Latest news with #AaronDavis
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Honey Hills Fest back with 4-day showcase of women-led bands
'Now read it in The Sacramento Bee/Ask your girlfriends and see if they know/Read it in the newspaper.' Thank you, Jack White, for that little shoutout at Channel 24 last week, in a crowd-amping shakeup of the lyrics to the White Stripes' seminal 'Ball and Biscuit.' We're flattered! Local artists, message Aaron Davis on Instagram if you have upcoming shows, @adavis_threetosee. The female-powered Honey Hills Fest is back for its sophomore installment, hopscotching to four different Nevada County venues (three in Nevada City plus one in Grass Valley) over four days. The multi-genre lineup is showcasing regional women and fem-presenting musical acts, and the festival is dedicated to promoting gender equality in the music industry. Razored-edge indie pop colorstorm Spacemoth (the enigmatic project of prolific sonic puppeteer Maryam Qudus, also a member of tingling 2024 Honey Hills headliner La Luz) joins Sacramento's post-punk rockers Clevers, haunted meadow traversing rock duo Witch Dick and Chaos Fiction for night one at St. Joseph's Hall in Grass Valley, while sultry electro-Americana-psych flamethrower (and former Gram Rabbit singer) Jesika Von Rabbit leads night two at the Fern with Everyone is Dirty and scandalously raucous MC5-influenced rock act Theya. Day three at Stardust Station has wistful cloud-surfing San Francisco rock outfit For Your Pleasure linking up with fellow Bay Area outfits Bad Tiger, Fieldress and Indianna Hale (you'll stop dead in your tracks and crank the volume for her spaghetti-psych diamond 'Hollow the Words'). Whimsical and endlessly captivating foothills folk duo Two Runner and high-desert honky tonk hellcats Noelle & the Deserters lead an outdoor lineup including Anna Hillburg, reverbing Oakland rockers the Stratospheres, Iona Swift and Artemis Arthur to close it out Sunday at Pioneer Park. Check out the fest's delightfully frenetic 'Honey Hills Fest '25 Official Playlist' on Spotify for a sampler platter of what's on deck (June 5-8. Also celebrating its second year is the one-day Pink Bandit Music Fest, an ultra-DIY fest with a loaded local lineup topped by whip-lashing guitar-driven alt-rock/dream pop act Rainbow City Park, which earlier this year offered up feisty five-song EP 'Fruitless.' Manicially sweat-pouring local rock staple the Snares — who scored the opening slot for the first of Jack White's two May Channel 24 shows — join Reno indie rockers Charity Kiss, ethereal hip-hop/pop artist Coco Simone, garage rockers Carport, jazz fusion ensemble Smally Big, Denim Nuns, Slow Pull, Riley Echo, chillwave standout Inner Nature and more to pack this lineup. There's also a side acoustic stage with a half-dozen artists including the likes of Aiko Shimada, Ludic Gal and others. It's free, with donations being accepted to help fund the artist-curated and -executed event (11 a.m. Saturday, June 7 at Auburn School Park Preserve. While we're looking east, we'll peek further up the hill to South Lake Tahoe — but you barely have to trek past 'the Y' for what we're eyeing. Tree-laden craft beer oasis The Hangar has dabbled in a couple of one-off al fresco shows from the likes of Rayland Baxter and the White Buffalo over the last few summers, so we figured they'd probably sprinkle in one or two more this year. Instead, they've gone absolutely bonkers with it, lining up roughly 20 gigs from big league indie touring talent, to the point where we can comfortably say that this is no longer 'a cool beer joint with occasional good music'... this is a venue now. On tap for June is a sold-out gig from funk-tickled dub reggae troupe Hip Abduction on June 7 and ethereally sprawling folk duo Rising Appalachia on June 8, followed by singer-songwriter and former Pentatonix member Avi Kaplan on June 13. July brings Ecuadorian-born indie artist Helado Negro (July 11), psych-surf darlings Allah-Las (July 19), indie rock heavy-hitters Whitney (July 20) and the dual-ego double bill of vintage soul scorchers The Altons and Thee Sinseers (July 31). Throbbing indie pop stalwarts STRFKR (Aug. 14), hot jazz/juke joint folk collective Dustbowl Revival (Aug. 15), atmospheric harmony-drenched folk duo Hollow Coves (Sept. 5), Arc de Soleil (Sept. 19, pay attention here, Khruangbin fans), Southern blues/roots royalty North Mississippi Allstars (Sept. 21) and more flesh out the