Ran on Sauturday, August 18, 2007
Insect inhabitation
Pests eat more than 300 kinds of plants
By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-Telegram staff
It may seem like an oxymoron, but an insect that has invaded the Chippewa Valley is described as a "beautiful pest" by Tom Kalb, the UW Extension horticulture agent in Eau Caire County.
Beauty aside, Japanese beetles are cataclysmic to many plants.
"They're not choosy; they will eat over 300 kinds of plants," Kalb said.
Some of their favorites are also human favorites, such as rose bushes, crabtrees and linden trees.
What Kalb described as a "perfect storm" for the beetles has led to their inhabitation in the Chippewa Valley this summer. The unseasonably warm winters, and dry, hot summers have fostered the flowering population. Dry conditions, lack of disease-introducing rain and stressed plants from last year's similar situation have made it easy for the bronze and metallic green crawler to invade.
Having a big appetite, the bugs eat everything off a plant except the fibrous veins, Kalb said, leaving it bare and with obvious destruction.
"When you fight Mother Nature, she usually wins," Kalb said.
Ironically, the lawns and areas most manicured and best kept have the highest risk of being infested.
Thriving on wet conditions, the bugs will live and reproduce in the lawns being watered daily in the dry heat.
Golf courses are high-risk areas because they're landscaped and watered daily.
Galen Sabelko, groundskeeper at Princeton Valley Golf and Grill in Eau Claire, said the bugs have made homes on his greens.
"They like to go on the most manicured grass," he said.
Earlier in the season, the adult beetles mated and laid eggs on the fairways, tees, greens and birch trees around the course. At that time, Sabelko said he sprayed the trees with insecticides to rid the greens of the pests' larvae.
A few years ago the course left the bugs alone and nature took its course; the bugs were prey to crows.
"If you don't treat them," he said, "the crows will tear at the ground they're in."
Schmidt can be reached at 830-9203, 800-236-7077 or keighla.schmidt@ecpc.com.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Down on the farm
Ran on Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Down on the farm
MENOMONIE — A 100-year-old barn one mile east of Menomonie fell victim to a storm that blew through the area Monday night.
It was one of at least a dozen barns blown down in Dunn and St. Croix counties. The storm also damaged several homes, knocked out power to thousands — some until Thursday — felled trees and dropped much-needed rain on dry crops.
The Menomonie barn, at the home of Byron Barnhart, E5891 571st Ave., collapsed when north winds hit, said his son, Larry Barnhart, who lives adjacent to his father.
"It was straight wind," Larry Barnhart said. "Everything was laying to the south."
Larry Barnhart said he lost five trees at his home, and his father lost a couple of trees.
When the barn collapsed it sounded like "very large, deep thunder without the lightning strike," Larry Barnhart said. "With the next lightning strike we could see it was down and flat as flat."
The Barnharts' 36-by-88-foot barn was used mostly for storage.
Xcel Energy said 20,000 west-central Wisconsin customers were out of power at the height of the storm.
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, fewer than 9,000 customers remained without power.
The hardest hit areas, according to Xcel, include Menomonie, Durand,Amery, Somerset, Hudson, La Crosse and Sparta.
Some parts of Menomonie and Durand weren't expected to have power restored until late Thursday night, according to Xcel Energy.
Eau Claire Energy Cooperative said more than 250 of its 10,000 customers lost power, starting about 11 p.m. Monday night. All but one customer had power restored by 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Dunn County
Numerous trees were reported downed in the city and throughout the county, according to Dunn County Emergency Management Coordinator Bruce Brantner.
The east side of Menomonie seemed to get the brunt of the storm. Trees were down throughout the city's industrial park and near the Dunn County Judicial Center, near U.S. 12 and Stokke Parkway.
Power was out at the Judicial Center until about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Courts continued, and offices were open with backup generators to light the building and to operate the 911 system.
The Red Cedar Medical Center operated with emergency backup generators from about 10:50 p.m. Monday until 8:15 a.m. Tuesday because of power outages.
Half the campus at UW-Stout in Menomonie didn't have power from 10:30 p.m. Monday until 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Bob Schultz, an account manager at Xcel, said the UW-Stout administration buildings and computer management buildings were among the powerless ones. Some dorms and academic buildings also lost power.
The Dunn County Government Center, Human Services Department and Judicial Center also lost power but had it restored Tuesday.
This is the worst power outage County Attorney Scott Cox can remember in his 15 years with the county.
"It is unusual for the power grid to be down this long, but we are coping," he said. "The backup generator has helped us to keep operating. We were fortunate it could have been worse."
