News AAND Notes: H2O Edition

April 25, 2018
by
2 mins read

A saga has engulfed the city of Plano, Texas, a large Dallas suburb. After residents complained their water smelled strongly of chlorine, according to Dallas Observer, activist Erin Brockovich called out its water supplier for the chlorine and for failing to test the water from one of its plants. Though the water district admitted that it hadn’t tested water from the plant, it had a pretty damn good explanation: The plant to which Brockovich referred was closed, is closed, and will be closed for the foreseeable future, reports DO.

The water district did concede that there may have been a stronger-than-usual chlorine smell as of late due to the annual “chlorine burnout” procedure, and below-normal consumption, but provided tests that showed the chlorine levels were within limits established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Brockovich colleague Bob Bowcock wasn’t assuaged, pointing out that the chlorine was at the top of the EPA’s permissible range, saying, “A maximum contaminate level in the Safe Drinking Water Act is the ceiling, not the floor,” according to DO. Bowcock suggested the city switch to a safer, but costlier, disinfection and filtration process. (Unless they like the taste of the public pool.)

A Gaffe that Lasts

When Barbara Bush died at 92 years old on April 17, Gambit‘s Kevin Allman felt a mix of emotions, specifically about this statement Bush made after touring the Houston Astrodome and meeting with Hurricane Katrina refugees, “… so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this … this is working very well for them.” Yowza.

Allman concedes that this was far from the worst post-tragic hurricane statement (looking at you, former House Speaker and admitted sexual abuser Dennis Hastert), but nevertheless it has been stuck in his craw in the dozen years since.

Allman concludes:

Certainly her remark wasn’t as egregious as [Tom] Tancredo’s or Hastert’s; certainly she wasn’t a villain like the hapless FEMA head Michael “Brownie” Brown; certainly she didn’t have a responsibility to the city like her son President George W. Bush. But: working out very well for them. It’s possible not to hold a grudge and still admit it was a stupid thing to say, something that will be part of her warts-and-all legacy.

Time to forgive and forget? Forgive but never forget? Or neither? I’m not sure. Katrina and the federal floods are still too fresh, and probably always will be.

Pipeline Problems

Environmental activists are often cast as enemies of progress and the future-even in Canada. In a fascinating editorial in Georgia Straight, Martyn Brown writes about how the public is beingmisled by a recent poll finding that Canadians support the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline by a very narrow margin.

Brown admits that there’s no reason to doubt the results of the poll, the gist of which he says is “Justin Trudeau’s wet dream,” but asks people to consider them in light of “the relentless and massive effort exerted by the establishment in trying to build public buy-in for that filthy turkey of a pipeline,” alignment of “virtually all” mainstream media in support of it, and that “the federal government, Alberta, and Canada’s entire business community have all been peddling [the pipeline], in lockstep supplication to the tarsands industry.”

And why would they do this? Well, “to yield higher profits for Big Oil,” and get some short-term economic benefits to local and federal governments. Guess we’re not so different from our northern neighbors after all, eh?

An Oasis in the Middle

In Isthmus, Madison, Wisconsin’s Michael Popke writes that, after 25 years as a resident, he was still a “virgin” to one of the city’s treasures: the UW Arboretum. Smack in the middle of the city lies 1,200 acres of tallgrass prairies, savannas, wetlands and several forest types, in addition to perhaps its most inspiring feature, “rare, intact effigy mounds built more than 1,000 years ago” by indigenous peoples.

On a recent hike, Popke gazed upon these ancient, sacred mounds in the stillness of Wingra Woods. Formerly the “ceremonial center of Indian culture,” the mounds have been pilfered and ransacked by wildlife and humans alike over the centuries. That they exist today, and are being treated with the reverence they deserve, should give us all hope for and pride in mankind.

Folio is your guide to entertainment and culture around and near Jacksonville, Florida. We cover events, concerts, restaurants, theatre, sports, art, happenings, and all things about living and visiting Jax. Folio serves more than two million readers across Jacksonville and Northeast Florida, including St. Augustine, The Beaches, and Fernandina.

Current Issue

SUBMIT EVENTS

Submit Events

Advertisements

SingOutLoadFestival_TheAmp_2025
liz-buys-houses-digital
generac-home-standby-generator-banners

Date

Title

Current Month

Follow FOLIO!

Previous Story

DUAL CRITICS REVIEW: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Players By The Sea

Next Story

Alan Parsons Live Project: Legendary Sound Engineer Talks to EU Jacksonville

Latest from Imported Folio

Pandemic could put Jaguars’ traditions on ‘timeout’

Lindsey Nolen Remember the basketball game HORSE? Well, on Thursday nights during the National Football League regular season the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive line comes together for their own version of the game, “CAT.” They’ve also been known to play a game of Rock Band or two. This is because on
Folio Weekly

September Digital Issue

Attachments 20201106-190334-Folio October Issue 6 for ISSU and PDF EMAIL BLAST COMPRESSED.pdf Click here to view the PDF!
July 5th Cleanup
GoUp