By Frederick N. Rasmussen, The Baltimore Sun

8:46 a.m. EST, January 5, 2014

A 58-year-old woman who was struck by a car Thursday at Security Boulevard and Woodlawn Drive in Woodlawn, died Saturday afternoon at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center where she had been transported for treatment.

The name of the deceased female is not being released by Baltimore County Police pending notification of next-of-kin.

Baltimore County Police and fire personnel responded to the scene of the accident at 9:08 p.m. Thursday, and found that a woman had been struck by a vehicle.

The initial investigation by the Baltimore County Police Department Crash Team indicated that the female pedestrian had been crossing Security Boulevard and Wood lawn Drive, when she was struck by a Volkswagen Jetta that was traveling eastbound on Security Boulevard. The vehicle remained at the scene.

The accident remains under investigation by county police.

fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com

Read the original here:
Woman dies from injuries in Woodlawn hit-and-run

January 4, 2014 Rockport Police/Fire: Storm keeps crews busy Rockport Police/Fire

By James Niedzinski Staff Writer The Gloucester Daily Times Sat Jan 04, 2014, 12:00 AM EST

ROCKPORT Through road closures, the toppling of a giant lawn chair and reports of minor flooding, Rockport police and emergency crews were dispatched for various medical and service calls.

Friday at 3:42 a.m., a telephone pole near the Five Corners intersection in Rockport was reportedly leaning. Police said National Grid was notified, and dispatched a crew to address the problem.

A woman who fell outside the Pigeon Cove Ledges housing complex declined medical treatment after crews responded and assisted her at around 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

At 2:34 p.m. Thursday, a man on Bradley Wharf was taken to Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester.

A Gannon Court woman was taken to the Gloucester hospital at 5:40 a.m. Friday, while a woman from Atlantic Avenue was taken to Addison Gilbert Hospital Friday around 2:45 p.m.

A disabled motor vehicle on Nugent Stretch had to be towed at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

James Niedzinski can be reached at 978-675-2708 or at jniedzinski@gloucestertimes.com.

Go here to see the original:
Rockport Police/Fire: Storm keeps crews busy

For any individual or family dwelling in a Southern climate who wants to have a hardy grass which is capable of enduring fiercely hot sun as well as living on smaller quantities of water, Bermuda grass proves to be a terrific choice.

Bermuda is a low-to-the-ground growing, extra-tough variant of grass, offering wonderful cover for the ground, as well as withstanding high levels of foot and pet traffic.

Taking care of a Bermuda grass lawn is not difficult. It revolves mainly around having the grass grow in sunny areas. The following are the various factors necessary to effectively care for and maintain a Bermuda grass lawn, including proper mowing, watering, and aerating.

Because Bermuda grass is in fact a perennial form of grass, it does not typically require re-seeding. It sports a richly green color, and features a fine to medium texture. It does exceedingly well in yards.

Typically, Bermuda grass is the one selected for golf fairways or putting greens around the South of the United States.

The regular varieties of Bermuda grass which are grown throughout the United States South can be had in more than a dozen different varieties which have their own best uses for different scenarios. As an example, a user might pick out a specific variety because of its color, tolerance for wear and tear, mowing height, or practicality for a little bit cooler climate found in the northerly ranges of the South.

There are many impressive advantages to Bermuda grass versus other grass variants. Among them are its tendencies towards aggressive growth, a minimum level of maintenance, and tolerance for extreme heat, sun, and drought. The disadvantages of this family of varieties lies in the brown shade that it turns during the months of winter, as well as its lack of ability to thrive in shady places.

Bermuda grass is commonly thought to be the most challenging family of grasses to mow. This is actually because in many cases, the incorrect lawn mower is being utilized.

Optimally, Bermuda grass should be reduced to a height of only one to one-and-a-half inches. The vast majority of lawn mowers simply are not able to mow so low to the ground without butchering the whole lawn. This sort of scalping is the result of a wheel in the lawn mower rotary dropping down into a small rut, which forces the blade to dip down, scalping the grass in the process.

Go here to read the rest:
How To Care for a Bermuda Grass Lawn | Bermuda Lawn Care Tips

An amended lawsuit petition contends Factory Direct Appliance employee James Ellis acted negligently in January 2012 when he left after smelling gas in 81-year-old Lucinia Tollivers west Topeka home, which then exploded, ultimately leading to her death.

Ellis breached his duty of reasonable care by leaving Tolliver in a situation he knew, or should have known, was dangerous, says the petition filed on behalf of Tollivers estate and her daughter, Erin Gayle Thurston.

