Lake associations statewide spent the Independence Day weekend educating boaters and other water enthusiasts about invasive species and the threat they pose to native fish and plant life. Berry Lake drew about 40 people Friday morning at a boat landing blitz as officials talked about phragmites, eurasian milfoil and other invasive species and how some boaters could be transporting them from one lake to another without realizing it.

The trial of a rural Shawano man accused of killing his former mistress and her brother has been postponed. The trial of Daniel Lee Schmidt, 30, scheduled to start on Monday will be delayed until Oct.

A rural Gillett woman with seven years of accounting experience is the new clerk/treasurer for the city of Gillett. Beth Rank has been hired to fill a vacancy following the resignation of deputy clerk/treasurer Stephanie Schmutzer, who handled the city’s bookkeeping since November 2010. Seventeen candidates applied for the position, and Rank was among three final ists.

This is one of those years where disparity and differences abound. Some fields haven’t been planted yet; others appear normal. Some areas are rather wet; others could use rain. And so it goes. The one aspect of managing crops that doesn’t change too much from year to year is the need to manage pests. The trick is that the pests can differ significantly from year to year.

For those who may be venturing out on the highways leading to or from the path around the Falls this week, word from the Wisconsin DOT is that travel will be a bit easier, since most construction projects are shut down for the week. Even so, the orange cones will remain.

Jake Morrissey accomplished a lot during his high school wrestling career.

To the editor: Thanks to Roger for another good column (“Grandkids shape reaction to Cheerios controversy,” published June 26). As a white male of 64 years and five grandkids, none of which are from “sterile” homes, I don’t get the uproar over a cute little girl loving her folks! I’ve got three Cubans, one Thai, and I’ll raise you one Iranian! They are not “ethnic,” they are my grandkids, darn it! Mixed, yes, but not mixed up.

I sometimes serve as a Eucharistic minister at St. Katharine Drexel. That means I help distribute the Holy Eucharist at Mass. What a change from when I was a kid at St. Anthony’s in Oconto Falls. I was an altar boy for about nine years, starting in third grade.

An Appleton resident reported June 22 a six-gallon gasoline tank was removed from his pontoon, while it was docked at a lagoon in the town of Brazeau. Replacement value of the tank and its contents was listed at $105. On June 20, a Suring man reported the theft of a rod and reel combo taken from a dock where his boat was parked.