Atmos Energy encourages safety awareness during National Safe Digging Month
Since 2008, April has been designated National Safe Digging Month, and in an effort to reduce excavation damage, Atmos Energy joins the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) to encourage homeowners, contractors, and any professional excavator to keep communities safe by calling 811 before any digging project.
Did you know more than 50 percent of outside natural gas leaks are caused by digging or construction that disturbs natural gas pipelines? Pipelines carry natural gas around the clock to more than 189 million Americans and 5.8 million businesses, yet we seldom notice these energy superhighways because they are underground.
Even minor damage, such as a nick, scrape, or dent in a pipeline or its coating, can weaken the pipeline and lead to a future leak.
The 'Call 811' national service is free, safe, and required by law.
Plan ahead
Contact 811 a few days before digging.
Confirm that all lines have been marked.
Consider moving the location of your project if it is near utility line markings.
If a contractor has been hired, confirm that the contractor has contacted 811. Don't allow work to begin if the lines are not marked.
Please visit 811beforeyoudig.com for complete information.
Take the Atmos Energy Call 811 Pledge
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How many abomination-supporting Arizona congressmen will Elon pay to defeat?
Donald Trump and Republicans loved it when Elon Musk pumped what analysists say was at least $288 million into the 2024 election campaigns of Trump and others. I wonder if Arizona Republican U.S. Reps. David Schweikert, Eli Crane, Paul Gosar, Abe Hamadeh and Juan Ciscomani are worried that he might spend something close to that amount going after them and others in 2026. Because if Elon is a guy who still puts his money where his mouth is, he will. Musk got bamboozled into believing the Republicans he bankrolled actually wanted to cut federal spending and reduce the deficit. HA! Instead, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reports that Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' will hand out trillions in tax cuts (to people like Elon) while raising the federal deficit by $2.4 trillion over the decade and leaving nearly 11 million more Americans without health insurance. The 215 House Republicans who voted to advance the bill thought a billionaire like Elon would love the idea that he'll be getting to keep even more of his billions. Instead, Elon came out on social media and said, 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.' He kept going, saying the bill would saddle Americans with 'crushingly unsustainable debt.' House Speaker Mike Johnson said Musk's criticism was 'very disappointing.' It must have really spooked him when Musk also said, 'In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.' Yes! The big bill passed the House with Republican support only. In our case, it was supported by all of Arizona's GOP congressmen. Although, Rep. David Schweikert actually said that, while he supported the bill, he was so tired he 'slept' through the vote. (Not sure which is worse. Supporting the bill or sleeping through a monumental vote.) Opinion: Biggs' coronation rally wasn't really about him One of only three Republicans who didn't support the bill, Rep. Thomas Massie from Kentucky, is encouraging Musk to spend money defeating the bill's supporters. He said, 'I just think he made one mistake — he said take them out in November. I would take them out in primaries if I were Elon Musk.' Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs need not worry. He is getting out of Dodge by running for governor. But his GOP cohorts in Congress — Schweikert, Crane, Gosar, Hamadeh and Ciscomani — are still there, still giving tax breaks to billionaires, raising the debt and tossing people off insurance rolls. They loved Musk when he was shoveling mounds of cash into Trump's campaign. How will they feel, I wonder, if he starts shoveling cash onto their political graves? Reach Montini at Like this column? Get more opinions in your email inbox by signing up for our free opinions newsletter, which publishes Monday through Friday. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Elon Musk's new 'kill the bill' target: Arizona congressmen | Opinion
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Opinion - Congress can deal a blow to government union bosses
Congress can use the budget reconciliation bill to save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by refusing to pay the salaries of government employees who, instead of doing their jobs, are doing business for their unions. Through a practice known as 'official time,' union agents can draw a government salary even when they are off lobbying Congress, or spending 100 percent of their time working for a labor union. In 2019, the year before President Joe Biden ordered the Office of Personnel Management to stop tracking and reporting official time, employees across the federal government were paid $135 million to do 2.6 million hours of union work while 'on the clock' at their government jobs. These are the last people who deserve taxpayer money. Despite being paid with tax dollars, these government union bosses are blatantly partisan. They're so used to being above the law that they see no reason to represent the views of most Americans. That's why their contributions to candidates favor Democrats 20 to 1. And of course, government employee unions have staged massive protests in