Many people say that working in an office is one of the most safe things that a person can choose for a career but new research is suggesting that there are a lot of aspects about working in an office that can really hurt your health. One of them, is the likelihood of bed bugs being in your office. You may think it’s impossible but even the nicest buildings have been known to be infested from time to time.
“YOUR SOFTWARE’S BUGS ARE NOTHING COMPARED WITH THE REAL-LIFE CRITTERS LURKING.”
Modern office workers have much bigger problems than a bad boss – or should we say smaller? From Google’s corporate offices to the bureaus of the Internal Revenue Service, even the most secure workplaces have fallen prey to increasingly brazen trespassers: bedbugs. A survey by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky found that 38% of extermination companies treated bedbugs in office buildings in 2011, compared with only 18% in 2010. The office environment is the ideal habitat for not only bedbugs but also roaches and other insects who thrive in the climate-controlled digs, feed on workers’ crumbs (or their flesh) and stretch their legs at night when all the humans go home (allowing them to survive longer undetected), says Orkin’s Baumann.
Even bedbugs, which need human blood to survive and normally come out at night while their targets are sleeping, will alter their habits in offices and bite people during the daytime. The office safari doesn’t end there: Occupational safety consultants like Towles have seen a range of wildlife invade the workplace, including birds, rodents, small snakes and even venomous brown recluse spiders, lurking in office drawers and file storage areas. “That’s called a bad day,” Baumann says.
And employees have more than bug bites and diseases spread by pests to worry about – experts report seeing workers shunned by their colleagues after an infestation is found in their desk.
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Although bed bugs have been around for quite some time, there is a huge resurgence of these pesky creatures and many are wondering why. The answer is very simple but there are a lot of factors that play into it. Since humans are traveling at much higher rates and are living closer together in metropolitan places, bed bugs are able to infest more places through luggage and human hosts and go from one shared living space to another with ease.
Brooke Borel was a young science reporter when her Brooklyn apartment became infested with bedbugs. Three times. The experience showed her how much bedbugs can turn people’s lives upside down, and how hard they are to get rid of.
Talking from her (de-infested) apartment in New York, she explains the origins of the bedbug in bat-infested caves and why they’re on the rise today, pulls the curtain back on bedbug sex, and offers practical advice for those unlucky enough to become infested.
COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
Cimex lectularius, aka the bedbug, is one of the most repulsive critters on Earth. What attracted a nice girl like you to it?
Well, I had bedbugs in New York three times, starting in 2004. I’m a science reporter, and the second and third time, I became really interested in them and started writing short news articles about them. Reporting those, I realized there was an opportunity for a larger project because of the stories I was hearing from entomologists.
What attracts them to us?
They’re attracted to the CO2 in our breath and the heat of our bodies. Other blood feeders like the mosquito are attracted to some of the other hundreds of chemicals we emit, so it may be that they’re also detecting those. Bedbugs only eat blood, so they need us not to breed but to live.
These things are not just painful—they’re almost impossible to get rid of, aren’t they? Tell us about some of the extraordinary measures that people use.
If you’re following the instructions from a pest control operator, it still is a difficult process to go through. You have to take all of your laundry and bedding to the Laundromat and wash and dry it at high temperatures. You will also probably have to use insecticide sprays, although those are working less and less because the bedbugs have built resistance to many that we’re able to use in our bedrooms.
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Who says that you have to shell out a lot of cash to have a great time by yourself or with the family this weekend? Arizona is a naturally beautiful state so there is always something to do outside but many people don’t realize how many free activities are offered in the metro Phoenix area in the vein of arts, music and entertainment. Here is a great list from the Phoenix New Times on thirty free things to do right now in Metro Phoenix.
Low on funds and high on FOMO? We can help with that. Phoenix is chock-full of free events worth freeing your schedule for, including movie screenings, open mics, and a good deal of art walks. Because saving money is always in season, here 30 free things you can do all year round.
Take in Some Free Art at the Museums
Free admission is standard at establishments like the Phoenix Airport Museum, ASU Art Museum, ASU Museum of Anthropology, Arizona Capitol Museum, and Shemer Art Center (though some accept and encourage donations). But visitors can also get complimentary access to Phoenix Art Museum from 3 to 9 p.m. every Wednesday and 6 to 10 p.m. on First Fridays; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art on Thursdays; and Phoenix Children’s Museum from 5 to 9 p.m. on First Fridays.
Kill It in Karaoke
At 9 p.m. every Thursday and Saturday night (except the first Saturday of the month) Apollo’s Lounge brings out the karaoke so you can belt out the classics. The adults-only event is free to participate. For details, visit Apollo’s on Facebook or call 602-277-9373.
Let Your Pen Do the Talking
On the second Tuesday of each month, Practical Art invites Valley wordsmiths to share their work with Uptown P.E.N., which stands for poetry event night. The evening runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and features a first-come, first-served open mic opportunities as well as established poets reading their own prose. For details, visit www.practical-art.com or call 602-264-1414.
