SAN ANTONIO – Lawns throughout the Lone Star State are dead and dying. While drought is the main suspect, other forces may be at work, according to Texas AgriLife experts.

“Chinch bugs thrive in hot, dry weather and feed primarily on St. Augustine grass, but can also damage Bermuda and zoysia grass, although this is rare,” said Molly Keck, integrated pest management specialist with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Bexar County. “They prefer areas of the lawn that absorb the most heat, like where the grass meets the walkway, driveway or foundation of the house.”

Chinch bugs are thought to insert a toxin that kills the grass while they suck out its juices. They feed on stems and nodes near the base of the plant, leaving brown patches that will continue to grow larger if left untreated. Damage to lawns has been extensive throughout Texas due to the extended drought which has created ideal conditions for the pest to feed and proliferate.

Grown chinch bugs are typically about 0.2 inch long. Adults are black with white wings showing a triangular black mark; immature bugs are wingless and bright to burnt orange with a light-colored horizontal band across their back.

Keck said chinch bug damage often looks like fungal damage – dead grass with a “halo” of yellow grass surrounding the dead spot – so it’s important to try and find out if they’re present.

One way to check for the pests, she said, is to take an empty can with both ends open, a piece of PVC pipe or other cylinder and work it into the soil so it will hold water in an area of the lawn where the grass is yellowing.

“Fill the can with water and after about 10 minutes you should see chinch bugs floating to the top,” Keck said.

Lawns infested with chinch bugs can be treated using an insecticide that’s labeled for use on the pests, she said.

Some ways of managing lawns to reduce the possibility of chinch bugs include aerating the turf and applying a layer of top dressing, as well as not over- or under-watering, according to other AgriLife Extension experts.

Grub worms also are active during the summer months and into early fall, and their damage is often confused with that caused by chinch bugs, said Dr. James Reinert, an entomologist with Texas AgriLife Research in Dallas.

Reinert said grubs are white, C-shaped, wormlike creatures with three sets of legs and are the larvae of beetles that take flight in May or June, usually following a storm.

“Grubs are one of the biggest problems in lawns throughout Texas,” he said. “While chinch bugs feed on the surface of grasses, grubs feed on the root system. If grubs are present, the grass will pull up easily because the anchorage of the plant to the soil has been cut off at the roots.”

Without roots to take up moisture and plant nutrients, the grass will brown and die and appear to be under drought stress, Reinert said. Grass damaged by white grubs can be pulled up easily or even rolled up like a carpet, while grass under drought stress remains anchored to the soil and cannot be easily pulled up, even though it is turning yellow or brown.

Dead or dying grass roots will be black or brown, while healthy roots are white, he added.

Reinert said seeing a significant number of May or June beetles flying near a home is a good indication of grubs in that or a neighbor’s lawn.

“If you dig into the soil two or so inches deep about three weeks after a major beetle flight, this is the time to look for grubs,” he said. “They will be small this time of the year, but if you begin to find four or more per one square foot, they may cause damage to the lawn later in the summer or fall. Damage will depend on the condition of the turf and how well you manage your lawn.”

Reinert added that other smaller, straighter and legless wormlike larvae may also be found in Texas lawns.

“These smaller ones are the larvae of the hunting billbug, which have become more damaging in recent years,” he said. “When populations of these insects are high, they can be just as harmful as May or June bug larvae.”

Reinert said white grubs too can be treated with an insecticide specifically labeled for use on them.

“If you discover white grubs and are using granular treatment, you need to water it well to push the insecticide down to the target site to kill the grubs where they are feeding on the roots,” he said.

While turf grass disease isn’t typically a problem in hot, dry weather, it can occur when a lawn is under drought stress, said Daphne Richards, AgriLife Extension horticulturist in Travis County.

“Stress from drought, as well as too little or too much watering, can lead to turf grass disease,” Richards said. “A common turf grass disease in the summertime is take-all root rot, a fungal disease that affects mainly St. Augustine lawns, but also Bermuda, zoysia and other turf grasses.”

Serious take-all infestations produce large discolored patches, dead roots and significant loss of grass stolons or runners.

“In the summer take-all is common in lawns throughout the state and is often mistaken for a chinch bug infestation or another turf grass disease known as brown patch,” Richards said.

But brown patch kills only the leaves, while take-all kills the plant’s roots and stolons as well.

“If your lawn gets large yellow or brown spots in the spring, odds are it’s take-all; but in the summer it could be something else,” she added. “Identifying the real cause can save you time and money.”

AgriLife Extension offices in counties throughout Texas have information on sending turf grass samples to the the Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in College Station. This is a service lab of Texas A&M University’s department of plant pathology and microbiology in conjunction with AgriLife Extension. The fee for routine testing is typically about $30.

