Drought

As temperatures rise, homeowners and businesses pay more attention to the outward appearances of their houses and buildings. But residents and business owners here have to be careful about how much water they use to keep their greenery healthy. On May 19, the township implemented mandatory water-use restrictions and an odd-even sprinkling schedule, effective until Sept. 30. Owners of residential or business property whose address ends in an odd number may sprinkle on odd-numbered days only.

HOUSTON - For millions of Dallas-area residents, one of the most severe droughts in Texas history is no longer a concern - for now. The U.S. Drought Monitor, in its weekly map posted Thursday, classified the Dallas-Fort Worth area as officially out of drought for the first time since July. That will likely herald the lifting of water restrictions on the more than six million people in the nation's fourth-largest metro area, and the region north and northeast to the Oklahoma and Arkansas borders.

It's official: You can stop worrying about drought. So far in 2011, the region has received about an entire's year worth of rain, with roughly half of that coming in August. Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced that it has decided to lift the "drought watch" that covered Philadelphia, its neighboring counties and 35 others. No advisories had been posted in New Jersey. The watch, declared Aug. 5, was the legacy of a dry May, June, and July when precipitation was almost 4.5 inches below normal in Philadelphia.

As the unrelenting drought worsens, withering cucumbers in Michigan and malt barley in North Dakota, analysts are trying to determine when the brunt will reach the nation's supermarkets and how hard consumers will be hit. Already, consumers are seeing slightly higher prices for breakfast cereals and baking flour. But those increases have been offset by sagging meat prices, caused by cattlemen slaughtering herds early because of rising feed costs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture does not expect a dramatic effect from the drought.

The U.S. agriculture secretary came to a farm in this northern York County community yesterday to promise swift action for drought-stricken farmers, but he left without ever seeing a parched stalk of corn. He had to rely on Polaroid snapshots instead. Agriculture Secretary Richard E. Lyng, Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. William F. Goodling showed up at a farm in Yocumtown, where five inches of rain fell over the weekend. But they did hear from a dozen or so farmers from southern York County, where drought conditions continue to devastate one of the state's richest agricultural areas.

Caln Township has banned outdoor burning during the drought, officials announced at the Board of Commissioners meeting last week. Township Manager Samuel Moore said the ban took effect Tuesday "and it's probably going to stay on until we get some good soaking rain. " The heat also has made more work for the Caln Police Department, which handled 600 complaints in June, well above the normal monthly total of 500. Chief James Franciscus blamed the increase in complaints on high temperatures that have made people irritable.

Helio Castroneves took advantage of a superior car and an aggressive strategy to win the Firestone Indy 400 yesterday, ending team owner Roger Penske's open-wheel drought at Michigan International Speedway. Castroneves beat Vitor Meira by 1.62 seconds, earning his series-high fourth victory of the season and moving past teammate Sam Hornish Jr. for the points lead in the Indy Racing League. The average speed of the race was 193.972 mph, the third-fastest event in the IRL's 11-year history.

Chicken prices were down, but they're gonna go up dramatically. Beef prices are up, but they could go down a bit before they go up again. The same is true of lamb, but nobody seems to care all that much. In most parts of the country, we don't eat much lamb anyway. Pork is almost certain to cost us more in the not-too-distant future, but it will just as certainly be the second to come down in price - right after chickens come down after they go up. Is that all clear? Explaining meat prices is always and at best a complicated process.

Greg Maddux insists nothing is wrong. His pitching coach agrees, and so does his manager. Only one thing is out of place. The four-time Cy Young Award winner is stuck with a 5-5 record. Maddux's winless streak reached five starts, his longest drought in five seasons, and Mark Clark pitched the New York Mets past the visiting Atlanta Braves, 3-2, last night. Maddux, coming off one of his worst outings ever, gave up eight hits and three runs - two of them earned - in seven innings.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - Suddenly slumping Reading was shut out for the fourth time in five games when the Binghamton Mets defeated the Phillies, 7-0, in the Eastern League last night. Pablo Ochoa retired the first 16 batters of the game and allowed only three hits in a complete-game victory. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter. Ochoa (7-9) also singled in two runs in a six-inning first, when Binghamton scored four unearned runs. The Mets have won six straight. TRENTON 9, ERIE 2 TRENTON - A six-run third inning helped Justin Duchscherer and the Thunder beat the Sea Wolves in the Eastern League.

Reserve catcher Brian Schneider had been showing signs of increased offensive production even before his first home run in more than a year during Tuesday's 4-3 Phillies win in 10 innings over the Houston Astros at Citizens Bank Park. Schneider, now hitting .303, began the season 0 for 8, but he was 8 for his last 21 at-bats entering the game and then went 2 for 4 with a two-run home run in the win. That was his first home run in 145 at-bats since April 21, 2011, against the San Diego Padres.