Walk the Art Walk
Metro Phoenix offers many opportunities to take in the arts. The Downtown Phoenix Art Walk runs from 6 to 10 p.m. on the first Friday of the month. The Downtown Mesa Art Walk goes from 6 to 10 p.m. on the second Friday of the month. The Downtown Chandler Art Walk happens from 6 to 10 p.m. on the third Friday of the month. The Scottsdale Art Walk runs from 7 to 9 p.m. every Thursday. The Sunnyslope Art Walk pops-up from 5 to 9 p.m. on the second Saturday of October and April.
Unleash Your Inner Geek
Throughout the year Nerd Nite Phoenix invites local to learn drink and discuss on a number of topics including superheroes, time travel, and government conspiracies. These beer-fueled brain teasers tend to change up their dates and locations so the best way to stay in the known is to visit phoenix.nerdnite.com or check out the Nerd Nite Phoenix Facebook Page.
Catch a Movie Under the Stars
Lawn Gnome Publishing is making every Tuesday night a mystery movie night. The free flick viewing begins at 7:30 p.m. in the backyard of the downtown bookstore. If you love surprises as much as you love watching films outside, visit lawngnomepublishing.com or visit the Lawn Gnome Facebook page.
Learn to Line Dance
Cash Inn Country is kicking up its cowboy boots from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. every Tuesday night with free line dancing lessons. Whether you’re gay, straight, or simply into country music, make your way to the Cash Inn for a complimentary cowboy-style workout. Visit www.cashinncountry.net for more information.
Put Pencil to Paper in Mesa
Ready, set, draw. Pencil Fight is Lo-Fi Coffee’s monthly community drawing series that gives guests pencil, paper, and sharpeners for an hour of illustration and a chance to win prizes such as a $20 gift certificate to Arizona Art Supply. For updates and information, visit www.loficoffee.com.
Get Crafty in Chandler
At 6 p.m. on the second Monday of each month, Gangplank gets the creative community together for an evening of arts and crafts. Bring your knitting needles, glitter, glue, and other DIY material and get ready to mix and mingle with other crafters as you work your handmade magic. For details, visit CraftHackEV on Facebook.
Get to Know Your Local Hangouts
Support new and local businesses, meet your fellow Phoenix residents over food and drinks, and enter to win raffle prizes with the monthly event, Get Your PHX. Past Get Your PHX gatherings have visited Milk Bar, Rollover Donuts, The Newton, and the Lisa Sette Gallery. To stay in the loop with Get Your PHX, visit www.getyourphx.com.
Stand Up, Scottsdale gives up-and-coming comics a chance to test our their new material with its weekly open mic night. The unexpected (or uncomfortable) laughs begin at 8 p.m. every Tuesday and run until everyone has had their chance to wow the crowd. For more information, visit standupscottsdale.com.
Make It a Movie Night at the Library
Every Wednesday night, the Phoenix Public Library invites movie-goers of all ages to heal their hump day blues with a free film screening at Burton Barr Central Library’s Pulliam Auditorium. Film screenings start at 6 p.m. For the full schedule, visit phoenixpubliclibrary.evanced.info.
Tweak Your Mind
Every Wednesday CO+HOOTS invites the public to partake in Midweek Mindtweek, a free series that features lunchtime lecturers from experts in their field. Food trucks will set up in the parking lot so guests can get their midday fuel while learning new ways to better their career. For a look at who’s lined up to speak, visit cohoots.com.
Find Your Philosophical Side
Practical Art invites fellow philosophers and deep thinkers to discuss the big picture with its ongoing event, Socrates Cafe. The reflective rendezvous happens from 3 to 5 p.m. every first and third Sunday of the month. For details, visit www.practical-art.com or check out the Practical Art Facebook page.
Get Your Game On
Every third Sunday of the month, Firehouse Gallery is putting out the Pick-Up-Sticks, Scrabble, and whatever else it can find, for Game Day. The free affair runs from 2 to 5 p.m. Guests are encouraged to BYOB and BYO-games. For details and to see who’s coming, visit Firehouse Gallery on Facebook.
Mix and Mingle with Phoenix’s Movers and Shakers
Looking to network? Radiate PHX has you covered. The monthly series gives guests a chance to learn about the latest developments in downtown Phoenix as well as make connections with who’s who behind the city’s fast-paced growth. Radiate PHX’s dates and locations vary by month. To stay updated, visit www.facebook.com/downtownphoenix.
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A recent study has shown that Phoenix has been listed as the “buggiest” as a result of studying data from Thumbtack. Because of how large Phoenix is and how closely Phoenix borders rural desert, there are all kinds of insects, bugs and pests that end up in Phoenician’s homes. If you haven’t killed a scorpion in your home, you haven’t been in Arizona very long. Now bed bugs are becoming more of a problem in the Phoenix area. Let Arizona Heat Pest help you get rid of an infestation.
