By Kimberly C. Moore
Staff writer Gainesville Sun

Gainesville awoke to a bright golden haze across Paynes Prairie on Sunday, with early fog burning off to reveal a beautiful morning.

Churchgoers shed coats, joggers put on shorts and everyone reveled in the blue skies. Temperatures reached about 70 degrees by mid-afternoon.

According to the National Weather Service, we can expect more of the same Monday and Tuesday, with the high expected to reach 72 today and 74 on Tuesday.

But, of course, it can't last forever. Showers are expected late Tuesday night and could last through Friday. That will bring temperatures down into the 60s by later in the week. 

National Weather Service Meteorologist Jason Hess said the showers will not be accompanied by severe weather like last week's storms, although there is a chance of isolated thunderstorms.

But last weekend's balmy skies belie a record-setting trend in Gainesville. Hess said Title Town is on track for its coldest winter ever.

"Since Dec. 1, we've had an average of 49.5 degrees, the first time it's done that in recorded history," Hess said.

December saw 16 days with temperatures at or below freezing, while January had eight such days. The year 1940 holds the record for the coldest January ever in Gainesville. Right now, 2011 is ranked 15th on that coldest-weather list.

Hess explained that the bad siblings of weather — El Nino and La Nina — are not to blame. Instead it's something that sounds like it's an arctic oscillation, also known as a polar vortex. The weather phenomenon has been pushing freezing air to the Sunshine State.

Contact Kimberly Moore at 374-5036 or kimberly.moore@nytrng.com.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20110130/ARTICLES/110139973/1169?Title=Gainesville-on-track-for-its-coldest-winter-ever

5 ways to manage your utility bill

1. Set thermostats at 68 degrees or lower when heating. Bills increase up to 4 percent for each degree above that.

2. With a furnace or standard electric heating, turn the system off or down when away from home for longer than two hours.

3. Dress for the weather — sweaters, slippers and afghans can keep you comfortable.

4. Check heating system's filters once a month and clean or replace as needed.

5. Weatherize homes. Heating bills can be reduced by 10 percent to 25 percent by caulking, sealing and weather-stripping around windows, outside doors or where plumbing, duct work and electrical wiring penetrate exterior walls, floors or ceilings.

SOURCE: Gainesville Regional Utilities

“The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.” 

I do not want your money, and I offer nothing to buy. No coffee mugs or T-shirts here. I do this to learn, keep some semblance of sanity and, foolishly, not to make money. There are only four ways in which I can be fairly compensated for my efforts here at the Mullet Wrapper...

Comment! Don't be shy. It's my only feedback. Make up a name, if you want. Yes, I know our insane spam-blocker can make it frustrating at times. I welcome civil disagreement, too.

Now

Scattered light, occasional moderate shower continue to move across northeast Florida. The showers are moving northeast to east 10 to 15 mph. Rainfall amounts will light, generally less than a tenth of an inch.

Today

Cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Highs around 70. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Patchy fog after midnight. Lows in the upper 40s. East winds 5 mph

Hazardous Weather

Fog is expected to develop over the area tonight. Visibilities will be reduced to a mile or less in some locations late tonight.

Forecast Details

Shortwave trough in zonal flow now moving across the deep south and into the southeastern U.S. later this morning. Light rain showers and sprinkles have overspread the area. Shortwave will move off the East Coast later today with light rain lingering during the morning and partly cloudy skies in the afternoon. Maximum temperatures will range from the middle 60s along the coast to lower 70s inland.

Today's Pollen Levels: 6.4 Medium (on a scale to 12); Predominate Pollen: Cedar & Juniper.

For additional information visit the National Weather Service in Jacksonville website on the internet at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jax/

-------------------------************------------------------

By Chad Smith
Staff writer Gainesville Sun

Since at least the late 1990s, there has been no city election cycle with more than 10 candidates — until now

The ballot for the March 15 Gainesville City Commission elections was set Friday, when qualifying ended with 14 contenders, the most crowded field in recent memory.

Pam Carpenter, Alachua County's supervisor of elections, said more candidates can be expected when there is no incumbent, as is the case with the District 3 seat, which represents southwest Gainesville.

But for District 2, representing the northwest, and one of the two at-large seats, the incumbents didn't scare off challengers.

The candidates who qualified for the at-large seat are: Dikassa Dixon; Jeffrey G. Fiedler; Thomas Hawkins, the incumbent; Don Marsh; and Richard Selwach.

The District 2 candidates are: Todd Chase; James Ingle; Robert Krames; and Lauren Poe, the incumbent.

