The Mayor of New York is taking on a big complaint about city life: urban noise.
The New York story could easily be localized. Does anybody enforce noise regulations in your town? How big a problem is noise in your community?
Here is a list of resources on noise and noise pollution. A couple of years ago I did a piece on noise pollution.
Mayor Bloomberg's detailed plan would impose regulations on everything from yapping dogs (must stop barking within five minutes at night and 10 minutes in the daylight), large air conditioner units, construction projects (they would be cut back on weekends and nights), and even ice cream and taco trucks (they would be forced to stop playing music).
The AP reported:
Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday proposed to rewrite the city's noise regulations to deal with the leading complaint about the city's quality of life.
"Noise disturbs our sleep, prevents people from enjoying their time off from work, and too often leads to altercations," he said.
Bloomberg's proposed changes cover noise makers from pile drivers to air conditioners — as well as anything else deemed by police to be too "plainly audible."
The changes would mandate noise management plans at construction sites, and require portable sound barriers and noise jackets for jackhammers and other loud tools.
Bloomberg said he also wants to make 45 decibels the upper limit for all the noise coming from any new building's air conditioners — a limit that falls between a whisper, about 20 decibels, and busy street traffic, about 70 decibels.
But critics are up in arms about one proposal -- a regulation that would ban "Mister Softee" ice cream trucks from playing their jingle beginning Jan. 1, 2006.
How Loud Is It?
The CDC has a cool website that helps you understand how loud things are and how much damage they can do to your hearing.
The Cost of Friday's National Day of Mourning
As they say where I grew up in Kentucky, "Ain't nothin' free."
President Bush declared Friday to be a National Day of Mourning in honor of former President Reagan. Several states, including Missouri, Connecticut, and Texas, have also ordered state offices closed. In some states, only the legislative offices are closing. These national observances carry a cost for local and state governments.
KXLY-TV (Spokane) Assistant News Director Jerry Post sent me a note:
We found out this Friday's federal (observance) for Ronald Reagan will mean some major, non-budgeted costs for our local law enforcement agencies. Our sheriff's office will be paying $45,000 in holiday pay on Friday -- that's roughly the salaries for two deputies for an entire year.
The union contract stipulates double-time pay for all hourly employees for every federal holiday -- including "surprise" holidays like this one.
In Wisconsin, employees of legislative offices are being put in an odd situation. The AP said:
...employees in Senate offices which are closed would be required to take eight hours of vacation, personal leave, or compensatory time to make up for the day. But Steve Baas, a spokesman for the GOP speaker from Peshtigo, said Assembly employees would not have to use any vacation time.
It is an interesting story, not just for taxpayers, but certainly for the workers who will be affected by the decisions to close (or not to close) government offices.
Federal offices, major financial markets, and state offices will be closed. Here is the schedule for the funeral:
• 7:45 a.m.: Motorcade departs Capitol.
• 8:30 a.m.: National funeral service at Washington National Cathedral.
• 10:45 a.m.: Motorcade departs National Cathedral.
• 11:45 a.m.: Aircraft departs Andrews AFB.
• 4:45 p.m.: Aircraft arrives at Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu.
• 6 p.m.: Motorcade arrives at presidential library.
• 6:15 p.m.: Private interment service at presidential library.
• 7:30 p.m.: Interment ceremony ends.
Father's Day by the Numbers (from the Census Bureau)
The idea of Father's Day originated with Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash., while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909. Dodd wanted to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who raised his six children by himself on a rural farm. June was chosen for the first Father's Day celebration proclaimed in 1910 by Spokane's mayor - because it was the month of William Smart's birth. The first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. It has been celebrated annually since 1971.
66.3 million
Estimated number of fathers in the United States today. (From unpublished data.)
Father's Day Gifts
Neckties lead the list of Father's Day gifts. A good place to buy dad a tie or a shirt might be one of nearly 11,000 men's U.S. clothing stores. Sales at men's clothing stores exceeded $750 million in both May and June of last year. www.census.gov/Press-Release and www.census.gov/mrts
Other popular items for Father's Day include those found in dad's toolbox, such as hammers, wrenches and screwdrivers. You could buy these items at any of the nation's 14,837 hardware stores. www.census.gov/Press-Release
22,468
Number of sporting goods stores in the United States. These stores are good places to visit for such traditional gifts for dad as fishing rods and golf clubs. www.census.gov/Press-Release
Mr. Mom
105,000
Estimated number of "stay-at-home" dads. These are married fathers with children under 15 who are not in the labor force primarily so they can care for family members while their wives work outside the home. Stay-at-home dads care for 189,000 children. www.census.gov/Press-Release
2 million
Number of preschoolers whose fathers care for them more hours than any other child-care provider while their mothers are at work. This is a ratio of about 1-in-5 preschoolers of employed mothers. www.census.gov/population
How Many Fathers?
25.8 million
Number of fathers in married-couple families with their own children under 18.
Among these:
- 2-in-10 are raising three or more of their own children under 18.
- 1-in-10 are raising their own infants under age 1.
- 1-in-8 are under 30.
- 4 percent are 55 or over.
- 2 percent live in the home of a relative or a nonrelative.
- 6-in-10 have an annual family income of $50,000 or more.
www.census.gov/Press-Release
2.0 million
Number of single fathers, up from 393,000 in 1970. Currently, 1-in-6 single parents is a single father, compared with 1-in-10 in 1970.
Among these fathers:
- 10 percent are raising three or more of their own children under 18.
- 45 percent are divorced; 34 percent have never married; 17 percent are married with an absent spouse; and 4 percent are widowed.
- 10 percent are raising their own infants under age 1. (This percentage is not significantly different from the corresponding rate for fathers in married-couple families.)
- 22 percent are under 30.
- 5 percent are 55 or over. (This percentage is not significantly different from the corresponding rate for fathers in married-couple families.)
- 13 percent live in the home of a relative or a nonrelative.
- 24 percent have an annual family income of $50,000 or more.
www.census.gov/Press-Release
3-in-10
The ratio of children under 18 living with their single father and his unmarried partner. In contrast, only 1-in-10 children who lived with their single mother shared the home with mom's unmarried partner. www.census.gov/Press-Release
Dining with Daddy
60
Percentage of children under 6 years old living with married parents who eat dinner on a daily basis with their fathers. www.census.gov/prod
24
Percentage of children under 6 years old living with married parents who eat breakfast on a daily basis with their fathers. www.census.gov/prod
88
Percentage of children under 6 years old living with married parents who are praised by their fathers at least once a day. www.census.gov/prod
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Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, story excerpts, and other materials from a variety of websites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed, and a link will be provided, whenever possible.
I scoped out the CDC sub-site referenced in Wednesday morning's...
