Published: Sunday, 8/17/2014 - Updated: 27 seconds ago

BY TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER

Toledo faces a quandary in the aftermath of its historic water crisis: Does it focus on reducing the threat of toxic microcystis algae, which temporarily made the tap water for 500,000 Metro Toledo residents unsafe to drink?

Or, does it turn up the heat on state and federal lawmakers whom city leaders accuse of taking too much of a business-as-usual approach and delaying overdue improvements to water-treatment plants in Toledo and across the country?

Toledo officials are wrestling with those decisions now, knowing that whatever they decide will likely cost one of Americas most cash-strapped cities one ranked by the U.S. Census Bureau just a few years ago as the nations eighth most impoverished millions of dollars it doesnt have.

Theyre inextricably linked issues, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Craig Butler told The Blade following a news conference at a Perrysburg Township farm on Thursday. They go part-in-parcel, hand in hand.

RELATED: Chemical increased in water after testing came close to dangerous level

RELATED: Read previous stories on the water crisis in Toledo

COMMENTARY:What we need to save Lake Erie is action right now

Throughout the drinking water crisis the first weekend of August, Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins sounded more like an environmentalist than the mayor of a Rust Belt city trying to attract industry.

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Leaders see big water battles

White River Junction Considering the cost of water, fertilizer and his own labor, it would probably be cheaper to buy vegetables than grow them himself, but to Nalin Patel, the garden on the grounds of the Pine Crest Motel is a worthwhile investment.

Thats our hobby, said Patel, who with his family owns the 20-unit business on Route 5.

As vegetarians, Patel and his wife, Raksha, share food duties. Nalin, 76, takes care of the gardens, which include grapes, apples, and an array of vegetables, among them varieties of hot peppers, beans, cucumber and eggplant commonly grown in the Patels native India. Two bathtubs alongside the single-story motel overflow with cilantro, dill, garlic and chives . Raksha, 72, uses the produce to make meals and various chutneys.

The vegetables are very good, she said, grinning. Hes a very good farmer.

In addition to providing the couple with fresh food and a healthy pastime, the garden is a source of gifts for people who are important to them. Raksha recently put up several jars of pickled green grapes to bring to Maine, where the couple gathered with her family for Raksha Bandhan, a Hindu festival that celebrates the bond between a brother and sister. They donate produce to a local food shelf and are generous with their neighbors and motel guests, some of whom stay for extended periods of time. Its their garden, too, Nalin said.

Ray Charpiot, a Pine Crest resident for more than three years, said its not unusual to find a bag of fresh fruit on his doorstep. They are old-school, good neighbor-type people, he said.

Charpiot, 73, retired a few years ago after working for local auto parts stores. He has faced a series of health problems and last year had open heart surgery. The Patels visited him in the hospital before and after the operation, said Charpiot, who has no relatives locally. Their relationship is more like family than landlord and tenant.

Charpiot manages the motel when the Patels are away on short trips and during their annual months-long visit to India, when they stay on their 32-acre farm, which produces sugarcane, rice, mango and banana.

The motel tenants generally know each other and get along, Charpiot said. Most of the people who live here are pretty good.

Preparing dinner, Raksha makes extra to share with Randy Osmer, who enjoys her spicy cooking. The generosity is catching Osmer recently made beef stew to share with his fellow motel guests. A White River Junction native, he likes the motels vibe. Its peaceful out here, not dealing with the rat race in town, said Osmer, who works reconditioning cars and helps maintain the motel property.

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So Much More Than a Garden

by Aderogba OBISESAN, Joel Olatunde AGOI

LAGOS, August 15, 2014 (AFP) - Kate, Bright and Happiness sat on the lawn of a Lagos brothel, sipping lager and chatting with men in groups of two or four. Business had been good, they said, until Ebola arrived.

"I have been in this business for two years but business has never been this slow," said Kate.

"I used to have an average of seven customers per day but I can hardly see four now since this Ebola disease came to town," the 25-year-old told AFP.

"Many of our customers are afraid to come to us for fear of contracting the disease. This Ebola wahala (problem) is really bad business. The government should do something about it."

With Ebola spread through the bodily fluids of an infected person, including sweat, the sex workers say they've been particularly badly hit by public fears.

"This disease is bad-o!" said 23-year-old Bright. "It is worse than HIV/AIDS. You can prevent HIV by using condoms but you can't do the same with Ebola.

"If care is not taken we will soon be driven out of business because nobody wants to die."

Bushmeat hit

Sex workers aren't the only ones in the informal economy -- in which an estimated three-quarters of Nigerians work -- who are feeling the effects of Ebola. Three people have died of the disease in Lagos, and more are expected.

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Lagos Ebola fears hit sex workers, informal traders

MINNEAPOLIS (MCT) -- Kristy Allen and Mark O'Rourke are bee ambassadors with deceptively similar messages. Allen, founder of a small business called the Beez Kneez, pedals through the Twin Cities selling honey from a bike trailer and handing out lawn signs that read, "Healthy bees, healthy lives." O'Rourke, a seed-treatment specialist for Bayer Crop Science, travels the country with sleek interactive displays to promote the company's insecticides and its views on honeybee health.