According to Menomonie police reports, power poles were down near the Dunn County Recreation Park and along Interstate 94 between exit 41 and 45.
A semitrailer truck was blown off the interstate, lying on the shoulder Tuesday.
Other roads that had multiple trees down included Cedar Falls Road, Dairyland Road, Stokke Parkway, Badger Road, Stout Road and Wilson Avenue East, Street Department Supervisor Bruce Heath said.
A couple of street light poles went down near U.S. 12 by the Dunn County Health Care Center and Andersen Windows.
"We believe it was high winds," Heath said. "There were no funnel clouds reported."
At the Menomonie airport, the winds flipped over plane, Heath said.
Downtown Menomonie did not have traffic lights Tuesday because of the power outages.
Portable generators were being used Tuesday to power the sanitary lift stations in northern and eastern parts of the city. The lift stations bring sewage to the wastewater treatment plant.
Brantner said no injuries were reported.
"Any time we can make it through damaging weather with no people injured or any deaths, we've been lucky," Brantner said.
St. Croix County
Cleanup began Tuesday after the storm flattened 11 barns and damaged dozens of homes near New Richmond, Emerald and Star Prairie.
No injuries were reported, St. Croix County Sheriff's Department Capt. Mike Winberg said.
"It sounds like lots of straight-line wind damage," he said. "There was one home that looked like it went down. Roads are blocked. Driveways are blocked."
The National Weather Service said initial reports from Monday night's storms indicated a roof blown off an airport hangar and extensive damage to some houses and barns in the area.
Near Emerald, on Highway G, the wind knocked down a large Emerald Dairy free-stall barn, trees and power lines and flattened corn in some fields.
Powers can be reached at 715-235-9018 or pamela.powers@ecpc.com. Staff reporter Keighla Schmidt, The Country Today and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Down on the farm
MENOMONIE — A 100-year-old barn one mile east of Menomonie fell victim to a storm that blew through the area Monday night.
It was one of at least a dozen barns blown down in Dunn and St. Croix counties. The storm also damaged several homes, knocked out power to thousands — some until Thursday — felled trees and dropped much-needed rain on dry crops.
The Menomonie barn, at the home of Byron Barnhart, E5891 571st Ave., collapsed when north winds hit, said his son, Larry Barnhart, who lives adjacent to his father.
"It was straight wind," Larry Barnhart said. "Everything was laying to the south."
Larry Barnhart said he lost five trees at his home, and his father lost a couple of trees.
When the barn collapsed it sounded like "very large, deep thunder without the lightning strike," Larry Barnhart said. "With the next lightning strike we could see it was down and flat as flat."
The Barnharts' 36-by-88-foot barn was used mostly for storage.
Xcel Energy said 20,000 west-central Wisconsin customers were out of power at the height of the storm.
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, fewer than 9,000 customers remained without power.
The hardest hit areas, according to Xcel, include Menomonie, Durand,Amery, Somerset, Hudson, La Crosse and Sparta.
Some parts of Menomonie and Durand weren't expected to have power restored until late Thursday night, according to Xcel Energy.
Eau Claire Energy Cooperative said more than 250 of its 10,000 customers lost power, starting about 11 p.m. Monday night. All but one customer had power restored by 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Dunn County
Numerous trees were reported downed in the city and throughout the county, according to Dunn County Emergency Management Coordinator Bruce Brantner.
The east side of Menomonie seemed to get the brunt of the storm. Trees were down throughout the city's industrial park and near the Dunn County Judicial Center, near U.S. 12 and Stokke Parkway.
Power was out at the Judicial Center until about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Courts continued, and offices were open with backup generators to light the building and to operate the 911 system.
The Red Cedar Medical Center operated with emergency backup generators from about 10:50 p.m. Monday until 8:15 a.m. Tuesday because of power outages.
Half the campus at UW-Stout in Menomonie didn't have power from 10:30 p.m. Monday until 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Bob Schultz, an account manager at Xcel, said the UW-Stout administration buildings and computer management buildings were among the powerless ones. Some dorms and academic buildings also lost power.
The Dunn County Government Center, Human Services Department and Judicial Center also lost power but had it restored Tuesday.
This is the worst power outage County Attorney Scott Cox can remember in his 15 years with the county.
"It is unusual for the power grid to be down this long, but we are coping," he said. "The backup generator has helped us to keep operating. We were fortunate it could have been worse."
According to Menomonie police reports, power poles were down near the Dunn County Recreation Park and along Interstate 94 between exit 41 and 45.
A semitrailer truck was blown off the interstate, lying on the shoulder Tuesday.
