A 26-year-old mentally disabled man who was was arrested on the White House lawn after jumping a fence was trying to get help from the president, his mother said Monday.

Jeffrey Grossman of Rensselaer, New York, was arrested Thursday by U.S. Secret Service agents after he scaled a White House fence. He was carrying a Pokemon doll and wearing a Pokemon-themed shirt at the time.

That's his best friend, his mother, Cathy Grossman, said of the doll during a Monday phone interview with The Albany Times-Union.

I was informed that, when he was apprehended, he told security that he had come to talk with the president about his health care program, she told The Record of Troy, New York.

She said her son was suffering from severe mental illness that didnt surface until Jeffrey Grossman was in college. He was having trouble getting help for the illness and wanted to know why.

After graduating from high school, her son enrolled at The College of Saint Rose and majored in business. Around the time of his junior year Grossman began showing signs of mental illness. A judge ordered that he be treated and placed on medication.

That got his life back on track and he was able to graduate from college. But he quit taking his medication, thinking he no longer needed it because it was making him feel better, Cathy Grossman, who is a pharmacist, explained.

Since graduation he has had some run-ins with the law, according to Rensselaer Police Sgt. Matthew McCoy.

Let's just say we had some odd occurrences here similar to what you saw in Washington, McCoy said.

Our police had notified the FBI. He's been saying things about the White House, Rensselaer Mayor Dan Dwyersaid.

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Man Arrested On White House Lawn Was Trying To Speak To President About Health Care

Lori DeMouth,a member of the Polk County Oath Keepers, waves flags during a demonstration in Lake Hamilton on Monday.

LAKE HAMILTON | With American flags in tow, about 10 members of the Polk County Oath Keepers planted themselves in camping chairs and pickup beds outside Town Hall on Monday morning.

They said they were there to protect the constitutional right of the American people and the integrity of the American flag the flag Public Works employee J.D. Johnson was found lying on in the town's maintenance barn as he worked on a lawn mower in late July.

Mayor Marlene Wagner suspended Johnson for two weeks without pay over the incident.

"We're not sure that's enough," Oath Keeper member John Ash said. He and his fellow Oath Keepers said they want to see Johnson fired.

They also would like a public apology.

At a special Town Council meeting Sept. 10, when Johnson faced a 120-day performance evaluation mandated after the mayor attempted to demote him in April, Johnson said he was sorry for using the flag as a dropcloth. He said if he could do it over, he would not have used the flag that way.

In a decision unrelated to Johnson's suspension, which ends Sept. 18, the council voted 3-2 to demote him from his supervisory position but keep his pay at the same rate of $21 per hour.

The demotion, however, did not put the flag issue to bed.

At the meeting, Council Chairman Ralph Harris argued Johnson's suspension was a violation of his constitutional right to free speech.

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Polk County Oath Keepers Protest Treatment of Flag by Lake Hamilton Employee

September is National Recovery Month, and to celebrate, everyone is invited to the 13th Annual Prevention and Recovery rally and barbecue on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Allan Witt Park in Fairfield.

In addition, the Solano Recovery Project is planning a luminary memorial on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Solano county Event Center Lawn on Texas Street across from the Government Center.

The Luminary project is aimed at citizens of Solano County to come remember loved ones lost to the disease of addiction/alcoholism and to share an evening of hope, healing, and strength. The unifying message is "Come for support, Leave with hope, and Get involved." The speakers will cover loss, their path to healing, and show they have used tragic loss to transform their own life and make a positive difference in the community. Each speaker will end with a call to action, to get involved and to make a difference.

Visitors to Saturday's rally and barbecue are encouraged to bring the whole family for an afternoon of free food, music, prizes and guest speakers.

Sponsored locally by the Solano County Recovery and Prevention Alliance, the rally and barbecue are aimed to help further educate communities about the pathways to recovery and to support people in recovery.

People throughout Solano County are in various stages of recovery from mental and/or substance use disorders, noted organizers. They are contributing members to local business, connecting with their families, and giving back to the community.

"Too many people are still unaware that treatment works, and that these conditions can be treated," Andrew Williamson, substance abuse administrator with Solano County Health and Social Services, said in a press release. "Just as we can treat other chronic, recurring health disorders, we need to work together to make recovery the expectation."