Metro Phoenix tops the list for urban areas infested with creepy critters, a services-finding website says.
Thumbtack released its findings this week in a Top-10 list and article, declaring that “Phoenix, Arizona was far and away the leading bug zone.”
The site’s representatives “looked at 159 of the largest metro areas across the U.S. and measured the number of requests for pest-removal services, relative to the population in that metro, using these figures to develop the Thumbtack Pest Index… The categories we included in our measure of pest-removal requests were pest-control services, bed bug extermination, outdoor pesticide application, and termite and pest inspection.:
Based on those criteria, metro Phoenix rated a perfect 100 on the index. The next highest was the San Antonio, Texas, area with a pest index of 60.
Thumbtack.com
Why might this area be the buggiest? Maybe it’s the raw variety of bugs here: Phoenix is well-known for its scorpions and Africanized bees, but it can also be a hot spot for mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus, swarms of nasty flies, and the beloved cockroach.
Lucas Puente, economic analyst with Thumbtack, said he can’t explain it, and was a “little surprised by the story the data told.” Possibly, the lack of a long, freezing winter means a more prolific bug season, he surmised.
At New Times’ request, Thumbtack released an additional chart that shows the breakdown of bugs mentioned in the requests for service. Cockroaches, spiders, ants, and termites generate the most requests. Six percent of people seeking services didn’t know what kind of bug problem they had, which is never a good thing. Scorpions fall in the 12 percent of “other.” But they’re a special problem here, Puente acknowledged.
“Of note, there were far more requests describing problems with scorpions in Phoenix than in any other metropolitan area,” he said.
Johnny Dilone, spokesman for the Maricopa County Environmental Services department, said the county can’t confirm Thumbtack’s designation of metro Phoenix as “buggiest.”
“I think I’d have to agree with all the bugs I see everywhere, but that’s just personal,” he said.
People from other areas often think Phoenix doesn’t have as many skeeters as other, more humid places they’ve lived, but even if they’re right, Dilone said, they soon realize that the Valley has its fair share.
Read more at: http://bit.ly/1GHkMaG
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A recent survey that is the result of collaboration from the University of California, Colorado State University, New Mexico State University, University of Arizona and the University of Hawaii, has been released about how bed bugs behave in multi-unit or shared housing situations. There are several factors that contribute to the proliferation of infestations in these kinds of areas and it is important to understand what those factors are to prevent further infestation of others.
Bed bug management is especially challenging in public and subsidized housing environments, apartments, and other low-income, multi-unit housing (MUH) situations. In these environments, high rates of resident turnover, lack of economic and educational resources, ease of bed bug dispersal between units, and communication barriers such as literacy and language limitations may all contribute to chronic infestations. Researchers and policymakers recognize the need to address this challenging situation and to design valuable and timely extension and applied research programs in order to assist pest management professionals (PMPs) engaged in this work. Data on bed bug incidence and management approaches in the western United States are lacking as compared to those on the Eastern Seaboard and in the Midwest. To this end, several western urban entomologists and extension specialists have recently formed a work group with funding provided by the USDA’s Western Integrated Pest Management Center (WIPMC). The first task of the WIPMC Bed Bug Work Group was to assess the current prevailing bed bug management practices in use, the most challenging aspects associated with bed bug management in MUHs, and the self-reported needs of the industry that may improve bed bug management outcomes in these environments. An online survey was developed and distributed nationally (pctonline.com), regionally (via Work Group members’ websites and personal networks), and in California (Target Specialty Products client lists) to capture these desired data. A total of 114 individual PMPs completed this survey, with over 76% of these responses coming from the targeted western region (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY), mostly from California (60% of total responses). Data presented are from all 114 respondents. Most (64%) PMPs represented small businesses (less than 20 total employees), but some (15%) hailed from large pest control companies (100 or more total employees). Though considered a very experienced group of pest management professionals (average experience in pest control industry was 22.7 years), most had only started managing bed bugs during the past 10 years (mean duration of bed bug experience = 9.6 years), thus reflecting the recent resurgence of bed bugs as key urban pests in the United States. The number of PMPs responding to the survey was low compared to the total number of licensed individuals within the region. Therefore, we caution PCT’s readers to consider that our results and findings may differ from other and future surveys on PMP attitudes, behaviors, and practices involving bed bug detection and management. A summary of responses to the survey is as follows:
PMPs’ Attitudes, Beliefs, Observations.
