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(1 of ) Matt Stevens, SMART's community education and outreach employee, uses the new Airport Blvd. station to take photos of a SMART railcar, Wednesday June 29, 2016 in Santa Rosa. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2016 (2 of ) A SMART train passes through Rohnert Park at Southwest Boulevard in 2016. (JOHN BURGESS/ PD FILE) (3 of ) A SMART train passes by the bicycle rack at the Railroad Square SMART rail station, in Santa Rosa in 2016. (ALVIN JORNADA/ PD) (5 of ) A SMART test train pulls into the Rohnert Park platform, south of Rohnert Park Expressway in Rohnert Park in 2016. (CHRISTOPHER CHUNG/ PD) (6 of ) Scott Mitchell, one of 11 train engineers for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit system, takes the public on a test ride in August 2016. (ANGELA HART/ PD FILE) (7 of ) SMART's train number 2 heads for San Rafael, Monday June 26, 2017, crossing Sixth Street in Santa Rosa. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2017 (8 of ) SMART's train number 2 heads for San Rafael, Monday June 26, 2017, after stopping at the Railroad Square station, Santa Rosa. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2017

MARTIN ESPINOZA

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | June 26, 2017, 12:13PM

| Updated 6 minutes ago.

What better way to generate buzz about a new transit service than to offer free rides? Thats exactly what Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit will be doing starting Thursday.

Offering the public an early look at the North Bays newest transportation system, SMART has scheduled three days of free rides June 29 and July 1 and 4, with more free ride schedules expected to be announced later this week.

Were really excited to be able to finally let people on the trains to experience them, said Debora Fudge, chairwoman of SMARTs board of directors.

Fudge, the mayor of Windsor, said SMART has been granted permission by the federal government to allow limited passenger use while federal officials do their final review of SMARTs positive train control, or PTC, an advanced safety system that automatically shuts down a train in the event of an emergency such as derailments caused by excessive speed.

She said SMART has fully tested the trains PTC system and will be offering free rides until the federal government approves paid passenger service.

When we get that final permit, then we run 34 trains a day and start commuter service, Fudge said.

SMARTs soft-launch begins Thursday, with three free round-trip rides from between Rohnert Park and Marin Civic Center stations. Trains depart southbound from SMARTs Rohnert Park Station at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Trains will depart northbound from the Marin Civic Center at 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Riders can get on and off at any stop.

Then on July 1 and 4, SMART has scheduled a type of excursion service for Sonoma County residents planning to go to the Marin County Fair in San Rafael. Free rides will be offered between all stations between Sonoma County Airport Station and the Marin Civic Center station, which is near where the fair will take place. Riders on these trains also can get on and off at any stop.

The train will start at the Sonoma County Airport Station at 5 p.m. and arrive at the Marin Civic Center at 6:01 p.m. On both days, the train will be held at the Marin Civic Center until after the fireworks, departing back to Sonoma County at 10:36 p.m.

The train arrives at Sonoma County Airport Station at 11:37 p.m.

Free rides will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis, said SMART spokeswoman Jeanne Mariani-Belding, who encouraged people to arrive early.

The specific schedules and station locations offered during the public review period are based on thousands of responses from the pubic, SMART said.

On Monday, one North Bay resident watched with curiosity as a SMART made a test stop at the Santa Rosa Downtown Station at Railroad Square.

Emily Porter of Mill Valley said shes been considering commuting between Marin County and her job at a winemaking supply company in Petaluma.

I was wondering if it was going to be a viable commute but the commute is not that bad, she said. I reverse commute to Petaluma when everyone else is going to San Francisco.

Rick James, who lives in Santa Rosa and works at Keysight Technologies, said he has no reason to use the new transit system as a commuter but wouldnt mind taking it for fun family trips. On Monday, James and his daughter, UC Santa Cruz student Kelsey James, spent part of the afternoon visiting Railroad Square.

Both joked theyd definitely ride the rail system if it went all the way to Santa Cruz.

I hope it takes off, though. Weve invested so much, said the elder James. It would be good to get people off the road.

Kelsey, who is getting a graduate degree in cognitive psychology, said she had a chance to study abroad in Italy and loved riding the train. She said she admired how the various Italian public transit systems of buses, taxis and trains were connected. Theres something nostalgic about riding the train, she said, adding that even a modern train feels right.

Mariani-Belding said the preview rides are aimed at getting local residents more familiar with the new transit system and how it works. She said later this week SMART will announce additional schedules for upcoming preview rides.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.

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SMART train begins free preview rides this week - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

The Free Beacon has an interesting story, based on interviews of unnamed Trump administration officials, about the Obama minions, some still embedded in the bureaucracy, who are leaking furiously to the Washington Post and the New York Times:

A new wave of leaks targeting the Trump administration has actively endangered ongoing intelligence and military operations being conducted by the United States and its allies, sparking anger and concern inside and outside the White House, according to multiple conversations with senior U.S. officials intimately familiar with the situation.

The classified leaks, which are being handed to sympathetic journalists by former Obama administration officials who left the government and by holdovers still serving in the Trump administration, have damaged a number of ongoing operations, ranging from American efforts to prevent Russian infiltration of the United States to Israeli efforts against ISIS, sources said.

