[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Bay Area commuters along the newly repaired MacArthur Maze should know who to thank for its speedy recovery: C.C. Meyers, a construction company whose apparent commitment to quality has earned the undying gratitude of Californians, including Governor Schwarzenegger (and the similarly undying love of New Yorkers). The Maze reopened for business yesterday morning, a mere 25 days after an explosion from a gasoline tanker reduced the freeway interchange into a smoking heap of twisted steel and concrete.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

John Myers of KQED has a very revealing interview of Arnold Schwarzenegger that I recommend very highly listening to, as the Governor leaves clues as to these issues, and more:

• Whether more laws are needed in the wake of the fiery crash of a gasoline tanker truck the collapsed a major freeway, "the Maze" on the Oakland side of the Bay

• Whether ballot initiatives are needed to pressure legislators into action on redistricting and whether he agrees with those who are threatening to gather signatures on this issue

• How term limits, redistricting, and campaign finance reform tie together

• The prison system and additional reforms such as parole and sentencing changes

• Healthcare--what's on the table, whether he favors a piecemeal approach, and a single payer approach such as that in Senator Kuehl's bill

• How he views government

• What needs to be done to reduce greenhouse gases and whether there needs to be sacrifices

• Water shortages and how to deal with it from conservation to water storage and dams

• Tribal gaming casinos, why he is pushing the compacts he signed last year, and what are the limits of expansion of slot machines in the state

• The role of the special interests in Sacramento

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Open up any Bay Area paper today, and you'll learn that the driver of the gas truck that caused the collapse of the Oakland Maze served time for heroin use -- in 1996. The San Francisco Chronicle is happy to tell us that "[t]he driver of the gasoline tanker truck that overturned and ignited a fire that brought down part of the MacArthur Maze has a criminal record, including a conviction for possession of heroin in 1996 that earned him a 32-month state prison sentence," while the Oakland Tribune notes that "James Mosqueda Sr. accumulated a criminal record stretching from 1974-1996 that includes a misdemeanor hit-and-run; a felony drug possession that garnered him two years in state prison; and a second degree burglary, according to court records for Sacramento and Yolo counties. Yet the 51-year-old Woodland resident was able to obtain a license to haul hazardous materials and pass a Transportation Security Administration background check."

What an outrage! A man last convicted of a minor crime in 1996 -- for heroin use of all things -- managed to acquire a security clearance to drive a truck. Stop the presses. But wait, there's more. Again the Chronicle: