k l a t OF THE TOWNS by bill beggs jr.
U. City
With all that dreck we save from the landfill, who knows why recycling bins are typically smaller than garbage bins? Hmmm. One thing we do know: No matter what anybody says, some dummy will toss dirty diapers in the recycling bin.
The Metro
If you thought Pokémon Go already came and went, it’s alive and well, but maybe just not as much of a mad fad as it was 17 minutes ago. But finding hidden treasure using your wits, with the help of geographic coordinates arrived at via GPS, is really going to be a thing this summer starting July 1, thanks to Wildlife Command Center (WCC). The center’s Cash Quest, July 1 to Aug. 31, is a treasure hunt for cash and prizes! This may sound to some readers like something that requires wearing camouflage, but it’s not like that. Not even a camo hat is necessary. In any case, any individual or team that finds and recovers 10 of the 12 hidden treasures will be eligible to win the grand prize of $10,000. Michael Beran, WCC owner and avid fan and player of Pokémon Go, created Cash Quest. Beran noticed how much fun kids were having at a local Easter egg hunt, and it inspired him to develop an activity that could get whole families outdoors again. Safely. “I rescue people from wild animals daily,” says Beran, who spent much of his boyhood in the Louisiana swamps. He may not typically remove gators or bears, but he knows his way around both. “I’m in tune with nature; I read animal body language and animal signs.” Bringing nature back to the public, and vice versa, has been a key to WCC’s success. The center is committed to humane wildlife rescue: Beran and his team have relocated thousands of animals such as bats, squirrels, skunks and hawks since the center was established. Pigeon problem? Not for much longer. Angry beavers? They’ll move ’em on out. With several locations nationwide, WCC also serves the entertainment industry. As an aside, and just speaking for ourselves, if he’s one of those dudes who catches catfish with his bare hands, he can just keep them all for himself. But that’s just us. Find complete contest details on wildlifecommandcenter.com
Eureka
A car traveling at a high rate of speed went out of control on Legends Parkway in Eureka, left the road, bounced off a tree, tumbled down an embankment, became airborne and plunged halfway through the roof of a house. No one was hurt, neither the two men who managed to wriggle free nor the residents, who were in the nearby master bedroom, asleep. That was, of course, until one heck of a racket woke them up. This was around 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning, so a cynical journalist might have concluded the driver of the formerly white Chevy Malibu had been drinking, but firefighters who worked the accident say alcohol didn’t appear to be involved. It was oh so close to being a tragedy, but looks mostly to be a mess for insurance companies to finish cleaning up. That is, sometime after the car has been removed, the occupants’ nerves have recovered and repairs are made to the building. The accident happened May 23, so we surmise the vehicle has been extracted; photos show a crane at the scene. Insurance for the driver will surely—please pardon the pun—go straight through the roof. Cars land on roofs every so often; the last time we know of was in February in Iowa. That house was unoccupied. And 12 years ago, a speeding German motorist broke through a barrier, hurtled up a bank and flew more than 100 feet to crash into a roof. Of a church. By now, we hope and pray, the driver has healed, and all is forgiven. Neither of the last two accounts mentioned alcohol. But raging stupidity wasn’t noted in any of the mishaps, either.
TTi☛a triv 8|
TOWN&style
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JUNE 2, 2021
PHOTO COURTESY EUREKA FIRE PREVENTION DISTRICT
You conscientiously separate the trash and nasty, stinky garbage from your rinsed recyclables, put them in separate bins, and roll them to the curb. At least you do in U. City. We can’t say that about certain lesser municipalities where residents must collect their recyclables in handy blue plastic bags, for heaven’s sake, and drag them outside. We know where you live. So, where does all that junk go, anyhow? No, smarty-pants, the haulers don’t drive to a landfill, look around to make sure nobody’s watching, then just dump it all. It goes to a Republic Services facility in Hazelwood, where it is automatically or manually sorted, baled and sent to buyers, 98% of whom are domestic. (Company officials say Republic won’t sell to domestic buyers that ship overseas.) So, here are some end uses for all of that stuff: ▪ Mixed paper—cereal-box type paperboard; wallpaper; corrugated cardboard, tissue or paper towels ▪ Cardboard—new cardboard ▪ Clear plastic beverage bottles (PET No. 1)—carpet or plastic banding ▪ White or opaque plastic containers (HDPE No. 2)—paint buckets and drainage pipes ▪ Plastic containers (Nos. 3-7)—various grades of thermoplastic resin for industrial uses; at present all No. 6 plastic (polystyrene) is landfilled ▪ Metal food and beverage containers— sold to and reprocessed at regional steel mills ▪ Glass—new bottles; road and pipeline aggregate, fiberglass insulation ▪ Aluminum cans—new cans, aircraft manufacturing ▪ Food and beverage cartons—paper towels, other paper products
CAN PLASTIC CD ‘J EWEL CASES’ BE RECYCLED?
LAST ISSUE’S Q&A In 1927, Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean, nonstop from New York to Paris, in a single-engine silver plane dubbed Spirit of St. Louis. Where is the plane today? Many visitors to St. Louis, perhaps even a certain number of natives, think it’s at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. It is not. That’s a static replica—a fake, really, just a big ol’ model. The actual plane that Lindbergh flew on his transatlantic trip is displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
