Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Stormwater manual, landscaping manual need to be totally revised before any more projects are approved by staff in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of bad soil spread at entry to commercial site on South School Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on June 30, 2009.



This yellow, sifted dirt from some place is routinely spread in south Fayetteville on land that was formerly prairie with dark, rich soil and the ability to foster fine native plants in abundance. Allowing or is it requiring? builders to spread something as unnatural and inappropriate as this yellow, sandy, potential silt in our city is absolutely ridiculous. It will be running down the street if we get rain this week and it will add more to the silt load of the Town Branch of The West Fork of the White River and further damage Beaver Lake. This spot will never be true greenspace. It has red dirt, gravel, rock, etc., a few inches beneath this yellow dirt. There is no excuse for allowing or requiring this.
The soil that was here when the settlers came is the right soil. USE it. Stop ABUSING it.
At the right edge of the photos a line of small evergreen shrubs and assorted trees are either in the ground or lying ready to be planted. Nonnative plants of any kind should not be allowed on commercial sites. Nothing that might require watering or mulching or weedeating or any other maintenance should be required or allowed. Put native plants in native soil and leave them alone. What is happening now is absurd, expensive and NONSUSTAINABLE.

Honeybee on butterfly milkweed on June 30, 2009

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of honeybee on milkweed on June 30, 2009, at World Peace Wetland Prairie.

New state seat-belt law takes effect on July 1, 2009. Click it or ticket!

Arkansas’s new seatbelt law takes effect this week, levying a $25 fine for not wearing one and giving officers the authority to make a traffic stop on that violation alone.

It was one of 1,501 laws passed this session.

Laws appropriating money usually take effect on July 1, the start of each fiscal year. Most pieces of general legislation take effect on the 91st day after formal adjournment of the General Assembly. For this year, that 91st day is July 31.

However, sometimes bills come attached with emergency clauses – some allowing the bill to become law immediately after the governor signs in and some setting some other specific date.

A June 30 effective date for the seatbelt law was set because it makes the state eligible for $9.5 million in federal highway money. Arkansas joins 26 other states in making not wearing a seatbelt a primary offense.

That means a police officer can make a traffic stop on that offense alone. Previously, not wearing a seatbelt was a secondary offense and an officer had to have another reason, such as a defective tail light, to make the traffic stop. The fine will be $25.

Supporters of the law say it will save lives and reduce the number of serious injuries sustained when drivers are slammed into steering wheels, dashboards and windshields or ejected from a vehicle.

Eighty-three percent of Americans regularly buckle up, compared to 70 percent in Arkansas. It’s the fourth lowest rate in the nation.

Opponents say such a seatbelt law is another example of government interference in the daily lives of citizens and would be another tool for law enforcement officers to harass motorists.

When lawmakers passed the law, they included these findings: that, in 2007, 525 people died while riding in passenger vehicles and 65 percent of those fatality victims were not wearing seatbelts. In the same year, 61 people died after being ejected from their vehicles during a rollover crash.

A primary seatbelt law could see that fatality rate decrease by at least 12 percent a year, prevent 504 serious injuries a year, and save $104 million in economic costs each year, according to the legislation.

Some experts say a driver who doesn’t use a seatbelt is less likely to have passengers buckle up – or even to make sure children are properly restrained.

Arkansas will be making a major investment in the coming years in a trauma network and in the quality of emergency rooms in several hospitals. A primary seatbelt law was seen by many as a way to prevent a lot of those injuries in the first place.

Ward Four meetings usually overflow into hallway

Please click on images to ENLARGE view of Ward Four meeting on June 29, 2009.



Rob Sharp wants to keep the look and feel of Mount Comfort Road in designing Hughmount Village

Monday, June 29, 2009

Hill Place entry paved today

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of newly paved entry to the Hill Place student-apartment complex from S. Duncan Avenue and 11th St.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Tenth annual Shrimp and Crawfish Jubilee on July 4 at the Fayetteville/Springdale Elks Lodge

Fayetteville Fire Fighters Association
Local 2866

You Are Invited!!!
10th Annual Shrimp and Crawfish Jubilee
A fundraiser for the
Fayetteville Fire Fighters Association Scholarship Fund
Saturday July 4th 2009
Fayetteville/Springdale Elks Lodge
4444 N. Crossover
Fayetteville AR
Time: serving from 11:30am to 3:30pm
Come on out to the Elks Lodge and enjoy shrimp, crawfish, hamburgers, hotdogs
Swimming, mini-golf, music and
Lots of Family Fun
This event sponsored by Mr. Bobby Odom

Robert Williams of Hill Ave says more apartments could kill Town Branch Neighborhood

Robert Williams of Hill Ave says wait for Hill Place apartments to operate a year before allowing more apartments in Town Branch Neighborhood

Robert Reed of Bentonville speaks against rezoning for apartments next to National Cemetery

http://www.blogger.com/video-play.mp4?contentId=6230787456488b4a&type=video%2Fmp4

Johnny and June Carter Cash sing Jackson a lot better than the actor and actress did in the movie "I walk the Line"

Billy Joe Bartholomew and Kermit Womack talk live on KURM radio on June 25, 2009, the final auction at the Washington County Livestock Auction barn

More photos from final day of Washington County Livestock Auction

Please click on image to read sign on door of Sale-barn cafe on June 25, 2009, photo of Swifty Reynolds and friends and photo of Kermit Womack of KURM radio broadcasting live during the final day at the Washington County Livestock Auction in Fayetteville, Arkansas.


