HANNIBAL, Mo. (WGEM) - Utility officials in Hannibal and Ralls County say residents in and around Hannibal still need to conserve water after the basement in the treatment plant flooded Sunday afternoon.

BPW customers and Public Water Supply District One of Ralls County residents are under the conservation plan. Monday afternoon, PWSD and Board of Public Works issued a boil order for all customers in the service territories through Wednesday at 1 p.m.

Places like the Hannibal Nutrition Center, which serves meals to dozens of people a day, had to switch gears fast.

"So anything that we cooked today, we used boiled water on and then for our dinner tonight we're making sure that we even boiled our coffee and tea to make sure we took care of that matter," Executive Director Debbie Catlett said. Ice was another concern for Catlett. So much so, workers went to a gas station to get enough for the day. Resident Tony Weldy said even he didn't fully understand how much water he used until Monday.

"I do realize it, but I don't realize what all you need clean water for, I guess sometimes, so washing dishes in the dishwasher even or even taking a bath or shower," Weldy said. BPW Director of Operations Heath Hall still isn't sure how this happened, but the department is already trying to figure out ways to make sure they don't find themselves in this situation again.

"We have several ideas in the works on how to prevent this from happening again, from putting some extra alarms in, to raising the motors up even higher," Hall said. "There are several things in the works, so we're going to try. Many of them very cheap."

Catlett said it's a wakeup call for anyone who takes their drinking water for granted.

"It's terrifying to think about it," Catlett said. "We all count on it, we're all so used to it. We're not ready for it really so we're all just going to have to do our best."

Crews worked Sunday night and Monday cleaning debris and monitoring water levels. General Manager Robert Stevenson says the system has been using clean water out of storage tanks. The tanks hold about 6,000,000 gallons of water and 1,000,000 gallons was lost during the incident. The city uses approximately 3,500,000 gallons of water per day.

Affected customers are asked to conserve water in the following ways:

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Residents asked to conserve, boil water after water plant floods

Police Chief Tim Storbeck will be guest speaker at the July 15 meeting of the West Milford Lakes Committee.

The committee has been formulating questions to pre-sent to Storbeck about law enforcement topics of interest to people in the lake communities. The general public is welcomed by the committee to attend all the committees meetings.

One of the subjects the lakes committee wants information from the police chief about is a problem of unlicensed quads and dirt bikes being operated in the various communities. The committee members at their June 17 meeting said this is a major problem in some places.

The lake representatives said they also want to know about how to deal with trespassers in the private communities; if there are police patrols on privately-owned lake community streets and roads; if the police department provides officers for lake community events and if so what is the procedure. The committee said they also want to know about a pooper scooper ordinance and what the procedure regarding it is.

Lake residents with additional questions for Storbeck should pass them on to their lakes committee representative.

Seeing that property owners comply with the existing township ordinance requiring pumping of individual septic systems every 3 years has been coming up during the general discussions at most recent committee meetings.

Health Director Michael Fitzpatrick has been checking with the Spatial Diagnostic System to see if data reports can be generated. The committee is waiting for Fitzpatricks answer to this question.

Volunteers will be needed to input data. The committee is also waiting to hear from Fitzpatrick if high school students can be asked to do some of this work. Any adult volunteers with computer skills to enter the data should let the Health Department know or attend a Lakes Committee meeting, usually on the third Monday of each month.

The pertinent information to be gathered for listing will include who pumped, who did not, note of pumping that showed problems and pumping that did not show problems.

Result will be that if a property has not met the pumping requirements a notice will be sent by the Health Department telling the property owner to comply, Fitzpatrick told the committee at the June 3 meeting. He said notices would be sent out if there is no record of pumping. After a second notice is sent to property owners and there is still no response procedures for fines will be applied, the health director said.

Continue reading here:
Police chief to speak at Lakes Committee meeting in West Milford

Emerald ash borer, the invasive beetle that is killing ash trees in the U.S. at an alarming rate, has been detected in North Andover, Mass., just 3 miles from the New Hampshire border, and 30 miles from Portsmouth.

As a result, Essex County, Mass., has placed a quarantine on the transportation of firewood and untreated lumber. EAB was detected in Concord in 2013 and a similar quarantine is in effect for Merrimack County. If we want to save our ash trees, it's time to start treating them on the Seacoast.

The discovery of EAB in North Andover was lucky, and it shows how we can all help keep an eye out for the spread of this pest. Matthew Mountzuris noticed a stand of trees with dead canopies and increased woodpecker activity and called the Department of Conservation and Recreation in Massachusetts. Turns out they were all white ash, and all infected.

