Latest news with #landscaper
CTV News
02-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Guelph Police say children mistakenly thought a woman was following them
Vehicles travelled through the intersection of Silvercreek Parkway North and Paisley Road in Guelph, Ont. on May 29, 2025. (Dave Pettit/CTV News) Guelph Police say two children, who believed a woman was following them last week, were mistaken. A landscaper working at Silvercreek Parkway North and Paisley Road reported to officers that two young children had approached his crew on May 26 and claimed a stranger was following them. Workers saw the woman but said she left before they could speak with her. One of the workers then took the children to a nearby apartment building while they waited for police to arrive. In an update on Monday, police called it a misunderstanding and said there was no criminal intent. 'It appears the woman was simply walking on the same trail, and the children misinterpreted her intentions,' said a media release.
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Bizarre fight sees tenant shoot dead landscaper hired by his landlord to trim his trees
A renter has allegedly shot dead a landscaper hired by his landlord after thinking he was a thief and vandalizer. Wyatt Ford, 28, is accused of gunning down Manuel Vega Lopez, 51, at around 4:30pm on Monday after a fight in Gilbert, Arizona. His landlord reportedly told him and his wife a gardener would be stopping by to chop down a tree, which they had acknowledged. But when he arrived Ford believed he had seen his truck a few days earlier when someone had tried to rob and damage a trailer outside their house. Their neighbors are believed to have linked the two vehicles and Ford raced out to confront the Mexican native. Meanwhile his wife had called cops to report the alleged thief was at their home and her husband had armed himself. While speaking with officer, gunshots rang. She reportedly told the operator her husband had 'just shot him.' A witness told police after Ford allegedly gunned down the laborer, he screamed for someone to call 911 and said 'I didn't mean to do it.' Police rushed to the scene, finding Lopez lifeless on the ground in a pool of blood with a bullet through his throat. He was shot at least four times, AZ Central reported. Ford was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He is being held at a Maricopa County jail. Cops also retrieved a black Glock semi-automatic firearm and four spent cartridges. They found Lopez's truck, loaded with landscaping tools. The investigation is ongoing, police announced in a statement. Lopez's daughter Manuelita Vega Salazar told ABC15: 'As a daughter, he was the best dad ever. He gave me everything I needed.' She added that he was the sole caretaker for her mother, who is battling kidney failure and diabetes. His son has also been grappling with severe health issues, as he has cancer and experiences frequent seizures. Manuelita Vega Salazar (pictured), Lopez's daughter, said her family depended on him Manuelita wrote on GoFundMe: 'He was a caring, attentive, respectful and loving husband, father and friend. 'A life full of love, hope, happiness and anything life could offer. He built our family a home not in elegance but in simplicity and contentment. 'As a father, he worked with all his strength in all the ways he could, to earn the income and gave his family all the support he could.'
ABC News
18-05-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Autumn leaves shower NSW Southern Highlands streets in red, orange and yellow
The days are getting shorter and the temperatures cooler, but as winter draws nearer, the last red, gold and orange autumn leaves bring a colourful warmth to Australia's colder regions. If you have ever wondered why deciduous tree leaves don't simply transition from vibrant green to dead brown, it all comes down to photosynthesis. Landscaper Charlotte Webb, a founding member of the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens, explains the range of autumn colours comes down to the weather. "This year it's been quite good because we've had some cold nights and the colder the night while the leaves are still on, the better the colour," Ms Webb said. The 13 hectares of gardens in Bowral were designed to highlight seasons in a cool climate. Ms Webb said the gardens were at their best in autumn, but heavy rain could dim their display. "We've had moderate rain, but in a really wet year you'll find the colour won't be quite as good because the sugars don't get trapped into the leaves quickly enough to form that intense colour," she said. "It's the sugars that do all the turning of the colour and that's what affects the strength of the colour." Leaves produce sugar through photosynthesis, trapping sunlight and using it to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose or energy. Ms Webb said autumn leaves in recent years weren't as vibrant for several reasons. "In the last couple of years, we haven't had as good a colour because we've had those really wet years and the night-time temperature didn't get low enough, quickly enough, while the leaves are still on," she said. "When in drought, the colours are magnificent because we get no cloud cover, we get a really cold night and the leaves are still on the trees, so they get trapped in and you get those really vibrant colours." Horticulturist John Gabrielle said leaves thrived on sunshine and required a combination of factors to produce vibrant autumnal colours. "Plants are what we refer to as autotrophs, they create their own energy source," Mr Gabrielle said. "Light plays a significant role in the plants' ability to be able to convert that energy into sugars and carbohydrates, so the light source is also imperative to good autumn foliage colour. "If you have high light levels combined with low temperatures and good soil moisture levels with good nutrients, you'll get really good autumn foliage." Across the Southern Highlands many trees are still losing their leaves and filling the streets with decorative bursts of colour. In the Botanic Gardens, a Chinese pistachio's leaves are yet to turn but when it does, Ms Webb said it would be magnificent. "It gets into all of those vibrant oranges and reds and is a beautiful tree, one of the best autumn trees you can have," she said. Ms Webb's husband Chris Webb, who is also a landscaper, said autumn leaves transitioned through a myriad of colours, depending on the tree type, because the sugars in their leaves varied. Ms Webb said, as buds initially unfurl, tender leaves were yet to form a waxy or hairy layer providing protection from the weather, meaning bad weather, like a late frost, could damage new leaves. However, the leaf developed protection layers that encouraged it to grow throughout the season. By midsummer, leaves have stopped growing and remain throughout the season until environmental conditions change. Evergreen trees, however, drop leaves throughout the year. "It's continually happening throughout the year because those leaves have to regenerate." Throughout their life cycle leaves provide energy for the tree, and most importantly seed production. "The leaf's main part is to keep the plant alive and make the next generation happen," Ms Webb said.
