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WESTFIELD Shawn Downey from Larson Design began the June Westfield borough council meeting by giving an update on the water treatment plant project.

Downey said that notices to proceed have been submitted and a construction schedule is being developed. The date for awarding H2O grants has been pushed back to September. Downey said Larson Design will have to revise the phasing of the project to remain eligible for that grant.

The council revisited the Krusen Cemetery maintenance proposal that was discussed last month. The council said they had met with the solicitor who said the borough could maintain the cemetery, but not own it. Because the solicitor had given a verbal statement and not a written one, one resident requested the council obtain a written statement concerning the cemetery before any other maintenance occurred. The council decided to postpone any decision until they receive a letter from the cemetery association.

A concern was brought to the council about garbage near the river. The council said the individual has been contacted concerning the garbage.

Another concern was raised about the chief of police. The individual who raised the concern alleged there was a conflict of interest between the chief and an individual in the town.

Council member Dennis Landry said the person who controls the police is actually the mayor. Landry said for the council to be able to act on complaints concerning the police department it should go through the mayor, who would record those complaints and then have a case to bring to council.

The council announced that the Northern Tier Solid Waste Authority is no longer going to pick up recycling in Westfield. Northern Tier Solid Waste Authority offered the borough an opportunity to take over the recycling program. A locking container with a tarp was provided by the authority and is behind the borough building due to construction at the water treatment plant. The council approved having the recycling location open two Saturdays a month from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The council also discussed the removal of ash trees from the park. The bids for the removal of the trees were opened and council hired Casey Hauberl to remove the trees for $1,600 and Garry King to remove the stumps for $525.

The council approved street paving on Stone Quarry Road for $34,275.

The next borough council meeting will be at 7 p.m. July 14.

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Ash tree removal and water treatment project move ahead in Westfield - The Wellsboro Gazette

Editors note: In celebration of Golf Digest's 70th anniversary, were revisiting the best literature and journalism weve ever published. Catch up on earlier installments.

The National Golf Links on New Yorks Long Island was the first great American course to engage in massive tree removal, circa 1990. But it wasnt until Oakmont near Pittsburgh started a deforestation program a few years later that the movement gained momentum, and a full-fledged war on hardwood was legitimized as good for golf. By the time the U.S. Open was played at Oakmont in 2016, the United States Golf Association celebrated its 20-year restoration plan [for removing] more than 12,600 trees in what will long be regarded as one of the most definitive architectural renaissances in golf history. From Merion outside Philadelphia to Los Angeles Country Club North, hundreds of courses followed the trend. Even Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y., which once subtitled its club history The Golf, the People and the Friendly Trees, removed those affable trees by the thousands.

What started as an underground maneuver in cover of darkness eventually went mainstream, and the first writer to examine the movement was Senior Editor Peter McCleery with this story called Mission Unpopular in October 2002. McCleery wrote and edited features for Golf Digest since joining the staff in the early 1980s, but his specialty was investigative reporting and TV criticism. He also pioneered the use of reader surveys as a regular fixture of the magazine, for example, identifying Johnny Miller as the most loved and most hated announcer in golfpure gold for a player agent to sell. McCleery was not averse to digging into controversy, so the subject of tree removal captured his imagination as clubs across the country, then as now, continue to debate the subject. Jerry Tarde

In the beginning there were no trees on golf courses, links land being particularly inhospitable. Many of Americas most notable courses also had barren beginnings, but over time trees were planted and the parkland concept took hold. Indeed, so deeply rooted are trees with American golf that approximately one in every 10 courses has some kind of leafy reference in its name (all those Oak Trees and Shady Oaks). But as those beloved trees mature and branches spread, they become problems, impacting playability and turf quality. Courses nationwide are now coming to grips with the emotionally and politically charged realities of tree removal, sometimes on a massive scale. Call it the de-treeing of American golf.

Nowhere is this reversal or restoration more apparent than at Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh. The home of multiple U.S. Opens has gone through a decade-long program of tree removal that is ongoing. It started one day when head pro Bob Ford ushered a group of members out to a double hazard on the first holea bunker with tree trouble between it and the fairway. See this? Ford said. Somethings gotta go here.

