I missed the notice in the newspaper (and can’t find it anywhere on the Oak Ridger website), but it’s household trash pickup time in Oak Ridge — a once-a-year event.
According to the city website, pickup started yesterday on the west side of town. My street is on the schedule for tomorrow, which explains the junk [...]
Posts from ‘March, 2008’
Annual household trash pickup in Oak Ridge
Proceed with caution on red-light cameras
There’s a lot of conflicting information “out there” on the results of traffic cameras. Whatever conclusions you want to support, you are sure to be able to find a study that supports that conclusion. Oak Ridge (and any other community considering cameras) needs to “proceed with caution” in making a decision.
I haven’t sorted out all [...]
Back in operation
If you attempted to visit this blog in the last day and were greeted by the mysterious message “Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL which is required for WordPress,” you will know what I mean when I say “back in operation.”
Apparently a new installation of PHP (the software that runs this [...]
Cameras, traffic, and cash
The proposed ordinance to authorize use of automated cameras in traffic enforcement was passed by Oak Ridge City Council on first reading. Several citizens made thoughtful comments before the vote. Among other things, they commented on the “Orwellian” aspects of this monitoring, the difficulty in slowing a semi-trailer in order to stop it before a [...]
Red light cameras for Oak Ridge?
The Oak Ridge City Council will soon decide whether Oak Ridge should start using cameras and electronic devices to enforce traffic laws. It’s a complicated issue — there is a diverse variety of pro and con arguments regarding red-light and speed-enforcement cameras.
At the City Council meeting on Monday, March 17th, we will consider (on first [...]
Cougars, and coyotes, and bears, oh my!
In yesterday’s Oak Ridger, Sam Suffern told about 3 reliable reports of cougar sightings here in Oak Ridge. The cougar thus joins the coyote as a large predator we need to worry about in our backyards. (I’m not aware of black bear sightings here, but it’s possible for them to be here, too.)
It’s romantic to [...]
Time to “spring forward”
Tonight’s the night to “spring forward” — set clocks ahead one hour for the beginning of Daylight Savings Time.
I like Daylight Savings Time in the summer, when it extends the hours of daylight after work or school, but I dislike the fact that it causes people to get up in darkness at the beginning and [...]
Earth Day and other coming attractions
Recently I’ve gotten involved in planning for an Earth Day event in Oak Ridge. On Saturday afternoon, April 12th, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center, there will be exhibits, speakers, a “kids’ village,” and live music from some of the region’s best-known bands. The theme of the event is Planting [...]