Olathe attorney Thomas Ruzicka filed the petition Nov. 7 adding Ellis and Overland Park-based Factory Direct Appliance as defendants in a suit he filed May 8 against Kansas Gas Service and Glen Niehues, doing business as Wetmore-based N-Line Lawn Service.

The suit alleges negligence that helped bring about Tollivers death, which came four days after an explosion destroyed her home at 1905 S.W. Navajo Lane on Jan. 30, 2012.

Tolliver was a retired composing room employee of The Topeka Capital-Journal.

Ruzicka also filed suit against KGS and N-Line on May 14 on behalf of Tollivers next-door neighbor, Lois Jones, who was injured by the blast as she was in her home at 1909 S.W. Navajo Lane.

The petition in Jones suit contends N-Line negligently broke a KGS pipeline while digging to install lawn sprinkler systems for residential use, and KGS breached its duty to protect the public from explosions resulting from its operation of underground facilities.

The revised petition in the suit filed on behalf of Thurston and Tollivers estate contends that Ellis, an employee of Factory Direct Appliance, arrived about 11:03 a.m. on the day of the blast at Tollivers home, then left about 11:10 a.m. after he noticed a distinct gas odor in the basement.

That petition says the fatal explosion occurred at 11:38 a.m. while Tolliver was in her home, causing her serious, painful and permanent injuries and horrific conscious pain and suffering as well as damages of a physical, mental and emotional nature, for which she underwent extensive medical care and treatment, at great cost and expense.

Topeka attorney Larry Pepperdine, representing Ellis and Factory Direct Appliance, responded in an answer to the amended petition filed Dec. 16 that Ellis arrived about 10:05 a.m. on the day of the blast at Tollivers home to work on her electric range clock, which he repaired with reasonable care.

Read more:
Defendants added in house explosion lawsuit

I've seen fox, coon possum, squirrel, chipmunk, coyote and deer in the woods and verges that surround the water treatment plant at Ozark Point near my house. Now comes word of a feline visitor and it's apparently no tabby cat. From neighborhood messages: Sunday morning . spotted something interesting loping across the Water Works lawn: a very large cat mountain lion, cougar, panther, "painter" golden in color, about the size of Winnie (our dog), long back legs and thick but not fluffy very long tail. It ran from the south side of the WW property (across the top and into the woods by the ballast on the north side.) ...

Have there been other sightings of wild cats in LR Parks? Blytheville news reported sightings on their golf course, but that's a long way off. Wonder if the habitants of the "tent" above WalMart Neighborhood Market have had interactions...or if their cans are attracting such?

UPDATE: Big cat sighting also reported by reader from Rockwood Road area, where woods overlook the Arkansas River. Easy gallop for a big cat from there to HIilcrest, with plenty of wilderness to work through.

Original post:
Big cat on the prowl in Hillcrest

Q: I have a queen palm that appeared to stop growing, and the existing fronds have drooped. The top looks fried.

B. P., Miami

A: Queen palms are very susceptible to frizzle top, which is a nutritional (manganese) deficiency. To correct the manganese deficiency, begin your first treatment in spring its too late in the season now. Use manganese sulfate at the rate of two to four pounds per palm four times per year spread over the soil under the palm canopy. Applications can be repeated every two to three months, depending on the severity of the problem and soil type. However, an improvement in the new growth may not be seen until three to six months after applications. You will also need to apply 8-2-12 + 4 percent Mg as your routine fertilizer.

To prevent this problem, use palm special type fertilizer (8-2-12 + 4 percent Mg) and follow the rate on the bag. Be aware that there are other palm fertilizers so check to make sure its 8-2-12 + 4 percent Mg. Based on University of Florida research done in South Florida, this is the only type of fertilizer that should be used within 50 feet of landscape palms. So, if you fertilize nearby plants such as the lawn, use the palm fertilizer instead of a lawn fertilizer.

Manganese sulfate and 8-2-12 + 4 percent Mg fertilizer is available from some garden centers, and fertilizer companies and distributors in South Florida. If you need a list of these companies, call your local UF Extension office (Broward 954-357-5270, Miami-Dade 305-248-3311 x228, Monroe 305-292-4501, and Palm Beach 561-233-1700).

After treatment, it will take several months to see new growth that is healthy. If the deficiency is too advanced, the palm will probably need to be replaced.