Other roads that had multiple trees down included Cedar Falls Road, Dairyland Road, Stokke Parkway, Badger Road, Stout Road and Wilson Avenue East, Street Department Supervisor Bruce Heath said.
A couple of street light poles went down near U.S. 12 by the Dunn County Health Care Center and Andersen Windows.
"We believe it was high winds," Heath said. "There were no funnel clouds reported."
At the Menomonie airport, the winds flipped over plane, Heath said.
Downtown Menomonie did not have traffic lights Tuesday because of the power outages.
Portable generators were being used Tuesday to power the sanitary lift stations in northern and eastern parts of the city. The lift stations bring sewage to the wastewater treatment plant.
Brantner said no injuries were reported.
"Any time we can make it through damaging weather with no people injured or any deaths, we've been lucky," Brantner said.
St. Croix County
Cleanup began Tuesday after the storm flattened 11 barns and damaged dozens of homes near New Richmond, Emerald and Star Prairie.
No injuries were reported, St. Croix County Sheriff's Department Capt. Mike Winberg said.
"It sounds like lots of straight-line wind damage," he said. "There was one home that looked like it went down. Roads are blocked. Driveways are blocked."
The National Weather Service said initial reports from Monday night's storms indicated a roof blown off an airport hangar and extensive damage to some houses and barns in the area.
Near Emerald, on Highway G, the wind knocked down a large Emerald Dairy free-stall barn, trees and power lines and flattened corn in some fields.
Powers can be reached at 715-235-9018 or pamela.powers@ecpc.com. Staff reporter Keighla Schmidt, The Country Today and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
An Oasis no longer
Ran on Tuesday, August 14, 2007
An Oasis no longer
Fire destroys Osseo bar, restaurant
By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-Telegram staff
OSSEO - For the past six years, Dave Oliver and Karen Olson have provided a galley for Marines and other veterans at their downtown Osseo business.
Those vets will have to find another place to eat after Oliver's Oasis Saloon and Restaurant on Harmony Street was destroyed by fire early Monday morning.
Oliver and his son James Oliver are both Marine veterans, and the tavern was decorated with Marine memorabilia.
Dave Oliver said he was thankful firefighters from Osseo and several other departments were able to salvage many items, including photos, buffalo and bull skulls, and five new rifles.
"They saved everything of value," Oliver said. "We got a lot of stuff in there. It was almost like a house.
"The Fire Department did an excellent job. They were here quickly in the middle of the night. They were polite, professional and managed to save an adjoining attached building."
A realty office attached to the saloon had minimal damage.
Oliver hasn't decided if he will rebuild the eatery. He will wait until he hears a verdict from an insurance agent. "I don't know what the whole thing entails," he said.
The Osseo Rural Fire Department and other departments worked from about 1 to 5 a.m. putting out the fire. Assisting Osseo were firefighters from Whitehall, Eleva, Strum, Augusta and the Township Fire Department.
No one was hurt in the fire.
Osseo Fire Chief John Haugen said the old construction of the building made extinguishing the fire difficult.
The fire apparently started in the basement of the building, where Oliver kept dry storage and electrical equipment, Haugen said. The cause of the fire was not known.
Janet Morris of Whitehall often ate at the restaurant.
"They had really good food," she said. "They always had daily specials and fish on Fridays."
An Oasis no longer
Fire destroys Osseo bar, restaurant
By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-Telegram staff
OSSEO - For the past six years, Dave Oliver and Karen Olson have provided a galley for Marines and other veterans at their downtown Osseo business.
Those vets will have to find another place to eat after Oliver's Oasis Saloon and Restaurant on Harmony Street was destroyed by fire early Monday morning.
Oliver and his son James Oliver are both Marine veterans, and the tavern was decorated with Marine memorabilia.
Dave Oliver said he was thankful firefighters from Osseo and several other departments were able to salvage many items, including photos, buffalo and bull skulls, and five new rifles.
"They saved everything of value," Oliver said. "We got a lot of stuff in there. It was almost like a house.
"The Fire Department did an excellent job. They were here quickly in the middle of the night. They were polite, professional and managed to save an adjoining attached building."
A realty office attached to the saloon had minimal damage.
Oliver hasn't decided if he will rebuild the eatery. He will wait until he hears a verdict from an insurance agent. "I don't know what the whole thing entails," he said.
The Osseo Rural Fire Department and other departments worked from about 1 to 5 a.m. putting out the fire. Assisting Osseo were firefighters from Whitehall, Eleva, Strum, Augusta and the Township Fire Department.
