Southern Maine’s Mystery Odor; Crippling U.S. Passenger Rail Shutdown Looms
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Also: Amarillo’s five-month ‘wild ride’ of dysfunction and good news from the South Carolina flood zone.
Here’s some of what we’ve been reading today ...
YORK COUNTY, Maine: Something stinks in southern Maine and public officials in at least four York County communities have been fielding phone calls about a strong odor that some say smells like manure or raw sewage, the Portland Press Herald reports. The odor likely originated from a local farm, but officials aren’t disclosing the specific source. But whatever it is, it stinks: “That smell today was stronger than anything I think I ever smelled,” said Velma Jones Hayes, vice chair of the Arundel Board of Selectmen. [Portland Press Herald]
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia: Jan. 1 could usher in a sour new year for commuter rail passengers. That’s because Jan. 1 is a congressionally mandated deadline to implement “positive train control” safety systems on any railroad that carries intercity or commuter trains. But many railroads are woefully behind. As Greater Greater Washington details, unless Congress extends the deadline, some commuter rail systems, like Metra in the Chicago area, and some Amtrak services, will be forced to cease passenger operations. [Greater Greater Washington]
AMARILLO, Texas: Ever since the election of three new councilmembers in Amarillo in May, city hall has gone through some very wild convulsions. As Amarillo Globe-News columnist Jon Mark Beilue writes:
Round and round the City of Amarillo wheel of dysfunction goes, and where it stops, nobody knows.
Respected city attorney—gone. Public works director — gone. IT director — gone. As of Monday night, the city manager—gone. … In short time, the new regime has created a toxic atmosphere within the city that makes working there difficult, and has stepped over its bounds in the city’s governmental system.
The three new councilmembers have tried to derail a downtown redevelopment project that was long in the works. Morale is down among city workers. And who will step into the leadership vacuum? Beliue asks: “Who would dive into this dumpster fire?” [Amarillo Globe-News]
COLUMBIA, South Carolina: Good news from the flood disaster zone in and around South Carolina’s capital city: After 11 days under a water boil order, residents in Columbia were given the all clear to drink tap water on Wednesday afternoon. Many damaged roads have reopened, too. [The State]
MISSOULA, Montana: Voters in Big Sky Country might get the chance to vote on a ballot initiative that calls for the prohibition of trapping on public lands. As the Missoulian reports, Montana Secretary of State Linda McColloch has OK’d signature gathering for a November 2016 ballot initiative. Previous efforts to get anti-trapping measure on the ballot have failed because proponents haven’t been able to get enough signatures. [Missoulian]
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive’s Route Fifty.
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