Clippings

Grass clippings make great fertilizer.Believe it, said Tom Ford, a Carroll County Cooperative Extension Service agricultural and horticultural adviser.Mr. Ford and county officials will begin spreading the word about grass clippings next month in a lawn care program called "Don't Bag It."The program will encourage Carroll countians to leave grass clippings on their lawns instead of taking the clippings to landfills, and will offer residents a chance to win a mulching mower worth about $400.

Letter writer Jonathan Reidy quoted my testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee out of context ("High-capacity magazines mean more stray bullets," Feb. 11). I would like to correct the record. I told the committee that magazine capacity was a matter of personal choice regarding my ability to protect myself and my family. We are currently limited to 20-round magazines in Maryland, yet only the law-abiding are likely to follow that restriction. After my testimony was complete, one of the senators asked me if I thought fully automatic weapons were OK on the street.

Grass clippings no longer may be dumped on the lot at the corner of Belvue Street and Broadway, Union Bridge Mayor Perry Jones said.Due to complaints by neighbors -- who threatened to call the health department if dumping continued -- the practice will be discontinued.Residents must get rid of their own clippings, the mayor said.Cable TV ordinance gets introductionUnion Bridge Town Attorney John T. Maguire III has introduced an ordinance in which the town would adopt the county's cable television rates and regulations.

After hyping it up on Twitter for the past week, rising Baltimore rapper Starrz debuted his new video, as promised, late last night. The clip is for the more-serious "American Nightmare" track from last year's "Best Mixtape Ever" project. The video, which features Baltimore R&B singer Paula Campbell , was shot last week in West Baltimore at ConneXions School for the Arts (2801 N. Dukeland St.) and directed by Todd "Wiz" Dorsey . "American Nightmare," which was produced by J. Oliver , finds Starrz is in storyteller mode, making this track immediately stand out from his well-received mixtape.

Q. Is it OK to spray fertilizers on leaves? The label on my fertilizer bag gives directions for foliar feeding, but I worry I may burn the plants. Is it better to feed through the leaves or roots? A. Yes, leaves do take up nutrients safely and efficiently through tiny openings called stomata. The key is to apply a soluble fertilizer according to label directions, in the morning or early evening, to the lower leaf surfaces. It is impractical to try to meet a plant's total nutrient need through foliar feeding.

My eggplants' new leaves are being eaten by flea beetles. What is the best organic control method? Spray with a botanical insecticide, like neem or pyrethrum, or dust with diatomaceous earth. A dusting of screened wood ash will disrupt feeding, though it must be reapplied after rain. Another good organic method is to use a floating row cover when plants are first put in the ground, then remove when the flowers form. Healthy mature plants can sustain a good bit of flea beetle damage and still produce a fair crop.

Q. Maybe I'm going crazy, but it seems as if little bits of leaves and twigs are walking around my evergreen shrubs. I do have a bagworm problem. Are these walking things that look like plant debris related to the bagworm bags?A. Yes, they are. The bagworm larvae that hatched this spring from last year's bags are actively feeding now. They're using the new silken bags -- covered with plant debris -- for protection.For minor infestation, handpick and destroy the bags. Apply the microbial insecticide B.t. (Bacillus thuringiensis)

Please send old photos of people with pet rabbits, within the next week, to Way Back When, Sun Magazine, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278. You must include caption information and your daytime phone number. Also, enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you'd like your photo returned. If your photo is your only copy, please send a good-quality duplicate, not the original. No faxes or newspaper clippings, please.

Please send old photos of dads lounging in chairs, hammocks and on couches, within the next week, to Way Back When, Sun Magazine, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278. You must include caption information and your daytime phone number. Also, enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you'd like your photo returned. If your photo is your only copy, please send a good-quality duplicate, not the original. No faxes or newspaper clippings, please.

Within the next week, please send old photos of children doing homework to Way Back When, Sun Magazine, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278. You must include caption information and your daytime phone number. Also, enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you'd like your photo returned. If your photo is your only copy, please send a good-quality duplicate, not the original. No faxes or newspaper clippings, please.