No one was hurt in the fire.
Osseo Fire Chief John Haugen said the old construction of the building made extinguishing the fire difficult.
The fire apparently started in the basement of the building, where Oliver kept dry storage and electrical equipment, Haugen said. The cause of the fire was not known.
Janet Morris of Whitehall often ate at the restaurant.
"They had really good food," she said. "They always had daily specials and fish on Fridays."
Monday, August 13, 2007
Growing like weeds
Ran on Monday, August 13, 2007
Growing like weeds
Workers cut 164 tons of unwanted plants out of Half Moon Lake
By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-telegram Staff
In 24 days of weed-cutting this year, city workers harvested 164 tons of weeds, up from last year's 98 tons, said Phil Johnson, the city's parks superintendent.
But it still wasn't enough to stay ahead of the plants that make the lake green during summer.
City officials like to begin cutting weeds when the DNR identifies there are 13 nodes on plants so regrowth is less likely, Johnson said.
"We're trying to cut in a timely manner to reduce the size of the weed beds around the lake," he said.
City and DNR officials said weather was the main factor in the failure of cutting this year.
"The lakes got warm very early," said Buzz Sorge, a DNR lake management planner. "The ice came off very early."
The weeds, an invasive exotic plant called curly-leafed pondweed, grew faster than usual.
Besides clogging the lake in early summer, the curly-leafed pondweed causes algae blooms to grow when it dies and releases nutrients. The nutrients make the algae grow.
The curly-leaf pondweed dies in late June and then releases reproducing turions that grow about a foot before the cold weather forms ice. Then, while the native plants remain dormant, curly-leaf grows a few more feet while it's still cold. In the spring it starts growing before native plants and takes over the shallow lake.
Officials said they could consider 16-hour cutting days instead of eight hours or buying another weed harvester for about $110,000, but the cost likely is prohibitive.
"We just can't afford to do that," Johnson said.
Growing like weeds
Workers cut 164 tons of unwanted plants out of Half Moon Lake
By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-telegram Staff
In 24 days of weed-cutting this year, city workers harvested 164 tons of weeds, up from last year's 98 tons, said Phil Johnson, the city's parks superintendent.
But it still wasn't enough to stay ahead of the plants that make the lake green during summer.
City officials like to begin cutting weeds when the DNR identifies there are 13 nodes on plants so regrowth is less likely, Johnson said.
"We're trying to cut in a timely manner to reduce the size of the weed beds around the lake," he said.
City and DNR officials said weather was the main factor in the failure of cutting this year.
"The lakes got warm very early," said Buzz Sorge, a DNR lake management planner. "The ice came off very early."
The weeds, an invasive exotic plant called curly-leafed pondweed, grew faster than usual.
Besides clogging the lake in early summer, the curly-leafed pondweed causes algae blooms to grow when it dies and releases nutrients. The nutrients make the algae grow.
The curly-leaf pondweed dies in late June and then releases reproducing turions that grow about a foot before the cold weather forms ice. Then, while the native plants remain dormant, curly-leaf grows a few more feet while it's still cold. In the spring it starts growing before native plants and takes over the shallow lake.
Officials said they could consider 16-hour cutting days instead of eight hours or buying another weed harvester for about $110,000, but the cost likely is prohibitive.
"We just can't afford to do that," Johnson said.
Welcoming home
Sunday,August 12, 2007
Welcoming home
Foreign exchange hosts have 'family all over the world'
By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-telegran Staff
The Amy and Mitchell Myers family of Rice Lake is welcoming its 10th "child" into its home.
Cedric Retzmann, 17, arrived in Wisconsin as a foreign exchange student late Wednesday night from Bamberg, Germany.
He joins the Myers' two children in the U.S. and former exchange students from Belgium, Ghana, Norway, Iceland and Indonesia as part of the extended family.
"We now have family all over the world, and it's amazing knowing that we have people who care about us and love us in all these different places," Amy Myers said. "It makes the world that much smaller."
Having taken in students since 2000, Amy Myers said she feels hosting foreign students is more than providing a place for someone to sleep. It's something the family does to foster a learning environment and improve the world.
"It's about creating a more tolerant and peaceful world," she said. "It's about being a world citizen, not just a citizen of a town."
The family hosts students through American Field Service Intercultural Programs. Myers also volunteers for AFS as a recruit for host families. AFS has students traveling around the world in 50 different countries. This year, the program is bringing 45 students to northwest Wisconsin for a yearlong stay.
Scott Hume, regional director of AFS, also stressed the idea of shrinking the world.
