A city-owned pet adoption facility within a PetSmart in southwest Fort Worth — considered to be the very first of its sort in the land — is preserving the city money, generating business and, more important, hooking up countless homeless dogs and cats with new families. Since the Fort Worth Adoption Center opened April 25 down South Hulen Street, no adoptable pet has been put to sleep within the city, said Brandon Bennett, director of the Code Compliance Department. Every year, about 4,500 adoptable animals finish up in the city pound. Until recently, about 2,500 were put down when their time ran out inside the animal shelter, which can house 400 strays, he mentioned. More than 200 pets have been adopted ever since the center opened, a 100 percent improvement from last year, Bennett said. Demand has been so huge that pets from various other cities’ shelters are moved in, he said.

The unsung persona of the pet adoption center is Bill Boecker, who along with his spouse, Toni, developed the idea for the collaboration and worked for months to make it happen, Bennett said. Boecker, an executive for the Bass family’s real estate interests, also co-founded Fort Worth Pet Adoption Partners, which funds the center.

Across the US corn belt, the first and foremost cluster of bugs are the corn rootworm beetles. There are basically three species of corn rootworms in Kentucky, the northern, western and southern corn rootworms. Whilst they each harm corn in much the same manner, by gnawing on the roots of the developing plant, they have a number of defined differences in their biology and operations. The adult of every one of the three species is a compact green beetle close to a quarter of an inch in size.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not applying any bug repellents on a baby who is not even 2 months old. Items created using DEET (N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) or picaridin are both endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for adults and young children 2 months of age and even older. (The CDC has also suggested oil of lemon eucalyptus, but not for kids younger than the age of 3.)