State agriculture officials have a new way to try to stop a tree-killing insect. They will begin hanging more than 7,000 traps this spring to catch the Emerald Ash Borer. The Asian insect has damaged or killed an estimated 25 million ash trees in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

Golfing, wave runners and blooming forsythia. Those are often considered evidence of spring and summer. But it’s January. The unseasonably warm weather may be considered a blessing for outdoorsmen and plants. But farmers say the weather is not good for their crops.

Ohio is awash in politics this fall as the Republican party works to hold onto majorities at the statehouse and in congress. Democrats are working just as hard to gain more political clout in Columbus and Washington. While most votes will come from urban and suburban areas on November 7th, rural Ohio counties could play political king-maker, especially in close races.

A two-week revocation hearing brought by the state’s department of agriculture against one of Ohio’s largest egg producers is wound up Friday. ODA says Ohio Fresh Eggs did not disclose in its permit applications the name of a man labeled a habitual environmental violator.

The National Centers for Disease Control, The Ohio Department of Health and other state and local government agencies are preparing for a flu pandemic. Even though the H-5-N-1 Bird Flu virus has not shown up anywhere in the United States, thus far, and person-to-person transmission is rare, public health and state agriculture officials are taking precautions.