Datasets:
Recag
/
C4_1

Dataset card Data Studio Files Community
1
text
stringlengths
10
56.7k
Proponents might argue that organizing garbage collection on a ward-by-ward basis is inefficient and wasteful. They would argue that organizing collection by regional grid would reduce the time it takes for workers to get from the ward yard to the routes and routes could be organized to reduce the distance from route to dumpsite.
They may also cite an IGO investigation in 2008 that found that garbage collection crews worked, on average, only 75 percent of the work day, indicating that there was not enough work for the collection crews to perform. Additionally, they might cite the fact that Streets and Sanitation decided to organize recycling collection on a regional, grid-based system in order to deliver the service more cheaply.
Opponents might argue that ward-based system provides better customer service than a more centralized grid system.
With ward-by-ward service, City residents have a more direct relationship with the City workers who coordinate garbage collection in their neighborhoods. Some might also argue that garbage collection has long been a primary responsibility of the City’s aldermen and that this has resulted in cleaner streets, timelier pickups, and satisfied residents.
Reduce the Number of Laborers on a Garbage Truck to 1 Savings: $10.3 million in 2011, $12 million in 2012.
On some of the City’s garbage trucks, the City assigns two laborers and one motor truck driver.... These employees are responsible for the weekly collection of garbage from 600,000 households along 350 daily routes.
Until the last couple of years, the City generally assigned two laborers to each garbage truck. However, due to budget cuts, the City has reduced the number of budgeted sanitation laborers from 816 in 2008 to 599 in 2010. This reduction in laborers means that a significant portion of the 350 daily routes are manned by one laborer.
Under this option, the City would further reduce the number of laborers devoted to garbage collection, so that on average one laborer is assigned to each garbage truck.
With 350 daily routes, operating approximately 250 days a year, there are approximately 87,500 annual routes. Assuming that the average sanitation worker works 200 days per year (after holidays, vacation days, and sick and disability leave) to ensure that there would be a sufficient reserve to avoid un-staffed routes, 438 sanitation laborers would be needed to fully staff the 87,500 routes.
This means that the number of laborers could be reduced by approximately 161.50 At an average compensation of $75,579 their total compensation in 2010 would equal $12.2 million. The 2011 and 2012 compensation will be higher due to the Laborers collective bargaining agreement, which calls for a salary increase of 3.25% in 2011 and 3.5% in 2012. Assuming that the furloughs remain in place, the compensation for these 161 positions will cost $12.6 million in 2011 and $13 million in 2012.
These savings will be reduced because under the current collective bargaining agreement with the Laborers Union, sanitation laborers working on one-laborer garbage trucks are to be paid 9 percent more than their regular hourly rate.
Thus, the reduction in 161 laborers would on average result in 161 additional laborers working on a one-laborer garbage truck, resulting in a 9 percent increase in their salaries. This would cost an additional $934,000 in 2011 and $967,000 in 2012.
Finally, under the agreement between the City and Coalition of Union Public Employees (COUPE) to impose furlough days from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011, if the City chooses to lay off employees during this period, all laid off employees will be paid for any unpaid holidays or furlough days taken since July 1, 2009.
Thus, if the City were to lay off 161 laborers, the affected laborers would have to be paid approximately 13.5 percent of their salaries to compensate for unpaid days they have taken over the last year and a half, since the furlough agreement has been in place. This would reduce the savings in 2011 by an additional $1.36 million.
After subtracting the reduced savings due to the increased pay for 1-person garbage trucks and the furlough payback provision, the savings from implementing this option would be approximately $10.3 million in 2011 and $12 million in 2012.
Proponents might argue that the City no longer needs two laborers on a garbage truck because the trucks are now semi-automated, meaning garbage carts are lifted and dumped by a mechanism on the back of the trucks.
They may also cite an IGO investigation in 2008 that found that garbage collection crews worked, on average, only 75 percent of the work day, indicating that there was not enough work for the collection crews to perform.
Others might argue that few cities have three staff assigned to each garbage truck. According to 2008 data from the International City/County Management Association’s (ICMA), among the six jurisdictions with over 500,000 people which submitted data only one (San Antonio) had 3 staff per garbage vehicle, and this is likely because collection is done manually.
The other five jurisdictions (Phoenix, Miami-Dade County, Dallas, Austin, and Oklahoma City) all had 1 person per vehicle and automated or semi-automated collection.
