The Air Force wants to change the security footprint at Travis AFB, Calif., and to do so it has served legal papers invoking eminent domain to take 13 acres from Bill Maher. It plans to pay the 80-year-old rancher $261,000 for this piece of his 300 acres of pasture along a road near the base’s south gate. The Contra Costa Times reports that Maher has been receiving such legal notices from the Air Force for years, usually with differing acreage. He claims he has tried to negotiate with the Air Force, but the US attorney now handling the matter says, “The court is now involved. At any time, if he wanted to resolve it, we can.” Maher believes the land is worth $800,000.
President Donald Trump wants his signature Golden Dome missile defense program to be up and running before the end of his term and has tapped Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael A. Guetlein to lead the project.