and Detroit are being upgraded for 110-mph operation, as are parts of the line between the Windy City and St. Louis. Yet, running times on both lines have not decreased substantially in decades. It currently takes almost 5.5 hours to get from Chicago to either Detroit or St. Louis, although schedules on the latter line have been trimmed by about 10 minutes lately, for 90-mph operation. Higher speeds will require upgrades to the existing PTC (Positive Train Control) technology.

There are also places on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) where trains run at high-performance speeds. Acela trains can run at 150 mph on portions of the line in Rhode Island, while they can run at 135 mph on the Speedway in central New Jersey and at 125 mph in other areas. Conventional Northeast Regional trains run at 110 mph. There are plans for higher speeds under the proposed NEC Future initiative, an FRA process that issued a Record of Decision (ROD) in 2017, but no measures to increase train speed have been implemented. Today’s Acela trains average 78 mph between New York and Washington, D.C. and slower to Boston. The Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Harrisburg is rated for 110 mph. 

— Moving toward a HSR future requires cultural change, not just faster trains on upgraded lines. —

Chicago advocate and railroad historian F.K. Plous raised an issue about the definition of “high-performance rail” in terms of providing enhanced mobility for riders. While speed is a component of high-performance, Plous contends that there are others, too: safety, frequency of service, reliability, and connectivity with other trains and local transit. Plous told Railway Age that true high-performance rail requires networks, not merely individual rail lines. He offered the Lincoln Service Amtrak line between Chicago and St. Louis as an example of a line where connectivity is weak. He stressed that a truly high-performance rail network is one that saturates the market by getting motorists off the highways.

Improving passenger rail performance enough to entice motorists out of their automobiles and onto the train would also improve mobility for non-motorists. The issue that Plous raises deserves serious thought, as elected officials, transportation officials, managers and rider-advocates prepare for a future that we hope will have more and better rail passenger service than the nation has today. Moving toward such a future would require more than merely planning and implementing faster service on selected rail lines. It would require cultural change. 

Categories: C&S, Freight, High Performance, Intercity, M/W, Mechanical, News, Passenger, PTC
Tags: Amtrak, Breaking News, Brightline, California High Speed Rail Authority, Texas Central Railway

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Seven busy corridors in San Francisco are likely to lower their speed limits to 20 mph in early January as the city uses its newfound power to reduce speeds under a new state law.

The announcement of the first speed limit changes the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is planning under AB43 comes less than a month after Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law. It reflects the urgency of the city to achieve its self-imposed goal of eliminating the death toll of pedestrians by 2024.

Seven corridors would reduce their speed limits according to the proposal that the Agency’s Board of Directors will vote on December 7th:

• Mission Valencia Street from Cesar Chavez to Market Street and sections of 24th Street between Diamond Street and San Bruno Avenue.

• Sections of Haight Street from Stanyan to Steiner Street.

• Polk Street from Filbert to Sutter Street.

• Sections of Fillmore Street between Chestnut and McAllister Streets.

• San Bruno Avenue from Silver to Paul Avenue.

• Segments of Ocean Avenue between Geneva and 19th Avenue.

Pedestrians and vehicles are seen near a 20 mph speed limit sign in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. The reduced speed limits are part of the city’s goal of avoiding fatal pedestrians.

Nick Otto / Special to The Chronicle

For years, traffic officials and advocates have viewed speed reduction as an effective tool in making city streets more pedestrian-friendly and safer for pedestrians. Research has shown that even reducing speed by 5 mph increases the likelihood of someone surviving a vehicle accident.

But until now, at least, San Francisco and other California cities that wanted to reduce the speed limits on their streets said they were prevented from doing so because of the state’s bureaucratic process of setting speed limits, which historically was based on the average speed of most cars were traveling along a certain corridor.

Most of the city’s road sections have speed limits of 25 mph, and some proponents have called for the city to recognize 20 mph as a de facto speed limit, as San Francisco did on a smaller scale than a 20-quarter speed km / h limits introduced in the tenderloin this spring.

Don’t expect this to happen on AB43. The final version of the bill limited eligible road corridors to those belonging to business districts – including the first seven corridors – or the road network of cities where the greatest number of serious injuries and deaths occur. Cities cannot speed reductions on roads in the latter category until June 2024, and the state Department of Transportation is still in the process of rewriting road eligibility rules.

“We are delighted that the SFMTA is moving so fast to come up with a list of roads that will be speeded down on the AB43,” said Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco. “Submitting seven corridors for immediate approval is a step in the right direction.”

Several other commercial corridors will be eligible for speed limit reductions under the new law, according to the transport authority. These include Irving, Noriega and Taraval streets at sunset; much of Mission Street; and Clement and Balboa Streets in Richmond.

The city is also looking into reducing speed limits in other neighborhoods such as Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, South of Market, Mission Bay, and the Financial District. Erica Kato, a spokeswoman for the agency, said several streets in these neighborhoods are eligible for speed reductions and the agency’s staff plan to make further recommendations to the board over the next year.

The speed reductions are part of the city’s wider efforts as part of its Vision Zero target to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists and prevent deaths within the next three years.

Progress has been persistent. Despite restrictions on on-site housing during the pandemic, San Francisco recorded 30 deaths in 2020, up from 29 deaths in 2019.

The San Francisco Transportation Authority is promising a more aggressive approach to road improvement as part of a strategic plan that the board will discuss Tuesday. The agency’s Vision Zero plan calls for the construction of more protected cycle paths, speed limits and measures to calm traffic and reduce lanes.

While the agency has not yet decided on the finer details, many of these changes would come as part of the “quick build process” that the MTA relied on to create a 20-mile network of transit-only lanes during the pandemic. This process aims to reduce bureaucracy that has hindered previous road change efforts by giving the city’s traffic engineer more power to make changes unilaterally.

If the city moves forward on the strategic plan, “we should see and reduce overall serious injuries, collisions and deaths,” Medeiros said. “This is what we asked for.”

Ricardo Cano is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: ricardo.cano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByRicardoCano

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