Opponents might argue that reducing the number of laborers to one on all garbage trucks would reduce the quality of collection service in the City. They would argue that reducing the number of laborers could result in less frequent service as it takes trucks longer to perform their routes.
Additionally, others might argue that in addition to their collection responsibilities, laborers sweep alleys, pick up trash, or remove street-sweeping signs. Reducing the number of laborers would mean a reduction in these services.
Simple. Organize the wards on a grid system, rather than gerrymandered as they are now. Makes the garbage collection more efficient, while keeping it in the hands of the aldermen.
The trucks on the Far North Side are picking up less garbage than a year ago.
I know this because while they're leaving the garage on Ravenswood Ave. at the same time every morning, they're coming back for the day way before they used to. Now they return as early as 2 PM, while a year ago it was at 3 PM. All the workers cars are gone by 3 PM now, it used to take until 4 PM last year.
The only explanation for the ward by ward system appears to be the very least paragraph which to me seems pretty flimsy. How are the residents' or aldermen's relationships with the city workers stronger if they don't cross ward boundaries on any given day? They still have to pick up their garbage every week? I don't get that at all.
---I also found it interesting that the city apparently picks up about twice the tonnage of trash than it does recycling. In the superboonies where I live, the ratio is more than twice the opposite. We have two wheeled containers for each house; one for recycling, and a somewhat larger one for trash. We fill the recycling container each week, and the trash container has a few things in the bottom of it; some garbage, contaminated paper not suitable for recycling, used facial tissues, the occasional diaper when the grandchildren come visiting. The city's ratio is possibly a residuum of the blue bag program; people just aren't used to a serious recycling program yet.
And oh yes: the collection trucks have a claw on the side that picks up the container, upends it and dumps it. One man per truck, and he never has to get out.
Cut down on high absenteeism while you're at it.
I lived in Chicago until 1975 and knew that if you wanted to guarantee that the old loveseat or refrigerator that you hauled out to your alley were to be picked up it was a good idea to meet the garbage truck with maybe a cold six pack in a brown bag or possibly a $5 bill discreetly passed to the driver. Actually, you could give it to any one of the three or four 'workers' who either drove, rode on the back of, or walked along behind, the truck. Since then I've lived in the suburbs (Alsip, Justice, Worth, Lockport) and have enjoyed simple, cost effective trash collection by various private refuse companies. I have never, in more than 35 years, had to call to complain about the service I've received. This includes picking up couchs, freezers, construction waste or trees. If there's a holiday, flood, blizzard or any other form of delay they're there the day after the normal pick-up day, never later. The most amazing part is, all of this is done by one worker, and has been for the last 20 years. So, until somebody in city government grows a pair and finally decides to attack the real problem, this totally wasteful practice will continue.
Az Zallaqa, JNIM’s media branch, branded with other official al Qaeda media wings.
In a recently released video, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) – a jihadist group primarily based in West Africa and the Sahel – went to great lengths to portray its fight against Mali and France as conjoined with al Qaeda’s global jihad. Speeches and footage from several al Qaeda leaders from around the world were shown interlaced with combat footage from the African jihadist group.
At the very beginning of the video, JNIM showed its media division, Az Zallaqa, as being in the same family as other al Qaeda media wings. This includes As Sahab (al Qaeda central’s media division), Al Malahem (al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula), Al Kata’ib (Shabaab), and al Andalus (al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb). By putting its media wing alongside other media branches of the global jihadist organization, JNIM is portraying Az Zallaqa as another official al Qaeda media organization.
This is important as some have categorized JNIM as merely being “linked” or “affiliated” with al Qaeda. However, JNIM clearly sees itself on equal footing with al Qaeda’s official branches around the world.
As the video progresses, JNIM depicts its conflict in Mali as being the same conflict seen in various places around the world, such as Nigeria, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Kenya, Afghanistan, and Chechnya. Various killed al Qaeda leaders, such as Osama bin Laden, Nasir al Wuyashi, Anwar al Awlaki, Ibn Khattab, Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, Abu al Hasan al Rashid al Bulaydi, Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, Abu Firas al Suri, and Muhammad al Zahawi, are shown in a eulogy segment.
A speech from Sulayman Abu al Ghaith, a former al Qaeda spokesman who is now serving a life sentence in the US, can be heard over footage of combat from JNIM. “God ordered us to protect the vulnerable, so we protect the vulnerable. God ordered us to terrorize the apostates, so we terrorize the apostates. God ordered us to kill the leaders of disbelief, so we kill the leaders of disbelief,” al Ghaith said as he linked al Qaeda’s jihad to “protecting the vulnerable” around the world.
