Cover: Ticket to Ride
High-speed rail is the answer to California's clogged roads and airports, but will the politicians get it?

News: Bioneering Spirit
12th annual Bioneers Conference takes place October 19-21 at the Marin Center in San Rafael.

Piece Process: Sculpture Jam transforms Sebastopol.

City Slickers: Second City troupe delivers comic relief.

Critic's Picks: A guide to the week's best arts, theater and music events.

Hell's Highway: Demons take wheel on 'Mulholland Drive.'

Ego Trip: Insecure novelist Arthur Bradford digs 'Haiku Tunnel.'

American Pie: Dylan's new album preaches to the choir.

SiFT: Disco divas, hip-hop connoisseurs and salsa suaves to flannel-clad pinball players, jazz luminaries and more from the City by the Bay.

Durban Dreams: South African exile mourns lost love in 'Empire Settings.'

Duck & Cover: Shake off that fear of flying -- over to the exotic poultry section.