Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my friends and enemies!  How are you?  It's getting cooler out and the children are back in school.  Fall is on its way.  Unfortunately, not all of the children are getting to school on time because the new bus service, First Student, does not have enough qualified drivers.  They promise to improve, but promises are nothing more than words to most companies.  First Student doesn't have humans answering telephone calls and doesn't call back those who wish to speak with them.  In other words, parents are out of luck when it comes to busing.  Oh my!

The standings of the Irregular Fantasy Football League have not changed for me or Mr. OrbsCorbs, although they have changed for others.  Here they are:

Click the standings to enlarge them.  Like last year, the Half-Astrophysicists have taken first place.  We'll see if this trend continues.

The Common Council has deferred a decision on healthcare for city employees.  Why am I not surprised?  This has been a sore point for most city employees.  The increase in deductibles and other costs are massive.  Many city employees say they can't afford the new costs which Mayor Butterball Mason has proposed.  Mayor Butterball says there are no other options that are tolerable.  As usual, he did not propose changes in the number of assistants which he has, nor has he proposed cutting the fat in the administrative positions in city departments.  It's enlightening to note that City Administrator Palenick has run the Department of Public Works since spring.  If he can do that, while also doing Butterball's job, how difficult can it be?  Cut the fat from city departments, Mayor Butterball.  Start with your own staff.  The taxpayers are sick and tired of paying for so much waste.  Stop threatening to cut out entire departments if city employees can't afford the changes in their healthcare.

I personally know a worker from City Hall who has recently retired.  This employee speaks of chaos and extremely low morale in the ranks of City Hall employees.  This employee ended up doing the job of three employees, without an increase in compensation.  She was nearly driven mad by her job.  Her gratitude at retiring has been enormous.  I'm sure there is even more chaos due to her retiring.  Good luck, City Hall employees, in doing more and more with less and less.  Meanwhile, the Mayor and City Administrator and department heads get more pay.  CUT THE FAT, Mayor Butterball.  Start with your chauffeur, Butterball.

I'm also interested in what the District Attorney will have to say today about the police shooting of Ty' Rese West, 96 days after the incident.  I'm pretty sure that the officer involved will not be charged.  One person posting on the Journal Times site claims that Ty' Rese was shot five times, at least once  in the back and once in the head.  I don't know if that's accurate, but if it is, then this is definitely a case of overkill.  No one is claiming that Ty' Rese shot at the officer, so such a large number of wounds would not be appropriate.  We shall see.

Thank you for reading my blog today.  I love all of my readers, irregardless of how they feel about me.  Love makes the world go round.  It's also what powers this blog.

madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com

If you have any plans that require fair weather, you should do them soon.  It will only get colder as time passes.  In a few more months, we'll see the s-word.  That I can't stand.

Treat each other with love and respect.  I'll be back next week.
 ________________________ 
Please donate: paypal.me/jgmazelis  If you don't like PayPal, send me a note at madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com and I'll send you my street address so you can send a check or money order.  Thank you.