balance of an eye-popping summer slate ( Back down the hill, it's lucky 13 for the Davis Music Fest, the mini-South by Southwest-styled weekend festival going strong since 2011 and spreading throughout a smattering of downtown Davis venues — your wristband gets you access to all of the sets. Friday music is concentrated on two stages at Sudwerk Brewing with Gold Souls, Boot Juice, Broken Compass Bluegrass and others, with Sunday set up at Delta of Venus with the likes of Tracorum, Object Heavy and more. Saturday has six different venues open for business with gilded San Francisco funkified brass battalion Mission Delirium and psych-pop miscreants Milk for the Angry, Davis indie folk rock standout Nat Lefkoff, L.A. Americana stalwarts Rose's Pawn Shop and a cavalcade of local favorites including Sacramento pop-punk royalty Dog Party (Jack White's Night 2 guest), Jakhari Smith, LabRats, Boca do Rio, Katie Knipp, Ten Foot Tiger, and tons more rounding out a weekend slate of more than 40 acts — check out their 'DMF 2025' playlist on Spotify (June 20-22. There has to be a spike in searches similar to 'who are the musicians in 'Sinners'' since Sac State alum Ryan Coogler's roots music-powered 'vampire' flick was released in April. For anyone who was trying to zero in on the bloodsucking yet soul-stirring siren 'Joan' from the film's ominously leeching folk trio, in real life she goes by Lola Kirke — initially an actress by trade, but of late a buried treasure of zesty throwback country and Americana. One could find traces from the film's centrifuge of Mississippi Delta blues (not acquired via fang) in her upstart catalog, but you would need to send feelers out in many directions across the U.S. of A. to unravel it all for the 'Country Curious' singer. Go north to Nashville, up east towards the plush and twanging Appalachians, probably swing over the dust-blowing Southwest, and likely other directions yet to be uncovered by the prodigious maven. Chloe Kimes joins the bill as Kirke tours behind her newest offering 'Trailblazer' (8 p.m. Tuesday, June 17 at Starlet Room. $26.40. 'Swamp preacher' sounds like a C-grade horror movie, but we're sticking with it as an apt descriptor for veteran blues and soul peddler JJ Grey & Mofro, rolling into Sacramento for the first time in four years in support of his most robust work to date, 'Olustee.' His band now bursting at the seams with backing vocalists and brass, Grey over the years has morphed from a keyboard-perched wailer to enigmatic pulpit-leaning leading man, fanning the flames of his ever-maturing breed of humid rock 'n' roll, grimy swamp blues and levitating soul. His take on John Anderson's 'Seminole Wind' will tell you what you need to know (8 p.m. Tuesday, June 10 at Ace of Spades. $64. A cheeky tradition always accompanying the delectable deluge of pork belly that is Sacramento Bacon Fest is the Kevin Bacon Fest, where a troupe of bands gathers at Torch Club to perform their renditions of songs featured in, or having connection to, a Kevin Bacon movie (six degrees, or some such). Getting footloose (zing) and fancy free will be locals World Champ, the Legion of Decency, Chase'n the Beat, California Stars and John Neko (9 p.m. Friday, June 6. $15. Assuredly, there are myriad possibilities for songs that could overlap both Kevin Bacon Fest and the following weekend's '90's Nite — which is exactly what it sounds like. Hosts Band of Coyotes cobbled a gnarly lineup of locals to offer their takes on '90's hits (if anyone refers to this as 'classic rock,' we're having words!), including Accidents at Sundown, Bad Barnacles, Swan Ronson, Tiger Shade, Moxie Barker, Lewd Jaw, E-Regulars, 33Black, Ruining Everything and Sundazey (8 p.m. Saturday, June 14. $15. A mishmash of punk and alternative rock veterans descends on the Starlet Room this month, lead by Dead Bob - the slashing, synth-tinged solo project of John Wright (former drummer of legendary Canadian act NoMeansNo), which offered up its debut 'Life Like' in 2023. They're joined by thundering supergroup UltraBomb, composed of Greg Norton, founding bassist for the generational Husker Du, former Social Distortion and Agent Orange drummer Derek O'Brien, and Soul Asylum guitarist Ryan Smith (8 p.m. Wednesday, June 11. $26.40. Speaking of Social Distortion and punk rock godfather Mike Ness ... the legendary act is at the doorstep of an almost unfathomable 50 years of virtually nonstop touring, and lands June 14 at Channel 24. The venue also welcomes meteorically rising country/Americana star Charley Crockett (June 8) and veteran country singer/actor Ryan Bingham with the wily Texas Gentlemen serving as his band (June 18,