Allen wears a helmet with bobbing antennae. O'Rourke sports a bee-yellow shirt with the Bayer logo.

But behind their cheery outfits, they are polar opposites in an intensifying national conflict over what's killing the hardworking insect that has become a linchpin of the American food system.

In a struggle that echoes the scientific discord over climate change, both are striving to win public support in a fight over the pervasive use of pesticides and the alarming decline of bees. Whoever sways the public could influence the fate of the honeybee long before scientists or regulators render a verdict. "Perception becomes reality," said David Fischer, director of pollinator safety for Bayer AG, a leading manufacturer of the insecticides under debate. "We are a science-focused company. But that's not going to convince beekeepers and the public."

There is remarkably little dispute about the underlying problem: Honeybees are dying. Beekeepers across the United States are losing a fourth to a third of their hives each winter, a decline that has exposed them as a fragile link in the nation's food supply chain.

U.S. agriculture depends on bees to pollinate $15 billion worth of crops annually -- a third of the food we eat. Every year, commercial beekeepers traverse the country with millions of hives, moving them like migrant laborers through blooming fields of almonds, apples, melons and other crops. Even as the number of U.S. hives has dwindled to 2.5 million, the number of crops depending on them has quadrupled.

The adversaries even agree on some of the causes: A flowerless rural landscape dominated by monoculture cash crops, and the spread of invasive parasites and diseases.

But a decade after honeybees began their precipitous decline, they are still in trouble, and the conflict over the role of insecticides is reaching a crescendo. Bayer sponsors an annual "Bee Care Tour" of universities and community events, while its lobbyists work Washington. Kids in bee costumes protest at Home Depot stores, and gardeners have become their advocates at garden stores and nurseries where they wield considerable power on behalf of the bee.

The White House is paying attention. Last month, President Barack Obama ordered his Cabinet to come up with a strategy for protecting bees, including a mandate to "assess the effect of pesticides."

"There needs to be that public pressure," said Jennifer Sass of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The public can change it -- even if the (government) does not act."

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Battle over insecticide pits beekeepers against big agribusiness

Published: Friday, August 8, 2014 at 10:56 p.m. Last Modified: Friday, August 8, 2014 at 10:56 p.m.

LAKE HAMILTON | When Phillip Miller walked into the Lake Hamilton public works barn and saw his supervisor lying on an American flag spread across the grease-stained concrete floor, he was shocked.

Public Works Director J.D. Johnson on Friday acknowledged using an American flag as a drop cloth while working on a lawn mower in the barn on July 31.

Miller and a co-worker had taken down the 5-foot-by 8-foot flag from the Town Hall flagpole about a month ago because of its fading and frayed edges. Because Town Hall was closed at the time, they left it in the public works break room. Miller said the flag disappeared after that.

He said the next time he saw it was when Johnson had it on the floor.

"I was so appalled, I was speechless," Miller said. "I could not believe anybody would do that."

Miller didn't say anything to Johnson at the time, but he used his town-issued cellphone to take a photo of the flag on the ground after Johnson had walked away. He brought the photo to Mayor Marlene Wagner the next day.

While the mayor said she is not happy about the situation, no decisions have been made regarding disciplinary action.

The incident was not brought up during the Town Council meeting this week.

Johnson, a U.S. military veteran, said the flag had been in the barn for a while, on the floor and draped over tractors, before he ever touched it.

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Treatment of Flag Creates Controversy in Lake Hamilton

Published: Tuesday, 8/5/2014 - Updated: 1 day ago

BY TOM HENRY, NOLAN ROSENKRANS, AND MARLENE HARRIS-TAYLOR BLADE STAFF WRITERS

Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins told metro area residents today they stand a better chance of getting clean tap water for the rest of the 2014 algae season if they become more selective about how they use it.

I believe this community will fortify this [water] system through more conservation, he told reporters inside One Government Center.

MAYORS STATEMENT: Residents urged to conserve, reduce usage

Residents are asked to refrain from watering their lawns or irrigating fields. They are asked to stop washing their cars at home. They also should take shorter showers, wash only full loads of laundry and dishes, and operate washing machines and dishwashers on their most energy-efficient modes.

In other words, they need to keep two simple words in mind: conserve water.

Doing so, according to Mr. Collins and other city officials, will reduce the odds of the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant from being stressed.

Less demand means a slower flow rate and the ability for chemicals used to neutralize algae to work as water makes its way through the citys multi-staged treatment system.

It gives chemicals more time to take effect and allows the plant to produce better water, Ed Moore, the citys public utilities director, said.

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Conservation to last rest of summer

CBS DFW (con't)

Affordable Care Act Updates: CBSDFW.com/ACA

Health News & Information: CBSDFW.com/Health

COLLEYVILLE (CBSDFW.COM) City workers in Colleyville have been engaged in what, so far, seems like a futile fight. Despite aggressive treatment, the West Nile Virus keeps popping up in one area over and over.