Here's what you can do:

If you find signs of infestation, you can submit a report at the N.H. Bugs site, http://www.nhbugs.org. If you see trees this spring that have dead or dying canopies, that's a great indication of a potential problem.

The Emerald ash borer has already killed millions of trees, and the spread has continued every year since it was first discovered in Michigan in 2002. Let's all make it a priority to protect our region against the spread of the EAB. In turn, we'll be protecting our forests, our Seacoast, our campsites, our fishing holes and our neighborhoods.

Dan Mello is a certified arborist and owner of Seacoast Tree Care LLC. His team provides expert prevention and maintenance of all tree and shrub species for homeowners, commercial clients, landscape architects and landscaping professionals. He can be reached by calling 431-0101 or visiting

http://www.seacoasttreecare.com.

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Emerald ash borer threatens Seacoast

My last column elicited several requests for more detailed information on controlling quackgrass. Following is the question from one reader and response. If you have tree, shrub or lawn questions, you may e-mail me at the address at the end of the column. I will respond directly and cover the more common questions in my column.

Dear Doug,

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The rest is here:
Field notes: There's no ducking intensive treatment for quackgrass

hide captionAustralian celebrity chef and author Kylie Kwong (left) teaches a cooking workshop at Yaama Dhiyaan, a cooking and hospitality school for at-risk aborginal youth.

Australian celebrity chef and author Kylie Kwong (left) teaches a cooking workshop at Yaama Dhiyaan, a cooking and hospitality school for at-risk aborginal youth.

If you teach an aboriginal man (or woman) to make a cappuccino, can you feed his career for a lifetime?

That's the hope at Yaama Dhiyaan, a cooking and hospitality school for at-risk indigenous young people in Australia.

Students there are learning the skills to be cooks, restaurant and hotel workers, and caterers. The school is also helping to reconnect them to their culture, disrupted when many of their grandparents were kidnapped off the land, forced into missionary schools and denied the right to vote until the 1960s.

Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo is an aboriginal elder who heads the school. She is from the Gamillera tribe and grew up on a reservation about 500 miles from Sydney in New South Wales.

hide captionAunty Beryl Van-Oploo heads Yaama Dhiyaan, the first cooking and hospitality training college for at-risk indigenous young people in Australia.

Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo heads Yaama Dhiyaan, the first cooking and hospitality training college for at-risk indigenous young people in Australia.

"They asked me to name the school," says Aunty Beryl, "so I thought I might as well say 'hello' in my own Yuwaalaraay language. Yaama means 'hello' and Dhiyaan means 'family.' So it's 'Hello family and friends' when you come here."

Among the skills the students learn at Yaama Dhiyaan is how to make cappuccinos and other specialty coffee drinks.

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In Yabbies And Cappuccino, A Culinary Lifeline For Aboriginal Youth

A man has been charged with assaulting a woman with a urine-soaked cloth in Bethel Township.

Brian M. Ulrich, 36, Lebanon, was charged with simple assault and harassment, accused of rubbing a urine-soaked cloth on the face of a woman and pinning her against a door at 679 Greble Road on Saturday, state police at Lickdale said. The police report did not indicate the time of the incident.

RECKLESS ENDANGERING >> Richard Francis Lachance, 27, Union Township, was charged after a child in his care was found walking alone in traffic on Saturday afternoon, state police at Lickdale said.

Lachance is accused of failing to provide adequate care for a 2-year-old boy found walking on the shoulder of Fisher Avenue in heavy traffic at 3:21 p.m. Sunday, police said. Lebanon County Children and Youth assisted police in placing the child in a safe home pending investigation of the incident.

CRASH >> Parth C. Modi, 18, Carlisle, was charged with careless driving after his car, headed east in the right lane of I-78 near mile marker 1.6, drifted into the left lane and onto the berm, then abruptly moved across both lanes, leaving the roadway and striking an embankment and a small shrub at 6:09 p.m. Sunday, state police at Lickdale said. The car then continued and rolled into its driver's side and came to rest against a tree.

MODI AND A PASSENGER, HIMA C. MODI, 47, CARLISLE, WERE TAKEN BY FIRST AID AND SAFETY PATROL TO THE HERSHEY MEDICAL CENTER, WHERE THEY WERE RELEASED AFTER TREATMENT, A HOSPITAL SPOKESWOMAN SAID.

