Yet another reason not to trust Fox News

Fox News is an embarrassment to reputable journalists everywhere. Take this apples-and-oranges story telecast on Fox 4 earlier this week about the city's efforts to pick up garbage not collected because of last week's winter storms. Although it admits most (and gathering by the footage Fox camera shot, they really believe "all") of the problems stem from the garbage produced by restaurants and bars, it then goes to interview City Sanitation Services Director Mary Nix (pictured) as though it was the city's responsibility to pick up this trash. It's not. The city's only responsibility is to pick up residential garbage. Restaurants, bars, office building, apartment complexes, etc., contract with private haulers to handle their garbage collection needs. I'm guessing Fox misled Nix, arguably the finest department director the city has right now, into thinking their story was about residential pickup. But that's why you simply can't trust that organization to present an accurate portrayal of today's news.

Speaking of the great Sanitation Services director, I've just learned she's to be the keynote speaker at an event no sane person is going to want to miss: the 34th annual Landfill Gas Symposium (You read that right -- they've been doing this for 34 years now) presented by SWANA’s Landfill Gas Management Technical Division. This event is being billed as "the leading forum on landfill gas utilization and technology (that) brings together landfill gas experts from around the country."

From the symposium's official announcement:

"The keynote presenter, Mary Nix, P.E., director of sanitation services for the city of Dallas, will discuss how her department provides a competitively priced weekly collection of residential refuse and recycling, monthly bulk and heavy brush collection, operation of the state’s largest landfill, and fosters new and innovative ways to advance solid waste practices. The city of Dallas’s residential waste collection, recycling, transfer and disposal programs currently serve a population of 1.3 million, with an annual budget of $75 million."

The event is scheduled for March 21-24. I know many of you will want to squeeze into this gala at the Gaylord Texan, so here's the place to go to find out how. A ticket includes a guided tour of the McCommas Bluff Landfill, something not even last week's visitors to the Super Bowl had the opportunity to experience.