But when Oakmonts tree-removal process began in earnest in the mid-1990s, it took place surreptitiously, as it often does to avoid detection by tree-loving members. Former Oakmont superintendent Mark Kuhns assembled a SWAT team of 12 workers assigned to different tasks, with headlights showing the way. Their days would start at 4 a.m., while members were still asleep. Huge tarps were spread out as the crew cut down trees, mainly pin oaks, then hauled the limbs into no mans land. A stump grinder was on hand, and two high-powered vacuums sucked up leaves. The greens chairman and an 18-member club board were behind the plan, but the bulk of the members were kept in the dark.

We took down so many trees before anybody knew what was going on, Kuhns says.

The crew was working on removing a grove of 13 large pin oaks dividing the 12th hole and the 13th green. We got down to three of them still standing when somebody noticed what was going on, Kuhns says. Then they caught up to my chairman, and it became a very sour issue.

At one full membership meeting, former greens chairman Banks Smith recalls that all those opposed to removing more trees sat aggressively in the front rows, while those on board with the program ordered a drink and went to play cards.

There were factions, a threatened petition, prayers for the trees survival from a neighboring church, even a whiff of a lawsuit. But after much quiet persuasion, politicking, four greens chairmen and, in the end, 3,500 felled trees, Oakmont has been fully and magnificently restored. Sure, a number of trees remain, but the emphasis is back on the bunkering and the dramatic contours of its fairways and greens. A round there this spring with three of those former greens chairmen revealed the zeal of their mission, with remaining trees still being discussed and targeted. Those have to go, the group agreed about a grove of three trees left of the 18th fairway.

They used to say that you could see almost every hole at Oakmont from the second story of the clubhouse, says Bill Fallon, general chairman for the 2003 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont. Now weve almost got that back. You can now see the vistas from fairway to fairway or across several fairways. Weve rediscovered the beauty and genius of Henry Fownes.

The thinned-out Oakmont stands as a beacon for others embarking on the hazardous path to de-treeing their courses. If any club thinks they would be hurting themselves by cutting down a few trees, go look at Oakmont and see what theyve done, says Tom Meeks, the USGAs senior director of rules and competitions. They are the leaders in the clubhouse. Representatives from numerous other clubs already have made the pilgrimage to Oakmont for inspiration.

Tree-removal programs have transformed many of Americas 100 Greatest Golf Courses, including Merion, Winged Foot, Medinah, National Golf Links of America, Oak Hill, Garden City and Baltusrol. In the publinx arena, Tension Park, the hustlers paradise in Dallas, removed trees as part of a restoration programbut not without a fight.

A.W. Tillinghast discovered the perils of tree removal years ago. I sometimes take my very life in my hands when I suggest that a certain tree happens to be spoiling a pretty good golf hole, he wrote in 1937.

Today, the process usually follows a similar pattern to Oakmonts initial wariness, if not outright opposition, giving way to an almost unanimous embracing of the results. So complete is the memberships turnaround at Oakmont, jokes Mark Studer, another former greens chairman, that people who were never involved are now trying to take the credit for the projects success. (One notable exception to the movement: Augusta National, which has planted more than 250 trees while tightening driving areas as part of its design overhaul by architect Tom Fazio.)

No one that I know who has any feel for aesthetics or nature has anything negative to say about trees, Fazio says. How can anyone not like them? God put them here to give us shade and shelter. But I dont know that anybody really thought about them relative to golf. They just always assumed they were a positive influence.

John ONeill is a member of the USGA Executive Committee who has been advocating tree removal since the late 1970s, when he was greens chairman at his home course on Long Island, Westhampton Country Club. ONeill says the awakening to the need for more active, ongoing tree maintenance is long overdue. Its like painting a room that hasnt been painted in a long time, he says of the process. You think the room looks fine until you get in there and realize, Oh my gosh, this looks pretty shabby. The leading clubs are very important. If Oakmont does it, removing trees becomes a lot more legitimate for other clubs."