CHETANKUMAR R. MODI, 50, CARLISLE, SUFFERED A MINOR INJURY BUT WAS NOT TRANSPORTED, POLICE SAID.

JONESTOWN'S PERSEVERANCE AND LICKDALE FIRE COMPANIES AND FIRST AID AND SAFETY PATROL AND FORT INDIANTOWN GAP AMBULANCES ASSISTED POLICE.

CRASH >> Jonestown's Perseverance and Lickdale fire companies and First Aid and Safety Patrol responded to 2 I-78 east for a crash with reported injuries at 2:37 a.m. Monday. No police report was available.

SEWER LEAK >> City fire crews responded to 825 Crowell St. at 2:21 p.m. Monday.

Continue reading here:
Police blotter, 5/26: Police: Man rubbed urine-soaked cloth on woman's face in Bethel Township

Photo by Jonathan Natiuk

Shredded paper isnt the best for composting because it decays too quickly to be much help.

Dear Neil: I have access to a lot of shredded paper. We normally send it to recycling, but Ive wondered if I could use it in the compost?

A: I send ours to recycling. It is organic matter, so, yes it could be put into the compost. However, normal life byproducts like shredded tree leaves, grass clippings, animal manure, finely chipped wood and others are better things to put into the compost. If you do use the paper, most authorities will suggest that you not use pages with colored ink, partly because of odor and partly because the vegetable dyes may attract insects you wouldnt normally have. Paper breaks down very quickly, but youll need to wait on the other types of organic matter to decay before you can use the compost.

Dear Neil: Can I root cuttings of my boxwood plants in water?

A: Yes, probably so, but thats not the best way. Roots that develop in water are accustomed to having limited oxygen, and when theyre transplanted into potting soil, they often wilt away. Its better to use a mix of equal amounts of sphagnum peat moss and horticultural perlite. Water it thoroughly before you start sticking the fresh cuttings. The cuttings should be 3 to 4 inches long. Strip off the bottom leaves, and dust the stems in rooting hormone powder. Use a small stick to make each insertion hole so you dont wipe off the powder. Water thoroughly, then cover lightly with a sheet of dry cleaners plastic (not airtight). Put in a bright spot, but out of direct late morning and afternoon sun. For what its worth, if there is a lot of brand new, succulent growth on the tips of the twigs, pinch it off. It will draw water out of the cuttings before they have time to form roots.

Dear Neil: Our son lives near Dallas, and he says his pomegranate hasnt sent out any new leaves this year. What would have caused that? Was this winter that bad?

A: It was for some plants in some places. Many specimens of several varieties of crape myrtles, including three popular ones (Natchez, Muskogee and Tuscarora) died back to the ground. Theyll have to be retrained, starting with trimming off all the dead stems. Pomegranates would need the same treatment. They do often come back after freeze injury, as do figs and oleanders. Gardenias will not. It wasnt so much how cold it got this past winter, but more the fact that the first freeze in early December was significant, and for many parts of Texas, it was accompanied by ice. Adding to it, the last freeze/frost that happened just a few weeks ago. It was not a good winter to be a tender plant in Texas. Your son needs to see if there are any new shoots coming up from the ground. If so, he needs to nurture those back into being a shrub.

Dear Neil: If I apply sphagnum peat moss for Take All Root Rot, how do I keep from mowing it up right away? I do bag my clippings. Also, how often will I need to repeat the treatment?

A: First, be certain that your lawn actually does have Take All Root Rot. It causes the grass to be lethargic and slow to green up in the spring. It will show up in sweeps and patches, not uniformly over the entire lawn. The peat moss makes an acidic layer on top of the soil, and that discourages development of the fungus. You would need to repeat the treatment no more often than each spring, and sometimes you can go two or three years and never see the disease. Perhaps you should begin by trying a small bale of peat over an affected area. Put a 1-inch layer down and water it in. If TARR is involved, you should see a big improvement in the look of the grass within two weeks. At that point, you could treat all of the affected area. The peat is normally not sucked up by the mower once it has been watered onto the soil surface.

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Shredded paper not best for composting because it decays too quickly

Question: Now that my amaryllis are about done for the season, when do I cut them back? What is the best way to keep them healthy?

Answer: You are growing minimal-care plants with lots of options. First, many amaryllis produce seed pods at the top of their flower heads. You can leave them to develop and sow the seeds or remove them. Whether they are removed now or when the seeds mature, the thick stalks are cut close to the plant.

