Is Detroitīs bulk-trash problem taking
steroids? Or maybe thereīs something weird happening with gamma rays
in the city? Because like the
Incredible Hulk, the Big Dīs big-waste predicament seems
to be bursting at its seams and growing bulkier by mile-high,
earthshaking leaps and bounds.
Faithful Inbox readers will
recall that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick gave Detroitīs
bulk-waste collection program the heave-ho early this year as part of a
series of budget cuts aimed at keeping the Good Ship Motown afloat.
Whereupon impromptu mattress-and-furniture dumps started springing up on
vacant lots around the city. Like spring daffodils, only bigger and
uglier.
Now the City Council has
jumped into the fray. The Detroit News reports that
several council members have declared their intent to restore the cityīs
bulk-trash pickups, if only at monthly or quarterly intervals.
Kilpatrick vetoed the councilīs first resolution aimed at restoring the
collections, and council members are saying they plan to pass another
similar resolution soon.
On top of this, a couple weeks ago Mayor Kilpatrick proposed
replacing the cityīs garbage millage with a $300 yearly trash fee.
Detroitīs boss and his administration have some serious spinning to
do if they hope to sell this latest series of moves as anything other
than less-service-at-a-higher-cost, which is certainly the way it looks
from this vantage point.
Bug Swatters: Thanks to you readers who responded regarding
last weekīs item about telephone hotlines set up to report litterbugs.
Itīs encouraging to learn that there are many passionate people on the
case, people who detest cigarette-butt-flicking and related crimes
against nature as deeply as I do.
Maybe this will put to rest my recurring litter-vigilante dream, the
one in which I tool around in a truck with a bazooka mounted on the dash
...
Right Back Atcha: Have you ever had one of those days when
troubles you thought were long gone come back to vex you again, with
interest? Ha! You think you have.
A co-worker with a bent sense of humor (initials: JT) made sure I
didnīt miss this
sad tale of a woman in Charlotte, N.C., whose, eh,
facilities did the, eh, big turnaround, if you get my drift.
If you donīt get my drift, well, letīs just say the story involves a
neighborhood sewer line, a grease clog, some city sanitation workers, a
high-pressure hose ... and an elephant belching.
Is Detroitīs bulk-trash problem taking
steroids? Or maybe thereīs something weird happening with gamma rays
in the city? Because like the
