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Firefighters Battle Blaze At Abandoned Warehouse On Piasa/Highway 67

Riverbender 🕸
4 years ago
ALTON - Alton Fire Department responded to a fire in an old warehouse at Piasa and Highway 67 in Alton around 11:05 p.m. Friday. East Alton Fire Department also responded to battle the fire. Paper products and more were stored inside the warehouse and that was the area where the fire originated, fire officials said. Alton Fire Department Battalion Chief Derrick Richardson said while the cause is undetermined of what started the fire, it could have been homeless trying to keep warm or a dropped cigarette. "We are still investigating," he said of the origin of the fire. Richardson said the steel structure of the warehouse remains intact because of the quick efforts of the firefighters. The fire started with paper products on the second floor, he said. When Alton Fire received the 911 dispatch, it was reported that there could be two possible homeless people inside the building. However, there were two found outside on arrival, and a primary and secondary search was done to make

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Planting mixes of flowers around farm fields helps keep bees healthy

Riverbender 🕸
4 years ago
THE CONVERSATION - It’s springtime in California, and bees are emerging to feast on flowering fields – acres upon acres of cultivated almonds, oranges, and other fruits and nuts that bloom all at once for just a few weeks. Farmers raise these lucrative crops in monoculture fields, each planted with neat, straight rows of a single type of crop. The agricultural heart of California is the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. I recently drove north through the valley on Interstate 5, a 450-mile (724-kilometer) stretch of monoculture farms and agricultural land that runs from Bakersfield to Redding. Flowers were blooming as far as the eye could see. There is so much bloom here that commercial beekeepers truck in over 2 million colonies of bees in spring to ensure that every last flower is pollinated. As a bee biologist , I study why bees are dying . Although monoculture blooms provide food for bees, scientists know almost nothing

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The Invisible Threat to Your Pet: How to Prevent Heartworm Disease

Riverbender 🕸
4 years ago
EDWARDSVILLE – As social distancing restrictions continue to lift and the weather finally starts to warm up, we’ll be spending more time outdoors and in public with our furry friends. But every time you visit the dog park with your pooch, bring them to the local farmer’s market, or even play catch in the backyard, you could be putting your pet’s health at risk if they’re not fully protected against heartworm disease. The Midwestern mosquitoes that bug us every summer can be extremely dangerous—and even deadly—to our dogs and cats by transmitting heartworms into their bloodstream. In fact, one in 200 dogs are infected with heartworm each year, but many owners don’t realize it until it’s too late. However, with one monthly treatment or twice-yearly injections, your pet can play outside all summer and stay safe all year long. Why Metro East pets are at a greater risk for heartworm While pets can become infected anywhere in the country,

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Early Blooming Spring Ephemerals Flowers Welcome Warmer Weather

Riverbender 🕸
4 years ago
URBANA – Spring ephemeral flowers are nature’s gems after winter. These short-lived beauties are wildflowers that grow in woodlands in the early spring before the leaves on deciduous trees are open. They are called spring ephemerals because they have a relatively short blooming time. University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator Gemini Bhalsod says these seasonal plants grow, flower, and set seed relatively quickly. “They are usually dormant by mid-summer when the leaves die back again,” Bhalsod says. “In your garden one moment and gone another.” Spring ephemerals complete most of their life cycle in the early spring before the trees and understory shrubs leaf out and take over most of the available light. These plants start growing roots in the fall and winter, to fully emerge above ground in the spring. This time of year is a tough time to be a growing plant – soil temperatures are low, the weather is unpredictable, and there ar

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