Additionally, researchers continually try to develop new resistant turf grass cultivars, Reinert added, but resistance may wear down over time since the pests are constantly evolving and adapting.

“We are always working on new cultivars of grass that will resist these pests and the other abiotic challenges, including drought and heat stress,” he said.

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Sadly, I am not alone. Texas leads the nation with nearly 6 million Texans uninsured. That doesn’t include the countless others like me who save every penny to pay astronomical rates for private health insurance that can be discontinued at any time, leaving them un-insurable by other insurance companies.

What about federal and state health care assistance programs? I am a twenty-something middle-class business owner. Just like so many others, I work 7 days a week to make ends meet and save a little for the rainy day I know is coming. I am very blessed to own a house and a car that I have worked very hard for. That same house and car ensure that I will not qualify for any kind of aid. I suppose once I’m homeless and jobless I will be able to afford the medical treatment that I need, as ironic as that sounds. Then maybe I’ll sleep through the night for the first time in years.

A recent AARP article interviewed a middle-class Texas family of four living on about $38,000 a year. They do not qualify for aid so that their 15-year-old son can get medical treatment for asthma. Another Texas woman who was recently laid off by DHL is struggling to pay for her son’s cancer treatment. With so many employees being laid off, and the job market being tougher than ever, the families that cannot afford medical treatment these days are just like me and you.

The Texas Health Insurance Pool is designed to help people that cannot obtain health insurance otherwise. However, rates are literally double the private market, and the qualification process is complex. In some cases there are long waiting periods or riders for pre-existing conditions. For average Texans like you and me, there just aren’t any options. Texas lawmakers are turning their back to this middle-class health care crisis, as if it doesn’t exist or doesn’t affect real, honest, hard-working Texans. But to those of us living it, or in fear of it, every day, this crisis could literally be a life or death situation.

Each day I thank God for another gift of life, however unfair I may find life right now. He certainly never said it would be easy, so I just pray that He awakens lawmakers before it’s too late. Then I’m off to work in pursuit of that American dream, proud to be a Texan.

Jenna Warren is an Editor of TwentyPeacefulMinutes.com, a Texas news blog and discussion forum. She received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas-Arlington and is President of Charming Chick Inc.

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Towson, Md., June 2009—The new tie and golf balls are a nice gesture, but this Father’s Day Dad might need a gift society has conditioned him not to ask for—HELP! This could mean a helper to do simple tasks dad can no longer manage or a companion to help dad socialize and relieve depression and loneliness. Recent studies show men don’t seek psychological and physical help as easily as women because our culture preaches to boys early on that asking for help is not masculine but rather a sign of weakness.

“We see many elderly men needing the most help but they are the last to ask for it,” says Peter Ross, CEO and founder of Senior Helpers, the nation’s fastest growing provider of in-home senior care. “An elderly man could be suffering from deep depression or a physical ailment, but he’s too proud to seek assistance.”

Just ask Mark Snider from Charlotte, North Carolina. His 83-year-old dad, Rod Snider, had symptoms of dementia for several months before he finally told his family he had a problem. Rod was having difficulty sleeping and was becoming forgetful. His family blamed old age.

Mark says his dad suddenly turned over his car keys and said, “Son, I no longer feel I should drive.” Mark hired Senior Helpers for his dad, 24/7, to help him back to bed during the night so he would not accidentally fall, take his medicine on time, go for walks and even work with Scrabble pieces and math flash cards to keep his mind sharp. Rod died last month from an aggressive form of dementia, just months after he was officially diagnosed.

Consider this:
A 2008 study from the University of Cincinnati and the Medical University of South Carolina finds in the U.S. boys learn early on that men should be strong, independent, tough and self- reliant. The study calls the contrast between men’s and women’s help- seeking behavior a “growing concern.”

In the U.S., men die, on average, close to seven years younger than women and have higher rates of the 15 leading causes of death. A study by Clark University and Boston College says, “improving professional help seeking is one obvious way to better men’s lives.”

A new national poll conducted by Senior Helpers found 70% (7 out of 10) adult children would overwhelmingly choose their mom over their dad to move in with them if their elderly parents could not take care of themselves. Ross believes, “children think of mom first because she’s more likely to ask for help while dad appears independent and in control.”

Solution:
“The best way to get dad help is to offer it with an emphasis on problem solving rather than emotion,” adds Ross. “Since men are competitive and success oriented, the best way to approach Dad is to acknowledge the courage it takes to ask for and accept assistance and then point out why it is a good idea.”

