Leaf Season in Indy

Here's the latest from Indy.gov:

1. 2013 Leaf Season – The 2013 Leaf Season will run from Monday, November 4 through Saturday, November 30.

2. Holidays – There will be NO TRASH, HEAVY TRASH, LEAF SERVICE or CURBSIDE RECYCLING SERVICE on Thursday, 11/28 in observance of Thanksgiving; however, all Thursday routes will be picked up on Friday, 11/29, and all Friday routes will be picked up on Saturday, 11/30.

3. Item Limits – Residents may set out up to 40 bags of leaves per week in addition to their regular trash. Please place leaves in the same location they put out trash (curb or alley), but keep them 3-5 feet away from their trash. Before 11/4 and after 11/30, all trash and yard waste must fit inside the 96-gallon cart (in cart areas). Items outside the cart will not be picked up.

4. Setout Procedures – Leaves should not be set out loose in cans. Loose leaves will pack into a can and not come out easily. As a result, all leaves need to be bagged for pickup. Kraft paper bags are acceptable, but not recommended. They tend to break down very quickly when wet, leaving a mess. Also, leaves should not be set directly in contact with the 96-gallon cart (in cart areas). If they are, the cart may not be able to be emptied. Additionally, before and after leaf season, all trash and yard waste must fit into the cart. Trash or yard waste outside the cart before 11/4, or after 11/30 will not be picked up. During leaf season, only leaves will be taken by the leaf truck. Additional trash that will not fit inside the cart but is set out with leaves will not be picked up.

5. Collection Procedures – Leaves and trash are collected separately. Please make sure residents who call in same day complaints understand that if only one has been picked up so far that day, the other will be picked up by a separate truck before the day is over. We will not inspect same-day complaints that are received in order to allow crews time to service all routes.

6. Compost – Leaves collected during the 2013 leaf season are taken to Southside Landfill where they are turned into compost. When ready, the compost is made available to Indianapolis residents at no charge. Please call Southside Landfill at 247-6808 for availability of compost.

7. Complaints prior to and after the leaf season dates: If we receive any calls regarding missed leaves either BEFORE 11/4 or AFTER 11/30 please make sure that they are coded as a missed hand or cart collection, and NOT as a missed leaf collection. Missed leaf collection codes are to be used only during leaf season. Again, in cart areas, all trash/leaves must be in carts in order for it to be picked up either before or after leaf season.

Mitch Daniels Can't Avoid Politics

"When former Gov. Mitch Daniels became Purdue University's president," reports Gary R. Welsh, "he said he was getting out of partisan politics. Recent events suggest that's an impossible promise for Daniels to keep," Welsh writes in Advance Indiana today (31 October 2013).

"This week, he irritated some on his campus when he announced that Purdue, unlike IU, would not oppose the constitutional amendment opponents of same-sex marriage have vowed to push before the legislature next year.

"At first blush, that would appear to be consistent with his position since Daniels claims the university doesn't typically weigh in on social issues.

"The problem is that the proposed constitutional amendment puts at risk the domestic partner benefits the university has offered for several years and is inconsistent with the university's nondiscrimination policy.

"Thus," Welsh concludes, "some critics argue that he put his own political views ahead of the university's stated policies."

And, this Indianapolis Observer notes yet another reason his selection as Purdue prez was a bad move.

False Precedent?

"Two weeks ago, Richard Posner, one of the most respected and iconoclastic federal judges in the country, startled the legal world by publicly stating that he’d made a mistake in voting to uphold a 2005 voter-ID law out of Indiana, and that if he had properly understood the abuse of such laws, the case 'would have been decided differently'."

"The law in question requires voters to show a photo ID at the polls as a means of preventing voter fraud. Opponents sued, saying it would disenfranchise those Indianans without photo IDs — most of whom were poor, elderly, or minorities. State officials said the law was necessary, even though no one had ever been prosecuted for voter fraud in Indiana."

(The rest is here: "The Debate Over Judge Posner's Unforced Error")

This Indianapolis Observer notes that, once again, Indiana is in the news (and, not in a good way).

Luck Bests Manning

Your Indianapolis Observer doesn't follow football, but today's AP story on yesterday's Colts-Broncos game did provide some chuckles.

"If Peyton Manning wanted a preview of what retirement might look and feel like, the Indianapolis Colts gave him a brief glimpse Sunday night," AP reports, commenting on his standing-applause welcome.

"That ceremony turned out to be about the only bit of hospitality his former team extended, handing Manning and the previously unbeaten Denver Broncos a 39-33 defeat."

Indy Native Makes Good

You probably already knew this, but (as the Indianapolis Business Journal points out in "Eight@8" this morning):

"Angela Ahrendts was born and raised in nearby New Palestine, Ind. (pop.: 2,055), and got her degree at Ball State in 1981. On Tuesday, she was appointed senior vice president at Apple Inc. (market cap: $453 billion), reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook. Ahrendts has become an overnight sensation in the tech world, giving up her ridiculously lucrative job ($26.3 million in 2012) as CEO of high-end fashion label Burberry to take over Apple’s retail operations."

You go, girl!

Hoosiers Sounding Like Idiots (it's a meme)

"Obamacare has proved to be not just ideologically divisive but linguistically fertile. There’s seemingly no event or passage in American history to which it can’t be compared." writes Frank Bruni in The New York Times.

"The terrorist attacks of 9/11? Check. Back when Mike Pence, Indiana’s Republican governor, was still in Congress, he summoned that day’s horror to characterize the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Affordable Care Act."

Really, Gov. Pence? Having the Affordable Care Act upheld by the Supreme Court is like flying planes into the World Trade Center?

Stutzman Sticks Foot In Mouth

"Marlin Stutzman was, until today, a little-known Republican back-bencher, representing northeast Indiana in the House. But with just one off-message statement that he was quickly forced to retract, he became the prominent public face of the House Republicans who are refusing to re-open the United States government."
(read the rest here)

This Indianapolis Observer hates it when the elected representatives from the Hoosier State prove themselves to be uneducated country bumpkins. How could the party of Richard G. Lugar have devolved to this level?