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The notorious APT group continues to play the video game industry with yet another backdoor

In February 2020, we discovered a new, modular backdoor, which we named PipeMon. Persisting as a Print Processor, it was used by the Winnti Group against several video gaming companies that are based in South Korea and Taiwan and develop MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) games. Video games developed by these companies are available on popular gaming platforms and have thousands of simultaneous players.

In at least one case, the malware operators compromised a victims build system, which could have led to a supply-chain attack, allowing the attackers to trojanize game executables. In another case, the game servers were compromised, which could have allowed the attackers to, for example, manipulate in-game currencies for financial gain.

The Winnti Group, active since at least 2012, is responsible for high-profile supply-chain attacks against the software industry, leading to the distribution of trojanized software (such as CCleaner, ASUS LiveUpdate and multiple video games) that is then used to compromise more victims. Recently, ESET researchers also discovered a campaign of the Winnti Group targeting several Hong Kong universities with ShadowPad and Winnti malware.

About the Winnti Group naming:

We have chosen to keep the name Winnti Group since its the name first used to identify it, in 2013, by Kaspersky. Since Winnti is also a malware family, we always write Winnti Group when we refer to the malefactors behind the attacks. Since 2013, it has been demonstrated that Winnti is only one of the many malware families used by the Winnti Group.

Multiple indicators led us to attribute this campaign to the Winnti Group. Some of the C&C domains used by PipeMon were used by Winnti malware in previous campaigns mentioned in our white paper on the Winnti Group arsenal. Besides, Winnti malware was also found in 2019 at some of the companies that were later compromised with PipeMon.

In addition to Winnti malware, a custom AceHash (a credential harvester) binary found at other victims of the Winnti Group, and signed with a well-known stolen certificate used by the group (Wemade IO), was also used during this campaign.

The certificate used to sign the PipeMon installer, modules and additional tools is linked to a video game company that was compromised in a supply-chain attack in late 2018 by the Winnti Group and was likely stolen at that time.

Interestingly, PipeMon modules are installed in %SYSTEM32%spoolprtprocsx64; this path was also used in the past to drop the second stage of the trojanized CCleaner.

Additionally, compromising a software developers build environment to subsequently compromise legitimate application is a known modus operandi of the Winnti Group.

Companies targeted in this campaign are video game developers, producing MMO games and based in South Korea and Taiwan. In at least one case, the attackers were able to compromise the companys build orchestration server, allowing them to take control of the automated build systems. This could have allowed the attackers to include arbitrary code of their choice in the video game executables.

ESET contacted the affected companies and provided the necessary information to remediate the compromise.

Two different variants of PipeMon were found at the targeted companies. Only for the more recent variant were we able to identify the first stage which is responsible for installing and persisting PipeMon.

PipeMons first stage consists of a password-protected RARSFX executable embedded in the .rsrc section of its launcher. The launcher writes the RARSFX to setup0.exe in a directory named with a randomly generated, eight-character, ASCII string located in the directory returned by GetTempPath. Once written to disk, the RARSFX is executed with CreateProcess by providing the decryption password in an argument, as follows:

setup0.exe -p*|T/PMR{|T2^LWJ*

Note that the password is different with each sample.

The content of the RARSFX is then extracted into %TMP%RarSFX0 and consists of the following files:

Note that in the event of a folder name collision, the number at the end of the RarSFX0 string is incremented until a collision is avoided. Further, not all these files are necessarily present in the archive, depending on the installer.

Once extracted, setup.exe is executed without arguments. Its sole purpose is to load setup.dll using LoadLibraryA. Once loaded, setup.dll checks whether an argument in the format x:n (where n is an integer) was provided; the mode of operation will be different depending on the presence of n. Supported arguments and their corresponding behavior are shown in Table 1. setup.exe is executed without arguments by the RARSFX, and checks whether its running with elevated privileges. If not, it will attempt to obtain such privileges using token impersonation if the version of Windows is below Windows 7 build 7601; otherwise it will attempt different UAC bypass techniques, allowing installation of the payload loader into one of:

depending on the variant. Note that we werent able to retrieve samples related to Interactive.dll.

Table 1. setup.exe supported arguments and their corresponding behavior.

This loader is stored encrypted within setup.dll, which will decrypt it before writing it to the aforementioned location.

The location where the malicious DLL is dropped was not chosen randomly. This is the path where Windows Print Processors are located and setup.dll registers the malicious DLL loader as an alternative Print Processor by setting one of the following registry values:

HKLMSYSTEMControlSet001ControlPrintEnvironmentsWindows x64Print ProcessorsPrintFiiterPipelineSvcDriver = DEment.dll

or

HKLMSYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlPrintEnvironmentsWindows x64Print Processorslltdsvc1Driver = EntAppsvc.dll

depending on the variant. Note the typo in PrintFiiterPipelineSvc (which has no impact on the Print Processor installation since any name can be used).

After having registered the Print Processor, PipeMon restarts the print spooler service (spoolsv.exe). As a result, the malicious print process is loaded when the spooler service starts. Note that the Print Spooler service starts at each PC startup, which ensures persistence across system resets.

This technique is really similar to the Print Monitor persistence technique (being used by DePriMon, for example) and, to our knowledge, has not been documented previously.

Additionally, the encrypted payload, CrLnc.dat, extracted from the RARSFX is written to the registry at the following location, depending on the installer:

This encrypted registry payload is then loaded, decrypted and executed by the previously registered Print Processor library. The whole PipeMon staging and persistence is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. PipeMon staging and persistence

We named this new implant PipeMon because it uses multiple named pipes for inter-module communication and according to its PDB path, the name of the Visual Studio project used by its developer is Monitor.

As mentioned previously, two different PipeMon variants were found. Considering the first variant, we couldnt retrieve the installer; thus, we dont know for sure the persistence technique that was used. But considering that this first variant of PipeMon was also located in the Print Processor directory, its likely that the same persistence mechanism was used.

PipeMon is a modular backdoor where each module is a single DLL exporting a function called IntelLoader and is loaded using a reflective loading technique. Each module exhibits different functionalities that are shown in Table 2.

The loader, responsible for loading the main modules (ManagerMain and GuardClient) is Win32CmdDll.dll and is located in the Print Processors directory. The modules are stored encrypted on disk at the same location with inoffensive-looking names such as:

Note that .hwp is the extension used by Hangul Word Processor from Hangul Office, which is very popular in South Korea.

The modules are RC4 encrypted and the decryption key Com!123Qasdz is hardcoded into each module. Win32CmDll.dll decrypts and injects the ManagerMain and GuardClient modules. The ManagerMain module is responsible for decrypting and injecting the Communication module, while the GuardClient module will ensure that the Communication module is running and reload it if necessary. An overview of how PipeMon operates is shown in Figure 2.

Win32CmDll.dll first tries to inject the ManagerMain and GuardClient modules into a process with one of the following names: lsass.exe, wininit.exe or lsm.exe. If that fails, it tries to inject into one of the registered windows services processes, excluding processes named spoolsv.exe, ekrn.exe (ESET), avp.exe (Kaspersky) or dllhost.exe. As a last option, if everything else failed, it tries to use the processes taskhost.exe, taskhostw.exe or explorer.exe.

The process candidates for Communication module injection must be in the TCP connection table with either 0.0.0.0 as the local address, or an ESTABLISHED connection and owning a LOCAL SERVICE token. These conditions are likely used to hide the Communication module into a process that is already communicating over the network so that the traffic from the Communication module would seem inconspicuous and possibly also whitelisted in the firewall. If no process meets the previous requirements, the ManagerMain module tries to inject the Communication module into explorer.exe. Processes belonging to the Windows Store Apps and processes named egui.exe (ESET) and avpui.exe (Kaspersky) are ignored from the selection.

Table 2. PipeMon module descriptions and their respective PDB paths

Additional modules can be loaded on-demand using dedicated commands (see below), but unfortunately, we werent able to discover any of them. The names of these modules are an educated guess based on the named pipes used to communicate with them:

Inter-module communication is performed via named pipes, using two named pipes per communication channel between each individual module, one for sending and one for receiving. Table 3 lists the communication channels and their corresponding named pipes.

Table 3. PipeMon communication channel and their respective named pipes

The %CNC_DEFINED% string is received from the C&C server and %B64_TIMESTAMP% variables are base64-encoded timestamps such as the ones shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Example timestamps used with named pipes

Figure 2. PipeMon IPC scheme (original PipeMon variant)

The Communication module is responsible for managing communications between the C&C server and the other modules via named pipes, similar to the PortReuse backdoor documented in our white paper on the Winnti arsenal.

Its C&C address is hardcoded in the ManagerMain module and encrypted using RC4 with the hardcoded key Com!123Qasdz. It is sent to the Communication module through a named pipe.

A separate communication channel is created for each installed module. The communication protocol used is TLS over TCP. The communication is handled with the HP-Socket library. All the messages are RC4 encrypted using the hardcoded key. If the size of the message to be transferred is greater than or equal to 4KB, it is first compressed using zlibs Deflate implementation.

struct CCMSG{ BYTE is_compressed; CMD cmd;};struct CMD{ QWORD cmd_type; DWORD cmd_size; DWORD cmd_arg; BYTE data[cmd_size - 16];};

struct CCMSG

{

BYTE is_compressed;

CMD cmd;

};

struct CMD

{

QWORD cmd_type;

DWORD cmd_size;

DWORD cmd_arg;

BYTE data[cmd_size - 16];

};

struct beacon_msg{ BYTE isCompressed = 0; CMD cmd_hdr; WCHAR win_version[128]; WCHAR adapters_addrs[128]; WCHAR adapters_addrs[64]; WCHAR local_addr[64]; WCHAR malware_version[64]; WCHAR computer_name[64];}

struct beacon_msg

{

BYTE isCompressed = 0;

CMD cmd_hdr;

WCHAR win_version[128];

WCHAR adapters_addrs[128];

WCHAR adapters_addrs[64];

WCHAR local_addr[64];

WCHAR malware_version[64];

WCHAR computer_name[64];

}

Figure 3. C&C message and beacon formats

To initiate communication with the C&C server, a beacon message is first sent that contains the following information:

The information about the victims machine is collected by the ManagerMain module and sent to the Communication module via the named pipe. The backdoor version is hardcoded in the Communication module in cleartext.

The format of the beacon message is shown in Figure 3 and the supported commands are shown in Table 5.

Table 5. List of commands

* The argument supplied for this command type is ignored

As mentioned earlier, the attackers also use an updated version of PipeMon for which we were able to retrieve the first stage described above. While exhibiting an architecture highly similar to the original variant, its code was likely rewritten from scratch.

The RC4 code used to decrypt the modules and strings was replaced by a simple XOR with 0x75E8EEAF as the key and all the hardcoded strings were removed. The named pipes used for inter-module communication are now named using random values instead of explicit names and conform to the format\.pipe%rand%, where %rand% is a pseudorandomly generated string of 31 characters containing only mixed case alphabetic characters.

Here, only the main loader (i.e. the malicious DLL installed as a Print Processor) is stored as a file on disk; the modules are stored in the registry by the installer (from the CrLnc.dat file) and are described in Table 6.

Table 6. Updated modules

Module injection is not performed using the reflective loading technique with an export function anymore; custom loader shellcode is used instead and is injected along with the module to be loaded.

The C&C message format was changed as well, and is shown in Figure 4.

struct CCMSG{ BYTE is_compressed; CMD cmd;};struct CMD{ QWORD cmd_type; DWORD cmd_size; DWORD cmd_arg; BYTE data[cmd_size - 16];};

struct CCMSG

{

BYTE is_compressed;

CMD cmd;

};

struct CMD

{

QWORD cmd_type;

DWORD cmd_size;

The rest is here:
No Game over for the Winnti Group - We Live Security

Following months of anticipation and a well-publicizedpush from the Chicago arm of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her administration have introduced an ordinance that would reverse the ban on, and streamline the permitting of, coach houses and other types of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) that already exist or could be built on vacant residential lots or as additions to existing buildings.

Prevalent across older Chicago residential properties, coach houses are small and often garage-less rear outbuildings also known as laneway houses, rear houses, granny flats, or carriage houses. Currently, coach houses (also a Chicagoan catchall term for any additional freestanding structure on a property, modern or not, that could be used for habitation) cannot be used as primary standalone residential units without cumbersome and expensive zoning changes. The ordinance, which has been formally introduced to the City Council and will be reviewed by the zoning and housing committees, would strike the ban on ADUs as a means of boosting density and generating affordable housing in the city.

As the Chicago Sun-Times explained earlier this month, ADUs have effectively been outlawed in the city since a 1957 overhaul of the citys zoning codes. Coach houses, however, continued to pop up across the following the ban while existing structuresand there are many, roughly 2,400 per data shared by the Chicago Cityscape blogwere grandfathered in.

A typical Chicago coach house. (Daniel X. ONeil/Flickr)

The need for safe and affordable housing is likely to increase as more households in the Chicago region face unemployment and rising economic uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, wrote the ULI in a report, Unlocking Accessory Dwelling Units in Chicago, published earlier this month. Accessory Dwelling Units provide an innovative way for Chicago to address the growing housing challenge by adding to its inventory of affordable housing, providing financial stability for homeowners and by energizing neighborhoods.

Per Steven Vance of Chicago Cityscape, who broke the news of the ordinances arrival, the law, if adopted, would take effect on August 1, 2020, a date that coincides with the mandatory implementation of the 2019 Chicago Building Code for all renovation and new construction projects. Chicago Cityscape notes that the ordinance categories ADUs into two categories: Coach houses and conversion units, the latter of which entail renovations and/or additions to existing buildings over 20 years old. Only units built according to this code would be considered conversion units; units that exist on or before July 31, 2020, that seem like conversion units are not considered conversion units, elaborated Vance.

