The Cavalry
If you live in H-Town and have your garbage and recycling serviced by the city, you certainly understand the frustrations involving delays in recycling pick-up the last few years. I will say that my recycling was picked up on schedule last Thursday. This morning the City of H-Town introduced us to nine new recycling trucks. See KPRC Channel 2 News anchor/reporter Cathy Hernandez in the featured photo at the unveiling at the city recycling facility today. H-Town Mayor John Whitmire was at the unveiling to give the vehicles a pep talk so to speak.
We will be getting an additional 20 or so trucks in the coming months. It is good to see the cavalry arriving. Hopefully we will one day see the end of the green bins sitting on curbs for days.
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On “What’s Your Point” yesterday, the Breitbart Texas fella changed his mind on mid-decade redistricting. He used to be opposed. He’s all in now. I guess MAGA reeled him back in.
On the topic of the Hill Country floods, the Breitbart Texas fella referenced the Wimberley floods of 2015 and claimed dozens had died back then. Nope. 13 died. That’s a dozen plus one. That is still too many, though.
The first 15 minutes or so of “What Your Point” yesterday dealt with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and her recent behavior and policies. I get it. Her behavior lately might not be to some folks’ liking. Kind of like calling a special session for mid-decade redistricting might also not be to some folks’ liking.
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This is interesting. See this from the Chron:
A $177 million leaked data settlement with AT&T customers across the country could soon get legal approval in a federal court in Texas.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas will consider approving a settlement in December between AT&T and customers who could reportedly claim as much as $7,500 from a pair of data leaks last year. The leaks compromised their personal information and phone records, sparking a class-action lawsuit that has since led up to the agreed-upon settlement pending court approval.
Both sides reached a settlement deal “without any admission of liability or wrongdoing,” according to Kroll Settlement Administration, the settlement administrator for the lawsuit. The settlement would create two pools of money — one is a $149 million cash fund for claims from the first leak, and the other is a $28 million payment for those from the second.
Here’s what you need to know about the potential deal that the Texas court could green light:
The first set of leaked data, which AT&T announced in March, wound up on the dark web and included a trove of personal information, including social security numbers, account numbers, full names, dates of birth, email addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers and pass codes. AT&T said there was no evidence of unauthorized access within its systems.
In the second leak announced months later, hackers illegally downloaded phone call and text message records from AT&T’s workspace on a third-party platform, according to CBS News. The compromised data did not include personal information or the content of those calls and texts, according to AT&T.
Those with data included in either of the two leaks are eligible to submit a claim for related losses, according to Kroll.
Last year, AT&T estimated the first leak affected 73 million former and current account holders with information from 2019 or earlier. The second leak involved “nearly all” AT&T cellphone customers between May 1, 2022, and Oct. 31, 2022, and included some records from Jan. 2, 2023, for a “very small number of customers,” according to the company.
Claimants from the first leak can file for up to $5,000 after documenting losses from 2019 or later that are “fairly traceable” to the breach, according to Kroll. Potential claims for the second leak can reach up to $2,500, and those losses must have taken place on or after April 14, Kroll states.
Some customers could claim for losses in both leaks and would be eligible for up to $7,500 from the settlement. Their documentation for each set of losses in the two leaks must be unique, according to Kroll’s website.
I used to be on AT&T. Then I switched to Xfinity. Then I switched back to AT&T. All this has been over the past few years. I mentioned a few weeks ago that my ID info was compromised and charges were made to the tune of a few thousand dollars under my name. I challenged the charges and so far, it hasn’t cost me a cent. It has been a significant inconvenience and requires constant monitoring on my part. I wonder if my info was breached and if I will be contacted.
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On Saturday morning I went out to fetch my Chron hard copy. Inside the wrapper was Saturday’s Wall Street Journal along with my Chron. I’ll take it. I didn’t mind the extra reading assignment.
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I was at Daikin Park this past weekend. I thought we were going to be a no-no victim Friday evening. We still have a game and a half lead in the AL West. We have 38 games left on the schedule and we are in Detroit to take on the AL Central first place Tigers. We need to start playing better baseball.