Eater
21-05-2025
- Eater
The 10 Best Restaurants in Seabrook and Kemah, Texas
View as Map Kemah may be known for its flashy boardwalk and a sea of Landry's restaurants, but locals know this laid-back bayside city, roughly 30 miles southeast of Houston, has a lot more going on. Just a five-minute drive from the neighboring town of Seabrook, Kemah is home to some of the best seafood in the region, a sail-up tiki bar, a standout Thai joint, and one of the most innovative Native American tasting menu restaurants in the country. So, while traveling out to Kemah might feel like a journey, once you're there, you'll wonder why you don't come more often. Whether you're looking for something sweet, soulful, or smoked, Kemah's food scene is worth the trip. Use this map as a guide to some of the best restaurants in the Kemah area. If you're willing to travel a little farther south — 20 more minutes — you'll hit San Leon, home to seafood staples like Pier 6, Topwater Grill, and the beloved dive Gilhooley's Restaurant and Oyster Bar. For all the latest Houston dining intel, subscribe to Eater Houston's newsletter. Read More Technically, this soulful restaurant is in Seabrook, but the five-minute drive from Kemah means that you shouldn't miss it if you're in town. Inspired by chef Aaron Davis's grandmothers, this laidback, BYOB restaurant in Seabrook has garnered national attention for bringing Creole home cooking to the forefront. Diners can find gumbo loaded with chicken, sausage, and blue crab; fried cheese curds topped with red gravy; and New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp and grits served with toasted French bread. A crowd-pleasing combination of crispy, Cajun-spiced fried chicken atop a diner's choice of a buttermilk vanilla, pecan praline, or Southern red velvet waffle has become a signature. The daily specials, typically written on the chalkboard wall, are where Davis gets wildly creative — he cooks up things like chargrilled short ribs marinated in Korean barbecue and Caribbean jerk spices and a standout oxtail plate. The food takes time, but a cold drink can make the wait go by faster. Vibe check: Expect a casual, down-home feel in this no-frills restaurant. Prepare to wait for your table and the food. The restaurant has a small staff, and Chef Davis is often hard at work in the back making the best and homiest versions of his dishes. Locals rave about this Thai restaurant. Start with the Dragon Fire chicken and vegetable dumplings, which are served in a ginger-soy sauce with shrimp and avocado, before diving into a curry dish, such as bowls of creamy panang, pad Thai, and Pad King, a yellow bean sauce with sautéed vegetables that pairs best with lamb. Want a full experience? Order the five-course Chef's Table meal. For $75 per person, diners can enjoy an appetizer, soup, salad, entree, and dessert (with a two-person minimum). Just over the bridge from Kemah sits one of the best seafood joints in the Seabrook-Kemah area. Diners love it for its variety, with solid bowls of gumbo, fruity cocktails and margaritas, and oysters served six different ways, including raw oysters on the half-shell, Rockys oysters topped with shrimp, spinach, bacon, and a creamy cheese sauce, and Shoysters (grilled oysters topped with oyster butter, parmesan cheese, and grilled shrimp). Treat yourself to a nice dinner, or stop in for lunch for fried or grilled options from the Texas Gulf, like fried alligator, Texas redfish, and jumbo shrimp. Switch things up and head to nearby sister restaurant Tookie's, known for its flavorful, always dependably good burgers. It doesn't matter your style — sweet or savory, Seabrook Waffle Company has it all. This neighborhood spot serves up Italian espresso drinks alongside Liege waffles, the ultimate canvas for toppings of all sorts. Breakfast here comes in the form of a Monte Cristo-style waffle layered with Swiss, ham, turkey, bacon, and raspberry jalapeño preserves or the eggs Benedict, which is topped with ham, bacon, an over-easy egg, and Hollandaise sauce. For something sweet and decadent, try out the Nola, a waffle piled high with Speculoos, bananas, and vanilla ice cream, and dusted with a cinnamon-maple powder. Want just a taste? Order the miniature waffle bites, which come in