Gary Pike: Gary's Garden Center

Fall through winter is the preferred time for planting trees. Growers are digging trees throughout the season since cool weather reduces tree stress. Trees planted during cool weather have more opportunity to develop healthy root systems.
With so many different trees to choose from, it can be hard to decide which tree would work best for you. First, decide where you would like to plant a tree, and then determine if you want it for shade, accent or flowering. If you are looking to shade an area, it is a good idea to plant several trees near each other (if you have room). If you have a limited area just plant one. Some good shade tree choices are Willow Oak, Nuttall Oak, Red Maple, Sugar Maple, Bosque Elm and Zelkova. Most shade trees have great fall leaf color.

Accent trees add great interest to your landscape by bringing attention to a particular area. There are several great accent trees from which to choose. The Japanese maple has several varieties from which to choose. They have different leaf colors and textures, different growth habits to fit almost any landscape situation, and several bark colors for winter interest. Also, consider River Birch, which has peeling bark that looks great all year round. Trident Maples have smaller leaves than the regular maples, a lower growth habit and interesting fall color. Another good choice is a Weeping Willow that has a graceful weeping branch configuration. For areas that have very little room try a European Hornbean or Armstrong Maple. They both have a tight upright growth habit and stay narrow instead of spreading as they grow.

By: Celia Murray; Columnist

In March of this year, I wrote a column setting out reasons for which I believe the death penalty should be abolished.  In light of a recently released report out of Texas, I feel the need to revisit this topic.

On the morning of December 23, 1991, a house fire broke out in Corsicana, TX.  The wood frame house was occupied by Cameron Todd Willingham, his wife Stacy, and their three little girls, two-year-old Amber, and one-year-old twins, Karmon and Kameron.  Stacy was not at home at the time, having gone out to pick up a Christmas gift for the children.  Willingham said he tried to rescue the children but was driven back by smoke and flames, his hair on fire.  Neighbors described the young father as screaming and hysterical and desperately trying to save his little girls.  The windows of the children’s room exploded and Willingham had to be restrained and eventually handcuffed as he tried again and again to get into the room.

Fire investigators who inspected the scene later said they noticed charring at the base of some of the walls and patterns of soot that made them suspicious.  While admitting they had no motive, they were convinced the fire had been set. 
Willingham was arrested and charged with capital murder.  Insisting that he was innocent, Willingham refused to accept a guilty plea that would have spared his life.  The jury took barely an hour to convict him and sentence him to death.  Willingham was executed on February 17, 2004.  For the entire 12 years he sat on death row, Willingham maintained his innocence.

By: Katie Davis; Design Director

Ten years ago my high school journalism teacher handed me and my co-editors a spiral-bound book, and said it would become our bible. Tim Harrower's "Newspaper Designer's Handbook"  became a well of information we often referenced, and over the years I've recommended it to more than a dozen people interested in learning more about publication design.

Harrower is a former designer for The Oregonian, based in Portland, and his work has won awards from the Society for Newspaper Design. He now works as a consultant, helping newspapers across the country modernize and compete for your attention.

So, last month, when the Citizen staff received the green light to proceed with a redesign, I started researching the evolution of newspapers. It's becoming increasingly rare that a newspaper breaks a story in print. Bloggers, mobile internet, and social networking often beat us to the punch. However, as a newspaper serving a small community, the Morgan County Citizen is still your first and best source for local news. You have a small but dedicated team who work feverishly to produce your newspaper each week. Our deadlines are rigorous – we take editorial submissions until 5 p.m. Monday to send a paper to the press Tuesday by 8 p.m. We keep our deadlines tight to give you the most up-to-date information we can.

Kathryn Schiliro, the managing editor, and I had the pleasure of speaking with Harrower this past Thursday. He offered constructive criticism and guidance during a hour-long conference call. He gave us some great ideas for how to organize our content and streamline our design, ultimately improving our presentation of the news.

By: George Warren; Columnist

I have been writing a column for nearly three years now to alert you to the ongoing loss of our republic. Benjamin Franklin warned us our forefathers were giving us a republic, but that it was our job to keep it.
 To save America we must think outside the box---today, people with money own American government. We can take it back if we all insist Congress  enact certain reforms!!!  There will be no reform party. Rather, I suggest a reform coalition. The reform coalition will lend our support to the major party which adopts the highest number of our suggested reforms in their national platform. Every one who subscribes to the platform is welcome to join our movement. We welcome Democrats, Republicans, independents and all races and gender and sexual orientation.  We want a million person March on Washington for July 4, 2010 to demand the following:

Constitutional Agenda (Amendments Required)

•Limit President to one six-year term, with straw votes every two years.
•Limit federal judgeship appointments to 10-year terms, excepting Supreme Court.                                           
•Limit Senators to two six-year terms, with straw votes every two years.
•Limit House Of Representatives to six two-year terms.

By: Dick Hodgetts; Columnist

My lovely and talented wife proposed a trip to Rome, Italy to celebrate our second wedding anniversary.  What a delightful surprise one finds in the ancient capital of the Roman Empire and all around the Mediterrean Sea.  The Italians have an enchanting life style which includes great food, amazing architecture past and  present, lots of talking with their hands, breathtaking paintings and sculpture, and a family life where adults and kids actually sit and eat and converse with one another each day.

Of all the experiences one can have in Rome, perhaps the most interesting to me was to sit in an Italian café, sip some coffee or espresso, talk with your spouse, and watch life in busy Rome unfold. Picture the experience, the sun is shining over blue skies, a breeze blows in from the sea, and thousands of cars pass by your café.  When you arise, you can go to visual sites in Vatican City, or cross the Tiber River and see where Romans ran an empire.

When I describe the delights of Rome, one of the most interesting aspects of the life in the Eternal City is the flow of traffic.  Italians have a mix of scooters, cars, trucks and pedestrians who move about in a most interesting fashion.  With a population of four million plus and tourists from all over the world it can be a hectic place.  But, it moves quickly and it moves quietly compared to Atlanta, or Houston, or San Francisco.  And it has to work in a way that everyone understands the process.  There are as many visitors to Rome as residents, so how they move about needs to be clear to an English tourist familiar with driving on the left side of the road, as it is to an American, or a visitor from Sri Lanka.  And it is.  They use traffic circles and most of the intersections do not have traffic lights. And, it works well.