Across America|News|
‘Cicada-Cation’ Planning: When, Where To Go To Hear Trillions Of Bugs
Love ’em or hate ’em — and there are legions on both sides — two broods of periodical cicadas emerging this year make a loud impression.
How to contact me: beth.dalbey@patch.com.
I'm a longtime community journalist and started with Patch.com in 2011 as a local editor in Iowa. My current position is national editor.
My career has been solely focused in journalism, except for a brief detour in 2007 when I joined the communications department of a scientific research institute studying the evolution of language in bonobos and other great apes. I knew it would be an adventure – it was! – and worked as a freelance writer and consultant after that position was eliminated in 2010.
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Politics: I’m a registered independent. I will vote every time, regardless of party affiliation, for the individual with the best ideas to make our communities more livable.
Religion: I grew up attending the United Methodist Church in my small hometown. It was a great foundation that taught me most of what I believe is right and wrong. I believe in a supreme being. I respect others’ right to believe what they believe, as long as they’re not proselytizing on the taxpayer’s dime, and I think this whole business of seeing everyone who does good works as an angel or every marvelous outcome as a miracle cheapens both.
Love ’em or hate ’em — and there are legions on both sides — two broods of periodical cicadas emerging this year make a loud impression.
A periodic comet that comes around every 71 years is getting brighter as it races toward the sun; meteor showers are back with the Lyrids.
Budget airlines can save money — or costs can add up with fees for seat assignments, priority boarding, carry-on bags, beverages and snacks.
When neighbor kids overstay, there may be a reason. When it comes to setting boundaries, “you don’t,” one reader said. “Just enjoy the kids.
A cicada emergence veteran eager for this year’s dual emergence admits “those suckers used to headbutt me. But I love those clumsy bugs!”
Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Dairy Queen, IHOP, McDonald’s, Panera and Starbucks are among fast food chains freshening their spring menus.
People have shown in the past they’re willing to do almost anything to acquire a Stanley, which officially drops Mother’s Day cups Thursday.
The cosmic eruption, which only happens every 80 years or so, could happen at any time in the Corona Borealis, or the Northern Crown.
With an early start to spring nationwide, the hunt is on for morels, which are among the most desired wild mushrooms in the world.
Treatment systems are expensive to install, and the first-ever national drinking water limit on PFAS could end up costing customers more.
President Joe Biden unveiled a new federal student loan cancellation proposal targeting borrowers for whom student debt is a major obstacle.
Google searches for terms like “retina” and “photokeratitis” spike after millions of Americans stare at the sun in Monday’s total eclipse.
The fungus Massosphor cicadina, laced with the same chemical found in psychedelic mushrooms, causes “bizarre” behavior.
A Pennsylvania resident thought a helicopter was about to crash, and fully expected to look out her window and see it in a mangled heap.
A Florida man thinks space junk fell on his house; that may explain mysterious California lights, too. And junk email folder reveals $227K.
The neighbor’s kids and your kids are pals, but they’re always hanging out at your house. Their parents never reciprocate. What do you do?
A La Niña climate pattern increases the chances or an intense Atlantic hurricane season, researchers at Colorado State University said.
Early weather forecasts for Monday’s total solar eclipse are mixed, but forecasting something as specific as cloud cover is difficult.
Falling space debris, whether from the space station or something else, crashed through two floors and narrowly missed a Florida man’s son.
A patient in Texas infected with bird flu is the first person in the U.S. to contract the illness from cattle, according to ag officials.