Saturday, June 27, 2009

Melvin Stanley says cemetery needs sale-barn land

Back acreage of World Peace Wetland Prairie a mix of thousands of species, mostly native but with much Lonicera japonica still to be removed

Please click on image to ENLARGE photos of a tall Asclepias viridis blooming later than its taller relatives, a swamp milkweed in the foreground still weeks from full bloom with a butterfly milkweed orange in the background in full bloom and a mix with the prairie wild rose in the background and a poison hemlock in the foreground. Don't mistake the hemlock for a Queen Anne's lace. Even the native version of hemlock isn't something to chew on! Queen Anne's lace is a nonnative invasive species that many people dig up and put in their gardens. It dominates many areas where natives ought to be more visible.


Duncan Avenue entry to World Peace Wetland Prairie shows international flowers such as moonflower along with natives

Please click on images to ENLARGE view of peace-garden flowers on June 26, 2009.


Friday, June 26, 2009

New era finally ends. Sorry I missed the historic meeting last night, so here is last July item with art

Rerun below of post after the July 24, 2008, Fayetteville School Board meeting.
Please click on image to Enlarge photos of Bobby New, Fayetteville's outgoing superintendent of schools.


Between spending more than an hour interviewing people to "search" for candidates to become superintendent and spending more than an hour discussing buying two different wetland prairie tracts for a potential school site, the school board had to listen to the outgoing superintendent beg them to buy more wetland.
Audubon's future nature site was used to make the sale sound good, even though Audubon's presence actually should be convincing them that the land should not be built on and, if bought, should mostly be a nature site itself.

You have to love theatre of the absurd to watch this kind of thing.

The chairman of the board of education and the superintendent agree.

Tim Kring moves that some land be sold from the former Hoskins property to offset any new purchase in the Deane Solomon area. It isn't over. Check channel 14.
Reruns of Thursday, June 25, 2009, school-board may be found at COX 14 in Fayetteville. See today's newspapers for story on the train that keeps rolling backward! Will the incoming superintendent get out in the community and get to know the people? New never bothered.

Melvin Stanley going home after final day at WASHINGTON COUNTY livestock auction

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Final Day of Washington County Livestock Auction

Free barbecue lunch and the biggest sale of the year mark end of an era: 1936 to 2009
Please click on images to ENLARGE view of Washington County Livestock Auction on June 25, 2009.


The Morning News reports on meeting of veterans and neighbors outside gate of Fayetteville National Cemetery

Please click on images to ENLARGE view of some of those who attended the June 24, 2009, news conference at the Fayetteville National Cemetery.




The Morning News' story below has been updated by the blogger to clarify facts. Something the newspapers may be investigating is whether the sale barn will be reestablished soon in Prairie Grove, where the owners have property. Just a rumor, not a fact yet.

Veterans Want More Time To Buy Sale Barn Site

By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE — Veterans in Northwest Arkansas want more time to raise up to $4 million to buy the Washington County Livestock Sale Barn property, alongside the Fayetteville National Cemetery.
GRAPH EDITED TO Clarify FACTS: Only 8.77 acres of the approximately 11-acre tract is on course to be rezoned, opening the way for apartment housing. The northwest portion of the land, which borders National Street and Government Avenue, is also for sale but already is zoned to allow apartments.
The veterans say they'd like one year to raise the money.
"We're going to the (congressional) delegation. We're going to foundations. We're going to all the groups that support veterans," said retired Lt. Col. Jim Buckner, who is a representative of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
The veterans are appealing to U.S. Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor as well as 3rd District Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, for passage of a $4 million federal earmark to allow the National Cemetery to buy the property.
The rezoning petition is set to appear at the next Fayetteville City Council meeting.
At least one council member says she supports this request, but is also looking out for the owners of the sale barn, Steve and Billy Bartholomew.
"If the owner is willing to hold off, I think it would be a fabulous deal," said Adella Gray, one of the council members from Ward 1. She would like to see the veterans become the next owners of what she and others have called "such a prized piece of property."
"My knee-jerk reaction is that I would support it," Gray added.
"If the owner is agreeable, and if he can do it — though I don't know, that could be hard on both him and his family — so holding off a year could be asking a lot," Gray admitted.
Even with such formidable opposition, Campus Crest, the Charlotte, N.C.-based developer wanting to transform the old barn site into 192 student apartments, is not backing down.
"Campus Crest made an offer to the Bartholomew family to purchase the sale barn property," said Andy Aldridge, a public relations spokesperson for Campus Crest.
"That offer was accepted and is now a binding contract between a buyer and a seller contingent upon approval of the rezoning. Campus Crest does not enter lightly into a contract such as this and fully plans to honor its commitment to the Bartholomew family and the community of Fayetteville," Aldridge said Wednesday.
Veterans and neighbors in the area have been insistent they don't want college students as neighbors.
"That would be the worst possible neighbor to our veterans," Buckner said.
Military groups have been at work for years trying to raise money to buy surrounding property to expand the cemetery, which they say will be at capacity in 2015.
"It would be unfortunate for the Bartholomew family to be forced out of a potential sale of this property and have to wait an entire year only to find out that they're back in the same boat," said Aldridge, speaking toward a possible delay.
The Bartholomews did not return calls seeking comment.
GRAPH EDITED TO CLARIFY FACTS: The 8.77-acre part of the property is zoned light industrial. The proposal is to rezone it to downtown general — a multifamily mixed-use residential designation. The remainder is zoned RMF-24, which also allows apartment construction.
The family owned Washington County Auction, which is in its eighth decade of operation, plans to hold its final sale today.
The rezoning proposal is to be on the agenda of the Fayetteville City Council meeting at 6 p.m. July 7 in City Hall at 113 W. Mountain St.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Issac Caudle, prisoner of war in Germany during WWII, wants cemetery expanded across sale-barn property