Under the Affordable Care Act, the Medi-Cal healthcare expansion has extended insurance to nearly everyone, regardless of income, so that outpatient treatment is available to everyone who wants to participate. Treatment works, health officials said, and individuals who embrace recovery achieve improved mental and physical health, as well as stronger relationships and a sense of self-worth.

In 2012, more than 1.7 million people nationwide aged 12 and older received treatment for an illicit drug and alcohol use from a specialty facility. Thanks to the treatment they received, these individuals have achieved healthy lifestyles, both physically and emotionally, and contribute in positive ways to their communities, officials noted.

"Substance use disorders do not discriminate," Williamson said. "They affect people of all ethnicities, ages, genders, geographic regions, and socioeconomic levels."

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Recovery month events planned

Fall is the ideal time for lawn work. Here are somequestions about applying herbicides with answers from horticulturists at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

Q: When is the best time to apply a broadleaf herbicide to the lawn?

Fall (late September to early November) is the best time to apply broadleaf herbicides in Iowa and Illinois. In fall, perennial broadleaf weeds are transporting food (carbohydrates) from their foliage to their roots in preparation for winter.

Broadleaf herbicides applied in fall will be absorbed by the broadleaf weeds foliage and transported to the roots along with the carbohydrates, resulting in the destruction of the broadleaf weeds. Spring applications are generally less effective than fall applications.

Q: Which herbicides are effective in controlling broadleaf weeds?

A: Effective broadleaf herbicides include 2,4-D, MCPP, dicamba, triclopyr and others. The most effective broadleaf herbicide products contain a mixture of two or three herbicides, as no single compound controls all broadleaf weeds.

Q: What is the proper way to apply broadleaf herbicides to the lawn?

A: Broadleaf herbicides can be applied as liquids or granules. Before applying any herbicide, carefully read and follow label directions.

When applying liquid formulations, apply just enough material to wet the leaf surfaces. If only a few areas in the lawn have broadleaf weed problems, spot treat these areas rather than spraying the entire lawn.

Liquid formulations have the potential to drift. Spray drift problems can be avoided by following simple precautions. Dont spray when winds exceed 5 mph. Also, dont spray when temperatures are forecast to exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit within 24 hours of the application.

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Fall is good time for lawn weed control

A great-grandad celebrating his 90th birthday has praised his life-saving kidney dialysis treatment - which he has had for the last 11 years.

Harry Wilson attends treatment at the Stockton dialysis centre three times a week with each session lasting four hours.

He has been doing this since 2003 and while he admits it can be an inconvenience, is extremely grateful to have recently turned 90.

Mr Wilson, from Stockton, said: I am a very lucky person, I know that.

I am still living, I have my family and money.

What more can you ask for?

Mr Wilson, who has 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, has led an extremely active life.

A keen and talented sportsman, he won the FA amateur World Cup three times with Billingham Synthonia and represented England at Lawn Bowls.

During the Second World War, Mr Wilson was a Sergeant in Stockton Home Guard and was awarded for his services.

A draughtsman by trade, Harry worked for Billingham ICI before going on to work for King Wilkinson.

Originally posted here:
Stockton kidney dialysis patient Harry Wilson celebrates 90th birthday

