With spring around the corner, police are urging you to close your garage door. Police say usually in the spring and summer months, they get ten to twenty garage burglary cases a month. And, most of the time, the thieves are kids.

They go into neighborhoods all over Tulsa. An open garage door is like a gold mine to them. Police say they always see a big increase garage break in's around this time of year, right when the weather gets warmer. They say the thieves drive around neighborhoods, looking to see who left their garage door open. Then, they quickly go in, steal what they can get and take off.

We spoke to one victim who had her purse stolen right out of her car, which was parked in her garage. She says she never thought it would happen to her.

"It was a nightmare.

Hayes: Nature clues us in on landscaping season

Even though Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Groundhog's Day predicting more winter, the last few days suggest the coming of spring.The excited activity of the birds, the budding of trees, and the lengthening of the days suggest we have made it through the depths of winter. I have even begun hearing the sound of frogs in the evening.It seems that nature, through its subtle process of warming and awakening, encourages us to get ready by feeling a need to prune the roses, plant the seeds (indoors), and remove winter damage.Mind you, I say "feeling a need," and kudos to those of you who have actually put their feelings into action.Such is the case with the Kings Valley Community Center landscape and beautification plan, which is no longer just a plan but a developing reality.Last week, holes were dug by the Kings Valley Charter School students, compost and plants were delivered and a dying maple was wrestled out of the ground to be replaced by a healthy young sapling.During the garage sale last Saturday, a small contingent of green-thumbers kept as clean as they could as they filled holes, dug new holes and planted a variety of shrubbery and trees that will soon bring forth color, shade, and delight to a community for generations to come.Throughout the day, Carol Shifley, Kings Valley Area Association president, took photographs to capture it all for posterity.The coordinator for this landscaping project, Betty Malone, noted that another planting day will be held in a couple weeks to plant the sweet gum, so favored by Virginia Price, whose memorial garden will commemorate Virginia's love for plants and her community.The parking area across the street awaits a bit more drying before the gravel can be effectively spread.Special thanks to all who have invested time, money and sweat to make this a reality.While it might look like a muddy mess at this point of time, it is easy to see the plan on paper becoming a reality.Stay tuned for details on an upcoming dedication ceremony planned sometime in spring.Community gatheringIf you are curious to see how things are developing at the Kings Valley Community Center, plan on coming out on March 8.There will be a Kings Valley community potluck that day at the community center starting at 6 p.m.

Gettysburg's Warrior Stadium project on view

Gettysburg Area School District unveiled a sketch plan for its new Warrior Stadium, submitting drawings to the Straban Township Planning Commission.

The sketch plan, displayed Wednesday, is a typical first step for a large project such as a new stadium, which entered its planning stage last April. Architects from Derck and Edson Associates will present preliminary and final plans to the planning commission as the project continues.

The sketch plan's purpose is to give the planning commission and community members a feel for the design of the project, and the opportunity to ask questions or address any initial concerns they might have.

"In reality, it's a courtesy, but the function is to inform everybody of what's to come," said Alan Zepp, chairman of the planning commission.

Zoo garage plan shot down

There's an alternative to the car and it's called the bus. It goes right by the zoo. Having lived on Phinney Ridge for most of the Eighties, I took it home many times. This nonsense that "families can't use the bus" is simply that: nonsense. Most adult Americans are akin to spoiled children. In Seattle, families of four - two parents, two children - can get around perfectly fine, on the bus. There never was a real need for a four story garage to serve the zoo. And that first post, while indeed glib, might not be ridiculous. The elephants would still all be better served at a sanctuary intended solely for elephants. Seattle is simply too cold and wet for elephants and they don't have the space they need.The intentions - saving them from poachers and lost habitat in places such as India - are good.

Citizen scientists track climate change

You'll join thousands of others across the country who are recording the first buds to open, the first leaves to unfurl this spring. Your data will be used by atmospheric and climate scientists, botanists and ecologists who want your help in tracking signs of change.

''Natural events can be anything from when a plant leafs out, blooms or sets fruit to when birds migrate and insects hatch out,'' explained Kay Havens, director of the Institute for Plant Conservation at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Havens is on the committee that designed Project Budburst.

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It's a shame how we have fallen, the days of Big Bob and Asaba seem a long way away, but football is like that so our turn will come again, remember we are only a small team, so we must get behind them now in there hour of need.

Gills forever

Outside View: The EU is united on Kosovo

When the talks between Serbs and Kosovars broke down in December 2007, the EU began preparing a police-and-justice mission to take up the United Nations' duties in Kosovo as soon as the new government in Pristina declared independence.

True, once Kosovo declared independence, a number of European countries -- Spain, Cyprus and Romania -- were quick to say they would not recognize the new country. But it was always going to be the case that some countries, mainly for domestic reasons, would be reluctant to recognize Kosovo. Spain faces an election in early March. Cyprus cannot -- for existential reasons -- accept Kosovo's secession. True, the United States pushed the EU all the way.

But what matters is whether the EU 27 could agree on a joint statement -- which they did -- and whether the naysayers would block the EU from deploying the EU mission, a de facto recognition of Kosovo's new status.