Most respondents (73%) believed that bed bug infestations had increased in 2014 as compared to 2013 while some (22%) believed that the levels of infestation had not changed during this period. This trend was stable when considering responses from different regions and states, suggesting that bed bug incidence may be increasing throughout the nation. Virtually half (49%) of all respondents considered summer to be the season with the most calls for bed bug services, while another large proportion (44%) reported no differences between seasons. It is unclear whether summer incidence may be driven by increased human travel, increased ambient temperature, or some combination of these and perhaps unknown factors. Though resistance to insecticides within bed bug populations has been a concern for some time now, the majority (57%) of respondents in this survey did not believe they had encountered resistance in the field. This was true even when considering data only from the Midwest and the Eastern Seaboard, where resistance in field populations has been reported as widespread. Furthermore, though insecticide resistance may be more easily recognized by those with the most years working in the field, the level of experience of respondents had no effect on this reported belief. MUHs, the focus of this survey, were considered by most respondents to harbor the worst (highest density) bed bug infestations, to be the most difficult locations in which to manage bed bugs, and to be the locations most often treated by their companies (96%, 65%, 74%, respectively) (Figure 1, above). Hotels/motels and shelters were also believed to harbor high-density infestations.
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Bed bugs are very clever in the way that they are able to move from home to home and there is still not a lot of research that has taken place into exactly how these pests are able to infiltrate. A new study from Rutgers however is showing all kinds of patterns of bed bug behavior. When and how often they move and exactly how they travel from home is home is just some of the information found in this study. By understanding bed bug behavior it is exponentially easier to prevent an infestation.
Rutgers University researchers, Drs. Richard Cooper, Changlu Wang, and Narinderpal Singh, investigated bed bug movement within and between apartments to see how far bed bugs moved in this setting. The report, titled “Mark-Release-Recapture Reveals Extensive Movement of Bed Bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) within and between Apartments” appears in the most recent issue of PLOS One.
An abstract follows:
Understanding movement and dispersal of the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius L.) under field conditions is important in the control of infestations and for managing the spread of bed bugs to new locations. We investigated bed bug movement within and between apartments using mark-release-recapture (m-r-r) technique combined with apartment-wide monitoring using pitfall-style interceptors. Bed bugs were collected, marked, and released in six apartments. The distribution of marked and unmarked bed bugs in these apartments and their 24 neighboring units were monitored over 32 days. Extensive movement of marked bed bugs within and between apartments occurred regardless of the number of bed bugs released or presence/absence of a host. Comparison of marked and unmarked bed bug distributions confirms that the extensive bed bug activity observed was not an artifact of the m-r-r technique used. Marked bed bugs were recovered in apartments neighboring five of six m-r-r apartments. Their dispersal rates at 14 or 15 d were 0.0–5.0%. The estimated number of bed bugs per apartment in the six m-r-r apartments was 2,433–14,291 at 4–7 d after release. Longevity of bed bugs in the absence of a host was recorded in a vacant apartment. Marked large nymphs (3rd– 5th instar), adult females, and adult males continued to be recovered up to 57, 113, and 134 d after host absence, respectively. Among the naturally existing unmarked bed bugs, unfed small nymphs (1st– 2nd instar) were recovered up to 134 d; large nymphs and adults were still found at 155 d when the study ended. Our findings provide important insight into the behavioral ecology of bed bugs in infested apartments and have significant implications in regards to eradication programs and managing the spread of bed bugs within multi-occupancy dwellings.
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One of the most fascinating parts of the human condition is our need to be storytellers. It is beautiful, simple and one of our best traits. The Arizona Storytellers Project is an amazing grass roots collective that brings drama and laughs to the valley with nothing more than the voices of its members. For an inspiring and unique evening out, follow up with the Arizona Storytellers Project for their latest news and events.
Most stories require great drama, unexpected conflict or terrifying tension to create the kind of catharsis listeners love at the end of a satisfying yarn.
But Eleanor Gobrecht’s true, first-person story didn’t have that kind of big moment when she told it Monday night at the Phoenix Theatre as part of the Arizona Storytellers Project. She told a simple story that got a super-long applause from a sold-out crowd of more than 240, and that closed the night of true, first-person stories with a heart-warming, unexpected finish.
The 86-year-old former sailing expert and University of Southern California professor recounted a story about a totally perfect trip down the Mexican coast and across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii in 1969. The crowd sat rapt as Gobrecht, in a coordinating white jacket and capris, told the story of Trade Winds at her back, waves pushing the boat along steadily, and generous Mexican fisherman and their families.
“It was just a wonderful, wonderful time,” Gobrecht said of her first trip across the Pacific with her lifelong partner.
That trip taught her, she told the audience, that if you do the right things, and trust your planning, things will work out fine, as long as you keep going. And, she said, there will be times in life when things go unaccountably well, and it’s best not to wonder why or investigate too much into how.
Gobrecht was one of seven community members who shared stories at Phoenix Theatre about adventures in the outdoors and the lessons they learned as part of The Republic’s regular storytelling nights. The stories varied from everyday adventures such as biking and hiking to more daring ones such as canyoneering.
The night’s storytellers were Republic news reporter Dennis Wagner, outdoors reporter Bob Young, photojournalist David Wallace and community storytellers Josey Borman, Gobrecht, Margaret Smith and Matt Storrs.
