NORRIDGEWOCK, Maine Police armed with assault rifles descended on a Maine man's home after members of a tree removal crew he'd told to clear off his property reported that he had a gun.

Turns out the "gun" the tree crew had seen on Michael Smith of Norridgewock was just a life-sized tattoo of a handgun on his stomach.

Smith, who works nights, was asleep when the tree crew contracted by a utility to trim branches near power lines, woke him up at about 10 a.m. Tuesday.

He went outside shirtless and yelled at the workers to leave. When he's not wearing a shirt, the tattoo looks like a gun tucked into his waistband.

Smith tells the Morning Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1l37m2f) the tattoo has never been a problem before.

Police didn't charge him.

___

Information from: Morning Sentinel, http://www.onlinesentinel.com/

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Maine tree crew calls police when yelled at by an armed man; 'gun' turns out to be a tattoo

Originally published March 21, 2014 at 6:49 AM | Page modified March 21, 2014 at 7:16 PM

Police armed with assault rifles descended on a Maine man's home after members of a tree removal crew he'd told to clear off his property reported that he had a gun.

Turns out the "gun" the tree crew had seen on Michael Smith of Norridgewock was just a life-sized tattoo of a handgun on his stomach.

Smith, who works nights, was asleep when the tree crew contracted by a utility to trim branches near power lines, woke him up at about 10 a.m. Tuesday.

He went outside shirtless and yelled at the workers to leave. When he's not wearing a shirt, the tattoo looks like a gun tucked into his waistband.

Smith tells the Morning Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1l37m2f ) the tattoo has never been a problem before.

Police didn't charge him.

___

Information from: Morning Sentinel, http://www.onlinesentinel.com/

Read the original here:
Maine man's 'gun' turns out to be a tattoo

Police armed with assault rifles descended on a Maine man's home after members of a tree removal crew he'd told to clear off his property reported that he had a gun.

Turns out the "gun" the tree crew had seen on Michael Smith of Norridgewock was just a life-sized tattoo of a handgun on his stomach.

Smith, who works nights, was asleep when the tree crew contracted by a utility to trim branches near power lines, woke him up at about 10am Tuesday.

He went outside shirtless and yelled at the workers to leave. When he's not wearing a shirt, the tattoo looks like a gun tucked into his waistband.

Smith tells the Morning Sentinel the tattoo has never been a problem before.

Police didn't charge him.

AP

Here is the original post:
Maine man's tattoo mistaken for gun

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Posted: Friday, March 21, 2014 4:00 am

Tree audit suggested for tree removal plan at park By Jennifer Nichols NT Staff Writer swiowanewssource.com |

ATLANTIC Atlantic Park and Recreation Director Roger Herring said officials with Iowa State University are doing tree audits at places around the state, and one suggestion was having one done to help with a tree removal plan at Sunnyside Park. A tree audit is an examination or review of the condition of a tree.

During a previous meeting, Atlantic Park and Recreation Director Roger Herring suggested making a plan for tree replacement in Camblin Addition, including talking to an expert, and having funds set aside to help implement the plan.

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Read the original post:
Tree audit suggested for tree removal plan at park

Police armed with assault rifles descended on a Maine man's home after members of a tree removal crew he'd told to clear off his property reported that he had a gun.

Turns out the "gun" the tree crew had seen on Michael Smith of Norridgewock was just a life-sized tattoo of a handgun on his stomach.

Smith, who works nights, was asleep when the tree crew contracted by a utility to trim branches near power lines, woke him up at about 10 a.m. Tuesday.

- Mike Smith

He went outside shirtless and yelled at the workers to leave. When he's not wearing a shirt, the tattoo looks like a gun tucked into his waistband.

Smith tells the Morning Sentinel the tattoo has never been a problem before.

"I got plans today. I didn't want to get shot," Smith reportedly said.

Police didn't charge him.

Smith reportedly said that he does not regret getting the life-size handgun tattoo and recalled a time he was arrested once on a warrant for an unpaid fine.

"I said, 'Yeah, I got this gun on me all the time. It's tattooed on,'" he told the arresting officer.

See the article here:
Gun tattoo in Maine prompts heavy police response

US police armed with assault rifles descended on a man's home after members of a tree removal crew he'd told to leave his property in Maine reported that he had a gun.

But it turns out the 'gun' the tree crew had seen on Michael Smith was just a life-sized tattoo of a hand gun on his stomach.

Smith, who works nights, was asleep when the tree crew contracted by a utility to trim branches near power lines, woke him up at about 10am on Tuesday.

He went outside shirtless and yelled at the workers to leave. When he's not wearing a shirt, the tattoo looks like a gun tucked into his waistband.

Smith told a local newspaper the tattoo has never been a problem before.

Police didn't charge him.

See the original post:
US man's 'gun' turns out to be a tattoo

ONE of the bonsai creations on exhibit in Tayug, Pangasinan, where bonsai-making is growing big. WILLIE LOMIBAO/CONTRIBUTOR

In the northern provinces of Pangasinan and Ilocos Norte, tree lovers are going small.

In the town of Tayug, Pangasinan and Batac City in Ilocos Norte, bonsai-making is becoming a fad.

More residents, not only in Tayug but neighboring eastern Pangasinan towns, are now into bonsai-making not only because the hobby is relaxing, but also because materials for it are in abundance.

Bonsai refers to an ornamental tree or shrub that is grown in a pot with the use of special methods to control its growth.