sets of four, and share them with a friend. Damn Fine Coffee and Fried Pies This humble stand offers an understated pairing of coffee and pie. Damn Fine Coffee roasts its beans on site in its next-door roasting room and features a menu filled with various espresso and coffee drinks and teas. The handheld fried pies nearly steal the show, with savory options like sausage and gravy or the vegan soyrizo and potato that are a go-to for breakfast, while others are stuffed with comforting fillings like chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, and crawfish etouffee. The sweet pies filled with chocolate pudding, strawberry rhubarb, and caramelized apples are especially hard to resist. On cool days, enjoy your coffee and pie out on Damn Fine's expansive patio, or take it all to go, with a bag of roasted coffee beans for later and an extra pie for the road. After a stroll on the boardwalk, take an essential trip to Kemah's only small-batch scoop shop, Cool Cow. Decide between a cup, cone, shake, or sundae, or choose to go all out by sandwiching your ice cream between two brownies or cookies. A dozen flavors are available in store at any time, with new features rotated in often, but diners can expect staples like milk chocolate brownie fudge and Peanut Butter Pandemonium. Dairy- and sugar-free options are also available. Sign up for our newsletter. There aren't many places in the Houston area where you can go for British cuisine, but this pub in the heart of Kemah promises just that and more. As for the menu, the restaurant's name speaks for itself. Fish and Chips serves various 'supper' plates featuring fried fish, including Icelandic Haddock and cod, as well as entrees like Shepherd's Pie, Scotch Eggs, and Bangers and Mash (sausage and mashed potatoes served with an onion gravy). Fish and Chips sticks to its guns with a full bar full of brews, and a lively atmosphere perfect for watching the latest soccer (football) match. Make your experience here extra memorable by ordering the sticky toffee pudding, a homemade date cake soaked in a sweet, sticky syrup, served with a side of ice cream or fresh double cream. The restaurant deems it life-changing. Choctaw chef David Skinner, who also owns Clear Creek Winery, switched gears in 2023, closing down his restaurant Eculent, a tasting menu restaurant in Kemah with avant-garde displays of modern gastronomy, and replacing it with his newest endeavor — Ishtia. The Native American tasting menu offers a 20-plus-course experience diving into the familiar and lesser-known Indigenous ingredients presented in ways that feel both modern and reverent to Native American traditions. Diners are treated to warming bowls of tanchi labona, a soup that's recognized as the first Choctaw dish to incorporate pork; a handheld smudge stick salad with walnut-sumac pesto; and a braised rabbit served atop a silky mole that's months in the making. Desserts here are just as special: a corn cake tres leches served with chica morada sorbet. Be sure to book a reservation. Ishtia is only open Thursday through Saturday, and seats must be pre-paid for $225. Try out his other restaurant, Th Prsrv. A collaboration with James Beard Award-winning chef Benchawan Jabthong Painter, this restaurant takes diners on a journey through Thai and Native American cuisines starting at 2400 BCE. What started as Kemah Meat Market in the 1960s eventually evolved into T-Bone Tom's BarBQue in 1974, before transforming into one of the most beloved steakhouses in Kemah. While diners often go for the hand-cut steaks, which include the chicken-fried variety, T-Bone Tom's also serves a bevy of seafood dishes, burgers, wings, salads, and its diner-favorite smoked sausage Shark Eggs (jalapeños stuffed with sausage and cheese, wrapped in bacon). Daily specials offer hard-to-beat prices on favorites, like prime rib on Tuesdays and all-you-can-eat ribs on Fridays, and you're guaranteed a show, with live music scheduled for almost every night of the week (except most Mondays). Tucked into a strip mall, Coco's is not your average tiki bar. This veteran- and woman-owned hangout offers top-notch cocktails made with fresh juices and garnished with specially dehydrated fruits. The menu features fun sips like the Floor is Guava (vanilla and coconut rums, pineapple, lime, and guava) and a Lychee Nut Daiquiri (rum, Giffard Lichi Li, Maraschino liqueur, lime juice), but if you have something in mind that you don't see on the menu, tap