Free Republic

The nation had a sweet maple season this year, producing more than 5 million gallons of maple syrup, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Vermont — the country’s top maple producer — yielded a record 2.5 million gallons, an increase of 800,000 gallons from 2021. “This year’s record level of maple production is good news for our sugar makers and our economy,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said. The other top producing states were New York with 845,000 gallons, followed by Maine with 672,000 gallons, the USDA said. Last year the retail price of syrup varied among the maple-producing states,...

A case in Washington State represents the first use of DNA evidence from trees during a prosecution in a federal criminal trial. The group removed highly-prized Maple trees - used to produce musical instruments such as violins and guitars - and forged permits to sell the wood, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office Western District of Washington. Forest Service testified that the wood Wilke sold was a genetic match to the remains of three poached maple trees that investigators had discovered in the Elk Lake area. The DNA analysis was so precise that it found the probability...

The CEO of Maple Leaf Foods spoke out against the United States government days after an Iranian missile accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner, killing all 176 people on board — including, he said, the family of a company employee. In a series of tweets on Sunday, Michael McCain said the time since Wednesday's crash has not quelled his anger over what he describes as a "needless, irresponsible series of events in Iran." The tweets were sent from the official Maple Leaf Foods account, though McCain characterized them as "personal reflections." Fifty-seven Canadians were among the 176 people killed on...

Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on July 6 on suspicion of sex trafficking minors in his Manhattan and Florida homes from 2002 to 2005. The arrest comes over a decade after Epstein pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors for prostitution and served 13 months in prison. Epstein's real-estate portfolio has played a major role in the ongoing sex-trafficking and sexual abuse allegations against him. ... At the center of the investigation is Epstein's Upper East Side townhouse, which is one of the largest private homes in Manhattan. The FBI raided the seven-story mansion on 9 East 71st...

EAST MONTPELIER – Producers of pure maple syrup and honey aren’t sweet on a plan to label their pure natural products as containing added sugars. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will be requiring updated nutrition labels for products that are expected to say that pure maple syrup and honey contain added sugars, which the producers and officials say is misleading and confusing and could hurt their industries. "There are no added sugars. Maple is a pure product," said U.S. Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont, the top maple producing state in the country.

I took some tours during a local maple weekend in March. It looks to good not to pass up an attempted try for the 2016 season.

This past fall I nearly made that clichéd mistake of getting in between a mother bear and her cubs. My husband, Eric and I have a farm and maple syrup operation situated on 1,000 acres of mostly wooded land in northern Vermont. I had walked a quarter mile through the forest to our house to retrieve our truck and upon my return, a medium-sized black bear ambled out of the woods and strode across the driveway right in front of me. I was stunned and enthralled since I had just five minutes previously passed by on foot. As I sat...

After five years behind locked doors, researchers at Lockheed Martin's Intelligent Robotics Laboratories in New Jersey have emerged with a working prototype of the "Samarai," a tiny DARPA-commissioned surveillance drone. The nano air vehicles (NAVs), modeled after falling Maple leaf seeds, are designed to be super light weight and agile for vertical lift off, hovering, and navigation in tight spaces. Like your favorite $5 Subway sammie, these surveillance bots are a foot long, but instead of being shoveled in your mouth, they're thrown like boomerangs into flight and controlled using a tablet app or a basic remote. These eyes in...

The Pennsylvania Maple Festival - Meyresdale PA I'd like to make amends for a post I made earlier. I shot from the hip and missed, so I'm falling back on something fun, interesting - I hope - and of which I am familiar. This is near and dear to my heart although I haven't been able to attend for a while. I first attended in the late 1950's and documented it on a GE reel to reel tape recorder that was pretty hi-tech for the time. Pinging Bill Murray...Groundhog Day PALES in comparison to this! My family used to take...

With all the recent news about injuries related to splintering maple baseball bats, do you think the MLB should ban them? Yes or no, and why? I'd be interetested to hear your thoughts.