Washington to combat the Trump administration's efforts to reform the federal bureaucracy. Even though unions are third-party, nongovernmental organizations with strong political biases, federal officials are required by law to negotiate with them over their agencies' staffing policies. Public policy should be made by representatives elected by the American people. It is undemocratic for those policies to instead be made through forced 'negotiations' between elected officials and unelected union bosses. Union officials should never have been given control over the government workforce. So it's good that President Trump signed an executive order ending union bargaining at several federal agencies. If Congress won't ban federal unions altogether, it can deal a significant blow to these groups by taking away the massive taxpayer subsidies that help fund their operations. The Protecting Taxpayers' Wallets Act, sponsored by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), forces unions to pay back the official time they consume, plus the value of other perks they receive, such as free government office space. If union bosses want to set up shop in government buildings, and use government employees as union organizers and lobbyists, they should do it on their own dime. Reversing the flow of taxpayer money into union coffers is a revenue decision, making Ernst and Perry's language eligible for the budget reconciliation bill, which, unlike most legislation, can pass the Senate with just 51 votes. The language should be included in the reconciliation bill, but union bosses have allies in government, so its inclusion is in jeopardy. It suffered an early defeat after Rep. Perry introduced an amendment in the House Oversight Committee that would have placed his language in the budget. A majority of the committee's members joined with Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), who said that she opposed Perry's amendment because she believes that campaigning for candidates like herself is an appropriate activity for government workers. 'Making sure that you are going to get somebody who is going to serve in a seat that is going to make sure that you can be protected … as far as I'm concerned, that is agency business,' she explained. Crockett is wrong. Government employees should not be in the business of deciding who should serve in a congressional seat and campaigning to elect that person. House and Senate leaders should insist that the language in the Protecting Taxpayer Wallets Act be added to the budget reconciliation bill, so that the public no longer has to fund the political activity of union bosses. Jace White is the director of federal affairs at the National Right to Work Committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Capitol Hill Republicans shoot down Mass. lawmaker's effort to subpoena Elon Musk
House Republicans foiled an attempt to force tech titan Elon Musk to appear before Congress to explain what Democrats called his 'reckless' tenure helming the Department of Government Efficiency. U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-8th District, the acting ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, led the charge during a hearing on Thursday. He argued in an opening statement that Musk's brief, but impactful, tenure at the quasi-governmental agency will 'continue to have devastating consequences for America for years, possibly decades, to come,' the South Boston lawmaker said during an opening statement. Watch: U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch's opening statement The Democratic gambit came as the influential committee was set to take up the use of artificial intelligence across the federal government. But lawmakers could not 'sit here, however, and have the traditionally bipartisan conversation about federal IT modernization without acknowledging the fact that the Trump administration, Elon Musk, and DOGE are leading technology initiatives that threaten the privacy and security of all Americans and undermine our government and the vital services it provides to red states and blue states alike,' Lynch said. Republicans who control the committee briefly suspended the proceedings to give GOP lawmakers more time to arrive and vote against the measure, according to The Hill. U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who was leading the hearing, derided the Democratic effort, telling them they 'looked good' for social media clips as her Democratic colleagues sat before blown-up photos of Musk, The Hill reported. Lynch is vying to permanently become the committee's ranking Democrat following the death last month of U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia. He's been temporarily serving in that role. That leadership fight is being cast as a generational battle. Lynch, 70, is one of two septuagenarians looking to lead the committee. U.S. Rep. Kwesi Mfume, 76, of Maryland, is the other. U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia, 47, of California, and Jasmine Crockett, 44, of Texas, a frequent Trump inquisitor, are leading the youth brigade, according to Axios. Harvard Medical School renames DEI office as university fights against Trump admin in court Trump admin threatens Columbia U. accreditation over Jewish student harassment Trump admin can't gut US Ed Department, federal appeals court rules Harvard amps up federal lobbying spending as Trump admin attacks intensify President Trump moves to bar Harvard's international students from entering the U.S. Read the original article on MassLive.