At the weeklong bonsai exhibition in Tayug that will end on March 21, among the 60 dwarf trees displayed were lagundi, red balete, yellow doggie, gumamela, santan and bougainvillea.

These plants are beautiful attractions in a house. As a hobby, bonsai-growing is relaxing, said Daryl Amon, a member of the Tayug Bonsai Group.

Ive been doing this in the last six years and I have always enjoyed it, he said.

Amon said to be a successful bonsai grower, one must have an eye for art. This is important, he said, so that a material will be groomed to an aesthetically appealing form.

If you have an eye for art, you would immediately have an idea how a material can be developed into a beautiful bonsai the moment you see it, he said.

Read more from the original source:
Bonsai-making becoming big

One last trick you might want to try: Uncle Toms Rose Tonic (see naturalgardensolutions.com for stockists, which include the RHS at Wisley). Despite its clunky-sounding name, this highly effective foliar feed also helps to control fungal diseases, and can dramatically improve the vigour of your rose bushes generally. Healthy plants fight off diseases far better than those that are struggling.

Help for honeysuckle

Do shrubs just run out of steam? I recently saw a winter-flowering honeysuckle absolutely covered in beautifully scented flowers in Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent. I have a similar seven-year-old shrub in my own garden a few miles away, but despite annual pruning and feeding, mine has never flowered profusely and seems to be going downhill year by year.

Carolyn Lovell, via email

This could be simply a question of variety. Your shrub may be Lonicera fragrantissima, while the one you admired may well have been Lonicera x purpusii Winter Beauty, which is generally regarded as superior. It is altogether more compact than

L. fragrantissima, more floriferous and with what can only be described as much more oomph.

You could, however, have been over-pruning your shrub, or pruning it too late. You have to be quick off the mark with winter-flowering shrubs, cutting them back the moment the flowers have faded so that new growth has time to ripen sufficiently to carry flowers the following year. If you prune late and are a bit brutal into the bargain (to keep it in bounds in the case of L. fragrantissima this is a temptation, since it is a lanky, unattractive thing, in my view), the new growth doesnt have time to ripen.

Do shrubs run out of steam? Yes, they must, eventually. But the majority of garden shrubs, if given optimum growing conditions and pruned sensibly every year, with some old growth removed to encourage the production of new, will truck on happily for years and (as an expression that I use far too often) goes, see us out.

Wet lawn weeds

Not one but two weeds of wet ground have unsurprisingly reared their ugly heads this week. Emailer Terry Smith complains about borders invaded by rampant sheeps sorrel (Rumex acetosella), a small-leafed, russet-flowered sorrel that spreads via vigorous rhizomes. He wonders how to tackle it. I had this one embedded in and around an old Victorian rockery, so I know how he feels. I defeated it (more or less) by resorting to that well-known gardeners exercise, a combination of angry ripping and timely daubing with glyphosate when what survived the angry ripping produced enough leaf to treat. The trouble with rhizomatous weeds like this is that every bit that remains after digging/ripping seems to grow with renewed vigour. Sheeps sorrel is a weed of boggy, acid soil, so improving drainage and upping the alkalinity of soil by liming (with ground chalk or ground limestone) may help.

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Thorny problems: how can I stop rose black spot?

Remodeled Rose Hill Rambler, Presented by Dorae Lande, Realtor/Broker Windermere RE
offered at $399900*** You will love this updated rambler w/new roof in North Rose Hill! Living, Kitchen open up to Dining room, all w/laminate floors. Sp...

By: Dorae Lande

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Remodeled Rose Hill Rambler, Presented by Dorae Lande, Realtor/Broker Windermere RE - Video

JOPLIN, Mo. From Joplins Images in Tile came three larger-than-life murals of John McEnroe, Maria Sharipova and Rafael Nadal.

Paul Whitehill, founder of the local tile production and design company, teamed up with nationally acclaimed sports artist Mike Sullivan of Newport Beach, Calif., to create the first three of many future champions murals honoring greats like McEnroe and the 2013 BNP Paribas Open defending champions, Sharipova and Nadal.

Ive enjoyed working with Mike the past eight years, Whitehill said. Our first project was the Pat Tillman Tribute Mural installed at Sun Devils Stadium at Arizona State University.

Sullivan, whose art has been created for the Super Bowl and the World Series, said it was an honor to be asked to do this major tennis project.

Upon the unveiling on March 1, John McEnroe said: Thank God it was a picture of me when I was young. Nadal was so impressed that he ordered a second mural for his International Tennis Centre in Majorca, Spain.

Larry Ellison, chief executive officer and founder of Oracle and owner of the BNP Paribas Open, along with Raymond Moore, chief executive officer of the tournament, struck a deal with Sullivan and Whitehill to create the 9-foot-by-9-foot murals that were unveiled by the players during the opening week of the tournament.

The 40-year-old tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., draws over 300 of the top players to battle it out for more than $10 million in prize money.

At the March 16 finals, Flavia Pennetta upset Agnieszka Radwanska and Roger Federer fell to Novak Djokovic.

While the 2013 murals will be permanently displayed in the stadiums, the new 2014 winners original canvas portraits will arrive in Joplin where, under Whitehills direction, they will be digitally imaged on tile and then shipped to BNP Paribas for the installation and unveiling during the March 2015 tournament.

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Tennis superstars focus of tile mural