Julian Assange, the peripatetic and elusive founder of the whistleblower web site Wikileaks, put himself at the center of a fine bit of political theater over the weekend when he used his fugitive status at the Ecuadorean embassy in London to demand the U.S. cease persecuting those who seek to hold governments accountable. Having stage managed a diplomatic crisis between Britain and Ecuador that threatens to rupture relations between the two countries, Mr. Assange is milking the incident for all it's worth, but it remains to be seen whether that will be enough to get him out of the jam he's in. Mr. Assange had been living in London for the last two years after fleeing Sweden to avoid being questioned about two women who claim he raped them.

Aspiring game designers have just been handed the motherlode of thought and wisdom with the Critical Path project, a series of short interviews from virtually every big name in gaming. Freely hosted online, the elegantly designed interface allows video game fans to sort through clips by tagged topics or interview subject to experience what ultimately amounts to a few hours of footage in a sort of hive mind around the state of gaming and design. At launch, the site hosts 121 clips ranging in length from 30 seconds to two minutes.

By Dave Gilmore, @dave_gilmore It's impossible to judge quality from gameplay clips, cinematic trailers and even sometimes playable demos. What can be judged though, is how excited one is to simply play the game. Now that another year of E3 has wrapped up, we know a lot more about some of the late 2012 and 2013 and beyond games we've been hearing only rumors about so far. Here are the five games from E3 we're most excited to play as of this moment. "Assassin's Creed 3" Everything about "AC3" so far has been encouraging, but the new clips at this week's show blew the doors off expectations for October's release.

News Roundup •••• Bethesda released their trailer for the “Dawnguard” expansion to “Skyrim,” and like everything in the last three years, it's about vampires. Anything that breathes new life into “Skyrim” is welcome, because even fantastic games get stale when you play them for 250 hours. Not that they have a way to keep track of that. Do they? [ YouTube ] •••• EA has confirmed “Dead Space 3” is real and will be announced next week at E3. This is kind of one of those “everyone already knew this but it's still exciting nonetheless” tidbits.

With 25 goals in two NCAA tournament games, No. 4 seed Notre Dame seems to have found its shooting prowess. It's a timely discovery for the No. 4 seed Fighting Irish (13-2), who will meet No. 1 seed Loyola (16-1) in Saturday's national semifinal at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Notre Dame had wrapped up the regular season scoring on just 25.3 percent of its shots (108-of-427). Since then, however, the offense has converted 43.1 percent of its attempts (25-of-58). In Sunday's 12-10 victory over No. 5 seed Virginia, the Fighting Irish scored on three of its first possessions of the contest and then scored on three consecutive shots in the second quarter.

News Roundup •••• The PAX East gaming convention kicks off today in Boston, with the fans and journalists eager to get a hands-on look at titles like Harmonix's newest offering, “Rock Band Blitz.” It's expected that Nintendo will share some more Wii U news, along with a rumored “ amazing announcement ” from BioWare. [ Pax East ] •••• Newly-minted NBA superstar Jeremy Lin is catching up on his gaming while recovering from surgery.

Within the next week, please send old photos of quilting and sewing bees to Way Back When, Sun Magazine, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278. You must include caption information and your daytime phone number. Also, enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you'd like your photo returned. If your photo is your only copy, please send a good-quality duplicate, not the original. No faxes or newspaper clippings, please.

Within the next week, please send old photos of adults kissing to Sun Magazine, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278. You must include caption information and your daytime phone number. Also, enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you'd like your photo returned. If your photo is your only copy, please send a good-quality duplicate, not the original. No faxes or newspaper clippings, please.

Alcide makes a play for Sookie and there's some foreboding ominousness in the clips for Sunday's Season 4 ender.  In our first clip from "And When I Die," Alcide is still reeling from his abrupt break-up (again) with Debbie Pelt (which probably should have happened way earlier). Sookie's "problems" now include Alcide's devotion. Ep. 48 Clip - Alcide Makes His Pitch In the second clip, Tommy Mickens is laid to rest (in the saddest grave ever)

Wye Oak just premiered their latest video, "Holy Holy," over at Pitchfork . The Civilian -standout gets a simple video of the Baltimore duo at the carnival, riding the swings and rollercoasters. Somehow, no fried food was consumed. The clip was directed by Jeremy Johnstone, whose credits include videos from Young Widows and the New York Dolls. Wye Oak is currently on tour with the National (whose Scott Devendorf had kind words for the band when I spoke with him a couple weeks ago)