"It helps build bridges between different cultures," he said. "Often, these people would never have met or seen things they get to now."
Eau Claire schools will not host foreign exchange students this year due to budget cuts.
"I think that is so sad," Myers said. "I understand the problem with growing class sizes, but it's really sad that that is a program they're forced to eliminate."
Rice Lake High School will have eight exchange students this year.
"The most important thing is I find friends," Retzman, a senior, said. "Real friends."
Myers hopes to help Retzmann make friends by getting him involved with "the most important part of their stay": extra curricular activities.
"Getting to know people and other kids is so important," she said. "Kids who don't get involved have challenges and struggles."
Retzmann, who has studied English for five years, said he is thinking of joining the soccer team to get to know some faces before his classes start in September. He said he settled on soccer because he doesn't think he's built for football.
"I am tall and thin, not the American football type," he said.
He also hopes to build a strong relationship with his host family.
"I want everything to go well with them," he said. "To not have a lot of fights, but do a lot with them and also have some free time to do things on my own."
Myers also hopes things will go smoothly, and concentrates on portraying what life is like in an American family.
"It's not about seeing the U.S.," Myers said. "But being part of a family and seeing how family life is like in the U.S."
As one of four chosen German foreign exchange students to take part in a documentary project based in Berlin, the hopeful film-maker, Retzmann, will document his yearlong stay with a video camera and laptop.
"What I film will be given and used for part of a 90-minute long documentary on young students' study abroad experience," he said.
He hopes this will launch him into the film industry as a producer or editor, he said.
The Myers family also has been on the other end of the exchange.
The Myers' daughter, Lydia Bolder, 22, was a foreign exchange student in 2002 in Saudi Arabia when she was 17.
Welcoming home
Foreign exchange hosts have 'family all over the world'
By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-telegran Staff
The Amy and Mitchell Myers family of Rice Lake is welcoming its 10th "child" into its home.
Cedric Retzmann, 17, arrived in Wisconsin as a foreign exchange student late Wednesday night from Bamberg, Germany.
He joins the Myers' two children in the U.S. and former exchange students from Belgium, Ghana, Norway, Iceland and Indonesia as part of the extended family.
"We now have family all over the world, and it's amazing knowing that we have people who care about us and love us in all these different places," Amy Myers said. "It makes the world that much smaller."
Having taken in students since 2000, Amy Myers said she feels hosting foreign students is more than providing a place for someone to sleep. It's something the family does to foster a learning environment and improve the world.
"It's about creating a more tolerant and peaceful world," she said. "It's about being a world citizen, not just a citizen of a town."
The family hosts students through American Field Service Intercultural Programs. Myers also volunteers for AFS as a recruit for host families. AFS has students traveling around the world in 50 different countries. This year, the program is bringing 45 students to northwest Wisconsin for a yearlong stay.
Scott Hume, regional director of AFS, also stressed the idea of shrinking the world.
"It helps build bridges between different cultures," he said. "Often, these people would never have met or seen things they get to now."
Eau Claire schools will not host foreign exchange students this year due to budget cuts.
"I think that is so sad," Myers said. "I understand the problem with growing class sizes, but it's really sad that that is a program they're forced to eliminate."
Rice Lake High School will have eight exchange students this year.
"The most important thing is I find friends," Retzman, a senior, said. "Real friends."
Myers hopes to help Retzmann make friends by getting him involved with "the most important part of their stay": extra curricular activities.
"Getting to know people and other kids is so important," she said. "Kids who don't get involved have challenges and struggles."
Retzmann, who has studied English for five years, said he is thinking of joining the soccer team to get to know some faces before his classes start in September. He said he settled on soccer because he doesn't think he's built for football.
"I am tall and thin, not the American football type," he said.
He also hopes to build a strong relationship with his host family.
"I want everything to go well with them," he said. "To not have a lot of fights, but do a lot with them and also have some free time to do things on my own."
Myers also hopes things will go smoothly, and concentrates on portraying what life is like in an American family.
"It's not about seeing the U.S.," Myers said. "But being part of a family and seeing how family life is like in the U.S."
As one of four chosen German foreign exchange students to take part in a documentary project based in Berlin, the hopeful film-maker, Retzmann, will document his yearlong stay with a video camera and laptop.
"What I film will be given and used for part of a 90-minute long documentary on young students' study abroad experience," he said.
He hopes this will launch him into the film industry as a producer or editor, he said.
The Myers family also has been on the other end of the exchange.
The Myers' daughter, Lydia Bolder, 22, was a foreign exchange student in 2002 in Saudi Arabia when she was 17.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)