Free Republic

Avocado farmers in South Africa are combating thieves who have found that money grows on trees. The Wall Street Journal interviewed avocado farmer Mark Alcock who has a 170-acre farm in South Africa, the world’s sixth-largest avocado exporter. He said his farm has a motion-activated infrared camera system operated by an ex-military soldier and protects the property from criminals. Alcock is not alone. As prices increase due to cyclical factors, other farms have installed security systems to monitor their crops. “As the value of the product rises, the accessibility of it rises because more orchards are being planted,” said Howard...

LAKE LURE (AP) — Donald P. Cook, who won HGTV's 5,700-square-foot Dream Home on April 29, plans to sell the house because of the high taxes and maintenance costs. Cook, an auditor for the state of West Virginia who has been disabled since childhood by multiple sclerosis, said the electricity bill is more than 10 times what he now pays. "I don't think there's any possibility I could afford to live there," Cook, of Alum Creek, W.Va., said in an interview posted on the Home & Garden Web site. "What we plan to do is live in the Dream Home...