A 13-member work group will convene in January to start discussing a potential new oversight structure for the Baltimore region’s water and sewer systems. Chaired by Baltimore Comptroller Bill Henry, the work group will look at creating a regional water management model to give jurisdictions that use the systems a say in how the water and wastewater systems are managed and financed, and to bolster the region’s ability to maintain the infrastructure in the future. “The future of Baltimore’s water system affects so much of the metropolitan area; it’s important that we employ a regional approach when tackling this issue,” Henry said in a statement Monday. The work group will meet Jan. 7 in the Baltimore City Council chambers.You have to be pretty desperate to let the City of Baltimore handle your water and sewage needs.
Owned and operated by Baltimore City, the region’s water and wastewater systems serve 1.8 million residents in the city, as well as Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties. The city is responsible for managing, maintaining and upgrading the systems, though nearby jurisdictions chip in through cost-sharing agreements. “This work group gives us the chance to modernize a system that has served the region for decades, but no longer reflects the needs of our communities,” Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier said in a statement.
“The Sopranos” actress Drea de Matteo claimed Monday on Fox News that Hollywood is full of “quiet” Trump supporters, questioning if the actors throwing their weight behind President Joe Biden are being paid to do so.
Matteo appeared on “Jesse Watters Primetime” to discuss the recent lineup of Hollywood stars that have come forward to speak about their support of Biden in this upcoming election. After playing a montage of the actors, Fox host Jesse Watters asked the actress if there were supporters of former President Donald Trump in the Democratic stronghold of the entertainment industry.
“Hello there, first of all. And I think there is a lot of them. I think there are a lot of — that was a hard intro to watch. I’m sorry,” Matteo laughed.
“Was it Jack Black’s legs?” Watters teased.
“No, it’s the Italian, man. We’re talking about Fauci, we’re talking about De Niro. I am mortified right now by my people. I don’t know understand what we’re doing here. Anyhow, yes. There are a lot of quiet Trump supporters, there are a lot of Kennedy supporters. And wow, I wonder how much the actors got paid to endorse Biden at this point. I’m curious, because that seems — I wonder if De Niro got paid a locations fee because he had to travel to the courtroom to do that,” Matteo said.
Industry buzz is that Hollywood has its eye on “Hawk Tuah Girl” — a curiously charismatic woman who shot to viral fame a week or so ago after evocatively advising the internet on the secret to giving good oral pleasure. Sources even say that she’s been talking with UTA, arguably Tinseltown’s most powerful firm. But a rep at UTA told us that is “untrue.”
Still, prepare for a book (“Great Expectorations”?), a movie (“Black Hawk … Down”?), an album (“Blame It On The Loogie” by her band, Was Snot Was?) and a live experience (The Hawk Tour?) in the near future.
The phlegm fatale — who got her onomatopoeic nickname because of her slippery suggestion, but has since been identified as Hailey Welch — has already finagled her own merch deal with Tennessee company Fathead Threads. It’s selling signed, embroidered “Hawk Tuah” hats for $43.70.
JUST IN: Alpha News has asked conservative Hennepin County commissioner candidate Marisa Simonetti for comment after we were told she is a paid escort.
In a statement, she says: “I have done nothing wrong or to be ashamed of. When you are a woman, with an infant and no money, living with domestic violence, you can’t ‘just leave.’ I made a plan to protect my son and I executed, and now hold considerable wealth. I refuse to accept any narrative that shames or blames women for the autonomy they exercise over their own bodies.”
A candidate for the Hennepin County Board in Minnesota was arrested on assault charges after she was accused of throwing a live tarantula at her tenant. Marisa Simonetti, who is running for a seat on the county board, told NBC News on Thursday that the incident stemmed from local attorney Jackie Vasquez's alleged refusal to leave her property.
Simonetti said that she had rented Vasquez a room in her five-bedroom house through Airbnb but that after a series of incidents, Simonetti canceled the reservation.
"She was in my house less than two weeks before she started sending me double-, triple-paragraph long texts and yelling at people on the phone at 10:30 at night for an hour," said Simonetti, who lives in the home with her son. "I’m just sitting up here ... thinking this is not going to go well." Simonetti accused Vasquez of threatening to ruin her campaign and sending "paragraph-long threatening messages" through her campaign website.