The District 3 candidates are: Ozzy Angulo, Susan Bottcher, Jimmy Harnsberger, Ramon Trujillo and Rob Zeller.

"The citizens of Gainesville have quite a selection," Carpenter said. "With 14 candidates on the ballot, there's someone for everyone to come out to vote on."

They won't have to wait long to get their first look at the candidates.

The University Park Neighborhood Association is hosting a forum Sunday, with two more to follow Monday and Tuesday.

Selwach and Fiedler entered the fray late in the game, signing up Monday and Wednesday.

This will be the fourth city campaign for Selwach, 48, who has never gotten more than 10.5 percent of the vote.

Fiedler, 60, said Friday that he is a part-time stand-up comedian who has "no illusions of being able to tilt the big, financially backed windmill campaigns."

But, he added, "I sure would like to win."

Both city races in 2010 had five candidates and both went to runoffs, as no candidate got more than 50 percent of the vote the first time around.

The number of viable candidates makes it likely there will be at least one runoff, which would be held April 12.

"But somebody could come in and win it outright," Carpenter said. "That's why we count the votes."

Races at a glance
Following are candi­dates for the three races up for election on March 15:

At-large City Commis­sion seat: Dikassa Dixon; Jeffrey G. Fiedler; Thomas Hawkins, the incumbent; Don Marsh; and Richard Selwach.

District 2 seat: Todd Chase; James Ingle; Rob­ert Krames; and Lauren Poe, the incumbent.

District 3 seat: Ozzy Angulo, Susan Bot­tcher, Jimmy Harnsberger, Ramon Trujillo
Upcoming forums

Sunday
Sponsored by University Park Neighborhood As­sociation

4 pm; United Church of Gainesville, 1624 NW Fifth Ave.

Monday

Sponsored by Human Rights Council of North Central Florida

7 pm; Pride Community Center of North Central, 3131 NW 13th St. Suite 62

Tuesday

Sponsored by Business Community Coalition

4 pm; Paramount Plaza Hotel and Suites, 2900 SW 13th St.

Cost is $18 per person; seating is limited

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20110128/ARTICLES/110129438/-1/entertainment?p=all&tc=pgall

The 22nd annual “A Celebration of Wine Event” has gone Vegas.

The “Vino Las Vegas” fundraiser will be held from 1 to 4 pm Feb. 20 in the University of Florida’s Reitz Student Union Grand Ballroom. “A Celebration of Wine” is an annual wine tasting and auction for North Central Florida’s public radio station Florida’s 89.1 WUFT-FM.

Last year, almost 600 guests from across the Southeast traveled to Gainesville to experience the international flavor of the tasting, which features more than 300 wines from vineyards around the world, including those of the United States, France, Germany, Italy, South America and Australia.

Hosted by public radio station Florida’s 89.1 WUFT-FM, the event is a collaborative effort with local vendors to showcase wine and food, as well as silent and live auctions. The Wine & Cheese Gallery will feature culinary treats; desserts will be provided by Mildred’s Big City Food and Restaurant Ti Amo; and Classic Fare Catering will offer specialty coffee at the end of the afternoon.

The auctions will feature individual lots of special older vintages from participating wineries, wine enthusiasts, and The Wine & Cheese Gallery, as well as special bottles and wine-related art by local artists of national acclaim. Tampa charity auctioneer Michael Roberts will oversee the live auction beginning at 3:30 pm during the event.

Wines for the event are donated from participating distributors, importers and wineries. Wade Tyler from The Wine & Cheese Gallery is assisting with coordinating the wines to be served and auction donations. Keith Watson Productions is creating the décor for this one-of-a-kind event and Primary Color is donating its web and social media design services.

Financial sponsors include Pure Energy Solar, Gainesville Regional Airport and LogoKick.com and additional opportunities are still available.

All proceeds harvested from the tasting and auctions benefit Florida’s 89.1 WUFT-FM, which provide public and educational broadcasting for 19 counties in North Central and Mid-Florida. Over the years, the events have raised more than $300,000 to continue the stations’ programming and services.

Tickets are $55 in advance and $60 at the door and will be available at The Wine & Cheese Gallery, 113 N. Main St. in Gainesville; Alarion Bank branches in Gainesville and Ocala; Mildred’s Big City Food in Gainesville; Wildbirds Unlimited, 4215 NW 16th Blvd. and online at www.celebrationofwine.org

In addition to the wine tasting and auctions, patrons can enjoy the Winemakers’ Dinner at 6:30 pm Feb. 19 at Restaurant Ti Amo in Downtown Gainesville. The four-course gourmet meal paired with fine wines is $100 per person. Reservations are required and seating is limited.