The message then shifted to lambasting both Mali and France for their efforts to combat the jihadist group in the West African country. JNIM used English-speaking political commentators to suggest France’s involvement in Mali is a large conspiracy as part of a wider war against Islam. A JNIM official identified as Abdul Hakim al Muhajir [implying he is a foreign fighter] reiterated in this point in a long-winded tirade against France.
“France’s war on Muslims in the region is not a economic war … it is between faith and apostasy, and Islam and idolatry,” al Muhajir stated in his speech. That theme was common for JNIM and its predecessor groups in Mali, as it painted France as an occupying force oppressing Muslims in a war against Islam. Speeches and statements from various JNIM leaders, including Iyad Ag Ghaly and Yahya Abu al Hammam – its emir and deputy emir respectively – have focused on this exact trope in the last three years.
Yahya Abu al Hammam continued that trend by also making a short speech against France and the G5 Sahel forces operating in Mali. This was immediately before showing suicide bombers and an assault team training for the April 14 suicide assault on the joint UN-French base in Timbuktu. One actual UN peacekeeper was killed in that attack, while at least 10 others were wounded during the assault. France confirmed seven of its soldiers were also wounded. Additionally, the French military reported at least 15 jihadists were killed.
Despite a French counter-terrorism operation, UN troops, and troops from the G5 Sahel, JNIM remain a potent threat within Mali. Its violence has also been continuously shifting further south within Mali, as well as pouring into neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger.
Inter Milan's lead at the top of Serie A was cut when they lost 2-1 at home to Lazio on Sunday while AS Roma beat Genoa 2-0 to record their first win in eight games and ease the pressure on under-fire coach Rudi Garcia.
The title race remains congested as second-placed Fiorentina defeated Chievo 2-0 and Napoli, in third, beat Atalanta 3-1. Juventus' winning streak continued when they came from behind to beat Carpi 3-2.
Napoli and Fiorentina have 35 points, one behind Inter who were sunk by two-goal Antonio Candreva.
Roberto Mancini's side fell behind when Candreva struck a fifth-minute thunderbolt but they levelled as captain Mauro Icardi slotted the ball beneath Etrit Berisha in the 61st.
Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo then gave away a penalty in the 87th minute after fouling Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Candreva beat Samir Handanovic on the rebound after his initial effort was blocked.
Melo lost his composure and was dismissed in stoppage time after aiming a kung-fu kick at Lucas Biglia and Milinkovic-Savic received a second yellow card moments later.
"Unfortunately Melo did two stupid things," coach Mancini told Sky Sport Italia. "We did the damage ourselves, we threw it away."
Mario Mandzukic scored twice as Juve extended their Serie A winning streak to seven matches to head into the winter break in fourth on 33 points, a point clear of Roma in fifth.
Former Juve striker Marco Borriello gave second from bottom Carpi the lead but Mandzukic equalised in spectacular fashion when he swivelled to fire a volley past Vid Belec.
Mandzukic netted again with a header in the 41st minute. Paul Pogba added a third before Leonardo Bonucci's late own goal set up a tense finale.
Roma's Alessandro Florenzi and Sadiq Umar scored, while Edin Dzeko was sent off for swearing at the referee, as Garcia's side ended a run of seven games without a win in all competitions by beating Genoa.
Garcia was close to the exit door, according to media reports, following their midweek Italian Cup elimination by Serie B Spezia but may have bought himself some time.
"We can see the light at the end of the tunnel," said Frenchman Garcia. "We remain close to second place and it's all open for 2016."
Napoli saw off Atalanta with two second-half goals from Gonzalo Higuain although both sides had a player sent off during an ill-tempered match.
Fiorentina downed Chievo with goals from Nikola Kalinic and Josip Ilicic while AC Milan's fine form under Sinisa Mihajlovic continued as they came from behind to win 4-2 at struggling Frosinone to extend their unbeaten run to eight in all competitions.
Verona and Sassuolo drew 1-1, Sampdoria beat Palermo 2-0 and Udinese won 1-0 at Torino.
Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) visited the University of Rochester Medical Center on Friday, October 7 as part of the University’s annual reunion weekend. NIH is the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world and over the last five years URMC has received approximately $789 million in research funding from the organization.
