Christmas tree

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>

'Most Destructive Species in 150 Years' Is Here for Xmas

But don't worry, unless you're growing crops

(Newser) - Reading media reports about "invasive insects" that could sneak into your home on a friendly Christmas tree? Technically it's true—spotted lanternflies have been seen in four US states and could lay eggs in a tree—but tree-growers say it's rare and the inch-long insects, while possibly...

Rome's 'Traumatized' Christmas Tree Cost $57K

Locals aren't pleased

(Newser) - Rome wasn't built in a day, but it looks like its Christmas tree may have been. The "toilet brush" of a tree now standing in one of the city's busiest public squares and being roundly mocked in Italy and around the world makes Charlie Brown's Christmas...

Pilot Spreads Holiday Cheer Over Germany

Flight path of Airbus test forms Christmas tree

(Newser) - A pilot has traced a virtual Christmas tree over Germany on a test flight with an Airbus A380, the AP reports. Airbus spokesman Heiko Stolzke told news agency dpa Thursday that the nearly 5½-hour flight the previous day was "a standard internal Airbus test flight before the delivery...

Cops Post Photo of Driver With Iffy Tree Judgment

Police stop a seriously overloaded driver

(Newser) - Police in a Massachusetts town are showing residents how not to transport their holiday trees. Sudbury police posted a picture of a vehicle with an enormous tree on top of it, per the AP . In fact, it looks more like a tree on wheels than a standard motor vehicle. "...

City Councilwoman Quits Over the Word 'Christmas'

Charlene Storey walks out on Roselle Park's city council

(Newser) - A city councilwoman quit her job on Thursday over the word "Christmas"—then made an apparent deal to return to work, the Star-Ledger reports. Charlene Storey, a councilwoman in Roselle Park, NJ, resigned after council voted 4-2 to change the name of its tree-lighting ceremony from "A...

Reese's Peanut Butter 'Trees' Cause Mass Confusion

The attempt at pumpkins had similar results

(Newser) - It is a tree? Is it a turd? Is it worth getting upset about? Some say yes to the last and are taking to social media to complain about the blob-like shape of the Hershey Company's latest attempt to make holiday-themed Reese's peanut butter cups, reports CNN —...

Police Baffled by Diamond Ring on Xmas Tree

Wisconsin cops say someone left it there on purpose

(Newser) - A Wisconsin police department is trying to figure out who left a diamond ring on its Christmas tree. Germantown Police Chief Peter Hoell posted a note on his department's Facebook page yesterday, asking if anyone knew where the ring came from. He says the diamonds are real. Police think...

These Goats Have a Job: to Eat Christmas Trees

Goat herder helps get rid of fire hazards

(Newser) - Goats are known to eat just about anything, but it didn't dawn on Vince Thomas until recently that the menu might include Christmas trees. "They'll eat the pine needles and leave the skeleton of the tree," says Thomas, a longtime volunteer firefighter who has come up...

Your Christmas Tree May Be Full of Creepy-Crawlies

Slugs, bugs, spiders, frogs—up to 25K might be hiding out in your evergreen

(Newser) - Perhaps there's some merit to having a skimpy-looking Charlie Brown Christmas tree: At least you can see if there are any critters hanging out there. Oregon entomologists checked out 100 evergreen fields and discovered more than 67,000 bugs and other small pests from 836 species, the Wall Street ...

City Freaks Out Over 'Ugly' Christmas Tree

Was topped with lighted pretzel

(Newser) - A Christmas tree that might make Charlie Brown think twice is getting kicked to the curb a little early after residents of a Pennsylvania town complained it was too ugly. Reading's spindly 50-foot spruce drew the ire of residents who said it was ruining their holiday spirit. Now a...

Tree-Munching Bugs Wage War on Christmas

Adelgids deplete fir tree population

(Newser) - Talk about a war on Christmas: It's happening right now in southern Appalachia, and the aggressors are freckle-sized bugs with no natural predators. The balsam woolly adelgid, as the creature is known, is wreaking havoc on Canaan and Fraser firs, famed as Christmas trees. The onslaught is leaving trees...

Your Christmas Tree: Home to 25K Bugs?

The good news is, they'll end up dead

(Newser) - Santa may be sneaking down your chimney, but he's not the only one making his way into your home. An avalanche of bugs is likely riding the Christmas Tree Express straight into your living room, reports the AFP . It spoke to a scientist who cited research that has found...

Germans Hope to Clone Perfect Christmas Tree

They want to improve the Nordmann fir by 2016

(Newser) - The hunt for the perfect Christmas tree may soon become a lot easier—and a lot less fun, at least in Germany: Just pick a nice clone. That's what German scientists are now working on, searching for a way to ensure that the sensitive saplings of the popular Nordmann...

NYC's Iconic Christmas Tree Survived Sandy

Just in time to be cut down and packed off to Rockefeller Center

(Newser) - The Christmas tree that will dominate New York's Rockefeller Center survived the winds of Superstorm Sandy that left a path of destruction in the New Jersey town where it grew. Owner Joe Balku, 76, learned that the 80-foot Norway spruce in Flanders had been chosen for the honor four...

RI Christians Revolt Over 'Holiday Tree'

Carolers crash tree lighting as Catholics hold competing event

(Newser) - When Scott Walker rechristened Wisconsin’s Capitol "holiday tree" a "Christmas tree," the atheists revolted ; now, in Rhode Island, the opposite is happening. When the governor unveiled the Statehouse "holiday tree," angry carolers crashed last night's tree lighting, interrupting a children's chorus to...

DC Gets Massive Christmas Tree

63-foot fir arrives from California

(Newser) - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the nation's capital: A 63-foot Sierra white fir tree fresh out of California's Stanislaus National Forest pulled into Washington, DC, today, to serve as the Capitol Christmas Tree. The tree will be put up next to the Capitol...

White House Backs Off Christmas Tree 'Tax'

Whatever term you use, it's not happening

(Newser) - So much for that new Christmas tree tax . After a storm of criticism on the right, the Agriculture Department has temporarily scrapped plans for the 15-cent fee, reports the Hill . Under the original plan, big producers and importers of trees would have paid 15 cents per tree, and the money...

Scott Walker Rechristens 'Holiday Tree' a 'Christmas Tree'

Wisconsin atheists not happy with the switch

(Newser) - Scott Walker, never one to shy away from controversy, inflamed atheists on Monday by re-naming Wisconsin’s Capitol Rotunda “holiday tree” a “Christmas tree.” That’s what the tree was called from 1916 to 1985, but for the last quarter-century, lawmakers have called it by the more...

Government OKs Christmas Tree Tax

Plan is to use revenue to promote real, live trees

(Newser) - In a move that both Santa and Scrooge would probably have an opinion about, the US Agriculture Department yesterday OKed a Christmas tree "tax." The 15-cent fee (which the USDA is calling a charge, not a tax) will be imposed on American growers and importers, and is expected...

Drunk Student Tries to Cut Down 30-Foot Christmas Tree

21-year-old admitted he was 'pretty hammered'

(Newser) - It wouldn't be the holidays without a bit of yuletide-themed idiocy—an Ohio college student faces disorderly conduct charges for allegedly trying to chop down a 30-foot pine tree near a public street, the Smoking Gun reports. Police came upon the 21-year-old about 2am standing next to a massive...

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>