Furthermore, the ordinance states that coach houses cannot be built on a lot with a conversion unit, although property owners in the appropriate residential zoning districts can potentially build or add more than one coach house or conversion unit on a single lot, just not both. There are, however, some stipulations depending on the size and age of the existing front residential building on the lot. There are also rules that dictate the affordable nature of coach houses and conversions when multiple units are involved. Chicago Cityscape gets into the nitty-gritty of special rules that applyor dont applyto specific residential zoning districts.

Whats more, existing coach houses can be modified and potentially expanded, while newly built coach houses will be limited to a maximum of 700 square feet or 60 percent of the required rear setback. There are no direct limits on the size of conversion units.

The ordinance also stipulates that ADUs and conversion units cannot be used as Airbnb properties and do not require additional parking.

Much like the ULI, the Lightfoot administration sees the rehabilitation of existing coach houses as well as the construction of new ADUs and conversion units as a necessary way to boost much-needed affordable housing in the city. These new living spaces, as the administration points out, are pandemic-friendly, to boot.

The administrations proposed ADU ordinance is not only a way to increase available housing throughout Chicago, it is also a safety and stimulus effort, designed to allow for very gentle density within existing neighborhood character, the Department of Housing explained to the Sun-Times in a statement. In fact, if ever the need arises again, ADUs will create a type of density that could allow for multi-generational households to remain close, but also create options for social distancing in a basement unit or coach house on the same property.

This all being said, although the ordinance, which has been in the works for well over a year, has now been introduced to City Council, its not entirely clear when it will be taken up considering the unprecedented circumstances.

The rest is here:
Chicago introduces highly anticipated ADU ordinance - The Architect's Newspaper

After Universals City Walk partially reopened its gates last Thursday, attention was focused back on Disney and what details they would share on their reopening of Disney Springs. which will take place Wednesday May 20. Well, those details are now in and here they are.

Face masks: All visitors, employees and cast members over the age of 3 will be required to wear a face covering of some sort at all times except when dining.

Temperature screenings: All visitors temperatures will be taken upon arrival. Any person that has a temperature of 100.4 or higher will be retested in an additional facility if their temp is at or higher than 100.4 twice, they will not be allowed in and neither will their group.

Physical distancing and capacity control: Disney will limit the number of people allowed in and in certain areas- there will be markings for lines and other additions to ensure social distancing is upheld.

Cleanliness: Disney is making an effort to add more disinfection as they take care of their facilities. They also have hand washing and sanitation stations which they encourage visitors to use.

Cashless transactions: Disney is discouraging the use of cash.

Parking garages and entrances: In the first phase of reopening visitors will be directed to park in two garages: the orange garage and the lime garage- all surface lots will be closed and entrances will be limited.

When Walt Disney World moves into its first phase of its reopening on Wednesday with the partial reopening of Disney Springs, its likely to be a bit of a test to see how team members and the public react.

While our theme parks and resort hotels remain temporarily closed, the phased reopening of Disney Springs is a welcome milestone as we navigate through this unprecedented time together as responsibly as we can, Matt Simon, vice president of Disney Spring wrote in a post on the Disney Parks Blog Saturday.

Rest assured, there is plenty of magic awaiting you at Disney Springs it just may feel a bit different than before, Simon wrote.

So, should the tempered reopening of Disney Springs be taken as a sign that Disney will soon be reopening its theme parks and resorts the short answer is no.

As the park reopens, it will institute the new policies in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities and government agencies.

Visit link:
Disney Springs to require face masks, temperature checks as it partially reopens on Wednesday - positivelyosceola.com

True sports cars, in the sense that we all have come to know them nowadays, are few and far between. There are many out there trying to claim sports car status even some with four doors want to be sports cars. To us, a true sports car has only two doors, rear wheel drive, bucket seats and yes, maybe even a manual transmission!

So it was that we welcomed a week with the new Hakone Edition of the Toyota 86 sports car (formerly a Scion FR-S) that came with all of the above features, and we were more than eager to show its stuff out on the road, especially if there were a lot of curvy mountain grades involved.

The sports car is available in both a manual and automatic transmission, as are most of todays sports cars, but after a week in the manual we would definitely have to recommend it. Its much more fun to drive, especially around the Utah mountains, and as a big bonus, its about $1700 less expensive.

We had to ask the questions as to why the Hakone Edition? It is a tribute to a famous stretch of road in Japan about two hours southwest of Tokyo named the Hakone Turnpike. The famous road is on many a car enthusiasts bucket list, so Toyota chose to pay tribute to it this year with a sports car with the same name.

The 86s interior sported some unique additions including tan and black Alcantara seats, a tan Toyota 86 logo embroidered on the passenger side dashboard, with this tan stitching being carried forth throughout the cabin. The Hakone also comes with a beautiful green paint, matched with 17 spoked bronze wheels and an all-black spoiler on the tail.

Its not often that we need to refill the gas tank in one of our test drive vehicles, especially by Saturday morning, considering we didnt receive the FR-S until late in the day on Wednesday, it was a quick two day tank of gas. This goes right to the fun to drive portion of the 86s DNA. We each had and entire day with the car and had each used our fair share of fuel motoring around during our turn as it was.

Considering we averaged right at 32 mpg for the week, we had racked up almost 300 miles on the odometer by Saturday morning, and had to add to our dwindling fuel supply; after all, letting the little sportster just sit in the drive was not going to be an option.

As we are both progressing somewhat in age, we found that once in the coupe it was much easier to spend as much time as possible getting to our destination, as it proved to be somewhat harder to extract ourselves from 86. It was easier to just stay in the car and enjoy the ride, so maybe it wouldnt be the best mid-life crisis car, though it was still oh so much fun to drive!

Throughout the entire week we spent with the Toyota it seemed we could always find a little somewhere else to go or a longer way to get there yes driving in the 86 was really that enjoyable. It is basically a sports car that is affordable to a much larger segment of the market.

The 86 comes complete with everything we would want from a sports coupe including a fine 4-cylinder, 2-liter, 205-horsepower Subaru Boxer engine. About the only complaint that we had during the entire week was that the low end torque was not that great. What this translated to mostly was off the line it was not a dragster, but through the turns at higher speeds it couldnt be beat Eliminating the traction control did enable Craig to get some spin from the tires in first and second gear.

There was a back seat included in the Scion, but with any normal two adults occupying the front seats you would be hard pressed to get anyone into the rear seats, especially if they were over the age of 5. It did prove, however, to be a good place to throw stuff if needed as we got into the small sportster.

The exterior styling of the 86 is really what we felt set it apart from any of the competition, with the Toyota website listing a few, such as the Mazda Miata, Honda Civic coupe and Genesis coupe. The designers at Toyota have done an excellent job giving it the looks of a real contender. It made us really stand out in the crowd, and it also makes it more visible to the local authorities.

The climate controls are very simple and easy to use there are heat and air conditioning and it is limited to the front seats, not that anyone in the back is going to complain. New this year is a dual zone system that kept us happier, together, in early March!

There is also a 7-inch touch screen display that controls the radio and Bluetooth functions in the 86. Ours did not include SirrusXM radio but did have HD radio capabilities. The Bluetooth worked seamlessly, hooking up our phones and also streaming audio from them. We didnt even miss the satellite radio.