Some gardeners like to remove floppy, out-of-bounds leaves and those that have declined during the winter and early spring months at this time. Now would also be a good time to divide the bulb clusters if needed. Then keep the plants growing with feedings in May and during mid-August using a slow-release fertilizer. Keep the plantings moist until October, when they can begin to dry some to encourage future blooms.

Q: My squash are finally producing fruits and now the worms are eating them. What should I do?

A: You deserve a share of the crop too, so it is time to take action. Regretfully, you cannot hand-pick all the worms, the immature stages of moths, from the plantings but some natural controls can help. Try the insecticide Thuricide or spinosad used by organic growers and follow label instructions. The latter product can be found at local independent garden centers under several brand names. Both products need a few days to provide effective control and most likely repeat applications.

Q: We have a sandy hill in our backyard that needs something besides grass. What would make a good ground cover?

A: Perhaps one of the most rapid-growing, site-tolerant ground covers is the Asiatic jasmine. It grows in sun or shade, has an extensive root system and once established is drought tolerant. It grows about 10 to 12 inches tall but does need to be edged along walkways and clipped away from other plantings. Other good choices are perennial peanut and mimosa or sensitive plant. The latter is a Florida native. Both grow best in full sun and tolerate varying soil conditions.

Q: We have quite a large rubber plant in a container. Can it be planted in the ground?

A: The real question should be, how cold does it get in your area? Shrub and tree forms of the genus Ficus including the weeping, fiddle-leaf and similar large-leaf figs are not very cold hardy. Yes, they can grow in our local soils and many are planted. They survive the mild winters and warm sites but are often damaged by severe cold. Many then grow back from lower trunks or buds near the ground. If you do plant a rubber plant, give it room to grow as many form large shrubs or trees.

Q: Those large pods forming on the tabebuia trees make a mess when they shed seeds and fall to the ground. Can the pods be removed as they form after flowering?

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Options abound for amaryllis care

Tree & Shrub Programs

Our tree & shrub programs protect your landscape from a wide variety of problems. Each treatment works like diet and exercise; the more consistent you are the healthier your plants become. Just a few applications per year can dramatically improve the health and beauty of your landscape. We have several programs to choose from. Our 5-visit service is our most popular program and provides the most complete coverage.

If you do nothing else for your trees and shrubs, you should fertilize them! Stewart's Deep Root treatments deliver a custom blend of iron-rich fertilizer directly to the root zone of your plants. For more serious cases of iron chlorosis we will bypass the root system completely and inject nutrients directly into the trunk. With Stewart's, well bring the tools and the expertise to give your trees and shrubs exactly what they need.

Destructive insects like aphids, borers, and beetles will feed on your landscape like an all you can eat buffet. You don't need to keep your garage stocked full of chemicals to ght them off; you just need to give us a call. Our experts will quickly identify these problems and solve them safely and effectively so that you won't have to.

Without expert help, tree and shrub care can be overwhelming. That's why we have certied arborists on staff. We know the plants, we understand the climate, and we track the pest activity. Sign up for service and we will perform a thorough yard analysis, make recommendations and customize your program to suit your landscape. Your treatments will arrive on schedule without fail and your plants will get the care they need.

Link:
Tree & Shrub | Stewarts | Utah Lawn Care and Pest Control

Spring Horticultural Oil Treatment:An Ornamental Tree and Shrub treatment designed to control damaging insects such as scales, mites and aphids while in the egg stage. This material controls these pests by smothering the eggs and depriving them of oxygen. Horticultural Oils control pest by mechanical means not poisons and are considered very safe and environmentally friendly.

Leaf Eating Insect Control:An Ornamental Tree and Shrub treatment designed to control damaging insects that chew on the leaves of desideous trees and shrubs such as canker worms, gypsy moth caterpillars, and japanese beetles. These treatments are for trees and shrubs no higher than fifteen feet.

Arborvitae/Holly Leaf Miner: Leaf Miners are insects that damages these plants from the inside of leaf tissue. We use a systemic material that can penetrate the leaf structure and control these pest.

Hemlock Wooley Adelgid: This scale like insect targets Hemlocks slowly destroying the tree by sucking the juice out of the needles. We use materials that can smother these insects without harmful pesticides.

Plant Wash Treatments: A material made up from Vegatable Oil Soap that will rid your Ornamental Trees and Shrubs of harmful toxins. This is an organic treatment that is completly safe for humans and pets.

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Tree and Shrub Care - Lawn Pro/Green Leaf