Spotlight News – Invasive, destructive southern pine beetle found in the Pine Bush

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Spotlight News – Invasive, destructive southern pine beetle found in the Pine Bush

This is really bad news. 😡

"A southern pine beetle, 🐞 which has killed thousands of pine trees on Long Island since it was discovered in 2014, was trapped in the Pine Bush, the northernmost location the invasive, destructive beetles have ever been found in this country."

"According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the single beetle was caught in a trap near Rapp Road. It is considered one of the most destructive forest pests in the U.S. and attacks several species of pine tree including pitch pine, a species that flourishes in the Pine Bush and other pine barrens throughout the state."

Causeway extension to allow another pier to be built for massive thruway bridge | PennLive.com

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Causeway extension to allow another pier to be built for massive thruway bridge | PennLive.com

They've been building some really big flyover bridges in Pennsylvania.

To give you an idea of how truly large the 160-feet high flyover ramp they are building in Salinsgrove, PA, that ramp is nearly twice the height of the Dunn Memorial Flyover Ramp to the Empire Sate Plaza in Albany (85 feet high piers). Appalachian topography demands some massive bridges to keep expressways within the required maximum grades.

The new US 219 (Mason Dixon Highway) Flyerover bridges in Meyersdale are pretty massive too.

The E.P.A. Says It Wants Research Transparency. Scientists See an Attack on Science. – The New York Times

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The E.P.A. Says It Wants Research Transparency. Scientists See an Attack on Science. – The New York Times

I think is a good proposal -- public policy should be made based on open data, not secretive science. It's not that hard to remove personally identifying data, especially in the era of computers -- and greater release of data will allow more in the public to scrutinize the data that is the basis of public policy.

I understand that a lot of scientists are old curmudgeons who don't want to adopt modern computing technology, but a lot of them are going to be retiring in next few years. Publicly funded studies are done at taxpayer expense, they should only use public data and release the data.

2018’s 2nd Blue Moon on March 31

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2018’s 2nd Blue Moon on March 31

Don't forget Saturday is the second blue moon of the year!

"We had a Blue Moon on January 31, 2018. It was a supermoon, too, and underwent a total eclipse (photos here). But another Blue Moon is coming right up. They’re both Blue Moons by the monthly definition of the term: the second of two full moons to fall within a single calendar month. The second (and last) Blue Moon of 2018 will be on March 31. We haven’t had a year with two Blue Moons since 1999 and won’t have one again until January and March, 2037."

March 27, 2018 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Three weeks to Tax Day 💰. I better make sure that I put some money aside to pay the state, especially as I fork over money this week for auto insurance. It’s gotten expensive since I’ve increased my liability coverage. After a cloudy start to the now have high clouds with the sun peaking through⛅ and 33 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. Not a terrible morning with the big sun ball but no blue skies are to be seen.

Today will be partly sunny with high clouds making the sky gray☁⛅ , with a high of 50 degrees at 3pm. One degree above normal. Light southeast wind becoming south 10 to 15 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 47 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 1998. 6.7 inches of snow fell back in 1959.❄

The sun will set at 7:16 pm with dusk around 7:44 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clouds ☁ and 43 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 31 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday.

Warm enough today that I decided to once again shut off the heat at home. 💥No sense in heating a vacant apartment if I’m going to be at work all day, and there is no danger of freezing over the next few days. If it’s a bit cool when I get home I’ll turn the heat back on and wear a sweater.

Caught an earlier bus downtown today, 🚌 so hopefully today won’t be such a rush at work as I get things ready for the morning. Yesterday was such a zoo catching the later bus in. 📰📜I also brought in candy to refill my candy jar.🍬 Going to be a long day at work 🍛 so packed both a breakfast and a lunch. Maybe I’ll catch the eight fifteen home tonight but I’m not optimistic.

Tonight will have rain likely, mainly after 2am. Cloudy ☔ , with a low of 34 degrees at 5am. Three degrees above normal. South wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2017, we had cloudy skies with some clearing in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 38 degrees. The record low of 3 occurred back in 1923.

Maybe based on the latest forecast, I’ll go tent camping Friday night into Saturday or maybe even Easter. ⛺🌃 It would be fun with the full moon. Probably too much snow everywhere remains to drive back to a campsite but I could tow a tent on that plastic sled I have. I don’t know. Really depends on how tired I am after the late nights at work. 💤

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Tax Day 💰 when the sun will be setting at 7:40 pm with dusk at 8:09 pm. On that day in 2017, we had rain, partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 66 and 46 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 59 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 2002.