"This is shaping up as one of the snowiest winters on record."
And yet I still get global warming garbage as well as pot-hollering-kettle hypocrisy in my paper of elitist insult. They are now trying to blame the weather for the rotten economy. It really is enough to make one cry, but I have snow I need to go shovel. In addition to the foot that fell here yesterday there is 5 inches of heavy wet snow on the ground this morning.
Just another state $nowpile....
"Snowstorms straining public works budgets" by Martine Powers | Globe Staff, February 05, 2014
As another snowstorm took aim at the New England region on Tuesday, transportation and public works officials around the state said this winter’s high levels of icy precipitation have begun to threaten their balanced budgets.
At the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, snow-related expenses have already come in at $61 million — $18 million over the budgeted amount....
Interesting number there.
In other cities and towns around the state, public works departments are inching closer to tapping out on their snow-removal budget, causing local leaders to cross their fingers that the wintry weather will abate soon before their remaining funds dwindle to zero.
Un-flipping-believable.
They are out of funds and there is still EIGHT MORE WEEKS WORTH of POSSIBLE SNOW!
That's what li$tening to fart-mi$ters will do: short you on the snow plows.
The situation calls to mind the winter of 2011, when government agencies were left scrambling to figure out how to pay for a season of extraordinary plowing....
Oh, I remember, I remember.
It’s deja vu....
Almost makes you forget the $mell of fart mi$t.
For now, there seems to be no sign of a slowdown....
Wednesday’s storm is the latest in a steady stream of snowfalls this winter. Even the snowstorms that did not pan out — like the much-dreaded Jan. 22 storm that dropped a mere four inches — have caused work crews to overspend on road treatments.
Look at the fart-mi$ting paper minimize four inches as if it's nothing! What a $now job!
And, because plows were able to clear roads quickly, some towns made last-minute reversals on their decision to cancel school, sparking a different kind of ire....
From kids!
To close this year’s snow budget gap, Transportation Secretary Richard A. Davey will seek supplemental funding from the Legislature. But other towns do not have that option....
I'm picking up the shovel as I type.
--more--"
Related: Freetown man faces sword-threat charge
Just thought I would shovel that one at you. Swords and snow don't go well together.
"Plow operators say state owes them millions" by Martine Powers | Globe Staff, February 06, 2014
Snow plow contractors are angry that they are being forced to wait months for payment from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation — so angry that some have decided they will not work with the agency anymore.
How much are they owed?
“It’s really disheartening that we’re going through what we’re going through right now because we work very, very hard and nobody’s getting paid,” said Matthew Frazier, president of the Massachusetts Snow and Ice Contractors Association.
Hey, you gotta get in line.
First up are debt-enslaving bank interest payments to the tune of millions per month. Then it is the well-connected corporate subsidies that need to be handed out. Then it is well-connected interests and friends that are served. After that it is the lavish lifestyles of the political class that must be funded. Then we will see how much is left for you taxpaying citizens.
Frazier said contractors are owed at least $27 million for plowing, and estimated that Wednesday’s storm would add another $3.5 million to the bill.
But Patrick can "find" $20 million for late night T service in the heating aid budget?
The Transportation Department has exceeded its $43 million budget for snow and ice removal, spending about $61 million as of early this week, officials said.
The rest of the money to pay snow and ice removal contractors will have to come from the state Legislature, which typically provides a retroactive influx of cash to cover a deficit.
But that means that plow owners will wait — perhaps until summer — to receive what is owed to them.
Think banks and bond investors have to wait months for their payments?
Michael Verseckes, a Transportation Department spokesman, said a bill filed last week with the Legislature will allow the agency to spend up to $93 million for snow removal. If necessary, another piece of legislation would be filed at the end of the winter to cover the costs of any snow spending that exceeds that amount.
The problem, Frazier said, is that the snow removal compensation clause is bundled with more controversial issues that often prompt extensive debate on Beacon Hill.
A debate we never get to see because committee hearings and the function of the Hill prohibits the public from seeing it -- and they called it democracy!
That means it often takes months before the legislation is passed and the Department of Transportation is free to send compensation to the contractors.
You buying that lame-a$$ pile of an excu$e, are you?
In recent years, the state has passed annual laws that allow the Transportation Department to spend an additional $50 million for snow removal on credit — but that law was not included in this year’s budget....
WhyTF not?
--more--"
Time to start plowing through these:
"A city turned desolate, all because of 10 inches of snow" by Peter Schworm and Akilah Johnson | Globe Staff, February 06, 2014
All this for 10 inches of snow from an unexceptional winter storm.
For Kim Gaskin and others, the sight of a fairly routine February storm slowing a major city to a crawl spoke to changing times — and to schools that call off classes well before any snow has fallen, and to politicians who are quick to declare snow emergencies and urge people to stay off the roads....
It was not exactly a blizzard, after all....
“Today really wasn’t that bad.”
***************
New Englanders may pride themselves on winter hardiness, some said, but Wednesday provided stark evidence that reputation might be overstated.
F*** you, you in$ulting piece of eliti$t $hit.
Just ask Lucette Alais, a native of upstate New York whose harp strum cut the silence at Downtown Crossing, where the groaning trains were her only real competition.
“There could be 3 feet of snow, and you’re expected to go to work,” the 32-year-old said without pausing. “Since I’ve lived here, I thought it was strange that they close things.”
Workers who made the trek downtown found a strangely subdued scene, one that seemed to move in slow motion. As snow turned to a stinging sleet around midday, few ventured outdoors, and with a parking ban in effect, cars were scarce.
“It’s definitely dead,” said David Chin, who took an early morning train to his job in the Financial District. Like others who made their way to the office, he found many empty desks and no lines for coffee or lunch.