The Toyota 86 is one of the best and most affordable coupes we have had the opportunity to drive. We do need to point out that it is a rear wheel drive vehicle, so getting around in the snow would be an experience here in Utah. Most likely, you would have to put it in the garage on those nasty days.

Read this article:
Sunday Drive: Toyota 86 gets a special edition for 2020 - Daily Herald

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Six casinos in or near the Coachella Valley are opening their doors Friday to guests who are ready to gambleonslot machines andcard games, despite a request from Gov. Gavin Newsom to stay closed.

Newsomsent a letter to California tribeson May 15 urging them not to reopen their gaming facilities. But tribes are sovereign nations and don't have to follow local or state stay-at-home orders. Several popular casinos in the San Diego areaopened earlierthis week.

Casinos are considered higher-risk workplaces because of the volume of people they bring in and fall under Stage 3 of the governor's reopening plan. Other businesses in Stage 3 have not been allowed to reopen yet.

Memorial Day: What you can and can't do this weekend in the Coachella Valley

Coronavirus FAQ: Everything you need to know

When the doors to Spotlight 29 Casino near Coachellaopened at 10 a.m., after aclosure that's lasted more thantwomonths, someone from the crowd yelled out Freedom!

By that time, more than 150 people were already in line to get in.

Over 200 people had entered the casino by 10:15 a.m. Employees at the entrance said people began lining up just after 8:30 a.m., with some saying they had driven from as far as the Los Angeles area and Orange County.

Guests had to get their temperatures checked by security as they pulled up in their vehiclesto help curb the spread of COVID-19. Security staff declined to tell The Desert Sun whether they had turned anyone away.

Everyone who entered the casino was required to wear a face mask, with one provided if needed. Blue latex gloves were also offered, but not requiredto enter.

I saved a lot of money the last couple months, quarantined inside," joked Larry Potter, who drove by himself from Banning."Hopefully I dont lose it today."

Adam Levy, assistant director of marketing for Spotlight 29, said theTwenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indianswasmeticulous in organizing theopening, following guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventionand Riverside County.The casino opened only one entrance, so staff could turn people away in their cars, if needed.

I saved a lot of money the last couple months, quarantined inside. Hopefully I dont lose it today.

Levy said capacity is 2,200, but the casino is only allowing 500 people in at a time to start. That will hopefully change in time, he said.The casino is not hosting a buffetfor safety reasons, Levy added, and that was the only complaint hedheard on Friday.

Inside the casino,staff were enforcing social distancing and facial coverings. Staff wipeddown machines, too. Naturally, not everyone was 6 feet apart at all times, but staff were doing their best to enforce it.

At least two women, Cori Francis and Cheryl Pegram, both of Cathedral City, said they planned to go to the other Coachella Valleycasinos reopening Friday.

This has been the craziest time of my life," Francis said."Hopefully this is the start of things returning to normal.

Pegram said she had "dreamt of this moment" when she could get out again.

The Spotlight 29 Casinoand the Tortoise Rock Casino near Twentynine Palms werethe first to open in the valley Friday,followed by the Agua Caliente casinos in Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs.

While the Agua Caliente casinos werescheduled to open at noon, the Rancho Mirage facility opened its doors at 11 a.m.All entrances wereopen, with security checking people's temperatures inside. Masks were available for thosewho didnt bring their own.

Guests enter the Agua Caliente Resort Casino and Spa in Rancho Mirage after the casino reopened, May 22, 2020.(Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

About 400 patrons were inside the Rancho Mirage casino by Friday afternoon, and shops and eateries likeWaters Cafe, Java Caliente, Swarovski and Sports Bar 360were bustling. Like at Spotlight 29, Purell hand sanitizer stations could be found all over the casino.Sanitation crews meticulously wiped down machines, and staff tried to enforce social distancing.

Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Tribal ChairmanJeff L. Grubbe paid a visit to his tribe's casinos Friday.

I walked the floors as we re-opened our casinos today, Grubbe told The Desert Sun in an email. All safety protocols are in place, and our team members and guests were appreciative that we are open again.It feels good to have nearly 1,500 team members back to work and to know that the Tribe is playing a big part in jump starting the Coachella Valley economy again.

In announcing its reopening, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians citedthe Riverside County Board of Supervisors' votesupporting tribal governments' reopening of their casinos with social distancing measures in place and personal protective equipment provided for staff.

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"The County of Riverside has no jurisdiction over tribal lands," Riverside County spokeswoman Brooke Federico said on Friday. "We ask that all businesses consider the ways they can implement safer practices for their employees and customers when considering reopening."

The Morongo Casino & Resort near Banningand the nearby original Casino Morongowere scheduled to open at 2 p.m., but actually opened their doors around11:30a.m. There was no line at first, but once the scheduled opening time came around the parking garage was packed.The casino marquee readMask required and Good times are back!

It was the most bustling of the casinos and had more than 150 people in line outside at 2:45 p.m., more thanthreehours after it opened. Signs were placed outside the entrance to the casino Friday afternoon to inform guests there may be a one- to two-hour wait.Several hopeful gamblers decided to give up after standing in the long line for 20 minutes, heading back to their cars.

Simon Farmer, executive director of marketing for Morongo Casino & Resort, said that the determination was made around 3 p.m. not to let additional guests in until more visitors exited. Farmer wouldn't share an estimate of how many customers were inside at the time, but he said fewer than the casino's total 4,000 slot machines were in use.

He said that the number of occupants allowed will be determined by casino management "in real time," depending on what staff members are observing on the floor.

As for opening the casino earlier in the day than the 2 p.m. scheduled time, Farmer saidmanagement felt there was no reason to wait any longer. First, VIPs were welcomed in at 9 a.m. for a first look of the expanded and renovated casino.

"As the day went on, we had such a force of team members here ready to serve our guests, ready to implement our new safety protocols and procedures, that we knew we were ready to let the guests that were waiting outside come inside," he said.

Security checks the temperature of occupants of vehicles coming into the Spotlight 29 Casino during its reopening in Coachella, May 22, 2020.(Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

David Hakimfar and Sam Alishahi traveled tothe casino's reopeningfrom Los Angeles. They left with less money than when they entered, but it didn't dampen their spirits.

Together, we lost 400 bucks, with pleasure. Im happy that I gave money to the Indian reservation and I thank them, Alishahi said.

It feels like the foot of Gavin Newsom and (Los Angeles Mayor)Eric Garcetti has been taken off our throats and were getting a taste of freedom, Hakimfar added.

Once inside, each guest's temperature was taken, and masks were required. Video screens inside said Welcome back! and encouraged anyone with a fever to exit, see a doctor and come back soon.

Purell stations were set up throughoutand the entire staff at Morongo, from security guards to blackjack dealers, wore black or gray masks with the casinos name and logo.

The buffet was closed but most of the other eateries inside were open. The casino will be open 24-7 moving forward.

