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| This Week's Titles: |
| Watch
Out For More Mosquitoes This Year |
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Diabetes Awareness In March |
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| Tiny
Worms Can Do Big Damage To Home Gardens |
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| Receiving
A Stimulus Check Requires Some Filing |
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| Improving
Food Safety At Restaurants |
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| Watch
Out For More Mosquitoes This Year |
1:38 |
Georgian's may have to deal
with more mosquitoes in 2008. |
Heavy rains the last several
weeks have left behind a lot of standing water, especially in
Central and South Georgia. Elmer Gray, an entomologist with
the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences says mosquitoes breed in standing water. So more standing
water means more mosquitoes. This is especially true in South
Georgia, where several rivers have spilled out of their banks.
"And these are the areas that get flooded in the spring. There's
not typically many fish in them or predators, so the mosquitoes
develop quickly. We're not talking containers that are in people's
yards now, we're talking about swamps and roadside ditches and
low lying areas that produce nuisance mosquitoes." Elmer Gray
with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences, who adds insecticides are on the market
that can be applied to water standing in ditches, low lying
areas, and areas near swamps. Treating now will kill mosquitoes
before they have a chance to mature and start biting people.
Georgian's should also pour out standing water in buckets, birdbaths,
old tires, and other containers that fill up with rainwater,
to reduce the mosquito population around your home. John Harrell,
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Diabetes
Awareness In March |
1:45 |
Georgian's can take a test
in the comfort of their home to see if they are at risk for
a killer disease. |
Around sixty million Americans
are unaware they have diabetes, or are at risk for developing
type two diabetes. To help people learn more about this killer,
the twentieth annual American Diabetes Alert Day will take place
Tuesday, March 25. Connie Crawley, a nutrition and health specialist
with the University of Georgia's College of Family and Consumer
Sciences says type two diabetes is mostly found in adults. "Ninety
percent of the people that have any kind of diabetes has type
two. But, there of course is type one which is typically diagnosed
in younger people, children and young adults. But even older
individuals can get type one as well. Only your doctor can really
tell you which type you have." Connie Crawley with the College
of Family and Consumer Sciences, who adds risk factors for type
two diabetes include having a blood pressure at or above one-thirty
over eighty, having a family history of diabetes, having diabetes
during pregnancy, or having a baby weighing more than nine pounds.
Georgian's can take the Diabetes Risk Test at home with the
help of their computer. Just go to the web site www.diabetes.org,
and follow the instructions. John Harrell, University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, reporting
from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Tiny
Worms Can Do Big Damage To Home Gardens |
1:44 |
That spring garden could take
a hard hit underground by tiny worms. |
During March home gardeners
get anxious to get their hands dirty, as they get ready to plant
their spring garden. They have plenty of weapons to help keep
weeds, insects, and diseases from taking over the garden. But
tiny underground worms called nematodes can attack a garden
without you knowing it. Jim Crawford, a county extension agent
in Jefferson County says nematodes can do a lot of underground
damage to garden plants. "But nematodes are a parasite on the
roots of plants that can severely stunt and diminish the general
thriftiness of the plant, even cause the plants to wilt down
and look like they have maybe even a mineral deficiency when
they really don't. They're just simply losing root mass. You
get enough of those on the roots and you're down to fifty percent
capacity for the plant to feed itself. They can literally starve
a plant to death." Jim Crawford with the University of Georgia's
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. There are
no chemical products labeled for nematode control in home gardens.
But you can get help from the sun to control nematodes in your
2009 garden. The technique called solarization involves spreading
plastic over the ground where next year's garden will be planted.
This must be done during the summer months on fallow ground,
to allow the sun's heat to kill nematodes that live underground.
John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Receiving
A Stimulus Check Requires Some Filing |
1:38 |
Georgian's will need to do
some filing before those stimulus payment checks are put in
the mail. |
This past February, legislation
was signed to provide most Americans with a stimulus payment
check. But a financial management specialist with the University
of Georgia's College of Family and Consumer Sciences says to
receive that stimulus payment, you must file a 2007 Federal
Income Tax Return. This includes those that are normally not
required to file a federal income tax return. "There's a fairly
large group of taxpayers who will be eligible for the credit
but they're going to need to take an extra step and that is
that they're going to have to file taxes. There are a lot of
individuals who normally would not be required to file taxes
because they don't owe any tax but as long as they have more
than three-thousand dollars in income, then they'll need to
file taxes to make sure they are in the loop to get one of these
stimulus payments." That was Michael Rupured with the College
of Family and Consumer Sciences. Georgian's that have already
filed their 2007 federal tax returns have already done their
part to get their stimulus checks. The IRS will automatically
do the rest. So no other action, extra forms, or calls are necessary
to receive your stimulus check. John Harrell, University of
Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Improving
Food Safety At Restaurants |
1:43 |
Some counties in North Georgia
are taking action to keep people from getting sick with a food-borne
illness. |
In recent years, food recalls
and reports of people getting sick with food-borne illnesses
have been in the news. Food safety experts believe education
in safe food handling techniques for food service employees
could reduce food-borne illness. Last year restaurant managers
and employees in Pike, Upson, Spalding, Lamar, and Butts County
took part in the ServSave Manager Course. Helen Carter, a county
extension agent in Pike County says restaurant managers are
now required to have some training on food safety. "It's part
of the National Restaurant Association curriculum, it's called
ServSafe, And it is where we are training managers of restaurants
to go through this curriculum, they are required now to have
some type of certification on food safety issues and so we deliver
that program to help them come into compliance with the new
regulations, and also just to help them with food-handling techniques."
Helen Carter with the College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences. Nineteen of the twenty-two participants from these
five counties successfully passed the national exam to obtain
ServSafe manager certification. Customers also come out winners,
since they can enjoy a meal at these restaurants and not be
concerned about the safety of the food they eat. John Harrell,
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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