Napa’s wine train hits a political speed bump

GOP senators John McCain of Arizona and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma have been railing against a new bridge to accommodate the Napa Valley Wine Train since 2009, when they pegged it among the nation’s 100 most “silly and shortsighted” stimulus projects. Now they’ve got more ammo to throw at the privately-held tourist attraction, after California Watch’s Lance Williams disclosed that, to speed the project along, the Army Corps of Engineers steered the $64 million contract to a small Alaska firm without taking other bids. McCain and Coburn are calling it a “gravy train of government waste” and other stuff. California Watch