Steamrolling Deacons End Long Drought at FSU.
Tom Walter and his 15th-ranked Wake Forest baseball team fortified its already strong postseason resume by knocking off No.
“When they look at tournament resumes and hosting resumes, they look for signature series, and that just might be one that makes the difference.’’ The Deacons (35-16, 17-10) will attempt to keep the momentum rolling against Appalachian State on Tuesday in a game scheduled for Shelby’s Keeter Stadium, home of the American Legion World Series.
The Deacons outlasted the Seminoles 4-3 in game one, which was suspended in the fifth inning on Friday because of storms and resumed on Saturday as part of a doubleheader.
Wake Forest led 4-2 at the time of the suspension, and held on the next day with ace reliever Griffin Roberts logging two shutout innings.
Florida State rebounded to beat the Deacons 4-0 in the second game Saturday.
Tyler Holton stymied Wake Forest on four hits and no walks while striking out nine.
Steel knocked in five runs on his 11th and 12th homers of the season.
“With Bruce, it’s just a matter of cutting down the swings and misses.
The Seminoles sliced a four-run Wake Forest lead to 10-9 when Roberts emerged from the bullpen in the seventh to pitch the Deacons out of a one-out jam.

Ignored farmer protests and the biggest drought in 140 years- why Tamil Nadu must concern us all.
With all the 32 districts being declared as drought hit, livestock too have failed to provide farmers financial support as the districts does not even have any drinking water left for any living organisms.
Water mismanagement and scanty rainfall are the prime reasons for farmer crises In the past four years, Tamil Nadu have witnessed the wrath of nature in varying forms— it saw the devastating floods in 2015, touted as the worst heavy rainfall witnessed in over 100 years; followed by the cyclones and in the present year, the failed monsoons have has resulted in drought.
Tamil Nadu depends largely on the North-East monsoon, from October to December, for its water requirement.
These alarming figures have rendered the farmer helpless with widespread crop failures, and rising debt has resulted in a wave of farmer suicides.
However, lack of rainfall alone cannot be blamed for the current crises.
Science has to connect with the society,” says B Jayashree, Head of the Media Resource Centre at MS Swaminathan Research Foundation Technological safety net needs to be adopted With the increase in farmer suicides, the state can no longer afford to blame poor monsoons for failed crops year after year.
“We, also, request the BJP government to fulfil the promises it made during the elections— implementation of the MS Swaminathan Committee report,” says Ayyakannu who led the farmers protest in New Delhi.
A provision of proper risk assessment system will benefit both the insurance companies and the farmers.
Through satellite, big data, cloud computing and IoT technology, the farmer can assess the crop stress level and cultivate crops according to the resource available.

Kenya’s Drought: Response Must Be Sustainable, Not Piecemeal.
Waterholes and rivers have dried up, leading to widespread crop failure and livestock depletion.
Livestock and milk production has declined, adversely affecting food consumption levels for communities, particularly women and children.
Malnutrition is widespread among children.
The World Food Programme (WFP) and partners have developed a US$30 million plan to intervene with blanket supplementary feeding in nine northern hotspots, but only 10 per cent of the required funds have been committed.
By the time the Government had declared drought a national disaster, over 2.6 million Kenyans were in urgent need of food aid.
This will bring about more frequent, intense and widespread droughts and flash floods.
The vast majority of smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa are dependent on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods and are subject to the vagaries of the weather.
UNDP has created capacities for food production in Turkana County, slowly building community resilience and food security through irrigation.
We need sustainable solutions to effectively tackle drought and its devastating impacts on Kenya’s most vulnerable communities, particularly women and children.