TULSA, Okla. -- A book that was challenged as inappropriate by the parents of a Union Public Schools elementary school student will remain on library shelves, the district's Board of Education ruled Wednesday night. The board voted 3-1 to keep the book, "Buster's Sugartime," which the parents said was inappropriate because it alluded to a same-sex relationship. The issue went to the board after the parents took their concerns to the district's Materials Review Committee in October. The committee voted 6-1 to keep the book on the school's library shelves. The parents, Don and Mary Danz, then appealed that ruling...

You probably played with them for hours — the seed pods of maple trees, slowly twirling and hovering like helicopters before falling to the ground. The mechanism that causes "helicopter seeds" to spin has been a mystery, until now — a new study has found that the aerodynamics that keep these seeds aloft also allow certain insects, bats and hummingbirds to hover. A team of Dutch and American scientists from Wageningen University and Caltech measured the flow of air created by swirling seeds by creating plastic models of the seeds and spinning them through a large tank of mineral oil...

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. --Life could get a lot less sweet for a Putney man whose conviction in the sale of stolen maple syrup makes him eligible for life in prison as a habitual offender.

<p>FRANKFORT, Ky. —- Republicans started attack ads yesterday against Democrats Crit Luallen and Russ Maple, who are running for state auditor and secretary of state, respectively.</p> <p>The broadcast commercials are the toughest, most focused efforts yet aimed at electing Republicans to down-ballot offices in Tuesday's election. Republican gubernatorial nominee Ernie Fletcher has been leading in polls and could have coattails to help the party's other nominees.</p>

FRANKFORT A politician from Kentucky's most populous county and a northern Kentucky newcomer will square off at next week's polls, hoping to win the secretary of state's seat. Trey Grayson of Kenton County is the Republican candidate; Russ Maple of Louisville is the Democratic candidate. Each have campaigned on election reform issues and e-commerce changes in the secretary's office — the state's chief of election officer and chairman of the elections board who maintains business and incorporation records. "One of the big issues, in the elections area, is trying to address fraud," said Grayson, an attorney and business consultant making...

<p>The secretary of state's office is important, not only because it's responsible for elections but because it's responsible for commercial record-keeping. The good news is that the Republican Party has put up a superbly qualified candidate for the position.</p> <p>Incumbent John Y. Brown III has done a good job, modernizing the operation while urging more efficient and effective election equipment and procedures.</p>

Russ Maple, a longtime politician, is running for the important office of Secretary of State of Kentucky.  He must never be allowed to obtain it.  If you remember Florida in 2000, you know how important this office truly can be in a serious situation, and how important it is to have someone of integrity holding this position of public trust. The Latest Lies:September 8, 2003 debate on KET.  (Please click here to watch the debate)Lie #1:  "I believe that public office should make a difference, a positive difference in people's lives."    This could be a true statement depending on...

Russ Maple seeks the office of Secretary of State in Kentucky. Among the office's most important duties is being the Chief Elections Officer. In the 2000 election, we learned just how important this office can truly be in a serious situation. One of many marks against him is his reputation for shaking down campaign contributors while on Fiscal Court in Jefferson County. Maple filed for Secretary of State more than two years before the filing deadline, collecting contributions into his Secretary of State account from those with business before the Fiscal Court. Excerpt from an article in the Courier-Journal:...

The grandson of a late Paducah merchant faces political veteran Russ Maple Nov. 4 for secretary of state. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Former President Bill Clinton and Gov. Paul Patton, both Democrats, had a profound effect on Trey Grayson's political life. Grayson grew up in Kenton County where Democrats controlled local offices. "When I was 18, I registered to vote as a Democrat so that I could vote in the primary," Grayson said. "But I always admired President Reagan and the elder President Bush. And I really knew I was a Republican because I believed in lower taxes, less regulation and less government."...

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Richie Farmer's celebrity as a former University of Kentucky basketball player, and whether he is relying on it to be elected commissioner of agriculture, arose as an issue Monday night in a televised forum with his opponent, Alice Baesler. "This election is not a basketball game," said Baesler, who has a Kentucky basketball connection of her own - husband Scotty was a captain of the Wildcats - but also years of experience running a cattle and tobacco farm in Fayette County. "We need to take it off the basketball court and into the plowed field," Baesler told...