Free Republic

LEWIS COUNTY, Ky. (WSAZ) -- Five people have been arrested after sheriff's deputies say they stole bark from elm trees. Lewis County Sheriff's deputies the suspects stole 300 pounds of elm tree bark from private property on Little Cabin Creek. The bark is in high demand, especially in the herbal market. The bark is selling for $3.00 a pound. The bark is used as a soothing agent for cougs, gastrointestinal ailments, and skin irritations.

YARMOUTH, Maine (AP) -- In life, New England's champion elm tree, nicknamed Herbie, stretched more than 100 feet skyward, towering over its neighbors and becoming a local landmark. Nearly 10 months after being dismantled by chain saw, the majestic tree has been reincarnated by artisans into a variety of items including a stunning electric guitar. The custom guitar, along with baseball bats, upscale furniture and other keepsakes, will be auctioned off Saturday to benefit the Yarmouth tree trust. "It's mindboggling how much has been done with it," said Jan Ames Santerre, senior planner with the Maine Forest Service, one of...

Earlier this year, two congregations expelled from the ELCA in the 1990s for welcoming gay pastors, received an invitation to rejoin the denomination. One of those congregations — St. Francis Lutheran Church in San Francisco — voted 69-1 this week to begin the process, according to the head of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, or ELM.The other congregation is First United Lutheran Church, also in San Franciso. Both congregations are in the boundaries of the Sierra Pacific Synod.“These two congregations issued calls to openly gay and lesbian pastors in 1990, beginning a chain of events that led the ELCA to where it is today,”...

English elm 'brought by Romans' An outbreak of Dutch elm disease ravaged the trees in the 1970s All English elm trees could be descended from a single tree brought here by the Romans, scientists say. Spanish researchers who examined DNA from English elm told Nature magazine they found almost no difference between elm from Britain, Spain and Italy. The findings support historical evidence suggesting the English elm is identical to the Italian Atinian elm. The Romans used it to train vines for wine, as recorded by Spanish "garden writer" Columella from AD50. Atinian elms reproduce asexually, creating clones of themselves....