Ross also advises basing your offer to help dad on these warning signs:
-Difficulty getting around. Falls are the leading cause of death and injury for Americans over age 65.
-Memory loss. It’s one thing to forget where the keys are. It’s another to forget if you took your medicine, left the stove on, if you forget the day or your location. Severe memory loss could be a sign of severe dementia.
-Change in appearance or behavior. Weight loss could indicate a senior is not eating properly. A lack of hygiene or unkempt appearance may be a sign of depression or the inability to perform the basic activities of daily living.

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On January 1, 1954, Americans from coast to coast witnessed the first nationwide colorcast when the Tournament of Roses Parade was aired in vivid Technicolor. This broadcast marked the arrival of the color television, something Americans have now enjoyed for over half a century. Not since that undertaking have the U.S. broadcasting industry and the federal government endeavored to roll out a technology upgrade that impacts every American household. Until now.

After years of planning and preparation, the digital television, or DTV, transition took place on June 12, 2009. At midnight, all of the nation’s full power broadcasters, large TV stations covering multiple cities, switched from an analog to a digital broadcasting format. Prior to this date, about 40 percent of broadcasters had transitioned to digital, but the remaining 60 percent were required by law to changeover and discontinue broadcasting in analog format.

For those who were not ready for the transition, you may have turned on your TV set the day of the transition and found you had no access to basic television programming, public emergency broadcasts, such as AMBER Alerts, severe weather warnings, and other important safety messages. You can still take modest measures to continue to receive television broadcasts.

The Texas households at risk of being unprepared are ones with older television sets and they receive over-the-air programming using roof top antennas or “rabbit ears.” These TVs require a converter box to translate the digital broadcast signal into an analog signal that an older television can display. Each television that is neither outfitted with a digital tuner nor connected to a cable or satellite service requires an independent converter box. Consumers can still purchase converter boxes at retail locations across the country, including many electronics chains throughout Texas. Consumers who still need coupons to offset the cost of a converter box may contact the U.S. Department of Commerce at 1-888-388-2009 or visit www.dtv2009.gov.

Many Texans faced with preparations and costs may be wondering why this transition was so important – or even necessary at all.

Although it may not be as dramatic as shifting from black and white to color TV, the transition will significantly enhance the clarity of television broadcasts, resulting in less interference, sharper pictures, and better sound quality. The efficiency of digital broadcasting will also allow for new and diverse television programming.

Most importantly, transitioning to digital television, or DTV, will free up important radio frequencies, which can be reused for new communications services and safety activities that will increase the nation’s ability to respond to terrorist attacks and national disasters. Digital broadcasting will continue to transmit emergency messages, like AMBER Alerts, but some of the spectrum space will be reallocated to implement a nationwide interoperable public safety communication system to support police, fire departments, rescue squads and other first responders. The challenges facing first responders on September 11, 2001, and during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita illustrate how badly this capability is needed, and the 9/11 Commission recommended a nationwide public safety system in its final report to Congress.

I have worked hard to spread the word to all Texans through brochures, educational outreach programs, and public service announcements. Even though the changeover date has come and gone, large numbers of Texans may not have been able to prepare, including many elderly and disabled individuals as well as those facing language barriers.

Though you may have prepared and your household’s DTV transition went smoothly, please take time to assist others, particularly friends, family, and neighbors who may be unable to obtain a converter box or need assistance installing one. This technological change is an important development, but it need not be overwhelming.

Kay Bailey Hutchison is the senior U.S. Senator from Texas and is the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The above material was originally sent under the heading of Sen. Hutchison’s column, which is e-mailed on a regular basis to the Messenger and other newspapers. Because the Messenger does not have the space to publish columns from our federal and state representatives on a regular basis, we publish selected columns as guest editorials or feature articles when we feel they would be of particular interest to our readers.

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Don’t worry, I’m still here and 20PM isn’t going anywhere! After the holidays things should start returning to normal and I’ll be able to post a number of exciting stories I’ve been working on. Also, if you’ve sent me an email or submitted a story and I haven’t responded yet, please don’t be offended, I’ve just been very behind on submissions lately.

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a chance to relax and enjoy the holidays with friends and family. Merry Christmas!

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That statement has caused me to come up with a question I believe to be much more important than who will sit in the Oval Office in January.  It is blatantly obvious that our country has problems…BIG problems, including, but not limited to, war, terrorism, economic hard times, a health insurance crisis, and the continuing decline of our basic moral fiber.  And, as I pondered my husband’s bit of wisdom, I began to ask myself the real question – Who does have the power to solve our problems and put our nation back on track?  And the shocking answers are…ME!  and YOU!  and US!