NAIROBI, Kenya - Got milk? Pass the butter? Not in Kenya, where both of those staples are increasingly scarce because a drought-induced dairy shortage is wreaking havoc on the milk, butter, and yogurt shelves. Grocery store owners, restaurant managers, and customers are annoyed and frustrated that an item as basic as butter is almost impossible to find in what is frequently billed as East Africa's largest economy. Farmers are producing only 30 percent of the country's needs, causing milk prices to shoot up in recent weeks by nearly a third.

Much-needed rain fell across the region over the last three days, although storms also brought strong gusts that led to some toppled trees and downed wires. A downed tree closed Lincoln Drive in East Falls this morning, and several thousands Peco customers lost power Sunday in Philadelphia. Gusts of more than 40 m.p.h. were reported all along the Jersey Shore. Philadelphia got about two inches of rain over the weekend, as recorded at the airport, according to meteorologist Dean Iovino of the National Weather Service.

On the hottest day since Aug. 8, some veteran weather observers are wondering if the atmosphere is ignoring spring the way it snubbed winter - and whether the region was heading for deep trouble. "No one has seen anything like this," Scott Guiser, horticulturalist at the Penn State Agricultural Extension in Bucks County, said this afternoon, when the official Philadelphia temperature reached 89, one shy of the record for the date. Based on records dating to 1873, this has been the warmest first 3 1/2 months of the year ever in Philadelphia, with an average temperature of 45.2, nudging 1998 by about 0.7 degrees.

With pastures withered from a lingering drought, farmers in Texas and northwest Louisiana have abandoned donkeys by the hundreds, turning them into wandering refugees that have severely tested animal rescue groups. The nation's biggest donkey rescue group says that since March 2011, it has taken in nearly 800 donkeys abandoned in Texas, where ranchers mainly used the animals to guard their herds. Many of the cattle and goats have been sold off, largely because of the drought and the nation's economic slump, putting the donkeys out of a job. And although the drought that began in late 2010 is over now, the flood of donkeys continues, said Mark Meyers, executive director of Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue.

HOUSTON - For millions of Dallas-area residents, one of the most severe droughts in Texas history is no longer a concern - for now. The U.S. Drought Monitor, in its weekly map posted Thursday, classified the Dallas-Fort Worth area as officially out of drought for the first time since July. That will likely herald the lifting of water restrictions on the more than six million people in the nation's fourth-largest metro area, and the region north and northeast to the Oklahoma and Arkansas borders.

The region's snow drought will continue, even as forecasters are calling for heavy precipitation in the form of rain. The National Weather Service in Mount Holly said rain could move in by 4 p.m. today, but won't become heavy until after 7 p.m. From 1 to 2 inches is possible. The rain should continue into the Thursday morning rush hour, with another quarter of an inch possible. But it will remain unseasonably warm with a high of 56. In fact, it is not expected to reach freezing until Saturday night when temperatures could dip to the low 20s. But partly sunny skies will keep the chance of snow remote.

BAY CITY, Texas - Ever since the days of Spindletop, when oil first spewed from the soil near Beaumont, Texans have embraced the energy industry. But the worst drought in decades is straining that cozy relationship and spurring protests against projects that once would have been seen as a boon to prosperity. From Bay City on the Gulf Coast to the West Texas plains, energy companies face stiff opposition to proposed power plants that would serve the state's fast-growing population. Groups of ranchers, shrimpers, rice farmers, and residents have banded together to oppose the plans.

The progress that Woodrow Wilson's football program has made is measured in the fact that it is no longer just good enough to qualify for the playoffs. The Tigers have been there, done that, in each of the previous three seasons. Once they arrived, the postseason wasn't the most pleasant of experiences. After three consecutive first-round ousters, all by lopsided scores, fourth-seeded Woodrow Wilson changed its fortune in a big way with Saturday's 39-0 victory over fifth-seeded and visiting Central Regional in an opening-round South Jersey Group 3 playoff game.

Growing up in Haddonfield, P.K. Schlitt and his buddies sensed that Bulldogs boys' soccer was synonymous with South Jersey and state titles. That's what made Haddonfield's 1-0 victory over archrival Haddon Heights in Friday's South Jersey Group 2 title game so special for Schlitt and his senior classmates. Ending what coach Joe Falana termed "a drought," host Haddonfield won its first sectional title since 2006. The Bulldogs have 15 South Jersey titles and seven state crowns.