In early March residents of Villanow received a letter from the office of Walker commissioner Bebe Heiskell. In the letter, Heiskell details how Villanow will no longer have it’s already minimal trash service due to (she claims) low usage and high costs. We’re going to discuss the letter in detail below, but hope you’ll read the whole thing first in context here (2.2MB PDF file).

All polls have closed, so it’s now time to announce the winners (losers?) from LU’s Worst of Walker 2009 competition. Like a perverse race to failure, these have won the competition by being the stupidest, ugliest, most selfish, or most endangered institutions, individuals, and areas in Walker County. (Rules for how this all works are available here.)

From WQCH, March 8, 2010:

COST OVERRUNS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW SOFTBALL COMPLEX TOOK UP A GOOD DEAL OF DISCUSSION TIME AT THE MONTHLY MEETING OF THE LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL MONDAY NIGHT. THE CITY HIRED BILL MORTON AS “BUDGET MANAGER” FOR THE PROJECT. HE TOLD THE COUNCIL THAT BAD WEATHER, UNEXPECTED SOIL CONDITIONS AND MOVING UTILITY LINES HAVE ALL MADE THE SITE-PREPARATION WORK MORE COSTLY THAN EXPECTED. THE CURRENT BILL “TO DATE” IS AROUND 400-THOUSAND DOLLARS.
COUNCILMAN WAYNE SWANSON ASKED MORTON TO “KEEP THE COUNCIL INFORMED ON EXPENSES AS THE PROJECT PROGRESSES.” COUNCILMAN BILL CRAIG AT ONE POINT DEMANDED A TOTAL COST TO FINISH THE PROJECT IN WRITING… SAYING “WE’VE JUST GOT AN OPEN CHECK-BOOK OVER THERE”.
COUNCILMAN NORM HODGE, THE LEADING SUPPORTER OF THE SOFTBALL COMPLEX, SAID “THIS IS A LONG TERM INVESTMENT THAT WILL BRING MONEY INTO THE CITY.” HE HAD LAFAYETTE MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL COACHES AS HIS GUESTS… CONFIRMING THAT SOFTBALL TOURNAMENTS RAISE A LOT OF CASH… AS WELL AS GENERATING INCOME FOR LOCAL MOTELS AND RESTAURANTS.
AT THE END OF DISCUSSION, THE COUNCIL APPROVED BIDS FOR MASONRY WORK, IRRIGATION, SOD AND FENCING FOR THE THREE BALL FIELDS. IT’S NOW ESTIMATED THE PROJECT WILL FINISH AT A COST OF AROUND 540-THOUSAND DOLLARS. MORTON SAID THE BALL FIELDS, LOCATED AT THE LOWELL GREEN RECREATION CENTER, WILL NOT BE FINISHED BY THE ORIGINAL ESTIMATE OF APRIL 15th… ADDING THEY WILL PROBABLY BE “PLAYABLE” BY JUNE.

This is ludicrous. Just beyond belief.

Traffic in LaFayette has been disrupted for nearly four months by barricades directing cars around a massive pothole on South Main Street. The yard-long crater popped up along the 600 block of S. Main in the northbound lane sometime after Halloween, but nothing significant has been done to repair it since mid-November when traffic cones and a flashing arrow sign were set up.

Potholes and bad pavement are certainly nothing new to LaFayette’s drivers, but this particular eruption is notable due to its large size, the disruptive safety barriers, and (most significantly) its location on a thoroughfare repaved end-to-end only a few weeks before the hole formed.