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The middle of the day is the worst. “Especially in the afternoon,” Bailey Lombardo said. “There are a lot of them in the afternoon.”
That’s when the hemlock woolly adelgid does the most damage. That’s when the ever-expanding population of Asian beetles really goes to work on the hemlock trees in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The adelgid drain the sap from the trees. As a consequence, the population of the fern-like evergreens is declining at an alarming rate.
Essential to cooling the park’s mountain streams, loss of the hemlock trees would have damaging, long-term ecological consequences. Many of the fish native to the streams would not survive. Full story »

The Rising Star of East Tennessee contest is a step closer to crowning two new champions. The semi-finals in the adult and youth divisions of the talent show were held on April 18 and 19 at Monte Vista Baptist Church in Maryville.
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