CBS 11 News set out to find out why the virus is proving so tough to get rid of.

For the last month Randy Bright has been on the hunt. The Colleyville code enforcement officer walks through one neighborhoods alleys and creek beds, finds mosquitos, and kills them.

Its whenever I cant find em is when its a problem, he said.

The problem is constant. Despite Brights best efforts, and reports that there are two-thirds fewer mosquitos overall in the area, West Nile keeps showing up.

Bright said, Youre thinking no matter what I do they continue to breed, so youre trying to find out where theyre breeding.

In an area full of children, resident Justin Cleveland said people are starting to ask if the city needs to spray. You gotta let the city do what theyre going to do, he said. It doesnt look good for them to get more and more reports, so theyre going to do the best they can to take care for the problem. I think.

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Colleyville West Nile Woes Continue Despite Aggressive Treatment

ST. CHARLES A reserve officer with the Pine Lawn Police Department has been charged with raping his former girlfriend at an apartment in St. Charles in May.

Rico L. Frazier, 23, of the 5900 block of San Simeon Drive in south St. Louis County, was charged Thursday with burglary, rape, felonious restraint and two counts of sodomy.

The woman, 22, a student at Lindenwood University, reported the attack just before 4 a.m. on May 1. It happened about two miles from campus at the Time Centre Apartments, 901 Time Centre Drive. The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Frazier had been a volunteer reserve police officer with the Pine Lawn Police Department for three months at the time of the assault. He graduated from the Eastern Missouri Police Academy in November 2013.

Pine Lawn Police Lt. Steven Blakeny said Frazier was with the department as a reserve until the end of June when he told officers he was taking a paying job with another department. It could not be determined Thursday whether another department hired him. Blakeny said Frazier did not volunteer with the department after the attack.

This kid on paper appeared to be stellar, he said. He was one of the standout students at the academy.

Frazier and the woman dated until October 2013, St. Charles County Prosecutor Tim Lohmar said and remained friends afterward. The two had spoken as recently as the day before the assault, and the conversation had been cordial, he said.

Police gave this account of the attack:

Frazier smashed in the sliding glass door of the womans apartment about 3 a.m., while she was sleeping. Frazier then sprayed her in the face with law enforcement-grade pepper spray, temporarily blinding her.

He tackled the woman and repeatedly beat her face into the floor as he pulled her hair. The woman fought back and was able to rip a necklace off Frazier, but he overpowered her and raped her.

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Reserve Pine Lawn officer charged with raping Lindenwood University student at apartment in St. Charles

BOSTON - Prosecutors have charged a Massachusetts man with raping a woman at a raucous country music concert south of Boston on Saturday where dozens of people received treatment for alcohol-related medical problems.

Police in Mansfield, Massachusetts, the site of the concert by Australian singer Keith Urban, charged Sean Murphy, 18, with raping a woman on the outdoor venue's lawn during the performance while dozens of concert-goers looked on, some taking photos of the incident.

Murphy on Tuesday pleaded not guilty and his attorney said on Wednesday that the incident was ill-advised but consensual.

"This was a consensual act, not a sexual assault. There are no allegations of force or violence against him," attorney Neil Crowley said in a statement. "Mr. Murphy deeply regrets this incident and I am sure the young woman does as well."

Police in Mansfield, about 25 miles (40 km) south of Boston, said in a statement that a female witness "pushed Murphy off the victim" and a male witness reported the incident to a police officer. Murphy was arrested at the venue, police said.

Some 22 concert-goers were taken to hospitals during the show and about 50 people were taken into protective custody.

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Police charge man with raping woman at raucous Massachusetts concert

By Chester County Health Department For Main Line Media News

The treatment will be administered with truck-mounted spray equipment. The equipment dispenses Permanone RTU, a permethrin insecticide product, at a rate of 1.5 ounces per acre. These products are designed to provide quick, effective control of adult mosquito populations. The application materials have a very low toxicity profile to mammals and are safe for the environment when used in accordance with prescribed application methods.

To receive email notifications of future sprays, sign up for Health Department updates or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

The chance of contracting WNV from an infected mosquito is small and chances of becoming seriously ill are even smaller, however, the Health Department recommends that individuals take personal precautions to minimize the possibility of being bitten by infected mosquitoes. This includes staying indoors at dawn or dusk when mosquitoes are most active, wearing long sleeve shirts and long pants when outside and using insect repellents when mosquitoes are active. The heightened concern will probably remain until the first frost which usually occurs in mid-October.

Residents are encouraged to take the following precautions to reduce mosquito breeding on their property:

Dispose of open containers that may collect water, such as tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots, etc.

Drill holes in the bottom of outdoor recycling containers so that water will not collect.

Keep your property clear of old tires.

Clean roof gutters, particularly if leaves from surrounding trees have a tendency to plug drains.

Turn over plastic wading pools when not in use. Continued...

Originally posted here:
Mosquito spraying scheduled for areas in Tredyffrin Township