Potpourri: Ride the Drive, Pondamonium, Ale Asylum, Smart Meters

It's been a busy few weeks for us and for the neighborhood, too. I wanted to catch up on a few things:

• By all accounts, Ride the Drive Northside was a big success. It got Northsiders out and about in a more human-scaled way and drew attention to our side of town. Kudos to all the volunteers and City of Madison staff who made this event happen!
• The Mallards' inaugural Pondamonium festival was more of a mixed bag. While the poor weather didn't seem to dampen enthusiasm for headliners Garbage and The Flaming Lips, the earlier acts weren't a huge draw. I appreciate how punctual organizers were about their 10:30 p.m. permit ending time, but the show was still too loud, too late for a weeknight in a residential neighborhood. (Doesn't that sound like such an old man thing to say?) Move it to Friday or Saturday next year.
• Word from the Ale Asylum guys at the Great Taste of the Midwest is that the tap room at their new location should be open by mid-September, with brewing operations to follow a week or two later. They have to be out of the Kinsman Boulevard location by October 1, when new brewpub Karben4 takes over their old location (and equipment!). Ale Asylum is part of a flurry of new development on the airport land along International Lane and Anderson Street. Credit goes to Supv. Paul Rusk and Dane County here...too bad the City of Madison isn't nearly as aggressive with Northside development.
• Finally, a fun fact for the anti-smart meter crowd: It's too late, the UN tricked MG&E into giving you cancer years ago! The utility teamed up with Big Meter powerhouse Itron to install a "drive by" system, where our meters are read wirelessly by trucks that drive by our houses every month. That project was finished in 2003(!) with the full blessing and support of the Public Service Commission. More recently, MG&E won a stimulus grant to pilot a full-on cellular smart grid with all the bells and whistles we've heard so much about. Food for thought for those who expect the PSC to ride in on a white horse and save them from the Water Utility...

Well 7 meeting goes...well...well!

Tonight, Sherman neighborhood residents had an opportunity to hear from Al Larson, engineer with the Madison Water Utility, and Ald. Rhodes-Conway about the planned project to replace and upgrade Well 7, located along Sherman Avenue next to Shabazz High/Sherman Middle. I was surprised at how good the turnout was -- about 25 by my estimation! -- and the beautiful weather certainly helped. The consensus seemed to be that folks felt a lot better about the project after the presentation.

Pedestrians and cars, it goes both ways

I read Isthmus' cover story on pedestrian safety a couple of weeks ago, went on a work trip to DC, and came home to a speed trap on Packers Avenue. All this churned together in my head, and helped me realize that our problem in Madison isn't just one of big steel cars with careless, malicious drivers.

Smart meters vs. our precious bodily fluids

Reading some of the anti-smart-meter rhetoric, I've been vaguely reminded of General Ripper's speech from Dr. Strangelove. Turns out that reaction wasn't so far off:

What do we want from the Water Utility?

At Monday's Sherman Neighborhood Association meeting we had a lengthy discussion about Well 7, the city water well next to Shabazz High on Sherman Avenue. The Water Utility is planning to install an iron/managese filter, and the discussion was about whether or how this would be a prelude to boosting the well's output.

Meanwhile, the saga of the smart meters continues...

Why care about these water meters?

Reading my comments about the water meter controversy, you might be left wondering why I bother writing about it. So what if folks come across studies on the Internet that tell them radio waves cause cancer? Why shouldn't they be free to make their own choice?

It's true that I experience no harm from my neighbor not wanting a wireless meter. But the discussion on this issue -- the alarmist rhetoric, studies from a small group of 'concerned scientists,' implications of corporate greed, accusations of trampling on freedom -- has a familiar, disturbing ring to it.

More on smart meters and science abuse

The Northside listserv has been atwitter the last few days with more discussion about the smart water meters issue. Unfortunately, fearmongering seems to be getting the upper hand. One of the lead advocates against smart meters, Maria Powell of MEJO, repeats her claim that "studies have shown" these meters and other RF sources cause cancer and other health problems, comparing them to lead and DDT. The increasingly shrill and alarmist nature of these comments aside, what about these studies?

The fact of the matter is, the science on this issue is uncertain and not nearly as relevant to smart meters as Ms. Powell would have Northsiders believe.