Veterans' news conference focuses on inappropriateness of allowing student apartments on east side of Fayetteville National Cemetery

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of some of the veterans who gathered to speak against a rezoning that would allow student apartments to be built next to the National Cemetery.

Vets unite to save property for national-cemetery expansion

CONTACT: Jim Buckner
June 24, 2009                                                              (479) 530-6015; 521-6951
                                                                                    jimlindabuckner@cox.net
 
 
NWA VETS UNITE TO SAVE PROPERTY FOR CEMETERY EXPANSION
 
VETERAN LEADERS FROM NORTHWEST ARKANSAS TO WORK WITH CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES AND FAYETTEVILLE CITY COUNCIL
                    
 
For release on June 24, 2009 
Fayetteville – In a joint gathering today, leaders of several Northwest Arkansas veterans' groups announced two major moves to ensure the availability of burial grounds for residents of Northwest Arkansas who served in the military.
 
Jim Buckner, Senior Vice Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Department of Arkansas, announced today that U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, U.S. Senator David Pryor and U.S. Congressman John Boozman will be asked to work together to earmark money to guarantee that the Fayetteville National Cemetery will be able to acquire and develop adjacent property needed to serve the burial needs of NWA’s 40,000 living veterans. The specific land now for sale is the Washington County Livestock Auction, neighboring the Fayetteville National cemetery.
Because of the immediate availability of this land, a petition for rezoning the property from "Light Industrial" to "Downtown General" has been proposed to the Fayetteville City Council.  A "first reading" of the rezoning request occurred before the council on June 16. Because of the vocal opposition of about 12 veterans, the issue was held on the first reading. The ordinance to rezone the sale-barn property will come up for its second reading at the Fayetteville City Council at 6 p.m. July 7 and the third reading at 6 p.m. July 21 in Room 219 of Fayetteville City Hall. 
 
Buckner also announced that he has contacted leaders of veterans' organizations throughout Northwest Arkansas to invite them and their members to the future meetings of the Fayetteville City Council to speak against the proposed rezoning of the Washington County Auction property. Buckner further said, that, if the rezoning to "Downtown General" is passed, a student-housing developer, Campus Crest of North Carolina, will purchase the property for student-housing development. In fact, the developer's contract for sale of the auction-barn property is contingent on its being rezoned to "Downtown General."  This re-zoning would permit Campus Crest to build mullti-story student housing adjacent to the Fayetteville National Cemetery. To the veterans and numerous others in Northwest Arkansas, the rezoning and subsequent building of student apartments next door to the Fayetteville National Cemetery is absolutely unacceptable, Buckner said. 
 
“I fully expect hundreds of vets from all over Northwest Arkansas will come to the Council meeting to let the aldermen know how important it is to preserve this land for future burials of our fallen veterans. Without this land, the cemetery will be filled in only 13 years and Northwest Arkansas vets will suffer immensely,” Buckner said.
-2-
 
Background:  The Fayetteville National Cemetery is at 700 Government Avenue, just off Martin Luther King Boulevard but the facility is running out of space. Capacity will be reached by 2023.  To preserve the neighborhood and maintain the solemnity of the cemetery, the best space for our fallen is to the east where the Washington County Livestock Auction now stands. The sale barn and the more than 10 acres where it stands are for sale. A residential housing company, Campus Crest Development LLC of North Carolina has made an offer to purchase the sale barn property in order to develop student housing space for University of Arkansas students. This offer has been accepted by Mr. Billy Bartholomew, owner of the sale-barn property, subject to rezoning of 8.87 acres of the parcel from "Light Industrial" to "Downtown General." 

Donations for property acquisition for the National Cemetery may be mailed to    
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
Attn: Harold Crivello, Treasurer
P.O. Box 4221
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72702  

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Ron Butler speaks to media about sale-barn issue and need to expand national cemetery

