This just in, readers: The Los Angeles Times is reporting U.S. Sen. Harry Reid has backed off his support for a magnetic levitation train running between Las Vegas and Anahiem, Calif., in favor of a regular high-speed train that would run between Sin City and Victorville, Calif.

The Vegas-to-Victorville line, dubbed the Desert Xpress, is the pet project of Republican political consultant Sig Rogich, who just last week announced he was co-chairing a group called Republicans for Reid.

“I’ve been working on this for 30 years,” the Times quotes Reid as saying. “We’ve gotten nowhere. Maglev [magnetic levitation] projects have been abandoned around the world. It’s time to stop talking and start doing something.”

The piece says Reid grew discouraged about the prospects of the maglev train after a Government Accountability Office study said it could cost up to $40 billion, far more than the current $12 billion price tag. The Desert Xpress, by contrast, would be privately funded and cost about $4 billion.

“Maglev is not a priority for me anymore,” Reid said. “We need to get people moving. The I-15 is not working.”

The comments mark a surprise reversal for Reid, who has long backed a high-speed train linking Las Vegas with Southern California, one of our city’s biggest markets. Reid has won funding for studying the maglev train in the past, and President Barack Obama recently included $8 billion in his stimulus bill for high-speed rail projects such as the maglev train.

Under the Desert Xpress concept, motorists from Southern California cities would drive to Victorville, in the high desert, where they’d park and ride the 150 mph train into Las Vegas. By contrast, the maglev train would run from Las Vegas to Anaheim at speeds of up to 270 mph.

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Quick, teachers, while mommy's busy watching ... STRIKE!

Reader Retired Oldie writes in response to a recent blog post about a teachers’ strike:

The best time to strike is during the third week of the fall semester. The students are back into the swing of things, the parents are happy their little ones are back at school (time for Mommy to watch The View, The Young and the Restless, and Oprah, etc.), and things are settling down in the schools — NOW IS THE TIME TO STRIKE!!!! The parents will start scrambling for another day-care provider (CCSD is the biggest and the cheapest day-care center in the state). Mall owners will be upset that their malls are being over-run with hordes of middle-and high school kids. Something must be done about this situation. Everyone will be looking at the governor. Will he call a special session? He must! The kids are uncontrollable! I say the teachers should just tell the state that they will return if certain conditions are met.

Teachers will immediately receive across the board – 8% pay raises this year. Next year that will raise will be an additional 6%. After that, teachers will receive the same pay raises as police and firefighters. Teachers will be covered by the state retirement and medical plan. Nevada will have to start funding education as a priority.

Of course, this will never happen because teachers are their own worst enemies. They never think about themselves. They look for others to do the caring – and what is best for them. This is where they fail to see their own importance in Nevada’s future. Of course, their own future is doomed.