At the Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs and Agua Caliente Casino Rancho Mirage, visitors can expect the following new precautions because of COVID-19:

People walk into the Agua Caliente Resort Casino and Spa in Rancho Mirage after the reopening, May 22, 2020.(Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

Guests at the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians'Spotlight 29 and Tortoise Rock casinos can anticipate these changes:

At theMorongo Casino &Resort, owned by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, visitors will get their first glimpse at the newly completed 65,000-square-foot expansion and renovation project.Among other additions are new restaurants and a 30% expansion ofthe gaming floor.Most of the project wasdone before the casino had to close, but the project officially wrapped during the closure.

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Here are changes guests returning to the new casino and original Casino Morongocan anticipate:

Of casinos in the Coachella Valley, both the Fantasy Springs Casino and Augustine Casino have yet to make reopening dates public.

Jef Bauer, general manager of Augustine Casino near Coachella, said this week that the casino will not reopen before June 1.

"The Tribe is adamant that we not rush into reopening and that we put the health and safety of our team members and guests first," Bauer said in a written statement Friday. "We are taking a cautious and slow approach to this."

In early April, Bauer said in an interview with The Desert Sun that closures stretching into June would be devastating for tribes, with costs for reopening similar to start-up costs for a big gaming facility.

"Youre basically going to have to fire up all the enginesmarketing, hiring, Bauer said at the time. There could be all kinds of costs that you wouldnt even normally have during that time, and your revenues are coming in low. So, the expenses will just be crippling for some businesses, if were not able to get this under control soon and get open.

Fantasy Springs has been announcing new and rescheduled concert dates. The soonest upcoming event on the calendar that hasn't been canceled or postponed is a Chicago concert, set for Sept. 12. For a full list of upcoming shows, go tofantasyspringsresort.com.

Risa Johnson covers Native American affairs in the Coachella Valley and beyond. She can be reached at risa.johnson@desertsun.com or (760) 778-4737. Follow her on Twitter @risamjohnson.

Read or Share this story: https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/health/2020/05/22/morongo-casino-others-reopen-despite-newsoms-request-stay-closed/5242127002/

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'Dreamt of this moment': Reopening day is here for six casinos around the Coachella Valley - Desert Sun

The 2020 F1 calendar originally consisted of a record-breaking 22 different races.

Question marks hang over other races. The possibility of racing at Silverstone was thrown into doubt yesterday. The Singapore Grand Prix promoters have said their race can only go ahead on its originally scheduled weekend of September 20th and cannot be held behind closed doors criteria which are going to be challenging to fulfil.

Many postponed events are hopeful of returning to the championship later in the season. But Formula 1 chairman and CEO Chase Carey admitted the sport could end up racing at some tracks which werent originally on the 2020 schedule.

So where could it race? There are 21 venues which hold the FIA grade one certification necessary to hold F1 races which werent originally on the 2020 roster:

Hockenheims last F1 race was a thrillerHockenheimring, GermanyPrevious F1 races: 37

The most recent home of the German Grand Prix was dropped from the calendar at the end of 2019. However Germanys relative success in tackling the spread of the pandemic, plus the fact the Hockenheimring held a race last year, makes it an obvious candidate as a short-notice addition to the calendar. The truncated layout may be hard to love, but it can produce great races, especially when the weather lends a hand like it did last year.

Nurburgring, GermanyPrevious F1 races: 40

Some of the same reasoning for Hockenheim obviously applies here, though F1 hasnt raced on the modern Nurburgring since 2013. Hockenheim therefore represents an easier in for the championship.

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Jerez, SpainPrevious F1 races: 7

Formula 1s motorbike counterpart Moto GP intends to start its postponed season at the twisty Andalusian circuit in July. F1 hasnt raced there since the dramatic, title-deciding 1997 European Grand Prix, and stopped testing at the circuit a few years ago.

Valencia (Ricardo Tormo)Previous F1 races: 0

Not the little-loved street circuit, which fell into disrepair after holding five wholly forgettable races and one cracker between 2008 and 2012, but one of F1s preferred former testing venues. Like Jerez, its more of a bike circuit, rather too tight for F1.

Magny-Cours: Club circuit turned grand prix venueMagny-Cours, FrancePrevious F1 races: 18

The remoteness which played against Magny-Cours when it hosted the French Grand Prix between 1991 and 2008 may work in its favour in the age of the Coronavirus. The track is a bit of an oddball, extremely smooth and with a very short pit lane which excites the kind of people who really like strategic races. Modern F1 cars would looks spectacular in the quick right-hander leading onto the back straight.

Fiorano, ItalyPrevious F1 races: 0

Yes, Ferraris test track has grade one status. At 2.9 kilometres its even shorter than Monaco, and so wouldnt meet the FIAs minimum F1 circuit length. Infrastructure would be a challenge too, and nine of the teams might object to one of their rivals having a bit of a home advantage

Imola, ItalyPrevious F1 races: 27

The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari made noises about standing in for the Chinese Grand Prix before the pandemic took an awful toll on Italy. Its been modernised since it last held the San Marino Grand Prix in 2006, losing one of its many chicanes.

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Mugello, ItalyPrevious F1 races: 0

While Mugello (pictured top) has never held a round of the world championship, F1 last tested there as recently as 2012. Its not unlikely Zandvoort in that it has a quick, flowing layout which and offer little room for error. The Coronavirus cloud really would have a silver lining if this gem of a track got an F1 race.

F1 tested twice at Algarve in PortugalAutodromo do Algarve, PortugalPrevious F1 races: 0

One of the more interesting modern facilities, the Algarve track had the misfortune to be built just as F1 imposed strict limits on track testing. Aside from two visits in the 2008-09 off-season, F1 has stayed away. It is understood to have expressed an interest in welcoming the world championship.

Estoril, PortugalPrevious F1 races: 14

The best corners at F1s Portuguese home of the eighties and nineties have been neutered. The viciously tight Saca Rolhas (corkscrew, but not in the epic Laguna Seca sense) slows the approach to Parabolica, and the first two corners were tightened after F1 left in 1996.

Istanbul Park, TurkeyPrevious F1 races: 9

Widely considered one of the best creations by Formula 1s favourite circuit designer Hermann Tilke and thats not just damning with faint praised. Blessed with an expansive tract of land (albeit a long way from its titular host city), Tilke produced a layout which blends gradient, challenging corners such as the dramatic turn eight, and natural overtaking opportunities.

Moscow Raceway, RussiaPrevious F1 races: 0

A few too many corners crammed into a relatively confined space means gives Moscow Raceway the feel of a scaled-up go-kart circuit. Its best remembered for the DTMs inaugural visit, when a qualifying session had to be abandoned because president Vladimir Putins jet flew over, meaning the medical helicopter was not allowed to fly

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Dubai Autodrome, United Arab EmiratesGrand Prix circuit and International circuitPrevious F1 races: 0

Romain Grosjean would surely like the idea of racing here he won GP2 Asias first three visits to the track in 2008. Featuring a fairly quick opening sector, it has some potential as an F1 venue.

Vettel took three wins and his fourth title at BuddhBuddh International Circuit, IndiaPrevious F1 races: 3

And Sebastian Vettel would be first to call for a return to the former home of the Indian Grand Prix: He won all three F1 races at the Buddh International Circuit from pole position between 2011 and 2013. The track has developed some outrageous bumps since F1 left and was turned into a quarantine centre when the pandemic hit the region in March.

Fuji Speedway, JapanFull and shortPrevious F1 races: 4

Having been the scene of that epic 1976 championship-decider, then dropped from the calendar 12 months later, Fuji was welcomed back to F1 in the late noughties. However what had previously been a very quick track was heavily modified, especially at the end of the lap, where the dauntingly quick right-hander leading onto the main straight was replaced by several slow corners. The track therefore lost much of the spectacle a venue sat in the shadow of Mount Fuji deserved.

Korea International Circuit, South KoreaPrevious F1 races: 4

There arent many people clamouring for a return to South Koreas remote track outside Mokpo. The layout was derivative of many other additions to the calendar around the same time, there was little evident local enthusiasm for the race, and after four visits F1 never went back.

Kuwait Motor Town, KuwaitPrevious F1 races: 0

The newest track on this list is another Hermann Tilke creation which opened last year. It packs 20 corners into its near-six kilometre length with an up-tempo middle sector. Istanbuls quadruple-apex turn eight, mimicked at Circuit of the Americas, has another replica here too.

Sepang joined the F1 calendar in 1999Sepang, MalaysiaPrevious F1 races: 19

While F1 prompted the building of Malaysias first F1 track in 1999, Moto GP has out-lasted it at the venue. Quick corners, punishing humidity and volatile local weather often created memorable races here.

Losail International Circuit, QatarPrevious F1 races: 0

Losails tight, slow corners lend it more to motorbikes than F1 cars. Floodlighting allows competitors and fans to avoid the punishing midday heat.

Buriram International Circuit, ThailandPrevious F1 races: 0

How about a home race for Alexander Albon? Buriram is another Asian track which has taken Moto GP to heart.

F1 went the wrong way around IndianapolisIndianapolis (Grand Prix circuit)Previous F1 races: 19

Indianapolis hosted the world championship when the Indy 500 was a points-scoring race from 1950 to 1960, despite not being run to Formula 1 rules. The championship proper raced there from 2000, on a little-loved road circuit inside the oval, but succeeded largely in disgracing itself with a contrived finish in 2002 and a six-car farce three years later. IndyCar races more successfully on a revised version of the track, but nothing is ever going to compare to that mighty oval.

What, no Kymiring?

The newly-built Kymiring is expected to become Finlands first F1-standard track, but doesnt have its FIA grade one certification yet.

Which of these tracks would make good venues for F1 pandemic or otherwise? Have your say in the comments.

See the rest here:
The 21 other tracks F1 could race at in 2020 - RaceFans

Ahead of its launch on the Test Server tomorrow, here's everything revealed about the new season of Rainbow Six -- Operation Steel Wave.

Jump to:

Firstly, we have Hvard "Ace" Haugland, a Norwegian member of the Nighthaven mercenary group run by Kali.This two speed, two armour operator acts as R6's fourth hard breacher as his SELMA gadget is a "sequentially exploding hard breach" charge which he can throw onto reinforced walls. However, if thrown on a surface that is non-explosive, the gadget will not detonate and will be retrievable.

Each SELMA charge thrown on a reinforced then explodes in three stages, with each stage located below the previous and each hole being approximately the same size as one set of Hibana X-KAIROS pellets, to create a full-body sized hole in totality. An unreinforced hatch can also be opened with one SELMA charge, but two charges are necessary for reinforced ones.

This gadget, of which he has three of, also can be used to as soft destruction on unreinforced walls, or to destroy gadgets such as Goyo shields and Maestro Evil Eyes that are in the vicinity of the extensible explosive arms of each SELMA charge. However, outside of destroying defender gadgets, the explosives do no damage to operators themselves.

The gadgets themselves can be stopped from deploying by destroying the canisters with all of the usual hard breach denial used to counter Thermite and Hibana -- Bandit Batteries, Kaid Electroclaws, Mute Jammers, hacked Twitch drones, or by simply shooting the canisters off of a wall (including Evil Eye tasers) -- and can be interrupted by both Wamai and Jager while being thrown. Electrifying or shooting the extensible arms will not destroy the gadget, however.

However, due to the lack of a cooldown on his throwable, a Bandit trick attempt cannot successfully deny the opening of at least one single X-KAIROS set sized hole if Ace throws a charge each on two walls alongside each other. A properly timed Kaid electroclaw would thus be the only viable option in most scenarios.

What's more, unlike Hibana, Thermite, or Maverick, Ace can deploy his charges through drone holes or throw them in between the metal bars in destructible floors from above, thus allowing him to breach far more safely than any operator so far.

Concerning the loadout, he comes with a choice of the AK-12Assault Rifle (used by Fuze) or theM1014 Shotgun (used byThermite, Castle, and Pulse) for his primary, the P9 Handgun (used by the GIGN) for his secondary weapon, and a choice of either Smoke Grenades or Breaching Charges as his secondary gadget, giving him an opportunity to bring a second form of soft breach.

Next up is the new defender of Tentevwe "Melusi" Ilovu who represents the South African National Defence Force (SADF) and is R6's first three-speed Defender to be introduced since Alibi during Operation Para Bellum two years ago. Her three "Banshee Sonic Defense" gadgets are localised disruptors, which create a loud "buzzing" as a sound cue when attackers get within 6 meters of it and also have a line of sight to the gadget.

As well as this, it also slows down the affected attacker as if they were in Barbed Wire, making it a strong counter to entry fraggers, though the effect is less pronounced when a Finka boost is active. Of note is that the aim is unaffected, unlike an Ela Grzmot mine.

Both effects also are triggered byNkk, but not by the Iana hologram, and also work through a destroyed floor or a hatch.

The gadget can be disabled with Thatcher's EMP Grenade or a Shock Drone, and destroyed by both meleeing it -- which will be hard, with it slowing you down in the process -- orby targeting it with any explosive, such as an Ash or Zofia charge, grenades, or Kali'sExplosive Lance. Alternatively, if the gadget has been placed on a soft wall or floor, it can be destroyed from its mounting point through the wall or floor.

The gadget itself is rather large, must be mounted similar to an Evil Eye and only affects operators within a line of sight, meaning it cannot be hidden in a site and should be easily spotted with some drone work. The effects are singular, meaning that the slowing and auditory effects of multiple Banshees is not added together, but they are negated if placed behind a deployable shield despite a line of sight through the bulletproof slits.

Furthermore, the duration of the effects is non-finite, requiring destruction of the gadget for its effects to cease, and the effects affect all attackers in range of the Banshee instead of targeting just one attacker.

As well as this gadget, Melusi also brings with her either theT-5 SMGSubmachine Gun (used by Lesion) or the Super 90 Shotgun (used byFrost) for her primary, theRG15 Pistol (used by Ela and Zofia) as her secondary, and the secondary gadget options of Impact Grenades or a Deployable Shield.