Fayetteville man speaks out for donating to help expand the National Cemetery

http://www.geocities.com/regncic/
Future looks grim for cemetery
It's sad when a graveyard dies. You wouldn't think so, but it is. "But how does a graveyard die?' you ask. It dies when it runs out of room. And "how is that sad?" you might inquire further. It's sad because it's happening right now to our beloved Fayetteville National Cemetery, the final resting place for over 7,000 servicemen and women. Veterans who fought and died in the Civil War are buried there. Servicemen and women who'll fight and die in Iraq and Afghanistan will be buried there. And, of course, veterans from all the wars in between have been laid to rest there. It's sad to think of the day when the cemetery has to start turning away those whose last wish was to lie for all eternity alongside their compatriots, their brethren. Who will be the last, I wonder. What will be his or her name?
Sadly, this is the fate of the Fayetteville National Cemetery unless it can procure more land. One of only three in the state, the FNC is already smaller than the other two in terms of size and burial capacity. The projected year during which our veteran's cemetery will reach full capacity, if no more land is secured, is 2023. Fourteen years, folks. Fourteen short years and we'll know their name.
But it doesn't have to happen this way, citizens of Northwest Arkansas. We have one chance, but one chance only, to save this cemetery. At present, eight acres of land adjacent to the east of the cemetery, where the "sale barn" sits now, has come up for sale, and the owner is on the verge of selling it to an out-of-state developer who intends to build more of the last thing Fayetteville needs - apartment buildings. The owner has stated that he would like to see the cemetery have the land, but they haven't made him an offer.
One might assume that all the cemetery has to do is ask the federal government for the money. One would be wrong. Under the responsibility of the Department of Veterans Affairs, veteran's cemeteries can only accept land through donations. That's where you come in, citizens of Northwest Arkansas. I would venture to guess that almost everyone reading this letter is either a veteran, is related to a veteran, or knows a veteran, and understands how important this is, and should be, to veterans. It's time to spread the word. And you must move fast. A viable solution as to how the land can be purchased must be underway before the next City Council meeting, or the aldermen might vote in favor of the rezoning, effectively killing the cemetery.
The property owner has yet to reveal his asking price, instead requiring the cemetery to "make an offer." If someone out there, or a consortium of individuals out there, would step up and make that offer, then there's hope for survival of the Fayetteville National Cemetery. Otherwise, it will die.
Brian Jackson


Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
Attn: Sue Graham, Treasurer
P.O. Box 4221
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72702
CONTRIBUTION CARD

Please print out this page and fill in the information below. Then mail the form along with your donation to the address above. Checks may be made out to the RNCIC.
Name:____________________________________________________

Address:_________________________________________________

City, State, Zip:___________________________________________
• I donate to the (RNCIC) $_________________ Date __________________

Do NOT fill out below line

RECEIPT

Dick Bennett to speak on Accountability for the new Obama administration at 11 a.m.

Hi OMNI folks...
Thought you might be interested to know that our founder, Dick Bennett, is the featured speaker tomorrow at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship service. Church ministers Kerry Mueller and Dave Hunter will be away this week.
Dick's topic will be Accountability for the new Obama administration, which is a pretty complex subject since so much of what is happening is in process. It's also something many of us are following closely.
Service begins at 11:00 am, and the church address is 901 W. Cleveland Ave.
Gladys Tiffany
www.omnicenter.org

Father's Day also first day of summer! Check out gamma grass

Please click on images to ENLARGE view of gamma grass on World Peace Wetland Prairie on June 18, 2009, with prairie wild rose, Rosa Arkansana, in the second photo. and sensitive brier in the third photo from June 18, 2009. on WPWP.



Today is the official first day of summer.

Butterfly gardens easy to grow in the black, rich soil of the Illinois River valley and the Town Branch vallley of Fayetteville, Arkansas

Please click on image to ENlarge view of obedient plant on Pinnacle Foods Inc. Prairie west of World Peace Wetland Prairie on June 19, 2009, a big non-native pink flower whose name I can't remember at the moment at the entry to the trail through Pinnacle Prairie and a butterfly milkweed near WPWP.