I know it seems like an enormous responsibility, but I truly believe that we all hold a piece of the power to set things right.  We cannot afford as a society to continue to look to Washington to make things better for our families, our schools and our communities.  The solutions to these problems comes not from the top down, but from the bottom up.  So, where do we start?

I think our first priority is to change the way we view ourselves in relation to one another.  An author that has changed the way my 19 year old daughter sees the world, Shane Claiborn says that “each of us is created for community, and in the image of community. And yet everything in the world tries to rob us of this Divine gift.”

The world constantly tells us that we have to look out for number one.  That we have to keep others down to maintain our position.  We have become a world of self-centered and unempathetic creatures that leave no room for other people’s beliefs, opinions, shortcomings, needs and suffering. We speed through life and step over fallen people instead of taking the time to stop and help them up.  More and more, we prefer to give them a little kick as we pass.  It is not enough to just walk by and ignore them.  We take satisfaction in people’s problems and failures, because we are a society that compares, and as long as their life is worse than ours, we feel okay.  But, we are NOT okay!

I am a Christian, but I abhor religion and believe that it has done far more damage than good to our world.  I also respect that other people do not share my beliefs, but the following excerpt from Shane Claiborn’s book “The Irrisistible Revolution“ provides a profound insight into the kind of shift in our daily attitudes that could truly change the world we live in.

“If you ask most people what Christians believe, they can tell you, “Christians believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that Jesus rose from the dead.” But if you ask the average person how Christians live, they are struck silent. We have not shown the world another way of doing life. Christians pretty much live like everybody else; they just sprinkle a little Jesus in along the way. And doctrine is not very attractive, even if it’s true. Few people are interested in a religion that has nothing to say to the world and offers them only life after death, when what people are really wondering is whether there is life before death.

As my teacher Tony Campolo used to ask, “Even if there were no heaven and there were no hell, would you still follow Jesus? Would you follow him for the life, joy, and fulfillment he gives you right now?” I am more and more convinced each day that I would. Don’t get me wrong. I’m excited about the afterlife. We are going to party like there’s no tomorrow (umm, and there won’t be). And yet I am convinced that Jesus came not just to prepare us to die but to teach us how to live. Otherwise, much of Jesus’ wisdom would prove quite unnecessary for the afterlife. After all, how hard could it be to love our enemies in heaven? And the kingdom that Jesus speaks so much about is not just something we hope for after we die but is something we are to incarnate now. Jesus says the kingdom is “within us,” “among us,” “at hand,” and we are to pray that it comes “on earth as it is in heaven.” No wonder the early Christian church was known as the Way. It was a way of life that stood in glaring contrast to the world. What gave the early Christians integrity was the fact that they could denounce the empire and in the same breath say, “And we have another way of living. If you are tired of what the empire has to offer, we invite you into the Way.” Even the pagan emperors could not ignore the little revolution of love. Emperor Julian confessed, “The godless Galileans feed our poor in addition to their own.” And the Way had little cells multiplying all over that ole empire. Of course, everyone was forewarned that in this kingdom everything is backward and upside-down — the last are first and the first are last, the poor are blessed and the mighty are cast from their thrones. And yet people were attracted to it. They were ready for something different from what the empire had to offer.

Coming out of college, my friends and I were pretty unwilling to “conform to the pattern of this world,” as the Scriptures say (Rom. 12:2). We knew all too well that there is a broad way that leads to death and that most people would take it, but we also knew that there is a narrow way that leads to life, and we wanted to find it (Matt. 7:13 – 14). In fact, people had begun to notice the ripples from our little student movement. I was asked to speak at Eastern’s graduation ceremony, and to the chagrin of the dean, I told the story of how some friends and I were busted for rappelling out of the windows of one of the dorms. The dean had written us a warning that said, “Can you please enter and exit the buildings through the doors, like everybody else?” So my graduation message, “Crawl through the Window,” went something like this: The doors of normalcy and conformity are dead. The time has come to give up on the doors and find a window to climb through. It’s a little more dangerous and may get you into some trouble, but it is a heck of a lot more fun. And the people who have changed the world have always been the risk-takers who climb through windows while the rest of the world just walks in and out of doors. It got quite an ovation from everyone but the dean. We were ready for something new.”

I am ready for something new.  I believe it is time to stop looking to the government to take care of people and for people to start taking care of one another. We are a busy society, but we all have a moment or two in every day to make a small difference to someone.  And the truth is that if we take the time to make life better for a few, they will take the time to make life better for a few and our efforts will multiply.  Pay It Forward was a movie based on fiction, but it was based on more truth and could be more effective than the efforts of every well meaning politician in the world.  The question I pose to each of you is “What are you going to do to change the world today?” It has nothing to do with how you vote.

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