TREES SNEAK UP ON YOU

Jim Snow, national director of the USGAs Green Section, has given seminars around the world in which he labels trees the biggest problem facing American golf agronomy. Trees are a natural part of our landscape, and they serve a lot of practical purposes on courses, strategic as well as aesthetic, Snow says. But trees sneak up on you. They get bigger little by little, and over 20 to 30 years they have a huge impact on golf courses, even though people around them all the time dont realize whats happening. Snow says golfers only need look in their own back yards to be reminded of the inherent difficulty of growing grass beneath trees.

Agronomy experts say theres a simple non-negotiable tradeoff between turf and trees. Turf needs sun and air to thrive, and if trees are blocking that, somethings got to give. Trees that overhang greens and tees create the most problems, mainly because those areas get the most foot traffic.

Because trees on the south and east side of greens block the sun for more hours than any others, they are the most problematic. If you want a tree close to a green, put it on the north side, Fazio says. The golf-course superintendents treatise on the subject is titled, tellingly: Shaded Greens: Turf, Trees and Politics.

PAYING THE PRICE FOR OVERPLANTING

Tree-planting programs that were popular in the 1960s and 70s during the make America beautiful movement were often carried out haphazardly, with different species placed too close together. Trees get in the way of each other and sap nutrients from the soil if not properly spaced.

Some influential golf people are hard-liners when it comes to hardwoods. Asked about trees, USGA President Reed Mackenzie says, I hate them. Why? Three reasons, really: The agronomics (Trees end up costing you a lot of money; you get areas where you cant grow grass), the emotions they stir (People become attached to trees, and their attachment is irrational) and the practical realities (Trees get diseased and they fall down).

Others, including noted architect Jack Nicklaus, take a more balanced approach. Nicklaus cites Pinehurst No. 2 as the best course I know of from a tree-usage standpoint. Its a totally tree-lined golf course without one tree in the playing strategy of that golf course. I love what Donald Ross used to do at Pinehurst. Every year Ross would walk through the trees and say, That tree has gotten too big; you cant play a recovery shot from in there anymore. Take that tree out and cut the branches off that one. Then if you hit it in there, you could get in and play a recovery shot back out. Too many trees prevent recovery shots, and I think the recovery shot is a wonderful part if the game.

Safety issues also surround trees. Although healthy trees provide a buffer between holes, old, diseased or dying trees pose real dangers. Weve had a lot of trees fall down that were in that 70-year-old range, says Jim Lucius, director of golf at San Franciscos Olympic Club. I often think that golf courses can die of old age because of trees.

Selective pruning is often a tentative first step for clubs, but it doesnt really get at the root of the problem. Pruning improves light situations, but it doesnt fix them, says Scott Robinson, vice president of technical operations for ArborCom Technologies, a firm that provides computer-generated proof of how trees block sunlight to greens (see accompanying story). Ive never seen a light-penetration problem solved by pruning alone.

If youve ever seen electric fans on a golf course, youve probably noticed large trees nearby. Fans have been installed at many courses in the past decade to improve the air circulation that trees inhibit. If those clubs would cut down some trees, there might not be as many fans or a need to run them for the duration that they do, says Clark Throssell, the Golf Course Superintendents Association director of research. Adds Snow: Fans are expensive to run and something youd just rather not see on a golf course. But a fan is better than dead grass.

Thus far, the major thrust of tree removal has taken place at the older Eastern clubs where trees are older and bigger than in other parts of the country. West Coast courses also seem to be a lot more tolerant of Poa annua in their greens, says ArborComs Robinson, and light requirements are a lot lower with Poa.

THE STILL-POPULAR OFF-SEASON PLAN

If overall tree removal is going more mainstream, its not quite out in the daylight. Secrecy still seems a big part of the process at some prominent clubs. They dont say much about it, says an official at one of the big Eastern clubs, in hushed tones. Its a political bombshell. Says John Zimmers, Oakmonts superintendent: We still, to this day, do not just go out and cut a tree down. We do it in the morning or when the club is closed. Members who return to a club that has been de-treed in winter tend to look around and notice something different, but theyre not sure what. Its amazing how little they do notice, says USGA agronomist Kimberly Erusha.

Memorial trees, of course, can be especially sensitive. Theyre the worst, Mackenzie says. You cant move grandpas tree. Or can you? Thats pretty much what officials did at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. Over the past 50 years, Oak Hill had dedicated 35 trees for famous golfers on its Hill of Fame surrounding the par-5 13th hole.

As Oak Hill began removing troublesome trees, some members became very concerned about the Hill of Fame, says Bill Reeves, an Oak Hill member and chairman of its Hill of Fame committee. To us, those trees were almost sacred.

But when members saw the rapidly improved condition on greens where other trees had come down, Reeves says it didnt make sense to have 17 superb greens and one in mediocre condition. So Oak Hill decided to remove 13 trees on the Hill of Fame, including those dedicated to Dwight Eisenhower, Charlie Coe, Gerald Ford and Miller Barber. Nicklaus tree, on the southern-exposure side, remains intact after some serious pruning.

If we were to take down that tree, says Oak Hill superintendent Paul B. Latshaw, it might solve all our light issues on that hole from here to eternity. I dont know Jack Nicklaus, but knowing what he must know about agronomy, Im sure hed be supportive if it came to that.

In an easy salve for the dethroned, Oak Hill reaffixed those honorees plaques to other trees nearby. Weve got thousands of trees at Oak Hill, Reeves says. Were not going to run out of trees.

Thankfully, no one ever will. Which is probably why more and more of them are coming down.

IS YOUR COURSE OVER-TREED?

How do you tell if your home course is over-treed? To paraphrase Ben Hogan, dont look up, look down, because the answer is in the dirt. The health of the turf provides an important tipoff to a potential tree problem.

You almost have to go by whats happening to the grass, says Jim Snow, national director of the USGAs Green Section. In particular, greens under too much shade will be subject to a general thinning of the turf, or in extreme cases, no turf at all. When holes are in shady spots, traffic around the hole will exacerbate the wear and tear. And once the turf on a green loses its density, thats when the weeds will invade, says Clark Throssell, director of research for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. When the turf isnt that competitive, thats where these other species get started.

Tees also can be susceptible, and the telltale sign will be that only one portion of the tee is ever used, either because the shaded portion is in bad shape or because overhanging limbs or interloping trees ahead eliminate that angle. Tees suffer a lot at the hands of golfers, Throssell says. Letting the light in so the turf has a reasonable chance of recovery is very important.

Should your club or course decide to undertake a program of tree removal, John ONeill of the USGAs Executive Committee recommends a gradual approach. Dont shock the members, he says. Start slowly, taking down the trees that most affect agronomics. Dont take down stuff that could be the most controversial. Get the members into it, and once they see results, theyll get behind it.

Beware the dreaded double hazards. This is when you hit into a fairway bunker, for example, and also have a tree to deal with between you and the hole.

Exposed, above-ground tree roots. Not only dangerous for playing shots, but tree roots compete with the grass for soil nutrients.

A general sense of claustrophobia. If you start to feel as if youre in a bowling alley instead of on a golf course, some serious tree removal might be required.

Wheres the rough? Most courses were designed to have 15 to 20 yards of rough between the fairways and tree lines.

Overhanging limbs. From the middle of the fairway, you should be able to access any hole location on the green without tree trouble. Your approach shot shouldnt be obscured by tree limbs overhanging the green or the fairway, ONeill says.

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The undercover war that swept the game - Golf Digest

...THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL....A SLOW MOVING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN MID-ATLANTICWILL ALLOW FOR SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON ANDEVENING. MANY AREAS OVER THE PAST WEEK HAVE ALREADY RECEIVEDSEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN. THIS WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR FLASHFLOODING TO OCCUR FOR STORMS WHICH PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL....FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS EXPANDED THE* FLASH FLOOD WATCH TO INCLUDE PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTHCAROLINA AND VIRGINIA, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS, IN NORTHCENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA, CASWELL. IN VIRGINIA, APPOMATTOX,CAMPBELL, CHARLOTTE, HALIFAX, AND PITTSYLVANIA.* UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING* SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TORRENTIALDOWNPOURS LEADING TO LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING.* RAIN RATES OF 4 INCHES AN HOUR ARE POSSIBLE WITH STORMS WHICHDEVELOP ACROSS THE WATCH AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THISWILL RESULT IN RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF UP TO ONE INCH IN 15MINUTES WHICH MAY QUICKLY FILL ROADSIDE DITCHES. RAINFALLAMOUNTS WHICH EXCEED 2 INCHES WILL LIKELY LEAD TO FLASHFLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEADTO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.REMEMBER...TURN AROUND...DON'T DROWN!YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTIONSHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.&&

