H-Town Trash
I get the news I need from Channel 2 News. The following three stories, that is.
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H-Town trash pick-up has been a mess. My recycling which was scheduled for pick-up last Thursday was picked up on Sunday. It is a pain to navigate around the green bins for two and a half days. Maybe relief is on its way. See this from KPRC Channel 2 News:
HOUSTON – The City of Houston is set to vote on more trucks for solid waste as well more contractors to help pick it up.
Mayor John Whitmire spoke with 2 Investigates on Monday morning about a department the mayor says has been “neglected” for years.
“Solid waste was buying used trucks, stay broken, so we are trying to rebuild a solid-waste department,” Whitmire said.
There is a lot of rebuilding on tap this week, with over thirty new vehicles the city plans to purchase, including nineteen side haulers.
The city is playing catch-up to a system that has been behind for years and the new purchases—at a cost of nearly $11.5-million capital dollars.
There has been an addition $7.7 million dollars added to the department’s budget this fiscal year that have been allocated form the city’s Fund Balance reserve according to the Whitmire administration.
The city’s entire fleet has been saturated with dated unreliable vehicles for a number of departments.
On Monday, we found one employee of solid waste who was in a rental truck with a city sticker slapped onto the side of it. The city employee said he’s been in the rental since November.
“There was a leadership team in solid waste when I took over that was, for lack of a better word, was complacent,” Mayor Whitmire said. “No, I don’t have patience… I ran for mayor to fix things, and I don’t have time to waste.”
Here is the entire Channel 2 News story: Solid Waste Operations a key focus this week at City Hall, Mayor and his team looking to purchase over 30 vehicles.
I can understand why the Mayor is kicking over every rock to find some dough to pay for all this.
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Scam, scam, everywhere. See this from Channel 2 News:
HOUSTON – The City of Houston is warning about fake parking citations being placed on vehicles around the city.
ParkHouston posted on Facebook showing an example of one of the fake citations.
The city pointed out the differences between a real citation and the fake citation, noting that an official City of Houston parking citation is printed on pink NCR paper.
Payment and protest information is printed on the reverse side of the paper.
The city also notes they do not use a QR code for payment.
If you have ever parked in Downtown H-Town, you certainly know what a parking ticket looks like. If you fall for this scam, well, you probably deserve to be chumped. Just get the Downtown parking app.
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I am certainly looking forward to checking out the following. Also from Channel 2 News:
NEW YORK – Barbra Streisand is still a woman in love, and she’ll do anything to get you into her world.
That includes a new collection of duets with some of the biggest names in music. Streisand is preparing to release a new album, “The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two,” out in June. Across 11 tracks, she’s joined by heavy hitters Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Sting, Seal, Tim McGraw, Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande and more.
First up is an emotive cover of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” with Hozier. The song was originally written by English folk artist Ewan MacColl for his wife Peggy Seeger, but it’s the late Roberta Flack’s cover that stands out — and not only because it was used in a love scene between Clint Eastwood and Donna Mills in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.” Streisand and Hozier give it their own spin.
“I’ve always loved singing duets with gifted artists. They inspire me in unique and different ways… and make our time in the studio a joy,” Streisand said in a statement. “I admire all of them… and I hope that you’ll enjoy listening to our collaborations as much as I enjoyed recording with all of my wonderful partners.”
“The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two” comprises covers and original tracks. It will be released June 25.
‘The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two’ tracklist
1. “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” with Hozier
2. “My Valentine” with Paul McCartney
3. “To Lose You Again” with Sam Smith
4. “The Very Thought of You” with Bob Dylan
5. “Letter to my 13-year-old Self” with Laufey
6. “One Heart, One Voice” with Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande
7. “I Love Us” with Tim McGraw
8. “Secret O’ Life” with James Taylor
9. “Fragile” with Sting
10. “Where Do I Go From You?” with Josh Groban
11. “Love Will Survive” with Seal
Nice.
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The featured photo of today’s Chron sports section says it all. It is happening this evening at Toyota.
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The Astros won last night and wrap up the homie with the Tigers this afternoon.
