Global News

There's a movement to 'leave the leaves' in gardens and lawns. Should you do it?

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Unless you’ve been living under a pile of leaves, you’ve no doubt heard about the “Leave the Leaves” movement that’s been gaining in popularity in recent years. The idea is to avoid sending bagged-up fallen leaves to landfills. Instead, we’re asked to leave them be, allowing them to naturally decompose over the winter into nutrient-rich organic matter that also shelters hibernating pollinators and other beneficial insects. Done thoughtfully, leaving the leaves is one of the best ways to turn yard waste into free fertilizer, and that’s good for your plants, the environment — and your wallet. Read More...

Court blocks California law that bans carrying firearms in most public places

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A new California law that bans people from carrying firearms in most public places was once again blocked from taking effect Saturday as a court case challenging it continues. A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel dissolved a temporary hold on a lower court injunction blocking the law. The hold was issued by a different 9th Circuit panel and had allowed the law to go into effect Jan. Read More...

Op-ed | Damage to Canadarm2 on ISS once again highlights space debris problem

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A piece of orbital debris recently hit Canadarm2, the nearly 18-meter-long robotic arm on the International Space Station that helps with maintenance tasks and “catches” visiting spacecraft. Thankfully, the functioning of the robotic arm is unaffected.  According toCanadian Space Agency (CSA), a routine inspection on May 12 discovered the damage. While utmost precautions are taken to reduce the potential for collisions with the space stations — objects softball-size and bigger are monitored for potential collision with the ISS in orbit — this apparently came from a piece of debris that was too small to be tracked. Read More...