Researchers hunt for new pesticide FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Along California's central coast, Carolee Bull dips the roots of strawberries in a gooey fondue of fungi and microbes, then plants them in soil blended with a grainy corn powder. Under a plastic mulch, the patented biological recipe goes to work, trying to control weeds and attack pests and any diseases they may carry. In fields, labs and greenhouses across the country, scientists are searching for an alternative to methyl bromide, the ozone-stripping pesticide that must be phased out in industrialized countries by 2005. With financial incentives high, many involved in the research are confident more than one substitute will split the market that will replace the multimillion-dollar methyl bromide industry. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559095876-c97> NYC dad finds self in a pine mess NEW YORK (AP) - Children climbing trees?! This has got to stop! That's pretty much the message Anthony Avellino said he got from two park rangers last month. They handed him a $1,000 ticket after his daughters, ages 9 and 11, and their 11-year-old friend were caught climbing a Japanese white pine in Central Park. "My children have been climbing trees for nine years," Avellino said. "Please give me a warning. I will make sure that it will not happen again." But officials said it was too late - the tree was damaged. They said they will bring photographs of broken boughs to environmental court to prove it. Avellino said he would fight the ticket, which cites him for "destruction, defacement or abuse of a tree." Parks Department spokesman Edward Skyler said Thursday the trees, which have soft boughs, are not indigenous to New York and cost several thousand dollars apiece. ###