Manganese deficiency is very common on alkaline soils, but can occur when soil temperatures are cool. Most species of palms can be affected, but queen palm, royal palm, paurotis (Everglades) palm, pygmy date palm, and African oil palm are particularly susceptible.

To learn more about palm problems, please visit this UF website: http://flrec.ifas.ufl.edu/

Adrian Hunsberger is an entomologist/horticulturist with the UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Extension office. Write to Plant Clinic, 18710 SW 288th St., Homestead, FL 33030; e-mail aghu@ifas.ufl.edu.

Read the original post:
What’s wrong with my queen palm?

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) December 27, 2013

Giroud Tree and Lawn has been awarded the prestigious and difficult-to-attain Angie's List Super Service Award for 2013. Based on 116 reviews in the categories of Tree Service, Lawn Fertilization & Treatment and Lawn and Yard Work, Angie's List members gave Giroud an A grade, the highest possible score.

Giroud Tree and Lawn is the only tree service and lawn treatment service company in the region to win the Super Service Award every year since the Award was established in the Philadelphia area in 2005, notes Lou Giroud, President and ISA Certified Arborist. Friendly staff answering the phone, on-time arrival, expert tree service and lawn treatment service programs by ISA Certified Arborists and meticulous cleanup are just a few of the ways we ensure that customers love doing business with us, he added.

Only about 5 percent of the companies that Giroud Tree and Lawn competes with in Philadelphia PA are able to earn our Super Service Award, said Angies List Founder Angie Hicks. Its a mark of consistently great customer service.

Super Service Award 2013 winners have met strict eligibility requirements, including earning a minimum number of reports, an excellent rating from customers and abiding by Angies List operational guidelines.

Service company ratings are updated daily on Angies List. Companies are graded on an A through F scale in areas ranging from price to professionalism to punctuality. Members can find the 2013 Super Service Award logo next to company names in search results on AngiesList.com.

About Giroud Tree and Lawn

Giroud Tree and Lawn specializes in tree service, tree removal and lawn care programs that make customers love doing business with the company since 1974. Serving Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties, the company offers professional tree and lawn evaluation, tree pruning, insect and disease control, fertilizing, tree removal, stump removal and traditional and organic lawn programs to keep lawns healthy and green . Giroud Arborists are certified by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) and have the knowledge and experience required to properly diagnose, treat and maintain trees and lawn health. The company has been awarded the Angie's List Super Service Award every year since 2005. The Giroud Treework for Charity program donates free tree care services to parks, historical sites and other non-profit organizations located in the Companys service area. For more information, visit the company website at http://www.giroudtree.com or call 215-682-7704.

About Angies List

Angie's List helps consumers have happy transactions with local service professionals in more than 720 categories of service, ranging from home improvement to healthcare. More than 2 million paid households use Angie's List to gain access to local ratings, exclusive discounts, the Angies List Magazine and the Angie's List complaint resolution service.

Follow this link:
Giroud Tree and Lawn Earns Angie’s List “Super Service Award” for the Ninth Year in a Row for Tree Service and Lawn ...

File photo

The world famous RCMP Musical Ride played a dazzling show at Ryan Dempster Field in Gibsons in front of more than 4,000 people in last July.

Coast Reporter staff

May

The hissing of summer lawn sprinklers could become a thing of the past on the Sunshine Coast if tough conservation measures are adopted to buy time and save millions of dollars in water system upgrades. Major upgrades are needed to the Chapman Lake system over the next 25 years and even with more restrictive outdoor watering and universal metering, the price tag will be an estimated $36 million.

Some Sechelt residents were pressuring council to reverse their decision to build a new sewage treatment plant on Ebbtide Street. About 160 residents who questioned things like the location of the new plant and its high cost met in a citizens forum hosted by the Sunshine Coast Senior Citizens Organization and the Sechelt Sewage Coalition.

The outpouring of love and support for Mujtaba Saloojee and his family continued to grow along the Sunshine Coast with a major gesture coming from Extra Foods in Sechelt. Extra Foods, through its Presidents Choice Childrens Charity, presented a cheque for $20,000 to Muj and his family during a ceremony at the store.

Financial difficulties, an in-depth assessment by Environment Canada and a newly-filed warrant to seize the HMCS Annapolis could spell the end of the Artificial Reef Society of B.C.s (ARSBC) plan to sink the war ship in Halkett Bay. The ARSBC was set to sink the 115-metre destroyer to create an artificial reef in Halkett Bay (off the southeastern shore of Gambier Island) last fall but a final inspection from Environment Canada held up the process.