The Democrats pretend to be concerned about Russia, but have no compunction about interfering with the Trump administrations efforts to deal with the Russian threat (which Obama, to his everlasting shame, didnt). The Obama administration never pretended to be concerned about Israels security, so I guess we cant accuse them of hypocrisy on that one.

Anger is running so high that multiple current U.S. officials have named some of the former Obama officials they believe are behind the unauthorized disclosures, which Trump officials say are aimed at kneecapping the current administration and also rewriting the record of the Obama years. *** The leaks have been traced to a number of former Obama administration officials, including Ben Rhodesthe former National Security Council official responsible for creating an in-house echo chamber meant to mislead reporters and the public about the landmark nuclear deal with Iranand Colin Kahl, former Vice President Joe Bidens national security adviser.

Another source, this one a senior administration official who is also intimately familiar with the situation, confirmed the assessment to the Washington Free Beacon.

Those responsible for the disastrous foreign national security policy of the Obama administration for the last yearsBen Rhodes, Colin Kahlthey provide the marching orders to a broader group of people that are associated with the broader [Democratic Party] Podesta-Clinton network, and now theyre trying to rewrite history at the cost of American national security, the official said.

The leakers and reporters need to be criminally prosecuted. We keep hearing that the Trump administration is serious about doing this, but it is time for action. I am not a criminal lawyer and dont presume to give advice to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a former U.S. Attorney and long time member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But I would think one way to proceed is to impanel a grand jury and subpoena the reporters who have illegally published leaked information, and ask them their sources. There is no federal shield law, so as I understand it, if they refuse they can be imprisoned indefinitely. (This happened to Judith Miller.) The sources dont seem to be much of a mystery, and the reporters and editors obviously arent. So it is time for the law to come down hard on the leakers and their enablers.

See the article here:
Trump Insiders Denounce Democrat Leaks - Power Line (blog)

How discouraged should Democrats be after failing to win any of the four recent House special elections to fill vacancies? The losses, most recently of Jon Ossoff, in Georgias 6th district, triggered a blame game, directed against House leader Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic National Committee, the tacticians of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and candidate Ossoff himself.

For starters, consider the numbers. Every one of these races was a long shot, and in every case the Democrat did notably better than his counterpart in 2014 or 2016.

Ossoff lost by 3.7 points. In 2016, the Democrat lost the seat by 16.2 points. In other words, Ossoff improved the Democratic performance by more than 12 points.

Likewise in the Kansas 4th district election of April 11, Democrat James Thompson lost by 6.8 points. But in the 2016 election, the Democrat lost by a massive 24.6 percent. The swing was 17.8 points to the Democrat.

In South Carolinas 5th district election June 20, a sleeper race which did not compete seriously for national funding, Democrat Archie Parnell lost by just 3.2 pointsless than 3,000 votesand benefited from a swing of over 10 points compared to 2016. Even in the May contest for Montanas at large seat, Democrat Rob Quist gained 2.7 points relative to the 2016 House race, and did almost 11 points better than Trump.

The average Democratic gain in these four long-shot races was about ten points. If that average were to hold nationwide in 2018, Democrats would comfortably take back the House.

But what about the charge that House leader Nancy Pelosi, at 77 and representing liberal San Francisco, presents the wrong image for the national party? Republican Karen Handel, who won the Georgia seat, made Pelosi her target. Her first ad declared:

Nancy Pelosis hand-picked candidate, Jon Ossoff, who doesnt even live in the district, is not one of us and cannot be trusted to stand up for Georgias 6th District. It is clear by the overwhelming support from D.C. liberals, Ossoff would be nothing more than another Pelosi lackey in Congress falling in line with House Democrats and out of touch with Georgia values.

In the wake of Ossoffs defeat, Ohios Congressman Tim Ryan, who challenged Pelosi for the leadership last November (and was trounced in the House Democratic Caucus, 134-63), resumed his drumbeat of criticism of the leadership, saying that the Democratic brand was toxic in much of the country where Democrats were seen as not being able to connect with the issues they care about.

Our brand is worse than Trump, he said flatly.

Its certainly true that Hillary Clinton in 2016 failed to connect to working class voters on the issue of economic distress. But its a bit much to pin that on Pelosi.

Throughout the Obama years, Pelosi was much more of an economic progressive than either Obama or Clinton, opposing trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership, and pushing hard for increased stimulus spending. She has also been superb at holding the House Democratic caucus together.

Ryan, for his part, is trying to carve out a role as more conservative on social issues but populist on economic issues like reviving manufacturing. He opposed abortion, but then flipped in 2015 and announced his support for reproductive choice. He also has interesting views for a social conservative, being a big supporter of the local food revolution and an active practitioner of meditation.

Ryan may well have a future as a national Democratic leader, but Nancy Pelosi is the wrong scapegoat. And if you listen to the adjectives tossed around, there is whiff of sexism in the air. Search the words: Pelosi, shrill, woman of a certain age, and hectoring, and youll get the drift.