Collins traveled to Rochester to deliver a positive message: it is an extremely exciting time for biomedical research. In a keynote address to faculty members, staff, students, trainees and alumni, he detailed several new NIH initiatives like the Cancer Moonshot and the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program. He highlighted the work of David C. Linehan, M.D., director of clinical operations at UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute and Chair of Surgery at URMC who is studying new immune therapies for pancreatic cancer, as well as Thomas O’Connor, Ph.D., professor of Psychiatry and director of the Wynne Center for Family Research at URMC who is among a group of scientists studying prenatal inflammation and child health as part of ECHO.
“We are in a time of such amazing diversity of opportunity, with people working in fields that maybe weren’t even invented 20 years ago, making advances in basic, translational and clinical science and everything in between,” said Collins, a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and his leadership of the international Human Genome Project.
Turning scientific discoveries into new treatments for patients is priority for the NIH and Collins applauded URMC on its new $19 million grant to continue the “bench-to-bedside” research taking place at the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Collins cited translational research conducted by cardiologist Arthur J. Moss, M.D., which has led to new treatments for patients with Long QT syndrome (LQTS), and infectious disease expert John J. Treanor, M.D., which is helping scientists in pursuit of a universal flu vaccine.
After many lean years, Collins reported that the NIH budget is increasing and outlined several new funding initiatives, such as the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, which is helping Elaine L. Hill, Ph.D.,assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences study the impact of fracking on infant and child health.
Collins’ trip to the Medical Center included an intimate discussion with graduate students and junior researchers about the importance of communicating science to the public and policymakers, increasing diversity in biomedical research and mechanisms to support young scientists at the start of their careers. Members of the Center for RNA Biology highlighted their most promising work for Collins and Center director Lynne E. Maquat, Ph.D. gave Collins a tour of her lab, where he met more trainees and junior researchers (admittedly, Collins’ favorite part of visits like these).
Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter helped bring Collins to Rochester and introduced him ahead of his keynote address.
eMagin Corporation (NYSE MKT: EMAN) will release fourth quarter 2016 earnings and host a conference call that will be webcast on Tuesday, March 28, 2017.
eMagin Corporation (NYSE MKT: EMAN) will release fourth quarter 2016 earnings and host a conference call that will be webcast on Tuesday, March 28, 2017. The Company's management will discuss financial results for the fourth quarter of 2016, ended December 31, 2016, and provide a corporate update.
The conference call and live webcast will begin at 9:00 a.m. ET. An archive of the webcast will be available one hour after the live call through April 27, 2017. To access the live Webcast or archive, please visit the Company's website at ir.emagin.com.
A leader in OLED microdisplay technology, OLED microdisplay manufacturing know-how and mobile display systems, eMagin manufactures high-resolution OLED microdisplays and integrates them with magnifying optics to deliver virtual images comparable to large-screen computer and television displays in portable, low power consumption, lightweight personal displays. eMagin microdisplays provide near-eye imagery in a variety of products from military, industrial, medical and consumer OEMs. More information about eMagin is available at www.emagin.com.
I get the point; this is an M-rated Kinect game. Can you please stop throwing blood all over me, Sega? Oh god, it's in my mouth.
Sega's Rise of Nightmares is the gamer that finally realizes the joy of air-chainsawing the undead into tiny little pieces, even if it still has a way to go towards capturing the joy of simple movement and navigation.
Frankly I feel Sega is trying too hard. All we really need is a guy standing still in a dark room while hordes of bizarre creatures charging us and tons of dismemberment-friendly devices within arm's reach. Don't sweat the moving about. All I crave are clockwork zombies, undead maids, and a scythe to disembowel them by.
The Hurriyat said although the NIA has an office in Srinagar, it has deliberately asked the Masjid and school officials to come to Delhi to “further harass and trouble them”.
The NIA has sent notices to Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid and the Islamia School, both old Valley institutions of religion and education and both linked to the family of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. The notices have been sent days after separatist leaders were questioned on alleged terror funding from Pakistan. The Mirwaiz presides over the Friday prayers at the mosque in Srinagar and the Islamia School was founded by his family over a century ago.
The NIA’s notices, asking for an appearance at its office in New Delhi, have been sent to Mohammad Hussain Khan, who manages the accounts of the Auqaf of Jamia Masjid, and Mohammad Ibraheem Shah, the general secretary of the Anjuman Nusrat-ul-Islam that runs the institution. The Mirwaiz has said the move was a sign of persecution by the state. “Now the NIA sends notice to #IslamiaSchool & JamaMasjid, exposes level of persecution State can go to against those it can’t defeat politically!” he tweeted.