Other highlights included:
– Learning what foreboding joy means, as explained by Borman via superstar academic Brene Brown, and how it applies to lots of moms on lots of family vacations.
– Learning just how far a young man will go to win over his future in-laws from the apparently unflappable Storrs.
– Learning that one Republic staffer’s idea of a good time is to dangle in canyons, squeeze between rock cracks, swim in silt-filled, murky pools and tromp through the desert while carrying a 70-pound pack, according to Wallace.
Since 2011, the Arizona Storytellers Project has coordinated more than 70 nights of true stories, told live, in which artists, community leaders and everyday Phoenix residents prepare a brief, first-person story on a theme, addressing it literally or metaphorically.
Phoenix is the perfect mix of big city, suburban spread and gorgeous untouched desert. Being the 6th largest city in the nation, spanning over 70 square miles, it has so much to offer in terms of things to do and musical guests. This fall is not going to disappoint when it comes to the music scene. There are some absolutely phenomenal shows coming to town that you don’t want to miss. Check out this star-studded calendar and plan to rock out in Phoenix this fall!
Florence + the Machine
This tour is in support of the U.K. rockers’ first chart-topping album in the States, “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful,” which has already sent one song, “What Kind of Man,” to No. 1 on the Billboard adult-alternative charts. Led by the powerful voice of Florence Welch, they made their U.S. chart debut in 2008 with the double-platinum breakthrough hit “Dog Days Are Over.” Other hits include the platinum “Cosmic Love” and double-platinum “Shake it Out.”
The Columbus, Ohio-based rockers bring a handful of rock and alternative-radio singles to the table, including “Holding On to You,” “House of Gold” and three songs from their latest record, “Fairly Local,” “Tear in My Heart” and “Stressed Out.” The tour is in support of “Blurryface,” their fourth studio effort, which hit the charts at No. 1 in May.
Details: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13. Comerica Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix. $29. 602-379-2888, livenation.com.
alt-J
Best known in the U.S. for the singles “Breezeblocks,” “Tessellate,” “Left Hand Free” and “Every Other Freckle,” these British indie-rockers earned a Grammy nod for last year’s model, “This Is All Yours,” which made year-end best-of lists at Rolling Stone, Time and NPR. Spotify also named them last year’s breakout artist of the year.
Details: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14. Comerica Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix. $35-$42.50. 602-379-2888, livenation.com.
Garth Brooks
The man is playing six shows in two weekends. That’s how popular the country star remains after taking a 14-year hiatus from the music business. These shows are the singer’s first Valley performances in 19 years. And demand is so high that tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. and in less than two hours, he’d already broken his previous Phoenix record, set in 1996, when he sold 53,248 tickets at America West Arena.
Details: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, and Saturday, Oct. 17; 7 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, and Saturday, Oct. 24. Talking Stick Resort Arena (formerly US Airways Center), 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. $63.98. 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com.
Bret Michaels
He was huge in the ’80s, fronting Poison on a string of giant hits, from glam-punk classic “Talk Dirty to Me” and “Nothin’ But a Good Time” to the chart-topping power ballad, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” More recently, Michaels emerged as a force to be reckoned with on reality television, winning “The Celebrity Apprentice 3” in 2010 and starring in two series of his own on VH1 while living in the Valley. His latest solo album is “Jammin’ with Friends,” a star-studded effort that more than lives up to its title, from Loretta Lynn to Miley Cyrus.
Details: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17. Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 19th Avenue and McDowell Road, Phoenix. General admission is free with Arizona State Fair admission. 602-252-6771, azstatefair.com.
Meat Loaf
For listeners of a certain age and hipness quotient, Meat Loaf’s greatest hits should be the comfort food his name implies — from such early pop classics as “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth” to the chart-topping comeback anthem, “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).” And he hasn’t released a new studio effort since “Hell in a Handbasket” dropped in 2012, which means he should be going with a greatest-hits approach.
Details: 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18. Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 19th Avenue and McDowell Road, Phoenix. General admission is free with Arizona State Fair admission. 602-252-6771, azstatefair.com.
Janet Jackson
Jackson’s hits include “What Have You Done for Me Lately?,” “Nasty,” “Miss You Much,” “That’s the Way Love Goes,” “Again” and “I Want You.” She’s topped the Billboard album charts with six releases, including the six-times-platinum efforts “Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814” and “janet.” She’s also won six Grammys, two Emmys, a Golden Globe Award, an Oscar nomination and dozens of American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, BET Awards and Billboard Music Awards.
Details: 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19. Comerica Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix. $45-$125. 602-379-2888, livenation.com.