Designed to be a "casual rework" without esports or likely even Ranked play in mind, the new-look House removes a lot of the clutter and adds a new stairway, four new rooms, and increased destruction throughout the map.

These new rooms all come on the south side of the house with two upstairs and two on the ground floor. On the first floor is the Music Room and TV Room below where the old Kids and Master Bedrooms used to be which makes up a new defensive objective in the Bomb game mode. Upstairs meanwhile, is the new Reading Room and Kid's Playroom areas with the bomb sites themselves not moving.

As well as these new additions, a new corridor has been added between the Girls' Bedroom site (where Construction used to be) and Bathroom, a doorway has replaced one of the Garage entrances, a new stairway connects Reading and TV Room, and a lot of the ceiling of the basement has been made destructible, allowing you to hold Garage from above.

As revealed during the Six Invitational panel three months ago, a new "Proximity Alarm" secondary gadget has been introduced for some operators, including Caveira, Mira, and Rook. The gadget, which is thrown similar to that of Wamai'sMag-NETs, starts beeping when an attacker comes within its radius alerting nearby defenders of their presence. It, therefore, acts as a possible Barbed Wire replacement gadget.

Unlike the Melusi'sBanshee Sonic Defense Primary gadget, these Proximity Alarms create a much higher pitched sound, can be destroyed by simply shooting them and have no slowing effect on the attacker.

In order to give her more of a surprise factor, whenAmaru swings into a barricaded window using her gadget, the wooden barricades now break just as she hits them, giving the defenders much less time to react. The defenders can still hear the Hook pulling her in, but it is now much quieter, meaning any other loud noises, such as gunfire, could obscure the sound. Her gun also now comes up more quickly than before after using the Garra Hook.

As well as this, when attempting to use her gadget to traverse up a hatch, the Garra Hook itself breaks the hatch rather than her needing to break it with her shotgun secondary, once again giving her the element of surprise. This is aimed at improving her pick rate and make her a more viable operator, as she currently has a pick rate similar to Clash at around 4% in high-level Ranked games.

Three changes have been made to the Ranked playlist.

Firstly, you must be level 50 to play Ranked, up from level 30, to dissuade cheaters from making new accounts and to encourage new players to learn more of the ins-and-outs of each map and operator before queuing into the playlist.

Secondly, a player can only reach Champion rank once they have played 100 Ranked games to hopefully make the achievement even harder to get and to give the game's anti-cheat more time to catch an offender before they earn the title.

Finally, each player will have a single rank across all regions, rather than each region counting your MMR separately. This means if you Rank into Gold I while playing in Europe, you'll still be Gold I in North American or Australian servers as well, and that there are now just 100 Champion ranked players across the world rather than in each region, further increasing the prestige of the title.

Both the new ping and replay systems showed off at the Six Invitational have been delayed from this Season due to the Coronavirus lockdown. They will still be coming in Year 5 at a later date.

The new "weapon attachment skins" are equipable cosmetic item similar to gun skins which change the colour of all attachments on the gun. On launch, there will be three free skins to chose from -- Grey, Black, and Tan -- with more coming in the future.

Finally, a new Elite Skin will be released with the new season in the form of the Echo Tenkamusou Ninja Elite.

---

Check back here at SiegeGG for full coverage of Operation Steel Wave when it launches in a few weeks time.

See original here:
Operation Steel Wave Reveal: Two New Ops, Proximity Mines, Ranked and Balance Changes - SiegeGG

Do these look like weeds? Native plants can create a beautiful landscape that's more eco-friendly than grass. (Ron Frazier / Flickr)

You know how when Taylor Swift or the Grateful Dead, U2 or K-Pop sensations BTS sell out Soldier Field, they always seem to add another date? And then that show sells out too, so maybe they add a third? And thats not even enough to meet demand?

Thats what it feels like to be Sarah Michehl.

If the name doesnt ring a bell, thats because Michehl isnt a rock star. Shes a community engagement specialist with theLand Conservancy of McHenry County, a nonprofit land trust organization. Its a business-card mouthful that essentially means Michehl teaches people about nature.

In April, with in-person instruction on hold during Illinois stay-at-home order, Michehl came up with an idea for a free onlinehow-to webinar for people interested in converting their lawn to prairie plantings. She had to cap registration at 100, because of her Zoom license, but didnt think that would be a problem.

Well, that first session quickly reached capacity, with people signing up from as far away as Kansas and Ohio, so she scheduled a second, which promptly filled up, then a third, and a fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.

I just kept adding, said Michehl, who now has webinars booked into July. This is the busiest Ive ever been in my job.

Michehl said she suspects the unexpected flood of interest has something to do with the coronavirus and people being stuck at home.

People are getting intimately acquainted with their property, she said. Maybe something good can come out of this pandemic.

Prairie smoke, a lower-growing native plant. (Krista Lundgren, USFWS / Flickr)

The lawn-to-prairie movement has been steadily growing in recent years as people have become more knowledgeable about the way local ecosystems work.

EntomologistDoug Tallamy, one of the leading proponents of native plants, explained the interconnectedness of plants and pollinators in a recentinterview withSmithsonianmagazine: Ninety percent of the insects that eat plants can develop and reproduce only on the plants with which they share an evolutionary history.

The plight of the monarch butterfly, the caterpillars of which are totally dependent on milkweed for food, brought global attention to the decimation of native habitats and really opened the door for natives resurgence, Michehl said.

People are ready to hear this message, she said.

Swapping out turf for natives turns whats essentially a food desert for insects into a buffet that can support a diverse array of bees, butterflies and other tiny but vital creatures. Native plants also have far deeper roots than grass, meaning they absorb more stormwater and are more resistant to drought.

Because 85% of land east of the Mississippi River is privately owned be it utility rights of way, school properties, farms or residential areas Michehl said educating the public about steps that individuals and private entities can take is crucial to creating eco-friendly habitat.

We cant leave it up to state DNRs (Departments of Natural Resources) or forest preserves to make the difference, she said, because their footprint is comparatively small.

Lawns, on the other hand, cover 40 million acres in the U.S., according to anoft-cited research articlepublished inEnvironmental Management.

Thats where the impact is going to be made, said Michehl.

Referencing Tallamys latest work, Natures Best Hope, Michehl said, If everybody could cut down their amount of lawn by half and turn it into native plants, we could have a homegrown national park of eco-beneficial land.

Blazing star, a native plant. (USFWS Midwest Region / Flickr)

Whats good for the planet isnt necessarily great for relationships between neighbors, though. Prairie lovers often find themselves at odds with adjacent property owners, the most common complaint being that the native plants look like weeds.

Thats where Michehl and her webinar come in.

Natives do not have to equal messy, untidy and uncared for, she said, nor should prairies low-maintenance reputation be misconstrued as no maintenance.

The key, Michehl said, is for prairie fans to be good ambassadors of natives by choosing the appropriate plants and managing them.

Youve got to be smart, she said. Show how beautiful sustainability can be.

One option is to choose a quality seed mix of lower-growing plants none of that meadow in a can stuff, she said such as columbine, wild geranium and Jacobs ladder (to name a shade-loving trio). Another is to consider judicious use of sedges and grasses (grasses not grass its a key distinction), which are important to landscape design from both an ecological and aesthetic perspective, Michehl said.