This is a masterclass in gaslighting. Holy cow.
The average, non-political class American has known something is wrong with Biden for quite some time. It was the political class -- and the media -- who pretended Biden was fine until Thursday's debate.
It's not hard to express. We all knew this. We saw the videos that the White House called 'cheap fakes'. We saw how all the Democrats said Biden was sharp as a tack in private meetings. It was the political class who was lying about Biden's abilities and mental acuity.
They're just mad they can't lie and gaslight about it anymore.
Brave Alyssa blocked replies.
The Swift-inspired gymnastic routine helped Biles land at the top of the leaderboard with a score of 14.850
Taylor Swift expressed her support and admiration for Simone Biles following her first 2024 Olympics trials. The 27-year-old gymnast performed an energetic floor routine set to Swift's hit song Ready For It? from her 2017 album, Reputation. As the video of Biles' performance went viral on social media, the Cruel Summer hitmaker reacted with the most wholesome comment on Saturday.
“Watched this so many times and still unready. She’s ready for it tho,” the 34-year-old singer wrote on the video of Biles' Friday performance during day 2 of the 2024 US Olympic Gymnastics Trials. Swift emphasised with a bunch of emojis, including clapping hands, a gold medal, the American flag, and a red heart, in the comment section of the clip shared by NBC Olympics on X, formerly Twitter.
The Wombat has Rule Five Sunday: All American Girl up and running at The Other McCain.
Featuring Kendal Traiser, this week's Fish Pic Friday woman.
Yeah, we did go to the beach today, but it rough, the tide was high, and we came away with a total of 3 teeth, a Tilly Bone and a crab claw.
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| Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake |
The Environmental Protection Agency has banned the use of the herbicide Enlist Duo in six Minnesota farm counties. Why? The chemicals in Enlist Duo are apparently harmful to the eastern massasauga rattlesnake. Only problem: there are no eastern massasauga rattlesnakes in those counties, and never have been. My colleague Tom Steward reports:The Environmental Protection Agency’s latest overreach in enforcing the Endangered Species Act in six Minnesota counties “kinda makes you scratch your knot a little bit,” the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council’s David Kee says. The aggressive agency has prohibited soybean growers in some of the most productive regions of the state from using an herbicide that many rely on.Apparently part of what is going on here is that the notoriously arrogant EPA refuses to listen to state environmental agencies that are closer to the areas in question, and have more expertise about them.
Moreover, the EPA declined to even identify the species that triggered the ban until the publication Agweek started asking questions.When the EPA announced new restrictions on a herbicide in Minnesota in order to help protect an endangered species, it did not identify the species it is trying to protect.[A]ccording to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the endangered reptile — the eastern massasauga rattlesnake — exists in minute numbers, if that, on the other end of the state from the counties where the EPA banned the chemical (Clay, Marshall, Polk, Redwood, Renville, and Stearns counties).
It turns out, according to snake experts, it may be trying to protect a snake that has not lived in the state for at least 50 years. …For the eastern massasauga, “there is no evidence of established breeding populations on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi River,” the DNR says.
It can be found on the Wisconsin side of the river, and is native to several other states to the east and south of Minnesota.
Jeffrey Leclere with the Minnesota Herpetological Society said the massasauga “has never been documented in those counties,” and he said they don’t have the habitat the species would need.
The six somewhat scattered counties “are not even close to an area that used to have massagaugas.”
So the bottom line is that the EPA announced a ban without even saying what species it was trying to protect, and when it finally had to divulge that information, it turned out that the species in question has never been found anywhere near the counties to which the ban applied.
So, the EPA really wanted to ban a pesticide in a certain area (why?), but couldn't come up with an adequate reason why. So they found an animal that was rare enough that it would never be seen there (because it was the wrong habitat), and nobody would miss (nobody but snake nuts likes rattlesnakes) and claimed it would hurt them, requiring protection. I'm reminded of the Snail Darter, and some rare frog in the South that required protection even though it was not longer found. First they decide what they want to ban, and then seek something rare to justify it.
