Officials with the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum say they’re working with agricultural leaders to stop the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer, a destructive insect that has moved near the region where the factory gets wood for its famed baseball bats.Spokesperson Rick Redman says the insect, part of the beetle family, is native to the Far East and found its way into the U.S. about six years ago."Destruction was first found in Michigan around the Detroit area and in southeastern Michigan because the United States Department of Agriculture and the Michigan Department of Agriculture now believe that insect came in through some packing materials through the port of Detroit, from China," Redman said.So far the company’s wood supply has not been threatened, but Redman says the insect has moved into western Pennsylvania, not far from where trees are harvested for bat production.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.