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Bats: Our furry, flying mammals

Attending The Ohio State University’s lecture on “Ohio’s Bats-the Master Class,” with Todd and Ann Cartner, I realized how much I did not know about them. One important reason we should embrace bats in our community is pest control. Evening and night consumption of insects by bats is ...

Webworms feed on over 600 species of trees, shrubs

This time of year we begin seeing them — the webs of worms in trees, encompassing a group of leaves and causing damage (or at least concern) regarding tree health. While many patches of these webworms cause alarm, they don’t damage trees enough this time of year to cause significant concern. Fall webworms begin as a snow white moth (some with black or brown spots) that mates, then lays masses of yellow eggs on the underside of leaves. The hairs from the female protect them, as these hairy caterpillars grow into dark, hairy 2-inch caterpillars. Some have black and some have orange ...

DEAR ANNIE: On this Labor Day, leave worries for tomorrow

Dear Readers: Wishing you all a very happy Labor Day. The expectation of this holiday is to take the day off, put our feet up and enjoy the last stretch of summer. How many of you are actually able to take the time to reset and rest today? We say we are going to relax, and then we answer a few emails. We clean the kitchen. We run to the grocery store. We start thinking about everything that needs to happen in September. Before we know it, our day off has turned into another day of checking things off a list. Maybe this Labor Day, we can try something different. Ralph Waldo Emerson ...

HINTS FROM HELOISE: Resetting a stubborn coffee maker

DEAR HELOISE: I have a coffee maker that uses coffee pods. The descale light came on, and no matter how many pots of water and vinegar I put through it, it wouldn’t function. So, I went on the internet. The suggestion was to turn the machine off and press the 6-cup and 8-cup buttons together. Then, when the descale light comes back on, you just press the K button. It bubbles and eventually shuts itself off. Now it works! Who knew? Thanks for the hints. — Ed B., in Camarillo, California DEAR HELOISE: Did you ever notice that when you eat a nice, big, fat, juicy double ...

TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH: Legionella, pneumonia share some same traits

DEAR DR. ROACH: I was recently admitted to the hospital with pneumonia in both lungs. Given the recent outbreak of Legionella where I live, I was concerned whether I might have had this instead. They did do some tests in the hospital to try to find out. — R.C. ANSWER: I looked at the labs that you sent me, and several of them are consistent with Legionella. You had a very high C-reactive protein level, a relatively low procalcitonin level, pneumonia in both lungs, low blood sodium and a relatively low heart rate. All of these suggest Legionella rather than pneumococcal pneumonia ...