My Morning Jacket
Their love affair with reverb took the blogosphere by storm in 1999 with “The Tennessee Fire,” an acclaimed debut on which they underscored the melancholy nature of Jim James’ upper register by recording many of his vocals in an empty silo. Their sound at the time was alternative-country as Flaming Lips would probably have done it. But they’ve managed to evolve with each new effort, trying new approaches as they move from strength to strength. “The Waterfall,” released in May, has pulled in raves from a variety of outlets, from the New York Times to Q and Pitchfork. And James’ voice remains an instrument of haunted majesty.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20. Comerica Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix. $46. 602-379-2888, livenation.com.
All Time Low
Taking their name from a song by fellow Warped Tour veterans New Found Glory, these Baltimore pop-punk veterans first got together as high-school kids covering Blink-182. Their breakthrough single, “Dear Maria, Count Me In,” was recently certified platinum, and they’re touring in support of “Future Hearts,” an ambitious new album that finds them expanding the scope of their sound while scoring guest appearances by pop-punk icons Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 and Joel Madden of Good Riddance.
Details: 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20. Mesa Amphitheater, 263 N. Center St. $32; $29.99 in advance. 480-644-2560, mesaamp.com.
Rick Springfield
This Australian rocker had a minor pop hit in the early ’70s with a single called “Speak to the Sky.” But Springfield’s proper mainstream breakthrough came a decade later when he topped the charts with “Jessie’s Girl” and followed through with Sammy Hagar’s “I’ve Done Everything for You.” Other hits include “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” “Affair of the Heart” and “Human Touch.”
Details: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21. Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 19th Avenue and McDowell Road, Phoenix. General admission is free with Arizona State Fair admission. 602-252-6771, azstatefair.com.
Mesa Meltdown Day 1
Shinedown’s biggest hits include mainstream-rock chart-toppers “Save Me,” “Devour,” “Second Chance,” “Sound of Madness,” “The Crow & the Butterfly,” “Diamond Eyes (Boom-lay, Boom-lay, Boom),” “Bully,” “Unity” and “Cut the Cord.” They’re joined by co-headliners Breaking Benjamin, whose hits include mainstream-rock chart-topper “Breath,” “I Will Not Bow” and “Failure,” and Nothingmore.
Details: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21. Mesa Amphitheater, 263 N. Center St. $45-$50. 480-644-2560, mesaamp.com.
Mesa Meltdown Day 2
British rockers Bring Me the Horizon are best known in the States for rock-radio hits “Sleepwalking,” “Go to Hell, For Heaven’s Sake,” “Drown” and “Throne.” They’re joined on Day 2 of this KUPD-FM festival by by Issues and Pvris.
Details: 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. Mesa Amphitheater, 263 N. Center St. $30-$40. 480-644-2560, mesaamp.com.
Madonna
Taylor Swift may sell more records in the new millennium, but Madge remains the biggest-selling female artist ever and the highest-rated solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100 all-time top artists countdown, second only to the Beatles overall. She’s won a Golden Globe Award for acting (despite not being very good at it) and been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (which outraged rock purists to no end even though she clearly earned her spot). The Rebel Hearts Tour takes its name from Madonna’s new album, to which the New York Times responded with, “They won’t experience the celebrity of Madonna the fashion statement but the Madonna who has kept us listening for decades: Madonna the musician.”Madonna
Details: 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. Gila River Arena, Loop 101 and Glendale Avenue, Glendale. $50-$355. 623-772-3200, ticketmaster.com.
Sheryl Crow
This nine-time Grammy winner hit the mainstream hard with a seven-times-platinum debut titled “Tuesday Night Music Club,” which spawned two Top 5 pop hits, “All I Wanna Do” and “Strong Enough.” Subsequent hits included “If It Makes You Happy,” “Everyday is a Winding Road,” “My Favorite Mistake” and “Soak Up the Sun.”
Details: 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 19th Avenue and McDowell Road, Phoenix. General admission is free with Arizona State Fair admission. 602-252-6771, azstatefair.com.
Gary Allan
He’s topped the country charts with four singles since hitting his stride in the early 2000s — “Man to Man,” “Tough Little Boys,” “Nothing On But the Radio” and the platinum “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain),” which hit the top in 2013. He hasn’t had much luck with hits since then, despite releasing songs with names that should sound right at home at country radio (“It Ain’t the Whiskey” and “Hangover Tonight”).
Details: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23. Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 19th Avenue and McDowell Road, Phoenix. General admission is free with Arizona State Fair admission. 602-252-6771, azstatefair.com.
Arizona Jazz Festival
As usual, the main attractions don’t have anything to do with jazz, from Erykah Badu and Common to Anthony Hamilton, the Roots, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Toni Braxton, Maxwell, Kem and Blackstreet. But for anyone who’s even slightly into modern soul and R&B, that lineup is pretty amazing. Also playing: Keith Sweat, Jodeci, Eric Roberson, Ledisi, Mint Condition, Peter White, Euge Groove and Rick Braun.
