Free Republic

If your teenage kids are trying to make some money cutting grass this summer, government is there to ruin it for them. A city ordinance in Gardendale, Ala., requires entrepreneurial teens to show a city-issued business license before they offer their lawn services for some extra summer cash. According to ABC’s Birmingham affiliate, a business license in Gardendale costs $110. Parents are complaining that their kids aren’t making enough money to recoup the cost of the license. "I have never heard of a child cutting grass had to have a business license," said Elton Campbell. Her granddaughter cuts grass around...

More than two years after Coloradans voted to allow recreational marijuana use, the state’s residents continue to stand firmly behind keeping the drug legal, a new poll found. The survey, commissioned by Quinnipiac University, found that 58 percent of Colorado voters support keeping pot legal, while only 38 percent are against it. The result featured significant gender and age disparities. Voters ages 18 to 34 favored it overwhelmingly, 82-16 percent, while 50 percent of those ages 55 and older were against it, with only 46 percent in support. Likewise, men supported the measure by a margin of 63-33, while women...

Turtle Creek, PA —A Turtle Creek woman recorded police, when they came to her door, demanded she show identification then followed her inside. "I didn't want to tell them anything," Robyn Ruckman said. Police from Turtle Creek, The Housing Authority and East Pittsburgh showed up at Ruckman's door, looking for her landlord. They had a warrant for Roben Edwards for Failure to Maintain property. Ruckman recorded the officers as they told her to get her ID. She can be seen closing the door and asking the officers if they can wait outside. On the video, you hear one officer respond...

Honolulu (AP) - A bill that would have legalized marijuana in Hawaii has died in the state House. House judiciary committee Chairman Karl Rhoads said Tuesday that he decided to kill the bill after learning from House leadership that the initiative does not have enough votes to pass the House. Key lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled House supported the measure, including the speaker and the majority leader.

The grass is always greener on Jackson Madnick’s lawn in Wayland, Mass.: green in a drought and green when it emerges from under the snow. Yet, he barely waters and mows it, and he never uses chemical pesticides or fertilizers. It sounds too good to be true, but Madnick may have grown a better lawn. After more than ten years of experimenting with thousands of seeds, he cultivated Pearl’s Premium -- a specific mix of red fescue, tall fescue, sheep fescue and other grasses. When combined in special proportions adjusted for sun, shade and sunny-shade, his blends produce deep green,...

A once green fingered Minnesota man is ruing not reading the labels on the weed killer he bought after it killed all the grass on his 40,000 square foot lawn. Turning the previously lush green grass to dead, arid scrubland, Lake Elmo resident Rob Olson only wanted to get rid of the weeds from his two and a half acre lawn. Instead, Olson says three employees at Dege Garden Centre consulted with him about which weed product to buy and fatefully he purchased five bottles of the multi-purpose killer at $35 a pop. The weed killer in fact contained a...

When the woman called 911 a deputy wasn’t sent because the compliance officer is a county employee. A Georgia homeowner allegedly awoke to an unusual scene on July 2 — a county code compliance officer yelling at her over the state of her lawn from the doorway of her bedroom. “I woke up, I didn’t have my glasses on or my contacts in and all I see is this big burly figure standing in my doorway,” Erica Masters explained. “A big huge guy with a grey shirt. It scared the mess out of me.” She elaborated: “[He] yelled at me...

In an attempt to lower crime and raise government revenue, Uruguay is planning on legalizing marijuana. Currently, it is legal to possess less than 25 grams of cannabis, but it is illegal to grow or sell it. If the proposal passes, Uruguay’s government would oversee the growth and distribution of the $75 million business. Buyers would be required to register with the government. “It’s a fight on both fronts: against consumption and drug trafficking,” said defense minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro. “We think the prohibition of certain drugs is creating more problems for society than the drugs themselves.” Congress must approve...

Just as important as choosing the right plants for your yard, is choosing the right type of turfgrass. The main choices available to homeowners in the southern U.S. area are St Augustine, Bermuda, Buffalo, and Zoysia grasses...

I have a long commute. I travel on surface roads to and from my job in DC every day. All those hours spent sitting at traffic lights affords me plenty of time to observe my surroundings. Everywhere from the District through the Maryland suburbs of Chevy Chase, Kensington, Silver Spring and Olney, median strips have been left to high grass, weeds, storm debris and leaves. They are mowed only two to three times during the prime growing season, and when they are mowed, the overly long grass is blown out into the street where it becomes a hazard for drivers,...