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Saturday morning at the Lee monument after police take armed individual into custody - Lynchburg News and Advance

...THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL....A SLOW MOVING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN MID-ATLANTICWILL ALLOW FOR SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON ANDEVENING. MANY AREAS OVER THE PAST WEEK HAVE ALREADY RECEIVEDSEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN. THIS WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR FLASHFLOODING TO OCCUR FOR STORMS WHICH PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL....FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS EXPANDED THE* FLASH FLOOD WATCH TO INCLUDE PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTHCAROLINA AND VIRGINIA, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS, IN NORTHCENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA, CASWELL. IN VIRGINIA, APPOMATTOX,CAMPBELL, CHARLOTTE, HALIFAX, AND PITTSYLVANIA.* UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING* SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TORRENTIALDOWNPOURS LEADING TO LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING.* RAIN RATES OF 4 INCHES AN HOUR ARE POSSIBLE WITH STORMS WHICHDEVELOP ACROSS THE WATCH AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THISWILL RESULT IN RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF UP TO ONE INCH IN 15MINUTES WHICH MAY QUICKLY FILL ROADSIDE DITCHES. RAINFALLAMOUNTS WHICH EXCEED 2 INCHES WILL LIKELY LEAD TO FLASHFLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEADTO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.REMEMBER...TURN AROUND...DON'T DROWN!YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTIONSHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.&&

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Attorney general says Trump has fired top federal prosecutor in Manhattan who defied administration effort to remove him - Lynchburg News and Advance

...THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL....A SLOW MOVING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN MID-ATLANTICWILL ALLOW FOR SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON ANDEVENING. MANY AREAS OVER THE PAST WEEK HAVE ALREADY RECEIVEDSEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN. THIS WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR FLASHFLOODING TO OCCUR FOR STORMS WHICH PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL....FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS EXPANDED THE* FLASH FLOOD WATCH TO INCLUDE PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTHCAROLINA AND VIRGINIA, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS, IN NORTHCENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA, CASWELL. IN VIRGINIA, APPOMATTOX,CAMPBELL, CHARLOTTE, HALIFAX, AND PITTSYLVANIA.* UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING* SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TORRENTIALDOWNPOURS LEADING TO LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING.* RAIN RATES OF 4 INCHES AN HOUR ARE POSSIBLE WITH STORMS WHICHDEVELOP ACROSS THE WATCH AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THISWILL RESULT IN RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF UP TO ONE INCH IN 15MINUTES WHICH MAY QUICKLY FILL ROADSIDE DITCHES. RAINFALLAMOUNTS WHICH EXCEED 2 INCHES WILL LIKELY LEAD TO FLASHFLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEADTO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.REMEMBER...TURN AROUND...DON'T DROWN!YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTIONSHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.&&

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Governor appoints Santa Fe lawyer to state Court of Appeals - Lynchburg News and Advance

...THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL....A SLOW MOVING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN MID-ATLANTICWILL ALLOW FOR SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON ANDEVENING. MANY AREAS OVER THE PAST WEEK HAVE ALREADY RECEIVEDSEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN. THIS WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR FLASHFLOODING TO OCCUR FOR STORMS WHICH PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL....FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS EXPANDED THE* FLASH FLOOD WATCH TO INCLUDE PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTHCAROLINA AND VIRGINIA, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS, IN NORTHCENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA, CASWELL. IN VIRGINIA, APPOMATTOX,CAMPBELL, CHARLOTTE, HALIFAX, AND PITTSYLVANIA.* UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING* SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TORRENTIALDOWNPOURS LEADING TO LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING.* RAIN RATES OF 4 INCHES AN HOUR ARE POSSIBLE WITH STORMS WHICHDEVELOP ACROSS THE WATCH AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THISWILL RESULT IN RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF UP TO ONE INCH IN 15MINUTES WHICH MAY QUICKLY FILL ROADSIDE DITCHES. RAINFALLAMOUNTS WHICH EXCEED 2 INCHES WILL LIKELY LEAD TO FLASHFLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEADTO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.REMEMBER...TURN AROUND...DON'T DROWN!YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTIONSHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.&&

