LOCAL

LOCAL
Niles team takes firstin WRWA competition
LAKE MILTON -- Trolling the north end of Lake Milton brought success to Chic Massaro and Chuck Papas, who won the WRWA tournament June 19.
Using a lead core line and gold and black floating raps and gold and black shad raps as lures, the Niles team landed five walleye at 6.46 pounds to win the top prize of $500.
Other top placers were: Jim Breedlove of Girard and Justin Hornbeck of Kinsman, five walleye at 6.14 pounds, $330, second place; Bob Crowder and Jack Smith, both of Akron, three walleye at 6.06 pounds, $225, third; Dan Clark of Uniontown and Greg Polverine of North Royalton, four walleye at 5.84 pounds, $180, fourth; Punky Ball and Kenny Smith, both of Alliance, three walleye at 5.52 pounds, $115, fifth; and Terry Hovance of Cortland and John Rubesich of Howland, four walleye at 5.34 pounds, $40, sixth.
The fish of the day went to Tom Kmiec and Dave Lawson of Cleveland, who landed a 3.66-pound walleye, good for $200.
The season points battle is coming down to the wire, with Breedlove and Hornbeck, sponsored by Gander Mountain, leading the field of more than 90 teams. In second place are Dan Clark and Greg Polverine, seven points behind the leaders. The team of Carl Ruff and Jack Knox is tied with Chris Durkin and Anthony Naples, which are 16 points out of first.
The next event is the two-day championship today and Sunday at Mosquito Reservoir.
OHIO
Canada geese in Malvern
MALVERN, Ohio -- Some residents of a gated community on Lake Mohawk in this eastern Ohio town are upset about the housing association's plan for getting rid of Canada geese -- by beheading them.
Nobody disputes the fact that the geese are a nuisance.
But resident Richard Loughry calls the manner of dealing with them "barbaric."
"I think the method of beheading is crude," said Loughry, who has lived at Lake Mohawk since 2000.
The method, however, is accepted under a permit issued by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Damon Greer, biologist with the state Division of Wildlife, said decapitation is the typical method because it kills the birds instantly.
"It's the same way that grandma did when she raised chicken out on the farm," Greer said.
The association has planned a "roundup" where the geese, who are molting and can't fly, are herded together, trapped, then sorted. The babies are relocated and released; the adults are decapitated.
Lake Mohawk, which has been trying to make the geese leave for about nine years, has participated in "hunts" for a couple of years and has used pyrotechnics to scare them away.
PENNSYLVANIA
Hunting licenses to goon sale starting next week
HARRISBURG -- Beginning Thursday, hunting and furtaker licenses will go on sale through The Outdoor Shop on the Pennsylvania Game Commission Web site or nearly 850 issuing agents.
Fees, which are the same as last year, are $20 for adult hunting or furtaker licenses, $6 for junior hunting or furtaker licenses, and $13 for senior hunting or furtaker licenses.
Combination licenses, created by the General Assembly in 1998, are available to junior resident and nonresident (12 to 16 years) and senior resident (65 years and older) hunters and furtakers and were designed to provide youngsters and seniors nearly unlimited hunting and trapping opportunities at considerable savings. Combination licenses provide general hunting, furtaker, archery and muzzleloader privileges. Resident junior combination licenses sell for $9; nonresident junior, $51; and resident senior lifetime combination licenses, $101. Senior lifetime hunting and furtaker licenses can be upgraded to a senior lifetime combination license for $51.
New this year is the resident military personnel hunting license, which sells for $2. This license, which is only available from the commission headquarters in Harrisburg, region offices or county treasurers' offices, offers active duty military Pennsylvanians all the hunting privileges of a general hunting license: one antlered deer during the two-week rifle deer season, one fall turkey, one spring gobbler and all the small game a hunter is legally entitled to harvest.
To qualify for this license, an individual must be a Pennsylvania resident on active and full-time duty in the U.S. Armed Forces assigned to a facility outside of the Commonwealth and on temporary leave within the state. Proof of military status, leave papers and place of residence must be shown at the time of purchase.