tool name

Similar stories:

• Pondering water rates

  Pondering water rates

  Water meters -- of course we have to have them. And now that we finally have them, we must learn to live with them. We are already using less water, and as we learn to xeriscape and to use every drop efficiently, we will use just what we really need. But, if the water bills are too high, we will end up with a hot, treeless city.

  I have taken out three trees, two rose bushes and a bunch of groundcover that I will not miss. But if Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin thinks it's just that easy to raise the water rates again, to possibly double the current rate or more, we are going to lose the trees that make our summers bearable.

  The water system needs long-deferred repairs, and we may need a new treatment plant for additional drinking water. But if we are allowed and encouraged to use gray water for landscaping, we may be able to save enough to not need the new treatment plant. And, if the water division is so in need of money, why provide free in-home consultations on water usage? There are less expensive ways

• Teague: Keep watch for signs of fireblight

  Teague: Keep watch for signs of fireblight

  As temperatures begin to warm and new buds and leaves begin to open on the trees, the first signs of fireblight also appear. This disease can cause serious damage to affected trees and bushes (even kill them) and, because treatment is laborious and not al

• Earth Log: Lawmakers need to levy fertilizer fee

  Earth Log: Lawmakers need to levy fertilizer fee

  A fee on farm fertilizer? That's among the recommendations from the state water board to pay for widespread contamination of drinking water. Now lawmakers must decide if they will enforce it.

• Harvesting liquid gold to make maple 'sirup' depends on the weather

  Harvesting liquid gold to make maple 'sirup' depends on the weather

  Debby Funk peered inside a four-gallon metal bucket, one of 3,000 suspended from taps in the maple trees at Funks Grove, and looked pleased, even though the sap was dripping slower than she would have liked.

• Cause of off-color, fetid water eludes Pa. town

  Cause of off-color, fetid water eludes Pa. town

  What causes clear, fresh country well water to turn orange or black, or smell so bad that it's undrinkable?