4th of July

Happy 4th of July This holiday always reminds me of the dog my family owned that hated the sound of fireworks. He got all nervous and jumpy; the only thing that calmed him down was turning on the TV. I identify with that long-gone pet. Tonight, around the time when fireworks are going off across America, TV Land will give us its holiday gift: a marathon of Roseanne episodes, beginning at 8 p.m. ET with the 1988 pilot episode. Like my old dog, I'm tempted to skip the fireworks and watch Roseanne.

At a time when the economy is tough, the tight-budget comedy of Roseanne -- love that moment when Roseanne tells Becky to bring home some of the food from her school's "food drive for poor people" -- is both timely and funny. (Also, trivia buffs note: the kid playing little DJ in this pilot episode is not Michael Fishman, but, for this ep only, Sal Barone.)

Hello and Happy Fourth of July, everybody. This weekend is a time to get together with family and friends, kick back, and enjoy a little time off. And I hope that's exactly what all of you do. But I also want to take a moment today to reflect on what I believe is the meaning of this distinctly American holiday. Today, we are called to remember not only the day our country was born - we are also called to remember the indomitable spirit of the first American citizens who made that day possible.

Late blight Tomatoes

Late Blight; a fungus that affects tomatoes and potatoes. It's particularly bad this year because it thrives in wet weather. The disease caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s and can kill a plant in a matter of weeks. If you have late blight, don't compost or burn the infected plant because the spores will travel. To kill it, officials say put the plant in a plastic bag and throw it away. There are two commercial potato growers in Vermont and both plan to spray a fungicide to prevent infection.

Tim Schmalz is a Vermont plant pathologist tracking late blight. It turns leaves dark and dry. It's in New Hampshire, New York and now Vermont. The plant Schmalz was examining came from a big box store in Chittenden County. To stop the spread the state ordered all infected plants destroyed. It won't cause another famine because we rely on more crops now, but the impact could still be huge.

While late blight can cause major crop loss health officials say it does not pose a direct threat to people if you were to eat a vegetable from an infected plant, but because it looks so unappealing that's rarely a problem." "We live pretty far out in the country so I'm hoping some of it doesn't spread," Gonyo said. A shared hope for farmers already dealing with wet weather and low milk prices.

Founders Bank

Founders Bank in Worth, IL, John Warner Bank in Clinton, IL, First State Bank of Winchester in Winchester, IL, Rock River Bank in Oregon, IL, The Elizabeth State Bank in Elizabeth, IL, First National Bank of Danville in Danville IL, and Millennium State Bank of Texas in Dallas, Texas. It’s not random chance that 6 banks failed in Illinois yesterday. The 6 banks were part of a larger family of banks and exposed themselves to too many bad loans.

Luckily, the FDIC found banks to take up the deposits of each of these banks, even funds that weren’t FDIC insured. So nobody lost any money inThose who had CDs at the failed banks may be losing their CD rates however. State Bank of Lincoln has said that they will honor the rates on CDs from John Warner Bank. If CD rates do change depositors have the right to withdraw their funds without incurring an early withdrawal penalty. these closures, even those who were over the FDIC limits.

Founders Bank and Rock River Bank had been offering a reward checking account with a 4.19% APY on balances up to $50,000. It’s doubtful the new owners will continue with these rates, but it’s up to them. If anybody knows how the new banks are treating the old reward checking rates or CD rates please leave a comment. It’s also interesting to note that each of these failed banks had a 1 or 2 star rating from bankrates bank soundness measure.