Work on building the new Gibsons Elementary School officially began with the construction start-up marked with a ceremonial sod turning. Dignitaries and members of School District No. 46 (SD46) spoke to a sea of students sporting yellow hard hats as well as many community members gathered for the big day.

Sunshine Coast students got involved in the provincial election through Student Vote, a chance for young voters to mark a ballot similar to the official one adults used. Thousands of students from across B.C. took part.

See more here:
The Year in Review: Part two

Leon Mathieus Christmas tree is usually the last thing he puts up during the holiday season.

Before that come the 11,000 lights, 22 inflatable displays and everything else that goes into making his lawn one of the brightest and most festive in Raynham each year.

When my wife and I first started it about 11 years ago, we had one blow-up and then the next year we would add another one and then we progressed that way, and then the kids came into our lives, said Mathieu, 51. Then we starting going from one per year and we started buying multiple per year.

The South Main St. lawn is chock full of characters on display from his 12-foot-tall Mickey Mouse, clad in a Santa costume, to his newest addition, a reindeer driving a steamroller that ran over grandma.

His friends say he gives Clark Griswold, from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation a run for his money.

Thats the running joke, our friends will call me Clark, Mathieu said.

Another new addition to Leons display is a purple and white cancer awareness ribbon he made out of plywood, hanging from a tree in his backyard. The ribbon is adorned with more than 250 lights.

I just made that a couple weeks ago, he said of the ribbon. That might be one that stays up year-round. I havent decided yet. I went into a store and I found some purple lights and then I bought the white twinkling lights to outline it.

Ive been a cancer patient since the early 80s, Mathieu said. Back then, I had a form of bone cancer. Three years ago I had the better part of three organs removed. I came down with the same type of cancer that Steve Jobs had. I had a neuroendocrine tumor in my pancreas, and at the end of this summer we found that it has spread to my liver.

These days it takes him a little longer to set up his display as he tires easily. He has always kept a positive attitude, however.

View original post here:
Leon’s lights make Raynham glow for holidays

CHAPEL HILL LaMonte Armstrong met with Gov. Pat McCrory 11 days ago as the newly lighted Christmas tree twinkled outside on the Capitol lawn.

Carolers sang out melodies of good tidings, and Armstrong, in his ninth month of freedom after a wrongful murder conviction cost him 17 years of his life, took note.

Armstrong, who lives and works in Chapel Hill, was with his lawyers that Friday afternoon elaborating for the governor on the miscarriage of justice that caused him to miss out on many key moments of his 63 years. His daughter, not quite 7 at the time of his imprisonment, blossomed into a woman while he was behind bars. His older son, who was playing college football at the time, matured into the kind of man that Armstrong enjoys being around today.

The father and son were together on Monday morning, sharing a meal at a Bob Evans restaurant between Durham and Chapel Hill, when Armstrongs phone lit on top of the table.

Armstrong looked up from his plate of eggs, sausage and grits toward his son, who was filling up on a plate of pancakes. The number in the phone window was a Charlotte one and Armstrong almost didnt pick up. But on the fourth ring, he answered, and McCrory, the former Charlotte mayor, was on the other end with long-awaited tidings.

He asked me what I was doing and I said I was eating breakfast with my son. I said we were doing a sort of Christmas breakfast, Armstrong said. And he said, OK. What Im about to say will probably make your Christmas even more joyous. And then he said, I just finished signing a document of pardon of innocence for you. And I said to him, Fantastic, governor. Thank you so much.

With that the governors first pardon of his term Armstrong is eligible to file a claim under a North Carolina law that allows compensation of up to $750,000 to persons wrongly convicted of felonies.

Armstrong was wrongfully convicted of murdering an N.C. A&T University professor found dead in her Greensboro home in July 1988. He maintained his innocence throughout from the first time Greensboro police interviewed him to when a Guilford County jury returned a guilty verdict to his arduous appeals of his life sentence.

Duke Universitys Wrongful Convictions Clinic took up Armstrongs case more than seven years ago and helped spur his release in June 2012 with a vacated conviction.

But it was not until March 18 that Armstrong learned the murder case against him had been dismissed. He no longer faced the possibility of another trial or another wrongful conviction. He finally was free of accusations that he had a hand in the fatal stabbing and strangling of Ernestine Compton, a beloved college professor at N.C. A&T.

Read this article:
McCrory pardons Chapel Hill man wrongly convicted of murder