“Both, the Anjuman Nusratul Islam and Auqaf Jamia Masjid, are apolitical educational and social organisations which have a great history of serving the people of the state selflessly for decades,” a Hurriyat statement said. “Subjecting its members to harassment and intimidation for the sole reason of being part of institutions headed by the Mirwaiz, to put pressure on the Mirwaiz is deplorable,” it added. The Hurriyat said although the NIA has an office in Srinagar, it has deliberately asked the Masjid and school officials to come to Delhi to “further harass and trouble them”.
A clinical-stage biotechnology company, engaged in the research and development of cancer therapeutics. Its mission is to research, develop and commercialize targeted cancer drugs with reduced toxicities compared to conventional cancer chemotherapeutics.
How do you think NASDAQ:ARQL will perform against the market?
Read the most recent pitches from players about ARQL.
I'm having a hard time reconciling a decent reason not to risk this stock with real money. In my opinion, at $2/share the company is poised to repeat miraculous gains in a relatively near future. Only twice in the past eleven years has this stock been this low. Its price has climbed up to as high as $10 in times past! With the company's current pipeline, a plausible economic crisis (something this sector can be relatively immune to and could therefore draw investors), and add in the fact that ArQule is presenting at the RBC Capital Markets Global Healthcare Conference coming this Tuesday... it seems likely that something positive, no matter how minute, will likely send this stock up quick. Dilution, or other bad things could happen, but I'm having a difficult time seeing it happen with this company. The fundamentals on this stock are shaky, though. This is not without risk.
Find the members with the highest scoring picks in ARQL.
The Score Leader is the player with the highest score across all their picks in ARQL.
Police in Northern Ireland say two police officers narrowly escaped being killed in a landmine attack in Co Fermanagh at the weekend.
Details of the incident, which happened on Saturday, were only released by the PSNI this afternoon.
A landmine containing a substantial amount of home-made explosives was planted under a bridge near the village of Rosslea.
Police say the two officers sustained minor injuries because only part of the device exploded. The landmine was later defused by British Army bomb experts.
The attack is being blamed on dissident republicans.
The PSNI have condemned those who planted the bomb, saying their depraved actions have nothing to offer anyone in the community.
The PSNI says a number of police officers narrowly escaped being murdered in a landmine attack in Co Fermanagh at the weekend.
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Colin Powell (search) has been evasive about his future, skirting questions about the timing of his widely expected departure after four rough-and-tumble years as America's chief diplomat.
In dozens of interviews, Powell has dismissed questions about his plans by saying with a smile, "I serve at the pleasure of the president."
Powell has long been considered to be a one-term secretary of state, irrespective of whether Bush was re-elected. Speculation has been rife for months about possible successors in a second Bush term. Among those mentioned are national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (search) and U.N. Ambassador John Danforth (search).
Last July, Bush suggested during an appearance in Philadelphia that he would be happy if Powell were to remain on. The remark went virtually unnoticed by the media but caught the attention of Powell aides.
During a September interview with The Associated Press, Powell was asked whether he considered Bush's comment to be an invitation for him to stay on.
"Time will tell. We will see," Powell replied.
When asked Wednesday about Powell's plans, his spokesman, Richard Boucher, reverted to the usual language about "serving at the pleasure of the president."
One possibility would be for Powell to stay on for a brief period until after the national elections in Iraq, which are supposed to be held before the end of January 2005.
As analysts see it, a post-Iraq election departure for Powell would make more sense than one that could occur just days before the balloting in Iraq but after Bush's second term begins.
At a minimum, Bush's re-election means a series of foreign trips Powell plans will take on a more serious cast than they would have if Sen. John Kerry had prevailed Tuesday.
And the Bush victory means that his own trip to an Asia-Pacific summit meeting in Chile before Thanksgiving will involve substantive exchanges rather than farewell handshakes and polite banter.
The 20 or so Asia-Pacific leaders invited there will be eager to hear what Bush has in mind for the region in his second term.
For his part, Powell will travel to Mexico on Monday for an overnight visit. The following week, he plans to spend four days in Chile as part of the U.S. summit entourage. He then will fly to Egypt for a major international conference on Iraq's future, a meeting Powell hopes to use to expand international cooperation for Iraq.
He also will attend a NATO meeting in Brussels in December and possibly meetings of other trans-Atlantic groups in Europe. In addition, Powell will attend a meeting in Morocco next month to push the Bush administration's pro-democracy agenda for Arab countries.