Marijuana is causing America to be more and more dysfunctional. Its time we recognize that we have a problem. Educational info on marijuana

My Mom's yard has a spot where grass is dying. I noticed birds feeding there a lot in the last month, it is a mostly round patch, 10 feet across I tried to use a gerden weasel on it today and huge hunks of soil came up with the grass, easily broken up, stillmoist, odorless no apparent moles, voles, or grubs at this spot

LYNNWOOD — Lawns with grass taller than 8 inches are now illegal in this city. Placing the restriction on unsightly yards was one of several steps the City Council took on Monday to tighten up its nuisance ordinance. Provisions also were added to rules governing overnight parking of trucks in residential areas and “mother-in-law” apartments. “It is unfortunate that this ordinance has been tagged as the ‘grass ordinance,’ since there is only a couple of lines in the whole ordinance addressing lawns,” Councilman Loren Simmonds said. “This is not government weighing in on little people. We are simply trying to...

It's not only what you do to your lawn, but when you do it. The first day of Spring is August 15th. What you do in the fall will affect your lawn, since that's when plants go through their major growth spurt. Killing Weeds Autumn is the best time to kill weeds, just as the weather starts to cool down. Weeds grow best during bright, sunny days between 1:PM and 3:PM. In order to get the maximum benefit from your weed killer, spray a weak solution of children's shampoo on the lawn. Believe it or not, this washes the grime...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday it's time for California to study whether to legalize and tax marijuana for recreational use, though he's not yet advocating for such a change. The governor was asked about a recent Field Poll showing that 56 percent of registered voters support legalizing and taxing marijuana to raise revenues for cash-strapped California. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, has proposed legislation that would legalize the drug for recreational use, rather than just medical purposes. "Well, I think it's not time for that, but I think it's time for a debate," Schwarzenegger said. "I think all of those...

***NEWS FLASH ***"Only Gravel is Truly Green"Washington(AP) -- In yet another Orwellian announcement today, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs laid out the Obama Administration’s latest “green” proposal, namely, that grass lawns are no longer considered “green”. Gibbs emphasized that grass lawns consume enormous quantities of water, fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides, with the latter three products being produced from carbon-based fossil fuels.When asked if this means that green grass is no longer “green”, Gibbs reluctantly acknowledged that, “Yes, green is no longer green.”  However, Gibbs pointed out that government scientists were working really really hard to create purple grass,...

Washington, DC (CNS) - Appearing on the cover of Men's Health magazine's November issue, Senator Barack Obama has detailed his step by step plan to rid himself of his cigarette habit. The Democrat shared, "There have been a couple of times during the campaign when I fell off the wagon and bummed one, and I had to kick it again. But I figure, seeing as I'm running for president, I need to cut myself a little slack." "There wasn't some dramatic moment. Michelle had been putting pressure on me for a while. I was never really a heavy smoker. Probably...

BAYONET POINT — On Friday morning, Joseph Prudente put on a pair of shorts and his "Grandpa Gone Wild" T-shirt. He took off his wedding band and put his heart medication in a plastic Wal-Mart bag. Then his daughter drove him to jail. Grandpa had time to do. His crime? He had disobeyed a court order that he sod the lawn at his Beacon Woods home. His bail? Zero. Prudente, 66, must stay in the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes until the required sod work is completed, under a September court order signed by Circuit Judge W. Lowell Bray.

Ok, this is about a news item I heard on KRAK radio out of Sacramento, Ca. Roseville is a town linked to Sac and actually part of it physically but is a separate township. Roseville is paying people to eliminate their grass because of water considerations, either take up your grass and put down mulch(which the city will supply if you wish)or artificial turf. I didn't hear all the details but I think it is laughable that they are screaming about CO2(and the Sacramento Bee is one of the biggest screamers)causing global warming but at the same time you are...

The modernized America we know today is largely dominated by suburbs, the perfect mix of city and ranch, commonly on the outskirts of cities. Its not the stacked to Timbuktu apartments like in New York, Kansas City, and Chicago, but its not the "home on the range" sort of thing. We know the modern suburb as nicely assorted houses, separated by lush, thick, dark green lawns, that are neatly cut every weekend. We know them with the smell of barbeque every Sunday after the residents have come home from Church. Its these modern American paradises that house the factory-workers, the...