News Briefs: ‘Thousand-Year Storm’ Triggers Boil Advisory

News Briefs: ‘Thousand-Year Storm’ Triggers Boil Advisory In this week's water and wastewater news, flooding in South Carolina affects a treatment plant, workers in Delaware unionize and a plant commits to energy reduction. More »

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It’s a Beer Battle! Sewage Brewage Smack Down Comes to WEFTEC A duel between Oregon and Wisconsin for top ‘effluent lager’ comes down to the last drop. More »

EPA Release Illinois River Watershed Modeling Program On Oct. 1, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made available the Illinois River Watershed Modeling Program, which is the end product of several years of collaboration with local stakeholders, states and tribes in Arkansas and Oklahoma. More »

October 2015 Project Roundup: Groundbreaking Ceremonies, Construction and More See what's going on around the country in this listing of new water and wastewater projects.More »

News Briefs: ‘Thousand-Year Storm’ Triggers Boil Advisory In this week's water and wastewater news, flooding in South Carolina affects a treatment plant, workers in Delaware unionize and a plant commits to energy reduction. More »

Join the Conversation Now in the Treatment Plant Operator Forum: We've heard about everything from tricycles to gators. If you have a large plant or a lot of grounds to cover, how do you get around? Sign up and join in! More »

Top Performer - Operator: More Than a Pretty Face: Alabama Plant Exceeds Requirements An electrical engineering degree helped Mike Welke slip comfortably into a role overseeing biosolids production and general maintenance of an older facility. More »

Plantscapes: Landscaping Complements Plant’s Civil War Surroundings A Tennessee treatment plant neighboring a historic area undertakes tree plantings to enhance visual appearance and build favorable public perceptions. More »

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California Here We Go: $15 Minimum Wage Headed for Statewide Ballot

California Here We Go: $15 Minimum Wage Headed for Statewide Ballot Posted: 07 Oct 2015 10:37 AM PDT By Doug Porter  California advocates for a statewide $15 per hour minimum wage are marshaling their forces in support of a November 2016 initiative. The mayors of San Francisco and Oakland, cities which have already passed increases, appeared at a press conference on Tuesday to announce they will be leading the effort. The measure was submitted to the state by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West. The Fair Wage Act of 2016 will raise the minimum wage for all California workers by $1 annually, effective January 2017. Once the minimum wage reaches $15, it will automatically go up each year to match the cost of living. The state’s minimum wage is currently $9 an hour and is set to rise to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016. Cities will continue to have the option of setting higher local minimum wages. San Diego events related to the Fight for $15 movement are already planned as part of the build-up to next year’s election. A regional wage hearing set for October 17th will hear testimony from workers, economists, academics, students, and labor leaders as a prelude to garnering commitments from local political leaders. A Day of Action in November will see protests on college campuses, at fast food restaurants, and in downtown San Diego.    [Read more...]

shared from San Diego Free Press Doctors Without Bullets Posted: 07 Oct 2015 07:04 AM PDT

Killer Robots: Coming Soon to a Battlefield Near You Posted: 07 Oct 2015 06:50 AM PDT "If there is not a pre-emptive ban on the high-level autonomous weapons then once the genie is out of the bottle it will be extremely difficult to get it back in." By Nadia Prupis / Common Dreams The U.S. and UK are undermining attempts by the United Nations to negotiate over the future of autonomous weapons—or "killer robots"—talks which, if delayed further, could come too late to prevent so-called "robot wars." Technology and human rights experts have been pushing for the UN to preemptively ban machines that can kill on the battlefield without human operators, citing a greater risk to civilian life and a broader lack of accountability for military officials. But Christof Heyns, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, said Tuesday that the negotiation process is in danger of getting "stuck."   [Read more...]

Escondido’s Secretive Appearance Committee Decides What’s Art and What’s Not Posted: 07 Oct 2015 06:48 AM PDT By Wendy Wilson “There is no Federal constitutional issue more grave than the effort by government officials to censor works of expression and to threaten the vitality of a major cultural institution, as punishment for failing to abide by government demand for orthodoxy,” said U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon in the case, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences vs. City of New York. When the City Manager of Escondido, Clay Philips, turned a city committee called the “appearance committee” into his own personal censorship group, First Amendment advocates started to pay attention.  This committee was originally created to regulate what color downtown business owners could paint their buildings in the downtown historic district.   Under Clay Phillips office, with the consent of Mayor Abed and council people Gallo, Morasco and Masson, this closed committee has transformed into a tool for city censorship.  This taxpayer funded city committee meets to decide city regulations with no publically elected officials and no publically posted or published meeting times.   [Read more...]

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After Ray Rice, The NFL Pledged Millions To Fight Domestic Violence. Here’s How The Money Was Spent.

In the year since the infamous Ray Rice video, ThinkProgress took a look at what the NFL's millions have done to help victims of domestic violence. A new report shows that Texas' harsh anti-abortion law is hurting women -- and it might get worse. And, if you're still a bit confused about the TPP, here are the most pressing questions about it. This and more in our top news of the day: After Ray Rice, The NFL Pledged Millions To Fight Domestic Violence. Here’s How The Money Was Spent. Rob Valente remembers the moment like it was yesterday. It was September 8, 2014, and she was in Washington, D.C., surrounded by hundreds of domestic violence advocates from across the country to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Violence Against Women Act being signed into law by President Bill Clinton. ...(read more) 5 Indefensible Tweets From The NRA Since The Oregon Gun Massacre Texas Passed A Harsh Anti-Abortion Law. Now, We Have Proof It’s Hurting Women. Thanks to a harsh state law, the wait time for women to get an abortion in Texas is becoming dangerously long — and a pending court decision could make it even worse....(read more) The Rise And Fall Of American Apparel The Most Pressing Questions About The Trans-Pacific Partnership The United States is closing in on its first major free trade deal in years. Controversy and speculation have followed the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for months, but soon both lawmakers and voters will have a chance to see the treaty for the first time. Negotiators struck a final pact on Monday after more than five years of work. ...(read more) ThinkProgress | Center for American Progress Action Fund 1333 H ST NW | Washington, DC 20005 Contributions to Center for American Progress Action Fund are not tax deductible

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Bugs in the Volkswagen System

Bugs in the Volkswagen System Steve Hochstadt: The dishonesty of the top leadership at Volkswagen will be expensive for them – who wants to buy, or even drive, a Volkswagen now? READ MORE shared from

WEDNESDAY, 7 OCTOBER 2015 Bugs in the Volkswagen System Steve Hochstadt: The dishonesty of the top leadership at Volkswagen will be expensive for them – who wants to buy, or even drive, a Volkswagen now? READ MORE Friend on Facebook Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend Why Hotel Workers Deserve Fair and Equal Treatment Rosemary Jenkins: When you plan to travel, check ahead to determine if the hotel of choice is a fair-wage hotel. When you or your organization is planning a conference or similar meeting, ascertain if such sites treat their workers equitably. READ MORE Unarmed Cops and a Can-Do Culture of Nonviolence Tom Hastings: The crisis in our country of police killing unarmed people, coupled with the crisis of a hyperarmed civil society engaging in approximately one mass shooting per day, is absolutely begging and crying and screaming for a new direction. READ MORE Only the Lord Knows What’s Going On Carl Matthes: She was asked point blank if she was sure that she really saw the Pope and not his secretary. Yes, it was the Pope. He was dressed in white, had on a beanie and spoke American. She was surprised by that because she thought he would speak Argentinian. READ MORE With Fantasy Games, America’s Sports Obsession Soars Frank Fear: The New York Times reported last week that FanDuel and DraftKings are worth over $1 billion each and have spent over $27 million to air over 8000 TV ads since the young NFL season began. READ HERE

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These People Are the Secret to Bernie Sanders’s Success

These People Are the Secret to Bernie Sanders’s Success

Sanders leads Hillary Clinton by a comfortable margin in New Hampshire, and he has almost caught her in nationwide fundraising. How did he do it?

D.D. GUTTENPLAN

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These People Are the Secret to Bernie Sanders’s Success Sanders leads Hillary Clinton by a comfortable margin in New Hampshire, and he has almost caught her in nationwide fundraising. How did he do it? D.D. GUTTENPLAN

The US Massacre in Kunduz Exposes the Bankruptcy of Obama’s National-Security Policy Air power inflicts horrific human-rights violations and has been thoroughly discredited as a means of fighting insurgencies. BOB DREYFUSS

The Art of Parenting on a Disappearing Planet From mommy magazines to child-development specialists, we are constantly told how to protect our children—but how do we protect them from climate change? FRIDA BERRIGAN

Insider Trading Hits the Sports World FanDuel and DraftKings are enmeshed in a rank scandal whose stink has spread to their sports league partners as well as ESPN. DAVE ZIRIN

TPP Prioritizes ‘Rights’ of Corporations Over Workers, the Environment and Democracy ‘‘Corporations still have an extra-judicial process to enforce their rights. That’s not the case for labor and environmental standards.’’ JOHN NICHOLS

I Want My Progressive TV! What If MSNBC Dumps the Left? The cable answer to Fox News is slowly shrinking from the fight. Can digital outlets fill the void? LESLIE SAVAN

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