Easter lilies and cats don't mix

via wikipedia

As Easter approaches, Easter lilies are making an appearance at local stores. If you have cats, be aware that many parts of this plant can be extremely toxic to your feline and ingestion can lead to kidney failure.

Livescience.com reports that
"Even eating just a couple of leaves or licking a few pollen grains off their fur can cause cats to suffer acute kidney failure, she said. All parts of these plants, which are members of the Lilium and Hemerocallis genera, are considered poisonous. ... The first symptom of lily toxicity in cats is vomiting... Over the next 12 to 24 hours, the cat may start to urinate frequently, but then urinating might stop altogether, which is a sign of kidney failure. If not brought to a veterinarian, the cat will die within four to seven days. Other signs to watch for include drooling, loss of appetite and decreased activity." ... Read the rest @ http://www.livescience.com/44829-lilies-kill-cats.html

 Other Easter-time risk for pets include "Easter grass" and chocolate.

Medline LCI: April 10 update

Jen Price @ Sycamore Consulting has forwarded the slide presentation from the core group meeting that took place last April 10 (see below). This presentation condenses some of the feedback so far, in particular information gathered at the charrette.

As noted in slides 6 and 7 below, we are close to concluding the Medline LCI study. Sizemore Consulting will create a Master Plan for the area that will summarize feedback from public and core groups, the charrette, and online survey participants.  This master plan will also be informed by DeKalb County's zoning code (currently being revised--see latest draft here). The master plan will be revealed on March 15 in an interactive meeting open to the community at large. The master plan will also be a public document that we will link to once it becomes available.

Terminus in progress...

Terminus, an immersive play, will unfold at the Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve at 7pm Wednesday-Saturday evenings from 

April 16-19, 23-26 and 30, and
 May 1-3, 7-10, and 14-17.

See the trailer below, and get your tickets at http://terminus2014.brownpapertickets.com/

City of Briarclif recap meeting [Apr 22]

The City of Briarcliff Initiative will convene a recap meeting next April 22 at the Briarcliff United Methodist Church (4105 Briarcliff Rd NE). See here for additional information on this meeting.

Injured dog found in downtown Decatur [Apr 11]

via Facebook...

"While driving home this afternoon, I found a dog in the road at the corner of Church & Commerce who had just been hit. The car who hit her stopped to help, but wasn't able to take her in for care. I brought her to Village Vets (downtown Decatur) and she's there now with pain medication and assessment of treatment options for a severely broken leg. She was apparently with another dog, who was also hit at the same time but never found.

I'm posting flyers all over this area with her picture. Please, look at this picture and share with your neighbors. She had a collar so I suspect (and hope) that she had a home. If you are aware of who her owners are, please have them contact me at 678-205-6667."

Ira B. Melton Park Volunteer Day [Apr 12]

Image via http://clairmontheights.org/melton

The Friends of  Ira B Melton Park  will be planting native shrubs on Saturday, April 12, from noon-3pm. The park entrance is located on Desmond Drive, across from Park Lane.

You are encouraged to bring your own work gloves, drinking water, and a shovel if you have one. 

This project is supported by Park Pride, CHCA, MANA, and the South Fork Conservancy. Ainsley Waken of Awaken Landscape Designs created  planting layouts for the project.

Red moon, blood moon? Lunar eclipse on April 15 [3am and on]

2004 lunar eclipse by Fred Espenak.

Let's hope for no clouds!

Eastern Daylight Time (April 15, 2014)
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 1:58 a.m. EDT on April 15
Total eclipse begins: 3:07 a.m. EDT
Greatest eclipse: 3:46 a.m. EDT
Total eclipse ends: 4:25 a.m. EDT
Partial eclipse ends: 5:33 a.m. EDT

Why will the moon look red during the eclipse? Sky.org has answers here [hint: the earth's atmosphere is responsible]. If that's too dry and factual for you, maybe you would enjoy reading about blood moons and portents?

For  more details, see NASA's data sheet on this event.