For reservations or more information, call Sue Wagner at 352-392-5200, extension 1106, or Wade Tyler at 352-372-8446. Information is also available online at www.celebrationofwine.org.

Public radio station WUFT-FM 89.1(simulcast on WJUF-FM 90.1) broadcasts 24-hours- a-day to 19 counties in North Central and Mid-Florida. The station has two digital streams: HD1 features News/Talk programming from NPR and PRI as well as local programming and HD 2 features classical music.

The stations are a part of the Division of Multimedia Properties at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communication and serve as a training facility for students in the college.

Recently, an old friend who's been a vegetarian for more than 15 years shocked us with a story: Last weekend, she ate bacon. Several strips. Straight out of the frying pan where her boyfriend was cooking it.

This wasn't the first time she'd encountered it sizzling there, in all its glistening glory. But for some reason, this time it overpowered her. She was guilty yet gleeful when she told us that she'd allowed bacon back into her life.

But she's not alone. We've heard this story before from many people. It seems that bacon has a way of awakening carnivorous desires within even some of the preachiest of vegetarians. And we set out to find out why.

 

We asked some scientists who study how food tantalizes the brain, and sociologists who've looked closely at vegetarianism, about bacon's seductive powers.

Our story was familiar to Johan Lundstrom. He's a scientist who runs a lab at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. He studies how the brain processes sensory information, like smell, for a living. He also told us he had an ex-girlfriend who became an ex-vegetarian once she tasted bacon.

Because bacon is one- to two-thirds fat and also has lots of protein, it speaks to our evolutionary quest for calories, Lundstrom says. And since 90 percent of what we taste is really odor, bacon's aggressive smell delivers a powerful hit to our sense of how good it will taste.

"There's an intimate connection between odor and emotion, and odor and memory," Lundstrom says. "When you pair that with the social atmosphere of weekend breakfast and hunger, bacon is in the perfect position to take advantage of how the brain is wired."

Indeed, the social experience of eating bacon also seems very important, says Donna Maurer, author of Vegetarianism: Movement or Moment? Opportunities to try new foods, like chocolate-covered bacon, with friends might push some vegetarians over the edge.

Bacon has special status in foodie circles, and that too seems to have enhanced its power over wavering vegetarians. Some have dubbed 2011 as the Year of Meat. BaconToday.com is a veritable daily bacon news source. And in New York you can find Bacon-Palooza, an event NPR covered on All Things Considered last year.

We even talked to a vegetarian, Gwen Sharp, about this, who said, "I have long thought if for some reason I ever started eating meat again, I would start with bacon." We also discovered a chapter — from a scholarly food book — titled "'Bacon sandwiches got the better of me:' Meat-eating and vegetarianism in South-East London."

Still, bacon has plenty of thoughtful opponents, among them Jonathan Safran Foer, author of the recent bestselling vegetarian treatise Eating Animals. Even Stephen Colbert was unable to convince Foer to eat bacon.

Sure, it's loaded with fat and salt, and Americans eat far more of it than what's good for the planet. But in the immortal words of Homer (Simpson, not the other one), "Mmmmm. Bacon."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/01/29/133304206/why-bacon-is-a-gateway-to-meat-for-vegetarians?sc=fb&cc=fp

Over the past two decades, Florida cattle ranchers have spent as much as $16 million a year doing battle with an invasive weed called tropical soda apple, known as TSA, that takes over pastures, elbowing out the forage grasses ranchers need for their cattle.

But a beetle released by the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is taking a bite out of the problem by feeding on the weed and reducing its competitiveness. UF researchers describe the beetle’s success as a biological control agent in the current issue of the journal Florida Entomologist.

Gratiana boliviana, as the beetle is known to scientists, is a native of South America and the first biological control agent in North America to be used against TSA. The beetles are highly specific feeders whose voracious appetite is focused only on TSA but not on related plants such as eggplant, peppers or potatoes.

Julio Medal, the UF entomologist who led the research team that released the beetle, said TSA has not only been a problem on cattle ranches but also in citrus groves and vegetable fields.

“It causes a lot of economic problems, and to prevent its spread, you can’t move cattle from Florida to other states without holding them at least six days in a TSA-free area,” he said. This is enough time to destroy the viability of any TSA seeds that may be in their digestive tracts.

Nearly 200,000 beetles have been released in the state since 2003, and the insect is now established throughout Central and South Florida. In the journal, Medal reported that the beetles caused the invasive weed to suffer significant defoliation as well as decreased fruit, and thus seed production, in Polk and Okeechobee counties.

TSA can grow taller than 3 feet and equally wide. Its leaves are covered in long spikes, and its immature fruits with pale and dark green stripes resemble small watermelons. It is an aggressive propagator, and cattle will not feed on its leaves.