one of the talented bartenders to help make your dream drink come to life. One of the best parts about Coco's is the atmosphere. Start inside amid the neon-lit bar before making your way out to the spacious back patio that overlooks the canal, where boats and jet skis dock right alongside regulars and newcomers. Check Coco's schedule for its weekly lineup of events, including karaoke, live music, and burlesque on the first Monday of each month. Ridesharing is encouraged unless you're driving in on your boat, since parking is tight. © 2025 Vox Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Link copied to the clipboard. Technically, this soulful restaurant is in Seabrook, but the five-minute drive from Kemah means that you shouldn't miss it if you're in town. Inspired by chef Aaron Davis's grandmothers, this laidback, BYOB restaurant in Seabrook has garnered national attention for bringing Creole home cooking to the forefront. Diners can find gumbo loaded with chicken, sausage, and blue crab; fried cheese curds topped with red gravy; and New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp and grits served with toasted French bread. A crowd-pleasing combination of crispy, Cajun-spiced fried chicken atop a diner's choice of a buttermilk vanilla, pecan praline, or Southern red velvet waffle has become a signature. The daily specials, typically written on the chalkboard wall, are where Davis gets wildly creative — he cooks up things like chargrilled short ribs marinated in Korean barbecue and Caribbean jerk spices and a standout oxtail plate. The food takes time, but a cold drink can make the wait go by faster. Vibe check: Expect a casual, down-home feel in this no-frills restaurant. Prepare to wait for your table and the food. The restaurant has a small staff, and Chef Davis is often hard at work in the back making the best and homiest versions of his dishes. Locals rave about this Thai restaurant. Start with the Dragon Fire chicken and vegetable dumplings, which are served in a ginger-soy sauce with shrimp and avocado, before diving into a curry dish, such as bowls of creamy panang, pad Thai, and Pad King, a yellow bean sauce with sautéed vegetables that pairs best with lamb. Want a full experience? Order the five-course Chef's Table meal. For $75 per person, diners can enjoy an appetizer, soup, salad, entree, and dessert (with a two-person minimum). Open in Google Maps Foursquare Just over the bridge from Kemah sits one of the best seafood joints in the Seabrook-Kemah area. Diners love it for its variety, with solid bowls of gumbo, fruity cocktails and margaritas, and oysters served six different ways, including raw oysters on the half-shell, Rockys oysters topped with shrimp, spinach, bacon, and a creamy cheese sauce, and Shoysters (grilled oysters topped with oyster butter, parmesan cheese, and grilled shrimp). Treat yourself to a nice dinner, or stop in for lunch for fried or grilled options from the Texas Gulf, like fried alligator, Texas redfish, and jumbo shrimp. Switch things up and head to nearby sister restaurant Tookie's, known for its flavorful, always dependably good burgers. Open in Google Maps Foursquare It doesn't matter your style — sweet or savory, Seabrook Waffle Company has it all. This neighborhood spot serves up Italian espresso drinks alongside Liege waffles, the ultimate canvas for toppings of all sorts. Breakfast here comes in the form of a Monte Cristo-style waffle layered with Swiss, ham, turkey, bacon, and raspberry jalapeño preserves or the eggs Benedict, which is topped with ham, bacon, an over-easy egg, and Hollandaise sauce. For something sweet and decadent, try out the Nola, a waffle piled high with Speculoos, bananas, and vanilla ice cream, and dusted with a cinnamon-maple powder. Want just a taste? Order the miniature waffle bites, which come in sets of four, and share them with a friend. Open in Google Maps Foursquare This humble stand offers an understated pairing of coffee and pie. Damn Fine Coffee roasts its beans on site in its next-door roasting room and features a menu filled with various espresso and coffee drinks and teas. The handheld fried pies nearly steal the show, with savory options like sausage and gravy or the vegan soyrizo and potato that are a go-to for breakfast, while others are stuffed with comforting fillings like chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, and crawfish etouffee. The sweet pies filled with chocolate pudding, strawberry