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Trump campaign says six staffers helping set up for Tulsa rally have tested positive for coronavirus - Lynchburg News and Advance

...THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL....A SLOW MOVING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN MID-ATLANTICWILL ALLOW FOR SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON ANDEVENING. MANY AREAS OVER THE PAST WEEK HAVE ALREADY RECEIVEDSEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN. THIS WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR FLASHFLOODING TO OCCUR FOR STORMS WHICH PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL....FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS EXPANDED THE* FLASH FLOOD WATCH TO INCLUDE PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTHCAROLINA AND VIRGINIA, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS, IN NORTHCENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA, CASWELL. IN VIRGINIA, APPOMATTOX,CAMPBELL, CHARLOTTE, HALIFAX, AND PITTSYLVANIA.* UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING* SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TORRENTIALDOWNPOURS LEADING TO LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING.* RAIN RATES OF 4 INCHES AN HOUR ARE POSSIBLE WITH STORMS WHICHDEVELOP ACROSS THE WATCH AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THISWILL RESULT IN RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF UP TO ONE INCH IN 15MINUTES WHICH MAY QUICKLY FILL ROADSIDE DITCHES. RAINFALLAMOUNTS WHICH EXCEED 2 INCHES WILL LIKELY LEAD TO FLASHFLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEADTO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.REMEMBER...TURN AROUND...DON'T DROWN!YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTIONSHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.&&

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Officials: Arrest warrant issued for suspect in fire at Wendy's restaurant where Rayshard Brooks was killed - Lynchburg News and Advance

Residents of another London neighbourhood are angry the city is removing mature trees to make way for infrastructure upgrades.

As of Wednesday evening, nine trees on Highway Avenue in Old South had been felled and a handful of others were marked for removal.

According to the letter sent to residents on May 22, the city planned to remove at least 14 trees on Highway Avenue this spring and at least 16 trees on Lambeth Avenue in the upcoming winter. That includes a Norway Maple in front of the house that Heather Sanderson moved into, with her boyfriend, in December.

"I moved here specifically for the trees," she explained. "I have a lot of birds in my tree, a sparrow's nest in my tree, I have squirrels and everything in there. So to see it come down, would just totally open up the street and make it look awful."

The infrastructure project, slated to start July, includes replacing old sewer and water lines, road reconstruction and new curbs.

Sanderson feels like she's "voiceless" because the city cancelled a public update meeting on the infrastructure project and posted documents online instead. One of those documents, a tree assessment report, said many of the trees are coming down because of construction conflicts with things like curbs and water or sanitary services. Some of the other reasons include trees being in severe decline, being perched high on the boulevard, having root decay or being in the way of snow removal.

It's not the first time London residents have rallied around trees in their neighbourhood. A similar situation unfolded on the nearby Tecumseh Avenue in the summer of 2017, when the city removed trees to lower the street grade and replace old sewer and water lines.

Tecumseh Avenue resident Jennifer Odegaard remembers the fight well.

"We now have problems with traffic moving way too quickly because it appears like a wide open street that someone can just gun down, shade, walkability and enjoyability, these are all things we chose to live in Old South for," she said.

Odegaard said that, at the time, she was assured by city hall that it wouldn't happen.

"And I see it, happening again," she said.

Although it's too late for most of the trees on Highway Avenue, Sanderson said she'd like the city to bring back its arborist to have discussions with residents on Lambeth Avenue before moving forward with the rest of the removal work.

"Put into place a policy that says if we're going to do tree removal on your street, we will inform you when the arborist and the city will be coming back to look at your trees and determine which are sick. From this day to this day, even if you just give us a week. Inform residents that they're coming, so we can be there, we can have a conversation."

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Residents fighting to save trees as infrastructure project begins in Old South - CBC.ca

The Antietam battlefield (Getty Images).