If you have brown patches in your lawn, I expect the cause is Japanese beetle grubs eating the roots of the grasses. Japanese beetles are out in full force, feasting on roses, linden trees and other favorite ornamentals, as well as puncturing and eating peaches, raspberries, blackberries and plums. Soon those same beetles will be landing on your lawn and depositing eggs in the earth. When those eggs hatch, hungry young larvae will begin feeding until fall when the soil cools and they burrow deeper in to survive the winter. Next spring those same larvae will crawl up closer to the roots of your lawn and resume feeding until they pupate and emerge as adults. The larvae are light gray with brown heads and curl into the letter C when disturbed. The brown patches you are now seeing are from last years larvae that survived the winter. Back when we lived in College Park, we did not have Japanese beetles. Thats because College Park was ground zero for the research that resulted in the development of the milky spore system of Japanese grub control. The developer was Dr. George Langford, chairman of the Department of Entomology. To test the effectiveness of the system, in the mid-1950s he treated all of the lawns within the city limits. A single treatment was highly effective. When Clara and I moved to Deale in 1990, the lawn was full of mole tunnels. Moles love to feast on. Realizing the mole problem was due to a large infestation of Japanese beetle grubs, I treated the entire lawn with milky spore powder the summer of 1991. It took three years before I had 100 percent control. I have never had to repeat the treatment. Japanese beetles are flying around and feasting on our little leaf linden, and they are laying eggs in my lawn, but the milky spore is digesting the larvae as they hatch. The milky spore system of control is self-supporting once it becomes well established. It has now been almost a quarter century since I first used milky spore, and I no longer have moles tunneling nor dead brown spots in my lawn. True, there are insecticides you can spread on your lawn that will kill the grub, but these insecticides have to be redone yearly. The use of them on lawns can also contribute to the pollution of the Bay. If you live near the Bay or its tributaries, do not use these insecticides; to be effective, they must be applied over the entire lawn. Milky spore is available in two forms, powder or granular. The powdered form is measured using one-quarter teaspoon at three-foot intervals. The granular form is applied using a spreader. One bag of granular milky spore will cover approximately 7,000 square feet. Milky spore must be thoroughly and promptly soaked into the soil soon after being applied. Applying it just before a predicted heavy rain is best unless you have an in-ground sprinkler system that covers the entire lawn. Milky spore can be used in the spring, summer or fall, but now is the best time because this is when the Japanese beetles are laying their eggs. Milky spore is a good, safe and effective grub control system, but it cannot be used in conjunction with any of the other harsh insecticides recommended for grub control. Having Japanese beetles laying eggs in your lawn every year keeps the milky spore population alive and well.

Continued here:
Brown Patches in Your Lawn?

Rupert Butler, who is retired and moved to the Inland Northwest last year from Texas, has a lush, green lawn. Butler lives in the Modern Water District. One of Moderns water towers loomsnearby. (Full-size photo)

On a corner lot in the center of Spokane Valley, Rupert Butler tends to his large lawn below one of Modern Electric Water Co.s conspicuous water towers. His grass is green and healthy, and Butler takes care to find the right mix of water and fertilizer to keep it that way all summerlong.

He sees plenty of wasteful watering, though, around his neighborhood: sprinklers left on for hours or running in the heat of the day, water splashing onto sidewalks and streets. For someone who has lived and worked in parched areas of Texas and California, he shakes his head at itall.

What kind of irritates me is somebody turning on a lawn sprinkler and just letting it run while they go to work all day, said Butler, who is retired from the USDA Farm ServiceAgency.

But whats to stop them? Water here is abundant and cheap, drawn from a massive aquifer under the valley floor and piped with little or no treatment to half a millionpeople.

Water rates in Spokane County are lower than in any other county in Washington, and just a fourth of what people pay in the Seattle area. All of a households daily consumption for cooking, bathing, washing clothes and dishes, even watering a lawn and garden costs less here than the retail price of a single bottle ofwater.

Water is one of our biggest assets in this area. Its huge, said Bryan St. Clair, superintendent of Moderns water department. Take it from a guy who came from NewMexico.

With enough water to fill Lake Coeur dAlene 13 times over, the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer nurses a greenbelt extending from southern Bonner County down through Coeur dAlene and Post Falls and west into Spokane Valley andSpokane.

It can be said that there is no city in the world that has a better water supply than Spokane, a city official boasted in 1909, and the claim rings truetoday.

It is without question one of the best sources of drinking water in the country, said Dan Kegley, the current director of the city of Spokane WaterDepartment.

Read more here:
Liquid asset: Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie aquifer - Sun, 07 Sep 2014 PST

When scarifying a smaller area, use a spring-tined rake. Power tools are more convenient for larger lawns. Avoid scarifying too deeply, which can damage the turf (see Meet the expert, opposite). Powered machines are available for hire. Make sure the scarifying height is adjustable.