rhubarb, and caramelized apples are especially hard to resist. On cool days, enjoy your coffee and pie out on Damn Fine's expansive patio, or take it all to go, with a bag of roasted coffee beans for later and an extra pie for the road. Open in Google Maps Foursquare After a stroll on the boardwalk, take an essential trip to Kemah's only small-batch scoop shop, Cool Cow. Decide between a cup, cone, shake, or sundae, or choose to go all out by sandwiching your ice cream between two brownies or cookies. A dozen flavors are available in store at any time, with new features rotated in often, but diners can expect staples like milk chocolate brownie fudge and Peanut Butter Pandemonium. Dairy- and sugar-free options are also available. Open in Google Maps Foursquare There aren't many places in the Houston area where you can go for British cuisine, but this pub in the heart of Kemah promises just that and more. As for the menu, the restaurant's name speaks for itself. Fish and Chips serves various 'supper' plates featuring fried fish, including Icelandic Haddock and cod, as well as entrees like Shepherd's Pie, Scotch Eggs, and Bangers and Mash (sausage and mashed potatoes served with an onion gravy). Fish and Chips sticks to its guns with a full bar full of brews, and a lively atmosphere perfect for watching the latest soccer (football) match. Make your experience here extra memorable by ordering the sticky toffee pudding, a homemade date cake soaked in a sweet, sticky syrup, served with a side of ice cream or fresh double cream. The restaurant deems it life-changing. Open in Google Maps Foursquare Choctaw chef David Skinner, who also owns Clear Creek Winery, switched gears in 2023, closing down his restaurant Eculent, a tasting menu restaurant in Kemah with avant-garde displays of modern gastronomy, and replacing it with his newest endeavor — Ishtia. The Native American tasting menu offers a 20-plus-course experience diving into the familiar and lesser-known Indigenous ingredients presented in ways that feel both modern and reverent to Native American traditions. Diners are treated to warming bowls of tanchi labona, a soup that's recognized as the first Choctaw dish to incorporate pork; a handheld smudge stick salad with walnut-sumac pesto; and a braised rabbit served atop a silky mole that's months in the making. Desserts here are just as special: a corn cake tres leches served with chica morada sorbet. Be sure to book a reservation. Ishtia is only open Thursday through Saturday, and seats must be pre-paid for $225. Try out his other restaurant, Th Prsrv. A collaboration with James Beard Award-winning chef Benchawan Jabthong Painter, this restaurant takes diners on a journey through Thai and Native American cuisines starting at 2400 BCE. What started as Kemah Meat Market in the 1960s eventually evolved into T-Bone Tom's BarBQue in 1974, before transforming into one of the most beloved steakhouses in Kemah. While diners often go for the hand-cut steaks, which include the chicken-fried variety, T-Bone Tom's also serves a bevy of seafood dishes, burgers, wings, salads, and its diner-favorite smoked sausage Shark Eggs (jalapeños stuffed with sausage and cheese, wrapped in bacon). Daily specials offer hard-to-beat prices on favorites, like prime rib on Tuesdays and all-you-can-eat ribs on Fridays, and you're guaranteed a show, with live music scheduled for almost every night of the week (except most Mondays). Open in Google Maps Foursquare Tucked into a strip mall, Coco's is not your average tiki bar. This veteran- and woman-owned hangout offers top-notch cocktails made with fresh juices and garnished with specially dehydrated fruits. The menu features fun sips like the Floor is Guava (vanilla and coconut rums, pineapple, lime, and guava) and a Lychee Nut Daiquiri (rum, Giffard Lichi Li, Maraschino liqueur, lime juice), but if you have something in mind that you don't see on the menu, tap one of the talented bartenders to help make your dream drink come to life. One of the best parts about Coco's is the atmosphere. Start inside amid the neon-lit bar before making your way out to the spacious back patio that overlooks the canal, where boats and jet skis dock right alongside regulars and newcomers. Check Coco's schedule for its weekly lineup of events, including karaoke, live music, and burlesque on the first Monday of each month. Ridesharing is encouraged unless you're driving in on your boat, since parking is tight.