Butterfly gardens can be grown throughout the
United States. There is a wide variety of both butterfly
attracting (nectar) plants and host (food) plants cover-
ing climates zones throughout the country.
Creating a Garden
Gardens can range in size from containers to sever-
al acres. Butterflies like sunny sites and areas sheltered
from high winds and predators. Warm, sheltered sites
are most needed in the spring and fall. Butterflies are
cold-blooded insects that can only fly well when their
body temperatures are above 70oF. They are often seen
resting on rocks, which reflect the heat of the sun help-
ing to raise their body temperatures, so be sure to
include some rocks in your garden. It’s also beneficial
to have partly shady areas, like trees or shrubs, so they
can hide when it’s cloudy or cool off if it’s very hot.
Plants that attract butterflies are usually classified
as those that areafood source,anectar source or both.
Butterflies require food plants for their larval stages and
nectar plants for the adult stage. Some larvae feed on
specifichost plants, while others will feed on a variety
of plants. If possible, include both larval host plants
and adult nectar plants in your butterfly garden.
Butterflies also like puddles. Males of several
species congregate at small rain pools, forming “puddle
clubs”. Permanent puddles are very easy to make by
buryingabucket to therim, filling it with gravel or
sand, and then pouring in liquids such as stale beer,
sweet drinks or water. Overripe fruit, allowed to sit for
afew days is a very attractive substance to butterflies
as well!
Life Cycle of A Butterfly
Butterflies go through a four-stage developmental
process known as metamorphosis (egg, larva or caterpil-
lar, pupa or chrysalis and adult). Understanding a but-
terfly’s life cycle can make butterfly watching more
enjoyable, andthis knowledge is an important asset to
those who want to understand the principles of attract-
ingbutterflies to their gardens.
Butterflies begin their life as an egg, laid either
singly or in clusters depending on the species. A very
tiny caterpillar emerges and, after consuming its egg
shell, begins feeding on its host plant. Caterpillars must
crawl out of their skin or molt, usually around five times,
before changing into a pupa. Finally, an adult butterfly
emerges, spreads its wings and flies away.
Butterflies typically lay their eggs in late spring and
hatch 3 to 6 days after they are laid. It takes 3 to 4
weeks for a caterpillar to pupate and 9 to 14 days to
emerge as an adult.
Host Plants
Adult female butterflies spend time searching for
food plants required by the immature caterpillar stage.
Most butterflies have specific host plants on which they
develop. For example, caterpillars of the monarch but-
terfly develop only on milkweed, while the black swal-
lowtail feeds only on parsley, dill and closely related
plants. Planting an adequate supply of the proper host
plants gives butterflies a place to lay their eggs, which
will successfully hatch and result in butterflies that will
continue to visit thegarden. Providing the necessary
food plants for the developing caterpillars also allows
production of a “native” population that can be
observed in all stages ofdevelopment.
To enjoy adult butterflies, you have to be willing to
allow their caterpillars to feed on foliage in your garden.
Food source plants that support caterpillars include the
annual marigold, snapdragon and violet; the perennial
butterfly milkweed, daisy and various herbs; the ash,
birch, cherry, dogwood, poplar and willow trees; lilac
shrubs; juniper evergreens and more.
The weediness of some host plants makes them less
than desirable for a space within your more attractive
garden beds, but they serve the same function if you
place them away in a corner of the yard. To keep them
from becoming invasive, remember to remove their
spentblooms before they go to seed.
Plants to Attract Butterflies
To attract the most butterflies, design a garden
that provides a long season of flowers (nectar plants).
The time of flowering, duration of bloom, flower color
and plant size are all important considerations when
selecting plants to attract butterflies. A wide variety of
food plants will give the greatest diversity of visitors.
Choose a mixture of annuals and perennials.
Annuals bloom all summer but must be replanted every
spring (after the last frost). Perennials bloom year after
year from the same roots but their blooming periods are
typically limited to a few weeks or months. To ensure
the availability of nectar sources throughout the sum-
mer, long-blooming annuals should be planted between
the perennials.
Try staggering wild and cultivated plants, as well as
blooming times of the day and year. Planting in mass
(several plants of the same kind) will usually attract
more butterflies, as there is more nectar available to
them at a single stop. Plants with clusters of flowers
are often better than plants with small, single flowers
because it is easier for butterflies to landon clustered
and/or larger flowers.
Many plants which attract butterflies, especially
trees and shrubs, may already be present in a specific
area. Shrubs include azalea, spirea, butterfly bush and
lilacs. Although weeds andsomenative plants are gen-
erally not welcomein a garden, allowingthem to grow
under supervision may be an option, as these plants
help attract butterflies. Try to avoid plants that readily
reseed and may take over and dominate garden sites.
Perennials, such as chives, dianthus, beebalm, but-
terfly weed, mints, black-eyed susan and purple cone-
flower offer a succession of blooms, other perennials
include coreopsis, lavender, phlox, sedum and yarrow.
Add annuals that flower all season, such as cosmos, lan-
tana, pentas,petunias, phlox, salvia and zinnias. Select
flowers with manysmall tubular flowers or florets like
liatris, goldenrod and verbena. Or chose those with sin-
gle flowers, such as marigold, daisy and sunflower.
Butterflies are attracted to flowers with strong
scents and bright colors, where they drink sweet energy-
rich nectar. Planting a variety of nectar sources will
encourage more butterflies to visit the garden.
For better butterfly viewing, plant the tallest
plants in the rear of the garden and work smaller or
shorter towardthefront.
Butterfly
Gardens
Creating, Growing and Enjoying
EARLMAYSEED&NURSERY
www.earlmay.com
SHENANDOAH, IOWA51603
Butterfly Host Plants(continued)
Trees Herbs
Ash Dill
Birch Parsley
Cherry Sweet Fennel
Dogwood
Linden
Poplar
Willow
Butterfly Attracting Plants
Annuals Perennials
Ageratum Aster
Cosmos Beebalm
Gomphrena Blanket Flower
Heliotrope Butterfly Milkweed
Lantana Coreopsis
Marigold Daisy
Nasturtium Dame’s Rocket
Nicotiana Daylily
Pentas Dianthus
Petunia Liatris
Phlox Phlox
Salvia Purple Coneflower
Snapdragon Rudbeckia
Statice Russian Sage
Sunflower Salvia
Sweet Alyssum Scabiosa
Verbena Sedum
Zinnia Veronica
Yarrow
Shrubs Herbs
Azalea Catnip
Butterfly Bush Chives
Lilacs Lavender
Mock Orange Mint
Potentilla
Viburnun
Cut Back on Insecticides
It’s difficult to have a successful butterfly garden
inalocation where insecticides are used. Pesticides,
specifically insecticides, kill not only the insects you
want to get rid of – they also kill the insects you want
tokeep, such as monarch caterpillars. Even biological
controls such as Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) will kill but-
terfly larvae. When treating for insect pests, always
consider non-chemical methods of pest control before
turning to pesticides.
Let Your Garden Grow
Most butterfly species over-winter nearby. This
means that their eggs, chrysalises, or larvae are likely to
be in or near your yard during the non-gardening
months. Some will even hibernate as adults. Do not
mow weed sites, cut down dead plants or dismantle
woodpiles which provide them safe shelter in the off-
season until the weather warms up.
Enjoying Your Butterfly Garden
Butterfly gardens are a great source of enjoyment
for everyone. Visiting butterflies include a variety of
different species and names, depending upon the region
of the country in which you live. To learn more about
which plants help in attracting butterflies get your copy
of National Wildlife Federation Attracting Birds,
Butterflies and Other Backyard Wildlife by David
Mizejewski or the Earl May Perennial Guideavailable at
your local Earl May Nursery & Garden Center.
Butterfly Host Plants
Annuals Perennials
Marigold Butterfly Milkweed
Snapdragon Daisy
Violet
Shrubs Evergreens
Lilacs Juniper
IBM# 912600 750 4/08
Copyright Earl May Seed & Nursery L.C. ©

