This newspaper´s angle is interesting for two reasons. First, Fresh Kills, the giant city landfill that closed in 2001, is on Staten Island. And second, the article highlights the Bloomberg plan´s heavy reliance on a container terminal formerly known as Howland Hook in the Staten Island neighborhood of Mariner´s Harbor.

According to the story, the Howland Hook terminal is the one and only port slated to receive containerized trash on barges from marine transfer stations in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. (This is a potentially huge amount of waste -- 12,000 tons a day, according to a council member quoted in the story.) At that terminal, the trash would be taken from the barges and reloaded for shipment to its faraway final resting places. Not surprisingly, people in and around Mariner´s Harbor are extremely unhappy about the idea of having to shoulder -- environmentally, aesthetically, etc., etc. -- such a large proportion of the NYC trash load.

The Bloomberg administration and the City Council both say they hope to strike a deal on the plan by summer´s end. Judging from this sticking point and several others cited in the above-linked article, I wish them all the luck in the world.

They Have To Find It Before They Can Recycle It
"Lost Bridge Recycling Pushed Back One Day" -- Headline, Benton County [Ark.] Daily Record, June 28

Do You Know The Way To (Escape) San Jose?
San Jose, Calif., Mayor Ron Gonzalez was finally indicted last week on felony bribery and fraud charges in connection with the trash-contract scandal that has rocked the city for the last 12 months. And now virtually everyone in town is calling for his head. You could see this train of events coming like an 18-wheeler down Broadway.

Ah, well, San Jose is part of America, last I checked, so Gonzalez will have his day in court. I doubt he´ll have many more of them in City Hall, though.

Bad Karma For The Chameleon (Or: Yes, Apparently They Really Do Want To Hurt Him)
"Boy George Ordered To Sanitation Dept." -- Headline, CBS News, June 28; "Jail Or The Rake For Boy George" -- Headline, The Australian, June 28

The Irish Examiner quotes Boy George´s reaction to his sentencing for falsely reporting a burglary thus: "I don´t care about doing cleaning up. My mum was a cleaner. I´ve always been a scrubber."

Also, that report notes that when he reports for his community service in a NYC park this August, George promises to wear "something loud."

P.S. Our offices are closed next Monday and Tuesday -- I dunno, something having to do with some firecrackers or something like that. So that means there won´t be any WN Daily E-mails next Tuesday and Wednesday, and Inbox will next appear here a week from today.

Have a great holiday. Do something loud.

Pete Fehrenbach is assistant managing editor of Waste News. Past installments of this column are collected in the Inbox archive.