Republicans have been running against Nancy Pelosi and the San Francisco Democrats since at least 1988. That didnt stop Barack Obama from being electedtwiceon a message of hope. And if Hillary Clinton paid too little attention to the working class in between picking up checks from Goldman Sachs, that was hardly Nancy Pelosis fault.

Ossoff himself did not run a great campaign, but in an affluent suburban district of Atlanta, its not clear that he would have done better as an economic populist. (He might have done better had he lived in the district.)

What is clear is that the campaign professionals at the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee were asleep at the switch, with the obsessive focus on the Ossoff race. The races in Kansas and South Carolina, it turned out, were more winnable, but got almost no attention or resources.

Bottom line: Even though there were no gains of seats, there was an impressive swing to the Democrats in these four races that portends major pickups in 2018. Georgias 6th district was number 71 on the list of likely Democratic gains based on its recent voting history. The Democrats need only 24 to take back the House. That said, the Democrats do need to pick up their game and become a lot more strategic about their campaigns.

Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and professor at Brandeis Universitys Heller School. His latest book is Debtors Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility.

Like Robert Kuttner on Facebook: http://facebook.com/RobertKuttner

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Cheer Up, Democrats - HuffPost

BBC News

Top Democrat says health bill will kill 'hundreds of thousands' BBC News Top Democrat Nancy Pelosi has warned "hundreds of thousands" of Americans will die if congressional Republicans pass their healthcare legislation. President Donald Trump's party is struggling to secure the votes to get its bill through the Senate. Democrat and Republican senators say GOP health care bill has major flaws, vote should be delayedNew York Daily News Trump Blames Democrats For Obstructing Health Care Bill They Haven't Seen YetHuffPost Panicking Mitch McConnell Shoves Entire Senate Healthcare Bill Into Mouth As Democrat Walks PastThe Onion (satire) Politico -Washington Post -ThinkProgress -U.S. Senate Budget Committee all 9,504 news articles »

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Top Democrat says health bill will kill 'hundreds of thousands' - BBC News

WASHINGTON A new organization launched Monday argues that the road to a Democratic majority in the U.S. House runs through red California.

Red to Blue California PAC wants to help Democrats take back the chamber in 2018 by supporting and mobilizing Democrats challenging Republican incumbents in seven congressional districts that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried in last years presidential race. Democrats need a net gain of 24 seats for a majority in the House.

The PACs founder, Michael Eggman, is a Democrat, farmer and beekeeper in Californias Central Valley who ran twice against Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) in a district Democrats had hoped to flip. The idea came to him after he narrowly lost in last years bid against Denham, whose district voted for Clinton (and for President Barack Obama before that).

The PAC will focus on advising candidates on the mechanics of running campaigns, from online fundraising to speaking at events, guidance Eggman wished he had before his first congressional bid.

You can have the best message in the world, but if you dont have the resources to get that message out, or if you dont have the proper platform to communicate your message, its not going to do you any good, Eggman told HuffPost.

In designing an effective message, its important for candidates to recognize the nuances of that specific district, Eggman said.

The competitive districts and Republican incumbents the PAC is focusing on are:

10th District: Jeff Denham

21st District: David Valadao

25th District: Steve Knight

39th District: Ed Royce

45th District: Mimi Walters

48th District: Dana Rohrabacher

49th District: Darrell Issa

All seven GOP representatives voted for House Republicans health care bill in May, an issue Eggman pointed to as evidence of the divide between the representatives and their constituents.

These reps are standing with [President Donald] Trump and not the constituents of their district, Eggman said. Their constituents dont share Trumps values, and it seems like these reps do.

Several of the districts are in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, a Republican stronghold that last yearwent for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1936.

In several of the seven races, Democratic candidates have alreadythrown their hats in the ring, buoyed by increased party activism.

Eggman said the PAC is not likely to endorse any specific candidates until after the primaries, but could intervene on a case-by-case basis if there is a particularly competitive primary.

Red to Blue California will also fund and train Democratic candidates vying for local office, to help them learn how to run sophisticated and efficient campaigns on the local level and to build a network of future leaders.

We want to pay attention to the bench, which is something that hasnt been done on our side of the aisle. Of course, Republicans have been doing it for a couple decades, and I would attribute that to a lot of their success, Eggman said.

Its great that a beekeeper ran for Congress, but it would have been better that a beekeeper that was also a county supervisor, that had already had a constituency footprint, ran for Congress. That would have given me a tremendous advantage.

Fresh off defeats in several special elections that had been seen as bellwethers for the 2018 midterms, particularly last Tuesdays race in Georgias 6th Congressional District, Democrats nationally are at a crossroads.

But Eggman pointed out that, in those special elections, Democrats made significant improvements compared to prior elections and overperformed in some cases, by double digits.

If we did double-digit gains in all seven of these seats, then we win. I am very hopeful, but Im in it for the long haul too, he said, noting that he would not see it as a loss if Democrats did not pick up all seven seats in 2018. Youve got to be resilient.

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Why This Democrat Is Focusing On California In Fight To Take Back The House In 2018 - HuffPost