University of Illinois Home Yard and Garden newsletter is a great way to stay up on Illinois weed, disease and insect problems and management guidance.  With the below link you can sign up for direct emails notifications as well.

Issue no. 9 of the Home, Yard & Garden Newsletter is now available on the Web. Point your browser to:

http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu


IN THIS ISSUE:

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White grubs
http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=1098

White grub is a common name for the larvae of June beetles, chafers and Japanese beetles that feed on the roots of turfgrass.  The grubs can be found in the first 8 inches of soil beneath turfgrass.  They are white, C-shaped larvae, about 1 inch long and have 6 jointed legs attached close to their small brown head capsule.  Excessive root feeding by white grubs can leave turfgrass poorly anchored to the soil and can result in brown patches in a lawn that can be pulled back like a rug.  This can impact the aesthetics of a lawn and, in some cases, can make sports fields less safe for children and athletes.

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Nimblewill Noticeable During Hot Dry Conditions
http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=1099

There have been a few recent calls about nimblewill (Muhlenbergia schreberi).  With the hot, dry conditions we have had  lately, our cool-season turfgrass growth has slowed, making warm-season  nimblewill growth more noticeable.  While  cool-season turfgrasses are dormant, nimblewill is actively growing and  enjoying the lack of competition.  This  unbalance can allow nimblewill to be a serious weed problem.

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Fire Blight
http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=1100

I have received a few reports and questions regarding fire  blight on ornamental pears. Fire blight is a bacterial disease that infects  approximately 75 different species of plants, all in the Rosaceae family. Apples,  pears, crabapples, and ornamental pears are the most seriously affected  species. Other rosaceous hosts include cotoneaster, hawthorn, quince,  firethorn, and mountain-ash.

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Bacterial Leaf  Scorch – New Molecular Service Available
http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=1101

It’s the time of the year that we start seeing bacterial  leaf scorch symptoms develop in central Illinois, and several samples have been  submitted that appear to be infected in the last few weeks. We are now offering  a molecular test for this pathogen, which will reduce the turnaround time, and  because it’s more sensitive than the previous ELISA test, ca be used any time  during the growing season when symptoms appear.
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Mike

Click here to see this online

As part of Illinois’ effort to improve sustainability, new recycling and landfill collection containers have been distributed to buildings on the Urbana campus.

This first set of containers can be found in Gregory Hall, Lincoln Hall, English Building, Henry Administration Building, Wohlers Hall, and the Physical Plant Service Building. By fall 2019, 113 containers will be deployed across campus, primarily in first-floor hallways to divert recycled products away from the landfill.

The containers feature three top openings with easily identifiable and color-coded labels for either “landfill,” “paper,” or “bottles & cans.” The acquisition and distribution of the new collection containers was coordinated from the office of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, the F&S Waste Transfer Station, and by Pete Varney, associate director of Operations, Maintenance & Alterations, Transportation & Automotive Services.

“We are striving to add consistency to receptacles across campus,” said Varney. “We’ll continue to increase the number of containers over time, but we want to get a big impact out there now. We want to start someplace where they will be seen, they will be noticed, and they will have an impact.”

The containers will help continue to raise awareness about the importance of recycling on campus, according to Shawn Patterson, transportation manager.

“What we see is, ‘Just throw it in the trash can and [F&S] will recycle it,’ and that is something that sets a bad example for us, for the students, and for everybody especially going forward. We need everyone’s help to make sure we are recycling the right things, and these containers will make it easier for students, faculty, and staff members to help us accomplish the university goal of an increased recycling rate.”

The Waste Transfer Station diverted 26.2 percent to recycling in FY2019, with a goal set by the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) of 30 percent by 2020 and 35 percent by 2025.

For more information about the program, contact Associate Director of Operations, Maintenance & Alterations, Transportation & Automotive Services, Pete Varney pvarney@illinois.edu, 217-333-7583.

Dr. Mohamad Attalla, Executive Director at F&S, responded to Dr. Ximing Cai, iWG Chair, on August 27, 2019, stating, "We will schedule a meeting with the Land and Water SWATeam to discuss options for achieving the recommendation."

For further information, please see Green Infrastructure.

See the transmittal of Water007 SeeClickFix recommendation.

See SWATeam Recommendation Water007 SeeClickFix here.

Dr. Mohamed Attalla, Executive Director at F&S, responded to Dr. Ximing Cai, iWG Chair, on August 22, 2019 stating, "We will prepare the report as requested."

See the transmittal of PWR015 Lightbulb Replacement Recommendation.

See SWATeam Recommendation PWR015 Lightbulb Replacement here. 

Dear FY19 SWATeam members, As another academic year is about to begin, we want to first thank you for all of your help moving campus toward the goals outlined in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP). Each of the six SWATeams worked on multiple recommendations last year, and after careful evaluation by the iCAP Working Group (iWG), several recommendations are under consideration now at the appropriate campus units. Additionally, several prior SWATeam recommendations are continuing to show progress, such as the Solar Farm 2.0 project, which is likely to be approved by the Board of Trustees this fall.

Now, the iWG is gearing up for the drafting of the 2020 iCAP. Last year, we have received a lot of feedbacks from the SWATeams and the student body about the 2015 iCAP, our successes, and our areas for growth. After extensive consideration, we have reorganized the SWATeams as announced in the iSEE newsletter earlier this month. Soon we will be updating the email lists, so please do not be concerned if you are removed from a SWATeam email list and are planning to stay on the new team; all returning members will be added to the new SWATeam email lists, as they are created.

If you have any questions, please let us know and we’ll be happy to discuss this further. We thank you for your time, your enthusiasm, and your continuous efforts!

