Wet weather tests skateboarders at Maryhill Festival of Speed
Lou Marzeles
News Editor
It was a wild weekend at Maryhill Loops, as the International Gravity Sports Association held its world cup event under surprisingly stormy conditions. American Andy Lally was a triple winner in luge competition and course records fell during the dryer time trials.
About 200 riders from around the world battled each other and the elements at the Maryhill Festival of Speed. More typical dry weather helped Mischo Erban, of Vernon, B.C., set a new course record in the mens downhill with a time of 3:07.139. But it was another Canadian, Patrick Switzer, who made his way to the top, winning the final race when Erban and the past two years' champion, Scott "Scoot" Smith crashed on the wet course, in Sunday's final. Second place went to Brazilian, Douglas Silva and American, James Kelly finished third. Silva was also the winner of Saturday's King of the Hill event for the top six qualifiers.
American, Andy Lally found the course to his liking, winning all his heat races and defeating defending course and IGSA champion Matthias Lang, of Germany in the street luge. Lang set a new course record of 3:01.908 in qualifying, but wasn't looking forward to the finals in the rain. "It's just like ice. You really slip around on the water," said Lang.
Lally, a racecar driver in his other life, used a car racing tactic to defeat Lang. Lally rode in Lang's draft for most of the 2.2 mile course. On the stretch leading to the final turn, Lally made his move finding dry pavement to pass the German and hold the corner for the win. Lally made it a three win day by also capturing first in the classic luge.
The women's downhill skateboarding competition was dominated by another Canadian, Brianne Davies. Davies, the defending IGSA champion, was never seriously challenged, winning all of her heat races and defeating runner-up, Dominique Vukorep, also from Canada. In fact, the first eight places were all Canadians.
There were two classes of junior racers, 8-13 years old and 14-17. Liam Morgan won the younger group, followed by Ryan Hefferman and Samual Rojas Jr.
The other youth winner was Micah Green. Calvin Staub was second and Justin Readings was third.
The world championship will be held in Bathurst, Australia Nov. 27-29 on a section of car racetrack called Newton's Playground.
Wasps filling traps to overflowing around county
Lou Marzeles
News Editor
So what is it with the wasps in Klickitat County this summer? Reports are coming in about their unusually aggressive behavior and particularly ubiquitous presence this year. When conversation turns to the pesky insects, as easily happens around town at this time of year, there is unanimous opinion that the bugs are all too plentiful and much too pushy. There are several reports of stingings, though no word of serious injuries.
"Well, it's common for their population to grow throughout the summer," says Todd Murray, Director of the Washington State University (WSU) Extension office in Skamania County and holder of a master's degree in entomology. "Their numbers increase as summer goes on. A great many of them become scavengers as the summer progresses, because as the population grows, the food supply becomes too limited to support the population. There's less food to go around." As a result, the insects have to go foraging for sustenance, and they become less and less picky about how they find it.
They don't even mind buzzing around barbecues and back yards, seeking an easy handout while driving their human neighbors to severe distraction. Almost any picnic table with anything inviting on it will draw the miniscule dive bombers into action.
Area residents say they fill up insect traps with incredible speed these days. Reports have it that traps can't stay on local store shelves very long, with demand overwhelming the available supply. One area resident says that he uses a Shop Vac to round up wasps; he leaves it on for eight hours and says he estimates that it picks up about 500 wasps in that time.
"I like that idea," says Murray. "That would work really well." But he also has his own favorite wasp trap.
"It's quick, easy, cheap, and it really works," he says. "I call it a fish trap. Wasps are always after animal protein; that's why they go after anything that has meat or fish." Apparently the bugs are particularly fond of fish. "What you do," Murray says, "is you get piece of fish, "maybe from last year still stored in the freezer. You take the fish and hang it outside over a bowl of soapy water." The wasps, hungry but not all that bright, go into an uncontrollable feeding frenzy on the fish. They gorge themselves on the fish and get so totally stuffed that they just fall into the soapy water, meeting a delighted but dim-witted demise.
"The wasps can clean an entire piece of fish in hours," Murray says. "And you can trap thousands of wasps that way. It's a great trap."
He adds that people should be very aware of their response to wasp stings, particularly those who are allergic to them. "And if you leave your shoes outside," he points out, "always be careful to check inside them before you put them on."
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