With spring around the corner, there s already buzz about when periodical cicadas will arrive.
The entrance of periodical cicadas, which have been living underground for the past 17 years, will be anything but subtle.
This year will mark the re-emergence of Brood X, or the Great Eastern Brood, of periodical cicadas those large, winged, kind of scary-looking but mostly harmless large flying insects known for their almost deafening buzz.
A jet plane flying in for landing at John Glenn International Airport in Columbus can reach about 80 decibels. But leave it to a group of male cicadas performing mating calls in a tree to top that. Male cicadas have been recorded to hit 96 decibels, said Gene Kritsky, dean of the School of Behavioral and Natural Sciences at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati. Kritsky authored, Periodical Cicadas: the Brood X Edition published by the Ohio Biological Survey, which is expected out in mid-February.
A woman was fatally shot late Monday afternoon in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood on the Near East Side, Columbus police said.
Officers responded at 5:06 p.m. to a call of a shooting in the 800 block of Leona Avenue, located off Cleveland Avenue. The shooting occurred outside of a residence.
Shaniqua Turner, 29, of the East Side, was rushed in critical condition to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center where she died at 5:27 p.m.
Detectives said Turner had been dropped off at the Leona Avenue home and was walking to the front door when she was shot.
Turner s death marks the 11th homicide committed in Columbus this year one for each day so far of 2021.
COLUMBUS A federal agency is seeking public comment through Jan. 15 before it potentially authorizes the deaths of double-crested cormorants or destruction of their nests across Ohio.
The lanky, wiry bird is dark in color, but up close has yellow-orange skin paired with striking cobalt-blue eyes. The birds are known for their S-shaped necks. They can fly about 40 miles when foraging. When they find fish, they dive into the water and swim to retrieve the fish. They have powerful webbed feet that propel them. Double-crested cormorants can be extraordinarily beautiful. They are smart,
clever, really kind of funny birds, said Stanley Senner, vice president for bird conservation for the National Audubon Society. Here in the United States, they have gone through several real bottlenecks. One was the use of DDT for several decades that really greatly reduced cormorant populations.
Blocked from developing more wind power in Ohio, renewable energy companies have set their sights on the sun.
Nearly two dozen solar farms are in some form of development across the state, according to the Ohio Power Siting Board, the state agency that approves construction of new sources of electricity.
Add it all up, and it amounts to about 4,000 megawatts of power the equivalent of two or three traditional power plants and about a seventh of Ohio s current total electricity production. Right now, solar power contributes just about 0.5% of Ohio s output. We can t develop them fast enough. The market is so hot, said Sarah Moser, senior development manager for Savion, a solar energy developer based in Kansas City, Missouri.
The crash was reported at 3:02 a.m. near Refugee Road and Eastland Five Drive.
Williams was heading east on Refugee Road in a red 2009 Dodge Charger when he lost control of the car and struck two utility poles as well as a fire hydrant.
When paramedics arrived, the driver was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:09 a.m.
An investigation is ongoing.
bburger@dispatch.com