With so many people huddled at home, the city felt smaller, more manageable....
I would manage better if I stopped reading this slop.
--more--"
"Atlanta braces for possible ‘catastrophic’ storm; Fear of ice, outages keeps many home after recent ordeal" by Christina A. Cassidy | Associated Press, February 12, 2014
ATLANTA — The city dodged the first punch of a dangerous winter storm Tuesday, but forecasters warned of a potentially ‘‘catastrophic’’ second blow in a thick layer of ice that threatened to bring hundreds of thousands of power outages and leave people in their cold, dark homes for days.
The streets and highways in metro Atlanta were largely deserted as people in the South’s business hub heeded advice from officials to hunker down at home, especially after the snow jam two weeks ago saw thousands of people stranded on icy, gridlocked roads for hours when 2 inches of snow fell.
See: Bad Deal For Georgia
And the rest of the South.
‘‘Last time I was totally unprepared, I was completely blindsided,’’ said Lisa Nadir, of Acworth, who sat in traffic for 13 hours and then spent the night in her car when the storm hit Jan. 28. ‘‘I’m going to be prepared from now on for the rest of my life.’’
Crazy preppers.
Nadir was telecommuting from home Tuesday and she had kitty litter in her trunk in case she needed to put it down on icy roads for extra traction.
The forecast drew comparisons to an ice storm in the Atlanta area in 2000 that left more than 500,000 homes and businesses without power and an epic storm in 1973 that caused an estimated 200,000 outages for several days. In 2000, damage estimates topped $35 million.
Eli Jacks, a meteorologist with National Weather Service, said forecasters use words like ‘‘catastrophic’’ sparingly.
‘‘Sometimes we want to tell them, ‘Hey, listen, this warning is different. This is really extremely dangerous and it doesn’t happen very often,’ ’’ Jacks said.
‘‘I think three-quarters of an inch of ice anywhere would be catastrophic,’’ Jacks said.
But the Atlanta area and other parts of the South are particularly vulnerable because there are so many trees and limbs hanging over power lines. When the ice builds up on them, limbs snap and fall, knocking out power.
‘‘There is no doubt that this is one of Mother Nature’s worst kinds of storms that can be inflicted on the South, and that is ice. It is our biggest enemy,’’ Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said.
Is that why we have been waging war on her since after WWII?
While only light rain fell in Atlanta on Tuesday, cities 40 miles northwest saw 2 to 3 inches of snow. The rain was expected to turn into sleet and freezing rain overnight....
Hundreds of Georgia National Guard troops were on standby in case evacuations were needed at hospitals or nursing homes, and more than 70 shelters were set to open. President Obama declared a state of emergency in Georgia....
He then went to have a lavish dinner.
Metro Atlanta, the economic engine of the South with the headquarters of Fortune 500 companies including Home Depot, UPS, Delta Air Lines, and Coca-Cola, resembled a ghost town. Schools were closed and grocery store shelves were bare of milk and bread.
--more--"
Related:
"KANSAS WHITEOUT -- A bicyclist braved traffic in Wichita, Kan., during a snowstorm on Tuesday. South-central Kansas was expecting up to 7 inches of snow as the winter storm passed through. The storm system forced the closing of many state offices and schools, and Governor Sam Brownback declared a state of "disaster emergency" (Boston Globe February 13 2014)."
Today's forecast:
"Storm kills 11 as more winter havoc hits South" by Kate Brumback and Christina A. Cassidy | Associated Press, February 13, 2014
ATLANTA — Drivers got caught in monumental traffic jams and abandoned their cars Wednesday in North Carolina in a replay of what happened in Atlanta just two weeks ago, as another wintry storm across the South iced highways and knocked out electricity to more than a half-million homes and businesses.
While Atlanta’s highways were clear, apparently because people learned their lesson the last time, thousands of cars lined the slippery, snow-covered interstates around Raleigh, N.C., and short commutes turned into hours-long journeys.
As the storm glazed the South with snow and freezing rain, it also pushed northward along the Interstate 95 corridor, threatening to bring more than a foot of snow Thursday to the already sick-of-winter mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
I'm more sick of seeing global-warming fart mi$t in my new$paper.
At least 11 deaths across the South were blamed on the treacherous weather, and nearly 3,300 airline flights nationwide were canceled.
I blame alarmist global-warming fart-mi$ters.
The situation in North Carolina was eerily similar to what happened in Atlanta....
Forecasters warned of a massive storm across the South with more than an inch of ice possible in places. Snow was forecast overnight, with up to 3 inches possible in Atlanta and much higher amounts in the Carolinas....
As he did for parts of Georgia, President Obama declared a disaster in South Carolina, opening the way for federal aid.
In Myrtle Beach, S.C., palm trees were covered with a thick crust of ice.
Three people were killed when an ambulance careened off an icy West Texas road and caught fire. A chain-reaction crash shut down the four-lane Mississippi River bridge on Interstate 20 at Vicksburg, Miss., and a tanker leaked a corrosive liquid into the river. No one was injured.
Say what? Another West Virginia situation?
On Tuesday, four people died in weather-related traffic accidents in North Texas....
In Atlanta, many businesses in the corporate capital of the South shut down....
There is a $ilver lining to every snowstorm.
The scene was markedly different from the one Jan. 28, when thousands of children were stranded all night in schools by less than 3 inches of snow and countless drivers abandoned their cars after getting stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours and hours.
For the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, the heavy weather was the latest in a drumbeat of storms that have depleted salt supplies and caused school systems to run out of snow days....
And cities and towns to exhaust their snow plow allowances (do southern cities even have one?).
--more--"
I don't know if I will be back here today or not, dear readers. It looks like I'm going to shoveling out much of the day, especially if the snow turns heavy this afternoon.
