Local News

[sadchild]

A local to Scotch story.

I just assume anywhere in Maine is local to Scotch.

Man drives dump truck filled with gravel across Civil War-era bridge

Horror has ensued after a man decided to drive a 36,000-pound dump truck filled with gravel across a Civil War-era covered wooden bridge.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Fortunately, Polewarzyk managed to escape with only minor injuries

Fortunately?? Where's Darwin when you need him??

 

[scotchandcigar]

Not the kind of local news I want to see. This is the next town over from where we lived

Mosquito-borne virus EEE kills New Hampshire man

Prior to this year, the last reported human case of eastern equine encephalitis in New Hampshire was in 2014.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[sadchild]

EEEK!

 

[Channel98]

"I'll take 'Viruses named after a shoe width' for $600, Ken."

 

[scotchandcigar]

The Rt. 95 bridge between NH and Maine has been closed all morning. This is why

Police fatally shoot man on Piscataqua River Bridge; child, 8, found dead in vehicle

Officials believe the man killed a woman in New Hampshire overnight, and said they found in his vehicle a child who had been fatally shot.

www.newscentermaine.com

 

[sadchild]

My cousin used to live a stone's throw from that bridge. On Badger's Island.

 

[scotchandcigar]

My cousin used to live a stone's throw from that bridge. On Badger's Island.

We frequent several of the 4 or 5 restaurants on that little piece of land. But that's not the I-95 (Piscataqua River) bridge. Badger's Island is an anchor point for the Rt. 1 Memorial Bridge into downtown Portsmouth.

 

[sadchild]

Yeah different bridge, but he probably would have had quite the show to watch from the island of the bridge this happened on.

 

[scotchandcigar]

Breaking news!



It used to be on the day I got paid, every 2 weeks. Now I won't know what week I get paid.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Maybe you will get paid an extra time too.

 

[JHDK]

Breaking news!

View attachment 9937

It used to be on the day I got paid, every 2 weeks. Now I won't know what week I get paid.

I don't have recycling here and it still feels weird 2 years later to throw out like a can of Coke instead of separate it. Pam's community got rid of recycling and she lives in like a fancy suburb. So that's weird. It's more understandable that a public storage location wouldn't have recycling set up.

 

[sadchild]

Am I remembering right that someone posted a link somewhere 'round here about a guy who put a tracker on something he put into recycle and it ended up in a landfill? Anyway, that. It was a marketing ploy for people to keep buying/using lots of plastic. They made people feel better about using too much of it, then basically abandoned the program beyond the claim it would happen. I forget the number but it was estimated what percent of recycle actually gets recycled and it was quite low. Maybe 10%?

 

[Channel98]

sadchild, if you care about the environment and you are concerned about plastic waste, prepare to be dismayed, disappointed, shocked, outraged and horrified:

Think that your plastic is being recycled? Think again.

Plastic is cheap to make and shockingly profitable. It’s everywhere. And we’re all paying the price.

www.technologyreview.com

 

[sadchild]

72%, ends up in landfills or the environment, according to a 2022 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Only 9% of the plastic ever produced has been recycled, and 19% has been incinerated.

 

[scotchandcigar]

72%, ends up in landfills or the environment, according to a 2022 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Only 9% of the plastic ever produced has been recycled, and 19% has been incinerated.

That "9% ever produced" figure is intended to be misleading. So in the 50s through the 90s, none of it was recycled. So even if 100% is recycled now, the "ever produced" figure would still be low.

Anyway, according to statistics I see, plastic recycling percentages are indeed low, but percentages for glass, metals, and paper are much higher.

 

[HecticArt]

Whatever the current rate of plastic recycling is, it's better than nothing.
I know it's something that they are working on improving.

California is suing Exxon Mobile for defrauding the state about how much it claims it recycles.

 

[Channel98]

In 2016, gullible California voters approved Proposition 67. They thought it would ban plastic bags. It didn't. It allowed stores and markets to offer thicker plastic bags – and charge 10¢ each for them. It also required stores and markets to charge 10¢ each for paper bags. The stores and markets make hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra revenue – and pay tax on it. And that is what Proposition 67 was really about,

Beginning January 1, 2026, plastic bags will be banned statewide.

California governor signs law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores

“Paper or plastic” will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

apnews.com

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Can't get a plastic bag in Toronto. I put my groceries in the cat and take it unpacked out of the store and drop pack it in reusable bags in my trunk. I will not pay for paper bags.

 

[scotchandcigar]

Can't get a plastic bag in Toronto. I put my groceries in the cat and take it unpacked out of the store and drop pack it in reusable bags in my trunk. I will not pay for paper bags.

Can't get a plastic bag in York, or other parts of Maine. Why don't you just go into the store with the reusable bags like everyone else?

As for Mrs. Scotch and I, we do our major food shopping in NH, where it's Live Free and Use Plastic Bags. But when we go to the supermarket in York, we pay a nickel per paper bag, so we can line our recycling bin with it.

 

[Listener]

Albertsons sells reusable bags made of cotton for $1 and insulated bags (for frozen foods) for $1.99. That is what I use.