The Thread for local stories that likely interest one person but others might discuss

[Easy Mac]

Inspired by the thread about Indiana politics, I figured this could be a dumping ground for stories around your area (state/local) you found interesting, that you feel the need to share with a larger audience. Por ejemplo:

Simpsonville Police Chief Suspended

In my suburb, the police chief was suspended 30 days after a 4 hour closed door city counsel meeting. This is after he was initially fired over 3 years ago for undisclosed reasons, then re-instated 2 years ago, again without any real explanation.

I assume there are dumb stories of government incompetence all over the country that maybe don't warrant Flint type coverage, but can occasionally be fun to discuss.

[tarcone]

My towns city politics. What a joke.

Mayor gets elected with an axe to grind after suing the city. Alderman get after him. The same alderman who do nothing for the city. Except what is in their best interests. Every meeting is a circus. It is old boy, small town politics at its finest.

If there is any interest, go to the emissourian online paper and go to the Pacific section.

Oh, our town did spend about $5 million to build a new city hall and police station. Which we didnt need. And they didnt put cameras in the police station and built one of those garages you can take prisoners out of the car in. But it was built to short and the door wont close.

[QuikSand]

Have fun with the thread, but be careful.

OT - Awful/strange local story - Front Office Football Central

[cartman]

Maybe angelzluv8603 might come back for another post.

[digamma]

State lawmaker charged with DUI: Four kids in car, gun on hip, he blows .225 | Political Insider blog

Fairly amazing story. The things that jump out at me: it's 2:45 in the afternoon, there are four kids in the car and he's blasted.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Inspired by the thread about Indiana politics, I figured this could be a dumping ground for stories around your area (state/local) you found interesting, that you feel the need to share with a larger audience. Por ejemplo:

Simpsonville Police Chief Suspended

In my suburb, the police chief was suspended 30 days after a 4 hour closed door city counsel meeting. This is after he was initially fired over 3 years ago for undisclosed reasons, then re-instated 2 years ago, again without any real explanation.

I assume there are dumb stories of government incompetence all over the country that maybe don't warrant Flint type coverage, but can occasionally be fun to discuss.

Man I could write a book on the background of this story.
At the root of all this is a a 19 year old nephew of a councilman who was arrested for possession of meth. Police chief wouldnt sweep it under rug and
witch hunt began.

[AlexB]

Not saying I live in a small town, but apparently the entire future of it depends on the public toilets being reopened...

Newbury public toilets to reopen today (Friday) - News - Newbury Weekly News

It does make sense, but shows how fragile a small local economy can be

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by AlexB

Not saying I live in a small town, but apparently the entire future of it depends on the public toilets being reopened...

Newbury public toilets to reopen today (Friday) - News - Newbury Weekly News

It does make sense, but shows how fragile a small local economy can be

Out of curiosity, how many local businesses are we talking about being the beneficiaries of the ... facilities tourism?

Where I'm going with that, I guess, is that the rather obvious step that I didn't see mentioned would be for a merchant's association (or whatever the local equivalent is) to step forward with a contribution toward the monthly upkeep. Even if not the full amount, surely some sort of effort couldn't hurt their cause.

[bhlloy]

Ha! Can't tell you the number of times we've stopped at Newbury over the years on the way to and from Cardiff to London.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Out of curiosity, how many local businesses are we talking about being the beneficiaries of the ... facilities tourism?

Where I'm going with that, I guess, is that the rather obvious step that I didn't see mentioned would be for a merchant's association (or whatever the local equivalent is) to step forward with a contribution toward the monthly upkeep. Even if not the full amount, surely some sort of effort couldn't hurt their cause.

That's one of the issues, very dificult to quantify. Large numbers stopping to 'spend a penny' doesn't necessarily translate to large numbers spending their pennies (quite proud of that sentence )

TBH I'm not convinced that there is a direct link, and that was probably the council's line of thinking when they decided that was one of the many cuts they had to make: this is a time when major local authority spending cuts are being forced ona regional and local level.

Your point is a very valid one: if it made that much of a difference there is a vested interest for the small convenience store (too many puns now), and a couple of cafes that are within walking distance of the bus station to keep the facilities open.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Ha! Can't tell you the number of times we've stopped at Newbury over the years on the way to and from Cardiff to London.

Heh! It's probably not changed that much! Out if interest, when you stopped, was it a 15 minute stretch your legs stop, or a longer break so you could grab something to eat, have a coffee or beer?

[bhlloy]

Probably mostly the former, although I do remember stopping and looking around the town a couple of times. And my parents were always looking for the next cup of tea, so we probably did that a bunch as well