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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1984)
Pago 2 Daily Nobr&skan Tuesday, November 13, 1034 i ok 5 I -, 'I ' - i) It Iff , J N ' .. )v A ' i- Joel SsrtortD&Uy Ntbrsskan Two waste water sendee workers Floyd Eceter,left, and Eon Scfcr&der, spend aboat 20 hours each week plating poison bait cubes in manholes and along creekbanks. Here, they hold the cube containers near "dead man's ran," a small section of creek near 48th and Holdrege street. By Lisa Nutting D&Uy Nebrftskan Staff Eeporter Mickey Mouse and the Three Blind Mice should beware of Lin coln, because, "we have, probably the best rodent control program throughout the country," said Vera Agena, assistant superin tendent in charge of the Lincoln Wastewater Collection Service Department The program, "Rat Patrol," maintains more than 750 miles of sewer line and 11,000 manholes and keeps them "virtually rodent-free." The Rat Patrol began opera tion in 1978, when a Lincoln biol ogist tested a new expeiimental rodenticide, Talon. Talon was used to control rat infestation of a Lincoln restaurant and it worked, Agena said. Within a week, the body count of dead rats in surrounding areas of the res taurant was nearly 3,000. Since that initial experiment, Talon has been used effectively to control the rat population of Lincoln. Rats will go wherever an ongo ing food source is, Agena said. "The main thing is, that we as human beings are responsible for rats," Agena said. "Without us, there wouldn't be rats." In the case of the restaurant, where the handling of garbage and grease was sloppy, rats mig rated to garbage areas, Agena said. But, since 1973, with the intro duction of Talon and Rat Patrol, Lincoln's rat population is under control, Agena said. Two hours a day is spent solely on checking and baiting numer ous Talon traps throughout Lincoln. "This is a continuous deal it will never stop," he said. Each day, two of three trained employees of the Waterwaste Col lection Service check and refill the bait trays. Talon is a rodenti cide that is poisonous only to rats and mice and would not kill other animals unless they consumed a great amount. Agena said it usu ally takes a few days before the rats die. But, since sewers are not the only place where rats dwell, Agena receives 25 to 30 calls per month, he says, with complaints of rats near homes. Age na ssid many homes that have trash near or ground the area are likely to have rats. When a complaint h received, the Rat Patrol will be out to check the area within 24 hours, Agena said. In one case, a woman called with a complaint of rats in her garden. That afternoon, the Rat Patrol arrived to her home and got permission to bait her yard. Because the woman was afraid to go into her garden, the men picked her tomatoes for her. "We care about the residents of Lincoln," Agena said. We'll Blow You way With Style! On Complete STYLES'PERMS'COLORS" Not valid with other discounts Best Locations. . .Best Prices . . Best Stylists I CENTRUM-474-0281 GATEWAY-467-3625 i u Kim &Afrhi r:rnu n 4 0 n U C V n V YW) n t a n - n m ' 1 IISICCDOEIlf U II I u 0 N! NEW-'CLOTIK!E? Become a regular plasma donor and rj earn $20 per week plus $10 bonuses!! p Ifs easy, ifs relaxing, and it pays! Bring in this ad for $5 extra on your first visit. WE PAY MORS 0 0 D Mon. Wed. 9-5 Tua. Thur. 9-6 Fri. - 8-4 Sat. 8-2 2021 "0" 474-2335 fre8 parking in the rear D u National and international news from the Reuter News Report CI ntagon oeelio t s O 0 minent mvasioii -leors WASHINGTON The Pentagon said Monday it was continu ing naval exercises in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans including the Gulf of Fcnseca off Nicaragua but there were no prepara tions for invading the Central American nation. Pentagon spo kesmen responded to government radio braodcasts in Nicara gua alleging that 25 VS. warships with 15,000 troops were approaching the Caribbean coast and others were operating in the Gulf of Fonseca on the Pacific side. U.S. officials last week said the Soviet Union might be deliver ing advanced MiG jets to Nicargua, which the United States would find unacceptable. The officials later said it did not appear any MiGs were delivered, but Managua warned of a U.S. invasion allegedly intended to overthrow its leftist govern ment. The Pentagon said Monday both naval exercises had been announced and were not related to the Nicaraguan situation. They said 25 ships were operating near Puerto Rico, hundreds of miles from Nicargua, and were not headed toward Central America The Gulf of Fonseca exercises, for which no figures were given, includes Honduran and Salvadoran ships. In M&lisgsia, Nicaragua's Defense Ministry Monday order ed the armed forces on full alert and armored cars patrolled the capital as the government warned the country of imminent U.S. invasion. Soviet T-55 tanks rumbled through the streets of the capital as soldiers set up artillery pieces and civilians dug new trenches or repaired old ones. Civil defense workers broadcast appeals to the population to make sure air-raid shelters built last year alter the UJ3.-ied invasion cf Marxist Grenada were ready for use. About 20,000 student volunteers were diverted from picking the vital coffee crop and told to help defend the capital instead. Nicaragua's armedtorces, estimated at 60,000 troops and 300,000 militia members, are the strongest land force ti Cen tral America Would-be defectors return home PRAGUE Up to 30 East Germans, a third of them children, Monday joined a gradual exodus from the West German Embassy, which has been occupied by scores of East Germans seeking to flee to the West. Two white embassy mini-buses filled with East Germans roared out of the huge embassy gate and sped to Central Station, where they boarded the Vindobona Express, a train that runs from Vienna via Prague to East Berlin. Reporters who saw the minibuses leave estimated the number of East Germans at about 20. But travellers accom panying the group over the border into East Germany said they totalled around 30. Western diplomats said earlier that by Sunday night about 50 of more than 1 50 people camped inside the baroque palace had left for home after East Germany pledged they would not face prosecution. But the authorities in East Berlin have refused to guarantee they will eventually be allowed to emigrate to the West, as happened in similar cases earlier. Government sources and media reports in West Germany have said at least 36 East Germans are in the West German embassies in Bucharest, Budapest and Warsaw. Bnarte, rebels plan T debate SAN SALVADOR President Jose Napoleon Duarte is expected to take part in a U.S. television debate via satellite with Salvadoran guerrilla leaders Wednesday, government spokesman Julio Adolfo Rey Prendes said Monday. He told reporters Duarte probably would put his case in the Public Broadcasting System program through a satellite link from San Salvador. Guillermo Ungo and Ruben Zamora, who have led the leftist rebels in the five-year-old war, also would take part by telephone or satellite, officials involved in the project said. Meideon police rout drag fectoxy MEXICO CITY Eight men, including seven security police oSicers, have been arrested on charges of running a huge desert drug factory that employed some 5,000 peasants against their will, judicial officials said Monday. They said more than 8,000 tans of maryuana were seised as Mexican police smashed the operation over the last five days. The drug factory plantations, drying and packaging plants and a fleet cf 30 trucks was located on ranches in a desert area in northe . n Chihuahua state. o n mciak said that of 5,000 men found in the drug factory, 4UUU were allowed to leave after questioning. The peasants, who were underfed, said they were tricked into joining the operation and then prevented from leaving.