Darrel DeFrance snaps Deery Bros win drought at Quad City Speedway.
Sunday night at the bullring that is QCS, DeFrance broke a Summer Series winless streak that dated back to 2013 at Dubuque Speedway, and the cheer he got in Victory Lane made the veteran racer emotional.
They like to see us old guys do good.
“I saw (Sobbing) once (in Turns 1 and 2) and on the white flag lap, I knew he was there.
Good finish for the fans — not so much for me, but for the fans.” DeFrance won ahead of Sobbing, Hurst, Rob Toland and Ray Guss Jr. — out of retirement — and took the $2,000 winner’s check back to his old yellow hauler that’s seen at every Summer Series show, too.
I’m glad to finish.
I’m just glad to be here in tech.” The last few seasons have been a trying time for DeFrance.
He wasn’t near as competitive as he had been in the past, and struggled to make many main events at Summer Series races.
DeFrance joked Sunday night that “as long as I’ve raced, I’ve quit 100 times (in my head) and I was always back the next week.” Persevering throughout the years despite frustrations that would push anyone to consider calling it quits, DeFrance got to enjoy the fruits of sticking with it.
“We’ve ended this drought; it took a while, and I hope it doesn’t take as long for the next one,” DeFrance said.

Spring 2017 is abnormally dry: Is the Valley headed for another drought?.
Over the next seven days, the forecast call for highs in the upper 80s/lower 90s with isolated chances of rain.
Consistently hot temperatures stress not only our lawns and house plants, but also the soil and crops that sustain our local farmers — and indeed, our own dinner tables!
Rainfall deficits in the Valley are approaching the 4-inch mark, which is very similar to what transpired in the spring of 2016.
The city missed out on another quarter of an inch in April, and rainfall deficits are running about three-quarters of an inch — so far — for May.
For spring 2017, Huntsville missed out on over 2 inches of rain, which is not a good set up heading into the hot and dry months of the summer.
The slightly silver lining to the lack of raindrops?
It is not as dire as what happened in spring 2016, when Huntsville recorded a 6.3 inch rainfall deficit before heading into summer.
With that said, the return of warm, humid air this week means that an isolated shower or storm cannot be ruled out; however, we do not anticipate any major rain activity because the “forcing mechanism” necessary to lift the warm, humid air high enough to produce clouds (and eventually rain) is limited to the Valley’s mountainous terrain.
What we really need are a series of surface lows bringing cold fronts to the area in order to produce the more widespread, heavy rain that is necessary to fend of yet another drought, and unfortunately, those systems are being blocked by the surface high that will park off the Atlantic Coast this week.

Just received the following email from Francesco Sindico, Director of the University of Strathclyde’s Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG). The SCELG policy brief alluded to in his message refers to ‘The Value of the Entry into Force of the Agreement on the Guaraní Aquifer System’ (GAS). On 2 May 2017 the Brazilian Senate has approved the Guarani Aquifer Agreement paving the way for its formal ratification later this year. This is an important development when one considers that the Agreement was signed by Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay back in 2010 with Argentina and Uruguay ratifying it in 2012. Almost seven years later we appear to be on the verge of the possible entry into force…

At the 36-game mark, prior to the game Saturday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, right-hander Gerrit Cole had the worst run-support average among qualified National League starters, at 2.50 runs per game, and right-hander Ivan Nova had the third-worst at 2.71.
Nova, scheduled to start Sunday, has a 2.23 ERA in seven starts this season.
In Cole’s past five starts, the offense has scored a total of five runs in his innings on the mound.
“It’s not the time — it’s never the time to get frustrated.” Saturday, Nova insisted it’s only a matter of time before offense and pitching click.
The runs are going to come.” In times such as these, manager Clint Hurdle said, everyone looks for stability.
To better illustrate his point, Hurdle explained the difference between a carpenter and a craftsman.
This guy has gone out since he touched the ball for the first time with intent, purpose, execution and follow-through.” But a starter, even a stabilizer, only impacts the outcome of a game once every five days.
“Once the game starts, the execution part of it is out of my hands.
“Truthfully, from my vantage point as a [former] player, the manager shows up best when his team is not playing its best.
There’s a lot of people who could manage this team when it’s playing well.

* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation. A malnutrition emergency Food security in Kenya has deteriorated significantly since the end of 2016. UNICEF reports a significant increase in severe acute malnutrition. Nearly 110,000 children under-five need treatment, up from 75,300 in August 2016. Waterholes and rivers have dried up, leading to widespread crop failure and livestock depletion. At the height of the drought, surface water in most counties had either dried up or its level dramatically reduced. Consequently, within a year, the price of maize flour has risen by 31 per cent, milk by 12 and sugar by 21 per cent. These food price increases have driven inflation up from 9.04 per cent in February to 11.48 per cent in April. Many families are making do with just one meal in a day. Conditions are dire in half of Kenya’s 47 counties. Livestock and milk production has declined, adversely affecting food consumption levels for communities, particularly women and children. Malnutrition is widespread among children. In the hardest-hit counties of Turkana, Marsabit and Mandera, a third of children under 5 are acutely malnourished – double the emergency threshold. High malnutrition, when combined with an outbreak of cholera or measles, can lead to a surge in deaths among children and other vulnerable groups. ©UNICEF KENYA/2017/KNOWLES-COURSIN Underfunded response We must urgently respond to this malnutrition crisis through treatment and prevention. Blanket supplementary feeding for young children and pregnant and lactating women can avert a catastrophic spike in mortality in the months ahead. The World Food Programme (WFP) and partners have developed a US${esc.dollar}30 million plan to intervene with blanket supplementary feeding in nine northern hotspots, but only 10 per cent of the required funds have been committed. By the time the Government had declared drought a national disaster, over 2.6 million Kenyans were in urgent…

Oroville Dam crisis sprang from Pat Brown’s towering ambition; Oroville Dam could be built on shaky ground; Who will pay for spillway repairs?
In California water news this weekend, ‘Lethal arrogance’?
Oroville Dam crisis sprang from Pat Brown’s towering ambition; Oroville Dam could be built on shaky ground; Who will pay for spillway repairs?
; Rains brought super bloom – and toxic invaders; Record Sierra runoff churns hope in rafting community; Water flows again, but it’s deadly; No more Sierra snow?
; Delta Independent Science Board holds community meeting in Ryde; Major shark die-off in San Francisco Bay; Padre Dam gets project OK and $116 million from state; Senate subcommittee holds hearing on infrastructure funding; and Science is clear: the tunnels will hurt the Delta, says the East Bay Times In the news this weekend … ‘Lethal arrogance’?
Some residents say the Department of Water Resources should pay for it, since the state department is responsible for maintaining and operating Lake Oroville as part of the State Water Project.
… ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: No more Sierra snow?
… ” Read more at the East Bay Times here: Major shark die-off in San Francisco Bay Padre Dam gets project OK and $116 million from state: “Padre Dam Municipal Water District has gotten approval from the state to continue its water purification project and a $116 million grant.
… ” Read more from the East Bay Times here: Science is clear: the tunnels will hurt the Delta Click here to read more editions of the Daily Digest.
Maven’s Notebook where California water news never goes home for the weekend

Should we tow icebergs from Antarctica to combat drought?.
Drought has become an intractable problem in the United Arab Emirates, and the desert nation’s groundwater is expected to dry up in as little as 15 years.
Desalination currently supplies 98 percent of the drinking water for residents of UAE’s gluttonous cities, but desalination is expensive and ravaging to the local environment.
Meanwhile, Antarctica contains around 70 percent of the planet’s freshwater.
Towing icebergs from Antarctica might seem like an extreme idea– the idea has certainly garnered its fair share of ridicule– but an Abu Dhabi-based firm, the National Advisor Bureau Limited, is dead set on carrying it out, and they believe it can offer a real solution to their region’s water woes.
Al Shehi also believes that the out-of-place iceberg could become a significant tourist attraction, making the project more financially feasible.
That’s certainly a bit of salesmanship– an iceberg would have to be impractically huge to significantly alter the region’s rainfall– but the mammoth block of ice could absolutely generate clouds in its immediate vicinity, making it an even bigger spectacle for tourists.
The firm has released a somewhat amusing animation that visualizes the whole plan, even depicting wildlife still living on the towed iceberg.
(Specifically, it depicts penguins and polar bears– a bit of a faux pas given that polar bears only live in the Arctic.)
You can view it here: The video also misleadingly suggests that the plan will eventually transform the arid landscape of the UAE into a verdant, green paradise.