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Grow plants suitable for butterflies and enjoy your yard more than ever


Easy to Grow Butterfly Plants

Plant USDA Zone Description How to Grow Butterflies
Attracted
Butterfly bush*
(Buddleia) 5-9 summer
early fall quick-growing shrub to 15' varying colors average soil, well drained
Milkweed
(Asclepias) 3-10 summer
fall 1'-2' clump-forming perennial; drought tolerant well adapted to most areas
Chrysanthemum all summer-fall 1'-5' perennials/annuals; shape and color vary average to rich soil, well drained
Goldenrod
(Solidago) 3-9 summer-
fall 1'-5' perennial with bright-yellow flowers average, moist; well-drained soil
Lavender
(Lavandula) 5-10 summer-
fall fragrant shrub to 3'; drought tolerant average soiol well drained
Lilac
(Syringa) 3-8 spring arching shrubs to 15; best with winter chilling neutral/alkl, well-drained soil
Marigold
(Tagetes) all spring-
fall 6"-18" bushy annual; not frost tolerant average water
Purple
coneflower
(Echinacea) 3-10 summer-
fall sturdy, branching perennial to 4'; heat tolerant rich soil, well drained
Black-eyed Susan
(Rudbeckia) 3-9 summer-
fall 18"-48"; mostly perennials; brightly colored flowers any soil soggy
Salvia 3-10 summer-
fall 1'4' perennials/annuals, mounded to shrubby average soil, well drained
Swallowtails Brushfoots Whites Sulphurs Hairstreaks Blues Coppers Skippers

* invasive in some states; please check with your state cooperative-extension service

Peace leaders' forum begins in 30 minutes at OMNI Center

Reminder that Peace Leaders Forum is this evening, 6:00 pm at UCM in the Deep End.
John Ray will demonstrate the way to give a danged good motivational talk. I'm sure looking forward to it. Getting people motivated to work together is pretty important in peace work. In fact it's pretty important in about any kind of work.

Baked Potato Potluck will start at 6:00. Bring any toppings you like on your potato, and plan to share some of it with your friends. Sour cream, parsley, veggies, cheese etc... If you really like meat-y stuff you can bring it. Remember though that every time you avoid eating meat you're doing a bit to save the planet.

Yeah Earth! See y'all soon.

Friday, June 19, 2009

A special meeting of the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation is to begin at 10:30 A.M. Saturday. Visitors welcome

The Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation special meeting is at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the American Legion Hut in Fayetteville, Arkansas. For a map and directions, please see below.

View Larger Map

Please attend and meet the group and consider donating to help the veterans fight for the dignity of the FAYETTEVILLE NATIONAL CEMETERY, a true national shrine. The cemetery will be degraded if the city of Fayetteville allows a developer to build student apartments next to it on the Washington County Sale Barn property. If rezoning to allow student apartments is allowed by the city council, the cemetery will never again have a chance to raise money and buy the sale-barn land. The fund-raising effort must show progress as soon as possible.

Arkansas Highway Department scrapes soil out of swale and hauls it to a dump

Please click on start button to view video of AHTD machine scraping topsoil, grass and wildflower from vegetated swale and loading it all into a truck to haul away and dump.


The district highway engineer in Fort Smith office says practice of scraping out "ditches" pleases landowners. He believes it also helps protect base of roadway, even though it actually speeds runoff and encourages erosion.
I wonder what the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's stream team would advise if consulted?
Sometimes it seems that information about how best to manage streams and the ditches that replace streams in so many places is everywhere.
But the people with the big tonka toys never seem to get it. The water that enters this ditch flows to the Cato Springs Branch of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River before entering Beaver Lake, the region's primary source of drinking water. It enters Fayetteville through the Fayette Junction neighborhood and joins the west arm of the Town Branch at Levi Park.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Highway official says some people who live along state highways don't want wildflowers in the ditch out front

Please click on images to ENLARGE view ditch dredging on Arkansas 265.



Washington County found innocent. Watershed degradation being done by state highway department

Please click on images to ENLARGE view of Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department machine digging rich, dark well-vegetated soil out of a ditch on the west side of Arkansas 265 south of Fayetteville. An earlier post quoting a commuting motorist's email contained an error. Washington County is not to blame for this misguided work that threatens to increase the silt load of Cato Springs Branch, the lower Town Branch and the West Fork of the White River entering Beaver Lake. The soil being eroded is typical high-quality prairie topsoil that has washed into the ditch but should be back on farm or pasture or natural prairie land. This soil is hauled away and dumped, allowing more to erode away.