Aerate the lawn to relieve compaction, allowing for better movement of air and water around the roots. Aerating every two to three years is usually adequate for an average lawn. Concentrate on worn areas and areas prone to staying wet. Use a garden fork for smaller areas, spacing holes 4-6in (10-15cm) apart and deep.

If gardening on heavy clay or if standing water is a problem, consider hollow tining the lawn every three to four years. This extracts plugs of soil from the lawn. Sweep up the plugs, then rake a top-dressing into the holes. Hand-held and powered spiking machines and hollow tiners tools that look like a fork but with hollow prongs are available.

Lawn top-dressing is available from garden centres, but it may be more economical to buy larger quantities from specialist suppliers such as Rolawn (rolawn.co.uk). Apply 4.4-6.6lb per 10 sq ft (2-3kg per sq m), working the dressing in well with the back of a rake.

If the grass is patchy, especially after removing large amounts of moss, over-seed the bare patches at the rate of (-1oz per sq yd (17-34g per sq m).

If youre not using combined moss killer and feed, apply a low-nitrogen autumn feed. But be aware that overfeeding with high-nitrogen fertiliser will encourage fusarium wilt (snow mould infection).

As the weather cools down, increase the cutting height of utility lawns to 1in (40mm).

If you have a problem with chafer grubs and leather jacket (pests which can seriously damage lawns), there are no chemical treatments. Instead, apply biological-control nematodes from July to September against chafer grubs and from September to early October against leatherjackets. Make sure that the soil is moist before application to keep the nematodes alive and active.

Quick trouble shooter: red thread

Seeing red: red thread usually appears in late summer (ALAMY)

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How to look after your lawn in autumn

Story Created: Sep 2, 2014 at 5:48 PM CDT

Story Updated: Sep 2, 2014 at 8:19 PM CDT

If you have noticed your lawn turning brown a little too early, you may be a victim of an armyworm infestation.

Lawn experts say these insects have not been this bad locally in years.

"I've been doing this 30 years, and I've never seen it this bad," said Keith Lovelace, owner of Lovelace Lawncare.

Lovelace says the infestation is particularly bad this year because of the mild summer. The worms thrive in cooler temperatures and with more rainfall.

Wanda Sims' property has fallen victim to the pests. "My tenant called me, and they said 'We have worms.' I was like 'Worms! What do you mean worms?' She said, 'we got worms everywhere!'"

Thousands of them have taken over Sims' yard. She told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News she got the jitters after seeing the worms crawling everywhere.

The worms are the caterpillar stage of a moth. "The moths just lay the eggs, and then the armyworms come out and eat their environment," Lovelace said.

He says they are called armyworms because they move across your lawn like an army.

See the original post here:
Armyworm infestation invades West Tennessee

2014-09-02

Supplied with a 40L grassbag and featuring 15 fixed cutting blades and a powerful and reliable Briggs and Stratton engine, the Hayter Scarifier will make light work of de-thatching - helping maintain a healthy lawn, simply and efficiently. Cutting depth is easily adjusted to suit different lawn types and there is also a transport position to ensure easy movement across paving with no damage to blades.

homeowners can get the best treatment for their lawns at a fraction of the price it would cost individually

Julie Dommett

But, as it's something not used all that frequently, probably twice a year, many people may think it's difficult to justify the investment. Julie Dommett, marketing manager for Hayter offers a solution: "Communities are sharing all sorts of things these days, so why not a lawn scarifier? Gardening club members or neighbours who enjoy gardening can get together and share the cost of ownership. That way homeowners can get the best treatment for their lawns at a fraction of the price it would cost individually. Or alternatively, entrepreneurial gardeners could buy a scarifier and then rent it out to neighbours either privately, through a neighbourhood scheme, or alternatively via a website such as http://www.rentmyitems.com!"

The Scarifier is available from Hayter authorised dealers nationwide (RRP 559). Local dealers can be found at http://www.hayter.co.uk - or by calling 01279 723444.

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For further information please contact Caroline Bennett, PR Inc for Hayter/Toro Tel: 01932 847731 Email:

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Lawn Looking A Bit Lacklustre? A Scarifier Could Be The Answer - Hayter Are Encouraging Communities To Share!