Five must-reads on Sunday: Reservoir cracks, Crist whores, the Jersey 44, whale impalement & expensive toys
July 26, 2009 at 11:31 am by Wayne Garcia
Credit: Arlen Redekop, Vancouver Province
1. Craig Pittman of the Times details how Tampa Bay Water was too inexperienced and rushed its massive public works projects, notably the cracked-and-expensive-to-repair CW Bill Young Reservoir. Public officials such as Ed Turanchik lauded its construction at the time, Pittman writes, but put an inexperienced 29-year-old in charge of managing the project and hired an engineering firm that had never built such a large reservoir.
2. Florida’s funniest newspaper columnist-turned-novelist Carl Hiaasen blasts Charlie Crist’s growing turn to political whoredom: “Unlike Sarah Palin, Charlie Crist has chosen not to quit his governorship early. Florida’s own one-term wonder is using his remaining time to ingratiate himself with as many deep-pocket interest groups as possible. The governor’s unseemly burst of groveling is directly connected to his upcoming run for the U.S. Senate. Sucking up to the National Rifle Association and the Christian right, Crist last week declared his opposition to the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, whose confirmation is already a done deal.”
3. The NYT’s piece on Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, indicted as part of the Jersey 44 last week in a massive corruption investigation. You can almost hear the mayor saying to the cops who arrested him, “I’m afraid there has been a terrible mistake.” He should know; he made it.
4. Cruise ship impales whale, while “horrified” passengers see results. With photo, of course. I’m not saying this made me snigger, or, like Lionel (who gets a h/t here), worry about the Whale Wars folks find out.
5. $147,000 for four rather antique-looking plastic collectible toys from a TV show that nobody has ever heard of? Michael Hinman at Airlock Alpha has the story from Comic-Con.