Monarch butterfly finds a tasty milkweed for nectaring and laying of eggs.

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of monarch butterfly nectaring on butterfly milkweed across a vegetated ditch on Arkansas 265 south of Fayetteville. Plants of the various species of milkweed are the only plants upon which a monarch caterpiller can feed and survive to become a young butterfly. Mowing milkweed in late spring, summer and through October must be avoided to allow monarchs to survive as a species.

Brief environmental report from commuter using Razorback Road and 265 south this morning

"Bad sights on way to work this morning.
"Someone mowed the field at Razorback and 15th where the white wild indigo was just blooming.
And the county is SCRAPING the ditches... which have numerous milkweed, cup and compass plants etc."

Same person told me yesterday that I needed to go photograph native wildflowers on that route, but I was busy. Frustrating time of year when such things happen at the beginning of the summer peak of prairie-flower glory.

Removing the vegetation from the ditches causes erosion. In this case, the water along Arkansas 265 south of Fayetteville from the de-vegetated ground flows down Cato Springs Branch to the West Fork of the White River carrying silt to Beaver Lake.
Why do county crews do things exactly opposite to the rules of watershed protection?
There is plenty of bare ground in south Fayetteville resulting from mismanaged construction without a public agency adding to it for absolutely no justifiable purpose.

Instead wasting fuel in such a manner, they could be sitting in an air-conditioned building and watching one of thousands of video productions on sound watershed management practices. That would cost the county less and actually accomplish something worthwhile.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Help buy trees to reforest Mena, Arkansas, and hear a great concert at George's tonight

Trees for Mena Benefit Show

Benjamin Del Shreve

3 Penny Acre

Randall Shreve

The Sarah Hughes Band

Smithstonians

Cletus Got Shot

Tanya and Dave

Jonathon Brinkley

Wed, June 17, 7 pm . George’s Majestic Lounge

Fayetteville, AR . $5 minimum at the door

Come prepared for great raffle prizes!

All proceeds go to buying native trees to replace those lost in the April 9, 2009 Tornado in Mena, Arkansas.

Contact Maggie @ 479.225.8396 or mtucker22@yahoo.com for more info

Agenda session running now. Last night's council meeting to run on City 16 at 1: 30 p.m. today

Government Channel schedule has changed, for the better, we hope, and the first rerun of the Fayetteville City Council meeting from Tuesday, June 16, begins at 1:30 p.m. on City 16.
The meeting can also be viewed on the Internet from the Granicus archives on the AccessFayetteville site.
http://accessfayetteville.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2

Millage election a bad idea. Even discussing hiring an election consultant an insult to taxpayers

"The millage election will be Sept. 15 as part of the regular school elections in Washington County.
"Heil said she has a list of numerous patrons who have expressed interest in working on the district's campaign. The board hasn't discussed hiring an election consultant but she would favor it, Heil said.

From a story in today's The Morning News.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Morning News:Veterans, veteran's widow, neighbors oppose rezoning sale barn for student apartments; council holds sale barn issue on first reading

Please click on image of a few of the several veterans who spoke out against the proposed student-apartment complex that an out-of-state developer has proposed for construction adjacent to the National Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on June 16, 2009.

The Morning News
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/06/16/news/061709fzcouncil.txt
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
New Water Tank Gets Approval; neighbors, veterans disapprove powerfully of sale-barn rezoning next to National Cemetery
By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE — It took a week, but a decision among the city and residents has been reached to locate a half-million-gallon water tank on the hilltop neighborhood of Hyland Park.
A 143-foot water tank will be built on a .66-acre secluded site on Lovers Lane. The site is one of the four sites originally explored, but it was generally viewed as too expensive, in terms of land cost and needed infrastructure. This site will add about $220,000 to the cost of the project, said Dave Jurgens, Fayetteville utility director.
However, city officials have negotiated a deal with Hyland Park resident Jim Waselues for him to pay the city $75,000 for the original lot intended for the tank — known as Lot 22. In turn, Gary Combs, owner of the Lovers Lane site will donate his site to the city.
"Although I'm not crazy about spending $200,000 more, I think it shows that the city is willing to be flexible and work with people," said Bobby Ferrell a council member.
"Maybe everyone's not totally satisfied, but this is probably the best solution," said Adella Gray a council member from Ward 1.
The project was opposed by the Hyland Park Homeowner's Association that did not want a water tank in their backyards, saying it will negatively impact views, property value and the general aesthetic nature of the neighborhood.
What did not move forward was any decision regarding rezoning the old Washington County Sale Barn site. The barn intends to hold its last sale June 25, said Steve Bartholemew, one of the sale barn's owners.
A 192-unit student housing apartment development is proposed for the nine-acre site. Some 50 people showed up for the council meeting Tuesday to oppose not only the rezoning, but more largely, the development.
It wasn't just residents from the area petitioning the council to deny the downtown general rezoning, but numerous veterans from across Northwest Arkansas. A national military cemetery — the final resting place for 7,963 deceased veterans — sits adjacent to the site. Veterans would like to expand the cemetery into the sale barn site. However, no deal has been reached say veterans and Bartholemew.
"If we can just stave off this rezoning at this time, it will give us that time," said Jim Buckner, a retired lieutenant colonel and a representative of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
"There are private resources," Buckner added, and who said student housing would be "a terrible neighbor."
"In fact it would only be a beer can throw away from our veterans buried there," he continued.
"There has been no contact with us on a dollar amount," said Bartholomew. "I do know that they have talked, but there has never been a dollar amount."
Wanda Peterson, who's lived in the neighborhood since 1938 and has family buried in the cemetery, was passionate in her plea to stop the rezoning.
"I just can't bear an apartment building shadowing those graves," Peterson told the council.
Others reminded the council the current zoning is light industrial and a number of undesirable land uses could move in without the rezoning.
"The rezoning tonight is a downzoing from industrial to a downtown general," said Dustin Bartholomew, grandson to Billy Joe Bartholomew, co-owner of the Washington County Sale Barn.
"The things that could be built there at this time could be a lot more damaging than what's being proposed," Dustin Bartholomew said.

