Dan Walters was once the editor of the Humboldt Times Standard in Eureka and retains an interest in North Coast politics and politicians. This history may explain why Walters, the veteran political columnist for the Sacramento Bee, is back Wednesday with a new column about efforts to restore rail service between Willits and Eureka.

Walters names names – Bosco, Thompson, Chesbro and Wiggins – and goes on to describe the North Coast Rail Authority as follows: “It has evolved, by all appearances, into an entity that exists primarily to extract handouts from state and federal governments to finance its administrative and political superstructure so it can seek more handouts.”

Ouch. The column will appear on the Forum page Wednesday morning, followed – we suspect – by calls from people eager to file a rebuttal.

– Pete Golis