Sneads Mourns Death of Town Servant's
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Informing more than 17,000 readers daily in print and online Dragon arrives at space Lady Hornets station with 3-D printer get the win 9A 1B WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 $1.00 Sneads mourns death of town servant’s sonVol. 91 No. 190 Ricky D. Whittington The son and father shared the through a fi eld. It then struck the family,” said Sneads Town stepdaughter in a 4-wheeler ac- same fi rst name. a tree, coming to rest against Manager Connie Butts.“If there’s cident. He and his wife, Sue, the killed in Gadsden crash According to Florida High- it. The area of the crash is near anything that they need, we are little girl’s mother, were present way Patrol reports, the younger Lake Talquin. here for them.” at a ceremony in 2010 when the BY DEBORAH BUCKHALTER Whittington was northbound Whittington was pronounced The elder Whittington had town of Sneads named the Jamie dbuckhalter@jcfloridan.com on Lakeview Point Road in dead at the scene at 7:10 a.m. served on the council from Lynn Messer Skate Park after the Gadsden County when he failed Tuesday. The time of the crash 1997-2010, with the exception child. A traffi c crash has claimed the to slow or stop at its intersection was unknown as of early that of a break between 2001-03, and Another Sneads Town Council life of 33-year-old Chattahooch- with McCall Bridge Road. The morning and authorities con- continues to serve on the vol- member, Jimmy Lynn Wright, ee resident Ricky D. Whitting- 1986 Toyota pickup he was driv- tinue to investigate in an at- unteer fi re department. This is also lost a son in a wreck. Jack- ton, the son of a former Sneads ing left the traffic lane and en- tempt to determine that aspect not the only traffic tragedy the son County deputy Jimmy Kevin Town Councilman who has also tered the shoulder of the road, of the wreck. Whittington family has suffered. Wright was killed at the age of 35 served for many years as a vol- where it struck a wooden fence “The town council and staff A few years back, the former in an off-duty traffic crash north unteer fi refi ghter for the town. and continued northbound are all grieving and praying for council member lost his young of Sneads on River Road. They say Southern Pine Beetle does not appear to be the culprit; instead an irony — fl oods caused drought BY DEBORAH BUCKHALTER dbuckhalter@jcfloridan.com A few weeks ago, Jackson County resident and landowner Andy Andreasen started notic- ing that some of his big, older pines — trees that had survived storms, droughts and more over their long lives — were dying. He put in a call to the Florida Forest Service for some ex- pert help to fi gure out why. He has about 40 acres in trees and wants to plant another 100 acres next year. Knowing that he’d be spending a good chunk of money to do that, he didn’t want to go ahead with that plan not knowing if there was a devastat- ing insect lying in wait for the juveniles. He hadn’t been the only tree- lover in the Panhandle to worry and to make that call. In fact, foresters had so many calls recently that the service put out a press release hoping PHOTOS BY KRISTIE CLOUD / FLORIDAN to calm their overall fears after Jeff Eickwort (above) of the Florida Forest Service points out a long-standing pine tree that has died on Andy Andreasen’s land in Marianna. Eickwort is visiting several sites and sched- an expert in tree disease and insects and holds in his hand several pieced of bark taken from the tree to investigate what caused the tree to die. He and uled more fi eld work in the the agency’s Jackson County forester, Barry Stafford, visited the Andreasen property Tuesday. Eickwort uses a hatchet (below) to remove bark from a meantime. tree on Andy Andreasen’s land in Marianna on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Jackson County forester Barry Stafford and col- tree. To his relief, the shape of experienced drought. league Jeff Eickwort called on movement implied by the pat- He, as the press release had, Andreasen and toured a portion tern told him that the insect that explained further. of his land. From the FFS Forest did the damage wasn’t the one With more rain in a single pe- Health Section, which special- that pine-tree growers fear most riod that the area has seen in 20 izes in insect and disease detec- — the destructive southern pine years, excessive soil saturation tion and management, Eickwort beetle, which can attack healthy can compromise the fi ne roots came equipped with