They shoot up right away, are great for weed suppression, hold soil in place and provide winter interest when all the flowers are gone, she said.

And dont skimp on research, Michehl added.

Natives arent interchangeable, and each plants characteristics should be taken into account before purchasing seeds or seedlings, she said. Some plants are extremely aggressive, for example, and should only be considered by people who have acres and acres of land.

Theres an amazing book, Invasive Plants of the Upper Midwest. Thats my bible, said Michehl. Its an amazing resource for when youre wondering, Why is this thing even here? and how to control it.

Thats just a hint of the content Michehl has incorporated into her webinar, including lessons learned from mistakes shes made at her own Crystal Lake home.

Her first attempt at smothering the grass in her back yard a non-herbicidal way of killing grass to prep an area for prairie seeding was a hot mess, Michehl said.

But even with mistakes, I have a thing of beauty, she said.

Notably, Michehl has received zero pushback from neighbors.

In fact, the one time she got tagged in one of those nosy neighborhood Facebook groups, it was by someone who wanted to copy her prairie conversion.

On second thought, maybe she is a rock star.

Contact Patty Wetli:@pattywetli| (773) 509-5623 |[emailprotected]

See the article here:
Go Figure, But a 'Convert Your Lawn to Prairie' Webinar is the Hottest Ticket in Town - WTTW News

I am not certain about you and your family, but the nine weeks of quarantine has commenced a hankering within me to go shopping.

Not to a mall. Not to Walmart. (Price Chopper is my favorite local place to shop because I always seem to find someone I know with whom I may chat in the social distancing style.)

But what I REALLY crave is a trip to a flower nursery where I can meander amongst a vast array of kaleidoscopic flowers and bushes and trees. I would spend a Stimulus Checks worth of money to plant plants throughout our yard.

Unfortunately, our check has still not arrived, so my trip to a nursery will be placed on the back burner, and new plants are not on the list of essentials right now.

~~~

I have planted seeds in all my gardens zinnias, marigolds, sunflowers. Some I have labeled with seed packet markers and others with little sticks poked in the ground.

Well, some of the papers have blown away. My noble garden creatures, two cats and three dogs who wander the gardens with me as I plant, have rubbed onto or walked over or have laid upon my little stick markers.

Now I am unsure what is planted where, and what in the world did I actually plant.

I started with great intentions. I told myself to create a pictorial guide at the beginning of my garden adventures this spring. It was short lived. That is when chaotic seeding began.

Last night, as I carried around half full packages of seeds, sprinkling here, sprinkling there, my husband said, You are planting things all over the place and you wont remember where anything is.

Probably and for sure. Chaotic seeding may be the new look of the future.

I can think of myself like the female version of Johnny Appleseed, only not with apples but with flower seeds. My name could be ummmmm Bethy Flick-a-seed. It has a nice ring to it.

~~~

My yard is acquiring many areas of little white clovers. I love them like I admire their predecessor, the dandelions. Both plants are living havens of hope for honey bees.

Having clover in your yard is a wonder with reverence. Really!!! It is! I promise you!!!

Clover is a member of the pea family like alfalfa, green beans, soybeans, honey locust trees, mimosa trees and over 20,000 other species of plants. All are good for adding nutrients to the soil.

I had no intention to write about clovers necessity. I accidentally fell into it last night while my husband and I sat on our yard swing gazing out at our imperfect lawnery (a Beth Conner made-up word meaning the yard or lawn area around a home).

We were looking at our thickets of clover in front of us. I mentioned how the bees would be happy and how my big tortoise would have loved eating them.

I read an article today by Melissa Sharpova, a landscape and design expert as well as a botanist.

She says, Clover in your yard will fix the atmospheric nitrogen into a soil fertilizer, with the root nodules and colonies of symbiotic bacteria. Rather fancy terms meaning that clover has the ability to bring up and pull together trace minerals to make your lawn better.

This sounds good to me. When the clover decomposes, the minerals it creates will provide the lawn and soil with a more disease-free area requiring less fertilizer and weed-killer.

This is not only great for the grass but also the streams and lakes. With less nutrient soil run-off, the waterways will be much better.

Have you ever noticed the lakes around golf courses and heavily fertilized fields having the pond scum, or in real terms, filamentous algae? It normally means the pond is out of balance from too many synthetic nutrients placed on the surrounding field or grass.

About 60 years ago, it became the perspective of the Lawn Masters to declare war and annihilate all broadleaf plants in a yard...good or bad. People were told, and believed, a perfect lawn was of necessity. AH, this is where the integrity of clover comes in.

Clover is GOOD! It is not the enemy!

If you have a clover-filled lawn, it will crowd out the broadleaf weeds you dont want. The bees will adore you and produce clover honey a much wanted variety of honey lovers.

Also remember that clover stays green all summer long.

Clover also allows for hours of fun searching for a four-leafed one that I am sure your children will delight in finding. It means faith, hope, love and luck.

Dont tell them, but the chances of finding a four-leafer is 10,000 to 1.

Five-leafed clovers are out there too, but the chances of discovering it is one million to one.

Hey give clover a chipper chance.

Beth Conner is a Miami County resident, teacher and outdoor enthusiast.

Link:
Sharing thoughts on shopping, clover and chaotic seeding - Miami County Republic

Mount Prospect has yet to see the completion of the flood relief project at Burning Bush Trails Park. But Public Works Director Sean Dorsey told the village board this week that the detention facility was pressed into premature service during Sunday's heavy rain.

As a result, many homes in the neighborhood were spared from flooding.

Dorsey said public works officials initially didn't want to disturb the site, which is mostly complete and is at the proper grade.

But seeing that the manhole near Park Drive and Tano Lane had reached maximum level readings at about 6:45 p.m., public works decided to open a bulkhead, an inflatable bladder that blocks a pipe. This provided an avenue for the stormwater into the detention pond.

"None of the grass seeding is in, so we didn't want to fill it with water and have all the dirt wash off. But given the intensity of the storm and the potential for damage, we elected to pull the bulkhead and have the detention pond take on water," Dorsey said.

By 7:20 p.m., the water level in the manhole dropped, and extensive street flooding was avoided.

A grateful Trustee William Grossi, who lives near Burning Bush Trails Park, thanked Dorsey, telling him, "I think you saved quite a few homes," particular on the lower section of Park Drive.

Dorsey said the Des Plaines River at the gauge just north of Euclid Avenue crested at 19.77 feet, short of the record of 20.9 feet at that location in 2013.

The amount of rainfall for the month was 8.25 inches, a new record for May, set last year at 8.24 inches.

Dorsey said the village received 220 requests for service between 6 and 8 p.m. Sunday night. Some were related to storm sewers, and others for private property drainage issues and sanitary sewer backups.

Most of the complaints, 155 total, were about street flooding.

Almost all the issues, he said, were resolved that night.

Read more:
Mount Prospect's Burning Bush detention area put to the test early - Chicago Daily Herald