SHARPSBURG, Md. - A long-forgotten Civil War map has recently been rediscovered, shedding new light on the bloody aftermath of the battle of Antietam.

Some 23,000 soldiers were killed, woundedor missing following the battle on Sept. 17, 1862, which has been described as the bloodiest day in American history.

The S.G. Elliott Burial Map shows where 5,800 Americans were buried in temporary graves. The map, which is in the collection of theNew York Public Library, was discovered by researchers looking for information on the battle of Gettysburg.

The S.G. Elliott Burial Map shows where 5,800 Americans were buried in temporary graves.

The map was digitized two years ago, but until its recent discovery in the librarys archives, it was unknown to experts. Earlier this year, researchers from the Adams County Historical Societyin Gettysburg, Pa., found the map when they were looking for information on mapmaker Simon G. Elliott.

After discovering the map, the researchers notified National Park Service staff at Antietam National Battlefield.

The detailed map, like a counterpart that Elliott made following the battle of Gettysburg, was likely made in autumn 1864. Although historians are still performing analysis of the map, more than 5,800 soldier burials are individually recorded, typically in groups associated with a particular regiment, also noted on the map, explains the American Battlefield Trust, in astatement. Field burials often saw soldiers interred by comrades, very close to where they fell, meaning that the map confirms the locations where units were engaged on the field.

Whereas 18 soldiers were identified by name on Elliotts Gettysburg map, more than 50 were identified on the Antietam map, according to ACHS Executive Director Andrew Dalton.

Looking at this map, there can be no doubt in the truth of the statement that a battlefield is hallowed ground, made so by the blood of soldiers, said American Battlefield Trust President Jim Lighthizerin a statement. The landscape at Antietam was turned into one vast cemetery, sacred to the memory of those who lost their lives in the struggle.

Although most of the interments have been moved off the battlefield to Antietam National Cemetery, the map is nonetheless an incredible historical document.

The Elliott map shows that dozens of men were once buried in the immediate vicinity of the national parks visitor center, said theAmerican Battlefield Trustin its statement. The 461 acres that have been protected by the American Battlefield Trust show evidence of more than 600 burials.

Antietam was a crucial battle in the Civil War, ending the Confederate Army of Northern Virginias first invasion of the North. President Abraham Lincoln also issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in the wake of the bloody clash.

The map effectively unlocks new aspects of the battle and its aftermath.

This discovery reveals truths about the Battle of Antietam lost to time, said American Battlefield Trust Chief Historian Garry Adelmanin the statement. Its like the Rosetta Stone: by demonstrating new ways that primary sources already at our disposal relate to each other, it has the power to confirm some of our long-held beliefs or maybe turn some of our suppositions on their heads.

Civil War sites across the U.S. regularly offer fresh glimpses into the bloody conflict. Earlier this year, for example, an artillery shell from the Civil War wasdiscoveredin downtown Charleston.

ACivil War-eragravestone linked to the infamous Quantrills Raid wasdiscoveredlast year in a Kansas forest.

Also in 2019, a Civil War cannonball wasdiscoveredlodged in a walnut tree at a historic house in Independence, Mo.

Earlier in the year, archaeologists in Delawarelocatedthe gravestone of a Civil Warsoldier that may provide a vital clue in uncovering a long-lost African-American cemetery.

In 2018, the remains of two Civil War soldiers werediscoveredin a surgeons burial pit at Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia. Also in 2018, a vacationer on a North Carolina beachcaptured drone footageof a Civil War-era shipwreck.

In 2017, forensic linguists said they hadlikelyunraveledthe mystery surrounding a famous Civil War-era letter longbelieved to have been written by Lincoln.

In 2015, the remains of a Confederate warship wereraisedfrom the Savannah River in Georgia. The following year, the wreck of a large iron-hulled Civil War-era steamer wasdiscoveredoff the coast of North Carolina. The ship, which was found off Oak Island, N.C., was tentativelyidentifiedas the blockade runner Agnes E. Fry.

The last person to receive a Civil War-era pensiondiedin North Carolina last month, according to reports.

Fox News Madeline Farber and The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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Discovery of Civil War map sheds new light on Antietams bloody aftermath - FOX 5 DC

Facebook is a more fertile breeding ground for fake news than Twitter, and those on the far ends of the liberal-conservative spectrum are most likely to share it, according to new CU Boulder research.

