Sunday Poll: Likelihood of Landfill Fire Reaching Nearby Nuclear Waste?

The two landfills in Bridgeton were the subject of a poll here over two years ago, but readers were apathetic about the issue. Lately, it has received national attention:

Underground landfill fires, or “smoldering events” as some officials call them, aren’t rare. What makes the fire at the landfill in Bridgeton, Mo., so unusual is that it’s less than a quarter of a mile from a large deposit of nuclear waste — with no barrier in its way. (Los Angeles Times)

So this seemed like a perfect time to revisit the issue, with a new poll question:

Of course, none of has no definitive way to know — this is a non-scientific way to judge how readers view the likelihood this may become a potentially dangerous regional issue.

Please vote above, share your thoughts below. Poll options are presented in random order, the poll closes at 8pm.

— Steve Patterson

Luther Ely Smith Square Flagpole Will Replace Flag on Top of Old Courthouse Dome

The morning of the Arch’s 50th celebration I posted a photo of the Arch and new flagpole along 4th Street to social media, I was surprised by a couple of negative reactions to the flagpole. What they might not have known was this new permanent flagpole will replace the Stars & Bars that has been flown from the top of the Old Courthouse’s dome.

Not sure if the flagpole atop the Old Courthouse will be removed, or if it’ll remain.

— Steve Patterson

From UrbanReview | CHICAGO: Abundance of MV-1 Accessible Taxicabs

Today’s post first appeared on UrbanReview | CHICAGO, my new blog started on Saturday.

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One of the things we love when we’re in Chicago is the wide variety of vehicles used for taxicab service. In St. Louis most are old Ford Crown Vics. St. Louis has three accessible vans for wheelchairs — not three types, but three total! Last year this was down to just two.

In Chicago we often see the MV-1 on the streets. This vehicle was built to be accessible:

In the past, if you needed a wheelchair-accessible vehicle you had to start with a completed minivan, cut it apart, put it back together and hope for the best.  The result was an after-market vehicle with questionable durability and passenger safety concerns. Enter the MV-1, a completely new concept that has been a long time coming: build a wheelchair accessible vehicle from the ground up that is designed for commercial fleet use. Take a tour of the Mobility Ventures MV-1 and see how we’re revolutionizing passenger safety in accessible fleet transportation.

I’ve yet to ride in one — with or without my wheelchair. We see them often, will need to hail or schedule one on a future visit.

— Steve Patterson

Readers: Daylight Saving Time Is No Longer Necessary; Patterson Says Keep Clocks Ahead One Hour All Year

Sunday’s poll was a chance to compare to the nearly identical poll last March.  This 2nd time a greater percentage are willing to do away with Daylight Saving Time.

Q: Is Daylight Saving Time Still Necessary?

• No 32 [71.11%]
• Yes 9 [20%]
• Neutral 3 [6.67%]
• Unsure/No Opinion 1 [2.22%]

While we’re early risers, and I go to bed early, I don’t like the idea of a Summer sunrise 4:36am and the latest sunset at 7:29pm. On the other hand, July 4th fireworks could start earlier!

Others suggest we switch to Daylight Saving Time (ahead one hour) and don’t go back to standard time.

Making daylight saving time permanent — by never “falling back” again — could save the country billions a year in social costs by reducing rapes and robberies that take place in the evening hours, according to a forthcoming paper by researchers at the Brookings Institution and Cornell University.

In 2007, Congress increased the period of daylight saving time (DST henceforth) by four weeks, adding three weeks in the spring and one in the fall. “This produced a useful natural experiment for our paper,” authors Jennifer Doleac and Nicholas Sanders write at Brookings, “which helped us isolate the effect of daylight from other seasonal factors that might affect crime.” They found that “when DST begins in the spring, robbery rates for the entire day fall an average of 7 percent, with a much larger 27 percent drop during the evening hour that gained some extra sunlight.”

Today, November 4, 2015, our sunrise is at 6:31am and our sunset will be at 4:58pm. If we stayed on DST they’d be 7:31am & 5:58pm, respectively.  I like the idea of not changing clocks twice a year, I’d just prefer to keep them ahead one hour.

— Steve Patterson

Voting In Missouri’s 2016 Presidential Preference Primary Begins In Less Than Three Months

Today is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. This doesn’t mean much today, but in a year it will. If you’re registered to vote in the City of St. Louis you should’ve received your motor registration card in the mail, along with the following calendar:

Due to difficulty getting to my polling place on election day, I vote by absentee ballot — which I can do in less than three months. For most voters March 15, 2016 is Missouri’s 2016 Presidential Preference Primary.

From June 2014:

Missouri’s chaotic history with presidential primaries may finally be settled, now that Gov. Jay Nixon has signed into law a measure that sets the state’s presidential primary date in March.

Under the new law, Missouri’s once-every-four-years primary would be held on the second Tuesday after the first Monday. In 2016, that date would be March 15 – the first day allowed by the two national political parties without incurring penalties.

Setting a firm date that complies with the parties’ rules also might help Kansas City to land the 2016 Republican National Convention. The city is among the finalists. (St. Louis Public Radio)

Cleveland, not Kansas City, was selected for the 2016 GOP convention. For some reason the Board of Election Commissioners listed the last day to register after the election date — the deadline to register primary voters is February 17, 2016!

In Illinois, voters who will be 18 years of age on or before November 8, 2016 can register and vote in their primary — which is also Tuesday March 15, 2016. For more Illinois voter information click here.

— Steve Patterson