Sincerely,

Ximing Cai and Morgan White

iCAP Working Group, co-chairs

Facilities & Services (F&S) updated the Near Far Without a Car flyer (or CarFree Flyer) in August 2019. This flyer lists the alternative modes of transportation available at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It also consists of essential safety information, such as SafeRides, SafeWalks, DRES shuttles, Bicycle Safety Tips, Bike Registration, etc.

F&S has partnered with several departments across the University to distribute the information in this flyer to thousands of old and new students. For example, this flyer will be distributed to more than 3,000 incoming international students during their mandatory check-in at the International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS). F&S has also partnered with MTD to distribute this flyer to students at the Quad Day.

The Facilities & Services (F&S) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) submitted the application to renew the Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) status for UIUC on August 21, 2019. The University expects to retain its Bronze-level BFU certification with this application. Please see attached the complete application that was submitted to the League of American Bicyclists (LAB).

All, Welcome Week technically might be this week but last week really felt like it here at the Bike Center. Our visitor numbers were higher, a lot of people in for registrations and lots of bike sales.
If our refurb bike sales hold steady from last week, we’ll be out of bikes before the semester even starts. While not great, it’s also not our mission to just sell bikes. Where’s the education in that?

This week it is business as usual with the exception of Friday when we will be closed for Staff Training for all Campus Recreation employees. Obviously we’ll try to crank out some builds. We’ve still got a large pile of wheel donations to get through. That’ll help with the constant storage issues.
 

The numbers:
Visitors: 75
Sales: $2,349
Memberships: 6 for $180
Bikes (refurb): 12 for $1,835
Tire/tubes: 6 for $45

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Manager, Campus Bike Center

Dean Kidwell responded to the iWG transmittal:

Ximing,

Thank you for sending this information to us. We are exploring the details surrounding these recommendations and will respond after our inquiry phase has been completed. 

I appreciate your efforts. 

Thank you,

Kim

See iWG transmittal: ALUFS006 Increased Agroforestry - Transmitted.

See original SWATeam Recommendation ALUFS006 Increased Agroforestry.

Following the completion of iWG assessment for PWR016 Motion Sensor Lighting, the recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Mohamed Attalla, Executive Director of Facilities & Services.

See iWG Assessment of PWR016 Motion Sensor Lighting attached.  The iWG asks, "Please provide the Zero Waste SWATeam with an overview of the existing occupancy sensor efforts. Please explain the direction of these efforts, reasoning, and status/progress to date."

See original SWATeam recommendation PWR016 Motion Sensor Lighting - Submittal.

Followig a lengthy email exchange between Morgan and Cynthia, they decided that the University of Illinois will be taking command of the overall organizing for Light the Night (LTN).

See the meeting notes from the first group meeting for LTN 2019.

University of Illinois organized a meeting for all participating units - UI, CBC, Urbana, Champaign, MTD, CCRPC, TBP, and CCB. Please see attached the notes from our meeting.

All, Monday and Friday of last week I was out of the shop. Student staff covered for me with minimal issues. We’ve been selling bikes pretty steadily now, and that number will likely only rise the closer we get to the school year starting.
Big thanks to Todd for clearing out the huge pile of scrap bikes. More room is always good!
This week we have a LTN discussion so we can get moving on that and a TBP-UIUC meeting. Additionally, I’ll be reorganizing the back of the shop since we have so much new space, setting up a staff meeting for my student staff in advance of the crazy semester rush, and processing the inventory that came in late last week.

The numbers:
Visitors: 45 (computer trouble kept that number lower than it actually was)
Sales: $1,215.00
Memberships: 3 for $90

Bikes (refurb): 6 for $925

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Manager, Campus Bike Center

Following the completion of iWG assessment for PWR015 Lightbulb Replacement, the recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Mohamed Attalla, Director of Facilities & Services.

See iWG assessment of PWR015 Lightbulb Replacement attached.

See SWATeam Recommendation PWR015 Lightbulb Replacement here.

Following the completion of iWG assessment for ALUFS005 VetMed Parking, the recommendation was transmitted to Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Lowa Mwilambwe, and Campus Parking Director, Marty Paulins.

See iWG assessment of ALUFS005 VetMed Parking attached.

See SWATeam Recommendation ALUFS005 VetMed Parking here.

Following the completion of iWG assessment for PWR019 Sustainable Procurement, the recommendation was transmitted to Director of Purchasing Brad Henson.

See iWG assessment of PWR019 Sustainable Procurement attached.

See SWATeam Recommendation PWR019 Sustainable Procurement here.

Following the completion of iWG assessment for PWR020 F&S Waste Report Endorsement, the recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Evan Delucia, Director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment.

See iWG assessment of PWR020 F&S Waste Report Endorsement attached.

See SWATeam Recommendation PWR020 F&S Waste Report Endorsement here.

Following the completion of iWG assessment for PWR014 Sustainability Ethics Training, the recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Evan DeLucia, Director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, who agreed that this is a great recommendation. Collaboration between the Zero Waste SWATeam, iSEE Communications team, and the University Ethics Office will result in training questions and videos to be included in the annual Ethics Training for staff and faculty.

See iWG assessment of PWR014 Sustainability Ethics Training attached.  The iWG recommends: "Council: We would like to pilot this as an optional, five minute addendum to the annual Ethics Traning. SWATeams: Work with the ethics office and iWG to recmmend questions by the end of October 2019."

See SWATeam Recommendation PWR014 Sustainability Ethics Training here.

Following the completion of iWG assessment for Water007 SeeClickFix, the recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Mohamed Attalla, Director of Facilities & Services.

See iWG assessment of Water007 SeeClickFix attached.

See SWATeam Recommendation Water007 SeeClickFix here.