The paper, in the journal Human Communication Research, also found that people who lack trust in conventional media, and in one another, post misinformation more often.

We found that certain types of people are disproportionally responsible for sharing the false, misleading, and hyper-partisan information on social media, said lead author Toby Hopp, an assistant professor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design. If we can identify those types of users, maybe we can get a better grasp of why people do this and design interventions to stem the transfer of this harmful information.

The paper comes at a time when, amid a global pandemic and contentious run-up to a presidential election, social media companies are grappling with how to curb so-called fake news.

In the past month, Twitter, Facebook and Google began labeling misleading, disputed or unverified posts about coronavirus, vowing to delete those that threaten public health. Twitter has also slapped labels on President Donald Trumps tweets, dubbing them as inaccurate or glorifying violence. Trump responded by accusing Twitter of silencing conservative speech. Meanwhile, Facebook employees staged a virtual walk-out saying their company wasnt doing enough to address suspect posts.

A decade or two ago, traditional news organizations played a key gatekeeping role in determining what was true or not true, said Hopp. Now, with the proliferation of social media and with traditional news organizations under financial distress, there is a sea change occurring in the way that information flows through society.

Previous research has shown that older adults and those who identify as Republican are more likely to share fake news. But Hopp wanted to go beyond demographic or political labels.

We wanted to look at more nuanced factors indicating how these people see the world around them, Hopp said.

To do so, his team recruited 783 regular Facebook and Twitter users over the age of 18 and, with their permission, collected and analyzed all of their posts for the period between August 1, 2015, and June 6, 2017 (before, during, and after the 2016 election). Participants also took a lengthy survey to assess their ideological conservatism vs. liberalism and identify how much they trusted friends, family and community members, and mainstream media.

We can disagree, but when we have fundamentally different views about what information is true and what is not, democracy becomes very difficult to maintain."

- Tobias Hopp

The researchers then looked at who shared content from 106 websites identified as fake news or countermedia sites by watchdog groups or legacy news organizations like NPR or U.S. News & World Report.

Despite the fact that we tend to call it fake news, a lot of this stuff is not completely false, said Hopp, who prefers the term countermedia. Rather, it is grossly biased, misleading and hyper-partisan, omitting important information.

The good news: 71% of Facebook users and 95% of Twitter users shared no countermedia posts. The bad news: 1,152 pieces of fake news were shared via Facebook, with a single user responsible for 171. On Twitter, 128 pieces of countermedia were shared.

We found that Facebook is the central conduit for the transfer of fake news, said Hopp.

In the Facebook sample, those self-identified as extremely conservative7 on a scale of 1 to 7accounted for the most fake news shared, at 26%. In the Twitter sample, 32% of fake news shares came from those who scored a 7.

But those who scored a 1, identifying as extremely liberal, also shared fake news frequently, accounting for 17.5% of shares on Facebook and 16.4% on Twitter.

In all, about one-fifth of users at the far ideological extremes were responsible for sharing nearly half of the fake news on the two platforms.

It is not just Republicans or just Democrats, but rather, people who areleft or rightmore ideologically extreme, said Hopp.

Those in the ideological middle and those with high levels of media and social trust weregenerally speakingthe least likely to share fake news.

People with high levels of social trust are more likely to compile online social networks comprised of diverse individuals, and this can hamper the spread of fake news, said Hopp, noting that when a fellow user calls out a post as inaccurate,others may be less likely to share it. If someone posts something that is incorrect, false or misleading, I dont think it hurts for individual users to provide a factual rebuttal.

The authors note that the sample is not necesarily representative of the general population of all social media users nationwide, and more research is necessary.

With several other papers in the works, the authors, including Assistant Professor of Journalism Pat Ferucci and Assistant Professor of Advertising Chris Vargo, hope to provide insight to lawmakers, companies and individual users hoping to stem the fake news tide.

We can disagree, but when we have fundamentally different views about what information is true and what is not, democracy becomes very difficult to maintain, said Hopp.

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Who shares the most fake news? New study sheds light - CU Boulder Today