CBS News
16-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Storm damage cleanup begins in Holly, Michigan after severe weather
Holly, Michigan, received some of the brunt of Friday's overnight storms, which knocked down trees and damaged the town. Now, cleanup efforts are underway and are keeping tree specialists busy. "It was really, really windy. That's what freaked us out the most. There was a tornado watch, so that got us a little freaked out, too, but everything was fine. We did get some little branches falling out," said Holly resident Kyla Isbell. Meanwhile, Trump Tree Service was knocking on doors offering help with cleanup. CBS News Detroit followed them to a mobile home park, where they got a head start on storm damage. "It was real bad last night. I had to go to my mom's out in Fenton to get shelter because it was so bad. Trees were blowing all over, knocking on trailers. They were taking out the cars," said Aaron Davis from Trump Tree Service. Davis says they had 45 to 60 workers cleaning up fallen branches, removing fallen trees and even climbing up high to clear any other suspicious branches that could lead to more damage. "You see, we have a big crew out here, and we clean it up in one day. All these trailers. We can clean it the community and make it beautiful. The community comes together as a people, as a whole, as one, and talk to each other, communicate together, lift each other up, try to help each other out," he said. Safety is always the No.1 priority for post-storm clean-up. Residents who see debris anywhere in their yard are advised to assess whether electrical wires are lying around or if they need a chainsaw to clean it up. If that is the case, residents should call a tree specialist.
CNA
07-05-2025
- Science
- CNA
Commentary: The resilient coffee discovery that could save our morning brew
LONDON: It was the yellowing label on an ancient jar of coffee beans tucked away in a herbarium that caught the eye of Aaron Davis, a botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. The label noted that the beans had been cultivated in the lowlands of Sierra Leone. That stood out: coffee is usually a highland crop, favouring cool, moist conditions. The beans, labelled as coming from the species coffea stenophylla, physically resembled arabica beans, which account for about 60 per cent of the coffee drunk worldwide (the rest is mostly robusta, a less flavoursome species that is resistant to coffee leaf rust and used mostly for instant coffee). A trawl of old books and journals returned sepia photographs of stenophylla plants growing alongside hot-climate plants. And, tantalisingly, notes from 19th century collectors described a delicious arabica-like flavour. As the Smithsonian magazine reports, this rediscovered plant, rare in the wild but under experimental cultivation in Sierra Leone, might have a role to play in shoring up coffee supplies – and saving farmers' livelihoods – in the face of climate change, drought and disease. According to a paper published in March, stenophylla is also the first coffee bean reported to contain theacrine, a caffeine-like substance popularly thought to lack some of caffeine's downsides. The message is as strong as a double espresso: biodiversity matters and, when we lose species, we lose options for the future. Coffee beans are not really beans at all but the seeds found inside the fruit, called coffee cherries, of the coffea plant. These seeds are harvested, dried and roasted into the beans that give us our daily brew. Globally, an estimated 3 billion cups of coffee are sipped every day, with the habit on the rise among the growing middle-class, especially in China and parts of Africa. But every cup begins with a crop – and climate change is putting pressure on supply, with prices reaching historic highs in recent months. Heat, drought and erratic rainfall in key growing countries like Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia spell weak and unpredictable harvests – and precarious incomes for smallholder farmers, who grow the bulk of the world's supply. MORE SUSTAINABLE TO FIND NEW OPTIONS While one solution is to shift production geographically as the climate changes, people like Davis, head of coffee research at Kew, and longtime collaborator Jeremy Haggar of the University of Greenwich, think a more sustainable answer is to diversify into climate-resilient choices among the 131 coffee species identified so far. The two most exciting new species on the block, Davis told me, are excelsa and stenophylla. Excelsa has a deeper root system, allowing access to water in drought