What Comes Next?
Washington County Sale Barn Rezoning
• The ordinance was left on its first reading.
• It will be considered again at the next council meeting.

For government channel schedule of reruns of the council meeting on City 16 on Cox Cable, please see
http://fayettevillearkgovernmentchannel.blogspot.com
The first rebroadcast of the June 16 city council meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. today and the second is at 7:30 p.m. today.
Rebroadcasts of the June 8 meeting of the Town Branch neighbors with the developers who want the sale barn rezoned for student apartments are set for CAT 18 on cox cable at 11 a.m. Wednesday, 3 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
I am uncertain how this affects the short takes normally run at those times. Some weeks, few short takes are recorded. In fact, the one I recorded for those time slots is mostly about the same issue! I apologize to anyone who did a short take and is bumped by this very timely production.
When all equipment is running properly, the shows run on CAT 18 are run simultaneously on the Internet from the CAT Web site for those with access to the Web but no cable television.

Meeting of vets, Town Branch neighbors and developers from last Monday on CAT 18 and internet at 10:30 P.M.

Video of Town Branch Neighborhood meeting with developers of sale barn property to be shown on Cox cable channel CAT 18 starting at 10:30 p.m. Please watch to get an idea of the issues that will affect neighbors and the National Cemetery.
Meeting video streams online at the same time at
http://www.catfayetteville.org

Northwest Arkansas Times says neighbors, veterans oppose apartments next to National Cemetery

Please click on image to enlarge view of Fayetteville City Council members Matthew Petty and Sarah Lewis talking with Channel 5 videographer and reporter on the parking lot of the Washington County Livestock Auction Barn with downtown Fayetteville in the background on June 15, 2009.



Sale-barn closing announced by The Northwest Arkansas Times


The headline above this post is an understatement.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Peace-garden tour photos from Saturday June 13, 2009

Please click on images to ENLARGE view of Marie Riley's Julia Ward Howe Peace Garden with OMNI sign, great spangled fritillary at Ed Laningham's Glendale Garden and Amanda Bancroft at World Peace Wetland Prairie.



The great spangled fritillary, formally known as Speryeria cybele, was sighted at all six garden sites on Saturday. While the great spangled frit nectars on many species of flower, its caterpillers must have violets as host plants in order to mature.

More peace-garden tour samples from Saturday June 13, 2009

Please click on images to ENLARGE view of pink blooms from Roxanne Worthy's peace garden, a yellow flower from Nancy Maier's Bluebirds of Peace garden and one of Cathy Boyd's peace trees.


Friday, June 12, 2009

Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation's monthly directors' meeting is at 10:30 A.M. TODAY. Visitors welcome.

The Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation monthly meeting is at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the American Legion Hut in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

View Larger Map

Please attend and meet the group and consider donating to help the veterans fight for the dignity of the FAYETTEVILLE NATIONAL CEMETERY, a true national shrine. The cemetery will be degraded if the city of Fayetteville allows a developer to build student apartments next to it on the Washington County Sale Barn property and the cemetery will never again have a chance to raise money and buy the sale-barn land.

Firefighters to be out raising money for Scholarship Fund on Saturday

Hey everyone,

We got rained out today during our MDA Fill the Boot Drive, but we will be out in full force tomorrow and we will be rescheduling today’s fund raising efforts for another day. Thanks to everyone who drives by and puts change in our boots. You really help us make a difference and we appreciate you for it. The Fayetteville Fire Fighters Association will also be having our annual 4th of July Crawfish and Shrimp Jubilee at the Elks Lodge in Fayetteville. The event is a fundraiser for The Fayetteville Fire Fighters Association Scholarship Fund. The event is sponsored by Bobby Odom. Everyone is invited. I will be sending out more info at a later date. Hope to see you there. Thank You.

Jeremy Ashley
President L2866
Fayetteville Fire Fighters Association

Peace-garden tour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday June 13, 2009

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of OMNI Peace Garden Tour Poster.

Construction under canopy of trees threatens tree survival

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of one of the few significant trees remaining on the former Aspen Ridge Townhouse construction site now being completed as Hill Place student apartments. The street route was dug out in early 2006 or late 2005 and now that a sidewalk has actually been constructed, even less space for tree roots to re-grow appears available. So neighbors wonder whether this and some of the other trees remaining in the dedicated parkland will be alive to shade park visitors after another year.