Follow-Up

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WRAL interview about recycling theft

Renee Chou rummages through my recycling


WRAL’s Renee Chou came by the house this afternoon to do a story tonight on Raleigh’s proposed recycling theft ordinance. As far as interviews go I was a bit uncomfortable as I was seated and I’m not used to doing interviews that way. I was also uncomfortable with having the contents of my recycling bin displayed for all the world to see. Then again, watching Renee rummaging through my recycling bin reminded me that this ordinance will actually help protect everyone’s privacy by keeping people out of bins. That’s a good thing, I think.

As typical, I though of my best talking point after the interview concluded, and that’s this: just like when I put a letter in my mailbox I expect that a postal employee will collect it, when I put something in my recycling bin I expect the city’s recycling crew will collect it.

Look for the interview to air at 6 tonight.

Raleigh might criminalize recycling thefts

The N&O’s Matt Garfield wrote up a story in the Midtown Raleigh News about the city’s response to recycling thefts. My blog got a shout out, too.

Mark Turner thought it was odd when a blue pickup truck stopped in his neighborhood one recent morning. A man hopped out, collected aluminum cans from a curbside recycling bin and continued down the street.

When Turner returned home later in the day, he spotted a man in a different truck doing the same thing.

The banditry was unusual for its brazenness. But city officials say recycling theft is becoming more common as marauders seek an easy, if time-consuming, way to make money.

via Raleigh might criminalize recycling thefts – News – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

Update 8:55 PM: My friend Mitchell in Santa Cruz, CA tells me the City of Santa Cruz has had a big problem with recycling theft. The city passed an ordinance similar to Raleigh’s proposed ordinance, making anything put in city bins city property and a misdemeanor to remove anything. Mitchell sent a link to a recent City of Santa Cruz newsletter which discusses the problem (PDF).

I think some of the dire warnings by the Santa Cruz police chief are way overblown (“gateway crime?” Come on.) but it is absolutely true that pilfering aluminum cans jeopardizes the entire recycling program.

Sustainability: riding out the boom and bust

Falls Lake, December 9, 2007

Here’s another thing about how crucial sustainability is for Wake County. We’re one of the fastest-growing areas in the country. We’re not the sleepy little county we were just 20 years ago. With more people arriving every day we need to ensure we have the resources to support them.

Above is a photograph of Falls Lake taken a little over four years ago when it was near its record low depth. It was a scary time. People here don’t normally think of our natural resources in Third World terms, but our frequent droughts present real, growth-killing crises. Falls Lake is Wake County’s primary water supply: if the lake disappears it will take Wake County’s future with it. How many companies do you think will want to set up shop here if all we’ve got is a muddy hole for a water supply? How many families will want to move here if their daily water rations number in the dozens of gallons?

As a community it is crucial that we smartly manage our limited natural resources or else we put our quality of life at risk. That’s what sustainability is all about. It’s not some amorphous, tree-hugging, UN-flag-waving creed, it’s prudent planning for an uncertain future. It’s certainly not something to be dismissed for the gain of short-term political points.

Citizen reps at all levels

I learned today that another long-serving member of North Carolina’s General Assembly is stepping down. Serving in today’s legislature cannot be much fun, no matter which side of the aisle you’re on.

I think part of the problem is the grueling schedule of the General Assembly. My previous post about fairly compensating city councilors also applies to state legislators. If serving in the legislature is going to be a full time job we should compensate our representatives accordingly.

Slow it down

On my morning walk my still-kinda-dreaming eyes fell on the 25 MPH sign next to Dennis Avenue.

I thought about that wide-open stretch of road and the role the speed limit plays in taming it. Must have been like a racetrack before, I thought.

Then I thought of the mini-highway that New Bern Avenue became when it became one-way, and the mini-highway that Capital Boulevard is near my home. Seemed to me the first step in rejuvenating these areas would simply be to slow down the traffic. This could be a sophisticated operation like returning the streets to two-way traffic. Or, it could simply be dropping the speed limit.

I’m thinking all it would take to pump some life into some of Raleigh’s troubled neighborhoods would be to reduce the speed limit. It’s a simple and cheap solution, too.

Water system bills, revisited

Remember how I said that John Carman, Raleigh’s Public Utilities Director, has been going around telling anyone who’ll listen that Raleigh’s water infrastructure is aging rapidly and will soon need major maintenance? The Raleigh Public Record looked at the report put out by the city’s Water Utility Transition Advisory Task Force (WUTAT):

Raleigh’s underground water infrastructure, mainly pipes in the ground, needs more than $7 billion in repairs, according to City Public Utilities Director John Carman. These are not immediate costs, he said, but now is when Raleigh should be planning to replace pipes that will age out during the coming decades.

Carman told the Record the current financial model for the system does not put away any money to pay for replacing pipes that have a lifespan of anywhere from 60 to 100 years.

“We have $500 million worth of pipe that was installed before World War II,” Carman said.

Kudos to the Raleigh Public Record for raising awareness about this issue.

Facebook files for $5 billion IPO

Facebook filed for a $5 billion IPO today in what will likely be a wildly successful stock market debut.

I laughed when I recalled my post from five years ago in which I thought the idea of Facebook being worth $15 billion was crazy. That was before I got hooked on it, of course (along with about 800 million other people). Now $15 billion sounds like too little.

I’ve been astonished at the role Facebook has played in the recent revolutions around the world. It will be interesting to see how the company grows from here.

LNC in the news

Leadership North Carolina got a brief mention from WRAL today when news spread that Governor Perdue will not run for reelection. Now-declared gubernatorial candidate Lt. Governor Walter Dalton was scheduled to speak at today’s LNC forum but canceled upon news of Perdue’s decision.

I Tweeted earlier that Dalton wasn’t there and I wonder if WRAL used my Tweet as its source. Anyway, the mention was here in an earlier revision of this story:

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton canceled a Thursday morning appearance at the Leadership North Carolina Forum in Raleigh after news of Perdue’s plans spread. He was supposed to speak on the state’s transportation planning and policy.

The LNC mention was posted long enough for me to show it to Kelly. Dalton later convened a press conference and formally announced, after which the LNC reference was removed.

Meet Isaiah Richardson

Isaiah D. Richardson

Here’s a look at the gentleman arrested in our neighborhood yesterday for breaking and entering. His name is Isaiah Dominique Richardson, age 16. It’s easy to see why police were so familiar with Richardson: he was arrested just last month for possession of stolen goods.

In the pic above Richardson isn’t wearing the diamond earring that he had in when I saw him. Though he was arrested about 9:20 AM he was booked at 7:50 PM. That makes me think he might have spent the day being interviewed by detectives, by which time he probably had his earring taken away.
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