Details: Friday, Oct. 23-Sunday, Oct. 25. Rawhide Event Center, 5700 W. N. Loop Road, Chandler. Three-day passes — $50-$1,175; single-day tickets — $50-$375. 602-244-8444, arizonajazzfestival.com.
School d’AZ
Best Coast will top the bill at ALT AZ 93.3’s Now Music Festival, which also brings the Maine, Atlas Genius, New Politics, MS MR, Saint Motel and Bully to Mesa. Few performers have captured the bittersweet charm of ’60s girl-group music more effectively than Best Coast singer Bethany Cosentino, whether pining for the friend who’s dating someone “prettier and skinnier” in “Boyfriend” or settling for sex without commitment from the friend with benefits in the aching “Our Deal.” Those songs are both on their first album, “Crazy For You,” but 2012’s “The Only Place” and especially this year’s “California Nights” are just as good, some songs expanding the scope of their sound while others go straight for that first-album sweet spot.
Details: 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. Mesa Amphitheater, 263 N. Center St. $25-$40. 480-644-2560, mesaamp.com.
Austin Mahone
The teen sensation hit the charts at No. 5 last year with “The Secret,” his first full-length effort, which spawned his biggest hit to date, “Mmm Yeah” (featuring Pitbull). And that’s after being named MTV’s Artist to Watch at the 2013 VMAs and breakout star at the same year’s Radio Disney Music Awards.
Details: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 19th Avenue and McDowell Road, Phoenix. General admission is free with Arizona State Fair admission. 602-252-6771, azstatefair.com.
Jack & Jack
These pop-rap Viners took a song called “Wild Life” all the way to No. 2 at iTunes (although it should be noted that the single only got to No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100). They’ve since followed through with a four-song EP, “Calibraska,” which hit the charts at No. 12.
Details: 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25. Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 19th Avenue and McDowell Road, Phoenix. General admission is free with Arizona State Fair admission. 602-252-6771, azstatefair.com.
Jackson Browne
This Rock and Roll Hall of Famer launched his career with a Top 10 breakthrough hit, “Doctor My Eyes,” in the early ’70s, following through with such Top 40 singles as “Running on Empty,” his cover of “Stay” (a doo-wop hit for Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs), “Boulevard,” “Somebody’s Baby” and “Lawyers in Love.” And he’s still adding songs to the set list, touring an acclaimed new album, “Standing in the Breach.”
Details: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28. Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 19th Avenue and McDowell Road, Phoenix. General admission is free with Arizona State Fair admission. 602-252-6771, azstatefair.com.
Bed bugs can have devastating effects on those who are infested by them. Unfortunately, the number of people who have felt the bed bugs bite is rising at an alarming rate in the United States as bed bugs are finding more and more vulnerable places to penetrate. So here’s the skinny on everything US bed bug infestations.
Bed bugs are small, parasitic insects that crawl out like vampires in the night, feeding on the blood of people and animals while they sleep. Although they’re found worldwide, bed bugs were considered largely eradicated in the US until recent decades.
Now, they’re spreading rapidly in North America, including in the US where they’ve been detected in every state. Cleanliness is no deterrent for these pesky creatures, and they’ve popped up everywhere from five-star resorts and cruise ships to libraries, schools, and day care centers.
While a bed bug may go for months without eating, they prefer to feed every several days, and will travel up to 100 feet to find a meal (although most live within eight feet of a sleeping surface).1
Bed bugs typically hide during the day, in mattress seams, bed frames, headboards, dressers, behind wallpaper, and any other small crack or crevice they can find. This is why one of the first things you should do while traveling is to check your sleeping area thoroughly for bed bugs or signs that they’re around (like feces).
Are Bed Bugs Dangerous?
Bed bugs are more of a nuisance than a danger, although they can prompt serious allergic reactions in some people. Although more than 40 human diseases have been detected in bed bugs, they’re not known to spread diseases, although evidence in this area is lacking.2
Their bites can cause significant itching, however, which can in turn lead to a secondary skin infection if excessive scratching damages your skin. They can also lead to loss of sleep, although this is typically due to anxiety over the bed bugs and not the bites themselves. When you’re bitten by a bed bug, it injects anesthetic and anticoagulant at the same time, so you won’t feel the bite until later.
Anywhere from a day to several days later red, swollen bumps, similar to mosquito bites, will appear, typically on your neck, arms, hands, and face (although they can be anywhere on your body). They may itch or feel irritated, but try not to scratch them.
The psychological toll that bed bugs exact can be steep, however. There is one case report showing a woman who committed suicide following repeated bed bug infestations in her apartment, and the researchers concluded, “the bed bug infestations were the likely trigger for the onset a negative psychological state that ultimately led to suicide.”3
Research has also shown that people who have experienced bed bugs in their living environment are significantly more likely to report anxiety and sleep disturbances.4 Emotional distress and even psychological and emotional effects associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have also been reported after bed-bug infestations.