TSA is native to South America and was discovered in the U.S. more than 20 years ago in Glades County. It now covers more than 1 million acres in Florida and has spread to other states including Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.

Buzz Eaves, a cattle rancher in St. Lucie County, first encountered TSA in 2000 when it began overtaking his forage grasses. After four years of aggressive campaigning against the weed using herbicides, fire and mowing, Eaves allowed IFAS researchers to release the Gratiana boliviana beetles on his ranch. Eaves said for the first two years the beetles worked slowly on the TSA and steadily increased in number.

“And then the following year, we had pretty much reached a biological balance with the plants,” Eaves said. “The TSA plants would start growing in the springtime and be followed a month or two later by the beetles. And the beetles would work on them all summer long, and by the end of the summer, those plants would be skeletonized and away we go to another year.”

Eaves said the beetles have reduced his annual spending on TSA control from as much as $25,000 to nothing.

Medal is working to gain approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the North Florida release of two more TSA biological control insects. These insects are better adapted to colder climates than Gratiana boliviana, which has failed to establish north of Central Florida.

The University of Florida is one of the nation's largest public universities. A member of the Association of American Universities, UF receives more than $550 million annually in sponsored research funding. Through its research and other activities, UF contributes more than $6 billion a year to Florida's economy and is responsible for generating more than 77,000 jobs statewide. University of Florida Research; Working for Florida.

Tickets can now be purchased for a pancake breakfast fundraising event to be held by the Santa Fe High School Band and Guard from 7:30 am to 10 am on Saturday, Jan. 29.

The breakfast will be held at Kazbor's in Alachua. Tickets are $6 and can be purchased at the door on the day of the vent. Tickets also can be purchased ahead of time at Kazbor's or from any member of the Santa Fe Band or Guard.

Breakfast includes two pancakes, bacon, eggs and a beverage. Take-out is available. Student will be serving breakfast to those attending.

Money raised from the event will help pay expenses for competitions and travel.

By Jackie Alexander
Staff writer, Gainesville Sun

Some of the projects at the Alachua Regional Science and Engineering Fair make Bill Nye the Science Guy look like an amateur.

More than 200 students explained their projects Friday to 100 judges in the Santa Fe College gym. Projects ranged from soccer and cosines to Alzheimer's disease research.

Sarah Charbonnet, the science fair organizer, said the students work hard to show projects with real scientific merit.

“They've done some real valid research and put their knowledge to use,” she said.

That includes research done by Dipa Bose, 13, on Alzheimer's disease. Dipa said her family has a history of the disease and that she studied the efficacy of two different medicines in her father's lab.

Bose said she started over the summer, learning how to process DNA from her father.

“I worked alongside him, and he taught me all the techniques,” she said.

The eighth-grader said she worked with DNA strands and then expressed them in kidney and brain cells. She said she discovered that kidney cells have a way of killing the protein that causes Alzheimer's disease.

“I want to find out what enzyme or catalyst is able to dispose of this neurotoxic protein,” she said.

School Board vice chair April Griffin attended the event.

“It's really impressive,” she said. “We have some great kids and awesome teachers.”

Joni Perkins, an eighth-grader at Mebane Middle School, extracted DNA from fruit to determine which fruit would have more DNA.

“I like doing experiments on fruit,” she said.

Bananas was the answer because of their thin phospholipid layer, Perkins said.

With so many judges around, it's easy to get nervous, Perkins said.

“You do get nervous, but you try not to let it show,” she said. She said she hopes to become a lawyer.

David Liu, 15, said he found a simple chemical compound that reduces the number of pancreatic cancer cells by 70 percent.

“I think it's a new drug for potential clinical trials,” he said.

David, a sophomore at Eastside High School, said he hopes to become a biomedical engineer.

Jacob Reynolds, an eighth-grade student at Oak View Middle, built a program for a computer tic-tac-toe game.

“I tried to make it unbeatable, but it isn't,” he said. The program tied 91 times, won eight games and lost once.

Other projects included the best file format for digital photographs, a look at whether pools could cause sinkholes and a method for removing oil from oil spills.

Watching students enjoy science keeps dentist and judge Jeff Smith coming back.

“This sets the seeds for a lot of our youth,” Smith said.

The winners of the regional science fair will be announced Monday at Lincoln Middle School. Thirty students will move on to the state science fair.

Contact Jackie Alexander at jackie.alexander@gvillesun.com or 338-3166.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20110128/ARTICLES/110129452/1169?Title=No-mere-child-s-play-at-regional-science-fair