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“Outstanding service. They were extremely careful delivering the extra large container into our driveway.” -- A. L. GARNER
El Portal calls itself a modern-day Garden of Eden. The tiny village boasts a canopy of oak trees, a portion of the Little River frequented by manatees, and an official designation as a bird sanctuary. It'd be a fitting nickname, except for one thing: The rivers in Paradise probably weren't packed with floating islands of trash. In the part of the Little River that flows through El Portal, water bottles, takeout containers, and all manner of garbage drift through the water and get tangled in booms meant to block off powerful dams. And lately, the floating heap of refuse has been worse than ever, residents and the South Florida Water Management District agree."It's dumpsters and dumpsters and dumpsters full of trash," says resident Ian Hayes, whose home sits on the river.Frustrated community members have been making calls to village officials, and they're working with the Little River Conservancy to plan a meeting on the issue, though no date has been set. Randy Smith, a spokesperson for the water management district, says the ar... (ant Piles of Floating Trash Are Clogging Little River in El Portal)
Merritt popped in to Reverie to pick up leftovers and is delivering them to It Takes A Village. It’s a nonprofit that help at-risk youth find housing.It is such a blessing to know we are getting healthy food, we are getting good food,” said Terry Atwater, It Takes a Village CEO. “We've been able to reduce our overall food cost right now about 71% because of ICT Food Rescue, so it's huge.”Reverie Roasters is one of seven other businesses that donates its leftover food. Hand said, “it's fantastic that is going to someone who needs it, appreciates it and that we're able to do it.”In the United States 67.58 billion pounds of food is thrown out. That's why businesses like Reverie, even national chains like Starbucks and Panera Bread are stepping up and donating its leftovers.So instead of Reverie’s leftover food filling a dumpster, it's fill the bellies of Wichita’s hungry. Merritt said, “it feels good to actually see that impact of this, this is who you're impacting. It's real lives. Real people.”... (T Food Rescue helping feed the hungry and eliminating food waste)
That’s an annual $2,138 increase in one fell swoop.How can this be legal, and what can we do about it?Randy Henderson, Valley Village..To the editor: My building’s recycling bins have been overflowing for weeks because of missed pickups. The worst part is that people keep adding to the blue bins even though it is obvious they are maxed out.This has created a potential health problem. I recently told the building manager about this, and he said the problem was occurring at other properties owned by his company too.But I am happy to report to the mayor that, for now at least, I fixed the problem: I just put all of our recyclable waste into the regular trash bin. Problem solved.Gary Askenaizer, Sherman OaksFollow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook... (Los Angeles Times)
Tuesday,” Davis said. “They were only down six working days.”County Clerk Donna Simpson moved to the former FSG Bank branch at the Village Green.“She was up and running on Monday, which was only five working days,” Davis said.“I think that’s pretty good to be up so soon,” he said.He also noted Circuit Court Clerk Gayla Miller and her staff had courts running the Monday after the fire, with assistance from the city of Cleveland who offered space for some of the courts to be held.“Thank goodness probation had just moved to their new offices at the workhouse,” Davis added. “That would have affected a lot of people.”He also lauded the help of the Church of God and Lee University, which opened their warehouse to provide furnishings for the new locations.“Lee University had better furniture in their warehouse than what we were using,” Davis said. “They were wonderful to work with.”He said while the desire was to be in one location, “we wanted to get set up as fast as we could.”Davis joked that some of the departments might prefer to stay in their new locations.“That’s the next thing I have to deal with, probably,” he said with a grin.Davis said he had hoped the alternative single-location opportunity would have been made available with the hopes that move could be permanent.Davis said the ceilings in the courthouse have now been taken out and the carpet removed.“We were told it wouldn’t cost any more to replace the carpet than to clean it,” he said.“The good thing about it is we were going to have to work around the courts and offices during the planned renovation,” Davis said. “They can now do their work in a much better environment and, hopefully, a little quicker.”He said all of the officials worked well together throughout the ordeal.“The one concern was how quickly they could be ready to serve the citizens,” Davis said. (Cleveland Daily Banner)
Harris County including the cities of South Houston, Shoreacres and Hunters Creek Village.As of Wednesday, DRC had picked up more than 1 million cubic yards of debris for the city, according to Kurt Thormahlen, a general manager with DRC. After Harvey, Turner estimated the storm created about 8 million cubic yards of trash.On the ground, the county has 10 debris sites like the one run by McDaniel. Trucks from across Houston haul trash to the sites to avoid the long lines at waste management facilities where regular trash collecting and commercial trucks report. After loads are brought into debris sites, trucks are used to compress waste, making it easier to transport to its final destination. About 100 cubic yards of debris can be squashed to about 30 cubic yards just by running it over with a truck or excavator.In the first week since the site opened, McDaniel said trucks delivered about 250 to 300 loads a day. Since Saturday, that number jumped to more than 400 per day.Upon arrival, trucks are directed to one of the three piles that represent city and county trash. Both the city and county have contracts with DRC that will pay the contractor based on the amount of cubic yards of debris collected and dispersed. To receive FEMA compensation, the city and county employ a debris monitor in Tetra Tech, a California-based consulting and engineering company. As trucks enter the site, Tetra Tech employees stationed in towers measure the amount of debris in the truck and assign that amount to the city or county.DRC contracts for the two entities vary slightly in detail – for instance, the city reimburses trucks for tipping fees at waste management sites while the county does not – but the amount being paid per truck has been about the same, according to Blount, the county engineer. Harris County Commissioner’s Court appropriated more than $98 million to Blount for the 2017 calendar year to be used for debris clearing, removal and disposal. The city’s contract covers a five-year window from 2012 to 2017 for $98 million. Because the city has already spent more than $84 million of those funds, Turner proposed a $60 million increase in spending at the September 20 City Council meeting. Councilman Larry Green tagged the motion that day after he and Turner got into a heated argument over debris removal, but the council eventually approved the funds on Wednesday.DRC’s role in debris cleanup is strictly managerial. The company, based in Galveston, has only 65 employees and coordinates with Houston and Harris County to determine areas in need, then uses subcontracted companies and trucks to pick up debris. DRC has contracted 1,248 trucks for both the city and the county, according to Thormahlen. After Hurricane Irma landed in Florida, there were reports that Houston was having trouble attracting subcontractors because other cities could offer better rates. Since then, FEMA... (Houston Press)