How to Detect a Bed Bud Infestation – and the Top 10 Bed Bug Cities
Bed bugs’ bodies are flat and range in size from one to seven millimeters (mm). Their shape, combined with their reddish-brown color, makes it easy for bed bugs to hide out along baseboards and the folds of luggage, bedding, folded clothing, furniture, and more.
If you look carefully, you may be able to spot bed bugs near your sleeping area, but they may also be present if you detect the following signs:5
Bed bug exoskeletons, which are released after molting
Rust-colored blood spots on mattresses or furniture (this is from their blood-filled fecal matter)
A sweet, musty odor
While bed bugs are found year-round, infestations tend to peak during the summer months, perhaps because more people are travelling during this time. And if you’ll be travelling, you might be interested to know if you’re going to one of the worst cities for bed bugs in the US, as compiled in Orkin Pest Control’s 2014 Bed Bug Cities List:6
Going to library to check out your favorite book? You could be checking out your worst nightmare…a bed bug infestation. Bed bugs have found a new way to get into homes and that is though books checked out in public libraries. They hide as unassuming stowaways on your favorite novels and get into your bed when you lay down to do some reading. Because they are so small, they often go unnoticed. This allows the infestation to grow. Be vigilante and be sure to check anything that goes in and out of your home to prevent infestation.
READING in bed, once considered a relatively safe pastime, is now seen by some as a riskier proposition.
That’s because bedbugs have discovered a new way to hitchhike in and out of beds: library books. It turns out that tiny bedbugs and their eggs can hide in the spines of hardcover books. The bugs crawl out at night to feed, find a new home in a headboard, and soon readers are enjoying not only plot twists but post-bite welts.
As libraries are scrambling to deal with the problem, so are some book borrowers. Not wanting to spread the misery, considerate patrons sometimes call ahead to discuss with librarians how best to return lent materials from their bedbug-infested homes. Usually, a meeting is arranged so the patron can hand off the offending books or DVDs in Ziploc bags to an employee outside the library.
John Furman, the owner of Boot-a-Pest, a team of bedbug exterminators based on Long Island, said he has had hundreds of clients buy a portable heater called PackTite to kill bedbug life, baking any used or borrowed book as a preventive measure before taking it to bed.
Mark Lillis of Schendel Pest Services examines quarantined crates filled with library books in Wichita, Kan. Credit Steve Hebert for The New York Times
But others have stopped borrowing books altogether. Each month, Angelica McAdoo, a jewelry designer, and her children used to bring home a stack of books from the Los Angeles Central Library — until Mrs. McAdoo heard that the library had had a bedbug scare in September. She had already battled bedbugs in her two-bedroom apartment in East Hollywood and hired an exterminator, who sprayed the perimeter of her bookshelves with pesticide, among other precautions.
For now, she is buying books at Target and is ambivalent about borrowing library books again. “I will not step foot in a library ever again — right now,” she said.
To reassure skittish patrons like Mrs. McAdoo, libraries are training circulation staff members to look for carcasses and live insects. Some employees treat suspect books with heat before re-shelving them, to kill bedbugs, which are about the size of an apple seed when fully grown. Others vacuum the crevices of couches, and some furniture is being reupholstered with vinyl or leatherette to make it less hospitable to insects.
As Michael Potter, a professor of entomology at University of Kentucky in Lexington, noted: “There’s no question in past few years there are more and more reports of bedbugs showing up in libraries.”
Pest-control experts say the bugs are increasingly moving from homes, dorms and other lodging to settings like retail stores, offices and libraries, migrating not only in book spines, but also on patrons or their belongings.
And some librarians are not only confronting the public relations challenges in their communities, but trying to get ahead of the problem rather than hiding its existence.
Most respondents (73%) believed that bed bug infestations had increased in 2014 as compared to 2013 while some (22%) believed that the levels of infestation had not changed during this period. This trend was stable when considering responses from different regions and states, suggesting that bed bug incidence may be increasing throughout the nation. Virtually half (49%) of all respondents considered summer to be the season with the most calls for bed bug services, while another large proportion (44%) reported no differences between seasons. It is unclear whether summer incidence may be driven by increased human travel, increased ambient temperature, or some combination of these and perhaps unknown factors. Though resistance to insecticides within bed bug populations has been a concern for some time now, the majority (57%) of respondents in this survey did not believe they had encountered resistance in the field. This was true even when considering data only from the Midwest and the Eastern Seaboard, where resistance in field populations has been reported as widespread. Furthermore, though insecticide resistance may be more easily recognized by those with the most years working in the field, the level of experience of respondents had no effect on this reported belief. MUHs, the focus of this survey, were considered by most respondents to harbor the worst (highest density) bed bug infestations, to be the most difficult locations in which to manage bed bugs, and to be the locations most often treated by their companies (96%, 65%, 74%, respectively) (Figure 1, above). Hotels/motels and shelters were also believed to harbor high-density infestations.