INQUIRER: Mayor Nutter has canned a controversial but lucrative plan to charge Philadelphians for garbage service, saying there was too little time to enact the complex program before he presents his budget next week. By ditching the trash fee – which had evolved in recent weeks from a proposed $5 weekly charge to a per-bag fee – Nutter avoids alienating supporters who consider garbage removal a basic city service, and he escapes a tough fight with City Council, where many members had opposed the fee. But the decision will make it that much harder for him to close the city’s five-year, $1 billion budget gap. A garbage fee, Nutter said, could have covered as much as $400 million of that deficit. MORE
WIKIPEDIA: Oscar the Grouch is a Muppet character on the television program Sesame Street. He has a green body (during the 1969–1970 season he was orange), has no nose, and lives in a garbage can. His favorite thing in life is trash; evidence for this is the song “I Love Trash“. Although “The Grouch” aptly describes his misanthropic interaction with the other characters, it is also the name of his species. While appearing to be the size of a normal trash can, Oscar’s residence is presumably larger inside than the exterior would suggest, as evidenced by the fact that Oscar has noted through the years that it boasts such amenities as a swimming pool, bowling alley and a piano. MORE