conditions, and is also resistant to heat, pests and disease. The first coffee from a Ugandan excelsa project that he has been involved in will come to the UK market this year (he reports the smooth taste to be comparable to a speciality arabica). Stenophylla is at a more experimental stage. In 2018, Davis and Haggar managed to track down the plant in Sierra Leone with the help of Daniel Sarmu, a coffee specialist in the country. Together with the coffee company Sucafina, the non-governmental organisation Welthungerhilfe and the co-operation of local communities, the trio have planted wild varieties in trial plots across Sierra Leone with a view to reviving it as a coffee crop (its prospects withered in the mid-20th century as local farmers turned to robusta). The first harvest is expected this year. EXCITING POSSIBILITIES Importantly, stenophylla upends the wisdom that posh coffee is arabica grown at elevation in the cool tropics. 'To have something that produces an almost indistinguishable flavour profile but grows in warmer places is so exciting,' Davis says. The species can withstand hotter conditions than excelsa, up to 6 or 7 degrees Celsius higher than arabica – and, against expectation, most of the Sierra Leone plants survived a heatwave last year. The growing conditions – temperature, humidity, soil moisture – have been meticulously documented, and will allow researchers to select plants with favourable climate resilience, yield and disease resistance. Stenophylla, also native to Ivory Coast and Guinea, could become a high-value coffee in itself – as well as a critical tool for breeding, lessening reliance on climate-sensitive arabica. The Sierra Leone project is also experimenting with grafting stenophylla on to excelsa rootstock. Davis and colleagues have been flooded with requests for stenophylla plants but ownership rights, he explains, rest with national governments. Protecting biodiversity is not just for the soft-hearted, one might wager, but also for the hard-nosed.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Second US child dies of measles, almost 650 ill: officials
A measles outbreak has killed a second child in the southwestern United States, authorities said Sunday, with almost 650 people now infected as the highly contagious disease spreads. "We are deeply saddened to report that a school-aged child who was recently diagnosed with measles has passed away," Aaron Davis, vice president of UMC Health System, a medical center in Texas, told AFP. The child had been receiving treatment for "complications of measles" in hospital, he said, adding they were "not vaccinated against measles and had no known underlying health conditions." As the US grapples with its worst measles outbreak in years, President Donald Trump's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has alarmed health experts with his past rhetoric downplaying the importance of vaccines. Kennedy, however, posted on X Sunday that "the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine." He added that his Health and Human Services (HHS) department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were supporting distribution of the shots in Texas. Kennedy, who said he had traveled to Texas to comfort the child's family, also tallied "642 confirmed cases of measles across 22 states, 499 of those in Texas" as of Sunday. The CDC has recorded cases stretching from Alaska to Florida, as well as in New York City. Texas had reported its first measles death, also of a child, in late February -- marking the first US fatality from the disease in nearly a decade. The death of a New Mexico adult last month was also classified by the CDC as a measles-related fatality. The vast majority of measles cases tallied by the CDC -- 97 percent -- are patients not vaccinated against the measles, it said on April 3. Some 196 of them were under five years old, 240 were aged 5-19, and an additional 159 were aged 20 years or older, with a few others of unknown age, the health agency said. The CDC, which defines an "outbreak" as three or more related cases, has recorded six outbreaks so far in 2025. Some 93 percent of the confirmed cases are related to those outbreaks. "For comparison, 16 outbreaks were reported during 2024 and 69 percent of cases (198 of 285) were outbreak-associated," it said on its website. "This unfortunate event underscores the importance of vaccination," Davis, of UMC Health System in Texas, said in an email regarding the latest death. "We encourage all individuals to stay current with their vaccinations to protect themselves and the broader community." bur-st/bbk/bjt
