WQCH Radio, 06/02/12:

“THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE’S ‘GARBAGE PICKUP EXPERIMENT’ IS OVER, AND NEXT WEEK, IT’S BACK TO THE OLD TWICE-A-WEEK PICKUP SCHEDULE. THAT INCLUDES GARBAGE PICKUP ON EITHER MONDAYS AND THURSDAYS OR TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS, DEPENDING ON YOUR LOCATION.

“FOR THE MONTH OF MAY, THE CITY COUNCIL ORDERED THE SANITATION DEPARTMENT TO TRY THE ‘ONCE PER WEEK’ PICKUPS ON TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS. THEY WERE INSTRUCTED TO ‘KEEP TABS’ ON EXPENSES DURING THE MONTH, TO SEE IF THE REDUCTION IN PICKUPS SAVED THE DEPARTMENT SIGNIFICANT MONEY.

“THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO REPORT THOSE FINDINGS TO THE CITY COUNCIL IN JUNE, AND FUTURE PICKUP SCHEDULES WILL THEN BE DETERMINED BY THE CITY’S ELECTED GOVERNING BODY.”

Considering how terrible the “experiment” went (mostly due to poor communication and limited distribution of larger trash cans), the city will probably decide to keep twice a week pickup permanently and raise garbage pickup rates by $6 to $10 a month.

Next month we should do another experiment: shut down the golf course or airport two days a week and see how much money that saves. If the savings are substantial, make the change permanent and don’t charge the 90% of residents who don’t benefit from those toys extra fees to get their garbage hauled off.

You should be getting one of these from the Queen in your mailbox soon. We’ve never seen Bebe this desperate before:

The stories her PR firm ginned up with CNN and Channel 3 are, as noted before, the core of her campaign – and the statements attributed to them aren’t even quotes from their reports. This mailer shares nothing positive she’s done, and nothing about the 224 jobs lost last month. (The company Shaw spoke against promised maybe 20, and all he said was the county shouldn’t be involved in private business.)

But that’s OK. The only people in Walker County who believe lies at this level were already going to vote for Heiskell, and some who weren’t sure who to vote for have been convinced by this stunt to vote AGAINST her.

Dr. Shaw doesn’t have the resources or the moral failings to do an advertisement like this. Heisekell has $10,000 of billboards, is lining up broadcast advertising, has the resources of the county at her disposal, and still has to resort to copyright infringement and outright blatant lying to try and get ahead.

Since the Shaw campaign won’t respond in a similar manner, here’s a volunteer attempt:

And unlike the Heiskell mailer, this one is actually true.

This isn’t affiliated with the Shaw campaign, and won’t be mailed – but everyone is strongly encouraged to share this with their voting friends. Expect to see more come out before the election is done.

LHS graduation is tonight at 8 PM. Congratulations to all who reached the goal; we hope you are becoming, and become, adults whose lives honor both your family and your God. Don’t waste the blank slate of potential and opportunity that lies before you.

There are several other things going on today and through the weekend, including a Cruise In car show, a youth rodeo, the last day of school, and a kick-off party for the library’s summer reading program. There are also quite a few political meetings and candidate events coming up throughout June.

For a full schedule of upcoming activities and events, check out the new & improved LU Calendar.

Update on the vehicle thefts from Cagle’s Used Cars:

The Sheriff’s Office has made four arrests, two 18-year-olds and two juveniles, for stealing cars – but they’ve only been charged with stealing one Nissan XTerra before the Cagle robberies. Steve Wilson says there’s no “direct link” between the XTerra theft and the Cagle’s car thefts a week later, even though the cases have many similarities, and at least one of the suspects (we’re told) has admitted to both crimes.

No links. Except all the vehicles stolen were destroyed in the same way. Papers and personal items taken from the XTerra were found at the Pigeon Mountain cliff where four of the Cagle vehicles were destroyed later. The property where the XTerra was found, east of town, is owned by the same family that owns the property on the southwest side of town where Cagle’s destroyed cars were located. Also, the boys accused of stealing the XTerra were arrested by the officer investigating the Cagle thefts.

At the very least Wilson should have said “we haven’t FOUND a clear link” but he cannot rule out a connection unless there’s security video showing someone who ISN’T these kids stealing the cars, or fingerprints of six OTHER thieves in the Cagle’s vehicles.

But Wilson is completely confident that the four boys will never be attached to the Cagle thefts. If he wasn’t, he would have told the media something else. Why is he so confident in the outcome of the investigation when the mud on the cars is barely dry? Did the Sheriff’s Office make a deal with these four, charging them with one crime instead of seven, in exchange for information? Are they being protected for some reason?

It’s possible investigators just haven’t gotten enough information to tie the four arrested youth to the Cagle thefts, but if there was any possibility they might be charged for those in the future, Wilson would have been more careful in his choice of words to the paper.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office is spending more time trying to figure out how LU knows some of the case details than it’s spending to track down the thieves.

WQCH Radio, 05/31/2012:

“ANOTHER JOY-RIDING CRIME TO REPORT. THIS TIME IT’S IN THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE, AND THE VEHICLE TAKEN WAS A BUSH-HOG EQUIPPED TRACTOR. CITY MANAGER FRANK ETHERIDGE SAID LAST THURSDAY, THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT PARKED A TRACTOR NEAR THE LAFAYETTE AIRPORT AFTER A DAY OF MOWING. UNFORTUNATELY, ETHRIDGE [sic] SAID THE EMPLOYEE LEFT THE KEYS IN THE TRACTOR. AN UNKNOWN SUBJECT GOT IN AND TOOK THE TRACTOR FOR A SPIN. IN THE PROCESS A NEARBY PRIVATELY-OWNED AIRPLANE HANGAR WAS DAMAGED AS THE TRACTOR BRUSHED AGAINST THE SIDE OF THE METAL BUILDING. ETHERIDGE SAID THE CITY’S INSURANCE COMPANY WILL GET THAT BILL, SINCE THE TRACTOR WAS CITY-OWNED. THE TRACTOR WAS RECOVERED AND WAS NOT BADLY DAMAGED. NO ARRESTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THE CASE.”

Another vehicle taken for a joy ride, with damage done. Based on the kind of equipment and where it was left, this doesn’t seem connected to the other vehicle thefts that happened on the same night – except maybe a shared attitude. So we can safely say there’s “no direct link” between the rash of car thefts and this tractor-jacking. Unless there actually is.