After nearly a century and a half, river restoration projects may bring back the rapids that once characterized Grand Rapids, Michigan and provide environmental and economic boosts to the city.
By Kristia Postema
Capital News Service
Disease and a newly identified fungus have been killing Michigan’s blue spruce population for roughly a decade, and the dangers show no signs of slowing.
Symptoms of the fungus known as diaporthe include branch die-back that moves up the tree and sometimes kills it, said Jill O’Donnell, a Michigan State University Extension senior agriculture and agribusiness educator, said.
Diaporthe was first identified in blue spruce during studies done from 2011 to 2018. The findings were published this year.
“The problems tend to be in older trees, but we did see some problems in the Christmas trees,” O’Donnell said.
By Kristia Postema
Capital News Service
School nurses have long played a major role in the health and safety of students and staff, but in the midst of the pandemic they’ve been tasked with the crucial role of mitigating coronavirus cases.
In April 2020, a month after schools closed due to the coronavirus, the National Association of School Nurses studied how school nurses met the needs of staff and students without seeing them face to face.
Most continued to provide assistance from afar, the study found.
According to the study, school nurses reported reaching out to at-risk students, becoming health expert resources for parents, holding virtual support groups or office hours, educating and updating the community about COVID-19, formulating student health care plans and developing protocols for safely returning to school.