hatchet, trees and spread its damage far a tree which are typically located pruning saw, notebook, a satch- and wide. on the top layer of the soil above el with sample containers, a tall Instead, the pattern was of the water table. The fl ooding was bottle of water, sturdy boots and the sort made by another bug followed by changes in pressure a rain-resistant beige hat with that usually only attacks a tree due to excessive heat, caused mesh around the brim to give already in distress or dead from cavities to form, the cause of the relief from the heat. Looking a some other problem. He found fi ne root compromise, which little bit like adventurer Indiana evidence that other of that type leaves the tree less able to take Jones, he set off in his khaki- were also present in the tree. the available water, no matter and-olive green uniform to fol- There was no evidence of the how plentiful, up to the body low Andreasen and Stafford into southern pine beetle anywhere and needles of the tree. the property. on any of the trees he examined. This suffocation is the primary Tromping through thick, tall He knocked on the exposed tree-killer this year, and stress- grass in places, and dodging cow roots, heard no sound of rot. sensing insects and pathogens paddies and wasp nests, none of That was another good piece of that gravitate to them helped do them was complaining. There news. the rest of the damage. was a good breeze on this fi rst He found some of the same Eickwort said that insects’ day of fall, and the clouds pro- bugs that he’d found in the fi rst keen sense of smell can detect vided cover from the sun. The tree in others on the Andreasen and recognize the scents given foresters had sweated out many property, all suggesting that the off by a tree in such distress and sweltering days this summer on infestation was not the problem that, once established and feed- similar treks. The trio soon came but a result of whatever made ing on them, sends out phero- to a pine tree that had brown the trees vulnerable to them. The mones that essentially alert their needles, instead of green ones, bugs were simply eating on the brethren that the tree is inca- splayed against the cloudy sky trees after they had succumbed pable of repelling them with its year, foresters ensured them that invasive southern pine beetle above. to something else. usual “natural insecticide” of it appears no invasive beetle is (SPB) are opportunistic beetles Eickwort took out his hatchet While Eickwort couldn’t say compounds. He put the conse- likely responsible. that never attack a healthy, liv- and made a few cuts into the with absolute certainty what quences in simple terms. It’s like “Although there are beetles ing tree. They are responsible bark of the dead tree, forcing caused the trees to die from that the invading insects say, “Hey, that will devastate a tree, the for host selection, principally off a section. He took it in hand, single visit, he was able to make guys, it’s lunchtime over here,” sawyer (pine) beetle, Ips (pine) attacking trees that are stressed, fl ipped it over to show the un- and educated guess. he explained. beetle and ambrosia (hardwood) damaged or recently killed.” derside of the bark, and scanned In light of the recent fl oods, it In a letter sent to landowners beetles are an after effect of the The letter offered the following the pattern made by one of the was a somewhat ironic poten- experiencing unusual numbers fl ooding and ground satura- insects that had invaded the tial answer: The trees may have of unexplained tree losses this tion,” it says. “These, unlike the See TREES, Page 8A » CLASSIFIEDS...7B » ENTERTAINMENT...6B » LOCAL...3A»OBITUARIES...9A » OPINION...6A » SPORTS...1B » WEATHER...2A This Newspaper Is Printed On Recycled Newsprint CHEVROLETRAHAL-MILLER-BUICK -CADILLAC -GMC -NISSAN SERVICE TEAM 2013 (850) 482-6317 CHUCK ANDERSON GREG ANDERSON GUS PARMER 4204 Lafayette St.•Marianna, fL. SERVICE MGR BODY SHOP MGR PARTSMGR 2A ◆ WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 WAKE-UP CALL JACKSON COUNTY FLORIDAN ◆ www.jcfloridan.com Weather Outlook High: 83 Low: 61 High: 83 Mostly Sunny Low: 62 High: 84 & Mild. Today Low: 66 Justin Kiefer / WMBB High: 85 High: 84 High - 84° Low: 63 Low: 62 Low - 62° High: 85 Low: 68 High: 84 Low: 65 High: 85 High - 84° High - 84° PRECIPITATION Low: 68 Low - 67° Low - 68° 24 hours 0.00” Year to date 57.23” Month to date 4.54” Normal YTD 45.53” Normal MTD 2.53” Normal for year 59.26” Thursday Friday TIDES Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy.