I went to bed last night depressed and thinking it was all for nothing. The story of the mess in the river came to nothing. I was going to have to start all over again. Then I woke up to Jerry screaming at me to come see the early news.

Turns out someone – a nameless informant – came forward and linked the dumped recycling directly to JoyTech!

Woot! Who’s your daddy?

It’s me, JoyWreck. I’m your daddy.

As if it wasn’t so obvious, but with this guy or whoever coming out and saying that he drove one of the dumping trucks, no one can deny it any more!

At least the media can’t. JoyTech certainly can. They released an official statement today saying they had no idea what was going on at the recycling plant.

They claim to have hired outside contractors who were trying to cut corners, and that this ‘tragedy’ was “completely outside the scope of their awareness until today.”

Yeah right. That’s the same thing they said about the whole water treatment scandal in 2006, AND about the huge waste management lawsuit against them in 2002.

Hey Global Improvement Company, maybe it’s time to stop hiring those “outside contractors.”

Anyway, obviously things aren’t so friendly between JoyTech and the Conurban Council now, because the Council made a special announcement on the news tonight that they’re putting together their own group of independent overseers to “monitor standards compliance” at the recycling center for the foreseeable future.

I have to admit that I was hoping for something a bit more spectacular, something along the lines of the entire company crumbling to dust and blowing away on a puff of breeze. But I’ll settle for SO BUSTED.

Not in my city, JoyTech. I’m watching you.

Headline from The Daily Ringer this morning: JoyTech Recycling Program a Rousing Success!

This followed by a two-page spread on the super-efficient automated system, the tons already recycled, and the sparkling facility…

Sparkling, yeah, because it never gets used!

Not surprisingly, there wasn’t a word in there about Aurora’s email, and at lunch, she tells me that she went to check out the center herself last night, and that there was NOTHING GOING ON! Then she rolled her eyes at me, like I’m crazy, and whispered something to New Guy.

How really, really, super cool of her. In fact, just so you can understand the coolness, I’m putting up this tooned photo of the lady herself looking too cool for school.

Anyway, it’s obvious that The Daily Ringer tipped JoyTech off that we were on to them, and they decided to stop their little disposal project until the heat died down.

Too bad for them, it’s already too late.

I went back to the JoyTech recycling center last night, and it was the exact same story as the night before. For some reason, I thought maybe it was a one-time thing. Like they were just getting going and couldn’t handle the volume right off the bat. Which was a stupid way to think. If they were just overloaded, they would dump in a landfill, not Ring City’s largest river.

Anyway, I told Aurora what I saw, and she was actually kind of skeptical, which is BS. Fine. Maybe it was 4 in the morning, but she never doubted me before New Guy came along. In the end, she agreed to send an email to The Daily Ringer asking them to investigate. She said that if there is something going on, they’ll get to the bottom of it.

But I’m doubtful. Jerry says that JoyTech’s got the Ringer wrapped around its finger. He says you can’t trust the news anymore.

Lately, Jerry and Aurora disagree about everything, so in a way, it’s a good thing she never comes over anymore.

Whatevs. We’ll do it her way. And if the Ringer does turn this into a snowjob, we’ll do it my way.